Shaoyi Wang Short Paper MEDST240 Prof. Stuart Liebman The analysis on "Toni" Although the story time in "Toni" are much longer than the process of getting a chubby fish in "The White Balloon", it does not obstruct the film of being "realistic". Unlike what I supposed, realist films does not necessarily have to be as close as real events. Even though lots of realist films are shot in the documentary-like style, they're still stylized and fictional. Therefore, neither of the real-time arrangement and the contents of reality itself is not the definition of this genre type. "Toni" can be differentiated as realist film by several elements. Basic Structure Obviously, the major structure in "Toni" can be referred to a circle. It begins and ends in the similar scene, which is represented to be the initiation of the event as well as its terminal. The opening sequence in "Toni" was a series of the landscape view, and it reveals the gaze upon the following events. Through the stable window on a motive train, we were involved into where the stories would take place. Later on, when the train passed by, we heard two workers talking about the new comers in the train. The director actually arranged this conversation in order to achieve the symmetry between the opening and the ending scene. The new comers from previous year will think and act as natives in front of the new comers of present year (doesn't it sound like what's happening in NYC?), and such a process will roll on until somewhere in future that we won't be able to find out in the film and we don't need to worry about. I consider the ending in "Toni" as a closed one as well as a open-ending. Basically, it closed tight about the major story of the film, but it expanded the possibility of another story by the use of repeating the opening sequence in the end. However, no matter what function that "Toni" achieves, the reason we consider its main structure as realist film's is it remains to be a complete shape. It has the representation of the complete sequence of a complete story. Camera Movement According to its loyalty towards the representation of reality, the camera movement in realist film are generally smooth and basically in the serving of plot or the emotion of characters. Therefore, there won't be too much complex or compound camera movements in realist films. In "Toni", following shot, tracking shot and several panning almost control all of the camera movements. The following shot in the opening and ending sequence were almost like documentary. It allowed the walking people passing by the camera, while simply following them to the village. However, when Toni first talked to his friend about his love to Josefa, we see the bird's view of a mine, then we see Toni and his friend standing on the top of the mountain in foreground while others working down in the valley in the further background. After the talking, camera tracked in a little bit so we could see the bird's view of the mine again. At that moment, Toni was proud and confident, because he thought Josefa was in love with him and he could definitely marry her. Later on, when Josefa chose to marry Albert, we see Toni talking to his friend again at the mine. This time, we see the mine from the bottom and the camera tilting up till the half, where Toni and his friend works on. The simple but humanized camera movements sequence reveal the specific motion and situation of the characters in realist films. Mise-en-scene To any realist film, mise-en-scene may be the most important element above all the others, because the glamour of such type of film is to expand the motivated plot in a several still locations. For instance, the function mise-en-scene in "Toni" covered almost the whole film, either in the natural environment or the social environment. In "Toni", the trees and plants were always gather around the characters, and they made the set visually narrow and restricted. In the beginning of the film, when Toni helped Josefa to treat the poison on her back, they sat behind the large bush. It did not only block the view of their neighbors, but also our possibility of knowing if there will be any trouble around. On the other hand it also let us focus on their love affair, instead of the outside landscape. By the effect of setting, the lighting in "Toni" also restricted. There was a extremely tall tree in front of Marie's house, we would see people talking and standing in the vivid shadow. It strongly emphasized the criminal content of "Toni". Characters The characters in "Toni" are like typical, and this is the major one of the general characteristics of realist films. The story in realist films are always represented as linear and restricted, thus, the characters have to vivid and typical, in order to make up for the weakness and limits of other elements. The protagonist in "Toni", Toni himself, was from a super lower class. He was looking for a job when he first arrived the small town in the beginning of the film, and it pointed out that he was even lower than the working class. Moreover, Toni was an outsider. He came from a different country, and the conversation between two workers had already reveals how strong the exclusion was. "Toni", as many other realist films, gathers around several typical characters from different classes or different racial communities in a militarily temporal and spatial location to display and explore the larger social function. According to what David Bordwell mentioned in his articles, when we first watch a movie, we should take it as a whole, later, we break everything down to elements and pieces, but this is not the aim. After anglicizing all the elements, we need to build them back to one complete film, because each element can not stand by itself, and they have to serve the movie all together. As one of the successful realist art work, "Toni" by Jean Renoir combines different elements to depict a larger social and historical picture other the film itself. I personally consider that it successes for representing the typical situation of a single person as a whole, so it can represent the specific social class in order to either expose or criticize the social phenomenon, and this is also the strongest spirit from the realist films.
Short Paper
MEDST240
Prof. Stuart Liebman
The analysis on "Toni"
Although the story time in "Toni" are much longer than the process of getting a chubby fish in "The White Balloon", it does not obstruct the film of being "realistic". Unlike what I supposed, realist films does not necessarily have to be as close as real events. Even though lots of realist films are shot in the documentary-like style, they're still stylized and fictional. Therefore, neither of the real-time arrangement and the contents of reality itself is not the definition of this genre type. "Toni" can be differentiated as realist film by several elements.
Basic Structure
Obviously, the major structure in "Toni" can be referred to a circle. It begins and ends in the similar scene, which is represented to be the initiation of the event as well as its terminal. The opening sequence in "Toni" was a series of the landscape view, and it reveals the gaze upon the following events.
Through the stable window on a motive train, we were involved into where the stories would take place. Later on, when the train passed by, we heard two workers talking about the new comers in the train. The director actually arranged this conversation in order to achieve the symmetry between the opening and the ending scene. The new comers from previous year will think and act as natives in front of the new comers of present year (doesn't it sound like what's happening in NYC?), and such a process will roll on until somewhere in future that we won't be able to find out in the film and we don't need to worry about. I consider the ending in "Toni" as a closed one as well as a open-ending. Basically, it closed tight about the major story of the film, but it expanded the possibility of another story by the use of repeating the opening sequence in the end. However, no matter what function that "Toni" achieves, the reason we consider its main structure as realist film's is it remains to be a complete shape. It has the representation of the complete sequence of a complete story.
Camera Movement
According to its loyalty towards the representation of reality, the camera movement in realist film are generally smooth and basically in the serving of plot or the emotion of characters. Therefore, there won't be too much complex or compound camera movements in realist films. In "Toni", following shot, tracking shot and several panning almost control all of the camera movements. The following shot in the opening and ending sequence were almost like documentary. It allowed the walking people passing by the camera, while simply following them to the village. However, when Toni first talked to his friend about his love to Josefa, we see the bird's view of a mine, then we see Toni and his friend standing on the top of the mountain in foreground while others working down in the valley in the further background. After the talking, camera tracked in a little bit so we could see the bird's view of the mine again. At that moment, Toni was proud and confident, because he thought Josefa was in love with him and he could definitely marry her. Later on, when Josefa chose to marry Albert, we see Toni talking to his friend again at the mine. This time, we see the mine from the bottom and the camera tilting up till the half, where Toni and his friend works on. The simple but humanized camera movements sequence reveal the specific motion and situation of the characters in realist films.
Mise-en-scene
To any realist film, mise-en-scene may be the most important element above all the others, because the glamour of such type of film is to expand the motivated plot in a several still locations. For instance, the function mise-en-scene in "Toni" covered almost the whole film, either in the natural environment or the social environment. In "Toni", the trees and plants were always gather around the characters, and they made the set visually narrow and restricted. In the beginning of the film, when Toni helped Josefa to treat the poison on her back, they sat behind the large bush. It did not only block the view of their neighbors, but also our possibility of knowing if there will be any trouble around. On the other hand it also let us focus on their love affair, instead of the outside landscape. By the effect of setting, the lighting in "Toni" also restricted. There was a extremely tall tree in front of Marie's house, we would see people talking and standing in the vivid shadow. It strongly emphasized the criminal content of "Toni".
Characters
The characters in "Toni" are like typical, and this is the major one of the general characteristics of realist films. The story in realist films are always represented as linear and restricted, thus, the characters have to vivid and typical, in order to make up for the weakness and limits of other elements. The protagonist in "Toni", Toni himself, was from a super lower class. He was looking for a job when he first arrived the small town in the beginning of the film, and it pointed out that he was even lower than the working class. Moreover, Toni was an outsider. He came from a different country, and the conversation between two workers had already reveals how strong the exclusion was. "Toni", as many other realist films, gathers around several typical characters from different classes or different racial communities in a militarily temporal and spatial location to display and explore the larger social function.
According to what David Bordwell mentioned in his articles, when we first watch a movie, we should take it as a whole, later, we break everything down to elements and pieces, but this is not the aim. After anglicizing all the elements, we need to build them back to one complete film, because each element can not stand by itself, and they have to serve the movie all together. As one of the successful realist art work, "Toni" by Jean Renoir combines different elements to depict a larger social and historical picture other the film itself. I personally consider that it successes for representing the typical situation of a single person as a whole, so it can represent the specific social class in order to either expose or criticize the social phenomenon, and this is also the strongest spirit from the realist films.