For my capstone, I decided to learn how to cook. Over the course of several weeks, I was able to make many different meals. I spent a long time planning out each meal and researching some different recipes. My main focus was on lunch and dinner meals although I includes both breakfast and dessert recipes in my final product. For my final product, I made a website with all the recipes I complied. As part of my process, I journaled after each meal I made and took pictures to go along with the recipes.

https://cooking-with-an-amateur.weebly.com/

Get Technical // Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, directed by George Roy Hill, is a love letter to traditional western films. That’s the first thing we were told about this film. The western genre, in general, surrounds an American western landscape, a battle between two groups, and characters that are based on real people. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a beautiful nod to the genre, including all of these elements. It follows the two bandits, Butch Cassidy and Sundance, as they find their way robbing banks and running away from the law. The film uses both black and white scenes and scenes in color to captivate the audience. Some of the most effective and overall best aspects of the film are the numerous cinematic elements. The mix of extreme close-ups and zoom-ins and outs is a big part of why the film works.

In a typical western film, one of the iconic cinematic elements within a film is extreme close-ups. Usually, close-ups in western films are used to focus on characters’ faces, eyes, and hands. I’m no expert on western film, but even I know that a classic standoff has dramatic extreme close-ups of the character’s eyes. It shows the tension surrounding the altercation and the drama around who will draw their gun first. In Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the opening scene uses dramatic close-ups of the character’s faces as they have an odd 3 person standoff. The shot is set up so that Butch and Sundance are facing the cameras and the third man has his back to them. The camera stays still for a moment as there is some movement, but a quick cut zooms into the pistol being drawn and then used to shoot the other pistol out of the third man’s hands and across the floor. While this standoff differs from traditional ones in western films - mainly by the lack of extreme close-ups - it uses other key components to still identify itself as a western movie. The quick draw after a long tension-filled standoff scene plays perfectly into the genre.

One of my favorite things accomplished in this film is the use of zoom in and outs. From the opening to the ending, the zoom-in and-out shots add so much chaos to an otherwise slow film. Following the story of Butch and Sundance as they banter and run from the law is exciting on its own. There are moments of comedy thrown in to make it all feel light-hearted, almost like it’s all a big game. To add comedy, and most often drama, the film uses a zoom in and outs. As mentioned earlier, there is a dramatic close-up in the opening scene that helps to show off Sundance’s shooting skills. While it is technically not a zoom-in, it still works as one as the scene cuts to it very quickly, giving audience members little time to process what has just happened. In later moments of the film, specifically, when Butch and Sundance go on a long journey to escape the police that are hot on their tail, viewers can observe the use of extreme long shots. The slowest parts of this film lay there in those shots. From a great distance, Butch and Sundance have to squint to see if they are still being chased. A few dust clouds confirm that they are and they are forced to keep moving forward. These scenes do the same with cuts to make it feel like the camera is being zoomed out to display a sunny desert landscape.

The final aspect of the film that works is the switch between black and white and color. Within the film, there are three key moments where the director chose to exclusively shoot in black and white instead of in color. Throughout the majority of the film, the director uses color, so these scenes always stand out. These scenes include the opening, the photomontage, and the final freeze-frame in the end. Each one of these scenes is perfectly executed and works so well for the overall genre and movie. The opening scene helps establish who everyone is without giving any formal introductions. There are some close-ups of the character’s face, as well as some medium shots of everyone standing around a table. As discussed before, this scene sets the tone for the film as a western and does so by being entirely shot in black and white. The black and white shots help viewers focus exclusively on the tension between the characters and the small dialogue exchanged. The next scene, or rather a sequence of photos, is a cheerful journey between Butch, Sundance, and Etta as they make their way to Bolivia. The scene includes upbeat music and lots of black and white photos of the trio on their travels. The scene then has a wonderful transition back into color as the trios’ trip ends and they arrive in Bolivia. I think the transition was exactly what the film needed to cross over the next half of the film. The final scene, the very last shot, is both a freeze-frame and the use of black and white. While the duo faces their final battle, they bravely go out, guns at the ready, facing their fate. In the last second, the scene freezes and captures a photolike shot of Butch and Sundance running out onto the battlefield. Audience members can hear gunshots being fired, but the frame doesn’t change. Instead, the director chose to capture their final moment in time, freezing it to preserve the story of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Out of all the movie reviews that I read for the movie Psycho, Pure Psycho: The Art of a Midnight Masterpiece written by John M. Heath caught my attention the most. He focuses the majority of the article on breaking down the techniques used in the film that kindle an emotional reaction from the audience. He includes multiple shots to back up all his points and shows, not tells, the readers what a real cinematic masterpiece this film is. In addition, Heath pulls quotes from the director himself, Alfred Hitchcock, to tie the whole article together. The most impressive thing this article accomplishes is getting me to enjoy the film. Not as a story, but as a picture film. As a person who is not a fan of horror or thriller movies, the interpretation, and breakdown this article goes through make me want to rewatch Psycho to appreciate it for what it is.

Heath starts off strong with a quote from Hitchcock talking about the pride he takes in his film. Hitchcock goes on about the joy he feels knowing that his film, Psycho, had an effect on the audience. He enjoys that it sparks an emotional response from the audience and the fact that he was able to create that reaction through his film. Heath follows this quote with an explanation about how Hitchcock is a part of the “old school silent-era directors” that lived by the rule “Show it, don’t say it” (Heath). Anyone who has watched Psycho knows this to be true, even without previously knowing about the rule. Hitchcock is a master at keeping his audience on the edge of their seats. He is able to execute this level of suspense by not saying much and instead of showing his audience what he needs them to know. Everything, one way or another, leads the audience down to the big reveal at the end.

Something that Heath and most film reviewers can agree on, is the manipulative mastermind that Hitchcock is. In addition to his usage of “Show it, don’t say it,” he also dictates the relationship the audience has with the story. In the beginning, he pins the audience on a birds-eye-view of a city. He immediately follows this by closing in on a hotel room, peaking through the window. Heath said it best, “We feel that we’re prying, witnessing something that we shouldn’t. Yet, we can’t look away.” (Heath). Hitchcock wants his audience to feel like peeping toms. He creates this discomfort, and builds this question of Am I allowed to watch? in the mind of his audience. This allows Hitchcock to enter the minds of his viewers and push the limits with what he shows. He is able to build suspense, real the audience in, and hit them with major and unexpected events, all with the clever use of different shots.

One of the technical elements used in this film that Heath goes into is Hitchcock’s use of strong compositional lines. This specific element triggers an uneasy feeling in viewers and Hitchcock uses that to his advantage. If we remember the rules for watching Psycho, Hitchcock made the film with the intention of trapping his audience in theaters to watch this movie all the way through. Something Heath missed is the importance of the audience’s memory. Because Hitchcock wants the ability to control and impact the audience’s emotions, he needs them to sit through the whole film. This way, when he shows viewers strong compositional lines with the suggestion that they hold a deeper meaning, he needs to trigger a memory in their heads to convey this message. In the article Heath shows these examples side by side, helping readers to understand his point, but in the film, Hitchcock uses his limited runtime to do the same.

Following the theme of repetition and memory, Hitchcock loved to draw parallels between seemingly meaningless events at the beginning and the bigger events that happen later on. He hints at so many little things that some may not even notice. Thankfully Heath does a great job of breaking these small details down for us. For example, there is a weird connection between birds and women in this film. If we remember the birds-eye-view in the opening scene, and then watch the dinner scene with Norman and Marion, we as audience members can begin to understand that Hitchcock wanted us to link the two in our minds. “We learn that these three things (birds, sex, and women) are inextricably linked in the twisted mind of Norman Bates” (Heath). Why does it matter that these things are connected in Norman’s head? As we find out after the dinner scene, it’s because the story shifts to follow Norman instead of Marion. Hitchcock planned this shift all along and was clearly informing the audience about the change through the dinner scene.

It is small connections like this that start to turn wheels in my head and make me want to go back and rewatch to look out for these subtle things. Heath’s article makes me want to go back and look for more connections or small details I missed. It is this very article that makes me want to rewatch Psycho to appreciate it for what Hitchcock intended it to be. A midnight masterpiece.