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of Bringing up Baby: A Cinematic Technique Analysis American cinema has determined the base elements of filmmaking throughout different eras. Among many film genres, American screwball comedy has been noted as one of the successful film genre. It was merely because of the era of great depression that these filmmakers produced movies that highlighted American societal transitions. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the cinematic techniques employed during filming of Bringing up Baby. The film under review will be discussed in terms of body language, imaging, presentation acting, representation acting and Entrances/Exits.
Body language: The director of the film Howard Hawks has seemingly employed the performers in the film that were exactly needed for the characters. It is in the case of the body language of each actor. It should be noted that the character of paleontologist has been well-played by Cary Grant merely because of his body language. Most of the gestures that backup this claim would be the gestures used throughout the movie by Cary searching for the bones and undertaking historical research. On the other hand, the body language or the gestures of Katherine in the film have allowed the character of a wife who is smart to be understood.
Her interactions with her husband and the leopard have also marked a very great symbol of effective body language. The director has given great consideration to the body language throughout the movie. This makes the audience to understand that gestures are very important to deliver the message (Hawks). Imaging: Imaging or in simpler words, editing has had a profound impact on the audience of the film as the director has been able to produce imaging sessions in a meaningful manner. There are no sequences throughout the movie which are broken.
This has rather provided a high quality resolution to the movie in comparison with the movies of the same era. The quality of the sequence where more than one characters are more effective than those with single character sequences. It should be noted here that imaging as a cinematic technique is studied more narrowly in modern cinema. Considering, Bringing up Baby it can be said that the imaging has not been employed to its core (Hawks). Presentational Acting: Following the cinematic analysis, the most important cinematic technique i.e. presentational acting has been well-implemented by all character.
The concept of the fourth wall has somewhat been followed in the film. Most importantly, presentation acting is visible in the performance by Cary. His character becomes well communicative by the audiences as Cary has leaded a very subtle presentational acting (Hawks). Representation Acting: Some of the critics would easily note the fact that the representation acting is very less to be found in the movie. The idea of the fourth wall and the self emotions of the actors indulging in the required performance with respect to the assigned characters are probable in the performance by Katherine.
The filming information of the film Bringing up Baby has included various incidents where Katherine had overridden her characters because of overly indulgence ignoring the audiences (Hawks). Entrances/ Exits: The entrances in the film, Bringing up Baby of different characters are quiet sharp which means that the focus light is abruptly noted on the characters. In other words, it can be said that the shifts between the scenes does not allow the characters to show their effectiveness or the main purpose.
Thus, it would have been better if the director had helped the characters to have proper entrance of exits. This is also known as overlapping which even the general audience can note in the movie (Hawks). Through the analysis of cinematic techniques such as imaging, body language, presentational, representation acting and entrance/exit employed in the film Bringing up Baby, it can be said that the film successfully follows the characteristics of filmmaking. It is because of this reason that such films are actually considered worth reviewing and used as a symbolism for futuristic films.
It can also be said that every film should employ the cinematic techniques as used by Howard Hawks in Bringing up Baby. However, there seems to be a limitation of employment of entrance/exit cinematic technique in the film. It has rather overshadowed the important scenic projection. Overall, it can be said that the movie has proven as a mannered release of the American screwball comedy. Works Cited Bringing up Baby. Dir. Howard Hawks. Perf. Cary Grant. 1938.
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