The Experience of Close-Up Faces

The article from Balazs-Sichtbare Mensch gave me a lot to chew on in terms of film's function as a newer art form. The birth of film art is unlike any other art form, since it developed out of capitalism. This seems to be the case as the article points out because movies are an expensive art form, and they have always been financed in order to usually break even or generate profit. The article says that this is probably largely why the U.S. dominated the film production industry from the get-go, rather than say, Paris, France. The basis of the new form of film language is the cinematographic camera, which is capable of constantly changing viewpoints, photographing locations and scenarios in "real time" speed that a viewer would never anyways be able to experience on their own. However the camera can also focus on details, and direct the audience's attention based on where it's "placed". Obviously there's more to film production than simply tossing a camera around in a particular sequence, since editing is the key of holding the sectional shots together. Film editing is an art form all onto its own, and this is usually what becomes meant when phrases are thrown about as though the camera is doing all of the work. But with that aside,It discussed how facial expressions are the most subjective manifestation of a man. It's apparently more so than speech even, since expressions are far more universal than vocabular, grammar, and language. It can express sadness, joy, or a thousand indescribable words. So the close-ups serve as a great tool for letting you see your characters intimately and more personally than you probably would with a wider angle. The article goes on to suggest that close-ups even express a director's sensibility. It puts the viewer into the film, as though they're seeing through the character's eyes and experiencing what they're feeling. Along these lines, it gets into the idea of dualism between spectator and work of art. Since Joan of Arc and Persona both exemplify a lot of unique cinematography with close-ups and an emphasis on he face of characters, it attempts to put the viewers in their mindset, which is effective primarily because of the acting talents and facial expressions they have. This could mean that the viewer in film has an active role after all-- they "contribute an association of ideas, consciousness, and imagination that the film public first had to be educated with". It's a Freudian concept, and an interesting one to ponder about since the argument is sometimes made that visual stimulation (in the general sense) is mindless.