The Long Take in Modern Cinema

In response to part of question 2, I think the long take is definitely not “dead”. Plenty of recent movies have taken advantage of the long take, like Children of Men, Cloverfield, and Atonement. But as you suggested, our approach as audiences to the long take seems to have changed. Perhaps this is a result of “MTV Syndrome”: we are used to cuts every two seconds in an action sequence, and we want to feel like we are tossed against the currents of the story. One of the most frequent complaints I heard about Millenium Mambo was that “nothing ever really happened”. However, I found this statement to be relatively untrue: there were plenty of plot points to follow, though the mixed-up linearity of the film and often lack of cues made it difficult at times. I think that the real problem was that people found it particularly difficult to get involved in the story because of the camera’s passivism. Usually, we are accustomed to having a camera bring us closer to action than we could normally come, and place us in the direct line of fire of the movement, action, plot, and dialogue. When the camera remains mostly static, as was the case in Millenium Mambo, we feel uncomfortable because we feel like we are restricted. We desire to know what is happening up close, particularly when the action in the scene is not happening within the confines of the frame. Bazin mentions how the long take increases the reality of the scene, which can certainly be said to be true. However, perhaps that is just the problem. As an audience today, we seem to want cinema to give us an escape from, rather than a re-admission to, reality. Thus I think that while the long take is definitely not dead, it has definitely evolved in the ways that it is effectively used in modern mainstream cinema.

Group #1 - Ashley, Zack, Alex

Q1...

Was the transition to narrative cinema bridged by the inclusion of "drama" into filmmaking practices? Is "drama" an inherently embedded aspect of cinema?

Q2...

Beyond the stylistic implications of the long take, but do directors sometimes use these long takes as a means to demonstrate their proficiency and or expertise in coordination of mise-en-scene, blocking, and moving/tracking cinematography? Are they trying to prove something?

Is the long take dead? Is it dying? Modern peoples' attention spans are shrinking, so do contemporary long takes necessitate more densely packed drama and action?

Q3...

What is "slippage", and how does it affect spectatorship? Does "slippage" affect the relationship between the apparatuses? How do intentional and accidental slippage variably affect the film? Does it matter? How do we know whether a certain part of "slippage" is intentional or not?

Q4...

How do dialogue and/or narration during a montage affect the overall style and feeling of the sequence?

Blog sweet blog.

Hi all!

Welcome to your blog for MCM0260: Cinematic Coding and Narrativity. Here's how it works. (I've cribbed the following from the Thursday section's excellent first post):

GROUP POSTS
During the week your group is assigned to post to the blog, you will post a group entry by Sunday midnight. Your group must also post an identical entry to http://cinematiccodingandnarrativity.blogspot.com (the blog for the Thursday section).

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSES
Every week, after the post has gone up, each of you (not just the group in charge for the week) will respond to the post, with comments, thoughts, further questions etc. Use the "comment" function. Your responses need to go up by the Wednesday night. Respond on this blog only. The Thursday section members will have their own discussion on their blog. You are recommended to follow their blog but not required to.
See the calendar of deadlines below for post and response due dates.

The syllabus and our section agendas suggest one way of organizing the course. Your blog posts can suggest another. In other words, your blog posts can serve as a forum to raise questions that span various weeks of the syllabus, pose unusual connections, test hypotheses, get to the stuff we didn't have time for in section. Be creative, be informal! Post even when you don't absolutely have to! Don't think of the blog as a chore--if I were you I'd think of it like Facebook. Something to check and update whenever you need a distraction.

CALENDAR
GROUP 1 —POST DUE SUNDAY MARCH 1 Midnight
Alex Ashe
Zachary Bornstein
Ashley Adams
responses due Wednesday March 4 midnight

GROUP 2 —POST DUE SUNDAY MARCH 8 Midnight
Stassia Chyzhykova
Bladi Duran
Sean Feiner
responses due Wednesday March 11 midnight

GROUP 3 —POST DUE SUNDAY MARCH 15 Midnight
Stephen Doucet
Will Epstein
Adam Fern
responses due Wednesday March 18 midnight

GROUP 4 —POST DUE SUNDAY MARCH 29 Midnight
Michela Fitten
Nikolas Gonzalez
Sam Helman
responses due Wednesday April 1 midnight

GROUP 5 —POST DUE SUNDAY APRIL 5 Midnight
Alex Hare
Coral Murakami-Fester
Daniela Lopez-Goichochea
responses due Wednesday April 8 midnight

GROUP 6 —POST DUE SUNDAY APRIL 12 Midnight
Adam Pliskin
Matthew Modica
Rafik Salama
responses due Wednesday April 15 midnight

GROUP 7 —POST DUE SUNDAY APRIL 19 Midnight
Leslie Primack
Michael Shuster
Bryan Smith
responses due Wednesday April 22 midnight

GROUP 8 —POST DUE SUNDAY APRIL 26 Midnight
Tracey Szatan
Lee Stevens
responses due Wednesday April 29 midnight.