The first thing you hear when City of God starts is the sound of a knife being sharpened. Initially you only hear the sound however the first shots shown are multiple close up shots of knifes being sharpened. This triggers a response from the audience as the first thing that most people will think of when they hear a knife being sharpened is violence and knife crime and this is especially true if they already know what the film is about. However in this instance the knives are just being used for cooking, despite the difference between cooking and violence this knives still set the violent tone of the movie due to how the shots of them being sharpened are presented to the audience. There are very quick cuts between the knives that don't last long, the audience sees the knife being scraped against a surface and as quick as the shot started it is gone and it cuts to another knife.
The shots following the knives are also very quick and sporadic however they now contain a variety of things however the main shots are of the chicken and the people cooking by cutting carrots and skinning a chicken. There are multiple shots of the dead chicken however the whole of it is not shown and just body parts are shown, in a way this also enforces the violent themes as, while it's a chicken and not a person, there is already something dead in the very opening scene. The majority of these shots are also low shots that puts the audience with the chicken which makes everything seem bigger and more threatening and thus more confusing.
During the sporadic shots there is traditional Brazilian music playing throughout. The Brazilian music is used to establish the films setting without the need for an establishing shot to show that the film is set in the slums of Brazil.
The chicken that's still alive then attempts to run away which foreshadows the escape attempts that many people try throughout the course of the film with most of them being unsuccessful like the chicken's. One of the shots shown as the chicken escapes is a pool of blood which once again demonstrates the violence and death that will appear throughout the film.
Lil Ze is the first character that the audience get a proper look at and he is shown in a close up from a slightly low angle. The makes Lil Ze's presence threatening and imposing. He is also given the first full line of dialogue which is yelling commands at people to get the escaping chicken. The threatening presence he is given combined with how the audience has so far been somewhat aligned with the chicken, which he is now trying to catch and kill, makes the audience dislike Lil Ze.
While trying to catch the chicken, many young people including children are seen with guns which shows the state that the city is in with its violence, gangs and crime.
Thursday 19 September 2019
Friday 29 March 2019
Coppola Presentation - Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now - Last Outpost Scene
The Do Long bridge is the last American outpost along the river that Captain Willard and his team are travelling down. Being the last outpost you'd expect it to be hectic and constantly under attack by the other side trying to push the Americans back. The chaos of the outpost is conveyed through different elements of the scene.
The scene uses very little music apart from the diegetic sound of the soldier's radio, Coppola instead opted for the majority of sound in scene to come from gunfire, yelling and screaming and explosions. This makes it clear for the audience to see the chaos and that the soldiers of the bridge outpost don't exactly know what they're doing.
Lighting is also played around with in the scene. The majority of the scene is dark however lights move in and out of the scene brightening things up. The lights are incredibly bright which creates a large contrast from the darkness that the scene was shrouded in when the lights aren't there. This could represent how the outpost is not in order and is instead all over the place and, like the lighting, are inconsistent. This is made evident from when Willard asks the soldier who the commanding officer is and the soldier responds with 'ain't you?' this implies that there is no commanding officer as he was most likely killed and the soldiers have just been taking their own actions without leadership or orders
Most of the character in the scene have either given up on fighting, such is the case with the soldiers who are sitting around doing nothing with one even lying motionless on the ground to the point when Lance mistakes him for a dead corpse, or are panicking and attempting to fight off enemies. The only three who remain calm are Willard, Lance and Roach. While Lance is only calm due to being high on acid, Willard keeps a stoic face throughout the entire scene. He is unfazed by chaos surrounding him as if he has seen all of it before. The Roach also keeps a level head throughout the scene judging by how the other soldiers act around him, he appears to hake taken on the role of pseudo leader among some of the soldiers at the outpost.
The scene uses very little music apart from the diegetic sound of the soldier's radio, Coppola instead opted for the majority of sound in scene to come from gunfire, yelling and screaming and explosions. This makes it clear for the audience to see the chaos and that the soldiers of the bridge outpost don't exactly know what they're doing.
Lighting is also played around with in the scene. The majority of the scene is dark however lights move in and out of the scene brightening things up. The lights are incredibly bright which creates a large contrast from the darkness that the scene was shrouded in when the lights aren't there. This could represent how the outpost is not in order and is instead all over the place and, like the lighting, are inconsistent. This is made evident from when Willard asks the soldier who the commanding officer is and the soldier responds with 'ain't you?' this implies that there is no commanding officer as he was most likely killed and the soldiers have just been taking their own actions without leadership or orders
Most of the character in the scene have either given up on fighting, such is the case with the soldiers who are sitting around doing nothing with one even lying motionless on the ground to the point when Lance mistakes him for a dead corpse, or are panicking and attempting to fight off enemies. The only three who remain calm are Willard, Lance and Roach. While Lance is only calm due to being high on acid, Willard keeps a stoic face throughout the entire scene. He is unfazed by chaos surrounding him as if he has seen all of it before. The Roach also keeps a level head throughout the scene judging by how the other soldiers act around him, he appears to hake taken on the role of pseudo leader among some of the soldiers at the outpost.
Thursday 7 March 2019
Best and Worst Qualities of Humans
Best:
- Empathy
- Sympathy
- Kindness
Worst:
- Greed
- Anger
- Jealousy
- Hatred
Wednesday 13 February 2019
Trainspotting Ideology
The narrative of Trainspotting is slightly peculiar as although many aspects of the narrative can be linked to Thatcherism they are not directly caused due to it.
The characters of Trainspotting are all young people that have clearly been affected by the idea of Thatcherism in one way or another as they are all young people who are unemployed (or at the very least, never seen working) and as a result are not earning any money and some still live with their parent's, which is clearly seen with Renton. This is one of the effects that Thatcherism in Britain caused during the time period and many people would assume that the character's unemployment is the reason why they do drugs hwoever that is clearly not the case. The characters are not bothered in the slightest by their lack of work and they actually prefer it to working. This can be seen in the scene where Spud goes for a job interview. Spud clearly does not want the job and only applied as he is required to apply for a job every so often in order to keep receiving money for being unemployed. However Spud can also not come across as though he does not want the job to the employers which is why he seeks advice with Renton. Spud goes through the interview as people normally would but also making sure that he just barely misses out on being hired. Unemployment is not an issue for these characters and is not the reason that any of them take drugs. Renton even says himself at the beginning of the film that they don't have a reason for taking them and do it because it 'feels good'. Thatcherism does play a role in the lives of the characters however it is not what causes them to take the actions that they take.
During the course of the film, Renton goes from 'opposing' Thatcherism to playing right into it's ideas. Renton moves to London and get a job as an estate agent. Housing estates in London were heavily linked to Thatcherism and an estate agent was the most 'thatcherist' job to possibly have. It somewhat pokes fun at politics and Thatcher's ideas as Renton goes from being a druggie to a somewhat upstanding citizen by playing into Thatcherism almost as though it is saying that in order to be model citizens people must 'give in' to Thatcherism and play by it's rules.
Tuesday 22 January 2019
This Is England Assault Scene
The scene consists of many different close up shots of the characters that switches between them often. This helps to create some tension and allow to audience to see how each character reacts to the events that unfold. From the beginning of Milky talking about his family the expression on Combo's face is one of distress which becomes clearer as Milky continues.
Even after Combo stands up and begins questioning him Milky continues to talk to Combo in a casual way and still smiles despite his suspicions on what his happening. It is only when Combo says a racial slur that the look on Milky's face becomes more serious only to begin smirking at Combo once his suspicions are confirmed. From this point the majority of close ups are on Combo and Milky aside from one of Shaun. This shows how this is between Combo and Milky and the other's are just observers, the one shot of Shaun shows that he is involved in some way as he is the only one that tries to prevent Combo from attacking Milky however he doesn't get physically involved and only talks to them
When Combo begins attacking Milky the camera constantly shifts between different types of shots however all of them either don't show Milky or obstruct him from view in some way, this prevents the audience from seeing the full extent of how much Combo's assault is hurting Milky which creates more tension as the audience will be in shock and constantly wondering if Milky is going to be alright. The point of view shot from Milky's perspective aligns the audience with him and makes them feel sympathetic to him as he didn't do anything to deserve the beating he is getting.
The England flag that Shaun gave to Combo in an earlier scene can be seen on the wall however it is dirtier then it was when it was initially scene. This represents how Combo is not exactly the proud English man that he thinks he is and is just a racist, the flag shows how people like Combo are not a good representative of England and instead just tainting its name.
This is also the scene where Shaun realises that Combo and his mates aren't the men he initially thought he was as he tries to stop Combo from attacking Milky only to be stopped and pinned down by Combo's friend. The camera often shifts between Combo assaulting Milky and Shaun struggling to get up informs the audience that this is not what Shaun wanted which is the opposite of Combo's mates as there is a close up of one of them smiling after Milky is assaulted
Thursday 6 December 2018
- All the characters are introduced in the scene however each of them are doing their own thing and in different locations
- Black cuts in between that characters
- Makoto is the only character shown twice
- Music is 'Burn My Dread' by Shoji Meguro. Somewhere between diagetic and non-diagetic as the music is playing through Makoto's headphones however the other characters cannot hear it
- The Music gets more intense as both the scene and actions that characters are doing get darker
- No sound from the scenes are heard other then the music
- Character's actions provides information about the characters however there is still a mystery surrounding them
- Dark and morbid quick images provide some more information about Makoto
Wednesday 28 November 2018
No Country For Old Men - Character Introductions
Sheriff Bell:
Sheriff Bell is the first character introduced to the audience however unlike the other two main characters the sheriff is not seen on screen at all in his introduction, instead the audience is introduced to him through a voice over. The voice over is the sheriff talking about his time in law enforcement and the current state of the world. He initially begins talking about how his father and grandfather were also lawmen and that he and his father were sheriffs at the same time. When he states that he was proud to be sheriff at the same time as his father it implies that his father is no longer a sheriff leading the audience to come to the conclusion that he is either retired or dead. Sheriff Bell also talks a lot about the 'old timers'. He mentions how they never used to carry guns which shows how lawmen in the old times didn't require physical force to do their jobs. The sheriff also mentions how he can't help but compare himself to the old timers which suggests that he wants to be like them however he also states that he wonders how the old timers would do in the present showing that he acknowledges that times have changed since then. When Sheriff Bell talks about person he arrested that killed a young girl he is clearly confused by the fact that there was no motive behind the crime as he states that he 'doesn't know what to make of that' the depicts the sheriff as living the past and not being able to understand and cope with the present. Sheriff Bell states that he is not afraid of crime has he knew he had to be willing to die to be a sheriff but he doesn't want to have to confront something that he doesn't understand. The sheriff opening voice over provides the audience with an idea of what the sheriff is like before they have even seen his face which gives them a better understanding of the sheriff and his views.
Anton Chigurh:
Anton Chigurh is the second main character that the audience is introduced to. Chigurh is first seen being arrested which provides the audience with a false sense of comfort as the 'bad guy' is typically defeated once they are arrested however the camera does not show Chigurh's face as he is being arrested which shrouds him in mystery and also creates a feeling of discomfort and anxiety despite the comforting feeling of him being arrested. Even when Chigurh is seen in the station after being arrested, he is in the background and out of focus so the audience still can't get a good look at his face. When Chigurh starts moving towards the officer it creates a sense of impending danger as the audience can tell that he is planning something. The shot also looks like a typical horror movie shot where the 'victim' is facing towards the camera and is unable to see the danger that behind them and is typically out of focus, this helps to emphasise that Chigurh does not fit in a western movie like this and is out of place. Chigurh's movements and actions show his intelligence and how effective he is as if he has done this before, which the audience assumes that he has. He attacks the officer at just the right time, being right after he hangs up the phone and before he can realise what's happening. The look on Chigurh's face as he kills the officer is a psychotic however he is still not shown in a traditional shot, all shots that depict him are either from a moving camera or a titled view and when he is shown in a traditional shot he is not the main focus of it, mostly being in the background and is hidden by shadow or is out of focus. The first time Chigurh is shown in a regular shot and when the audience can finally see his face properly he is shown with a disturbing smile. Chirgurh also has very few speaking lines in the scene he is introduced in, being limited to "Step out of the car please sir" and "will you hold still please sir" showing that he does not say more that is necessary. Chigurh also kills two people in the very same scene which demonstrates his disregard for human life.
Llewellyn Moss:
Sheriff Bell is the first character introduced to the audience however unlike the other two main characters the sheriff is not seen on screen at all in his introduction, instead the audience is introduced to him through a voice over. The voice over is the sheriff talking about his time in law enforcement and the current state of the world. He initially begins talking about how his father and grandfather were also lawmen and that he and his father were sheriffs at the same time. When he states that he was proud to be sheriff at the same time as his father it implies that his father is no longer a sheriff leading the audience to come to the conclusion that he is either retired or dead. Sheriff Bell also talks a lot about the 'old timers'. He mentions how they never used to carry guns which shows how lawmen in the old times didn't require physical force to do their jobs. The sheriff also mentions how he can't help but compare himself to the old timers which suggests that he wants to be like them however he also states that he wonders how the old timers would do in the present showing that he acknowledges that times have changed since then. When Sheriff Bell talks about person he arrested that killed a young girl he is clearly confused by the fact that there was no motive behind the crime as he states that he 'doesn't know what to make of that' the depicts the sheriff as living the past and not being able to understand and cope with the present. Sheriff Bell states that he is not afraid of crime has he knew he had to be willing to die to be a sheriff but he doesn't want to have to confront something that he doesn't understand. The sheriff opening voice over provides the audience with an idea of what the sheriff is like before they have even seen his face which gives them a better understanding of the sheriff and his views.
Anton Chigurh:
Anton Chigurh is the second main character that the audience is introduced to. Chigurh is first seen being arrested which provides the audience with a false sense of comfort as the 'bad guy' is typically defeated once they are arrested however the camera does not show Chigurh's face as he is being arrested which shrouds him in mystery and also creates a feeling of discomfort and anxiety despite the comforting feeling of him being arrested. Even when Chigurh is seen in the station after being arrested, he is in the background and out of focus so the audience still can't get a good look at his face. When Chigurh starts moving towards the officer it creates a sense of impending danger as the audience can tell that he is planning something. The shot also looks like a typical horror movie shot where the 'victim' is facing towards the camera and is unable to see the danger that behind them and is typically out of focus, this helps to emphasise that Chigurh does not fit in a western movie like this and is out of place. Chigurh's movements and actions show his intelligence and how effective he is as if he has done this before, which the audience assumes that he has. He attacks the officer at just the right time, being right after he hangs up the phone and before he can realise what's happening. The look on Chigurh's face as he kills the officer is a psychotic however he is still not shown in a traditional shot, all shots that depict him are either from a moving camera or a titled view and when he is shown in a traditional shot he is not the main focus of it, mostly being in the background and is hidden by shadow or is out of focus. The first time Chigurh is shown in a regular shot and when the audience can finally see his face properly he is shown with a disturbing smile. Chirgurh also has very few speaking lines in the scene he is introduced in, being limited to "Step out of the car please sir" and "will you hold still please sir" showing that he does not say more that is necessary. Chigurh also kills two people in the very same scene which demonstrates his disregard for human life.
Llewellyn Moss:
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