In an aim to bring out equality across France's film industry, almost 300 professionals have signed up to a new movement that launched on the evening of France's prestigious Cesar awards: Collectif 5050x2020.
The movement's spokesperson, co-founder and film sales executive Berenice Vincent stated that their goal was to 'put in place concrete steps to bring about equality across the business'.
This movement sits amongst many other gender equality campaigns that have emerged in the film industry amidst the on-going reflection on female representation in cinema sparked by the anti-sexual harassment movement #MeToo.
The movement launches, however, against a complicated backdrop in France, where there has been a mixed response within the film industry and beyond to the related issues of sexual harassment and gender inequality in the cinema business
“In spite of the shockwave of #MeToo, French cinema has not really been shaken by the Weinstein affair, and nothing concrete has come out of it. It’s raised awareness of inequalities, but our expectations are for this to go further and for speeches to be joined by actions,” explained Vincent.
Vincent said the collective would act as an “action think tank” that would “create tools” aimed at changing present day thinking as well as put pressure on public institutions and the private section to make structural changes fostering gender equality.
Artistic figures joining the movement include directors Catherine Corsini, Justine Triet, Valérie Donzelli, Virginie Despentes, Robin Campillo, Jacques Audiard, Laurent Cantet, Bertrand Bonello, Thomas Cailley and Houda Benyamina as well as actresses Léa Seydoux, Lily-Rose Depp, Clemence Poésy, Virginie Efira and Natacha Regnier.
Thursday, 8 March 2018
WEEKLY FILM: The Neon Demon
The Neon Demon is a 2016 psychological horror film directed & co-produced by Nicolas Winding Refn, produced by Lene Børglum & starring Elle Fanning. The film tells the story of a 16-year-old Jesse who moves to Los Angeles in pursuit of a modelling career. The main themes throughout the movie (in my opinion) are envy, beauty, narcissism & danger.
The movie was announced on November 3rd, 2014, by Refn's production company Space Rocket Nation, alongside his its co-financiers Gaumont Film Company & Wild Bunch. Filming began on location in Los Angeles in late March of 2015 and the film was finally released in May of 2016 at the Cannes Film Festival: all filming was carried out in California, with the majority being true to the film and in Los Angeles, with the exception of a few scenes: the house by the beach being shot in Malibu, Jesse's motel being shot in Pasadena, & the end credits scene being shot in Amboy. Interestingly, another way Refn stayed true to the film's script was by casting Elle Fanning, who was 16 at the time of filming just like her character Jesse.
In January 2015, Refn revealed that the script was inspired by both Elizabeth Bathory and his wife. Bathory inspired him because of her reported violent tendencies, as he had 'made enough films about violent men' and wanted to make a film with only women as a point of focus. His wife inspired him because she was apparently tired of travelling anywhere but L.A. and wanted to only go there, so Refn came up with the idea and went to L.A.
The film's cinematography was carried out by Argentinian cinematographer Natasha Braier, who won the Robert Award for Best Cinematography for her work on The Neon Demon. For the first half of the film, the colour blue is very prominent in the film's lighting and colour scheme; this is because Jesse's story arc mirrors the Greek myth of Narcissus, who falls in love with his reflection in water. This is shown when Jesse walks in Sarno's fashion show, as she has a similar vision to one she had earlier on in the film where she hallucinated a neon blue triangle; in this scene, the triangle turns from blue to red as Jesse's new narcissistic persona, which people have speculated to actually be the 'neon demon', emerges. As fashion plays a big part in the film, a lot of shots are very aesthetically pleasing and feature symmetry and sometimes minimalism; these visually appealing shots could suggest Jesse's outlook of life and how she sees everything as beautiful.
Performance in The Neon Demon helps convey to the audience that this world of beauty has a melancholy atmosphere and isn't all it's cracked up to be. For instance, almost every character seems to be drained from any life or emotion when they talk, apart from when their façade is stripped away or they are putting on false emotions. A good example of false emotions is when Ruby, Jesse's makeup artist or 'friend', talks to Jesse and appears to be a trustworthy person, when really it is revealed to the audience that she is not at the end of the film.
The Neon Demon's editing helps to show Jesse's emotions and her main emotional turning point. For instance, when Jesse cuts her hand at the casting for Sarno's fashion show and Sarah attempts to suck the blood from her hand, she goes home immediately, faints, and hallucinates strange images, shown by a series of sharp cuts in the scene; this suggests that Sarah may have affected the way Jesse thinks, which is a strong hint at the idea that Sarah, Gigi and Ruby are all witches or cult members. Jesse's turning point also features many cuts and flashing images, which make the scene difficult to focus on; this could suggest that Jesse's authentic persona is being pushed down by her new narcissistic persona and is finding it difficult to fight back.
The film's soundtrack was composed by Cliff Martinez, who had worked with Refn previously on his film Drive. Martinez described the soundtrack as a 'sparse electronic score' and compared (musically) the film's first half to 'a melodrama like Valley of the Dolls' and the second half to Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This emphasises both Jesse's and the whole film's turning point and helps convey to the audience how big of a change happens when transitioning from the first to the second half.
The film received mixed reviews by both critics and audiences, with some saying that the film was stylish but had an underdeveloped plot and thinly written characters, and others saying that Refn pushes the plot past its logical end point to land on a 'jaw-dropping' end sequence. The film received half of it's $7 million budget at the box office and both a standing ovation and a disappointed audience at the Cannes Film Festival. This could be because of the film's controversial and strong occult themes shown towards the end of the film; for instance, when Ruby visits her second job as a makeup artist for the dead in a morgue, she reveals herself to be a necrophiliac, which can obviously make an audience uncomfortable. A 'ritual' shown just before the film's end shows Ruby with occult tattoos and blood gushing from her body in a room lit by moonlight, which is where the theory that Gigi, Sarah and Ruby are either witches, cult members or both. A theme a cannibalism is also brought up when Gigi vomits Jesse's eyeball at the very end of the film. All of these themes combined can obviously make a general audience who are not fans of experimental film uncomfortable.
The movie was announced on November 3rd, 2014, by Refn's production company Space Rocket Nation, alongside his its co-financiers Gaumont Film Company & Wild Bunch. Filming began on location in Los Angeles in late March of 2015 and the film was finally released in May of 2016 at the Cannes Film Festival: all filming was carried out in California, with the majority being true to the film and in Los Angeles, with the exception of a few scenes: the house by the beach being shot in Malibu, Jesse's motel being shot in Pasadena, & the end credits scene being shot in Amboy. Interestingly, another way Refn stayed true to the film's script was by casting Elle Fanning, who was 16 at the time of filming just like her character Jesse.
In January 2015, Refn revealed that the script was inspired by both Elizabeth Bathory and his wife. Bathory inspired him because of her reported violent tendencies, as he had 'made enough films about violent men' and wanted to make a film with only women as a point of focus. His wife inspired him because she was apparently tired of travelling anywhere but L.A. and wanted to only go there, so Refn came up with the idea and went to L.A.
The film's cinematography was carried out by Argentinian cinematographer Natasha Braier, who won the Robert Award for Best Cinematography for her work on The Neon Demon. For the first half of the film, the colour blue is very prominent in the film's lighting and colour scheme; this is because Jesse's story arc mirrors the Greek myth of Narcissus, who falls in love with his reflection in water. This is shown when Jesse walks in Sarno's fashion show, as she has a similar vision to one she had earlier on in the film where she hallucinated a neon blue triangle; in this scene, the triangle turns from blue to red as Jesse's new narcissistic persona, which people have speculated to actually be the 'neon demon', emerges. As fashion plays a big part in the film, a lot of shots are very aesthetically pleasing and feature symmetry and sometimes minimalism; these visually appealing shots could suggest Jesse's outlook of life and how she sees everything as beautiful.
Performance in The Neon Demon helps convey to the audience that this world of beauty has a melancholy atmosphere and isn't all it's cracked up to be. For instance, almost every character seems to be drained from any life or emotion when they talk, apart from when their façade is stripped away or they are putting on false emotions. A good example of false emotions is when Ruby, Jesse's makeup artist or 'friend', talks to Jesse and appears to be a trustworthy person, when really it is revealed to the audience that she is not at the end of the film.
The Neon Demon's editing helps to show Jesse's emotions and her main emotional turning point. For instance, when Jesse cuts her hand at the casting for Sarno's fashion show and Sarah attempts to suck the blood from her hand, she goes home immediately, faints, and hallucinates strange images, shown by a series of sharp cuts in the scene; this suggests that Sarah may have affected the way Jesse thinks, which is a strong hint at the idea that Sarah, Gigi and Ruby are all witches or cult members. Jesse's turning point also features many cuts and flashing images, which make the scene difficult to focus on; this could suggest that Jesse's authentic persona is being pushed down by her new narcissistic persona and is finding it difficult to fight back.
The film's soundtrack was composed by Cliff Martinez, who had worked with Refn previously on his film Drive. Martinez described the soundtrack as a 'sparse electronic score' and compared (musically) the film's first half to 'a melodrama like Valley of the Dolls' and the second half to Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This emphasises both Jesse's and the whole film's turning point and helps convey to the audience how big of a change happens when transitioning from the first to the second half.
The film received mixed reviews by both critics and audiences, with some saying that the film was stylish but had an underdeveloped plot and thinly written characters, and others saying that Refn pushes the plot past its logical end point to land on a 'jaw-dropping' end sequence. The film received half of it's $7 million budget at the box office and both a standing ovation and a disappointed audience at the Cannes Film Festival. This could be because of the film's controversial and strong occult themes shown towards the end of the film; for instance, when Ruby visits her second job as a makeup artist for the dead in a morgue, she reveals herself to be a necrophiliac, which can obviously make an audience uncomfortable. A 'ritual' shown just before the film's end shows Ruby with occult tattoos and blood gushing from her body in a room lit by moonlight, which is where the theory that Gigi, Sarah and Ruby are either witches, cult members or both. A theme a cannibalism is also brought up when Gigi vomits Jesse's eyeball at the very end of the film. All of these themes combined can obviously make a general audience who are not fans of experimental film uncomfortable.
Fish Tank
Fish Tank is a 2009 British drama written and directed by Andrea Arnold. The film tells the
story of a young, volatile 15-year-old girl - Mia William (Katie Jarvis) - and her relationship with her mother Joanne's (Kierston Wareing) new boyfriend Conor (Michael Fassbender). The main themes in the film include isolation, love, class, and family.
Filming & principal photography for began Fish Tank began on 28 July 2008 over 6 weeks and was filmed in chronological order on location in Essex: the cast were given the scripts for their scenes at the end of each week so that they would be unaware of what happens to their characters when performing each scene.
Interestingly, Katie Jarvis had no prior acting experience before the film, but was scouted by one of Arnold's casting assistants at Tilbury Town station , the railway station featured in the film, while she was arguing with her boyfriend.
Cinematography for Fish Tank was carried out by Robbie Ryan, who first worked with Arnold on her 2003 short film Wasp and then her first feature length film, Red Road. Throughout the film, the filming technique, lighting and colour scheme is very reminiscent of Wasp, particularly Arnold's seemingly favoured handheld filming technique; this creates a strong sense of realism in the film, as it seems as if someone was really there filming Mia's endeavours. This sense of realism helps us as an audience to connect with Mia's character more. The similar (to Wasp) lighting and colour scheme in Fish Tank creates a theory that perhaps the characters are connected somehow, even though they are set in different locations. Although the aesthetic of the film bears some similarity to Wasp, it still differs itself by showcasing a lot of cold colour and lighting schemes, which sort of create a sense of sadness or depression. This helps to show the audience how Mia is feeling, as often in the film the lighting shifts with Mia's apparent mood: for instance, when Mia is taken out for a drive with Conor and her family, the lighting and colour warms up from the grey, melancholy setting of their flat (this also creates the idea that Mia feels better when she escapes from home and doesn't feel so lonely anymore, therefore enhancing the theme of isolation). The final shot of the film features some warm lighting and some pink colours, showing a heart shaped balloon floating away to represent Mia finally escaping her isolation.
Performance in Fish Tank helps to create that sense of realism that the handheld filming technique does. As this was Jarvis' debut role, as well as the circumstances in which Jarvis was cast, it shows the audience how authentic Mia's character is, almost as if Mia was slightly modelled off of Jarvis herself. This again connects us as an audience to her character. The other cast members' performances are also authentic and convincing, particularly Mia's younger sister Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths) who is portrayed as both slightly mature and childish simultaneously without making it seem too false.
Editing throughout the film is minimal and low-key, a clear use of invisible editing, again adding to that sense of realism. The aspect ratio of the film remains square and smaller than most feature length films, which immediately shows the audience Mia's feelings of isolation as well as the feeling of being cramped in.
Sound and music play a very big part in Fish Tank. For example, throughout the film, the majority of the time Mia carries around a bag containing a CD player and speakers, which get taken from her by Billy's (Harry Treadaway) - Mia's second love interest - friends or maybe brothers, prompting her to later go back to get them, showing the importance of music to her. Music also seems to be a way the characters can really connect with each other and relax around each other. For example, an awkward and almost spiteful tension is clearly held between Mia and her mother Joanne, but even music can make the tension fizzle out and break the barrier between them; this is obvious in one of the final scenes in which Mia is saying goodbye before she goes to Cardiff and ends up dancing with both her mother and sister to one of her favourite songs. Music also helps bring certain characters to the audience's memory, specifically California Dreamin', Conor's favourite song which appears several times in the film, which suggests that Mia is thinking of Conor in those moments.
Fish Tank was received extremely well by critics and audiences, receiving a 91% positive review from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and an average audience rating of 7.6 out of 10. The film also received almost double its budget of $3 million in the box office and was described by the New Yorker's David Denby as a 'commanding, emotionally satisfying movie'. Fish Tank also won the Cannes Jury Prize with the consensus stating that the film is 'gritty British realism at it's best'
Filming & principal photography for began Fish Tank began on 28 July 2008 over 6 weeks and was filmed in chronological order on location in Essex: the cast were given the scripts for their scenes at the end of each week so that they would be unaware of what happens to their characters when performing each scene.
Interestingly, Katie Jarvis had no prior acting experience before the film, but was scouted by one of Arnold's casting assistants at Tilbury Town station , the railway station featured in the film, while she was arguing with her boyfriend.
Cinematography for Fish Tank was carried out by Robbie Ryan, who first worked with Arnold on her 2003 short film Wasp and then her first feature length film, Red Road. Throughout the film, the filming technique, lighting and colour scheme is very reminiscent of Wasp, particularly Arnold's seemingly favoured handheld filming technique; this creates a strong sense of realism in the film, as it seems as if someone was really there filming Mia's endeavours. This sense of realism helps us as an audience to connect with Mia's character more. The similar (to Wasp) lighting and colour scheme in Fish Tank creates a theory that perhaps the characters are connected somehow, even though they are set in different locations. Although the aesthetic of the film bears some similarity to Wasp, it still differs itself by showcasing a lot of cold colour and lighting schemes, which sort of create a sense of sadness or depression. This helps to show the audience how Mia is feeling, as often in the film the lighting shifts with Mia's apparent mood: for instance, when Mia is taken out for a drive with Conor and her family, the lighting and colour warms up from the grey, melancholy setting of their flat (this also creates the idea that Mia feels better when she escapes from home and doesn't feel so lonely anymore, therefore enhancing the theme of isolation). The final shot of the film features some warm lighting and some pink colours, showing a heart shaped balloon floating away to represent Mia finally escaping her isolation.Performance in Fish Tank helps to create that sense of realism that the handheld filming technique does. As this was Jarvis' debut role, as well as the circumstances in which Jarvis was cast, it shows the audience how authentic Mia's character is, almost as if Mia was slightly modelled off of Jarvis herself. This again connects us as an audience to her character. The other cast members' performances are also authentic and convincing, particularly Mia's younger sister Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths) who is portrayed as both slightly mature and childish simultaneously without making it seem too false.
Editing throughout the film is minimal and low-key, a clear use of invisible editing, again adding to that sense of realism. The aspect ratio of the film remains square and smaller than most feature length films, which immediately shows the audience Mia's feelings of isolation as well as the feeling of being cramped in.
Sound and music play a very big part in Fish Tank. For example, throughout the film, the majority of the time Mia carries around a bag containing a CD player and speakers, which get taken from her by Billy's (Harry Treadaway) - Mia's second love interest - friends or maybe brothers, prompting her to later go back to get them, showing the importance of music to her. Music also seems to be a way the characters can really connect with each other and relax around each other. For example, an awkward and almost spiteful tension is clearly held between Mia and her mother Joanne, but even music can make the tension fizzle out and break the barrier between them; this is obvious in one of the final scenes in which Mia is saying goodbye before she goes to Cardiff and ends up dancing with both her mother and sister to one of her favourite songs. Music also helps bring certain characters to the audience's memory, specifically California Dreamin', Conor's favourite song which appears several times in the film, which suggests that Mia is thinking of Conor in those moments.Fish Tank was received extremely well by critics and audiences, receiving a 91% positive review from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and an average audience rating of 7.6 out of 10. The film also received almost double its budget of $3 million in the box office and was described by the New Yorker's David Denby as a 'commanding, emotionally satisfying movie'. Fish Tank also won the Cannes Jury Prize with the consensus stating that the film is 'gritty British realism at it's best'
Tuesday, 23 January 2018
WEEKLY FILM: Under The Skin
Under The Skin is a 108 minute Sci-Fi Thriller starring Scarlett Johansson. It tells the story of an otherworldly young woman who drives around Scotland and tries to lure men into her van. It was co-written and directed by English filmmaker Jonathan Glazer and produced by James Wilson and Nick Wechsler.
Glazer and his co-writer Milo Addica, who was to be later replaced by Walter Campbell, wrote and rewrote the script several times before arriving at an elaborate, big budget concept: an alien husband and wife disguised as farmers. This concept went ahead with Brad Pitt cast as the husband; however, progress was slow. Glazer changed his mind and decided to make a film about an alien's first experience in the human world from a female perspective. Several actresses were considered for the lead, including Gemma Arterton who was Glazer's first choice. However, in order to achieve sufficient funding they required a bigger, more well known star. This brought Glazer to choosing Scarlett Johansson who stayed committed to the project for four years up until it was finished.
During filming, Glazer really wanted realistic and organic scenes. To achieve this, most of Johansson's conversations in her van were unscripted and filmed with hidden cameras (after the scenes were they were obviously asked if they really wanted to take part in the film). Hidden cameras were utilised often in the film; not only in the van, but also when Johansson was walking through the shopping centre to 're-invent' her human disguise.
A lot of the general visual style of Under The Skin strongly reminded me of The Neon Demon, particularly the scene in which one of Laura's victims seems to have his insides literally sucked out and deposited into some sort of thin red reservoir - another possible example of alien technology. In terms of the majority of the film, the melancholy nature and colour palette of the film links the cinematography to The Neon Demon even further. One more scene that strongly reminds me of The Neon Demon is the scene in which Laura is dragged into a nightclub by a group of (supposedly drunk) women; the scene is filled with flashing red lights
Cinematography was carried out by Daniel Landin, who had worked with Glazer previously on his debut film. I believe Landin intended the visuals to appear melancholy and dark to connote Laura's emotions, or lack thereof, as throughout the film more colour gets introduced to the visuals as Laura begins to become more 'human' and understand humans more. The final scene is almost completely white or grey when Laura is burned alive in the snow; to me, this connotes Laura's loss of any sort of emotion forever, or even her sadness when she dies knowing she will never get to fully understand or experience human emotion.
also uses eye contact as a tool of manipulation when luring her victims into her van by faking a warm, friendly face; this links to the saying 'the eyes are the window to the soul'. She also uses her own eyes to examine her human face disguise to try and understand why she has the urge to stop what she is doing - which she does after looking into a mirror for a few minutes.
Performance in the film is undoubtedly impressive; Johansson successfully pulled all of her personality from her character Laura and made her seem literally alien and emotionless. Personally, I feel that all or the majority of performance credit goes to Johansson, as she actually had the challenge of trying to make a scene seem organic whereas the other actors had their conversations with Johansson filmed, making it obviously a ton easier for them to make an organic scene. Performance from other main characters such as the Bad Man - played by championship motorcycle road racer Jeremy McWilliams since they needed a world class motorcyclist who could ride around the Scottish highlands at top speeds - is impressive as well since they too had to drain all sort of personality and sense of humanity from their performances.
Editing for Under The Skin was done for Glazer by Paul Watts. Glazer commented on how editing in Under The Skin was a 'rigorous process' as they ended up with 270 hours of footage to transform into a 2 hour film when they had wrapped up filming. Another factor that made editing tedious for both Glazer and Watts was how Glazer needed to see what was being edited to create a vision and idea for that scene.
2 montages happen within the film; one focusing on men living their lives throughout Scotland (interestingly, none of these men knew they were being filmed so everything was organic in this montage), and another focusing on women instead - the intent of each montage is different however, as the male montage is about Laura studying and learning about human men (her subjects essentially) and the female montage is about Laura studying how women act and their emotions as she feels herself wanting to become more 'human'.
The most impressive and fascinating part of Under The Skins editing is the scenes in what I have decided to call the 'black void room', also coined as the 'black veil' by other viewers. The parts of the scenes in which Laura's victims sink into the floor were all shot in a room with a pool that had a floor that lowered - the black tar looking substance was all added with computer editing, which I personally find impressive.
Composer Mica Levi composed Under The Skin's entire score with sound production by Peter Raeburn. Raeburn had suggested Levi to Glazer after hearing her collaboration with London Sinfonietta, Chopped and Screwed.
Glazer wanted the film's soundtrack to mirror Laura's feelings as she experiences new things like food or sex for the first time. To guide Levi in achieving this, he gave her prompts such as "What does it feel like to be on fire?" - to me, this reflects a lot of Laura's main dialogue in the film which consists of questions like "Do you think I'm pretty?" and "Are you alone?" (this emphasises the idea that Laura is trying to learn about humans).
Taking inspiration from musicians like Giacinto Scelsi and John Cage as well as music commonly played in strip clubs, Levi used mainly a viola to write and record the film's soundtrack over 10 months. Levi used natural and 'identifiably human' sounds of her instrument, and the altered the pitch to make them 'uncomfortable'.
A lot of Under The Skin's sound strongly reminds me of the sound in Blade Runner (both the original and the new sequel). The opening scene in particular reminds me of the scenes in Blade Runner 2049 in which Joe/K undergoes a test where he has to repeat a bunch of words to an examiner; in the 'creation' scene of Under The Skin, Laura can be heard saying and repeating a lot of words, one after another - presumably to learn the English language before she is put on Earth. Also, the general 'dipped in turpentine' sense of the whole soundtrack, excluding the track 'Love', is very similar to Blade Runner.
Going back to the track 'Love' (which plays over the female montage I referenced earlier) - to me, this is the most significant piece of music in the film as it marks Laura's turning point. It is the 'warmest' and 'gentle' track in the film that reflects Laura's desire to be more like a human woman.
The final parts of the film feature less music to emphasise the sounds of the natural world Laura is experiencing.
One central theme in Under The Skin, suggested by Duane Dudek, is identity crisis; Dudek speculated that when Laura assumed her human disguise and started gathering information on human and their activity, this induced an identity crisis that causes her to 'spin out of control like a broken machine'. This idea of identity crisis helps to explain the beginning of the film where the Bad Man collects an unconscious woman from the darkness at the side of an empty road; the next scene shows a naked Laura donning the 'unconscious' woman's clothes and then shows the woman crying - the suggested identity crisis theme explains to the audience that this woman is probably another alien who also went through Laura's identity crisis but didn't get killed before the Bad Man tracked her down.
Another main theme of the film is feminist and gender themes as well as themes of rape culture despite the fact that Glazer explained that he wanted to show a "human experience rather than a gender experience". Some critics commented on a sense of 'aggressive sexuality' and 'reverse rape culture' as the woman in the film has the control and power and the men are manipulated and used instead.
Despite being a box office failure (almost half of it's original $13.3 million budget), Under The Skin collected several positive reviews, but also had a majority of negative reviews. From my own findings and research, it seems to me that seasoned film critics and passionate fans of film loved the film and managed to pull a lot of understanding from the film. However general moviegoers and audiences actually tended to hate the film, with their reasoning mainly being that it was 'too slow paced' and boring to them; in my opinion, this is because these people aren't as dedicated or interested in analysing film and creating their own ideas from films as other film fanatics or seasoned critics are. One negative review in particular that came from a 'general audience' member came off as very ignorant; this review stated that the film had nothing going on in it, he didn't understand it and it was too long, but the only good thing about it was that he got to see Scarlett Johansson naked. This just suggested to me that some general moviegoers are indeed ignorant and adamant about ignoring or not bothering to try and understand the point or general connotations of a film.
In conclusion, Under The Skin effectively gives the audience a visually appealing and captivating performance as well as creating a rare and different take on the way stories are told within cinema.
Here is the trailer for Under The Skin:
The most impressive and fascinating part of Under The Skins editing is the scenes in what I have decided to call the 'black void room', also coined as the 'black veil' by other viewers. The parts of the scenes in which Laura's victims sink into the floor were all shot in a room with a pool that had a floor that lowered - the black tar looking substance was all added with computer editing, which I personally find impressive.Composer Mica Levi composed Under The Skin's entire score with sound production by Peter Raeburn. Raeburn had suggested Levi to Glazer after hearing her collaboration with London Sinfonietta, Chopped and Screwed.
Glazer wanted the film's soundtrack to mirror Laura's feelings as she experiences new things like food or sex for the first time. To guide Levi in achieving this, he gave her prompts such as "What does it feel like to be on fire?" - to me, this reflects a lot of Laura's main dialogue in the film which consists of questions like "Do you think I'm pretty?" and "Are you alone?" (this emphasises the idea that Laura is trying to learn about humans).
Taking inspiration from musicians like Giacinto Scelsi and John Cage as well as music commonly played in strip clubs, Levi used mainly a viola to write and record the film's soundtrack over 10 months. Levi used natural and 'identifiably human' sounds of her instrument, and the altered the pitch to make them 'uncomfortable'.
A lot of Under The Skin's sound strongly reminds me of the sound in Blade Runner (both the original and the new sequel). The opening scene in particular reminds me of the scenes in Blade Runner 2049 in which Joe/K undergoes a test where he has to repeat a bunch of words to an examiner; in the 'creation' scene of Under The Skin, Laura can be heard saying and repeating a lot of words, one after another - presumably to learn the English language before she is put on Earth. Also, the general 'dipped in turpentine' sense of the whole soundtrack, excluding the track 'Love', is very similar to Blade Runner.
Going back to the track 'Love' (which plays over the female montage I referenced earlier) - to me, this is the most significant piece of music in the film as it marks Laura's turning point. It is the 'warmest' and 'gentle' track in the film that reflects Laura's desire to be more like a human woman.
The final parts of the film feature less music to emphasise the sounds of the natural world Laura is experiencing.
One central theme in Under The Skin, suggested by Duane Dudek, is identity crisis; Dudek speculated that when Laura assumed her human disguise and started gathering information on human and their activity, this induced an identity crisis that causes her to 'spin out of control like a broken machine'. This idea of identity crisis helps to explain the beginning of the film where the Bad Man collects an unconscious woman from the darkness at the side of an empty road; the next scene shows a naked Laura donning the 'unconscious' woman's clothes and then shows the woman crying - the suggested identity crisis theme explains to the audience that this woman is probably another alien who also went through Laura's identity crisis but didn't get killed before the Bad Man tracked her down. Another main theme of the film is feminist and gender themes as well as themes of rape culture despite the fact that Glazer explained that he wanted to show a "human experience rather than a gender experience". Some critics commented on a sense of 'aggressive sexuality' and 'reverse rape culture' as the woman in the film has the control and power and the men are manipulated and used instead.
Despite being a box office failure (almost half of it's original $13.3 million budget), Under The Skin collected several positive reviews, but also had a majority of negative reviews. From my own findings and research, it seems to me that seasoned film critics and passionate fans of film loved the film and managed to pull a lot of understanding from the film. However general moviegoers and audiences actually tended to hate the film, with their reasoning mainly being that it was 'too slow paced' and boring to them; in my opinion, this is because these people aren't as dedicated or interested in analysing film and creating their own ideas from films as other film fanatics or seasoned critics are. One negative review in particular that came from a 'general audience' member came off as very ignorant; this review stated that the film had nothing going on in it, he didn't understand it and it was too long, but the only good thing about it was that he got to see Scarlett Johansson naked. This just suggested to me that some general moviegoers are indeed ignorant and adamant about ignoring or not bothering to try and understand the point or general connotations of a film.
In conclusion, Under The Skin effectively gives the audience a visually appealing and captivating performance as well as creating a rare and different take on the way stories are told within cinema.
Here is the trailer for Under The Skin:
Wednesday, 17 January 2018
WEEKLY FILM: It Follows
The film was written and directed by David Robert Mitchell and produced by 5 different producers under the production companies Northern Lights Films, Animal Kingdom & Two Flints. Mitchell began writing the film whilst working on a separate project that was intended to be his second feature film in 2011, which was pushed aside when Mitchell decided It Follows should be his next big film. He conceived the idea for the film based on his recurring dreams he had when he was younger about being followed: 'I didn't use those images for the film, but the basic idea and the feeling I used.' The idea to use the concept of sexual transmission came into play later in his writing as he liked the idea of something that could transfer person to person.
Cinematography was carried out by Mike Gioulakis, who wasn't too well known before It Follows. The main thing that stands out about the cinematography in the film is the minimalistic style and muted colour palette. Everything was shot in Detroit, Michigan on a wide-angled lenses, which Mitchell wanted to use to give the film an expansive look; this explains why the background of each scene is very apparent and gets the audience to pay more attention to everything going on in every scene. Mitchell took creative inspiration from the works of Gregory Crewdson, an American photographer best known for his slightly minimalistic and melancholy artworks; this explains the film's slight sense of 80's surreal suburban aesthetic, particularly the scene in which Jay sleeps with Hugh in his car. Lighting in the film is dim and melancholy, which again is due to Crewdson being Mitchell's main inspiration in terms of visuals.Performances in the film are very impressive and convincing. Every actor helped to add to the sort of miserable, dark theme that runs throughout the film, but to me the most notable performance is that of Maika Monroe who plays main character Jay. Some other great honourable mentions are Jake Weary as Hugh, Keir Gilchrist as Paul and Olivia Luccardi as Yara.
Editing in the film is mostly invisible, with smooth transitions and no harsh jump cuts, so there's not too much to say about It Follows' editing.
Sound in It Follows is one of the film's best features. The film's score was written and composed by Disasterpeace under the Editions Milan Music label. The whole score has an electronic vibe which enhances the 80's vibe I mentioned previously; overall, it is very reminiscent of typical 80's horror soundtracks, but has its own unique twist which makes it easily recognisable as the music from It Follows.
It Follows received extremely positive response from both seasoned critics and general audiences, receiving an overall 97% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and getting a critic consensus of 'a rare modern horror film that works on multiple levels - and leaves a lingering sting'.
Something interesting to note about It Follows is the interpretation of the films themes and meanings: many viewers theorised that Mitchell intended the film to be a parable to HIV/AIDS, other STIs and the social perceptions of the 'sexual revolution' and 'primal anxieties' of intimacy.
Overall, It Follows is an interesting take of psychological thrillers and horrors that gives audiences a fresh, new category of horror to enjoy.
Wednesday, 29 November 2017
60 Second Western
For our 60 second Western film, we decided to set it in a classroom and keep a semi comedic narrative.
We focused mostly on getting the cinematography right as well as the common codes & conventions of the Western genre.
Our roles were as follows:
- Jamie & Robbie: Actors
- Jean-Luc: Cameraman & DOP
- Amber: Director & DOP
Watch our 60 second Western below :-)
Thursday, 23 November 2017
No Country For Old Men: Coin Toss Scenes
In No Country For Old Men, coin tosses are a central element and key feature of the whole film. The first time we see a coin toss and the last time we see one are both significant moments in the film.
The first scene including a coin toss is often considered one of the most famous scenes of the film.
In this scene, Chigurh is in a tiny petrol/gas station in the middle of nowhere when he comes across the shop keep and asks how much the nuts he is eating and the gas he wants will be. The initial conversation seems quite low key and calm, but then he shop keep comments on Chigurh travelling from Dallas and Chigurh immediately gets annoyed. The key turning point to show Chigurh's annoyance is when he calls the shop keep 'friendo' The conversation had began with the shop keep asking Chigurh questions, but as soon as Chigurh becomes irritated the tables turn and he is now asking questions or answers the shop keep with questions each time. This clearly makes the shop keep uncomfortable as he knows Chigurh is trying to intimidate him and make him nervous. This dialogue is a key element in creating the tension in the scene.
The framing of the scene and lighting is done strategically (to me). Throughout the shop keep seems framed by the window behind him which connotes a feeling of isolation. Also, in every shot of the shop keep, things that look very much like nooses can be seen behind him at all times, connoting a strong theme of death or even misery. The framing of Chigurh is pretty wide and general, however, Chigurh is the only one that we can see has an obvious way out of the situation (the door); the shop keep is kept behind the shop counter, keeping him from an easy escape if he needed one. The lighting at the beginning of the scene is very light and warm until we are brought into the shop; now, the lighting is a little dark and grey. To me, the lighting on Chigurh is the most significant; it appears two toned which could signify Chigurh's conflicting thoughts and feelings - he feels angry and irritated so wants to hurt the shop keep, but feels he must stick to his 'coin toss' philosophy.
Editing in the scene is low key but still apparent. The first piece of editing that becomes apparent is the constant cuts to shots over the character's shoulders when they engage in dialogue. The second piece of apparent editing is the very slow zooms when the tension reaches it peak (when the shop keep finally calls heads or tails). These slow zooms create a feeling of intimidation from the shop keep's perspective as it seems as if Chigurh is moving closer and closer.
The music in the scene is the smallest feature. The only piece of music in this scene is tiny and barely noticeable, but it's still there, perhaps to represent the building tension and fear in the scene. Also, the music reminds me of the sounds people can barely hear that (apparently) makes the human brain feel fear that editors of horror movies use.
Both actors' performance in this scene is fantastic and very convincing. Javier Bardem's performance throughout the whole film is amazing but also alarming that he can portray a psychopath so well, but I find this scene to differ to the majority of his performance; he creates a slight sense of humour in this scene but doesn't really seem to do anything differently in his acting, which to me is impressive. The old man's performance is also very impressive as he creates a convincing sense of fear and intimidation, and also relief at the end of the scene.
The second coin toss scene is just as significant in the film as the first scene.
In this scene, Carla Jean returns home from her mother's funeral alone and obviously upset. Carla Jean sees her dining room window open and immediately knows what's going to happen and who is here. She goes into what seems to be her mothers old bedroom and
sees Chigurh sitting in the shadows.
Their conversation is short and not very lengthy as Carla Jean knows that Chigurh wants to kill her, unlike the shop keep who was unsuspecting and didn't know anything. They speak a little bit about Moss and how Chigurh gave his word to him to kill Carla Jean if he doesn't sacrifice himself, but the main part of the dialogue in this scene is when Carla Jean refuses to call heads or tails and rejects Chigurh's philosophy; this guarantees Carla Jean's demise but ultimately rubs Chigurh the wrong way and forces him to make his own choice for once.
The lighting in the scene is pretty different to the first coin toss scene. Instead of being split by light and shadows, Chigurh is completely in the shadows this time, which suggests that his evil nature has taken him over completely. Lighting on Carla Jean remains warm and quite light, which to me represents her bravery and good intentions - it also helps contrast her completely to Chigurh. The framing of the scene shows that instead of Chigurh having the immediate escape of the door, Carla Jean now has this escape opportunity. However Carla Jean still accepts her 'fate' and doesn't run from Chigurh. The final frame of the scene shows Chigurh checking his boots, confirming that he has killed Carla Jean.
This scenes editing isn't even noticeable to me; there are no zooms and the only cuts that are there are just simple cuts to show each character. There is also no music in this scene, which suggests to me that Carla Jean doesn't feel fear from Chigurh and isn't very intimidated by him.
Again, Bardem's performance in this scene remains impressive and cohesive with the rest of his performance throughout the movie. Kelly Macdonald's performance dominates the scene to me and shows a real sense of personality and morals for her character; her performance depicts her honesty, loyalty, bravery and good intentions.
Some interesting things to note about both scenes is that they both feature common elements of traditional Western film. The first scene is pretty long and drawn out before we get to a conclusion/outcome, which is very similar to most Western films such as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly which features an extremely long sequence that reaches an outcome of someone being shot. Although this contrasts to the short length of the second scene, the Western element in this scene is when Chigurh checks his boots.
In conclusion, both coin toss scenes are obviously significant scenes that effectively show the nature of all characters featured.
The first scene including a coin toss is often considered one of the most famous scenes of the film.
In this scene, Chigurh is in a tiny petrol/gas station in the middle of nowhere when he comes across the shop keep and asks how much the nuts he is eating and the gas he wants will be. The initial conversation seems quite low key and calm, but then he shop keep comments on Chigurh travelling from Dallas and Chigurh immediately gets annoyed. The key turning point to show Chigurh's annoyance is when he calls the shop keep 'friendo' The conversation had began with the shop keep asking Chigurh questions, but as soon as Chigurh becomes irritated the tables turn and he is now asking questions or answers the shop keep with questions each time. This clearly makes the shop keep uncomfortable as he knows Chigurh is trying to intimidate him and make him nervous. This dialogue is a key element in creating the tension in the scene.The framing of the scene and lighting is done strategically (to me). Throughout the shop keep seems framed by the window behind him which connotes a feeling of isolation. Also, in every shot of the shop keep, things that look very much like nooses can be seen behind him at all times, connoting a strong theme of death or even misery. The framing of Chigurh is pretty wide and general, however, Chigurh is the only one that we can see has an obvious way out of the situation (the door); the shop keep is kept behind the shop counter, keeping him from an easy escape if he needed one. The lighting at the beginning of the scene is very light and warm until we are brought into the shop; now, the lighting is a little dark and grey. To me, the lighting on Chigurh is the most significant; it appears two toned which could signify Chigurh's conflicting thoughts and feelings - he feels angry and irritated so wants to hurt the shop keep, but feels he must stick to his 'coin toss' philosophy.
Editing in the scene is low key but still apparent. The first piece of editing that becomes apparent is the constant cuts to shots over the character's shoulders when they engage in dialogue. The second piece of apparent editing is the very slow zooms when the tension reaches it peak (when the shop keep finally calls heads or tails). These slow zooms create a feeling of intimidation from the shop keep's perspective as it seems as if Chigurh is moving closer and closer.
The music in the scene is the smallest feature. The only piece of music in this scene is tiny and barely noticeable, but it's still there, perhaps to represent the building tension and fear in the scene. Also, the music reminds me of the sounds people can barely hear that (apparently) makes the human brain feel fear that editors of horror movies use.
Both actors' performance in this scene is fantastic and very convincing. Javier Bardem's performance throughout the whole film is amazing but also alarming that he can portray a psychopath so well, but I find this scene to differ to the majority of his performance; he creates a slight sense of humour in this scene but doesn't really seem to do anything differently in his acting, which to me is impressive. The old man's performance is also very impressive as he creates a convincing sense of fear and intimidation, and also relief at the end of the scene.
The second coin toss scene is just as significant in the film as the first scene.
In this scene, Carla Jean returns home from her mother's funeral alone and obviously upset. Carla Jean sees her dining room window open and immediately knows what's going to happen and who is here. She goes into what seems to be her mothers old bedroom and
Their conversation is short and not very lengthy as Carla Jean knows that Chigurh wants to kill her, unlike the shop keep who was unsuspecting and didn't know anything. They speak a little bit about Moss and how Chigurh gave his word to him to kill Carla Jean if he doesn't sacrifice himself, but the main part of the dialogue in this scene is when Carla Jean refuses to call heads or tails and rejects Chigurh's philosophy; this guarantees Carla Jean's demise but ultimately rubs Chigurh the wrong way and forces him to make his own choice for once.
The lighting in the scene is pretty different to the first coin toss scene. Instead of being split by light and shadows, Chigurh is completely in the shadows this time, which suggests that his evil nature has taken him over completely. Lighting on Carla Jean remains warm and quite light, which to me represents her bravery and good intentions - it also helps contrast her completely to Chigurh. The framing of the scene shows that instead of Chigurh having the immediate escape of the door, Carla Jean now has this escape opportunity. However Carla Jean still accepts her 'fate' and doesn't run from Chigurh. The final frame of the scene shows Chigurh checking his boots, confirming that he has killed Carla Jean.
This scenes editing isn't even noticeable to me; there are no zooms and the only cuts that are there are just simple cuts to show each character. There is also no music in this scene, which suggests to me that Carla Jean doesn't feel fear from Chigurh and isn't very intimidated by him.
Again, Bardem's performance in this scene remains impressive and cohesive with the rest of his performance throughout the movie. Kelly Macdonald's performance dominates the scene to me and shows a real sense of personality and morals for her character; her performance depicts her honesty, loyalty, bravery and good intentions.
Some interesting things to note about both scenes is that they both feature common elements of traditional Western film. The first scene is pretty long and drawn out before we get to a conclusion/outcome, which is very similar to most Western films such as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly which features an extremely long sequence that reaches an outcome of someone being shot. Although this contrasts to the short length of the second scene, the Western element in this scene is when Chigurh checks his boots.
In conclusion, both coin toss scenes are obviously significant scenes that effectively show the nature of all characters featured.
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