The Development of American Films, The Last Detail and Coming Home - Essay Example

Film project Introduction Hal Ashby was a great American film editor and director who directed a number of films. His unique directing techniques that comprised of an appropriate use of characters and realistic plots coupled with other film development techniques influenced the development of the New Hollywood wave of the development of American films, The Last detail, which he developed in 1973 and Coming home of 1978 are two of his several films that enjoyed immense box office success. The two films compare and contrast in a number of film development features, techniques, and elements that help portray Ashby’s systematic use of diversity in the creation of holistic and cohesive films that communicate effectively. The discussion below analyzes some important scenes in the two films thereby portraying the similarity and differences in the two. The two films have simplistic yet realistic plots. The last detail, just as the name portrays shows laxity in the operations of marines as an executive officer of the marine sends two petty officers Billy "Badass" Buddusky and Richard "Mule" Mulhall to escort a young convicted prisoner Larry Meadows who is facing eight years imprisonment. The two officers travel from Norfolk Virginia to Portsmouth New Hampshire as they escort the prisoner and put him in one of the most adventurous journey of his life. When they arrive in Portsmouth, the soldiers learn that the executive officer had to cover the detailed paperwork and that the two had not been sent on any mission, at least not according to the paperwork. Coming home, on the other hand, is a love triangle. In the film, Sally is a wife of a soldier, Bob Hyde. When Bob goes on a mission in Vietnam, Sally meets and falls in love with Luke Martin her former classmate and a soldier returning from Vietnam. The story shows the adverse physical and psychological effects of war on the soldiers as the conflict between the three heighten. The summary of the plots shows some preliminary similarities in Hal Ashby’s works. Both plots show the lives of soldiers. While one can argue that the occurrence is coincidental given the independence of both scripts, Ashby employs similar features in building the legitimacy of the story line. He uses appropriate characters who possess the physique and mental alertness of soldiers. Characters enhance the success of a film. Characters should possess the appropriate traits that help bring out the best in the personality required for every character. In The Last detail, he uses Jack Nicholson as "Badass" Buddusky, Otis Young as "Mule" Mulhall and Randy Quaid as "Larry" Meadows. The three are professional characters who fit their respective roles. The physique and the charisma of the three make them fit their respective roles thus enhancing the success of the films. The same is the case with Coming home where he uses Jane Fonda as Sally, Jon Voight as Luke and Brice Dern as Captain Hyde. In the two films, Ashby uses appropriate characters who fit their roles thereby enhancing the conflict in the plot thus the success of the film. Besides appropriate characters, Hal Ashby employs a number of film development techniques and elements including costumes, lighting, camera movements, camera angles, sound effects and editing techniques in developing his successful masterpieces (Anchell & Troop, 2003). He uses the above to develop mood, emotions and suspense among other unique responses from the audiences thus enhancing the success of the films. In Coming home, the most instrumental scenes that shows the director’s ability to employ the above is where Luke addresses a number of high school students on the adverse effects of the war continuing in Vietnam. In The last detail, such a scene occurs when Badass, Mule, and Meadows stop in Washington where Badass buys a six-pack, and the three enjoy the drink. The boy passes out thereafter thus compelling the two soldiers to surrender the comfortable bed while they spend the night in uncomfortable rollaway beds. In Coming home, the scene begins with a close-up shot of the audiences listening to Luke. While the close-up shot creates a small frame that captures the facial expression of a single character, the shot is strategic since it portrays the emotions in the faces of the audiences as they listen to Luke. The director employs strategic camera movement technique as the camera pans systematically from left to right as it shows the seriousness in the faces the audience as they listen to the speaker. The pan changes to a long shot of Luke holding a microphone at the center. The camera angle changes as well to provide a vertical view of the towering soldier. Finally, the shot changes once again to a close up shot of Luke as he talks. This shows his emotions and feelings as he shares his experiences in the war in Vietnam and using such to discourage the youthful audience from supporting the war. The scene is as perfect as any other in the film as the director employs strategic techniques in creating an appropriate mise-en-scene (Gibbs, 2002). The hall is large enough to accommodate the numerous students. The lighting is equally effective since it illuminate every feature of the hall and the faces of both Luke and his audience. Costume enhances the suitability of the characters. In the scene, Luke dresses his large military frame appropriately thereby portraying his built. He dresses modestly a feature that shows the authority he possesses over his audience. The audience, on the other hand, comprises of young people from diverse backgrounds. Their costumes portray both their age and diversity since every one of them dresses uniquely yet in a manner that befits their body sizes, age and cultures as portrayed by other features of their grooming (Rabiger & Hurbis-Cherrier, 2013). Music enhances the mood and emotions of a scene. Hal Ashby used a number of songs as soundtracks in the film with each song befitting either a scene or a number of scenes. The mood in the scene is serious with the audience paying attention to Luke. As such, the author uses music sparingly in order to portray the level of seriousness. The scene is, therefore, void of any music as the director strives to portray the silence necessary to depict the seriousness of the mood. The audiences listen attentively with the silence enhancing the development of a somber yet serious mood as Luke shares his experiences in the war. Film editing is an important practice that contributes to the creation of cohesive and error free films (Orpen, 2003). Hal Ashby was a film editor before he became a director. He, therefore, portrayed his editing genius in the film. He balances lighting, minimizes music and infuses both to a conscious close-up shot, which pans systematically as he introduces the scene thereby succeeding in portraying the seriousness of the scene. Additionally, he uses a number of transition techniques to help enhance the diversity in the film. Transition provides a seamless change from one shot or scene to another. In the film, Ashby uses cut, fade, dissolve and wipe out among many others to change from one scene to another. In the scene, however, he limits his transitions to cuts that are spontaneous but show the uniqueness and seriousness of every second of the scene as Luke engages his audience. The above features are either similar or different in the scene in The last detail. The scene begins with a long shot showing the three characters sitting in the hotel room. The mood is casual and every feature of the film portrays so. The background music ham systematically as it fades to enable the audibility of the conversation among the characters. The shots change to close up shot of Badass as he ridiculed the teenage boy and challenged him to taste the alcohol, at least for the first time since he will not do so in the next eight years. The shots, camera movements, and camera angles change in the scene accordingly to capture the progressing action. The boy passes out soon thereafter and the two choose not to disturb him thereby opting to sleep in the roll away beds. The shots vary between close up and long shots of the room thereby covering the action. As the boy passes out, the film zooms in to develop an extreme close up showing the inactive facial details, as he lies helpless. Badass moves to shake him up but Mule intervenes encouraging him to let the boy spend the night in the bed. The director employs appropriate editing technique as he fuses the various shots in the scene. He uses a variety of transition techniques including cuts and fades. The lighting is equally appropriate as it helps create the ambiance of a cold Washington night. Camera angles change appropriately to show dominance and roles of the respective characters. In retrospect, Hal Ashby employs a number of diverse yet appropriate film development techniques to enhance the success of his film. He uses editing techniques for example not only to ensure that the films are free of any production errors but also uses those to infuse diversity in the film. Through systematic editing, he joins a number of shots captured in different locations. Additionally, he uses music appropriately to enhance the moods and emotion in respective scenes. In doing this, he ensures that the soundtracks do not cloud the message in the scene. The use of appropriate features like costumes, lighting, set design and characters help to create appropriate mise-en-scene for the action in the respective scenes thus succeeding in communicating effectively. References Anchell, S. G., & Troop, B. (2003). The darkroom cookbook. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Ashby, H. (1973). The Last Detail (film). Los Angels: Colombia pictures. Ashby, H. (1978). Coming Home (film). Los Angels: Colombia pictures. Gibbs, J. E. (2002). Mise-en-scène: Film style and interpretation. London: Wallflower. Orpen, V. (2003). Film editing: The art of the expressive. London: Wallflower. Rabiger, M. & Hurbis-Cherrier, M. (2013). Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics. 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