Use of Montage

Scorsese used montage to break up the narrative, and to provide more information about a character or events without using chronological narrative or even dialogue.
My favourite use of this was in Raging Bull, where a montage in colour separated the first half of the black and white film from the second.



There is also an amazing use of montage in Shutter Island, in Teddy's dream sequence. He sees himself back at Auschwitz, and elements of the present, such as the escaped prisoner he is supposed to be looking for, and her daughter, combine with the bodies that he saw at the concentration camp. He is then back on Shutter Island, and the prisoner and her daughter enter the room after a scream. Slow motion, reverse (of the smoke into his cigarette) and shots in time with the music all separate this scene from the reality of the film, emphasising that it is a dream sequence and also breaking up the narrative of the film - both future elements and elements of the past are addressed.
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Use of Camera moving into Close Ups

This is an interesting technique that Scorsese uses in nearly all of his films - rather than cutting from a mid shot to a close up, the camera moves forward until the item that is in close up is in the correct frame.

We see this in Raging Bull, when the camera moves into a close up of the 8th round sign, in Jake's fight with Sugar Ray Robinson. This is used as a way of showing time passing, but the use of a moving camera exaggerates the use of close up, rather than a simple cut. The audience can see the close up coming, and are therefore paying more attention to what is shown in the close up.

The camera moves into a close up of Travis and his infatuation, Betsy, having lunch, in Taxi Driver. This time the camera moves more slowly, which gives the audience time to see some of their surroundings on the way to the close up of Travis and Betsy. Scorsese communicates the way that Travis sees Betsy - as if nothing else around them matters, which is shows by the camera slowly cutting off everything else until all we see is them at the table.

This was also used extensively in the 1988 film The Last Temptation of Christ. For example, when we first see Judas enter Christ's house, the camera moves quickly into a close up of his face. This shows both that he is an important character, and also foreshadows his betrayl of Jesus, as his face is shrouded in black. This is also used in a different way in this film, not to show a close up, but to disconcert the audience with the camera's movement. Jesus points over a cliff and the camera swings out, making the audience feel as if they are falling over the edge. This is used to show Jesus' confusion, and Martin Scorsese effectively communicates his struggle with his connection to God.

Use of Slow Motion

The three movies that I've chosen, out of the five Scorsese films that I watched, are Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980) and Shutter Island (2010). These were the standout films of Scorsese's for me, and all exhibit his unique director's techniques.



The first of these techniques is SLOW MOTION. The frequent use of slow motion in his films takes events out of their natural, realitstic context, and blur the line between reality and the film. For example, in Taxi Driver, slow motion is used when Travis, the protagonist whose descent into madness and violence is the focus of the film, first sees Betsy, his first infatuation of the film. The slow motion adds emphasis to the event, and also alters the natural passing of time in the film. This technique is repeated in Raging Bull, when the central character Jake, has water squeezed onto him by his trainers during an important fight. Again, this alters the natural time of the film, but it also builds tension, as the speed is much slower than previous slow motion sequences in the film. Because the fight is so important, and it is going badly for Jake, the audience is eager to see how it will end. The use of super slow motion increases this tension.

My favourite use of slow motion was in Shutter Island, when there is a flashback of Teddy, the protagonist, in military service in WWII. This enhances the flashback by showing that to Teddy, it is a separate reality, and communicates to the audience the importance that he places on this period of his life in his memory.

Scorsese's Typical Techniques

Martin Scorsese aims to maintain the division between reality and fiction in his films, by combining
- Method acting (Stanislavsky's techniques for naturalistic character portrayl)
- specific detail about times and places to place the viewer realistically in the setting and context
- non-linear narrative (events happening out of chronological order) to imitate the recall of human memory
with
- rhythmic editing (shots that are cut in time to music or in an even time sequence) which is not naturalistic, and alerts the viewer to the fact that the film is a work of fiction
- slow motion cinematography to separate the events from how they would happen in reality
- non-digetic sound effects, to take the events and characters out of their natural surroundings, and place them in a more contrived context.

In terms of collaborations, I've already mentiond that Scorsese has worked with numerous occasions with Robert de Niro and Leonardo di Caprio, but he has also worked with cinematographer Michael Chapman on both Taxi Driver and Raging Bull.

Although Scorsese's films are mostly based on violence, he presents a very ambivalent view towards this - displaying the violence in all its awfulness, while at the same time positioning the viewer through camera angles, music and editing to identify with it. For example, in Taxi Driver, we sympathise with the main character Travis, while at the same time hate him for his violent behaviour and anti-social attitudes. It seems that Scorsese means to create this confusion in his audience by combining high levels of violence with redeeming features in his characters, using film techniques.

Scorsese's Personal Life

He was born in Queens, New York, to a devout Roman Catholic family - this influence can be seen in movies like 'The Last Temptation of Christ'. He is of Sicilian heritage, which has also had a major influence on his films (his grandparents immigrated to Amercia from Palermo in Sicily). Many of his films deal with Italian-American issues - the characters' backgrounds, involvement in gangs, etc.
His parents both worked in the Garment district (manufacturing clothes) of New York, and often took him to movies theatres. It was at this early stage that he developed a passion for film. Originally he trained for priesthood, but decided that he would prefer to be involved in the filmaking industry.
He received his Master of Fine Arts from Tisch School of the Arts in 1966. Scorsese has been married five times, and has three daughters to three different wives.

The director I've chosen to study for this assignment is Martin Scorsese, director of classics such as Taxi Driver, The Last Temptation of Christ, Gangs of New York, Raging Bull, The Departed, Goodfellas, and the newly released Shutter Island.

I can already see some things to look out for in his movies - like collaborations with Robert de Niro and Leonardo di Caprio, and his Italian background influencing his themes and plotlines - like in Gangs of New York. I can also see already his religious background having an influence on The Last Temptation of Christ - a highly controversial film based on the book by Nikos Kazantzakis, about the way that Christ may have spent his last days if he hadn't been crucified.