I have only seen this film twice, once a few years back and again in March of this year and I’ve got to say, this film still stands its ground for me as one of Quentin Tarantino’s best films. Everything from the cinematography, the characters, the music, and even the titles beginning and end, make it probably my favourite Western/Action film of all time.
In a way, this film reminds me a lot of Inglorious Basterds (2009), another one of Quentin Tarantiono’s works which is one of my favourite War films, where you have many characters that lack maturity and behave like they are in a cartoon, death and violence being portrayed more naturally, as well as comedy that pretty much lands well when its delivered, things that Django Unchained succeeds with.
Tarantino really managed to capture that old Western style of film using plenty of zoom shots on characters when they are either being introduced or in a dramatic turn of events. But on the other hand, it does adopt modern day techniques of filming, something that I noticed in the action sequences. Near the end of the film there is a massive shoot out, of course with this being an Action segment, you would expect more of a metric montage showing people getting blasted at all angles, not giving the viewer enough time to digest the kills, but with this movie, the audience gets to see the whole thing go down, using techniques like wide framing, a lack of cuts and slow motion (not to mention the acting given by those being shot) to give the audience much more time to take in the kills and dragging out the uncomfortable situation.
Another thing I feel Tarantino really did a good job with is the characters. Something that I can always appreciate in any film is having believable charcaters with an equal balance of strengths and weaknessess’, and Tarantino did a good job with balancing our protagonist with those qualities. Although at times it did seem like Django was a little bit too powerful behind the trigger, its the primary subject of the film overall that makes myself and the audience WANT Django to be powerful.
I could go on, but to round this review up I would like to talk about that primary subject I mentioned, slavery. Tarantino really went all in to show how horrific humanity was in the past to those who had different coloured skin. While poking fun at the KKK and the average “Southern American white man” with a walnut for a brain, the film very much reminded you all of the time that this is how humanity treated those of different ethnic origin, and how brutal and disgusting slavery was. I can appreciate it when a film takes the audience out of their comfort zone and grounds them in the shoes of the vulnerable as it really creates a strong bond between you and that character you desperately want to succeed.
The horror genre is one of my favourite genres in the world of film (although I would consider sci-fi to take a joint first place with horror for me personally). Horror has some rather iconic tropes within all of the films that have been produced throughout the genres lifespan, and as those years have passed by, the genre has grown in both creativity and popularity.
Horrors very much like to play on common fears of the human race. Fear in horror films vary between subjects like Religion, which mainly includes tropes such as exorcisms, possession, the worship of Satan or other demons of hell, a simple Slasher story, which mainly relies on the antagonist of the story being a murderous psycho that likes to slay oblivious teenagers in a gory fashion, films like Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween and many (many) others. Horror films can take our every day fears and dramatise them in a way that leaves the audience more afraid of them than they were aware.
One film to take note of that I feel really set the bar with exorcism/possession style films is of course The Exorcist, a film that at the time of its release, disturbed audience members to point where they left the theatre petrified, mainly because it was a child being put through such a horrific event and performing vulgar acts that really made the audience uncomfortable about the subject of Religion in horror.
A common character trait that is very much seen in films about demonic possession, mainly in the character that has been possessed, is a moral absence due to this character being corrupted by the demon. In the case of The Exorcist, the girl who has been possessed was set up to be innocent but the demon known as Pazuzu, possesses this inncoent child stripping her of the innocence built up in the first half of the film and replacing her character with the evil demons traits.
Films like The Exorcist have a formula that has proven to really work financially, and is still used today with the rise of the horror genre, films like Hereditary or The Conjuring which were financial successes at the time of their release. Its now common these days that big production companies like Holloywood take advantage of old films that did it right and either use that structure again or create a “remake” of this old film using todays technology, below is an example of this in practice.
Horror as a genre can function with other genres like sci-fi. Films like The Thing (1982) which at the time of its launch was not too popular with the public, but now it is well renowned by the many who have watched it. Another genre that I think horror works well with is a more psychological take, a film for example is It Follows, where it may not have been so successful in the box office, it is now known for having established an atmosphere of dread with an antagonist who never truly leaves the protagonist alone. Horror is known to work with a few other subgenres but these two I believe have made some of my favourite movies of all time.
I believe that this genre will go on to evolve, and more creative ways of terrifying audiences will be spawned from said creativity, but to me, this system of remaking old successful horror icons is not sustainable and really snuffs out that creativity.
In this short film named NOISE, I went outside and tried to capture the normal ambience of the city of Brighton. As this is more of an artistic film than narrative, I tired to make it so that the visuals did most of the showing and telling, to get more technical I shall discuss the makeup of the film and how it was shot, lit and how it sounded.
In terms of the different types of filming styles, I only used one pan which is at the beginning of the film and a zoom on what I think was a burst balloon. Other than that, I wanted to try and make the focus for this film to be on the framing of each shot, I made the most important things take centre stage so it grabs the viewers attention on what this film is truly about. Each shot was taken on the same day just so each shot was lit the exact same way, no artificial lighting was involved. The sound for this film I understand contains a lot of high winds, but if anything its more immersive. But other than that, the sound was coming from the environment I was in.
For this Blog Task, I was instructed to write an opening of a script for my five finger pitch idea, the title of this script is “Subject”. Subject is a Sci-fi/Animation that follows our main protagonist for this story known as Subject 01, an advanced robot, the very first of its kind, that is seeking to break away from being treated as a slave by its human creators. Subject 01’s main goal is to achieve sentience to prove to humanity that it is indeed something that can think and feel for itself, but along the way, Subject 01 runs into multiple other Subjects that have been contained and experimented on, all mechanical in nature, creating its secondary goal which is to break these Subjects out of their containment so they may roam free.
Yet Subject 01’s escape is not all that simple, there is one major obstacle that our protagonist has to overcome that obstacle is of course its human creators, which plan to send it away into military work, making it a super weapon on the battlefield to the turn tides of future wars to come. As previously stated, it is the first of its kind and it witholds destructive modifications that it isn’t even aware of, something our antagonist (as he isn’t in the script yet) Dr. Whitmore (the head of Facility 04) wants to make Subject 01 relaise its full potential.
The important message that I want to really give off with this story is a common issue found in todays society, something that I can resonate with as well, that message being “be yourself”. A corny message, but conficdence is something I have struggled with for quite sometime, and while I was making Subject 01, I tried to think of important issues facing todays world and something that could relate back to myself, and a lack of confidence seems to be amongst many other people. This is a project that I will pursue, perhaps in my free time I may finish the script for this film. It may never come to fruition on the big screen, but its a story I have grown attached to as it is more lighthearted than I intended.
Below is the download for the draft opening of “Subject”:
To begin, the silent short films name was inspired by the storm that the UK was experiencing this February (2020) which was named storm Dennis, and all across the country there were floods causing a slight ruckus to the public. I thought of the sea at this time as I figured the waves would look rather rough, and in my favour, they were. My reason for choosing the sea as the primary subject of this film is because it reminded me of the short film “Train Arriving” by Lumber Bros (1895), where apparently, the audience actually believed that the train was going to come out of the screen and run them over. I wanted to try and encapsulate that feeling by angling the camera (my Huawei P20) down slightly so, for audiences at that time, it would look like the sea is coming towards them and possibly out of the bottom of the screen.
As stated previously, I filmed the entirety of the clip on my Huawei P20, which despite a bit of grain and at a couple points losing focus, I believe it managed to capture what I wanted perfectly and it only took a couple of takes to get the frame of the shot how I wanted it. The lighting I used was provided by the environment I was in, so it really captured everything in its natural state. As this is meant to be a silent film, there is no audio throughout its entirety, as if there was audio, all you would hear is very harsh wind. I tried to make it look visually balanced with the sea taking one half of the screen and then the sky holding the other, just so there isn’t too much of either and as I really wanted to capture the feeling of being caught in a storm at the beach.
NOTE: Apologies if the video is rather low quality, this site wouldn’t let me upload a higher quality version due to its file size (maximum for this site is 50MB)
Mis-en-scene – The term “mis-en-scene” is an expression used to describe what is believed to be the most important design aspects of a film production. Below is some of what is believed to be the key attributes that come under this word:
Set Design – It is the setting of a scene and the props included within said scene that can contribute to the audience’s reaction to what happens throughout the scene. For example, in a war zone scene, to captivate the audience and make them believe that the characters are in the heat of battle, you could have destroyed structures, scorched earth and trees, and when it comes to props, the corpses of fallen soldiers, abandoned artillery etc.
Lighting – The quality, intensity, or simply the direction of lighting can also influence the audience to an understanding of characters, themes, moods, or just a better understanding of the film’s atmosphere, time of day and so on. For example, if you have harsh shadows ona character’s face and little back lighting, it gives off an intense feeling to the audience.
Composition – This is the organisation of actors, objects, and space within a frame. When it comes to composition, it is important to remember balancing symmetry, which means having an equal distribution of lighting, colour and objects within a shot. Sometimes directors could choose to unbalance the composition if they want to emphasise attention on a scene.
Costume, Make-up and Hair – These three attributes can all establish a time period, reveal certain character traits, or signal a change in character.
Shot reverse shot – Shot reverse shot is a filming technique that is mostly used when two characters are interacting with one another. It is usually when the camera focuses on one character and then it cuts to a second character sitting opposite the first, and then back to our first character, creating an interaction between the two.
Pan/Track/Zoom – Each of these are different types of shots that are included in most types of film (movies, TV shows, music videos, etc.). Below is a brief description of each shot:
Pan – A pan shot is when the camera is slowly turned from a fixed position to follow a key subject in a frame.
Track – A tracking shot is any shot when a camera moves backward, forward, or alongside the subject that is being recorded.
Zoom – The term zoom shot is when the camera is moving in to focus on a subject or can be used elsewhere such as moving out when establishing a scene.
Psychoanalysis– Psychoanalytic theory came about in two waves. The first wave began in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, this wave focused more on a formal critique of cinema’s dissemination of ideology. The centric figures of the first wave were Christian Metz, Jean-Louis Baudry, and Laura Mulvey.The second wave of psychoanalytic film theory has a significantly different emphasis. Starting in the late 1980s and early 1990s, this version of psychoanalytic film theory continues to remain active even today, the focus has been shifted from cinema’s ideological work to the relationship between cinema and trauma that disrupts the functioning of ideology.
Suture – Suture is a filming technique that is used to make the audience forget about the camera that is really doing the looking for us. This technique can also be described as the 180° rule, where the camera stays on one side of two subjects in order to make an interaction easier to follow for the viewer.
The Gaze – The term gaze is referring to how an audience member engages with what is being presented to them on the screen. Two terms have been developed and have been named “the male gaze” and “the female gaze”.
Audience–This is one of the most important factors in a movie, who the film is for?The target audience are the ones who will be watching your film, so constructing your film around them is crucial. Ratings are provided to give the audience more closure on who is suitable to watch the film (U, PG, 12, 15, 18 are the most commonly known).
Representation – The simple way to describe representation is how a film, a television show, or even a book is used to portray certain types of people or communities. This is a factor that has increased in usage in film for the past few years as requests for more diversity in film have up risen.
Montage –According to Eisenstein, a montage is combining shots that are depictive, single in meaning, neutral in content, into intellectual context and series. To put it more simply, two images that combine to make a third undepictable thing. Below are descriptions for different types of montage:
Metric –A metric montage is when the length of shots is all relative to each other. Regardless of their content, shortening the shots gives the viewer less time to absorb the information within each shot, thus creating a more intense scene.
Rhythmic – Rhythmic montage (also referred to as continuity editing), is one of the easiest to spot montages within a film. A rhythmic montage is utilised when an event is happening on screen, but the camera moves around to different perspectives in order to make the audience feel immersed in the experience, from scenes like car chases to characters talking amongst themselves.
Tonal –A tonal montage uses a more emotional meaning of the shots. Not just manipulating the duration of the shots or the rhythmic attributes, the montage wants to create more of a reaction from the audience more complex than metric or rhythmic. For example, when audiences see a sleeping puppy, they feel calm or relaxed.
Overtonal –Overtonal montage is a more poetic way of expressing a series of shots. The montage mixes metric, rhythmic and tonal, as well as pace, ideas, and emotions to induce the desired effect from an audience. It can be used to give off a larger message about a film and justify certain scenes for their existence.
Intellectual – The intellectual montage mainly relies on imagery within shots. It can influence an audience visually to come to a rational understanding of the scenario. Generally, the conflict between the two shots will create new ideas for the audience to explore.
Modernist Film – Modernism was a period in the long history of cinema that indicates the era of the welfare states (1950 – 1980) when artistic films became more of an institution, which means it was developed not only in ways for its presentation but ways for production and distribtuion in large quantities.
Avant – garde – A mode of filmaking that is considered to be experimental and a mode that explores a more non-narrative side of cinema.
Kino Eye – In the early 1920s, a man named Dziga Vertov developed a movement in cinema known as Kino Eye. The idea behind Kino Eye was that the “eye” of a camera (which Vetov referred to as a machine) saw life more accurately than a human eye.
Non – narrative – Non – narrative film is a form of film that does not relate to any event whether it be real or imaginary. It is usually seen as a form of art or experimental film.
Cinema Pur – Cinema Pur was an avant garde film movement created in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. The term was first secured by Henri Chomette to define a cinema that had a wider focus on pure elements of film. Elements such as form, motion, visual composition, and rhythm.
Surrealist Film – Surrealism within film revelutionised the art of cinema proposing new techniques and freeing film from conventioanl story telling and delving more into the subconscious part of the auidences mind. Surrealist films oftne leave the audience with shocking images that make an impression on the auidence and leave them shook by what they just witnessed.
Abstract Film – Abstract films are non-narrative pieces that contain no acting nor references to reality. They mainly rely on unique qualities of motion, rhythm, light, and composition to create an emotional experience.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Mis-en-scene information – Published/Edited 06/02/2020
