Billy Elliot - Billys struggle against gender roles discussed.
Essay "Billy Elliot" Billy´s struggle against gender role restrictions for the opportunity to dance ballet is compared in the film with Jackie´s fight as a striker against his company. This happens on two narrative levels. To be more precise, the desperate fight of the miners that Billy´s father supports at the beginning, as well as he can, is displayed by the useless efforts to prevent Billy from developing into a good ballet dancer and becoming sophisticated. The industrial progress taking place in the depressed area and the cultural advance in Billy´s family cannot be prevented -neither by his father nor by anyone else as the end concluding scenes of the film shows. A scene demonstrating this parallel quite vividly is the (also) parallel sequence where Billy in a lesson works hard to improve his dancing on the one hand and the police defeat the striking workers in their own neighborhood on the other. Taking a look at Billy´s part in the film, I would even say that Billy does not only achieve a cultural education for himself, but he is the one who who makes culture and new working class values accessible to his family. For instance he does not only start to learn ballet, but he also shows an interest in the content described in famous stories such as "Swan Lake". He is the one who thinks differently. No one else in his family would have the courage to behave like
Examine the tension between life 'in the city' and life 'in nature' as depicted in Ingmar Bergman's film Summer with Monika.
Examine the tension between life 'in the city' and life 'in nature' as depicted in Ingmar Bergman's film Summer with Monika. Set in 1950s Sweden, 'Summer with Monika' is a film which, through various technological and plot related methods brings up the contemporary issue of conflict between urban living and a more traditional life style. Bergman employs multiple cinematic techniques as well as paralleling the urban versus rural tension through the artificial and strained relationship of the two protagonists and 'lover'; Monika and Harry. Although their relationship ends with the inarguable fact that their opposites have prevailed and affections diminished, the way Bergman represents the two settings as initially of having stark differences, but then occasionally making suggestions of their harmonious similarities, leaves the audience feeling a little conclusive about the relationship between the two environments. The opening sequence is perhaps one of the most important to analyse in terms of the city is represented. The first montage introduces the audience to the city's boundaries; softly focused establishing shots looking out from the harbour create a calming impression of the environment for the audience. The lack of non-diagetic music and the slow fading dissolves between shots also add to the feeling of serene naturalness of the less built up world. The last dissolve
How does the usage of cinematography and editing in Michael Haneke's "Code Unknown" reinforce the lack of communication between characters?
FS1505 22 March 2011 Essay Emmi Makiharju How does the usage of cinematography and editing in Code Unknown reinforce the lack of communication between characters? Code Unknown: Incomplete Tales of Several Journeys is the most technical film of Austrian director Michael Haneke. Haneke is known for his minimalist approach both in technical and artistic terms. His editing is always meticulous and the cinematography and narratives are eccentric to say the least. Code Unknown follows the lives of four characters and their families who manage to somehow create havoc to each others existence. The film is composed of 46 scenes of which most are tracking shots, the longest lasting approximately nine minutes, without cuts. The scenes are abruptly cut, separated by a black screen that creates a mosaic reality, which is also visible in the narrative of the film. (Horton 2001) Haneke's films scrutinize the modern world, and Code Unknown especially explores communication and its importance in society and alienation that the contemporary world creates. The most visible form of cinematography in the film Code Unknown is the long take. Nearly all scenes are made with few or no cuts. The long take is an alternative to a series of shots, and is a strong creative resource. A long take, in this case, evokes emotions in the viewer without forcing it. In a series of short takes, the
Nick Parks stated that his animated film "Chicken Run" was based on the classic war film "The Great Escape". In what ways are the two films similar?
Nick Parks stated that his animated film "Chicken Run" was based on the classic war film "The Great Escape". In what ways are the two films similar? "The Great Escape" is a war/ action film with spectacular stunts and special effects directed by John Sturges. It stars many famous actors: Steve McQueen, James Garnett and Richard Attenborough. It was made in 1963 and set in the 1940's in a German prisoner of war camp, where 250 men need to escape from to distract the enemy from fight the war. Around 12 RAF officers set out to tunnel their way out. "Chicken Run" (2000) is a children's comedy about chickens needing to escape from Mr. Tweedy's farm or else they will be put into pies. They need to learn how to fly in order to escape the dreaded pie-making machine. Chicken Run was directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park who have also co-directed Wallace and Gromit, another children's classic. The film stars Mel Gibson, Tony Haygarth and Miranda Richardson. Both films are very similar on general plot, they are both about "people" trying to escape wrongful imprisonment but keep getting caught whenever they attempt to escape. However, the plots differ extremely when you look at them in more detail. Chicken run is about chickens trying to escape a chicken farm because they would get eaten if they didn't. Great escape is about soldiers trying to escape from a camp because it is their
The Filmmaking of Quentin Tarantino
The Filmmaking of Quentin Tarantino Quentin Tarantino is perhaps the most distinctive and volatile talent to emerge in American film in the last 15years. Unlike the previous generation of American filmmakers, Tarantino learned his craft from his days as a video clerk, rather than as a film school student. Consequently, he developed an audacious fusion of pop culture and independent art house cinema; his films are distinguished as much by their clever, twisting dialogue as their outbursts of extreme violence. Tarantino is one of the very few filmmakers in the contemporary film industry who can be seen as an auteur. Being an auteur means that you're ascribed overall responsibility for the creation of a film and its personal vision, identifiable style, thematic aspects and techniques, that you are the 'true' authors of film (rather than the screenwriters) because you exercise such control over all facets of film making and impart a distinctive, personal style to your films. Tarantino's personal style incorporates a lot of well thought out violence, swearing, repetitive casting, and many other filming techniques, all of which earn him the elusive title of auteur. Violence plays a key role in Tarantino's films and in particular his first three: Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown and Pulp Fiction which I will be mainly focusing on today. Violence is prevalent in "reservoir Dogs",
Exploring the concept of genre - The Others.
Jenna Wright DJA3 Exploring the concept of genre - The Others. 'Stated simply, genre movies are those commercial feature films that, through repetition and variation, tell familiar stories with familiar characters in familiar situations. They also encourage expectations and experiences similar to those of familiar films we have already seen' (Barry Keith Grant, 1995) That is the fundamental theorem of the majority of genre studies. The audience's expectations are met within genre films due to familiar elements being fused together, enhanced and manipulated to create something new and different. Despite 'genre' being the correct term for classifying a certain film it is primarily used by film critics, historians and theorists, generally audiences don't tend to refer to this word, instead they are just aware that they are drawn to specific types of films. It is useful to group films into categories of genre, which is defined as a style of art or literature, as there are so many released into the UK every year. This then allows there to be contrasts and comparisons extracted from films that are within the same group. Or, on the other hand, it is made possible to analyse a film when compared to different groups, this has a fair few benefits, one being that attempting to decide the criteria for grouping films encourages us to study them closely. When referring to 'The
Japanese Anime and Manga
Japanese Anime and Manga The word Manga was coined by the famous woodblock print artist Hokusai. He combined two Chinese characters--the first meaning "in spite of oneself" or "lax" ( ) and the second meaning "picture" ( ) to describe the comical doodles he drew. Although the form can be traced back to ninth-century Buddhist scrolls, it was not until early medieval Japan that artists combined pictures and text to tell stories or describe events. Even then, their works differ from what is currently considered manga in one crucial respect: whereas modern-day manga are produced for mass consumption, these picture scrolls were singular works of art produced for an elite audience. The earliest Manga to take the form of books rather than scrolls were a product of the wealth of Japan's merchant class during the Edo period - bound in silk, they often took the form of slim volumes of drawings accompanied by explanatory text, with the stage an especially popular theme. Usually drawn in black-and-white, the books sometimes had dashes of color using natural dyes. Another popular subject was daily life: many early examples of pastoral scenes survive. Astro Boy/Tetsuwan Atom Manga's transition into the televised on cinematic form, anime occurred during the fifties. Although an animated short, Momotaro (based on the legend of Peach Boy) had been released as early as 1918, it was not
Cinema of Attractions and it relation to the perceived audience of early cinema. Early film makers used the new technology of cinema to display a variety of attractions to audiences in a style coined by Tom Gunning as cinema of attractions.
Cinema of Attractions and its relation to the perceived audience of early cinema New technologies invented during the industrial era inspired the experimentation with moving images that eventually lead to the birth of cinema. (Cavendish 2008, pp. 001-1008) Early film makers used the new technology of cinema to display a variety of attractions to audiences in a style coined by Tom Gunning as 'cinema of attractions'. (Gunning 1993) Cinema of attractions was a style used to address and appeal to the audiences of the time, who were accustomed to a theatricalism, display, and exhibitionist style in popular culture. (Lewis 2007, pp. 7-12) Ostentatious media and advertising (Tungate 2007, pp. 25-29) along with extravaganza-style live performances (Lewis 2007, p. 3) helped build the culture for which the style of cinema of attractions was appropriate. According to Gunning, cinema of attractions refers to a style of cinema that interacted directly with the audience, luring them in and inviting them to partake and immerse themselves in a show of exhibitionist images. (Gunning 1993) Jennifer Bean describes "hysteria, or shock, or astonishment" as the key aesthetic of this early cinema. (Bean 2004, p. 23) While the term 'silent film' is often used to describe the films of this period, Andre Gaudreault explains they were in fact fundamentally audio-visual,
Example of Film Analysis using Mise-en-scene
Example of Film Analysis using Mise-en-scene The opening scenes of The Godfather Part Three, (Coppola, 1991), we see the family compound in ruins on a grey wintry day. The lighting is dark and depressing and depicts the nature of what has passed and what might be to come. Something sad has occurred. You need not have seen the previous two films to have some idea of the weight and brevity of the narrative. If the film makers had chosen to shoot that opening scene of the flooded and derelict family home on a bright sunny day how would the audience have known that some form of change has occurred? A family home bathed in sunlight implies happiness and family togetherness. The darkness and brooding cold of the shot tells us that the extension of the narrative that will make up this new film comes from a time of depression and of obscurity for the Corleone family. The opening scenes of The Godfather Part Three also highlight the importance of setting as a way to drive and develop the narrative. The family home is in ruins. It is a grand and once luxurious compound that has fallen into decay and abandonment. The audience is aware from the start that the family, the central premise of the whole trilogy, has fallen and broken. Love and togetherness, the strength of the family unit to support and unify the goals of the individual members has been left to ruination and rot. The
Conflicts exist between different ideas and theories of realism. Describe and explain these conflicts.
Conflicts exist between different ideas and theories of realism. Describe and explain these conflicts. 'Realism' permeates the very deepest level of philosophical thought. From the wildest cosmogonical fantasies to the ways in which people deal with every conscious moment, 'realism' is impossible to ignore. Everything is either a precept to, or a contingency of, our views on realism. The debates surrounding all these ideas lie far beyond the remit of this essay. This essay seeks to debate the arguments of the pre-eminent thinkers associated with realism in terms of film. Then to provide a philosophical basis for their opinions, by which their arguments shall be weighted. It is necessary therefore, to establish this basis - this 'value system' - by which the arguments shall be judged. David Hume's theories of epistemology shall form the basis of this 'value system'. Every aspect of our knowledge is gained by experience: Specifically by sensual experience of the physical world. In this respect, reality is not ontological, it is the sum of our sensual and rational experiences. It is not a precept, it is an existential conclusion of the world in which we live, and the way we experience it; and the sum of this we call reality. It is purely descriptive; a conclusion of perception. The electromagnetic radiation to which our retina is sensitive, the variations in
