19 thoughts on “English 97 – and finally, Living in Oblivion”
Wow I’m the first for once.
The use of dream sequence allowed the audience to see nightmare versions of everything that can go wrong on set without actually forcing the story to incorporate those disaster into the narrative. During the Nick Reve’s (Steve Buscemi) dream sequence the filming shots were in color while the “Real World” were in black and white which made me feel that to Nick his film is more important then real life. This is accentuated by the fact that all of his nightmare troubles were about the filming. On the other hand, in Nicole’s dream the filming shots were in B&W while the real world was in color and her nightmare troubles were in the real world aspect. I love that the third film shot sequence, the real world one, is of a dream sequence for the film. Each dream was about filming a scene and the true filming was about a dream.
One aspect of camera work was the fact that it used both color and black and white film. During some parts of the movie, real life was filmed in color and the world being recorded by the film crew was black and white (and vice versa). I believe this not only helped the audience differentiate between what was real and what was being filmed, but it could have also been done to point out which aspect (real life vs film making) was more important to the character dreaming.
The ‘room-tone’ sequence was a good example of editing. Even though it was only supposed to be 30 seconds of silence for the characters in the film, in reality it was much, much longer for the audience. The editor kept the pace by continually cutting between what was happening in the room, what was happening inside people’s heads, and most importantly, a stop watch counting to 30 seconds. Having the stop watch shown let the audience know how close they were from being done with the 30 seconds. By also making the 30 seconds longer than 30 seconds in real time added to the realism of the film… When a room full of people needs to be completely silent for 30 seconds, it feels like an eternity.
The scenes that included Peter Dinklage really show what good writing and good acting can do when combined together. The dream sequence (when Dinklage had to carry an Apple) really added to the film. His refusal to follow orders from the director added humor to a somewhat boring sequence. The annoyed and defiant Dinklage helped propel the scene along because every time there was need for a reshoot, the audience was wondering whether or not Dinklage was going to laugh like he was instructed to do.
I really enjoyed this movie. It was probably my favorite out of the few I liked the most. The behind the scenes really put it in perspective about the film industry and it was exciting to watch all the different scenarios. The tools and language that was used in the movie was very educational and has reminded me of the things that I have learned and that it reminded me the things that I will really use in the inudstry.
Living in Oblivion was a very intriguing movie that I enjoyed watching. I loved the way the movies utilized color to shift from reality and fantasy(dreams and or movie scene) because it really added to the interpretation of the film. While watching the movie there was one scene with the women actor when she was getting ready to act from her real life experiences and this time after he said action the scene stayed in color. This was done to show the real emotions that this actor was portraying from her real life experiences. The narrative of the film was also very well done because of how they used dream sequences to get inside of each of the character’s heads. Not only did it expose the characters of their subconscious but it also told the story of the film. Lastly character roles had a huge impact in the communication of the film’s message to the audience. Tackling the personalities and problems of each role within the film crew brought a reality to the process of making a film. As the viewer we were able to see the stresses of each part and the non work related problems that can come between the film crew and their success. Overall this was a great film to end the semester on because of how it brought everything together in which we learned during the duration of the semester.
Living in Oblivion was very interesting in it’s use of black and white and color scenes for the interchanging reality and fantasy sequences. For Nick everything else in his dream was in black and white while what was being filmed was in color showing the audience what is most important to him. For Nicole who was having doubts about acting and thinking of quitting, what was being filmed was in black and white showing her indifference. And then the real scene 6 they had to shoot that day was in fact a dream sequence.
The 30 seconds of silence was also a great scene and example of manipulation of time. It lasted for more than 30 seconds to go into the daydreams of each character which again reflected Nick and Nicole’s dreams earlier. Nick is still passionate about movie making and it shows when he’s dreaming about winning an award and Nicole is still thinking about quitting when she fantasizes about working at a diner.
Living in Oblivion is an entertaining film about the crew and cast of a low budget film production.
The structure of the screenplay was simple. The film is split into 3 parts. The 1st part turns out to be an anxiety dream of the director, Nick, played by Steve Buscemi, the second part is a nightmare dream of the main actress, Nicole, played by Catherine Keener, and the 3rd part is to be the actual day of shooting.
When the movie started I took it as it was presented. I didn’t know what I was seeing was a dream. It’s funny when it is revealed and at the same time, we don’t know what’s real. After the 2nd one, it’s still funny and a relief that it’s a dream because it was getting a bit intense because of the fight between the director and the high maintenance Hollywood Actor. At the end of part 2 it is revealed that Nicole has feelings for Nick so the whole 3rd part has a slight tension to it because we as the audience knows something that Nick doesn’t.
Catherine Keener’s acting was stellar. Especially during Part 1. She plays Nicole playing the same short scene over and over. Nicole starts off fairly strong and take after take she starts to lose focus and sort of just talks through the scene without emoting. She starts to wind down and then Nick talks to both her and the actress playing her mom in that segment and the scene gets real emotionally intense and it turns out to be the best performance when the camera isn’t running. The skill that Catherine Keener displays makes it so you’re lost in the performance of the character and her performance of the character performing. Just brilliant.
The use of black and white/and color was interesting. The film first starts in black and white but when the scene being filmed is shown through the camera it is in color. I thought this was a clever way to show the difference between the movie world and the movie being made. The real word and the actual production being colorless but the captured image being vibrant and in color.
I have never seen or heard of this movie before, but I thought it was completely awesome! As a film production major I found every studio mishap completely relatable and hilarious. It’s rare to see a film that captures what it is like in production so accurately. Whether it is with the cast, sound, camera, or setting, something always goes wrong on set and I think this film can really open the eyes of the public and show them what is needed in order to make a good film. That being said, I enjoyed how this film jumped in between realities and the color grading from black and white to full color was an interesting choice. Although it was confusing at times to realize what had happened and what had not, I think it definitely helped the audience see the characters’ arcs by revealing their personal anxieties about the film. My favorite scene had to be the the one with Peter Dinklage, and not just because I think he is a fantastic actor. His character symbolizes the things filmmakers should never do, which is to use predictable gimmicks and recycled ideas. It highlights the importance of every stage in film making, not just production.
Living in oblivion highlighted the power of dreams and perception in the minds of several people a part of the filmmaking process. The alternation between black and white and color in the dream sequences made the “reality” all the more vivid when it was shot entirely in color. It illustrated the clash between dreams and reality. I also would like to comment on the acting of the main female lead in the film. She alternates seamlessly between being the actress and the character for the hypothetical film. On the spectrum I think she tends to stay in the sincere quadrant as a strength even though at times she is playing an actress acting. It is so believable that it is difficult to discern at times whether she is acting as an actress or dreaming or this is her reality. Overall, as a meta film it did a phenomenal job of accentuating the struggle of creating films by continually forcing retakes of the same shot. The frustration transcended even into the audience as the consistent faults of the filmmaking crew led to re-watching the same scene over and over again.
Since i was a kid i always found Steve Buscemi halarious, and this movie is no exception. This was my first time watching Living in Oblivion and i thought it was great. The use of black and white for the real world and color for his dreams was an interesting concept. The frustration that comes with being a director was shown excellently in this film. I think that all film majors should be required to watch this film at some point in their schooling, for those that haven’t started making film it might show that they should be prepared to deal with the many personalities in a crew. For those who are experienced in film production this movie could bring back bad memories and allow you to look back and laugh at them.
This movie was extremely accurate to what it is like on an actual film set, making the movie relatable and hilarious. It shows the frustrations and struggles of filming perfectly and conveys those emotions to the audience, making us frustrated that something isn’t getting done. Every film student needs to see this. The movie utilized color shifts very creatively going from color (real time/real life) to black and white (dream/fantasy) in each act and even though I wouldn’t catch it and recognize what was real and what wasnt, it made the movie that more enjoyable when they would switch between the two and I would be surprised everytime.
I really enjoyed this movie, the way it showed the process of making film. It did well of making the audience feel the same way the characters did, frustrated with not getting the take right. Also the movie was repetitive but it worked because it stayed light and humorous, the cast was good to make sure of that. i was glad that the 2 dreams didn’t go into a third because that would’ve bothered me. I don’t know if the black and white beginning was necessary i thought the color parts were much more interesting.
Living In Oblivion struck a little too close to home for me. I think it really encapsulated life on a low budget film set but still remained really comical and enjoyable. The transition from black and white to color was a really good choice. At first I thought the entire movie was going to be in black and white. But then I noticed that the story was advancing very quickly then I knew something was up. I didn’t know what but switching to color really punctuated that transition. I also really like how defined each of the three sequences are. Normally, that would bother me. I feel like if the three act structure is forced, the movie becomes too artificial and loses its touch. But Living in Oblivion integrated it into its story really well. I really like movies that are clever. This usually goes hand in hand with movies that are meta. But movies like this where something addressed at the beginning has a long awaited payoff is very satisfying.
I had never heard of this film before, and I had no idea what it was about or anything, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was a pretty good, entertaining film. It very much shows what it is like making films, all the things that can go wrong, and just about everything does go wrong in the film, except they don’t have audio issues miraculously. There are a lot of interesting things going on, especially the change-up between black and white and color and the dream sequences. It is interesting to see the transition of the acting as the scenes require multiple takes when something goes wrong every time. For instance, when Nicole was acting in the first scene when she’s talking to her mother, her acting improves with every take and the best acting where the two actresses get really emotional is ironically when the cameraman is away. The romance scene with Nicole and Chad is fodder for amusement because of Chad constantly changing up all the blocking on each take, causing humorous (to the audience) filming complications. Yes the showing of multiple takes of the same scene does get a little repetitive, but it actually works. Steve Buscemi lends the perfect quirk and humor for this film, and he can also be dynamic, going from anger and yelling to more tender and romantic moments with Nicole. Without Steve Buscemi in it, the film would probably not have worked. Overall, enjoyable film and perfect viewing for film students, who will totally understand and get this film.
I could definitely relate to Living In Oblivion. It showed what could go wrong during the filming of a movie. I’ve had a couple things happen like getting a good shot while the camera is off and having trouble with camera placement. Being a director is hard work. Part of being a good director is encouraging and communicating with the actors. Nick had his hands full dealing with his actor’s difficulties, but seemed to get them to back on track until he couldn’t. Their are many dreams in this movie. Right when you think “this is reality” it cuts to a shot of someone in bed. I thought it was cool how the “reality” was a different color than what was being filmed. This made the film look more artistic while distinguishing what is being filmed and what wasn’t. The film seemed to fulfill the desires of the audience in having a happy ending, but at the same time it leaves more to be desired. It ends with only one scene done and there are more to come. Only that one scene was finished correctly. What about the scenes of the whole rest of the movie? There still is a chance that Nick might not finish the movie, but we are left to think that he will finish it.
Living in Oblivion is one of the funniest movies that I have seen in a long, long time. Its use of misdirection to confuse the audience with the dream sequences created a chaotic environment that kept the audience on its toes. Throughout the different dream sequences, the audience was made to like certain characters and dislike others, only to have their preconceptions thrown out the window when a character woke up in a panic.
I think I found the movie so hilarious because it was a less than attractive representation of the career path that I want to follow. Part of the film made me uncomfortable and scared of dedicating my life to such a chaotic career. However, I also felt confident because I was able to put myself in the characters’ positions and laugh at the situation anyways.
The use of color to contrast between what was a dream and what was real was an interesting choice that I really appreciated. Experiments with color are, in my opinion, really cool.
All in all, I really loved this film. It was a great last film for this class.
I liked living in oblivion and I thought that they managed to accurately convey the frustration of filming. Firstly, the use of black and white in the opening acting scene helped take the audience in and out of the film inside of the film. The constant changes from black and white to color becomes distracting and builds the audiences frustration with the production difficulties. The misdirections in the beginning also add to the frustration of the audience. By the time the second one comes around, the audience already feels frustrated and identifies with the complaints of the production crew. Lastly, the room tone check at the end of the movie was brilliant. I was waiting for something to go wrong and was ready to be disappointed yet again. The movie did a fantastic job at bringing the audience along on the up and down road of filmmaking.
Living in Oblivion is, for sure, on my top 3 favorites films of this class. Everything works so beautifully and great on screen that I can’t even think of one something which actually didn’t work. First, what a marvelous way to distinct reality and film! Playing with the color wasn’t just a pleasure to the audience but also was a great tool, cinematically speaking, to distinguish two different events in the same moment, don’t forgetting, of course, that is a delightful visual experience. Furthermore, I really enjoyed the characters, how they were so well constructed and so interesting, especially Nicole during the second part of the movie. As I said in class, I loved how strong and decided she was, doesn’t allowing anyone to put her down. I have a thing for strong female characters and I kind of identified with her. Also, I really liked the despretentious comic sense this film has. It is light, pleasurable, with a enjoyable story and a lot to teach about filmmaking, making it work very well as a meta film. I just have to say that I could not notice some sort of noir atmosphere here, mostly in the B&W parts. That’s one more thing I liked about this film. Overall, I think it was surely a great surprise and an appropriate ending to an amazing class like this one.
I love that Living in Oblivion switched from B&W for ‘reality’ and color for filming in the first dream, color for ‘reality’ and B&W for filming in the second dream, and then all color for reality and filming for the last sequence. This inconsistent switching between B&W and color differentiated filming and ‘reality’ in the dream sequences but blurred the lines of what was real and what wasn’t for the entire movie, which was clever. I noticed a couple of inconsistencies, however, which I couldn’t tell were purposeful or not. In Nick’s dream, Wanda looks distinctly different. However in Nicole’s dream and then in reality she looks the exact same and is wearing the same clothing, which obviously doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but may have been the aim of the filmmakers. I also liked that in the first sequence our view, which was predominantly hand-held, would occasionally switch to Wolf’s camera’s view, which was done on a dolly and really brought you into the set depicted onscreen.
I liked how the movie was both obviously self-referential but also tipped off other movies and overused clichés throughout. The “All Just a Dream” trope is probably one of the most overused ones in TV and movies, so I liked that the entire movie was just an exhaustion of that (get it, because it’s an exhausted trope) until ending on the final scene—implied to be taking place in reality—which of course is about filming a dream scene. This last scene was made up of very common clichés of dream sequences: smoke, the unnatural appearance of a random door, old people, and dwarves. The insensitivity of the use of dwarves in dream sequences is called out when Tito is introduced and is pissed off because he himself is aware of the intent behind casting him in that particular role. This felt like a specific jab at Twin Peaks (1990-1991) and Industrial Symphony No.1 (1990), both of which included dream sequences containing a dwarf and were affiliated with David Lynch. The set of the dream scene in Living in Oblivion was also stark red which was the primary color of the dreams in Twin Peaks. Also, the replacement of Tito with Nick’s mom at the end was particularly funny because old people are also a common cliché of dreams in movies (i.e. Rosemary’s Baby, in which Rosemary is also wearing a bright red dress and is later surrounded by a group of naked old people).
Living in Oblivion is a movie that all the time plays with the relation with real and dream. To achieve this distinction between the real and unreal, the director choose the same technique used in Hero, he changes the color of the movie to represent different states of the narrative. As the cinema was foregrounding in the movie too, the differentiation of scenes colours is used to represent the time that is “real life” and when they are shooting. In this path of metalanguage, Living in Oblivion shows the director Nick Reve trying to shot a representation of a dream. In his scene he tried to use the smoke especial effect to bring the aspect of dream to his footage. In addition, Nick works with a distorted door in scenario and demanding a unreal acting from the actors to achieve his unrealistic mood of a dream.
introductiontocinema 
Wow I’m the first for once.
The use of dream sequence allowed the audience to see nightmare versions of everything that can go wrong on set without actually forcing the story to incorporate those disaster into the narrative. During the Nick Reve’s (Steve Buscemi) dream sequence the filming shots were in color while the “Real World” were in black and white which made me feel that to Nick his film is more important then real life. This is accentuated by the fact that all of his nightmare troubles were about the filming. On the other hand, in Nicole’s dream the filming shots were in B&W while the real world was in color and her nightmare troubles were in the real world aspect. I love that the third film shot sequence, the real world one, is of a dream sequence for the film. Each dream was about filming a scene and the true filming was about a dream.
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One aspect of camera work was the fact that it used both color and black and white film. During some parts of the movie, real life was filmed in color and the world being recorded by the film crew was black and white (and vice versa). I believe this not only helped the audience differentiate between what was real and what was being filmed, but it could have also been done to point out which aspect (real life vs film making) was more important to the character dreaming.
The ‘room-tone’ sequence was a good example of editing. Even though it was only supposed to be 30 seconds of silence for the characters in the film, in reality it was much, much longer for the audience. The editor kept the pace by continually cutting between what was happening in the room, what was happening inside people’s heads, and most importantly, a stop watch counting to 30 seconds. Having the stop watch shown let the audience know how close they were from being done with the 30 seconds. By also making the 30 seconds longer than 30 seconds in real time added to the realism of the film… When a room full of people needs to be completely silent for 30 seconds, it feels like an eternity.
The scenes that included Peter Dinklage really show what good writing and good acting can do when combined together. The dream sequence (when Dinklage had to carry an Apple) really added to the film. His refusal to follow orders from the director added humor to a somewhat boring sequence. The annoyed and defiant Dinklage helped propel the scene along because every time there was need for a reshoot, the audience was wondering whether or not Dinklage was going to laugh like he was instructed to do.
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I really enjoyed this movie. It was probably my favorite out of the few I liked the most. The behind the scenes really put it in perspective about the film industry and it was exciting to watch all the different scenarios. The tools and language that was used in the movie was very educational and has reminded me of the things that I have learned and that it reminded me the things that I will really use in the inudstry.
LikeLike
Living in Oblivion was a very intriguing movie that I enjoyed watching. I loved the way the movies utilized color to shift from reality and fantasy(dreams and or movie scene) because it really added to the interpretation of the film. While watching the movie there was one scene with the women actor when she was getting ready to act from her real life experiences and this time after he said action the scene stayed in color. This was done to show the real emotions that this actor was portraying from her real life experiences. The narrative of the film was also very well done because of how they used dream sequences to get inside of each of the character’s heads. Not only did it expose the characters of their subconscious but it also told the story of the film. Lastly character roles had a huge impact in the communication of the film’s message to the audience. Tackling the personalities and problems of each role within the film crew brought a reality to the process of making a film. As the viewer we were able to see the stresses of each part and the non work related problems that can come between the film crew and their success. Overall this was a great film to end the semester on because of how it brought everything together in which we learned during the duration of the semester.
LikeLike
Living in Oblivion was very interesting in it’s use of black and white and color scenes for the interchanging reality and fantasy sequences. For Nick everything else in his dream was in black and white while what was being filmed was in color showing the audience what is most important to him. For Nicole who was having doubts about acting and thinking of quitting, what was being filmed was in black and white showing her indifference. And then the real scene 6 they had to shoot that day was in fact a dream sequence.
The 30 seconds of silence was also a great scene and example of manipulation of time. It lasted for more than 30 seconds to go into the daydreams of each character which again reflected Nick and Nicole’s dreams earlier. Nick is still passionate about movie making and it shows when he’s dreaming about winning an award and Nicole is still thinking about quitting when she fantasizes about working at a diner.
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Living in Oblivion is an entertaining film about the crew and cast of a low budget film production.
The structure of the screenplay was simple. The film is split into 3 parts. The 1st part turns out to be an anxiety dream of the director, Nick, played by Steve Buscemi, the second part is a nightmare dream of the main actress, Nicole, played by Catherine Keener, and the 3rd part is to be the actual day of shooting.
When the movie started I took it as it was presented. I didn’t know what I was seeing was a dream. It’s funny when it is revealed and at the same time, we don’t know what’s real. After the 2nd one, it’s still funny and a relief that it’s a dream because it was getting a bit intense because of the fight between the director and the high maintenance Hollywood Actor. At the end of part 2 it is revealed that Nicole has feelings for Nick so the whole 3rd part has a slight tension to it because we as the audience knows something that Nick doesn’t.
Catherine Keener’s acting was stellar. Especially during Part 1. She plays Nicole playing the same short scene over and over. Nicole starts off fairly strong and take after take she starts to lose focus and sort of just talks through the scene without emoting. She starts to wind down and then Nick talks to both her and the actress playing her mom in that segment and the scene gets real emotionally intense and it turns out to be the best performance when the camera isn’t running. The skill that Catherine Keener displays makes it so you’re lost in the performance of the character and her performance of the character performing. Just brilliant.
The use of black and white/and color was interesting. The film first starts in black and white but when the scene being filmed is shown through the camera it is in color. I thought this was a clever way to show the difference between the movie world and the movie being made. The real word and the actual production being colorless but the captured image being vibrant and in color.
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I have never seen or heard of this movie before, but I thought it was completely awesome! As a film production major I found every studio mishap completely relatable and hilarious. It’s rare to see a film that captures what it is like in production so accurately. Whether it is with the cast, sound, camera, or setting, something always goes wrong on set and I think this film can really open the eyes of the public and show them what is needed in order to make a good film. That being said, I enjoyed how this film jumped in between realities and the color grading from black and white to full color was an interesting choice. Although it was confusing at times to realize what had happened and what had not, I think it definitely helped the audience see the characters’ arcs by revealing their personal anxieties about the film. My favorite scene had to be the the one with Peter Dinklage, and not just because I think he is a fantastic actor. His character symbolizes the things filmmakers should never do, which is to use predictable gimmicks and recycled ideas. It highlights the importance of every stage in film making, not just production.
LikeLike
Living in oblivion highlighted the power of dreams and perception in the minds of several people a part of the filmmaking process. The alternation between black and white and color in the dream sequences made the “reality” all the more vivid when it was shot entirely in color. It illustrated the clash between dreams and reality. I also would like to comment on the acting of the main female lead in the film. She alternates seamlessly between being the actress and the character for the hypothetical film. On the spectrum I think she tends to stay in the sincere quadrant as a strength even though at times she is playing an actress acting. It is so believable that it is difficult to discern at times whether she is acting as an actress or dreaming or this is her reality. Overall, as a meta film it did a phenomenal job of accentuating the struggle of creating films by continually forcing retakes of the same shot. The frustration transcended even into the audience as the consistent faults of the filmmaking crew led to re-watching the same scene over and over again.
LikeLike
Since i was a kid i always found Steve Buscemi halarious, and this movie is no exception. This was my first time watching Living in Oblivion and i thought it was great. The use of black and white for the real world and color for his dreams was an interesting concept. The frustration that comes with being a director was shown excellently in this film. I think that all film majors should be required to watch this film at some point in their schooling, for those that haven’t started making film it might show that they should be prepared to deal with the many personalities in a crew. For those who are experienced in film production this movie could bring back bad memories and allow you to look back and laugh at them.
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This movie was extremely accurate to what it is like on an actual film set, making the movie relatable and hilarious. It shows the frustrations and struggles of filming perfectly and conveys those emotions to the audience, making us frustrated that something isn’t getting done. Every film student needs to see this. The movie utilized color shifts very creatively going from color (real time/real life) to black and white (dream/fantasy) in each act and even though I wouldn’t catch it and recognize what was real and what wasnt, it made the movie that more enjoyable when they would switch between the two and I would be surprised everytime.
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I really enjoyed this movie, the way it showed the process of making film. It did well of making the audience feel the same way the characters did, frustrated with not getting the take right. Also the movie was repetitive but it worked because it stayed light and humorous, the cast was good to make sure of that. i was glad that the 2 dreams didn’t go into a third because that would’ve bothered me. I don’t know if the black and white beginning was necessary i thought the color parts were much more interesting.
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Living In Oblivion struck a little too close to home for me. I think it really encapsulated life on a low budget film set but still remained really comical and enjoyable. The transition from black and white to color was a really good choice. At first I thought the entire movie was going to be in black and white. But then I noticed that the story was advancing very quickly then I knew something was up. I didn’t know what but switching to color really punctuated that transition. I also really like how defined each of the three sequences are. Normally, that would bother me. I feel like if the three act structure is forced, the movie becomes too artificial and loses its touch. But Living in Oblivion integrated it into its story really well. I really like movies that are clever. This usually goes hand in hand with movies that are meta. But movies like this where something addressed at the beginning has a long awaited payoff is very satisfying.
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I had never heard of this film before, and I had no idea what it was about or anything, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was a pretty good, entertaining film. It very much shows what it is like making films, all the things that can go wrong, and just about everything does go wrong in the film, except they don’t have audio issues miraculously. There are a lot of interesting things going on, especially the change-up between black and white and color and the dream sequences. It is interesting to see the transition of the acting as the scenes require multiple takes when something goes wrong every time. For instance, when Nicole was acting in the first scene when she’s talking to her mother, her acting improves with every take and the best acting where the two actresses get really emotional is ironically when the cameraman is away. The romance scene with Nicole and Chad is fodder for amusement because of Chad constantly changing up all the blocking on each take, causing humorous (to the audience) filming complications. Yes the showing of multiple takes of the same scene does get a little repetitive, but it actually works. Steve Buscemi lends the perfect quirk and humor for this film, and he can also be dynamic, going from anger and yelling to more tender and romantic moments with Nicole. Without Steve Buscemi in it, the film would probably not have worked. Overall, enjoyable film and perfect viewing for film students, who will totally understand and get this film.
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I could definitely relate to Living In Oblivion. It showed what could go wrong during the filming of a movie. I’ve had a couple things happen like getting a good shot while the camera is off and having trouble with camera placement. Being a director is hard work. Part of being a good director is encouraging and communicating with the actors. Nick had his hands full dealing with his actor’s difficulties, but seemed to get them to back on track until he couldn’t. Their are many dreams in this movie. Right when you think “this is reality” it cuts to a shot of someone in bed. I thought it was cool how the “reality” was a different color than what was being filmed. This made the film look more artistic while distinguishing what is being filmed and what wasn’t. The film seemed to fulfill the desires of the audience in having a happy ending, but at the same time it leaves more to be desired. It ends with only one scene done and there are more to come. Only that one scene was finished correctly. What about the scenes of the whole rest of the movie? There still is a chance that Nick might not finish the movie, but we are left to think that he will finish it.
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Marty Manseau
Living in Oblivion is one of the funniest movies that I have seen in a long, long time. Its use of misdirection to confuse the audience with the dream sequences created a chaotic environment that kept the audience on its toes. Throughout the different dream sequences, the audience was made to like certain characters and dislike others, only to have their preconceptions thrown out the window when a character woke up in a panic.
I think I found the movie so hilarious because it was a less than attractive representation of the career path that I want to follow. Part of the film made me uncomfortable and scared of dedicating my life to such a chaotic career. However, I also felt confident because I was able to put myself in the characters’ positions and laugh at the situation anyways.
The use of color to contrast between what was a dream and what was real was an interesting choice that I really appreciated. Experiments with color are, in my opinion, really cool.
All in all, I really loved this film. It was a great last film for this class.
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I liked living in oblivion and I thought that they managed to accurately convey the frustration of filming. Firstly, the use of black and white in the opening acting scene helped take the audience in and out of the film inside of the film. The constant changes from black and white to color becomes distracting and builds the audiences frustration with the production difficulties. The misdirections in the beginning also add to the frustration of the audience. By the time the second one comes around, the audience already feels frustrated and identifies with the complaints of the production crew. Lastly, the room tone check at the end of the movie was brilliant. I was waiting for something to go wrong and was ready to be disappointed yet again. The movie did a fantastic job at bringing the audience along on the up and down road of filmmaking.
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Living in Oblivion is, for sure, on my top 3 favorites films of this class. Everything works so beautifully and great on screen that I can’t even think of one something which actually didn’t work. First, what a marvelous way to distinct reality and film! Playing with the color wasn’t just a pleasure to the audience but also was a great tool, cinematically speaking, to distinguish two different events in the same moment, don’t forgetting, of course, that is a delightful visual experience. Furthermore, I really enjoyed the characters, how they were so well constructed and so interesting, especially Nicole during the second part of the movie. As I said in class, I loved how strong and decided she was, doesn’t allowing anyone to put her down. I have a thing for strong female characters and I kind of identified with her. Also, I really liked the despretentious comic sense this film has. It is light, pleasurable, with a enjoyable story and a lot to teach about filmmaking, making it work very well as a meta film. I just have to say that I could not notice some sort of noir atmosphere here, mostly in the B&W parts. That’s one more thing I liked about this film. Overall, I think it was surely a great surprise and an appropriate ending to an amazing class like this one.
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I love that Living in Oblivion switched from B&W for ‘reality’ and color for filming in the first dream, color for ‘reality’ and B&W for filming in the second dream, and then all color for reality and filming for the last sequence. This inconsistent switching between B&W and color differentiated filming and ‘reality’ in the dream sequences but blurred the lines of what was real and what wasn’t for the entire movie, which was clever. I noticed a couple of inconsistencies, however, which I couldn’t tell were purposeful or not. In Nick’s dream, Wanda looks distinctly different. However in Nicole’s dream and then in reality she looks the exact same and is wearing the same clothing, which obviously doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but may have been the aim of the filmmakers. I also liked that in the first sequence our view, which was predominantly hand-held, would occasionally switch to Wolf’s camera’s view, which was done on a dolly and really brought you into the set depicted onscreen.
I liked how the movie was both obviously self-referential but also tipped off other movies and overused clichés throughout. The “All Just a Dream” trope is probably one of the most overused ones in TV and movies, so I liked that the entire movie was just an exhaustion of that (get it, because it’s an exhausted trope) until ending on the final scene—implied to be taking place in reality—which of course is about filming a dream scene. This last scene was made up of very common clichés of dream sequences: smoke, the unnatural appearance of a random door, old people, and dwarves. The insensitivity of the use of dwarves in dream sequences is called out when Tito is introduced and is pissed off because he himself is aware of the intent behind casting him in that particular role. This felt like a specific jab at Twin Peaks (1990-1991) and Industrial Symphony No.1 (1990), both of which included dream sequences containing a dwarf and were affiliated with David Lynch. The set of the dream scene in Living in Oblivion was also stark red which was the primary color of the dreams in Twin Peaks. Also, the replacement of Tito with Nick’s mom at the end was particularly funny because old people are also a common cliché of dreams in movies (i.e. Rosemary’s Baby, in which Rosemary is also wearing a bright red dress and is later surrounded by a group of naked old people).
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Living in Oblivion is a movie that all the time plays with the relation with real and dream. To achieve this distinction between the real and unreal, the director choose the same technique used in Hero, he changes the color of the movie to represent different states of the narrative. As the cinema was foregrounding in the movie too, the differentiation of scenes colours is used to represent the time that is “real life” and when they are shooting. In this path of metalanguage, Living in Oblivion shows the director Nick Reve trying to shot a representation of a dream. In his scene he tried to use the smoke especial effect to bring the aspect of dream to his footage. In addition, Nick works with a distorted door in scenario and demanding a unreal acting from the actors to achieve his unrealistic mood of a dream.
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