In this paper, I’m going to argue
that the use of camera and editing techniques in films from 1913 to 1963 have
changed drastically to create a more immersive and entertaining art form.
Camera angles are a very important aspect in film, further reinforcing the mood
and intensity of a scene. In the 1913 film Cabiria,
one can notice that in all the scenes the camera is always at the same height
from the ground. Whereas, 50 years later in Cleopatra
the camera ranges in a wide spectrum of angles. For, example in the scene where
Cleopatra sneaks into Caesar’s quarters by being rolled up into a rug, the
camera is at a high angle. This exemplifies Cleopatra’s weakness when she is
unfurled at the feet of Caesar, furthering her state of need. Another important
camera technique is moving the camera. This not only provides deeper immersion
for the audience, but also further creates emotion in the viewer. While there
is movement in Cabiria, it does not
compare to the emotions evoked by later films camera motion. Even in the 1925 Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ there is
an extensive advancement in the camera movement. The chariot race is an
excellent example of this. In the intense battle between Ben-Hur and Messala in
the Circus, the camera quickly sweeps with the chariots and horses, not only to
exemplify the speed of the chariots, but also to reinforce the emotions of
danger and uncertainty within the audience. Editing also plays into how a film
conveys the mood of the scene, and it has advanced considerably over the 50
years since Cabiria. Cabiria already was advanced for its
time, as it still did not implement as many cuts as the films to come after it.
The film has a few scenes where it is cut so the camera is at different shots,
but nothing like the 1959 Ben-Hur. In
the later Ben-Hur the chariot race
exemplifies the use of editing. The scene constantly cuts between different
camera positions and angles, from close ups of horses, the main characters, and
their clashing chariots to further the intensity of the race. The quick cuts
also provide a greater sense of speed, paralleling the racing chariots, and
furthering the feelings of tension within the audience. All these techniques
not only provide for a more interesting film to watch, but also present a
deeper connection with the film, illustrating emotion and mood, and thus
providing the audience with a more entertaining work of art. Many of these
modern film techniques were first seen in the 1913 Cabiria, however all these methods have been vastly improved upon
in the 50 year time period between these films, allowing the art form to
provide more immersive entertainment.
Super interesting abstract. You bring up a lot of interesting detail observations already. Your observation that the camera in "Cabiria" is always at the same height is great! Please make sure, however, to read up on the camera innovations in "Cabiria" (Pastrone invented a moving camera cart but the result is always the same curved, panning motion). Regarding camera movement, I think it would really illuminate your point that film editing etc. progressed immensely if you directly compared the camera angles, movement, and editing technique of the race scenes in the 1925 "Ben Hur" with those in the 1959 remake.
ReplyDeleteSome quotes on Pastrone's "carello" (the trolley on which he mounted his camera to enable his tracking shots) and its effect:
ReplyDeleteUser: burnac at http://avaxhm.com/video/video_time/twenties/Cabiria.html:
"Under the pseudonym Piero Fosco, Cabiria’s director Giovanni Pastrone utilized innovative tracking dolly shots (before they were known as such) that not only freed the camera from the static proscenium effect imposed on the motion picture camera by theatrical and still photography traditions, Pastrone’s moving camera did much to replicate the point of view of an observer moving about within the scene. A first-time viewer of Cabiria can unconsciously expect the stone-still dramatic cinematography of standard silent era films. The first camera movement in Cabiria, only minutes into the film, can have an electric effect on even today’s viewers, and certainly must have been shocking, even unsettling, to audiences of 1914. And note that Pastrone’s camera movements are not the in-and-out movements of Griffith’s Intolerance, they are lateral movements that eschew right angles producing a profound cinematic experience. The influence of such groundbreaking cinematography was immediate and can be seen in American films that predate Intolerance, such as His New Job (1915)."
Tizziana Ferrero-Regis (http://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/cinematheque/cinema_resources/2010/the_historical_imagination_of_cabiria):
"One of the most renowned aesthetic achievements of Cabiria was the use of the tracking shot, notably in the scene in which Maciste and Fulvio Axilla are escaping from the Phoenicians and barricade themselves in a cellar full of provisions. The camera pans from the barricade that Maciste and Fulvio Axilla erected to the stairs and down in the cellar. The camera then moves to explore the cellar from the two men’s point of view. The camera work was done by Spanish cameramen Segundo de Chomon, who had used tracking shots since 1909. In this sense, Cabiria is the aggregation of existing techniques employed by other national cinema industries.
In the film, Pastrone did not use trompe l’oeil sets, but relied on the combination of the natural scenery of the Alps, Tunisia and Sicily, and life size sets to increase the effect of depth, which was further enhanced by tracking shots. The altar to the god Moloch was an open set, a stage construction of enormous proportions that was directly inspired by Art Nouveau and could physically accommodate hundreds of extras. The open set magnified and emphasized the historical events that are represented in the film. The employment of a large number of extras enabled the refinement of techniques such as deep focus and tracking shots. And especially, the open set allowed the use of depth in the mise-en-scene and of a larger frame."
Just noticed the the user:Burnac review is probably only copied from the Internet Movie Database and needs to be credited to someone named Carl Bennett, not burnac.
DeleteBryony Dixon, 100 Silent Films (BFI Screen Guides), Houndmills & New York, 2011, p. 43-44 on "Cabiria":
ReplyDelete"It’s a cracking story but not always elegantly conveyed. The events
are recounted in autonomous scenes, in chronological succession, with
forward-facing intertitles that tell you what you are about to see. There is
no editing or parallel action, and in this respect Cabiria feels slightly
old-fashioned. More effective ways of telling a story were clearly already
in circulation; however, this ‘tableaux’ approach probably reflects the
pictorialist conventions of delivering classical tales of the time, as well as
the style of classical literary sources, which tended to be episodic" (p. 43).
"A number of other features of Cabiria were taken up by various
film-makers – most notably the use of camera movement to compensate
for the fixed point of view and the distance of the viewer from the action
necessitated by the large sets. The ‘Cabiria’ movement, as it was referred
to by American cameramen, was a slow diagonal track in and out which
took you closer to the rather small figures. Pastrone also worked in up to
five planes of action, so that there is always movement in foreground,
middle ground and background to enhance the sense of threedimensionality.
This was a favoured technique, particularly of the Pathé
cameramen during the 1900s, who were working to a nineteenthcentury
photographic ideal. Some of the effects are good: in particular,
Sofonisba’s nightmare, in which great staring eyes appear as if in her
mind, courtesy of Segundo de Chomón, a master of film matte work" (p. 44).
By the way, I think these are interesting quotes, but I'd be careful to believe everything these people are saying. For example, Pastrone clearly does _a lot_ with editing and rarely offers tableaux like the Last Supper scene in the 1925 "Ben Hur". Remember the scene in the temple, for example, where there are constant cuts, from the long shot of the celebrating crowd to the praying high priest to a large, paper-mache hand (the symbol of Baal Moloch) back to the mouth of the Moloch and a priest throwing a child into it, etc., etc.?
ReplyDelete