Clayton George Wickham - final thesis

4
With this statement, Chion raises two concepts central to my argument, the
importance of the viewer’s positioning in relation to the film text, and the importance
of form to this establishment of point of view.
Primarily, the perspective created directly establishes the relationship of the
viewer to a film text. With the aforementioned example from Eyes Wide Shut, the
film is designed to allow the spectator to, figuratively, see the world through the eyes
of Tom Cruise’s character, Bill Harford. In this way, we know that the closest link
into this universe is with Bill, and the action that is seen is shown because it is
significant to this character. While the universe may not be an accurate presentation
of reality, the subjectivism of the spectator’s position provides a more clear
understanding and relationship of the people, places and events to the story.
Related to this viewer-character-film dynamic, the point of view that is
adopted through a film creates an understanding and empathy within the viewer. Bill
Harford may not be likeable as his failed attempts at infidelity are generally
unappealing. The suspense and emotional engagement of the spectator, however,
depends entirely on the fact that the viewer experiences the events of the film as they
relate to Bill. The sensations of fear, excitement, arousal, sadness, and so forth
depend on the expressionistic utilization of aesthetic elements like sound, lighting,
camerawork, editing, etc. from the relevant character’s perspective.
These elements work together to create an overall aesthetic design not only
for Eyes Wide Shut, but for any given filmic text. This design is entirely dependent
on the choices made on the part of the filmmaker that contribute to the artistic
expression of the work in question. These choices are streamlined through adopting
a character with which the viewer is meant to directly relate. In the video
introduction to the Criterion Collection U.S. DVD release of Akira Kurosawa’s film