Pollock.

After your further reflections on "Pollock" and thoughts on how it relates to "Basquiat," choose a scene from "Pollock" and try analyzing it according to exercise # 2 in your textbook on p. 86 (briefly discussed in class Sept. 8).

The scene that stuck out to me in "Pollock" was the scene when Pollock's drip painting inspiration came to him in his studio. To me, what makes this scene is the music and sound. While the music is not diegetic, it strongly emphasizes the creative thought process going through Pollock's head. The music becomes more dramatic as Pollock discovers his new drip technique in painting. The music that is playing was repeated from previous in the film (the first time it was played was when Pollock was painting Peggy Guggenheim's mural). To me, the reason that the music is so influential in this scene is because it is the only sound as the inspiration is coming to him. When Pollock starts painting, the music continues to grow and we can hear the splattering of paint onto the canvas, but the music is still the dominate sound in the scene. When Lee tells Pollock he's "done it" (after she sees his work), the music is still playing yet decreased slightly in volume. As the next scene transpires, the same music is continuing to play, linking all the scenes of Pollock painting together. The music fades out to Pollock's facial expression that looks like he is pleased with his work. The music really makes the scene complete. It places the emphasis on Pollock and the mental process that he goes through as he prepares and eventually paints his pictures. The music shows that dialogue is not needed to develop a scene. The lack of communication/human voices makes us as viewers watch only Pollock's painting, as it is the most important feature of the scenes.