British Social Realism

‘British Social Realism’ is a genre of film that emerged in the 1950s but grew more during the 1960s. It was originally known as ‘Kitchen Sink Drama’ and was meant to capture the reality of British life, deviating away from a glossy/ glorification of real life that Hollywood would tend to portray. It was mostly pushed by the BBC, and was linked to the emergence of a new generation of British filmmakers. These films were usually low budget and would consist of only diegetic sounds. They would typically focus on the working-class dealing with everyday issues such as unemployment and domestic violence. The genre had a reputation for being grim and often pushing the boundaries of what was accepted in cinema. A couple examples of notable films from this genre include ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’ (1960) and ‘Kes’ (1969).

‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’ (Karel Reisz, 1960)

Directors such as Shane Meadows and Danny Boyle have incorporated elements of this genre of film within their own work, but with them having a more modern approach that lends them better to being accepted and seen by mainstream audiences. The success of doing this can easily be seen by just how popular ‘This is England’ and ‘Trainspotting’ are, with both (particularly ‘Trainspotting’) being cultural phenomenons.

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Summarised notes: 

• Emerged in the late 50s and throughout the 60s
• Used to be called ‘kitchen sink drama’
• Specifically British and was meant to capture the reality of British life
• Championed by the BBC
• Low budget
• Linked to the emergence of a new generation of filmmakers
• Working-class
• Diegetic sound only
• Dealing with everyday topics eg) unemployment, domestic violence
• Reputation for being grim and often pushing the boundaries of what was accepted in cinema
• ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’
• ‘Kes’
• Genre that effectively documented the experience of being working-class and being British
• Both Shane Meadows and Danny Boyle have taken inspiration from the genre, but put a more approachable, appealing and modern way

Danny Boyle, Auteur?

Danny Boyle is an English director known for films such as ‘Trainspotting’ (1996), ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ (2008) and ’28 Days Later’ (2002). He has a unique style that often lends itself to being very bold and surreal.

His films often incorporate very bold aesthetics such as having bright vibrant colours and lighting. This can be seen throughout ‘Trainspotting’ such as during the scene in the club. Another way in which he achieves that bolder look is through his experimentation of using different film stocks in one film, such as using both digital and actual film. Adding to the boldness of his films, they will often be very fast-paced, with frequent cuts and an almost chaotic nature.

His films also frequently incorporate explicit imagery, language and themes. In ‘Trainspotting’, there is very frequent use of slurs, along with the theme of the film being focused on drug abuse shows that explicit nature of his films. Furthermore, the film doesn’t shy away from blood such as when Begbie brutally beats a man at the end of the film. It also features the graphic scene where a baby has died due to having been neglected. Plus, the film showcases several moments of people injecting heroin.

Another trademark of his style is that he will often blur the boundary between dream and reality. This can be seen a few times in ‘Trainspotting’, such as when Mark is locked up in his bedroom while suffering from withdrawal symptoms, as he sees many hallucinations including a baby crawling along the ceiling. This blurred reality is also incorporated close to the start of the film when Mark goes fully into a toilet to retrieve the drugs that he had in his butt, even fully swimming within the toilet.

 

 

 

Shane Meadows, Auteur?

When it comes to Shane Meadows’ films, he often incorporates many aspects of his background. He grew up in the Staffordshire town of Uttoxeter and came from a working-class family. After studying photography at college, he started creating short films. His first major short was called ‘Where’s the Money Ronnie!’ released in 1995, but his first feature, ‘Small Time’ would release in 1996. ‘Small Time’ focused on a working-class cast of characters that would be involved in petty criminal activities.

His films can be put into the genre of British contemporary social realism, usually focusing on normal working-class people. They will often have heavy northern accents and make use of slang, with the protagonist tending to be hot-headed young men. This can be seen in ‘This is England’ as the film follows a group of skinheads from Northern England, with the protagonist being a teenage boy who has a short temper and confidence. Moreover, his characters are often hyper-realistic, which is a way to gain a greater audience reaction.

The camera work of his films tends to go for a handheld camera most of the time, sort of coming across like a documentary, as if to make his films characters and story feel more real and personal. This type of cinematography is how ‘This is England’ is shot, and adds to Meadows’ style.

His films will mostly be set in realistic locations, along with realistic costumes that make his films feel more realistic. This is also done to establish the time-periods in which his films are set. Furthermore, his use of non-diegetic music is often done also to establish the time period of his films.

He also makes frequent use of montage in his films as a way to enhance the feelings/ emotions of a scene. This can be seen a few times throughout ‘This is England’, notably the beginning with the TV footage and closer to the end of the film with the footage of men coming home from the Falklands War.

 

Mock Exam

Trainspotting (Danny Boyle, 1996)

‘Trainspotting’ is a film directed by Danny Boyle that follows a heroin addict from Scotland, Mark Renton, trying to break free from his addiction by starting a fresh life. The film also has a fairly large, and iconic, supporting cast which consists of Renton’s “friends”, that continually pull him back into his addiction and life that he’s trying to leave behind him.

The film is an adaptation of a book by the same name, written by Irvine Welsh (who actually plays a role in the film, Mikey Forrester). It was directed by Danny Boyle, produced by Andrew Macdonald, had its screenplay written by John Hodge and starred Ewan McGregor. ‘Trainspotting’ was actually the second film that this group worked on, with the first being ‘Shallow Grave’ in 1994. That film releases in the UK at the start of 1995 and was the most successful British film of that year. Following ‘Trainspotting’, these guys were almost seen as this unstoppable group that would continue to put out classics. Their third film, ‘A Life Less Ordinary’, broke their streak due to it not being what they wanted to make, and it was a critical failure. They would all come back to create 2017s ‘T2 Trainspotting’, the sequel to ‘Trainspotting’ that showcases how the characters have changed 20 years after the events of the first film.

‘Trainspotting’ actually hold quite a special place in my heart due to when I first watched it and how it was among some of the first films that truly got me interested and excited about the art-form of film. I saw this film for the first time when I was 13 (which may be a bit young but I turned out fine so it’s ok) and back then it immediately stood out to me as being something very different that I’d never seen before from an artistic perspective. What I enjoyed the most about the film and still do to this day is just how energetic and fast-paced this film is. There’s never any down-time; no filler to be found. It’s a gripping story from start to finish and supporting that is a practically perfect cast, memorable shots and dialogue, fantastic sequences that are unique and overall amazing cinematography. I love how funny the film can be, as well as its tone that has the range from being hilarious to intensely depressing, all without feeling unnatural or forced.

This is a film that immediately cemented itself as one of my favourites, and 4 years later it still continues to be what I’d consider to be among the best films of all time. And I don’t see that changing anytime into the future.

This is England (Shane Meadows, 2006)

‘This is England’ is a British film from 2006 that follows a young lad, Shaun, as he becomes friends with and joins a group of skinheads. The group is split into two when an old member of the gang, Combo, returns. Combo is an ex convict who is a very bad man and is racist and not good. Shaun gravitates towards Combo as a father figure, as his actual dad was killed in the Falklands War. This film clearly has an overall message about the dangers of extreme nationalism and how it can lead to violence, bigotry and racism.

The film was directed by Shane Meadows and has a tone that goes for realism. Many of Meadows’ films are based off of real-life experiences that he’s had in Uttoxeter, and it’s clear that this film is no different, with each character feeling fleshed-out and like a real person.

My first impressions of this film are very positive, and overall I didn’t really have any major issues with the film. I appreciated how gritty and real the environments and characters were portrayed, as it didn’t feel as if anything/ anyone was glorified for the big screen. Each performance was great with a particular standout being Stephen Graham as Combo. The cinematography gave off a very intimate feeling of actually being there with the characters, which I also really liked. The only minor issue that distracted me during the film was the editing in a few places. Occasionally, when the camera would cut to a different angle, the speed of the camera would be slightly different or the new placement felt unnatural. It happened very rarely but was distracting and took me out of the film a couple times, especially at the very end with Shaun on the beach. Regardless, I loved the film, and found its message to be incredibly profound and has left a considerable impact on me.

Passive Spectatorship: The Uses and Gratifications Model

The uses and gratifications theory leans more towards an active audience, but not fully. This theory focuses more on the audience and why they choose to watch what they watch. It also assumes that the audience does take an active role in interpreting the films.

The theory suggests a few different reasons for why someone may choose to watch a film:

• Self-identifying: being able to connect with the characters that have similar values to them.
• Education: wanting to gain more information, knowledge and understanding on a particular topic.
• Entertainment: just wanting to enjoy a piece of media for fun, or potentially as an escape from reality.
• Social interaction: the idea that media can be a starting off point for a conversation or a debate between people.

Passive Spectatorship: The Hypodermic Syringe Model

The Hypodermic Syringe Model is a theory which suggests that messages within films are injected into a passive homogenous audience who don’t critically evaluate those messages.

For example, if there was an advert for something such as chocolate that claimed to be the greatest chocolate in the world, this theory would suggest that everyone who watches that advert now believes that chocolate to be the best in the world. In reality, that doesn’t happen.

This theory has practically been completely discarded for the main reason that we know for fact that we don’t just take in information without ever questioning it.

Component 1b – Ideology Essay

How valuable has ideological analysis been in developing your understanding of the themes of your chosen films? [40]

Ideology can be defined as a set of ideas which reflect the social needs of an individual, group, class and culture. It can be described as being a “world view”. This idea in film works on a couple of levels, with both the ideology that the audience takes into the film and then the explicit ideology that the director presents through the film.

‘Winter’s Bone’ (Debra Granik, 2010) is an independent film which was directed by a women, with a largely female main cast, and presents a feminist ideology. This ideology challenges what the audience is used to expecting from women in film.

There are several ways in which this film challenges what the audience typically expects from films, with the main point to make being that it’s the women in the film who take control and deal with issues that have been both created and left behind by the men in the film. For example, the film is about a 17 year old girl, Ree, who has to look after her two younger siblings (Ashlee and Sonny) after her father dies due to his life of crime. The whole plot is Ree trying to prove that he is dead so that their house isn’t taken away from them, a conflict created by her father. Throughout this plot, the men consistently take a back seat to the women who are doing pretty much all of the work.

One of the ways that this film can be interpreted as a feminist film is by its lack of conformity to Laura Mulvey’s theory of the ‘male gaze’, where women are merely presented as sexual objects of appeal to heterosexual males. This can be seen during a sequence where Ree takes it upon herself to teach Ashlee and Sonny some survival skills by showing them how to shoot a rifle. Shooting and hunting is a job that is stereotypically done by men, so Ree being a capable tutor to the kids shows that her character doesn’t conform to these stereotypes. Furthermore, during this sequence Ree puts lots of emphasis onto the kids’ safety instead of treating it like fun. This shows that Ree prioritises her siblings safety over hunting as she doesn’t glorify violence in the same way that men would.

Shortly after this scene we see Ree teaching the kids how to skin a squirrel. This is yet another example of how Ree is doing tasks that are typically done by men. Moreover, this scene shows the differences in attitudes between Ashlee and Sonny. Ashlee spends the scene paying lots of attention to Ree and putting in the work such as being the one to actually spot the squirrel. However, Sonny spends this scene just complaining about actually having to put in work, also refusing to touch the squirrel while it’s being skinned. This shows us that in this world, it’s the women that have to put in all of the hard work while the men just sit back and do nothing of use.

During the scene where Ree goes to a cattle market to find a man who’s the local crime boss, there’s several examples of how the men have power over women. This can be seen through the literal hierarchy seen at the market, with it being a room full of men who are sat physically above where Ree is. The camera being positioned from the perspective of the men looking down at Ree shows that typically men are the ones who are looking down on women. This is exacerbated by the fact that the men in the scene completely ignore Ree, particularly when she is on the path above the cattle calling for Milton, who doesn’t acknowledge her presence. Furthermore, the cattle can be interpreted as a metaphor for how women are trapped and at the mercy of the men who control them, with Ree also being confined to only be able to follow where the path above takes her.

This frustration for Ree is conveyed to the audience through the sound of the scene as well, with a combination of the loud diegetic sounds of the cattle along with the non-diegetic droning ambient sounds. This combination highlights the ominous nature of the world on top of the frustration that Ree feels while not being given the attention she is trying to get from the men.

‘No Country For Old Men’ (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007) is a mainstream film, although created by traditionally independent filmmakers, which also showcases a different ideology to what audiences would typically expect. It challenges the concepts of morality and violence that is often seen in Hollywood films.

This film contains three effective main characters: Llewelyn Moss (the hero), Anton Chigurh (the villain) and Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (also a heroic type, but to a lesser extent than Llewelyn). Each of these characters challenge what is typically expected from each of these roles. Llewelyn isn’t presented as being a very morally grounded person and also dies unceremoniously about two thirds into the runtime, Chigurh has some form of morality and we don’t know what happens to him at the end, and the sheriff ends up quitting his role as he no longer understands the world around him.

In the case of the sheriff, he represents the ‘old men’ from the title, but that also extends to us, the audience. We don’t fully understand to world in which this film takes place in, with senseless violence and skewed morality. This is arguably the biggest theme of the film, and is presented to us right from the start of the film with the sheriff’s narration. He says that he doesn’t want to chase after something which he doesn’t understand. This challenges what we would usually expect from this type of character, which is that he will put everything on the line to catch Chigurh. However, our expectations are challenged as he isn’t willing to go after him if he can’t understand him.

Our exceptions are further challenged with Llewelyn, who plays the role of the macho hero character. Our introduction to his character is when he is out hunting illegally, then stumbling across a crime scene where he comes into possession of a large amount of cash. This immediately makes us question if Llewelyn is actually a morally who we would expect to be the hero. Another example Llewelyn being morally questionable is during the scene right before he dies, where it’s heavily implied that he could be willing to be unfaithful to his wife, which is a departure to how we would expect a good person to act.

This leads into Llewelyn’s death and how that plays out compared to how it usually would. Normally, the very macho approach of tackling issues with violence in films works for the main character. However, in this film not only does that not work, but we do not even get to see exactly what lead up to Llewelyn dying nor him actually dying. Instead, the film puts us into the perspective of the sheriff, who doesn’t know what to make of the crime scene. The scene of the sheriff walking through the crime scene is shot with a handheld camera, with some POV shots as well. This is the film further putting us into the role of the old men as we are literally viewing what’s happened through the perspective of the sheriff.

In a reverse of what we usually expect from villains in films, Chigurh is actually somewhat morally grounded. This is shown during one of the final scenes of the film where he goes to visit Llewelyn’s wife Carla. Although it’s a twisted moment, the reason for Chigurh being there is specifically because he basically promised to Llewelyn that he would kill Carla. Thus, even though he plans to kill her, it’s more about having to fulfil a promise rather than just killing her for no reason. Furthermore, Chigurh’s compromise to carry out a coin toss shows that he doesn’t necessarily want to kill her, and so he gives her a chance to win. This mirrors earlier in the film where he did a coin toss with a man in a gas station, and lets him live as he wins the coin toss. Even though it’s heavily implied that Chigurh does kill Carla as he checks his shoes for blood on his way out of the house, this still shows that he tired to give her a chance to live.

In conclusion, both of these films present an explicit ideology that goes against audience expectation. Although they both have different ideologies which they present, with ‘Winter’s Bone’ having a feminist ideology and ‘No Country For Old Men’ having an ideology which questions masculinity and morality, in both cases analysing ideology adds a huge layer of depth to each film. This shows that ideological analysis plays a big role in being able to fully understand and appreciate the messages that these two films have to offer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter’s Bone, Women Alone

‘Winter’s Bone’ (Debra Granik, 2010) follows Ree, a 17 year old girl who’s looking after her two younger siblings as her mother is unresponsive and her father has disappeared. Ree tries to find the remains of her suspected dead father so that their house isn’t taken away from them.

My overall take on this film is that I found it pretty dull and uninteresting. This film has a very slow pace, which isn’t necessary a negative in itself (both ‘Blade Runner’ films are very slow paced and yet are some of my favourite films of all time), but my problem is that the plot itself isn’t really very interesting at all. It never really feels like the plot is progressing in an engaging way, with the characters themselves also feeling very flat in their traits. Each character basically boils down to one or two ideas that make up their personalities, which gets very stale when those traits are so generic.

The film is shot very nicely, but the colour of the film is very bland to look at. I thought everyone gave a good performance but the plot of the film never really allowed for characters to show any real range of emotion. This isn’t a film that I think is poorly made in any capacity, but it just doesn’t grab me in the way that I feel that it should, which is the films biggest flaw.

‘Winter’s Bone’ as a feminist film

This film is considered to be a feminist film based on its themes and ideology that it presents, heavily to do with how women are presented throughout the film.

The main point to make is that this film features a strong female lead, Ree. Ree is someone who takes a very active role in solving her own problems. She is shown to take a very mature role in her household, essentially taking care of her two younger siblings. She is also shown to be very capable in looking after herself and her family, as she teaches her siblings how to hunt and cook. Furthermore, this means that Ree is often seen doing tasks that are stereotypically done by men.

One of the major themes of the film is that the men are the ones who cause issues, but the women are the ones who have to fix those problems left by the men. This is most evident through Ree’s dad, who by living a life of crime has caused Ree to have to find a way to make sure that they can keep their house.

 

 

Feminist Film: An Introduction

Feminist Film Readings

Feminist films are films that will typically include a strong female lead, and act not as a celebration of women but as a political movement. These types of films are created with the intention of specifically creating female characters that are distant from typical stereotypes. But it’s more than that, as these films are typically made to make the audience think about the roles of women in society, challenging them to consider gender equality in the modern age.

The Male Gaze Theory

Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist who is predominantly known for her “male gaze” theory. This theory states that women in media are specifically portrayed through the eyes of a heterosexual male, and that they are simply passive objects of male desire.

This theory is looked at in three different ways:

• Men looking at women
• Women looking at themselves
• Women looking at other women

The main reason for women being represented like this in films is simply that the film industry is male-dominated and that is how it’s been in the past. Due to this, producers believe that this kind of representation is what people want, even though this isn’t actually the case for most people in reality.

The Bechdel Test

The Bechdel Test is designed to look at female representation in films. The test consists of three questions:

1. Does the film have two or more named female characters?
2. Do those characters talk to each other?
3. If so, do they discuss something other than a man?

This test isn’t by any means perfect, as a film that passes the test may still contain negative stereotypes anyway. However, it’s an easy test to carry out, even if it is flawed. Plus, the number of films that fail the test is actually quite striking to take a look at.

 

 

 

Ideology: An Introduction

Ideology can be defined as a set of ideas which reflect the social needs of an individual, group, class and culture. It can be described as being a “world view”. Almost every film has some form of ideology within it , with implied ideology at leat coming from the directors sense of what is right and wrong.

Ideology can be split into 3 different categories:

Neutral: films that are made to be simple entertainment, usually action films that you’re not meant to think deeply about.

Implicit: films where the protagonist and antagonist represent two opposing value systems, but it’s not emphasised. This is because they represent the values that a majority of people in society accept as being the standard.

Explicit: made to persuade the audience to think a certain way. Westerns and Patriotic films are often associated with being more explicit in their ideologies. This is because of the clear perspective that the director wants the audience to take from the film.

Ideologies in film help to expose audiences to a broader range of beliefs and values. They make it so that the audience can be challenged to think about what they’re watching. It gives the director a chance to be able to speak without speaking, giving a message without spelling it out.

A point worth noting is that a film doesn’t necessarily have to be in only one of these three categories. For example, a film can have one very particularly strong message towards the end, but throughout the majority of the film it stays implicit. A good example of this can be seen with the film ‘Casablanca’, where the film has a very standard ideology for its time, but has an underlying message that the USA should join in the second world war.

 

‘The Irishman’ Review

Evaluative Analysis

Narrative structure 

‘The Wrong Trousers’ (Park, UK, 1993) uses a traditional three act structure. For my film, although it’s only five minutes long, I wanted to have at least some form of a three act structure, even if each act isn’t very long. The acts of my film go as follows: Jack is established to not care about school and be going through the motions; Jack has an argument with his mother; Jack talks to Tyler (a figment of his imagination) about his passions and what he really wants to do with his life to gain motivation.

Easily the most strange short film that I watched before making my own was ‘The Grandmother’ (Lynch, US, 1970). The narrative of this film can best be described as surrealistic, where the plot is fairly difficult to decipher in just one viewing. I definitely found it interesting, but I found myself not fully understanding the characters and setting to the point where I didn’t care as much about the characters as I feel I should have. For me, ‘The Grandmother’ gets away with this by having a long enough runtime and aesthetic that it works. However, I knew after watching this film that characters as stripped back and undefined as this wasn’t something I could get away with in just five minutes. As a result, I knew that what I needed to do was write a story in which the main character is established in the first act of the film.

‘High Maintenance’ (Van, Germany, 2006) has a narrative where we are lead to believe that the main woman character is a real person, but it’s revealed at the end that she was also a robot when she is turned off. For my film, I wanted the film to end on a reveal that changes the way in which you view a particular character. In my film, you are meant to believe that Tyler is a real person that Jack is talking to. At the end of the film, the true nature of Tyler is revealed as he disappears, and it’s implied that Jack came up with Tyler as a way to help himself to believe in himself.

I knew from an early stage that I wanted my film to be grounded in reality, and one short film that gave me a good idea on how to do that was ‘Wasp’ (Arnold, UK, 2003). This film has a linear structure, where everything that’s shown is shown in a chronological order. This makes it so that it feels more like we are following the characters naturally as opposed to interacting with them and the story in a more unrealistic manner. The main thing I took from ‘Wasp’ in terms of its narrative structure is that my film should also include a linear structure, where everything happens in order. The final result is that my short film feels more grounded in reality as a result.

Cinematic influences

I didn’t want the title of the film at the beginning to be put over a black screen with nothing else on screen. This meant that I knew I wanted for there to be an opening shot which could also feature the title of the film within that shot. Of the short films that I’ve seen, none of them open on a shot of that kind of nature. Instead, I found that the best thing to do would be to just take inspiration for a general establishing shot to open the film with, but then film that shot in such a way that there’s room to put the title in it. The film ‘About a Girl’ (Percival, UK, 2001) opens with a shot of the girl dancing outside, establishing the location in which the majority of the film takes place in. I felt this would be something good to open up my film with. Thus, I decided to start my film with a shot looking up towards the sky though the trees, establishing the location for the final scene of my film. However, I framed this shot in such a way where I could get two separate areas between the trees where I could put in my title cards, so that I could do what I had originally envisioned for my film.

In the short film ‘Connect’ (Abrahams, UK, 2010) the music in the film is used as a method to showcase the change in the main character’s world view before and after a positive experience. When she has her headphones on (diegetic score), she views the things around her negatively. After she has a positive experience with a stranger on the bus, the score switches to being non-diegetic and the other passengers break out into a dance routine. For my film, I wanted the change in Jack’s perspective on his life and future to be represented by the music at the beginning and end respectively. Where my film is different, is that the music is non-diegetic in both cases. The opening features the song ‘Daydreaming’ by Radiohead, a very sombre song which sounds very floaty and aimless, similar to how Jack is going through the motions in his life without caring about it. The film ends off with the song ‘Resonance’ by HOME. The major reason for me using this particular song is its chord progression, which is specifically designed to feel almost nostalgic, while also looking towards the future. I find this fits really well for the conclusion to Jacks character arc, as his outlook changes to being hopeful for what his future holds for him.

My favourite ending from all of the short films that I watched was from ‘About a Girl’ (Percival, UK, 2001). This film ends with the girl throwing her baby into a river. What follows is a final shot of the river from above, which gives the audience some time to reflect on what was just revealed. This shot also puts extra emphasis onto the river as what is normally just viewed as a normal part of the environment is portrayed as having a deeper story hidden within it. This singular closing shot had such an impact on me that I knew I wanted to end my film on a final shot which has deeper intentions/ meaning when you look a bit more into it. My film ends on a shot of the rural landscape with the sun starting to set, with this actually being a point-of-view shot from Jacks perspective. The idea behind the shot is that it’s Jack looking toward the end of the day, and with that a new day will begin. Jacks change in his outlook on his life is shown through this, as the change to a new day is representative of a change in Jacks attitude towards his future.

Probably one of the most important aspects of my film that I had to think about when making it was how I was going to establish the main character, Jack. In the short film About a Girl’ (Percival, UK, 2001), the main character is established through both the story of her life which she is telling as well as the visuals of what she typically does with her spare time. Of these two methods of establishing the main character, I took more inspiration from the visual side of it. The start of my film showcases what how uninterested Jack appears to be in his life, from making his morning coffee to his reaction to getting his maths paper back to him. This opening establishes that Jack is just going through the daily motions, while not caring about any of it. Furthermore, it establishes the main cause of conflict in the film, that being the maths test which he did poorly on, that leads to the argument with his mum in the following scene.

Creating meaning and effect

I have a personal bias towards films which have positive conclusions, just because I mostly prefer to have gained a more positive and hopeful overall outlook on certain aspects of life after watching a film than a more negative/ cynical one. For me, the film ‘Connect’ (Abrahams, UK, 2010), perfectly embodies this kind of positivity. I particularly resonated with how such a small incident in someones day can have such a profound and important change in their view on the world. This led me to want to make sure that my film would also have this kind of an effect from watching it, where just trying to find yourself, as cheesy as it sounds, can potentially have such a massive impact on your life. As a result, my film also goes from the main character feeling disillusioned and cynical to happy and hopeful.

The short film ‘Wasp’ (Arnold, UK, 2003) has characters which feel very grounded within reality, with everyone acting naturally towards each other. The effect that this film has as a result is that the characters, story and setting all feel believable. The main way in which the film achieves this is through its use of natural dialogue/ conversations between the characters. I knew that I wanted the characters in my short film to also feel believable and grounded in reality. I felt the best way to do this would be by taking inspiration from the natural character interactions in ‘Wasp’. I tried to make it so that the characters in my film all interacted in a way that felt believable. For the argument between Jack and his mum, I made it so that his mum clearly has the authority in the scene. With Jack and Tyler, however, I wrote the scene so that it felt more easy going and well-flowing, as in essence Jack is basically talking to himself. Even for the stranger at the very end of the film, I wanted his line of dialogue to feel as natural as possible. I ended up going with the line “Are you talking to me?” as opposed to “Who are you talking to?”, as I feel that the latter doesn’t sound quite as realistic as the former. This is a detail that was easier to spot and change as a consequence of watching ‘Wasp’, as it made me think more about how the dialogue comes across in the film.

 

‘Resonance’ Final Film

Here’s my final cut of my short film, ‘Resonance’!

‘Resonance’ Rerecording Audio

By far the biggest problem with my footage is that the final scene outside with Jack and Tyler is dominated by the sound of the wind. That alone almost completely ruins the scene, as it’s a constant struggle to make out what the characters are trying to say.

The solution to this problem has been to get my two actors to say their lines again, then putting that audio over the original footage. Since the scene still clearly had wind in it originally, I’ve decided that I would put some faint wind over the scene, so that the audio doesn’t sound too jarring.

Component 1a: Hollywood 1930-1990 Essay

“The director is always the most important influence on a film.” Compare how far your two chosen films support this statement. [40]

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An auteur in film is someone who has such a distinct style that the film is instantly recognisable as their work. In most cases, this tends to be the director of a film. However, this is not always the case and sometimes it’s not even an individual person. You can separate Hollywood into two distinct periods: Classic Hollywood (1930-1960) and New Hollywood (1961-1990). In both of these eras of Hollywood, the director isn’t the most important influence on the film. Instead, the main influence for Classic Hollywood was held by the studio and in New Hollywood the main influence came from the ideas of the French New Wave.

‘Casablanca’ (1942, Michael Curtiz) is arguably the most famous film of all time, and easily stands out as being one of the most influential films from the Classic Hollywood era. The film follows an American named Rick who owns a cafe in the Moroccan city of Casablanca as he deals with the reappearance of a previous lover, Ilsa Lund, and the role which he needs to play in the Second World War. This film is a great example of how much more influence studios such as Warner Bros. had during Classic Hollywood as opposed to the director.

A defining feature of Classic Hollywood was the studio system which dominated the American film industry. This studio system was dominated by 5 big studios, each of which had their own particular styles that made them all stand apart from each other, known as a ‘house styele’. ‘Casablanca’ was created by Warner Bros. and their films during this era were known for a few things including: urban settings, snappy dialogue and a brisk pace, with scripts and performances that portrayed themes of poverty. Each of these qualities that the studio was known for can be seen in ‘Casablanca’. The setting of Casablanca is an incredibly detailed and vibrant city in which the people there are trying to get out while trying to survive, leading many to resort to thievery. The characters are charming and give off a real sense of wit, keeping the dialogue moving along with consistent momentum, with this films most famous line “here’s looking at you, kid”, being a perfect example of such dialogue.

Another example of how much influence the studios had in Classic Hollywood can be seen with the head of Warner Bros. Studios, Jack Warner. He is known for having been a driving force in the company, being described as having sharp-instincts and being strong-minded. ‘Casablanca’ was created during the Second World War, but before America had joined the war. Warner had a strong belief that America had a duty to join in the war and to play their part in the fight. He used his immense power to inject this message into ‘Casablanca’, even though by the time the film released, America had joined the war. This message is delivered through the character of Rick who, as an American, is meant to be a representation of America as a whole. His character arc through the film is that he goes from being selfish and only caring about himself, to literally putting his life in great danger just so that he can do what is right and to help Ilsa and Lazlow get to America on the plane.  The implementation of this message into the film is another example of how it was actually the studio executives that had the most influence over films at the time.

One other way in which the influence of the studios could be seen through the star system. In Classic Hollywood, the stars of films had a lot of power and would be an incredibly important to how successful a film was. As a result, the studio system had long contracts that meant they could secure popular stars for a number of films. This was done so that they could maximise their profits by guaranteeing that they had actors who would bring people to see their films. The main actor of ‘Casablanca’, Humphrey Bogart, was a huge Hollywood star at the time, and so his appearance alone had a huge impact on how many people wanted to see the film at the time, something only possible in an environment in which the studios had so much power. This shows just how important an influence the studios had over films at the time.

These examples showcase just how much influence Warner Bros. had over ‘Casablanca’. By extension, showing that it’s not always the director who has the biggest influence over films, as the auteur of a film can be an institution as opposed to an individual person.

‘Bonnie and Clyde’ (Arthur Penn, 1967) represents a huge shift in Hollywood during the 1960s, with this being seen as one of the first films from the New Hollywood era as well as one of the most important and influential of the time. Although this film was also produced by Warner Bros. Studios, New Hollywood brought with it a new style of filmmaking that hadn’t been seen in the West up to this point, that style having a massive influence from the New French Wave. The film follows a pair of criminals from rural Southern America as they perform a spree of crimes during the depression-era, with these two actually being based on the real life Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.

The fall of the studio system as well as Western audiences tastes changing due to the studios having put out too many uninspired and repetitive films meant that there was room for new ideas to crop up in the West. What happened after was that the studios started to hire younger directors that could captivate audiences with films that didn’t resemble anything they’d ever seen before. An example of one of these directors is Arthur Penn, who had been heavily inspired by the style that French filmmakers employed in their films after he spent time in France working on a film. This influence of the French New Wave can be seen all over ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, leading to the argument that actually the auteur of the film is less the director and more the ideas of the French New Wave filmmakers, which have been employed by Arthur Penn.

One feature from the French New Wave was that there was much more freedom in the kinds of themes that were deemed appropriate to show in films. One such idea was that women were made to be presented in a much more realistic manner that showcases the change in attitudes at the time that women deserved to be treated much more equally in general. ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ features the female lead of Bonnie Parker, played by Faye Dunaway, who’s character is presented as strong, confident and also sexualised. This can be seen in the first shot of the film, which is an extreme close-up on Bonnie’s lips. This immediately sexualises her character, along with the rest of the scene which showcases her privacy with close ups and a soft focus. It’s also during this first scene in which she meets Clyde that she is shown to be confident as she is very flirtatious with him, this being a pretty big departure from how women would be presented during the Classic Hollywood era.

Furthermore, the way in which Bonnie talks in the film is an incredibly strong southern American accent. This contrasts heavily to how Ilsa talks in ‘Casablanca’, showing how films from the New Hollywood era were willing to break stereotypes of how women were presented in films, as Bonnie is not shown to be a character with grace and elegance. Moreover, overall Bonnie just tends to act in a realistic and free way, not like a movie star from classic Hollywood, such as how flirtatious she is with Clyde throughout the film.

Another difference in how French filmmakers made their films was that they utilised a greater use of a handheld camera, shooting scenes on-location and with natural lighting. Each of these aspects of the French New Wave can also be seen in ‘Bonnie and Clyde’. The film often uses a handheld camera as a means for scenes to feel more intimate, personal and realistic. This is different from ‘Casablanca’, where the camera tended to be positioned away from the characters mostly, as well as not having too much movement which makes it feel more theatrical and unrealistic in comparison. Moreover, the film almost fully utilises real life settings as opposed to big sets built on studio lots. The settings used in ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ look gritty and run down, reflecting on how rural America looked during the Great Depression. This is a far cry from ‘Casablanca’, in which the setting looks exotic and appealing in comparison. The effect of shooting on-location is that the lighting is also going to be natural. This has a similar effect in that the film looks more gritty and realistic as a consequence of being out in the real world, contrasting which how particular the lighting was and had to be in ‘Casablanca’.

These aspects of the film arguably only came about due to the influence of the French New Wave, showcasing how much importance that movement had over films during this era of Hollywood. However, that’s not to say that Arthur Penn wasn’t important in the creation of ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, as he definitely had much more creative impact on the film than Michael Curtiz had over ‘Casablanca’.

In conclusion, both of these two films showcase that actually the director isn’t always the most important influence over the creation of films. The institutions of the big studios had an undeniable influence over how films were made, meaning that they were the auteurs of films. With ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, the influence of French filmmakers is impossible to ignore. Despite Arthur Penn being the director and putting those ideas of the French New Wave into the film, the fact that those ideas were not inherently his, shows that the auteur of the film was more the influence of the French New Wave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Resonance’ Filming Log 4

I realised at school after I thought I had finished filming entirely that I completely forgot to film the shots of Jack making himself a cup of coffee. This was easy to fix as I could just take a camera home and do that myself, which I was planning on doing anyway.

I’m happy with how that turned out and with that my filming is fully complete. However, I also decided to rerecord my mums line when she calls Jack down, as I wasn’t happy with the fist takes that we did. This second time, I’m much happier with how it sounds.

‘Resonance’ Filming Log 3

This Sunday I got the same 3 of my friends around to reshoot the two main scenes of the film.

I felt that the scene with Jack and his mum was better this second time round and I’m happy with how it turned out.

The main objective for the day was the scene outside with Jack and Tyler. This time, I decided to go to a different location which meant that we didn’t have to walk as far from my house, meaning that we would have more time to film. Plus, we left to film much earlier than we did last time. Even better, the difference in lighting was much better, as it was much less cloudy and the sun was much more present.

However, unfortunately, the wind was not on our side this time. The majority of the scene has wind loud in the mix, something which at this stage I am unable to rectify. It’s definitely not perfect but it’s still much better than before. It’s as good as I could make it and I’m happy with being able to say that.

 

Arthur Penn: Copycat Auteur

Lessons from the French New Wave

Arthur Penn was an American film director that is very closely associated with the American New Wave film movement. He was heavily influenced by the French New Wave after spending some time in France to direct ‘The Train’ in 1963, but was fired only 3 days into filming. In 1965, he went on to direct ‘ Mickey One’, which starred Warren Beatty and showed the influences of the French New Wave.

His 1967 film, ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, went on to be a worldwide phenomenon. It was again influenced by the French New Wave and itself inspired many young filmmakers as it used techniques and ideas not seen before in American cinema.

Screenwriters: David Newman and Robert Benton

Newman and Benton were American screenwriters who worked closely together from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, after bonding through their shared love of French New Wave films. Their most notable film that they wrote was ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, which made them very popular and sought-after in Hollywood.

Director: Arthur Penn

Penn is known for being closely associated with the French New Wave, with his most popular and influential film being his 1967 film ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, which was for Warner Bros. Studios. His films are also known for portraying the suffering that he and other American people went through toward the end of WW2.

Editor: Dede Allen

Allen was an American film editor who is known for being one of the few editors to have a distinct enough style to be described as an auteur. She also pushed for the idea that sound had just as much importance in film as the visuals. She frequently collaborated with Arthur Penn from 1967- 1976.

Producer: Warren Beaty

Beaty is known for actually playing a number of different roles within the industry including being an actor, director, writer and producer. He played a major role in trying to make the film ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, working as the leading actor and as a producer for the film. He is the only person who has been nominated oscars for acting in, directing, writing and producing the same film, actually doing so twice (‘Heaven Can Wait’ and ‘Reds’).

 

Warner Brothers: Institution As Auteur

Warner Bros. House Style

 

 

 

 

 

Warner Bros. films during the classic Hollywood era were known for a few things including: urban settings, snappy dialogue and a brisk pace, with scripts and performances that never strayed into sentimentality.

Executive Producer: Jack Warner

Jack Warner was seen as being the driving force behind Warner Bros. Studios, being the executive producer and president of the company. He initially worked as the co-head of production along with his brother Sam. However, after Sam died, Jack clashed with his two other brothers, Harry and Albert. He gained executive control over the company in the 1950s, which he did by secretly buying his brothers’ shares in the company after he had convinced them to both participate in a joint sale of stocks.

Within the company he was very well respected due to how tough-minded he was, but he was feared by many who worked for him and even ridiculed for his sense of humour. Jack was responsible for some of the Studios biggest stars and pushed for the social dramas that the studio became known for.

Producer: Hal B. Wallis

Hal B. Wallis originally worked at Warner Bros. in the publicity department in 1923. It only took him a few years before he would work on producing and eventually became the head of production at Warner Bros. Throughout his entire career, he produced more than 400 feature-length films. Some of his most notable films that he produced include ‘Casablanca’, ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’, ‘Dark Victory’ and ‘Sergeant New York’.

Wallis won the academy award for Best Picture in 1944 for ‘Casablanca’, but there was an incident when Jack Warner went up to collect the award before Wallis could as he was blocked from being able to get up on stage. This incident led to Wallis leaving the company the next month.

Director: Michael Curtiz

Curtiz was a director for Warner Bros. for decades, directing over 50 films in the 1930s. He started off working on lots of smaller-budget productions, but eventually went on to be involved in bigger productions, such as directing the film ‘Casablanca’. He directed 102 films in Hollywood, most of those being with Warner Bros. and was nominated for 5 Academy Awards, winning two of those nominations and one being for Best Director for ‘Casablanca’.

Cinematographer: Arthur Edeson

Edeson was one of the 15 founders of the American Society of Cinematographers and was nominated for 3 Academy Awards throughout his career. One of the things he’s known for was trying to conceal microphones on the set, leading to proving to Hollywood executives that films didn’t have to be done on confined sound stages.

Composer: Max Steiner

Steiner was an Austrian-born American who was one of the first composers to create music for film. He was nominated for 24 Academy Awards and composed over 300 pieces of music for RKO Pictures and Warner Bros. throughout his career.

 

New Hollywood: ‘Bonnie And Clyde’ (Arthur Penn, 1967)

Cinematography 

• Film is shot in a 1.85: 1 aspect ratio, a much wider picture than it was for ‘Casablanca’.
• This film is shot in colour as well, another difference from ‘Casablanca’.
• The film makes use of natural lighting throughout its runtime, giving the film a more realistic and gritty tone. This was something that was only made possible through the advancements in camera technology to be able to capture that more natural lighting.
• A lot of the shots in the film are done with a handheld camera, giving the film a much more intimate feeling based on the movements of the camera and where it’s positioned.
• An example of that intimacy can be seen in the first shot of the film, which is an extreme close-up on Bonnie’s lips. This immediately sexualises her character, along with the rest of the scene which showcases her privacy with close ups and a soft focus.

Sound

• The film opens with pictures depicting poverty during depression era America in the 1930s. Along with each new picture is the sound of a camera shutter, establishing the time this film takes place in with technology from the time. The music that plays over the opening also has this effect. The music is non-diegetic and is also reminiscent of the time that the film takes place in.
• The non-diegetic score that plays during scenes where the gang are trying to escape the law is known as ‘bluegrass’ and sounds very frantic and fast paced. This contrasts heavily to the music from ‘Casablanca’, which was much more elegant and slow.

Editing

• In comparison to ‘Casablanca’, the shots in this film tend to be much shorter, giving the entire film a faster pace than ‘Casablanca’. This is even more potent during the scenes where the gang are performing their crimes, as to give the scene more tension. Furthermore, the final scene when Bonnie and Clyde are gunned down has lots of fast cuts between Bonnie and Clyde as to build up suspense toward them being killed.

Mise-en-scène

• The film opens with pictures depicting poverty during depression era America in the 1930s. These pictures are actually real, helping to establish not only the era in which this film takes place, but also to link to how the film is based on the real-life people of Bonnie and Clyde. These pictures go from things like children and family, to people holding guns. This shows how the Great Depression affected people in poverty at the time, and how much crime had increased.

Performance

• The way in which Bonnie talks in the film is an incredibly strong southern American accent. This contrasts heavily to how Ilsa talks in ‘Casablanca’, showing how films from the New Hollywood era were willing to break stereotypes of how women were presented in films, as Bonnie is not shown to be a character with grace and elegance. Moreover, overall Bonnie just tends to act in a realistic and free way, not like a movie star from classic Hollywood, such as how flirtatious she is with Clyde throughout the film.

Aesthetics 

This film, along with many other New Hollywood films, took heavy inspiration from the French New Wave. This can be seen through things such as close ups, violence, sexual freedom, natural lighting and it being shot on location.

Representation

Bonnie is presented as being incredibly confident and strong throughout the film, showing the change in attitude in how women were presented in films. Furthermore, Clyde also showcases how attitudes changed at the time as he is willing to talk more about is feelings towards a commitment to Bonnie and sex.

‘Resonance’ Filming Log 2

There’s a very brief scene which takes place in a school, and so I got all of that filmed today.

The scene is made up of two simple shots including a mid-shot on Jack and a close up of a maths paper being handed to him. The shot of the paper was actually done in reverse as a method to make sure that the paper ends up in the centre of the frame perfectly.

Other than that I got one of my teachers to say a couple of lines to put over this footage, something that really wasn’t very complex to do.

Waving Goodbye: New Hollywood (1961-1990)

The fall of the studio system

There is actually a specific point in time which is often considered as being the moment the studio system in classic Hollywood started to decline: the Supreme Court decision ‘United States vs Paramount Pictures, inc.’. Before that, in 1938, there was the Hollywood Antitrust case, which restricted the practice of block-booking. However, in 1948 the practice was flat out banned. Furthermore, the ‘Big Five’ were all forced to sell their theater chains. The result of this was that the studios had to be much more selective in what they produced, as they could no longer dump a year worth of movies on theatres. This led to less films being produced, but the ones that were had higher production values and budgets. Even better, there was now more freedom for independent filmmakers and smaller studios (notably the ‘Little Three’) to make their films.

The other major turning point for cinema came from the advent of the television. TVs became so affordable to the point where almost every home had one. Things such as short subjects, news programs and cartoons migrated over to the TV. Late-night television ended up showing reruns of old movies, which meant that people had less of a reason to go to the cinema. The response that the studios gave was trying to come up with innovations in film which could pull more people into the cinema. Examples include more films in colour, widescreen, stereo sound and 3D. In 1948, cinemas had a peak weekly attendance of 90 million. However, in the first year of proper national television, 1953, that number roughly halved. This continued pretty stably for about the next decade.

Hollywood didn’t take the fall of the studio system very well. However, the smaller studios like Colombia and United Artists did great and thrived in the new climate, with them quickly gaining market share and becoming the most profitable studios in Hollywood. The majority of the ‘Big Five’ struggled to compete, with RKO Pictures being hit the hardest. Their only hope was a merger with two B-studios, Republic Pictures and Allied Artists. However, this merger fell through, and so both RKO and Republic left the film business.

The rise of independent cinema

The loss of control that the studios had over the distribution of films meant that independent theatre chains could grow. This meant that the owners of these chains now had the ability to present a wider range of films to the American public. More often than not, this meant foreign films, but it still helped independent producers and distributors in general as they no longer had to deal with the studios to screen their films. This change helped hugely with the rise of independent cinema, as independent filmmakers had so much more freedom in what they were able to make. During this time the bigger studios and the independent filmmakers were working in parallel at the same time.

Penn and Pals

Arthur Penn was an American film director that is very closely associated with the American New Wave film movement. He was heavily influenced by the French New Wave after spending some time in France to direct ‘The Train’ in 1963, but was fired only 3 days into filming. In 1965, he went on to direct ‘ Mickey One’, which starred Warren Beatty and showed the influences of the French New Wave.

His 1967 film, ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, went on to be a worldwide phenomenon. It was again influenced by the French New Wave and itself inspired many young filmmakers as it used techniques and ideas not seen before in American cinema.

 

 

 

 

Escaping The Eight: The French New Wave

The New Wave was a film movement that came out of France from 1958 to the late 1960s. The filmmakers that were associated with this movement were known for their rejection of traditional film conventions and for being experimental with everything to do with film including editing, visual style and narrative structure. The New Wave is seen as being one of the most important and influential film movements of all time and went on to inspire a new generation of filmmakers in other countries.

The movement originated from the idea of ‘auteur theory’, which is the idea that films are the product of a director’s aesthetic vision. One of the most influential and important creators of this movement was André Bazin, who was one of the founders of the French film magazine ‘Cahiers du Cinéma’. Bazin had the belief that film was greatly intellectual art, and that film was so much more than just popular entertainment. This magazine had many articles which discussed about how important the role of the director was as the artistic creator of films with their own aesthetic and narrative vision.

A fair few of the big names that came out of this movement actually started out as writers for ‘Cahiers du Cinéma’, one of these being François Truffaut. Truffaut was a cinephile from a young age and worked very hard as a film critic and academic before he would eventually become a filmmaker. He was particularly inspired by the works of Alfred Hitchcock, as well as Hollywood in general. His first feature-length film, ‘The 400 Blows’, released in 1959 and is about a Parisian boy who goes through hardships from a young age. It was a very autobiographical film that established him as a humanistic director.

Another big name from this time was Alain Resnais, who didn’t actually associate himself with the movement. The most famous film from Resnais, written by Marguerite Duras, was ‘Hiroshima Mon Amour’ (Hiroshima, My Love), releasing in 1959 as well. This film is famous for not just questioning but actually breaking the rules of linear storytelling, with blurred characterisation, jumping between different plots and subplots, memories and fictions.

Characteristics of the French New Wave:

• Deemphasised plot & dialogue was often improvised
• Jump cuts rather than continuity editing
• Location shooting
• Handheld cameras
• Long takes
• Direct sound & available light (live recordings, often didn’t adjust light)

 

 

 

The Golden Age of Hollywood: ‘Casablanca’ (Michael Curtiz, 1942)

Cinematography

• Shot in a 4:3 aspect ratio, which was the standard at the time.
• The film was shot in black and white, making shadows and lighting all the more important so that everything can be seen clearly.
• A vast majority of the shots are still, with the shots that have movement being slow moving. This was due to how film cameras were much bigger and heavier, and so it was much more of a task to move the camera around through a scene.
• The shots are all very particularly composed/ framed. This also extends to how specific the placement of shadows is in the film, such as how the shadows of people will come into view as a silhouette before they properly come into frame.
• The way that Ilsa is filmed all the way through the film is very much ‘perfect’ and like the film star that she was. Shots with her in more often than not have a focus on her, with her being in the centre of the frame, or simply more in focus than other characters. Furthermore, she is mostly filmed from angles that show off her beauty.
• However, Ilsa isn’t the only character that often gets that same level of importance, with the other being Rick. Rick is centrally framed similar to Ilsa, suggesting that they have a connection during the scene where the two meet again.
• This film follows a tradition where characters will often be positioned in a triangle, which can most easily be seen during the scenes in Rick’s Cafe with the characters all positioned around a table.
• During the scene where we see Rick and Ilsa in Paris, the film uses lighting to emphasise the two contrasting tones between past and present. While Rick is drinking in his Cafe, the light is very dark, giving off a sense that Rick is trying to isolate himself. When the film then cuts back in time to Paris and Ricks time with Ilsa, there are very few shadows at all. This could be to showcase how at that point in time Rick and Ilsa were very happy spending time together, and now that relationship has been fractured from what’s happened since.
• Another thing to mention is how during the scenes with Rick and Ilsa, Rick is always positioned to the left of the frame and Ilsa always on the right.

Sound

• The film begins with some non-diegetic grand orchestral music over the credits, which has a very theatrical tone to it. The music eventually transitions into the French national anthem, which gives off the sense of patriotism. Furthermore, this is actually used as a leitmotif throughout the film as a sort of theme for the ‘good guys’.
• Over the music is some non-diegetic narration which also sounds very theatrical.
• Once we see the Germans for the first time, the music switches out to something that sounds similar to the German national anthem. The tone of the music changes to something a bit more sinister, emphasising how they are meant to be the ‘bad guys’.
• During the first scene in Rick’s cafe, the diegetic music that plays sounds very delicate and reserved, which compliments the introduction of Ilsas character.
• This music stops once Strasser comes into the frame, to emphasise his presence as a villain in the film.
• The song ‘As time goes by’ is first introduced when Ilsa asks Sam to play it for her, meaning that it’s diegetic. However, this piece is used throughout the film as a leitmotif as a theme for Rick and Ilsa. It is first used in a non-diegetic way when Rick sees Ilsa for the first time as a way to punctuate the moment of them seeing each other again. It also shows off the idea that the two have had history together before we fully know that’s the case. This score eventually transitions into something that sounds more sinister as they start to talk about their past, showing that their relationship together didn’t end very well.

Editing 

• At the start of the film, there is footage of the Second World War from the real world which is used as a way to ground the context of the story in some form of reality.
• During an establishing long-shot of Casablanca, the camera pedestals down and there’s a hidden edit. This is done to seamlessly transition into the studio set from the painted background before.
• The entire film features many crossfades to convey a scene transition. This was a pretty common technique in classic Hollywood cinema, and gives the film a less realistic quality to it, making it feel more theatrical.

Mise-en-scène

• An interesting feature during the opening credits to the film is the inclusion of Jack Warners name on the Warner Bros. logo. This emphasises the power that the big studio heads had at this time of Hollywood.
• The film opens up with a map of Africa, contextualising the location of the film to the audience. Furthermore, the map is on a globe, which ends up spinning round as exposition is given to the audience. The effect this has is it makes the film feel more theatrical.
• The film is almost entirely shot on big studio sets that were built specifically for the film. The look of these sets is very theatrical and grand, making the film feel less like reality.
• Furthermore, Casablanca is portrayed as being very exotic and almost stereotypical of what a foreign country looks like, perhaps showcasing the attitudes of America at the time.
• Any violence in the film, with the main point being gunfire, is portrayed in a very theatrical manner. Most notably, though, there is never any blood in the film. This was actually due to how at the time that kind of thing wasn’t allowed to be in films, and was seen as a massive taboo.

Performance

• The way Ilsa acts in the film is very reserved and idyllic. This is representative of attitudes towards women at the time, with female film stars being expected to always look almost perfect.

Aesthetics 

The film is a great representation of how films were made in the classic era of Hollywood. The film looks unrealistic and theatrical, with it being shot on studio sets. The lighting of scenes is always purposefully done as a way to make the main stars look like movie stars, that is to say, they are made to look ‘perfect’.

Representation

Probably the biggest point to talk about in terms of representation is the differences in how men and women are portrayed in the film. The men are shown as being handsome and stoic. The women, mainly Ilsa, are lit in a way that showcases their beauty. In fact, techniques such as having catch-lights in Ilsa’s eyes are used just as a way to make her appear even more beautiful.

 

The Big Five and The Little Three: The Golden Age of Hollywood (1930-1960)

The studio system was a method of film production and distribution that was dominated by a few large companies.  There were 5 companies that were the most important, and were called a few names including the ‘Big Five’, the ‘majors’ and ‘ the Studios’.

They were:

• 20th Century Fox
• RKO Pictures
• Paramount Pictures
• Warner Bros.
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

There were also another 3 companies which were not as huge as the others, but were still recognised as being important companies. These companies are known as ‘The Little Three’.

They were:

• Universal Pictures
• Colombia Pictures
• United Artists

The studio system had a few main attributes. The first of these was that each of the studios would have their own particular styles in what types of films they would make. There was also the star system present at the time, where the stars of films had a lot of power and would be an incredibly important to how successful a film was. As a result, the studio system had long contracts that meant they could secure popular stars for a number of films. Lastly, these studios used a process called ‘vertical integration’, whereby they would have ownership or effective control over both the distribution and exhibition of their films. This would basically guarantee that they could get additional sales by using manipulative booking techniques such as block booking (selling multiple films to a theatre as a unit).

This era of Hollywood was also defined by a specific ‘Hollywood style’. This style can be defined as a grand style of narrative storytelling where films are made through a given set of procedures and rules. The narratives were simple and would offer a comprehensive resolution at the end. The editing would pretty much be confined to being continuity editing. The overall idea was that films were unified, continuous and linear.

Warner Bros. films in particular were known for a few things including: urban settings, snappy dialogue and a brisk pace, with scripts and performances that never strayed into sentimentality.

Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967)

‘Bonnie and Clyde’ is considered to be a landmark film, being seen as one of the first films in the ‘New Hollywood’ era of film. It broke many of the taboos seen in filmmaking at the time and it prompted many filmmakers to be much more open about how they showcase sex and violence in their films. The final scene of this film has gone down as once of the most iconic death sequences in any film, and is known as being “one of the bloodiest death scenes in cinematic history”.

The film is about Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, who were incredibly well-known criminals in real life. After the two of them meet, they go on a spree of committing crimes, going from small-time heists to bank robberies. They do this with the help of a few other members of their gang, including C.W. Moss, Clyde’s brother, Buck, and his wife, Blanche. The film ends with the pair being gunned down during an ambush by the police.

Unlike ‘Casablanca’, I had never seen this film before watching it in class. And unfortunately, I don’t think this film is anywhere near as enjoyable as that. I can fully understand why this film is so important and it’s nowhere near bad or anything. However, I feel this film suffers from being one of the first of its kind. The scenes where the gang perform their heists all feel very similar, and conclude with the tune of a banjo, which got very repetitive and grating to listen to. Again, it’s a film that I can appreciate for its impact on the industry, influencing some films that I consider as being some of my all-time favourites, such as ‘The Godfather’, but this isn’t something that I’m very keen on watching again anytime soon.

The film was very well-received when it was released, being praised for how much of a milestone it was for cinema at the time. It was nominated for several academy awards including best picture, best director, best original screenplay, best actor (both leading and supporting, with two for supporting), best actress (both leading and supporting), best  costume design and best cinematography. Of those, it won best supporting actress and best cinematography. It did well at the box office, grossing $23 million in the US by the end of the year it was released and was the studio’s second highest grossing film of all time, being ‘My Fair Lady’. However, the film definitely caused some controversy due to its portrayal of violence and apparent glorification of murderers.

 

 

 

 

‘Resonance’ Filming Log 1

This weekend I got 3 of my friends around to get most of my filming done. This included my two main actors and a sound technician. We spent the majority of Saturday filming what I needed to get in order to know roughly how long my film is, so that if anything needs to be added/ cut I’ll know sooner rather than later.

The singular shots that aren’t directly connected to the two big scenes were almost all achieved this filming session.

The scene in which Jack talks to his mum went well, but the scene outside with Jack talking to Tyler didn’t go exactly to plan. By the time we got out there, it was already starting to get quite dark. This lead to me rushing the process and making several mistakes. Firstly, I forgot to turn the microphone on, so the scene was practically inaudible. Secondly, the majority of the shots are out of focus. Lastly, the light rapidly disappearing lead to massive changes in lighting between shots. All of this means that this scene can’t be used in my film. However, it’s still good in that I know it’s roughly the correct length.

It’s worth putting in here that a fair while ago I had gotten the opening shot for the film, as that was something I could easily get on my own. But putting only that into a singular post would be pretty redundant.

Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)

‘Casablanca’ is arguably the most famous film of all time and is easily one of the most important films to have been made during its time, that being the classic era of Hollywood. The film is set in a place called Casablanca, which is in French Morocco. It follows a man named Rick Blaine, an American expatriate who comes back into contact with a woman who he loves (Ilsa Lund) and her husband (Victor Laszlo) , who is a Czech resistance leader. He has to decide what’s right and if he should help them leave Casablanca so that he can continue on with his fight against the Germans.

I first watched this film quite a few years ago at this point, well before watching it in class. However, my overall feelings on the film have pretty much stayed the same. For me, I don’t think there’s any other film that I associate more with the word ‘Hollywood’. It’s just such a classic example of how films used to be, and is wonderful from start to finish. It’s not ‘the greatest film of all time’ or anything, but from my perspective is easily one of the defining moments in the entire history of Hollywood.

My main interpretation of ‘Casablanca’ is that its message is about how America needed to join the Second World War and play their part.  It delivers this message through a more romantic way, though. The idea that Rick (an American) no longer cares about anything other than himself, but evolves to put the greater good before his own wants conveys that idea that America itself had a role to play in World War 2.

This film was made at a time where the big studio heads had lots of influence over the industry and the films that were put out. In the case of ‘Casablanca’, it was made by Warner Bros. with the head at the time being Jack Warner. Jack Warner had a strong belief that America should join the fight of the Second World War. Thus, he had the power to deliver that message in the film. However, the film ended up releasing after America had joined the war, but it still maintains that message.

The film was basically entirely filmed on built sets in the studio. The only exception is the scene where Strasser arrives to Casablanca, plus some stock footage of Paris that was used for backgrounds. These sets were quite elaborate with the best example being Rick’s cafe, which is one of the most iconic sets ever built for the big screen.

Interestingly, despite having A-list stars and a relatively high budget, no one involved in the production of the film actually expected the film to be anything special or do particularly well at the box-office. Upon release, it had a positive reception and did pretty well, but wasn’t anything remarkable. However, it ended up going on the win the Academy Award for best picture, best director and best screenplay. Furthermore, it was nominated for 5 other categories. Since then, the reputation of the film has only gotten better and better and has led to the film being seen as one of the greatest of all time.

 

‘Resonance’ Storyboards

This is a video which showcases all of my storyboards for my short film, ‘Resonance’. Some of these may seem unclear on what they are supposed to be. This is because they all have text underneath to say exactly what is happening, but I chose not to show that as to make the video a bit more focused. Furthermore, a couple of these shots are shot/ reverse-shot, meaning that they get repeated a few times, but I didn’t show them multiple times in this video. Plus, a couple of them are one shot but split into two as a way to make it easier for me to actually use them while filming as I’ll know where the shot starts and ends.

‘Resonance’ Screenplay

‘Resonance’ Soundtrack Planning

I’ve been thinking a lot about the songs that I want to use for my film, as I want them to convey the feelings that I want the film as a whole to convey. After looking online for royalty free music that fits the tone of my film, I couldn’t find anything that I was particularly happy with.

One song that has been in my head for how well it fits the tone has been ‘Daydreaming’ by Radiohead. This song starts off with having no vocals until about 1 minute 20 seconds into it. It has a very sombre tone that in a way is a reflection on how people act while they are daydreaming. For this reason, I feel like this song would fit really well for the beginning of my film, as the protagonist goes about his daily life, as he is never really fully being present.

 

The end of my film is meant to be a hopeful finish, where the future of the protagonist looks bright. For this reason, I feel like the song that inspired the title of my film would be a perfect fit. The song in question is ‘Resonance’ by HOME, and I feel like it would serve as a great companion to the backdrop of a colourful sunset.

 

For the rest of the film in the middle, I’m not sure yet if I want to have any music or not. I think the best thing to do for now would be to decide that while I’m editing the film. By that point, I’ll have a much better idea of if those scenes will need anything playing in the background or if I can just have the diegetic sounds of the environment. If I do decide that more music is needed, then I’ll write a second blog post that goes through that process of finding something that fits the mood.

‘Resonance’ Filming Locations

List of locations:

• My house
• Woods
• Field
• My village
• Bus
• School

The beginning of my film is going to take place in the house of the protagonist. The easiest place to film will be my own house and so I’m going to film there. I plan to shoot in a bedroom, kitchen and then a couple shots outside the house.

Parts of my film are going to be shot around the local area of my village. I live in an area that is surrounded by woods and fields and so I plan to utilise these areas. The shots in the woods are going to be fairly brief, with the camera moving gently through as the protagonist walks. My main objective with filming in this location is to do interesting things with editing, mainly the idea of having hidden cuts.

The shots on the field should be relatively easy to film on as there’s a long public footpath. The potential issues would be other people out on their walks getting in the way of the shots, but that’s easy to just wait out, and the part of the field I plan to film on doesn’t get too many people walking on it regardless. However, it could be possible that there will be tractors on the field making loud noises, but the chances of that aren’t very high. I also have the image in my head of the final shots of the film having a purple/ pink sky (not to the extent that it’s fully that colour, just faint enough that it’s noticeable). My main worry with this is if I chose a day to film where I don’t get these conditions.

The bulk of my film is going to take place in these locations, but I want to have some more variety so that it feels a bit more wide in scope, even if it is a pretty simple story. The opening of my film will be a fast-paced ‘in-the-life-of’ sequence where the protagonist does his usual daily routine. This will involve getting on a bus, going into school and then coming back home. It’s pretty simplistic but I feel would add a little more into my film to make it feel that bit more substantial. This will mean that I’m going to have to get on a public bus and get my shots. This sequence won’t have any dialogue, so I don’t need to worry that much about background noise, as the normal noises of a bus is all that I’m going to use.

Filming in school is something that I’m not too keen on doing, mostly for the reason that it most likely won’t look very natural. This is why I plan to film in school very briefly, as in for around 10 seconds worth of footage in total. I just want to use to location to show that the protagonist is a student without literally saying that he’s a student.

Short Film: Initial Idea

The task:

We have now gotten onto the coursework part of our course, and our task is to create a 4-5 minute short film which contains at least one of the following:

– A narrative twist.
– A narrative which begins with an enigma.
– A narrative which establishes and develops a single character.
– A narrative which portrays a conflict between two central characters.

The idea is that we have to be the only people responsible for the camerawork and editing of our shorts, and that we should try to be as ambitious as possible with our cinematography and editing.

Along with this, we also have to produce a written analysis of our short between 1600- 1800 words. This analysis has to talk about the influences from the list of short films that we have been given (with the total length of the films that we’ve taken inspiration from adding up to 80 minutes).

Basic premise for my film:

My film is going to be about a teenage student (male) who drifts through life to an extent where he has no direction or motivation to do anything with his life. He isn’t depressed, he just feels lost and doesn’t know what he can do. He isn’t a terrible student, but his grades are only just the bare minimum that they need to be. His mum tells him that he needs to start putting in more effort, but he doesn’t know how as he doesn’t seem to care enough. They have an argument about how he doesn’t care enough about his future, resulting in him leaving the house in a childish storm. He goes off on a walk to collect his thoughts. He ends up at a stream where he decides to sit down for a bit. He looks visibly upset, but is trying to stay composed. A stranger around his age approaches him, wanting to know what’s wrong and if he can help. They meet by staring each other in the eyes. There’s a familiar gaze, and they have the same eye colours. The stranger asks what’s wrong in a tone where he clearly wants to help. The protagonist dismisses him, and tries to shut him off; he doesn’t need help. The stranger persists to try and help, mentioning that the protagonist is clearly begging for attention on the inside, and how he knows the feeling. After this moment, the protagonist starts to feel a connection to this stranger, and starts to trust him. He simply says, “I don’t know where to go”. *

*For the sake of keeping this fairly brief, I’ll skip over details of the conversation for now.

Their conversation leads to talking about passions, and how no matter what anyone says, you should follow your heart. The stranger gives the protagonist some perspective, some form of motivation to chase his dreams. This is when another person out on their walk comes up to them and asks “who you talking to?”. The protagonist looks confused. He turns around to see that no one else is there. For a moment he looks almost panicked, but that panic quickly turns to a faint smile as he realises that he’s found his motivation within himself. The stranger existed, but only mentally, as a way for the protagonist to grow and mature by himself. He walks off into the sunset, hopeful that he can change his future for the better.

 

When the Day Breaks (Amanda Forbis/ Wendy Tilby, Canada, 1999)

(10 minutes)

‘When the Day Breaks’ is an animated short film which features anthropomorphic animals going about their day. A woman (who is a pig, by the way) bumps into a man (who is, indeed, a chicken), causing the man to drop his shopping, notably a lemon into the sewer below. Afterwards, the man is involved in a car accident, where he is killed. The message of the film is that the symbolic relationship between people is inextricable.

Easily, the most interesting aspect of this film for me was the animation style. It’s done by filming shots in reality and then painstakingly recreating those shots frame by frame by hand drawing it. Obviously, this also involves changing details of those shots, with the main changes made in this film being the change from humans to animals. The end result of this animation method is that it all looks very fluid and the movements of the camera and people look very life-like, despite being an animation. I feel that this makes the film a very unique watch and entertaining to watch.

The film’s style of having a story that is mostly about its symbolism isn’t something that I want to utilise for my own short film. However, even if it’s an animation, the cinematography is still interesting. There was a shot where the camera followed a wire down from a plug socket to a toaster, and it’s shots like that which I feel I may want to use in my own short film.

 

Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren, USA, 1943)

(14 minutes)

‘Meshes of the Afternoon’ is a short film about a woman who after coming back home falls asleep and starts to have vivid dreams, where it’s questionable if they are real or not. There seems to be a dark presence in her dream which the woman tries to chase after, but can’t. Copies of herself start to appear and something is trying to kill her. The plot as a whole is quite confusing and doesn’t lend itself well to having a definitive interpretation, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but for me this film just didn’t have much to it.

This is the oldest film that we have been told to watch, having being released in 1943. Since the technology at the time wasn’t anywhere near the quality that we have today, this film isn’t as compelling for someone like me. I can’t fault the film for it, it was all that there was at the time, but the result was that I found myself quite bored watching this. Especially since I feel that the film was at least 5 minutes too long. Sometimes I do quite like something more slow-paced, but I don’t think this had quite enough meat on its bones to justify the longer than needed running time.

However, I do think that the ideas that this film had were actually quite interesting considering the time that it was made. The editing was used in a creative way during certain sequences, such as the repetition of the woman running down a path to simulate her being in an endless loop. Furthermore, the camera work was also used creatively at times, such as it being swung about while the woman was on the stairs to showcase her unbalance.

Overall, it’s those more interesting ideas used in the actual filmmaking that I feel like could be interesting to use in my short film, but not much else from this one.

The Gunfighter (Eric Kissack, USA, 2014)

(9 minutes)

‘The Gunfighter’ is a comedy short film in the style of a typical western. An all-knowing narrator talks about the gunslinger that has just entered a saloon, with the main joke being that everyone in the saloon can hear what the narrator is saying. The narrator purposefully sets up the people in the saloon so that they get angry with each other, leading to a shootout where they all die, with the exception of the whore (who is said to be mauled by a wolf and killed the next day).

The plot of the film is a satire on a typical western, with several tropes of the genre being made fun of for the sake of comedy, and to a great effect. I personally found the film very entertaining and charming, with a majority of the humour landing for me.

The actual look of the film is incredibly appealing for me. The film has a very warm colour pallet, with rich golden tones that compliment the easy-going and fun nature of the story. The effect is that this is a very pleasant film to look at, which is something that isn’t always seen in short films.

I don’t plan on making a comedy for my short film, so I don’t think I’m going to borrow ideas from this film, despite me enjoying it. However, the pleasant look of the film is definitely something which I am striving to achieve regardless.

 

High Maintenance (Phillip Van, Germany, 2006)

(9 Minutes)

This film takes place in the not too distant future where there is a company that sells robots that acts as partners. A woman is unsatisfied with her robotic husband and so she switches him off and calls for a replacement. The twist of the film is that the woman herself is also a robot and that she is now the one who is failing to meet the new husbands standards, who then switches her off. The plot of the film is very simple and only takes place is one location (their apartment) but I still found is quite effective.

The film has a very clean style with quite bright lighting which gives off a sort of vibe that is an uninviting/ intimidating future. The actions of the characters also give off this feeling that the world that is being presented is stilted and professional in a way. The camera also acts in this sort of way, with little movement that adds to the film being stylistically professional.

The films look and feel doesn’t really fit with my idea for my own short film as the style is very uniform and professional, and isn’t something I really want to utilise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pitch Black Heist (John Maclean, UK, 2011)

(13 Minutes)

This short film is about two professional safe crackers (Liam and Michael) who are given the job to retrieve the contents of an office safe. The main catch to this job is that the room is completely dark, and the alarm will be set off if any light at all is detected. Before the heist, the two get drunk and so the heist doesn’t go to plan, with Michael purposefully setting off the alarm.

This film has a very distinct look, with the whole thing being in black and white to fit the theme of the actual job being in total darkness. I found that I liked this style for the vast majority of the film. However, there were a couple shots where I feel like it would’ve benefitted from being able to see some more detail.

During the heist sequence, the film goes into total darkness. The film does something quite interesting here which is that information is conveyed with the sound. We understand everything that’s happening as the noises that are made are clear and feel like they are apart of this environment which we can’t actually see. This includes the conversation that the two are having as well as the sounds of them bumping into objects and then the sound of them cracking the safe.

In terms of this films cinematography, it does interesting things with its framing. The shots of this film are almost always symmetrical such as the opening shot with the layout of the room and the two interacting in the pub. The effect this has is that at the end of the film, after Michael sets of the alarm and leaves Liam behind, it gives off this sense that there has been order which has been restored.

I think that my main take away from this film would be its sound design. Although I didn’t find this film that great, I do think that the actual heist scene would be good to go back to as a way to look into how to create a believable soundscape.

About a Girl (Brian Percival, UK, 2001)

(9 Minutes)

This short film is about a young girl from England who tells about her life and hopes for the future while walking along a canal. She talks about how she and her friends want to become pop stars but her stories get darker as the undertones of domestic abuse and poverty start to appear.  It all culminates in a surprising ending where she throws a plastic bag into the canal, with it being revealed that there was a baby in the bag and she is “good at hiding things”.

The film is structured almost like a documentary, as she is clearly talking to someone but we never find out who (or if they actually exist). As she tells her stories, there are cuts to what she is talking about, and then it cuts back to her along the canal.

It is shot pretty much entirely with a handheld camera, which adds to the feeling that this girl is talking to someone who we never actually see. On the other hand, this could imply that the audience is simply getting a glimpse into this girls life. The shots at the end from inside the canal of the baby and then the overhead shot of the girl walking away are the main exceptions to this being simply handheld shots.

This film has a very natural style, with everything being a pretty accurate portrayal of reality. The lighting of the film looks very natural and muddy, which reflects what English weather typically is and also fits the overall tone that the film goes for.

 

 

The Grandmother (David Lynch, USA, 1970)

(34 Minutes)

‘The Grandmother’ is a short film directed by David Lynch near the start of his career. It is about a boy who is neglected and abused by his parents, and so plants a seed from which a grandmother grows from. The grandmother then spends her time trying to protect the boy from his abusive parents. The plot of this film is very odd and incredibly unsettling in the way in which it’s presented.

There is actually a mix of crude animation and live-action. The style of the animation is very stiff and looks disturbing in how it isn’t smooth, but is in a way captivating to watch. The same actually goes for certain scenes that are live-action, as there are many cuts done which makes the movement of these scenes very unsettling and creepy.

Another aspect of the film that is very unsettling is the sound design. The noises of this film are genuinely painful at points, particularly when the grandmother is making an almost fire alarm sound. Although it’s not pleasant to listen to, I feel that this really adds a lot to the film, and makes it a much more interesting and memorable experience for it.

There is also no real dialogue in this, with the characters making strange alien-like noises at most, with that pretty much only coming from the two parents. This adds to the feeling of unease that is so prevalent in the film.

The film has a mostly black and white colour pallet, with the sets of the film being a main object (such as a table or a bed) in a black room. The effect this has is that you never really feel comfortable with the actual environment of the film, and constantly keeps you on edge and uneasy as this is clearly not a place where you would want to be.

If I’m being honest, I have no idea what to take from this film as inspiration. The overall tone and feel of the film just doesn’t match with what I’m planning to do for my short film. However, I genuinely find the mix of animation and live-action captivating and interesting, and so that’s something that I may consider doing for my short film. Regardless, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like this, and I feel that it was a great and unique experience that will stick in my mind for a long time.

Connect (Samuel Abrahams, UK, 2010)

(5 Minutes)

‘Connect’ is a short film about a woman in London who goes on the bus and makes a connection with a stranger. Her view of the world goes from jaded (a man pulls out a gun and shoots someone to take their seat) to positive (the people on the bus all break into dance). The concept of the film is very simple. However, the execution of that concept makes the film feel much grander than its actual plot.

The whole thing takes place on this bus, with the exception being right at the start as the woman boards the bus. Although there’s only one location, it’s shot on a very high end camera and has great soft lightning, so it doesn’t feel cheap in any way (this was nominated for a BAFTA).

One thing that I noticed while watching this was how when the woman put on her headphones, music started to play low in the mix. This is something that I didn’t really consider before and so if in my short someone wears headphones, I will make sure to keep this in the back of my head.

Night Fishing (Chan-Wook Park, South Korea, 2011)

(33 Minutes)

‘Night Fishing’ is a short film about a man who goes fishing and reels in the body of a woman in a river. He gets tangled up in the fishing line and then the woman comes alive. It then shifts to a different location, where this same woman is a priestess during a funeral ritual for a man who drowned in the river after a storm. This man speaks to his family through the woman and asks for forgiveness.

The entire film was done on an iPhone 4, with some additional lenses being used for certain shots. This alone gives the film a very low budget feeling (it cost around $300,000 to make, however, the director himself said that if he had done it alone, it would’ve cost around $50,000).

The events of the film are supernatural, however, the actual structure of the plot is fairly straight forward as a whole. The main exception to this is the inclusion of a Korean band playing at the beginning of the film, which doesn’t really have any relevance to the actual story.

The supernatural element of the film lends itself to being quite strange and abstract in its tone, where it is sometimes played for laughs such as the man struggling to get loose and the woman constantly flopping onto him. But is also done as a way to make the audience feel uneasy and maybe scared as they don’t understand what is happening in the moment.

One of the things that I can see myself taking inspiration from is the inclusion of a couple POV iris shots near the start of the film.

Wasp (Andrea Arnold, UK, 2003)

(26 Minutes)

‘Wasp’ is a short film about a single British mother of 4 children (3 girls and a baby boy) who tries to go out on a date with a man who she used to go out with, but has to also look after the kids at the same time.

It takes place in a place called Dartford and is a representation of a town which is lower class. This is shown through the locations of the film, such as the houses being small and unappealing, with little of it standing out as being nice. The pub in the film is quite small and thus is overcrowded, and the exterior of it is very dirty an ugly.

The whole thing is shot with a handheld camera, adding the the feeling that you are meant to be experiencing this place. Along with that, the characters of the film such as the mother and her children act, for lack of a better word, trashy. This is likely an exaggeration of the kind of people who live in these sorts of areas. It has a very straightforward structure with a narrative that goes from start to finish.

In terms of what I think I may draw inspiration from this short film, I feel like a use of handheld shots may be something that I employ for my own short film. A lot of the shots have quite exaggerated camera movements, and I feel that could work if my film were to have an intense moment that would call for it.

 

 

 

‘Ointment’ Production Log #2

So far, a second draft has been created and we are ready to get the bulk of our filming done on Sunday. Tonight, Liam is going to get exterior shots of the pub so that we don’t have to do that on Sunday. We have finished writing up a storyboard.

Since none of us are pure-born artists, Will and I ended up just writing up a basic list of the shots that we are going to need.

Below are the storyboards:

‘Ointment’ Film Log #1

This log is a record of everything that my group and I have done towards our final short film project, tilted ‘Ointment’.

So far, we have come up with the basic outline of our film. We know how many characters there will be as well as where we are planning on shooting the footage.

We’ve created a google drive folder where we will all be able to work on our script, which we have started to work on. Our draft so far covers the first scene which will take place in a pub and involves the main character (played by me and also called Dan Webb) and the bartender (played by Liam), who is letting Dan live in a room above the pub.

Dan will be in a slump, where he doesn’t have a job and is failing to pay his rent for Liam. Liam will ask for the rent and Dan will ask for some more time. This is where Dan watches an ad which inspires him to come up with a scheme to get rich: become a salesman. This is followed by Dan coming up with the idea to sell ointment from door to door by looking at the word ‘ointment’ in a dictionary.

At this point, this is all that has been drafted. We have dialogue written as well. However, so far everything that’s been written could change as we’ve only just started. But the main idea of the film is solid and set in stone, as we only have a few weeks before the deadline for this project.

The plan is that we are going to film at a pub in the morning before it opens next Sunday. However, it’s not decided on when exactly we’ll film the other scenes yet.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum Review

I made another thingy. This one is good I swear.

 

Pulp Fiction: Story, Plot and Narrative

Story: “Everything that happens in the fictional world between the beginning and the end, including events that viewers infer or presume to have happened.”

Plot: “What viewers see on screen and hear on the soundtrack to allow them to construct a story in their heads. Plots can begin anywhere on the chain of story events and can leap backwards and forwards in time and space.”

Narrative: “Flow of story information constructed by the plot at any given moment. Narrative implies a point of view, which may be that of one of the characters or of an omniscient (all seeing) narrator.”

 

Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)

‘Pulp Fiction’ is the second feature-length film from the American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino and was released in 1994. The film comprises of multiple narrative threads which are shown out of order, but are all inter-connected. It follows two hitmen (Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield), a boxer (Butch Coolidge), a gangster and his wife (Marsellus and Mia Wallace), and a couple of bandits (only known as Pumpkin and Honey Bunny). The film, similar to Tarantino’s other films, has an above average script length. This has to do with the fact that the film is very dialogue heavy, with the majority of scenes just being characters talking, often about seemingly meaningless topics. There are also quite a few scenes of excessive violence, another staple of Tarantino’s films.

Filmmakers’ Theories Essay

Documentary film as a genre is incredibly broad and generally undefined in what it has to be. Bill Nichols is a film critic and theorist who is most well-known for his ideas about documentaries. He believed that, in one form or another, all films are in some sense documentaries. Obviously, the scale of that varies from normal reporting to fantastical fiction. His division of films comprised of two categories: ‘wish fulfilment’ and ‘social representation’. He is also believed that documentaries could be put into 6 different modes: expository, observational, participatory, performative, poetic and reflexive. With this said, however, other filmmakers have their own ideas as to what documentaries should be, even with these modes in mind.

Kim Longinotto is a British documentary filmmaker who is known for films which showcase the struggles of women in society. She is considered as being an observational filmmaker as she very rarely interacts with what’s being recorded and is simply a ‘fly on the wall’. She uses very little voice-over, formal interviews, captions or incidental music. She also doesn’t like to zoom or pan as the camera is supposed to act as the eyes of the audience. She likes to make her films so that they have the experience of watching a fiction film as much as possible, but nothing is ever premeditated. Her idea is that she wants her films to raise more questions than answers and so her films don’t have traditional conclusions. Her films are about looking for characters which the audience can identify with and latch onto, almost as if you’re diving into that characters own experience. Her focus on the difficulties for women in modern-day society is done as a way to make the audience really think about what that must be like. She wants people to see it from that very personal perspective so that they can open their eyes to that sexism that is seen all over the world. She will make sure that her films are as close to reality as possible. One of the ways that she does this is by choosing to keep the camera rolling, even during times when the people on camera are showing lots of emotion in situations which can be seen as very private. She also chooses to keep her camera handheld, as it is a way to make it seem like we are actually there as the camera movements are closer to that of a real person and not just a camera on a tripod.

‘Sisters in Law’ is a feature-length documentary directed by Kim Longinotto in 2005 which is set in a town in South West Cameroon called Kumba and follows female legal professionals (State Prosecutor, Vera Ngassa and Court President, Beatrice Ntuba) as they deal with cases including martial violence, kidnapping, child abuse and adultery that all involve violence against women. This focus on women and their issues is an immediate example of Longinotto’s style of film, as well as how the film fits under the observatory mode of documentary as in this film she never directly interacts with what’s going on. The people being filmed also never acknowledge that they’re being filmed, so it makes the film have a feel like it’s a fiction film despite it actually showcasing something close to objective-reality. This film also has lots of extended shots where the camera stays focused on reality and doesn’t cut away. An example of this can be seen during a scene where people are breaking down crying over what had happened to a little girl named Manka, who had been beaten by her Aunt. This extended shot is a showcase of how Longinotto chooses to keep her films rooted in reality. Another example of her style can be seen in the camera movements as this film is done entirely handheld. The effect that this has is it makes the audience feel more apart of the film as it’s closer to being actually in the situations being filmed and closer to reality, it all feels more human instead of just being a static camera in place.

The knowledge of Longinotto’s theories on what her documentaries are is important as it help the audience to better understand what her films represent on the whole. By knowing that the aim is to make you think more about the issues of women, the audience will have a much better idea what the point of ‘Sisters in Law’, and the same applies for other filmmakers and their theories as well. This film would have a much different take on the topic had it been created by someone like Michael Moore, as he would, for example, have included himself within the film as well as interviews. Someone like Nick Broomfield, on the other hand, likely would’ve handled this very sensitive topic in a more controversial and obtrusive manner than Longinotto did, as his his calling-card. It’s a useful piece of knowledge to have on these filmmakers, as it really helps to shape them as auteurs in how unique they all are in how they go about making their films.

 

Filmmakers’ Theories Essay Plan

Introduction:

-Give a brief overview on documentaries and how it isn’t a clear cut genre.

• Any film can be seen as a documentary in some form but varies from wish fulfilment to social representation (fiction to reality).
• Bill Nichols’ six modes of documentary: expository, observational, participatory, performative, poetic and reflexive.
• Other filmmakers have their own ideas as to what documentaries should be, even with these modes in mind.

First Bit:

-Background information on Kim Longinotto

• Who she is.
• Her theories on documentaries.
• What makes her different and unique compared to other documentary filmmakers.

Second Bit:

-Specific information on her film ‘Sisters in Law’

• The film focuses on women dealing with cases that all involve violence against women.
• She fits under the observational mode as she never directly involves herself in what’s going on.
• She tries to make the film as close to the experience of watching a normal fiction film as much as possible.

Conclusion:

–Filmmakers’ theories in relation to documentaries on the whole

• That knowledge of these theories helps understanding the films for the audience.
• How the film could’ve been a completely different experience if made by another filmmaker (one of the others that we’ve researched).

Filmmakers’ “theories”: Michael Moore

Michael Moore is an American documentary filmmaker, who is most known for his films that would address major political and social issues in the United States, often leading to controversy.

He filmed his first documentary in 1989 and is called ‘Roger and Me’, which is about the effects of unemployment in in town called Flint as a result of the closure of two General Motors factories and that companies downsizing. This film was a hit both with critics and the box office, and so he moved to New York City to establish Dog Eat Dog Films.

Moore would go on to create the Academy award-winning (best documentary) film ‘Bowling for Columbine’ in 2002, which tackles the issue of gun violence in the US. His next film, ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ in 2004, was also a success and became the highest-grossing documentary of all time ($222 million worldwide). This film was about the attacks on September 11th 2001 and criticised the President George W. Bush for his handling over that situation, and it was highly controversial for that reason.

His films fit under the participatory mode, as Moore spends a lot of time in his films being in front of the camera. His style is known for satirical and sarcastic as a way for him to criticise the subjects of his films.

Filmmakers’ “theories”: Peter Watkins

Peter Watkins is an experimental documentary filmmaker who is known for making films which can be very controversial as they would be about sensitive topics for the time, such as nuclear warfare.

He is also known for pioneering the ‘docudrama’ style of filmmaking, which include newsreel type footage, voice-over narration, roving handheld camera work and the use of amateur actors.

He is most well known for his two anti-war films titled ‘Culloden’ and ‘The War Game’, in 1964 and 1965 respectively. The former being a reconstruction of the battle of Culloden in 1746, which ended up being a slaughter of the Scottish forces, and the latter being a worst-case scenario vision of nuclear warfare. Both of these films were groundbreaking for just how real they portrayed what they were showing and the merging of both fact and fiction.

 

Filmmakers’ “theories”: Nick Broomfield

Nick Broomfield is a British documentary filmmaker. He made his first film in 1971 titled ‘Who Cares?’, which was helped funded by the British Film Institute while he was studying politics and law at Essex University.

This is what he had to say about why he wanted to get into making films: “everything at university was at a very conceptual, analytical level, and I felt a need to look at things in a more immediate way”.

After university, he went on to join the National Film School at Beaconsfield, where he made another film called ‘Proud to be British’ in 1973. His films are known for being quite controversial.

He uses a more participatory mode when it comes to his documentaries, because, as he puts it, “what’s important is the interaction between the filmmakers and those being filmed, and that the audience is aware of that interaction so they can make decisions of their own”.

His later work are examples of a more reflective mode as his involvement in the events being recorded is acknowledged as having a direct impact and affects the situation that is being presented.

 

Filmmakers’ “theories”: Kim Longinotto

Kim Longinotto is a British documentary filmmaker who is known for films which showcase the struggles of women in society. Over her career, she has made more than 20 films including ‘Sisters in Law’ (2005), ‘Divorce Iranian Style’ (1998) and Pink Saris (2010). Her first documentary was one about the all-girls boarding school that she went to when she was growing up, and she made it while she was studying at the National Film and Television School. This documentary was shown at the London Film Festival and she has continued to make documentaries ever since.

She is considered as being an observational filmmaker as she very rarely interacts with what’s being recorded and is simply a ‘fly on the wall’. She uses very little voice-over, formal interviews, captions or incidental music. She also doesn’t like to zoom or pan as the camera is supposed to act as the eyes of the audience.

She likes to make her films so that they have the experience of watching a fiction film as much as possible, but nothing is ever premeditated. Her idea is that she wants her films to raise more questions than answers and so her films don’t have traditional conclusions. Her films are about looking for characters which the audience can identify with and latch onto, almost as if you’re diving into that characters own experience.

Her focus on the difficulties for women in modern-day society is done as a way to make the audience really think about what that must be like. She wants people to see it from that very personal perspective so that they can open their eyes to that sexism that is seen all over the world.

She will make sure that her films are as close to reality as possible. One of the ways that she does this is by choosing to keep the camera rolling, even during times when the people on camera are showing lots of emotion in situations which can be seen as very private. She also chooses to keep her camera handheld, as it is a way to make it seem like we are actually there as the camera movements are closer to that of a real person and not just a camera on a tripod.

 

The Significance of Digital Technology in Filmmaking

Ever since film first became a thing, it had always been filmed using film celluloid. That was until the 21st century, where digital technology finally reached a point where it was feasible to actually make films using digital cameras. The shift into digital technology has been a major change for film and has come with many advantages for the entire industry from filmmakers to audiences.

For filmmakers, digital has made it much easier for amateur filmmakers to make their own films. Reasons for this include how much cheaper it is to do. Before, film had to be shot on big and expensive cameras with lots of film reel, which was even more expensive. Now, the only purchase that has to be made is the camera, and the actual process of shooting is effectively free to do. The storage of the images captured is also much easier and cheaper as hard drives are incredibly easy to come by and aren’t very expensive.

Another benefit to filmmakers is the camera itself being much smaller, lighter, portable and durable. The advantage here is that the camera can be much more flexible in what can be done with it. For example, handheld shots are no longer difficult to do as the camera man can easily carry it himself.

Furthermore, the editing process has become much easier to do. There are a few reasons for this including how before you had to wait until the film had developed and then had to physically alter the film itself. Now, the file from the camera can just be uploaded to an editing software and then done on that. The major benefit here is that editing is now non-destructive as edits can be reverted if it doesn’t come out right.

For documentary filmmakers specifically, digital cameras allow for films to be shot on multiple cameras at the same time. Plus, if the cameras are all the same, the footage will look the same quality across all the different shots. To add to this, since in a lot of cases they won’t know what’s going to happen and when (predominantly in nature documentaries), digital allows for the cameras to just keep on filming as there isn’t a risk of running out of storage as all they have to do is switch the hard drive on the camera when they do run out of storage.

The audience for documentaries is quite small, and so documentaries struggle to get lots of funding. The introduction of digital has made it so that documentaries are much more likely to be made. To add to this, the distribution of documentaries (and films in general) is now basically free as it can just be done by sending the file over the internet.

This links to how the audience benefits from digital technology as, for one, they now have a much greater access to a wider variety of films overall. There are so many ways of consuming media online today that pretty much anything is available through streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu as well as online stores like iTunes or Amazon.

 

 

The Trouble With The Six Modes

The major issue with Bill Nichols’ six modes of documentary is that there is actually not often a clear cut as to what category a documentary fits into. In reality, documentaries often fit into more than one category as they can borrow elements from each of the six different modes.

Modes of Documentary

Bill Nichols came up with six modes of documentary:

1. Expository: Otherwise known as ‘The Voice of God’, is how we most think of ‘documentary’. It emphasises verbal commentary and argumentative/ persuasive logic, usually, through a narrator. Most often associated with TV news or nature documentaries.
2. Observational: Otherwise known as ‘Window on the World’ or ‘Fly on the Wall’. It attempts to capture objective reality, with the filmmaker as a neutral observer. Filmmaker remains behind the camera and has no influence on the events being captured. Often results in shaky/ amateur footage.
3. Participatory: Defined by direct engagement between the filmmaker and the subject, with the filmmaker being a part of the events being recorded. Less emphasis on the filmmaker, however.
4. Performative: A focus on the filmmakers participation. Filmmaker is just as important as the topic.
5. Poetic: Moves away from objective reality to grasp at an inner truth. Emphasis on visuals to create truth through metaphor.
6. Reflexive: Acknowledges the constructive nature of the documentary. It is aware that the documentary of the event has a direct effect on the event.

Documentaries Defined

Documentary – a nonfictional motion picture intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education, or maintaining a historical record.

Bill Nichols is a film critic and theorist who is most well-known for his ideas about documentaries. He believed that, in one form or another, all films are in some sense documentaries. This could be how certain characters are made to act like everyday people or how the film has its own culture, regardless of if it’s fiction or not.

Obviously, the scale of that varies from normal reporting to fantastical fiction. His division of films comprised of two categories: ‘wish fulfilment’ and ‘social representation’.

The problem with trying to have a clear distinction between fiction and documentaries is that there is almost always some form of grey area involved. Most of the time, you won’t see a documentary with is purely documentary and vice-verse but for fiction films.

Blackfish

This is a 2013 documentary directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite about a captive killer whale named Tilikum. This whale has been captive in sea world and is known for having killed a number of different people.

What I liked about this documentary was that it really tried to take its time with describing the circumstances of Tilikum and the industry of sea parks. It clearly has a firm stance on how captivity is wrong and how these animals should be free, but it does a great job of showcasing why these events happened in the first place and how the trainers themselves always had the best of intentions.

This documentary best fits under the category of expository as it has a major focus on the verbal commentary of the people telling their personal stories, as well as the news coverage and behind the scenes of what had happened.

Bowling for Columbine

This is a political documentary directed by Michael Moore in 2002. It tries to look into the circumstances that would lead up to the school shooting in Columbine High School in 1999, as well as looking at gun laws in America and it’s high homicide rate.

The documentary focuses more on the actual background and environment in which the shooting happened as opposed to the actual shooting. Along with that, it is about violence in America on the whole just as much as it’s about Columbine in particular.

I would categorise this documentary as being participatory as Moore has direct engagement with the people who he interviews. However, it isn’t performative as he is not the focus of the documentary and isn’t as important as the topic itself.

The War Game

The War Game is a BBC documentary that was created in 1965 and was directed by Peter Watkins. It is about the potential impact and devastation of a nuclear attack on a community in Kent. It is all based off of leaked documents which describe what would happen in the UK if nuclear war were to break out.

Initially, this documentary was banned from being shown to the public. This was due to the very disturbing nature of the documentary and how it could have caused a mass panic across the country. The entire thing is acted out and isn’t real, but it is still fairly graphic in what it actually presents.

I would say that this documentary fits under the expository category of documentaries as it has a narrator which gives information to the viewer. Furthermore, I would consider it as being reflexive as it is aware of the fact that it is only showcasing what could potentially happen and is all simply being acted out.

Shazam! Review

I’ve decided that instead of writing out a review, I would record myself ramble on for a little while and would put this video together. Hope you enjoy my very thoughtful insights into this highly complex piece of film.

Component 2c: Silent Cinema – Essay

To what extent can it be said that your chosen film movement represents an expressionist as opposed to a realist approach to filmmaking? Make detailed reference to examples from the silent film or films you have studied. [20]

Plan:

INTRODUCTION:

Talk about the rise of cinema in the early 20th century:

• Tech came around in 1895 at about 8 fps
• Developed rapidly in parallel around the world but in different ways, fps gets to about 15
• Started as a novelty but became something more than that
• It was completely new and so anything could really be done with it
• There were two main approaches: realist and expressive

IDEAS:

Different countries did different things with the technology:

German Expressionism: 

• Mise-en-scene was seen as the most important element of film
• Unrealistic, distorted, elaborate sets, makeup, costumes and props
• Meaning was created through metaphors that the audience had to interpret
• Went from 1919- 1932, with notable films being ‘Metropolis’ (Fritz Lang, 1927) and ‘Nosferatu’ (F.W. Murnau, 1922).

Soviet Montage:

• Editing was seen as the most important element of film
• Ideas were told in ways such as juxtaposing shots and linking them with a consistent theme/ idea
• The Kuleshov Effect is how audiences derive meaning from two shots in succession rather than one single shot

Realism and André Bazin:

Realism:

• Films in this category were made to be an accurate depiction of reality
• Known as Cinema Vérité
• Emphasis on long takes, depth of field and on-location shooting
• The most important element of film was chosen by the audience and what they chose to focus on

André Bazin:

• French film critic and theorist
• Argued for realism in film being the most important function
• Gave his thoughts and ideas after the movements of German Expressionism and Soviet Montage

FILMS:

Introduction to Buster Keaton:

• Buster was a film director and actor during the era of silent comedies in the US during the 1920s

One paragraph for each of his films:

• One Week (1920)
• The Scarecrow (1920)
• The High Sign (1921)
• Cops (1922)

CONCLUSION:

• Idea that overall these films explored both realism and expressionism
• In favour of mostly realism but breaking reality (surrealism) for humour and pathos

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Essay:

The technology for film came around in 1895 with no sound and a frame rate of just 8 fps, just about enough to give the illusion of movement. This technology started as just a novelty for people to watch a picture move such as the famous example of ‘The Arrival of a Train’ in 1896. Soon after, film started to become something greater than that and the technology rapidly developing in parallel across the world over the coming years, with different countries having different ideas as to what film should be. Since it was a completely new art-form, there were no rules or preconceptions of what to do and so there was total artistic freedom. The two main ideas explored during the early age of film were realism and expressionism.

One expressionist film movement during the early days of cinema was German Expressionism and it ran from the years 1919- 1932. The main idea of this movement was that the Germans believed that mise-en-scene was the most important element of film. The key attributes that these types of films had were elaborate, abstract and distorted sets, makeup, costumes and props which were often created to be confusing for the audience. These would add up to create meaning through metaphors which the audience would have to infer for themselves. One of, if not the most, influential and well-known German Expressionist films is ‘Metropolis’ which was directed by Fritz Lang in 1922. It is regarded as pioneering the science-fiction movie, being among the first feature-length movies in the genre.

Another expressionist film movement at this point in time was Soviet Montage and came from Russia in the 1920s. They believed that editing was the most important element of film and so the ideas that they wanted to get across were told through the juxtaposition and sequencing of the different shots. This also meant that audiences had to be active in inferring what the meaning of a film was through the editing of them. This effect actually has a name: the Kuleshov Effect. Named after the Russian filmmaker who pioneered the effect called Lev Kuleshov, the idea is that audiences will derive more meaning from two different shots in succession rather than a single shot on its own. An example of a Soviet Montage film is ‘Battleship Potemkin’, directed by Sergei Eisenstein in 1925. This film was made as a revolutionary propaganda film and the director used his idea of a montage. It was edited specifically to make the audience feel sympathy for the sailors of the ship.

Realist films, known as cinema vérité, were made to be accurate depictions of reality. These films would have emphasis put on long takes, wide shots, depth of field and would mostly be shot on-location. The main idea of this approach to film is that the audience have to decide what is important to look at (“cutting with their eyes”).

The inevitability of having two very distinctly different approaches to filmmaking is that some people will always prefer one over the other, and so critics emerge as well. The most famous critic who wrote about this era of films was the French critic, André Bazin. He started writing about films in 1943 (notably, after these movements had come and gone) and co-founded a film magazine called ‘Cahiers du cinéma’. He argued that films should be an accurate reflection of objective reality, have deep focus, and a lack of montage. With his ideals for film, it’s no coincidence that he was opposed to expressionist films due to their usage of more abstract methods of filmmaking.

Buster Keaton was a huge name during the era of silent comedies in the US, being one of the most influential filmmakers of this time period. He worked throughout the 1920s for the most part, with some of his most notable work being his two-reeler comedies which usually stand at around 20 minutes. His style of comedy and filmmaking can best be described as surrealist as it breaks reality just enough to not be distracting but is still not fully realistic.

One of Buster’s films is called ‘One Week’ and was released in 1920. The overall premise of this film is that Buster and his newly-wed wife are building their house over the course of a week. All of the materials for this house are contained within a fairly small wooden box which isn’t nearly big enough to have a whole house in it. Obviously, this is a stretch of reality but it isn’t so ridiculous that it makes the film completely unbelievable. The style of the sets in this film appear realistic for the most part, with the main exception being the house when the exterior is complete and it looks incredibly rigid. The film uses simple continuity editing to tell its story, leading to a more realist approach to the order in which the story is told. The main diversion from this though are the jumps in time between each day, which are signified by a hand changing the day on a calendar.

Another film by Buster is his 1920 film ‘The Scarecrow’. This film starts out with the idea that the house is all one room but still functions like a traditional house. The way in which the film is actually shot and edited follows a more realist approach with lots of deep focus and extended long shots with the camera staying still for the most part. However, the set of his house leans into a more expressive theme as it has to get creative in how everything can fit into one room. As such, elements such as a record player turning into a stove are obviously breaks in reality and are there for laughs and not realism. One other way in which this film breaks reality is when the 4th wall is broken by a woman looking towards the camera as if she is communicating with the audience. This leans towards a more expressive idea that the film is self aware of it being a film and not reality.

Buster’s 1921 film ‘The High Sign’ has a gag very close to the beginning where he opens a newspaper which is seemingly endless. In reality, a newspaper would never be this big and so this aspect leans towards more expressive ideas. However, this could be considered actually a commentary on how newspapers were seen as being too big and that it is an exaggerated version of reality just enough that it becomes satirical but not unbelievable. There is also an example in this film of parallel editing with the dog outside the gun shop. The parallel editing tells the audience that these two events are happening at the same time and are going to become relevant to each other soon. This editing technique leans towards the ideas of Soviet Montage as the editing is used to convey meaning to the audience.

His 1922 film ‘Cops’ opens up with a shot of what appears to be Buster behind prison bars, so that when the film cuts to him just on the other side of a gate outside the moment is funny. The framing of the first shot combined with the cut into the second shot with the reveal of the joke shows the more expressive side of Buster’s films as techniques are being used specifically to hide information from the audience, as opposed to the realist approach of showcasing all the information possible. Throughout this film, the characters all have very bold and unsubtle expressions and movements. This is due to the nature of film at the time where sound wasn’t possible to play perfectly in time with the picture. The elaborate performances give meaning to the audience and so can be considered an expressive approach as opposed to a realist one.

Overall, Buster Keaton’s films were a combination of the two ideas of the expressive and the realist. The reason why he would do this is so that his jokes would still be funny and ridiculous, but still have a sense of realism to them that they are somewhat grounded in reality.

 

 

 

 

 

Buster Keaton: The Realist vs The Expressive – Cops (1922)

• The actors expressions are bold and unsubtle so that we understand the point that they try to get across. But inter titles with dialogue are used whenever the message cannot be inferred from the acting alone.
• The beginning shot of makes it seem like Buster is behind prison bars, so that when the film cuts to him just being on the other side of a gate the moment is funny.
• The film has continuity editing throughout the whole film, leaning to a more realist approach of filmmaking.
• Buster hangs his hat on the horse that he buys, but there doesn’t appear to actually be anything that he hangs it on. This type of joke is known a surreal, which is when a joke is close to being realistic, but something or other is just slightly off.
• Buster putting a pair of headphones on the horse and then talking to it through a type of phone line isn’t actually something that can be done and breaks reality for the purpose of a joke
• Iris shots are used to show the point of view of someone.
• Parallel editing is used with the policemen to set up that they are going to play a role in the rest of the film and that this is happening at the same time as the stuff with Buster.
• Everything with the bomb is unrealistic from how Buster acts completely calm to it and uses it to light is cigarette, to how it doesn’t actually cause any harm and just seems to make everyone dizzy and covered with ash when it explodes.
• Buster having so many policemen chasing after him is obviously not a likely situation to happen and so the humour of it comes from the inherit ridiculousness of the situation.
• There is some small amount of camera work where the camera shifts to the right to reveal that Buster is hiding in a car.
• Buster grabbing onto the back of a moving car so nonchalantly is funny because of the apparent unrealistic nature of it, even though it was something that he actually had to do.
• The policemen often stumble and fall over in the background to add to the comedy for the people who are looking deeper into the frame.
• We don’t see how Buster is able to get around the policemen which makes it funnier as it is unexpected when he appears from where the massive hoard of police are.

Buster Keaton: The Realist vs The Expressive – The High Sign (1921)

• Starts with an inter-title which gives context to the story so that the audience understands everything which they need to understand.
• The gag of the seemingly never ending newspaper is an exaggerated version of reality as realistically one would never actually be that big.
• POV shot of the newspaper so that we know what Buster is looking at on the newspaper.
• The joke of the gun not firing in the direction which Buster is pointing it wouldn’t actually be the case in reality and is done for comedic effect.
• The reaction of the man who gets shot is clearly exaggerated for comedy.
• Buster hanging up his hat on the wall without any peg and just staying there is done as a subtle joke which breaks reality, but not in a way which is too distracting.
• Iris shot is used to show the POV of the man looking at the note.
• The bell being rung by the dog needs to be cut to often as the sound of the bell would only ever be present during a showing of the film, if at all. This is so that the audience understands exactly what’s happening with this sound based joke, even though there’s no sound.
• The name of the man who is being targeted in the film is emphasised a couple times so that we know that Buster knows that the man who he is body-guarding is also the man who he has been tasked to kill.
• The men who are apart of the Blinking Buzzards are made to look extra rough and tough by their appearances and performances.
• Busters reaction to finding out that he has to kill who is has to protect is exaggerated for comedic effect, while also getting the message across to the audience in an effective way as subtlety could go over some peoples heads.
• Buster paining a peg onto the wall and hanging his hat up again breaks reality in a comedic way.
• Buster looks towards the camera a couple times throughout the film as if he is looking at the audience to communicate with them.
• Using a cigar as a nail is obviously not possible and is done for comedy.
• The iris shot of the man looking at the money establishes that he wants to steal it without saying a word.
• The man taking out every single target with a double barrel shotgun isn’t actually real and is done for comedic effect.
• The police man pulling out a banana instead of a gun is established early on in the film when Buster replaces the gun with the banana. This makes it so that this joke is unrealistic, but made to be at least believable within the context of the film.
• The set of the house is unrealistic but is modelled so that it can all be shown off during the chase around the house.
• The traps and getaways in the house are established before that sequence so that we understand the geography of the house more and don’t get lost/ confused.
• Buster throwing the hat without looking isn’t likely to actually happen in real life but is done for comedic effect.
• The horse that’s seen in the mug is unrealistic.
• The house is very symmetrical as a way to make the scene not too confusing for the audience.
• The mans head getting stuck in the doorway isn’t realistic but is done for comedic effect.

Buster Keaton: The Realist vs The Expressive – The Scarecrow (1920)

• The initial premise of the men’s house being only one room that has all of the features of a normal home is told before the actual film starts with an inter-title.
• The film uses lots of long shots with a still camera the vast majority of the time.
• The house is unrealistic such as how a record player can turn into a stove.
• Iris shot is used to show a point of view.
• Continuity editing is used through the majority of the film, making it lean more towards a realist piece of work as it just tells its story in a straight forward order.
• Parts of the house that are going to become more relevant to what’s happening later in the film such as the sink/ chair which leads outside to the animals are established earlier on so that we understand the geography more when the action starts and the film gains a faster pace.
• The actors have exaggerated movements as a way to express the characters personalities and emotions on top of just for comedic effect. This is done as subtle movements wouldn’t translate well to a film where you can’t hear anything that the actors are actually saying.
• 4th wall break as the woman looks towards the camera as if she knows that there are people watching who aren’t really there.
• Inter-titles are used throughout the whole film as a way to showcase dialogue whenever it is necessary to have it.
• The dog ending up being friends with Buster and shaking hands is a stretch of reality as the dog would’ve been trained to do so for the camera. Thus, this part of the story leans away from a realistic portrayal of reality.

Buster Keaton: The Realist vs The Expressive – One Week (1920)

• The beginning of the film has more realist elements, with continuity editing and realistic sets/ locations.
• The idea of all of the materials to construct a house being contained within a relatively small box is more expressive, which is done for comedic effect.
• House could be a metaphor for building a life with another person, but in the ‘correct’ sort of way.
• The spinning wall breaks reality for comedic effect.
• The house being incredibly wonky is also done for comedic effect.
• 4th wall break as the woman looks at the camera as if there are actually people there watching them.
• The weight of the piano is made to seem really light and breaks reality as no one can realistically carry a piano on one shoulder.
• The floor being pulled down and then the man having his head jammed through the roof isn’t realistic.
• Buster carrying the chimney around and up a ladder isn’t actually possible in reality.
•  4th wall break as the woman looked towards the camera before she has to reach out of the bath. The camera man putting their hand over the lens is also a 4th wall break as they aren’t apart of the actual narrative of the film.
• Friday 13th is a well known date for being supposedly unlucky.
• The house spinning around is a departure from reality as that wouldn’t actually happen.
• Iris shots throughout the film are used to show a point of view and are also done as a way to draw the audiences focus towards specific parts of the frame.
• The second railway track is out of frame so that when the train doesn’t hit the house we feel relief. This then makes us put our guard down so that when a different train does hit the house we are surprised by it.

André Bazin (1918- 1958)

André Bazin was a French film critic and theorist. He is most well-known for arguing that realism was the most important aspect of film and that the interpretation of film was up to the audience.

Bazin started to write about films in 1943 and co-founded a film magazine called ‘Cahiers du cinéma’. He worked on this magazine for the rest of his life, up to his death at 40 years old from leukaemia. Bazin was a huge name when it came to post-World War 2 film studies and criticism. A four-volume collection of his writings was published going from the years 1958 to 1962 titled ‘What is Cinema?’ (translated from French).

He argued that films should be an accurate reflection of objective reality, have deep focus, and a lack of montage. With his ideals for film, it’s no coincidence that he was opposed to the films under categories such as ‘German Expressionism’ and ‘Soviet Montage’ due to their usage of more abstract methods of filmmaking. He also believed in the idea of ‘personalism’, which is that a film should be a representation of the director’s personal vision.

 

Buster Keaton: Silent Clown

Buster Keaton, real name Joseph Frank Keaton, was an American actor, comedian, film director, producer, screenwriter, and stunt performer. He was born on October 4th 1895 in Kansas and died on February 1st 1966 in Los Angles, aged 70. He is most well-known for his work during the silent film era from 1920 to 1929, creating some of the most influential work in comedy films of all time.

Buster’s parents, Myra Keaton and Joseph Hallie “Joe” Keaton, were vaudeville stage performers. At the age of 3, in 1899, Buster joined his parents on stage and they had a comedy act called ‘The Three Keatons’ with Busters first appearance on stage being in Wilmington, Delaware. The main routine would be that Buster and his father would argue on stage and then his father would proceed to throw Buster against the surroundings, including the audience in some cases. By doing this a lot, Buster learned how to not be injured during his stunts.

Buster Keaton in his 1921 film ‘The Goat’

One of his trademarks was his deadpan expression, as he believed that the audience would find his work more funny if he concealed the fact that he found his jokes funny. This expression earned him the nickname “The Great Stone Face”.

Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, in 1916

In the February of 1917, Buster met a man called Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle at the Talmadge Studios in New York City. When they met, Buster asked Arbuckle if he could borrow a camera so he could get a feel for how it worked and its mechanics. Buster was hired as a co-star and gag man, with his first appearance being in ‘The Butcher Boy’ in 1917.  Buster appeared in 14 of Arbuckle’s shorts, going into 1920. His trademark stone face was not present at this point in his career and was developed later on. Buster stared in his first feature length film in 1920, titled ‘The Saphead’.

After Keaton finished working with Arbuckle, he got his own production unit called ‘Buster Keaton Productions’. Buster made a series of two-reel comedies, including ‘One Week’ (1920), ‘Cops’ (1922) and ‘The Playhouse’ (1921), before moving on to full-length features. Keatons most notable features include ‘Steamboat Bill, Jr.’ (1928), ‘Our Hospitality’ (1923), ‘The Navigator’ (1924) and ‘The General’ (1926).

 

 

 

 

The Hunger Games

We were given the task to create a short film where a number of characters were running the get to the school canteen. In the short, we were challenged to use a number of editing techniques: parallel editing, j cuts, l cuts, hidden cuts, jump cuts, match cuts and montage.

Unfortunately, I didn’t really find a way to include a few of these techniques. I did not include any hidden cuts, montage or j cuts. I technically put in an l cut, however you can’t really notice it.

Parallel editing and match cuts were what I found to be the easiest techniques to include with the footage that we had. I feel that if we had more footage then the other techniques would’ve been more easily producible. I also feel that the sound of the short was hindered a few times by having noises which weren’t supposed to be there (such as some laughter and someone talking at one point). This could’ve easily been solved by just taking a couple of the shots more times than we did. The point where this issue is most noticeable is during the shot when Jonah slides under my legs, as I removed the sound entirely due to a laugh and not having any other takes of that shot.

The planning of the short was absolutely fine. We mapped out where in the school we would need to go, where we would have the camera and so on. This plan was done during the latter half of the lesson before we shot the footage and so I feel we did the best that we could in that time frame. The actual recording all had to be done in one 50 minute lesson, and so the entire thing did have to be rushed as we could not spend too much time on one shot.

Obviously, this made the short worse than it could’ve been had we been given more time, but that’s not a very big deal. I do feel that some of the shots were actually quite well done, especially when Jonah jumps over the barrier on the stairs and the camera cuts to his shoes.

The final product:

Adventures in Editing

Parallel editing: alternating between two or more different scenes to convey that they are both happening at the same time.

J-Cuts: audio from the next scene plays before that next scene starts, acting as a lead-in to the actual visual cut.

L-Cuts: the next scene begins while the audio from the previous scene is still playing, so the audio cuts after the picture.

Hidden cuts: a cut which is made to look like there is actually no cut at all. This can be achieved in many ways such as an object or a person covering the frame entirely, whip pans, or by having a large contrast in lighting.

Jump cuts: the cut is very obvious to the viewer as there can be camera angle changes or changes in an actors posture (feels like a jump in time).

Match cut: a cut from one shot to another where the two shots are matched by the action or subject and subject matter.

Montage: a series of short shots are edited into a sequence to condense time, space and information.

 

Creating Meaning: German Expressionism and Soviet Montage

Silent Cinema and the Rise of Hollywood

The technology for film came around in 1895 with a frame rate of around 8 fps, just enough to give the illusion of movement. There was no single inventor of film technology, instead it was being developed in parallel with different countries doing different things. The frame rate of films was pushed higher and higher, going to more around 15 fps. Film started out as just a sideshow, with the main attraction of it just being the novelty of seeing things move. What different cultures chose to do with film varies quite a bit, as they each had different ideas as to what the most important aspect of film was.

In Russia, film was seen as a political tool that was an effective way at conveying information. Their style is known as ‘Soviet Montage’ and mostly focused on the editing without narratives. In Germany, they thought that mise-en-scene was the most important aspect. Their films were full of symbolism and metaphors, and would have constructed sets that would tell stories in abstract ways. This style is known as ‘German Expressionism’.

A German Expressionist film called ‘Metropolis’ (Fritz Lang, 1927)

In the US, however, their idea of what film was is much closer to how films are made and consumed today. Films were narrative driven with continuity editing and focused on people. They decided that film could be monetised with cinemas and distribution. This view of films being a product led to the creation of the studio system, where films could be produced rapidly. Rolls of film were able to have about 6-8 minutes of footage in one go. So the US came up with the idea of ‘two-reelers’ which were about 15 minutes long and soon became the standard length of a film.

The US focused mainly on comedy as that’s what the audiences wanted to see, which is what they felt needed to be done as they wanted as wide of an appeal as possible. The audiences also wanted to see more of certain actors, which led to the rise of film stars. These stars were huge, actually having more power within the industry than the actual filmmakers a lot of the time, and there were only a few of them including Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Laurel and Hardy (a duo act).

Charlie Chaplin was a music hall star in the UK who moved to the US and became an incredibly famous actor (also creating a studio called ‘United Artists’). He was also able to survive the transition into the inclusion of sound in films (talkies). Harold Lloyd became known for being a daredevil and performed his own stunts. It’s said that it’s amazing that he didn’t die during his time as a star. Laurel and Hardy were a due that had amazing chemistry. They made tonnes of films together (8-10 films a year), but the two didn’t make that much money as they were payed a wage. They were also able to make the transition into talkies. These two dominated the first half of the 20th century.

Component 2a: Global Film – Cinematography Essay

With close reference to the two films you have studied, explore how cinematography creates meaning.

Pan’s Labyrinth and House of Flying Daggers are two global films from the early to mid 2000s employ cinematography to create meaning.

Pan’s Labyrinth is a film directed by Guillermo Del Toro in 2006 and is set in 1944, during the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. It follows an 11 year old girl named Ofelia as she carries out tasks from a faun who she discovered in a Labyrinth after being told that she is actually Princess Moanna from the underworld. The film also follows Ofelia’s mother Carman who has married a man called Captain Vidal who has taken post at a mill.

The film opens up with a shot of Ofelia which zooms into her eye. This being the first shot establishes to the audience that this girl is a central character and that this story is going to focus on her. Plus, the way the camera seems to go into her eye suggests that some of the events of the film are taking place in her head and is all just a fairytale (one of the main themes of the film). The sequence that takes place right after this, in the underworld, is all one shot. The shot tracks the girl in the scene who is the girl in the story being told. The camera crabs right to follow her and has a floaty/ dream-like quality to it, which adds to the idea that this is a fairytale type story. The camera tracks the girl up a set of stairs and the frame becomes engulfed with a bright light. This bright light could represent this girl being blinded and subsequently dying.

Just after a sequence with Ofelia and her mother (Carmen), the films switches focus to what the Captain (Vidal) is doing in his room. This sequence also includes the Doctor and the shots create a sense that Vidal is dominant over the Doctor. We get a wide shot of Vidal with a low angle which tilts up to make it so that he appears to be towering over the Doctor when he stands up. A mid shot of the Doctor turns into an over the shoulder shot as Vidal enters the frame which shows us that he is physically looking down on the Doctor, making him look small. This is done to highlight how the fascists were much more powerful and had a higher rank in society than the rebels and common people during the Spanish Civil War, as the Doctor is revealed to be on the side of the rebels later in the film.

As Ofelia leaves to do her first trial in the fig tree and the fascists go off to investigate a rebel camp, the characters go from left to right as that shows to us that they are venturing out of their usual location. While focusing on Ofelia, there’s a mid shot that is handheld with floaty movements to make it seem somewhat carefree, much like Ofelia. The lighting is made up from bright natural light to show us that Ofelia is happy going on her journey to her first trial. Once she reaches the tree, the camera has slower movements to focus on the tree. The camera pans around Ofelia to become close to an over the shoulder shot which tilts upwards to a wide shot of Ofelia and the tree. This shot makes the tree appear daunting and the slower camera movements also suggest that Ofelia is feeling more nervous now that she has arrived at the tree.

Ofelia’s second trial involves getting a dagger from a room which has a monster called the Pale Man. When the Pale Man starts to wake up after Ofelia eats a grape, the camera focuses specifically on whichever part of him is starting to move. At first, this is a close up on his hands they snap awake. Within the same shot, the camera tilts upwards to show his face which only wakes up once it’s within the frame. This is done so that the scene builds up tension to what the Pale Man may do. He starts to stumble over to Ofelia, but he is out of focus even as he gets closer and closer, as Ofelia is not concentrating on him. He comes into focus as soon as Ofelia turns around which tells us that Ofelia is now fully aware of the danger that she is in. This is emphasised by the close up on the Pale Man which acts as a POV shot of him from Ofelia’s perspective.

Del Toro’s use of different cinematography techniques tell us about the different attributes of the characters. This includes the low angle shots of Vidal to show that he is dominant over everyone else and the Pale Man being out of focus for a while tells us that Ofelia is distracted and is giving up to the temptation of wanting the food on the table.

House of Flying Daggers is a film directed by Zhang Yimou in 2004. It takes place in 859 AD, China, at the end of the Tang Dynasty where there are rebel groups which are against the government. The largest of these groups (in the world of the film) is The House of Flying Daggers.

After the opening credits, the first shot of the film is a close up on a rack of swords as they get picked up one by one by soldiers all wearing the same uniform, which establishes this film taking place in medieval China and that we this scene is taking place in a military station. There is then a long shot which shows two main characters (Leo and Jin). This shot is symmetrically framed as a way for the scene to appear more formal and to establish geography in the scene. Furthermore, this makes it so that neither character seems more important that the other and are equals.

In the scene immediately afterwards, there is a very distinct shift in the lighting of the film with the pavilion having much brighter lighting than the station. This establishes the pavilion as a lighthearted and welcoming place to be rather than the harsher themes of the army. The framing of Jin and the rest of the women in the pavilion tell us that Jin is the most important character in the scene to start off with as he in framed centrally, leading to us focusing more on him as our eyes are drawn to the centre of the frame. However, once the Madam appears, the camera instead tracks her to show us that she is a more important character to the plot than all of the other women. Moreover, there is another tracking shot, this time of Mei as she is first introduced. This shot is much longer than the one of the Madam, which tells us that Mei is even more important as she is one of the main characters of the film. The smooth and slow camera movements look elegant and precise, much like Mei at this point of the film. This is emphasised moments later as Mei is centrally framed, similar to how Jin was centrally framed. This indicates that Jin and Mei are just as important as each other and that the two should be considered as being equals.

Zhang uses zooms during the scene where Mei plays the echo game and is done as a way to convey the focus of the characters to the audience. This happens when Mei is playing the game to tell us that she is concentrating on what she is doing. Furthermore, this happens while Leo is circling Mei to show that he is focused on her. By extension, this zoom foreshadows that Leo and Mei have a greater connection and history with each other as it implies that Leo is taking the time to appreciate finally seeing her after so long being undercover. On the other hand, there are also zooms during this sequence which are used to punctuate certain actions. These specifically happen during the fight between Leo and Mei as the zooms add more impact to their actions. Plus, these zooms are much faster than the other zooms to highlight how fast paced and powerful these moments really are.

Different camera angles are used by Zhang at the start of the fight in the bamboo forest to set up that something isn’t right and that Mei could be in danger. To start, a canted angle is used to suggest that something is about to go wrong and then low angled worms-eye-view shots are used multiple times throughout the rest of the sequence as a way to emphasise that the threat is above Mei. Furthermore, symmetrical framing is used as a way to show that Mei is also being surrounded by all sides. This all adds up to make the scene have tension and make the audience root for Mei even more as she is presented as being an underdog during this fight. The close ups of damage being done to bamboo is also a way which makes the audience feel uncomfortable and understand the stakes of what’s happening as Mei is in danger. This is also done by the camera being handheld and close to the action at certain points as a way to immerse the audience in the fight and to build confusion and tension.

Overall, Zhang uses cinematography as a way to showcase the focus, control and power of the characters in the film. Through this, the cinematography effectively tells us which characters are the central focus of the story.

In conclusion, both Del Toro and Zhang use cinematography in effective ways that convey different meanings. This includes the differences between characters and their individual attributes and qualities.

House of Flying Daggers: Sound

Opening Sequence (00:00:00- 00:07:12)

During the opening credits of the film, a non-diegetic composed score plays. This score uses the sounds of bamboo and Chinese instruments to draw attention to the style and the setting of the film. This piece also sounds quite sharp at points, implying that the story that is about to be told has danger and conflict throughout. Furthermore, at the end of this sequence the women of the pavilion play traditional Chinese instruments (diegetic) to tell us that they are talented musically and sets the tone for the dance that Mei is about to perform.

While in the pavilion, all of the women sound very exaggerated in their excitement and they all sound pretty much exactly the same. This is done to showcase that this is a place where the guests are meant to feel special. Plus, Jin’s voice during this scene is dominant in the mix showing that he is the most important person there. This is reinforced later as Jin gets his sword out and that becomes the dominant sound in the mix and the sword acts as an extension of Jin himself.

Echo Game Sequence (00:10:33- 00:19:22)

During the set up for the game, the sounds of the drums and excited audience that has gathered all sound chaotic and dominates the mix. As soon as the drummers sit down, the scene goes quiet and then once the bowl of beans is placed down the scene goes completely silent. This large contrast in how loud the scene is tells us that something is about to happen very shortly and builds up suspense to the game truly beginning. The sounds of beans in the bowl and Mei’s tinkling headwear also adds to the building suspense of the scene.

The last part of the game involves Mei essentially hitting every drum as all of the beans in the bowl are thrown (as an extra point, this all sounds very overwhelming and emphasises how many there are). As Mei is hitting the drums, the drummers playing in the scene are playing at a very fast tempo which seems to get faster which suggests to us that there is going to be a big climax. Furthermore, Mei goes off beat while hitting the drums which makes this sequence feel very chaotic/ overwhelming and builds up anticipation to the hinted climax.

Bamboo Fight (01:03:03- 01:10:20)

This scene establishes the threat through the sounds of the action. As bamboo is thrown, it makes a ‘swoosh’ sound effect which makes it seem like it is travelling very fast through the air. When the bamboo goes through the bamboo trees, it makes an exaggerated loud sound to emphasise its power and impact. This makes it so that we understand that the bamboo being thrown is a dangerous threat and that Mei is in trouble here. There are also very sharp whistles right before the soldiers throw lots of bamboo which establishes that whenever we hear that noise that more bamboo is about to be thrown. This sound is uncomfortable and drives home that this sound represents danger.

A composed non-diegetic score is used a couple times during this sequence to give more impact to certain moments. First, a vocal score comes in right as Jin appears. The vocals have a holy aspect to them and emphasise that Jin has come to save the day and that Mei is now safer than she was just before. Once the two get trapped shortly after, the score comes in after Jin says “I came back, for you”. This is sound punctuation and makes it so that the moment has the impact which the director wants it to have as it is an important moment when it’s confirmed that Jin is truly in love with Mei.

House of Flying Daggers: Cinematography

Opening Sequence (00:00:00- 00:07:12)

There is a close up on a rack of swords as they get picked up one by one (similar to a ‘suiting up’ montage), which establishes this film taking place in medieval China and that we this scene is taking place in a military station. There is then a long shot which shows two main characters. This shot is symmetrically framed as a way for the scene to appear more formal and to establish geography in the scene. Furthermore, this makes it so that neither character seems more important that the other and are equals.

When the location changes from the station to the pavilion, there is a very distinct shift in the lighting of the film with the pavilion having much brighter lighting than the station. This establishes the pavilion as a lighthearted and welcoming place to be rather than the harsher themes of the army. The framing of Jin and the rest of the women in the pavilion tell us that Jin is the most important character in the scene to start off with as he in framed centrally, leading to us focusing more on him as our eyes are drawn to the centre of the frame. However, once the Madam appears, the camera instead tracks her to show us that she is a more important character to the plot than all of the other women. Moreover, there is another tracking shot, this time of Mei as she is first introduced. This shot is much longer than the one of the Madam, which tells us that Mei is even more important as she is one of the main characters of the film. The smooth and slow camera movements look elegant and precise, much like Mei at this point of the film. This is emphasised moments later as Mei is centrally framed, similar to how Jin was centrally framed. This indicated that Jin and Mei are just as important as each other and that the two should be considered as being equals.

Echo Game Sequence (00:10:33- 00:19:22)

This scene makes use of camera zooms multiple times, this is done as a way to convey the focus of the characters to the audience. This happens when Mei is playing the game to tell us that she is concentrating on what she is doing. Furthermore, this happens while Leo is circling Mei to show that he is focused on her. By extension, this zoom foreshadows that Leo and Mei have a greater connection and history with each other as it implies that Leo is taking the time to appreciate finally seeing her after so long being undercover. On the other hand, there are also zooms during this sequence which are used to punctuate certain actions. These specifically happen during the fight between Leo and Mei as the zooms add more impact to their actions. Plus, these zooms are much faster than the other zooms to highlight how fast paced and powerful these moments really are.

The use of close ups during the game make it so that we can easily understand exactly what Mei is doing at that specific moment as well as highlighting the impact of things such as her hitting the drums. This sequence also has very flowing camera movements which are meant to mimic Mei’s movements. This makes it so that we feel more like observers in the background who are closely following what Mei is doing rather than being right in the action. This is also done so that the scene that we are watching is easier to understand and not disorientating for the audience. This is further accomplished by how there are establishing shots of the entire room which the game takes place in, with these shots being symmetrically opposed so that we better understand the geography of the scene.

Bamboo Fight (01:03:03- 01:10:20)

Different camera angles are used at the start of this scene to set up that something isn’t right and that Mei could be in danger. To start, a canted angle is used to suggest that something is about to go wrong and then low angled worms-eye-view shots are used multiple times throughout the rest of the sequence as a way to emphasise that the threat is above Mei. Furthermore, symmetrical framing is used as a way to show that Mei is also being surrounded by all sides. This all adds up to make the scene have tension and make the audience root for Mei even more as she is presented as being an underdog during this fight. The close ups of damage being done to bamboo is also a way which makes the audience feel uncomfortable and understand the stakes of what’s happening as Mei is in danger. This is also done by the camera being handheld and close to the action at certain points as a way to immerse the audience in the fight and to build confusion and tension.

 

 

House of Flying Daggers: Mise-en-Scene

Opening Sequence (00:00:00- 00:07:12)

The look of the opening titles to the film set up the setting and aesthetics of it. The background used is very like traditional Chinese calligraphy paper and is used as a way to write calligraphy on it for the contexts of the story. The text written is done in traditional Chinese and isn’t simplified due to it being set during an era when it didn’t exist. Furthermore, the text appears from left to right, being read from top to bottom as this is how Chinese is read. All of this sets up to tell us that the story that’s about to be told is going to be a traditional one. On a separate point, the colour of the text is red, which could link to sex and violence, both of which are prominent in the film (especially violence).

Later in the sequence, once we move to the pavilion, the look of the scene completely changes from having a fairly muddy and dark colour palette to a much brighter palette with a wider variety of colours used. The clothes that Jin wears are long and baggy, separating him from everyone else in the scene who are wearing shorter length clothes. This makes him stand out as the main character. Moreover, when Mei appears, she also has long and baggy clothes and so the same effect is given to her as well. Mei’s appearance is very luxurious and delicate to reflect on her beautiful talents. She has very white make up on which makes her look like a doll, which is relevant to Chinese culture at this time as having lighter skin meant that you were higher up in the social class due to it implying that you did not have to work hard out in the sun. Furthermore, Mei’s status as a member of the Flying Daggers is foreshadowed by her blending into the background of the scene, much like how she is trying to blend in with the other girls in the pavilion to infiltrate the army.

Echo Game Sequence (00:10:33- 00:19:22)

The building that this sequence takes place in is designed with classic Chinese architecture in mind, as this film takes place during a time where art culture was becoming more and more important in China, so the pavilion has lots of art around it as well as staples of Chinese architecture such as columns with art on them and blue fencing. This look gives the pavilion a sense of wealth to it, which is also matched by the people watching the game that are wearing bright fancy clothes as well to signify wealth. Furthermore, the drums used for the game have pastel colours which art of flowers on them to also present wealth. All of this helps to separate Leo in the scene as he is in a dark green uniform to contrast between the bright colours of the pavilion and the darker nature of the army/ government.

This is the first fight scene in the film, and so it’s the first time the traditions of Wuxia fighting are employed. For example, flexible swords are used in the fight which are a tradition of China and Chinese storytelling. Furthermore, is is the first time where the film almost acts as a different type of world where physics behave differently, which is another tradition of Chinese storytelling. However, the shot where there are beans all around Mei in slow motion is very reminiscent of the 1999 film ‘The Matrix”, showing that is film has been influenced by western culture in a way in which western audiences will be able to relate more to the film.

Bamboo Fight (01:03:03- 01:10:20)

The part about this scene which separates it from the rest of the film is the abundance of bamboo in the scene. This is done to further drive home that this film is a traditional Chinese story as China has the largest amount of bamboo in the world and is a staple of the country. With so much bamboo, this means that the colour palette of the scene is mostly green (a darker green to be specific). Green usually indicates life, however, here the green is used to indicate that the army soldiers are coming and that they are surrounding Mei and Jin. The bamboo is also used to showcase that Mei is gradually losing the fight while she is on her own as the bamboo is splintered and broken completely.

All of the costumes in this scene have purpose. Firstly, Mei is wearing men’s clothing in this scene and so that masculates her. Secondly, Jin wears clothes that are completely different to everyone else’s clothes. This makes it so that Jin stands out as being a true individual and that he has no allegiance to anyone. The soldiers have their green costumes which blend into the bamboo, making it so that they seem hidden and that they could be anywhere. The same can be said for the Flying Daggers, which have a brighter shade of green for their clothing, but it’s still as if they are hiding in the forest and use their clothes to be more secluded.

 

House of Flying Daggers: Editing

Opening Sequence (00:00:00- 00:07:12)

The first shot of the film is a close up of swords being picked up one-by-one by soldiers. This establishes to the audience that this scene takes place in a military area and that the army are likely to have a heavy involvement with the rest of the story. This scene then introduces us to two of the main characters, Jin and Leo. They are introduced through them having a conversation which is edited with shot/ reverse shot. However, it’s edited so that each shot is roughly the same length, meaning that the character that is talking isn’t always the one who’s shown on-screen. Consequently, we are made to view these two as equals with neither of them really dominating the scene.

On the other hand, once we switch locations to the pavilion, Jin gets far more screen time than any other individual character which tells us that he is now the most important one there and emphasises him as one of the central characters of the film. This changes, however, once Mei appears as she is also a main character in the film. Before she is fully revealed, there is a long take of her walking into the room with Jin. The effect this has is it builds up anticipation for when she is fully shown on-screen. This also confirms that Mei is going to be an important character as we wouldn’t spend this much time on a simple side character. The number of edits decreases again when Jin puts his sword on Mei’s face as a way to make the moment even more uncomfortable to watch as awkwardness builds up. The pace rapidly increases when he takes her gown off as the moment is meant to catch us by surprise. However, the moment is put in slow motion so that we can still tell what’s just happened.

Echo Game Sequence (00:10:33- 00:19:22)

This sequence makes use of quite a lot of slow motion, which is a common characteristic of the Wuxia genre, for a few different reasons. At first, the slow motion is used as a way to showcase Mei’s movements in a way that we can fully digest what she’s doing. Furthermore, it gives off an effect that makes Mei seem almost angelic in some way which emphasises her talent. Slow motion is also used during a shot where hundreds of beans are surrounding her in the air. The effect gives the moment an other-worldly feel to it as time appears to come to a complete halt for a brief moment. This is also a way to put us into the mind of Mei, as this could represent her complete concentration on everything that’s going on around her. Slow motion is used again at the end of the game when Mei pulls out Leo’s sword. This is done to show the shock of the moment and so that we can actually process what’s going on without being confused or overwhelmed.

During the game, we see shots of Mei hitting the drums. At first, there are not so many shots like this as she only has to hit a couple drums. However, as the game progresses, the number of shots like this increases as she has to hit all of the drums. The pace gets faster and faster, which builds anticipation to the eventual climax of Mei taking the sword. This also makes the audience disorientated as well as a way to make that climax more impactful and surprising.

Bamboo Fight (01:03:03- 01:10:20)

As this is a fight scene with fast paced action, there are very frequent cuts to accompany that fast pace. However, the use of slow motion on close ups of notable parts of the fight makes those moments have more impact. This includes how it makes the damage done throughout the fight seem more powerful than it would otherwise. Plus, the slow motion allows us to take in the scene. Most of the screen time at the start of the fight is given to Mei, which establishes her as the main character of this fight. The pace of the editing is also used to make the scene even more focused on Mei, such as how the pace slows right down so that we can focus on Mei’s focus when she is being surrounded by soldiers.

For about the last half of the scene, we focus much more on the relationship between Jin and Mei rather than the fight itself. This first happens when we get close up shots of Jin and Mei with slow motion to show the relief on Mei’s face as well as the romance between the two. At this point, there is parallel editing between Mei’s admiration and Jin fighting. The two get trapped within a cage of bamboo and have a mini conversation. During this conversation, shot/ reverse shot with the 180 degree rule is used to show that these two are solely focused on each other and are not as engaged with the soldiers that have them surrounded, emphasising their connection with each other.

 

 

 

House of Flying Daggers: Performance

Opening Sequence (00:00:00- 00:07:12)

In the opening scene, we are introduced to the characters Jin and Leo. We can tell by how Jin almost lies down while drinking tea that he is much more relaxed than Leo, as Leo sits up with a straight posture while working on his equipment. We also get this impression from Jin during the rest of the sequence as he acts incredibly flirtatious and confident around the women in the pavilion.

Upon knowing what happens by the end of the film, we gain the knowledge that during this sequence at the beginning practically everyone is pretending to be someone who they are not. Leo is acting as a Captain when he’s actually a member of the Flying Daggers, Jin is pretending not to be a part of the army so that he can find out who’s a member of the Flying Daggers, the Madam is actually the leader of the Flying Daggers, the women in the pavilion are acting more excited than they actually are to please Jin, and Mei is acting as a blind showgirl when she’s actually a member of the Flying Daggers and not blind. On that last point, Mei does a fair bit to convince the other characters and the audience that she’s blind. This includes not blinking and actually looking slightly away from the camera when it’s a POV shot from Jin’s perspective as this tells us that Mei doesn’t know exactly which direction she’s facing.

Echo Game Sequence (00:10:33- 00:19:22)

This sequence establishes that Mei is a very skilled individual who has many talents. Mei is shown to be completely focused and unfazed by the game that she’s playing, despite the pressure that has been put on her, which presents her as being confident in her abilities. Mei does very traditional and elegant dancing, with her movements being very fluid and her sleeves acting as a sort of extension of herself. Her movements resemble martial arts which foreshadows that Mei is going to be revealed as a fighter and a member of the Flying Daggers. Furthermore, she pulls poses between the rounds of the game which are martial art positions as well to emphasise this point. Mei’s confidence is also shown as she stays completely still even as there are hundreds of beans around her.

Leo is presented as also being confident in his ability and control over the situation. This is first shown at the start of the sequence as he is taking Mei away as he stands tall and proud to reflect on his power with it contrasting with Mei’s hopelessness at this point. Before the game starts, Leo looks calm and focused with an expression of smugness which could show that he believes (or is at least acting to be) above Mei. However, at the game progresses, his smug expression turns to admiration to tell us that there may be a connection between the two and that they are much more equal than we may have initially thought. This is emphasised by how the fight between the two after the game is incredibly evenly matched.

Bamboo Fight (01:03:03- 01:10:20)

In this fight, Mei is attacked by the army by surprise. Because of this, at the start of the fight Mei is shown to be struggling as she has been caught off guard. This can be seen as her fighting style is much more desperate and raw than her much more elegant style from the rest of the film up to this point. Her struggle is also shown by her grunting and loud screams, which just emphasises that this is taking a lot of energy from her and she is at a disadvantage in the fight. This struggle is contrasted by the soldiers who act as a unit, making them seem much more powerful than Mei. However, it doesn’t take too long for Mei to gain her composure in the fight, shown by how she goes back to being in positions before she makes her move.

From the point in which Jin shows up, the scene becomes more about showing the relationship between Mei and Jin. When Jin jumps into the fight, we focus on his expressions which show that he is putting a lot of effort and passion into trying to save Mei from the soldiers. We see that Mei is clearly happy for Jin to have come back as she smiles knowing that he’s come back for her. This sequence also shows that Mei has changed Jin. For example, Jin throws his sword at an incoming bamboo without any hesitation in order to save Mei and then doesn’t care about leaving it behind. This could mean that Jin wants to leave his old life behind him and to start a new one with Mei. Affection is also shown between the two as they hold hands during their escape and while they are trapped in bamboo. Furthermore, Jin solely focuses on Mei as they are trapped and is presented as being sentimental for the first time, which emphasises that he has changed and developed as a character.

 

House Of Flying Daggers Contextualised

1. Synopsis

The film takes place in 859 AD, China, at the end of the Tang Dynasty where there are rebel groups which are against the government. The largest of these groups is The House of Flying Daggers. Two police officers, called Leo and Jin, are ordered to kill the groups leader within 10 days. They use a blind girl called Mei (later revealed to not be blind) to find their leader as she is suspected to be the daughter of the old leader (who had been killed). Jin goes with Mei, pretending to be on her side to gain her trust, but the two end up falling in love with each other. The government attack them to make the act more believable, but they are saved by the House of Flying Daggers. Mei is revealed to not be blind as well as not actually being the old leaders daughter. Leo is revealed to actually be a mole in the government and is a member of the House of Flying Daggers and is in love with Mei. Mei, however, is now in love with Jin and so Leo gets frustrated and tries to rape Mei. The leader, Nia, throws a dagger into his back and orders him to go on a new mission. Mei is ordered to kill Jin, but can’t bring herself to do it and lets him go. Jin asks her to run away with him, but she refuses at first. She soon changes her mind and rides a horse after him, only to have a dagger thrown into her chest and is assumed to be dead. Leo and Jin fight, but are too even for either to gain the upper hand. Jin pulls out the dagger from his back and threatens to throw it at Jin. Mei gets up and threatens to throw the dagger in her chest at Leo, which would also kill her as she would bleed out. Leo pretends to throw the dagger, causing Mei to throw her dagger. She intends to hit the other dagger and save Jin, but the end result is that only Mei dies. Leo walks off in grief and Jin goes over to Mei to mourn and cry.

2. When and where do the events in the film take place?

It takes place in 859 AD in feudal China.

3. What was the Tang Dynasty?

The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China. It is generally regarded as a high point in the history of Chinese civilisation and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. It was founded by the Lǐ family, seizing power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire.

4. Why were the rulers deemed corrupt? And why were the rebel armies fighting against them?

The Emperor Xuanzong became complacent in how the government was run to focus on his own ventures. He appointed chancellors who were not fit for the role that corrupted the political order in the country. Rebel armies were formed to try and restore the government to the state which it was in before.

5. What are the key differences between the Flying Daggers and the Tang Dynasty?

The Tang Dynasty favoured the rich people in the country as the dynasty itself was made up of incredibly wealthy people and so the way the country was run benefited those types of people. On the other hand, the Flying Daggers cared more about the country as a whole and wanting what was best for everyone and not just the wealthiest.

6. Briefly, what was the Cultural Revolution? When and how did it start and end?

The Cultural Revolution was a sociopolitical movement in China from 1966 to 1976. It was launched by Mao Zedong, who was the leader of the Communist party of China. Its goal was to preserve communism in China by removing the elements of capitalism and traditional elements of Chinese society.

7. How did the Cultural Revolution affect filmmaking in China, and what group of filmmakers emerged as a result of this?

Part of the revolution involved the banning of Chinese films being shown and made in China. Although this ban is no longer as major as it used to be, there are still quite a lot of restrictions on what can be shown in Chinese films. The group of film makers that emerged from this are know as the “Fifth Generation” directors. Some notable directors from this generation include Zhang Yimou, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Chen Kaige and Zhang Junzhao. A majority of these directors came from the Beijing film academy in 1982.

8. What particular style of filmmaking does this employ? What are the key characteristics of this genre?

This film is an example of a genre known as Wuxia, a genre of Chinese fiction about martial artists in ancient China. The heroes of these films tend to not serve anyone, have military power, or belong to the aristocratic class. These films also tend to have long fight scenes and are mostly set in ancient China.

9. What were/are two of the main cultural influences on Chinese filmmakers?

One of the main cultural influences on Chinese filmmakers is China’s history and folklore which has shaped Chinese culture as a whole and not just films. Another major influence would be the Cultural Revolution, which has had an influence by inadvertently introducing a tonne of low-budget Chinese films which have since been popularised in Western countries.

Kitchen Sink Drink

The task: 

We have been told to create a short film from one of two choices. We can do whatever we want from the initial guideline as long as there are multiple shots and dialogue. The option I have chosen is this: Two characters in a kitchen, during which a drink is offered and accepted, but secretly has something added to it.

Plan:

I’m going to film this at my friends house and use my friends Will and Kiran as my two actors.

I’ve worked out that I’m going to need 18 shots but that number may change when I actually film it.

The whole thing is going to be recorded on my phone (so every shot will be handheld) and then also edited on my phone using iMovie.

Script:

Kiran: Oh, hey Will.

Will: Hey.

Kiran: Do you, uh, fancy a drink?

Will: Yeah, please.

Kiran: Cool. No problem mate. One drink.

*Drink is made*

Kiran: Here you go buddy.

Will: Cheers.

Kiran: No problem.

Will: *Drinks* Tastes funny.

Kiran: *Kicks Will* Hmm.

How it all went:

The entire filming process went great, only exceptions being Will playing stuff on the phone a couple times and his dog being reluctant to move out of the shot one time.

However, unsurprisingly, iMovie isn’t exactly amazing. The editing was pretty simple because of that fact. Plus, I’m annoyed that it has an obsession with fades for some reason and so the text that appears doesn’t just show up straight away like I wanted it to and so it instead fades in and out.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with the final product, despite it being a fair bit primative.

The final product:

Class response:

Overall, the response after watching this in class was quite positive. The teacher pointed out to me that one of the cuts is quite jarring, but that the whole thing works well and other than that one mistake the editing was a strong aspect of the project. I’m pretty sure everyone enjoyed it to some extent and I look forward to improving in my future projects.

 

 

 

 

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000) is a wuxia film (a genre of Chinese fiction about martial artists in ancient China) which helped to popularise martial arts films from foreign countries in the West. It starts off when a sword, called The Green Destiny, is stolen and begins a search for the sword. This leads to the House of Yu and more gets revealed from there on out. The story takes a lot of inspiration from a novel called ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ from the 14th century which is set in the years towards the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period of Chinas history.

The plot of the film is pretty simplistic, but I’d say that’s a good thing for this film. It’s a ‘little’ on the unrealistic side (I’m pretty sure people can’t actually fly no matter how skilled they may be), but at the end of the day the film is fun to watch. The story doesn’t need to be incredibly complex or thought provoking, it’s a mere backdrop in order to give some context to the films greatest aspect: the fighting. Honestly, this is a joy to watch as these people just fly around, running on walls doing completely impossible things and it keeps the entire film thoroughly entertaining throughout its whole 2 hour runtime. The fight scenes (which were choreographed by Yuen Woo-Ping, who ended up directing this films sequel) were easy to follow for the most part and I never felt confused about what was happening. The only times I ever got distracted or disorientated were never really to do with poor editing or anything and was just being momentarily blown away by someone flying away to chase someone, but it’s played so straight and serious that it just gets to me really.

The film has a very nice pace throughout, especially during the fight sequences but there are moments during the film where the story slows down to focus more on the characters and I found these scenes to be good as well. There’s a particular scene near the start of the film which involves calligraphy that has an absolutely incredible moment which was able to make me appreciate the film for more than just a fun fight movie and genuinely made me realise that the film is a great piece of art, not just something to throw on in the background while doing something else.

The look of the film is amazing when only looking at the set design, but the film has that early 2000s look where colours just seem washed out and a bit too bland. That’s not to say the film looks bad, it’s just that nothing ever really pops the way that I feel that it should. Everything just sort of blends into one in a way, no one really looks distinct from everyone else for a decent portion of the film.

 

Pan’s Labyrinth: Cinematography

Opening Sequence (00:00:00- 00:05:52)

The sequence that takes place in the underworld is all one shot. The shot tracks the girl in the scene who is the girl in the story being told. The camera crabs right to follow her and has a floaty/ dream-like quality to it, which adds to the idea that this is a fairytale type story. The camera tracks the girl up a set of stairs and the frame becomes engulfed with a bright light. This bright light could represent this girl being blinded and subsequently dying.

There is a close up on the insect that comes out of the statue which then becomes a smooth tracking shot of the insect. A few shots later the insect flies into the frame and then the camera focuses on it. The camera then follows the insect for the rest of the shot, with the camera dollying forward as the convoy starts to move again and then arcing around the tree. This shot puts us in the perspective of the insect which establishes it and suggests to us that the insect is going to come back into play later in the story (which we know turns out to be a fairy).

First Bedtime Sequence (00:11:14- 00:17:52)

When we are with the Captain and the Doctor in the Captain’s room, the shots create a sense that the Captain is dominant over the Doctor. We get a wide shot of the Captain with a low angle which tilts up to make it so that the Captain appears to be towering over the Doctor when he stands up. A mid shot of the Doctor turns into an over the shoulder shot as the Captain enters the frame which shows us that the Captain is physically looking down on the Doctor, making him look small.

There is a POV shot of the Captain from the perspective of the victim as he is having is face bashed by the Captan. This shot has a low angle to emphasise the Captain’s dominance over him. We then get an over the shoulder shot of the victim so that we are forced to view the brutality of what’s happening from the Captain’s perspective. We then get another POV shot from the victims perspective which adds to the Captain’s dominance again.

Shaving Sequence (00:24:36- 00:26:13)

This sequence starts off with a close up of a gramophone, which pans to follow the Captain’s hand movements and tilts up making the Captain seem powerful. The sequence also has slow and smoothly flowing handheld movements in each shot so that when there are cuts a nice flow is maintained. We get close ups of the blade and then him actually shaving so that we are right up against what’s happening and to emphasise that the Captain is confident while using this dangerous object.

The scene cuts to a mid shot of the Captain scrubbing his boot, with the camera zooming in to tighten the frame. We then get a close up of the boot to emphasise its importance to the Captain. This shot also tightens to emphasise just how clean the boot is. This gives us the message that the Captain cares a lot about his appearance, making it seem like the Captain views having a clean and spotless appearance is an important factor in keeping his authority over the people around him.

Fig Tree Sequence (00:30:50- 00:38:18)

At the start of this sequence, the characters are going off on journeys and so the characters alway go from left to right as that shows to us that they are venturing out of their usual location. We get a mid shot that is handheld with floaty movements to make it seem somewhat carefree, much like Ofelia. The lighting is made up from bright natural light as Ofelia is happy going on her journey to her first trial. Once she reaches the tree, the camera has slower movements to focus on the tree. The camera pans around Ofelia to become close to an over the shoulder shot which tilts upwards to a wide shot of Ofelia and the tree.

When Ofelia enters the tree, the shot is very dark from the inside with the only lighting coming from outside. This tells us that the interior of the tree isn’t going to be a very comfortable place for Ofelia to be in. Ofelia is silhouetted in the frame, creating a link between the storybook that she has been reading.

Pale Man Sequence (00:55:21- 01:02:19)

The Pale Man is usually within the frame of almost every shot, mostly being out of focus except for when Ofelia goes right up to him. This subtly tells the audience that he is going to be involved in the scene later and serves as a reminder that he is always there. Him being out of focus tells us that Ofelia herself is not focus on him as she is more interested in completing her trial, as well as emphasising her temptation to eat the food that’s on the table.

When the Pale Man starts to wake up after Ofelia eats a grape, the camera focuses specifically on whichever part of him is starting to move. At first, this is a close up on his hands they snap awake. Within the same shot, the camera tilts upwards to show his face which only wakes up once it’s within the frame. The Pale Man starts to stumble over to Ofelia, but he is out of focus even as he gets closer and closer. He comes into focus as soon as Ofelia turns around which tells us that Ofelia is now fully aware of the danger that she is now in. This is emphasised by the close up on the Pale Man which acts as a POV shot of him from Ofelia’s perspective.

 

 

Pan’s Labyrinth: Editing

Opening Sequence (00:00:00- 00:05:52)

The opening shot of the film is played in reverse, which tells us that we are going to go back to the start and that we are going to see this happen again at the end of the film. There is a transition into the next shot as the camera goes into Ofelia’s eye. This could indicate that the story that is about to be told is all in Ofelia’s head and that the story isn’t actually real. The sequence that happens in the underworld is all one shot, which lets us focus on the story that’s being told as we don’t need to see that much of this place since we never go back to it (with the exception being the final moments of the film). This sequence ends with a fade to white (iris shot) which could represent the girl in the story going blind as our view of the film is literally blinded for a brief moment.

First Bedtime Sequence (00:11:14- 00:17:52)

This sequence starts out with a slow pace due to very few edits when we are with Ofelia and Carmen. This creates a sense of calmness and security as they is no conflict in the scene. When Ofelia tells her story, there is a CG visual sequence that accompanies it which is edited to look like one single shot.

There is a cross fade to the Captain which tells us that what we’re about to watch is happening at the same time as when we were focused on Ofelia and Carmen. A glance/ object edit is used to tell us that the Captain is focus on cleaning his watch, which shows us that the Captain cares for the watch. The rest of the scene uses simple continuity edits to show what’s happening with some shot/ reverse shot with the Captain and the Doctor. The number of edits decreases when the scene moves outside to create a slower pace as it builds up to the Captain killing these two men. The number of edits then rapidly increases once the violence begins to enforce that what’s happening is brutal.

Shaving Sequence (00:24:36- 00:26:13)

The length of shots as the Captain is shaving are fairly long which shows how leisurely the Captain is as he shaves to tell us that he’s comfortable while on his own and cares about his appearance. During this sequence, there are a couple of hidden edits which move us to somewhere else in the room but in a more natural way than if there were to be simple hard cuts across the room.

The scene has shot/ reverse shot edits of the Captain and Mercedes in which the length of shots is unusually long. This makes the scene have more tension as we are made uncomfortable by the distinct change of pace. Plus, as the conversation becomes more sinister, the pace of the edits get slower and slower to focus on the tension.

Fig Tree Sequence (00:30:50- 00:38:18)

There are hidden edits throughout this scene as the camera flows past trees. These edits are parallel to show us that what’s happening with Ofelia and the the troops is happening at the same time. These edits also make it so that the sequence has a more consistent flow where we’re not suddenly in a separate location as that would be disorientating. Furthermore, the hidden edits serve as contrasts between the two separate worlds shown in the sequence.

While Ofelia is in the tree, the film uses simple continuity editing to make her trial easier to follow along to. This gives off the impression that this is meant to be more reminiscent to traditional fairytale storytelling. Ofelia interacts with the monster by having a one-sided conversation with it. This conversation of sorts is still edited with shot/ reverse shot as if the monster was actually responding to Ofelia. This has an effect to make the scene still feel natural even if the monster isn’t really responding.

Pale Man Sequence (00:55:21- 01:02:19)

The frequency of edits starts off slow so that we are able to take in the scenery of the new location that we are now in. There is a dissolve edit so that we are seeing more of the corridor that Ofelia is in but in a way that’s faster than if it were all one shot up to that point, but it’s not a jarring edit. There is a cut to the hourglass which reminds us that Ofelia is on a time limit, this creates some tension as we know there is the danger of Ofelia running out of time. Plus, this sets up for when Ofelia almost doesn’t make it back at the end of the scene and we see the hourglass again.

There are infrequent edits when the Pale Man wakes up so that we are forced to watch him, which makes us feel uncomfortable. This happens again when he walks towards Ofelia and she does’t notice him at first. We get reaction shots of Ofelia as the Pale Man gets close to her to show that she is now frightened, also establishing to us that the Pale Man poses as a very dangerous threat to Ofelia. This happens again as we are forced to watch the Pale Man eat the fairies to make us even more terrified of the Pale Man. There is also parallel editing between Ofelia, the Pale Man and the hourglass as Ofelia tries to escape to tell us that it’s all happening at the same time.

 

 

Pan’s Labyrinth: Performance

Opening Sequence (00:00:00- 00:05:52)

The start of the film establishes the relation between Ofelia and her mother (Carmen) which is somewhat disjointed. Our introduction to Ofelia has her fully engaged in the fairytale book that she is reading. Her total focus on the book tells us that she is someone who loves to read stories, particularly fairytales. However, Carmen acts quite dismissively towards Ofelia’s love of books and has to literally pull Ofelia away from her book. This emphasises that these two have different interests and beliefs right from the start.

When the car stops, Ofelia goes off into the wood to explore a little bit while ignoring her sick mother. Ofelia stumbles across some mysterious statues that look pretty ominous. However, Ofelia shows no fear when approaching a statue that looks quite unsettling showing that Ofelia has a sense of adventure. When an insect comes out of the statue, although she jumps to start, Ofelia is delighted by it and clearly has an interest in the nature that surrounds her.

First Bedtime Sequence (00:11:14- 00:17:52)

The way that the Captain doesn’t look at the Doctor until he’s finished with his watch shows he cares more about the things closer to him. Also, it shows that he is able to talk to people whenever it’s convenient for him. The Captain also has a maintained authority and confidence as he is able to silence something seemingly important and urgent with a simple hand gesture.

The Captain shows no regard for the farmers and their possessions. It’s kind of like a sinister performance to have an effect on the farmers to be honest with the Captain. As the Captain is beating this man to death, he remains unscathed and emotionless when he does it and he does it very quickly and forcefully. When the Captain goes to shoot the other farmer, the soldier holding him has to very quickly move out of the way of his gun before the Captain shoots. This shows that this has probably happened before and that the Captain may have been perfectly fine with killing the soldier if he hadn’t moved out of the way.

Shaving Sequence (00:24:36- 00:26:13)

This scene serves to tell us that the Captain is someone who cares about how he presents himself. His actions throughout the scene are almost ritualistic like, with him walking around and doing things slowly. This shows that he likes to take his time when preparing himself. He also stands like a matador, adding to his image of being masculine. Finally, he scrubs his boots thoroughly which shows that he also considers his uniform to be apart of his self image as well.

When talking to Mercedes, the Captain uses manipulative tactics to make her feel intimidated. He stands up to be physically higher up than Mercedes to assert is dominance in the conversation. He also puts his hand on her shoulder to intimidate her as well. Furthermore, he has a very patronising tone through the whole interaction, making it seem like he is more intelligent than her and above her.

Fig Tree Sequence (00:30:50- 00:38:18)

During this sequence, Ofelia acts very carefree as she goes off to the tree almost as if she’s in her own world completely. When she gets to the tree, she has an expression of wonder showing us that she clearly is fascinated by the magic world. Although she looks a bit uneasy to start when she enters the tree, Ofelia looks mostly unfazed by the bugs and the mud that she is crawling through. She also doesn’t get frightened by the monster in the tree either, and actually shows signs of wonder when she interacts with it.

The Captain in this scene is out looking for the rebels as they had a campfire. He acts very professionally here, even completely dismissing a lottery ticket which one of the soldiers finds. This shows that the Captain cares more about doing his job properly rather than things like money. The Captain also does his usual act of being intimidating by shouting very loudly into the woods to intimidate the rebels who he knows can hear him.

Pale Man Sequence (00:55:21- 01:02:19)

During this sequence, Ofelia shows lots of curiosity and temptation. This first happens when she walks down the table, being fully engrossed in the food that she can see that she is completely oblivious to the Pale Man at the head of the table (which causes her to jump when she finally reaches him). She then proceeds to pick up the plate with the Pale Man’s eyeballs on it, which shows that she is actually more curious about what’s in front of her instead of being scared by it. She also shows that she is capable of succumbing to temptation as she ignores the cries of the fairies to not eat any food and again when the Pale Man starts walking towards her, unbeknownst to her.

The Pale Man’s movements serve to highlight just how much of a monster he is as he stumbles and moves as a whole very rigidly, almost like an old man in some ways.

 

 

Pan’s Labyrinth: Mise-en-scene

Opening Sequence (00:00:00- 00:05:52)

The films starts off with a series of texts before the actual story begins, the purpose of this being to give the audience all of the context that they need to understand the story (context of the Spanish Civil War). This texts font has a gothic look to it, resembling a storybook which foreshadows the films allusions to classic fairytales.

The colour of the underworld kingdom has a blue, metallic tint over it. This could be to showcase how the Princess Moanna interprets her kingdom, being a boring reality which she wants to escape from. It could also be due to her leaving the underworld, as when we return to it at the climax of the film the kingdom is golden to show that the Princess has returned. There is also the evidence of the real world having a golden tone when we are first introduced to it, which could represent how the Princess has gone to that world.

The blue tint over the opening sequence is also the same tint that is over scenes which have the Captain as the main focus. We know that at the end of the film the Captain shoots and kills Ofelia, but we also understand that the film actually begins with its climax. The fact that the scene is blue could be a representation of how what’s happening on screen is indeed the result of the Captain and so we are put into what is meant to be his world.

When we are introduced to Ofelia, she has a storybook to also introduce the theme of fairytales throughout the film. We actually see the book before Ofelia which immediately tells the audience that Ofelia has a passion for books but more specifically fairytales. Furthermore, Ofelia’s focus on the book over her pregnant mother emphasises that she would rather indulge in fantasy stories over facing the real world.

The book itself has the image of a girl surrounded by four fairies. The girl has a pretty strong resemblance to Alice from ‘Alice in Wonderland’ which adds to the theme of fairytales throughout the film. This picture also acts as foreshadowing for later in the story when Ofelia ends up being dressed like this, with fairies and goes into a tree similarly to how Alice goes down the rabbit hole.

First Bedtime Sequence (00:11:14- 00:17:52)

This sequence has a main focus on Captain Vidal and so the scene has that same blue tint as before to put the audience into the Captains world again. The blue colour becomes even more apparent when we switch to being outside as the Captain questions the two farmers who have shot a gun near the area (as they are hunting rabbits). The blue gives off a sense of fear and uncertainty as to what the Captain is going to do as it emphasises that the Captain is the one who’s in control of this situation.

The actual beginning of this sequence starts with Ofelia and her mother in bed. During this part of the sequence, there is also that blue tint as they are in the Captains domain. However, there is the exception of Ofelia as she is the only character to actually have a more golden/ brighter tone over her. What this does is showcase how Ofelia is separate from the Captain and his world as Ofelia is more focused on the fantasy/ magical realm. This plays into the films theme of disobedience as Ofelia strays away from the controlling nature of the Captain and just does her own thing throughout the whole story.

During the part of the sequence with Ofelia and Carmen, Ofelia tells a story to her unborn brother (which adds to the fairytale theme in of itself) that ends up being accompanied by a CGI visual sequence. During this sequence, there is a rose on top of a hill which stands out as it is lit up and bright red. This draws our attention towards the rose and could be a reference to ‘Beauty and the Beast’, further adding to the fairytale theme. Plus, the fact that there are these connections to various different fairytales could be a representation of how Ofelia reads so many of these stories that she is linking them together, blending them into her own world which disconnects her from the real world and the Captain even more.

When the film switches focus to the Captain, the sequence then takes place in his room. The design of the room is interesting as it is modelled after a watch. The image of the watch is important as it is an emotionally powerful object for the Captain throughout the film as he plans to destroy it at the point when he dies, like his father did. The look of the room just adds to the Captain being in his world where this watch of his is so important to him.

The costumes in the scene are used to visually separate the characters into good and bad. The Captain and the soldiers look very formal as they are in a uniform which is very precise and clean. In comparison, the doctor is dressed in more casual clothes. The effect that this has is it shows that the doctor is separated from the Captain and his world which adds to how the doctor is secretly in support of the rebels.

Shaving Sequence (00:24:36- 00:26:13)

During this whole sequence we are getting an inside look at the Captain’s world. The sequence begins on a shot of a record player which is significant due to it being considered a luxury item, especially back when the story is set. This shows us that the Captain leads a life with lots of wealth and luxury which makes us not want to root for him even more as he already has a lot in his life. This is exemplified by the rebels in the film being shown to not have anywhere near as much as him. This point also applies to the Captains cigarettes throughout this sequence as well. We know that he is having multiple as we see that the Captain has nearly finished one and then when it cuts to a different location, it’s a full cigarette again.

The start of the sequence focuses on the Captain shaving. He uses a cut throat razor to show us that the Captain is confident as cut throat razors are very dangerous if not handled with care and precision. This links to the Captains whole personality as being someone who does his job very precisely and professionally. Furthermore, just the organisation of his shaving kit and the slow pace in which he does it tells us this about his character.

The sequence takes place in the Captains room which is modelled to look like the inside of a watch. This links the Captain to the theme of time and how he is calculated and precise (plus, the same point that was made earlier). The room has the blue tint that is associated with the Captain to drive home that we are currently in this world which is cold and rigid.

When we move to a new location, the Captain is polishing his boot. This makes it so that we know that the Captain cares about his appearance and wants to look as clean and professional as possible in order to appear more intimidating and serious.

As soon as Mercedes shows us in the sequence, the colour palette of the scene changes. Before, the blue tint to show us we’re in the Captains world was what dominated the scene. However, Mercedes presence changes that to being a much warmer, almost golden, and brighter colour instead. This signifies to us that Mercedes is a good character who we are rooting for and are supposed to like. This is because the colour has connotations of warmth and so we feel much more comfortable during the scene.

Fig Tree Sequence (00:30:50- 00:38:18)

This scene goes through Ofelia’s first trial which involves going into a dying tree to kill the monster inside of it which is killing it. During this sequence Ofelia is dressed to look like Alice from Alice in Wonderland, which links to the theme of fairytales throughout the film. Furthermore, Ofelia enter the tree by going down a hole in the tree which links to Alice again as it’s like she’s going down the rabbit hole.

The fig tree itself is representative of Ofelia’s pregnant mother. The branches of the tree are shaped like fallopian tubes (uterine imagery). The monster inside of the tree represents Ofelia’s yet-to-be-born brother. The monster is killing the tree by eating its nutrients, and this is how Ofelia is viewing her brother as her mother is becoming progressively more sick as the pregnancy continues.

When Ofelia enters the tree, it has a yellow colour on the interior. This makes it so that we can actually see that that the tree is sick and dying as the colour yellow (especially the  muddy looking colour used in this scene) is linked to being unwell.

The inside of the tree also has the same sort of dust particles that we’ve seen a few times before in the film including at the start in the fantasy world, the part with the bug coming out of the stone and in the Labyrinth. By this point in the film, we understand that the presence of these particles signifies that we are in the fantasy world, or at least an extension of that world where it is almost seeping into the actual real world.

When Ofelia leaves the tree, the outside world is enveloped in that blue tint which is linked to the Captain. This shows us that we are now back in the real world where the Captain is in charge, plus it shows us that Ofelia is likely going to be punished when she gets back for leaving and also ruining her brand new dress from her mother. Furthermore, there is a sudden appearance of very heavy rain which represents the struggles of the real world.

Pale Man Sequence (00:55:21- 01:02:19)

In this sequence, there is a table which has a very large amount of food on it. The tables resembles a previous scene which has the Captain having a meal with other men who are on his side. The position on the table where the Pale Man is, is the same as where the Captain was sat during that scene (the head of the table). This mirroring imagery links the two characters together suggesting that the Pale Man represents the Captain in the fantasy world.

The food itself looks very enticing and rich. This links to the theme of poverty as there is all of this food with only goes to the rich and the poor only get simple and cheap foods. This point also links to the Pale Man representing the Captain as the Pale Man has all of this food to himself, much like how the Captain has a lot of things to himself too. The food also links to the theme of fairytales as the idea of temptation is often a theme in those types of stories (e.g. Snow White).

The food on the table is mostly red which links to the imagery of blood. This could show that everything that surrounds the Pale Man is violent. This would also link to the Pale Man being a parallel image of the Captain as everything which surrounds the Captain also tends to be violent. On the other hand, the colour could relate to the apple in the story of Adam and Eve or Snow White, both of which are about temptation.

This sequence has a lot of religious imagery as well, which links to the Captain and the fascists as they are religious . The room itself has a gothic look to it which resembles the interior of a church. There are paintings on the ceiling which have an older style and are reminiscent of paintings of Jesus being taken to the cross. Plus, Ofelia gives into the temptation and eats a grape, linking to the story of Adam and Eve again.

The Pale Man has holes in both of his hands which are revealed to be eye sockets for him. The image of having holes in both of the hands heavily relates to Jesus being put onto the cross. Furthermore, once his eyes are actually in his hands, there is also the imagery and idea of an all-knowing and powerful being.

 

 

Pan’s Labyrinth: Sound

Opening Sequence (00:00:00- 00:05:52)

The film starts out with narration from an unseen man who is telling us a story. This sets up one of the films major themes of fairytales and fantasy. The fact that we don’t ever see this man or know who he is suggests to us that he is some kind of all-knowing being. This makes us understand that the film that we are about to watch has unreal/ fantasy elements to it.

There is also a non-diegetic composed score during this scene as well. This score sounds quite melancholic and moody, suggesting that the world of the film has bad things within it and that the film isn’t going to be happy all throughout. This contrast between the fairytale-like story we’re being told and the score tells us early on that this film is going against the typical traditions of what a fairytale is.

Music is used later in the opening as well. Ofelia walks off to explore the woods a little bit while the car has been stopped. She finds a stone on the ground which looks mythical on its own. As soon as the stone is shown, a very light piano comes in to punctuate the moment and to emphasise that this stone has a greater purpose/ meaning. When a statue is revealed moments later, a violin comes in. The violin in the score sounds much more ominous than the piano. This makes us feel uneasy to start with as we don’t know what is going to happen. The scene goes completely silent after Ofelia places the stone in the statue to build up tension. There is then a quick and loud sound of an insect type creature coming out of the statue to make us jump along with Ofelia. This puts us into the scene and makes us feel more immersed within the world and its story.

First Bedtime Sequence (00:11:14- 00:17:52)

A non-diegetic score comes in as Ofelia starts to tell a story, and this score bridges into the sequence. The score here sounds melancholic and similar the the music during the opening of the film. This creates a link to the opening as it is the same format of narration, melancholic score, and the visuals to accompany what’s being told. Ofelia’s narration is also somewhat exaggerated to further sound like the narration at the start of the film. During the story being told, there are also the diegetic sounds of the wind, insects and a heartbeat which all adds to the score and the grandeur of the story. This makes us feel more immersed in the world that Ofelia is presenting in her story.

As the sequence moves location to focus on the Captain, the score changes to accompany his presence. The score now sounds much more sinister with much lower notes than before. The score also rises in the mix to make it feel somewhat overpowering, which mimics how the Captain is the most powerful person in the whole film. This score fades, however, as soon as the Doctor shows us. This is done so that we can follow the conversation between the two characters but it could also be because the Doctor is a good character in the film, and so the almost evil sounding score is removed as the characters on screen are no longer all bad people.

The scene ends with the Captain brutally beating a man to death with a bottle. Before this happens, it is established that the bottle has some weight to it as the sounds given to it has a low/ heavy tone to it. When the bottle hits his face, we already understand how painful it must be for the man as we have an idea of what the bottle could be capable of. The actual sound of the man being beaten has layers to it such as wetness, meaty, and sloppy sounds which all add to make us feel uncomfortable and repulsed throughout this moment.

Shaving Sequence (00:24:36- 00:26:13)

This scene has a diegetic score added onto it which is meant to be coming from the Captain’s record player. This music sounds happy and energetic which contrasts the Captain himself, making it seem like he himself is happy within his own world but as outsiders we see him as being sinister. The music is also reminiscent of the time period and sounds almost patriotic, linking to the Captain’s ideals of what the military believe in. The music here does bridge between cuts, so in a way it is non-diegetic.

The sound of the razor itself makes it seem very sharp and dangerous, emphasising how the Captain himself is dangerous.

The music is made quieter to move focus onto the conversation between the Captain and Mercedes. However, this could also be done to emphasise Mercedes’ presence as a good person in the scene. Furthermore, as the conversation progresses to be more and more intimidating, the music goes even lower in the mix to create even more tension throughout the sequence. Mercedes also has a quieter voice than the Captain when she is around him. This makes the Captain seem more powerful than her and gives off the impression that she is somewhat frightened of him. This is suggested later in the sequence when Mercedes moves to the kitchen and she is talking much louder than she was before, suggesting that she feels much more comfortable when not around the Captain.

Fig Tree Sequence (00:30:50- 00:38:18)

This sequence starts out with a non-diegetic composed score which sounds regimented and intense when we are following the army. Plus, we get the diegetic sounds of the horses running high in the mix as well which creates a sense of urgency when we are following the army. However, whenever we switch over to Ofelia, the score changes to a more smooth and adventurous sound to better fit with Ofelia’s perspective of the world. Moreover, when we are with Ofelia the diegetic sounds that we can hear are of the nature surrounding her. This tells us that Ofelia is more focused on the nature/ environment instead of what is happening with the army and the Captain.

The sounds of the film change once Ofelia enters the fig tree. The non-diegetic score changes to a much darker tone to make the setting seem more mysterious and scary. This is emphasised by the diegetic sounds of Ofelia’s heavy breathing to show that she herself is frightened during the sequence. Once Ofelia gets further in the tree, the score cuts out completely to make us feel more immersed in what’s happening. We also get the diegetic sounds of wind to tell us how deep into the tree Ofelia has gone, emphasising that Ofelia is in an unknown and mysterious place away from everyone else in the film.

Pale Man Sequence (00:55:21- 01:02:19)

At the start of this sequence we get the diegetic sounds of the book which Ofelia is reading. We can actually hear the sounds of writing as the book reveals what’s on the page. This tells us that we are about to enter the magical world and leave the real world behind. It is done again as the sound of the wall turning into a door makes it sound like something magical is happening, setting us up for the rest of the scene.

The Pale Man has various sounds added to him which make him even more unsettling to watch. The first sound he makes happens when he wakes up and there is a stab sound when he first moves his fingers. This makes us jump and it emphasises that the Pale Man is going to be a major threat to Ofelia. Throughout the rest of the scene he makes wheezing noises to make the audience jump as well as feel repulsed and uncomfortable during his presence. As he puts his eyes into his hands, there is also a squelchy sound which also adds to the scene being uncomfortable.

 

 

 

Pan’s Labyrinth Contextualised

1. SynopsisReal world:

2. It is 1944 and General Francisco Franco is the fascist ruler of Spain. Captain Vidal and his falangist troops have taken control of a mill in the mountains of Spain. They stockpile food there, giving the civilians barely enough to eat so that they can’t afford to give any supplies to the leftist guerrillas in the woods. Vidal has married Carmen, who bares his child. He sends for her because he wants to be present at the birth of his son. Vidal has little time for Carmen’s young bookish daughter, Ofelia.

3. Unbeknownst to Vidal, his housekeeper (Mercedes) has a brother who leads the rebel maquis. She and Doctor Ferriero secretly supply the guerrillas.

4. The communist rebels retake the mill shortly after Carmen dies during childbirth. As the falangists are overrun, Ofelia kidnaps the newly born child. Vidal follows her into a nearby labyrinth where he shoots the girl and reclaims the baby. He is confronted at the entrance of the labyrinth by Mercedes and a large group of maquis. Pedro (Mercedes’ brother) shoots Vidal under the right eye and kills him. A weeping Mercedes cradles Ofelia. Ofelia dies.

5. Fantasy world:

6. Princess Moanna sneaks out from the underworld to become mortal and dies. Her spirit passes through countless humans. The king of the underworld vows to wait for Moanna’s return. A fairy leads Ofelia to a labyrinth where a faun tells her she is a reincarnation of Princess Moanna and that she needs to return to the underworld.

7. However, to make sure that her magical spirit is still intact, Ofelia has to successfully perform three tasks — obtain a key from the belly of a giant toad (that is killing a tree where enchanted creatures rest); use the key to retrieve an item from a locked door guarded by a demon (the Pale Man); spill the blood of an innocent into the portal of the underworld.

8. The faun instructs her in sorcery. Ofelia is distracted because of her sick mother and fails the second task. Ofelia passes the final test by sacrificing her life instead of her brother’s.

9. Princess Moanna returns to the underworld where she rules with “justice and a kind heart”.

10. Pan’s Labyrinth is a film directed by Guillermo del Toro in 2006. The film is about the continued effects of the Spanish Civil War in 1944 and follows an 11 year old girl named Ofelia as she carries out tasks from a faun who she discovered in a Labyrinth after being told that she is actually Princess Moanna from the underworld. The film also follows Ofelia’s mother Carman who has married a man called Captain Vidal who has taken post at a mill.
11. When and where do the events in the film take place?The period featured, 1944 in Spain, is intriguing to the non-specialist as it is clearly a period where the rumblings from the Spanish Civil War are still being felt despite the war itself having finished in 1939.
12. The film takes place in the mountains in Spain which is considered a disputed area and it is set in the year 1944 (5 years after the Spanish Civil War ended in 1939).
13. Briefly, what was the Spanish Civil War about? When and how did it start and end? The Spanish Civil war was a war between the left wing (Republicans) and the right wing (Nationalists). It started on the 17th of July 1936 and ended on the 1st of April 1939. It ended with the Nationalists winning the war.
14. Which of the factions does the Captain represent? Why is he stationed at the mill? The Captain represents the Nationalists and he stationed at the mill as it was used as an outpost to control that region of Spain and to stop locals giving supplies to the Republicans.
15. Which of the factions do the people in the mountains represent? Why are they hiding? The people in the mountains represent the Republicans and they are hiding because they had less numbers and resulted to using guerrilla warfare.
16. Which of the factions do the political and religious elite support? Why?A local priest, attending a meal held by the Captain, dismisses the possible pain felt by the rebels on theological grounds. His representation lacks humanity and is clearly a barbed commentary on an out of touch and complicit Catholic church: “God has already saved their souls. What happens to their bodies hardly matters to him.” Del Toro uses the cinematic conceit of a banquet to heighten the corruption of the local middle classes and ruling elite.

17. Despite his criticisms of Catholicism as a dogma and institution it is clear that Del Toro admires the spirituality of his native religion — in a later film Crimson Peak, a ghost story, he commented on his belief in ghosts. The scene above is strongly redolent of a stylised heaven with its church-like setting, a rosary window fooded with golden light and a grey bearded father figure flanked by a doe-eyed mother. It is all rather stuffy and formal befitting a royal court perhaps but not a fairy domain. That said it is clearly Ofelia’s (Princess Moanna’s) ‘happy place’ – she has come home to a loving warm family and an adoring people.

18. The political and religious elite supported the Nationalists. This was because they already had power and didn’t want anything to change.
19. Which of the factions do the peasants support? Why? The peasants supported the Republicans because the system that they were living under wasn’t fair to them.
20. What role do women play in the two factions?The representation of women is evidence of the social problems women faced in this patriarchal and macho era.
21. Women tended to do work for the men who were higher up than them. The work which they would do included things such as cooking and cleaning on the Nationalist side. However, women would do more on the Republican side of the war, sometimes even helping out in combat.
22. How is food an important symbol in the film? During the scene with the Pale Man, the food on the table could be a reference to the forbidden fruit and temptation. In connection to fairytales, being tempted by fruit (such as Snow White eating an apple) will often lead to the doom of a character. So Ofelia eating two grapes from the table leads to the Pale Man waking up and attempting to kill and presumably eat her.
23. How is poverty an important theme in the film? Poverty in the film is represented through the rebels and the workers throughout the camp. It’s important to the film as it makes us root for the rebels and hate the nationalists more as they have more wealth. This is because we feel sympathetic towards the people who are not as well off and so it simply solidifies our perception of if the characters are good or bad.
24. How is time an important theme in the film? Time is an important theme when it comes to the Captain. The Captain can be associated with his pocket watch which is an important symbol for him as he plans to destroy it at the moment of his death. We are first introduced to the Captain with his watch and we see him with it several times throughout the film. Furthermore, the Captains room is designed to look like the inside of a watch to add to this symbol.
25. How is disobedience an important theme in the film? Disobedience is shown through Ofelia in the story. Ofelia is always in her own world of fantasy and fairytales, ignoring the real world around her. This is done to show that Ofelia is still a child and cares more about what interests her and what she thinks is best. For example, during her tasks she often does what she’s not supposed to such as unlocking a different lock to the one that the fairies tell her to unlock or eating grapes after she was told not to eat anything at all during the task.
26. How and in what ways does Pan’s Labyrinth draw on fairy tale and fantasy tropes and archetypes? The film has many allusions to classic fairy tales in order to add to Ofelia’s view on the world. Most of the allusions are to do with imagery such as Ofelia’s dress resembling the dress of Alice from Alice in Wonderland. The films story is also structured to be like a fairy tale, with a clear distinction between good and bad and childlike wonder throughout.
27. How is fascism portrayed in the film?The negative depiction of Franco’s fascist forces is clearly intended to be extended to the imaginative poverty of fascism in general — in contrast to the more benign and sensitive (although hardly democratic) fairy kingdom. A more realist political representation is that of the guerrillas who are presented as resourceful and determined and egalitarian. Mercedes’ love of children (Ofelia and her baby brother) suggests a tenderness and a celebration of all things childish — indeed, unlike Ofelia’s weak and dismissive mother, Mercedes gives advice on the handling of fauns.
28. How does Guillermo del Toro employ uterine imagery in the film? Uterine imagery is used during the first task as the tree is shaped to look like it has Fallopian tubes. This is done as Ofelia views her own unborn brother as a sickness for her mother, and this task involves killing the monster that’s killing the tree. This represents how Ofelia wants for her brother to stop being a sickness for her mother.
29. How are maternal instincts presented in the film? Maternal instincts is about how a mother normally acts towards their children. In the film, this is presented through Carmen who wants for her unborn son to be well. However, she doesn’t act as well towards Ofelia and often ignores what she has to say. Mercedes is the character who actually acts more like a mother towards Ofelia as she has a love for children.
30. What is the significance of faces and shaving in the film? The Captain has a care for his appearance which is shown throughout the film by him being very delicate as he shaves his face. He is often shown destroying people’s faces such as the farmer when he bashes his face in with a bottle and him always shooting people in the face to confirm that they’re dead. This is important as the Captain gets his cheek sliced open and is shot in the head at the end of the film to show that he’s being defeated.
31. What is the significance of flowers in the film? Ofelia tells a story about a rose on top a hill to her unborn brother which is surrounded by poisonous thorns. This could represent the rose being adulthood and the thorns being the pain that it would take to get there and how Ofelia doesn’t want to get to that point (adding to the theme of disobedience as well).
32. How does Guillermo del Toro operate a ‘one for them, one for me’ filmmaking policy? He will make one film that is for a big studio where basically he does whatever they want him to do, but will follow up with a film that is totally his own where it’s his idea.
33. How far is Pan’s Labyrinth representative of Guillermo del Toro’s oeuvre?Del Toro as an effective and idiosyncratic fantasy/horror auteur is evidenced in his earlier flms such as Cronos (1993), The Devil’s Backbone (2001) and Crimson Peak (2015) as well as in his much more mainstream Hollywood work such as Hellboy (2004) and Pacifc Rim (2013).
34. How did the critical reception of The Devil’s Backbone influence the production of Pan’s Labyrinth? The Devil’s backbone was critically received very well, and so Pan’s Labyrinth was meant to be an echo of The Devil’s Backbone. It was conceived as being a sister film to The Devil’s Backbone, with it being the brother to Pan’s Labyrinth.
35. Was the film financially successful?Released in the UK by Optimum. Premiered at Cannes in May 2006 to great acclaim. Co–produced by a number of Spanish, Mexican and American production companies the $19 million budget is refected in the complex production design, period dressing and relatively large cast. The eventual worldwide box offce of $83.3 million was seen as a triumph.
36. Why is the year of release of The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth significant? The Devil’s Backbone was released before 9/11 happened. Del Toro realised just how much the world had changed in that time and so what he had said about brutality and innocence had changed a lot too and so Pan’s Labyrinth had to echo The Devil’s Backbone’s stricture.
37. Why no CGI?The key technology used in this film is the animatronics and green screen work as discussed above and its effective creation of a magical-realist production design. The reason for there being little CGI is in order for the world of the film to be more believable and immersive with no effects that directly pull you out of the story and make you realise you’re just watching a film.
38. Why did GdT write the DVD subtitles himself?Del Toro wrote the subtitles for Pans Labyrinth himself after becoming disillusioned with the translation of The Devil’s Backbone — a film also with the Spanish Civil War as its backdrop and the informal prequel to Pan’s Labyrinth.

Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)

Pan’s Labyrinth is the second film in a planned trilogy of films directed by Guillermo del Toro which are all thematically connected by the trauma of the Spanish Civil War, the first of which being The Devil’s Backbone in 2001. This film follows an 11 year old girl called Ofelia with her mother (Carmen) who has married a man called Captain Vidal. The film is set in Spain in a remote forest and the majority of the film shows the events of Ofelia carrying out tasks from a faun called Pan.

Before we watched this, we had watched The Devil’s Backbone and I would easily say that Pan’s Labyrinth is the better of the two films. I found that the overall plot of the film had a much better pace than The Devil’s Backbone with the plot never really stopping for long periods of time, so I felt much more engaged with the plot and characters. Furthermore, the imagery of the film is fantastic. From the colour palette being well chosen for each of the different locations and characters, to the designs of the characters, which are which are this films highlights for me.

The look of Pan including his posture, sound and overall presence on screen is great and it was always fun and charming to see him there. Plus, the Pale Man also had a great design, but for different reasons. The Pale Man is simply put: creepy, seriously creepy, and I love it. For only actually being in the film for a few minutes, he leaves an incredible impression and is very memorable. His movements when he wakes up add so much to him as well. The way he walks is also just plain creepy and creates tension effortlessly.

The film has lots of references to fairytales as the film carries a fantastical and a childlike nature when it follows Ofelia. The allusions to these fairytale stories adds a lot of charm to Ofelia and her overall character arc.

I would highly recommend anyone see this film. It’s a great story with a great sense of adventure and wonder, and it’s topped off with a very interesting insight into the Spanish Civil War.

The Devil’s Backbone (Guillermo del Toro, 2001)

I found this film to be on the whole pretty good, just a little shy of being great. Easily the films strongest aspect is its plot, which I found to be thoroughly entertaining and interesting throughout the entire run time. The characters all feel fleshed out and are each given enough time on screen to the point that I found myself attached to a number of the characters by the end of it. It’s a rich story which focuses on the impacts of the Spanish Civil war, but only actually detailing a tiny story within that context. In the process, a lot is being said by telling a relatively small scale story with that context of the war.

The film, for the most part, has a good pace. The events of the film happen without too much down time where it feels like the film drags, but I did feel that there were some sight pacing issues during the middle of the film.

I thought that the overall look of the film, although rich and detailed, wasn’t as strong as the plot of the film. This is even more apparent when you compare it to del Toro’s film Pan’s Labyrinth which is much more colourful and vibrant than this film. It’s not too big of a deal, but I just wasn’t as engaged with the look of the film compared to the characters and the plot.

The design of the ‘monster’ in this film is what I would consider to be the most visually interesting part of it. The flowing blood coming out of his head as if he’s still in the water is great and adds a lot of detail and authenticity to something that could otherwise have been uninteresting and uninspired. It definitely added a lot to the world of the film and I also found that the set design of the area which that boy died to be great as well. Hearing how much effort and care was put into the marks on the wall to convey the flowing of water was amazing to see and reminds me of why I find films to be such an amazing art form.

The Orphanage (J.A Bayona, 2007)

The Orphanage (J.A Bayona, 2007) is about a woman called Laura living in her old orphanage who loses her adopted son and her trying to find him by following clues from the believed to be spirits of the orphans who were killed there.

I thought that the film was alright, but just to preface my opinion, I really don’t care for horror films in general. Although this film has a pretty interesting plot and main character (Laura) is likeable and sympathetic, I found it hard to really be invested in what was going on. I think it had something to do with the film being kind of boring and uninteresting to actually look at. However, like I said I thought it was alright. It’s not a bad watch if you’re into these types of films.

I thought the way the plot ends up planning out was very satisfying and by the end I would definitely say that I did enjoy this film more than I was initially expecting to going into it.

The film was produced by Guillermo del Toro, who we are about to focus on as his film Pan’s Labyrinth is one of the films we are going to talk about in our final exams. His influence can be seen throughout the film with the narrative and aesthetics of the film.

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Performance

Chapters 4 + 5: M. Gustave (00:09:21- 00:10:50)

• The actor (Ralph Fiennes) has a posture and look which makes him seem lonely on his own.
• He has a very upright posture when he walks towards the door to convey is formality and his role within the hotel.
• His pause before he starts walking shows that he’s getting ready to have his guest.
• Everything he does is measured, professional and precise.
• When he tells the workers what to do, his tone is quite commanding as if he’s above them.
• His tone of voice is very direct, composed and calm. He is fully in control of the situation.
• He’s acting quite differently around this woman by showing more emotion and smiling, showing he’s happier around people.
• He starts to show slight signs of annoyance as he wants the woman to leave.
• He manipulates her by maintaining eye contact and holding her hand to try and get her to go what he wants her to do.
• The delivery of the line “f**king Lutz” suggests that he believes he is above going there.
• His genuine repulsion to her nails shows his stereotype of caring about appearance.
• He has a commanding tone as he wants her to be quiet.
• His delivery of the poem is monotone and sarcastic.

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Editing

Chapters 28 + 29: The Second Copy of the Second Will (01:20:47- 01:27:09)

• Starts off with an establishing shot after a title card.
• Montage of quick short shots of everyday hotel activities.
• They all contain the symbol of the army.
• Wide shot of the hotel lobby.
• Time has past as text has crawled across the screen saying “24 hours later”.
• We understand that what’s being shown is all happening at the same time (parallel editing).
• We also understand that Gustave and Zero are outside at the same time.
• 4 different parts to this parallel editing.
• Dmitri and Agatha’s timelines have merged into one.
• Most chase scenes have frequent cuts, but this one has quite long shots.
• Eyeliner match between two shots.
• Glance/ object edit.
• Slow pace down the corridor.
• Whip pan is used to replace an edit.
• Moving in front and behind Dmitri.
• Shot/ reverse shot with Gustave + Zero and Dmitri.
• Shot/ reverse shot of fighting is confusing as we don’t know who’s shooting who (this is done for comedic effect).
• Dmitri mentions the gun, then it cuts to the gun.
• Same shot over and over but with a different face because it’s funny.
• Whip pan used instead of edits again.
• Glance/ object to edit of Agatha looking at the picture.
• Crane shot replaces an edit.
• Cut of the picture shows us that Dmitri recognises Agatha.
• Slow motion to emphasise a shot very briefly.

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Mise-en-scene

Chapter 5: Lobby (00:11:33 – 00:13:32)

• The characters are dressed up in purple which has connotations of royalty, suggesting the hotel is a respectable place.
• The golden sign also makes the place feel grand.
• Large doorway and chandelier also add to the grand nature of the hotel.
• Flowers in the background makes the place have a welcoming atmosphere.
• Red carpet leading into the hotel makes the entrance seem much more important than if it were just a door.
• Zero’s hat is crooked at this point in the film, showing that he is still a beginner (his hat becomes more straight as the story progresses and he learns more).
• The pink tint of the whole scene due to the hotels colour gives off the impression that the place is sweet and welcoming.
• The kid having a fake leg makes him pitiful but still comedic.
• Doorman looks very formal in the background, suggesting the staff take their jobs very seriously.
• The man in the window also looks to be important.
• The scale of the building also adds to the grand feeing.
• Several sources of light inside of the hotel make the scene bright.
• The interior is very symmetrical which makes the hotel seem organised and formal (with the circular desk in the centre of the lobby almost coming off as a hub).
• Guests all look sharp as opposed to being scruffy, showing us that the hotel tends to accommodate perhaps more formal and richer guests.
• Several paintings throughout the building which adds to the feeling of this hotel being wealthy.
• Bright red colour of the elevator makes it stand out from the rest of the hotel so far. The colour red also has connotations of royalty and wealth.

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Sound

Chapters 25 + 26: The remote foothills (01:12:21 – 01:17:42)

Non-diegetic, composed score

• Rolling kettle drum forms the basis of the score.
• Rhythm of the score gives the scene a fast paced momentum.
• Pauses to allow the diegetic sound to have more impact.
• Various layers of the score are coming in and out to match what’s going on in the scene thematically.
• Volume of the score goes up or down depending on what’s happening. So if there’s no dialogue then the music is louder than if someone were to be speaking.

Diegetic

• The diegetic sounds have been very carefully chosen to have a greater emphasis on them. For example, Jopling’s jacket buttons are made to be quite loud to emphasise that moment.
• There’s narration at various points throughout the scene to give the audience more information on what’s going on.
• The diegetic sounds in the scene (and the entire film really) are entirely fake. They were recorded after filming in order to get clearer, more rich sounds.

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Cinematography

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a great showcase of Wes Anderson’s filmmaking style. The scene which I’m about to go through is Chapter 21: Checkpoint 19 Supply Depot (00:55:18- 00:59:09), and it uses a 1.33: 1 ratio as it represents the time period in which it is set.

1. The first shot is fairly dark but is lit in particular colours which are warm to show freedom and safety. The camera pans 90 degrees to the right towards a manhole, which we know is important as it is beneath the only source of light in the scene. The camera then dollies forward towards the manhole and then the actor enters the frame without cutting (a trait of Wes Anderson).
2. This shot is an establishing shot of a prison cell, with it fully illuminated. The lights rapidly fade so that the only light is coming from the window. As a light in the room is lowered, the camera pedestals down with it.
3. Close up of the lamp with the prisoners feet entering the frame from the top. This shot is low angled and establishes that they are now underground. The camera pedestals back up to reveal the length of the tunnel.
4. Establishing shot of the kitchen. Our focus is put onto the centre of the screen as the light in the shot is a circle in the centre of the screen, drawing our eyes to it.
5. The shot starts by showing a gated door and then crabs to the right where a prisoner comes down. The camera crabs left to where it was before, showing that the rest of the prisoners are there. The camera crabs further left to follow the path of the prisoners and stops once it reaches a ladder. The camera stops as the prisoners carry the ladder out of frame. The ladder appears to be very long and so this shot ends up having a pretty profound comedic effect. Throughout this entire shot, the aim was to keep the camera following the actions of the characters.
6. This shot simply shows the ladder being lowered, with the same comedic tone as before. There is a shallow focus on the ladder, with there being dim lighting in the background.
7. The actors enter the frame by climbing down the ladder. This shot is a mid shot.
8. The 180 degree rules gets broken here. However, this isn’t confusing to watch as the geography of the scene is pretty simple, so we still know where we are in the scene.
9. Mid shot. Reaction shot. Shot/ reverse shot.
10. ”                                                                            “
11. ”                                                                            “
12. ”                                                                            “
13. ”                                                                            “
14. ”                                                                            “
15. ”                                                                            “
16. ”                                                                            “
17. ”                                                                            “
18. ”                                                                            “
19. Camera stays still as the characters climb down the stairs, follows the characters path. The camera then moves forward into the room which one of the prisoners has entered into.
20. The frame shows that the characters are above the beds.
21. The frame shows that characters are crawling under the beds.
22. The frame shows that the characters are also jumping in between the beds.
23. The characters are in the centre of the frame when removing the bars, creating another frame within a frame.
24. The camera is now further out, with the point of action now being towards the bottom of the frame to show the scale of the building that they’re in.
25. External wide shot.
26. Birds eye view shot, single point of light leads down the ladder to lead us down.
27. Extreme long shot. Natural dawn lighting. We can see them as being very small to show scale.
28. Wide shot. Dim, heavily shadowed. Camera crabs right to follow the characters to the steam vent. Frame within a frame.
29. Wide shot. Single source of light to focus on the laundry basket. Symmetrical choreography.
30. Mid-shot. Pedestals down to focus on the trap door.
31. Worms eye view.
32. Birds eye view.
33. Worms eye view.
34. Mid-shot. One actor leaves the frame.
35. Worms eye view. Reaction shot. Pulsing light to show us that something is happening.
36. Birds eye view. Frame within a frame.
37. Worms eye view. Reaction shot. Frame within a frame.

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014) tells the story of a hotel in the 1930s. It is about how after a woman is murdered, Gustave H is left with a priceless painting and is the main suspect of her murder. The plot as a whole isn’t exactly the most complex narrative possible, but it’s not meant to be. The story presented to the audience is whimsical and fun, and is just an overall pleasant experience to go through.

This extends to the look of the film as well. The film is incredible to look at and is simply put a visual treat. The films colour palette uses many bright colours to reflect the playful attitude of the story. Furthermore, the colours are often warm and almost faded pastel colours. The effect of this is that the film looks like a painting at many moments throughout it and also feels like you’re going through a storybook. All in all, even if you’re not too interested in what’s actually going on, you’re sure to at least have a wonderful visual experience. It feels like you’re eating a cake really.

The films comedic tone makes it a joy to watch, and I really couldn’t recommend it enough. If you’re looking to watch something that looks visually stunning, charming and adventurous, you’ll be incredibly happy watching this one.

 

Little Green Bag

We were set about a week ago to reproduce the opening to Reservoir Dogs by Quentin Tarantino as accurately as we possibly could. We were provided with the audio of the film along with the actual video for reference. We had roughly a lesson and a half to plan where we were filming, who was who and what props we needed. The catch was we had only one lesson to actually film, so all 11 shots had to be taken within 50 minutes.

Overall, we didn’t do so great on this one. Quite a few of our shots were out of focus and we didn’t have enough second and third takes to actually have a back up, so when editing we all just had to make do with what we had. The close up shots that we have don’t really make sense as the characters in the background were mostly inconsistent and so it looked like people were popping in and out of existence.

The first shot we did was the one where we see all of the characters walking down a road from their sides. We achieved this shot by using a dolly, and it didn’t go too bad in the end. However, in terms of how long it took to get the final take, it was a disaster as we took practically half of the lesson to get it. The majority of the rest of the 50 minutes was spent on the close up shots which were an absolute nightmare.

We still had to get the shot of us getting up from a table, which we planned to shoot in the canteen before lunch. We had only time to get one take and so it was completely rushed. The shot isn’t too bad, however, I forgot to take out my water bottle from my pocket and so it’s in the shot.

If there’s one thing that went well, it’s that Yousef had a jacket that very closely resembles the one that Nice Guy Eddy wears for Harry. Thus, Harry looked the part. Sam also has a fair resemblance to Tarantino, so that was nice.

Here’s the final project for those of you who are desperate to see it:

 

Wild Tales – Contexts Of Film

Does the film engage with politics directly or is it in the subtext?

Wild Tales does have a political message to an extent which is that the normal everyday person is often taken advantaged of. The film doesn’t directly enforce these ideas but the underlying theme is persistent throughout the entire film. That’s not to necessarily say that the films view on this topic isn’t conveyed in a way in which only a few people will understand it but rather that the film isn’t shoving the message in your face with big bold letters.

How was the film funded and what impact has that had on how it was made?

Wild Tales has an estimated budget of $3,300,000. This budget has come from a variety of different film companies, which is standard for an independent film such as this. The reason as to why this is standard is that an independent film is deemed as being a fairly risky investment as there’s no guarantee of success. There are two main consequences of this really. One is that not as much time or money could be spent on the visual effects of the film, and so some parts of it are fairly unconvincing in terms of the look of the film. On the other hand, independent filmmakers are often able to create experimental and unconventional films with interesting stories and structures. This is due to how it’s not one big company which needs to make sure that the film makes an overall profit. The result of this is that the director’s vision for the film was fully realised, and so the film he envisioned was put out into the world.

 

Wild Tales – Key Elements Of Film Form

Cinematography

• The film starts off with a low angle, wide, tracking shot of a woman walking through an airport. The effect that this has is that we as the audience understand that this woman in central to the story and it creates focus on her.
• Once the woman has boarded the plane, we get a shot of her putting her luggage into the overhead compartment. This shots purpose is to establish location as we immediately understand that the scene is taking place on a plane. It’s also during this shot that the woman moves out of the frame to reveal a man sitting down across the isle from her seat. The effect which this has is that we are told that this man is also a central character to the plot.

Sound

• Before the film properly begins, we start to hear the diegetic sound of wheels going over tiles. The sound gets louder and louder until it reaches its peak once the opening shot begins. The effect which this creates is that the film is gaining our attention as we understand that the film is about to begin. Furthermore, the sound builds up anticipation to the film about to start.
• As the characters on the plane start to realise that they all know the man Gabriel Pasternak, non-diegetic music starts to creep up. The sound is unnerving which tells us that not only is something in the story happening, but that what’s about to follow is likely not going to end well.

Editing

• After the scene where the woman is going through the airport, there are two cuts to wide shots of a plane. One of these is just of a plane and the other shows the plane taking off. In only two short cuts, we are able to understand where the main characters are (they are in a plane and it’s taken off).
• The scene where the characters are coming to realise their connection of this man has several cuts where extra characters are introduced into the plot. This starts off by cutting to a shot where a third person is revealed to know the man and the edits continue to introduce us to more and more people, eventually building up to showcasing every single person on the plane knowing Gabriel Pasternak.

Mise-en-scene 

• The films mise-en-scene is quite simple really. In essence, everything is normal and what you’d expect. The characters are wearing clothes as if they were traveling or working in an airport or on a plane. The sets are simple with an airport and plane. The effect which this all has is that everything is normal, nothing is wrong. It puts us in a place which most people are able to understand and can relate to. So when the plot takes a turn for the worse and the pilot (Pasternak) starts to nosedive the plane, the audience is surprised as we didn’t expect that to happen.

Performance

• Once the story moves to the plane, the main character puts her luggage in the storage compartment. While this is happening, a man tries to walk past her. The two make eye contact and look at each other in a manner that suggests that the two know each other. This is done as later in the story, it’s revealed that the two do in fact know each other as that was the man in which she cheated on Pasternak with.

Wild Tales – Meaning And Response

How is the pace of the film being managed?

The film has for the most part a reasonably fast pace. This is because the director needed to do this otherwise the film would drag. Since there are six stories all together, not too much time could be dedicated to one or two of those as each story is meant to be as important as each other. The result is that each story has it’s set-up, middle and climax all within an average of about 20 minutes. Each story has the same format of rapidly increasing the pace right at the end of their respective stories. The effect which this has on the audience is that they are left thinking about the ending well after their initial viewings as the film has made its mark on the people watching.

How are the elements of film form used to create aesthetic effect in this sequence?

In the final story, after the main woman finds out her husband (who she had just married) had cheated on her and that the other woman was at the wedding, she storms out of the main hall and through the kitchen. In this sequence, she barges through a door which has had the camera mounted onto it. The effect this has is that the scene is being framed from the doors perspective. Furthermore, as the door is still open, the camera is now positioned to show us where the woman is going.

Is a particular group being under-represented? Why?

The film often has a focus on the everyday man and their struggles with being pushed around by a large system. For example, in the story ‘The Bomber’, the main character gets pushed around by being fined and having his car towed away even though there was no way he could’ve known that area couldn’t be parked on. The story focuses on this man and his struggles, while only really showing the other people from his point of view, so the focus is still on him.

How does the film challenge or reinforce stereotypes?

The film uses the stereotypes of certain types of people being easily provoked such as the woman at her wedding who decides to act in a very irrational and counterproductive manner as well as the man who decided to destroy someone’s car just for passing him and sticking up his middle finger. These stereotypes have been exaggerated in order to made a statement on the human condition where people may sometimes go to great lengths in order to prove a point or that they are in the right, or even just to act revenge onto someone they feel deserves it.

Wild Thoughts on Wild Tales

Wild Tales (Damian Szifron, 2014) is a film about the lengths people will go in order to act revenge. The film comprises of 6 short films which aren’t connected directly but are instead linked by the same themes (which is likely because the films are all directed by the same person).

The stories in order are titled as follows: Pasternak, The Rats, The Strongest, Little Bomb, The Proposal and Until Death Do Us Part. In each of the stories there is a character who is trying to get back at another character. I’ll use the first story as an example as it only lasts a few minutes and it’s played before the title card. Plus, I wouldn’t want to spoil this movie as it’s genuinely really good and I’d easily recommend it to anyone who’s interested in this style of anthology film. 

Pasternak tells the story of a model who realises that the man sat next to her is a music critic who had been in contact with her ex boyfriend called Pasternak. From the two talking, every single passenger on the plane as well as the crew members know Pasternak and all of them have seemingly wronged him at some point in his life. From there, it’s revealed that Pasternak is the pilot and he nose dives the plane into the ground. 

I originally thought that the film would be about Pasternak and the individual stories that led to this climax. However, I soon realised that the stories had no direct link, but the theme of revenge kept cropping up. My take away from the film is that the director was trying to make a social statement about how the everyday, average person is often pushed around and that these are stories which show that person fighting back in some way.

Knock-Knock Again

After our first attempt at creating a short film where a knock knock joke is told, we were given the task to create a second one but improving on where we went wrong before.

We were told to make sure to use specific filming and editing techniques such as the 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot and match on action (which we had recently learned about in class).

The aspect of this film compared to the last is that all of the audio was actually recorded properly, and so it was incredibly easy to sync up the audio and video. We also took more takes this time around and so we had more freedom in how we chose to edit everything together.

Here is the improved version of a knock knock joke (NOTE: the groups were changed around and so my role was to act and not direct this time):

Core Study Area – Meaning And Response

Core Study Area – Key Elements Of Film Form

Core Study Area – Contexts Of Film

Shot Reverse Shot

Shot reverse shot is a continuity editing technique used in conversations or even just characters looking at each other or objects.

A shot showing what a character is looking at will be followed up by a reverse shot of the characters themselves looking at it, or of the other character looking back at them, for example. 

The 180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree rule is a guideline in filmmaking where the actors in a scene should have the same left-right relationship with each other, with filming only taking place within a 180 degree angle.

The use of this technique is to make sure the audience has a good sense of location within a scene in terms of what is off-screen in some shots, for example in shot reverse shots.

If the rule were to be broken, then the audience may be confused as the actors in the scene would seemed to have changed positions. It may seem minor, but a small detail like this could potentially take someone completely out of a scene questioning where the characters even are.

Match on Action

Match on action is an editing technique to create continuity in a scene. A shot will cut to another shot but still showing the same action as the previous shot. The purpose of this technique to to make sure that the viewer isn’t taken out of a scene by a continuity error.

The idea is simply that the cut shows a continuous sense of the same action as opposed to matching two separate things.

A very common example of this technique is where someone goes to grab a door handle and just as they are about to open the door it cuts to the other side of the door when it opens.

Knock-knock

We were given the task to create a short film where two people come together, one tells a knock-knock joke and then they depart. We were put into groups of 5 with a director (me), 2 actors (Harry and Yousef), a cameraman (Caitlin) and a sound recorder (Liam).

The project was planned, filmed and then edited within two days. One of our mistakes was that most of our audio had to be used from the camera as the boom mic wasn’t recording the parts that we needed and instead recorded the bits in between takes. We also found upon completing it that it may be a bit confusing as to where the actors were in relation to each other. This was because we obviously knew where the actors were as we have been at our school for more than 5 years now, but to someone who’s never seen the schools layout before, it may seem a bit off.

I feel that the shots where Yousef was walking down the corridor and then running outside were pretty well done, but I feel that we still could’ve gotten more shots with different angles before the joke itself.

A minor mistake that I made was that I clapped my hands as if you synchronise the video and audio, but only realised about half way through filming that I should probably clap my hands in front of the camera. Not that it really matters since we didn’t actually record those parts anyway.

My cut of the project is available for you to see if you so wish.

A Brief History of Film

There isn’t really an actual answer to what actually kicked off films. However, the closest thing we have was when a horse was filmed running with a series of 12 pictures (done by Eadweard Muybridge). When those pictures were shown in rapid succession, it created the illusion of movement and so this is, in a way, the birth of film.

Film originally used the same technique as a camera to capture a real image, but were taken 16 times every second (over time, the standard became 24 frames per second). This new technology became immediately popular and with that popularity a new industry was born: cinema. Of course, with any industry, films were monetised.

Cinemas as we know them today didn’t exist in the early days of film. Instead, how films were distributed is somewhat similar to how a circus operates. Film reels were very expensive, which was due to the sheer length of the reels (they were miles long), and so it wasn’t possible to create a bunch of copies of a film and to then just send one to each cinema (which would allow for one set release date across the country). The reality was that an individual reel would be taken all over the country. A film would be shown in an area for a set amount of time and then it would be passed on to the next cinema. In order for films to make a profit, film companies had to make their money back off of the ticket sales for these showings of their films. This had to be the case as the process of making a film was incredibly expensive.

In order to get people to watch their films, the industry was always trying to one up itself. One of the obvious things to improve the medium was to have a film in colour, which happened in 1927. Films were also silent due to the lack of being able to synchronise the audio to the picture. Instead, films were often accompanied by a musical performance and any dialogue would be put onto inter titles for a few seconds. Eventually, an optical soundtrack was put down the side of the film reel in order to have sound. What’s so interesting and genius about this is that the audio had to be put a little after where it was supposed to be in relation the the film, as this would actually have synced up audio.

Easily the biggest shake up to the film industry was the invention of the television. Since it was much easier to just stay at home at watch entertainment on TV, the film industry had to come up with ways to get people into cinemas. The aspect ratio of a film was 1.33: 1 (basically a square) and so when TVs came out they were just made the same size. In order to have an advantage over TV, films were simply made wider. The reason films were made wider and not taller was really just because cinemas already had the space to be made a bit wider than to raise the roof of cinemas. The ratios that were settled on were 1.65: 1 and 1.85: 1, which is what is standard today.

A problem that arose from making films wider was that now film reels weren’t the correct size. The solution to this came from CinemaScope where they came up with the idea to squish the image and to then use a special lens to in-squish it.

Later on, other attempts to be better than TV include 3D films which began in the 1970s and 1980s. Around the early 2000s, the digital format became incredibly affordable and made the transportation of film basically free as it could just be done online. This is where we are at today, where a film can be released on one set release date all over the world. Not only that but we’re now at a point where basically anyone can create a film, which continues to help the medium of film to expand all the time.

Auteur Or Not

The word auteur is used to describe a filmmaker who has such a great influence in their films that they are the equivalent to an author of a book or play (the word literally meaning ‘author’ in French).

Clint Eastwood is very well known in the film industry for his iconic rolls in westerns such as ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ (1966) and ‘Dirty Harry’ (1971). However, he’s also made a name for himself as a director. His debut as a filmmaker was ‘Play Misty For Me’ (1971) which was praised upon release and proved that Clint Eastwood could be more than just a film star.

Play Misty For Me (1971)

He’s continued to make his own films still to this day with some notable examples being ‘Gran Torino’ (2008), ‘Million Dollar Baby’ (2004) and, what’s often considered to be his greatest masterpiece, ‘Unforgiven’ (1992).

Unforgiven (1992)

One of his traits as a director is his focus on American culture and history, which can be recognised by many as he’s so well known for westerns. The only real diversion of this trait was his film ‘Invictus’ (2009). Another trait of his is his tendency to cast himself in his own films.

Clint Eastwood has managed to be able to set himself apart from other filmmakers, and he definitely does possess traits which make his films inherently his own. As a result, he is often described as an auteur in filmmaking as he continues to expand his filmography with similar themes of individuality and having strong, macho leads within his works.

Reel Life

The first film I can remember seeing in the cinema was ‘Madagascar’ (Tom McGrath and Eric Darnell, 2005). Still to this day, I can picture practically the whole film in my head as it has stuck with me. I’ll never forget the first time seeing the characters escape New York’s Zoo and getting drifted off to Madagascar in crates.

I would say that the film which has had the deepest emotional impact on me is ‘Requiem for a Dream’ (Darren Aronofsky, 2000). It tells a story of true loneliness, the damage that can be caused by drug abuse and trying to overcome those addictions. The film has a very profound style which sets it apart from many others and makes it thoroughly enjoyable for the eye (except for when the story becomes just a little bit too real). I do recommend you watch it but be just be aware as it becomes very intense emotionally.

One of the many types of content I like to watch on YouTube come from channels dedicated to films. One of these channels by the name of YourMovieSucks recommended a film called ‘Anomalisa’ (Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson, 2015). I decided to give it a watch and what I experienced was a charming little film which focuses on a middle-aged man who feels his life is mundane and how a woman who’s entered his life during a business trip shakes that life up called Lisa. It’s a stop motion animation film which gives the film a very unique look, but it chooses to do more with that concept. Instead of the characters being almost toy-like just for a nice look, their looks are woven into the story itself in a way that I had never really experienced before in an animated film in such a way. This is a film that I don’t see getting that much attention and so I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves film.

Hello World!

Hello, my name is Dan and welcome to my film studies blog!

I’ve created this blog for my A Level Film Studies as a way to record all of my work over the two year course. My blog will mainly contain my notes on the films that we watch in class, but there will also be extra notes on other films that I’ve watched in my free time. Over time, there will be posts which will eventually cover the history of film from the early days of silent cinema to the modern day as well as films from all over the world.

Back to the Future (1985)