Shutter: Question, DVD extras, conclusive remarks, additional links (and the addition of a redundant egg).
05 09 2009After repeated viewing, in slow-motion, with sub-titles, with commentary, frame by frame, with and without sound... I found the film more enjoyable than I remembered. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the fist time I saw the film was on a plane. Or maybe it's because the use of photography is so prominent: indeed, the film could be said to be about photography itself also. And, of course, Polaroid photography, which is repeatedly forgrounded within both the film itself as well as the commentary.
The Australian DVD release is 122 minutes long. Commentary by: Alex Sundell (production executive), Luke Dawson (screen writer), and Rachael Taylor (the actress who plays Jane).
If you have any additional comments about the film not mentioned below, or any appropriate links, please do leave a comment below.
Question.
If you watch the film, two questions that have come to mind since returning the DVD that you could help me answer are:
1. How many Polaroids does Jane take in the International Department (chapter 12)?
2. How many Polaroids does Ben take toward the end of the film, back in Brooklyn (chapter 23)?
The images shown in the former scene seem to be the same as the number of developed Polaroids shown. In the case of Ben however, the actual number of Polaroids taken is more confused: the rapid manner in which he presses the shutter, his movements from room to room, the way he rips the ejected Polroids from the camera, the way in which he throws them to the floor, the the quick cuts, have left me wondering if the number of developed Polaroids shown equates with the actual number taken. Is the Polaroid that shows the Magumi the tenth Polaroid?
DVD Extras.
1. Of the DVD extras, the short A History of Spirit Photography states that the first spirit photograph was taken by a certain Howard Mumler in 1861. The narrator (not named) also mentions:
After 1865, and the end of the great civil war, spirit photographs became the most sought-after memory for the widows and families of the dead soldiers.
2. Of the deleted scenes, that of Ben and Jane's wedding is the most interesting. It relates not only how thay met, but also the origin of the photograph of Jane that Magumi is shown to have inhabited toward the end of the film (yet at the beginning of the narrative) in chapter 20:
Megan: You've got it in your livingroom right?
Jane: Yeah. He gave it me on our first date. And I saw it and I just knew.
The scene of the wedding occurs temporally prior to the beginning of the film proper. Thus, not only would the photograph have been introduced within the narrative within what would have been the first scene, its importance (and the importance of photography more generally) would have been introduced at this juncture also..
During chapter 17, the images taken by the photographer at the wedding are shown, which, of course, reveal the presence of Magumi. Indeed, the taking of a photograph is the closing element of this deleted scene.
Conclusive remarks.
1. The two main scenes in which Polaroid use is prominent - Jane looking for Magumi in at the International Department and Ben looking for Magumi at the home in Brooklyn - accelerate the time in which the Polaroid image develops. This is done in a manner much different to the film Cleaner (2007), for instance, in which a speeding up of the process is more apparent. In Shutter, the protanganists' reactions to the developed image and the method of editing - quick cuts - give an impression that such speed is a natural function of the Polaroid system.
2. Various cameras are shown: digital, disposable, medium format, Polaroid - both Spectra/Image System and 600. The use of Photoshop is also featured showing the inclusion of a ghostly element within a straight photograph. This highlights the blurred line between photography and illustration engendered by the advent of digital technology. Peripherals of photography are also shown repeatedly: flash guns (and there power sources / packs), darkroom chemicals, etc.
3. The action of actually taking a photograph is repeatedly highlighted yet the approach is different with respect to which camera is used: the disposable camera is held at arms length as Ben takes a portrait of both himself and Jane; the medium format camera used by Ben during his assignment requires him to bend down so as to be able to look through the view-finder; the Polaroid cameras, as mentioned in the main sections, are often held away from the eye in a manner similar to the way in which digital photographs are taken - apart from those Polaroids taken by Ritsuo, who does look through the view-finder.
While the digital camera often has a screen to view the scene to be photographed, this is not the case with the Polaroid cameras shown. Indeed, the way in which they are used brings to mind the difference between an aimed shot and a snap shot from a rifle.
4. The development of photographic images, or at least bringing the image into view/existence, is repeatedly shown. I make this distinction between 'development' and 'bring into view' to take into acount the manner in which digital photographs are first looked at in camera.
5. Aural manifestations: I have commented on the sound of the Polaroid camera before. Indeed, the work thirty six rests on such a repeated sound. And here I refer not only to Polaroid cameras.
Of course, the sound of a shutter opening and closing is fabricated within the domain of the digital camera. It is there to tell use that a) the camera has done something, and b) that you, the photographer have done something.
This reminds me of why eggs are added to various mixes: apparently, back in the 1950's when ready-mix foods became available, they were found to be unpopular with house wife's (such were the times). They felt by using such products they were cheating in the kitchen - nothing was required of them. A certain redundancy rather than ease was dominant. Thus, the requirement to add an egg to the product and whisk (or some similar action) was encouraged by instruction. by this action the cook then felt that they had a contribution to make, that they were doing something, even though the technology functioned (could function) without the needing to add the egg.
The fabricated sound of digital cameras then (including my phone camera) is little more than than the addition of a redundant egg.
6. An interesting comparison could be made between how individuals interact with each specific means of production: correlations and divergences between digital and Polaroid; the function of medium format analog photography; the temporal in relation to taking and viewing.
In respect to the narrative, this final point is most apparent in reference to the wedding photographs. Taken just prior to Ben and Jane's trip to Japan and viewed only upon their return to Brooklyn, one may wonder how their reactions to the appearance of Magumi on the road would have altered had they viewed these images before leaving (of course, this may well have made for a less interesting film!).
7. The conflation between, or the intersections of, moving and still image is prefigured in a number of different ways within the film. The most obvious is movement within a still image: in the case of Magumi appearing and moving within the photograph. This takes place while Ben is developing film. as well at Bruno's apartment shortly before he is killed.
The other main (and realistic) manifestation of this is toward the end of the film in which Jane discovers that Magumi has been with her and Ben since the wedding.
What is even more interesting about this is its self-referentailaity; the scene reveals the materials of film production itself.
8. Magumi is not only revealed by the camera, but can also control them: as the attack on Adam and the repeated attacks on Ben show. The other instance of this is related to the photographs that shows Magumi entering the photograph of Jane - which must have also been taken by Magumi herself: thus Magumi / her ghost can simultaneously be in and take the image/s.
9. Magumi can inhabit photographs and cameras (re: the attack and subsequent death of Adam, the photograph that Ben took of Jane during their first meeting).
10. Bruno's act of cutting up photographs in his apartment (chapter 15) prior to jumping to his death, can be looked at as an attempt to exorcise Magumi's ghost.
Additional links.
For previous posts related to spirit photography see the supernatural category.
Two interesting threads at http://www.imdb.com concern what the medium (Murase, played by Kei Yamamoto) says; and communicative tools yet to be incorporated within a ghost story (the phone, of course, has already been done...).
For 'What's is the next electronic device to be possed [sic] by a ghost?' see:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482599/board/nest/102647981?d=102647981&p=1#102647981 (greg-1486. 08/04/2008).
For 'What was the 'scam artist' saying to Ben?' see:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482599/board/nest/138958386?d=138958386&p=1#138958386 (blufie. 26/05/2009).
A large collection of spirit photography is available online at http://www.luminous-lint.com.
For the introduction, see: http://www.luminous-lint.com/app/vexhibit/_THEME_Portrait_Ghosts_01/2/0/0/ For the images, see: http://www.luminous-lint.com/app/vexhibit/_THEME_Portrait_Ghosts_01/5/0/0/
The previous posts on Shutter:
Shutter: Context and navigation.
Shutter: Chapters 8, 9, 10, 11.
Shutter: Chapters 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.
One relevant exercise would be to see how the use of Polaroid as used within Shutter defines the integral Polaroid re: Memento: defining the integral Polaroid (a sketch).
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