Singing in the Rain
Casablanca
Several elements of Classic Hollywood Cinema identify it as conclusively Formalist.
The narrative is formalist in that it comes in small pieces and doesn't stay with one scene or character. This is not like 'reality' and so is seen as a formalist device.
Use of Continuity Editing is a big factor in the formalism of classic Hollywood cinema.
Eyeline Matches (shot of a character looking at something off screen, followed by a point-of-view style shot of whatever they were looking at.)
Cross-Cutting (when there are cuts between two situations which are happening at the same time in different places but are linked in some way. This creates tension.)
Match-on-Action (when something happens, e.g. a building collapses, and there are several cameras on it, so when it comes to editing you can show the 8 seconds that it took for the building to collapse from several different angles without repeating any footage.)
Directional Continuity (when the camera angle changes, but stays within 180 degrees of the previous angle so it looks like the subject is moving in the same direction as in the previous shot.)
The unlikely happy endings to the plots of classic Hollywood cinema are also formalist because they certainly aren't like 'reality'.
1 comment:
Good reference to the features of Classical Hollywood Cinema. Although you can discuss the conventions of the form, this form is largely an attempt at realism, albeit dramatic.
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