The Visual Re-Creation of Orpheus
Jean Cocteau’s film Orpheus (1949) is an adaptation of the Greek mythological
figure of the same name. The alteration of the story into the visual medium of cinema is
an interesting one. The use of cinematography in the film is creative, and it incorporates
the essence of the myth with Cocteau’s own allegorical imagery. The symbolism of
characters and events accompanied by the use of visual effects create a message that is
uniquely significant.
The special effects are the primary contributor to the distinctive features of
Cocteau’s revision of the literary version. The devices that are incorporated in Orpheus,
such as running the film backwards (the inversion of time) and using the photographic
negative in some environments (inversion of space), function in numerous ways. On the
surface, they add a mystique to the diegetic world that connotes the supernatural and
uncanny nature of the narrative. In a more subtle way, however, they function
psychologically to expose the viewer to the functions and subordinate machinations of
the visual medium. In a way that is unique to the cinema, the special effects disrupt the
pleasant continuity of the viewer. This disjunction is inherent in the ethereal nature of
their circumstances and concomitant with its mythic origin.
The psychological fraction of cinema is the specialty of Jean-Louis Baudry in
Ideological Effects of the Basic Cinematographic Apparatus. He champions the idea that
in order for the ideological infrastructure of a film to be successful, it must abide by
certain filmic rules and not remind the viewer that they are simply witness to a
representation (rather than a presentation, or a reality). The moral of the Orphic myth,
“Don’t look back,” seems to be a historical analog of Baudry’s thesis. The warning itself
applies to both Orpheus and the viewer of the film (“Don’t look at Eurydice”, and “Don’t
look at the apparatus”). In this respect, the message of the Orphic myth is similarly the
message of Cocteau, from a cinematic standpoint. Thus, it is the particular circumstances
of the cinematic medium that multiply the efficacy of Orpheus.
For proof of Cocteau’s intention in creating this meaning, his previous film with
actor Jean Marais serves as the best example. Beauty and the Beast (1946) begins with a
note to the viewer to remain focused on the “Once Upon a Time” mentality while
watching the movie. This preface is another example of the intentional shift of focus
away from the awareness of representation and towards a passive viewing experience.
Later in the film, a mirror speaks to the protagonist: “I am your mirror, Belle.
The intermix of a great literary work into a modern production is not a new concept, but the use of digital enhancement to carry a theme was unheard of prior to the making of this film. Both Director of Photography Roger Deakens, and Business Development Director Sarah Priestnall from Kodak, helped to explain that the digital process used is the modification of the film at the pixel level, in which the film is digitized frame by frame and each frame is color matched to allow for manipulation. The mastering process was done in the film developing...
Films are designed for numerous purposes, some entertain, frighten, enlighten, educate, inspire, and most make us think about the world we live in. This paper will be focused on the cinematic interpretation of the film "Stepping Razor Red X", the Peter Tosh Story. The makers of a film from the writer, director, cinematographer and the art director, design, and conceptualize what they want the viewer to see.
For example, the documentary ‘The Snake Wrangler’ shows the use of these techniques to appeal and engage the audience. The Snake Wrangler wasn’t constructed to entertain the audience but to rather convey a certain message to them. Philip Rosen shows what happens when we don’t use this method, using the earliest actuality films to make this point. In their making, the camera was simply set down and pointed in such a way as to film whatever was in front of it, at the moment when it was operated. It recorded fragments selected from the space and time continuum of the real world, such as the onrush of workers from the Lumière Factory. The projector then presented what the camera had registered and the significance of those shots lay in their photographic credibility: they seemed to show fragments of reality to the audience. This however didn’t allow the filmmaker with the opportunity to fill the text with meaning: in the instance, we found very little about the Lumière workers, other than that they are leaving the factory. Therefore, to give greater depth to these silent actuality films cinematic art is significant. The definition has stood the test of time because it allows for all manner of producer intervention. Yet it is also constantly challenged and always surrounded by controversies, for it prompts questions such as how much and what sort of actuality might remain after the creative
So far, the viewer has been presented with an unnerving sequence of events in Don’t Look Now, and the style of the film helps to project certain emotions onto the audience. We are not able to skip a paragraph or close the book – we have to watch what the characters are watching and only what the director wants us to see. At the same time, we know this is only a movie and is not a depiction of reality. And the projections create yet another alternate reality within the movie. However, the audience can still interact with the medium, because we can turn it off or look away if we find an image too disturbing. But this movie seems to be about gradual build-up, and, as the father said, nothing is what it seems.
In this 21st century, we can definitely say that Cinema has become one of the important and largest facets of our socio-cultural dynamic. For the type of visual communications that we have today, it has turned out to be the most efficient media.
“of exhibitionist confrontation rather than absorption,” (Gunning, Tom 2000 p 232) as Gunning suggests the spectator is asking for an escape that is censored and delivered with a controlled element of movement and audiovisual. Gunning believes that the audience had a different relationship with film before 1906. (Gunning, Tom 2000 p 229)
In final analysis, the motion picture is the one that goes deeper inside the spectator’s mind. The other mediums such as still picture and theatrical play also provide the visual and aural elements for the spectator, yet they seem to be inferior to the motion picture in that they lack the reality, affinity, and creativity in terms of use of time and space. The levels of emotions such as attention, memory, imagination, emotion, and unity, which were introduced by Munsterberg, indicates how the spectator perceives the elements of the film and ends up with it.
...successful collaboration of sound, colour, camera positioning and lighting are instrumental in portraying these themes. The techniques used heighten the suspense, drama and mood of each scene and enhance the film in order to convey to the spectator the intended messages.
As time and people are continually changing, so is knowledge and information; and in the film industry there are inevitable technological advances necessary to keep the attraction of the public. It is through graphic effects, sounds and visual recordings that all individuals see how we have evolved to present day digital technology; and it is because of the efforts and ideas of the first and latest great innovators of the twentieth century that we have advanced in film and computers.
“The biggest mistake we have made is to consider that films are primarily a form of entertainment. The film is the greatest medium since the invention of movable type for exchanging ideas and information, and it is no more at its best in light entertainment than literature is at its best in the light novel.” - Orson Welles
made in. Some incorporate them into the plot, some use them as allegories, and some satirize them.” Without an influence or connection to relate with the audience, the film would have no dimension. When seeing a movie, viewers are always going to search for an underlying meaning or message that could connect to their lives today. Although most
Scholars know Greek mythology as a collection of tales regarding gods and heroes alike, detailing specifically the interactions between human beings and gods and the interactions of the gods themselves. Supernatural phenomena at the hands of the gods became the human explanation for natural events, such as lightning, the changing of seasons, etc. While some critics and literary historians view the role of human beings in Greek mythology as that of simply pawns in the gods’ design, there are others still that argue on the side of humanity’s importance in the myths, giving them more dignity and their roles more purpose. Humans often were used as a control or contrast for the power and might of the gods. Those familiar with the myth of Orpheus, for example, may question whether he was simply a foil, simply a tool used by the gods, constructed simply to show the power of the gods and death, the foolishness of man, or if his paradigm was meant to glorify his kind.
Rodman, Howard. “What a Screenplay Isn’t.” Cinema Journal, [Online]. 45.2. Winter 2006.86-89.Available at http://www.jstor.org [Accessed 02 April 2012.
The characters in the movie, Black Orpheus, are significantly altered from the Greek myth. In the myth, Orpheus and Eurydice are together from the beginning and are completely in love. Everyone is happy for their love and the only thing that stands in their way is death. In the movie, however, this is notably changed. Orpheus begins as a streetcar conductor that was engaged to Mira, giving the idea that Orpheus was in love with another woman. We quickly see that this is not the case as Orpheus is always very curt and rude with his fiancée. They are slated to get married, but there is an eerie feeling in the air that something is about to go wrong.
It was concluded that in Classical Hollywood Cinema the narrative followed a clear and discernable structure with a distinct beginning, middle and end. Although this type of narrative did have some restrictions it still encompassed the psychology of characters and their objectives, and the inevitable conflict meant to hold the attention of the audience. Continuity editing added to the audiences’ enjoyment of the film and coupled with the attraction of the Hollywood star system they formed a type of cinema that would astonish and capture the rest of the world.