AV essay i choose:
Fandor- Fade to White https://vimeo.com/303604806

The AV essay notes how often we get the “fade to black” ending or “cut to black ending”. However it focuses on the “fade to white” endings of movies and what does that technique give to the audience in terms of emotion, feelings and suggestions for the actual end of the story.

In my opinion, the use of voice-over provides for the easy, straight forward communication between the creator of the essay and the viewer. I would always choose to have voice-over in an essay also because it can easily double or triple the information you give to the viewer by otherwise just visuals.
Another technique i like in the essay is how different scenes are being compared to each other, sometimes even by split-screening. The creator also lets us self-assess the film’s endings and what emotion they portray, judge for ourselves how we feel from them as he would ask which scene would make us feel in a certain way, and therefore, doesn’t provide an answer.

I like how the creator’s choice of films for the essay is modern. We rarely see examples with old movies. I think, in a world where filmmaking would most often be taught by diving into the past of old movies, it’s important to teach people by giving modern examples. Teaching us by showing how the directors that we now look up to, master their craft, makes at least for a more engaging experience.

Clarity is something this AV essay is not short of. As it succeeds in portraying what it says and saying what it shows, the essay is easy to understand. Because of the strong points it makes and the quotes from some of the movies’ editors it also successfully makes the viewer agree and learn from it, instead of just having an opinion about it.

Hybrid Documentary: Man on Wire

Man on Wire is I think the first hybrid documentary I’ve ever watched. What makes this movies so good, for me is all the facts, interviews, old footage and modern techniques combined, to be used flawlessly all together in order to give a story in it’s most full and engaging form.

In terms of audiovisual metaphors, the movie was not missing any. There were quite a few moments of such technique in the film like, when they put comedic music over a scene in which Philippe and one of his friends are both pulling a rope from the 2 different sides of it, in order to alert each other that there is a security guy staring at them. Or when we hear scary-movie music (non-linear sounds) when they hear a security guy near them. However, the scene when i got the strongest emotion from this technique is when Philippe at the top of one of the Twin towers for the first time. While we are seeing old pictures of him looking around, we constantly hear this ambiance of wind and city traffic.

It makes the picture come to live more or less and really makes the viewer feel the overwhelming height of the tower.

In terms of performance, the movie was brilliant for me. I actually researched, and it is missing little to none details from the true story. It’s really rich in story and i think the non-linear timeline made it really engaging.

As the story progresses, the whole idea starts to feel kinda like a bank heist or robbery, as Philippe describes it. Therefore, in my opinion the shady, and dramatic character introductions felt just in place.

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The characters introduced before that feeling is established, are introduced in a more casual and relaxed shot , as it wouldn’t make sense otherwise.

The movie was engaging throughout the whole time, the flashbacks looked very real, which i still can’t find any information on how they did it. We can definately feel the hybrid part of it, but not as a problem of continuity or something unbelievable that takes us out of the experience. It’s used as a tool to make us see and feel more, than there is in the real old footage. It intensifies the emotions dealt through the movie. The excitement. The worry. The happiness.