COMPONENT 2
MUSTANG
A2 FILM MOCK EXAM COMPONENT 2
Thursday 16th January pm
1.With close reference to the films you have studied, explore how either sound or mise en scene create meaning.
In the following paragraphs I will analyse how the mise en scene in the lemonade and apple garden scene in ‘Mustang’(Erguven,2015) and the opening and fisherwoman scene in ‘Timbuktu’(Sissako,2014) create meaning.
In ‘Mustang’(Erguven,2015) There are many biblical references used in the apple garden scene where the location itself it’s a reference to Adam’s garden since the girls entering the garden and start “stealing” apples like Eve did. This foreshadows that the girls are going to be punished or face consequences for their actions (going and playing with the boys at the beach). Besides, later on in film an old man appears in the centre of the frame in the film, holding a gun threatening the girls. The gun was used here as a prop to portray that elder men hold power over women. In Turkey it’s a tradition for men to be the head of the family approve whatever their women are doing.
Furthermore, another aspect of mise-en scene that is highlighted in the film is the appearance of characters and their costumes. For example all the girls in the Garden scene have long hair whooshing through the wind like a mustang and they are wearing school uniforms, that are associated with freedom because the girls are not only getting they’re education but their able to show skin, wear their uniform however they want after school (unbuttoning their shirts, wearing their ties on their head ),this is seen as the liberal side of the society. However, in the lemonade scene the stereotypical view of a conservative religious life is portrayed since the girls are banned by their uncle from getting their education and are forced to become wives and look pure and virgin by wearing: dull, shapeless and natural coloured or as Lale says “Shit coloured” dresses and their hair is “tamed” and braided. This also raises awareness about the fact that a woman’s life is controlled by a man, they are not allowed to work to support themselves, therefore they have to depend on someone else.
In the same scene their grandmother has taken them out for “lemonade” to show and prove to the neighbourhood how discipline, pure are virginal her granddaughters are. All five of the girls and their grandmother are walking down narrow streets and are all in one frame which made me as a spectator feel how uncomfortable the girls felt and claustrophobic. Especially when the camera was panning to different windows of people watching them like they were being displayed for them to see. Also, towards the end of the scene there is a close up of the elder sisters and then a long shot of the grandmother and the aunt; making it seem as if this is going to be them in the future. This scene shows how important it is for a woman in Turkey to prove that they are virgin in order to get married, since there is tradition on their wedding night to have an intercourse and then show the grooms family the bloody sheets for proof of virginity.
What inspired the director to make ‘Timbuktu’(Sissako,2014) was a story of a couple being stoned to death after Al-Qateda took over Timbuktu .At first he wanted to shot a documentary however he did not succeed because he was not allowed to go there and if he sent a camera in the Jihadist would take it and use it to their advantage. He then was allowed to go back there 2013 and spoke to people and listened to their stories, but a suicide booming happened, and it was not safe for people. Therefor he ended up shooting a fiction film in a neighbouring Country of Mauritania, but the film is set in Timbuktu.
The opening scene opens with a tracking shoot of a gazelle running in the desert trying to escape the Jihadist that are shooting at him and want to “tire him”. The opening and closing shot are both running shots of a gazelle and Toya running toward no one and nothing; foreshadowing their capture. Many props are used in the opening scene to foreshadow what is about happen and establish the context. The spectator first gets introduced with the Islamic fighters with a CU shot of their flag which is black connotating evil and death. Then we see them shoot historical African relics that are a metaphor for the occupation in Mali. It’s like the camera movements and the framing are giving the spectator a summary or trailer of the film; a shot with all the relics being shot down, a CU of a relic with smoke coming out of his mouth and last shot is a CU of a male and a female relic that have been shot .Foreshadowing the last hellish breath of people (them having enough),people dying because of their culture and the death of Kidane and Samira.
Later in the fisherwoman scene ,which set in the urban narrow sand streets that is a contrast with the desert in the opening scene. Makes the spectator feel like the people are trapped in a physical and political maze. Additionally, there is a lot of contrast between the costumes of the characters. The Jihadist are wearing vivid coloured turbans and carrying their guns like accessories; showing that they have power. Also the contrast between the fisherwoman and the lady next to her.The fisherwoman does not wear gloves like the other woman does and instead of wearing an all-black hijab she wears a red coloured skirt. Portraying that she has had enough of being oppressed for humorous things like wearing gloves while selling fish. This scene emphasis is on female oppression because of the Sharia law.
Coming to the conclusion that in both films’ mise en scene is used to create vary powerful meanings. Most of the props and costumes like the gun for example being held by a man show who is in power. Furthermore, the settings of both films opening with an wide open space like a garden and a desert and then in the following scenes showing narrow street to show how people are controlled.
Bill Nichols 6 Documentary modes
Expository Conventions
• Voiceover, addresses the audience directly.
• The voiceover may either be a ‘voice of God’ commentator (heard but not seen); or ‘voice of authority’ (seen and heard – usually an expert in the relevant field).
• Images are used to illustrate (or sometimes counterpoint) the voiceover.
• Editing is used for continuity, to link together images that support the argument put forward in the voiceover.
• A variety of footage, interviews, stills, archive material is assembled to support the argument.
• Attempts to persuade the audience of a particular point of view, often by appealing to logic and the idea of a common-sense response.
Observational Conventions
• Location shooting – using hand-held cameras.
• Long takes dominate.
• Synchronous (direct) sound recording.
• No voiceover (in its purest form).
• No interviews
. • Documentary-maker’s presence is hidden.
• Subjects pretend that they are not being filmed.
Reflexive Conventions
• Borrows techniques from fiction film for an emotional, subjective response.
• Emphasises the expressive nature of film; anti-realist techniques e.g. re-enactments, expressive lighting, dramatic music.
• Voiceover (when present) is likely to be questioning and uncertain – rather than authoritative.
• Reliance on suggestion and implied meaning rather than fact.
Performative Conventions
• Documentary-maker (and crew) interact with the subject.
• The documentary is often shaped into the narrative of an investigation or search, possibly without a satisfactory conclusion.
• The audience is addressed in an emotional and direct way.
• Subject matter often concerns identity (gender, sexuality) – rather than ‘factual’ topics.
Participatory or Interactive Conventions
• Documentary-maker (and crew) interacts with the subject.
• Interviews dominate but tend to be informal – literally ‘on the run’ questioning.
• Use of archive material – stills, news footage, newspaper headlines, letters etc
. • Location shooting; hand-held camera. Participatory or Interactive Conventions...
• Long takes dominate.
• Documentary-maker is visible to the audience – intervenes and participates in the action.
Poetic Conventions
• Documentary-maker gives subjective view
• Not in typical narrative structure
• Particular mood/tone is created – enhanced by music
• Some light rhetoric but not always
• Events are under-developed, and situations can be left unsolved
• Perceived as Avant-garde (innovative, experimental, pushes boundaries)
DOCUMENTARY OF YOUR CHOICE :
STEVE JOBS: THE MAN IN A MACHINE
What is Documentary?
Documentaries bring views into new words and experience’s through the presentation of factual information about real people, places, and events, generally (but not always) portrayed through the use of actual images and artefacts. But factuality alone dose nit define documentary films; it’s what the filmmaker dose with those factual elements, weaving them into an overall narrative that strives to be as compelling as it is truthful and is often greater than the sum of its parts.
Explore the concept of documentary-use examples
The term ‘documentary’ was invented in the 1920’s by Canadian/British documentary filmmaker, John Grierson who famously defined it as ‘creative treatment of actuality’. A Documentary is a recording of an event, generally based on people’s perspective’s and genuine facts. Many theorist and filmmakers have defined it various ways of explaining them .For example Bill Nicol’s he has separated them in 6 modes, Mark Ramey differing them in “styles “and Kim Longinotto making them an “experience of watching a friction film as possible, though, of course, nothing is ever set up”.
However, in the end documentaries are a mixture of all those theories and are made to represent the closest thing to the truth or more accurately a version of it. In order to so that they use the following codes and conventions: voiceover, narrativization, follow real events, archive footage, interviews-taking heads, technicalities of realism and graphics.
For example, the Documentary “Stories we tell” we do see interviews and archive footage, yet there are some recreated scenes that do follow real events and the navigation of the story. Most of the elements are used to make the audience connect the dots and understand how the story unfolds. Though, editing is what brings it and all documentaries to life because they are mediated in a way to generate a particular story, viewpoint, message or experience. ‘Stories we tell’(Sarah Polley,2013) his documentary is very diverse and include different modes and styles of the theorist.
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