Jennifer Verzuh's Films & More Blog

Still Image Film:

Group Film (Shot for Shot Remake):

Motion Graphics Film Project:

Original Short Film (Final Project):

By Jennifer Verzuh

For this project, I chose Todd Haynes’ melodrama set in the 1950s, “Far From Heaven,” which I rented out from BGSU’s Pop Culture Library.  I recently saw the director’s most recent film “Carol” and though it captured mood, tone, time, and characters so very well. As such, I wanted to seek out another one of Haynes’ films, and I was not disappointed with 2002’s “Far From Heaven,” a film about a 1950s housewife, Cathy (Julianne Moore), who’s seemingly perfect world begins to unravel. Like “Carol,” the film does some truly remarkable things to create a beautiful and memorable movie. Specifically, I was really impressed by what the filmmaker does in terms of direction, lighting, set and costume design, cinematography, and the script, which he also wrote.

Haynes tries to replicate the visual style of a 1950s film while juxtaposing that with the inclusion of complex contemporary issues, such as examinations of race, homosexuality, gender, and class. One way he does this is through the lighting, each scene appears to have its own color palette. Bright, vibrant colors fill the film, particularly the main character’s home, yard, and the outfits of her and her female friends and fellow housewives, signifying excitement and reminiscent of the time period and other films from that era. Cathy is mostly seen in red, which conveys her femininity, energy, and sensuality. Another key color is green. Haynes appears to have made the choice to use green to indicate ‘otherness.’ Green lighting is used when Frank (Cathy’s husband) goes to a gay bar and again when Raymond, Cathy’s new colored gardener, takes her to a predominately black restaurant, both locations that are outside the upper class white 50s norm that Cathy and Frank belong to. Also, whenever scenes are shot in night time, blue light is utilized rather than black giving the movie is a dreamy, melodramatic feel.

Some other elements Haynes successfully employees are fades. To shift scenes Haynes uses fades into the next scene, which is frankly an odd choice for a modern film. However it’s similar to the editing in a 1950s television series, which I think is the point. Interestingly, in another throwback to the fifties, when Cathy is driving her car the land rolling by in the background is a filmed scene, just like the movies used to do back then. The score, by Elmer Bernstein, who wrote the scores for many films in the fifties and sixties, is emotional, compelling, and piano based. It feels true to the era, the characters, and the overall melodramatic nature of the movie.

In terms of cinematography, the movie continues to build on tropes of the 1950s. In moments of tension or suspension canted angles are used, as was common in film noir. Many long pans and long, sweeping shots and takes also come into play to support this notion that the world in which these characters exists appears to be (at least from the outside) perfect. For the most part closeups are primarily avoided, with much of the shoots including foreground, middle-ground, and background, which allows the viewer to take in the elaborate sets and scenery. It also symbolizes the distance between the characters (especially Cathy and Frank).

All these cues to the 1950s are significant because while we are visually presented with gorgeous sets and costumes, sweeping camera motions, beautiful music, and overall idyllic world, the dialogue and narrative exist to directly oppose that. Frank is having affairs with other men and is unable to successfully complete conversion therapy and be attracted to his wife leading to him drinking excessively; Cathy’s budding attraction and friendship with Raymond is crushed by the racist and intolerant views of her society; and Raymond’s daughter is assaulted by white boys. This movie examines the ugliness and secrets that lay beyond the surface of 1950s polite suburban society, showcasing all the imperfections that movies actually made in that time were afraid or unwilling to explore. The tragic ending acts almost as a warning that hiding behind a facade that everything is fine and sweeping these issues under the rug has consequences.

I shot my short film in it’s entirety this Saturday. Now, I’m beginning to edit it. The major problems I face going forward are the audio is pretty low in a few spots, for the scenes that are shot in multiple angles the takes don’t always exactly match, and the scenes are longer than I thought they would be so I’ll need to cut things out in order to make sure I don’t go too far over time. I’m also concerned some of the moments, such as the humor and attraction between certain characters, aren’t coming across as well as I’d hoped. Also, in general I’m just a little nervous about showing the film to the class because it’s about kind of a taboo subject and deals with sexuality.

Here’s some images from the film as well as the script of the first scene (which I admit is more dialogue based than was suggested for this project).

Title for the Alfred Hitchcock classic “Strangers on a Train,” made using After Effects.

Image featuring a Monochrome Color Scheme:

This image of a tree in the fall features several shades of orange, yellow, and light red, all colors next to each other on the color wheel. They blend together hear very pleasantly.

Image featuring a Complementary Color Scheme:

This image contrasts the red of the background with the bright green of the plant leaves. These colors are complementary pairs as they lie opposite each each other on the color wheel.

I’m fairly positive I would like my final project to be a short film or a full title sequence for an actual film. I think, just because I’m not close with anyone in this class, I’ll do this project on my own. If someone asks me to work together though I’d be open to that. I’m hoping that my 48 hour festival group will be willing to help me out and act in it if I do the short film.

Title Sequence Ideas: Lost in Translation (which would include video from the film, actual images, and graphics) or Strangers on a Train (which would be purely graphics,  shapes, and music)

Short Film Ideas: I want this to be live action and only feature a few actors (two or three). I think for my genre I would like it to be either a thriller, comedy, or horror short. One idea I have is a woman after a great first date with a guy complaining to her friend about how he never called or texted her after. At the end she finds out via social media he died in a car accident.

I was initially pretty excited to work on a project as a group. I thought it would be fun and I’d be able to learn more about filming from others. In the end though, I realized I did not really enjoy being in a group, at least as much as I anticipated I would. It was difficult to find a time that fit with all of our schedules to work on the project. It was also hard to find a scene that we all wanted to do and was plausible for this assignment. Unfortunately, one of our group members dropped out which set us back as well. Once we were all actually on set and filming everything went smoothly though I will say and I thought we all worked well together. It was just the pre- and post-production that was a bit frustrating for me. In the end ultimately I think I prefer going alone simply because then I get to focus on my vision and I don’t have to rely on others. I’d rather it be my own fault if something goes wrong than someone else’s. Although had our group been more organized, I believe the experience would have been much better.

This photo, taken by myself at a metropark near Toledo, is an example of a linear motif. Clear diagonal lines are present throughout the image. This includes the    wooden lines making up the back of the bench, the trees, the flag pole, pillars on the house, the edges of the house, and the gazebo’s pillar. There are also several  horizontal lines as well, making it clear that this particular image can be easily broken down into lines.

Aspect Ratio: the proportional relationship between an image’s width and its height.

Examples of different aspect ratio sizes.

Exposure: the amount of light per unit area reaching a photographic film or electronic image sensor, as determined by shutter speed, lens aperture and scene luminance.

This landscape photo is underexposed due to a lack of light.

Aperture: the unit of measurement that defines the size of the opening in the lens that can be adjusted to control the amount of light reaching the film or digital sensor.

Shutter Speed: the time for which a shutter remains open at a given setting

Image taken with a slow shutter speed.

ISO: these setting determine how sensitive one’s camera is to light

Image taken with high ISO settings.

Focal Length: the distance between the lens and focal point of whatever you’re trying to capture (or how zoomed in you are)

This image of a lady bug has a very small focal length.

Depth of Field: the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in an image that are still in focus

This picture has a very large depth of field.

White Balance: a camera setting that adjusts for lighting/ makes sure that white objects appear white

This image was not correctly white balanced.

Photo by Richard Gubbels. Source: http://hovercraftdoggy.com/2013/03/07/we-cool-down/

I would consider this image to have medium to low visual intensity. I would classify it as such because of the lack of movement, the repetition of shapes and lines, and fairly similar colors. However, the light from above does create some degree of contrast with the darker space between the wood panels.

Caption: Kathleen Day and her nephew visit the sight of a deadly car accident in rural Washington where a makeshift memorial has formed. The two brought flowers and a card. Day’s brother was among those killed on August 22 in the accident which claimed six lives.

Photo by Luke Macgregor

Leslie Knope (of TV’s “Parks & Recreation”) is my role model.

My name’s Jennifer Verzuh and I’m a junior at BGSU studying English and Film. I’m originally from Montana and transferred here last year from a school in New York City. Then, I spent this summer in LA where I completed two entertainment related internships. I’m passionate about film, television, literature, writing, comedy, theatre, seafood, journalism, and traveling. I’m also the Pulse editor for the school paper, this year and enjoy writing film reviews.

I’m really interested in the possibility of working in the film and television industry, ideally as a producer, script supervisor, or writer. However, I still don’t have too much experience with the actual technical side of filmmaking so I’m hoping this class will help teach me some of these essentials and also improve my editing skills.