Week 4 Blog Post – Acting & Acting Styles

For this week’s blog post, I will be discussing three different actors in the film Schindler’s List (1993).

Liam Neeson

(Video on Demand, 2006)

Liam Neeson in his role as Oskar Schindler, takes on the role of an impersonator. In the film, he takes the biography and story of Oskar Schindler and adds his own style to it to make it his own. As the the class text states, an impersonator copies “the manner, dialect, and behavior of a character, instead of creating the character” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014). However, while impersonating the real Oskar Schindler, Neeson puts his own spin on the character by adding his mannerisms and acting style to the role, which allows him to also fall under the interpreter category as well. Neeson’s acting style throughout this film is very realistic in that it doesn’t seem as though he is acting, but instead the actions that he is taking are his own. One of the most emotional scenes in the film is at the end of the film when Oskar Schindler has to flee the American army because he worked with the Nazi party. Even though he saved the lives of over a thousand Jews, at the time he was still considered part of the Nazi party.

Ralph Fiennes

(Pixgood, n.d.)

Ralph Fiennes plays one of the main characters in Schindler’s List (1993). In the film, he plays a sadistic Nazi officer who executes Jews and is very cruel. With the role of Amon Goeth, Fiennes takes on the role of impersonator with a twist of interpreter thrown into it. As with Liam Neeson’s character, Fiennes takes the role from biographies and stories of Amon Goeth. The acting style that Fiennes used in this film is very realistic, and can be seen in multiple scenes, but one scene in particular that stands out is when Schindler is talking to Goeth about power. Even though I have used this scene in last week’s post, I will be focusing on a different aspect of it. In this scene, Schindler talks to Goeth about true power being the ability to pardon another even when there is every justification to kill. In this scene, you can really see the emotions in Fiennes’ face and how he taking the talk to heart.

Ben Kingsley

(Cauthen, 2013)

Ben Kingsley played the role Itzhak Stern, Schindler’s jewish accountant, in the film. Kingsley’s role in the film can be seen the same as the other two actors. For this role, he is seen as a impersonator with a bit of interpretation as well. In this film, Kingsley’s acting is more realistic acting that it is stylized, as it is very difficult to tell if he is acting or if he is actually Itzhak Stern. Throughout the film, Kingsley constantly comes to Schindler’s aid in finding more Jews to bring out of the ghetto and camp and into freedom. One particular scene in which Kingsley plays his part very well is when he is creating a list of names to bring to the factory.

Focusing on Liam Neeson, his acting style as an actor in general, not necessarily in direct relation to this film is a wild card. According to the text, an actor who falls into the wild card category play such diverse roles that they are not able to fit into one specific category (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014). For instance, in Schindler’s List (1993), Neeson plays the part of a non-violent compassionate character that saves lives. In another movie that Neeson is in, Taken (2008), he plays the role of ex-CIA agent who infiltrates a human trafficking ring and saves his daughter. In this movie he plays the hero, but he is also violent and it is a complete switch from his character in Schindler’s List.

References

Bayer, A. [ankit bayer]. (2011, June 3). Schindler’s List: what is power. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5lQA3bipHc

Bayer, A. [ankit bayer]. (2011, June 3). Schindler’s List Ending Scene. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOoWpTxKJGA

Cauthen, S. (2013, March 1). Celebrate the 20 Year Anniversary of SCHINDLER’S LIST with Movie and Behind-the-Scenes Stills. [Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.screenslam.com/schindlers-list-20-year-anniversary-pictures-steven-spielberg/

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. (2014). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

GreatestMovieClips. (2012, June 18). Taken Phone Speech [HD]. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZOywn1qArI

Movieclips. (2011, June 1). The List is Life – Schindler’s List (7/9) Movie CLIP (1993) HD. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmyP-ljev68

Pixgood. (n.d.). Ralph Fiennes Liam Neeson Schindler’s List. [Photo]. Retrieved from http://pixgood.com/ralph-fiennes-liam-neeson-schindlers-list.html

Video on Demand. (2006). Liam Neeson. [Photo]. Retrieved from http://liam.neeson.szm.com/foto.html

Week 3 Blog Post – Sound

For this week’s blog post, I will be focusing on the different categories of sound found in Schindler’s List (1993).

Dialogue

Throughout the film, there are many different combinations of sounds that come together to create a certain mood or focus. The first basic category of sound, dialogue, or “characters talking to one another” is found throughout the film (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014). A good example of dialogue in the film can be found when Schindler is talking to Amon Goeth about power. In this scene, there is no other sounds than that of Goeth and Schindler speaking to one another.

(Bayer, 2011).

With the absence of all other sounds, other than the dialogue, it allows the audience to focus on the conversation that Goeth and Schindler are having. The focus on the conversation is important as it precludes to another important scene in the film where it seems as though Schindler’s discussion made an impact on Goeth. Without this dialogue, Goeth’s action in a later scene where he pardons a young jewish boy for not being able to clean his bathtub completely would seem random. Although, after he pardons to boy he moves to the balcony and shoots the boy as he makes his way back into the labor camp.

Sound Effects and Music

The second major category of sound is sound effects. Sound effects are typically used to denote action in a film, however, in many films sound effects carry meaning. In Schindler’s List (1993), most of the sound effects that are heard throughout the film are exactly what they are; gun shots are gun shots and machinery moving is the sounds of a piece of machinery.

The third major category of sound is music and is typically meaningful in any film as it adds to the mood of the film, and “as essential an element as lights and cameras” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014). Throughout Schindler’s List (1993), music plays a very important role in creating a certain mood for different scenes. In one particular scene, many jews start to come out of hiding in the ghetto and the Nazis find them and start killing them. But in this scene, there is no dialogue only the sound effects until the piano and shooting starts. Half way through the scene, there is a brief dialogue between two soldiers as they talk about the song being played on the piano.

(Movieclips, 2011)

The simple fact that while the Nazi soldiers are executing all of the jews that they find throughout the ghetto there is a piano being played shows how the Nazis felt about what they doing. As this scene plays through, the only sounds heard after the dialogue is gunshots and the piano. If the music was removed from this scene, it would change the meaning of the scene. The music being played on a piano during the raid on the ghetto shows that the Nazis didn’t see it as murder but more as eradicating pests. Without the piano and the shot of the soldier playing the piano it would not allow the audience to view the Nazis in such a savage way.

Sound, whether it is dialogue, sound effects, or music plays a specific role in film. The inclusion of sounds into specific scenes helps to set the mood or helps to provide meaning throughout the film.

References:

Bayer, A. [ankit bayer]. (2011, June 3). Schindler’s List: what is power. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5lQA3bipHc

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. (2014). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Movieclips. (2011, June 1). Schindler’s List (4/9) Movie CLIP – Bach or Mozart? (1993) HD. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yR0wlrq_h4

Week 2 Blog Post – Lighting

The goal of this week’s blog post is to focus on the lighting throughout the film Schindler’s List (1993).

The type of lighting, whether it is three-point, high-key, or low-key, varies throughout the film as the scenes change. It seems as though the most prevalent type of lighting used in the film is low-key lighting, used in film to provide “high-contrast lighting dominated by deep shadows with a few bright highlights” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014).

One of the scenes that stands out to me the most, is one of the first scenes in the film. After the first few scenes, Oskar Schindler is seen walking into a restaurant where he sits a table and watches Nazi officials at a table across the dance floor. As the camera focuses on his eyes, the lighting changes dramatically from what is seen from the wider shot before the shot of his eyes.

The particular shot mentioned happens during 0:30 and 0:50 of the clip.

In this scene, the lighting is used to accentuate the intimate feeling of the restaurant, but it also seems as though it is adding to Oskar Schindler’s attitude and bearing. The look on Schindler’s face and in his eyes leads the audience to believe that he is plotting, or planning, how to make his dream become a reality.

Overall, the low-key lighting throughout the film is meant to add to the dark reality of World War II. The benefits of this lighting though, comes in the form of creating a three-dimensional environment throughout the film. Since the film is black and white, using low-key lighting provides different grades of shadow, highlights, and darkness throughout every scene. By highlighting certain areas of a scene and darkening others, the cinematographer is able to create a focus in each scene for the audience.

This type of lighting also fits the sub-genre that this film falls into as well. This film is part of a biographical/historical drama category. By using the low-key lighting, it adds to the feel of the film as well. Even though the film was created in 1994, putting the film in black and white and using low-key lighting makes the film feel old.

If a different lighting technique had been used throughout the whole film, the effect would have been a lot different. If the lighting used in the more dramatic scenes of the film matched scenes such as when Oskar Schindler was walking with a Nazi official trying to save Itzhak Stern’s life, the emotions meant to be felt would have been different as well.

Oskar Schindler walking with a Nazi official as they are trying to locate Itzhak Stern on a train leaving for a concentration camp.

Overall, the low-key lighting is essential to the presentation of the film. Adding to the feel, emotions, and focus of the film, if the lighting were different the film would have not been the same.

References:

MOVIECLIPS. (Jun. 1, 2011). Schindler’s List (1/9) Movie CLIP – That’s Oskar Schindler (1993) HD. [Video File]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/BRZh_NO5tic

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. (2014). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Photo retrieved from Google Images – staticmass.net.

Week 1 Blog Post – Narrative & Storytelling

Title: Schindler’s List

Writers: Thomas Keneally and Steven Zaillian

Director: Steven Spielberg

Year: 1993

Actors: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, and Ben Kingsley

Story: Schindler’s List is a 1993 movie based on the life of a man named Oskar Schindler. During World War II, Schindler decides he wants to take advantage of the war-time economy and start a business. He employs Jewish workers, who at the time are being persecuted by the Nazi regime. Over the time period of the war, Schindler employs more than a thousand Jews and starts to have growing feelings towards them. His actions, taken throughout the film, saved the lives of many of Jews that worked in his factories.

Plot: The movie begins with Jews who lived in Poland, relocating to Krakow after the Polish army had been defeated, and registering with officials as they come off the train.

Then Oskar Schindler enters a restaurant and makes his way towards a table where he is able to see a pair Nazi officers sitting on the other side of the restaurant. He buys drinks for the officers, and invites them over to his table to continue their dinner. After some time in the restaurant, Schindler is sitting with a table full of Nazi officials and women, celebrating with them and making his name known.

Following his time at the restaurant, Schindler goes into Krakow to find a man names Itzhak Stern, who he informs that he wants to open a business that would make supplies for the German army. Schindler tells Stern that he needs the money to buy the business, and he needs to get it from the Jewish business owners. After some discussion with the Jewish business owners, Schindler is able to acquire the money that he needs to buy the business and hires Stern as his accountant.

After opening the business, Schindler has Stern go and find him Jews out of the ghetto to work in his factories. As time progresses Schindler continues to increase his reputation among officers throughout the German army by sending them gifts. Schindler soon starts developing his feelings for his Jewish workers, though not apparent to the German army, it becomes increasingly apparent among his workers.

When the German army liquidates the ghetto, Schindler approaches the officials about his workforce being harmed and demands to be compensated. With his workforce being sent to the Plaszow Concentration Camp, Schindler befriends the Nazi officer in charge of the camp Amon Goeth. When Schindler first meets Goeth, Goeth feels nothing but hatred for the Jews and Schindler slowly starts influencing him in his actions towards the Jews in his camp. As time moves on, Schindler’s feelings for not only his Jewish workers, but all the Jews begins to grow even more.

The German army, being forced to evacuate the camp and the area due to the advancing American forces, begins to move the Jews to death camps. Schindler then recognizes that he needs to do something if he is to save the lives of as many Jews as possible, even if it costs him the fortune that he earned producing supplies for the German army.

Schindler, after using his connections with German army officials, is able to bring hundreds of more Jews from labor camps to his factory and save them from being sent to death camps. Once the American forces defeated the German army, he announces to his workers that the German army surrendered and that he was now a criminal and had to flee. Near the end of the movie, Schindler breaks down crying before he enters his car to go, because he was not able to save more lives.

The movie comes to an end with all of the Jews still alive, putting rocks on Schindler’s grave site.

Chronology: The movie was in chronological order, which contributed to overall effect of the movie by showing everything that not only Schindler went through, but the Jews as well. By showing the progression of the war, as it happened in real life, the audience is able to see why Schindler made the decisions he made. With the movie happening in chronological order, it allowed the audience to grow feelings for Schindler and see him as a savior.

If this movie would have been told in a non-linear presentation, it would have ultimately detracted from the emotional impact of the ending. In addition to the ending, if the audience had no knowledge of the events of World War II, then the movie would have been confusing.

Resources:

Universal Movies. (2012, February 11). Schindler’s List – Trailer. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/_cH8w0Cl_-k.

Spielberg, S., Lustig, B., & Molen, G.R. (Producers), Spielberg, S. (Directors). (1993). Schindler’s List. [Motion picture]. United States: Universal Pictures.