Shooting must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found).
The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. (Music must not be used unless it occurs where the scene is being shot.)
The camera must be hand-held. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted.
The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable. (If there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera).
Optical work and filters are forbidden.
The film must not contain superficial action. (Murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.)
Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. (That is to say that the film takes place here and now.)
Genre movies are not acceptable.
The film format must be Academy 35 mm.
The director must not be credited.
Sounds terribly boring
It is, however, a very interesting challenge for a filmmaker. Basically your entire bag of tricks for "fixing up" a movie is ripped out from under you: You can't force a mood by slapping a thematic soundtrack over a scene, you can't focus and clean up a cluttered scene by tampering with the lighting, you can't condense and concentrate a scene's essence by touching it up in post... Everything that allows a wealthier production studio to take utter crap and process it into perfectly consumable humdrum is taken away.
So what you're left with is the writing, the cameraman, and the actors. All these things need to be
fucking Grade-A top class, and it really shows. Finding good locations is also very important, because you can't just slap together a set or patch together the necessary requisites.
Yes, there are some very bizarre rules involved (Academy 35mm? Lars, your boner is showing), but the essence of the ruleset is precisely that: Essence. It strips down all the boob jobs and tummy tucks of mainstream cinema, so you're left with just the core parts of the film laid bare and unprotected for all to see.
A lot of it really is just a big "Achievement Complete!" for directors who manage to make a good movie despite all the crippling handicaps... But it also makes it clear to the consumers that you're getting a movie that has a lot of soul in it. Mainly because there's... Nothing else to show.
The Celebration and Mifune are great examples of what works and what doesn't within the Dogme ruleset. Both feature extraordinary actors playing off of each other beautifully, engaging writing, and a cameraman who somehow manages to make everything work despite having little more than
a goddamn camcorder. And, for someone who's looking, they also hint at some of the things that make such films difficult... The Celebration for instance has an outdoor scene which is so dark that it's nearly impossible to work out what, if anything, is actually happening.
Both are, in my opinion, very good films. I feel it is entirely possible to enjoy these films without any special background or whatnot, but the whole Dogme 95 movement is very much a film geek thing overall.
Oh good, I'm so glad we're not talking about the excellent movie Dogma, starring Ben Affleck aaaaaaaand.... Matt Damon, that's the one. A Masterpiece of not-so-modern cinema.
You wouldn't be forgetting that Alan Rickman was a literal angel in that movie now would you?
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Topic: Things that made you mildly upset today thread (Read 1224097 times)