Michael Moore
Bowling for Columbine - 2003
Farenheit 9/11 v- 2004
Sicko - 2007
Left Wing filmmaker
Appears in his films
Clear bias against capitalism
Bowling for Columbine - capitalism create fear for profit
Confused narrative, all over the place
Emotive but irrelevant points
Finishes on a low, manipulates you into fearing the system, if it was a narrative film would've finished on K-Mart banning the bullets
Nick Broomfield
Broomfield shows everything but doesn't really shape into a narrative - shows his investigation to make it genuine, not to make points.
E.g. in Bowling for Columbine - argued against guns, racism etc. but didn't focus on the event
Asif Kapadia
'True fiction' narrative structure, coined by him
Monday, 24 September 2018
Monday, 17 September 2018
Sightseers
Directed by Ben Wheatley
Jump cuts
J Cuts
How would we apply feminism to this? Research: Male Gaze
Interesting juxtaposition between typical British tourism and serial killing
Feminist approach to film:
Tina plays the part of the defeneless woman. In fact, this point is reinforced by her childlike attitude, sheltered background and naive outlook on the world. This shows a patriarchal theme. However, subtle hints, combined with the ending of the film, point to the opposite. Chris follows Tina's suggestions and wishes, not instructions, portraying the stereotypical view of women and their role in the household. However, all these suggestions have impact, and are self serving to her. For example, suggesting Chris writes down his murders connects him to the crimes while giving her an alibi, which ties in aptly with her possibly planned 'suicide' trickery, leading to Chris' death not hers. It all suggests to Tina planning out the trip, with the end goal being murder, contrasting with her spontaneous murder of the runner.
Chris encompasses hyper masculinity - aggressive, domineering etc. Oppresses Tina.
'She was getting married' criticizing Tina for killing Chailey. Sees himself as almost a heroic figure, especially with the dream sequence. But gets attacked by the woman, predicting.
'Chailey' as a name, chavvy, slaggy names - criticizing women and their way of life she deems lower than her - contrasts with Tina's knitting and reserved life. Tina doesn't have a go at Chris for kissing Chailey, 'stand by your man' logic.
When Chris goes off, Tina instantly resorts to cooking for him. Traditional women role.
The mundane life of caravanning, combined with showing him plugging in, the toilets and shower etc. immerse us.
Men have the idea that the wrong they do serves a purpose, while women do wrong when they lose their temper, but subverts this at the end.
Debatable who is a muse to who. Creativity is tie to nature, and as the film progresses nature shown becomes wilder in landscape and weather.
Chris murders to gain control, Tina murders to lose it/Chris murders to feel empowered, and so can't escape what he resorts back to, while Tina goes to escape.
Comparing the first and last images of Tina - at the start, she's hiding behind a door, timid, not even the first person shown. Compared to at the end where she's smiling, standing high up - more confiden. Gone by being affected/controlled by someone to affecting/controlling someone
Research Sightseers
-
Talk about the fact that it's British, not Hollywood. It's therefore less stylized, key elements are more expressive than Hollywood. British films also focus on themes of British Realism more (Martin Scorsese says social realism is Britain's greatest gift to the world), which is derivative of Italian reaism. Seem to like to link in to 'ideology' in a different way - binary oppositions, ideaology of the tine etc. British film ideology tends to be more critical of society, cynical
Talk about Ben Wheatley and his desire to include elements ofgothic horror in a contemporary context - ie Hammer Films, which he sees as traditional British films
Postmodern setting - more realistic approach on Bonny and Clyde. Ie Natural Born Killers
Get in narrative themes of feminism, love and relationships - immediately go from honeymoon stage to old married couple, having sex all the time to when his friend gets in the way and damage their relationship to sitting outside the caravan in the rain like old people, also shows women in the relationship approaching power then being pushed back down. Violence theme - solution of problems, relatively little repercussion, easy
Number of different ideological frameworks for how to look at the world and in the films, got to look at the films through themes. The ideology that we look at it through and comes out of it is feminism. Ie women are oppressed in patriarchal societies
Narrative contrasts the almost primitive violence of Chris and the idea of serial killing with the mind-numbing boringness of reality
WE ATTACH ONE IDEOLOGY TO EACH FILM
Jump cuts
J Cuts
How would we apply feminism to this? Research: Male Gaze
Interesting juxtaposition between typical British tourism and serial killing
Feminist approach to film:
Tina plays the part of the defeneless woman. In fact, this point is reinforced by her childlike attitude, sheltered background and naive outlook on the world. This shows a patriarchal theme. However, subtle hints, combined with the ending of the film, point to the opposite. Chris follows Tina's suggestions and wishes, not instructions, portraying the stereotypical view of women and their role in the household. However, all these suggestions have impact, and are self serving to her. For example, suggesting Chris writes down his murders connects him to the crimes while giving her an alibi, which ties in aptly with her possibly planned 'suicide' trickery, leading to Chris' death not hers. It all suggests to Tina planning out the trip, with the end goal being murder, contrasting with her spontaneous murder of the runner.
Chris encompasses hyper masculinity - aggressive, domineering etc. Oppresses Tina.
'She was getting married' criticizing Tina for killing Chailey. Sees himself as almost a heroic figure, especially with the dream sequence. But gets attacked by the woman, predicting.
'Chailey' as a name, chavvy, slaggy names - criticizing women and their way of life she deems lower than her - contrasts with Tina's knitting and reserved life. Tina doesn't have a go at Chris for kissing Chailey, 'stand by your man' logic.
When Chris goes off, Tina instantly resorts to cooking for him. Traditional women role.
The mundane life of caravanning, combined with showing him plugging in, the toilets and shower etc. immerse us.
Men have the idea that the wrong they do serves a purpose, while women do wrong when they lose their temper, but subverts this at the end.
Debatable who is a muse to who. Creativity is tie to nature, and as the film progresses nature shown becomes wilder in landscape and weather.
Chris murders to gain control, Tina murders to lose it/Chris murders to feel empowered, and so can't escape what he resorts back to, while Tina goes to escape.
Comparing the first and last images of Tina - at the start, she's hiding behind a door, timid, not even the first person shown. Compared to at the end where she's smiling, standing high up - more confiden. Gone by being affected/controlled by someone to affecting/controlling someone
Research Sightseers
-
Talk about the fact that it's British, not Hollywood. It's therefore less stylized, key elements are more expressive than Hollywood. British films also focus on themes of British Realism more (Martin Scorsese says social realism is Britain's greatest gift to the world), which is derivative of Italian reaism. Seem to like to link in to 'ideology' in a different way - binary oppositions, ideaology of the tine etc. British film ideology tends to be more critical of society, cynical
Talk about Ben Wheatley and his desire to include elements ofgothic horror in a contemporary context - ie Hammer Films, which he sees as traditional British films
Postmodern setting - more realistic approach on Bonny and Clyde. Ie Natural Born Killers
Get in narrative themes of feminism, love and relationships - immediately go from honeymoon stage to old married couple, having sex all the time to when his friend gets in the way and damage their relationship to sitting outside the caravan in the rain like old people, also shows women in the relationship approaching power then being pushed back down. Violence theme - solution of problems, relatively little repercussion, easy
Number of different ideological frameworks for how to look at the world and in the films, got to look at the films through themes. The ideology that we look at it through and comes out of it is feminism. Ie women are oppressed in patriarchal societies
Narrative contrasts the almost primitive violence of Chris and the idea of serial killing with the mind-numbing boringness of reality
WE ATTACH ONE IDEOLOGY TO EACH FILM
Thursday, 6 September 2018
Documentaries
Some documentaries as entertainment and education when they're just entertainment - i.e. Undateables. Real life imitating art
Good documentaries to watch:
Grizzly Man
Supersize Me
When We Were Kings
The Act of Killing
Spellbound
Sicko
The Future is Unwritten
Amy
Features a lot of intertextuality (referencing other media), i.e. having celebrities on it to talk about her. Doesn't rely on prior knowledge of people, unlike The Future is Unwritten.
Focuses on personal life not music to create an ideology of tragedy - mediation
Amy Vs The Future is Unwritten
Amy felt constructed, attempts to add verisimilitude
Lift
Purely negotiated reading, not lead down any path.
What we take away from a documentary is not what we see, but what we feel and think about, how it effects our outlook, which is the opposite of narrative film.
It's arguable that we can only capture our own reality for documentary - as reality depends on the perceiver. This brings up the question 'can documentary show the truth of a situation?
John Grierson - documentary is the creative treatment of actuality (what's actually happened)
Not easy to get an accurate representation of someone in 30 minutes, people are a lot more nuanced than that
History
Pre 1900: films that showed events taking place
1920s onwards: the romanticized form of documentary. Staged scenes, director controlling action
1940s: propaganda documentary
So ideology is present, even when someone is trying to represent 'reality' - we all define our own reality
Night Mail
Made in 1936 - documents overnight delivery
Huge work of artistic merit, but how accurate? Some studio use and set ups means it's not accurate
As time has gone on, the need to inform and educate has been, to some extent, overtaken by the need to entertain
Cinema Verite
Relies upon technological advancements
Edited into the finished product
How much of this is 'real'? How much is the creation of the editor
Modern Age
Rise in digital technology
Everyone has a camera - we have more footage of every event
Also can switch from different types of footage with digital editing where we couldn't before
Change in form from verbal to visual
Editing is now the most important aspect - where ideology is formed. Process of focusing, organizing (putting them in order to create narrative) and selecting material (where does the camera want us to look)
Media being used is documentary film - the way we work within its limits and how they affect the way we choose our material is called mediation, which = ideology
How does this use of technology - clips, assist Kapardia in getting his preferred reading across for Amy?
Broomfield shows everything but doesn't really shape into a narrative - shows his investigation to make it genuine, not to make points.
Good documentaries to watch:
Grizzly Man
Supersize Me
When We Were Kings
The Act of Killing
Spellbound
Sicko
The Future is Unwritten
Amy
Features a lot of intertextuality (referencing other media), i.e. having celebrities on it to talk about her. Doesn't rely on prior knowledge of people, unlike The Future is Unwritten.
Focuses on personal life not music to create an ideology of tragedy - mediation
Amy Vs The Future is Unwritten
Amy felt constructed, attempts to add verisimilitude
Lift
Purely negotiated reading, not lead down any path.
What we take away from a documentary is not what we see, but what we feel and think about, how it effects our outlook, which is the opposite of narrative film.
It's arguable that we can only capture our own reality for documentary - as reality depends on the perceiver. This brings up the question 'can documentary show the truth of a situation?
John Grierson - documentary is the creative treatment of actuality (what's actually happened)
Not easy to get an accurate representation of someone in 30 minutes, people are a lot more nuanced than that
History
Pre 1900: films that showed events taking place
1920s onwards: the romanticized form of documentary. Staged scenes, director controlling action
1940s: propaganda documentary
So ideology is present, even when someone is trying to represent 'reality' - we all define our own reality
Night Mail
Made in 1936 - documents overnight delivery
Huge work of artistic merit, but how accurate? Some studio use and set ups means it's not accurate
As time has gone on, the need to inform and educate has been, to some extent, overtaken by the need to entertain
Cinema Verite
Relies upon technological advancements
- Small crews - in modern documentaries there's usually camera/director, sound/editor and presenter
- Portable equipment
- Quiet equipment
- Cheaper film stock
Edited into the finished product
How much of this is 'real'? How much is the creation of the editor
Modern Age
Rise in digital technology
Everyone has a camera - we have more footage of every event
Also can switch from different types of footage with digital editing where we couldn't before
Change in form from verbal to visual
Editing is now the most important aspect - where ideology is formed. Process of focusing, organizing (putting them in order to create narrative) and selecting material (where does the camera want us to look)
Media being used is documentary film - the way we work within its limits and how they affect the way we choose our material is called mediation, which = ideology
How does this use of technology - clips, assist Kapardia in getting his preferred reading across for Amy?
Broomfield shows everything but doesn't really shape into a narrative - shows his investigation to make it genuine, not to make points.
Trial Exam Feedback
What went well:
- Introductions
- Focussing on answering the question
- Film knowledge generally good (those who had clearly done extra research really shone out here)
- Timing
- Analysis was generally good with some exceptions
- Theories (narrative, binary oppositions ideology etc.)
- Key Terms
- Use of key elements of film form
- Sometimes too descriptive as opposed to analytical
- Wider reading needed
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)