Dance and the Mis-en-scene

Another form of art is dance. In expressing one's feelings or emotions through dance, one makes use of bodily movements to convey a particular message to the audience.

During the Dance Workshop held in the "William Shaw Little Theater", we were told of the different dances hailed from different countries and cultures. These dances hold different historical beginnings. We were told by the speaker, who is the choreographer for La Salle Street Dance Company, and Jazz that some dances resulted from the revolt of people. Some dances like the Classical Ballet, and the Modern Dance also share some characteristics in their execution and their movement itself.

Each kind of dance has its own meaning to speak of. The dance that struck me is the “Indian dance” because it is so unique and interesting. At first, I really found it creepy because of all those eerie dance steps, plus they used red light on the stage.

Indian Dance

But in the middle of the performance, I appreciated it. I also liked the interpretative dance because even if they did not have to explain what they want to say in words, what they want to express is really evident in their dance movements.

Also one of my favorites is the “Maglalatik” because it is a very lively dance, and the performers themselves did a good job.

Maglalatik

In dancing with a group, you have to learn how to coordinate with your co-dancers so that you move as one, and breathe as one as well. I think that is one of the essential things in dancing. When you dance with a group, you must not also dance as if you’re the only one dancing. Do not outshine your co-dancers as it will seem that they are your backup dancers. Also another factor is the energy. You should learn how to channel and use energy depending on the different instances in which they are needed. These are just a few but they make up the essentials of dance.

In our class last Friday, Ms. Castro also pointed out to us the things that interact within the frame of the movie, which is also known as the mis-en-scene. She explained to us that the movie creators manipulate movie elements (lighting, sounds, camera positions, and angles) to express certain emotions or feelings without having to come from the character itself. For example, the scene in The Cinema Paradiso wherein Salvatore was walking away from Elena’s house during New Year. In that certain scene, words weren’t needed to express that Salvatore is heart-broken. The contrast in the mood and the lighting was enough to say that he really is sad. The camera angles also help in emphasizing what needs to be emphasized. Simple things that seem irrelevant to us also convey messages. For example, the breaking of a twig, or the dropping of a family portrait may signify a lot, and like I said these techniques and elements fall under the manipulation of the symphony of movie elements which belong to the mis-en-scene.

A scene from silent hill

In this certain scene in the horror film "Silent Hill", it was not explicitly stated that she was going to be in danger. The lighting, special fog effects, and the long shot was enough to say so. She starts to get smaller and smaller as she moves forward, the camera still focusing at the sign. She is portrayed as small against the sign, which means that she is in for something she is unsure of and that she is in a foreign area.

music

Music is indeed a form of art. It is considered an art because it has substance, in the sense that you could freely express yourself and that what you express has meaning.

During the Music workshop, we were informed of the Intonation, Showmanship, Dynamics and Tempo. These elements make-up the orchestral performances. The De La Salle Chamber Ensemble started demonstrating the do's and dont's regarding the four elements. And when they started playing, I was really amazed. They rendered us with the classical pieces. And they all performed the pieces well. When listening to classical music, I feel peaceful. My mind just goes blank and I feel light. It is intriguing how those different musical instruments can make changes in how you feel. I believe that this type of music is even stronger than songs. But that also depends on how we perceive things. But that is how it works for me. Classical music seems so pure and powerful.

I remembered the time when Mom was forcing me to take up piano lessons, and also the time when I tried out learning the violin. I also remembered how I participated in other musical events when I was younger. This was when I realized that music really plays a big part in our lives. It was even pointed out to us that classical music can help make your kids smarter. It has also been known to hasten the ripening of certain fruits. Now one would wonder how all of these things work. That just proves how great music is. You could even see everyone hooked on to their mp3 players because music is part of their daily lives. Life without music is life without life at all.

Cinema Paradiso

We watched Cinema Paradiso for Artapre. I must admit, I did not like it at first. But as the film progresses, I started liking it. The film is basically about Salvatore, who as a child was very fascinated and interested in film. He met the film projectionist Alfredo, who later also taught him how to project film reels on the screen.

Salvatore and Alfred

Later in the film, it was showed that Alfredo got blind because of a fire accident in the movie house. Salvatore replaced him as a projectionist, and he was doing rather well at it. In his adolescent years, Salvatore met a fine young woman named Elena. He liked her so much, and they eventually became lovers. But things got in their way, and eventually they were separated.

The film was shown as flashbacks from the personal experiences or memories of Salvatore in his elderly years. But I honestly did not notice that until at the end of the film when an old man was shown. That was only the time when I realized that it was really a flashback. I think this is due to the transition they used for the frames. The transition for the frames was too abrupt. I think the director played with the camera angles quite well because the things that were needed to be emphasized were emphasized. There were good close-ups in the film. For example, Salvatore’s close-ups wherein he was longing for Elena.
close-up of Salvatore

I also liked the scenes which involved the long shots. For example, Salvatore coming out of the bus in the plaza. Medium shots were also used well when they wanted to direct the viewers’ attention to the interaction of the characters in the movie.

For me, the film was very simple, yet it managed to affect me as a film viewer; the movie got through me. I would admit that some things were touching, particularly the scenes towards the end of the film. I appreciated how they chose the setting, the background tunes, and the lightning. These elements were creatively manipulated to create the desired scenes which would elicit the necessary emotions from the viewers.

Ms. Castro also told us to stay during the rolling of the credits because we have to appreciate all the people behind the film. That is just proper because they all did their part and worked hard for the creation of the film.

Art and Film

After our first meeting, we started discussing about what Art is and what criteria are considered for a certain creation to be considered Art.

Basically, at first, Ms. Jewel Castro told us that an Art expresses emotion and is unique / original.

And then we were informed of the four universal criteria:

1. universal substance
2. significant history
3. original
4. form

These things influenced me on how to see or evaluate Art. Before, I thought that as long as it is unique and fancy / colorful, it can be already considered Art.

So to sum it up, basically, an “Art” can only be considered as one when it has form and meaning. So when you present a straight line written on a clean sheet of paper, how will you consider that an art?

In the introduction of film, Ms. Jewel Castro showed us series of comic frames presented in different creative ways but share the same thought and story. I was honestly amazed by how the creator manipulated that certain frame and made interesting variants of it. This implies that a certain art medium can be twisted and manipulated to make it interesting, and that we can all view or look at things in different ways.

Ms. Jewel Castro started discussing to us film. She told us that the instrument in film is the camera. During the early days of film creation, they filmed only with a stationary camera. They did not have the idea of moving the camera or filming with different camera angles.

When they learned of filming on different angles, they basically used three shots. One is the long shot which from its name, is characterized by capturing something as a whole. It shows the subject in relation to its environment. The second one is medium shot. This shot shows or focuses on the upper body of the subject. When you see a certain scene shot using this, it means that you have to watch them move or interact. The third one is the close-up shot. This is used when one wants to emphasize the emotions of the subject. It can also show the subject’s importance.

Artapre impressions

Let me start off this post with my impressions for this subject. When I was in my 2^nd year college, I started asking other students of higher batches what Artapre is all about.

“Ayun, puro painting. Tapos itatanong sa’yo kung ano nakikita mo.”
“Parang review ng mga movie, plays, paintings.”

The two replies from above were quite relieving for me not until…

“Pinakanta kami isa-isa.”
“Papasayawin kami sa midterms.”

Upon hearing these responses, I can already get a clear picture on my head of me sinking on the floor with extreme shame upon singing and dancing in front of a huge crowd. I do like watching song and dance performances but I just do not have the talent for doing such things.

They were already advising me not to enroll under this professor, under that professor. Unfortunately, the section in which we enrolled in does not have any professor assigned to it yet. So I was already expecting the worst. Come May 23, 8:10 am, our Artapre professor came in. She started introducing herself and I found her very nice. When she showed us the syllabus, I was quite relieved to see that we are not required to sing or dance (if I recall it right).