The American Anti-Hero

Several historical factors influenced the rise of  the American Anti-Hero in cinema. After the end of World War II, America felt a need for a new type of hero. From this, the birth of the Anti-Hero had begun. For one, America wanted to see new kinds of heroes to represent the new, post-war America. They also wanted heroes to rebel, as if the American public themselves were rebelling. America also wanted human heroes, people that have faulty qualities because they are human, like the real heroes of America. Lastly, America wanted a hero to represent true American spirit, whether it be good, bad, or ugly.

First, America felt that after they had won World War II, they had become a new, restored country. They felt that they needed a new type of hero to represent that. After being a part of a new World War and the Cold War, America was put in  a state of paranoia, or unsettling. The reason that the Anti-Hero succeeded during these times was because "'People were relating to the hip non-hero who was not involved in world problems but devoting his time to overcoming his own personal problems'" This characteristic allowed this new kind of hero to be accepted in America and Hollywood films.

America was also becoming more rebellious. After enduring two wars, they were left with almost nothing, and weren't going to take anything from anybody. Advocating people's rights and freedom were related to by many Americans. Relating to this group of people meant that they would stress a stronger relation to the anti-hero who exerted being an individual more than any other.

Also, Americans wanted a human hero, with his flaws and capability of being an ordinary man, like anyone in the audience. The perfect and charming hero began to lose favor among Americans. Instead, they wanted someone like them, able to accomplish great tasks using their own human strength. Having an anti-hero like this would allow the audience to find the motivation to believe that they can achieve such great tasks as well. "The anti-hero is rarely happy in situations that please other men. He prefers conflict and struggle rather than comfort and certainty.” This contrasts the standard perfect hero, who would give everything of himself for the sake of others.

America wanted to have heroes that represent the spirit of America itself. "The anti-hero became a darker, edgier character, who was just as confused as the average American" The average American could easily relate to the Anti-Hero because of his edgy quality, which represented the spirit of America for "the country went askew from what was once a politically and dogmatically ironclad identity."

Intensified Continuity

The term of intensified continuity is the description of traditional continuity amped up and raised to a higher-pitch of emphasis.  Elements of intensified continuity vary greatly from traditional continuity. Bordwell suggests that continuity has intensified in Hollywood cinema because of technological innovations in film making. Techniques and innovations that lead to the creation of intensified continuity include changes in shot length, varying lens length, and framing and cinematography techniques.

Bordwell is saying that over the years, American films have begun to develop faster paces of editing in their films, compared to traditional films from the 1930's to 1960's. Back then, the average shot lengths of Hollywood feature were around 8-11 seconds. One would be commended for maintaining an ASL of 6 seconds or less. In modern Hollywood films however, films have hit up to 3000 shots and the ASL's have gotten surprisingly low. Some films averaged around a 2 second ASL. Bordwell asks, "Has rapid cutting therefore led to a 'post-classical' breakdown of spatial continuity?" This question suggests whether the rapid cutting can keep the viewer contained and understanding throughout the film. This can be true in some cases, where action sequences get cut too fast and one loses coherence. However, many film directors nowadays have adapted and developed spatially coherent forms of capturing fast-paced action sequences.

Traditional film makers would take a lens length they would deem suitable to rely on for certain shots of their movie. For example, if a traditional film maker wanted to rely heavily on close ups and long distance shots, they would choose a 100mm-500mm lens for the entire film. They would use shorter lenses if they wished to capture wide or full shots. What intensified Hollywood films' concept of continuity was how directors decided to "freely mix long-focus and wide-angle within a single film." Directors that adapted this technique pushed the limits of relying on only certain shots to create successful films. They adapted all types of shots incorporated with their varying lens sizes.

The third element highlighting the change to intensified continuity is the use of close framing in dialogue scenes. In traditional films, an actor was hired for their entire body. Close ups were frowned upon, for the audience believed they payed to see an entire person, not a part of them. Directors later realized that the full body shots didn't entirely capture the audience. This introduced the creation of medium-shots and close-ups. Bordwell stated “If a scene relies on rapidly cut singles, the filmmaker must find fresh ways to emphasize certain lines or facial reactions.” The use of long shots versus close ups depends on the director's perspective, but the simple fact that Hollywood has learned to accept both styles of filming supports the acceptance of intensified continuity in American mass-audience films today.

Advanced Editing Notes: 3. Soviet Montage and 4. Realism

3a. Pudovkin's concept of constructive editing was that each shot should have a new intention on purpose and point. He believed that juxtaposition of shots could form meaning between two shots. The individual shots themselves were not as constructive towards the meaning of the scene itself. He used close ups in a unified order to also help create meaning. Long shots were too close to reality, and montages of close ups, textures, symbols, and other selected details were most effective in expressing the film's idea.

3b. The Kuleshov effect shows that juxtapositions create emotion, not the performance of the actor themselves. He believed ideas are created by linking fragmentary ideas to make a fluid action. These ideas don't even have to be related in life. An example of this can be seen in Spielberg's movie, Schindler's List.   This film had been shot in black and white, but Spielberg intentionally colors a little girl dressed in red to be able to be spotted out in the midst of all the action of clearing the Jewish ghettos. We close in on the little girl and see her being carefree and skipping everywhere to symbolize innocence. However, the shots that follow consist of gruesome and horrid scenes. With this contrasting juxtaposition, an idea of sympathy or sorrow is heavily created. However, this example leans a bit more towards Eisenstein, who developed the Kuleshov effect into context within the scene.

3c.  Eisensteinian montage is an adaptation of the Kuleshov effect explained earlier. Eisenstein had taken this effect, and used it within elements of a scene, rather than shots unrelated in life. Eisenstein heavily believed life was about constant change and contrasting opposites. In Odessa Steps, the Eisensteinian montage was evident when we see a child falling down the steps as the army's advancing and taking innocent lives. 

4a. Bazin believed that what attracted an audience the most was the direct relationship of realism. His opinion was that editing and unorganized shots caused a scene to lose its effectiveness. Film could be much more simplistic and effective without editing and montages. Montages were only one of many techniques that filmmakers had at their disposal.

4b.  Realist filmmakers strive for a sense of simplicity, and disinterest in a forced approach to an idea. Instead, audiences are expected to gather their own opinion and form an idea based of what they are given within a scene. They believed the essence of reality relied in ambiguity, allowing the audience to develop an idea of their own.

4c. Realist filmmakers do not believe in juxtaposing shots, montages, or heavy editing. Instead, they make use of other techniques, such as, long shots, wide screen, lengthy takes, deep focus, panning, craning, tilting, or tracking. They did not cut to individual shots, for they believed this was too direct of an action to allow the audience to develop their own idea. Cutting was a technique more manipulative of the audience to force an idea into their heads.

Advanced Editing Notes- Overview/Classical Paradigm

1. There is varied camera work between the two pieces, "Arrival of a Train" and "Damsel in Distress". The "Arrival of a Train" is one long sequence shot, with practically no cuts or other shots at all. The camera is in place the entire film, not moving or panning or making any other camera movement. In "Damsel of Distress" however, the concept of camera angles are much more evident. This film utilizes different camera angles and perspectives. These help us develop ideas contributing to the narrative purpose of the film. For example, we look down on the damsel from a higher perspective to show her feeling of hopelessness and distress. However, when she realizes she can call her dog for help, we go into a close up to show delight and hope on her face.

2.  "Arrival of a Train" is heavy evidence of the realism editing style. This is a prolonged sequence edit, and all events happen within the scene. There is practically no real editing here. "Damsel in Distress" leans toward the classical editing style, with its use of cuts and parallel action. In "Damsel in Distress", for one, there are multiple shots that have been edited together. We'll be watching as the villain ties up the woman then hides behind a tree, then we cut to the tree to see his dastardly evil grin. This highlights the classical editing style by using selective shots and close ups to allow us to interpret the message that the filmmaker wants us to understand, rather than giving us a wide shot and allowing us to interpret our own message.

3. The story and narrative characteristics are both pretty straight forward. "Arrival of a Train" is practically one prolonged shot, giving a simple story, or telling of event. One can obviously infer that the train is arriving, and people begin to board and disembark. However, there is no real plot, like what "Damsel in Distress" offers. We are presented with a 3-act story, and with the help of parallel action, the story is told clearly and interpreted easily. Classical editing takes place here with the incorporation of parallel action to help tell a story. We see a girl chained to the train tracks, and then it cuts to a shot of the moving train. It's obvious to the viewer that the woman is about to be run over by the train, and she needs to call for help. From there, it's  evident that one can determine the courses of rising action, climax, and resolution. She whistles for her dog who calls for help, the dog goes to the train and signals for the break, the train stops, and the dog finds the criminal hiding in a tree.