Choosing one of the story strands from the film Crash, analyse the methods the director uses to convey racist attitudes.
25 April 2010 Jack Arran
‘Choosing one of the story strands from the film Crash, analyse the methods the director uses to convey racist attitudes.’
Laypeople sometimes confuse the director with the producer. This is understandable since they are both "bosses" of the film, and indeed their jobs can often overlap. The difference is that the producer is usually responsible for overseeing the entire project, including finance and budgets, hiring staff, managing logistics, etc. The director is more responsible for the creative aspects. The director is usually hired by and answerable to the producer.
How much authority is given to the director depends on many factors, most notably the director's experience and reputation. A first-time director might be given specific instructions on how the film is to be made, but an acclaimed Hollywood director is likely to be given full creative control.
The director of Crash, Paul Haggis, takes on certain duties of the producer. He even did both jobs and was credited as producer/director. This tends to happen at both the bottom end of the budget scale (where many jobs are shared) and the top end (where some directors are given total control).
Directors may or may not be involved in the editing. In some cases there is a separate "director's cut", which means the director's version of the final edit.
Director and producer Paul Haggis portrays the Issues of race and gender to cause a group of strangers in Los Angeles to physically and emotionally collide. Detective Graham is the famous actor Don Cheadle who works for the Los Angeles Police Department, unluckily his brother is a street criminal, and it hurts him to know his mother cares more about his good-for-nothing brother than himself. Graham's partner is Ria (Jennifer Esposito), who is also his girlfriend, though she has become annoyed at his lack of emotion towards herself, as well as his occasional insensitivity over the fact he's African-American and she's Hispanic. Rick played by Brendan Fraser is an L.A. district attorney whose wife, Jean played by Sandra Bullock, makes little secret of her fear and hatred of people unlike herself. Jean's gut feeling about people of colour are confirmed when her 4x4 is carjacked by two African-American men who we later find out are called Anthony played by Chris Bridges who dislikes white people as much as Jean dislikes the black community and Peter (Larenz Tate), who is more open minded. Cameron (Terrence Howard) is a well-to-do African-American television producer with a beautiful wife, Christine (Thandie Newton). While coming home from a party, Cameron and Christine are pulled over by Officer Ryan (Matt Dillon), who subjects them to a humiliating interrogation and her to an inappropriate search while his new partner, Officer Hansen (Ryan Phillippe), is witnessing.
