Annie Hall Essay

Annie Hall starring and directed by Woody Allen (1977) is a romantic dramatic comedy. It makes use of many important film techniques, one being specific screen direction. The screen direction plays an important role in creating and supporting the genre of the film.
Annie Hall is falls under a mixed genre. It is a romantic dramatic comedy, as opposed to the general romantic comedy which is so popular. It has the elements of a romantic comedy such as the ‘cute couple’, the funny moments, the arguments that are inherent to such movies as ultimately it brings about the unhappy couples happy ending. This is where Annie Hall deviates from the standard romantic comedy genre and edges into the dramatic. Instead of a fight and a happy ending, Annie Hall has many arguments and disagreements and the audience is told from the get-go that this is not a happy ending. It also delves into the past unfortunate romantic history of both Alvy and Annie. These variances from the normative romantic comedy style are seen expressly in the screen direction throughout the film.
The first example of screen direction in Annie Hall that can be used to display a variance from the norm is found when Annie and Alvy are walking along the beach right before a flash back to Annies romantic history.
It is important to note that they are walking from the right side of the screen towards the left side.
This mid shot scene takes place after a humorous scene with the crayfish that shows that their relationship had cute, fun moments typical of a conventional romantic comedy as well as the romantic moments such as the one seen here where they enjoy a romantic walk on the beach at
sunset.
The second example is found after an argument. Annie and Alvy are walking down the street fighting because Alvy confronted Annie over a possible affair with her professor, David. Again they are walking from right to left.
Then after Annie gets really upset with Alvy and leaves in a cab, Alvy walks from right to left asking a random old lady if it is something he did to make Annie cool off towards him, she replies that love fades. Alvy then asks a man a question about artificial stimulation and then continues left. He stops a man and woman and asks them how they can account for being happy. They reply that they are both very shallow and boring. The long shot continues with Alvy walking left speaking about his past.In all three of these tracking shots the characters are walking from right to left as opposed to the characteristic movement of the Western world: from left to right. In the first scene this could be taken as an indicator for when they move back in time to explore Annie’s romantic history. The second screen shot takes place during an argument and their movement from right to left could be indicative of the relationship that is deteriorating instead of moving forward at that point in time. In the third scene Alvy is confused and seeks advice about their failing love. The underlying theme behind the emotion in these scenes could be summed up by saying the right to left movement is indicative of regression.
This sense of regression ties in with the unconventionality of the film. Instead of progressing towards the happily ever after, Annie and Alvy’s relationship regresses back to separate lives. Even in the first example where it is a romantic setting the sense of regression is present in the flash-back and the right to left movement. Thus the regression is expressed in the screen direction.
This regression is one of the key elements of the movie contributing to the genre, specifically the drama genre. Expand on why it relates to drama
Therefore it can logically be concluded that the genre of the film is characterized by the expression of key elements of the film which is seen as normal for that specific genre by the general population. The screen direction which is particularly designed to express these key elements is therefore essential to the creating and supporting the genre of the film.