Film on film
For this short film I used the only available technology I own, my phone. This short is a blend of slow motion and time-lapse. It is fascinating how you can make a film only using a phone. Nowadays, it is easy to get access to these features and people don’t have to worry about not being able to make interesting films. I have used shots of clouds moving, with the help of time-lapse and bees flying on to flowers by the help of slow motion.
Film review
Lynne Ramsay has been an outstanding director for years now. She has her own style of directing and due to that it is almost evident that we see her films on screen. ‘You were never really here’ was released in 2018 and was based on a novella. The cast includes Joaquin Phoenix and Ekaterina Samsonov. When I first started watching this,, I was sure that this is going to be a one of a kind film, because Lynne Ramsay never failed to amaze me. The plot starts with a man, called Joe, who rescues trafficked girls. It was interesting to see how he, through the whole film, has flashbacks of abuse, that probably his father committed. He cares for his mother. After the first few scenes, we see Joe meeting Moises (the son of Angel), who connects Joe and his handler John. We see John meeting Joe, where he tells him that Angel knows his location, so John gives Joe a new job. This was, in my opinion an unnecessary scene, because it didn’t really matter throughout the whole film. A New York Senator’s daughter was missing, so Joe has to rescue her for a big sum of money. The film goes with Joe getting ready, still having flashbacks of abuse and figuring out how to get the girl out of a brothel. It is an interesting few minutes, the flashbacks are making the audience more interested in what exactly happened to our protagonist. Joe kills of a few people then meets the girl. While they are waiting for Votto, they are watching the TV and they see that Votto has committed suicide. This is where it gets fascinating. Suddenly, police officers gain access to the room. They take the girl with them. One officer tried to kill Joe, but of course, Joe fights back and escapes. Joe finds out that government agents have killed Moises, Angel, McCleary, so all together, everyone. I would say that the most heart breaking part was when Joe found out her mother was killed by agents. It is fascinating how Joaquin can actually show those emotions of losing someone. He doesn’t even cry, but the audience can see the pain through his eyes. It turns out that one of the senator’s favourite girl was Nina. He goes on to bury her mother in a lake. From now on, the film is full of emotions and we see more and more of Joe’s flashbacks and of course, we start to feel sorry for him. He tries to commit a suicide there, but eventually comes back to shore. Joe finds Williams but his throat is already slit. Nina is sitting at the dining table with a razor in her hand. They don’t really talk much from this point. In the last scene, they are sitting in a diner, where Joe passes out and Nina says: ‘It’s a beautiful day!’, so all in all, the ending didn’t really mean anything, because we don’t know what’s going to happen to them. All together, this film is magnificent, although it could’ve had a more striking ending, still, Lynne Ramsay did not fail to amaze me.
EXT. A HOUSE FROM OUTSIDE – DAY
The camera is getting closer and closer to the door. It is a sunny day.
We hear a beeping sound, it is the sound of electrocardiography.
INT. INSIDE THE HOUSE – DAY
The room’s dominating colour is blue. It gives a sad feeling to the audience. We see a woman.
She is cleaning, washing up.
She wears a floral shirt, with blue jeans. The electrocardiography sound is ongoing.
We follow her to the living room. We can see pictures of a woman and a man.
We don’t know who they are yet. She rests.
We see a close-up of her face, and then her eyes closing. It gets darker around her.
We still have a close-up. She opens her eyes and the beeping stops.
We start to hear kids laughing, talking. The camera gets further from her face. She smiles.
EXT. OUTSIDE THE HOUSE – NIGHT
We see kids running around the house. It is a beautiful night. The birds are still chirping.
The woman comes outside and watches the kids play. The camera is getting closer
WOMAN
Kids! It’s time to come inside. It started to get cold.
CHILDREN
Okay, Grandma.
This is a story about a woman, who lost her grandchildren's parents. She is seen alone but
still happy. She is our main protagonist. The films genre is drama. Throughout the film,
she gets ill, so her main goal is to pay for the treatment while take care of her grandkids.
So her obstacle is her rare illness. In the end, most important things in the film are family
and health.
For this one-shot film I have used my phone. I was travelling on a train and whilst I was looking out the window the view of clouds and trees amazed me, so I chose to film it in 45 seconds. In my opinion this would’ve fit into the early cinemas due to its movement.
Blog task 5: Genre Analysis
Horror, as the genre, has existed for more than a century now. First, it was inspired by authors like Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe and Mary Shelley. Horror also sometimes collaborates with other film genres, such as thriller, supernatural fiction and fantasy. Horror movies depend on humans most important emotion: fear. The basic elements in a horror movie includes vampires, ghosts, demons, evil clowns, monsters, evil witches, zombies, psychopaths and the list could go on. These films usually target the audiences fears and nightmares. The first ever horror movie is a 3-minute short film by Georges Méliès called ‘’Le Manoir du Diable’’ (1896) or ‘’The Haunted Castle’’.
”The haunted castle”
The plots usually originate from already used characters and storyline. This is why it is important to be as original as possible when it comes to horror movies. For example, the famous ‘’The exorcist’’ made in 1973 was based on a novel called ‘’The exorcist’’ by Blatty. It follows the demonic possession of a 12 year old girl and her mother’s attempt to rescue her through an exorcism by two priests. In 2013 ‘’The conjuring’’ was released, which is also about a young girl who is possessed and two priest comes to her rescue. The only difference is, is that in ‘’The conjuring’’ there is more story behind it (we get to know the 2 priests), whereas ‘’The exorcist’’ is only about the possessed girl. So in conclusion, it is inevitable to make some kind of change in the plot, to make a story that the audience won’t recognize as a horror film that was already made.
”The conjuring” (2013)
”The exorcist” (1973)
But why does the audience feel fear when watching horror movies? It’s because of the high usage of sound and/or special effects and lighting, but most importantly: Jump scare. It is a technique often used in horrors, it is intended to scare people by surprising them with a change in event or image, usually comes with a frightening sound, for example loud screaming. Surprisingly, it is when there is no jump scare that causes the audience to feel more discomfort, because they don’t exactly know what will happen.
Horror films often can have physical effects on the audience. One of the most common effect is the inability to sleep. The individual could have issues with falling asleep due to fear and anxiety from watching the movie.
The role of women and how women see themselves has also changed by the horror genre in the film industry. Horror movies such as ‘’My bloody valentine’’ (1981) and ‘’Friday the 13th’’ (1980) was aimed for mainly male audiences, in order to ‘’feed the fantasy of men’’. Now, it has changed in a way that women became the main audience and fans of these films, also they became protagonists in them.
”Friday the 13th” (1980)
”My bloody valentine” (1981)
Many horror films created controversy in the early years, many faced censorships as well. A great example is the film ‘’I spit on your grave’’ (1978) which is about rape, and the revenge of the victim, was banned in countries like Ireland, Norway, Iceland and West Germany. Most of them removed this ban, except Ireland.
”I spit on your grave” (1978)
Blog task 1: ‘Glossary’
Mise en scene: Mise en scene is a French theatrical expression, that means ‘Put into the scene’ in English. It describes everything in a frame, including the setting, costume, lighting, and acting.
Shot reverse shot: Shot reverse shot is a frequently used film technique, where a character can be seen looking at someone (another character), then this other character is shown looking at the first character. The characters are shown looking at different directions, this way the audience thinks that they are looking at each other. It is mostly used in dialogue sequences. It uses the ‘eye line match’, the 180 degree rule, and many more.
The 180 degree rule can be seen https://learnaboutfilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/180degree.jpg
Shot reverse shot used in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM6exo00T5I
Pan: ‘Panning’ means to rotate the camera (On its vertical or horizontal axis) in order to keep a moving person or an object in the view of the camera. For a ‘Panning shot’ a slower shutter speed should be selected than normal.
How to ‘pan’ with the camera
Track: A ‘Tracking Shot’ is where the camera is placed on a camera dolly which is placed on rails. They use this method to follow the subject alongside, forward, or backward. It follows the subject which would leave the frame.
An example of a ‘tracking shot’
Zoom: A ‘Zoom shot’ is the tecnique of changing the focal length of a zoom lens, it gives the illusion of moving further away or getting closer to the action. It can change from a close-up to a wide shot or from a wide shot to a close-up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIlPrM3EU4Q
Psychoanalysis: Psychoanalysis is a theory about human minds and a therapic practice, too. Sigmund Freud was the first to acknowledge this between 1885 and 1939. Since then, psychoanalysts around the world have been developing his philosophy. It can be used in 4 different ways:
Sigmund Freud
Suture: ‘Suture’ is the process of editing, editing together the pieces that makes a film. It’s also a tecnique that makes the audience forget the camera that is actually doing the ‘looking’.
The gaze: ‘Gaze’ means seeing, in other perspective, it is how a person (or a group of people) observes other individuals. There is 4 kind of gazes that we identify:
‘The male gaze’ : Laura Mulvey proposed the second-wave feminist concept of the ‘male gaze’. She said that women were objectified in film due to heterosexual men behind the camera.
Laura Mulvey
‘The feminine gaze’ : Judith Butler introduced the idea of the ‘Feminine gaze’. She thought that men choose to perform their masculinity by using women as the ones who pressures men into self-regulation.
Judith Butler
‘The imperial gaze’ : E. Ann Kaplan familiarized the concept of the ‘imperial glaze’. Kaplan said about the gaze: ” The imperial gaze reflects the assumption that the white western subject is central much as the male gaze assumes the centrality of the male subject.”
‘The oppositional gaze’ : Gloria Jean Watkins wrote an essay in 1992 called ”The oppositional gaze: Black Female Spectatorship”. She introduced the oppositional gaze of Black women.
Gloria Jean Watkins
Audience: A group of individuals, who are the ‘listeners’ or ‘spectators’. The audience is the person who listens to a concert/performance/ speech, or reads a book, or watches a film.
Representation: Representation means to demonstrate, illustrate, or expressing something to others.
Montage: ‘Montage’ is a film editing technique where a series of short shots are sequenced. It gives a new meaning to the film after it is edited.
