Distance

         Between 0:11:17 – 0:11:34 we see Jack at nighttime looking down at a campsite with a fire (we assume Ennis is there), and less than two minutes later, and in a notably similar way, we see Ennis looking up the mountain at Jack herding sheep (0:13:10 – 0:13:28). In both of these moments Ang Lee chooses to do close ups of their face giving the frame a closed form, and then immediately cuts to a long shot of what they are looking at with a dramatic angle of elevation giving the frame an open form (making us aware of what’s around them, especially because of the previous closed form; further emphasizing the vast space separating them), and then back to a close up of them catching their reactions to the distance. Lee’s choices connote the physical distance that is often between Jack and Ennis, and although with different techniques he successfully achieves and recreates this effect the way that Annie Proulx did. In her story Proulx uses imagery to allude to the expansive distance separating Ennis and Jack: “During the day Ennis looked across a great gulf and sometimes saw Jack, a small dot moving across a high meadow, as an insect moves across a tablecloth; Jack, in his dark camp, saw Ennis as night fire, a red spark on the huge black mass of mountain” (Pg. 74).

         The physical distance connoted in both these also suggests and emphasizes the figurative distance between Jack and Ennis (in regards to their relationship). Both this literal and figurative distance heighten the intimacy seen later on (at 0:27:06 – 0:28:49) through contrast, in how far apart they are initially to how close they become (both physically and emotionally). Not only does it have impact on later scenes but it also serves as foreshadowing for the hardships to come and the even greater distances and spans of time that will separate them later on in the story.

Imagery

There is very little dialogue in the first half an hour of the film, which I think is a conscious choice. In the original story Proulx spends much of the beginning of the story describing the landscape of Brokeback Mountain. Two days ago when we were discussing aspects of the story that we thought would be hard to translate to film. One thing I was worried about was if there would be any way to keep the power of the descriptions. In many ways the shots of the mountain in the movie serve the same role as the descriptions in the story. However at the same time, I feel that the lack of conversation and the long shots of the sheep changes the pacing of the plot. In Proulx’s original story the background descriptions are only a paragraph at a time, or woven throughout dialogue and do not take away from the plot of the story. However, in the movie almost all of the first half hour is scenery rather than plot, which slows down the story. I think overall this is an accurate way to preserve the feeling of the original text. Just like descriptions like “the sooty bulk of the mountain paled slowly until it was the same color as Ennis’ breakfast fire” add imagery to the story. The shots of thousands of sheep traveling up the mountain creates the same visual imagery. Although the images are different and the pacing of the story is slightly altered the visual images of Brokeback Mountain are important to the narrative of the story because of the important role it plays for Ennis and Jack.

Post

I love the cinematography in the film. In the story we read simile and metaphor describing the beautiful landscape. The story did a good job of using colorful description and images to reveal emotion in a non-gooshy way. The long pans of the mountains and country allow the description and metaphorical language to come alive on screen.
Not only that, but I like the time it takes to get up to Brokeback. It seems to elude to the magic of the mountain, and indicate nothing will ever be the same once they make the same trip down.

(new thought)
Although I agree with Henry about certain things in his post, I want to respectfully disagree about the "(implied) homosexual experience" connecting to his experience riding rodeo. On the contrary, I think one of the things Lee does to make each character 'manly'. Making Jack and Ennis manly and not having any stereotypical homosexual qualities makes the transition all the more dramatic, as well as the fact that they have to keep is a secret more exciting, because no one really knows. The gruff, manly demeanor of the characters is presented even as they have sex in the tent. I wrote down 'manly sex' when I saw the scene (which I guess is a weird thing to write...) because they were very rough and almost anamalistic. However, I do not think the act came from a place of animal lust, but rather a place of passion and desire.

Little did Ennis and Jack know that it was VALENTINES DAY

I felt the movie did a better job developing strong differences between the characters off the bat. Jack's herding experience and (implied) homosexual experience, paired with his affectionate mannerisms leads the viewer to quickly catch on to the fact that he is more aware, more comfortable with himself than Ennis is.

I personally pictured Ennis to be much colder and depressed than he is in the film. Here, he leaves out his last name when introducing himself to Jack, which I saw as a sign that he is afraid of his past, and distances himself from his (lack of) family by leaving out his family name. But with the panned shots of him and Jack taking care of sheep and his deep conversations with Jack, we see that Ennis isn't heartless, but reserved, able to ignore formalities. It is also possible that Ennis compares himself with Jack, and is unsure about their friendship at first. He tells Jack, "you may be a sinner but I ain't yet had the opportunity."

I also think a lot of the differences between the characters are visual. It's safe to say that Jake Gyllenhaal is prettier than Heath Ledger, and I think so much of the body language they give off screams "free spirit" for Jack, and "confined, insecure" for Ennis.

As someone who hasn't seen the entire movie, it'll be interesting to see if I continue to agree with myself or if I'm completely proven wrong.

- Henry

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.

Brokeback Schedule, from 2/14 until the paper is due:

BROKEBACK SCHEDULE:

Monday 2/14 – Watch Movie. HW: Blog post (see blog for details)

Tuesday 2/15 – No Class.

Wednesday 2/16 – Watch Movie.  HW:  Blog post (same question as first blog).  Essay question handed out – start formulating essay.

Thursday 2/17 – PERIOD SIX AND SEVEN – Watch Movie.

Friday 2/18 – Watch Movie.  HW: Essay.  First draft due Wednesday OR Thursday

Wednesday 2/23 – Peer editing.  Essay drafts due from (sign up for Wed or Thurs):

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7.

Thursday 2/24 Peer editing.  Essay drafts due from:

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Friday 2/25 – No Class

Monday 2/28 – Brokeback Mountain Paper Due

Valentine's Day Homework (to complete by midnight, please)

Consider and write about the first half hour of Brokeback Mountain.


The "barely did your homework" version:
Sign up as a contributor to the blog, if you haven't.  COMMENT ON CHOICES you saw Lee and the cast/crew of BM making, both in terms of film technique and storytelling.

The "did a respectable job" version:
Do the above, but also consider: What EFFECT would you describe as a result of those choices?

The "really nicely done" version:
Do all of the above, but also begin to discuss what we saw today in comparison/contrast to Proulx's short story.  Where did Lee use a similar choice?  Where did Proulx and Lee use different choices to achieve similar effects?  How does each use techniques specific to his/her medium to tell the same story?  Does it SEEM like the same story? (p.s. -- starting to think this way will help you with the upcoming paper).

The "hallelujah, this is why we have a blog" version:
Do the above, and read the comments of your classmates.  Comment on/agree with/disagree with/support or add nuance to their arguments/observations...ALWAYS RESPECTFULLY.