Robert Ebert’s DARK CITY Seminar Response:
Note: The seminar lasted three days. I didn’t get to see the film in its entirety, but I was able to watch half of the movie during discussions and absorbed a lot of information.

Throughout the movie, Dark City, Ebert continuously pointed out the overlooked details, which weren’t especially necessary but added more substance and authenticity to the film. Many times, he mentioned how the movie was “generous” or “gratuitous” in its visuals. Details in Dark City consisted of extra actors in dark alleys, detailed furniture, unique architectural designs, household objects in a corner of a shot, and visual symbolism. From this seminar, I learned how to look for the details that add substance to a picture.
After the seminar, I better understand the amount of thinking and planning that goes into framing a shot. I better understand how certain shots connote different feelings, how the environment can be used as symbolism, and how certain angles accentuate certain aspects of the characters. Ebert mentioned how Alex Proyas, the director of Dark City, likes to have objects framing both sides of the screen in the movie. Also, he also likes to have a deep-reaching perspective into the background. You could see these instances in many scenes in the movie when Ebert froze the scenes for the audience. Also, Ebert reminded the audience about motifs. In Dark City, the motifs were spirals and circles. I better understand how to locate the source of light, and perhaps, how to set up the lighting in a scene. The use of lighting was mentioned often. Light and darkness were constant motifs in the film, and the director played with the opposites creatively and appropriately. Ebert noted how darkness hides many things. In one shot, the camera falls down past the city surface and into the underground lair of the aliens. As it passes the sides of buildings, there’s an interchange between a layer of concrete and a layer of shadow. Ebert explained how the shadow, which is used to look like the shadows of the building, are actually there to hide the fact that the image of the building is simply being repeated over and over again.

I appreciate how Ebert invited the audience to think about the scenes for themselves. I think Ebert did a great job allowing the audience to be so involved. Ebert is such a sweet, approachable guy that no one was intimidated to speak their mind. Ebert created a great atmosphere for discussion. Overall, I enjoyed listening to Ebert's insight and the insight of others.