Chapter 17 – In this chapter, I learned that in the late 1970s, the American cinema entered into a new phase of filmmaking. This new period is categorized by the technological advances and innovations that filmmakers began to use in their movies. One of these major advances was the introduction of the Dolby noise-reduction process, which improved the quality of sound tremendously. With all these modern changes, the objective of movies also changed. Films were now more focused on the aspect of entertainment.
Reflections on The Battle of Chile Part III: Popular Power:
I have watched several documentaries before, but never one like this. The Battle of Chile Part III: Popular Power is a very powerful and energetic documentary. The ways that filmmaker Patricio Guzman portrays the complexity and intensity of the situation that both Chile and the Chilean people experienced is extraordinary. The footage he is able to gather really demonstrates the seriousness of the condition this country was in, and without a doubt, it meets its overall purpose. One of the techniques that Guzman includes is the constant usage of close-up and extreme close-up shots. He constantly focuses the camera shot on a person’s face, specifically someone who is expressing their voice. By doing this, the audience is able to perceive the facial expressions of the person. By concentrating on their facial expressions alone, we are able to notice just how much emotion and profundity the message these people had to share carried within itself. Guzman also makes sure that the sequence of the documentary is done precisely in a manner that it influences the way we think of the whole occurrence. The editing helps the footage serve its purpose, and Guzman knows exactly what shots to add and how to do it. By allowing us to see actual circumstances and actual events, Guzman makes this documentary even more effective. The aspect that was also interesting was the Sound and choice of music Guzman decides to include. Throughout the footage, all we hear are people’s voices. However, in occasions we also hear a background tune of cultural music. Although very simple and not too loud, the cultural tune playing in certain shots really adds that feel of struggle and a feel of uncertainty. It was a very strategic choice of adding this smaller tune because it goes perfect with the overall environment of the footage. Overall, this was a very informative documentary and I would definitely recommend others to see it.
The film Popular Power is a documentary that portrays the struggle of the Chilean people as they support their president Allende who is turning Chile into a Socialist/populist nation.The documentary uses a lot of close ups to portray the people and show their happiness and support for their new governemnt. The documentary is heavily biased taking favor with the people and their plight in giving the workers more rights and equal pay. This movie is about the struggle of the people and the destruction of this struggle with the death of Allende. The movie ends in a cynical tone and quietly condemning the Generals who killed Allende.
M/K TILs
Star Wars changed the film industry and pushed it into a New Era of Mythology. Star Wars used new methods such as dolby noise reductions and the use of computers to control the camera.
Chapter 17 TILs:
Movies were only considered “Blockbusters” if they grossed over 100 million dollars at the US box office. Since the cost to make these films were so much (average cost to produce a film went from $11 million in ’81 to $71 million in 2007) theatre owners had to send a higher percentage of the ticket sales to studios. This resulted in theatre owners understanding they would make their money the concession stand and go from one or two screens to housing up to 16 screens.
Reflections on Popular Power:
One chose that stood out to me when watching this documentary was the use of extreme close ups when interviewing the people of Chile. In most of the documentaries that I’ve seen they use close ups but not the extreme ones that were utilized in Popular Power. These extreme close ups make us feel uncomfortable and force us to get close and personal with the people of Chile. It really makes us feel as if we have to listen to their plight, we can’t ignore them when they’re directly in our face. This method also makes the events that are going on feel more intense and urgent.
Another effective tool was the use of the pan flute music that helps set the mood. It was particularly effective at the end of the film when the camera was slowly panning out into the desert accompanied by the native pan flute music that made the documentary feel more authentic to the people of Chile. It was a bittersweet tune that made the audience feel as if not all would be alright for the people of Chile and ultimately it was not.
M/K TILs
Chapter:
17. In “The Return of the Myths: 1977-,” I learned that at some point in the late 1970s, the American cinema abandoned its attack on the genres of American life to embrace them both again. The new films viewed these myths and mysteries with the hope and wonder of childhood, which they set out to recapture or invent a kind of innocence. Superheroes comics have a pre-sold audience of readers and their mythology and Superman (Christopher Reeve) became the figure of a belief of superheroes comics. George Lucas used a Dolby SVA soundtrack led to what has been called the “seconding coming of sound,” a complete revolution in the technology and aesthetics of film sound. Heroes of fantasy, of science fiction, and of fast-paced action and adventure were the return of myths.
Reflections on Popular Power:
The film, The Battle of Chile: Part 3 Popular Power, was a documentary of the working class of Chile. The film was about local groups from Chile to form as a defense against strikes and lockouts by Allende government supporters. Director of the film was Patricio Guzman. Patricio Guzman’s documentaries were different because there were a lot of close-ups. The close-ups helped the film because you can see their facial expression and you can get a sense of their reality. With those close-ups you can also see how dirty their faces are. Guzman captures the faith and commitment of students, farmers, and the working classes to Allende’s social and economical reforms. I like how Guzman had a balance of close-ups, montages, opinions, and narrations. This documentary was certainly bias towards the working class to promote some kind of sympathy towards them. This film was made for the whole world to see, most third world films were. I believe that maybe one or two clip of a documentary could be fake, which is acceptable because to prove a point or a understanding of the concept that’s being shown in the documentary. I recommend this documentary for anyone who is interested in wondering what to other countries before the use of social media and for anyone who is interested of a different view of how a different third world country works.
Panther Panchali was about how the Popular Unity coalition ran for office in 1973. Popular Unity wanted to nationalize manufacturing and agricultural industries to overcome economic tariffs and hardships. Despite there best efforts Popular Unity is dismantled by a CIA coup in 1973 which installs Pinochet regime into power. Documentary movie was not biased because it showed the perspective of the Chilean workers and how they wanted to maintain a democratic socialist government free from foreign intervention and influence. I would highly recommend this movie for anybody who wishes to understand politics in Latin America and how the United States interventions do not always favor the democratic interests of the people in third world countries. Director Patricio Guzman did an excellent job in documenting daily society of Chilean students, university professors, workers, and the Chilean people and how Chile was going through constantly changing times in the 1970s.
Today I learned in chapter 17 how sci-fi movies have evolved since 1977. The new movies are myth machines that explore cultural myths not through the dramatic eye of adulthood but rather the hope and wonder of childhood. Speed and thrills have come to define audience expectations in modern day cinema movies. Shooting on digital video, and watching movies on DVD and online streaming have fundamentally changed the way we think and watch about movies today. There are more mediums today for streaming and consuming movies in the 21st century then there was during the 20th century.
the battle of chile is definitely a darker documentary than most documentaries. its rare when you see a documentary of this scale, grab the attention of almost all of its viewers. most people watch documentaries to learn more information on a given topic. the objective of most documentaries, is to persuade the viewer into siding with main side of the documentary. in this case, the main side of the documentary was the chilean people. the use of up close and personal shots of the Chileans adds to the overall affect of the doc. when looking at those close up shots, you can almost feel the emotions on the faces of those who were torn away from their government. the ending in particular was very a powerful statement, open to any type of interpretation. a blank and seemingly endless landscape, bare of any life is what the doc leaves us with. my interpretation of this is that in the wake of all that took place, the Chileans were still left with nothing in return.
ch 17 TILS: well as we move towards the modern age of cinema the developing of films changes. the movies of the past began to die out as more sci-fi or fantasy movies began to roll in. this was only possible due to the major technological advancements in american film industries
M/K. TILS CHP 17 – Chapter seventeen discusses George Lucas’s success in creating the film Star Wars that came out in 1977, this brought George Lucas to fame with the legendary sounds/noises/tones that came up with the opening scene, the shooting of guns, riding in the millennium falcon, and of course R2-D2. His film gathering most of the attention from a young audience who wanted more films. George Lucas’s film inspired and paved a road for other films to have a chance on the big screen such as: Back to the Future (1984), Pulp Fiction (1994). The chapter then veers into more great leading directors like the Coen Brother, who are some of my favorite directors/writers. The chapter reveals that most of the time Joel Coen was in charge of directing while Ethan Coen was in charge of producing but they both worked on the scripts together, the first film they directed together was “No Country For Old Men”. Their style displayed their handy camera work, extremely detailed characters and witty lines.
Reflection on Popular Power: “The Battle of Chile Part 3: Popular Power” directed by Patricio Guzman released in 1979 was an eye opening film. My older family members have brushed over the protests that had taken place in Chile when the work force became one and people united, what I did not know was how strong the movement actually was. I was surprised that the film showed women, I was not expecting the footage of the women who were working in their tiny factory. I did like that through out the film he kept cutting back to the working men who were in line, asking them about how they think the government should be handling the situation their country is in. Of course only about 3 men in the line had said that the government was doing their best and the rest of the men in the line kept saying they should not even have to be going through this movement, their president should be helping them. Then Chile was taken by surprise on September eleventh 1973, when the Nixon administration performed a Coup D’état that ended the Chilean president’s life. Of course the film is meant to persuade you to feel sorry for these workers, because that is how the writer had viewed the situation, there was barely any support for the governments side.
Battle of Chile: in 1970 Chile elected there first popular communist in the world and this filmed showed the lives of the people and the things they were living during this time. This filmed in consider to be a documentary because it’s shows the true portrayal of what happened. This film makers collected fottage over the years and put them all together. At times during this film I was confused of what was going on and why they were still going to work and why were they boycotting maybe I got confused because I kept trying to understand them because they spoke Spanish but many words were different and then I would go to read the subtitle to understand the word and I just got lost. (My fault) but I didn’t notice how the film maker used a lot of close up shot of the people that were speaking to focus on them and there situation. Probably not my favorite documentary.
Ch 17 I read about science fiction movies( sci-fi) and how they began encoding since the 1970’s. Hence film was now more focused with entertainment.
Reflection on Battle of Chile: Battle of Chile was a really interesting documentary because it wasn’t being filmed after the thought. It was filmed on location during the actual revolution which is really incredible. Whenever the camera zoomed in on a person’s face really tight my only thought was how difficult that must be. If the person moves around at all it’s going to be incredibly difficult to track them without too much camera shake. Which led me to believe every moment in which they zoom in on someone’s face it must be scripted. Even the scripted scenes (which you said there were) were incredibly well done. I can’t currently remember a shot of the film besides the last one where the film broke this realistic look.
TIL:
M/K 17: The Coen brothers work together on films and both play key roles. Joel Coen directs the film and Ethan Coen produces it. They both however write the screenplays for their movies together.
TIL: Chapter 17 – Even though George Lucas known for bring visually spectacular images on the big screen (i.e. Star Wars) he also help create a new sound system and editing technology bring the film industry to new digital environment.
Reflections on Popular Power:
Overall, I feel as though director Patricio Guzman achieved his goal in making the group Popular Unity as the good guy in the political situation. Even though he did not flat out a say which side he was on, the use close up interviews to show the passion and hardship that the workers/members of the popular unity and only telling their side of the story made a bit clear he wasn’t on the opposing right-winged government. Also, leaving out any interview with the opposing side to explain their side of things and only showing small clips that portrayed them in a negative light like them using harsh words as “Marxist Cancer” towards a peaceful protesting group did not help establish them as the victims in the situation. Although, I really didn’t care much about the documentary it did make me feel sympathy for the popular unity group, which if interesting to note because if a movie has a topic that I know nothing about can inform me and make me feel an emotion then I think it did its job.
.
M/K TILs Chapter 17:
Movies of the 1990’s such as Titanic were considered major blockbusters because it made over a billion dollars in the box office, but it had a huge budget of 200 million dollars. There were many advances in technology in the 1970’s such as the Dolby noise-reduction process which was great for increasing the sound quality for films. One of the films that used this new advancement really well was George Lucas’ Star Wars. At this George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were master myth makers and leading directors.
Reflections on Popular Power:
In the film The Battle of Chile Part 3 directed by Patricio Guzman it depicts what was going in Chile at this time and how it was affecting the people living there. From watching this film one thing that I picked up on was that the director loves doing close ups on individuals throughout the film. Guzman made his documentary different than most people did at that time because he wanted you to feel the same emotions and have the same expressions as the people with the close ups he did. The way this filmed was edited showed how the economy was working more than anything else. The workers and students were still doing their jobs regardless of the conditions they faced. The ending of this documentary was left open for interpretation and I believe that works well for certain documentaries such as this one.
TIL: I learned how the technological advances were made in the 1970’s. George Lucas was a huge contributor in this time using new editing technology with star wars to make the sounds and noises for that movie.
Reflection on Popular Power: The director Patricio Guzman used a lot of close ups as well as narrations and montages to tell the story of the working class of Chile and did a great job. Before watching this I actually thought that all documentaries were true and not staged. But it turns out that it is common for some scenes to be staged in order to really get a message across and that is the case in this documentary as well. I understand why that is done, although it is a little staged as long as it is still used to tell the true story then I think that is perfectly fine. I enjoyed when the workers were being interviewed you could see that even though most of them probably didn’t have much education, they were intelligent in their stands and explained their position very well.
Theater owners found that they were able to get their revenue from concession stands rather than ticket sales as movie budgets got high enough that most of the ticket proceedings went to paying off that instead. Blockbusters were determined by if they grossed over $100 million or not.
Reflections on Popular Power:
Director Patricio Guzman filmed a documentary on the working class of Chile and their feelings and opinions on the government overseeing them. Though most documentaries do have bias, they often try to stay moderate, however Popular Power shows that Guzman definitely has a leaning and does not often include the narrative of the other side. One of the tactics he uses that it most notable is his use of close-ups, as they are hard to miss. Not only will he zoom in on the person speaking at the moment to really capture the subtleties of their emotions and their importance in that scene, but he will also shift his camera to look at specific people in the audience to show their reactions to whatever is being said also, catching them unaware.
In chapter 17 I learned that the movies of this era set out to try and capture the imagination of individuals. Many of the films tried to have a more positive impact in their making and portray events such as heroism. Movies that were made that were much too political or psychological were deemed to be too negative. One of the most famous movies that arose from this era was the movie Star Wars. This movie exemplified the revolution of sound and technology. Many other movies in this era were created that were mythical as well, a few that stood out to me were ET and Field of Dreams. In this chapter we were also introduced to one of the biggest masters of film, Steven Spielberg.
Reflections on The Battle of Chile Part III: Popular Power:
This film was a documentary that focused in on the working people in Chile that were protesting against Allende. This film exhibited the political and social conflict that was going on at the time. Popular communism was supported in this film and I feel it was biased in the direction of aiming towards that side of political power. It was an eye into the view of what was going with the people of this nation at the time. The workers in the film were fighting to defend the Allende government, which in turn led to them gaining control of the production coming out of the factories that they were working in. During an interview with one of the workers he stated that ” we are not in possession of power, we were in possession of the government.” I think that the director decided to put the shot in of the desert because it was symbolic to what was going on at the time. It held meaning to the dryness of the economy that was going on at the time and symbolized the past history of Chile. I think this movie was very effective in making me realize how lucky our country is for our ability to vote in preseditial elections. We should never take for granted the power we hold in us to be able to have say in what goes on.
TIL: Star Wars lead the way into a new world of mythology in film. To be a blockbuster a movie must gross over $100 million.
The Battle of Chile Part 3: This documentary was made by director Patricio Guzman. It focused on the people of Chile who supported Allende. The documentary featured students, farmers, and the working class who’s support helped strengthen his cause. What stood out about this documentary to me was the way that Guzman did his close ups. He would zoom into someone’s face incredibly close…almost to the point where it could be described as intrusive. These shots made the film to me though. During the close ups, the viewer was really able to understand and feel the person’s struggle and fight. Without these shots, I don’t think the documentary would have been as successful.
Reflection on Popular Power:
“The Battle of Chile Part 3: Popular Power” is directed by Patricio Guzman who uses this documentary to show the protest going on with the working class of Chile in the 70’s. I knew before watching the movie that the events were staged, but seeing them unfold made it so real that I had to remind myself that they were staged. The biggest detail that really separates this documentary from others was the use of close ups on the people. In the other documentaries I have seen, almost none use this tool as much. This made such a difference to me because you were actually able to see the terrified expressions of the people, which made it so much more real.
TIL:
Chapter 17- In this chapter I learned what qualifies a movie as a “blockbuster”. This term was used in the 80’s for movies that made over a hundred million dollars. During which time the cost of making movies were much less.
TIL Chap 17 : Star Wars is credited with beginning the era of Mythology in film, it used techniques in sound and filming that had never been done before. Because of its story line and taking place “a long time ago” it also brought in the transitions of Romance and the saga.
Popular Power was an interesting documentary, it really showed the plight of the working class in Chile. It was definitely a biased film, showing its support of the workers during this struggle of power in Chile. I liked the way it was filmed, it told the story of the workers and would show their passion. Guzman would use camera angles and zoom to enhance what was being said by any one person being interviewed. I think these angles were also used so that while you were watching the film you could empathize more with the speaker because you could clearly see his face, his clothes etc.
Chapter 17: While Star Wars rekindled the audience’s excitement, it was not all good. Mythology led to long film anthologies, expanded universes, and lore to explore, but what it lost was far greater. Gone were the intellectually challenging films like Laurence of Arabia, the emotional subtly of The Godfather, and the complexity and intimacy of character; Instead were the super heroes and super villains, the jedi and sith. The good and evil. This not only simplified the world of film, but reestablished genre as defining of each film. The people liked happy endings, and happy endings they got. Hollywood was reminded that film, to their core audience, was entertainment, not art. And so they took this to heart. It was so strongly affected that even the greats that came out since this affectation, like Blade Runner, a psychologically thrilling and intellectually stimulating opus, was edited against director Ridley Scott’s wishes to better fit the narratives commonly associated with film.
Popular Power was very obviously filmed by someone who had a side. The workers were made easy to identify with, while the government was a faceless entity, nearly evil in nature. His tendency to use the close up to essentially invade the space of the character was visually interesting, and the angle work effectively portrayed characters as either someone to fear or someone to relate to.
TIL: M/K Ch. 17- The late 1970s saw big changes in the film industry, and started to shift to larger budget “blockbuster films.”
The Battle of Chile Part III: Popular Power Reflections- Patricio Guzman did an amazing job at drawing in those who watched this documentary. One way he did that was the use of extreme close ups was something that I haven’t seen in a documentary before. By doing that he was able to convey the emotions of those he filmed. I also learned that in some documentaries there are scenes that will be staged, because they couldn’t get the original shot at the time. I don’t believe that doing so is wrong, but rather if it’s staged how the initial action took place then it is fine. A director is not able to catch every single shot at the time it is taking place.
Chapter 17: I learned that films that tackled difficult political or psychological material sometimes had their endings changed by executives. Which I found very interesting. Another interesting fact is that independent production companies came in big and small sizes, but what defined them as independent is that they were not affiliated with the MPAA, as the big studios were.
Popular Power
The documentary uses a lot of close ups to portray the people and show their happiness and support for their new government. This movie is about the struggle of the people and the destruction of this struggle with the death of Allende.
introductiontocinema 
M/K TILs:
Chapter 17 – In this chapter, I learned that in the late 1970s, the American cinema entered into a new phase of filmmaking. This new period is categorized by the technological advances and innovations that filmmakers began to use in their movies. One of these major advances was the introduction of the Dolby noise-reduction process, which improved the quality of sound tremendously. With all these modern changes, the objective of movies also changed. Films were now more focused on the aspect of entertainment.
Reflections on The Battle of Chile Part III: Popular Power:
I have watched several documentaries before, but never one like this. The Battle of Chile Part III: Popular Power is a very powerful and energetic documentary. The ways that filmmaker Patricio Guzman portrays the complexity and intensity of the situation that both Chile and the Chilean people experienced is extraordinary. The footage he is able to gather really demonstrates the seriousness of the condition this country was in, and without a doubt, it meets its overall purpose. One of the techniques that Guzman includes is the constant usage of close-up and extreme close-up shots. He constantly focuses the camera shot on a person’s face, specifically someone who is expressing their voice. By doing this, the audience is able to perceive the facial expressions of the person. By concentrating on their facial expressions alone, we are able to notice just how much emotion and profundity the message these people had to share carried within itself. Guzman also makes sure that the sequence of the documentary is done precisely in a manner that it influences the way we think of the whole occurrence. The editing helps the footage serve its purpose, and Guzman knows exactly what shots to add and how to do it. By allowing us to see actual circumstances and actual events, Guzman makes this documentary even more effective. The aspect that was also interesting was the Sound and choice of music Guzman decides to include. Throughout the footage, all we hear are people’s voices. However, in occasions we also hear a background tune of cultural music. Although very simple and not too loud, the cultural tune playing in certain shots really adds that feel of struggle and a feel of uncertainty. It was a very strategic choice of adding this smaller tune because it goes perfect with the overall environment of the footage. Overall, this was a very informative documentary and I would definitely recommend others to see it.
LikeLike
The film Popular Power is a documentary that portrays the struggle of the Chilean people as they support their president Allende who is turning Chile into a Socialist/populist nation.The documentary uses a lot of close ups to portray the people and show their happiness and support for their new governemnt. The documentary is heavily biased taking favor with the people and their plight in giving the workers more rights and equal pay. This movie is about the struggle of the people and the destruction of this struggle with the death of Allende. The movie ends in a cynical tone and quietly condemning the Generals who killed Allende.
M/K TILs
Star Wars changed the film industry and pushed it into a New Era of Mythology. Star Wars used new methods such as dolby noise reductions and the use of computers to control the camera.
LikeLike
Chapter 17 TILs:
Movies were only considered “Blockbusters” if they grossed over 100 million dollars at the US box office. Since the cost to make these films were so much (average cost to produce a film went from $11 million in ’81 to $71 million in 2007) theatre owners had to send a higher percentage of the ticket sales to studios. This resulted in theatre owners understanding they would make their money the concession stand and go from one or two screens to housing up to 16 screens.
Reflections on Popular Power:
One chose that stood out to me when watching this documentary was the use of extreme close ups when interviewing the people of Chile. In most of the documentaries that I’ve seen they use close ups but not the extreme ones that were utilized in Popular Power. These extreme close ups make us feel uncomfortable and force us to get close and personal with the people of Chile. It really makes us feel as if we have to listen to their plight, we can’t ignore them when they’re directly in our face. This method also makes the events that are going on feel more intense and urgent.
Another effective tool was the use of the pan flute music that helps set the mood. It was particularly effective at the end of the film when the camera was slowly panning out into the desert accompanied by the native pan flute music that made the documentary feel more authentic to the people of Chile. It was a bittersweet tune that made the audience feel as if not all would be alright for the people of Chile and ultimately it was not.
LikeLike
M/K TILs
Chapter:
17. In “The Return of the Myths: 1977-,” I learned that at some point in the late 1970s, the American cinema abandoned its attack on the genres of American life to embrace them both again. The new films viewed these myths and mysteries with the hope and wonder of childhood, which they set out to recapture or invent a kind of innocence. Superheroes comics have a pre-sold audience of readers and their mythology and Superman (Christopher Reeve) became the figure of a belief of superheroes comics. George Lucas used a Dolby SVA soundtrack led to what has been called the “seconding coming of sound,” a complete revolution in the technology and aesthetics of film sound. Heroes of fantasy, of science fiction, and of fast-paced action and adventure were the return of myths.
Reflections on Popular Power:
The film, The Battle of Chile: Part 3 Popular Power, was a documentary of the working class of Chile. The film was about local groups from Chile to form as a defense against strikes and lockouts by Allende government supporters. Director of the film was Patricio Guzman. Patricio Guzman’s documentaries were different because there were a lot of close-ups. The close-ups helped the film because you can see their facial expression and you can get a sense of their reality. With those close-ups you can also see how dirty their faces are. Guzman captures the faith and commitment of students, farmers, and the working classes to Allende’s social and economical reforms. I like how Guzman had a balance of close-ups, montages, opinions, and narrations. This documentary was certainly bias towards the working class to promote some kind of sympathy towards them. This film was made for the whole world to see, most third world films were. I believe that maybe one or two clip of a documentary could be fake, which is acceptable because to prove a point or a understanding of the concept that’s being shown in the documentary. I recommend this documentary for anyone who is interested in wondering what to other countries before the use of social media and for anyone who is interested of a different view of how a different third world country works.
LikeLike
Panther Panchali was about how the Popular Unity coalition ran for office in 1973. Popular Unity wanted to nationalize manufacturing and agricultural industries to overcome economic tariffs and hardships. Despite there best efforts Popular Unity is dismantled by a CIA coup in 1973 which installs Pinochet regime into power. Documentary movie was not biased because it showed the perspective of the Chilean workers and how they wanted to maintain a democratic socialist government free from foreign intervention and influence. I would highly recommend this movie for anybody who wishes to understand politics in Latin America and how the United States interventions do not always favor the democratic interests of the people in third world countries. Director Patricio Guzman did an excellent job in documenting daily society of Chilean students, university professors, workers, and the Chilean people and how Chile was going through constantly changing times in the 1970s.
Today I learned in chapter 17 how sci-fi movies have evolved since 1977. The new movies are myth machines that explore cultural myths not through the dramatic eye of adulthood but rather the hope and wonder of childhood. Speed and thrills have come to define audience expectations in modern day cinema movies. Shooting on digital video, and watching movies on DVD and online streaming have fundamentally changed the way we think and watch about movies today. There are more mediums today for streaming and consuming movies in the 21st century then there was during the 20th century.
LikeLike
The battle of Chile
LikeLike
the battle of chile is definitely a darker documentary than most documentaries. its rare when you see a documentary of this scale, grab the attention of almost all of its viewers. most people watch documentaries to learn more information on a given topic. the objective of most documentaries, is to persuade the viewer into siding with main side of the documentary. in this case, the main side of the documentary was the chilean people. the use of up close and personal shots of the Chileans adds to the overall affect of the doc. when looking at those close up shots, you can almost feel the emotions on the faces of those who were torn away from their government. the ending in particular was very a powerful statement, open to any type of interpretation. a blank and seemingly endless landscape, bare of any life is what the doc leaves us with. my interpretation of this is that in the wake of all that took place, the Chileans were still left with nothing in return.
ch 17 TILS: well as we move towards the modern age of cinema the developing of films changes. the movies of the past began to die out as more sci-fi or fantasy movies began to roll in. this was only possible due to the major technological advancements in american film industries
LikeLike
M/K. TILS CHP 17 – Chapter seventeen discusses George Lucas’s success in creating the film Star Wars that came out in 1977, this brought George Lucas to fame with the legendary sounds/noises/tones that came up with the opening scene, the shooting of guns, riding in the millennium falcon, and of course R2-D2. His film gathering most of the attention from a young audience who wanted more films. George Lucas’s film inspired and paved a road for other films to have a chance on the big screen such as: Back to the Future (1984), Pulp Fiction (1994). The chapter then veers into more great leading directors like the Coen Brother, who are some of my favorite directors/writers. The chapter reveals that most of the time Joel Coen was in charge of directing while Ethan Coen was in charge of producing but they both worked on the scripts together, the first film they directed together was “No Country For Old Men”. Their style displayed their handy camera work, extremely detailed characters and witty lines.
Reflection on Popular Power: “The Battle of Chile Part 3: Popular Power” directed by Patricio Guzman released in 1979 was an eye opening film. My older family members have brushed over the protests that had taken place in Chile when the work force became one and people united, what I did not know was how strong the movement actually was. I was surprised that the film showed women, I was not expecting the footage of the women who were working in their tiny factory. I did like that through out the film he kept cutting back to the working men who were in line, asking them about how they think the government should be handling the situation their country is in. Of course only about 3 men in the line had said that the government was doing their best and the rest of the men in the line kept saying they should not even have to be going through this movement, their president should be helping them. Then Chile was taken by surprise on September eleventh 1973, when the Nixon administration performed a Coup D’état that ended the Chilean president’s life. Of course the film is meant to persuade you to feel sorry for these workers, because that is how the writer had viewed the situation, there was barely any support for the governments side.
LikeLike
Battle of Chile: in 1970 Chile elected there first popular communist in the world and this filmed showed the lives of the people and the things they were living during this time. This filmed in consider to be a documentary because it’s shows the true portrayal of what happened. This film makers collected fottage over the years and put them all together. At times during this film I was confused of what was going on and why they were still going to work and why were they boycotting maybe I got confused because I kept trying to understand them because they spoke Spanish but many words were different and then I would go to read the subtitle to understand the word and I just got lost. (My fault) but I didn’t notice how the film maker used a lot of close up shot of the people that were speaking to focus on them and there situation. Probably not my favorite documentary.
Ch 17 I read about science fiction movies( sci-fi) and how they began encoding since the 1970’s. Hence film was now more focused with entertainment.
LikeLike
Reflection on Battle of Chile: Battle of Chile was a really interesting documentary because it wasn’t being filmed after the thought. It was filmed on location during the actual revolution which is really incredible. Whenever the camera zoomed in on a person’s face really tight my only thought was how difficult that must be. If the person moves around at all it’s going to be incredibly difficult to track them without too much camera shake. Which led me to believe every moment in which they zoom in on someone’s face it must be scripted. Even the scripted scenes (which you said there were) were incredibly well done. I can’t currently remember a shot of the film besides the last one where the film broke this realistic look.
TIL:
M/K 17: The Coen brothers work together on films and both play key roles. Joel Coen directs the film and Ethan Coen produces it. They both however write the screenplays for their movies together.
LikeLike
TIL: Chapter 17 – Even though George Lucas known for bring visually spectacular images on the big screen (i.e. Star Wars) he also help create a new sound system and editing technology bring the film industry to new digital environment.
Reflections on Popular Power:
Overall, I feel as though director Patricio Guzman achieved his goal in making the group Popular Unity as the good guy in the political situation. Even though he did not flat out a say which side he was on, the use close up interviews to show the passion and hardship that the workers/members of the popular unity and only telling their side of the story made a bit clear he wasn’t on the opposing right-winged government. Also, leaving out any interview with the opposing side to explain their side of things and only showing small clips that portrayed them in a negative light like them using harsh words as “Marxist Cancer” towards a peaceful protesting group did not help establish them as the victims in the situation. Although, I really didn’t care much about the documentary it did make me feel sympathy for the popular unity group, which if interesting to note because if a movie has a topic that I know nothing about can inform me and make me feel an emotion then I think it did its job.
.
LikeLike
M/K TILs Chapter 17:
Movies of the 1990’s such as Titanic were considered major blockbusters because it made over a billion dollars in the box office, but it had a huge budget of 200 million dollars. There were many advances in technology in the 1970’s such as the Dolby noise-reduction process which was great for increasing the sound quality for films. One of the films that used this new advancement really well was George Lucas’ Star Wars. At this George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were master myth makers and leading directors.
Reflections on Popular Power:
In the film The Battle of Chile Part 3 directed by Patricio Guzman it depicts what was going in Chile at this time and how it was affecting the people living there. From watching this film one thing that I picked up on was that the director loves doing close ups on individuals throughout the film. Guzman made his documentary different than most people did at that time because he wanted you to feel the same emotions and have the same expressions as the people with the close ups he did. The way this filmed was edited showed how the economy was working more than anything else. The workers and students were still doing their jobs regardless of the conditions they faced. The ending of this documentary was left open for interpretation and I believe that works well for certain documentaries such as this one.
LikeLike
TIL: I learned how the technological advances were made in the 1970’s. George Lucas was a huge contributor in this time using new editing technology with star wars to make the sounds and noises for that movie.
Reflection on Popular Power: The director Patricio Guzman used a lot of close ups as well as narrations and montages to tell the story of the working class of Chile and did a great job. Before watching this I actually thought that all documentaries were true and not staged. But it turns out that it is common for some scenes to be staged in order to really get a message across and that is the case in this documentary as well. I understand why that is done, although it is a little staged as long as it is still used to tell the true story then I think that is perfectly fine. I enjoyed when the workers were being interviewed you could see that even though most of them probably didn’t have much education, they were intelligent in their stands and explained their position very well.
LikeLike
M/K TILs
Theater owners found that they were able to get their revenue from concession stands rather than ticket sales as movie budgets got high enough that most of the ticket proceedings went to paying off that instead. Blockbusters were determined by if they grossed over $100 million or not.
Reflections on Popular Power:
Director Patricio Guzman filmed a documentary on the working class of Chile and their feelings and opinions on the government overseeing them. Though most documentaries do have bias, they often try to stay moderate, however Popular Power shows that Guzman definitely has a leaning and does not often include the narrative of the other side. One of the tactics he uses that it most notable is his use of close-ups, as they are hard to miss. Not only will he zoom in on the person speaking at the moment to really capture the subtleties of their emotions and their importance in that scene, but he will also shift his camera to look at specific people in the audience to show their reactions to whatever is being said also, catching them unaware.
LikeLike
Chapter 17 TILS:
In chapter 17 I learned that the movies of this era set out to try and capture the imagination of individuals. Many of the films tried to have a more positive impact in their making and portray events such as heroism. Movies that were made that were much too political or psychological were deemed to be too negative. One of the most famous movies that arose from this era was the movie Star Wars. This movie exemplified the revolution of sound and technology. Many other movies in this era were created that were mythical as well, a few that stood out to me were ET and Field of Dreams. In this chapter we were also introduced to one of the biggest masters of film, Steven Spielberg.
Reflections on The Battle of Chile Part III: Popular Power:
This film was a documentary that focused in on the working people in Chile that were protesting against Allende. This film exhibited the political and social conflict that was going on at the time. Popular communism was supported in this film and I feel it was biased in the direction of aiming towards that side of political power. It was an eye into the view of what was going with the people of this nation at the time. The workers in the film were fighting to defend the Allende government, which in turn led to them gaining control of the production coming out of the factories that they were working in. During an interview with one of the workers he stated that ” we are not in possession of power, we were in possession of the government.” I think that the director decided to put the shot in of the desert because it was symbolic to what was going on at the time. It held meaning to the dryness of the economy that was going on at the time and symbolized the past history of Chile. I think this movie was very effective in making me realize how lucky our country is for our ability to vote in preseditial elections. We should never take for granted the power we hold in us to be able to have say in what goes on.
LikeLike
TIL: Star Wars lead the way into a new world of mythology in film. To be a blockbuster a movie must gross over $100 million.
The Battle of Chile Part 3: This documentary was made by director Patricio Guzman. It focused on the people of Chile who supported Allende. The documentary featured students, farmers, and the working class who’s support helped strengthen his cause. What stood out about this documentary to me was the way that Guzman did his close ups. He would zoom into someone’s face incredibly close…almost to the point where it could be described as intrusive. These shots made the film to me though. During the close ups, the viewer was really able to understand and feel the person’s struggle and fight. Without these shots, I don’t think the documentary would have been as successful.
LikeLike
Reflection on Popular Power:
“The Battle of Chile Part 3: Popular Power” is directed by Patricio Guzman who uses this documentary to show the protest going on with the working class of Chile in the 70’s. I knew before watching the movie that the events were staged, but seeing them unfold made it so real that I had to remind myself that they were staged. The biggest detail that really separates this documentary from others was the use of close ups on the people. In the other documentaries I have seen, almost none use this tool as much. This made such a difference to me because you were actually able to see the terrified expressions of the people, which made it so much more real.
TIL:
Chapter 17- In this chapter I learned what qualifies a movie as a “blockbuster”. This term was used in the 80’s for movies that made over a hundred million dollars. During which time the cost of making movies were much less.
LikeLike
TIL Chap 17 : Star Wars is credited with beginning the era of Mythology in film, it used techniques in sound and filming that had never been done before. Because of its story line and taking place “a long time ago” it also brought in the transitions of Romance and the saga.
Popular Power was an interesting documentary, it really showed the plight of the working class in Chile. It was definitely a biased film, showing its support of the workers during this struggle of power in Chile. I liked the way it was filmed, it told the story of the workers and would show their passion. Guzman would use camera angles and zoom to enhance what was being said by any one person being interviewed. I think these angles were also used so that while you were watching the film you could empathize more with the speaker because you could clearly see his face, his clothes etc.
LikeLike
Chapter 17: While Star Wars rekindled the audience’s excitement, it was not all good. Mythology led to long film anthologies, expanded universes, and lore to explore, but what it lost was far greater. Gone were the intellectually challenging films like Laurence of Arabia, the emotional subtly of The Godfather, and the complexity and intimacy of character; Instead were the super heroes and super villains, the jedi and sith. The good and evil. This not only simplified the world of film, but reestablished genre as defining of each film. The people liked happy endings, and happy endings they got. Hollywood was reminded that film, to their core audience, was entertainment, not art. And so they took this to heart. It was so strongly affected that even the greats that came out since this affectation, like Blade Runner, a psychologically thrilling and intellectually stimulating opus, was edited against director Ridley Scott’s wishes to better fit the narratives commonly associated with film.
Popular Power was very obviously filmed by someone who had a side. The workers were made easy to identify with, while the government was a faceless entity, nearly evil in nature. His tendency to use the close up to essentially invade the space of the character was visually interesting, and the angle work effectively portrayed characters as either someone to fear or someone to relate to.
LikeLike
TIL: M/K Ch. 17- The late 1970s saw big changes in the film industry, and started to shift to larger budget “blockbuster films.”
The Battle of Chile Part III: Popular Power Reflections- Patricio Guzman did an amazing job at drawing in those who watched this documentary. One way he did that was the use of extreme close ups was something that I haven’t seen in a documentary before. By doing that he was able to convey the emotions of those he filmed. I also learned that in some documentaries there are scenes that will be staged, because they couldn’t get the original shot at the time. I don’t believe that doing so is wrong, but rather if it’s staged how the initial action took place then it is fine. A director is not able to catch every single shot at the time it is taking place.
LikeLike
Chapter 17: I learned that films that tackled difficult political or psychological material sometimes had their endings changed by executives. Which I found very interesting. Another interesting fact is that independent production companies came in big and small sizes, but what defined them as independent is that they were not affiliated with the MPAA, as the big studios were.
Popular Power
The documentary uses a lot of close ups to portray the people and show their happiness and support for their new government. This movie is about the struggle of the people and the destruction of this struggle with the death of Allende.
LikeLike