The Wizard Of Oz (1939) And Classical Hollywood Cinema
“Classical Hollywood Cinema” is a term coined by David Bordwell, Janet Staiger, and Kristen Thompson to describe films made in Hollywood from 1917 to 1960. They performed a formalist analysis to a random selection of one hundred films made between 1917 and 1960. Their aim was to try to pinpoint the features that defined films made in Hollywood in that period and they concluded all the films developed a distinct style called “classicism”. This style called for the film to meet specific goals while adhering to strict limits, especially in regards to “individual innovation”. In discussing these goals and their limitations, one can analyze The Wizard of Oz (1939) as exemplifying the characteristics of classicism in relation to narrative structure, style, and narration.
Classicism’s goal is ideal storytelling. All films have a story, but it is in classicism in which we are confronted with fictional characters who face goals they want to achieve or obstacles they need to overcome. These films aim to be realistic by presenting action in a way that looks and feels plausible. Through techniques of continuity and ‘invisible’ storytelling, the film attempts to mask its apparatus to not draw attention to its making. The viewer should be able to comprehend the story and the narration should possess a sense of emotional appeal. This emotional appeal is present so the viewer can connect with at least one character – whether to love or hate them – which becomes the cruxes of classical filmmaking. It is important to note, however, that no single Hollywood film is the classical system.
Classical cinema constitutes a paradigm of ‘bounded alternatives’ and choices that are governed by motivation and clarity. Motivations and story clarity are better shown through the use of classical narration. Classical narration contains a set of controlled options in regards to the way the film represents the fabula (story) and structures the syuzhet (plot). The fabula embodies the action in the film that follows a chronological, cause-and-effect chain of events that occur within a given time and place. The syuzhet is the way the fabula is arranged and presented in the film. The syuzhet considers all of the elements, visible and audible, that are found in the film including nondiegetic images, or images not part of the diegesis (world) of the story. Thus, the narration is the process whereby syuzhet and style work to help guide the audience in understanding the fabula. The narration presents psychologically complex and psychologically motivated characters. These characters struggle to solve problems, look to attain goals set out at the onset, and aim to solve problems when conflict arises.
The film always ends in a decisive conclusion that offers a resolution. The causal agent, or what is pushing the story forward, is usually the main character of the story whose traits, behaviors, and qualities are made explicit early on in the film. The film’s perspective is usually centered on the main causal agent, allowing for the audience to get their point of view. The exposition places the viewer in a story that is already moving, which triggers strong impressions that become the basis for audience expectations across the entire film. All the information provided first about a character or situation creates a ‘fixed baseline’ against which later information is judged. This creation of first impressions, or the ‘primacy effect’, is encouraged by the star system as a means of creating archetypes, prototypes or easily identifiable images of characters that the stars are molded into. Even if an actor plays a different character, the spectator recognizes they are still playing a similar type of character. As stated by Bordwell, the exposition starts by situating the viewer in media res, allowing them to understand the time, place and relevant characters. It is usually the characters that assume the “burden of exposition” as narration seems to disappear.
In The Wizard of Oz (1939), the film begins in sepia tones with a longshot of a concerned and alarmed Dorothy running down a farm road away from her neighbor Miss Gulch. Following is a medium shot of her and her dog Toto, allowing the audience to make sense of the encounter she had off screen. We follow her as she rushes home where we are then introduced to Aunt Em, Uncle Henry and the characters of the farmhands: Hunk, Hickory and Zeke. Dorothy tries to tell someone about the off-screen confrontation and not much later the audience is introduced to Miss Gulch’s character who has a court order to take away Toto to ‘destroy’ him. Dorothy is undoubtedly upset and refers to Miss Gulch as a “witch”, foreshadowing upcoming events. Dorothy’s upset reaction to Miss Gulch’s announcement shows her kind and caring nature as well as her dedication to her pet. These traits are consistent throughout the film. The scene continues with Miss Gulch taking away Toto and having him escape and reuiniting with Dorothy at the farm. As Dorothy fears Miss Gulch will return for him, she attempts to run away from home, encountering a travelling magician named Professor Marvel. She asks him to look into his crystal ball and he deceives her by telling her to close her eyes, as a means to search her belongings for some clues to her current situation. He comes across a picture of Aunt Em and Dorothy and pretends to envision it in his crystal ball. He claims that Aunt Em is dying from a broken heart so Dorothy rushes back home to see her just as a tornado approaches. Dorothy, being unable to get into the cellar for safety, goes inside the house and gets hit on the head by a window-frame.
The house is picked up into the eye of the tornado and the viewer sees characters flying outside in the tornado through Dorothy’s window, including Miss Gulch, who is shown transforming into the Wicked Witch of the West. This forms a parallelism between the two characters and expectations are formed where the viewer assumes the Wicked Witch character will share the character traits of Miss Gulch. As Dorothy’s house finally lands, she opens the door and the camera pans outside the door, then in on Dorothy’s face and back smoothly out to her surroundings, showing us the magical place she has landed on. With the opening of the door there is a shift to Technicolor, where we are assaulted with bright and vibrant colors. Bordwell argued over the importance of doorways, as they promise new movement and encounters, and this film represents this idea quite literally. She is introduced to Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, who announces that Dorothy’s house has killed the Wicked Witch of the East. The people of Munchkinland, where Dorothy’s house landed, are grateful and praise Dorothy as their heroine.
Following the exposition is an emergence of new conflicts and complications. As Dorothy realizes she is not in Kansas anymore, but rather the Land of Oz, she encounters a new set of obstacles and in turn, establishes new goals. Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, suggests Dorothy visit the Wizard in Emerald City to ask to be sent home. This shifts her original goal from escaping her Kansas home to finding a way to return to it. Before departing, the Wicked Witch of the West appears and threatens Dorothy for killing her sister and taking her sister’s ruby slippers. The Wicked Witch disappears but promises to get her revenge on Dorothy. As Dorothy embarks on her adventure she makes three companions: a Scarecrow, Tinman and Lion. They all agree to join her on her journey to meet the Wizard because each is longing for something they do not possess (a brain, a heart, courage). The Wicked Witch contributes to many of the obstacles Dorothy has to face, such as poisoning the Poppy fields and having flying monkeys kidnap Dorothy and Toto. When Dorothy is kidnapped and sent to the Wicked Witch’s castle, the Witch announces that Dorothy only has until the sand of the hourglass runs out. In classical cinema, it is through deadlines and appointments that our expectations are geared for later scenes. Deadlines can function narratively by motivating the film’s race to the goal. As the story progresses, the viewers begin to understand the Dorothy will eventually be rescued since classical cinema pushes for a “happy” ending. The epilogue strives to show a return to a stable narrative state.
The final sequence attempts to show the reaction of the protagonist when he has achieved his desires. In the case of this film, Dorothy wakes up surrounded by her family and friends and realizes “there is no place like home”. This scene refers back to the opening scene, most obviously done through sepia tones, where the conclusion acknowledges itself as a “result of the beginning”. The classical film usually ends with a new line of action. In the case of this film, it was the fact that Dorothy realizes she dreamt her entire adventure. The narrative tends to surround a protagonist who desires something different than what they originally wanted in the beginning. In this film, Dorothy desired to escape ‘somewhere over the rainbow’ away from Kansas but as the tornado drops her to Oz, she realizes she wants to go back. Dorothy’s decisions, choices and character traits provide the main driving force within the film. The narration is unrestricted and omniscient so that it brings overall awareness of the common goals of conflicting characters. The viewer can recall scenes in the Witch’s castle as the Wicked Witch looks into her crystal ball and speaks to her flying monkeys about her plans to foil Dorothy. This type of narration achieves a well-rounded, goal-oriented plot as the viewer gains insight into the minds of all the main characters. The narration is restricted for the viewer, however, as the ending reveals all the experiences in Oz were all in Dorothy’s mind. This narrative works towards not leaving any unanswered questions so the viewers gain a sense of closure with the film’s ending.
The goal-oriented plot follows pattern of development that encourages the viewer to expect Dorothy to reach her desired goal. The viewer sees each action of Dorothy to be a result of this desire to go home to Kansas. The film is presented in a chronological order because it contributes to the level of surprise the audience feels when they realize the entire adventure was a dream. The general format of a classical Hollywood narrative is that it is comprised of a beginning, middle and an end. The beginning introduces the main characters as well as establishes the mood and setting. It is worth noting the film’s exposition features an abundance of foreshadowing through the use of motifs.
The ‘planting’ and foreshadowing of specific traits and objects is done so they can be recalled later on in the film. In the case of the farmhands, the foreshadowing to their characters in Oz is done through dialogue and establishing character traits. Zeke is called a ‘coward’ after he saved Dorothy when she fell in the pig-pen, hence his role as Cowardly Lion. Hickory claims they will ”erect a statue” of him, alluding to him being rusted and stuck in place as the Tinman. And Hunk tells Dorothy it is like she “didn’t have any brains at all”, which is ironic as he later takes on the character of Scarecrow, who has nothing in his head but straw. Professor Marvel and his interaction with Dorothy provides foreshadowing for the Wicked Witch’s use of a crystal ball, and suggests that the Wizard character may not be as powerful as he seems. These early scenes accumulate significance especially as our memory as viewers is amplified by the ongoing story.
In The Wizard of Oz (1939) generic motivation is present for every musical sequence. Musical accompaniment is utilized as a continuity factor in classical cinema. The continuous accompaniment can function as narration because characters will never know what is about to happen but the “music always knows”. Whenever the Wicked Witch of the West’s character is shown on screen it is accompanied by shrill and eerie music that reminds the viewer that she is the ‘evil villain’. The use of music also reinforces point-of-view where music can shift easily from unrestrictive to restrictive viewpoints. An example of this would be the scenes in which Dorothy and her new friends sing, “we’re off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz”, while dancing on the yellowbrick road. The music goes from being part of the diegesis, being sung by characters on screen, to being picked up by the orchestra and turning into a non-diegetic musical accompaniment.
Another type of editing done to allow audience information pertinent to understanding the plot is through the use of crosscutting. Crosscutting is a form of editing that aids in the narrational process. It depicts two or more lines of actions that are happening in different locations and the same time, but are woven together. An example would be showing the Wicked Witch attempting to poison Dorothy and then cutting to Dorothy in the Poppy fields unaware of what is to occur. This type of editing in classical cinema works to create a unique set of temporal relations while functioning narrationally as well. The use of this editing allows freedom from Dorothy’s point of view, allowing the viewer to gain information she does not have.
Graphic space of the film is used as a vehicle of narrative. Classical Hollywood cinema emphasizes the role of camera as ‘invisible’ witness. Lighting is particularly important with the classical system privileging three-point lighting and background lighting. It helps differentiate the actor from their background. In the case of female characters, there is also need for diffusion that works at ‘spiritualizing’ them. The classical Hollywood films followed the 180 axis of action system in order to create the effect of continuity, especially during conversations. Another way for the viewers to perceive the space in the film is through the use of shot-reverse-shot during conversations. Direct eye-line matches allow for the viewer to understand the characters are in the same spatial field and in close proximity to each other. The use of frontality, as seen through medium-shots, is done because mental states are made obvious when the viewer can easily read the posture, gesture, facial and eye movements of a specific character. Lastly, the use of colors in this film allowed the viewer the most information because it distinguished dream from reality.
