Men-

Men in the film are mainly split into two completely different personality traits. Characters like Clyde and his Brother Buck, as well as C.W Moss are all shown as reckless, immature and daring when around each other. We can see this when Clyde robs a shop in front of Bonnie who he just met to impress her. These actions often have consequences as seen when they antagonize the Texas Rangers. The other side of the personality spectrum is men like Frank Hammer who is a cold and serious guy representing the ideal of masculinity at the time.

Woman-

woman in the mostly fall into the trope of being damsels in distress as seen with the character of Blanche Barrow who spends a majority of the movie screaming and crying in most situations. She often tries to be the voice of reasons and disagrees with the gang in most situations. On the other hand we have Bonnie who embraces the lifestyle the crew lives and has moments of being just as insane as Clyde is. However she does show some regret throughout the movie about wanting to leave and be with her mother again.

People of Colour

People of Colour in the film are presented as equal despite the racial tension going on at the time. We see this when Clyde shakes hands with the farmers and lets him shoot the government owned buildings.

Authority Figures

The police in the film play an antagonistic role due to the unlawful nature of the protagonists. They spend a majority of the movie hunting down the protagonists and end up killing them. We continue to see their persistence throughout the film as more and more frequently during the film police shootouts occur and they also bring in an armored car to take them out.

La Jetée (Marker, Korea, 1962) – Analysis Sheet for Evaluative Commentary

Part 1: Brief Reference

What did you like about the film? – The narrative, tone and full-circle ending.	What didn’t you like? – The use of still frames as opposed to traditional filming.
What ideas could you use? Narrative or style? – Narration, darker themes, an established darker tone.	What ideas won’t you use? Why? – The still frames and subject of time travel, the stills would likely be distracting and take away from the narrative and a time travel plot may become over-complicated.

Part 2: In-Depth Study – Narrative

Narrative Feature	Example	Your own example
Establishing protagonist – what information do we find out? How is it conveyed?	Introduced only in narration – first in third person as “a man marked by an image”; then in first person -memory of incident at the airport. We don’t see him until the first experiment is shown. This shows how core the act of remembering is to his identity – indeed we find out very little about him (he remains nameless) apart from his ‘remembering’ (even when he is travelling in time).	When the airport is first seen, it is stated that parents would take their children there to see the planes depart. The younger version of the man is then seen, accompanied by his mum and dad. This suggests to the audience that he had a strong relationship with his parents prior to the war.
Establishing other characters – what information do we find out? How is it conveyed?	The Woman is the first person we see (“the only image to survive the war”) – and she is defined only by the fact the narrator remembers her. Feminist critics may comment on the fact she barely seems to exist outside the experiences of the narrator and her growing belief in him.	The quote “some believed themselves to be victors”, in reference to the survivors of WW3, connotes that nobody actually “won” the war and the presumed winners are merely the only survivors left besides those taken prisoner.
Establishing location (time and place) – what information do we find out? How is it conveyed?	We are told immediately that the location is Paris. The bombed out wreckage of the city (real WW2 images) don’t immediately establish that this is the future until the narrator mentions radiation. The underground location beneath the Palais de Chaillot is shown by intercut images of broken cherubs and other sculptures.	When the location of Paris is established, it is stated that the majority of the world was uninhabitable due to the radioactivity. This gives the audience reasoning why there is a very small number of survivors left in the post-apocalyptic version of the world.
Creating Enigmas – what are they? How are they created?	The image the narrator obsesses over is the central enigma: who is the man he witnesses dying? How does he die? Who is the woman? The still images and voiceover powerfully evoke the nature of memory.	What other questions are posed throughout the narrative? In the brief time spent in the future, we only see the faces of the characters surrounded by darkness. This creates the question of what exactly did the future look like?
Narrative binary oppositions	The ‘Living Present’ vs Past/Future. As the film progresses, what constitutes the ‘present’ (for the protagonist) seems to shift from his dystopian subterranean society to the ‘past’ of pre-apocalypse Paris. This is conveyed by the faster rhythm of the montage and the sequence (18:00-18:49) where the images almost become like traditional cinema.	The past and present versions of the protagonist – when he is introduced as a boy, he is an innocent child who has not had any implicated traumatic experiences. However, by the time we see him in the post-apocalyptic future, he has seen a man (later revealed to be himself) get killed, as well as experiencing a third World War.
Crisis – how was this conveyed?	Is it the first experiment? The moment the man spots the woman from the airport? Or is it when the future society offers him the chance to escape to the future?	What do you think is the crisis point? How does this affect the rest of the narrative? – I think the crisis point is when the man returns from the future, and we find out the scientists were never planning to keep him alive. This affects the remainder of the narrative as he is then left with only two options – travel through time again or die.
Resolution – is it closed or open narrative?	The narrative is closed – but it is also in a loop: the narrator is both the dying man and the child watching the scene. This ‘time paradox’ has inspired films as diverse as The Terminator and Looper (as well as 12 Monkeys which is almost a remake).	What do you think about the end? Is it closed – or endlessly circular? – I agree that there is no open ending as the man clearly dies, however the conclusion is full circle as it ends where it begins, leading directly into the events of the film again and again.

Part 3: Meaning and Effect

What did you think was the intention of the filmmaker(s)? Intellectual message? Emotional response? Everyone is trapped in their time – they cannot escape it, even through memory. It is also about concept of photography and cinema itself, trying to ‘freeze’ time with images despite time always being in motion.

How was this achieved? The use of photomontage separates each frame of the story into a frozen image – even though these are joined together using traditional narrative film techniques such as voiceover, dissolves, fades and music. As the man begins to ‘live’ more and more in the ‘past’ with his lover, the space between these frames speeds up to resemble ‘motion picture’ speed at one point. The stuffed animals in the museum are also ‘frozen’ in a single moment.   Your own idea: Perhaps the fact that in the post-apocalyptic earth, other humans are taken prisoner and are experimented on makes a point of how humanity may behave in a real-life dystopia. This is supported by the use of real locations such as Paris, creating a sense of verisimilitude.

Aesthetic binary oppositions The use of still photo images are combined with traditional narrative cinematic techniques that bring them ‘to life’… until the moment around 18:00 when they flow together.

Effect of these oppositions? Shows the intensity of emotion the narrator feels with his lover: like he is finally ‘living’ in moving time rather than a series of frozen, separated moments.   Your example: The clear imagery of the past and present juxtapose the darkness and ambiguity of the future scenes, emphasizing the fact that nobody knows what the world will look like in the future.

Wild Tales (Szifron, 2014) – Analysis Sheet for Evaluative Commentary

Film 1: Pasternak

What did you like about the film? The narrative, the camera work (especially the zoom out) and the comedic timing	What didn’t you like? We don’t actually get to meet the character of Pasternak and the ending is a bit abrupt.
What ideas could you use? Narrative or style? – Cinematography elements, sound mixing.	What ideas won’t you use? Why? Heavy reliance on planes and effects since they came across as being over the top.

In-Depth Study – Film elements

Film element	Example
Cinematography	Example 1: The zoom out as the plane is headed towards the house and the passengers all panic is effective since it creates suspense/panic for the audience.   Example 2: The handheld effect as the psychiatrist is attempting to calm Pasternak down and convince him to spare them makes the turbulence of the plane believable.
Editing	Example 1: The cut between the interior of the plane and the couple in the garden is effective as we see the contrast between the terrifying events on the plane and the calm, dull events happening elsewhere.   Example 2: The use of a still frame at the end tells audiences exactly what happened next in the narrative without explicitly showing it to them.
Sound	Example 1: As Pasternak’s former friend passes the woman, we hear music playing faintly, which is evidently coming from his headphones. This is a small but effective use of sound mixing.   Example 2: When Pasternak’s parents are sat in their garden, the noise of the plane gradually gets louder and louder until it eventually reaches them. This once again adds to the verisimilitude of the short.

Cinematography Example 1

Cinematography Example 2

Part 1: Brief Reference

What did you like about the film?   I liked the narrative.	What didn’t you like?   The narration went on a bit in some parts
What ideas could you use? Narrative or style? I think If were to take influence it would be through the films style as I found that interesting.	What ideas won’t you use? Why? I would use narration for that long and perhaps use text instead.

Part 2: In-Depth Study – Narrative

Narrative Feature	Example	Your own example
Establishing protagonist – what information do we find out? How is it conveyed?	Introduced only in narration – first in third person as “a man marked by an image”; then in first person -memory of incident at the airport. We don’t see him until the first experiment is shown. This shows how core the act of remembering is to his identity – indeed we find out very little about him (he remains nameless) apart from his ‘remembering’ (even when he is travelling in time).	Introduced in a flashback of him as a younger boy, in a familiar environment to the real world unlike the dystopian elements of his world later shown, this establishes the significance of the location as when shown to later when he returns to it all the characters including himself as a younger boy are included creating an interesting narrative feature of a sort of time paradox.
Establishing other characters – what information do we find out? How is it conveyed?	The Woman is the first person we see (“the only image to survive the war”) – and she is defined only by the fact the narrator remembers her. Feminist critics may comment on the fact she barely seems to exist outside the experiences of the narrator and her growing belief in him.	‘The Experimenter’ shown to look futuristic with peculiar glasses and a clandestine appearance, always lurking in shadow, is shown to be a dominant figure in the narrative despite not constantly being shown. By silent whispers of German coming from what we assume is him, it can create a stereotype that he is evil.
Establishing location (time and place) – what information do we find out? How is it conveyed?	We are told immediately that the location is Paris. The bombed out wreckage of the city (real WW2 images) don’t immediately establish that this is the future until the narrator mentions radiation. The underground location beneath the Palais de Chaillot is shown by intercut images of broken cherubs and other sculptures.	With scenes from the past, shown to be in modern day (In the 60’s) it is mentioned with accompanying footage of ww2 destruction photos that the cause of this was nuclear weapons. With the narrator mentioning that it was in the future and WW3 had occurred it is well established to the viewer that the events they are seeing are from a future war caused with unknown reasons.
Creating Enigmas – what are they? How are they created?	The image the narrator obsesses over is the central enigma: who is the man he witnesses dying? How does he die? Who is the woman? The still images and voiceover powerfully evoke the nature of memory.	What other questions are posed throughout the narrative? There isn’t context as to why France was nuked in a nuclear war, it isn’t established who is the enemy.
Narrative binary oppositions	The ‘Living Present’ vs Past/Future. As the film progresses, what constitutes the ‘present’ (for the protagonist) seems to shift from his dystopian subterranean society to the ‘past’ of pre-apocalypse Paris. This is conveyed by the faster rhythm of the montage and the sequence (18:00-18:49) where the images almost become like traditional cinema.	The good from bad in La Jette are shown with the figures from the past and future, people from the past (although still in the future) are secretive and experiment on their people below them trying to reach the further future. The Good are shown to be the people from further future and offer the man sanctuary in the bright future.
Crisis – how was this conveyed?	Is it the first experiment? The moment the man spots the woman from the airport? Or is it when the future society offers him the chance to escape to the future?	What do you think is the crisis point? How does this affect the rest of the narrative? The Crisis point is only when the man realizes the man he witness get killed was himself.
Resolution – is it closed or open narrative?	The narrative is closed – but it is also in a loop: the narrator is both the dying man and the child watching the scene. This ‘time paradox’ has inspired films as diverse as The Terminator and Looper (as well as 12 Monkeys which is almost a remake).	What do you think about the end? Is it closed – or endlessly circular? The film creates a paradox within its self where the actions in the film are bound to repeat themselves forever.

Part 3: Meaning and Effect

What did you think was the intention of the filmmaker(s)? Intellectual message? Emotional response? Everyone is trapped in their time – they cannot escape it, even through memory. It is also about concept of photography and cinema itself, trying to ‘freeze’ time with images despite time always being in motion.

How was this achieved? The use of photomontage separates each frame of the story into a frozen image – even though these are joined together using traditional narrative film techniques such as voiceover, dissolves, fades and music. As the man begins to ‘live’ more and more in the ‘past’ with his lover, the space between these frames speeds up to resemble ‘motion picture’ speed at one point. The stuffed animals in the museum are also ‘frozen’ in a single moment. Your own idea: By using the same locations, the film creates an identity to places where viewers know what will happen. In the future they know they will be safe, in the present they know it is not safe due to experimentation and in the past there is also a sense of safety until the realization that it is not.

Aesthetic binary oppositions The use of still photo images are combined with traditional narrative cinematic techniques that bring them ‘to life’… until the moment around 18:00 when they flow together.

Effect of these oppositions? Shows the intensity of emotion the narrator feels with his lover: like he is finally ‘living’ in moving time rather than a series of frozen, separated moments.   Your example: Repetition of the photo used of him being experimented on and the photos of him exploring the past more, creates the effect to the viewer that this is all set in his mind.

La Jetée (Marker, Korea, 1962) – Analysis Sheet for Evaluative Commentary

Part 1: Brief Reference

What did you like about the film? I liked the idea of the story	What didn’t you like? It was only photos. There was no real acting.
What ideas could you use? Narrative or style? I would use normal talking acting instead of photos	What ideas won’t you use? Why?   I will not use just music and pictures because I feel like we cant see it in detail

Part 2: In-Depth Study – Narrative

Narrative Feature	Example	Your own example
Establishing protagonist – what information do we find out? How is it conveyed?	Introduced only in narration – first in third person as “a man marked by an image”; then in first person -memory of incident at the airport. We don’t see him until the first experiment is shown. This shows how core the act of remembering is to his identity – indeed we find out very little about him (he remains nameless) apart from his ‘remembering’ (even when he is travelling in time).	We find out that it is experiments on a man, we can see his dreams and what he is thinking about in that moment. The man remains nameless and so does the woman, accept it’s the woman that died when he was younger, he seems to be thinking about her a lot. We find out a lot of different details about his childhood throughout the short film. He has a lot of things attached to his face and head so the people can track all of his thoughts.
Establishing other characters – what information do we find out? How is it conveyed?	The Woman is the first person we see (“the only image to survive the war”) – and she is defined only by the fact the narrator remembers her. Feminist critics may comment on the fact she barely seems to exist outside the experiences of the narrator and her growing belief in him.	The woman in this film, she was killed in a plane accident when the man was a child, the woman seems to pop up in his memories a lot through put his dreams. Only the man can remember the woman showing up in the memories from when he was younger.
Establishing location (time and place) – what information do we find out? How is it conveyed?	We are told immediately that the location is Paris. The bombed out wreckage of the city (real WW2 images) don’t immediately establish that this is the future until the narrator mentions radiation. The underground location beneath the Palais de Chaillet is shown by intercut images of broken cherubs and other sculptures.	We find out at the very beginning of the short film that we are located in Paris. And it shows us images of real WW2 photos of how Paris looked at that time. The underground location is shown by intercut of broken sculptures and different structures; this is telling us that the current state of Paris was not doing very well from the war.
Creating Enigmas – what are they? How are they created?	The image the narrator obsesses over is the central enigma: who is the man he witnesses dying? How does he die? Who is the woman? The still images and voiceover powerfully evoke the nature of memory.	This short film should make us think, who  was the woman that died? How does the man die? Why is he there? Why did they choose to experiment on him? The voice over narrative makes us think we are in his head.
Narrative binary oppositions	The ‘Living Present’ vs Past/Future. As the film progresses, what constitutes the ‘present’ (for the protagonist) seems to shift from his dystopian subterranean society to the ‘past’ of pre-apocalypse Paris. This is conveyed by the faster rhythm of the montage and the sequence (18:00-18:49) where the images almost become like traditional cinema.	As the film progresses we can see that it shifts a lot from his childhood to more recent memories of him that are more like dreams because the woman is actually dead. The traditional photos they use of different times are brought into the films like the war photos and the pictures of the man and woman together as adults
Crisis – how was this conveyed?	Is it the first experiment? The moment the man spots the woman from the airport? Or is it when the future society offers him the chance to escape to the future?	The moment the man when he was a little boy spots the woman at the airport with her bags waiting for the flight, this was the scientists first thought of them bing confused.
Resolution – is it closed or open narrative?	The narrative is closed – but it is also in a loop: the narrator is both the dying man and the child watching the scene. This ‘time paradox’ has inspired films as diverse as The Terminator and Looper (as well as 12 Monkeys which is almost a remake).	The nattative is a closed one, because the people do not actually speak, there is sometimes a weird whispering noise because the scientists are discussing the dying mans dreams and memories.

Part 3: Meaning and Effect

What did you think was the intention of the filmmaker(s)? Intellectual message? Emotional response? Everyone is trapped in their time – they cannot escape it, even through memory. It is also about concept of photography and cinema itself, trying to ‘freeze’ time with images despite time always being in motion.

How was this achieved? The use of photomontage separates each frame of the story into a frozen image – even though these are joined together using traditional narrative film techniques such as voiceover, dissolves, fades and music. As the man begins to ‘live’ more and more in the ‘past’ with his lover, the space between these frames speeds up to resemble ‘motion picture’ speed at one point. The stuffed animals in the museum are also ‘frozen’ in a single moment. Your own idea: The message was that I the old times they actually could not read minds, and we still cannot not, its showing the effects that the war had on people.

Aesthetic binary oppositions The use of still photo images are combined with traditional narrative cinematic techniques that bring them ‘to life’… until the moment around 18:00 when they flow together.

Effect of these oppositions? Shows the intensity of emotion the narrator feels with his lover: like he is finally ‘living’ in moving time rather than a series of frozen, separated moments.   Your example: The use of using a narrator was really good because we could still understand what was happening in that moment but only seeing the photos, so the narrator explaining the story was good.

men: men are represented in bonnie and Clyde through Clyde and other characters. Men are presented as braver in the film and this is evident by the fact that they end up being the ones who end up doing the killing and being more physical (like when Clyde wrestles the warden into a boat).

women: bonnie does not follow the typical stereotype that would have followed women at the time this is seen in the fact that she has the same level of authority in the film and often makes her own decisions. at the time this film was set women had a lower status then men but this is not seen here

authority figures: In the film authority figures are made a mockery. the most prominent example of this being the park ranger who they take pictures with then throw into a river. However this is only is the first part of the film. in the second half the authorities are presented much differently as they end up questioning a member of the barrow gang

people of colour: in the film people of colour are not seen much however they are seen to be on the same level as the people he works with baring in mind America was still very racially separate at the time the film was set

working class people: in the film an example of a working class person would be CW Moss who when we first see him is an amateur mechanic.

tone: in bonnie and Clyde the tone is mostly light hearted and comical. this is until the final 20 minutes of the film where the police start to close in on the barrow gang and end up killing bonnie and Clyde at the end. the final scene uses quick cuts back and fourth between bonne and Clyde as they know they are finished. the tone changes from light and funny to suspenseful and gory

realism: the films realism comes through the ending of the film where bonnie and Clyde get shot by the firing squad. the use off blood bags make the film more realistic as it makes the audience think they the people getting shot were real people. it also helps the film was based on a true story

visual style: they use of tracking shots and large panning shot fits the French new wave style

an example of some German expressionist films would be

metropolis directed by fritz Lang

warming shadows directed by Arthur Robinson

an example of some Russian expressionist films would be

battleship Potemkin directed by Sergei einetenstein

Kino-eye directed by dzigia bertov

Who directed Birth of a Nation (1915) and why does the film continue to divide opinions among film critics, practitioners and theorists?

Birth of a Nation is a historical drama about the American Civil War and the rise of Ku Klux Klan. It depicts the tragedies of the Civil War beyond the battlefield. However, it’s effects on race relations were devastating, and reverberations are still felt to this day. The Birth of a Nation is three hours of racist propaganda – starting with the Civil War and ending with the Ku Klux Klan riding in to save the South from black rule during the Reconstruction era. The three-hour silent film The Birth of a Nation did “incalculable harm” to Black Americans by creating a justification for prejudice, racism, and discrimination for decades to follow.