Film 2: The Rats/Las Ratas

What did you like about the film?  – The cinematography, lighting, and the plot.	What didn’t you like? – The pacing felt slightly rushed, and the final scene being in daylight was distracting since the rest of the film is at night.
What ideas could you use? Narrative or style? – The idea of a past tragedy and revenge, possibly neon lighting	What ideas won’t you use? Why? – Heavy rainfall in exterior scenes, this will make it difficult to actually film anything.

In-Depth study – Mise-en-scène

Feature	Example – how does it convey meaning or create an effect
Set Design	The restaurant is shown to have no occupied tables besides the mob bosses, connoting that it is either very late at night or it’s just an unpopular place to eat in.
Costume	The man’s son is wearing a large bag, suggesting he has been away from his dad for an extended amount of time.
Space	The small kitchen area creates a sense of claustrophobia and stress.
Lighting	The dim lighting of the restaurants interior reinforces the idea that it is late and the restaurant is likely preparing to shut for night.
Composition	The establishing shot of the restaurant being lit only by the street lights and neon signs immediately sets the dark tone of the short.
Hair and makeup	The bruised appearance of the loan shark’s son suggests he too is involved in violence and illegal activity.

Following the Russian Revolution, Western art traditions were rejected in favour for constructivist, abstract art which placed a focus on socialist realism.

Examples:

(Suprematist Composition Airplane Flying, 1915 – Kazimir Malevich)

(CompositionIV, 1911 – Wassily Kandinsky)

Explain how the political, social and economic upheaval created by the aftermath of both the Russian Revolution and WW1 affected the production and content of classic Soviet Constructivist Cinema – In 1917, the Russian revolution occurred in which Russia’s monarchy was abolished and eventually executed, and the Tsar-led government was overthrown in favour for the Bolsheviks political party, who believed in creating an even society for all Russians. The change in political values led to a civil war, which ended in 1922 and was won by the Red Army, who supported Bolshevik beliefs. The Soviet Union was established following the Red Army’s victory. The revolution also led to Russia exiting the first World War, since the civil conflict became the main priority of the Bolsheviks.

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

German Expressionism and Russian Constructivism

Name at least two directors and two films connected with each movement –

German Expressionism: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (directed by Robert Wiene in 1920) and Nosferatu (directed by F. W. Murnau in 1922)

Russian Constructivism: The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bollsheviks (directed by Lev Kuleshov in 1924) and Battleship Potemkin (directed by Sergei Eisenstein in 1925)

Who were Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd and why were they so influential? – Keaton, Chaplin and Lloyd were comedic actors that starred in silent films. Keaton’s trademark was physical comedy. Lloyd, similar to Keaton, was known for doing dangerous stunt work himself, and was considered a daredevil. Chaplin was well known for his ‘tramp’ character and his heavy use of improvisation.

Give examples of some of the films that they made and mention some of the other notable filmmakers that they influenced. – The General (Keaton), The Great Dictator (Chaplin) and Safety Last (Lloyd). Aardman animation notably payed homage to Keaton’s film The General in their Wallace and Gromit film ‘The Wrong Trousers’.

The late 1960s saw the transition from studio-led films to more creatively free ones, which gave Arthur Penn the opportunity to make Bonnie and Clyde more violent than the traditional Hollywood film would have been. Studios were unwilling to make financial risks at this time due to audience decline, but Warner Bros challenged this by still allowing Penn and Beatty to produce their intended version of the film.

Women are represented in a way that counters stereotypes from the 1960s, when the film released. Bonnie is portrayed as confident and unafraid to stand up for herself against characters like Buck. Additionally, she doesn’t simply take orders from the men of the film, instead being presented more equally.

Men such as Clyde too challenge common ideologies from the time. Throughout the film, Bonnie attempts to have sex with Clyde several times, but he refuses with lines such as “I ain’t much of a loverboy”, suggesting impotence.

Authority Figures can be seen through the character of Frank Hamer. He is initially portrayed as weak and incapable of stopping the group, but once Blanche is blinded, Hamer comes across as more vengeful and eager to put an end to Bonnie and Clyde’s crimes.

People of Colour are notably absent throughout the majority of the film, besides the character of Davis, who works with Otis Harris. Davis has no lines in the film, and can be seen waiting to be instructed by Harris before shooting the gun at the window. This is a negative representation, as Davis’ character is not represented equally to his white co-worker. However, it may be historically accurate, as racial prejudice was still common in the 1930s.

Working Class Americans are represented as sympathetic, having lost what they had worked for during the Great Depression (which is when the film is set). The farmer who had been evicted from his home by the bank is supported by Bonnie and Clyde, who allow him to shoot the sign in front of the house.

Dialogue – Bonnie and Clyde referring to the character of C.W. Moss as ‘boy’ establishes the idea that he is looked down upon and isn’t respected by the pair.

Underscoring – As the final scene fades and ‘The End’ appears on screen, a quiet and sombre piece of music plays. This emotionally impacts the film as it reinforces to the audience that the main characters are dead and their crime spree has come to an end.

Sound Motif – Throughout the film, an upbeat song plays while the characters flee from places they have just robbed, adding an almost comedic tone to these specific scenes.

Sound Mixing – The use of bird noises during exterior scenes adds a sense of realism and verisimilitude to the film.