Monday, April 16, 2012
How the West Looked and Sounded
Robert Altman utilized distinctive techniques of cinematography and sound in McCabe & Mrs. Miller. He used natural light during the day and subdued lighting to capture the look of gaslight during the night. He used sound that often captured all the noise in the room without differentiated individual voices. Thus much of the film looks dark and dingy and sounds noisy and unfocused. Does the lighting and sound add to the experience of watching the film -- or does it detract? Does it provide a sense of life in the West at the turn of the twentieth century? Or does it distract from the story?
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I believe that Altman’s distinctive cinematic techniques added to the viewing experience. The natural and subdued lighting made it feel natural, not a studio enhanced aspect of the film. Also, the various noises make the movie feel more realistic. How often does one solely hear someone talking, with no background noise? There are almost always countless other sounds and by not limiting the focus of the audio to the speaking character, Altman made the film that much better. Both of these aspects provided viewers with the feeling of actually being there on scene when the movie was being shot. In my opinion, the movie was better as the natural lighting and multiple sounds created a sense of reality that the audience could connect with. Back in the time that this movie was filmed, or meant to portray, the only lighting was either natural, or provided by gas. Altman hit this on the nail, accurately portraying the pure brightness of day and the darkness of night aside from the few candles and gaslights. Because Altman was willing to take a risk – by using only natural and subdued lighting and not limiting the audio to a character speaking – he made a movie that an audience could relate to and see as a truly realistic interpretation of every day life in the West.
ReplyDeleteWhat Altman got right was the bleakness of the setting. Almost every outdoor scene has no real highlights (bright points) and shadows. This produces a low contrast look that actually works for the setting. If I am correct, the film takes place in Washington State or the upper northwest. The location looks dramatically different than the sun swept deserts and blue skies of the southwest. The northwest is usually foggy, rainy, and dark. What did not work all the time was the lack of clarity in many scenes. It was sometimes difficult to see what was happening in every shot, making certain portions of the film confusing. The amount of light bloom was also an unwanted byproduct of Altman's "pre-flashed" negatives. Indoor scenes throughout most of the movie had sufficient lighting, but during the indoor scene in the bar, it was almost impossible to make out important details on the set. I would say that Altman almost achieved a perfect low light look, but sometimes it went too far. The human eye has the ability to see even in very dim settings, so when certain portions of the shot are pure black, it ends up more confusing than beneficial. Sound wise, I have a similar complaint as my issue with his indoor scenes. The chaotic audio can build atmosphere, but the human ear has the ability to filter some of that audio out to allow for clear hearing. Some conversations were downright annoying because the voice track did not separate voices out enough during important dialogue. Overall, Altman was very close to achieving his own vision. I think that technology during that time severely limited what he could have done. With modern digital techniques, Altman could have replicated the visual look without compromising clarity and had layered audio that was understandable, but only barley so to preserve the atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteThough I felt that they could get a bit distracting, I believe that Robert Altman's stylistic choices added to the overall feel of the movie. This movie tried realistically capture a western town, and I think by using natural and available lighting he successfully pulls this off. Not counting the few scenes where Altman's choices get in the way, his choices enhance the movie. The low contrast gives a sense of a dusty, dirty town. Real life back then wasn't all clean and neat, but grimy and gritty. This coupled with realistic sound really puts the audience into the movie. You really feel like you're there.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Robert in that at certain points the incredibly low light and the overlapping dialogue cold be confusing, but the times back then were confusing. People were still trying to figure out what was going on, where there place was in the community, and how to make a living. These confusing style choices can help to create the sense of confusion, but this is not necessarily a good thing. While we may get the sense of confusion, we may miss out on important points, or altogether give up on trying to understand. This may deter some viewers because they do not want to have to pay precise attention to the details.
Robert Altman’s special filming techniques were designed to give the film a more realistic feeling to the movie that would show the audience that the American west was a dark, dirty and rough place. I believe that Altman did this to give the viewer the feeling that they were actually in the scene. One of the earliest scenes in the movie, McCabe enters the saloon with his cards so that he and the other men can gamble. This scene shows many of the techniques that add to the realistic effect. The first thing that I noticed during this scene was the darkness on the set. This scene takes place at night inside of a building that normally gets very little natural lighting from the outside and Altman relies on the gas lamps of the time to light up the set. This technique makes almost all of the details of the film disappear and main characters are only barely visible in the darkness. Another aspect to the realistic feeling of this movie was the sound. In this same scene, which takes place in a crowded saloon, the audience can hear multiple conversations going on at the same time without regard to the dialogue important to the plot. These filming techniques make the film somewhat harder to watch, but instead of detracting from the movie, it adds a sense of realism to the movie. Also the use of these techniques gives the viewer a sense that the west at the turn of the 20th century was a dark dirty and rough place outside of the cinema. Along with the plot revolving around an entrepreneur who makes his money in prostitution and gambling and who is later killed by the thugs of the major corporations, the techniques add another layer of grittiness to the film that has been left out of earlier westerns.
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