Buster Keaton Shorts
Buster Keaton Shorts
One Week (1920):
One Week uses quite traditional techniques. For example there are multiple long takes involved in order to create humour. In this film, he subverts that common trope of being a suitor by starting the film having already been married. Keaton also takes on the role of the everyman as he was like many other couples in the 1920s. We see Keaton and actress Sybil Seely playing a newly-end couple who build a new house. Seely's character in the film also subverts common representations of women seen in the 20s as she actually has a purpose in the film and helps him build instead of only being used as eye-candy. Keaton is also unable to fulfil masculine roles as he is unable to build the house. The film takes inspiration from the cubist movement. Cubism is an early 1920s art movement that revolutionised Europeans paintings and sculptures. Keaton isn't a realist filmmaker but he wants his jokes to look real. This is seen by his lack of cuts in jokes as he generally uses very long takes. Film form is used a lot in One Week. Objects in the frame may appear larger due to how small Keaton was.
The High Sign (1921):
The High Sign features Buster Keaton as someone who gets hired by a gang to kill someone. In an elaborate chase climax through a multi-levelled set, Keaton evades the gangsters, sneaking through the extensive system of trapdoors and secret passageways with which the miser has defensively equipped his house. Within the logic of the plot, Keaton could have no prior knowledge of the secret doors’ workings, of course, but the clown’s unaccountable superiority grants him knowledge of mechanistic structures that can facilitate his prodigious acrobatics. Interestingly, even the miser’s own butler is secretly a gang member, who exhorts Buster to fulfil his “oath” and commit the murder – the film envisions a surprisingly paranoid world that offers little comfort or closure.
Cops (1922):
Cops opens with a mid-shot of Buster behind bars. The mis-en-scene of the scene expresses the idea that he is in prison, however it turns out that he is just behind a gate. Keaton has 3 personas in this film: Outsider, clown and suitor. When carrying out his jokes he would often have a deadpan expression on his face. The police, and other people in positions of power, were seen as comedy figures. This can be seen in the scene when Buster accidentally punches the police officer with the indicators that he makes for his vehicle. Cops also contains multiple binary opposites throughout. These include: Buster vs horses and Buster vs The Police. In his work, Buster does not like to cut between scenes unless it is completely vital. This can be seen in the framing of the ladder scene. Keaton breaks from the realism quality of maintaining the unity of time and space in Cops by using a fade to black. This is used in a sequence showing a man begin to pile furniture onto a cart, the screen uses vignetting to fade to black before fading in moments later to a shot of the cart completely full. The fades reflect the aesthetic qualities of expressionism and montage more than realism as Keaton chooses to use editing to develop the understanding within the audience that time has passed rather than using a realist quality such as a long-take to maintain a realistic realm of time.
The Scarecrow (1920):
The first set-piece is the kitchen table. In the film, Keaton lives in a small one room house with makeshift time-saving gadgets. All of the kitchen appliances are tied to string. Keaton uses the same actress from One Week (Sybil Seely) along with Joe Keaton. The characters in the film have exaggerated personas. Film includes a large set-piece where Buster is running away from a dog; this scene contains more cuts that what would typically be seen in one of his films. The film contains representations of gender and marriage. Ends with a car chase wedding.
The High Sign (1921):
The High Sign features Buster Keaton as someone who gets hired by a gang to kill someone. In an elaborate chase climax through a multi-levelled set, Keaton evades the gangsters, sneaking through the extensive system of trapdoors and secret passageways with which the miser has defensively equipped his house. Within the logic of the plot, Keaton could have no prior knowledge of the secret doors’ workings, of course, but the clown’s unaccountable superiority grants him knowledge of mechanistic structures that can facilitate his prodigious acrobatics. Interestingly, even the miser’s own butler is secretly a gang member, who exhorts Buster to fulfil his “oath” and commit the murder – the film envisions a surprisingly paranoid world that offers little comfort or closure.
Cops (1922):
Cops opens with a mid-shot of Buster behind bars. The mis-en-scene of the scene expresses the idea that he is in prison, however it turns out that he is just behind a gate. Keaton has 3 personas in this film: Outsider, clown and suitor. When carrying out his jokes he would often have a deadpan expression on his face. The police, and other people in positions of power, were seen as comedy figures. This can be seen in the scene when Buster accidentally punches the police officer with the indicators that he makes for his vehicle. Cops also contains multiple binary opposites throughout. These include: Buster vs horses and Buster vs The Police. In his work, Buster does not like to cut between scenes unless it is completely vital. This can be seen in the framing of the ladder scene. Keaton breaks from the realism quality of maintaining the unity of time and space in Cops by using a fade to black. This is used in a sequence showing a man begin to pile furniture onto a cart, the screen uses vignetting to fade to black before fading in moments later to a shot of the cart completely full. The fades reflect the aesthetic qualities of expressionism and montage more than realism as Keaton chooses to use editing to develop the understanding within the audience that time has passed rather than using a realist quality such as a long-take to maintain a realistic realm of time.
The Scarecrow (1920):
The first set-piece is the kitchen table. In the film, Keaton lives in a small one room house with makeshift time-saving gadgets. All of the kitchen appliances are tied to string. Keaton uses the same actress from One Week (Sybil Seely) along with Joe Keaton. The characters in the film have exaggerated personas. Film includes a large set-piece where Buster is running away from a dog; this scene contains more cuts that what would typically be seen in one of his films. The film contains representations of gender and marriage. Ends with a car chase wedding.
Comments
Post a Comment