SELMA/BOTSW

SELMA ANALYSIS 

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD 

BEASTS OF THbE SOUTHERN WILD : CONTEXT

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1DLnqLl9vYrZtLGnlwYRVmvHSVuUjg15TUwqCnOL8lTo/edit?usp=sharing

BOTSW: COOKING/FIGHTING SCENE ANALYSIS

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1sovkQQYord64NecQvyr3FeaVI0zmoS1LYDH31HPpQmw/edit?usp=sharing

‘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 13^th , 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.