The symbolism of placement

 

The placement of objects and characters in a scene is a subtle method that is used to reinforce the overall tone of a film. This is especially true in a film as rich in both symbology and visual elements as Dr. Parnasus.

   The characters in this scene reflect the overall content of the movie, in which Dr. Parnassus, representing higher ideals and enlightenment, converses with his nemesis Mr. Nick, who symbolizes willful ignorance and despair, the dark sides of human nature. Utilizing the rule of thirds, the protagonist is placed at the center of the frame with his rival directly beside and behind him, occupying the last third of the frame, symbolic of how the different aspects of human nature are simply opposite sides of the same coin. The characters are lit in quarter turn profile from the left, but whereas Dr. Parnassus entire body is visible, as expected in a long shot like this, Mr. Nick's facial features are the only part of him that are clearly discernible. The rest of him seems to blend with the darkness outside the frame, giving the impression that the surface appearance is only a small part of what he truly is. The camera angle is neutral, giving a glimpse of the character's at eye level. Both lighting and color reinforce the contrast between the characters. The lighting in the frame is fairly low key, but with high key spotlights on Dr. Parnassus, his clothes are likewise more brightly colored than that of his nemesis, who is not only dressed almost entirely in black, but cloaked in shadow. The image is composed of two depth plains with the main characters occupying the foreground, and a vast, forbidding landscape stretching off to a vast distance in the background , suggesting the vast potential of the human imagination for good or ill. And finally, the characters are perched on a cliff, overlooking the entire panorama below, symbolizing both the  movie title and main character's name - in Greek mythology, Mt. Parnassus was the peak where the Muses lived, anyone encountering them could find either enlightenment or despair.

Realism in Cinema

The central tenets of Bazin's theory of realism in cinema can perhaps best be summed up as the use all elements in a scene to create an emotional response in the audience. He was, in a sense, the antithesis of of the Soviet montage editors of the same time period. Soviet editors such as Eisenstein took the approach that each shot of a scene should be used as a piece of a puzzle, incomplete by itself, but contributing to the overall impression when viewed as a sequence.
Bazin, on the other hand, believed that excessive editing in a film gave an overly simplistic, one dimensional view of reality. In place of the fragmentary approach used by the formalists of the montage school, Bazin used methods that stressed the complex and continual interactions of all elements in a scene.
. In short, the approached used by the"realist" school tended to encourage more audience interpretation of the action in a film, whereas the montage school used editing to convey the director's impression of the action to the audience.
As a comparison between the two styles, contrast the the use of multiple scenes in the film "Potemkin" with the lengthy takes ( and very few scenes) of the film "Clerks". In the first film, many shots of short duration combine to give an overwhelming sense of confusion and chaos, even terror; in the second, fewer shots and extensive dialogue, are used to produce a sense of ordinariness that most people can relate to on some level.
An excellent synthesis of these two editing styles can be seen in the film "Raging Bull", where the scenes involving Jake LaMotta's personal life are shot in a realist, semi-documentary style, and the boxing scenes use numerous shots, camera angles and slow motion photography to show the chaotic action inside the boxing ring.The movie, shot in black and white, opens in 1964, with LaMotta working as a nightclub comedian, then flashes back to the start of his boxing career in 1941. LaMotta's private life, from his love - hate relationship with his brother, to his jealous obsession with his wife Vicki, to his fall from grace and coming to terms with his life is chronicled in a series of long, dialogue heavy scenes ; the viewer is able to follow the interaction of the characters in a way that allows him to relate to them. The scenes inside the ring , in contrast, are much shorter; close ups, medium shots and different angles bombard the viewer, conveying the speed and unpredictability of the action. This same  technique is at the heart of the "montage" school of editing. In this film, both techniques are used in conjunction, to give a sense of dramatic irony to the movie, as the audience becomes aware of what LaMotta does not, namely, that the intensity that makes him so formidable inside the ring is the source of most of his problems outside of it.
  I would gives this film a thumbs up for its artful blending of the realist and montage schools of directing, not to mention, it's a very watchable movie.
                                                                                                                                

Stillness in motion

Run Lola Run is a fast paced psychological thriller from director Tom Tykwer, dealing with the choices people make and their consequences.
Utilizing the same live action/ animation sequences seen in films such as “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” as well as the alternate endings of films like “Donnie Darko”, Run Lola Run centers on Lola’s desperate attempt to obtain money in time to save her boyfriend Manni from a ruthless business associate. The film is actually a series of three runs, each with a different end result not only for the main characters but also for the other characters in the film, whose lives take different courses as a result of her actions.
The movie uses the contrasts of fast paced movement interspersed with scenes of relative inaction to convey the underlying tension of the film; ironically, the most decisive moments of the film occur when Lola is standing still. When she is moving she is simply acting out the decision she has reached. Notable examples of this are the moment of decision when she must persuade her boyfriend to either not go through with a bank heist or choose to help him, or her actions on discovering her father's affair. Actually, the entire chain of events is set in motion at the beginning of the film by her decision to help her boyfriend obtain the money.
Movement in the film is also used to tell us something about the character herself. Through most of the film she runs from right to left. In psychological terms, this gives an impression of someone who, although unsure of what to do, is desperately determined to resolve the situation, and will do so going “against the grain”. When Lola is shown running towards the camera, it is mainly to reinforce the overall theme of a race against the clock. The in depth motion seems to drag out the time frame of the run, giving a sense of time running out, a conviction reinforced by close -up shots of the character's eyes focussed on a distant, seemingly unobtainable goal. This impression is enhanced by intercutting close up in depth camera shots with longer lateral ones to give the audience a sense of how far the character has to go to reach her goal.
Tom Tykwer’s portrayal of an average person caught up in a desperate situation, with all the action taking place in a span of twenty minutes, is reminiscent of a faster paced Hitchcock thriller.