- Already in the opening you can see that the film is set in a big urban jungle
- Beautiful female protagonist
- The man Marion is with is in a conflicting situation, he is having to pay off lots of debt
- marion wants to marry him but they would be so poor if she did
- Marion keeps getting herself into further twisted situations
- There are many suspenseful shots of Marion trying to decide whether or not to steal the money or leave it
- Eventually she does ooh
- Long shot of Marion to try to create suspense
- Long (as in time) shots of her in the car, the police car in the review mirror and the road to create a sense of suspense and show that she is doing something very illegal
- Music also emphasis this
- Long shot of Marion in her car while voice over of people discussing what she did and what went on occurs
- Normans character, straight away seems really weird and unusual
- His mother doesn't like women who are not virginal, in fact she straight up hates them and finds them disgusting
- Norman is so weird, talking about taxidermy although he seems like a nice guy and is nice to marion
- Long shots between characters which creates tension
- God I don't think Norman blinks at all in this scene
- Dramatic long shots of Marion in her shower
- Dramatic shots of of Normans shadow creeping up behind
- Long dramatic pan out of her eye as she lies on the floor then pan around room
- classic music screech of violins
- Norman is terrified long shots of him pacing fidgety around the room
- Long scene of norman cleaning the bathroom as if nothing happened
- Normans behaviour is very suspicious --> kinda goes with Hitchcock's psychological characters
- He just dumps marion in his trunk and cleans up the bathroom as if nothing happened
- I don't know why but you can't help but feel sorry for Norman he is a sick, sick guy
- I wonder if Hitchcock's intentions were for us to feel sorry for Norman to some degree
Monday, 23 May 2016
Sunday, 22 May 2016
Critique task
Design task
- We have to plan a scene or two based on a certain director/auteur's style
Critique task
- We are to create a oral presentation task that explores a director who has a signature style that is representative of the styles and conventions of auteur theory
- Many directors work is considered iconic or stylised- W by that doesn't necessarily make them an auteur
- Our task conveys why our director is an auteur based on our explanations of the style
- We need about 2-3 videos 20/30 seconds just to enhance our overall presentation
- We can have other video sequences without sound that play as well.
Our presentation should examine directors
- techniques
- signature style
- reoccurring themes
- plot devices
- symbolic codes or motif
- We need to answer all of these
- While many directors are considered iconic or highly stylised there is still lots of debate about what is and isn't an auteur
- We have to plan a scene or two based on a certain director/auteur's style
Critique task
- We are to create a oral presentation task that explores a director who has a signature style that is representative of the styles and conventions of auteur theory
- Many directors work is considered iconic or stylised- W by that doesn't necessarily make them an auteur
- Our task conveys why our director is an auteur based on our explanations of the style
- We need about 2-3 videos 20/30 seconds just to enhance our overall presentation
- We can have other video sequences without sound that play as well.
Our presentation should examine directors
- techniques
- signature style
- reoccurring themes
- plot devices
- symbolic codes or motif
- We need to answer all of these
- While many directors are considered iconic or highly stylised there is still lots of debate about what is and isn't an auteur
Sunday, 15 May 2016
Auteur theory
- In 1954 Francois Truffaut wrote an essay entitled A Certain Tendency in French Cinema
- he suggested that film be used as a means for expressing the directors intentions
- He suggested that this means the director should be regarded as an auteur
- He stated that there are no good or only bad movies only good and bad directors
- It suggests that the director can use film apparatus like a writer uses pen to paper
- It is the medium for personal artistic expression of the director
- Auteur theory suggests that the best films will bear their makers signature
- Alfred Hitchcock plays up this idea by making sure he appears onscreen in a brief cameo
Alfred Hitchcock
- He is one of the most well known names in world cinema
- His style has established him among the elite class of directors known as auteurs
- This is because his style is so distinctive it can be recognised through his filmography
- He often collaborated with many of the same people when making his films to keep consistency
- His films are all very psychological in nature
- he explores the deepest psyches of character
- He is often known for casting beautiful blonds as leading ladies
- Some critics have often associated this as a freudian response to his own mother
- Hitchcocks psychological connection with his films allows audiences to psychologically connect as well
- Five films: Psycho, North by Northwest, The Birds, Vertigo, Rear Window
- He was often known as the master of suspense
- the editing of the scenes create immense suspense if someone else had done it it would not have been as suspenseful
- He doesn't do things unintentionally if he makes you feel an emotion it is on purpose
- Instead of creating suspense in regular ways he plays on different means of suspense
- It therefore manipulates audiences emotional response to the films
- This is a staple in hatchecks works
- He played on why people are the way they are
- His films have classic innovative shots
- His ability to create suspense is also central to his style
- He was the first director to use 3D creatively instead of just gimmicky
- He used 3D to create depth within the shots
- Seeing double is another theme in Hitchcock films
- He often used attractive blonds
What influences have his work had on popular culture?
- Has it been made funny
- Has it been referenced
- Has it been turned around or made funny
- The theme music for Lady Gaga's born this way is sampled from Vertigo
- The Simpsons have paid homage to Alfred Hitchcock many times
- Pretty Little Liars have paid homage to hitcock many times
- One example is a bell tower death paying homage to Vertigo
- Psycho was the first slasher flick
- Julie Andrews worked with him in a film called Rope
- The women he worked with were blond and often the most beautiful women in Hollywood
- He never worked with James Stewart after Vertigo, it was a commercial failure though it is a historical success, he blamed James Stewart, Hitchcock didn't blame himself
- Critics said James Stewart was getting old
- Hitchcock would have worked with Grace Kelly again but she got married and became the princess of Monaco, although she loved working with Hitchcock as a director
- Rear window is an interesting film it is about a man who looks out his rear window every night and one day he thinks he see's a murder. This messes with him
- the work of Hitchcock would have influenced other directors of that genre
- he used optical effects
Hitchcocks signature elements
- The blocking he created wasn't just for the actors
- He blocked every single camera movement in sync with the actors movements
- He would indicate different things to the audience with blocking
- He was a fan of pure cinema which involved telling a story by using strong visuals as apposed to lengthy dialogue
- He emphasised the visuals of a scene
- all his films had a strong thematic connection
- They all feature varying degrees of intrigue, suspense, murder, romance, sexuality and dark humour
- They also often centre around a wrongly accused man
- many deal with patriotism or internal espionage
- Most tell stories of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances
- many of his films feature excessive chases where the protagonist has to go to great lengths to avoid capture, the important elements in these chases are the running, the encounter and the avoidance
- Its never why it isn't explained
- He used smooth called the mcguffin, something that everyone is after but is not explained
- Its a nonsensical device
- he often made the films so visually compelling that no one cared what the mcguffin was
- Location as an important part of the story
- Location isn't a background but an integral part of the story
- he didn't leave anything to chance and every shot was purposeful
- Another thing he does is his actors only show their emotions on their faces
- It is a signature
- People argue that his actors are props too as he uses them for reaction shots only and makes them sudden and brief
- In his films we can often see countless shifting eyes to represent suspicion
In Vertigo Hitchcock uses a beautiful motif for the characters
- When certain characters come on everything reflects their motif colour
- Hitchcock started the slasher movie trend with Psycho
- Hitchcock pushes the boundaries with the Shower scene in Psycho
Wess Anderson
- Wess may be considered a contemporary Auteur
- He has a distinctive visual style
- Every shot is perfectly staged and arranged
- the periphery of the frame is just as important as the centre
- Anderson asks us to look at the edges as much s the middle because that is where the real drama might be occurring
- His visual style is self reflective it draws attention to the very act of looking
- he is renowned for using perfectly entered shots
- His work becomes a meditation on perception on films relationship to analogue film and to paint
- He also makes use of replete primary coloured palettes
- there is also an aspect of nostalgia to his "sunflower" aesthetic
- Anderson populates his films with off beat outsider characters who are either struggling to come to terms with adulthood or trapped in a liminal space where they can't or won't fit
- His stories are absurdist meditations on modern life
Tim Burton
- Almost all of his films are dark and quirky
- Time Burton uses recurring collaborators like Johnny Depp and his wife Helena Bonham Carter
- Tim Burton is actually best friends with Johnny Depp
- Burton likes to make dark movies with humour
- He also uses Danny Elfman as soundtracks
- he often uses saxophones, chimes bells and women choirs to add a creepy sense
- He usually has protagonist characters who are outsiders and against the norm
- He likes to usually have a witch character: This is normally a women with dark hair who is mysterious and often misunderstood
- If these films are not very gothic they are very weird
- Some say he isn't an auteur because he has some films that some consider not dark or gothic enough
- the witch character often creates a atmosphere of intimidation
- He also usually bases the whole story around a very skittish main character
- he suggested that film be used as a means for expressing the directors intentions
- He suggested that this means the director should be regarded as an auteur
- He stated that there are no good or only bad movies only good and bad directors
- It suggests that the director can use film apparatus like a writer uses pen to paper
- It is the medium for personal artistic expression of the director
- Auteur theory suggests that the best films will bear their makers signature
- Alfred Hitchcock plays up this idea by making sure he appears onscreen in a brief cameo
Alfred Hitchcock
- He is one of the most well known names in world cinema
- His style has established him among the elite class of directors known as auteurs
- This is because his style is so distinctive it can be recognised through his filmography
- He often collaborated with many of the same people when making his films to keep consistency
- His films are all very psychological in nature
- he explores the deepest psyches of character
- He is often known for casting beautiful blonds as leading ladies
- Some critics have often associated this as a freudian response to his own mother
- Hitchcocks psychological connection with his films allows audiences to psychologically connect as well
- Five films: Psycho, North by Northwest, The Birds, Vertigo, Rear Window
- He was often known as the master of suspense
- the editing of the scenes create immense suspense if someone else had done it it would not have been as suspenseful
- He doesn't do things unintentionally if he makes you feel an emotion it is on purpose
- Instead of creating suspense in regular ways he plays on different means of suspense
- It therefore manipulates audiences emotional response to the films
- This is a staple in hatchecks works
- He played on why people are the way they are
- His films have classic innovative shots
- His ability to create suspense is also central to his style
- He was the first director to use 3D creatively instead of just gimmicky
- He used 3D to create depth within the shots
- Seeing double is another theme in Hitchcock films
- He often used attractive blonds
What influences have his work had on popular culture?
- Has it been made funny
- Has it been referenced
- Has it been turned around or made funny
- The theme music for Lady Gaga's born this way is sampled from Vertigo
- The Simpsons have paid homage to Alfred Hitchcock many times
- Pretty Little Liars have paid homage to hitcock many times
- One example is a bell tower death paying homage to Vertigo
- Psycho was the first slasher flick
- Julie Andrews worked with him in a film called Rope
- The women he worked with were blond and often the most beautiful women in Hollywood
- He never worked with James Stewart after Vertigo, it was a commercial failure though it is a historical success, he blamed James Stewart, Hitchcock didn't blame himself
- Critics said James Stewart was getting old
- Hitchcock would have worked with Grace Kelly again but she got married and became the princess of Monaco, although she loved working with Hitchcock as a director
- Rear window is an interesting film it is about a man who looks out his rear window every night and one day he thinks he see's a murder. This messes with him
- the work of Hitchcock would have influenced other directors of that genre
- he used optical effects
Hitchcocks signature elements
- The blocking he created wasn't just for the actors
- He blocked every single camera movement in sync with the actors movements
- He would indicate different things to the audience with blocking
- He was a fan of pure cinema which involved telling a story by using strong visuals as apposed to lengthy dialogue
- He emphasised the visuals of a scene
- all his films had a strong thematic connection
- They all feature varying degrees of intrigue, suspense, murder, romance, sexuality and dark humour
- They also often centre around a wrongly accused man
- many deal with patriotism or internal espionage
- Most tell stories of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances
- many of his films feature excessive chases where the protagonist has to go to great lengths to avoid capture, the important elements in these chases are the running, the encounter and the avoidance
- Its never why it isn't explained
- He used smooth called the mcguffin, something that everyone is after but is not explained
- Its a nonsensical device
- he often made the films so visually compelling that no one cared what the mcguffin was
- Location as an important part of the story
- Location isn't a background but an integral part of the story
- he didn't leave anything to chance and every shot was purposeful
- Another thing he does is his actors only show their emotions on their faces
- It is a signature
- People argue that his actors are props too as he uses them for reaction shots only and makes them sudden and brief
- In his films we can often see countless shifting eyes to represent suspicion
In Vertigo Hitchcock uses a beautiful motif for the characters
- When certain characters come on everything reflects their motif colour
- Hitchcock started the slasher movie trend with Psycho
- Hitchcock pushes the boundaries with the Shower scene in Psycho
Wess Anderson
- Wess may be considered a contemporary Auteur
- He has a distinctive visual style
- Every shot is perfectly staged and arranged
- the periphery of the frame is just as important as the centre
- Anderson asks us to look at the edges as much s the middle because that is where the real drama might be occurring
- His visual style is self reflective it draws attention to the very act of looking
- he is renowned for using perfectly entered shots
- His work becomes a meditation on perception on films relationship to analogue film and to paint
- He also makes use of replete primary coloured palettes
- there is also an aspect of nostalgia to his "sunflower" aesthetic
- Anderson populates his films with off beat outsider characters who are either struggling to come to terms with adulthood or trapped in a liminal space where they can't or won't fit
- His stories are absurdist meditations on modern life
Tim Burton
- Almost all of his films are dark and quirky
- Time Burton uses recurring collaborators like Johnny Depp and his wife Helena Bonham Carter
- Tim Burton is actually best friends with Johnny Depp
- Burton likes to make dark movies with humour
- He also uses Danny Elfman as soundtracks
- he often uses saxophones, chimes bells and women choirs to add a creepy sense
- He usually has protagonist characters who are outsiders and against the norm
- He likes to usually have a witch character: This is normally a women with dark hair who is mysterious and often misunderstood
- If these films are not very gothic they are very weird
- Some say he isn't an auteur because he has some films that some consider not dark or gothic enough
- the witch character often creates a atmosphere of intimidation
- He also usually bases the whole story around a very skittish main character
Quentin Tarrentino
- He has his own distinctive style
- In his films he does not just use in genre and theme, he often takes a whole bunch of different genre and themes
- Most of his films are classified "Spaghetti Western"
- He has a film that has come out this year called the hateful eight
- He has a few signature shots such as the Gods eye shot
- blood and guts is common for his film, he uses hand cannons
- People get hacked into pieces there are fountains of blood
- Its called a spaghetti western because a lot of Westerns were made in Italy where they eat lots of spaghetti
Sunday, 8 May 2016
star power
Naomi Watts
- (The impossible, more recently insurgent)
- TV series: the sleepwalkers 1998
- Strange planet
Ringu
- Nanako Matsushim
- One of the most famous models in Japan
- first big role in Kon'na koi nohanashi opposite Hiroyuki Sanada thanks to their amazing performance they would go on to star in the Ring.
- (The impossible, more recently insurgent)
- TV series: the sleepwalkers 1998
- Strange planet
Ringu
- Nanako Matsushim
- One of the most famous models in Japan
- first big role in Kon'na koi nohanashi opposite Hiroyuki Sanada thanks to their amazing performance they would go on to star in the Ring.
The main differences in this film and the remake (planning)
- Hollywood has a stereotype when it comes to films and that is over explanation
- In traditional Japanese horror films the power of suggestion is utilised to create feelings of fear.
- the director of Ringu: Hideo Nakata states "This may seem too simple but Asian ghosts can stand just behind you and stare at you and don't say anything, just and and stare at the main character. And that can be scary, from our point of view "
- For Japanese audiences the power of suggestion is suitable to evoke a sense of fear in viewers, however for Westerners the sense of suggestion alone isn't often enough of an explanation for them. they need more information.
The Ring, however managed to go against Hollywood stereotypes by keeping many aspects of Japanese culture within their films.
- In traditional Japanese horror films the power of suggestion is utilised to create feelings of fear.
- the director of Ringu: Hideo Nakata states "This may seem too simple but Asian ghosts can stand just behind you and stare at you and don't say anything, just and and stare at the main character. And that can be scary, from our point of view "
- For Japanese audiences the power of suggestion is suitable to evoke a sense of fear in viewers, however for Westerners the sense of suggestion alone isn't often enough of an explanation for them. they need more information.
The Ring, however managed to go against Hollywood stereotypes by keeping many aspects of Japanese culture within their films.
Ringu and The Ring fast facts
Ringu fast facts
- It was released in Japan an became the highest grossing horror film in the country
- It was shown at the 1999 Fantasia film festival where it won first place award for the best feature in asian films section
- It was ranked 69 in Empire magazines the 100 best films in world cinema in 2010
- It was directed by Hideo Nakata in 1998
The Ring fast facts
- It was released in 2002
- It was directed by Gore Verbinski
- It got many great reviews
- The initial success of the film led Dreamwork to increase the films distribution into 700 additional theatres
Where and when
- Ringu was a very successful film in japan and quickly became the highest grossing horror film in the country, however the Western remake allowed the story much more power by distributing it world wide.
- It was released in Japan an became the highest grossing horror film in the country
- It was shown at the 1999 Fantasia film festival where it won first place award for the best feature in asian films section
- It was ranked 69 in Empire magazines the 100 best films in world cinema in 2010
- It was directed by Hideo Nakata in 1998
The Ring fast facts
- It was released in 2002
- It was directed by Gore Verbinski
- It got many great reviews
- The initial success of the film led Dreamwork to increase the films distribution into 700 additional theatres
Where and when
- Ringu was a very successful film in japan and quickly became the highest grossing horror film in the country, however the Western remake allowed the story much more power by distributing it world wide.
American Horror genre in the 1990's and thinking about planning/questioning
- The american horror genre entered into a slump in the 1990's that it is yet to recover from
- psychological thrillers like psych by hitchcock were gone and slash films were using their appeal.
- In the late 1990's a new wave of horror films known as "J horror" began to develop a cult following in the US
- American remakes often devote large amounts of time to the explanation of why
Things to consider
- Does the remake conform to American stereotypes?
Yes, in a way. the remake still carries many cultural conventions from the original, but it does the American thing where everything is over explained and the antagonist is quite humanised therefore it is both challenging and conforming stereotypes.
Do the films differ for different audiences
- For Japan part of the "J horror" style is to not be too obvious and leave some explanations murky
- everything needs to be very explained for western audiences, they often want to know everything
- The sort of horror films that were popular before the ring were
- Slasher
- People going insane and murdering
- Demon possesion
Thesis:
The Hollywood remake of the ring was important as it allowed for the emergence of "J horror" in the mainstream media
Beginning planning
Before J horror
- Hollywood was stuck in a "Horror slump" from the late 80's to the late 90's where the same ideas and storylines were just being repeated and remade
- It was the same sorts of stories: slashers, people going mad and becoming murderous, demon possession
- the Ring brought something fresh to the scene of horror "J horror"
- This unique idea of a cursed video tape, a terrifying prospect
- That somehow technology could hybrid with forces on the other side to become deadly, chilled viewers and soon these sorts of films known as "J horror" developed a cult following.
- psychological thrillers like psych by hitchcock were gone and slash films were using their appeal.
- In the late 1990's a new wave of horror films known as "J horror" began to develop a cult following in the US
- American remakes often devote large amounts of time to the explanation of why
Things to consider
- Does the remake conform to American stereotypes?
Yes, in a way. the remake still carries many cultural conventions from the original, but it does the American thing where everything is over explained and the antagonist is quite humanised therefore it is both challenging and conforming stereotypes.
Do the films differ for different audiences
- For Japan part of the "J horror" style is to not be too obvious and leave some explanations murky
- everything needs to be very explained for western audiences, they often want to know everything
- The sort of horror films that were popular before the ring were
- Slasher
- People going insane and murdering
- Demon possesion
Thesis:
The Hollywood remake of the ring was important as it allowed for the emergence of "J horror" in the mainstream media
Beginning planning
Before J horror
- Hollywood was stuck in a "Horror slump" from the late 80's to the late 90's where the same ideas and storylines were just being repeated and remade
- It was the same sorts of stories: slashers, people going mad and becoming murderous, demon possession
- the Ring brought something fresh to the scene of horror "J horror"
- This unique idea of a cursed video tape, a terrifying prospect
- That somehow technology could hybrid with forces on the other side to become deadly, chilled viewers and soon these sorts of films known as "J horror" developed a cult following.
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