Discuss some of the techniques used in your chosen films to provoke audiences into taking a particular point of view towards characters and key events

     In the film 'City of God' Fernano Meirelles uses many cinematic techniques to make the audience take on a certain point of view towards certain characters and key events.
     Starting straight away with the opening scene, the first thing you see is a knife, this straight gives the audience an idea of the area this film is set. The editing in the opening scene is very fast paced, swapping from clip to clip of knives, chickens, people, stoves, etc, this gives the audience the ideology that this place is very fast paced.
     Lil' Dice/Lil' Z is often shown as very powerful and dominant, for example when Lil' Dice goes into the building with a gun in which his brother and friends had robbed and trashed, and killed them all, his performance as a character shows how much of a conscience he lacks, with the fact he just laughs psychotically, however, with the use of cinematic techniques, we see that with this psychotic side he is, he is very powerful, this is emphasised with the usage of often low camera angles, this angle also emphasises the gun in his hand.
     Whenever a character has a gun, in terms of framing and camera angles, the gun is very much emphasised, like when Steak N' Fries is told to shoot the small child, we switch to a point of view shot with the gun in the centre of the frame, this is done purposely to show that whoever has the gun in the situation or event, has the power, so at this point Lil' Ze and his gang all have the power, because they have the gun, this is once again emphasised with the usage of low angle shots.  

How far does the impact of the films you have studied for this topic depend on distinctive uses of film techniques?

     The film La Haine is set in the 1990's in France, the time when the youths and police force were rioting against one and other. Normally when we think of France we stereotype it, think of it as very peaceful loving place, but the representation of France in La Haine is very negative and involves lots of conflict, this is created by the film techniques but also by the performance of the actors.

     Matthieu Kassovitz based the film around a small social group of young men from ethnic minorities. The first character we are introduced to is 'Said'. He is stood in the middle of the street with his eyes closed and the camera is slowly zooming into his face. When Said has his eyes closed there is no sound, but as he opens his eyes, you can hear the diegetic sounds around him, this almost suggest that the youths at this time are trying to shut out the world, or that they can't believe their eyes, this film technique makes an impact on the audience as they are already aware of some kind of conflict in the film. In this opening scene impact is created on the viewers straight away with the usage of conflict which is shown through film techniques. After the close up is shown of Said opening his eyes, the film then cuts to the back of Saids head, the camera slowly pans up and over the top of his head to reveal what Said is looking at.

Said is looking at the Police Station where many Police Men are standing (pigs). A point of view shot is specifically used because Said is standing on the other side of the road, so this is creating distance between him and the Pigs. This shows conflict, as even though the Pigs are usually seen as the heroic people in films, you know that in this film from the usage of the film techniques, that in this film they are the 'bad guys'. The camera then pans to Said at the back a Police Van writing graffiti on the van.
A close up of the graffiti of the van is shown for a reason, because at the top of the graffiti he has marked his name, and underneath says 'Fuck the Police' (but in french) This had an impact on me because it made me think of him as a very risky character, showing he's not afraid of the police and is quite rebellious, so it showed me as to what kind of character he was.

     We are then introduced to another character who is friends with Said, Vinz. Straight away I was aware of the character Vinz was as a low angle shot is shown of him asleep, which to me made me think of him as a bit of a slob. As Said then enters the room a point of view shot is used and the camera zooms into his hand, which on it, is a ring that says Vinz. We are introduced to Vinz' character in a similar sort of way in which Said is introduced. Because of the fact Vinz was wearing a big ring, it made me stereotype him and look at him as a kind of thug who wears a lot of 'bling'.

The next clip backs up my theory as Vinz is standing in the mirror threatening his reflection, almost practising in case he needs to hurt or threaten someone, I think this behaviour has been influenced by the surroundings he is living, constant conflict and riots going on around him, which in a way, made me feel sorry for him.


      

Annotated Catalogue

Quentin Tarantino uses specific music in his films, can this be seen as his key signature and does this make him an auteur?

Films:

Item 1 - Pulp Fiction (1994)
Pulp Fiction is a film in which very dominant popular tracks are used in very tense and strange scenes. Tracks that fit the scenes perfectly and add to the effect, an example of this would be the track that is played over the scene when the character Mia Wallace mistakes the Heroin for Cocaine which causes her to nearly die, 'You'll Be A Woman soon'. Tarantino uses a wide range of genres of music in this film, making it very Post Modern and very personal to him. This is seen as his key signature, making this a very good film to refer back to when proving he is an auteur.

Item 2 - Kill Bill: Vol 1 (2003)
I am choosing Kill Bill: Vol 1 as one of my films because this film is very well known for having specific and dominant music in scenes and also varying in his choice of music. For example when 'Black Mamba' is searching for O-Ren Ishii, even though there is tension, there is still very dominant happy Chinese dance music in the background, giving it a very different feel to other films, making this a key signature in the film.

Item 3 - Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Reservoir Dogs is a perfect film to use to back up my question, as people have been saying for years now when people listen to the songs featured in this film, they have become so iconic, that they just can't help picture the scene in their mind. 'Stuck In The Middle' by Steelers Wheel was used to accompany the scene in which a police officer was tortured, and because of how graphic the scene was, now when listening to the song, one can not help picture the scene.

Books:

Item 4 - Quentessential Tarantino by Edwin Page (2006)
This book discusses all three of my chosen films, it mentions specific scenes in the films and why certain tracks of Tarantino's choice have been chosen at this certain point. It also tells me the names of these tracks and how they are significant, therefore it is a very useful source.

Item 5 - Tarantino A to ZED (1999)
This book will make a key piece of evidence to answer my question as there is a section purely specified on his music, it discusses how he decides on the right tracks before shooting, or even scripting, has begun.

Websites:

Item 6 - http://www.denofgeek.com/other/12893/music-in-the-movies-quentin-tarantino:
This website contains tonnes of information about Quentin Tarantino's choice of music. It contains all 3 films I am looking at and gives the names of the majority of tracks he uses in key scenes. It is therefore essential as I will be analyse my films in great detail.

Item 7- http://whatculture.com/film/10-greatest-uses-of-music-in-quentin-tarantino-films.php
Even though this website only contains information on two of my chosen films, it is still a fantastic website to use, as it includes names of tracks used in the films that are iconic and even include videos of key sequences in which these tracks are used.

Item 8 -  http://bradtilles.hubpages.com/hub/Quentin-Tarantinos-Cinematic-Soundtrack
This website discusses all 3 of my chosen films in slight detail, focussing on specific music, looking at key scenes in each of my chosen films, it also includes videos of these scenes with analysis. It is therefore a good source as it makes it a lot easier to find tracks in certain scenes and say how they are his key signature.

Item 9 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quentin_Tarantino
Even though Wikipedia is full of information, there aren't really any specifics on his choice of music and why he uses the music he does, so the reason I am using this website is for a certain quote which is completely relevant, "He said he would listen to music in his bedroom and create scenes that correlated to the music playing" This quote is brilliant to back up my theory that he is an auteur. 

Item 10 - http://voices.yahoo.com/a-style-apart-look-into-technique-quentin-5885460.html
This website discusses how Quentin Tarantino has a specific style to his films, and how he often refers to pop culture in his films with his use of music. The text then discusses films such as Pulp Fiction and makes reference to key scenes and key tracks used.

Item 11 - http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/staffhome/siryan/screen/auteur%20theory.htm 
This website explains the Auteur theory, this will enable me to back up my discussion and I can pick out key quotes to include into my script.

Interviews:-

Item 12 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTF5XvwcYZI
This interview is perfect to use for my research project as Quentin Tarantino discuss all 3 of my chosen films and discusses why he uses certain music in key sequences, also, things Tarantino actually says can be used as quotes to back up my theory of him being an auteur.

Item 13 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZkHS1Fqc10&feature=player_embedded
Tarantino discusses how in Kill Bill he actually uses original music in the film rather than a soundtrack, and he then goes on to discuss how he is a soundtrack legend and has a huge soundtrack collection and his been/done for years, hearing the director say this himself can really help my statement that Quentin Tarantino is an auteur.

Magazines:-

Item 14 - http://www.empireonline.com/features/quentin-tarantino-playlist
This magazine is very vague, but however includes key quotations which back up that his choice of music in films makes him an auteur, with quotes such as 'Quentin Tarantino is not what anyone would call a music ignoramus'.

Item 15 - http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/quentin-tarantino-and-the-art-of-the-badass-soundtrack
Straight away from the title of this article you can see that Quentin Tarantino is an auteur. 'Quentin Tarantino and the Art of the Badass Soundtrack'. This article discusses that even if you don't like Tarantinos films, his soundtracks are always essential listening, this really helps me answer my question.

Item 16 - http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/at-the-movies/a451459/quentin-tarantinos-music-moments-stuck-in-the-middle-david-bowie.html
This article once again discusses how Quentin Tarantinos films all have a similar style in choice of music. This article talks about all 3 of my chosen films and key tracks in key scenes, as well as this, also discusses how the tracks make the viewer feel. This is therefore a very good source as it makes it very easy to discuss scenes in his films and the songs used, I can also use quotes in this article to discuss how his music makes the audience feel.

Images:-

Item 17 - https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7850Hg384jcRa4qW7EVrxN057SLTvWge6oXDxK4qEeL5rTW_YqmNKTuFCiF_gZ89ONjpxQZxS6F8tXoaugC13sLzvPwpNu9_DXVq8fgbbqwNRfsZftFuUVeAV-QSRiDPN_DnIbIz5z5Y/s1600/reservoir_poster.jpg
This poster is relevant for my Presentation Script as when discussing Reservoir dogs I can give the audience something to look at so they know exactly what I'm talking about.

Item 18 - https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-xCDk9sHL5F9vlQc6Xmwrr7rNjWGr4Y1emgqwlOxUwO2IkfypRg1fnRDMNC22GWYCoXWnHUiSs5Be50O4ifS9be9GcODyqo0u4An0YIEF_Z9dQo3MEb1mf_JScr09JEEn5EUSDoKyOV0/s1600/pulpfiction1.jpg
This poster is used for the same reason as Reservoir Dogs, to give the audience an image as to what I am talking about.

Item 19 - http://www.movieposterdb.com/posters/08_11/2003/266697/l_266697_42fb368f.jpgv
This poster will be used when introducing Kill Bill, as it will enable the audience to have more of an image to what I'm discussing.

Rejected Items:-

Website:-
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/ipoduser/a_guide_to_the_music_in_the_films_of_quentin_tarantino/
At first, I thought this website was quite helpful, as it gives the songs to more or less every track he has used in his movies, however, that's all it states, it doesn't state what scene they were used in or why they were used, so in the end I realised this was useless.

Magazine:-
http://www.empireonline.com/features/a-z/quentin-tarantino/default.asp
This magazine discusses various stylistic elements that make Quentin Tarantino an auteur, and I thought this would be brilliant to use, however, it didn't really discuss his usage of dominant popular music in his films, and also didn't make reference to specific films, so I then decided not to use and reject the item.

Film - Inglorious Bastards:-
For a while at the start of this project, I had chosen Inglorious Bastards as one of my focus films, however, during my research of this film, there was actually very little about Tarantino's music and the influences it had on people, so therefore I decided to scrap this film and look at Reservoir Dogs instead.

A2 Coursework Prep

Chosen Director - Quentin Tarantino

Basic Information:-
Born - March 27, 1963, 50 Years Old
         - Knoxville Tennessee, USA
American Film Director, Screen Writer, Producer & Actor

Films:-
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Jackie Brown (1997)
Kill Bill: Vol 1 (2003)
Kill Bill: Vol 2 (2004)
Grindhouse (2007)
Inglorious Bastards (2009)
Django Unchained (2012)

Quentin Tarantinos films are known to use very popular songs to create a certain atmosphere or mood in a scene.
" He said he would listen to music in his bedroom and create scenes that correlated to the music playing."

The music Quentin Tarantino selects his films is the aspect I shall be concentrating on, and the three films I will base this idea on are Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill Vol 1 & Reservoir Dogs.

Section C: Exam Response

With particular reference to the endings of your chosen American films, compare their messages and values.

Both Badlands and Natural Born Killers have similar messages and values, however, because Badlands was made in 1973 and Natural Born Killers was made in 1994, the way these messages and values are portrayed are very different, however, both of these films were inspired by an American mass murderer known as Charles Starkweather.
One very big theme that runs throughout both films is the American Dream. The American Dream was basically that all Americans dreamed of being rich, famous and successful. This theme is shown in Badlands because Kit wanted to be famous and like a film star, also, the constant references to Kit looking and acting like James Dean & when Holly said they were going to change their names to James & Priscilla, as in James Dean and Priscilla Presley.
At the end of Badlands, Kit is sentenced to the electric chair and is killed, the film ends at that, which is completely different to Natural Born Killers. When Mickey and Mallory went to jail, the film was no-where near over, a big message that runs throughout Natural Born Killers is the media, and that the influence it has on society is not always how it seems and is not healthy. Wayne Gale, played by Robert Downey Jr. is the man that represents the media, and in this film Mickey and Mallory both kill him, thus killing the media. A key scene in Natural Born Killers is the one where Mickey and Mallory are both at the drug store buying antibiotics for a snake bite, because as they are both being beaten by the police outside of the drug store, this is a re-creation of something shown through the media a few years before, the OJ Simpson beating in England.
Wayne Gale is an important character in the film in terms of getting the message across to the audience that the media is bad and evil, in most of the shots that he is in, a blue background is behind him, to show the cold hearted media that doesn't care about the people that they portray, just that they portray them in a way that will attract an audience, also every so often he would be shown in devil costume with a low angled shot, which his power over the media, but also shows what he does is evil.
In Badlands, society isn't consumed by the media like it is in Natural Born Killers, because obviously back in the 50's when Badlands was set, there wasn't a TV in every room in the house like in the 90's. Even though this is the case, Kit still wanted to be famous like James Dean, and he believed an easy way of doing this would to become a serial killer, just like in Natural Born Killers where Mickey and Mallory both celebrate after they see they're on TV. Both films give people the idea that it's easier to become famous by doing something tragic and horrible like being a serial killer, rather than becoming a film star. However, the two endings of these films both give off very different messages. At the end of Badlands, the death that was foreshadowed in all of Kit's life, like with Hollys dog being shot and the cow dead on the floor, ended up with Kit being caught and killed, however, in Natural Born Killers, the film ends with Mickey and Mallory having killed Wayne Gale and then walking out of the shot, this shows they have in fact escaped the media and have gone on to live a normal life. So Badlands shows that actions have consequences & Natural Born Killers shows that you can just run away from your problems, this also reflects the times in which these films were actually made.

Sightseers Case Study

- Sightseers is a 'black comdey' in order for this to be a success, they need to get the balance between the comedy and the horror correct.
- People who have watched Ben Wheatleys films will go and watch this film.
- This film will more than likely be more successful in Birmingham, as the two main characters are 'brummies'
- However, this wont be successful in America, because they don't understand the humour or types of films of 'Black Comedy', also, they wouldn't understand the accents very well.
- This film would more than likely be promoted in the Midlands Area through posters and trailers, like these:

 

The Poster:

 

- The poster is in bright colours, creating a sense of happiness and gives off the comedy element.

- Shows the two main characters in the image.

- Main image sets the scene, out in the countryside, bright blue sky, quite peaceful

- Four different reviews on the front with their ratings, however quite misleading as it only mentions the hilarity of the film and the comedy side, but nothing about the horror.

- Title in biggest font, bold & bright yellow.

- Discusses the producers and directors, attract fans of these people.

- Small image of a caravan next to the title, has blood up it, gives off the horror element.

- The caption 'killers have never been this close-knit' once again gives off the horror element from the usage of the word 'killers'.

- The characters both have very different facial expressions, the man has a very serious face and quite scary looking, which gives off the horror side of the film, and the woman has quite a surprised worry face, which is quite humorous and comical, which gives off the comedy element of it.

- At the bottom is a website for the film.

 

 

 

The Trailer:

 

- Two Characters introduced straight away.

- Non diegetic sound of one of the characters narrating whilst writing the poster.

- Comedy element from the usage of 'The bed's quite short, but Chris is a sensitive lover'.

- More comedy included from the usage of the woman writing the postcard with a huge pencil.

- Sudden usage of violence, when Chris hits an innocent man over the head with a branch.

- The director 'Ben Wheatley' is then introduced.

- The use of non-diegetic sound gives the horror element when Tina says 'I've never really thought about killing innocent people before' but then Chris adds to the comedy again by saying 'He's not a person Tina, he's a daily mail reader'.

- Rating and review included in the video.#

- Romantic element toward the end, change to romantic music, kissing, saying how Chris loves Tina.

- Ends on a very funny clip, him running someone over and then shouting 'Haha! F**k you!'

 

Genre - Black Comedy

Director - Ben Wheatley

Stars - Alice Lowe, Eileen Davies, Steve Oram

Release Date - 30 November 2012

Budget - £9,300,000

Grossed -

Production Co. -StudioCanal

 

Review:- "I really wanted to like this, yet I left the cinema feeling underwhelmed. The basic set-up is pretty straightforward, which I think may be part of the problem. Whilst the main pair of characters are played well, the plot doesn't really develop them, or the set-pieces, in any meaningful manner. So it feels like there's a lack of depth in what unrolls in front of you.
Yes, there are some funny scenes and some humorous lines indeed, and the shots of the English countryside in particular are beautiful and haunting. However, it comes across as a sketch show bundled up into a longer piece and you can see the various outcomes of scenes being flagged up clumsily throughout.
Basically to me, this feels like the result of a conversation between the writers that was along the lines of "Wouldn't it be really funny to do a film about a couple of sociopaths who go on a caravan holiday together?" and hasn't really had much more put into the mix. Throw in some obvious continuity errors (people speaking with their mouths shut, car doors opening and closing themselves, etc) which distracted me greatly, this isn't really the great British comedy that it's been made out to be. As someone said to me, it's a film that feels a bit too pleased with itself....sorry. 



Weekly Practical Project Post

In this post, every week I shall keep you up to date in where I am so far in my practical project and what I need to do in advance.

6th January 2013

At the moment I have figured out more or less what I want to achieve in my project. I want to create a storyboard showing either a fight scene or a scene with someone being followed/stalked, I haven't fully made my mind up yet. I have discussed with the people who I would like to be involved and they all agreed to do it, every Sunday up until the deadline I will be with them, discussing different ideas but mainly shooting.

At the moment I have not shot anything, which was very stupid of me as I had 2 weeks to do this, but I forgot to loan out a camera over the Christmas holiday so I couldn't shoot as my camera is only a compact, and wouldn't give out the effect I wanted as I wanted in a few of my shots to play around with the depth of field. So what I need to do so far is take some shots, show either John or Dave and get some feedback.
Something else I wouldn't mind doing is making a small outline of the different shots I want, to make it easier when I actually do shoot.

30th January 2013

Overall so far, I have taken 8 images for my storyboard, yesterday (29th) I completed writing up all of my storyboard, and now this weekend intend on taking the rest of the images and getting my storyboard complete on the Tuesday the 5th.

 8th February 2013

On February 2nd I finished taking my pictures for the rest of my storyboard, I thought they were completed to a good standard, then on Wednesday & Thursday, I put them in the storyboard, printed it out, completed my reflective analysis and put it all together and handed it all in today at 11pm.