Eraserhead - A Sick Movie Made by Sick Direction

Direction is pivotal to the creation of a Movie, We know many movies because of their directors and many people will follow a directors work; Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino, Tim Burton, Stanley Kubrick, James Cameron, Michael Bay, and David Lynch. A lot of these directors get a following for their style of movie. Directors get this following because of the creative control they have over the movie. Directors Work with the producer to cast the film, select filming locations, coordinate sets, costumes, sound, shooting, editing, and cinematography. Because the director is the head of the creative control his/her films will take on a specific aesthetic just because of the director.

This pattern is very apparent in the direction that David Lynch takes in EraserHead. The aesthetics of the movie can be attributed to Lynch’s directing as well as his writing choices. This gives Lynch an even more control since he wrote the film as well as directed it instead of having to interpret the writers vision he is the writer so he only has to try and translate his own vision to film.  Each choice made by Lynch helps immerse the audience into the aesthetic he is trying to create. The Choice to shoot the film in black and white helps set the mood of the film, it makes everything feel like it has a layer of filth on it from the industrial town it is set in. The lack of color also leads to things seeming more disgusting, such as the scene where Henry is carving the chicken that spills a liquid and starts moving (figure 1), in color it may have seemed kind of funny, but because we don't know the color of the liquid it becomes mysterious and disgusting.

Figure 1

In keeping with the creepy disgusting feel of the film Lynch choose to use a mysterious slimy looking puppet as the “baby” in the film that Mary Cares for in Henry’s apartment. Lynch chose to keep the creation of the puppet a secret, being quoted as forcing the camera operator to be blindfolded when he articulated the puppet.

The Creative control and direction skills needed to create a film like EraserHead are shown through the shooting schedule. Since Lynch was on a such a tight budget he had to span out the shooting of EraserHead over 5 years, which forced him to overcome obstacles such as the sets being torn down and rebuilt, the aging of the actors throughout different scenes as well as even his cinematographer dying midway through the shooting.

Overall EraserHead is a film only made possible because of Lynch’s creative control and his double duty as Director and Writer. These all contribute to Lynch being able to create an aesthetic that is unique to him and produces almost a cult like following.

Blow Up - Sound, The presence and Lack of

The use of Sound in a Film is key in determining the feel of a film. The presence or absence of sound can make the viewer feel emotions or tie them to the movie. Blow Up's use of sound is a prime example of this. The movie takes on a very natural feel because Herbie Hancock, who scored the film is quoted as saying "It's (the sound) only there when someone turns on the radio or puts on a record." This leads to a film that feels like almost real life. Because there isn't any unnecessary noise to distract the viewer, only the naturally occurring sounds. This immerses the viewer into the film.

The Sound design used in Blow Up also conveys feelings onto the audience. The sense of peacefulness inside the park when Thomas is photographing the lovers. The absence of sound beyond ambient is very important as well. Blow Up is known for its use of silence as an element, similar to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: a Space Odyssey.  The sense of mystery and almost dread that comes from the lack of sound during the scene where Thomas is investigating the figures in the photographs (figure 1). Another key example is during the scene where Thomas has discovered the body in the park and the scene is drawn out and suspenseful by the lack of sound the snap of a twig makes Thomas run as well as the audience almost jump at something so trivial.

Figure 1

Another Key use of sound is in the conclusion of the movie, The Mimes playing tennis with what is supposed to be an invisible ball slowly becomes more real to Thomas(Figure 2). The key use of sound to make the audience almost think it is real is enough to further blur the lines of what is perceived as reality and what is Thomas’ imagination. Is the ball real? was the body real, or a trick of the mind from searching too hard for something that doesn't exists. these are all questions sparked by just the sound in the

Figure 2

Overall, although Blow Up is surrounded by controversy due to its graphic content, the real shining star is the sound design that envelops and captivates the audience and has them asking key questions about the film

Living in Oblivion, a Sample of Cinematography as a storytelling tool

Cinematography is a pivotal part of any film. The Cinematographer is the chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, television production or other live action piece and is responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image. The study and practice of this field is referred to as cinematography. The Cinematographer creates this feel and look of a movie by coordinating cameras, lighting, filters, and lenses to reach the vision that was decided by the Cinematographer and Director.

The Cinematographer for Living in Oblivion was Frank Prinzi, He is known for his work on The Night of the Living Dead, Northern Exposure, and the TV Series Law and Order: Criminal Intent. The focus of this entry will be Prinzi’s work on Living in Oblivion. Prinzi focuses on making sure the viewer can follow the story of the Film because it rapidly shifts from shots of the crew making the movie, to actual shots from the movie being made. Prinzi uses shifts from Color to Black and White shots to help the view keep track of weather the shot is of the crew, or of the movie. Prinzi also used the shifts from Color to Black and White to progress the movie through the different dream sequences that happen throughout the film.

Besides his shifts from color to black and white Prinzi also finely used the focus of the camera to dictate the reactions of characters, such as during the bedroom scene between Chad and Nicole where Nicole has become frustrated with the unscripted things that chad is doing Nicole, she starts ranting at him and the camera loses focus on Nicole in the background as we see Chad’s reaction. (Figure 1). Prinzi’s Black and White shots almost take on a Film Noir feel, especially in the first scene of the film where the black and white scenes are very gritty and the color even feels gritty.

Figure 1

Overall, Prinzi’s usage of different techniques not only improve the storytelling of the film by making it easier to follow the progression as well as bringing in a specific aesthetic of almost of modern noir.