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Assignment Instructions: Review the films in the U

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Assignment Instructions: Review the films in the U. S. Library of Congress archive and select 3 short historic films to critique. For each filme, perform a formal analysis of a scene or film’s composition based on the 4 questions below: Trance and Dance in Bali 1. What is the film about? Provide a brief summary of the film. The silent film is narrated by Margaret Mead, as she tells the stories based on the chronological clips of a staged play of the Kris dance - a conflict between the witch and the dragon in the village of Pagotan. The witch is angered that the king won’t marry her daughter and throws a plague onto that village as a first curse. The second, is that she begins to “trance” every villager into her rule causing anarchy at her will. This is countered by the “dragon” (king’s emissary), who although, is conquered in the beginning, he is prevalent to save the entire town. 2. Discuss characters and characterization in the film. Discuss the principal characters, the characters’ actions, the events affecting the characters depicted in the film. What action takes place to help you understand the character’s role in the film? The film begins with a witch beside her daughter, in front of an army-like band of followers learning a magical dance. This dance is told to form a plague to spread onto all who aren’t them as an act of vengeance and utilization of power. Then, the band of witches steal and kill a just-born infant from a mother that underwent labor. Initially, they trick the mother and the rest of the villagers by pretend mourning the child and having no connection to the murder. Yet, with time, we see the witches descend on a plague-ravished village in full transformation as dragons. At this point, the witches begin to characterize themselves not just as a witty, rebel group - but, a strong, malevolent force. As our leader witch confidently dances in front of the king’s emissary flaunting her leverage, we truly begin to see her powers in full fledged manner. As she turns the emissary into a dragon, we see the villagers try to annihilate the witch. But in turn, they fall into a trance and twitch only to be revived as her followers by the new dragon. However, with time, we see the dragon (emissary) start to learn how to get his people out of the spell as he helps set up ceremonies infused with holy waters, incesces, and sacrifices to cleanse the trance. He comes out as an inspirational hero despite also being a victim. Although the story is told in third person, it puts the witch as the main character and directs the story from her course of actions primarily. This evokes emotions that carry us through her story of rising up and frames her as an anti-hero (making the audience susceptible to respecting or even sympathizing with her). Only towards the end, the gaze switches to that of the dragon rather than the witch; directing the crowd to end the story with a focus on his actions instead. 3. What is the setting? Where does the main action occur, what is the time period, and what emotions the setting invokes? The setting is the Pagotan village in Bali which takes place in the 1930s. It is clearly, in a third world setting with culture and plots surrounded by mythical elements. Our main character, the witch, operates her mischief on the outskirts of the town, as we see her and her band infiltrating deeper and deeper into the center of the village and king’s fortress. The setting of an ancient Bali village creates an interesting blend of emotions for viewers, unease and curiosity, as most viewers come from first-world environments. 4. How does the Cinematography and artistic design help tell the story? What is the “look” of the film? How is lighting used? What kind of film shots are used and why? The film itself cuts to different angles of the same scene almost in the style of a reality TV show or live streaming concert footage editing. With stoic shots, the camera is centered. However, with action/movement shots, the camera follows the characters as a human eye would (sometimes, centered and sometimes, not). This cinematography style almost seems like you are experiencing the story as an in-person bystander. This technique could be widely used today for successful storytelling in VR settings (perhaps, one day for films too rather than only video games). The premise of dance being utilized as a superpower, also gives a lot of artistic edge to the production. All of the characters “tranced” or inducing “trance” move in a two-step bouncy motion whether they are intentionally dancing, walking, or running. For a performing arts production, this element is crucial in keeping a live story engaging. For films, I realize the same technique is used for musicals as well for song breakouts accompanied with fitting choreography. In this story, you see women whipping their hair back and force, as men are moving to samboatic beat. This is probably the clearest indicator to the presence of Bali culture in this particular story, as it is directly representing their cultural choreography styles. The lighting of the film is consistent, as all of the scenes take place outdoors under a sun-lit sky. We see a lot of contrast of shadows and light creating a vibrant viewing experience despite the film being black and white. FILM 1. What is the film about? Provide a brief summary of the film. 2. Discuss characters and characterization in the film. 3. What is the setting? 4. How does the Cinematography and artistic design help tell the story? FILM 1. What is the film about? Provide a brief summary of the film. 2. Discuss characters and characterization in the film. 3. What is the setting? 4. How does the Cinematography and artistic design help tell the story?