322D-Assign-1-Sp24-Kurosawa-5
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The University of Texas at Austin
RTF 322D — History of Film 1960 to the Present — Spring 2024
Writing Assignment #1
Check My Work by Doing a Neoformalist Analysis of a film directed by Akira Kurosawa
•WEIGHT = 40 points of your final grade total of 275 points
(roughly 14.5% of final grade)
•DEADLINE: Thursday, February 29, 10PM uploaded to Canvas
Write a brief descriptive and analytical essay of about 500-750 words on one film of the films directed by Akira Kurosawa available for free on the University Library’s streaming service, Kanopy. Use the Neoformalist method to check my analysis of Kurosawa’s
poetics. Illustrate your points with several still frame captures from the film (at least 3 images, but 4, 5 or 6 would be even better).
SPECIFICS
1.
Begin by going to Kanopy at the UT Library site
: https://utexas.kanopy.com/
You will be asked to log in to the UT Library video streaming service.
2.
Enter “Akira Kurosawa” in the search window.
You will see a list of several films directed by Kurosawa that are available. You’ve already seen Rashomon
, so focus on the following films
which are available through the UT Library:
The Seven Samurai
(1954),
Ikiru
(1952), Yojimbo
(1961), The Hidden Fortress
(1959), Throne of Blood
(1957), and High and Low
(1963).
Some information on them to help you choose.
All of Kurosawa’s films are worth watching
. In general, my favorite Kurosawa films are the ones that George Lucas mentioned and a couple more:
The Seven Samurai
(1954), Ikiru
(1952), The Hidden Fortress
(1959), Yojimbo
(1961), High and Low
(1963), and Throne of Blood
(1957).
The Seven Samurai
(1954) is one of the greatest films ever made
and certainly worth a watch. It’s long—it runs 3 ½ hours, but in my opinion, it’s worth it. It’s ranked #17 in the British Film Institute’s Top Films of all time poll. It’s #19 on the IMDb ranking of the 250 best films
of all time.
The Hidden Fortress
(1959) may be the most entertaining film Kurosawa ever made. It’s a fun and often funny adventure, with a great performance by Toshiro Mifune, and a strong central female character, the Princess. Its mix of action, adventure, comedy, and drama is very similar to Star Wars IV. If you’re a Star Wars
fan, it’s required viewing, so consider trying this one first. Even if you’re not big on Star Wars
, The Hidden Fortress
is a lot of fun.
Another famous Samurai film directed by Kurosawa is Yojimbo (1961), starring Toshiro Mifune. Yojimbo
was remade as a “Spaghetti Western” by Sergio Leone called A Fistful of Dollars
. It is highly regarded by critics and is highly ranked by viewers at IMDb (
Yojimbo is rated 8.3 out of 10 and ranked 113 in IMDb’s Top 250.)
Ikiru
(1952) is drama set in contemporary Japan and is the story of a government bureaucrat who is told he has stomach cancer and has only months to live. Ikiru
means “to live” and the film is an examination of what life is and what it could be if you have a worthwhile goal. One of the film’s most interesting elements is its dramatic structure. It follows a fairly typical 3-act structure, but right after Plot Point 2, the protagonist dies. Act III then concludes the dying man’s story in the third person, from other characters’ points of view. Why did Kurosawa structure the plot that way? And what does it add to the story? Again, very highly rated: #100 in the IMDb best 250, many other
high rankings on numerous prestigious lists, and film critic Roger Ebert called it Kurosawa’s greatest film. Throne of Blood
(1957) is Kurosawa’s version of Macbeth
. It, too, is excellent, and it’s fun to see how he interprets Shakespeare. It’s often astonishing but remember—it’s a tragedy. High and Low
(1963) is a wide screen thriller that takes place in contemporary Japan. It is about a wealthy executive of a large company (Toshiro Mifune) who gets a phone call that his son has been kidnapped and demanding a ransom. It turns out that the kidnappers took the executive’s chauffeur’s son by mistake. But the kidnappers still demand the ransom money. This film is a favorite of Godfather
director Francis Ford Coppola.
All these films are worth watching, and because of that, I’d recommend
beginning early and sampling several of these to make your choice. 3. After you’ve picked your film, watch and enjoy.
To perform a thorough analysis, you’ll need to watch it more than once, and you’ll 2
need to take detailed notes
of the elements of the director’s style as
you watch. Also note the timing, so you can come back if you want to make frame grabs from a certain scene.
What you’re looking for are the director’s prominent stylistic elements. From the list I discussed in lecture, choose three
formal elements that stand out and that you want to focus on.
You’ve seen me use the Neoformalist method in lecture. I look for patterns
in the director’s cinematic storytelling. How does this director, I’m asking, make use of each particular element? For example, remember I said that Kurosawa tends to use the faraway look
when characters are contemplative, confused, or perplexed.
In general, the sorts of things to look for using the Neoformalist method are the ones you’ve seen me focus on in lecture. Things like:
•Type of shot:
LS, MS, CU
•Camera angles:
eye-level, low angle, high angle, overhead shots
•Composition-in-depth: staging a shot using depth in the frame: foreground, middle ground, and background; Kurosawa’s use of long lenses to compress space along the
z-axis
•Camera movement:
pans, tilts, tracking shots, static camera
•Editing
•Subject position, movement: how the character or non-
human subject of the frame is situated and moved within that frame
•Mise-en-scène: everything placed in the frame for the viewer to see, so things like framing, costume, make-up, lighting, set decoration, etc.
•Shot length:
short shots, long takes
•
Dramatic structure:
Kurosawa is considered the most “Western” of Japanese directors, and his films generally utilize the 3-
act structure. Again, the way he plays with the third act of Ikiru
is fascinating.
More specifically, when I did a Neoformalist analysis on the films of Akira Kurosawa, I came up with the following list of his poetics (elements of style), which I shared in lecture:
1. Frame-within-the-frame compositions
2. Weather — uses weather (fog, rain, wind, etc.) as an important visual element
3. Composition-in-depth — a composition with visual information in foreground, middle ground, and background
3
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4. Deep Focus
— objects in sharp focus from foreground to middle ground to background
5. Foregrounding — placing objects in the foreground to accentuate depth
6. Centered compositions — placing characters in the center of the frame “locks” the viewer’s attention; signals power, dominance, and importance
7. The Faraway Look — Kurosawa’s characters are often pensive, contemplative, lost in thought
8. The 90º two-shot — a shot unique to Kurosawa; it is also a kind of combination of a two-shot and the shot/reverse shot
3. Pick three of Kurosawa’s poetic elements that I listed and discussed in lecture. What I want you to do is to go through the process of close reading—careful shot-by-shot analysis—which is the basic method of Neoformalist analysis. In this essay, you will do that by checking my work.
See if the stylistic techniques I mentioned in lecture are there and if they work the way I said they did.
As you check my work, ask: Which stylistic elements are present? How do they work? Do they work as I said in lecture? Do they suggest
anything else than what I mentioned in lecture? Are some elements on
my list present and some absent?
Only discuss three elements for this assignment
.
4. Organize and present your findings in a five-paragraph essay, with each paragraph around 100 to 150 words in length:
A.
Introduction (one paragraph): Name which film you analyzed. Give a general overview of the film you analyzed and name the three stylistic elements you focused on. That is,
just a brief sentence or two about the director, then go on to introduce the film, and the three techniques you picked. For instance:
“Akira Kurosawa is one of the masters of classical Japanese cinema. The Kurosawa film that I have chosen to analyze is The Seven Samurai
(1954), his best known and most
honored movie. I will focus on three of his techniques: centered framing, frame within the frame compositions, and the 90º two-shot. I am looking to see if these techniques are present and if they function the way Professor Ramirez Berg said they did in lecture.”
B. Body — 3 paragraphs total, one for each stylistic element, in the same order you presented them in the introduction
4
For each paragraph, describe the element in detail, and use one or more frame captures to illustrate it. (Probably 100-150 words per paragraph.)
Tell how and when the director used each element. For example: “Kurosawa tended to use the frame-within-the-frame
composition to emphasize characters in exterior scenes.” What you’re looking for is whether the pattern of technique usage that I described in lecture is present and if it functions the way I said it did. If so, describe and explain. If not, just say that. Something like, “I didn’t find very many examples of Kurosawa’s 90º two-shot in The Seven Samurai
.” Or, “I only found three 90º two-shots in Yojimbo
.” Then discuss how they functioned in the film.
Remember to connect the stills you use to the text, and the text to the stills.
The stills are your evidence, so refer to your stills in the text to make your case. Do that by using Figure numbers in the text. For example: “Fig.1— This shot of the head samurai and his assistant is a good example of Kurosawa’s 90º two-shot.”
Be sure to write captions for each of your stills.
Each caption should have a figure number (Figure 1, or Fig. 1, etc.), and a complete sentence
or two telling the reader what to look for in the still.
As I said above, link text with stills
.
Depending on the film grab software you use, you may not be able to make a copy. That’s because recently Kanopy blocked that. If that happens, make the grab with your iPhone. It won’t be ideal, but just try to do the best job you can. We won’t take points off for that, don’t worry.
Here’s one I took. Not perfect, I know, but would be
acceptable. Like I say, just do the best job you can to illustrate the point you are making. Microsoft Word has
editing tools under “Picture Format” that I used, and most other writing software does too.
5
C. Conclusion (one paragraph):
Your conclusion about what you found after you checked my work.
Conclude by giving a verdict on my analysis. Answer these questions:
a)
Were the techniques I listed present in the film you analyzed?
b)
Did the techniques function as I said they did? If so, say so. For instance:
“In The Hidden Fortress
, Kurosawa combined weather to add movement and visual texture, frame-within-the-frame compositions to direct the viewer’s eye, and centering to emphasize the power and dominance of the centered character. These techniques functioned as Professor Ramirez Berg described in lecture.”
And if not, say why not. For example:
“Kurosawa’s use of frame-within-the-frame compositions did not always indicate the central point of interest in the frame. For instance, in Fig. 1, the freed slave in The Hidden Fortress
, a
minor character, is framed by a doorway, but the main point of
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the shot is not her but rather Princess who is entering at the far-right edge of the frame
.
”
LAST WORD – This is NOT
a library research paper. I am not asking you to find books and articles that analyze Kurosawa. No “Works Cited”
is necessary. DO NOT
refer to any other analyses of Kurosawa’s films other than my lectures. Finally, don’t AI.
This is an exercise in you determining a director’s style by a close reading of that director’s films. It requires a careful reading of film style and analysis of Kurosawa’s use and development of film language. This essay should be your response to the film you choose. Limit yourself to the film and your lecture notes.
FORMAT: 12 pt.
, plain font — Courier, Helvetica, Optima, Ariel,
or Times; double-spaced
; regular margins. Name + EID on first page.
WEIGHT = 14.5% of Final Grade (= 40 points out of the semester possible total of 275 points)
DEADLINE: Thursday, February 29, 10PM uploaded to Canvas
7