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Representation, Trainspotting

Representation – Trainspotting

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Young People

In Trainspotting, young people are presented in a disadvantaged position. All young people we see in the film are or will be going through something. Renton suffers addiction, Begbie is a violent mess who has to crash in Renton’s London apartment, Tommy goes through a rough breakup that results in his death, etc. Young People in Trainspotting are represented as having little future and little ambition, or so they believe themselves. This changes by the end when Renton runs away with the money and he realises he can make something of his life, which is a positive note to end a movie that often shows only the negatives of youth.

Older People

Older people are not very present in Trainspotting. There are a few scenes involving the character’s parents,. namely Renton’s, Gail’s and Diane’s . From what we are shown, the older people in Trainspotting are represented usually as quite kindly and at least attempt to be friendly. There is the dinner scene with Renton’s parents where his dad snaps at him for his drug abuse, but aside from that, they attempt to help him kick the habit by forcing him to go cold turkey. Gail’s parents are kind to Spud and are understanding of the fact that he made a mess while drunk, and Diane’s parents are very nice and welcoming to Renton. They are represented as a group of people who grew up with more opportunities than the current youth of Trainspotting.

Working Class People

Trainspotting is not a glamourous film, and it’s portrayal of the working class is a good example of this. A lot of the ensemble cast are of the lower classes, explaining their need to go to drugs to feel something in a world where they haven’t been given anything to experience. The only people at the start of the film who don’t do drugs are Tommy and Begbie, who both seem well off. Tommy however loses his comfortable social state when Renton inadvertently causes his girlfriend to kick him out of her house, bringing him down considerably. He’s forced into a grimy looking, very cheap apartment, absolutely nothing inside, not even a proper bed. This display of the poor working class, in dirty housing with little possession, also allows the audience to sympathise more with the character’s reasoning of turning to drugs. The working class are presented as struggling and in need of help, which leads them to drugs as an attempt to get something out of a life they have nothing in.

Scottish People

Due to the story taking place in Scotland, the main characters are obviously Scottish. The movie doesn’t really bring a lot of attention to this, though. The Scottish people are presented as the status quo of the story, and so we are led through normal Scottish lives. There is a scene where they go see some Scottish mountains, which in any other movie would be a big moment of beauty and awe in the characters, but in Trainspotting they really don’t care about it, and don’t see the point in going all the way there to look at them. It would just be normal to them. Scottish people are not represented in a romanticised light, nor in a negative one: what the characters see as normal is presented to the audience as normal.

Addicts

The addicts in Trainspotting, despite making up the main cast, are not presented positively in the film. All scenes of drug taking is not glamorous at all, quite the opposite. They are most often seen cooking up and shooting heroin in a dingy backroom, which looks disgusting and not somewhere people should be. The scenes in which Renton takes drugs are always presented as a low point: he betrays his family and friends by going to get a hit from Mother Superior immediately after being let off a prison sentence under the promise of going to rehab, he OD’s and is treated without any care by Mother Superior who just lugs him around and by the taxi driver who takes him to the hospital, who dumps him on the ground, and when he shoots up in a bus toilet, which is a low point due to him being totally clean up to that point. While not presented positively, the addicts are given a lot of sympathy, like Tommy resorting to heroin to feel better after his life is ruined. Addicts aren’t even really presented in a villainous way either: the worst character in the whole movie, Begbie, is totally clean throughout the entire film. Addicts are presented as human beings deserving of sympathy and care.

Men

Men make up the main cast of characters in Trainspotting, giving us a lot of different representations of men. Trainspotting gives us aggressive men like Begbie or sensitive men like Tommy, etc. There is a lot men have in common in Trainspotting, though. All of them want relationships, which is shown in the scene where the above screenshot is from, where Spud and Sick Boy talk about their gripes with their respective partners, and in the same sequence at the bar Renton gives narration on how he wants company and gets with Diane. Other aspects of male representation is the constant banter between the characters and the stereotypical male pastime of football, but opposed to what these stereotypical representations would suggest, the male characters are allowed to be emotional, like the scene where the aby dies and all the characters are very upset about it.

Women

Women don’t have as much representation as men by a lot. Often the women are restricted to roles of girlfriend, wife or mother. They are given little screentime compared to the male characters as well, but they aren’t totally sidelined. While they usually are in the role of girlfriend to the main characters, they are given moments that characterise them and give them strength, like Spud’s girlfriend Gail saying that she’s been refusing to have sex with him just because she finds it funny that it annoys him. But compared to male characters, there isn’t much representation of women in the film.

Representation

Representation

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All aspects of film form including narrative contribute to the representations of cultures and societies (gender, ethnicity and age) including the ideological nature of these representations -All aspects of a film, from performance to story, can portray ideas about different people and societies

Performance

  • Age
  • Ethnicity
  • Costume
  • Facial Expression
  • Bodylanguage
  • Gestures

Ideology

Ideas and ideals that an individual holds about a concept, group of people, place or thing.

Stereotype

A stereotype is a character based on a fixed and oversimplified idea of a type of person

Countertype

A countertype is a character that is the opposite to what the stereotype would be for that type of person e.g black president

Representation – Sarah Connor

Terminator 1

 

In the first Terminator, Sarah Connor is a very standard representation of a working young woman. She is part of a character type that was present in a lot of movies in the 80’s: young, single, overworked, ditzy, clumsy and average. She’s meant to be a sort of everywoman “normal” character

T2

In the sequel, T2, Sarah Connor is a very different character. She has evolved from the relatable “normal” character from the first film, and has changed from that previous character into a hardened action movie hero style of protagonist. Instead of her first introduction, where she’s late to work and is shown being clumsy and overworked, in T2 she is introduced in a mental hospital doing pull ups on an overturned bed. The character is much more capable and is able to fill the role of the character of Kyle from the first film by herself, and is a much more memorable character than he was. Her outfit has also changed to suit this development, going from her pink waitress outfit to stylish, practical clothing suitable for combat. T2’s Sarah Connor is a more action movie heroine character, a countertype to the working girl stereotype she was in the first film.

REPRENTATION IN TRAINSPOTTING

  1. Who is doing the representation? – Danny Boyle (Director)/Irvine Welsh (Original Novelist)
  2. Who is being represented? – Lower/middle classes in Scotland, drug users, young adults
  3. What social groups are omitted from the representation?- Elderly
  4. What messages about particular social groups are being conveyed? – Drug users have a hard life, everyone needs money, life in the UK is not very glamourous for common people
  5. Which characters or social groups have power in these representations? – Drug dealers, higher classes, court system
  6. Do the characters adhere or challenge stereotypes? – The characters challenge stereotypes, as the drug using characters are portrayed with sympathy and as good people rather than being vilified, and a character that doesn’t do drugs, Begby, is the most villainous character
  7. Are the characters typical of films in that genre? – I think that in the genre that Trainspotting is (black comedy drama), the characters are not typical. The drug users would not be the nice, sympathetic characters they are, Begby would not be the aggressive, borderline evil character he is etc.
  8. What do representations tell us about the time the film was made and set? – The film is set in the same year it was made (1996), and the representations show understanding of drug use and normal people, as well as showing us that there is a lot more understanding about people in general.
  9. How are elements of film form being used to construct the representations? – Boyle uses shots that hold for a long time to create a boring, monotonous atmosphere to make the pubs and streets feel normal and familiar and not at all exciting, like the scene at the London pub after they picked up the money which uses long shots and close ups that hold for a while to make the place feel boring, and more frantic editing is used to show drug use, like the scene where Renton ODs, which uses creative editing of the red carpet framing Renton’s POV shots.

Trainspotting

Trainspotting Micro Elements

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Sound-

Boyle uses sound in this scene where Renton goes through withdrawal to create a frantic feeling by adding techo music to the action. It makes the scene more unnerving as the out of place, fast paced music plays over Renton’s eerie visions.

Editing-

Spud’s job interview scene utilises a lot of shot-reverse-shots to create a dark humour through the contrast of the high and hyper Spud and the stone faced interviewers.

Mise En Scene-

This shot utilises mise-en-scene to show the atmosphere of the bar and the personalities of the characters. We can see from the wallpaper and the shiny oak tables this is quite a well off establishment, and the large collection of glasses tells the audience that the characters have been there for a while and enjoy drinking. Bigby is positioned directly in the middle of the frame and is holding one of the glasses, telling the audience he is the focus character in this scene.

Cinematography-

This shot utilises a long shot for this scene of Tommy and his girlfriend at the video store. They went to the store to try and find a sex tape Tommy believes he must have accidentally given away (Actually Renton had stolen it) and this shot is them after not finding it. The long shot is utilised to show the distance between Tommy and Lizzy that has been created through Renton’s action, and that they are going to break up.

Trainspotting

Trainspotting (1996) First Response

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Trainspotting (1996) Dir. Danny Boyle FIRST RESPONSE

Rating: 7/10

Trainspotting is a grungy movie filled with dark themes, flawed characters and a really good soundtrack. The acting is extremely good, and most of the main characters are very memorable, from the well-meaning Renton to the unfortunate Spud, and the psychotic and hateable Begbie, among other characters who go through a lot of horrible experiences. It creates a grim reality around the characters filled with substance abuse, crime and death, but while the film has its nihilistic elements, it ends in a way that leaves the audience hopeful. The people who deserve a good ending get it: Renton ditches his awful friends and Spud is left £2000, and the characters who need punishment get it: Begbie, who spent the movie violently attacking and threatening innocent people, finally gets arrested. The characters aren’t one dimensional though: Each character has their own flaws and aspects that make them imperfect – Renton ruins his friend Tommy’s life by stealing a sex tape of Tommy and his girlfriend, which results in Tommy’s death, or Spud’s compliance with everything. And the soundtrack is especially memorable, using britpop and techno music to create an atmosphere of normality amongst the grime and filth that decorates the rest of the movie. The movie has a lot of interesting aspects and it all works together well, but its just not the type of movie that I really love. For what it is, however, it was very interesting and I enjoyed it.

Memorable Scene: Renton Goes Through Withdrawal

This scene stands out to me as it is an incredibly absurd scene in an otherwise pretty grounded movie. There are other times when the reality of what you are seeing is called into question, like when Renton completely submerges himself in a grimy toilet and he is shown swimming through an ocean of clean water, but this scene throws away any concept of sanity the movie had attempted to retain. Renton has just been taken out of the hospital following an overdose, and his parents have locked him in his childhood room in order to force him to go cold turkey. The following scene depicts his withdrawal hallucinations and is quite an unsettling few minutes. These hallucinations range from his friends appearing in his room to stare and talk at him, to Begbie being under his covers, a sickly-looking Tommy standing next to him, his room stretching away from him and his parents on a TV screen taking part in a quiz show where the questions have to do with his situation (questions about HIV etc). The most memorable hallucination though is him seeing the baby who died in their drug den crawling across the ceiling towards him, which culminates in the baby’s head twisting around to face him, and then the baby drops from the ceiling onto his face. The scene is uncomfortable and sickening, and the baby makes it quite creepy. Throughout the whole scene, techno music playing behind Renton’s panting and pained screaming., providing a darkly comic contrast between his visions and the music.

Sound

SOUND

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Sound Designer

Sound designers find, create (foley) and edit sound to be used in the film. This includes sound effects, diegetic noise, score, etc.

Sound Mixer

Edits and balances the dialogue, sound effects and the other sounds.

Diegetic sound in Joker

An example of diegetic sound in Joker is the people laughing in the comedy club when Arthur is watching the comedian

Non-Diegetic sound in Joker

An example of non-diegetic sound in Joker is the creepy orchestral score during Arthurs weird interpretive dance after killing the people on the train

A needledrop is when a licenced song is played in a movie, and it is used to create tension, comedy, and/or emotion for the audience, or set the tone e.g “That’s Life” in Joker, “Cry Little Sister” in The Lost Boys or “Stuck In The Middle With You” in Reservoir Dogs

Sound Effect:

Sound effects are artificially created/edited sounds that are used in film to emphasise an action or create mood and feeling

Foley artists would create sounds like glass breaking, footsteps, walking in sand or snow, impact sounds etc. by creating and using objects to make the sound effects.

A leitmotif is a short, recurring musical phrase associated with a character, like the theme from Jaws, a setting, like in Lord Of The Rings, emotion, like in Stand By Me, or a character’s evolution, like Darth Vader in Star Wars.

L Cuts and J Cuts are “sound bridges” that make the transition from one scene to another smoother

Voice Over is a sound technique where the audience hears the voice of a character or a narrator speaking over shots where the character or narrator isn’t speaking or on screen. Examples of films that use this are Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas, The Crow and Stand By Me. Voice over can also be utilised with an “unreliable narrator”, where the audience is given the information from the biased perspective of the narrator.

Score/Underscore

The score of a film is music composed specifically for use in the film to enhance emotion and themes of what is happening on screen. The Underscore is score that is played under sequences, usually mixed with dialogue and/or sound effects.

Synchronous sound is sound matched with actions being viewed, Asynchronous sound is not matched with what is happening on screen, which can be used to create tension by giving the audience a noise that they can’t match with a source, or giving the audience sound that a character in the film can’t hear.

Sound Perspective refers to the apparent distance of a sound source emulated through volume, pitch and timbre. In Spielberg’s film Munich, sound perspective is used through emphasising sounds to bring attention to important points of the scene, such as the target’s daughter’s footsteps being the dominant sound when she runs back into the building the assassins were going to bomb or silence being broken by the noise of a phone box’s metal dial to create danger and tension.

A soundtrack is music used in and/or made for the film

My favourite film soundtrack is The Crow (1994), as it utilises a lot of bands that I really enjoy to create the grungy, industrial, dark and gloomy setting the film produces. It works so well as it sounds good in the context of the film and is a good soundtrack by itself. There are so many scenes in the film that are elevated by the music, like the iconic scene where Eric puts on his makeup set to The Cure’s Burn, or the scene where he fights the room full of gangsters when After The Flesh by My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult plays.

Moonlight

Moonlight (2016) Camera Shots, Angles and Movements

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Shots

BCU

This BCU of Chiron puts us in the position of Kev as Chiron gets up from his beating. It shows us Chiron’s indomitable spirit and emotional strength, able to stand up to someone who was a friend after being beaten down. We are shown his stoic expression in extreme detail, which makes the audience respect him as a character.

LS

This long shot puts us in the shoes of Chiron hiding from the group of bullies. It shows us the futility of Chiron’s situation, showing us all of the open space on school grounds, blocked off from him by one small group of people.

CU

This close up of Chiron after the bullies attacked him after forcing Kev to punch him gives the audience a sense of Chiron’s pain. It shows us the blood over his face, the cold water that makes his skin glisten in the school bathroom light. It shows us Chiron’s frustration and anguish in detail, as well as representing his loneliness by giving a close up on his face against an empty white wall. This shot also precedes the scene where Chiron breaks a chair over Tyrell’s head, and this shot gives us Chiron’s emotional motivation for his action by showing his mental state

Camera Angles

Bird’s Eye

This bird’s eye shot of Kev and Chiron on the beach shows them close together on an uneven backdrop that is the sandy floor. This gives the viewer a strong sense of friendship between the two, and the plain sand backdrop against the two looking up at the camera, breaking the 4th wall in a sense, creates a strange atmosphere, almost like a dream.

Eye Level

This eye level shot of the “Little” segments Chiron and Kev portrays a sense of comradery between the two. We get the sense that they are equals and friends.

Low Angle

This low angle shot puts us in the perspective of Chiron’s mother talking to Juan, the man who was taking care of Chiron. This shows us the height difference between the two characters, creating a power dynamic between the person who was meant to look after Chiron versus the person who actually did take care of him.

Movements

Zoom In

This zoom in to the “Little” segments Kev and Chiron gives the audience the feeling that we are getting closer to the characters emotionally. This zoom in happens during a scene where Kev is telling Chiron that he can’t let people push him around and he needs to stand up for himself. The zoom in shows us that these characters are getting closer together, and gives the audience a sense that they are prying on a private conversation between to very close friends.

Pan

This scene where “Little” Chiron is running down towards the waves and then running away when the waves come up utilises a pan to follow Chiron as he runs. It puts us in the shoes of Juan, who is teaching Chiron to swim, and invokes a parental feeling of keeping eyes on the young child, looking after him, making sure he is safe and okay. It shows us Chiron’s relationship with Juan.

Ped

The cooking scene from the “Black” segment utilises peds to follow the movement of Kev’s hands while he is cooking, showing the effort and care that goes into the making of the meal for Chiron.

Joker

Mise En Scene – Joker (2019)

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ELEMENTS OF MISE-EN-SCENE IN JOKER (2019)

Lighting

In this shot, the light from the fridge acts as a key light, casting light on Arthur’s scrawny physique. The dark room is illuminated solely by the blue light from the fridge, creating a dark, uncomfortable atmosphere. The room is in low key light, making the scene more dramatic. This scene succeeds the scene where Arthur finds out he is adopted, so the dark and blue also help build a tragic, depressing atmosphere.

Space

This shot utilises space to show the relationship between the clowns at the office. None of the clowns are close together despite the size of the room. The room also features a lot of empty space, creating a dull atmosphere in the shot.

Composition

This shot of Arthur attempting a performance at the comedy club is a good example of composition in the film. The lamps and people in the foreground are out of focus, making the audience focus on Arthur on stage. The people in the foreground are also silhouetted, creating the sense that you are in the club with them watching Arthur mess up his show.

Hair + Makeup

In this scene, Arthur is opening the door for two of his old co-workers midway through putting on makeup. His face is halfway through the clown make up process, giving him a patchy white face, which unnerves the viewer. His hair is freshly dyed green as well, making Arthur look unnatural and not human. It also represents where Arthur is in his character arc, as he is not yet the homicidal maniac in full makeup he is at the end, but no longer the anxious man just trying to scrape by in life like he was at the beginning.

Costume

The Stairway Dance scene is a great example of how costume is used in this movie. First there is Arthur in his full “Joker” persona’s outfit. It is wild and colourful and extravagant: there’s a lot going on, from the warm colours on his overcoat and waistcoat, to the decorated shirt, and the full clown makeup and green hair. He stands out and is very easily seen as eccentric. Meanwhile the detectives attempting to book him for the murders of the men on the train are in much more standard and boring clothing. Brown and blue coats, plain white shirts, ties: they resemble the men on the subway. They are dull and like everyone else, and Arthur’s outfit contrasts them by being loud and noteworthy.

 Aspect Ratio

Joker is usually shot in 1.85:1, giving the shots of the grimy Gotham streets more focus and importance. The above shot, for example, shows off the grimy streets of Gotham, showing the rubbish, the homeless, the sporadically placed cars etc. The wider aspect ratio is also useful in closeups as it gives us a better look at the actor’s facial expressions and movements.

However, for the scenes showing the Live With Murray Franklin program, the aspect ratio is shrunk to 1.33:1, making those shots feel like you’re watching them on an old CRT screen, thus putting you in the shoes of somebody watching the show, not a movie.

Film Stock

The camera in Joker is very sharp. The shots are very clear, and the camera shows detail as well as it can. Take the shot above: You can see Arthur’s face in extreme detail; the viewer can see the white makeup fading away, the smudging of the eye makeup, the lines in his face formed by his grin, the light reflecting off his hair. It’s a clear picture that shows a lot of subtle detail. Even the shine on the side of the police car and the reflection of the neon lights in the window are shown in a very high quality. However, similar to the aspect ratio, I love the changes made to the film during the Live With Murray Franklin segments.

Like how the aspect ratio was shrunk to simulate a CRT, a grain is added to the camera, these bars across the screen, as well as dampening the colours, to further emulate the style of an old TV set. This definitely adds to the impact of this intra-diegetic shot, as you are made to feel like you are watching this live on TV, not as part of a movie. It puts you in the shoes of the people in Gotham who have watched this beloved figure get murdered live on air. I love this detail of the CRT Franklin segments, as it adds some individuality and unique style to the film.

Moonlight

Moonlight First Response

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MOONLIGHT (2016, Dir. Barry Jenkins) FIRST RESPONSE

Rating: 6/10

The film does a good job at conveying a heartfelt story, using a three act structure to separate the stages of life the main character Chiron is in. It gets some good use out of the camera, making beautiful shots (any scene at a beach comes to mind) and the occasional shake of the camera really grounds the film, making it look like it was recorded by an onlooker using a handheld camera. However, sometimes the unique camera movements became annoying and sometimes I couldn’t make out what the characters were saying. It also just isn’t the kind of movie I love, but it executes what it set out to do extremely well.

Memorable Scene: Kev’s Betrayal 

The scene begins with one of the coolest shots of the film: it starts on the bully character, Terrel, walking into the schoolyard pushing people out of the way as he comes towards the camera. Then, without changing shots, the camera follows Terrel as he circles the camera, which is the point of view of Chiron. This shot stood out to me immediately because it really puts you in Chiron’s situation. You watch as Terrel walks, acting aggressive to other students, pushing them out of the way to create a circle. What really works with this shot is that Terrel remains in focus in the centre of the camera while the background is blurry and clearly moves. This creates a sense of tension and unease. This spinning shot continues for around ten seconds before Terrel, and thus the camera, stops at Kev. Terrel orders him to knock Chiron down, and Chiron stays silent and stares at Kev. Before this scene was the scene where Kev and Chiron shared an intimate moment on the beach. Both characters were vulnerable then, but here it’s different. Chiron is meant to be vulnerable: he is face to face with Terel and his gang, as well as Kev about to punch him. He is outmatched. And yet, Kev looks nervous and frightened while Chiron retains composure as he stares down the group. Chiron is knocked down by Kev, but then stands back up. Kev is ordered to knock him down again, and he does. But Chiron gets back up. This is important as it shows that Chiron, despite being bullied and seen as “weak” by his peers due to his physique and the fact that he is gay, is strong. As he said in the Knock Down scene from the “Little” segment, he isn’t soft. He has a strong will. Kev shouts at Chiron to stay down because he doesn’t want to hurt him, but Chiron gets back up. Chiron’s face is up close to the camera, and out of focus. This further creates a sense of unease, as the shots of Chiron are filled with his blurry, stoic face. Kev knocks him down again, and the bully group savagely attack him while Kev backs away. There is no natural sound at this scene’s end, no talking or chatter or anything. The only thing you can hear is a haunting score as Kev looks on while his best friend and love interest is beaten down and is alone. 

Y12 Starter tasks

Monaco Article Response

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What does Monaco mean by the “Spectrum Of Arts”?

In How To Read A Film, Monaco presents a spectrum of arts, each point on the spectrum related to how distant from reality the art feels to the observer.

The first point Monaco presents on the spectrum is performance arts, art which happens in real time. This ranges from being told a story to theatre, and in all instances the observer is aware of the artists, the performers.

The next point on the spectrum is the representational arts. The representational arts is defined by Monaco as art which uses language or images to convey meaning to the observer. This is further up the spectrum from the performing arts, as while the presence of an artist is still present due to the knowledge that the art was written or drawn or sculpted by an artist, the artist themselves is not present.

The final point on the spectrum, so far, is the recording arts. The recording arts are, plainly, recordings of our world, either through picture or video and film. The recording arts are at the top of the spectrum as the presence of the artist can be hard to see. Viewing the recording arts is viewing our world as it is, just on a screen or in a frame.

Joker

JOKER (2019) FIRST RESPONSE

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JOKER (2019, Dir. Todd Phillips) FIRST RESPONSE

Rating: 7/10

Cool cinematography, interesting story and really nice action sequences (also some really really cool kills), and I enjoyed how the plot developed. It also had some really good acting, especially from Joaquin Phoenix, who plays the lead Arthur Fleck. It obviously took a lot of inspiration from the movie Taxi Driver (1976) when it came to pacing and plot. however some parts of the script felt like it was trying too hard to be badass and edgy and I also feel like it demonised mental illness while also criticizing society demonising mental illness, so it wasn’t perfect.

Memorable Scene: The Murder Of Murray Franklin

The lead up to the murder was really tense. Arthur, who had up to this point been socially reserved, was acting super enigmatic upon entering the studio. As he revealed his crimes live on air the tension builds, with Phoenix playing Arthur’s new energetic persona making it even more tense, ending with a loud argument with Franklin, who had been idolised by Arthur throughout the movie. Arthur exposes Franklin for being a cruel, corrupt rich guy, and suddenly shoots him live on air. There is a bit of catharsis when Murray dies as the audiences view of Franklin deteriorates along with Arthur’s, starting from when he mocked the clip of him on air for reasons relating to Arthur’s mental illness. The contrast in this scene is good too, as the recording studio is brightly coloured unlike the grimy streets and apartments that the rest of the movie took place in. Arthur is also dressed colourfully in this scene, in a bright suit and clown makeup, which creates comedy as he tells a dark “joke” and admits to the murders of the upper-class men on the subway. The music too elevates the scene, the slow, beating score building up to the sudden gunshot.