From: stella <@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Oct 1, 2010 at 11:25 AM
Subject: Re: Scheduled Film for 5 March 2010
To: rdca25@gmail.com
Candy Jiang, Mamie, Holly, Juliet, Tiffany, Joseph, Sophia, Abby, Ivana, Vicky Shih, Vincent, April, Anna, Joan, Charlene, Christine, Alice Wang, Candy Cheng, Christopher, Carolina, Max, Tina, Emily, Eileen, Hilary, David, Vicky Lin, Katherine, Hazel, Ida, Daniel, Anne, Chin, Violet, Hansel, Vivian Lin, Finna, Mandy, Vicky Liu, Jeanette, Vivian Yang, Irving, Minnie, Alice Huang, Cherry,
Candy Jiang
In Picnic, train is a familiar image. The first scene in the movie shows Hal Carter in a train to indicate that he is the kind of man that every family should have, and this idea was later conveyed as one of the lines in the movie. In the later story, after the picnic, Hal and Madge Owens confessed to each other their feelings. They kissed with the background of a running train. This scene makes me think of Man's Favorite Sport, the scheduled film in last semester. In Man's Favorite Sport, train symbolizes the sexual satisfaction of the couple. I think, in this film, train has the same symbolization, the sexual and love satisfaction of Hal and Madge. The same use occurs at the close of the film when Hal was on the top of the train with Madge in the bus following him.
When Hal was eating the breakfast prepared by Mrs. Potts, in their lines they mentioned the word "cherry pie," which reminds me of the same word in Lolita, another scheduled film in last semester. In Lolita, cherry pie has the sex metaphor and represents the love relationship between Humbert and Lolita. Identically, in Picnic, cherry pie here suggests the complex love relationship in which Hal was going to get involved. Millie Owens for the very first time fell in love with Hal, who was in love with her sister Madge, who was the fiancé of Hal's best friend Alan. Also, personally I think the old maid teacher Rosemary Sydney was shortly crushed on Hal when seeing him working with his chest bared. Picnic is a love story, and "cherry pie" gives the hint of it.
The director is good at arranging the scene to show something such as using a pole in the background to separate two characters. When Bomber was talking to Madge, saying that he can send her, he moved his position. Before, he and Madge were separated by the pole in the background. However, when he said he can send her, he moved to the same side of the pole in which Madge was to get closer to her, trying to get into her world and win her heart. Sadly, after Madge refused his request, he was back to his original position with the same use of cinematography that shows separation. Another example is when Madge's mom was begging Madge not to leave her. When Madge shook away her mom's hands, between them there's a pole in the background. This scene separates Madge and her mom, indicating that she was surely leaving.
Mamie
This movie is full of dramatic acting and interesting music cut. In the opening of the film, the bare chest of the man catches our attention. Later in the film we see that the bare chest motif keeps appearing. The bare chest of Hal makes every woman crazy. It seems that Hal becomes the prey of the hungry women and we can know this by every woman's hot gazes on Hal. In my opinion, it is funny because Hal is not so young and handsome. Why every woman has a crush on him? Maybe it is the bare chest that opens women's repressed sexuality. Moreover, the scenes of driving cars are impressive. The actors don't drive the car at all; they just control a steering wheel and pretend to drive. With the road moving, we can image the car is moving. I think the advantage of using this shot technique is that we can see all actors' positive faces clearly. To sum up, the film uses many motifs such as boot, bed, and bare chest of man. However, I think this film lacks attracting plot and climax. The plot is so flat and featureless.
Holly
In my point of view, I do not like the setting of the characters and the plots. For the male character, Hal, he's supposed to be played by a younger man, perhaps around twenty-five to thirty years old. The main male character makes the film so weird for it's a little hard for him to interpret a teenager, or more precisely, the vigor and the rebellion of the young. Hal's characterization is not so attractive for me. It's more like a teenager with immature mind or thoughts. I like the tomboy girl's personality, thought it may be a bit of artificial. In fact, the tomboy girl's character is the only one who seems to be the smartest in the movie. The story plot is quite traditional. There is a mother, used to be wealthy, wanting to have his daughter marry to a rich guy; an old woman, who looks like a kind grandmother, is the one who supports Madge's decision. But for me, this plot design is like a fake, too typical, unreasonable and out of fashion.
Of course, it's still a good movie for studying. I love the shot taken in the swimming pool. One shot takes two rooms for male and female to change clothes. The shot focuses on their legs and feet, and we can hear two kinds of voices from the different rooms. The shot correspond to the theme of this movie. Picnic symbolizes the young people's vigor, their social activities and the interaction between girls and boys. The tomboy's love for Hal is like the first love without any feedback. Love without response is bitter for a young girl. The break in the dancing party is the last straw. For Madge, I do not like her because I only see that she's a pretty girl, working in the shop. She does not want people to focus on her beauty; however, she acts like a woman who only care about her appearance. It's ambiguous for me to understand what she's thinking about. If Hal is not attracted by her pretty face, what is the point that attracts him so much? And what attracts Madge to fall in love with a stranger in one day? Maybe love is blind for both of them.
After the dancing party, the low key lighting, different from the high key lighting in the picnic shows the transition of the relationship among each other. The breakdown of Madge's sister, the immature behavior of Rosemary and Madge's love for Hal make the simple party become complicated. Especially for Rosemary, it's a turning point for her and Howard. The different lighting of shot indeed influences the atmosphere in the movie; moreover, affects the audience when watching the film.
Juliet
As far as I am concerned, the use of sound effects in this film is successful. For instance, when Hal Carter (William Holden) slams the train door, a loud sound follows immediately. In my opinion, this sound helps a lot in strengthening Hal's anger, and makes it easier for audiences to understand Hal' feeling. What's more, I think some properties and costumes in the film actually help a lot in building different characters' personalities. Take Madge (Kim Novak) and Millie (Susan Strasberg) for example. Madge often dresses in beautiful skirts, and combs her hairs well. Compared with Madge, shirt, pants, and cigarettes enhance Millie's manlike temperament. Finally, I doubt one scene in this film. When the two police officers try to stop the fight between Hal and Alan Benson (Cliff Robertson), Hal beats them and runs away. However, I think that their actings seem unreal. That is, while Hal tries to beat the second police officer, the police officer falls down right away though Hal indeed does not touch him. For me, this flaw makes this scene not to fit in with reality.
Tiffany
In this film, we can see that beautiful Madge catches more attention from men than her little sister, Millie. This situation expresses obviously when Madge, drying her hair, appears in the higher site but Millie sits and reads exactly under Madge. Furthermore, though Millie seems that she doesn't care about her outlook but care her inner wisdom, the drop motif shows that actually Madge's beauty has great influence on her. In addition, in those picnic scenes, people enjoy their time from day to night, which means people's change from within control to without sense. The full-dark background implies characters can release from worldly restriction to do what they want to do to satisfy their sexual desire in their mind.
Joseph
The picnic in the night is the final destination of their journey of finding the darkness inside their hearts. In order to achieve the effect, the cinematographer broke the tradition of the lighting by trying to make most of the part in the night dark. The darkness indicates people's dark side, especially the teenagers in that time, for example, sexual desire, rebellion, alcoholism and so on. Sexual desire is very obvious and reaches the climax while Rosemary forces Hal to dance with her and tears off his clothes and finally scolds at him. And following, Rosemary asks Howard for marrying her. Another one, teenage rebellion, is also very clear to see in the character: Hal. No matter his dirty shirt, boots, or his expression are the symbol of his rebellion. But after the picnic, at the very end of the film, everyone solves their problems and shows their smiles.
There are many scenes that the director wanted to show the sense of isolation or alienation. So long shots or some barriers are used during the film, which can easily let audience feel that the character is separated from some situation or someone else. For instance, Madge sometimes looks Hal outside through a screen door. And vice versa, Hal once looks at Madge who is inside her house before a barrier. By and by, I realize that the skills used in the film are a special language between audience and the director or the cinematographer, which will help us understand more the idea they want to convey.
Sophia
In Picnic, we can find some connections from the beginning to the end. Picnic begins with the arriving of train and it ends with the left of train due to the movement of the protagonist. Also, what the protagonist Hal wears is worth being noticed. At the beginning, he appears in the cart of train with poor dress and dirty shirt. Then, when he works for Madam, he is naked. After meeting his college friends, he wears better shirts. Still, he wears the inherited boots on his foot. When his shirt is torn by Rosemary by accident, it means he is not believed by his friend anymore because of his love to Madge. The change of what he wears on depends on his identity. The pair of boots he wears shows his original identity from his father and his family. So, the producers use the protagonist's costume to show his identity from the society. In addition, the very low-key lighting in the ball is unique. All the light is focused on the characters. The viewers can only see each movement of characters through the light. The bright image of each character becomes a contrast between the dark background and themselves. That is one of the noticeable techniques in this film.
Abby
There is a strong relationship between the music and the scenes. Music cues the actions or emotions of the characters. Once the music and the scenes can cooperate with each other, the visual and the audible can give its audience a better understanding and association when these two work together. Also there are some framing scenes. Especially for a scene when Hal Carter and Madge Owens dance at the night of the Labor Day picnic, they hold their hands together and thus make a framing of Madge Owens' younger sister, Millie Owens. The framing also indicates the unhappiness shown by Millie. The insane teacher makes a deep impression on me. I guess she must be suppressed for so long that she would react so intensely. The two sisters present two types of women. One is the traditional kind that her responsibility is to marry a rich guy and give birth to several children and take good care of the whole family. The other one is the opposite, Millie acts like a boy, even fights with other boys. There are many low key light shots in the film. Maybe it's because that the important plots happens at the night of the Labor Day.
Ivana
Picnic is a very low pace film. It contains only two day and one night within two hours. I don't really like the story itself but I learn a lot of cinematography through the film. The framing, the way actors act, and the lighting make the film like a drama.
Framing can be found throughout the movie. The two especially impressive shots are the introductory scenes and the dancing scenes. In the introductory scene, two vertical walls form a right angle with a window respectively. The characters show up in the frame one after another like a drama. In the dancing scene, the ladders, the bridge and water form borders. The center therefore becomes a perfect stage to act. In addition, the lighting in this shot also focus on the main characters, just like the stage light. The film itself is a drama. The main difference is that the director can move the lens to focus on what he wants to show.
Vicky Shih
Picnic was an old movie, it was filmed in 1955. The movie was talked about the love between man and woman. By means of attending the picnic, everyone revealed their affection for another one. Hal concealed his real status to pursue Madge. And Madge accepted him even though she knew everything. Finally, she decided to leave her original boyfriend and followed Hal. Another woman, the old teacher, also a woman yearn for love. But her boyfriend didn't want to marry her. Finally, due to all sorts of accidental mishaps, they eventually get marry!
There are many symbols in this movie, such as Hal's shirt and boots, these are not his own thing, but borrowed. On the country, Madge is so elegant and beautiful. They are such not commensurate, but they still fall in love with each other. The music in this movie is also very suitable. It makes the tense atmosphere using strong and big tune. When the people are dancing, it uses the music with some temptation. After watching the movie, I must to say, it real a skillful filmed movie.
Vincent
Picnic is so much more different than The Truman's Show. This movie seems to be very old. The acting in the film makes me feel like an opera. The way the actor or actress read lines is just like the way an opera performer do. Actually, I feel that the ways of shots are quite different, too. Those unique shots make the whole movie classical.
Besides, the music in the film is also impressive. Just like many epic movies , there is always a main theme in each of different tracks. It will be easy to recognize them next time when you heard them again. Well, by the way, I have to say that it is not easy to keep up with the story because the mood of characters changes just to fast! I have to concentrate on the film every single second, or I might ask " What happened! Did I miss something?"
April
"Pretense" weaves through the whole movie. Each character in the film seems to hide a certain part of their emotions; they smile and get through those uneasiness even though deep in their heart, those are what they care the most. For example, Madge doesn't love Alan at all, for he focuses on her beauty only; however, she dare not utter her feelings directly and once in a while shows signs of distress. Also, Hal, a self-centered person, is fond of boosting himself and thus masks the unethical behavior in his past. He avoids talking about it. Furthermore, Rosemary, a femle single middle-aged school teacher, gives herself airs, affecting that she has no interest in male. Nevertheless, she desires, intensely, the coming of love. In addition, Alan speaks of Hal as his good old friend, which suggests their relation bond. However, the friendship between Hal and Alan is so fragile that when it comes to Madge, who is adored by both of them, the anger explodes. The other example is Millie, she used to be a bookworm but turns into a love-fantasizing girl after meeting Hal. This incident signifies her potential tendency to become a perfect woman instead of a tomboy.
Anna
The movie Picnic demonstrates us a picture of a post-war scenario, namely the 1950s, reflecting social issues mainly generated by the tremendous wealth accumulated during that period. That is juvenile delinquency. Here I would like to comment on two aspects, the theme offering a solution to the problem and the symbolic use of props.
Hal, a childish man who grew up in a shattered family, has always pursued an easy life. The very simple goal that he was chasing was merely a place where no one knew his troubled past in the younger years and everyone view him without that colored glasses. In short he wanted to start anew. So he took a train (a motif that could be found at the end) and went through the river (as a ritual cleansing), however, when everything seems to move on to the right track, Rosemary (a spinster) and Howard (a rival in love) once again tore his shirt, which represents a break-up of his dignity. At this critical moment, it is TRUE LOVE that saved him out of this tragedy and made his hopeless life filled with hopes. He moved on to Tulsa, where he was expecting his new life, together to be cultivated with his love, Madge. So from this point of view, true love is the lighter of life and protector of a wounded soul. To solve the issue of juvenile delinquency, caring them and providing them with warmth is the ultimate resolution that can solve both symptoms and roots.
The symbolic use of props have been well-discussed by our teacher. I myself would have never noticed so many details without the vivid illustration. Like what was written in the slides, the motifs have been carefully balanced, from the dispute of life between the siblings to the dilemma Mother faced in terms of her girl in love with Hal. The train that brought the leading boy and his troubles rushed away with a matured man, the little tomboy wandering around with books and cigarettes ended up with sympathy towards her sister and encouragement for her to pursue her own happiness. The shirt that Millie grabbed and Rosemary tore represent a fragile dignity of a young man that needs understanding and trust. So from this viewpoint, the film is indeed "stagey", with lines carefully spoken and properties carefully displayed.
The repeated theme music with different arranges is also one thing to notice. I have listened to those different versions of the song "Moon glow" on YouTube, and came to aware that even the same version of music can be used on different occasions with very different effects. It can be smooth or troubled or even scary. So after this movie and the analysis made, next time I run into a new movie, I shall notice more technically if possible.
Joan
This film, Picnic, is a special film. As the title, it is not what I thought of it. The director uses a lot of symbols to symbolize the relationship between each character, especially Hal Carter and Madge, the main characters. What's more, the frame is everywhere. In the beginning, Carter is in the truck and someone opens the door. It's a double frame, and later it's the barrier between these two men. While showing Madge's house, they use long shot to express the distance of the characters and how they are distant from the society. Each door and window is the barriers between those family members. The image of water dropping from Madge's hair to the book symbolizes the conflict between the siblings. Throughout the film, the use of lights is important, too. Mostly, the events happen during the night. The light in the darkness makes the film become vivid and colorful. However, Madge's contradictory attitude toward Carter
sometimes confuses me.
Charlene
Maybe this is because that this movie was a play on Broadway before that almost every scene and dialogue seem to be stagey and over mannered. The motifs in the movie are very obvious. For example, Hal's boots, torn shirt, jacket, Millie's glasses, cigarettes are the familiar images and props, showing lots of times in the movie. I can tell that the cinematographer must devote a lot of efforts to arrange the shot, without wasting any corners of the shot. I think that the music score in the movie is also mannered except for the underscore "Moonglow" in the famous dance. The dance is really beautiful. I can feel the chemistry between them is growing fast.
I believe this movie is a well composed film very much. The plot is complete and the end echoes back to the beginning. For example, the sisters, Mille and Madge, have a great difference which could be seen even by the appearance. They have different thoughts, different personalities and almost different dreams. They share a great deal of discord with each other which is very obvious from the beginning of the movie. However, as Mille encourages her to pursue her love with her solid and mature words, the ice between them is soon dissolved. Another example is the guy who delivers the newspaper. At the beginning of the film, he is asking Madge to go out with him, but ends with a hit by Madge's mother.
The story duration seems to be only two days, from the bright morning to the dark night, and then to the bright morning again (reborn life). And the climax is the picnic time, which is also a transitional time for all the characters in the film. They are forced to behave what they are expected to behave in the daytime, artificial and counterfeit. Nevertheless, after the transition, they reveal themselves in the dark and become what they really want to be. Madge's leaving to pursue her love in the next morning represents her newborn of life.
Christine
On Labor Day morning, Hal drifted to a town to ask his old friend Alen for a help.The story was off by the enter of five ladys who had diverse viewpoint towards men. We could see distinctive women charateristics connected with ones social position, some with emthusiasm and some with restrain. Thus, different sparks broke out between Hal and the women. We can say that Hal's coming was not only a external invasion to the peaceful town but a sexual attraction to the ladys. Hal was a bragger but with no accomplishment and homeless, who at the same time had high ego that allows no one to share his feelings form his bottom heart.Things became different when he met up with Madge, the town beauty and girlfriend of Alan. They were in love at first sight but both struggled from the restrict love. At last, Hal found out that only through the love of Madge can he find himself important. Every women had her troble of to love and being love.Facing true love, they are uncertain. Neverthelss, they find their way at last.
It is interesting that the the director using POV shots through screen window twice with Madge and Hal's peeking sceen toward each other, which made a vague and romance feeling between the two.
Alice Wang
The movie Picnic is based on William Inge's Broadway play, which once won Pulitzer Prize. Due to the fact that it was originally written for a stage play, there are several features in the film that may not be seen in a normal one. For instance, most of the dialogues of the characters still seem to be meant for stage performing. The actors read their lines in a stagey way, that is, they read them with a great extent of politeness and express themselves in a way that is similar to giving speeches. Also, several scenes in the movie are obviously well-arranged in a way that is mostly seen on stage. On the other hand, Picnic seems to be a movie that is so artificial that it is quite easy for us to observe some shooting techniques or motifs. For example, some props in the movie are easy to see the concealed meanings in them. Take waterfall for example, water is a symbol of the change or cleansing of someone, indicating the start of a new life. Also, in the movie a great amount of long shots are used, creating a sense distance or alienation between the characters, for example, in the beginning of the movie it is used to indicate the distance between Hal Carter and the Owens. Last but not least, the low-key lighting used in the nearly end of the film is quite impressive, too. The scenes in the darkness play an important role in the movie, indicating the characters' escape from the reality and the reveal of the identity of some of them.
Candy Cheng
After watching the movie, "PICNIC", I didn't feel impressed of the context but the music made me feel interesting! When the characteristics were shocked, the music would suddenly become quick and loud. The symbolical things in the movie were always funny, for example, the little girl's tobacco. I like the little girl the most because I think she was the most considerate one in the story. On the contrary, her older sister was always thinking about herself. The teacher in the movie seemed a little bit crazy, and it was a special point of the story. There were not many people in the story, but we could still enjoy the story a lot! In short, the pace of the movie seemed a little slow for me. Maybe we were already used to the quick pace in the modern movies. Even so, it was still a classical movie.
Christopher
<The picnic >is a simple story about Hal Carter , a drifter who once is an ex-college football star, intrude in a small town, meet some residents there and brought difference to their normal lives, on the other hand, they also diminish Carter's passion of chasing dreams.
Through the movie we are able to figure out the cultural background of the period, through their dances, their apparels and their talking, we can get a general idea of the time. Both the beginning and the ending of the movie, Carter washed by the waterfall, I think it is the symbolizations that director made use of. I believe that the first washing is a significant of Carter desire to change his identity of a drifter; he was full of energy and great vigor.
However, after he exposed too much of himself to the public, he became the target of public criticism, he could not stay in the town anymore, so he has to escape from everything about the town, except Maggie, they fell in love with each other. Through the second washing by the waterfall, Carter didn't need helps from others anymore, he has his own emotions and ideas.
Carolina
I think that the director should have considered other younger character to play the role of Hal Carter, although box-office appeal can make up the fact that William Holden was too old to play his role. He is not a teenager, and it can be easily seen in the movie. Dancing and playing with Millie Owens seems to be a father interacting with his daughter instead of two teenagers. Regardless of this, his charisma cannot be denied.
Millie's performance at the first half of the movie can be considered as unnatural or too over. Every movement seems to be on purposed, though it might the director's order to act like this – she has to camouflage her feminist part with boyish movements because she is going through a process of becoming a lady. This might be explained as phoniness too, like Hal Carter pretending to be a dignify man. The smile is the end of the movie, when she watches her sister going away to look for Hal, might represents her solidification of her own identity under the exposure of sun, a full lighting.
Light is certainly a very important factor of the movie as more than half of it is performed at night. With the disguise of darkness, each person begins to demonstrate her or his real desire. For example, Rosemary, the spinster, expresses her appetite for man; and Madge finally admits her attraction for Hal. She even has sexual relationship with the help of darkness ellipsis (it is not shown but audience assumed to be like this). Darkness is a very commonly used method to cover what can not be filmed in movies, which we have learned in Lolita.
Max
At the beginning of the film, Picnic, it looks just like a play on a stage. Almost every actors or actresses appear from a window. In addition to their turning up, their ways of speaking also sounds like that on stage.
Personally, I think this movie is too old-fashioned because of its plots. First of all, they are connected too tightly. The director tries to show the tremendous changes of several characters after mere one night. This is not only illogical but also chaotic. Second, the lines are filled with cliches. It seems that the director collects all the old-fashioned plots and puts them together into the film.
As far as its music is concerned, some parts may be unnecessary. For example, we can clearly know that the actor is angry through the dialogue and his expression, so we do not really need the stinger to indicate his anger. Using too many sound effects may ruin the atmosphere.
However, except all those disadvantages, there is a good use of contrast between the day and night. In the daytime, characters always show their strong and more positive traits. On the contrary, they become very weak and even a little bit pessimistic at night. Also, in the final scene the bus is a great symbol. Taking the bus represents her leaving close-minded world for a whole new liberal-minded one. It also indicates her determinaiton to pursue true love.
Tina
This film is really weird. To me, it is not logical at all. The male lead, Hal, appears at first without a reason, which makes the audience curious and wondering that the movie might tell more about him later. But it did not. I still know little about him. In addition, the romance between him and Madge is unaccountable. Hal has not done anything special or romantic to Madge, and neither has done Madge. They just fall in love with each other, and the love is so deep that they do not care what others say. They are too impetuous. Maybe that is what the movie wants to tell—sometimes people just fall in love, even they themselves do not know why.
Emily
The film Picnic is talking about a man who failed before visits his college classmate but falls in love with his girlfriend. In this film, the director uses many expressions of the actors to show their emotion. Besides, the director also uses the props to indicate the meaning which he wants to tell the viewers. Through those metaphors, viewers could understand this film more easily.
In this film, the end restates the beginning. For example, the conflict between Madge and Millie at the beginning and at the end Millie let Madge to go with Hal.
Eileen
The movie Picnic was adapted from the play which also called Picnic. The music in Picnic sometimes expresses the actors' mood. When the actor is angry they will play the passionate music. They needn't to tell the audience that actor is angry. Audience can feel that actor is angry from the music. The movie also has the popular song "Moonglow" that Hal and Madge dance together. The framing in the movie sometimes has the barrier between two people to separate them. The framing can show the main thing happen on which person and exclude the unimportant person. However the framing in the movie is clear to show what they want to tell the audience.
Hilary
On Wednesday teacher played the film's background music and put emphasis on a melody. This melody emerged in different feeling songs. Because teacher emphasized the dramatic melody, I noticed it specially when watching the film. It makes me admire the composer for his talent and great work. He use the same melody by a few changes. These changes make those songs present totally different feelings. And I discovered the background music is much more dramatic. When some astonishing thing occurred, there would be a special cue. It let us get into the emotion easily.
The tempo of this movie is pretty quick. One thing goes after another. Take the teacher's wedding for example. Howard even didn't make a proposal, then they get married. The whole process is a little bit weird and ridiculous. And Hal didn't want to steal Alan's car, Alan had already called the cops. In my opinion this world often compel person to be a bad guy, just like young Hal. But people have to control themselves. Don't be too impulsive.
Let's talk about Madge and her sister Millie. Because of Madge's beauty, Millie has plenty of pressure. It makes Millie feel she is not that outstanding. On the other hand, Madge detect that Alan and other guys always focus on her good looking rather than her inner mind. This kind of situation often occurs in our daily life. At the beginning, people always care about the appearance. We often forget the most important thing is a honest heart.
David
The two sisters, Millie and Madge, are quite different, and the differences are shown in the very beginning of the film through their conversation. It is common that the director uses intercutting while actors are talking. When the night comes in the film, the low key lighting impresses me. The image is so dark that I can see nothing but darkness in the background. It is unusual. I have difficulty understanding the performance of Rosemary. She just acts like that she has some problems in her brain.
Vicky Lin
In the beginning of the move, PICNIC, the first scene is the long shot of a moving train just like the scene in the end the movie. When Hal took off his coat and helped to clean the yard, the director used some POV shots to tell the audiences that Hal had caught few girls and women's eyes here. Those people also included the teacher, Rosemary who just told others she did not need man in her life. On the picnic day, the director film the scene in the light way when it compared to the dancing party at night. He also took lots of shoots of people laughing, eating and playing in order to build a joyful atmosphere. However, there was some quarrels at the dark night. At that time, the director used stingers to make some dramatic effects when Hal and Rosemary were lighted.
Katherine
The movie PINIC is quite special. In fact, it is just like a romance. But in the movie, different from others, the girls are not passive. They are all willing to chase what they want. For example, in the end , the elder sister goes for her love regardless of her mother's objection. In fact, what impressed me the most is the character, Rosemary. The scene when she was scolding at Hale is really powerful. Each word she said and each sound she made strongly went into my heart. That is really a fierce fight. I think the character must feel quite relive after she finish this scene.
Hazel
The most impressive scene to me is the dance setting. She walks in beauty, and down the stairs. She draws all his eyes. With the gentle music, those soft colors reflecting on their faces make the atmosphere so romantic and beautiful. It's the pure perfection; no other voice is troubling them. Under that situation, they are perfect match. When Hal holds Madge and says she makes him feel patient which Alan tells him that he is short of. It implies, in a way, that Madge completes his fragmentarylife. In the other way, the pretty Madge has only beauty face but nothing else. Even her mother urges her to take advantage of her looking to secure an opportunity at marrying into the rich family of Alan Benson. There's no one cares about poor Madge's real feelings. At her point, Hal is different. He comes from outside of the town. He is the outsider. It seems like only Hal can identify with her. Hal brings a new hope and redefines a unique value of her. Hal is not a hell but a heaven to her. In other words, Hal also completes her incomplete life.
Ida
When I see the name "Picnic", I immediately think of the bright sunshine, the green grass and sharp laughing. However, in Logan's Picnic, what we mostly see and what the climax is in the night and it express the descent into the forbidden desires instead of the joy a picnic shall have. As a result, the title of this film creates a sense of ironic which is out of my expectation. However, if I need to tell the truth, I do not like this movie as Hal looks so old and it is strange to see Madge, who is said to be 19 in the film, falls in love with Hal, who looks like 40 years old. Moreover, some dialects sound strange in this movie, it is hard to believe that Picnic is a big hit in 1955; maybe this is due to our change of attitudes. However, Rosemary acts well as an old spinster. Some motifs I admire of are the sibling relationships between Madge and Millie and their mother's expectation towards her daughter. To sum up, this is a movie with great
motifs but the only flaw is Hal looks too old and it is hard to believe he wants to express some adolescent thought with us.
Daniel
Since I am a boy,I have seen a lot of movies.But most of them are
popular movies and I do not notice the skill of them.After taking teacher's
advise I being keeping my eye open at all the screen that I saw.The technique of the old movies have also impacted on me.The movie Pacnic
not only open the eyes of my but also enspire my curiosity to find out more and more old movies as possible as I can.Besides learning the skill from the movies I also note the old style of the house of the movie after all I am also a member of the Department of Architecture.That was also a valuable experience for me.
Anne
The movie , Picnic ,was released by1955 about 60 years ago . It talked about a man came from somewhere by train . He is a stranger for everyone in the town . Everything went thorugh as usual until the day they went picnic Madge's life changed , because she was in love with Hal. In the movie ,the director used lots of frame to symbolize the life or the mood . For example, at the beginning Hal got off from train and gave a camera a angry sight which told us that the man was a stranger. Besides, Madge and Millie are two important actresses in the movie .They were siblings but totally different one is beautiful like a prince another is like a tomboy .The director use some frame such as shooting basketball ,cigarette to emphasize the personality of the character. Besides , the director also good at separating the screen in two parts by using the scene. Each character in the movie expressed their emotion strongly which made them look like performing on stage.I've never seen this kind of movie before, and I think the way they perform ,the frame and the way they shot are interesting.
Chin
To be honest, this is a very boring movie to me. I think the content of the story doesn't fit us. By the way, talking about lighting, I like the way that the light being arranged, especially in those night scenes. The contrast between the light on the actors and the dark background makes the actors more apparent and focus. So, I think the lighting technique of this movie is very good and professional. Another point of view of mine is that the appearance of Hal is too old to get together with a young girl. Hal is more like a father than a lover to the young beauty girl. In my opinion, shooting with good technique, a film should also match up with the content(story) to form a good movie.
Violet
This movie was started from a stranger came to a peaceful town and occurring some conflict between characters. At first the town looks very peaceful, through the long shot in the movie. Normally, there is a lot of one shot or two shot with exceptions like some mob shot at picnic scenes. Also there is lots of medium shot and camera frequently takes scenes parallel to audience's sight position. That makes me feel comfortable and easier to feel character's emotion.
Through between Hal and Madge's unconditioned dancing scene have give suggestion to me that finding someone who are rich man isn't love. Love is so natural and unconscious, it can't be self controlled. It just be infatuated someone else without even knowing it. In addition to, I notice that in this scene Hal and Madge was located in side of angle, in the center there is a boat and sometimes shows other girl's gloomy faces. It gives to mean they have obstacles in their relationships. Also this scene was started from Madge's long shot to Hal and Madge's middle shot and close up two actors. This means deepening their love. Finally using high and long shot suggest that there are feelings not only about these two young people but also others.
The last extreme long train shot is frequently using in Hollywood nowadays. So I was surprised because of technically progress. Also I think this scene suggest that great future lies after them.
Hansel
I think this film has too much of stage elements in it. Some gestures and blocking are too exaggerated. They may act out fairly good on stage, but they don't work that well on big screen. The division of the film into three parts (day, night, day) is very effective and symbolic. It somewhat reminds me of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. I like the way the two sisters get along with each other. Their mother treats each of them somewhat differently. They are jealous of what they lack but find in each other; there is a kind of resentment in the family. However, the sisters still hope the best for each other, with plenty of love and support. I like the last shot of the film. Madge goes on a bus, going after Hal; then we see the train from a bird's eye view. The train goes fast, but we know that Madge is going to catch up with Hal. We have this feeling that she knows, for the first time in her life, what she is going for. So the final shot leaves us a lot of emotions and imagination.
Vivian Lin
Is Picnic a romantic love story? I am shocked by some scenes that are very beautiful. When everytime Hal and Madge are get together, they mean for each other. The struggle between them is the most interesting scene that keep in my head. Hal holds her hands and hope ahe can come with him. The train's sound match the couples' situation. In my opinion, the story is old-fashioned. The plot to me is a little general. However, the scene of dacing is so beautifel and attractive. How ramantic it is! When Madge go es with him, it surprise me. She becomes herself. She wants to follow her heart. It is not easy for women in that time to persue her happiness. Rosemary is a strong contrast with Madge. It seems that ahe is a strict old woman but in her heart, she is a gril who persue happiness bravely. The movie music is wonderful, too. It always ties in the plot and the emotion from the actors.
Finna
Low-key lighting is used often in this film, Picnic. It causes the scene to have the dark and vague looking, which makes audience hard to see what is going on among the characters. I can not see the facial expression on the characters very clearly. But the background music is well-used in this film, especially for the stinger sound. And the costumes also show the personalities of the characters. For example, Hal often wears dirty shirts and boots which his father left to him. His wearing reflects his financial situation and wildness inside his mind. Madge always makes her look beautiful and perfect. It's a simple story with simple setting but complex lighting. I cannot figure out why this film can win the Oscars, in other words, I don't like this movie.
Mandy
I think the component of romantic story should include a fragile heroine and a strong hero. And Picnic did it, so maybe that's why Picnic is chosen for one of the 100 greatest romantic movies in America. Kim Novak looks graceful in this film. I feel that her image in this film is fragility. How she acts, walks and talks is really charming. Even when she tries to be rebellious to her mother or argue with her sister, she looks fragile. And William Holden expresses his muscular image by showing his muscle for many times. Moreover, the low-key lighting creates a romantic atmosphere successfully. In the darkness, what happen between Hal and Madge gives us more illusion on their love relationship.
Vicky Liu
The film, Picnic, contains beautiful music. In the film, the melody complements with the plots tightly. When the actors' emotion rises, the melody rises too. When the actors are shocked, the background music would beat with loud voice. The music just expresses the feeling of the characters. Although the melody is excellent, the music is consist of simple tune and repeat again and again.
The costume of the characters fits the characteristic firmly. The main character, Hal Carter, appears in the beginning wearing dirty T-shirt and jeans. The costume may symbolize his bold characteristic. The wearing also gives us clue that he does not belong to the community which seems to be neat and tidy. The main actress, Madge Owens, always dresses up with beautiful clothes. From the beginning to the end, she remains impressive out looking. In my opinion, I think the costume helps a lot in building the characteristics.
Jeanette
First of all, the plot is very plain. It simply tells an ordinary romance, with characters of different status. Second, I'm not fond of the acting performance. Madge are not acting naturally; she exaggerated her feelings at the wrong time. When I expected she express more, she falls plain instead. The scene, when Rosemary scolded Hal, confused me. Was Rosemary really angry? I didn't perceive the rage she was supposed to show. As if, she is scolding with the lines. However, I do love the music of Picnic. I burst out into laughter at the end of the movie which Madge is going to leave. The music fit in amusingly.
Vivian Yang
PICNIC, directed by Joshua Logan 1955, is a very sophisticated film which vividly presents the inherent emotion of middle-class people. In the beginning of the movie, the contrast of the two sisters, Madge and Millie, implied two different kinds of destinies. "Madge is the pretty one," which is often told by Millie, suggests her sense of jealousy and insecurity. On the other hand, Madge is, to some degree, tired of being praised and cared, which ultimately leads to her rebellion in love.
The theme, picnic, is meaningful since it brings all the characters to do their soul-searching. That is, to think beyond the surface, and to face their inner needs in both romance and sex. In my opinion, the best example would be the moonlight scene when Rosemary tore off Hal's shirt, which is evidently a symbol of releasing Rosemary's affection and rage toward Hal.
In general, I think PICNIC succeeds in presenting the motif clearly. And even when we watch it after 50 years or so, the movie remains a fantastic master piece.
Irving
Picnic follow a strong value...be yourself and get rid of some old value.
Maybe it's because of the times, I think Picnic is filmed to speak out this thought.
But I haven't get used to this kind of old film yet. Both of the literary lines and the expression of actors which are sometimes too emotional or exaggerative (not criticizing ) make me feel that when I watching Picnic, I was reading a serious novel.
The music is great. I wonder it must be very difficult to fit the timing between the music and the film .
Because I also create some music for movie, I can tell that it's hard for composers and director to match the film and music perfectly.
In other words, the melody is easy to create, but the timing is hard to match with, especially in the early age before digital music and film tech emerge.
Even though, I think in Picnic, it's great! A set of memorable melodies with different styles and different purposes follow the actors' lines and expression showed on face ... amazing!
Minnie
The most impressive scene of the movie..
- When Rosemary ripped off the Carter's clothes, I really surprised. I think there are 2 meanings. First, the dream of Carter to settle down in town was ripped away by the town people. During the picnic, he said it was the happiest picnic that he ever had. And he implied that he wants to stay the town by working as a grain scooper. But there was nobody who welcomed him. Second, He was revealed his true color. At the beginning, Carter was half-naked. When he wore formal clothes of Allen's, he said it's first time to wear like that. And he said 'uncomfortable'. So people recommended him to take off the jacket, and then he said 'comfortable'. It means, when he hid himself from others, he felt 'uncomfortable'.
- (About the composition of actor during picnic) Rosemary asked Carter that why he wear a boots. He told about his father and his background to people in there. Strangely, Mrs. Owen, Milly, Allen, Howard and Rosemary sat on the ground. Only Madge and Carter were far from the ground. In my opinion, ground means 'Reality'. Especially, Carter told his story by changing his position. He was wandering among the people.
Analyze main actor's possession.
- Carter : Boots
Carter and people who surrounded him call him a "bum", "gutter", "grain scooper" and so on. When it comes to image of boots, it reminds me a 'Macho' - an outlaw, wilderness and wildness. Boots also suggest his future won't be easy.
- Madge : Dress
Before the picnic. Mrs. Owen made a blue dress for Madge. While wearing a dress, Madge told her mother that Allen isn't right for her. Her mother kept persuading her to make her marry Allen.
At the picnic day, Madge wore a Pink dress instead of the Blue dress. I think the blue dress is symbol of Allen. That's why Mrs. Owen asked her "Why do you wear that dress." And the Pink dress is symbol of Carter. From my point of view, the pink dress was shorter than blue one(more comfortable). And there was no lace and no jewel on it, like Carter who isn't rich and decent.
Alice Huang
This movie is a typical one filmed in a summary relationship. It's quite long, but it only talks about one extremely simple idea in the whole film. About two thirds of the movie explains just one single day! Though I don't like the way director shows this film, it does displays every detail in every scene, which takes the risk of boring the audience.
However, the director makes good use of the settings in this movie. For example, in the very beginning, Hal Carter walks alone and is surrounded by lots of chimney of numerous factories and skyscrapers, which provides the audience with a feeling that he is isolated and lonely in a strange town. Then here comes the river bank where he takes a bath. I think water is a great cinematic element of "freedom" or "unframed," which symbolizes Hal's unsure future. Another example is the mirror shown before they go on a picnic. When Madge is preparing for her dress for the picnic, she stands in front of the mirror. This scene just perfectly shows that she struggles in her heart, not knowing which side to choose: Hal or Allen.
There is a door motif in this movie. The two most obvious scenes take place in the beginning and the end, which echoes to each other. The first one is Madge peeks at Hal behind the door after they meet for the first time; the second one appears when Hal is escaping from the police. It represents the idea that there is a barrier between Madge and Hal, which is also the main topic this movie wants to show.
Cherry
Music is always a good way to express characters' feeling. We often hear the theme song (the same melody) but with different tune whenever anything important happens. For example, the original melody may become stronger when the main character speaks out his/her thoughts or was shocked by something all of a sudden. In fact, a movie without music is like a band without the accompaniment of percussion instruments, which makes everything become tedious.
The second one is the management of the frame of the movie. In order to maintain all things in the middle to the full, the director make use of many props such as doors or posts to divide the frame into two parts so that audience will not find much emptiness.
The last one is the use of light especially when it is dark. Being an audience, I find it difficult to catch my attention and feel uncomfortable when almost everything in the movie is in the darkness. Sometimes appropriate light effect may help audience understand what is emphasized much easier.
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