film noir: a style or genre of film defined by its themes of cynicism, crime, and mystique.
film noir (classic)
neo-noir
Film Noir
All posts by Alex Gajdosova
Filters
Casablanca – First Response
9/10
In this scene, it is established that Rick Blaine is a cynical, apathetic man, as Ugarte points out plainly. Ugarte is trying to sell letters of transit to refugees in Casablanca, preying on those desperate for escape – in short Rick ends up hiding two tickets for Ugarte. Throughout the film, desperation is a common theme, reflective of the time period through the characters relationships, an example of this would be Rick and Ilsa’s relationship, how fragile Blaine’s control on life gets once she re-enters his life, he’s always been in control of every life he has lived up until this point, an ex-lover who broke his heart is enough to crack through his cynical exterior. I also appreciate how the film hones in on ricks journey away from his cynical ways following the separation from Ilsa in France, by the end of the film he sacrifices his selfish whims for the greater good, sending Ilsa and Victor (her husband) away by choice this time.
The Birth of Hollywood (1900-1930)
- Why did film makers and producers move to Hollywood? Hollywood is known for its consistent climate, therefore making it easier to schedule filming – also to escape fees from Tomas Edison (who owned many patents on the movie-making process).
- Name some of the big stars, directors and pictures from the Silent Era of Hollywood? Clara Bow (from New York), Buster Keaton (from Kansas), King Vidor (from Texas), Charlie Chaplin (from London), Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror(F.W. Murnau), The Last Laugh (F.W. Murnau).
- In what ways were the early Hollywood studio system like a factory or production line or even the Premier League? The early Hollywood studio system was able to loan out their actors to other companies, just like how football clubs can loan out their players to other clubs.
- When and what was the first “talking picture”? On October 6th, 1927 called “The Jazz Singer”.
- Why did the end of the silent era cause problems for some performers working in the film industry? Some actors didn’t have the right kind of voice for talkies, therefore making them disposable.
- What was happening in America (and around the world) at this time? WW1 1914-1918, The Great Depression, The Wall street 1929, The Roaring 20s. All of these events contributed to the uprise in romance, mystery and comedy pictures, given that society sought out escapism from the real world.
Censorship
Hays Code
They were a set of guidelines introduced to the industry in 1934 and enforced until 1968. It prohibited studios from distributing films showing realistic violence, nudity, sex, prolonged kissing, and profanity.
The Hays Code was a way to maintain morality in Hollywood – especially for Americans. There were concerns about women, children, and lower-class citizens being susceptible to bad influences in film.
The Hollywood Studio System (1930-1947)
- What were the 5 big studios and what movies was each famous for? Paramount Picture: Shanghai Express – 1932, MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer): The Wizard of Oz – 1939, RKO: King Kong – 1933, 20th Century Fox: The Grapes of Wrath – 1940, Warner Bros: The Public Enemy – 1931.
- Explain what vertical integration and block-booking was? Vertical integration is when a company takes ownership of two or more stages of its supply chain; in the film industry, this was when studios owned the cinemas which screened their films, having a direct link to the distribution of pictures. Block-booking was a system of selling multiple films as a unit, sequentially providing the cinemas a large portion of the revenues – which is actually giving the studios themselves the revenue, given that providers and distributors were vertically integrated.
- Why and when did the original studio system collapse? By 1948, the original studio system had collapsed, losing their monopoly power within the industry, on May 4th 1948, the Supreme Court found that the studios had violated anti-trust laws.
- What was happening in America (and around the world) at this time? The Great Depression, WW2, beginning of the Cold War.
- What genres of movies were popular and why did people go to the movies in this time period? Gangster, Romance, Mystery, Comedy, Western, Musicals, cartoon animations. People went to the movies to escape the bleak reality of the world they were living in.
Classical Hollywood Style
- What is meant by the invisible style of storytelling? Subtle cuts are made throughout the film to make the narrative draw the audience’s attention in, rather than the fact they’re watching a film. They become immersed. The focal point is character development and storyline.
- What is continuity editing? When shots are ordered chronologically, creating a cohesive storyline whilst creating the illusion of a real world within the film – effectively making audience immersed into the storyline.
This Is England: Representation
Young people in This Is England play a big part in representing this time period in England, the youngest being Shaun who’s 12, along with Woody’s group who are all young adults. For the most part, they’re depicted to the spectator as being reckless, carefree, and unified by style.
Older people in the film have a range of roles, there’s Cynthia who is Shaun’s mother, she is caring and down to earth, and then there is Combo who has an authoritarian approach to keeping people close to him, instilling fear and nationalist propaganda onto others. The audience is shown that this heavily impacts Shaun, since Combo hones in on Shaun’s grief, weaponizing it so that Shaun becomes an asset to Combo’s gang.
The working class is the prominent class in This Is England, this is important to the spectator because it signifies how Margaret Thatcher’s time in parliament wasn’t taken lightly by those in the working class, as shown multiple times with graffiti.
English people are only represented by those from the North of England, in depth, the only time we ever see Southern citizens is on news broadcasts about those in power, like Margaret Thatcher and the Royal Family. This indicates to the audience that it is a common occurrence that the South have an overpowering hold on the North, along with classism against northern England.
Asian and Black people are depicted in a bad light whenever Combo has something to say about it, casual racism is a common occurrence throughout the film, for example, when Combo first visits Woody and the others to tell them a story about his time in prison, openly discriminating a black inmate whilst Milky is in the room (a Jamaican man). Asian people are portrayed as “job stealers”, according to Combo, as well as being verbally abused and taken advantage of in the scene where Shaun and Combo’s gang raid Sandhu’s shop.
Aesthetics
Aesthetics: The overall style, feel, and texture of a film. This can involve scenery, costume, and how they all tie in
Realism: an artistic approach and narrative style that aims to represent life, characters, settings, and events as closely as possible to their real-world counterparts.
verisimilitude – the appearance of being real or true (in terms of world building and costume design)
social realism – drawing attention to the social and political conditions (issues) of a particular time period and location.
magic realism – portrays fantastical events in a realistic tone to successfully build a believable world for the spectator.
hyperreality – artificially created media that is perceived to be reality, a heightened reality.
Visual Style: The visual language of a film, the look and feel of the film.
iconography – the use of reoccurring visual images and symbols that convey specific themes, evoke emotions, and build the film’s narrative.
intertextual referencing – the overlap of media, utilised to support the narrative of the film. The media could be other films, music, poetry, and literature.
visual/sound motifs – a visible or audible element that reoccurs throughout the film to carry the storyline, plays a symbolic role.
colour grading -a post-production process to alter the visual appearance of the film/shot. This can either be to make it more vibrant to convey a lighter, happier narrative, or it could be desaturated to convey dullness or negativity.
auteur trademarks – a trademark style, making a directors work immediately recognisable.
Tone: The overall atmosphere or mood of a film.
pathos – appeals to the audience’s emotions, typically sadness.
bathos – an anti-climax or a juxtaposition of shots to create a humorous effect.
suspense – excitement or anxiousness created by tension.
Suspenseful because it’s a Darren Aronofsky film; paranoia, perfectionism, and horror.
comedy – provides the audience with amusement, usually consisting of explicit one-liners, or on the other hand, intellectual pieces which are implicitly/unintentionally ‘funny’.
For context, this episode is particularly funny because in the image on the left, Lestat is reassuring Louis (out of frame) that he is free to sleep with whoever he wants as long as Louis comes home to him. Image 2 completely contradicts Lestat’s plethora of “Of course! Of course!”, Louis comes home after having relations with another man, Lestat is clearly not that calm nor collected. There’s 15 minutes between these scenes.
dramatic irony – when the audience understands more about a situation that most characters do; an ‘inside joke’.
distancing effect – also known as ‘breaking the fourth wall’, is when the illusion of being an unseen spectator is shattered, the characters on screen are directly interacting with the audience.
postmodern humour – Challenges accepted notions and expectations of genre, philosophy, and humanity.
Essay Feedback
Impressive Phrases:
-“The deliberate and stylised use of…”
Diegetic: Something which is occurring within the context of a scene – the characters are aware of it.
Cathartic Effect: Involving the release of strong emotions through a particular activity or experience. In film, this is when the audience has a strong – sometimes personal – reaction towards the film.
Reframing: The general change of a persons mindset (spectator).
synonyms for ‘connote’: imply, suggest, indicate, signify, hint at.
Throughout Joker, cinematography is used effectively to create sense of chaos within the film’s diegetic world. This is particularly evident in the scene towards the end of the film where Arthur is shown using a low- angle, close-up looking out of the police car window and reacting with glee at the riots taking place around him. Here, the camera is used to position the spectator as not only connecting with Arthur, but now looking up to him. This suggests to the spectator that the tables have turned and Arthur who was earlier depicted as pathetic and sad, is now depicted as powerful and heroic. This “reframing” of the central character” has a potentially cathartic effect on the spectator who has, up until this point, been encouraged to sympathise with Arthur’s point of view as a victim of circumstance. The deliberate and stylised use of this slow-motion reaction shot, enables the spectator to get a sense of poetic justice being served.
Point / Evidence / Explain / Link
This Is England: Micro elements
Mise-en-scene: At 03:53, we’re shown Shaun in his bed, within the frame there is an alarm clock, paint which had flaked off of the walls, and most importantly, a framed picture of his dad who served in the army. This is significant throughout the rest of the film as Shaun’s actions are being motivated by his fathers death in the war, wanting to make his death worth something (something, meaning the country and its pride, which Combo and his gang feel strongly about).
Editing: At 25:01, after Shaun gets his skinhead makeover, finally being a part of Woody’s gang, we are shown slow motion shots of the male members of the gang as well as the female members, their shots dissolving together to showcase the parallels. This highlights the sense of unity within the group, regardless of gender.
Cinematography: At 43:38, Combo’s true intentions come into the light – highlighted by the low angle he’s shot at, suggesting power and intimidation – as he gives Woody’s gang a speech about England’s loss of pride (nationalism), and how he wants to change that and make England great again, imposing white supremacist propaganda. This eventually peer pressures a couple of members to join him, specifically Shaun, and this is only the surface of Combo’s power-hungry personality.
Sound: All throughout the film we’re given a range of popular music from that time period, mostly during the first half because Shaun’s social circle spirals as he is exposed to negative influences. An example of this would be when Soft Cell’s ‘Tainted Love’ cover is heard briefly in the first half, a popular song in the 80s, and then shifting to an atmospheric/melancholic score, composed by Ludovico Einaudi. This encapsulates Shaun’s situation, going from dull and mediocre to distressing and traumatic.
This Is England: 1st Response
Initial score: 4.5/10
Shane Meadows, 27/04/07 (release date)
In my opinion, the film wasn’t that great and the only reason I’m giving it a 4.5 and not a 4 is because the dialogue alone was hilarious – intentional or not. I enjoyed the news clips and montages which indicated the time period, such as clips of Princess Diana’s wedding. I didn’t enjoy the score because it didn’t blend well with the scenes, making it hard to take anything seriously.
My favourite sequence in the film is when Shaun first goes into the corner shop, Sandhu’s News, and is reading through a comic book which he hasn’t purchased yet, obviously the shopkeeper doesn’t like this so he asks Shaun repeatedly to leave, which leads up to the funniest piece of dialogue in this film. “Cola Cubes.” And again. “Cola Cubes.” The delivery from Thomas Turgoose adds to the comedic feel of this sequence.
The Miller and The Sweep storyboard
Representation in Trainspotting
- WHO IS DOING THE REPRESENTATION? (DIRECTOR’S VIEWPOINT) Danny Boyle
- WHO IS BEING REPRESENTED? (Identify social groups) Heroin addicts in Edinburgh, the parents of addicts, partners of addicts, authority figures, children and regular people.
- WHAT SOCIAL GROUPS ARE OMITTED FROM THE REPRESENTATIONS? People of colour, leading female characters, LGBTQ+ characters.
- WHAT MESSAGES ABOUT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS ARE BEING CONVEYED? It’s shown that heroin addicts/addiction isn’t glamorous, that drug abuse does have its highs of euphoria as well as dark and grimy lows.
- WHICH CHARACTERS OR SOCIAL GROUPS HAVE POWER WITHIN THE REPRESENTATIONS? White men, specifically Begbie – he’s aggressive, violent and controlling to whoever is nearby.
- DO THE CHARACTERS ADHERE TO OR CHALLENGE STEREOTYPES? They challenge the stereotype that Edinburgh is the nicer region of Scotland, unlike Glasgow which has been deemed “rougher”. Showing the underbelly of the city and its people.
- ARE THE CHARACTERS TYPICAL OF FILMS IN THAT GENRE? No, they’re all unique characters for the black-comedy/drama genre. For example, Creep (2014, Patrick Brice) is considered a black-comedy, and its characters are very different to the ones in Trainspotting.
- WHAT DO REPRESENTATIONS TELL AUDIENCES ABOUT SOCIETY AT THE TIME THE FILM WAS MADE AND/OR SET? The representations shown in Trainspotting tell the audiences around the world that Edinburgh in the late 90s wasn’t always light and friendly – revealing the darker sides of the city and population, how drug abuse flies under the radar for the most part, as well as the destruction that heroin addiction can cause for the user and the people around them.
- HOW ARE ELEMENTS OF FILM FORM BEING USED TO CONSTRUCT THE REPRESENTATIONS? A good example of mise en scene being used in this film is when Renton dives into the toilet, searching for his drugs, however it is depicted in a surreal way; transitioning from the disgusting reality of the toilet, into a bottomless body of blue, clear water, this is probably used to visualise the sense of euphoria that heroin can give you. This constructs the representation of desperate, young addicts in Edinburgh. In this same scene, the music used changes when Renton dives into the toilet, going from fanfare to a tranquil ambience, synchronising with the split between reality and euphoria.
For reference, these are the people represented in Trainspotting (in order): Drug addicts, young people, old people/authority figures, men, and women.
This scene depicts drugs addicts in a drug den, shooting up heroin in a social setting. This conveys to the spectators that drug addicts can find a sense of community within addiction, using it as a reason to hang out, it’s an activity for some.
Young people are depicted in this film, specifically this opening scene, as reckless and unpredictable. For the spectator, this provides an alternate perspective on the youth as in most films they’re portrayed in a generic way, such as mediocre acts of defiance, then having a linear life of finding a job and marriage. In Trainspotting, it sways away from that stereotype, presenting us as the audience the darker and grittier side of young people – drug abuse and law breaking.
Older people and authority figures do play a strong role throughout Trainspotting, for example, Renton’s parents. In this scene we see his parents take care of him after overdosing on heroin, despite the disappointment of Renton going against the one condition which the court gave him – to stay clean – in order to not go to jail. This makes the spectator understand that a lot of the authority figures in this film still aim to help the young people despite all of their mistakes.
Men are heavily represented throughout Trainspotting, all leading characters are male. This scene in particular shows them being careless, anti-social (mostly on Begbie’s part) and socialising together.
In Trainspotting, women aren’t explored in depth as characters, they’re only ever shown if they have some kind of relation to the main group of men, either that being girlfriends or parents. This shows to the audience that women are accessories to the story, not the centre.