BBM Post 1

In this blog post I wanted to expand on some of the things we were discussing at the end of class today when the movie stopped and we all tried to find the salient images/themes/similarities/differences/anything from what we had just seen in Brokeback Mountain.
One thing that I brought up was the length differences between the short story and the movie: the story is about 10 pages, while the movie is more than two hours. I then remember Naomi talking about some of the scenes that they added, and Jenny told us that about 20 minutes into the movie we get the back story that the short story started with (basically everything before that point was added).

I really liked one of the added scenes--the one where we see Ennis in Jack's side mirror, and then we see Jack looking in the mirror to shave. To someone that knows nothing about the movie or the story, this seems completely innocent, but to someone who knows the story, (I see) this scene as a bit of plot/character development, because it shows (me) Jack's interest in Ennis. Another added/elaborated on scene in the movie that I like is the scene when they are learning about their future jobs. I think the use of focus is done very well, as is the mis-en-scene, because it showed Ennis as a more quiet person by having him on the far left, leaning/hunched against the wall, and Jack was usually the focus.

Looking back on the movie clip now, I realize that/see the scene where Ennis takes the rag from Jack to clean himself as not only a characterization of his personality (because he is not used to having others do for him/wants to do things himself) but also his affection for Jack (he is being quiet so I don't really know why, possibly because he is embarrassed he got hurt, or doesn't want Jack to touch him or care for him because he likes Jack). Also, it seems that the only times Ennis talks to Jack he is telling him some major or important story about his family or life. He is a very quiet person, so I don't think staying outside with a bunch of sheep in silence would really phase him, so I do think it means a lot that he talks to Jack, especially about important things.

I think of the story in short story form as more of a montage because it is so short, and the actions seem very abridged. The movie, however, is pretty lackadaisical. There are a lot of panned shots of sheep, many view of the expansive southern skies and fields, mountains, and breaks of them relaxing separately or doing things slowly (like cooking). That all adds to the feel of the time, I think, because it draws everything out much more than it is done in the story. It also gives us the feeling of unending days, undefined time, and "puts" us there with the characters.

Even though the story is the same, I like how the use of focus and other tools gives me the film Ennis' drawn out mumbly-drawl-feel that the short story's brevity couldn't always give me.