COMPONENT 1
FILM NOIR
Film noir:A term coined by by French film critics (first by Nino Frank in 1946) to describe a type of film, that is characterized by its dark,somber tone and cynical pessimistic mood.
Film noir
Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Great Depression.
Films released in France to theatres following the war:
The Maltese Falcon (1941),
Murder, My Sweet (1944),
Double Indemnity (1944),
The Woman in the Window (1944)
Laura (1944).
Film Noir has a unique visual style including:
- Dark + Light
- Shadows
- Silhouettes
- Blinds and Bars
- Strange camera angles
- High contrast
- Black and white
- Strange camera angles
- High contrast
- Black and white
visual factors and techniques that we still use today:
- Rain
- Night
- Cityscapes
- Smoke/Cigarettes
- Urban areas/streets
- Cars
- Guns
Film Noir illustrates such narrative elements:
- Urban areas/streets
- Cars
- Guns
Film Noir illustrates such narrative elements:
- Flashbacks
- Voice over from the protagonist (to voice inner feelings go isolation)
- Complicated and twisting plots + subplots
- Sudden reverses of fortune
- Circular narrative
- A network of minor characters
- Tragic endings
· Dr Elizabeth Shaw (Prometheus 2012): archaeologist and central protagonist
- Circular narrative
- A network of minor characters
- Tragic endings
STUDIO ERA
When you hear about Hollywood , you probably think of big budget movies , star studded premiers ,and studios with giant backlots pumping out film after film.Most of those association really began sometime between the 1920s and the 1950s.Once audiences could hear actors speak, listen to pre-recorded musicals scores ,and enjoy sound effects ,film cemented its place as the main medium for mass communication ,art and commerce.As important as Hollywood was during the silent era ,nobody could compete after the arrival of sound.New major film studios emerged ,each with their own style and favorite celebrities.This cascade of film led to more technological innovation ,like color film and the widescreen formats we still use today.
This was the golden age or studio era of Hollywood.
After the stock Market Crash in October pf 1929 ,most parts of the American economy took a real hit but not Hollywood ,and at the height of the great Depression in 1933, roughly a quarter of the American workforce couldn't find a job ,and million of others were barely making ends meet.So you'd think the last thing people would do with their hard earned money was go to the movies.And yet ,the Depression was one of the best things to happen to the American film business.In fact, more films were released by the major studios during 1920s and '30s than any other decade-averaging about 800 a year, compared to less than 500 per year today.It was cheaper to go to the movies than a play or a concert ,and cinema became a means of escape.Films are an illusion of reality and the illusion was super attractive to people whose day to reality was ofter pretty bleak.Genre films became more popular such as gangster film, musicals ,westerns and screwball comedies.Anything to take people's own struggles and celebrate good old American values of optimism ,resilience, ambition and courage.At the height of Hollywood's Golden age five film studios ruled
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Established in 1924, by merger of Loew's, Inc. theater chain with three production companies (Metro Pictures/Goldwyn Pictures/Louis B. Mayer Productions)
- Leader in stars, glamour, spectacle: consider Gone with the Wind and Wizard of Oz, both 1939
Paramount Picture Corp
- Established as a distribution company in 1914, it was acquired by Adolph Zukor in 1917, who merged it with his production company, Famous Players-Lasky Corp., and then started buying theatres, making it the first fully vertically-integrated company
- silent era stars: Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Gloria Swanson, William S. Hart, Fatty Arbuckle
Fox Film Corporation/20th Century Fox
Established for exhibition in 1913 by William Fox; producing fims by 1915."20th C" after 1935 merger with production company headed in part by Darryl F. Zanuck, former Warners production head who had just left United Artists
known for musicals; westerns and crime films after 1948; The Robe (1953), 1st Cinemascope feature film
directors: John Ford, Elia Kazan, Joseph Mankiewicz
Warner Brothers
Established in 1924 by Harry, Jack and Albert Warner
1st sound film: The Jazz Singer (1927)
fully integrated only by 1928-30, with acquisition of First National Pictures theatre chain (which had come into being in 1917 to resist Adolph Zukor)
RKO
An immediate major, born of the 1928 merger of Radio Corporation of America with Keith and Orpheum theatres to exploit its "Photophone" movie sound system"unit production" introduced by David O. Selznick (contracting with individual directors for a certain number of films, free of studio interference)hence Citizen Kane (Welles), King Kong, Bringing Up Baby (Hawks), Notorious (Hitchcock)
The end of the Golden Era
On May 4, 1948, in a federal antitrust suit known as the Paramount case brought against the entire Big Five, the U.S. Supreme Court specifically outlawed block booking. Holding that the conglomerates were indeed in violation of antitrust, the justices refrained from making a final decision as to how that fault should be remedied, but the case was sent back to the lower court from which it had come with language that suggested divorcement ,the complete separation of exhibition interests from producer-distributor operations—was the answer. The Big Five, though, seemed united in their determination to fight on and drag out legal proceedings for years as they had already proven adept at—after all, the Paramount suit had originally been filed on July 20, 1938.
MAJOR STUDIOS NOW
'LADY FROM SHANGHAI' (Orson Welles ,1948)
THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI OPENING SCENE
The Chinese Theater Analysis (Partner Work)
Feedback on Presentation
Feedback from Patrick
- Structure and Content of Presentation
-Flows well
-Explores the scene and its meaning to great detail
-Great understanding of the movie
-Structured clearly and understandable
- Visual to aid pitch
-Crisp, clear visuals that relate to Lady from Shanghai
-Some font colour merges with background
-Includes pictures of the scene talked about
- Research and analysis
-Bountiful amount of detail
-Written in own words
-Uses key words i.e:chiaroscuro, long-shot
- Presentation Style
-Spoke clearly and extremely understandable
-Took
-Extremely well prepared
-Spoke proudly
Feedback from Katrina
- Structure and Content of Presentation
-The content is very clearly explained.They also clearly evaluated the scene and the content they analyzed.
- Visuals to aid pitch
-The visuals are relevant but they could have shown them as they explained it to me more effective.They also explained their choice in visuals effectively.
- Research and analysis
-They show their research through knowing where the scene was filmed and details about the production.
- Presentation Style
-Does the student speak clearly and audibly? Yes
-Does the student talk to the audience and/or make eye contact? Yes
-Does the student speak confidently? Yes
-Is the student nervous? No
-Is the student well prepared? Yes
Feedback from Khaira
- Structure and Context of Presentation
-Micro-features presented clearly
- Visual to aid pitch
-Could have included an image from the scene-too much text
- Research and analysis
-There is clear evidence of research done-mentioned aesthetics
- Presentation Style
- I didn't make eye contact often
THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI AQUARIUM SCENE
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13j036NUX5ChM1nWYLaeKauE4y_9FmLW1/view?usp=sharing
LFS & BR AUTURE COMPARISON
DIFFERENCE
SIMILARITIES
RIDLEY SCOTT
THEMES
Some of Ridley Scotts films feature strong conflicts between father and son that usually end with the latter killing the former or witnessing the event As part of the conflict between father and son there are some repetitive scenes: in Gladiator, the son hugs the father seemingly as an expression of love but this embrace turns into the suffocation and death of the father. There is a similar sequence in Blade Runner.
· Maximus kills his father (Gladiator 2002)
It's as though these characters seek to all kill their makers all for similar reasons, some for revenge, others for survival but all of them seem to relate to this theme of 'becoming the alpha male' as though in order to survive as the superior being they must first defeat their predecessors to earn the alpha male title , this is actually one thing I’ve noticed in Scott's form of developing his characters.
One of the recurring themes I've noticed within the four films I have chosen to study is the theme of Androids (Cyberpunk). Within three of the films (Alien, Prometheus and Blade Runner) I have chosen to study, Androids have made appearances with very significant roles; although no androids appear in the movie Gladiator(2000), it only seems logical that they don't seeing as it isn't at all a Science Fiction movie, however the other three films that I've listed all happen to include elements of the Sci-Fi genre, one of those main elements is of course Androids.
Scott always presents these androids in a similar way in each film; usually they are classed as a villain within the films, yet they don't always commit actual crimes against the heroes or other characters within the plots, they simply act very intellectual yet with a sinister side to their persona. All the androids in Scott's movies seem to have purpose, they are never minor characters, instead they are very significant to the plot and help to develop the narrative more than most of the human characters do. For example:
Moreover, another theme is a strong female lead; Ridley Scott started having strong female leaders from very early on. Many say he was ahead of his time by doing this, thus it was something very unusual at the time.
THEMES
Some of Ridley Scotts films feature strong conflicts between father and son that usually end with the latter killing the former or witnessing the event As part of the conflict between father and son there are some repetitive scenes: in Gladiator, the son hugs the father seemingly as an expression of love but this embrace turns into the suffocation and death of the father. There is a similar sequence in Blade Runner.
· Maximus kills his father (Gladiator 2002)
· Roy Batter's main ambition is to meet and slaughter his father (Blade Runner 1982)
· The alien kills its own host in order to be born, which is an act of survival (Alien 1979)
· The character David says "Doesn't everyone want their parents dead?" (Prometheus 2012)
It's as though these characters seek to all kill their makers all for similar reasons, some for revenge, others for survival but all of them seem to relate to this theme of 'becoming the alpha male' as though in order to survive as the superior being they must first defeat their predecessors to earn the alpha male title , this is actually one thing I’ve noticed in Scott's form of developing his characters.
One of the recurring themes I've noticed within the four films I have chosen to study is the theme of Androids (Cyberpunk). Within three of the films (Alien, Prometheus and Blade Runner) I have chosen to study, Androids have made appearances with very significant roles; although no androids appear in the movie Gladiator(2000), it only seems logical that they don't seeing as it isn't at all a Science Fiction movie, however the other three films that I've listed all happen to include elements of the Sci-Fi genre, one of those main elements is of course Androids.
Scott always presents these androids in a similar way in each film; usually they are classed as a villain within the films, yet they don't always commit actual crimes against the heroes or other characters within the plots, they simply act very intellectual yet with a sinister side to their persona. All the androids in Scott's movies seem to have purpose, they are never minor characters, instead they are very significant to the plot and help to develop the narrative more than most of the human characters do. For example:
· Ash from the movie Alien(1979) was given orders to "Bring back the Alien life form" this was both a critical threat and unbeknownst to the rest of the crew, all of which were human.
· David from the movie Prometheus(2012) takes many actions that puts the rest of his crew (again, all of which are human) at risk, although he saves them few times, he is the main reason they are all put in peril countless times, and yet he shows no remorse, even when it results in the death of a fellow crew member
· Batty is the main villain in the movie Blade Runner(1982) and is known as the world's most wanted replicant for murder and other crimes
Moreover, another theme is a strong female lead; Ridley Scott started having strong female leaders from very early on. Many say he was ahead of his time by doing this, thus it was something very unusual at the time.
· Dr Elizabeth Shaw (Prometheus 2012): archaeologist and central protagonist
· Ellen Ripley (Alien 1979): the warrant officer aboard the Nostromo, making her third in command behind Dallas and Kane. Officer or not, she's still a woman a man's world—and this is a man's world circa 1979, not the 21st century's paradise of gender equality. (No, but seriously—things were different in 1979, even though it might not seem like a long time ago.)
In Gladiator(2002) and Blade Runner(1982) the women don’t have as strong as a female lead, because they get used by men:
MICROFEATURES /MOOD&TONE
Within Alien, Blade Runner and Prometheus, darkness is simply a natural part of the worlds that characters inhabit but using it vast ways. In Blade Runner(1982), it is used when the main character is represented as being darker, trashier place within the city, it helps the spectatorship to gather and understand the dirty feel of the city. On the other hand, within Alien(1979) and Prometheus(2012) the darkness is there to fill some short of cloak for the creature with hunts the protagonist.
· Sound
Sketches/Story boards
Ridley Scott learned how to use sketches to visualize his work before he started filming at, he used it through his films which made everything more planned and organize.
Alien 1979
Blade Runner 1982
Gladiator 2000
SELMA ANALYSIS
· Ellen Ripley (Alien 1979): the warrant officer aboard the Nostromo, making her third in command behind Dallas and Kane. Officer or not, she's still a woman a man's world—and this is a man's world circa 1979, not the 21st century's paradise of gender equality. (No, but seriously—things were different in 1979, even though it might not seem like a long time ago.)
In Gladiator(2002) and Blade Runner(1982) the women don’t have as strong as a female lead, because they get used by men:
e.g.
· Lucilla (Gladiator 2002) is mentally abused by her brother which threatens to kill her son and forces her love him. However, she, in a lot of ways, she's trying to do what Maximus cannot do while he's enslaved: fulfill her father's dying wishes. She puts together the meeting between Gracchus and Maximus, and she's the one who lets Maximus know they must act quickly because Commodus has arrested Gracchus and is getting closer to uncovering the plot.
· Racheal (Blade Runner 1982) does not have an identity [as her memories are plant] she gets abused by Decker at some point in the film [he kisses her when she doesn’t want to].
MICROFEATURES /MOOD&TONE
· Lighting
Lighting is used greatly in all of Scott’s films, within Gladiator using it so that to show when the character is angry or even disturbed helps accentuate the pain or overall feeling the character is feeling at the specific moment.
Within Alien, Blade Runner and Prometheus, darkness is simply a natural part of the worlds that characters inhabit but using it vast ways. In Blade Runner(1982), it is used when the main character is represented as being darker, trashier place within the city, it helps the spectatorship to gather and understand the dirty feel of the city. On the other hand, within Alien(1979) and Prometheus(2012) the darkness is there to fill some short of cloak for the creature with hunts the protagonist.
Furthermore, Ridley Scott is known for is the way he uses bright lights through steam or fog to create a certain visual atmosphere. In addition, Scott likes to use fog to project bands of light. This is especially prevalent in some of his earlier films, like Blade Runner(1982) and Alien(1979).
· Sound
He likes to focus on sound and music for tension.
· Blade Runner(1982) : The soundtrack deliberately heightens the mystery of the movie. Vangelis doesn't really focus on the gloomy and decay-ridden side of the movie's world; he edges towards something like "teasingly mystical." He uses soaring synths and tinkling chimes to summon a feeling of eternal mystery, which helps give dimension to the pursuit of "more life" and true humanity that make up Roy Batty's quest.
· Alien(1972) and Gladiators (2000)score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith. About the only through line in his career is that he writes excellent music to heighten the experience of watching movies.
· The grand sound effects for Ridley Scott's sweeping epic Prometheus(2012) often came from odd, unlikely sources – including Pop Rocks, Xerox machines, and a 35-year-old parrot named Skipper.
· But even though Alien(1979) and Prometheus(2012) were created in different centuries and Prometheus has more alternative/pop music. In the trailer however, they both have the same spooky sound effect that crates the feeling of horror and suspicion.
Sketches/Story boards
Ridley Scott learned how to use sketches to visualize his work before he started filming at, he used it through his films which made everything more planned and organize.
Alien 1979
Blade Runner 1982
Gladiator 2000
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uhFGPJTNjeK-EviLd8FHORLSWM89o4GJ/view
‘Selma’ (DuVernay 2014)-Assessment
To what extent do the aesthetic qualities contribute to the impact of your chosen film? Refer in detail to specific sequences.
In ‘Selma’(DuVernay 2014) the aesthetic (the ‘look and feel’ of the film including visual style, influences, auteur, motifs)qualities have a big impact to us the spectatorship. In the following paragraphs, I will mention aesthetics, implying specific scenes in the film and explain what impact they have on the spectatorship.
‘Selma’(DuVernay 2014) presents a sense of realism by : Intently following the events of the civil rights movement in the 1960s and re-creating them. Applying real names of people in the movement (except the obvious one’s MLK ,John Lewis and etc.) like Annie lee coper a civil rights activist ;which in real life and in the Film punches Alabama’s Sheriff Jim Clark. In addition they’ve used real locations from the movement to shoot scenes, for example the scenes at Edmund Pettus Bridge, Montgomery Alabama when King led civil rights protestors down Dexter Avenue towards the Alabama state capital at the aftermath of the third march from Selma.
Moreover Ava DuVernay was not allowed to use the actual speeches by MLK because of copyright reasons; Thus she instead changes some parts of the speeches. E.g. In the scene of the funeral of civil rights demonstrator Jimmie Lee Jackson in realty MLK says “Who killed him? “in the film he says “Who murdered Jimmie Lee Jackson?”. Additionally because of Ava DuVernay’s previous work on documentaries like the film 13th , had an influence on Selma as we can see aspects of documentary aesthetics ,like the hand held camera( in the first attempt scene) and the archive footage ( used in both first and third attempt).
All the above senses of realism especially the archive footage in the first attempt to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge which shows violence and the brutality the Afro-Americans suffered from; Makes us the spectatorship stunned ,realizing that ,yes this is a film and obviously the director uses technics to align us with it. However this really happened and it’s not the director over-dramatizing the situation but people were hurt ,some died to fight for justice/equality.
Furthermore I will mention motifs and cinematography aesthetics which have an impact on the spectatorship. Starting with the use of old Hollywood technique of introducing the characters boldly; hence to stay fresh in the spectators mind. Like when we first got introduced to Coretta Scott King with a long shoot and zooming closer and closer to a close up shoot. Additionally the lighting throughout the Film was kept low and dark, making us the spectatorship feel unhappy and gloomy. This was to create a mood that portrayed the seriousness of the civil rights movement.
A motif used throughout the film is the private/intimate scenes which are usually shoot at night at home-when MLK is alone with his wife, when he makes a late-night phone call to gospel singer Mahalia Jackson-,in the jail cell with Ralph Abernathy and the midnight drive with John Lewis; Where MLK brings his guards down and speaks about his fears. This creates a binary opposition of MLK’s private vs public life, as most of his public life is shoot in day light where his confident and strong. This shows us that even MLK someone who changed the world, was just a human with feelings, fears and doubts making us identify with him.
INDEPENDENT CINEMA
‘Selma’ (DuVernay 2014)-Assessment
To what extent do the aesthetic qualities contribute to the impact of your chosen film? Refer in detail to specific sequences.
‘Selma’(DuVernay 2014) presents a sense of realism by : Intently following the events of the civil rights movement in the 1960s and re-creating them. Applying real names of people in the movement (except the obvious one’s MLK ,John Lewis and etc.) like Annie lee coper a civil rights activist ;which in real life and in the Film punches Alabama’s Sheriff Jim Clark. In addition they’ve used real locations from the movement to shoot scenes, for example the scenes at Edmund Pettus Bridge, Montgomery Alabama when King led civil rights protestors down Dexter Avenue towards the Alabama state capital at the aftermath of the third march from Selma.
Moreover Ava DuVernay was not allowed to use the actual speeches by MLK because of copyright reasons; Thus she instead changes some parts of the speeches. E.g. In the scene of the funeral of civil rights demonstrator Jimmie Lee Jackson in realty MLK says “Who killed him? “in the film he says “Who murdered Jimmie Lee Jackson?”. Additionally because of Ava DuVernay’s previous work on documentaries like the film 13th , had an influence on Selma as we can see aspects of documentary aesthetics ,like the hand held camera( in the first attempt scene) and the archive footage ( used in both first and third attempt).
All the above senses of realism especially the archive footage in the first attempt to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge which shows violence and the brutality the Afro-Americans suffered from; Makes us the spectatorship stunned ,realizing that ,yes this is a film and obviously the director uses technics to align us with it. However this really happened and it’s not the director over-dramatizing the situation but people were hurt ,some died to fight for justice/equality.
Furthermore I will mention motifs and cinematography aesthetics which have an impact on the spectatorship. Starting with the use of old Hollywood technique of introducing the characters boldly; hence to stay fresh in the spectators mind. Like when we first got introduced to Coretta Scott King with a long shoot and zooming closer and closer to a close up shoot. Additionally the lighting throughout the Film was kept low and dark, making us the spectatorship feel unhappy and gloomy. This was to create a mood that portrayed the seriousness of the civil rights movement.
A motif used throughout the film is the private/intimate scenes which are usually shoot at night at home-when MLK is alone with his wife, when he makes a late-night phone call to gospel singer Mahalia Jackson-,in the jail cell with Ralph Abernathy and the midnight drive with John Lewis; Where MLK brings his guards down and speaks about his fears. This creates a binary opposition of MLK’s private vs public life, as most of his public life is shoot in day light where his confident and strong. This shows us that even MLK someone who changed the world, was just a human with feelings, fears and doubts making us identify with him.
Last but not least, Ava DuVernay implied slow-motion: when the kids in the church where killed, when an Alabama state trooper shoots an unarmed black man, when thugs beat to death a white pastor from Boston and bloody Sunday when marchers were beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. She slowed the action on all those scenes something the spectatorship wasn’t expecting, it was shocking. Making us endure the violence and observe its follow-up. Overall as a spectator of the film , I can say that the aesthetics indeed had an big impact in the way I viewed the film. The fact that it was based on real events and it had archived footage ,made it even more emotional and realistic. What I liked was that we got to see the normal everyday life of a strong leader. Also the slow-motion used in violence scenes was something you don’t see that often and it defiantly was an eye-opener and a shock value.
· · According to the Crash Course video, Why do cinema audiences end up with "only reboots and dystopian fantasies"?
· A lot of the time Hollywood is driven by trends. The success of one film or genre inspires others to follow them and create something analogous.
· According to the Crash Course video, what is Classical Hollywood Cinema?
· Classical Hollywood Cinema is a era between the 1930s&1950s.Their stories were chaste, formulaic and mostly upbeat.(The good guys always won, and husbands and wives couldn’t even share a bed.)
· What is high key lighting and who uses it?
· Classical Hollywood used a flat, generic form of lightning called High key lighting that ensured the entire image was clearly visible.
· What happened in the European Film Industry after WW2?
Italian Neo-Realism
· Who was Roberto Rossellini and what did he do?
· Roberto Rossellini was a director before the war and started shooting again right after it ended. After living through that violent time, he craved a more raw and authentic style. His equipment was destroyed because of the war, however that didn’t stop him from bringing what he had in mind to live. As he used it to his advantage to reflect a harsh reality they saw around them. Filming the first Italian Neo-Realism film Rome: open city.
· Which film movement was he associated with?
· “How do you make more authentic, irreverent movies than Hollywood?”
· What happened in the late 1950s in France?
· A group of opinionated young film lovers started writing for a movie magazine (Cahiers du Cinema). They hated the studio system and the films coming out of them.
· What did critics of the Studio System accuse them of?
They accused them of making unimaginative literary adaptations that mimicked the classical Hollywood style. And that the studio system in US and France were spoon feeding their audiences rather than respecting their intelligence.
· Who was Jean-Luc Godard?
· He was part of the opinionated film lovers who wrote for the magazines. who wrote a scathing attack on 21 major French directors
· Did Jean-luc Godard admire any Hollywood directors? Elaborate.
· Yes, he liked John Ford, Howard Hawks and
· What is the French New Wave? Describe and name 3 directors and films.
· It was when the critiques began creating their own films and they became recognized as major international film stars.
Jean-Luc Godard shot Breathless
Jacques Rivette made Paris Belongs to Us
Claude Chabrol made his second film Les Cousins
and Francois Truffaut directed The 400 Blows
· What happened in the US in 1948 and what effect did it have on their film industry?
· There was an antitrust lawsuit (United states vs Paramount Pictures) which forced the major studios to give up their theatre chains. This made the film industry be full of all types of films not just the type the biggest studios wanted to show in their theatres.
· What happened in the US in the 1970s? Describe.
In 1060s After losing their theater chains, they began facing stiff competition from television. As 1970 approached, the Baby boom generation was coming of age, the Vietnam War was in full swing, American politics was at its most violent since the Civil War, and Studio films seemed increasingly out of touch. Tickets sales were falling, and studio executives were in an outright panic.
· What do studio executives like?
Money
· Why was Bonnie and Clyde a watershed moment in US film history?
· Because it was about a pair of charismatic depression era bank robbers on a crime spree. It was a American film that was like a French New wave film. It included unapologetic sexuality, casual humor and brutal violence.
· Which other films were made in this period?
· Easy rider (Denis Hopper and Peter Fondas1969)
· . The graduate (1987) a
· Midnight Cowboy (1969)
· What is New Hollywood Cinema? When was it? Name 3 directors and films.
· It is when old studio executives began to retire and new ones joined, they were shaped by the same social forces as the younger film makers ( the rise of counterculture and Watergate era politics).Small film makers were able to be financed by major Hollywood Studios.New Hollywood cinema (the window of creative control and experimentation)lasted from1967-1980s.
· Directors like
· Taxi Driver( Martin Scorses 1976),
· The Godfather(Francis Ford Coppola 1972)
· Carrie 1976 (Brian de Palma 1976)
· What were Summer Blockbusters? When did they arise? Give 2 examples of directors and films.
· Steven Spielberg and George Lucas created the first summer blockbusters were Jaws, Star Wars and Raider of the Lost Ark .Instead of overtly wrestling with the socio-political upheaval of the 60s and 70s.these films offered a chance to escape.a more pure form of entertainment that appealed to a wider audience.
· What happened to Hollywood Studios at this time?
· The studios were being purchased by multinational, large corporations which changed the way the studios worked. There was now stockholders to satisfy marketing departments to consult and risk assessment to consider. It was all very corporate.
What happened to US Cinema in the 1990s? Describe with examples
The arrival of a new set of independent film makers and mini studios Directors like Spike Lee, Steven Soderbegh, Paul Thomas Anderson and Quentin Tarantino made films for independent companies like Miramax and New Line Cinema. Although they didn't have the resources of the major film studios, the success of films like Do the Right thing and Pulp Fiction showed there was a hunger for risky, original American films that continue today.
·
BOTSW :COOKING SCENE ANALYSIS
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1sovkQQYord64NecQvyr3FeaVI0zmoS1LYDH31HPpQmw/edit?usp=sharing
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD : CONTEXT
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1DLnqLl9vYrZtLGnlwYRVmvHSVuUjg15TUwqCnOL8lTo/edit?usp=sharing
FISH TANK
Andrea Arnold
Andrea Arnold was born in Dartford, Kent. She raised up on a council estate of a type that would practice the setting of her own work; her parents were young when she was born, and they separated early on. At 18 she moved to London, where her preferences were formed by modern films of the time.
Furthermore she joined the dance troupe Zoo, appearing on television shows that included Top of the Pops , but came to fame as an actress and presenter alongside Sandi Toksvig, Nick Staverson and Neil Buchanan in No. 73 a children's show.
After years working in children's television, Andrea Arnold came quite late to directing, but her films instantly became known internationally, attracting enormous applause. Hard detect but her films are often centred on female, working-class characters and marked by simple, unsettling images and intricate editing, their surface roughness is shot through with complexity and compassion.
In the 1990s, she completed a year studying at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, then came back to England and had a daughter with her partner.Her fist shoots were short films ,one of them wasp(2003) winning her an Academy award for best live action short .
She was then invited to join The Advance Party, a project prompted by the Danish director Lars von Trier to make three films by different first-time directors incorporating the same set of characters. Set in Glasgow, Arnold's contribution, Red Road(2006). Competing in Cannes, it won the Jury Prize.She additionally won a jury prize in Cannes when she returned back south for her fil Fish Tank (2009). She is currently planning an adaptation of Wuthering Heights; written by Olivia Hetreed, it will be the first time Arnold has not worked with her own screenplay.
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
We Need to Talk About Kevin Context
Social
Broken families and genetics ... nature or nurture. The film replicates modern concerns about having a traditional family; having a child and working, particularly for women.
Another social concern that the film explores is the discussion about the ‘nature or nurture’. In other words is in the nature of a humans to be born “psychopaths” ? or is it the way they’ve been mature/ thought by the people around them?
These questions have been particularly raisin in Western cultures, that they’ve been influenced by advances in genetic and behavioural sciences.
Historical
High school killings/shootings and contemporary worries concerning terrorism had an important impact on contextual issues surrounding this film; It explores central areas of contemporary debate regarding causes and solutions for such crimes. The fact that the book struggled to get published when 9/11 happened ,added to its reputation, and that of the film, later. The political climate of the United States in 2001 also mimics Eva and Franklin's marriage. During the Bush/Gore election, the country reached a stalemate. No one knew who the president would be, and neither side wanted to compromise. This isn't the America Franklin believed in ,or even the America Eva thought it was.As ,she always thought America was a save place ...until Kevin destroyed her illusions.As much as Eva disliked Kevin, she never thought he would commit the crime that he did.It just couldn't happen right at home like that :'This was America",she thought.
Political
Political discussions about the nature of crime and punishment, particularly in regard to issues of criminal responsibility and terrorism have been frequent and intense in the UK and internationally. The question about Kevin’s criminal responsibility because of his age and family’s background, as well as his mental state. Similarly, there are interesting political debates raised by the film in the nature of Eva’s character and her relationship with Kevin.Eva’s case seems to be that Kevin was born a psychopath—a psychopath whose whole life is geared toward tormenting her. Kevin’s cruelties appear to be designed with his mother as the audience. Shriver makes much of the parallels between Eva and Kevin, and some of the most memorable shots in the film position mother and son as doubles of one another. The film raises issues of a woman’s responsibilities to her children and broaches the taboo subject of a mother who doesn’t seem to like her children.
Institutional
• The film was mainly funded by the BBC which had trouble, at times, raising the necessary funds for the high budget. There was a long delay in the production because of shortage of money caused Ramsay to rewrite the script so that it could be made cheaper. Ramsay says that this forced her to be more creative and natural, but she also said that the support from UK Film and the BBC gave her a support network that not many other independent filmmakers have, particularly when making films in the US.
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