Expressed Apathy in The Parallax View and Badlands
In The Parallax View and Badlands, the heroes of the film are unmotivated, without any real self-understanding and a flawed decision-making process. These character traits are accentuated with the use of zoom lenses and mobile cameras, certain diegetic sounds and the many aspects of mise en scene.
In both films, the uses of point of view camera angles help create the subjectivity that is inherent to the suspense and development of these films. In Badlands, many subjective shots are from within the car to give the perspective of Kit, or from the perspective of the police. This allows the audience to become part of the chase and heighten the excitement (Romao, 138). This also allows the viewers to identify with the character and become more emotionally involved with the outcome of the chase. Inside Kit and Holly’s car, the perspective shots are broken down into framing from Kit’s point of view or Holly’s point of view. This allows for interaction between the two characters, while still maintaining the illusion of identification with the occupants of the car. The camera can also be mounted on the car, to give a subjective view of the car’s path, and what lies immediately ahead (Romao, 147). In The Parallax View, subjective shots are used to create suspense by leaving the identity of the character a secret. Many long shots are composed to create the effect that someone is watching Warren Beatty throughout the film. At the end of the movie, many shots are taken of the assassination from above the rafters. The audience is not told whether this shot is taken for aesthetic value, or if it identifies with Beatty or the gunman. The shots in The Parallax View are often still with no attempt to keep Beatty centrally framed. This creates the illusion that Beatty is sneaking through the environment and showing a more realistic presentation of his journey to find the truth. The empty space that fills the rest of the screen serves as a reminder that Beatty, along with the audience, does not know what is hidden in the environment. Things may pop out at any moment or clues towards the conspiracy may be found in the outer rim of the frame. The empty space that contains no movement at all also creates a sense of urgency, as we expect someone to immediately walk in and fill this space to balance the objects in the shot.
In Badlands, empty space is often used to display the vast landscapes through which the characters progress. This places the characters within the action, creating a sense of physicality that helps the viewer identify with Kit. By filming the car’s motion at high speeds, the passing landscapes show the characters progression through real space as well as the contrast between their size and the amount of area left to cover before they will be safe (Romao, 132.). This creates a sense of awareness for the viewer that is restricted information to the characters of the film. As they do not have an omniscient view of their situation, our acceptance of their decisions is even more critical. The viewer criticizes many of Kit’s directional decisions, as they believe that Kit is not traveling towards any finite goal. He is only running from a starting point. These criticisms help the viewer to define the psychological motivation behind Kit’s killings, which appear to be unmotivated, or unnecessary.
Warren Beatty’s actions in The Parallax View are given a clear motive, the desire to find the assassin, but his obsessive nature is not explained. One would expect that after escaping death on numerous occasions and losing his editor friend, he would have changed his plan of investigation or at least waited to ensure his present safety before continuing. The psychological traits of Beatty’s character in the film are visually outlined, but never fully explained. This is due to the zoom lenses ability to create a sense of subjectivity (Belton, 23). At the beginning of the film, the camera pans back and forth during the parade, zooming in and out, until the camera stops on Beatty, hidden the crowd. The purpose of finding Beatty, to establish his character, is understood but this is all dependant on the viewer’s ability to create a plausible internal speech. The zoom lens is effective in its ability to help create this speech, as its purpose is to specify and accentuate the key details of a scene that the viewer must notice. The zoom also functions in The Parallax View, as well as other films, to relate the character to their own personal view of the world. This allows us to see what they find important, as well as what is important from a narrative perspective.
One aspect of these films that also directs the viewer’s attention to important details is the use of sound in Badlands and The Parallax View. In both of these films, sounds are used to heighten the sense of identification with the main character through authentic, subjective sounds. For Kit, we hear the sound of the engine of the car as he races it through the streets, as well as the engines of the cars that follow him. As the engines and sirens get louder, we know that the police are closing in on Kit. A great example occurs at the end of Badlands where Kit awaits his capture. A point of view shot of the road accompanied by the slow whine of an approaching car tells us Kit’s fate. In The Parallax View, sounds are also used to help create suspense as Beatty sneaks through restricted areas. When Beatty is rifling through the sheriff’s home, the audience waits until the voice of the deputy answering the phone startles Beatty to his near capture. Later in the film, Beatty sneaks through the rafters above the rehearsal for the senator’s inauguration. The viewer is startled, along with Beatty, from the sound of approaching footsteps. These types of sound clues are presented throughout the film.
These sounds accentuate the surrounding areas in Badlands and The Parallax View, due to their ability to present information that may be offscreen, such as the police cars in the former and the explosion of the plane in the latter. The sounds that occur offscreen support the composition of the onscreen image. The mise en scene in these movies helps dictate the composition to create these contrasts. In Badlands the landscapes envelope the action that occurs on real streets using authentic traffic (Romao, 137). The sets that decorate this film provide narrative information that is necessary in figuring out the motives of Kit. His lack of commitment to a specific job, shows his immaturity, which is seen as he jokes around on his garbage route while the other workers ignore him. Kit’s clothes present him as a rebel, but by constantly checking his appearance in mirrors and windows shows his childish obsession with maintaining his image. Another example of Kit’s childishness is with their makeshift home that they build in the woods. Kit and Holly construct a home mimicking the Swiss Family Robinson, where Kit runs around playing soldier and fishing. The elaborate, and perhaps unnecessary, construction of their house shows his naivety that this is a suitable home (Laderman, 120). Kit’s immaturity is capsulated at the end of the film is his decision to build a stone monument to commemorate his capture. For him, this pursuit is merely a game that he does not fully understand. He even continues to joke with the police officers after his capture, suggesting that he might get a job in law enforcement. These events display how Kit does not identify with the world around him, creating a sense of empowerment that contributes to his killing spree. In The Parallax View, Warren Beatty’s character is presented as part of his surroundings, but he is presented as an insignificant part. In this film, the landscapes evoke a social conspiracy that constantly suggests that he is not alone (Jameson, 63). The space in many shots of the film is abstracted using the zoom lens, producing differences between the spatial representation and temporal events of the film (Belton, 26). Another technique of The Parallax View is the diminished appearance of Beatty’s character in comparison to the background. He is presented as a dot or small figure that seems to be swallowed up by the industrial wasteland that he passes through, or by the enormous shadows cast through the middle ground. This creates a sense of one, small insignificant man fighting against a large, faceless organization.
In both films, the uses of point of view camera angles help create the subjectivity that is inherent to the suspense and development of these films. In Badlands, many subjective shots are from within the car to give the perspective of Kit, or from the perspective of the police. This allows the audience to become part of the chase and heighten the excitement (Romao, 138). This also allows the viewers to identify with the character and become more emotionally involved with the outcome of the chase. Inside Kit and Holly’s car, the perspective shots are broken down into framing from Kit’s point of view or Holly’s point of view. This allows for interaction between the two characters, while still maintaining the illusion of identification with the occupants of the car. The camera can also be mounted on the car, to give a subjective view of the car’s path, and what lies immediately ahead (Romao, 147). In The Parallax View, subjective shots are used to create suspense by leaving the identity of the character a secret. Many long shots are composed to create the effect that someone is watching Warren Beatty throughout the film. At the end of the movie, many shots are taken of the assassination from above the rafters. The audience is not told whether this shot is taken for aesthetic value, or if it identifies with Beatty or the gunman. The shots in The Parallax View are often still with no attempt to keep Beatty centrally framed. This creates the illusion that Beatty is sneaking through the environment and showing a more realistic presentation of his journey to find the truth. The empty space that fills the rest of the screen serves as a reminder that Beatty, along with the audience, does not know what is hidden in the environment. Things may pop out at any moment or clues towards the conspiracy may be found in the outer rim of the frame. The empty space that contains no movement at all also creates a sense of urgency, as we expect someone to immediately walk in and fill this space to balance the objects in the shot.
In Badlands, empty space is often used to display the vast landscapes through which the characters progress. This places the characters within the action, creating a sense of physicality that helps the viewer identify with Kit. By filming the car’s motion at high speeds, the passing landscapes show the characters progression through real space as well as the contrast between their size and the amount of area left to cover before they will be safe (Romao, 132.). This creates a sense of awareness for the viewer that is restricted information to the characters of the film. As they do not have an omniscient view of their situation, our acceptance of their decisions is even more critical. The viewer criticizes many of Kit’s directional decisions, as they believe that Kit is not traveling towards any finite goal. He is only running from a starting point. These criticisms help the viewer to define the psychological motivation behind Kit’s killings, which appear to be unmotivated, or unnecessary.
Warren Beatty’s actions in The Parallax View are given a clear motive, the desire to find the assassin, but his obsessive nature is not explained. One would expect that after escaping death on numerous occasions and losing his editor friend, he would have changed his plan of investigation or at least waited to ensure his present safety before continuing. The psychological traits of Beatty’s character in the film are visually outlined, but never fully explained. This is due to the zoom lenses ability to create a sense of subjectivity (Belton, 23). At the beginning of the film, the camera pans back and forth during the parade, zooming in and out, until the camera stops on Beatty, hidden the crowd. The purpose of finding Beatty, to establish his character, is understood but this is all dependant on the viewer’s ability to create a plausible internal speech. The zoom lens is effective in its ability to help create this speech, as its purpose is to specify and accentuate the key details of a scene that the viewer must notice. The zoom also functions in The Parallax View, as well as other films, to relate the character to their own personal view of the world. This allows us to see what they find important, as well as what is important from a narrative perspective.
One aspect of these films that also directs the viewer’s attention to important details is the use of sound in Badlands and The Parallax View. In both of these films, sounds are used to heighten the sense of identification with the main character through authentic, subjective sounds. For Kit, we hear the sound of the engine of the car as he races it through the streets, as well as the engines of the cars that follow him. As the engines and sirens get louder, we know that the police are closing in on Kit. A great example occurs at the end of Badlands where Kit awaits his capture. A point of view shot of the road accompanied by the slow whine of an approaching car tells us Kit’s fate. In The Parallax View, sounds are also used to help create suspense as Beatty sneaks through restricted areas. When Beatty is rifling through the sheriff’s home, the audience waits until the voice of the deputy answering the phone startles Beatty to his near capture. Later in the film, Beatty sneaks through the rafters above the rehearsal for the senator’s inauguration. The viewer is startled, along with Beatty, from the sound of approaching footsteps. These types of sound clues are presented throughout the film.
These sounds accentuate the surrounding areas in Badlands and The Parallax View, due to their ability to present information that may be offscreen, such as the police cars in the former and the explosion of the plane in the latter. The sounds that occur offscreen support the composition of the onscreen image. The mise en scene in these movies helps dictate the composition to create these contrasts. In Badlands the landscapes envelope the action that occurs on real streets using authentic traffic (Romao, 137). The sets that decorate this film provide narrative information that is necessary in figuring out the motives of Kit. His lack of commitment to a specific job, shows his immaturity, which is seen as he jokes around on his garbage route while the other workers ignore him. Kit’s clothes present him as a rebel, but by constantly checking his appearance in mirrors and windows shows his childish obsession with maintaining his image. Another example of Kit’s childishness is with their makeshift home that they build in the woods. Kit and Holly construct a home mimicking the Swiss Family Robinson, where Kit runs around playing soldier and fishing. The elaborate, and perhaps unnecessary, construction of their house shows his naivety that this is a suitable home (Laderman, 120). Kit’s immaturity is capsulated at the end of the film is his decision to build a stone monument to commemorate his capture. For him, this pursuit is merely a game that he does not fully understand. He even continues to joke with the police officers after his capture, suggesting that he might get a job in law enforcement. These events display how Kit does not identify with the world around him, creating a sense of empowerment that contributes to his killing spree. In The Parallax View, Warren Beatty’s character is presented as part of his surroundings, but he is presented as an insignificant part. In this film, the landscapes evoke a social conspiracy that constantly suggests that he is not alone (Jameson, 63). The space in many shots of the film is abstracted using the zoom lens, producing differences between the spatial representation and temporal events of the film (Belton, 26). Another technique of The Parallax View is the diminished appearance of Beatty’s character in comparison to the background. He is presented as a dot or small figure that seems to be swallowed up by the industrial wasteland that he passes through, or by the enormous shadows cast through the middle ground. This creates a sense of one, small insignificant man fighting against a large, faceless organization.
posted by Phantom at 11:35 PM
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