By Elliot Lee
In conventional film and television, since scent cannot be actually delivered to the audience via a tangible odor, directors and editors use multiple modalities in order to convey a scent to the audience. Some of these modalities include but are not limited to dialogue, audio, lighting, duration(timing), camera angles, blocking(movement), action, and plot. But in combining these multiple mediums in film and television, filmmakers create a variety of discourses on the idea of scent.
Scrubs(TV)
To start, I look at live action clips that focus on smell in order to examine the mediums used to create the illusion of scent and the discourse that is created as a result. As a first example, I viewed an episode of the TV series, Scrubs.
In the clip, a surgeon farts and causes his supervising attending surgeon to mistakenly identify the source of the odor as from the patient. In order to signify to the audience that an odor has come into existence in the world of the show, the attending surgeon says,"what's that smell?". This leads to the surgeon having to suddenly stop the music and the operation in order to immediately focus on where the source of the smell came from. The verbal dialogue and the rapid changing of the action and mood in the scene gives the audience the means to believe that an odor is present and conveys the surprising and unpleasant nature of the odor in contrast to the usual sterile, clean and calm state of an operating room. The discourse created in the scene is one that we touched shortly on in class: the source of the odor. The source of the odor is made the priority in the scene, with the characters unable to continue their previous activity until the smell's source has been located due to the delicate nature of surgery. But interestingly enough, the scent itself is not identified by the sense of smell. In fact, the other surgeons' first reaction to the attending's identification of a smell is looking around. This is followed by the attending surgeon saying "I don't know where that smell came from", which is accompanied by his looking around the patient's innards. These visual cues and change in pace create the discourse that scent is a transitional tool, introducing a situation into the world of the scene, and an unfocused presence. For even though there is a source of the odor, the characters easily mistaken the source due to the portrayed pervasive nature of the smell. And the fact that a large majority of the characters relied primarily on their eyes and vision to find a scent source reinforces how the show views scent as a catalyst or herald to a situation, but not as important as the sense of sight.
Apocalypse Now(Film)
The next example I chose is from the film Apocalypse Now. This film portrays scent and creates an odor discourse in a different manner than Scrubs did.
In the scene, the Colonel(man in the cavalry hat) gives a short monologue on his love for and experiences with the explosive napalm. The existence of the smell of napalm is created through more traditional visuals and dialogue. At the start of the scene, the explosions of napalm designate that there is the possibility of an odor, and this assumption is justified when the Colonel asks "do you smell that? That's napalm!". The acrid nature of the smell is created by the Colonel stating that it has a "gasoline smell" and this is supported by the coloring in the scene. The yellow smoke grenades on the beach emit billowing clouds of mustard colored smoke in the high speed winds kicked by the helicopters, as a result portraying the unsavory and and overwhelming nature of napalm's odor. This also builds a base for the discourse created by the scene. The timing between the Colonel saying"its smells like..." and the final word"victory" create a very defining moment where smell is not associated with a reaction or an affiliated real-world object, but an idea. The odor of napalm becomes a indexical sign of victory in the character's eyes. In the scene, scent is an enveloping presence that signifies a condition of being with the use of dialogue, timing, color, and action.
Interactive Example
Now, as an exercise, using as many modalities as possible, you guys try and analyze how this next scene conveys odor and what type of discourse is constructed and leave it in the comments section:
You'll be correct 60% of the time...every time.
Melanie Fantus
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned in my first comment for the smell and animation post, I think that representing smell in film can be a difficult task, especially live action movies. Animation has the advantage of over-exaggerating things on the screen to really get the point across. But what about live action movies and television shows?
I really like your analysis of the Scrubs clip you posted. I found myself wanting to act detective and figure out what the smell was/where it was coming from just like the characters on the screen. Don’t you find it interesting that a lot of representations of smell in live-action media deals with unpleasant odors? Why do you think this is? Are bad smells easier for viewers to imagine than positive ones? Is it cultural/social? This would be interesting to look into more.
I think that the Anchorman clip is one of the funniest portrayals of smell in media. The reactions that each person has to the smell come out in extremely descriptive ways that made me literally laugh out loud. I think the main concept about this clip is cultural; the man wanted to put on a specific scent that would attract the opposite sex. There are such strong societal and cultural assumptions about which smells are pleasant and unpleasant, and furthermore which of those smells would be attractive to others (typically the opposite sex or a desired mate/partner). There are many other things we can talk about in regards to this movie clip, but I am interested in seeing what my peers have to say about it. Good work!
As Melanie mentioned, it's interesting to see mostly negative smells represented in films and television shows. I've noticed all the examples on this blog pertain to representations of negative smells except for Ratatouille, which is entirely about cooking so it contains both pleasant and unpleasant smells. Although the Apocalypse example associated the smell of napalm with victory, the smell of napalm isn't necessarily pleasant. I guess there are more ways to express the unpleasantness of smells than to show the effects of pleasant smells (happy smiling faces) and funnier to see how unpleasant smell affects its surroundings.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Anchorman example, smell enters the scene with the audio cue "time to musk up" followed by the visual entrance of colognes. Also, the background music that flows when showing the collection of colognes behind the bookshelf? reminded me of those music used for cologne or perfume ads. One of the actors comments that the panther perfume's smell is pungent and formidable, stinging the nose, and he makes facial expressions of his nose getting stung by the strong smell of the panther perfume. Also, once the guy who put sex panther on walks into open space, people comment on the smell, which basically describes how it smells so that the audience/viewer can imagine or get a sense of how the thing smells. Used diaper with Indian food... can't really imagine, but I got the sense of how terrible it smells. Especially the sound of a woman screaming because of the pungent smell adds a dramatic description of the terrible smell. So, basically, the smell is conveyed through people's descriptions and reactions to it, which involved personal interpretations that follow conventional understandings of certain smells and also cultural interpretations as Melanie mentioned (as you can see the man wearing the perfume thinks it works, not a mere pungent gasoline smell).
Hey Rebecca and Elliot,
ReplyDeletehave you considered "The Scent of Green Papaya" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1onAxSm4zVE) -- maybe that film would somewhat enrich the discussion on not-only-negative-smells in movies?
But it is true, I also have more examples of funny smells in films.
Do other people have any examples of films/cartoons with clips that can contribute?
Overall this was a great post and I loved the interactive example! Heres my analysis of the clip:
ReplyDeleteTo help convey the “attitude” and supposed exclusivity of the scent, sex panther, the filmmakers first help to distinguish the scent by making the packaging of the cologne unique and attempt to have it embody the name of the cologne. First enclosed in a large box the perfume rises mechanically from the center of the box exuding a puff of smoke and simultaneously exhibiting a ferocious purr. The small circular perfume bottle is shaped and painted to resemble the head of a panther. Using these visual cues the viewer is led to construct an image of this scent, or scent identity, which has nothing to do with the smell of the cologne at all. Here we are led to perceive that the scent is one that corresponds to its many visual cues, as a ferocious scent that is able to incite sexual attraction…60% of the time.
The cologne is then applied and we see both Paul Rudd’s and Will Ferrell’s character grimace at the introduction of the smell into the scene. Ferrell then refers to the scent as “pungent and {as one that} stings the nostrils,” here we just see the scent construed as strong however, in conjunction with the grimaces which tend to suggest an unpleasant scent we are hinted as to the upcoming failure of the scent to “perform.” Ferrell’s character then says that the scent “honest[ly]…smells like gasoline.” This escalates the scents impression on the viewer as one that is unpleasant and does not meet the expectations of an attractive cologne.
After applying the scent Rudd leaves his office to ask Christina Applegate’s character out. As soon as she turns in his direction we see her face began to take on an inquisitive look, followed by her saying in a shocked and repulsed way: “Oh my god, what is that smell.” She then begans to act in a way as if to shield herself from the smell by covering her mouth and proceeds to leave after saying it smells like a “used diaper filled with indian food.” The whole office then begans to cough and and make sounds of disgust at the smell, with one man exclaiming, “it smells like a turd covered in burnt hair.” There is then a rumble of movement and panic as all the characters in the scene proceed to leave and flee from the smell. Lastly, amidst the panic, a woman passes by Rudd and says that it smells like “Bigfoots dick.”
From all of the above we get the impression that the smell is obviously an extremely unpleasant one, as it has the ability to affect all in its general vicinity. This along with the explanations of the smell as one resembling the smell of fecal matter and genitalia create the idea of an extremely disgusting and repulsive scent. Here we see smell as action. It has the ability to displace bodies and isolate an individual despite never actually being seen.
I also feel like the writers of Anchorman wanted to make the smell of the panther cologne one that was offensive to any and all cultures. Instead of just saying that it smelled like indian food (which could be considered smelly in American culture) they also use smells that are considered gross across many different cultures (burnt hair, poop, dick).
ReplyDeleteThe above comment by "elliot" was really me, Kyle. I was still logged onto Elliot's account since we had made the blog together. sorry about the confusion if anyone was confused.
ReplyDelete- Kyle
How did you guys find all these medias (I’m talking about both of the posts) that really describe the variety of ways used to describe the scent of smell? Or is it because I became aware of it? Anyways, good job Elliot and Kyle (: The Scrubs clip made me realize how important it is to locate the smell’s source as you stated. If the smell was coming from cutting one of the organs the doctor mentioned, the smell might be act as a sign that informs the doctor that something had gone wrong. From the film Apocalypse, what I have forgot to notice in class is how the smell can be associated with an idea instead of describing a real-world object. In the clip, Sex Panther, when a man says, “Time to musk up”, I immediately realized he was talking about one of the categories of smell present in perfumes. Because I have encountered the word and the smell of “musk” in class, I was able to understand the exchange of conversation between the two gentlemen. When one of them began to name the perfumes, I again realized that the names of the perfumes do not physically relate to the smell it emits. Furthermore, to depict the smell of the Sex Panther cologne, one man says the smell is “pungent”, to describe the smart smell it releases. Due to this blog, I think I’m now going to be very aware of the techniques that the director/animator uses to depict smell in television and film.
ReplyDeleteSo this is kind of a long clip so go ahead and skip to the last 35 seconds (unless you just really want to watch the Little Mermaid like I do) which is the part i really wanted to show but couldn't find isolated in any other clips. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahN43Rx3oWU&feature=related
ReplyDeleteIn the little mermaid the character of "Max" (the dog)'s purpose in the film besides being Prince Eric's best friend is to find Ariel on the beach. Earlier in the film when Arial sees Prince Eric on the ship for the first time Max firsts catches her scent. Then, while on the beach he smells her again and uses this smell to bring Prince Eric to Ariel. The director uses the dog's sense of smell to move forward with the plot of the film. Prince Eric could have easily just seen Ariel walking on the beach, but instead they use the dog to sniff her out.
The audience is aware of the sense of smell in the clip through the dog's wiggling nose, lifted eyebrow and bark in recognition, but also through the use of the audience's common knowledge of dogs and their keen sense of smell. Eric can not smell Arial, but Max can. It would not make sense for a dog to smell something that a human cannot without the audience's assumed knowledge of dogs and their acute sense of smell.
The use of scent in this scene is not conveyed as positive or negative like alot of the other clips (Anchorman/Scrubs), which I find interesting because I think neutral scents are harder to convey on film.
Smell in movie has always been a go-to for instant humor for audiences. The description of the effects on one sense (smell) through utilizing other senses (sight, hearing) leaves people to describe it in somewhat vague, but hilarious ways especially when limited by medium. The invasion of molecules into the olfactory (smell) is less than adequately described through reflection in the eyes (seeing) and vibration in the ears (hearing).
ReplyDeleteThe Scrubs clip is great in showing the warnings associated with scent. I can't remember which reading it was, but it described our sense of smell as a warning system for us. It warns of fire, poision, spoiled food, etc. This Scrubs clip showcases this warning system perfectly.
The Anchorman clip is great in showcasing scent identity in Western culture. As you all already know, my bathroom looks similar to the cologne closet and I can relate to Paul Rudd's charcter's need to smell his best. It's great to really see how we believe that scent is an important aspect of dating/mating like animals yet we would most likely reject a love(r) rather than choose one from their scent alone. However, the scene showcases the fine line between a pleasant smell that compliments a person and a foul odor that becomes a deal-breaker.
Even the guy who can't think says somethin' - Anchorman ref.
Thought of the below clip when you asked us to find some more clips professor. It says a lot about us in only 16 seconds...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaPVyJgXVrI
It seems that smell in television and film is majorily used in the comedic genre, however when looking at the "Apocalypse Now" clip it seems that smell is used as a signifier in this case of victory. I wonder if smell when used in other genres, it is used as a signifier for either a space, time, or feeling. Instead of having the character simply stating that they are winning the war in the film, the use of the smell of napalm provides the director alternatives nuances to enrich the film. This reminds me of the readings this week where smell in art is not only used as an accessory but rather a separate method of expression. Also, the use of smell can be very powerful because that line in the movie is notorious in film history and the 'smell of napalm' is now a signifier for war, more specifically the Vietnam war. This was a great example of smell in film that didn't mean the literal act of smelling but the represenation of it. Are there other films that explore this same method of the representation of smell as a signifier? Also, I found interesting how you included other methods that are used to portray odor in t.v. and film through color and scenery besides dialogue.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the Anchorman clip is definitely playing on the use of cologne by men as a kind of magical elixir. I definitely think the reason that bad smells are portrayed in comedies in because we can relate to them. The clip touches on the confidence that is evoked by the use of cologne by men...or at least by the media. The idea that a exotic, rare scent will somehow win over any woman. Paul Rudd's character boasts that it has bits of panther in it which furthers the hilarity of the ridiculous. When Paul Rudd first tells Ron about the cologne, music comes on and behind the secret book shelf you seen an array of cologne and then an elusive box on a single shelf. Sixty percent of the time...everytime. Even the way he stands with confidence and says those words, shows audiences an expectation.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the Apocalypse Now clip and the idea of visual imagery and the indexical sign of victory through the smell of napalm. The connection was really well made. I really felt like the idea of scent in live action was really well communicated to audiences. It was really well placed in the film. I wonder if other films specifically film about war? have used this technique.Specifically because of how much it must connect to the real experiences. Do you think smell in media is seen primarily in bad smell and is it usually in a specific genre?
I remember this scene from Seinfeld
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pEhqiCD27E
made me think of the idea that "you have to smell it".
I found it interesting that in the first two clips provided there was no facial expressions conveying smell like sniffing which to me would be the first signal of smell. However this was apparent in the third clip in Anchorman where at first she smells it and starts sniffing as her nostrils are assaulted by "sex panther" especially as she is clutching at her throat as if she is about to vomit while the man behind her starts coughing to show the extent of repulsiveness caused by the scent. I also find her description of the smell hilarious: "it smells like a dirty diaper filled with indian food" because of indian foods' notorious pungent smell i thought it was easy to imagine that.
ReplyDeleteLike previous posts have noted it is interesting to see how smell is represented in movies, by usage of color (background), dialogue and expression. I also find myself watching cooking shows and having the cook exclaim, "emmmm" (enjoying the smell as they peer over a pan of chicken) and comment on how good the dish smells then naming off the spices so that i am imagining the scent and salivating at the thought of it.