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Post by skittles4me on Apr 6, 2011 12:38:42 GMT -5
I'm reading a book called Understanding Movies (11th edition, 2008) by Louis Giannetti. In the Preface he states "...The average American watches about 8.2 hours of television per day... for the most part, we watch them uncritically, passively, allowing them to wash over us, rarely analyzing how they work on us,....The following chapters may be of use in understanding how television and movies communicate, ...My purpose is not to teach viewers how to respond to moving images, but to suggest some of the reasons people respond as they do."Chapter 2 is about Mise en Scene, defined as “How the visual materials are staged, framed, and photographed” which includes design. This picture is used as an example: romanticallylinkedA Sound of Thunder (USA 2005), with Catherine McCormack and Edward Burns, directed by Peter Hyams. Giannetti states “Parallelism is a common principal of design, implying similarity, unity, and mutual reinforcement. The composition of the shot from A Sound of Thunder links the characters romantically. They’re placed in parallel positions with similar gestures. Both are leaning against chairs at a table, both with bemused expressions. The shot might almost be titled Made for Each Other…..” Here is a Goren and Eames parallelisms slideshow: parallelpositionssneak peek (I am NOT a film, TV or theatre student. I am just reading this book because I find it interesting. These interpretations are my own opinion.)
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Post by Patcat on Apr 6, 2011 13:22:54 GMT -5
I wonder if Ms. Erbe and Mr. D'Onofrio plan these sorts of moves? Or if this has started because they've become so familiar with each other?
Patcat
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Post by skittles4me on Apr 6, 2011 17:01:57 GMT -5
I think they are planned by the actors or directors. Some are from early years before they had worked together for very long. Also, there are too many to be coincidental. IMO the parallelisms are part of the staged design.
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Post by jeffan on Apr 7, 2011 6:34:51 GMT -5
First, good slide-show Skittles. Your new-found prowess with photobucket certainly gives leverage to your pet projects!
Secondly, who has time and even the inclination to watch television for over eight hours a day!?
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Post by skittles4me on Apr 7, 2011 8:27:45 GMT -5
Thanks Jeffan. I'm working on a "cowboy" collection next. 8 hours.... yes, that number seems awfully high to me too! Scary! Even when I don't feel well I can't watch THAT much!!! Thanks for the well-wishes. It could be worse- I'm just a bit uncomfortable and extra-tired. I'm such a baby! LOL
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Post by jeffan on Apr 7, 2011 8:32:51 GMT -5
LOL Skittles - looking forward to the "cowboy stance" slideshow. I even saw it in the promos.
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Post by skittles4me on Apr 8, 2011 18:12:52 GMT -5
I added a new parallel pic to the collection! click to enlarge:
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Post by idget on Apr 8, 2011 20:48:08 GMT -5
Fascinating subject Skittles. It reminds me of a Nova I saw with Alan Alda, I think it was about what makes a human different than any other species. Anyway he was talking with someone who ran experiments about this parallel behavior, that when 2 people interact one person will subconsciously mimic the other's behavior. If one person is sitting with their legs crossed that the other person soon will be too. The experiment shows that if one person goes out of his way to do the opposite of the other person that the other person will become extremely uncomfortable and try to end the contact as soon as possible.
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Post by skittles4me on Apr 12, 2011 12:16:56 GMT -5
Yes Idget! (Nova- always so interesting!) I've read about mimicking behavior. As I understand it, it occurs between two people who like/respect each other. We have all heard the old saying "Imitation is the highest form of flattery". I really don't know how much a director guides the actors positions, but when they block a scene, they tell the actors where to sit or stand and how close or far away from each other. Also, they don't just run through a scene one time. I'm sure they rehearse each scene several times so if an actor is in a position (arms crossed, head tilted) and the director doesn't like it, they would be told to change it. Continuing the parallelism discussion from above, the movie book also states "Symmetrical parallelism is rarely found in nature: Usually the parallel elements betray a human hand...." as well as "Actors in every medium (except radio) must be conscious of body language and what it reveals about character." So I think that if some of the positions start out unplanned, they end up in the final cut because they work for Goren and Eames. This picture is from "Bedfellows". Eames and Charlene are in a symmetrical position while Goren is talking about how Lena's plan had a "symmetry" to it. Help! Anyone remember a specific scene in which Goren is straddling a chair?
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Post by maherjunkie on Apr 12, 2011 13:03:40 GMT -5
If you're a veteran viewer you will be thinking of an African bees comment. Not absolute on ep.
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Post by skittles4me on Apr 13, 2011 18:06:42 GMT -5
I like to think of myself as a veteran viewer, but I admit you got me here! To what African bees scene are you referring? There is a straddle involved?
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Post by skittles4me on Apr 15, 2011 18:42:58 GMT -5
All-righty folks. Here is another pattern of sorts! Quoting Jeffan from the “Distressed Tells” thread:"Some examples (Of Goren in a “Cowboy Stance”): standing at full height (specifically in the corner, back to the wall of the interrogation room so no-one can bush-wack him from behind), legs spread (taking up more space and typical cowboy’s stance ready for the draw), straddling a chair (speaks for itself), ( icon used with Untapdtreasure's permission) head tilt body bend (unnerve the baddie in preparation for the “kill”), swaggeringstrutting (speaks for itself). These are all stereotypical “cowboy” postures easily recognisable in westerns and, hence, The Cowboy Stance is the term used in body language jargon. Apparently they are also techniques used in television shows to give the central character (male) additional prominence and which female viewers more readily pick up on rather than men! ...These are just a few examples off the top-of-my head and you’ll probably identify more - but you get my drift pardner!" More: click to enlarge Quoting Jeffan again: "If you find an example of Eames emulating Goren’s “cowboy” stance, then you would make me laugh again (in the nicest possible way)!" and this:
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Post by jeffan on Apr 15, 2011 19:09:16 GMT -5
LOL Skittles - brilliant. I laughed from beginning to end. The pic of Eames and Goren is a great find - well done you! There is another reference to the “wild west” that’s actually in the script…
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Post by outerbankschick on Apr 15, 2011 20:23:00 GMT -5
I like to think of myself as a veteran viewer, but I admit you got me here! To what African bees scene are you referring? There is a straddle involved? It's from the S3 epi Gemini. Goren is talking to a high school biology teacher about aggressive mimicry and cites an instance of one species of bee invading the hive of another by mimicking those bees, and then taking over the hive...
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Post by outerbankschick on Apr 15, 2011 20:28:15 GMT -5
These caps aren't really parallelism, I don't think - more like Goren's unique little brand of mimicry which always makes me think he has fun mocking people when they don't "get it". Mad Hops (S3) Best Defense (S2)
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