On buckets, eagles, impatience, and...

[Front-Ranger]

Thanks, Amanda, so glad you heard the screaming!! And, thanks a lot, magic, now I lay awake at night cataloguing which scenes Jack was left and right in.  (Peeling potatoes and clothes scene, reunion ending, doing laundry in stream...)

[Front-Ranger]

Versatile scene...kissing Lureen goodbye scene...

[Front-Ranger]

This is one of my favorite threads so I had to bump it. Ironically, photobucket is now blocked on my work computer, so I can't add or see any of the pix from there. 

[Brown Eyes]

OK.  I'm going to get serious here and try to start a list of important horizontal/ vertical moments.  Some of these are pretty clear and obvious... I'm sure there are a lot of subtle instances of these things too that we can hunt for. I take horizontal/ vertical to refer to both body positions and instances of below/ above (for instance the reunion scene where Ennis is above Jack on the balcony but their positions are equalized when they move to embrace...  Ennis must move down to have this happen... Jack runs towards Ennis but does not climb the stairs in order to hug Ennis).  I'll add to this as I notice different nuances.  I'd love to hear what people make of some of these choices in staging and "choreography."

Lee, if the task seems appealing to you, I nominate you to be our right/ left cataloger and point-person.


**Note, the reversals and changes in positions (and color, tone, etc.) in TS1 vs. TS2 have been well discussed so I will refrain from reiterating those intances in this list.



Ennis Horizontal and Jack Vertical:

-prayer of thanks camping trip- Ennis is lying down while Jack is sitting up and is elevated due to his position near the campfire.  Ennis sits up to tell the Earl
          story, but Jack still appears elevated in comparison.

-around the campfire directly before TS1-  Ennis remains lying down while Jack stands up and runs to grab the extra blanket.

-"that's the most I spoke in a year" conversation- Ennis stays reclined by the fire while Jack is peeing and when Jack jumps up to goof around and mimick
           being in a rodeo.


Jack Horizontal and Ennis Vertical:

-"Tent don't look right" scene- Jack is lying down while Ennis is upright and running around checking the tent.  This arrangement seems very calculated in the
             way the scene is filmmed.

-"You know I ain't queer" scene- Jack horizontal and Ennis vertical (positioned at right angle to one another at first).  Ennis then sits to be closer to Jack's
            position, but Jack remains in a more reclined position while Ennis is sitting up.

Ennis Below and Jack Above:

-the "maybe Texas" argument scene-  they begin at the same level, squatting by the stream.  But Jack stands up to leave Ennis squatting below him.  Ennis
            only stands up once Jack walks away.

-the hug at the end of the argument scene.  Ennis collapses to the ground while Jack remains more upright at first as he tries to support Ennis.  He
            eventually kneels down too.

-scene where Jack picks out the low-startle point horse and the horse-spinning scene both involve Ennis checking Jack out while Ennis is on the ground and
            Jack is elevated by sitting on the horse.

Jack Below and Ennis Above:

-scene where Ennis is washing out the coffee pot in the stream and looks up to see Jack high on the mountain with the sheep.

-reunion scene Jack is remains at ground level while Ennis begins at an elevated level on the balcony and comes down to embrace Jack.

[Front-Ranger]

THis is really interesting Amanda! I'm looking at the movie with different eyes after this! It's interesting to see the "dance" of the two characters in a kinetic way. Ang Lee talked about "blocking" out the scenes, and I think this is what he was talking about.

Lee, if the task seems appealing to you, I nominate you to be our right/ left cataloger and point-person.

Great! I will do this and use your post as a model. This is an intriguing project!!

[Front-Ranger]

I am in heaven! This is more fun than should be legal! I have two laptops going, one with the movie, the other focused on this thread! And arrayed around the perimeter is an assemblage of dictionaries!! So, here is the left-right rundown:

First scene. J is stage right, E stage left
Aguirre's trailer: J stage right, E stage left
At the bar: same
Going up the mtn: One shot w/J stage right, Ennis stage left, most of the time Ennis is on the right
On the mtn: first scene with J stage left, E stage rt. J has a sheep on him, E is petting a blue heeler
Ennis looking up at Jack: back to J stage right, Ennis stage left
during this series of shots, the water is flowing right, and the sheep are flowing left.
In the bear shot, Ennis is initially traveling left, but then after encountering the bear, he goes right.
Where U been shot:  J stage right, Ennis stage left, then cross to Ennis stage rt, Jack left
Shooting the elk: Ennis stage rt, Jack left
Eating elk: back to Ennis on left
Commuting: Jack stage left
Wanna switch: Jack on left, then Ennis on left when he takes off to go up w/the sheep
Warsh scene: Begins with Ennis on left, then switches to Jack on left
Flickin the rodeo belt: Jack on left
Setting up the new camp: Jack on left, also in the Tent don't look right scene
Water-Walkin Jesus: Jack on right
Go up to the sheep now: Ennis on left
The morning after: Ennis on left, then Ennis travelling left
No business scene: Ennis left, Jack right
Hail scene: Jack left, Ennis right
Chilean scene: Ennis left, J rt then opposite
Harmonica: Ennis rt, J left, then cross
Camp teardown: Jack left, Ennis right
Tussle: ends with Jack stage right
Going down the mtn: Ennis, left

more soon

[Front-Ranger]

Goodbye: Ennis stage left
Puking his guts out: Ennis right
Marriage scene: Ennis Left
toboggan: travelling from left to right
Bed scene: Ennis on left\
Lureen: entrance from stage left
Jack: on stage right, from barrel race scene
Peanut jumble: Ennis on left
Post card scene: Ennis enters left and exits left. He later looks left
Reunion scene: Jack left, Enis right
Jack on left. jack on right
Jack on left
Hotel Siesta: Jack on right
Jumping in the lake: Ennis on rt
Prayer: Ennis on left, crosses to rt
Young Ennis: on left
Get a tutor: Jack on right
Last scene w Alma & Ennis: Ennis scene left
Apres Divorce scene: jack scene right
Jack travels right...all the way to Mexico

[Brown Eyes]

Jack travels right...all the way to Mexico

LOL.  I quite like how you phrased this observation.  I think that taking note of the directions in which trucks move is particularly important and was one of the first hints to me that directions and positioning in general are crucial to the movie.

All I can say is, WOW!     Your list is so well-researched!  Clearly the right person was nominated for this job.

Your list puts my beginning shot at a horizontal/ vertical list to shame.  I'll watch the movie again tomorrow and try to be more organized about a complete list... So stay tuned.  Its fascinating to see how carefully Jack is constructed as the "right" guy and Ennis is the "left" guy.  Clearly there are some reversals of this and some exceptions, but wow.  Making the systematic list really makes this jump out.  So, why do we think Lee did this?  Is there a metaphor in the words "right" and "left"... I sort of think there is.  Maybe something as silly and sort of sad as Jack= Mr. Right for Ennis.  And maybe that Ennis is the one left  behind/alone at the end.  I'm sure there are all sorts of interesting cultural connotations and traditions associated with right and left too.

The level of interesting detail that can be teased out of this movie never ceases to amaze me.

By the way... thanks goadra for the horizontal and vertical observations!

cheers!

[serious crayons]

Or maybe there's some cinematic rule we don't know about, like "the person on stage right tends to appear dominant" or something like that (making that one up). Like the concept of the Golden Mean, that states that the most visually pleasing position for an object, say in a painting, is roughly three-fifths of the way across a rectangle (Amanda, hope I didn't butcher that definition too much -- my art history class was a long time ago).

Anyway, looking at Lee's and Amanda's research, I certainly can think of ways these findings could be significant.

[Front-Ranger]

To finish this up,

In the after divorce scene, Ennis looks at a white truck that is traveling left, while a black crow above it travels right.
Twist Thanksgiving: Jack on left
Monroe Thanksgiving: Ennis on right, then on left during the confrontation
Black and Blue Eagle: Ennis on left, truck with man enters from right
Campground: Ennis on left
Meeting Cassie: Ennis on left
Meeting Randall: Jack on right, Randall on left
Last campground: Ennis on left
Water flows gently past the tent from left to right
Last confrontation begins with Ennis on right
Ennis pivots from left to right in the background (unique camera angle)
Ends with Ennis on left
Flashback: Ennis on right
Bus station: Ennis on left
Phone conversation with Lureen: Ennis on left
Jack's death: Jack enters from left
Visiting the Twists: Ennis enters from left, Mr. Twist is on the right
During this scene, Ennis is on the right when he's smiling, and on the left when he is upset by OMT
Closet scene: Ennis on left, shirts on right
Mrs. Twist is always on the left, except when she puts the shirts in a bag
Last scene: Alma Jr. on left