Close Up 01 Edited by John Gibbs and Douglas Pye
Close Up 01 is the first in a series of annual books from Wallflower Press, each containing three individual studies that are linked by their detailed explorations of the decisions that are made in both film and television, such as camera position, editing and sound. Whilst to some this would seem somewhat rather obvious, those who are steeped in film academia will known that many theories in film studies can be somewhat broad to say the least. But can this first volume in the first series manage to do justice to its noble intentions?
The first of the studies is ‘Filmmakers' Choices' by John Gibbs, a precise examination the various decisions made within film production. There are a number of fruitful discussions going on in this: the differences between David Webb People's original script for Unforgiven and the finished film show many of the precise choices made by Eastwood to play around with the conventions of the Western genre. The same goes for a very interesting assessment of the way in which Almodovar constructs point of view in Talk To Her. Gibbs writes in a clear and concise style which makes for a piece that is not a perfect introduction to the series, but a very good way to introduce new students into some of the discussions of film studies.
The next is ‘The Pop Song in Film' by Ian Garwood, another extremely interesting piece looking at the correlation between pop music and its use in film. Here we see how the use of the pop song in films such as Sinatra's Pal Joey and Tarantino's Jackie Brown are used specifically in the narrative of a film. Garwood's arguments about how filmmakers can make use of not only of the cultural specificity of a certain song but also how pop songs can change when applied to a fiction narrative. Again, the arguments here are very convincing, such as when Garwood shows how the Portishead song ‘Glory Box' in Stealing Beauty and When The Cat's Away can be used in completely different ways despite the fact that it's the same song.
We finish with ‘Reading Buffy' by Deborah Thomas which is perhaps the weakest of the three studies. In attempting to analyse not only the fictional world that is created in the TV series and how fans apply complex meanings to the world that has been created, Thomas seems much less focused. However, this is less her fault than what I perceive of analysing a TV series: trying to be precise about a feature film which lasts 90 minutes is a lot easier than trying to examine a continuing series which can be 100 hours+. But there are still some very interesting things to be found in here, especially in relation to the ‘fictional' and ‘real' and how it is presented in the show.
All in all, a good start for the series with a series of studies that should provide some required reading for film students and intriguing reading for everyone else. The next volume promises a study of Eric Rohmer and the way the human voice is used in narrative cinema. Let's hope that the Close Up series can go from strength to strength and become an indispensable guide for those in film academia.
PUBLISHER: Wallflower Press
ISBN: 1-904764-57-6
PAGES: 250 pages