Saving Private Ryan – Steven Spielberg
The Hurt Locker – Kathryn Biglow
We are studying these films to understand how through various techniques and micro features films can create meaning to an audience
Audience alignment –
Exposition – The characters use dialogue to give the audience context and an understanding of whats going on
Both films are based on wars, Saving private Ryan is based on World War 2, The Hurt Locker is the Vietnam war.
Examples of the films eliciting emotion
The opening scene of saving private Ryan is shocking because of its realistic brutality, it sets the film up as one that isn’t holding back and would be disturbing to most audience members. Upham and the rest of the soldiers conflict on whether or not to release the German (steamboat willy) makes a tough decision for the audience as they are most likely split between the two, the more sympathetic side wants to agree with Upham while it may also be more satisfiying to see him killed. This is an example of how the film makes it tricky to allign themselves to a particular side, it also links psycho analysis as both outcomes for steamboat willy appeal to different parts of human nature.
Upham’s feature in the film is too help the audience align themselves with a particular character as they may also feel scared in that situation, unlike many other soldiers who don’t show this fear. However towards the end of the film when Upham is too afraid to save his squad member when he has the perfect opportunity, the audience questions whether they would’ve been that cowardly or would’ve helped. The slow knife and begging of the dying man is also creates emotion because it shows the soldiers human side begging to live.
The hurt locker creates lots of tension throughout the film, the constant threat of the bomb detonation combined with overconfident bomb defuser creates gripping action. The editing includes lots of quick cuts to keep the pace, long distance shots of potential detonators with unclear intentions and the death of guy pierce at the beginning of the film also shows that anyone can be killed off.
Rashomon features a focus on cinematography, it has been described as a silent film with dialogue as it pays a massive attention to detail on camera work
Ugetsu has post war themes along with Rashomon, it also features supernatural elements like rashomon
Irezumi and Kuroneko both from a different decade to the other two have massive stylistic differences, they are both aimed at a younger teen audience capturing a new market of youth who enjoy a more straight forward horror film
Rashomon and kuroneko are both post war films and are made soon after the lift on censorship in Japan, this therefore impacts the content as the films contain scenes that would’ve been previously banned, this includes samurais, suicide and rape.
Some of the main characteristics of the Japanese films from the 50’s includes samurais, gothic horror elements such as the onryo and demonic woman, they also include a strong political messsage. The 60’s films have a less strong message and are more action filled as they are aimed at a younger audience.
The film period of the 60’s was called new wave, as more young people were going to the cinema the industry focused on creating films which would appeal to them more, this included lots of horror and gothic themes. There was less political influence in these films, however they do borrow western film culture with the inclusion of the more simple horror stories. The golden era films also have western influences, Kurosawa departing from the original cinema tradition of a narrator by the screen came from the west and confused people at first however it ended up becoming the norm.
What I have gained from studying this part of world cinema is the importance of political and cultural events on the film industry, the fact the these films are post war is clear from the messages and mood of the film. Studying these films also helps to realise the western influence that Japanese films had.
The film opens with a door opening as Andy steps out, he then walks down the stairs and looks in the mirror, this is done as a character reflection and the long amount of time Andy spends looking in the mirror could show that he is unhappy with his life
Andy then leaves the house and heads down the street, walking towards the camera as it tracks him. He then bumps (shoulder barge) into a man in the street who will later be known as the strangler. Andy carries on walking annoyed, it then fades to black, the black is maintained for a few seconds to show the passing of time, it then switches to andy walking out into a grassy secluded looking area, he walks a few steps then checks his watch.
This shot then quickly switches to Andy’s face looking down at the watch, there is a clear sigh which shows Andy is clearly unhappy and deflated after looking at his watch, this creates an ominous tension as the viewer will wonder what the relevance of the time is. This action reaction to the time also represents Andy as a standard working guy, looking forward to going home after a stressful day. A shot I would’ve improved is the view from the watch onto andys face, this shot comes across as slightly too dark.
After this there is a left panning camera which is a medium tracking shot on Andy, this ominously follows him building up to the reveal of the alley, Andy is nonchalantly walking a long when he looks to his right to reveal a man being beaten in the alleyway. The camera then zooms to an over the shoulder shot of Andy stood staring at the men. The zoom in has the effect of showing Andy’s shot without showing his face, as if his eyes are widening. The camera then moves to the action, however it is revealed in a camera whip upwards from the ground. This shot also confirms fully to the audience that this isn’t a fair fight and one man is being strangled and is the victim. This is useful as if it was just two men fighting fairly then Andy wouldn’t be in a moral dilemma as to whether to intervene. I would’ve probably changed this as it slows down the momentum slightly and also doesn’t make sense as a POV style shot as Andy is already looking at the beating.
An action reaction then happens as the camera swishes up to Andy’s face, in the same style as the previous shot to show him looking horrified and afraid. This reaction develops Andy’s character to be shown as very human and makes sense with the checking of the watch. The audience at this point will be questioning what the protagonist Andy’s response to this beating will be, there is a decision Andy needs to make, save the man being beaten or run away. Andy’s decision is quickly shown as he walks away sheepishly, this may reflect on Andy’s character as being slightly cowardly for not helping, however it may split audiences as he cannot be blamed for not helping as it would be a massive risk for himself. There is then multiple shots of will running, throughout this part there is some intense music and footstep sounds, these sounds created tension. These build up the momentum and reinforce Andy’s cowardly image as he hasn’t thought to phone the police yet. The music continues to build up as Andy runs this creates tension and foreshadows a big event. The audience may have a disliking towards Andy at this point as he is not a community helper. The last 2 shots of Andy running are long shots of him running towards the camera, this helps show that he is running away from something as he is running towards the camera.
We then see the protagonist Andy head towards a piece of paper and start to pick it up, the camera then cuts to an over the shoulder shot of Andy picking up the paper, the camera zooms in on the paper to reveal it say “COWARD, YOU COULD’VE HELPED” This mise en scene has the effect of increasing the tension as it is on screen written exposition showing that one of the men seen earlier has somehow found out where has lived and left a note. This adds a surreal element as it is completely impossible for one of those men to have beaten Andy home and found out where he lives. The shot also lingers on the piece of paper for a few seconds, this gives the viewer a chance to read it and follow the plot before the shot moves on. Shortly after this is an action reaction shot of shock from Andy, he looks to be in disbelief as he reads the note.
In this same shot Andy is approached from by the strangler and starts to get strangled, this is an unexpected twist and will shock the viewer. This also speeds up the pacing of the film as it brings in more action. The next shot is the prior strangle victim Lee looking at the camera, it is assumed to be a POV shot from Andy’s view as it fades into the shot so looks as if Andy is regaining consciousness in POV. The high pitch sounds also shows that Andy is dazed. Lee then points at the strangler, the shot switches to the strangler, it is low angle and therefore makes The Strangler look more intimidating. After this fight style music comes in and the beat matches the stranglers hands movements, this is done to create a satisfying synchronisation.
There is an action fight scene, the strangler eventually raises his arms to his signature strangling move and strangle both of his victims against the wall, there is a close up on Andy and Lee’s faces for this shot which allows the viewer to have an emotional response to the brutal strangling as the victims look very distressed. However the tables are turned when the victims flip the cards and push the strangler against the wall and dual strangle him in an ironic ending for the strangler which also has a theme of karma.
“Charity advertising” has taken different forms, however it consistently attempts to get an emotional response out of the viewer, who therefore may feel guilty or bad about not donating. I thought initially that over time adverts would eventually got more extreme and stand out more. There would be less small text and more buzz words to catch peoples eyes in the street.
This older advert is different from a lot of newer ones in some ways, as it has a less obvious stand out tagline, the main line is less emotionally impactful on the audience in comparison to newer adverts. This advert also has a large chunk of text which may put off some people with a short attention span. Overall it isn’t absolutely clear it is a charity advert and therefore is miss able by some eyes. The older advert is also one that you can fill out, this seems to be a part of an advert which you don’t see so much anymore.
This advert is clearly more modern, which means it has the advantage of colour and therefore naturally stands out more.
I have been revising charity advertising, especially focusing on the change of charity advertising over time, including the method of advertisement through technology, and the way they are used to get the viewer feeling sympathetic and disturbed. Lots of these adverts have got more shocking and disturbing over time, an example of this is barnados charity adverts, they have been involved with controversy as they have included some shocking images
Barnardos heroin baby advert is an example of a more modern creation and is used to scar people into donating. Although this type of advert may be disturbing to some people, it is effective as it may convince people to donate because they would feel guilty not to. Therefore it is a tough question, is it morally wrong to guilt and disturb people into donating to a good cause?
I chose this film as it is one of the 3 films by David Fincher which also features Brad Pitt, it is the biggest collaboration between them and is there second film together and it continues the duo’s success after the massive popularity of se7en. This is one of Finchers most reflective of society films as it has themes of male masculinity, which was a big part of society before 2000.
Item 2 – (David Fincher, Se7en, 1995, New Line Company)
This is another film by David Fincher, it is his first with Brad Pitt and his first successful flim after the alien sequel which wasn’t considered successful. This film shows Fincher taking a different spin on the typical serial killer film, it also has a surprise guest appearance from Kevin Spacey.
Item 3 – (David Fincher, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, 2008, Paramount pictures)
The most modern and recent collaboration between Fincher and Brad Pitt is on the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, this film is a different turn for a fincher as it has a more thought provoking story about a man who ages backwards, rather than Finchers more conventional stories like fight club (which is a book adaptation anyway)
Clip From The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dakx97gRCx0
Books
Item 4 – (David Fincher: Films that scar, Mark Browning, 2010)
This article is called films that scar and I chose this as it goes into detail on Finchers scarring aproach he takes with his films, this is seen in fight club as it has a crucial plot point at the end which makes it standout and guarantees it will stay in the viewers head, there is also se7en which will definietly scar for other reasons, mainly down to gore, and lastly the curious case of benjamin button which can be scarring as it is thought provoking and sad
Item 5 – (David Fincher Interviews, Laurence F Knapp, 2014)
this shows he is very commited to film making, this also shows that fincher worked from the ground up, he didn’t go to film school much like tarantino. Fincher also focused on improving his technical knowledge, Fincher also made quite a lot of music videos before he broke into film especially, including music videos for the rolling stones and Madonna.
Item 6 – (Dark Eye: The Films of David Fincher, James Swallow, 2007)
Goes into detail on his style. The shows that Se7en was the film to pull David Finchers directing career together, after the unsuccessful Alien 3 there couldn’t have been a better film to get his career back on track.
Interviews/Articles
Item 7 – ( The Curious case of David Fincher, Empire Magazine, 2009)
This source shows that Brad Pitt and Fincher were very openly discussing how the acting in the film would be done, they both have a clear say in the performance which shows and understanding in their partnership.
Item 8 – (David Fincher wanted an unlikely figure to play Se7en’s killer before Kevin Spacey, The Independent, November 2016)
“In a bizarre emergence of news, it’s come to bear that Kevin Spacey wasn’t the first choice to play Se7en‘s malevolent serial killer, John Doe. In fact, someone else was considered and it was something of a more leftfield choice because it wasn’t an actor at all, but a musician. Namely the former frontman of REM, Michael Stipe.”
This interesting initial choice by Fincher shows that he is a creative director who is willing to take risks in his casting choices, the fact that he also wanted to pick someone is isn’t actually an actor also adds to this risk.
Item 9 – (Seven 20th anniversary: Analyzing the ‘what’s in the box’ ending, Entertainment, September 2015)
“Twenty years ago, Brad Pitt’s exclamation of fear and dread jolted audiences and left a lasting cultural imprint. The ending of Se7en, director David Fincher’s breakout film, is one of the most shocking, disturbing, and iconic twists in modern cinema, capping a tight, wrought thriller.”
I chose this source because it links into my previous source about David fincher creating films that scar, it also focuses on the ending of se7en which is the most typically scarring moment from David Finchers set of films.
Item 10 – (The Curious Case of Aging Visual Effects, Mike Seymour, 2009)
This article contains a discussion about the effects in The Curios Case of Benjamin Button, it is between the article host and someone who was very involved in the creation of the effects. The effects are a massive part of this film as Brad Pitt doesn’t do any live acting for the first 52 minutes. The set up involved lots of cameras and work to pull off the aged Brad Pitt convincingly.
Item 11 – (How Fight Club fought a crisis of masculinity, Dazed, 2014)
This article links into a concept from this film of male masculinity being in crisis. The fact that these men have to punch each other shows they are having a crisis and they are not mentally healthy, this is a theme from the film which reflects the society at the time as on the new year millennium.
“it remains an explosive encapsulation of the zeitgeist on the eve of the new millennium”
Item 12 – (What happened at the end of “Se7en”? How were wrath and envy fulfilled?, Screen Prism, Jeff Saporito, November 2015)
This article focuses on the main concept of the film which is the seven deadly sins and them being used as creative ways of killing, this concept is a very intriguing one and is displayed in a very violent way to capture the gruesome behaviour of the killer. I chose this source as it shows the original concept behind the film which was executed well to make a very successful film.
Deselected Items
Deselected Item 1 – (Terri Murray responds to a shocking film in a shocking way, with the help of Lewis Rose, Philosophy Now, 2010)
I deselected this article because it wasn’t as helpful to me as the others, this article is more of a criticism, the article mainly criticise the film and complains about the sexual violence in it which is not massively helpful to me as this is not a common opinion on the film as most people are expecting violence/sexual violence in a film of this type.
Because of modern technology, we have the internet, therefore we can now search up charities and be donate online. This affects the marketing as it means charities will be much more likely to repeat their web address in order to get people to donate.
The use of this child giving the thumbs up is also to be emotional as it shows a kid being happy and how your donations can help kids be happy. The emotional manipulation side has developed over time as it has shown to be a more effective marketing strategy
“At the beginning of the 20th century, two sisters had a vision to achieve and protect the rights of children. Almost 100 years later, that vision continues to guide all our work. Read the story of what happened in between.”
This is the first sentence that comes up on the webpage, this shows they are trying to invest you in the history of the charity to get you emotionally
Questions
how has charity advertising language changed overtime?
How does charitable language over time differ between men and women?
How has charitable language changed since the introduction of modern technology?
To what extent does charitable language emotionally manipulate people into donating?
Does charitable language go too far in convincing people to donate?
Discussing Film form, explore to what extent social changes are represented in the opening of ‘Irezumi’. 40 marks.
Irezumi was released in 1966, and was a new wave japanese film by Masumara, it was quite controversial at the time as it includes scenes of rape and gore. Through the films use of microfeatures and character direction it shows a portrayal of social change in the 60’s, women were getting much more rights especially especially in europe, and since japanese cinema was inspired by western cinema they took lots of aspects including the main role of women.
The film opens with an In media res, which means it is halfway through the film, it shows Otsuya forcibly having a tattoo put on her back, during these scenes it shows the naked back of Otsuya, this is quite a new wave cinema aspect as before in cinema they may not have shown as much skin. The main protagonist of the film is also a female, this may seem common now however back in the 60’s the protagonists of films would be more likely to be male, the reason for female protagonists appearing more commonly is because contextually women are gaining more equal rights throughout the world
When it cuts back to the events before, it shows two characters who are in love, one is Shinsuke the male, and the other is his boss’s daughter Otsuya. Through microfeatures early in the film it shows Otsuya putting Shinsuke in a difficult place, as he is stuck against a wall, this is shown as half of the shot is taken up with just a wall, this shows that Otsuya is the dominant controlling one of the relationship and this reflects social context as women are starting to gain equality with men.
The opening shows two families both threatened by war, they both are preparing for it and want to be undamaged by it, however the men of the families also in addition want to make a profit off of the war, this is frowned upon by the their wives who’s main priority is safety. This represents the men as greedy and stupid, as they are too desperate for money to see sense and get their family to safety. The men are also the workers of the family and the women stay at home and look after the children which shows traditional gender roles of the time period.
The opening also contextually links to Japan at the time, as this is released in the 50’s the Japanese had experienced war recently, therefore the themes of war in the film is relatable to viewers as everyone in Japan would’ve been affected by it. The men being still motivated by money in desperate times has the moral message that money isn’t everything and you should prioritise your families safety. The opening of the film includes lots of longshots and not many closeups,
The Middle sequence of Ugetsu takes a different turn, as it begins to focus on different themes and messages, after one of the main guys from the film starts selling his trade to a household, the woman from the household seduces him and invites him to marry her, it is very suspicious and by being with her, he is cheating on his own wife. This woman turns out later to be a ghost, this opens up a new supernatural gothic theme which is new to the war theme. When the ghostly women sings the lighting is dimmed, the music is also eerie, this combined creates the chilling gothic atmosphere of a supernatural thriller film, the camera also pans to reveal the samurai helmet in the dark which is also a scary representation of a ghost.
At the end of the film there is a theme of regret as the male characters return home to regret their actions. It starts off with the guy who was desperate to be a samurai regretting his choices of becoming a samurai and taking his family for granted, he throws away his samurai armour to show his regret. On the other hand the man who has been unfaithful to his wife goes home and has a vision of his wife and child only to wake up in the morning and find out they died in the war, this makes the man regret cheating as he finally stopped taking his wife for granted. Overall this has a message for both characters, don’t take things for granted and be happy with your family. This film also has anti-war messages as it shows two famillies torn apart by the war. It also shows themes of karma, as the man who was unfaithful goes home to find his wife dead and misses her a lot.
The use of this child giving the thumbs up is also to be emotional as it shows a kid being happy and how your donations can help kids be happy. The emotional manipulation side has developed over time as it has shown to be a more effective marketing strategy
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