Federico Fellini’s 8 ½: A Comedy About Director’s Block and Filmmaking Techniques

8 ? Federico Fellini Film 8 ? by Italian director Federico Fellini was one of the most influential film of the post-war 1960? s. Nevertheless, this film is an Italian comedy which was based on Guido Anselmi a famous Italian film director. Guido Anselmi has a mental block when it comes to his film, (“director‘s block”) and struggles with his flash backs, dreams, and reality. Guido desperately tries to find an inspiration to help him finish his film. However, with the wife, mistress, and friend’s pressure it becomes much harder for Guido to focus on his film production.

This film was shot in black and white and yet of the depletion of technology and the un-discovery of color, Fellini still as a filmmaking director portrays the amusing and perplexing shots and scenes from the film in an engrossing way. Federico Fellini who directed the film gave the audience a new perspective of filmmaking and techniques. Fellini used several film techniques, but these two techniques stood out. Mise-en-scene and camerawork which both helped make this film one of the best of its time.

On the other hand, Fellini was also one of the many film directors who used reflexivity, which means he created awareness of itself as a process as well as a process. This gave the film and audience an impression of what and how Federico Fellini works on his films. The audience can in a way get into Fellini’s mind and try to understand what it is that he is thinking or struggling with. Federico Fellini made 8 ? in a non-chronological way, which means that the film has no shot order. Guido’s dreams and reality intertwined throughout the entire film.

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This throws the audience off track but Guido’s on and off dream, memory and reality shot’s in the end come to making sense. Fellini used mise-en-scene for 8 ?. Mise-en-scene is a French term which means “what is put into the scene/frame”. Fellini knows the importance of lighting, background, and location. This is what makes the audience more aware and also helps understand what is happening throughout the film. For example, in one of the scenes, Fellini shows Guido speaking to his father and the camera angles shows his father standing in the foreground. This makes Guido’s father look smaller in the background.

This is a very good example of mise-en-scene because it’s defined as the articulation of cinematic space. In this film Fellini took very good advantage of the frame. His way of placing characters is quite fascinating he almost places them like if they’d been on a stage while filmmaking. Camerawork was the second of many techniques that Federico Fellini used for the production of 8 ?. The way Fellini used the camera to show close ups, long shots, images, frame within a frame, and montage were very eye catching to the audience. One example would be, the scene where Guido remembers when he was younger and how he was wrapped with sheets.

Then suddenly he starts to fantasize that all the women who live in the house with him, where carrying him. Fellini focused on that specific scene where Guido? s face is far beyond noticeable on the camera and the viewer can clearly see his face expressions. The audience can almost feel as if they where there with Guido in that same house. Another good example of Fellini’s great camerawork would be the scene where Guido is in some sort of sauna with many men and women, and the audience can clearly see Guido’s facial expressions when he sees the woman in some sort of bath robe walking to her side of the women? sauna. Guido rapidly, gets distracted and the viewers are able to see the close up on Guido’s face. Following the scene where Guido is called to speak to his eminence, the camera deep focus on the window that is opening and vapor is coming out. Guido’s eminence is being bathed by his helpers. Fellini really embraced the fact that Guido is very religious since he was very young. Despite his crazy fantasies, and memories, he still seeks for his eminence to obtain permission to do his film. However, the camera work is not the only technique that makes this film special.

The shadows, dark lighting and the use of location are also, very important in 8 ?. Federico Fellini made the audience more aware of what was happening throughout the film. Location is where the moviegoers can connect with the film. To conclude Federico Fellini’s film 8 ? was very amusing despite the confusion it caused through the film. The audience struggles to see if it’s reality that is happening in Guido’s life or if it’s just another of his dreams. Now, Guido would dream and fantasize because that was a way for him to cope with his lost inspiration. ? was not only the greatest film during the post- war era, but it also influenced the making of a play, and musical named “Nine” (1980) which was a revival of the Fellini’s film 8 ?. Nevertheless, film director Federico Fellini and this film itself have made me understand much more of the various types of cinematography and filmmaking techniques there is. However, the film was confusing the surrealism of the film and Guido? s flashbacks, fantasies, and reality made Fellini? s film 8 ? quite an adventure to have seen.

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