A2 Film Project Aims & Contexts

• Genre: British Crime Thriller
• Target Audience: Mainstream audiences, 18+, open to a range of viewers.
• Influences: Matheiu Kassovitz (La Haine), David Fincher (Fight Club) and Jean-Luc Godard (Bande à part)
• Sequence of a full film.
• Film noir techniques to be used e.g low key lighting, black and white, close ups and narration.
• We will turn a lot of attention to our lighting to create high contrast scenes, as well as exploiting symmetry and rule-of-thirds.
• We will use a wide variety of camera techniques, such as pans, tracking, dutch angles etc.
• We will also experiment with more advanced camera shots such as reverse zooms and the use of a dolly.
• We want to try and break the fourth wall to create a link with the audience and remind them that they are watching a film.
• I will use a range of editing techniques such as jump cuts, split screen and gun flashes.
• We want to incorporate sections of screen tests into our film of the characters, to subtly distinguish between film and reality.
• Last year the actors we chose limited our film. We only had 2, whereas this year we plan on having many more actors (up to 7) to play parts in our film.
• The roles within our group have been clearly assigned as follows:
• Director/Cinematographer - Alice Hone
• Editor - Daniel Barnett
• Camera/Lighting - Michael Baker
• Sound - Ellis Cooper

Experimental Question

Discuss some of the ways in which the film or video work you have studied for this topic requires a different kind of spectatorship from that which spectators bring to their mainstream film-going.

It is argued that experimental films are easy to write about as they are difficult to understand. I agree with this statement. I personally find that expanded films such as 'Un Chien Andalou' and 'Stellar' are much more challenging to watch than mainstream films such as 'Titanic', or 'Transformers'.

Un Chien Andalou was made in 1929 by filmmaker Luis Bunuel. The film is primarily based on dreams that he and Salvador Dali had experienced, and it often has no meaning at all. The piano scene shows how abstract the film is, as the male character is shown by a series of static long shots dragging 2 grand pianos with dead donkeys draped across them. This scene confused me on first viewing and the image stuck in my head as it was so vivid. I found it disgusting as I did not expect a scene so graphic in a time period such as the 20s. The confused effect is added to by the non-diegetic music which I found particularly annoying as it was repetitive, high pitched and constant.

My responses to Titanic differ greatly to that of Un Chien Andalou. Directed by James Cameron in 1997, it had a huge budget and Cameron even had a replica of the unsinkable vessel built into a massive custom studio. Despite the money and world class actors, I found the film incredibly boring. I find it to be too slow, and although the story of the Titanic does interest me, the film carries too much of a love story. Even with a second viewing my opinion does not change.

An experimental film that I do like is Stellar, by Stan Brakhage. It is a short film with no sound, made entirely of flashing images. Brakhage painted on each individual frame individually using different colours. There are no significant camera shots or techniques used in the film, which is why I find it appealing. When the film is played it creates a vibrant show of colours and shapes which I really like, and I appreciate the amount of work and time Brakhage put into this short film. On my first viewing I found myself completely fixated on the film even though it is silent and incredibly simple. Although Brakhage is American, I think he has a very European style to his films, as shown in 'The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes' which depicts autopsys. It has an extremely blunt and harsh style, showing me highly graphic images of corpses being dissected for examination.

This style is also evident in the work of the Quay brothers, who are also American but have an clear European style. Their film 

Fight Club - A Critical Approach

How useful has a particular critical approach been in giving a deeper understanding and appreciation of your chosen film?

When analysing Fight Club, I like to use the Freudian's idea of the id, ego and superego to increase my understanding of the narrative. I prefer this approach as I can relate it to specific scenes in the film to give me a deeper knowing and appreciation. Fight Club was directed by David Fincher in 1999 and stars Edward Norton and Brad Pitt. It is a visual representation of the attack on society and consumerism by men in America who suffer a conformist, mundane lifestyle.

I can apply the freudian approach to the sit-ups scene. Jack is shown doing sit-ups on the floor by a long shot, cutting to a close up of him and then tilting up to the ceiling, showing it crumbling above him. Tyler is upstairs having sex with Marla causing the ceiling to crumble. This scene demonstrates freudians approach through the position of each character. Jack, the ego, is shown beneath Tyler, the id. The id is metaphorically in the front of Jack's mind, fulfilling his desires to be with Marla however the id is repressing the ego by keeping him down below. The ego knows the id is in control, as shown by the noise and bits of ceiling falling onto Jack.
During this scene I felt sorry for Jack, as his desire is to be upstairs, shown clearly by Tyler. At first I did not notice that this scene was a big part of the freudian approach, but with a second viewing I find understand it more.

The kitchen scene is another that I can apply the freudian approach to. This time the id and ego are positioned contrastingly from the previous scene. A long shot tilted down shows Jack looking at Tyler at the bottom of the stairs in the basement of the house, hiding him from Marla. Another long shot, tilted up shows Tyler looking up at Jack, the ego. I find this to be a good use of shot-reverse-shot by Fincher as it displays the close, yet distant relationship the two characters share. The fact he seems to be hiding Tyler shows me that he is also trying to hide his primordial desires from Marla. The idea of the freudian approach is apparent when Jack says 'I'm sorry. Do you hear this?' in reaction to Tyler's constant banging in the basement - a question to which Marla replies 'Hear what?'. This gives me an idea that Jack may be the only one able to perceive Tyler, and Tyler is only a primal, powerful and sometimes annoying fragment in his mind. During this scene I developed a small idea that Tyler was not real, but I knew that I would have to watch until the end of the film to find out. However watching it a second time I understand how 

The realisation scene near the end of the film, where Tyler tells Jack that they are the same person is ideal for me to apply the freudian approach to. Tyler and Jack are shown sitting opposite each other by a two shot, cutting to mid shots of each character as they talk. Tyler says 'All the ways you wish you could be - that's me.' This single line demonstrates the full idea of the id and the ego. Tyler is a visual representation of how Jack wants to be.

Freudian approach:

- sit-ups scene, Jack is beneath the id, his desire is with Marla in bed. He is repressed by the id.

- kitchen scene - the id is beneath Jack, constantly in the back of his mind knocking and interrupting.

- realisation scene - 'I look like you wanna look, I fuck like you wanna fuck'

Answering An Exam Question:

Follow these steps when answering an exam question and you'll be rollin':

• Directly answer the question (include words from the question in your answer)
• Keep referring to the question repeatedly - don't forget about it!
• Clearly state the directors of the films, and the year they were released. Remember how to spell the names too. It's embarrassing if you can't…
• Refer to scenes in DETAIL. Try to include: 
• mise-en-scene
• lighting
• sound
• camera angles
• camera movements
• camera shots
• framing
• remember that technical language

• Add in your own personal response - such as 'I think' 'for me' 'I believe' 'In my opinion' 'with a second viewing'
• Say what how feel when doing the personal response. If you feel: bored, confused, scared, excited, intrigued, disgusted etc… Say what you feel!

Brick - Experimental Film

Experimental Film Exam Response

'Experimental Film requires a different kind of spectatorship.' Has this been your experience? [35]

Experimental films are full of strange mixtures of images, situations, words and expressions that may not tell a cohesive story but, in the end, don't have to in order to achieve an emotional goal. This type of film therefore requires the spectator to shift their conventional cinematic expectations to accommodate more radical narrative techniques, themes and meaning construction. 

Un Chien Andalou, the infamous 1929 surrealist short film from Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali, attests to this. Such examples can be found throughout the film. The introduction of the film is what first made me realise how surreal this film is. At exactly 2 minutes into the film, I am shown an extreme close up of Luis Bunuel (who stars in the first part of the film) cutting a woman's eyeball with a sharp razor blade. The idea of cutting any part of the body is itself a chilling idea, but I found being shown an eyeball sliced open a particularly shocking image. Bunuel wanted to use shock tactics with this film and in this shot he uses them well as I was taken aback. Although it carries shock with it, the shot didn't make any sense to me and it was confusing. It could imply that Bunuel wanted to obscure my vision when watching the film, and by cutting an eye of the woman he manages to almost scream the idea at me.
Another example of the surrealism in this film is at 8 minutes, when the male character picks up two ropes, with various objects attached. Along it is two priests, and two pianos, each with a rotting donkey carcass laying on it. I found this scene to be incredibly random, as it seems to have no link to anything else shown in the film. I even found it humorous, when I was shown the expressions on the priests. This scene is a good example of how the director plays with the theme of dreams. When writing this film, he would note things he saw in his dreams, and then recreated them in the film. This scene stands out to me in the film as I could not begin to question the haphazard events within it.
The film addresses the issue of cross-dressing in the 20's, by showing the male character clearly dressed, and acting like a woman. Being 'gay' was seen as a  serious crime, and was punishable via jail sentence. By openly showing a man to be 'gay' the film makes a bold statement against society, and goes against all aspects of popular opinion.
I found this film quite shocking to watch, because of some of the imagery that it shows, but I did find myself to have enjoyed it.

Chris Marker became known internationally for the short film La Jetée (1962). It tells of a post-nuclear war experiment in time travel by using a series of filmed photographs developed as a photomontage of varying pace, with limited narration and sound effects. I found this film interesting, and it was certainly something I have never seen before. Using this odd technique to create a short film is something I have never seen before. Marker's film could be described as a 'slideshow' but he purposely shows each picture for a different amount of time, sometimes longer, sometimes quicker. By doing this he can create the effect of time passing faster and slower, which I find to be very impressive. Throughout the film there are relations to time, the medium by which the film is shown being one. Another way it relates to time is by idealising that Marker's world is only shown through photos, or memories. The film constantly plays on the idea that memories are shown by photos, not moving images. Modern science fictions films of today have references to La Jetée, such as 'The Minority Report' that showed the covering of the eyes with a pad. 
About halfway through the film, Marker shows me a piece of actual video footage, of the female character blinking. The shot only lasts about 1 second. However, because the rest of the film is comprised only of photographs, I questioned myself as to whether I'd actually seen the moment. Marker may have been trying to show that memories can become distorted and falsified.
Overall I found this film to be quite boring. The monotone, quiet and non-diegetic narration and lack of movement caused me to lose concentration during the film, and I missed parts of the story, and at the end I was very confused.

Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) is a work that maintains all of the mystery, tranquility, unpredictability, and personal attachment that is ever present within the world of dreams. Despite all this, I did not like the film. I found it to be very uncomfortable and difficult to watch. The film explores the relationship between men and women, and how neither seem to fully understand each other. Throughout the film I am frequently shown a shadow-like, caped figure with a mirror for a face. The unnatural character is used to represent women's understanding of men, and the way that they see themselves is through the eyes of men.
The sounds in the film play an important role in making it difficult to watch. They consist of a non-diegetic sound of a drum being repeatedly tapped, and what sounds like a recorder. Neither of the instruments are played simultaneously or to a tune, and they quickly become annoying and uncomfortable. They do not seem to fit in with the pace of the film either, and are very abstract.
The film explores the themes that can be found in a dream-like state: time repeating itself, point-of-view shots and abstract characters. Themes like this are present in modern films, one of the most obvious being 'Inception' with Leonardo DiCaprio.
The film mostly takes place in a house, and the only rooms that are shown within it are the rooms that would be associated with where women should be, at the time of production. The featured rooms are the kitchen, dining room, living room and bedroom. In these rooms, an knife is often shown, seemingly following Maya around the house. The knife is shown to represent the opinions of men on women - shown to be sharp and if meddled with, painful. The way that it follows her around the house could represent how men's opinions of women are always in the back of their minds and how they cannot escape them.
Overall I did not like the film. I appreciate it's ideas and themes and the issues it addresses, but I found watching it to be very challenging.

Presentation Script

Presentation Script

In Ridley Scott’s films, females are often portrayed as strong, powerful characters. Does this make him an auteur?

Speaker:

To begin to answer this question, I will start with a crucial piece of information. The definition of auteur - 'a director whose creative influence on a film is so great as to be considered its author' [13]. I believe Scott fits the description.
In many of his films, Ridley Scott portrays female characters as strong, independent characters. He is one of the few directors to do this. This particular trait is rare in films, especially those being churned out of Hollywood. Not often do we see a female character calling the shots, killing bad guys and ultimately surviving. A prime example would be Ellen Ripley, from ALIEN.

Projector:
(Item 2) Show clip of Ellen Ripley alone in the Alien hive in ALIEN.

Speaker: 
In this presentation I am going to explore how Ridley Scott creates some of the most powerful, both physically and mentally, female characters in movie history. I will also discuss whether this makes him an auteur or not.

Projector: 
(Item 1,2,3) Show pictures of each film's poster.

Speaker:
I will be referring to three of Scott's films; Prometheus, his most recent, ALIEN, his most famous, and Thelma & Louise. I feel that in all 3 of these films there is a powerful female character. 
I'll start with ALIEN, the film that could be argued is one of the best sci-fi films ever. The protagonist in the film is female, which instantly sets it apart from other films in the genre, such as Predator and even Star Wars. Scott deliberately chooses female protagonists because...

Projector:
(Item 10) Show quote - 'I find it quite engaging to be working with a female when I'm directing.'

Speaker:

…he says he finds it easier to work with female characters. Not many directors will agree with this, which I know because in an interview Scott describes how his idea for Thelma and Louise was declined many times because of the two main female characters - Scott said 'There are a lot of men who feel they're being emasculated by having the women in charge; I've never had that problem. The stronger the woman, the better for me.' [10] I think this is reflected in ALIEN, as Sigourney Weaver's performance is astounding. Scott's ability to create powerful female characters in unusual genres really pushes the boundaries of film. For example, in this deleted scene from ALIEN:

Projector:
(Item 2) Show scene from ALIEN when Ripley gives orders to the crew about how to deal with the alien in the ship.

Speaker:
This scene is a particularly good example of how strong Ripley is. There are 2 males, and two females in the scene. Any other director would have one of the males take charge, unlike Scott. A low angled, close up shot of Ripley's face depicts her going against all the stereotypes for women, and shows her dominance over there rest of the crew. The shallow focus on her face puts Ash (behind her) out of focus, and metaphorically puts him out of the equation and unable to contribute to her decisions. 

Meredith Lepore states in her article on Scott that 'the concept of a woman who fought her own battles without the help of a magic lasso (sorry Wonder Woman) or a costume (Catwoman), or who was fighting while sporting perfectly feathered hair and in a bikini (Charlie’s Angels) or a very strong man standing next to her (every woman in every action movie ever), was downright foreign to audiences.' [11] 
Scott addresses this issue in ALIEN, and creates one of the first female characters that is able to care for herself and even defend others. I believe this scene addresses what could be the beginning of Scott's auteuristic career. After ALIEN he keeps on going with films like Thelma and Louise, Blade Runner and Prometheus.

Projector:
(Item 1) Show clip of Meredith Vickers in Prometheus pushing David to the wall.

Speaker:
Not only does Prometheus contain 1 strong female, instead it features 2. Meredith Vickers is the mission's supervisor, and Scott portrays her to also be an extremely powerful character. There is a difference between Shaw and Vickers, though. Vickers has power, whereas Shaw has strength. Vickers' power comes from her role in the film, and her status among the crew. The director shows this by using many low angled shots to show her dominance, and more obviously in the previous scene, she is shown violently throwing her male counterpart around the ship. The unnatural, low key, blue light that surrounds both characters gives the scene an abnormal and very tense feel, much like when we are first introduced to the fully grown Alien.

Projector: 
(Item 2) Show clip of the alien attacking Brett in ALIEN.

Speaker:
This scene also features very low key, almost noir lighting with a cold, unusual feel. This shows that Scott's creative ideas as a director are apparent in two of his best sci-fi films that have over 30 years between them.
Shaw on the other hand, has strength and courage. Scott shows her to be a natural leader, as often she would suggest the crew's next move. However she is portrayed as an innocent and much weaker character than Vickers, by using high angled shots and placing Shaw's character alone in many situations.

Projector:
(Item 1) Show clip from Prometheus. Scene with Shaw and Ford examining the Engineer head in the lab.

Speaker:
As you can see from this scene, Shaw is the one taking charge, similarly to Ripley in ALIEN. However, Shaw is much more timid, and polite to the other characters. In an interview Scott compares Rapace with Weaver 'As a protagonist, she’s a very physical woman who’s almost as agile as an acrobat. She’s also got a real brain in her head. No one’s going to be disappointed. It’s odd because Sigourney is about six feet and Noomi is about 5 feet 5, but you don’t notice the difference onscreen. And she sure does kick some ass in this movie. Her character evolves in a very clever way.' [10]
His statement clearly shows why he wanted to use a female to lead in Prometheus. Rapace is extremely similar to that of what Sigourney Weaver was when he was casting for ALIEN. I would go as far as to say he was looking for the same qualities in the protagonist for Prometheus as he was in ALIEN. Item 16 shows that Scott's personal depiction of how women should behave in films has not changed since his first big film. He has a clear style with women and I believe this makes him an auteur.

Projector:
(Item 16) Show clip from interview with Noomi Rapace.

Speaker:

This interview also supports Item 16, because in the interview Rapace says 'the way he thinks and they way his brain works… and he's very very funny as well. I adore him.' It upholds item 16 as she shows how well she got on with Scott. This helps to make Scott an auteur because it shows that not only can he create great female characters on screen, but he can also get on with them off-screen.

Projector:
(Item 3) Show clip of Thelma & Louise. 'Tanker' scene. (2mins).

Speaker:
This scene from Thelma and Louise clearly shows how the girls dominate the entire film. Scott has used low angled, two shots of the girls as opposed to long shots of the truck driver. Doing this puts the women in power over the driver and in control during the scene. 
After they shoot and blow up his truck, they quite literally 'run rings' around him in their car. This shows how women can manipulate and confuse men using their bodies.

Projector:
(Item 14) Show image of Xenomorph from H.R Giger's 'Necronomicon'.

Speaker:
I would argue that this is the image that started it all. When Scott saw this image for the first time, he 'nearly fell off the desk, said 'that's it' and why look farther?'. [15] He had clearly found the perfect antagonist for his film. When I look at this image, I try and figure out why Scott loved it so much. To me, it has a subtle female look to it, with the large eyes and almost graceful figure. Perhaps this is why Scott wanted to use it, because it resembled a female figure? Even so, this image could be what spawned Ridley Scott's fantastically unique style and autistic abilities. His methods of working with women in his films over the years upholds my idea, and he can easily create smart, beautiful and strong characters.