Film Essay

By Richard Davis

Module Title: Film Studies Module Number: 201AAD Module Lecturer: Claire Lapworth

Spectatorship Audience Responses to Cinema Q: How do filmmakers position us as spectators to entice emotional responses and through what techniques? Filmmakers are storytellers with a Camera, they look to entice emotional responses from an audience and they use many techniques to positions us as spectators. Early cinema, before 1917, was based on photography and the shots and camera positions were static, the action being recorded was simply playing out. 1917 saw the advent of the feature film (cinema) and the beginning of a cinematic language were being discovered. Films started to have a narrative and spectators became more involved as the film language developed. Film began to carry messages and values, leading to ideological messages in film. Studios and Directors wanted ways of controlling the look of the spectators, so they could produce appealing products for commercial exploitation. The director could also solidify the films intended meaning, making viewing pleasurable by controlling how the audience see the story and what feelings are elicited. Its the process of taking ideas, action, emotional subtext, tone and all other forms of nonverbal communication and rendering them in visual terms (Brown, 2002) Connecting with your target audience is critical to the success of a film. We know from a young age that children often ask to be read the same stories over and over, because they have formed a connection with the story being told and they crave the emotion attached to the story elements. In the movie theatre, as a captive audience, our senses are tuned into the world of the film, through its visuals and sound. A successful story will entice its audience to subliminally participate in the film, it invites them to feel emotions for the characters, setting, and the situation and experience the story from the inside. We find ourselves taking sides, rooting for certain characters, questioning characters decisions, thinking about what we would do in their situation. We identify with the on screen characters, we rationalise their behaviour and actions, we recognize part of ourselves in them and we get emotionally involved. These connections are formed with the application of emotional, physical and social techniques. Its about making an Emotional Connection. Filmmakers want the audience to connect with the story and characters; they do this through many different physical techniques, but also through many emotional techniques: Sympathy (making your protagonist a victim) Jeopardy (we identify with others who have anxieties or fears) Making your character likable (hard working, honest, funny) Interesting (if people are curious about you character, even if they are bad people are often drawn to them) the loveable looser (the underdog story, the vulnerable overcome the odds). Filmmakers put their characters in situations which generate sympathy and understanding. Audiences are drawn to characters that have

desirable attributes, whether they are funny, attractive, intelligent or strong, they often have qualities we would like to have or think we already essentially possess. When the characters we enjoy or connect with are placed in various scenarios, we want them to overcome or succeed in them. These emotional reactions are weaved into the story and characters through many of the physical film making techniques. People go to the cinema to see themselves on the screen. As an actor, people must identify with you. You cannot hold up a picture and say this is me, you hold up a mirror and say this is you (Michael Caine) Physical Connections, the connecting of light and sound, through the use of lenses, composition, visual design, image control, lighting, continuity, camera movement and point of view, these camera and sound techniques are used to draw people into the world of the film, forming the physical connection. These techniques include: The POV (Point of View) shot. Here we are able to see the world through the protagonists eyes, this is intended to represent their subjective view. The camera lens is physically placed at the eye level of the character, this gives the audience a sense of intimacy with the character and if he is the protagonist we may feel sympathy for them. In the 1978 film, Halloween (john Carpenter) the POV shot is used to show the world through the eyes of the antagonist Michael Myers, here the POV shot instantly lets the audience know where they are, inside the Killer, which can instil fear. Cut to: The Close-up. The close-up puts us in an intimate position with the character, this can make us feel sympathy for a character or fear if its the antagonist we are faced with. The director can also change our position with high and low angle shots. A high angle can make the subject look small and vulnerable, we can maybe see more than the characters, whats behind them, and this can build tension. A low angled shot makes someone appear bigger, more powerful, or dominant, as the audience our view is positioned by the director. A director can use light and dark, shallow and deep focus, or the introduction of a foreign object into a scene to direct the audiences eye on screen, this is called Directing the eye. Another way of directing the viewer is through orientation and shot length: A disorienting shot purposefully disorients. Continuity editing is about coherence and orientation. A long take can build tension, allow us to explore the scene, instil a sense of dread or simply make us uncomfortable. Long, wide takes can simulate us being in the room and watching from a distance. Irreversible (2002) directed by Gaspar Noe filmed a ten minute rape scene, one static shot, very voyeuristic and extremely uncomfortable to watch. Long close ups of characters invite us to ponder the characters feelings. In the edit, through montage, continuity, intercutting, split screen etc. editing can guide the emotional response of the audience by choosing how to portray events in the shots over time. Slow motion is used to draw attention to a short; it can add gravity to the action on screen. In Raging Bull (1980) directed by Martin Scorsese, the slow motion beating Jake receives increases our sympathy for him in that moment. Flashbacks let us see the back-story of the characters, so we can see where they are coming from and understand

why they are, the way they are. Foreshadowing allows the director to place an image or idea in the mind of the audience which can be called upon later in the film to evoke specific emotion/reaction. Film sound can also be used to evoke specific emotions or reactions. Diegetic sound refers to sound which exists in the world of the story, when a character hears an onscreen noise, an intruder in their house, for instance, we also get to experience the noise with them. Nondiegetic sound (sound which is not present in the films world) can be used to signal a meaning to an audience, or used as a voice over to express a characters thoughts. Music and poetry in film can be used to express ideas and feelings to audiences; it can be symbolic and signify moments of change in a situation. The Match cut: There are many forms of match cut; they generally mean that the visuals on screen are matched to the following visuals which convey a meaning. These visuals, often unconnected by time and space require the audience to fill in the gaps, and make connections in their own mind. The directors choice of Lenses is also critical to the filmmaking process as his choice of Lens can have many different effects. A wide angle lens can open up a scene; allow us to see multiple characters and their reactions on screen simultaneously. It can also show us the size of a space, or the distance between two characters. A fish eye lens will distort the images, this can reflect a characters distorted view of reality, or simply be the view from a video surveillance camera. A telephoto lens brings distance objects closer, this compresses space, and can be used to heighten suspense and give a lot of intimacy in a shot. Space and a cameras movement in that space is also important, this is called Camera Motion. A static shot, allows the scene to unfold on screen like a painting. The Pan and tilt shot can revel elements in the scene and show us what a character many be looking at. A rotation can be used to cause a disorientating effect. The tracking shot allows the camera freedom of movement, creating dynamic shots. The handheld shot creates an unstable image, and is often used to reflect a level of realism in the story. A good filmmaker uses all these physical film making techniques to position us as spectators to draw out a wealth of emotional responses, but its not just the physical techniques that matter, a social and Moral Premise is key in every successful movie; a set of social or moral values which are universally accepted by the target audience. These values are then forced into conflict with opposing values. Always make the audience suffer as much as possible. (Alfred Hitchcock) Having values the audience can identify with makes the real message of the film so much more powerful. In its simplest form, good Vs evil, Superman (1978) directed by Richard Donner, here we find a character (superman) who wants to help and protect others, social and morally right, the antagonist, Lex Luther, a criminal mastermind, is plotting the greatest real estate swindle of all time, is clearly evil. Its clear to the audience who they should be rooting for and because its socially and morally right, the message of the film is much more emotionally charged and powerful. So we can see that throughout a film, we are given cues and conventions to elicit certain responses. The cues appear in the form of sound, lighting,

camera movements etc. which alert us to upcoming events in the diegesis, whether it be a swift camera movement to prepare us for action, or the introduction of soft music to let us know romance is in the air, these cues lead us through the narrative. Conventions are understood by an audience as a way of telling a story visually, so we can enter the films world and accept its verisimilitude. I once thought drama was when the actor cried. But drama is when the audience cries (Frank Capra) With all that said, the problem still lies in controlling an audiences response to film, because everybodys ideas, beliefs and values are different, so yes, the director has a lot of tools to physically direct you, but can he control your response to a film? Who has the power in the creation of meaning of any film? This is a tough question, personally I believe the filmmaker goes a long way to create meaning in film and people decode these meanings, by interpreting the films with pre-existing expectation, knowledge and shared experiences, which all shape that meaning. So I believe a films audience will form their own meaning but its heavily subconsciously manipulated meaning. Film Movements French Surrealism Q: What is the relationship between the visual style and the subject matter of the films you have researched? Surrealism looked to give artistic form to the psychoanalytical theories of Sigmund Freud. Andre Breton, a French writer and poet, was originally a medic during the war and dealt with patients who suffered from what we now call post traumatic stress disorder, he looked to the writings of Freud to help him with those patients. Andre Breton became involved in the Dada art movement, which was born out of negative reaction to the horrors of World War 1. It was an anti art campaign that endeavoured to dispose of the legitimizations of establishment. Dadaism thrived on chaos, nihilism and irreverence, founders such as Tristan Tzara, wanted to deny art the ability to represent reality. Surrealism was born out of the ashes of Dadaism, which became less prolific as it had no real outward meaning. Surrealism became an escape from the harsh realities of the violent 20th century, it began in France but soon spread around the world. In the 1930s Salvador Dali and Marcel Duchamp thrived and surrealist art was exhibited all over the world. In the 1940s when World War 2 broke out, again it was a silent protest of the war. the surrealists created a film world in which the chance collision of Dada were bound by obsessional desire. Instead of the illogical, non-narrative and abstract strategies characteristic of Dada films, surrealist film-makers used conventional cinematography, optical realism and narrative to invite identification, in order to make the misappropriation and rupture of these techniques all the more shocking. (Cook & Bernink, 1999)

One of the most well known surrealist films Un Chien Andalou (1929) was a surrealist short film made in France written by Luis Buuel and Salvador Dali, directed by Luis Buuel. Visually the film uses Sigmund Freuds free association technique, there is no plot and the film is non linear. They used alternative camera angles and they juxtapose different images, creating shocking scenes, which at times can be offensive to the viewer. The film opens with a man sharpening a razor, which he then uses to cut open a womans eye, this is then cross cut with a shot of a cloud passing through a full moon. This could represent the filmmakers desire to open up the eyes of the audience, letting them see inside their dreams, this scene sets the tone of the film and lets us know we are in a dream like world, in which nothing is as it seems. They also blend many shots together, either by match on action (a womans armpit hair, turns to a spiky urchin on a beach) or dissolves, making objects appear and disappear (the tie on the bed), in one scene the male character gropes the clothed womans breasts, the shot dissolves and she is now naked, then it transforms and he now gropes her buttocks. Here I think they are trying to reflect that in the dream world it can be hard to distinguish one thing from another. One thing we know for sure is that Un chien Andalou presents us with visuals that represent the complex language of dreams. Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision. (Salvador Dal) Film Auteur David Lynch often works with the surreal. His 1977 film Eraserhead was a surrealist horror film (really it defies categorization), shot in black and white and deals with sex, dreams, god, life and death. With a very small script he used stylistic symbolism in very detailed ways to form a complex narrative. In the opening shot, Henrys head is superimposed over the image of a planet. Inside this planet, a workman pulls leavers. Henry opens his mouth and a worm-like creature emerges. Here I would assume the worker is a representation of God or a higher power and is connects with the giving of life, the worm-like creature a representing a sperm. We then follow Henry, walking home to his dark sparse apartment; this could reflect how we live today in our industrial world with our empty lives. He visits his girl friend to find out she has had his child, and at the dinner table the family eat shrunken chickens which bleed when cut. His baby is another worm-like creature, and when taken home, continually cries, eventually forcing his girlfriend to leave him. Its hard to pin point any one meaning in this film but I feel the child represents a fear of sex and being a parent, here he meets his girlfriends parents and is presented with a dead chicken, a link between life and death. Henry contemplates suicide and enters dream sequences where he meets a deformed lady who lives in his apartments radiator, in the dream the lady stamps on a worm-like creature. This lady could represent death or the devil, the radiator being hot (hell), it relates to henrys want to be set free from responsibility of fatherhood even though he know that is

fundamentally wrong to abandon the child. There is so much to talk about in this film, every scene is filled with meaning, so I wont go on, but its clear that the relationship between the visual style in this film and its subject matter is critical; the images inform us about the subject matter and are key to the films continued success. Most art movements dont have strict set of rules, and surrealism was no exception. You find the absurd juxtapositions of objects, things that dont normally go together. In surrealism normal objects also transform into things that cannot exists in reality. Surrealism presents images of terrible beauty, images that both attract us and shock us. In art and film, surrealists create compositions that combine these characteristics, creating an experience for the audience that does not have to make sense, but that is the goal of surrealism, to work on the level of dreams or the subconscious mind. Its artists create art to push limits and challenge the traditional perception of art. They want to create a balance between dreams and reality. Surrealism is not about breaking down rules, its about breaking down you and your view on the world, challenging the way you see things, opening you up to new experiences. A Surrealist wants to capture the emanations from an image of expression, believing you may be able to uncover some hidden truth in the artwork. The images can be about the emotions an image conveys, maybe because the emotions cannot be captured directly; its about the things that cant be seen, and the capturing of hidden worlds. National Cinema British Cinema Q: Look at some of the stylistic features apparent in the films you have studied. How do they make specific national cinema distinctive? Cinema often reflects the culture and landscape of a nation and Britain cinema did the same in the late 1950s. The free cinema movement was formed in the late 1950s and there was a belief that British cinema should break away from the class bound attitudes of the past and that the working class should be represented on screen. The style came from the tradition of British documentaries made in the 1930s. Also known as British New Wave, the style was characterised by many of the same traits from French New Wave and shared similarities with Cinema Novo, these new film movements influencing one another. They attempting to capture real life as it happened; using real locations and real people. In Britain the period between 1956 and 1963 was known as the Age of Affluence and In 1957 Prime Minister Harold McMillan stated: Most of our young people have never had it so good. Go round the country, go to the industrial towns, and you will see a state of prosperity such as we have never had in my lifetime nor indeed ever in the history of this country. In this period the young people of Briton became prosperous, having good jobs and money, but not the class status. Its easy to see why a new wave of film making would appear, films

with narratives that would speak to the audience of that time, for the young workers were the ones who went to cinema. Many of the British film of the time told the story of a working class hero. In Jack Claytons Room at the Top (1959) an ambitious white collar worker attempts to move up a class by marrying a rich mans daughter. The films hero has a working class accent making him easily identifiable to the audience. Many of the films of this period were adapted literary works from a new generation of writes and dramatists who became known as Angry young men, the young generations rebelling against old traditional forms which pushed for tradition through class. Saturday Night, Sunday Morning (1960) directed by Tony Richardson, was filmed on location around Nottingham and many of the films stylistic features appeared in most Kitchen sink dramas of that time. Previously, working-class characters in British cinema had largely been used for comic effect or as 'salt of the earth' cannon fodder. Here we see their lives at the centre of the action. That action, such as it is, details everyday dramas - hence 'the kitchen sink' tag. We see events through the emotional journeys of the characters. (Wickham, 2003) The films subject matter focused on the ordinary, contemporary lives of the working class. The films hero works in a factory, where his father also works, he lives in the moment and also has a broad accent, using typically British slang words such as duck (a term of endearment) and Fag (a cigarette). The first stylistic feature I notice is the authentic setting and costume, the hero even rides to work on a Raleigh racer bike, Raleigh being a British company who made bikes in Nottingham. We also find British motorbikes, packed working class housing, nosy old housewives with their head cloths (an image cemented in pop culture from the war), Double Decker buses, pints of beer, cups of tea and iconic British locations, the family living room, the fair and the pub. When looking at the story, the films of this time dramatise the tension between the working class heroes desire to do better for himself and his entrapment within a traditional working class culture. In Saturday Night, Sunday Morning the hero is afraid of being trapped by a woman, he defends his masculinity, proving his virility by doing whatever he pleases. Taking a look at the camera work and sound we find this is also very natural. Often film makes will want to show their imaginative flair, to make a name for themselves and gain some notoriety, but here the kitchen sink drama directors and DOPs showed incredible confidence in holding back and simply filming the action as naturally as possible, they never draw attention to themselves as many Hollywood directors would. The sound and light in these films as also predominantly natural sound and light that is present on location, again this demonstrates the directors confidence in the strength of the story, he does not need any tricks to grab the attention of the audience, the story and the actors do that for him.

Cinema of this period reflected the nation back on itself, projecting an image of Britain and what it means to be British. Its hard to describe exactly, but these films are rooted in reality much more than in other countries. There is a practical style to British cinema that runs in opposition to the spectacle driven US industry or the more philosophical French industry and the many specific stylistic features described above make British national cinema of this period distinctive. Bibliography B, Brown (2002) Cinematography theory and practice. Focal Press. Buckland, W (2008) Teach yourself film studies. Hodder Education. Cook, P & Bernink, M (1999) The Cinema book 2nd ed. BFI Publishing. Metz, C (1990) Film Language: A Semiotics of Cinema. University Of Chicago Press. Nelmes, J (1996) Introduction to film studies (4th ed). Routledge. Van Sijll, J (2005) Cinematic Storytelling. MWP. Filmography BFI (2005) Early cinema, Primitives and Pioneers. BFI. Bunuel, L (1929) Un Chien Andalou. Les Grands Films Classiques. Clayton, J (1959) Room at the Top. Romulus Films. Donner, R (1978) Superman. Warner Bros. Pictures. Griffith, D (1915) Birth of a nation. David W. Griffith Corp. Lynch, D (1977) Eraserhead. AFI Lynch, D (1997) Lost Highway. October Films Lynch, D (2001) Mulholland Drive. Universal Studios Noe, G (2002) Irreversible. Studio Canal. Richardson , T (1960) Saturday Night, Sunday Morning. Woodfall Film Productions. Scorsese, M (1980) Raging Bull. United Artists. Vertov, D (1929) Man with a movie camera. BFI. Webography www.brainyquote.com www.britishfilm.org.uk www.dictionary.reference.com www.filmreference.com www.goodreads.com www.screenonline.org.uk www.thesaurus.com www.wellcultured.com