John Cassavetes

1. Can you detect any traces of Cassavetes style or sensibility, as it appears in "A Woman Under the Influence," in this episode? If yes, explain the commonalities you see; if no,explain the differences in tone and treatment.1. Can you detect any traces of Cassavetes style or sensibility, as it appears in "A Woman Under the Influence," in this episode? If yes, explain the commonalities you see; if no,explain the differences in tone and treatment.

I feel that the styles were not very similar between "A Women Under the Influence" and the episode I watched. I felt like in the movie he seemed more "real" and not as much like an actor. In the TV episode he felt like he was playing a character that he didn't understand or relate to as well as the character he played in the movie. He seemed like he didn't have much life to him in the TV series compared to the movie. It was interesting to see how different he was on TV and in a movie.

2. The format of a private eye TV show has to follow a formula to some degree -- in his independent films, Cassavetes tried to break away from the idea of formula. Why do you think Cassavetes wanted to break away from formula, and what do you think are some of the pros and cons of working within a formula?

I think Cassavetes wanted to break away from formula because he was trying to do something different, something that would get peoples attention. If you go out of the box and create something new and exciting it is gonna generate attention. He doesn't just want to tell you a simple story and have it end there. He really wants to create art that makes you think about that you just saw. In a way he is interacting with the audience by allowing room for interpretation which in the end creates a more interesting story unlike a stock TV show. Working with a formula can be tough. Looking at the pros it can produce a a good piece of work that people will enjoy but not be flattered by. The con of using a formula is the fact that there is not much room to try different things or reach out with new ideas that some might think are crazy. It doesn't allow for as much freedom or to take as much risk unlike not using a formula.