cinematography is the art of photography and camerawork in film-making:

a cinematographer is someone who is control of the photography and camerawork in film making

editing in film is the process of choosing and combining shots or scenes to create a complete story. editing involves visual and sound effects and soundtrack. there are certain software’s that people can edit on like capcut tiktok editor and adobe

we see young people in the bar scene, where we get to see how careless they can be, as shown by the fight

we see older people briefly throughout the movie such as marks parents, who are always there to help him, even if he doesnt realise it, such as when they keep him in his room, but only for his own safety. this shows that they are more mature and caring than the younger generation, as they have lived longer lives.

working class people are shown such as when we are shown when mark has a job, and we get to see all the details of working class life for him.

we are shown Scottish people all throughout the film and as mark says ‘we are the scum of the earth’

we are shown addicts in a very not so subtle way in this film showing how they get hooked, and what comes with it, and what they do, as well as how they come crashing down along with everything around them.

men are represented in this movie as being quite immature and almost childish, who get annoyed or easily get into fights or start them. they are often shown as having lack of self respect or not coping well with emotions.

women are mostly shown as side characters in the film, except from Diane who easily keeps control of mark, and shows how she is more dominant than him.

in my opinion this is the best film we have studied so far. I would give it a 9/10 i loved the use of editing like the swimming toilet scene and i also liked the needle drops as they put the film together and made it enjoyable and interesting. it also showed how vile heroine is as a drug and how people will do literally anything to get some. the most memorable scene for me would be the one where rent on is hallucinating as the editing in that was really good

a really good use of sound by director Danny Boyle is in one of the final scenes where we see mark stealing the money, the added music creates a lot of tension because of it getting more and more intense due to more elements coming into the song, such as the kickdrum coming in as hes about to steal the bag.

a good example of editing is when the scene freezes at the bar, to give mark the chance to explain the real story of what happened, and then cuts back to that frozen shot to continue it.

an example of mise en scene in trainspotting is the scene where mark is put into his childhood room after almost dying. we arent told that this is his room but the mise en scene tells us that it is through the use of wallpaper and posters.

an example of cinematography in trainspotting is the use of the worms eye shot, such as in the scene where renton overdoses, and you see characters looking down upon him. this is effective, because it shows how powerless he is in this situation, as well as to his addiction.

8/10

memoribal scene: the black taxi scene

Young People:

Trainspotting represents young people as unconcerned with life and taking any opportunity to get drunk or high on drugs. An example would be Diane, who is only 15 years old, being present in a nightclub, where she will gladly take drinks from men that approach her, although will then show her disinterest in the men themselves. Another example, although he is older than Diane, is Renton, who makes the decision to take heroin the same day he evades a prison sentence and promises to go to rehab.

Older People:

While there aren’t many older people in Trainspotting, Renton’s parents are represented as being sympathetic towards their son that drugs have impacted his life negatively, while also realising the difficult task of keeping him in his room off of any medication in order to stop him from relapsing, as cruel as it may be perceived from Renton’s perspective.

Working Class People:

Trainspotting does not try to glamourize the working class, instead it shows that despite now having a steady income, Renton still lives on the bare minimum. However, compared to the drug-centric life he lived beforehand, he says he feels ‘almost content’ with this new life.

Scottish People:

Scottish people are represented as being bitter and ashamed at the fact that they are from Scotland, with Renton referring to them as ‘the lowest of the low’ and ‘the scum of the earth’. He also expresses his annoyance with the fact they ‘can’t even find a good culture to be colonized by’, in reference to the English.

Addicts:

Addicts in Trainspotting are shown to feel sorry for themselves and each other that they can’t give up drugs, but make no attempt to stop each other. The character of Tommy doesn’t take heroin until his girlfriend leaves him, but by the end of the film he becomes addicted, leading to a positive HIV test (despite Renton being more at risk to it but testing negative) and his eventual fatal stroke.

Men:

Men are represented as being very much influenced by their heterosexual and masculine identities. For example, Begbie is horrified when he discovers a potential love interest is transgender, and is overly aggressive towards other men, taking any opportunity to start a fight.

Women:

Most women in Trainspotting are mainly used as love interests to the main characters, and aren’t really focused on past the first act of the film. However, Diane recurs throughout the film and is arguably a countertype of women in film, establishing power over Renton with the fact she can report him to the police at any time for sleeping with her.

Young people –

Represented as callous and misguided young people in ‘trainspotting’ are shown to demonstrate this in numerous scenes throughout the duration of the film. For an example of showing callousness, Spud and Renton steal belongings off the elderly all in attempts to feed their drug addictions. This is further backed up with Renton’s narration stating the further acts they did: “we stole drugs. We stole prescriptions or bought them, forged them, photocopied them”.

Another example of young peoples emotionless representation can be seen with Renton’s lack of empathy for his friend, Tommy, who’s girlfriend broke up with him over a missing sex tape, even though it was Renton who stole it.

Older people –

Shown to be docile and remote from the lives of the main characters, when they are in scenes they appear to be oblivious to the effect of drugs has on their children’s minds such as the scene above with Renton’s parents not noticing. Another example of older people being represented as docile and weak can be seen with the first day of Edinburgh festival scene were the gang beat up an old American tourist in the toilets.

Working class people –

The working class are represented as cons, picking up money from anyone or anything they can get, as quoted from the film “after all this was boom town where any fool could make cash and plenty did”. This comes from the part of the film where Renton moves to London (aka ‘boom town’) after getting off heroine. It is here were he also states “for the first time in my adult life, i was almost content” this implies that being apart of the working class frees him from the need drugs as work has supplemented that.

Scottish people –

Depicted as unhappy and incapable to change that, Scottish people are represented as a depressed people due to colonisation from the English. This is shown in the scene above where Mark states to tommy “Its shite being Scottish! We’re the lowest of the low. The scum of the fucking Earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization. Some hate the English. I don’t. They’re just wankers. We, on the other hand, are colonized by wankers. Can’t even find a decent culture to be colonized by. We’re ruled by effete assholes. It’s a shite state of affairs to be in, Tommy, and all the fresh air in the world won’t make any fucking difference!” – this overall reflects the characters ideas behind their constant states of misery and turn to heroin to escape it all.

Addicts –

With the films main idea to depict Scotlands drug culture in the 1980’s, it accurately shows this by not glamourising the usage of drugs but instead showing the horrible effects it has on people, this is beastly shown with the character tommy’s story arch. After losing his girlfriend he turns to drugs, it is here where he he becomes severely addicted and ends up eventually passing away due to excessive drug use.

Men –

Depicted as violent and sex-crazed, throughout the film they are also represented as womanisers and bullies, by picking fights and making advances on girls at clubs. Mostly representing violence, the character ‘Begbie’ is a good example as he threatens his peers and starts altercations in almost every seen.

Women –

Represented almost as play toys for the men in the film, women are shown in a very stereotypical fashion by being only shown with a man in a relationship. The only counter-type about gender would be with Diane who holds power over Renton as she is capable to report him into the police for sleeping with her since she is only 15.

Sound –

Sound is used by director, Danny Boyle to add emotion to the narrative, for example in this scene, the song ‘Born slippy’ by underworld is quietly put over Renton’s anxious actions of stealing his mates money. This song, which Boyle found whilst looking through a record store also is meant to encompass who Renton is as a person. I feel as if this 90’s club type music accurately captures that as his personality feels like that lively energy you would accompany with a rave or nightclub.

Another scene which sound is used well can be seen in this scene just after the one above. A J-cut of Begbie’s shouting can be heard before it cuts to the next shot of him wrecking the hotel room.

Editing –

Editing is used heavily in Danny Boyles ‘Trainspotting’ to help pace the story, this can be demonstrated in the court scene where an Eyeline match is used to convey to the audience that the Judge is speaking directly to Renton, with the scene then cutting to his eyes looking at him conveying who he is speaking to.

Mise-en-scene –

The arrangement of props such as heroine needles and booze bottles in a rundown-looking apartment, chosen and placed about by the set designer creates an immersive shot composition for the films theme of drug and alcohol abuse.

Cinematography –

Danny Boyles use of cinematography is used to emphasise the impact of the content within a scene, this can be seen with when Renton turns to look at Begbie, a rack focus is used to demonstrate the shift of his attention.

Another example can seen with close up shots of Renton whenever he either taking or going through the effects of heroin.

Sound:

Danny Boyle uses sound in Trainspotting during the nightclub scene, in which the audience see both the club itself where the men are sat, in comparison to the bathroom of the club where the women are speaking to each other. In the club, the music is so loud that it takes over as the primary audio source from the dialogue, leading to the use of subtitles. The bathroom, on the other hand, prioritises dialogue over music, as they are separated from the room where the music is at its loudest. This creates a contrast between the two settings for the audience.

Editing:

Boyle uses cuts in the scene where Renton overdoses and sinks into a carpet to switch between POV shots of what Mark can see while on heroin (with both sides of the sunken carpet taking up parts of the frame) and shots of what is actually happening.

Mise-en-scene:

In one of the final scenes of the film, the composition of this shot tells the audience that the offscreen damage to the room has been done by Begbie in addition to the further damage he does in this scene. The fact he is alone in the room further proves he is the one responsible.

Cinematography:

A worm’s eye view shot is used when London is first presented to the audience in the film, to reinforce its grandiose and high-class appearance in comparison to what is seen of Scotland.