Not in the best of moods right now, but wanted to jaw 'bout the Blair Witch some more. Got to watch it last night. Found myself paying a lot of attention to the shot selection and cinematography. Buried in the mockumentary format are quite a number of classic narrative shot conventions. At one point point Mike is framed in the lower left third of the screen, while of the screen is trees and air, while the look of the black/white footage struck me as poetic, possibly lyrical.
What does black/white mean in this context? What does TOGGLING between color and b/w mean in this context? The easy answer is perspective or possibly aesthetic distance (black and white promotes a larger distance, color brings you closer to the subject). I think this is part of it. It plays with the rational/irrational tension often found in horror films. Heck the viewer even see the same footage rendered in both formats. This is a blurring of boundaries, an interrogation. [Taking a moment to scoff at anyone who thought they could film this themselves]. This blurring/toggling also reminds the viewer of a technological presence in the film (the cameras). Although both devices bravely record the tragic downfall of Heather and her buddies, as tools against the Blair Witch (the irrational) and their fates, the cameras are impotent. This is a far cry from Stoker's Dracula, in which technology served to record trangressions and allowed the heroes to save the day.
Not bad for a micro budget film that has earned the ire of thousands ;)
Oh! One last thing of note. This film falls into the 10% of movies that do NOT have any love story whatsoever. One could argue there is a triangle, but it's not a love triangle; it's a fear triangle or a paranoia triangle.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment