A set of views and ideas and values that are held by a society or a group within society
Societies have dominant ideologies - lying is bad
Karl Marx - the problem with society is that we changed from the ideological to the material
Not all ideologies are true
Different groups have different ideologies
Ideology falls in to two different categories in film:
Explicit
Films like superhero, war, westerns - violence solves problems
Good vs Evil
Love will conquer all - Rom Coms
Golden era Hollywood reenforces dominant ideology
Implicit
Harry Poter films - equality, chosen one isn't nice, shouldn't judge on impressions etc.
Some films appear to be neutral in terms of ideology but always will have implicit ideology
Echo Chamber
Surrounded by own views and doesn't listen to others
Things that contribute to a film's ideology:
Genre
Context of production (time, place it was made)
Target audience
Diegesis (setting)
Perspective of audience
Dialogue
Ending/resolution
Ideologies and views of crew
Characterisations (think about film behind a different character)
Pace
Narrative
Binary oppositions for set up in the narrative will set up the ideology
Friday, 11 May 2018
No Country for Old Men - Overview
Directed by Coen Brothers
Released in 2007, won the Academy Award for Best Picture
Not a western in the traditional sense, but uses themes and comments on the typical depiction of westerns
Coen Brothers very well known for subverting audience. Assumed he'd get away with the money but didn't, changed protagonist to Ed-Tom Bell
Quite anti-violent, more real
Themes of:
Change
Chance
Morality
Gives us ins to the following areas (within spectatorship):
Requires spectators to be active - not giving emotional queues via music, no clear cut protagonist etc. Pushes us to talk about readings. Beauty of the film is that it has no preferred reading (even Anton has a code he sticks to - chance and promises)
Editing - narrative, spectatorship - auteur trait of the Coen's - they have the ability to make a normal scene extraordinary and the extraordinary scenes ordinary
In terms of being about sheriff Bell, there's a real collision between what he's used to and what he's not. For example, he rejects working with the DEA agent, he doesn't want the vehicle checks on the Mexican vehicles and he doesn't have radio when he finds Llewellyn. He goes back to the room to see if he can because he's scared, when he's about to go inside they show Anton to show what he's scared off, even though he's not actually there.
Released in 2007, won the Academy Award for Best Picture
Not a western in the traditional sense, but uses themes and comments on the typical depiction of westerns
Coen Brothers very well known for subverting audience. Assumed he'd get away with the money but didn't, changed protagonist to Ed-Tom Bell
Quite anti-violent, more real
Themes of:
Change
Chance
Morality
Gives us ins to the following areas (within spectatorship):
Requires spectators to be active - not giving emotional queues via music, no clear cut protagonist etc. Pushes us to talk about readings. Beauty of the film is that it has no preferred reading (even Anton has a code he sticks to - chance and promises)
Editing - narrative, spectatorship - auteur trait of the Coen's - they have the ability to make a normal scene extraordinary and the extraordinary scenes ordinary
In terms of being about sheriff Bell, there's a real collision between what he's used to and what he's not. For example, he rejects working with the DEA agent, he doesn't want the vehicle checks on the Mexican vehicles and he doesn't have radio when he finds Llewellyn. He goes back to the room to see if he can because he's scared, when he's about to go inside they show Anton to show what he's scared off, even though he's not actually there.
Beasts of the Southern Wilds
Behind the child - high colours, low perspective/POV, doesn't really explain much, like what the character experiences. Only effects change at end. Everything colourful and vibrant - fast cuts show this
Active spectatorship
Question the dominant ideology
Dislike the people over the levy, who are us
Don't value modern medicine 'plugged in the wall'
Once with nature, dank, uncivlised but happy - makes us think about the way we treat children and childhood
Positioning
Camera always at a low angle
Narration - Hushpuppy's POV. Almost replaces dialogue. Doesn't tell her whats happening but how she feels - her emotions. Not expository. Rationalising/talking to herself, not audience. Doesn't actually know whats going on, sets up childish narration by talking about animals 'pooping'. Ie brother - is she her mum + when Wink comes out of hospital she assumes he's wearing a dress + bracelet
A lot of enigmas aren't resolved. Is it her mum, are the Aurochs real?
One flashback with Wink's perspective. Went from thinking that he's possibly an abusive father to being a depserate figure, knows he won't be around for much longer.
Spectator response
Non-professional actors make us see characters not actors
Spectatorship can make you think about loads of different things - slightly different negotiated reading
Specatorship - write about active and passive, and find sequences that switch between them. Talk about identification and alignment of narrative positioning, audience expectations and how it plays on spectatorship, spectatorship is ideological and so depends on the individual on what they'd get (ie what they've watched and where they're from), spectatorship issues in terms of what is real and what isn't, is the setting good or not
Active spectatorship
Question the dominant ideology
Dislike the people over the levy, who are us
Don't value modern medicine 'plugged in the wall'
Once with nature, dank, uncivlised but happy - makes us think about the way we treat children and childhood
Positioning
Camera always at a low angle
Narration - Hushpuppy's POV. Almost replaces dialogue. Doesn't tell her whats happening but how she feels - her emotions. Not expository. Rationalising/talking to herself, not audience. Doesn't actually know whats going on, sets up childish narration by talking about animals 'pooping'. Ie brother - is she her mum + when Wink comes out of hospital she assumes he's wearing a dress + bracelet
A lot of enigmas aren't resolved. Is it her mum, are the Aurochs real?
One flashback with Wink's perspective. Went from thinking that he's possibly an abusive father to being a depserate figure, knows he won't be around for much longer.
Spectator response
Non-professional actors make us see characters not actors
Spectatorship can make you think about loads of different things - slightly different negotiated reading
Specatorship - write about active and passive, and find sequences that switch between them. Talk about identification and alignment of narrative positioning, audience expectations and how it plays on spectatorship, spectatorship is ideological and so depends on the individual on what they'd get (ie what they've watched and where they're from), spectatorship issues in terms of what is real and what isn't, is the setting good or not
No Country for Old Men - Opening Scene
Sheriff rambling about the past (as old people do, sets up his age)
Talked about how old sheriffs didn't need t have guns, but he has to now - dangerous
All static shots until Anton walks onto screen. Sheriff doesn't want things to change, but it's out of his control
Anton killing policeman - gets pleasure from killing
Invitation to compare Llewellyn and Anton as they both say same line soon after each other
Talked about how old sheriffs didn't need t have guns, but he has to now - dangerous
All static shots until Anton walks onto screen. Sheriff doesn't want things to change, but it's out of his control
Anton killing policeman - gets pleasure from killing
Invitation to compare Llewellyn and Anton as they both say same line soon after each other
Performance
Things I expect from a good performance:
Change in characters, and to be able to tell when they change
Something relatable I can find meaning out of
Needs to be believable - help in suspension of disbelief
Can convey emotion, hopefully without them stating it
Need to see character not actor
Physical Expression
Movement - Rachel's movement like a doll, Priss dying, Roy moves slowly
Individual body language - Norman always eating in tense moments
Use of props and scenery - Deckard holding gun
Vocal Delivery
Tone - changes how a line is shown (emotion) - Roy's speech from forlorn to angry
Speed/Pace - a slow delivery shows calm, power
Emotion - how a character feels
Accent - Relatability - This in England
Contrast delivery with content of whats being delivered - juxtaposition
Interaction
How the actors 'connect' with each other - Grease Travolta - Zuko
How do they react to/around each other - Batman + Robin
What do you learn from their interactions - Rachel forced scene
Staging and Choreography
How have the characters been positioned in the shot?
How much freedom of movement do they have?
How naturalistic is thei style of movement?
What do you learn from their movements?
Change in characters, and to be able to tell when they change
Something relatable I can find meaning out of
Needs to be believable - help in suspension of disbelief
Can convey emotion, hopefully without them stating it
Need to see character not actor
Physical Expression
Movement - Rachel's movement like a doll, Priss dying, Roy moves slowly
Individual body language - Norman always eating in tense moments
Use of props and scenery - Deckard holding gun
Vocal Delivery
Tone - changes how a line is shown (emotion) - Roy's speech from forlorn to angry
Speed/Pace - a slow delivery shows calm, power
Emotion - how a character feels
Accent - Relatability - This in England
Contrast delivery with content of whats being delivered - juxtaposition
Interaction
How the actors 'connect' with each other - Grease Travolta - Zuko
How do they react to/around each other - Batman + Robin
What do you learn from their interactions - Rachel forced scene
Staging and Choreography
How have the characters been positioned in the shot?
How much freedom of movement do they have?
How naturalistic is thei style of movement?
What do you learn from their movements?
Monday, 7 May 2018
Western Genre Research
Films of Note:
The Great Train Robbery )1903) - first western
Fistful of Dollars (1964) - made Clint Eastwood famous
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966) - Clint Eastwood
Tropes:
Protecting land
Conflicting with Native Americans
Showdown at high noon
Demsel in distress
Building an 'empire'
Themes:
Revenge/retribution]Redemption
Nomadic lifestyle
Lawlessness
Honour
Justice - personal
Influences:
Medieval knights
Samurai
Film noir
Influenced:
Star Wars
Mad Max
Eastern Bloc - Red Western
Film noir
Actors:
John Wayne
Clint Eastwood
James Stewart
Gary Cooper
Charles Branson
Lee van Cleef
James Coburn
Costume:
Stetson
Revolver/6 Gun
Winchester Rifle
Bandana
Buckskins
Poncho
Spurs
Moden Revisionist Subgenre
Typically made post WW2 - 60s/60s
Had a more morally ambiguous protagonist ie bank robbers
Right/wrong is less clear
Often made to criticise American values, capitalism etc
Clint Eastwood known for using this to criticise the classic western
Ie The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) women and Native Americans are shown positively
Westerns as a whole become more gritty and realistic as time went on
1930s Film Research
Many classics made. 1039 specifically considered one of the greatest fears in film because of releases such as Gone with the Wind at the Wizard of Oz
Classic monster films were made: Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Hyde
Stars of the era included Charlie Chaplain, Shirley Temple etc
Remakes to the previously silent fils included Alice in Wonderland, Cleopatra and The Prisoners of Zenda
Although films could have sound since the mid 1920s, the 1930s were still influential time due to the recent creation
The 1930s marked the start of the Golden Age of Hollywood, that continued into the 1940s
This was also the time where the studio system (where a small number of major studios controlled Hollywood and released the vast majority of films)
Hays Code
Due to the number of scandals in the 1920s, Will H. Hays (Head of Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors Association) created the Hays Code. This was a list of topics, compiled by Hays, that he believed Hollywood should avoid. It was created in the 1930s, but only enforced in1934 due to the Production Code Administration
Classic monster films were made: Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Hyde
Stars of the era included Charlie Chaplain, Shirley Temple etc
Remakes to the previously silent fils included Alice in Wonderland, Cleopatra and The Prisoners of Zenda
Although films could have sound since the mid 1920s, the 1930s were still influential time due to the recent creation
The 1930s marked the start of the Golden Age of Hollywood, that continued into the 1940s
This was also the time where the studio system (where a small number of major studios controlled Hollywood and released the vast majority of films)
Hays Code
Due to the number of scandals in the 1920s, Will H. Hays (Head of Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors Association) created the Hays Code. This was a list of topics, compiled by Hays, that he believed Hollywood should avoid. It was created in the 1930s, but only enforced in1934 due to the Production Code Administration
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