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<P>Tim Iles wrote:</P>
<P>"This reminds me of an extremely interesting article by Brian O'Leary in<BR>_Criticism_ (V. 43 N. 2) entitled "Camera Movements in Hollywood's<BR>Westering Genre: A Functional Semiotic Approach" in which he argues that<BR>the very direction of pans points to a western hegemony in the creation of<BR>cinema's visual grammar, based on the left/right writing system of<BR>western languages... He argues that the dominance of this movement pattern<BR>in international cinema indicates a true cultural colonisation of the<BR>world by a very particular visual style."</P>
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<P>My question isn't related to "2009 Lost Memories" but Tim's comment about pans reminded me of something I've been wondering about. When studying Japanese films made during the Occupation years, I noticed several times the use of a pan following a close-up or medium close-up of a character, edited so the pan appeared to be from the character's point of view. However, as the pan continued it would end up back at the character--i.e., the same character would be the end point of the shot, often in full or even a long shot, thus denying the POV implication that was at the beginning of the pan. It isn't a technique I noticed frequently but offhand I can think of a few films where it occurred and each time it was very striking (at least to me). I don't particularly subscribe to the idea that a technique carries an inherent ideology separate from the cultural contexts of a specific historical period (although the idea of a left to right pan reflecting 'Wes!
tern' reading patterns is intriguing), but I don't recall seeing this POV to non-POV effect in American or European films until very recently (sorry, can't remember the film I saw over the last couple of years where I noticed its being used). </P>
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<P>Can anyone cite some non-Japanese films--or even more recent Japanese films--where this technique is used? </P>
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<P>Joanne </P>
<P>Ithaca College</P>
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