Task 2- The Gold Rush

The Gold Rush (1925)

Take 3 scenes from 'The Gold Rush' (1925) and analyse the micro elements of film form, identifying how these elements construct meaning.

Micro-elements of film 

EXTRA 

Cinematography and Special Effects (throughout) 

Special Effects add on to the comedic performances. Practical effects, like the choice of having smoke steam out the shoe in minute 17:00, enhance the already funny scene. Other effects are more cinematographic and have to do with the choice of lenses and angles. A POV shot of Chaplin as a chicken from delirious Big Jim’s perspective (21:00) shows how hunger is really pushing Big Jim’s view of reality to a surreal and funny world by imagining his companion as a chicken he would like to eat. 

The story follows the Tramp as he goes off to seek his fortune in the Alaskan gold fields, along with prospectors both good and greedy with whom he falls in and falls out. Naturally, he meets a girl who is ‘looking for an honest man’ with whom he falls in love, but she only toys with him and, having agreed she would meet him for New Year’s Eve dinner, she stands him up.  

Scene 1 fork dance. 

Cinematography. 

In the fork dance scenes the lighting is very basic. Even though the film is in black and white you can see the lighting has changed in his dream scene. All the actors are seen very clearly. Charlie Chaplin is seen very clearly. The scene is filmed as a medium shot which then changes to a close up shot, focussing on Charlie and his fork dance. The light in the scene makes Charlies face light up and glow. When the fork and potato is lifted up there is a shadow over the face. Meaning the source of light is from in front of him. The background is visible behind Charlie however his face is the clearest. There is a shift in focus from the group of guests and Charlie, to just Charlie and his "fork dance". The lighting shows how Charlie is trying to impress his guests and trying to entertain them as he is the centre point of this piece. However this could be interpreted differently as the use of light could be seen as having a "creepy" atmosphere. The scenes filmed in the cabin are shot in a theatrical manner, with the mise-en-scène set up facing an imaginary audience (us behind the camera), fixed camera and comedic props. Chaplin also plays with the contrast between detail shots inserted into wide shots to enhance the comedic effect. 

Mise-en-scene 

Setting  

The setting of this scene is in Charlies cabin, where he has props set out, for example a table all decorated with food and glasses and presents for New Years Eve. There are paper chains around the widows. The ladys in the scene are wearing decorative hats. The setting feels quite secluded from others. The cabin feels quite small and a tight fit. The cabin looks very basic. 

Props 

There are many props in this scene. It is very visual. For example all the decorations around the cabin (the paper chains, the table decorations, presents, decorative hats worn, the bread rolls used for the fork dance. The props show how he has gone to great effort for this dinner, he has decorated his house al for his guests. 

Costume 

Charlies character has dressed up for the occasion, wearing the flower dropped by his crush. As an audience we assume this is to impress the crush.  The three ladys are all wearing the same outfits as each other but are wearing decorative hats. The costume of Charlie is plain, almost poor looking. This contrasts to the ladys as theirs are bright and new looking.  

Make-up 

The ladys in this scene are wearing what would have been stage make up, eyeliner, an contour.Where a charlie is seen to be very pale almost white looking throughout the film. He has bags under his eyes and his short iconic mistoushe. All the characters have defined facial features, eyebrows and completion. 

Scene 2 eating the shoe 

EXTRA One of Chaplin’s most celebrated sequences in The Gold Rush (and in all his films) finds the Tramp, out of desperate hunger, preparing a Thanksgiving dinner in which he boils his boot and eats it, picking the nails as though they were chicken bones, and twirling the bootlaces about a fork and eating them as though they were spaghetti. The delicate hilarity of the boot becoming food is Chaplin’s most outstanding comic transposition gag. The boots and laces used for the scene actually were made of licorice and the nails of hard candy. According to assistant director Eddie Sutherland, Chaplin went through 20 pairs of candy boots during three days and 63 takes to complete the sequence. Lita Grey (Chaplin’s second wife) later recalled that both Chaplin and Mack Swain suffered from the laxative effects of eating too much licorice, and work was suspended when both men became indisposed. 

Cinematography. 

For the first 0.5seconds the camera shot is medium 2 shot, where Charlie's character and big Jim. After this the camera focusses on Charlie and him cooking the shoe for 0.20seconds, the audience is watching Charlie carefully cooking his old boot. For 0.3 seconds we see big jims character unwillingly pass over his plate. This again is a close up of only his character. For 0.11 seconds we as the audience are watching Charlie carefully clean big jims plate, and serve the boot he has cooked. This again included great detail and focus in presentation.  for 0.2 seconds there is a brief clip of Charlie's feet and one wearing a shoe the other not. This again adds humour to the scene. The next 0.18 seconds we see Charlie sit down and carefully serve the boot, twisting up the shoe lasses like spaghetti, cutting the boot and sharpening the knifes. Then for 0.8 seconds the shot again is only focused on Charlie, where he carefully sections the boot ready to eat. The next 0.10 seconds we see the switching of plates between big Jim and Charlie. There is then a close up of big jims reaction and then a close up of Charlie's reaction. Then a brief shot of both of the characters then to another close up of big Jim trying to eat the boot and then Charlie trying to eat the boot. There are lots of backwards an forward shots between the characters and there attempts and reactions to eating the boot. The light in this scene is very natural, however both characters faces are lit up in each section.  
Mise-en-scene 

Setting  

The setting of this scene is inside the cabin, where only big jim and The little fellow is. the setting of the cabin is quite basic, there is little decoration, little furniture, there is a sense of isolation and the sense of coldness from the bitter conditions. The setting also shows the lack of money both these characters have. The setting in the cabin is very wooden, basic and poor/dirty looking.

Props 
The only main prop in this scene is the old shoe, which both these characters are eating. it is very basic the props and furniture in the scene.

Costume 
the costume in The gold rush stays mainly the same throughout for charlies character. in this scene though he is missing a boot.  He is in oversized clothing and the iconic moustache of Chaplin in the film. 

Make-up 
Make up is not a key part in the film, and the only makeup applied is around Charlie's eyes that appear very bold through the black and white movie, the history of his films use this to signify who he was, almost as famous as the moustache.  However it could be interputated that the make up shows how hungry the characters are.
Lighting
The lighting is mainly front on, where the cameras are, meaning both characters are light up in the scene and so is the boot. this is minimal shadows. 

Scene 3 Little Fellow walking into the pub

This scene shows when Charlie first meets Georgia, or he sees her with the other girls in the pub. Charlie seems extremely happy as soon as he sees her, but is quickly ignored. 

Costume 

The costume remains the same throughout, with the Little Fellow (charlie) in oversized clothing and the iconic moustache of Chaplin in the film. This exaggerates how small he is in comparison to others, compared to others in the pub, which could add to the humour in the beginning. The clothing for Georgia is important to where the location is, as well as her job, as an iconic flapper girl with short dresses and pin up hair. 

Make-up

Make up is not a key part in the film, and the only makeup applied is around Charlie's eyes that appear very bold through the black and white movie, the history of his films use this to signify who he was, almost as famous as the moustache. Georgia is of a flapper girls, similar to all the other women in the pub with prominent, bold lipsticks, and the drawn on thin eyebrows. 

The props 

Props in this scene are also quite minimal, as it is in the pub, however, within the whole film this would be the largest set full of props to show this. These include; an actual bar, stools, extras (dancing in the background). The location of this scene only remains in one position - being in the pub, made out of props and in a set where it would be difficult to change the location, but manage to get different camera angles. In the beginning of the scene when he stands at the front of the pub we can see the whole bar, with Georgia being in both Charlie's and the audiences eyesight. 

Lighting

The lighting is mainly front on, where the cameras are but as it is inside, it is a lot darker than other scenes in the film. It is clear that it is the night as the lighting is dark in comparison to other scenes, however, it is still well lit, and enough to show the two main characters and Charlie's vision on Georgia. 

Camera: 

As Charlie is alone in the beginning of the scene, both the movement and angles are minimal and only show Charlie coming into the bar and looking towards Georgia, a close up of Georgia and a close up of Charlie looking towards the crowd. As the whole scene focuses on in how Charlie trying to get Georgia's attention the movement is important in showing how he manages to do this. The camera angles follow the movement, but consist of only three different shots, these showing the whole cabin from the centre. And the other being a close up in the corner where the gun is constantly   

Editing:  

The editing within this scene is quite basic and minimal, yet advanced at the time- as the cuts are only from being on one area to the same but as a close up. This is effective, as the scene relies heavily on how the characters are expressing their narrative.  

Diegetic and Non-diegetic Sound: 

As this is a silent movie, there is no clear dialogue, however through the characters expression and movement the only sound needed is the orchestral music, which would have been live when the movie came out. This sound adds to the humour and fits into how the characters are.  

cabin scene 

This scene is where big jim and charlie have just woken up and the cabin is balancing off of the mountain after the heavy winds. However there charactes are not aware of this however the audience is from earlier clips of the sitting. This scene is an example of slapstick humour as it takes a long amount of time for both of the characters to actually knowledge their new location of cabin.