buster keaton

Buster Keaton: One Week, The Scarecrow, The High Sign, Cops



Buster Keaton tends to use long shots to encourage the audience to look around the frame to see the joke, they allow an appreciation of the gag. Close ups usually follow up from this to show the characters reaction. He also tends to shoot face on so he is centre of attention. Keaton does this to highlight the idea that he is the joke and considered a clown; this tends to follow through on most films. In Cops there is a scene where Keaton is depicted in the foreground trying to take nap, a deep focus is used to show us that the city is unfurling in the background. Yet again Keaton is placed in the middle of the frame, this allows the audience to see how interacts with the chaotic and mechanical world. This is a very iconic use of cinematography for Keaton, as he tends to prefer to get everything in one frame, this is because editing in the 20s was considered as deceiving the audience.

The sets used in Buster Keaton can function as characters, for example’ the house in one week takes a life of its own, on Wednesday the house takes on a cubist appearance, this is a visual gag that references the cubist movement. The cubist movement was popular in the 20thcentury and typified objects and figures that appear abstract and fragmented. Moreover, Keaton was a visual director; he tended to avoid title cards and focused on gesture and action. His comedic background came from his childhood where he preformed in the Keaton’s trademark. Nevertheless, props used in his films tend to include specifically designed elements i.e. in The Scarecrow he uses strange tables and cupboards to save space. This refers to the 20thcentury where new inventions were forming that was not partially helpful in life; he mocks this by use of mechanical comedy.

Discuss how far your chosen film or films reflect cultural contexts associated with a particular film movement

Starting point of cinema: silent comedy

History and conventions:

 ·      Started of having little narrative and instead featured videos of real life for example arrival of a train at La Ciotat by  the Lumiere Brothers

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