An Analysis of Dr. Strangelove, An Adaptation of Peter Bryant's Novel "Red Alert" Essay

Beginning roughly with the release of Stanley Kubricks Dr. Strangelove Or How I Stopped Worrying and Loved the Bomb in 1964, and continuing for about the next decade, the Sixties era of filmmaking made many lasting impressions on the motion picture industry. Although editing and pacing styles varied greatly from Martin Scorcesses hyperactive pace, to Kubricks slow methodical pace, there were many uniform contributions made by some of the eras seminal directors. In particular, the Sixties saw the return of the auteur, as people like Francis Ford Coppola and Stanley Kubrick wrote and directed their own screenplays, while Woody Allen wrote, directed and starred in his own films. Kubrick, Coppola and Allen each experimented with characterization, narrative and editing techniques. By examining the major works of these important directors, their contributions become more apparent.Dr. Strangelove (1964), an adaptation of Peter Bryants novel Red Alert, although still bearing the usual traits of a Kubrick film, is something of a departure for him in terms of editing and spatial strategies. The films run-time more or less corresponds with the fictional or represented time in the story. This direct correspondence between fictional and real time adds to the sense of temporal compression induced by the films insistent editing patterns. Although Dr. Strangelove employs many long takes, it contains the shortest average-shot-length of any Kubrick film. The film consists of roughly 700 shots and has a run time of 94 minutes for an average-shot-length of 8 seconds. Despite the rather short average-shot-length, Dr. Strangelove still resorts to crucial long takes to slow down the rapid momentum of the story (Falsetto, 35).Several spatial and temporal procedures are at work in Dr. Strangelove, such as the use of the long take. Conversely, the B-52 sequences, often accompanied by various versions of When Johnny Comes Marching Home, employ different editing patterns than the rest of the film. These edits reinforce the films theme of inevitability. Through editing, the B-52 sequences display a...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Comparison Between Mel Gibson's Directed Hamlet and Kenneth Branagh's Directed Hamlet Essay

Comparative Essay Shaping Hamlet on the Silver ScreenTwo popular film renditions of Shakespeare s great tragedy Hamlet present us with two very different interpretations of the title role. In the first act of each we come to know Franco Zeffirelli s Hamlet, played by Mel Gibson, as authentic, believable, never exaggerated and not altogether puzzling in stark contrast, Kenneth Branagh directs and plays a Hamlet who is fantastic, larger than life, intensely tortured, and enigmatic. Arguably Zeffirelli s interpretation, taken on a purely literal level, is more true to the playwright s intent (regardless of its fairly free rearranging and cutting of lines and passages) yet for that his Hamlet is somewhat lacking in the complexity of character so central to the drama. Branagh s Hamlet, although initially less plausible, ultimately draws us in toward the real themes of the play in a much more convincing and satisfying way.The first and most immediately obvious contrast between the two films ...
Read more

Painting Genius Vincent Van Gogh Suffers Bipolar Disorder Essay

Bipolar affective disorder has been a mystery since the 16th century. History has shown that this disorder can appear in almost anyone. Even the great painter Vincent Van Gogh is believed to have had bipolar disorder. It is clear that in our society many people live with bipolar disorder however, despite the amount of people suffering from it, we are still waiting for explanations for the causes and cure. The one fact of which we are aware is that bipolar disorder severely undermines its' victims ability to obtain and maintain social and occupational success. Because bipolar disorder has such debilitating symptoms, it is important that we keep looking for explanations of its causes and for more ways to treat this disorder.Bipolar has a large variety of symptoms, divided in two categories. One is the manic episodes, the other is depressive. The depressive episodes are characterized by intense feelings of sadness and despair that can turn into feelings of hopelessness and helplessnes...
Read more

An Analysis of Bloodflowers by W. D. Valgardson Essay

1.1Plot Synopsis Summarize the story in ten sentences. 1. Danny Thorson moves to the isolated Black Island on a teaching job. 2. He spends time on the island and finds out that it is nothing but rock surrounded by water. 3. He meets Sick Jack and his daughter Adel and finds Adel very attractive he likes her a lot. 4. Mrs. Poorwilly reveals to Danny that people on the island usually die in "threes." 5. Sick Jack dies and they set him out to a sea burial. 6. Danny witnesses Michael Fairweather die in a sea-storm. 7. Marj Fairweather, Micheals mother, commits suicide from being overwhelmed with Michaels death. 8. Mr. And Mrs. Poorwilly then volunteer to take in Marj Fairweather's kids which results to Danny moving out and moving in with Adel. 9. Danny then falls in love with Adel and wants to marry her back at the mainland, off of the Island. 10. Danny tries every possible way to get Adel and him off of the island but realizes he is cursed by the Blood flowers and...
Read more