Film Studies 2018 - Louie Summers

Scene Micro features Narrative features and ideological analysis 1:48:57 - Short council house sequence   1:50:16 - the dance sequence (genuine connection between Joanne and Mia)  . A series of medium long shots that fill the frame + high angle 1:51:44 - medium shot 1:52:53 - medium close up 1:53:37 - POV + frame within a frame 1:54:09 - long shot  . the towering council estate fills the frame entirely paired with high  angles, Mia's surroundings feel inescapable and claustrophobic - there is a clear prison like imagery to connote this inescapability - 1:49:13 (Man sat on balcony behind railings which remind of bars in a prison) - sharp brutalist architecture of the council estate, industrial and prison like (note I'm not an architecture enthusiast) + the variety of shots with multiple people shows the many others like Mia struggling in these kind of surroundings reminding the spectator thi

Scene Micro features Narrative features and ideological analysis Joanne and Connor sex scene 52:50  . 53:13 - (lighting) With Mia we move through the darkness, laying sinister undertones for the coming event, - Very effective at building tension as we are literally kept in the dark + combined w/ the faint sexual noises  (53:24) - chiaroscuro This is almost presented as child like curiosity, a child awoken by a strange sound investigates and the chiaroscuro gives Mia a very child like appearance, there is an innocence in her naivety, further shown at (53:27) the close up combined w/ the chiaroscuro highlights/ draws attention to her large eyes which has child like connotations and therefore connotations of innocence . Contrastingly chiaroscuro is used in the same scene to show the perverse and sinister nature of Mia and Connors growing sexual desires for each other - also shows Connor as predatory

1:47:36 Death and disillusion (The Horse) . The horse as a symbol of Male domestication of woman: Horses are commonly used symbols for freedom and beauty, the horse is shackled and dirty and guarded by men - woman are corrupted and imprisoned by men, their freedom is taken. The horse shows how the innocent Mia is corrupted by her surroundings and men (the dirt all over the horse) - White being a symbol of purity. . Ultimately the dirty white house shows how beautiful creatures (horse/woman) have been domesticated by man and in the process become shackled and corrupted. . Therefore if the horse is a metaphor for Mia and her domestication by men, we can imply that in her failed attempts to free the horse and its eventual death that she is also unable to escape domestication and imprisonment by men . The close up shot on the shackles after Mia learns of the horses death, emphasises her continuing imprisonment as it takes up most of the frame on a block of concrete symbolic of the

Scene Micro features Narrative features and ideological analysis 1:09:00 - 1:11:00 - 1:17:15 (Mia has sex w/ Connor) 1:14:20 (binary oppositions still)  - Mia in the door way and Connor slumped on the couch with bottle of drink - Tracking shot follows Mia across the room _____________ Mis en scene . Palm tree backdrop (wallpaper) and street light shining in as a sunset = mias desire to escape; light source also a spotlight/ stage light . Vodka bottle between Connors legs as phallic object . 1:14:20 - binary opposition - Mia in light, Connor in darkness . Costuming - Mia in pyjamas - vulnerable - Connor taking advantage . Framing use of over the shoulder shots, But only from Mias perspective (OTS to Conor) - Mia herself isolated in the frame (no Conor) - the camera never leaves Mia - therefore the spectator aligns with her - Mia often at three quartet angle or in profile (side view) .

Question could come up on structuralism or formalism . Micro features . context . representation . Ideology and narrative . Institutional contexts Structuralism - Binary opposites mostly - conflict in film - more scientific approach Formalism - - not interests in name checking theorists - more emphasis on the theory themselves Essay - key scenes then link to ideas not so much other way around - Key scene analysis is key NEA (Script) - Action is as important as dialogue in scripts for the NEA - They like description and action in the scripts NEA (Short film) Do's - Small numbers of characters - They love close ups - Good Mis en scene elements - Don't film in the school - Think about sound - Layered sound - uneven sound is bad - Record scenes twice - Foley work - make sounds yourself Dont's - No music videos - No walking videos - people just pointlessly walking (Filler)   - No waking up in the morning cliche - No filler - No credits (or min

Modern interpretation - combo of Freud conception of the Oedipal complex and Jacques Lacan's account of the mirror stage - Application can be used to analyse the narratives of a range of different films - It was initially based on male perspectives, but has since been adapted to encapsulate female perspective to Oedipal Trajectory - males - summary - A male child, who at first is bonded with his mother, imagines himself a united whole with her - However, when held up to a mirror, he perceives his difference from her - He becomes aware of the illusion of unity yet still desires it. This desire now becomes sexual - He comes to hate his father, as his farther 'lawful' access to the mother - The child perceives this difference as one of castration: he sees the mother as castrated - To identify with her would thus mean eh would be w/o his penis - in identifying with her becomes likes her; in uniting with her, he runs the risk of castration from farther (assumes fart

Vladimir Propp was a Russian and Soviet formalist scholar - Analysed plot components of Russian folk tales to identify their basic narrative elements - 31 plot elements - which he called functions Prop's 8 character types - one character can fill multiple roles - Villain - Helper - Princess or prize - Farther - Donor - Some one who gives something to the hero to help them - Hero - False hero - Dispatcher - who sends the hero on their quest Fish tank 8 character types - Villain = Connor / Joanne - Helper = Billy (dance, music) - Princess/ prize = Billy, Freedom - Farther = Connor, Joanne - Donor = Connor, Billy - Hero = Mia - she is the protagonist - False Hero = Connor, Val - Dispatcher = Connor, Mias friend  - causes her to confide and befriend Connor as she feels alienated - Billy's white horse symbolises him as a knight in shining armour - showing him to be the hero and Mia to be the damsel in distress/ princess Todorov's equilibrium theory

- Social realistic aesthetic - Italian neo - realism / french new wave = lack of artifice Narrative theories - Propp - character types - Todorov's equilibrium (5 stages) - Levi Strauss Binary opposites - Barthers - action vs enigma - Narrative - Representation - Ideology (fish tank feminist ideology) - Film poetics - the study of how things are made - process of selection and construction Study of narrative looks at: - Representation of time - Use of narration/ voice over - How dialogue propels the narrative - Creation of drama or action - Character development - heroes and villains, ambiguity - Character alignment and identification - How narratives present an ideological viewpoint - feminism, political e.g... - Enigma codes - Generic narratives and formulas - Binary oppositions Mia has no agency - no control over her life - dependent on other people (men) - Episodic structure of Fish tank - Anti feminist ending - she is still reliant on other people,