Keighley Garside Film A level Blog

The film affects the audience by how the character are represented. Combo is presented as very aggressive and controversial character that takes Shaun under his wing and introduces him to the skinhead ways and culture. When Combo makes his speech about the Falkland war and then Shaun shows his strength to get up and take a swing at a fully grown man and then Combo understands about his father and shows him kindness. Shaun is a very likeable character who is the protagonist of the film. He is also a character who wants everyone to be friends and settle their differences. Shaun has a turning point when he goes in the corner shop and then the whole gan comes in showing a gangster side to them. Woody is a very kind character who is a strong father figure for Shaun and stops him getting bullied and makes him a confident young man.

The genre of the film Inception is extended over many different genre such as action and adventure as well as science fiction and a thriller as well as having crime in the mix as they are work as a team very close together and know a lot about each other.

The Diving bell and the Butterfly           ↓ Shaving scene - hand held camera  adds to the realism of the scene.   Beach scene - has a static camera  shows him not being able to move, emphasis the different stages he  is at in his life.             Juxtaposition - even more so with  the completely different camera  techniques. Fantasy scene cinematography - face close up shot confirms that it is his imagination then goes to the butterfly to show its his imagination his small imagination dealing with nature which then goes to his memories and wider imagination. Butterfly is the origin of his imagination. Imagination starts of small then grows to become something bigger. The camera shot widens when the imagination gets bigger and more random.  Fantasy scene editing - the scene ends with the a montage of photos from Jean-Do's edited reverse chronology, designed to ev...

Tools of sound - Diegetic sound – sound that is part of the action and character can hear it (darth vader’s lightsabre). Non-diegetic sound – sound that has been put in later character can’t hear (voice over). Parallel - matches the action/genre of the film. Contrapuntal - opposite to where the sound doesn't match the action or the film. Sound bridge - sound from one scene carries on in the next scene. Recognised music - specific songs and the connotation of it. Pace and mood - how the music conveys mood and helps pace.

Diegetic and non diegetic examples Diegetic - sound of the music at Benny's party, knife sharping at the beginning. Non diegetic - voice over of Rocket, music that is not part of the action.  Significance of the voice over - 1st person narrative Rocket, photographer/documenter.                                    ↓              Photographers highly accurate, report what they see.  Non fiction - real, based on a true story, adds truth. Very calm and confident with the way he talks, this also adds to the accuracy and the fact he is an outsider. Contrapuntal sound which is opposite from the action where he should be scared by he isn't. Significance of music -   Benny's party scene - contrapuntal sound as martial arts is all about discipline and about self defence which is complete opposite to wha...

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly fantasy scene starts with very uplifting music with him remembering his life and then the realisation sets in when he realised he can't do those things again and that he took life for granted. All he has is his imagination which is why it is uplifting and then when he realised that's all he has that why the music starts to get sadder and more depressing. The sound bridge at the end to show that he is thinking about what we have just seen.  The shaving scene the lack on sound make the audience focus on the task which is being carried about and want the audience to make up their own mind on how to feel about what is happening through the way the venerability is shown by the shaving his father stubble off his face. The diegetic sound of the razor just makes it more realistic because that is the sound you would hear if you were in the same room as the person being shaved this makes the audience member feel like they are th...

What are the main connotations behind the montage of shots which show L'il Dice became L'il Ze? The montage of shots of L'il Ze, is shown to be shooting different people as he grows up, which connotes darkness, death, out of control and unstoppable. The first time we see him kill is because he was sick of waiting for the Tender Trio to finish the robbery so he shoots at the window which makes the Tender Trio escape and then L'il Dice goes in and kills the people in the motel however we don't see a reaction which we would expect we see him laughing and finding it rather funny. Then after the montage we see him selling his soul to the devil with Voodoo magic and receiving a necklace which then brings him to be known as L'il Ze. Voodoo magic has connotations of darkness, evil and power. Most of the montage is the night besides the killing of Goose. Night reflects L'il Ze personality which is symbolised death, darkness of a soul and loss of faith.  ...

Mathieu Amalric performance  The actor who performs as Jean-Dominique Bauby is Mathieu Amalric the actor brings emotion to the character by just laying in one position and only having one eye to communicate. This is a very hard part to play because the actor will have been tensing everything and can only blink when a letter is said that he wants. Jean-Do communicates through his eye and remains static which means he still can communicates with people just not the conventional way. Females performance in the film  Henriette and 'Claude' treat Jean-Do with a level of respect for him living the way he is however they treat him like a normal person who hasn't had a stroke and is static all the time besides moving his eye. Their performance was very realistic and it was clear they formed a bond with Jean-Do because when he said he wanted to die, she got really emotional which just showed how much she cared for him already. 

How does the Mise-en-scene create meaning throughout the film? Throughout the film there are constant communication of frustration and paralysis through mise-en-scene. Another example of this the diving bell which is heavy and also represents the pararlysis and being trapped in his own body. Butterflies have connotations of freedom and creativity which clearly reflects Jean-Do. The butterfly scenes represents his mind as free and uncontrollable however very intelligent. Father's day scene  In the father's day scene where Jean-Do shaving his father shows his fathers vunerablility and weakness this is contrasted in the following scene where his son is wiping his saliva from his cheek this shows Jean-Do in a vulnerable position and shows his body as weak and incapable of doing simple tasks. Putting these two scenes next to each other makes the dramatic change more of an extreme role reversal.  Icebergs I cebergs represents Jean-Do's body being heavy, static and thro...

How does the narrative of the film and its structure reflect the key themeless and messages of the story? The narrative from The Diving Bell and the Butterfly explains his life which is very repetitive. Throughout the film their are flash backs and dream sequences which means it is non chronological order and it is all from his point of view which means, how other people feel is limited for the spectators to see as we only see the very mundane life of a man with locked in syndrome.    The whole narrative is of a man with locked in syndrome who is called  Jean-Dominique Bauby.  He was a editor-in-chief for Elle magazine then one day had a stroke and lapsed into a coma for 20 days which then he woke from finding he is completely paralysed except from his eyes. Then a doctor came had to sew his right eye up due to muscle damage. He then meets two women that are going to help him try and recover. The speech and language therapist  which seems to find a way to help...

Spectatorship  Spectatorship is an important concept in  film  theory. It is an active response from someone when viewing a film, the spectators tend to engage in the film and then begin to form a response whereas an audience member would just say the film was good or bad this would be without forming a response or engaging.  The factors that affect how spectators respond to the films they see, are things like who they see the film with whether that be friends or family or even on their own and where they see the film whether it be in a cinema or at home they will react different because the cinema is not a personal viewing whereas at home is.  Peoples ethnicity, gender,  political and social believes cultural believes  age  Spectators will be affected differently by a film also based on what they have experienced throughout their lives because for example if they watch a film which has a mother die and ...

How does the film mirror the way video games are constructed? The film mirrors the way video games are constructed by the different levels very much like a game also they used lift for different levels also the lifts to different memories of Cobb's with Mal How is a crisis in Masculinity shown in the film? The crisis in Masculinity is shown in the film by the two strong independent women one of which is Cobb's wife Mal and the other who is Cobb's new architect How does the film show grief an loss (echo of post 911)? The film portray the male trauma through the character of Leonardo DiCarpio's which is Dom Cobb which him losing his wife is his trauma which is most likely to change him as a person and the fact that he was blamed for his wife's death would have made this time even harder for him.

How does the Mise-en-scene and the music in Trainspotting reflect the social and cultural contexts of the film's setting. Trainspotting reflects the social and cultural content with the use of Mise-en-scene and music. We can see the lack of employment in Scotland which is brought on by the post Thatcher era which is clearly where the film Trainspotting is based, this is shown when Renton says  "choose life, choose a job, choose a career, choose a family, choose a f***ing big television ect".  The drug and rave culture is very well used in this film as we see the gang of people using heroine and have become addicted to it, this is all because they don't have work to go to due to the Thatcherism which made a massive rise in unemployment. The rave culture is shown when Renton meets Diane they are dancing and listening to music that was popular at that period of time. The music is very well thought out in this film as it uses non synchronous sound which is sound t...

How does TIE reflect the political and social contexts of the 80's? Make sure you refer to film form in your answer, especially Mise-en-scene (costume, setting, performance ect. ) and sound (especially music). Context Political (Thatcherism and Capitalism) Social (the dual representations of Skinhead culture, disaffection of youth, racial tension and riots) This is England reflects political and social content in the 80's by the graffiti that we see throughout such as Combo and Shaun were actually doing the graffiti themselves which was all against Thatcher and her policies and what she stood for. We can also see in This is England that the Capitalist views are clearly frowned upon as they are working class which then leads to the Skinhead culture with them dressing the same and having shaved heads and liking the same music which is the original Skinheads which were multicultural and didn't discriminate because the music they all enjoyed was brought from...

Compare how far your chosen films reflect the auteur signature features of their filmmakers. [40 marks] This essay will explore the reflect of the auteurs signature on their films which are Vertigo and One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest. The auteurs for these films are Alfred Hitchcock for Vertigo and Milos Forman for One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Auteur is a French word which means author and this means then the author has a certain way of creating or putting something in their films to make is immediately recognisable as their films, auteur also include the style of the film. In the film Vertigo the auteur being Alfred Hitchcock makes it easy to see his influences on the film he uses a lot of the same camera shots for example a bird's eye view which lets the audience get a better perspective on what is happening throughout the whole film and also high angle shots which show who is dominant in the scene which is Scottie throughout most of film. As a an auteur he uses...

Masculinity and its flaw - Inception - this would be in the scene of her first dream and the power shifts from Cob to Ariadne which is showing strong female characters which shows the males as flawed and lacking their masculinity in some respects and also the loss of his wife makes him a weaker male as every time he sees her doing something she shouldn't he can't stop her. Captain Fantastic - as he is teaching his children all the masculine things such as hunting and fighting were as they are not shown to have this gentle side to them which is not that often seeing in males and females children, which is an overwhelming amount of masculinity.

In Captain Fantastic some spectators may have an emotional response which is dependent on the certain spectators like who they are, what their gender is, how old they are. The emotional response of shock in the opening scene where they kill the stag the techniques for this is that it has been put next to a scene of happiness where they are washing in the lake and playing together which makes the killing part of the scene more shocking and the washing part of the scene more happy as they are polar opposites to each other. There is also no music in this scene which makes the killing of the stag very unexpected and very brutal with the stag just going about it's day and Bo the eldest son kills it. Another emotional response is sympathy for Rellian as most children have had an argument with there parents and you always think that the child is right and the parents are wrong which may make some spectators feel empathy for him and also maybe approval to what he is doing by going to Ja...

Explore how far spectators respond in the same way to a film. Illustrate your answer by close reference to your chosen film. In your answer consider: what you understand by spectators responding to a film in the same way  how aspects of film form are used to encourage a particular response  to what extent spectators respond in the same way to those aspects of film form This essay will explore how far the spectators response throughout the film of Captain Fantastic in the same way. Spectatorship is how individuals consume, engage and respond to a film. The filmmakers use a range of key and structural elements of film to respond in a particular way to a film for example in Captain Fantastic the opening scene when we see a person covered in mud and the hunt to kill this innocent stag who is none the wiser about what is going on the killing of the stag shows them as brutal humans and is not clear what era and century we are in. This could have multiple...

Inception Outline with examples how the film's narrative is designed to mirror the way video games are constructed. The film's narrative has been based around this idea of video games and different levels to attract the audience of teenagers. This is linked by the ideas of different levels of the dream where they try to complete inception or of the memories of Cobb's wife Mal in his dreams. How does the film portray male trauma and anxiety? The film portray the male trauma through the character of Leonardo DiCarpio's which is Dom Cobb which him losing his wife is his trauma which is most likely to change him as a person and the fact that he was blamed for his wife's death would have made this time even harder for him. The male anxiety is also from Cobb as his projection of his wife has put people at risk which at the end is the reason why Fischer dies and he couldn't shoot her to stop her. How does the non-linear narrative in the film create...

Leslie and Ben and their six children live deep in the wilderness of Washington state. Leslie has been diagnosed with Bipolar and has episodes which meant she was taken to hospital and she killed herself this all comes to light after we see Bo kill a stag and Ben says he has become a man and we see that they live away from society and we learn more and more about what happened to their mother and she lived her life. The turning point in the film is when they go back to mainstream society for their mother's funeral, which they were told by Leslie's dad Jack that they were not allowed to attend. The ambiguity within the film is at the end when we are left guessing about whether they actually go to school know or was it just a joke and how are they paying for the place they currently live in. The messages about consumerism and alternative lifestyles which is rejected by Ben and Leslie which then their children follow suit which is them rejected the processed food and the contr...

The recruitment 1. What is the purpose of this scene besides the obvious recruitment? The purpose of this scene is to explain what is actually happening to the spectators, as at this point it is a very confusing film and this is more like an explanation scene than anything else. 2. How can we tell that Ariadne is slowing realising that she is in a dream from the performance of the actor? We see that Ariadne realises she is in a dream as she starts to mess with the physics of the film and the architecture of the film. 3. How does the audience placement change within this sequence? The beginning Leo's character is in control and she is asking all the questions and then it shifts then she has the power and we see it more from her point of view as she changes things. The end 1. How is camerawork used in this sequence? How does the camerawork help to create an active response to this scene? In this sequence we have a few point of view shots for example looking down at ...

Explore how narrative structure or narrational devices are used in both of your chosen films [40] This essay will examine how narrative structure is used in This is England and then go on to talk about how narrational devices are used in Trainspotting. Narrative structure is all about the organisation of key elements of the story into an order, the codes are used to develop the story line and to show binary opposites are there throughout This is England. Then narrational devices are things like the voice over  throughout the film of Trainspotting. In This is England narrative structure is used to show the whole story of Shaun and his life after his fathers death. The Equilibrium is the peace at the beginning and it starts with the opposing forces are in balance. Secondly is the Disruption which is the next phase of the film when the peace is disrupted by an event. Thirdly which is the recognition which is when the main characters realise that the state of equilibrium has b...

Brief outline of the plot The film starts with the introduction of the characters that are on the ward which sets the scene of a mental hospital then we have RP McMurphy arrive in a car with handcuffs on showing he is a criminal which then we get the reason why he is in prison in the first place   for statutory rape of a 15-year-old. Who has been sent to the mental hospital to be evaluated. Then is put on the ward with Nurse Ratched who runs the ward. RP McMurphy met some very intreseting men who made connections with Billy Bibbit, Charlie Cheswick, Dale Harding, Max Taber and Chief. They all broke out and went on a fishing trip where they all bonded. McMurphy learns in group theory that he is one of the few men that are committed to the ward along with Taber and Chief  and when Cheswick has a tantrum and they all get electroconvulsive therapy. Then when Nurse Ratched leaves for the night the patients through a Christmas party were two women come onto th...

In the opening sequence sets the scene for the film when Renton and Spud have stolen stuff to pay for drugs because it doesn't start in chronological order because we see the decision by Renton to go back on drugs. This first scene also has Renton talking over the action with the music in the background he talks about different things that don't matter to him because he has Heroin which makes his life what it is. He says "choose life, choose a job, choose a career, choose a family, choose a f***ing big television ect" which has contrast with what he say in the last scene where he wants the big television and wants a family and wants to pay tax and become part of the economy and join society again. He says all the things he says ironically because he didn't want all them at the beginning because he had Heroin. At the beginning e is pessimistic and at the end he is optimistic the music always shows this. Ironically he has stolen from someone at the beginning and the...