About

Chris Marker was born on 29 July 1921 and passed on 29 July 2012. He was a French writer, photographer, documentary film director, multimedia artist and film essayist. His best known films are La Jetée (1962), A Grin Without a Cat (1977) and Sans Soleil (1983).

Marker became known internationally for the short film La Jetée. It tells of a post-nuclear war experiment in time travel by using a series of filmed photographs developed as a photomontage of varying pace. The film has limited narration and sound effects to ensure that the story is mainly told through the images presented on screen.

While making La Jetée, Marker was making his documentary essay-film ‘Le joli mai’. He began in the spring of 1962, and shot 55 hours of footage interviewing random people on the streets of Paris. The questions, asked ranged from their personal lives, as well as social and political issues of relevance at that time.

La Jetée

In the film, a survivor of a futuristic third World War is obsessed with distant and disconnected memories of a pier at the Orly Airport, the image of a mysterious woman, and a man’s death. Scientists experimenting in time travel choose him for their studies, and the man travels back in time to contact the mysterious woman, and discovers that the man’s death at the Orly Airport was his own. Except for one shot of the woman mentioned above sleeping and suddenly waking up, the film is composed entirely of photographs by Jean Chiabaud and stars Davos Hanich as the man, Hélène Châtelain as the woman and filmmaker William Klein as a man from the future.

What is Still Image Film?

Still image film, also known as slide film or photo film, is a unique medium that captures images on individual frames. Unlike traditional motion picture film, which records moving images, still image film consists of a series of individual photographs. Each frame is a single image, frozen in time. Photographers and artists have used still image film for various purposes, including photography, presentations, and artistic projects. One of the distinct advantages of still image film is its ability to create visually stunning and impactful images. The process of shooting on film, with its rich colors, fine details, and unique tonal range, offers a different aesthetic compared to digital photography. The use of still image film allows photographers to carefully compose their shots, as they have limited frames to work with. Each photograph becomes a deliberate choice, capturing a specific moment or subject. This process encourages photographers to be intentional and thoughtful in their approach, resulting in images that are often more considered and meaningful. Artists have also utilized still image film as a medium for their creative expression. By manipulating and arranging individual frames, they can tell stories, explore themes, and evoke emotions. The sequential nature of the still images can create a sense of narrative and progression, similar to a comic strip or storyboard. When analysing still image films, it’s important to consider the cultural and historical contexts in which they were created. Each photograph reflects the prevailing attitudes, values, and aesthetics of its time. By examining the visual elements, composition, and subject matter, we can gain insights into the cultural and historical influences that shaped representations of masculinity, gender dynamics, and power structures.

Examples

City of Gold (1957)

Very Nice, Very Nice (1961)

La Jetée (1962)

For our film we don’t want to include too much factual history, but instead include archival history produced by previous Jersey Islanders.

We are going to use a letter written from Elina Hellyer, née Teele, to Patricia from her aunt of ‘Rockwood’, Mont Cochon. The letter contains news of the liberation of Jersey, the family and life under the German Occupation. We accessed the letter on the Jersey Heritage website.

Collection Search

The letter is six pages long so we will only use certain parts of the letter that link best to the war and what possibly when on at Elizabeth Castle. In our film we will put writing across the screen, and images of the actual letter in a low opacity over our film. We also might get someone to read the letter out and have it in the background.

History

the castle began being built in 1550, and named after Queen Elizabeth I in 1660 by Sir Walter Raleigh. The construction stared with the Upper Ward, later including Queen Elizabeth Gate installed in 1959. When the English Civil war broke out in 1642, Prince Charles came to Jersey and lived on the castle for 10 weeks to stay safe. After becoming king in 1650, he donated Jersey land in America, which was named New Jersey. In the same year (1651) that a windmill was built in-between Fort Charles and the Lower Ward, the Parliamentarian forces arrived in Jersey and bombarded the castle with mortars.

Elizabeth Castle was at its greatest in 1848, owning 64 cannons. The castle later became the States of Jersey’s property in 1923, when the army sold it to them for £1,500.

In the 18th Century, the Seven Years War took place. French prisoners were kept on the island. On the 6 January 1781, French troops, under Baron Phillipe de Rullecourt, arrived in St Helier. This was the next conflict the castle was involved in. The castle garrison (the soldiers guarding the Castle) was marooned. After the garrison refused to surrender, the French were finally defeated by the troops under Major Francis Peirson at the Battle of Jersey.

During WW2, the German forces added bunkers, searchlights and gun emplacements to Elizabeth castle. This was during the second year of the war in 1940. The castle was then occupied by roughly 100 German soldiers until Liberation day in May, 1945.

The castle is now owned by Jersey Heritage, and is a popular tourist attraction.

Moodboard of Visual Ideas

Story Board

Bibliography

https://www.jerseyheritage.org/media/Schools/life%20in%20the%20castle.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Castle

For our film we don’t want to include too much factual history, but instead include archival history produced by previous Jersey Islanders.

We are going to use a letter written from Elina Hellyer, née Teele, to Patricia from her aunt of ‘Rockwood’, Mont Cochon. The letter contains news of the liberation of Jersey, the family and life under the German Occupation. We accessed the letter on the Jersey Heritage website.

The letter is six pages long so we will only use certain parts of the letter that link best to the war and what possibly when on at Elizabeth Castle. In our film we will put writing across the screen, and images of the actual letter in a low opacity over our film. We also might get someone to read the letter out and have it in the background.

Visual Mood board

Story Board

Chris Marker, (1921-2012) was a French filmmaker, poet, novelist, photographer, editor and multi-media artist who has been challenging moviegoers, philosophers, and himself for years with his complex queries about time, memory, and the rapid advancement of life on this planet. Marker’s La Jetée is one of the most influential, radical science-fiction films ever made, a tale of time travel. What makes the film interesting for the purposes of this discussion, is that while in editing terms it uses the language of cinema to construct its narrative effect, it is composed entirely of still images showing images from the featureless dark of the underground caverns of future Paris, to the intensely detailed views across the ruined city, and the juxtaposition of destroyed buildings with the spire of the Eiffel Tower.

Why was La Jetée (1962) made ?

La Jette mainly explored the themes of memory, time and human existence. raising philosophical questions about the nature of existence and the consequences that come with messing with time. what’s is important to take in about this film is the innovative use of still images and its non-linear narrative structure. this makes a significant contribution to the science fiction genre. Its main narrative is about a man that is sent back and forth, in and out of time in an experiment that attempts to unravel the fate and the solution to the problems of a post-apocalyptic world during the aftermath of WW3.

The full video is below

The castle was built on an island known as The Islet, the first protective measures were installed in the mid-16th century. Construction of the castle began in 1594. The first iteration of the castle was completed in the early 17th century, with further developments made in the following years. It served as a fortress and defensive and was occupied by different forces over the years. Today it is now a popular tourist attraction.

Map of Castle

English civil war

The castle was first used in a military context during the English Civil War in the 17th century. The Prince of Wales visited the castle in 1646 and again, but now as Charles II in September 1649, staying in the Governor’s House, having been proclaimed King by governor Sir George Carteret, despite the abolition of the monarchy in England , in February 1649. In 1651, a windmill was constructed half-way between Fort Charles and the Lower Ward. In the same year, the Parliamentarian forces landed in Jersey and bombarded the castle with mortars. The destruction of the medieval Abbey church in the heart of the castle complex which had been used as the storehouse for ammunition and provisions forced Carteret to surrender on 15 December 1651 after being besieged for seven weeks. Jersey was held by Parliamentarians for the next nine years until the restoration of the monarchy

Battle of Jersey

The battle of Jersey took place January 6th, 1781 due to the Anglo-French war and American Revolution war being unsuccessful to invade the island in order to protect American and French shipping. The island had been occupied by British privateers who would disrupt important shipping for the French, which caused the French governor at the time to interfere.

The French decided to attack with 2,000 French men, but a storm had caused only 1,200 to arrive in jersey. The French surprisingly landed unexpectedly with 800 of them landing at La Roque, due to the fact that the guards deciding to leave their post to go drinking, and the other 400 troops had landed on the rocks where they concluded they where completely lost, and 200 troops landing the next morning (due to the storm). The French managed to invade undetected and captured the governor and made him sign a letter which meant he had to surrender Elizabeth castle. Once they arrived at Elizabeth castle the occupants there, didn’t care that he had signed the surrender because he was a prisoner and decided to open fire on the French.

The battle lasted nearly 15 minutes, and happened at the royal square, with the British winning due to having more utilities and soldiers. After the war the British had captured 600 soldiers including the 200 French that landed the next morning.

After doing some research and gathering facts about the castle, I want to base our film off the architecture of the castle, including things like the walls, archways, the different layers of the castle and so on. This interests me as although it may just look like basic walls and buildings, they have way more history behind them. I think this will make a good film.

Chris Marker, French filmmaker, poet, novelist, photographer, editor and multi-media artist, is the creator of what some view to be the most radical and influential science-fiction films of all time; La Jétte.

“THIS IS THE STORY of a man marked by an image from his childhood”

The film is composed entirely of still images, but through the careful choice of music, sound, voiceover and selection of images, it is still at once cinematic and illuminating in its style of storytelling.

The tale concerns a man who travels in time after the devastation of WW3 and is forced to confront his memories, the most significant of which is the image of a woman’s face – a memory from his childhood that predates the nuclear apocalypse: “the only peacetime image to survive the war.” It is composed of photographs taken with a Pentax Spotmatic, with a few archival ones wired in: bombed-out buildings and ruined cities to stand in for a post-apocalyptic Paris.

Watch the full version (29 mins) of the film here.

Chris Marker, (1921-2012) was a French filmmaker, poet, novelist, photographer, editor and multi-media artist who has been challenging moviegoers, philosophers, and himself for years with his complex queries about time, memory, and the rapid advancement of life on this planet. Marker’s La Jetée is one of the most influential, radical science-fiction films ever made, a tale of time travel. What makes the film interesting for the purposes of this discussion, is that while in editing terms it uses the language of cinema to construct its narrative effect, it is composed entirely of still images showing images from the featureless dark of the underground caverns of future Paris, to the intensely detailed views across the ruined city, and the juxtaposition of destroyed buildings with the spire of the Eiffel Tower. 

What is the point of La Jetee?

From a philosophical point of view, La Jetee is an existentialist tale of doomed existence, inevitability, and predetermined death. And what better way to express this idea than by using lifeless photographs to tell the story of a life that is only perceived as such?

Focus and Depth of Field

 The focus is used to direct and prioritise elements in a shot and therefore prioritise certain information. For example, it will determine who the audience should look at (even if we are not listening to them). It may switch our focus (known technically as a pull focus / rack focus / follow focus) between one element and another. Elements may not be people, but could be objects, spaces, shapes or colours, which may represent an idea, theme, belief.

Shot sizes, angles and movements

• High angle / Low angle / bulls-eye / birds eye / canted angle
• Tracking / Panning / Craning / Tilting / Hand held / Steadicam
• Establishing Shot / Long Shot / Medium Shot / Close-up / Big Close-Up / Extreme Close Up 
• Insert Shot

Continuity editing

Continuity editing can be seen as the opposite of montage editing as the main aim is to create a sense of realism or ‘believability’ known as verisimilitude and has it’s own structure of rules where shots are edited together at particular times or on particular shots. For example:

• match on action
• eye-line match
• graphic match
• sound bridge
• 30′ rule
• 180′ rule

Mise en scene

Mise en scene plays a huge role in communicating the tone of a story – but what is mise en scene? In classical terms, mise en scene is the arrangement of scenery and stage properties in a play or film. Today, mise en scene is regarded as all of the elements that go into any single shot of a production.

Sound

Moving image depends on sound for much of its’ meaning. It is impossible to overstate how important a role audio plays in the film viewing experience. While it’s perfectly natural to be drawn to the visual side of film making, those striking visuals don’t hold the same weight without strong cinematic sound design to back them up. Whereas a painting is purely visual and a song can be purely aural, cinema combines sight and sound for a unified experience where one bolsters and elevates the other. 

What is sound design?

Sound design is how filmmakers flesh out the aural world of a film to enhance the mood, atmosphere, and/or tone. Sound design components include sound effects or SFX sound design, mixing, Foley sound design, dialogue, and music. Sound design is the final and most important element needed to create an immersive experience for the audience.

Elizabeth castle was in construction during the 16th century during the same time the cannon was introduced as an affective form of defence especially for jersey. It was built in order to protect the shores of the island and especially the harbours. The castle was names “Elizabeth Castle” because of the Elizabeth being the queen at the time.

Battle of Jersey

The battle of Jersey took place January 6th, 1781 due to the Anglo-French war and American Revolution war being unsuccessful to invade the island in order to protect American and French shipping. The island had been occupied by British privateers who would disrupt important shipping for the French, which caused the French governor at the time to interfere.

The French decided to attack with 2,000 French men, but a storm had caused only 1,200 to arrive in jersey. The French surprisingly landed unexpectedly with 800 of them landing at La Roque, due to the fact that the guards deciding to leave their post to go drinking, and the other 400 troops had landed on the rocks where they concluded they where completely lost, and 200 troops landing the next morning (due to the storm). The French managed to invade undetected and captured the governor and made him sign a letter which meant he had to surrender Elizabeth castle. Once they arrived at Elizabeth castle the occupants there, didn’t care that he had signed the surrender because he was a prisoner and decided to open fire on the French.

The battle lasted nearly 15 minutes, and happened at the royal square, with the British winning due to having more utilities and soldiers. After the war the British had captured 600 soldiers including the 200 French that landed the next morning.

Film Idea (documentary)

We are going to use the battle of jersey in our own film and create a documentary on what had happened and the events leading up to the event and even what had happened. We are going to include different sounds that we will record whilst we are there. and Include context on the painting of “the death of major Pierson”.