Strike (Eisenstein, 1925) Opening Sequence

AL Film Studies. Component 2: Section C: Film Movements (Silent Film). Realist vs Expressive Debate. ‘Strike’ (Eisenstein 1925) Opening 1’06- 3’41 / Police on horseback 42:15- 46’00 / End- The Carnage 1.29’30- 1.33’50

Questions, select one for 20 marks:

1. How do the aesthetics of the film you have studied reflect the production context of the film?
2. Why might expressive tendencies have emerged within the silent film period?
3. Discuss how either age, gender or ethnicity is represented in the film you have studied.
4. Explore how film form devices are used to convey messages in the film you have studied

2. planning

• expressive tendencies may have emerged for the cause of using an art form to promote propaganda, as well as drawing in the audience through editing techniques , particularly soviet montage
• rather than valuing entertainment it uses expressionism to make a point and give off an intended message
• uses plotless cinema – no individual specific characters or character development, uses lenins quote to promote propaganda and reinforces this through the lack of protagonist and instead a mass collective of individuals
• different editing techniques used like :
  • kuleshov effect
  • montage
  • manipulation of time – reversing shots and speeding them up
  • action reaction shots
• a range of experimental camera angles – high angle, low level shots, a reflective shot in a puddle which then reverses the time
• eisenstein uses these techniques in order to affect the viewer with emotions and feelings, as well as shock. He combines all of these expressive tendencies to make the audience leave with psychological influence.
• the continuous use of circular imagery through the wheels and clocks in the factory play a part in expressive tendencies as they are ahead of Eisensteins time. He uses the wheels to portray how the narrative is circular, the cycle of how Russian society will have multiple revolutions due to the workers being treated unfairly. The wheel is the motif of revolutionary progress
• The wheels are also representative of the mechanics of filmmaking, imitating a roll of film, Einsenstein as the ‘engineer’ of the film, as making a film in 1925 would have been a lot of work and very mechanical.

Silent Cinema powerpoints

https://worthingcollege105-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/r/personal/w00021105_stu_worthing_ac_uk/Documents/Microsoft%20Teams%20Chat%20Files/German%20Expressionism%20cinema.pptx?d=w150476aa3bd1451fafd5480150d5128f&csf=1&web=1

https://worthingcollege105-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/r/personal/w00021344_stu_worthing_ac_uk/Documents/Microsoft%20Teams%20Chat%20Files/French%20Impressionism%20cinema.pptx?d=wf0570cbba4fe47f5b5a6b8a052ff639f&csf=1&web=1

https://worthingcollege105-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/r/personal/w00021083_stu_worthing_ac_uk/Documents/Microsoft%20Teams%20Chat%20Files/Classical%20Hollywood%20cinema%20(1).pptx?d=w85d2bc41de5c4fbabbdd239687d3489d&csf=1&web=1

ISP Week 19

SERGEI EISENSTEIN (1898-1948)

• A soviet filmmaker who originated from Latvia and carried out most of his life and career in Russia.
• He was a student in the school of Civil Engineering from 1916, as well as furthering his studies in the plastic arts in a school of Fine Arts
• In 1917, the Russian Revolution began and Eisenstein enrolled in the Red Army- where he assisted in defences and in creating entertainment for the army troops.
• At the beginning of the 1920s, he moved to Moscow, which lead to him beginning to write screenplays in 1923, through to 1925 when he released ‘Strike’, his first film and his most well known film.
• Battleship Potemkin and october are among his first silent films.
• He travelled around the world, particularly in Europe, learning more about film and sound motion picture, and ended up in the USA in 1930 to produce films for Paramount.
• He taught Soviet montages and montage of attratctions, where pictures are shown to create an impact on the audience.

ISP Week 15

Notes on scriptwriting videos

VIDEO 1:

• Having an idea, developing the idea and creating the basic plot structure is the way to start
• Ideas can come from lightbulb moments, a question, opinion, debate, hypothesis
• Have discussions with yourself in you head about ideas
• 4 pillars of story telling : people, places, purpose and plot
• developing character is important – protagonist, antagonist, love interest
• Dan Harmons story circle

1. You. Protagonist introduction in a comforting, normal situation
2. Need. What this person needs kickstarts the story
3. GO. Entering a situation, story starts
4. Search. Adapt to the situation
5. Find. Get what they want
6. Return. Returning to the comforting world
7. Change. Back to normal but something is differernt now.

• This can easily be adapted, simplified or made more complicated to get a unique story.

Video 2

Tips from Aaron Sorkin

• Rules. 2000 years ago Aristotle. The rules of drama should be learnt
• Learn from other people, other script writers, but stick to your own ideas, genre and voice. Influenced work is good
• Be an audience member too and watch other films. Figure out why you like or dislike a film and learn how you would write it from that, knowing what you like and dislike
• Show what the character wants instead of who they are. Intention and obstacle of the character
• Speak script out loud as you write it to make sure it sounds natural and speakable
• Know that it takes time to learn and will be difficult at first
• For the dialogue to sound like they know what theyre saying not babbling on
• Avoid cliche storylines and have a unique approach. Research ideas you want and work out what you dont want
• Have your own quirks and motivations that get you into the mindset of writing. Music, car drives, showering, somewhere new for different perspectives
• Have a good story of what got you into writing

VIDEO 3

Tips from Quentin Tarantino

• Have your own writing processes that give you motivation to write, something that makes you feel happy
• Dont confuse the audience, loses the viewers and just makes them want to give up trying to understand. Keep them hooked and only confused momentarily
• Rewrite other scenes and fill in the blanks from memory, fresh ideas and ones that work better
• Take old stories and reinvent them, put your own ideas into old ideas
• Take morality out of the question, makes characters more interesting and their lives more gripping. Unique ideas
• Write the movie you want to see yourself to keep yourself interested
• Do subtext work
• Give characters choices
• Write extensive character backgrounds, get the best, deep characters so you can write them correctly
• Love what you do

VIDEO 4

Tips on how to format a screenplay

• Screenplays all look the same because they used to be written in that font and size on type writers in the 30s, they are kept this way so they are easily recognisable and stay professional
• Using writing software such as studiobinder, writer duet, to help you with the rules
• Slugline is the first thing, establishes a new scene and the setting
• EXT or INT – outside or inside
• More action than dialogue- shows what characters are doing and provides indepth detail. Also further describes the slugline
• Whenever a character is introduced it should be in caps
• Centralised dialogue and character names in caps
• ‘cut to’ and ‘back to’ when changing place frequently, put in the right hand side in caps.
• New slugline per scene
• If referring to a camera shot or a sound in the action, should be in capital letters.

Component 3

Which screenplay and DSB did you enjoy the most and why?

i liked the first one (compos mentis) as it built tension and enigma and used montages to show chaos reflecting jonahs mind vs how he wanted to be I thought it made it really interesting, I also liked the first ones storyboard it had a range of shots from low angles and stuff

id you see anything that has inspired ideas for your own coursework?

To use enigma and montage

What genre would be best to replicate in coursework and which will ones will you use?

Horror/thriller is a good genre to use as it easy to build tension and keep audience gripped, plus it would be easy to recreate shots for a storyboard using lighting.

A coming of age genre is also good as you can show character delevopment and have a target audience to relate to.

What are typical conventions of this genre ?

– suspense – definitely used in thrillers for building tension leading up to a scary climax/moment/ realisation

– creating fear for the audience

– enigma and leaving things out to leave the viewers with questions or to use their imaginations

– mystery

– violence and dark imagery

Settings – usually isolated or abandoned places – places which might have a scary history. Dark places like forests that are typically scary at night

Characters – a protagonist/ protagonists often a group of people. an antagonist who creates issues

Narrative – often starts simple but the tension rises and often ends in a cliffhanger – often have sequels as a never ending story

Props – weapons or blood are often symbols of horror movies and often show up on the covers

Aesthetics – weird camera angles, more expressive. Close up shots and POV shots to align with characters experiencing what they do. Close sonic perspective. Dim, lowkey lit settings. Cold eerie blue and dark colour palette

FILMS WITH :

A narrative tiwst – shutter island – begins with the character with a motivation to find a criminal in an insane institution, and the twist comes up when we are shown that the main character is actually a patient in the institution and his accomplice is his doctor.

an enigma – Donnie darko – the enigma is established when Donnie meets Frank and it is not explained who or why he is there and is left for the audiece to figure out. The countdown that is coming towards Donnie is also an enigma as we do not know what will happen and it is confusing

establishes and develops a single charater – into the wild – follows the main character (a true story) on his embark to Alaska and we see his struggles and the emotions that he faces. He begins unhappy and angry towards hisfamily and wants to find the meaning of his life, and at the end when he ends up not surviving, he says he is happy suggesting his character development lead to this.

Donnie Darko opening sequence

Characters – we are first introduced to Donnie laying on the ground after fallen off his bike – this could foreshadow his death or implicate that this is the moment things began to change for him mentally. There is no dialogue just ethereal music as he stares at the sky again suggesting his death/going to heaven. We see other characters being is family at home, all shiwn in slow motion doing odd things – blowing a leaf blower at a woman and juming on a trampoline whilst Donnie does a mundane thing – riding his bike suggesting there isnt a connection between them.

What key themes/ Genre codes are introduced? Enigma, we are unsure of why Donnie is on the ground or how the music fits. Coming of age theme, riding bike through a neighbourhood seems like a common coming of age scene. Dark lighting, slow pace – horror / thriller

Film forms – lowkey lighting despite it being daytime suggests it may be a dark film, the flash of light in the sky being linked to heaven as heavenly/ethereal music plays – foreshadowing donnies death. The song that plays, The killing moon, turns from non diegetic into diegetic, as Donnie goes into his house suggestig its playing on the radio and therefore stablishing the year the film is set by what song is popular at the time – 80s?

Short films

The Grandmother (1970, David Lynch)

Cinematography

– lowkey lighting and shadows

– close up shots on the people

– handheld shaky, zoom in shots add to the chaos

Mise en Scene

– Dark rooms with a bed in the middle or an object

– the people have pale skin and red lips, almost supernaturaland like a vampire and from the clothes and house objects it seems set before the time it was made

Narrative

– use of enigma and lack of speech and sound, leaves the viewer to interpret in their own way

– theme of nature, naturistic visuals and sounds

Sound

– eeriness created through noises, high-pitched noises and strange screaming and no speech

– when the parents speak it doesn’t sound human, suggesting the disconnect the boy feels to them

– static whistling noises during chaotic scenes

– the grandmother and boy whistle as communication, almost like a baby bird and a mother

Editing

– jump cuts creating a sense of chaos

– fade outs of scenes

– shots sped up to create chaos

Themes

Family, nature, child abuse

What are the characters like? Do we like or dislike them?

The boy seems innocent and we seem him grow up in an abusive household where him and his parents don’t understand eachother. We sympathise with him and dislike his parents as they appear scary and aggressive by shouting at the boy and jeering at him. When the grandmother comes we like her as she immediately connects with the boy as we see them both come from nature, and he grows her himself. None of the characters seem human and are maybe supernatural as they look pale and make weird noises, as well as come from the ground.

High Maintenance

Cinematography

– close up shots of them at the table as the conversation becomes heated

– over the shoulder shots aligning with the characters

– close ups of the switch on the neck

– high key lighting except for in the office when she is on the phone, suggesting dark intentions

Mise en scene

– appear like normal people but are packaged up and wheeled away like furniture and have on/off switches

– dining room table creates distance between the man and woman

Sound

– close sonic perspective of eating and drinking – uncomfortable for viewer

– static noise at tense moments when the button on the neck is shown

– slow high pitched music plays in the background

– knocking is loud and intrusive

– at the end close sonic perspective of the woman breathing, becomes more tense

Narrative

– woman replaces her husband, starts off as a womans world- the person on the phone is a woman and the delivery people are women when typically and stereotypically that would be men, but this has a plot twist when she also turns out to be a robot.

– man referred to as ‘series’ and able to design an ideal man, a dystopian world

Themes

– dystopia, control, robots

When the day breaks

Cinematography

– pictures shown like flicking through film

– slow motion (ambulance driving away) and fast paced contrast (pig running home)

– see POV of pig in the shop, and in her kitchen. shaky vision shows the anxiety she felt

Mise en scene

– lemons on the ground shows us the chicken is the one to get killed

– all animal characters, wear human clothing and walk like humans yet don’t speak other than through song

Sound

– music in line with how the pig feels, begins happy and upbeat and ends up being classical sad music. and no music when it is tense

– ambulance sirens and car screeching shows theres been an accident offscreen

– close sonic perspective of eating and fast-paced breathing

Editing

– animated/ illustrated stop motion

– montage of pictures of chickens heritage, showing his life and what the pig is thinking about/feeling guilty for

Narrative

– ‘when life gives you lemons’ or ‘the chicken that crossed the road’

AMY sequences

Film: Amy (Kapadia, 2015)         Sequence: opening sequence

Cinematography: – Archive footage- establishes digital technology – grainy and low quality, a personal documentary. – Whip pan camera showing the camera person, informal – Close-ups making the relationship with Amy intimate – Zoom crash – unprofessional camera man – Focus automatically used – digital technology debate, everyone can use a digital camera
Mise en scene: – Amy remains in north London from the start to later on – Unprofessional camera men, zooming, handheld camera, close-ups – Starts to wear more makeup, becoming Amy Winehouse and also becoming more insecure – First person we see is friend Juliet, showing that Amy wasn’t always the star and had all the attention, and that she valued her friends – Lens flare indication of star persona- paparazzi foreshadowing	Performance: – Amy singing candidly, as a Jazz singer like a performance to the camera. Not a natural reflection of her but of her as a performer. – National youth jazz orchestra – showing a conventional Amy Winehouse – ‘what year is it’ ‘lunchtime’ capturing her personality – On stage self-conscious – the way she looks away and around on stage, not confident with eye contact, touches her nose – foreshadowing drug taking later on -Humorous nature
Editing: – Titles on top of the footage to establish time and place – Zoom on still images gives it movement – Style of title ‘AMY’ 1960s style when jazz was very popular – See the title form and being created, and then slowly deteriorates foreshadowing – Slow motion to capture everything D	Sound: -Jazz Piano keys at the beginning – establishes music genre building towards the opening shot Amy voiceover from an interview – Songs that influenced her Disconnected use of footage and audio

Film: Amy (Kapadia, 2015)         Sequence: blake and rehab

Cinematography:   – camera lingers on her body, what the media wanted people to notice and see. Sexualising her – spied on by paparazzi, not home footage or archive footage, but strangers spying on them. An extension of viewers, their job is for audiences. The lone voyeur – long takes and still images forces us to look at her and frames us as the judgemental viewer, as everyone was at the time – helicopter shot showing footage of rehab
Mise en scene:   – overwhelming lights like an attack from camera paparazzi	Performance:  – Comparison to blake and amy in their childhood traumas
Editing:   – establishing titles of places and dates – friend talking to the manager about Amy’s safety and cuts to the manager shifting responsibility to her family/Mitch	Sound: – voicover, blake talks about how he cut at a young age similar to Amys trauma – lyrics link to what is happening on screen ____________________________________

END SEQUENCE 1 (Serbia concert)

Cinematography

Sound

• the piano keys from the beginning playing at the end,

Cinematography:   – shots from the concert that reflect how people thought it was the end, she gave up caring – establishing helicopter shot, gives us sense of scale of the crowd and also distances us from Amy as opposed to previously when shots would be closeup – footage from people in the crowd – handheld, non professional, chaotic and seeing from different perspectives. makes the crowds complicit in contributing to Amys downfall – helicopter and plane shot and the drone shot of her home and then the concert, shows how she got taken away against her will
Mise en scene:   – says where the concert happens, ‘fortress’ negative connotations – surrounded by houses and people, feeling trapped – grainy footage style from audiences position, gives us sense of reality and enforces the documentary genre – red light colours- warning/danger, demonic element; foreshadowing what happens to her – subtitles from the crowd purposely kept in – telling her to sing and dehumanising her – (digital technology debate) camera phones being used to tell a story, people have got technology so everything is instantaneous. new iphones just coming out. digital technology impacted Amy	Performance:   – disorientation – goes towards the band to get help and clearly not wanting to perform – sits down on stage, body is tired, taking a stand against her management, refusal to do what she is told. exploiting her for money still pushing her into it. – acting like she doesnt care about anything – body language on stage, confident and doesnt care when getting booed at, opposite to in opening sequences when she was nervous and very insecure.
Editing:   – slow motion shows Amy’s discomfort, her slowing down her career and also her body slowing down – photo editing – blurred image ‘she didnt want to do it’ Kim Longinotto female subject socio political and cultural contexts – may be interested in social issue of drinking, exploitation of Amy the victimization of a female	Sound:   – plane noise shows she is going abroad, then fades into the crowds at her concer (disorientating for Amy) – booing and shouting at her – ‘it felt like the end’ – non diegetic paparazzi sounds, she is always being watched and no privacy – ‘she just wasn’t singing’ – ‘if she doesn’t sing i want my money back’- makes the crowd also bad as she is not stable to perform. care more about money just like Mitch. – ‘she totally blew it’ tv footage MichaeL Moore tv footage reflection – to show elements of other peoples opinions and the negative light that the media shows)

ENDING SEQUENCE – Funeral

Cinematography:   – professional footage of the Jazz singer – paparazzi footage of her body and of the funeral. personal moments made public. lack of respect for her friends and family – camera used in an intrusive manner. we are aligned with the press. – distant at funeral , – desaturated footage, more grey, connotates sadness and isolation, lack of positive emotion – long shot of people crying, lingers on the main people in Amy’s life. – jumps to removed footage, to closeups of Amy
Mise en scene:   – ‘she was sleeping’ innocence, peaceful – picture of her as a child with her friends- shows her innocence – ‘4:05pm’ specific death time, wants audience to remember where they were when she died – uses last pictures of Amy that were taken before she died when speaking to Jules about talking tomorrow, foreshadowing	Performance:   – see the innocence of Amy, no makeup, sleeping, intimate but not exploitive. see her smiling. – shows raw, pure footage of her, happy and shows her as the person she was before she went downhill to show who people contributed to her death.
Editing:   – showing video of her and it pauses at the end to capture the moment – cross fades – amy fading away and showing the distance – fades a young pic of her and friends into an older one – showing how they grew up	Sound: – excited about the wedding ready to get back to normality, cares more about the personal things rather than career. died day before wedding, irony, one day away from normality – traditional phone sound effect rather than mobile, suggesting she wanted to go back to old days when she wasn’t famous – ‘my Amy’ she is going back to being normal, duplicates Amy as if there are multiple versions of her – emotive language contrasts the film in terms of early moments in the film- ‘lucky to be a musician’ now ‘wish i could walk down that street again with no hassle’ change of perception of fame – piano keys the same as at the beginning of the documentary. shows this film has been leading up to this point; the end – sad music to provoke emotion rather than voiceovers – ‘Valerie’ most famous song not played until the end

Michael Moore – guided experience, leads you through emotions and what youre supposed to feel with emotive music. Kim Longinotto – female main subject with a tragedy. felt uncomfortable filming sad things after a death, yet did it anyway. could link to how kapadia used the funeral footage

Digital debate – digital technology has a negative effect on Amy, see her happiness and healthiness before she was controlled by the media at the end, blaming it for her downfall.

The way technology has an effect on perception, in the 60s celebrities wouldnt have been crowded, she wanted to be a chill jazz singer and ended up not even being able to walk down the street

Identity being taken away from Amy (a fan dressed like her), negative or positive, impact on her fans and the public visually, could be negative if her drug taking had an influence on young people.

When you included footage of the funeral, was it anti-press?

Documentary Film

AMY and Bowling for Columbine

Component 2; Section B Documentary film

30 min question – 20 marks. Might ask you to refer to filmmaker theories or impact of digital technology. Choice of two questions.

Asif Kapadia – Director

• “Something happened with Amy, i wanted to know how that happened right in front of our eyes. How can someone die like that in this day and age? And it wasnt a shock; i almost knew it was going to happen.”
• “Its a very complicated and tender movie. It tackles family, media, fame, addiction, and importantly captures the heart of what she was about and the true musical genius”

Product context

• British documentary, co produced by Film 4 with Universal Musical
• Low production value but commercial success- £20m
• Asif Kapadia is documentary auteur – Senna, Diego Maradona
• Distributed by indie companies – A24 & Altitude

Amy Winehouse’s relationship with the Media

Her addictions and struggles with bulimia were almost ridiculed by the media, they used her issues and personal problems as a way to gain money and using her as clickbait.

2007 INDEPENDENT news paper, compares her to pete doherty and how she has stolen the crown of being a messed up user as if it is a competition the public can watch or bet on. using her eating disorders as a story comparing her body from 2005 to 2007, saying she looks better before, sexualising her.

Searching up stories about Amy winehouse from 2006 onwards they are all negative titles, ‘Amy arrested’

stories about her doing things in her home, intruding her privacy

“‘Rehab’ made Amy a star.” That’s kind of a perversely ironic line, don’t you think? What that song is about — Amy’s very personal struggle with addiction and with drugs — is what the media latched onto, even more so than her music.“

Asip Kapadias Style

Kapidias films are defined by an innovative style called ‘true fiction’ where the documentary is constructed almost entirely from archive footage (in the case of Amy, most of the footage in archive) and the story is told without any guiding voiceover, an untraditional break with convention in the documentary format.

Kapadia rose to fame as the director of Senna- another study of a talented but tragic figure, the racing driver Ayrton Senna and recently Maradona.

As a spectator, Kapadia’s style works because it looks at famous people who the public may have grown up hearing about their troubled lives and to have a different and more intimate insight into these characters lives, and although the bias is not overbearing, there is an emotional side which would make viewers feel sad and a sense of realism, reminders that she was a real person and not just what the media made of her. Maradona having died recently gives the documentary on him more impact, a way to remember him not just for his troubled life but for his success and personal reasons too.

• this style of documentary works because it mirros the msanner in which we live our lives in the modern world – for many of us, social media has become an extension of what we know as reality, we use stories and live recordings such as facetime to connect to friends and family.
• these stories mirror the aesthetic of Amy because the footage in the documentary is also shot and composed on mobile devices, this style connects viewers to the film
• the content is compelling and although the story of addiction has been told before, its a story being told in a new virtual social media type of way.
• more engaging to contemporary audiences mirrors how we look at social media.

Techniques used by Kapadia

• Stock footage (news sources/interviews)
• unseen footage captured on video by people close to her – mobile phone footage
• still images allowing spectators to use their imagination on the feelings and lets them to think about the situation
• lack of authorial voiceover is also important in encouraging the spectator to be guided more by the juxtaposition of images and sound rather than a direct point of view
• the selection of voices to support images and footage are carefully chosen, interviewers are not seen speaking directly to camera – unless in Amy Winehouses case as part of stock footage
• montage effect of editing – piecing together a narrative based on a variety of materials
• the use of real footage to provide expositional informatiuon about settings in most cases, London, taking the form of an ariel swooping shot
• the use of captions is used in the form of lyrics from Amy Winehouse’s songs- incidental music used in particular sequences that correspond with the footage of her life and subject matter.

Michael Moore

• An American filmmaker, author and political activist, known for his documentary series addressing political issues
• started a radical newspaper, the flint voice, and was involved with other left wing magazines
• very visible presence in documentaries, can be described as participatory and performative
• highly committed work, taking up a clear point of view which is left wing and ‘agit-pop’ documentary style- a political propaganda for left
• he justifies his practise in providing balance for mainstream media in his view that provides false information
• part of Moore’s approach is to use humour and lampoon the subject of his work and sometimes to recognise that documentaries need to entertain and hold an audience

Career and Style

• Use of comedy and dark satire used to attack the institutions that he targeted. Central to the films in seeing him interviewing people and his everyman persona encourages a range of responses
• underscored by physical appearance, he wears casual clothes, a baseball cap and is overweight. This laidback persona hides a sharp and incisive line of questioning which he uses to good affect
• work can be seen as subjective, the way comedy is employed whether by using clever expositional devices or by moores interviews themselves
• focus on a particular genre, e.g, guns control, invasion of Iraq, american health care system.
• a voice for the American left wing, some of his films have been successes in global box offices

film form in Bowling for Columbine

• the use of archive and found footage
• close ups and midshots of people talking
• action reaction shots for conversations
• editing used to orchestrate a certain message and response for the audience. the intention is to make fun of gun lovers and supporters
• questions used to orchestrate a certain message and responses from and to the audience. intentiion to make fun of gun lovers and supporters
• the director is on screen, in terms of his performance, he handles guns which are the topic of the documentary

PART 2 (01/12/20)

Michael Moore and Amy similarities

• filmmakers use film form to manipulate how the spectator feels and thinks – e.g voiceover, lens flare, archive footage specifically chosen. Also known as guided viewing experience. Example – long shot of Amy in a revealing outfit whilst the voiceover talks about her provocative behaviour. Links to Moore’s style through the way they both tug on heart strings.

Kim Longinotto

• Makes films that highlight female oppression, particularly the victims and women who have suffered.
• British documentary maker, had a hard upbringing and ended up going to Essex University and the National film school
• Observational filmmaker – uses techniques such as advanced planning, scripting, staging, narration, lighting, reenactment and interviewing.
• giving people control over their own stories, she observes and documents their lives.
• she favours long takes and tries to capture the extraordinary in the lives of the subjects that she observes
• uniquely personal stories, focusing on outsiders
• shot calmly and unobtrusively, being sensitive due to the victims being the focus. often a strong female victim
• worked in a number of different countries around the world, iran, italy, cameroon, japan, and the US.
• It could be argued that her perspective on the range of different cultures she encounters in her films gives a real sense of herself as an outsider filmmaker

Shooting the Mafia

• archive footage from the past relating to the mafia and people in the documentary now
• emotional music and pictures encouraging an emotional response from spectators
• interviews of the people involved

How can we compare Kim Longinotto’s style and the film Amy?

• All about the subject, directors arent mentioned or present
• Both look at social issues
• Longinotto uses subjects you are able to identify with – sympathetic and arguably ‘victim’ characters like Amy Winehouse
• Longinotto films highlight female victims of oppression, female central protagonists- Amy is similar to this
• No traditional narrative voiceover reinforces fictional film tradition

Conventional Documentary genres

• Hand held camera realism and truth
• Narrative voiceover preferred reading (the reading the filmmaker wants you to take) – Hall
• Intercutting with archive footage – non-linear. Investigate narrative building a picture. Vox pops (voice of the people) and interviews, use of conflict
• POV mediation, and subjectivity- exploration of themes and issues
• Informing, educating and entertaining the audience – voyuerism

AMY – Several narrative levels – innovative approach requiring a montage-like editing approach

• stock archive footage
• unseen footage released by friends and family
• use of still image (juxtaposition important with a lack of traditional narrative voiceover)
• captioned present day indirect interviews
• footage of aerial shots (London location) significant to the characters story

Narrative

• Based on archive footage and 100 edited interviews
• linear with flashback as narrative journey- use of home footage – teenage wannabe to pop star to drug taker to music icon
• spectator interaction with Amy- positioned using emotive representations e.g Mitch (her father) and his 7yr affair, walking out on mother when Amy was 9 years old
• no narrative voice over (challenging documentary convention) use of captions position the spectator
• use of still images with stock new footage, unseen and interviews create a montage effect

Critical Debates

objectivity – no personal views or emotional emphasis

non fiction – truth regarding information, an event or person

construction – falsely created

truth – something presented accuratelty to the way

reality

cinematic

from most to least important in documentary films:

truth, reality, cinematic, non fiction objectivity construction

Bill Nichols

A leading American film academic who wrote a seminal text on documentary form, introduction to documentary (indiana university press)

Six modes of Documentary

• Nichols identified what he termed as six modes of documentary. These were distinct cinematic modes which utilise a range of different filmic techniques. These modes help define the shape and feel of a documentary film.

1. Poetic – arranges footage in an order to evoke response through tone, rhythm or juxtapostion. Use associative editing to create a mood or tone avoiding explicit argument about a subject
2. Expository – has a specific argument or viewpoint, speaks directly to the viewer with a voiceover and leads you through the film with rhetorical questions. Often television documentary
3. Reflexive – calls attention to the conventions of documentary filmmaking in terms of direct acknowledgement of the filmmaking process. Film with self awareness, film about making a film showing a film being made with cameras, mics. Man with a movie camera.
4. Observational the camera looks on as the participants in the film go on with their lives, as if the camera isnt present. Filmmaker steps back from material and doesnt have much of a presence, a neutral stance. Uninterrupted handheld e.g direct cinema/ cinema verite
5. Performative – emphasizes the expressive quality of the filmmakers engagement with the subject of the film and addresses the audience in a vivid way. This is where the filmmaker is not aloof from subject matter but who actively engages with the material, where they are seen as a participant.
6. Participatory – the filmmaker interacts with the participants in the film, relationship between filmmaker and person being filmed becomes more direct and complex. They directly participate in shaping what happens on camera, often through interviews.

https://nofilmschool.com/2015/09/nichols-6-modes-documentary-can-help-expand-your-storytelling

What applies to Amy?

• Observational
• Poetic
• Reflexive

Asif Kapadia on Preferred readings

• grew up around Camden, links to London and knew her music well. ‘Just someone up the road’
• Wasnt shocked when she died, wanted to find out why it ended and why no one stopped it happening. Unravelling who she was, what inspired her, how did she get into drugs and what happened. Going back from the ending to figure it out.
• had enough questions to answer to make the film.
• He stood out to her, vintage clothing yet an ordinary girl in London who struggled from a young age
• Saw her as taking her bad situations into positive things through writing songs,she was under control with her negative thoughts til she got more famous and it became out of her control.
• Thinks Blake is to blame for the drugs and the fact no one thought she needed help.
• Kapadia shows how the songs she wrote related to her time, and how personal and how obvious it was that she was struggling. Her songs tell a story about herself.
• He didnt know the story well before making the documentary, not going in with a agenda, filmmaking more subjective and observational.
• Nick had a key influence on the filmmaking and helped them to research, he spoke about his experience and said to speak to more people, like a snowball effect. All the people in Amy’s life had a contribution
• structure of her story in chapters
• everything that happened and everything that she dealt with played a part in her downfall
• Film is about Amy and what was best for her, not about anyone else; ‘some people found it difficult that it was just about her’ reference to Mitch who tried to have control and how he negatively contributed to her life. He tried to sell his life story through Amy.
• every song is like a chapter of her life, as if she knew from a young age what would happen to her and we didnt pay enough attention.
• believes it could have been stopped but people used her for money, as well as journalists and media and the audiences who contributed to her demise
• reflective – make it feel cinematic and as if youre in there. the footage is of Amy singing and talking into a camera, Blake with a camera, paparazzi with a camera. the camera goes from being her friend to an enemy, negative gaze of the camera. ]
• Amy wasnt interested in fame and money, she had her door open to everyone.
• music comes from tension and drama, her songs are so good because she felt emotions and was dark

Critical Debate: Digital technology

• the degree of the impact that digital has had on film since the 1990s is a developing debate. Some film commentators argue that although digital technology could potentially transform cinema, so far films, especially narrative films designed for cinema release have changed very little from pre-digital times. Others consider that the impact of digital filmmaking is only beginning to emerge, both in high concept hollywood filmmaking and in much lower budget experimental work
• Amy is a film which uses digital technology to tell its story.

Are smart phones valid for shooting important footage?

IN FAVOUR

• We are all now potential filmmakers which gives us access to the medium
• This may have been denied in the past because of cost or lack of technical ability
• This type of filmmaking can capture our reality
• We can document parts of our lives especially key events
• These films can reflect how we were feeling at a particular time
• There is the potential to use the internet as a means of distrubution
• Equally aesthetic decisions can be made on how the films look and how they are subsequently recieved

AGAINST

• Whatever happened to the use of our memories- shouldnt this be enough to document our own reality
• Does the filming of what we determine as our key events be possibly seen as self obsessed and narcisstic
• What viewpoint of reality is this point of view actually giving
• Can this sort of filming ever be truly objective
• Who is going to want to see what we have filmed
• Without technical manipulation (such as editing) can these films ever create a coherent narrative
• Is digital technology too easily disposable to last? What is the ultimate value artistically

Film Vs Digital

Does this really matter to audiences?

If it does what have they gained or lost as a result of this revolution in film industry?

film more organic, dominant medium, makes a film feel more unique

digital crisp, sharp, artificial, is cheaper by a lot , more widely available

Amy and Digital Technology

• Documentary has always responded to the possibilities afforded by new technologies. the growth over the years of more portable cameras and sound equipment have added to the way that documentaries can show real innovation when reporting on their subject matter
• In Kapadias film there is very little original footage shot, only consisting of establishing shots of London from birdseye view with a drone or helicopter. These are done digitally, offering a counterpoint to the rest of the film which is archive footage
• Amy is the work of a number of filmmakers and kapadias skill as a filmmaker is really seen in the editing room. Got archive footage from media sources and friends and family Amy, placing the two together.
• The combination of analouge and early digital recordings of Amy from her friends and family do offer a revealing perspective on her childhood and early life and the start of her career
• Interesting debates developed on the more controversial aspects of her life- bulimia, addictions, relationships.
• We only hear interviews and never see them, Kapadia would have spoken to these people and recorded their thoughts and use them to play with videos and images
• The manipulation and montage effect of using the footage alongside interviews give the film power and emotion

Meaning and responses/ Critical debates

• Documentary subjectivity – negative, mediated representation of Mitch (gave permission but objected the film)
• Kapadia denies agenda, “there is nothing there that isnt in her lyrics”
• Other criticism – spectator voyeurism (‘another icon who died young’ – fascination with troubled celebritism
• Interviews suggest early patriarchal control by Mitch- Amy seeking approval from him (Rehab lyrics)
• Selection of interviews and narrative construction crucial to production of meaning e.g Mitch turning up in Jamaica with a film crew.
• Encourages you to have an opinion

ISP Week 8- ‘How is mise-en-scene used to create meaning in the Pale Man sequence of Pan’s Labyrinth?’

10 marker re-cap

In the film ‘Pan’s labyrinth’, meaning is created through mise-en-scene in the Pale man sequence, as it is representative of historical and political contexts. An example of mise en scene in this sequence would be the pile of childrens shoes in the corner of the room, which connotes those who died in the holocaust as the film is set at a similar time to the war in which this occured. Del Toro uses this to imply that there are other means of context in this scene, for example the greediness of the pale man who sits on a long table filled with food that no one else is allowed to touch, could be suggestive of the pale man being representative of Franco, the leader of the facsists. This also links to the way the pale man eats children, as we see in photographs on the wall; mirroring Franco causing many deaths in the fascist war. It could also represent that Franco stole the next generations futures, the war ruining hope for change and reform for children who would grow up to live in Spain.

The pale man’s eyes being on his hands, rather than face, could be foreshadowing the fact that Vidal meets his death by being blinded, and the rebels he shoots that get blinded. More metaphorically, Vidal is blind to see that Mercedes is tricking him as she is with the rebels yet working for him as a spy; he doesn’t suspect her because in his eyes, her low status and gender makes her inferior to him. The blood red walls and church like, old architecture of the Pale man’s rooms could be representative of the human body and how it mirrors that of the intricate details of the insides, which could also implicate a recognition of the many people who died and shed blood in the war. Alternatively, this could also refer to the reoccurring theme of puberty and fertility throughout the film.

ISP Week 6 – HOFD

China’s Tang Dynasty

Early 6th century China was divided by north and south, later to be brought back together in 581 A.D by the Sui dynasty lead by General Yang Jian, until 617 A.D.

Li Yuan founded the Tang dynasty between 618 and 906 A.D, it was regarded as the golden age of Chinese imperial power, art and culture. It influence spread across Asia, particularly through Buddhist practise.

This era was considered the Golden Age of China because of its advancements in technology, medicine and trade. The foundation of their greatness was from the emphasis put into study which led to stronger leadership and ideas. Some invention examples from the golden age include; gun powder, steel, flame throwers, porcelain and woodblock printing.

Some important historical figures were Taizong, Empress Wu and Emperor Xuanzong.

Taizong was Li Yuans son, the founder of the Tang dynasty, and killed his family in order to retrieve the throne. His main achievement was earning title ‘Great Khan’ after taking over part of Mongolia and using Turkish soldiers to fight eastern Asia.

A map of the silk road

Empress Wu was significant as she was the first and only female ruler. She ruled the Tang Dynasty and in her reign strengthened the millinery, and also announced a new dynasty, Zhou.

Emperor Xuanzong was the longest reign of the Tang Dynasty, in the early half he was diligent and he reformed the economy particularly on the Silk Road which was for trade. He began the golden age through passion for creativity and music, and has an influence on traditional chinese music. His reign was responsible for the unique and traditional architecture of temples.