- I have chosen to do a screenplay for my creative project
- My target audience for this script will be adolescents over the age of 16 as it will include swearing and other mature themes that will be unsuitable for anyone younger than that age.
- My script will be mainstream in nature and be within in the romantic-comedy or teen movie genre allowing it to be shown at mainstream cinemas and cine complexes.
- I have taken influences from classic 80's teen movies directed by John Hughes and more recent movies such as 10 things I hate about you.
- my aim is to create a script that can be used to create a moving image.
Thursday 9 February 2017
Creative Project: Aims and Context
Thursday 8 December 2016
How far does the impact of the film you have studied for this topic depend on the distinctive uses of film technique? Princesses
In the film princesses, initially the power seems to be in the hands of the women. For example in the first scene Caye struts around her apartment naked, giving the impression that she has confidence in herself and her body. Also upon entering a room full of men she immediately takes charge, saying the rules and what would happen in the situation. The
Monday 7 November 2016
Presentation
Speaker: Quentin Tarantino is arguably one of the most violent and bloodiest directors of all time. In his film Inglorious Bastards there is a death count of 396, the highest of all of his films, the majority of these deaths are by fire but there is a wide variety of types of violence. For example at one stage in the film there is a bar shoot out with a majority of deaths coming from dramatic gun shots, at another point in the film a German Nazi general is beaten to death with a baseball bat by a Jewish man. Race is a issue that Tarantino deals with a lot within his films. Django unchained also deals with race and has the second highest death count of Tarantino's films with 64 deaths in the whole film. Most of the deaths come as a result of gunshots due to the Western genre of the film. (Item 15) Tarantino has many moments of humour within many of his films many coming as a result of the witty dialogue that he writes within his scripts. One critic said that Django unchained is insanely violent yet had "some of the funniest moments" he had ever seen (Item 8). Violence is a key concept within Tarantino's films and he has a distinctive way of portraying this violence on screen. This distinction between Tarantino and other directors is what makes him an auteur as his style is consistent across all of his films (Item 7).
Projector: Scene from Reservoir Dogs (Item 2) Torture scene (4mins 33 secs long)
Speaker: The iconic torture scene from Reservoir dogs is a perfect example of Tarantino's use of violence. Tarantino's debut film "establishes a lot of what audiences would come to think of as trademark directional elements" (Item 6). For example the way in which humour is used along with the shockingly violent torture of the cop which Mr Blonde had taken hostage. The cutting of the ear is shocking to the audience even though they never see the actual removing of the ear which "in a way makes it more powerful" (Item 4), Tarantino chooses rather to show an empty shot of the warehouse including a sign which says "Mind your head". The audience experiences the scene through the sound of the cops muffled screams which makes the violence feel more real. Mr Blonde then enters the shot holding the bloody ear and the straight razor. Tarantino uses humour by having Mr Blonde say "was that as good for you as it was for me?" along with speaking into the severed ear and saying "Hey... Can you hear that?". The humor along with the violence makes the scene all that more hard to watch, the scene has been called psychotic as the humor shows such a lack of empathy from Mr Blonde. Tarantino regards this scene as the most cinematic of the whole film and he has spoken about his love for this scene both emotionally and cinematically (Item 5).
Tarantino defends his constant use of over the top violence by saying it has always been a purely aesthetic tool to him (Item 4) and he that finds violence in films "fun" (Item 11). He makes it clear that there is a difference between the violence in which he portrays on screen and the violence that occurs in real life. In many interviews he has spoken about his love for violence within films and saying that to him it is merely a tool to create his art (Item 9).
Projector: Scene from Django Unchained (Item 1) Shootout scene (2:12:00 - 2:14:00)
This scene is entirely western in genre, the sound that the bullets make and the setting in the big house in the south especially makes this scene reminiscent of old day westerns. However the violence within this scene is much more explicit and at a much faster pace than the films that Tarantino used as inspiration. The start of the shoot out begins slowly with a slow motion shot of Dr Schultz flying through the room after having been shot. There is then a close up of Django's reaction followed by a zoom accompanied by a sound of the zoom this is then punctuated by the loud sound of a gun shot as Django shots the man who shot Dr Schultz. The scene then rapidly speeds up. The contrast of the very slow to the very fast forces the audience to catch up quickly to the pace at which the scene is now going. The rest of the violence within this scene is very much like a first person shooter video game in the way in which it is shot. There is a lot of POV's from Django's perspective especially when his adversaries line up in front of a wall and he shots every one of them while going across the room. This makes the audience feel involved with the violence. There is no way for them to escape the immersion that they feel if they are seeing what the person committing the violence. in a interview Tarantino described his particular style of violence as "closer to realism", that we are "laughing one minute and then there is blood all over the walls the next" (Item 12). This is what happens in this scene. The violence erupts out of no where and soon there is bright red blood sprayed up the walls.
Projector: Scene from Django Unchained (Item 1) Killing of the Brittle brothers (35:02 - 38:19)
In this scene Tarantino uses high pitched music that gets increasingly higher to create suspense whilst Django walks toward the Brittle brothers. The use of parallel editing also creates suspense, showing the two scene occurring at the same time and making the audience question whether or not Django will get to the Brittle brothers in time to stop them from whipping a girl for breaking eggs. When Django gets there John Brittle is reciting passages from the bible whilst wearing various pages of the Bible on himself. When Django shoots the elder of the Brittle brothers, the blood runs down the white pages of the Bible. There is also red blood spraying against a white surface in earlier on in the film where the blood is sprayed across the white of the cotton. This is a symbol of the whole slave trade and its association with cotton picking. By choosing to show this spraying of blood onto the stark white of the cotton, Tarantino is showing the audience the blood that has been spilt by the whole of the slave trade. Django Unchained deals with a lot of the issues surrounding slavery just before the civil war. However Tarantino deals with these serious topics with the humour and wit of his dialogue.
Projector: Scene from Reservoir Dogs (Item 2) Torture scene (4mins 33 secs long)
Speaker: The iconic torture scene from Reservoir dogs is a perfect example of Tarantino's use of violence. Tarantino's debut film "establishes a lot of what audiences would come to think of as trademark directional elements" (Item 6). For example the way in which humour is used along with the shockingly violent torture of the cop which Mr Blonde had taken hostage. The cutting of the ear is shocking to the audience even though they never see the actual removing of the ear which "in a way makes it more powerful" (Item 4), Tarantino chooses rather to show an empty shot of the warehouse including a sign which says "Mind your head". The audience experiences the scene through the sound of the cops muffled screams which makes the violence feel more real. Mr Blonde then enters the shot holding the bloody ear and the straight razor. Tarantino uses humour by having Mr Blonde say "was that as good for you as it was for me?" along with speaking into the severed ear and saying "Hey... Can you hear that?". The humor along with the violence makes the scene all that more hard to watch, the scene has been called psychotic as the humor shows such a lack of empathy from Mr Blonde. Tarantino regards this scene as the most cinematic of the whole film and he has spoken about his love for this scene both emotionally and cinematically (Item 5).
Tarantino defends his constant use of over the top violence by saying it has always been a purely aesthetic tool to him (Item 4) and he that finds violence in films "fun" (Item 11). He makes it clear that there is a difference between the violence in which he portrays on screen and the violence that occurs in real life. In many interviews he has spoken about his love for violence within films and saying that to him it is merely a tool to create his art (Item 9).
Projector: Scene from Django Unchained (Item 1) Shootout scene (2:12:00 - 2:14:00)
This scene is entirely western in genre, the sound that the bullets make and the setting in the big house in the south especially makes this scene reminiscent of old day westerns. However the violence within this scene is much more explicit and at a much faster pace than the films that Tarantino used as inspiration. The start of the shoot out begins slowly with a slow motion shot of Dr Schultz flying through the room after having been shot. There is then a close up of Django's reaction followed by a zoom accompanied by a sound of the zoom this is then punctuated by the loud sound of a gun shot as Django shots the man who shot Dr Schultz. The scene then rapidly speeds up. The contrast of the very slow to the very fast forces the audience to catch up quickly to the pace at which the scene is now going. The rest of the violence within this scene is very much like a first person shooter video game in the way in which it is shot. There is a lot of POV's from Django's perspective especially when his adversaries line up in front of a wall and he shots every one of them while going across the room. This makes the audience feel involved with the violence. There is no way for them to escape the immersion that they feel if they are seeing what the person committing the violence. in a interview Tarantino described his particular style of violence as "closer to realism", that we are "laughing one minute and then there is blood all over the walls the next" (Item 12). This is what happens in this scene. The violence erupts out of no where and soon there is bright red blood sprayed up the walls.
Projector: Scene from Django Unchained (Item 1) Killing of the Brittle brothers (35:02 - 38:19)
In this scene Tarantino uses high pitched music that gets increasingly higher to create suspense whilst Django walks toward the Brittle brothers. The use of parallel editing also creates suspense, showing the two scene occurring at the same time and making the audience question whether or not Django will get to the Brittle brothers in time to stop them from whipping a girl for breaking eggs. When Django gets there John Brittle is reciting passages from the bible whilst wearing various pages of the Bible on himself. When Django shoots the elder of the Brittle brothers, the blood runs down the white pages of the Bible. There is also red blood spraying against a white surface in earlier on in the film where the blood is sprayed across the white of the cotton. This is a symbol of the whole slave trade and its association with cotton picking. By choosing to show this spraying of blood onto the stark white of the cotton, Tarantino is showing the audience the blood that has been spilt by the whole of the slave trade. Django Unchained deals with a lot of the issues surrounding slavery just before the civil war. However Tarantino deals with these serious topics with the humour and wit of his dialogue.
Thursday 3 November 2016
How far does the impact of the films you have studied for this topic depend on distinctive uses of film technique? City of God
In the film the city of God, the use of a handheld camera, especially in the scene in which steak and fries shoots the runts has a great impact. It gives the film a documentary type feel, immersing the audience in the scene making them feel complicit to the crime. The camera tends to focus on the things that the audience would naturally focus on through close ups such as the gun in the hands of Lil' Ze. The constant moving of the camera never lets the audience become comfortable within the scene. The issues presented in this film is very evident within this film, the runts running around with no discipline shows the lack of education that is in
Friday 14 October 2016
How far does the impact of the film you have studied for this topic depend on the distinctive uses of film technique?
The montage scene in which we see vinz's reaction or lack there of, to the variety of violent films that he is watching shows the level to which he has been desensitised by his environment, his environment being the poverty ridden projects. It is the level of poverty that leads to criminal activity and violence such as the real life riots that occur at the Projects. In the film the criminal activity is shown through the three main characters, each of them takes part in different levels of criminal activity during the film, Vinz finding and carrying the gun being the main focus of the film. Hubert deals drugs and Said vandalises different properties through the course of the film. The whole film being in black and white shows the lack of hope and light that this life has and the fact that there is no opportunities to escape a life of poverty. Whilst watching on of the films, a young boy imitates The level of violence that Vinz watches then progresses to real life controlled violence when he goes to a Boxing match.
Tuesday 11 October 2016
Four words for la haine
Bleak: This word describes the situations seen in la Haine as well as the cinematographic look of the film. The use of black and white throughout the entirety of the film ensures no light can be seen in the shots which parallels the situations the trio and those who live in the projects and poverty find themselves in. The whole film looks dark. It also describes the future of those who live in the projects.
Sexist: La haine is a very male dominated film, the females that we do see either have very little influence over the characters such as Vinz's grandma to are portrayed in a negative light such as the homeless woman on the train that Said is incredibly rude to on the metro. Women are not really mentioned at all as the social representation in this film is centred on race and not gender.
Menacing: The police are portrayed as particularly menacing in La haine. From the tracking shot at the beginning of the film that shows the police presence in the projects after the rioting to the scene in which the corrupt cops torture Said and Hubert. The fact that the police steal Saids weed and not report it shows just how menacing they are as well as making sure that they miss the last train home to purposely inconvenience them.
Real: The news footage used throughout gives the film a sense of documentary authenticity, making it seem like we are watching real life events. The Black and white can also make it seem like we are watching CCTV footage. Also the issues seen in La haine caused by the poverty such as drug related crime and begging can be seen are real.
Sexist: La haine is a very male dominated film, the females that we do see either have very little influence over the characters such as Vinz's grandma to are portrayed in a negative light such as the homeless woman on the train that Said is incredibly rude to on the metro. Women are not really mentioned at all as the social representation in this film is centred on race and not gender.
Menacing: The police are portrayed as particularly menacing in La haine. From the tracking shot at the beginning of the film that shows the police presence in the projects after the rioting to the scene in which the corrupt cops torture Said and Hubert. The fact that the police steal Saids weed and not report it shows just how menacing they are as well as making sure that they miss the last train home to purposely inconvenience them.
Real: The news footage used throughout gives the film a sense of documentary authenticity, making it seem like we are watching real life events. The Black and white can also make it seem like we are watching CCTV footage. Also the issues seen in La haine caused by the poverty such as drug related crime and begging can be seen are real.
Monday 3 October 2016
How far does Tarantino's use of violence makes him an auteur? Catalogue
Films
Item 1: Django Unchained (2012) Director- Quentin Tarantino Focus Film- I have chosen this film as it shows Tarantino's distinct approach to violence within his films in the style of a spaghetti western. It showcases how he uses violence for humor as it is effectively used as punch line when Django shoots a particularly irritating female character called Miss Laura. Django, the protagonist of the film uses excessive violence in order to find his wife after he had earned his freedom from slavery. The violence that is shown in this film caused a lot of controversy mainly due to the issues that are discussed in the film such as race and gender inequality were brought into the spotlight making us question whether those issues still exist within today's society.
Item 2; Reservoir Dogs (1992) - Tarantino's debut film is his own take on the Heist film although you never actually see the heist. This film was chosen not only for the use of excessive violence, very often in the form of gun shots apart from the obvious exception of the famous scene in which Mr Blonde removes the ear of a Cop that he had taken hostage, but for the blood and gore that is the evidence of it. Mr Orange spends a great deal of the film slowly bleeding out from a shot to the stomach meaning he is often covered in blood. Another reason why this film was chosen was for the use of Non-linear narrative which is present in most of Tarantino's films.
Item 3: Inglorious Bastards (2009) Director - Quentin Tarantino - I have chosen this film as a supporting film as it has the highest body count of all of Tarantino's films and those deaths are very some of the most violent. Some consider it the most violent of all Tarantino's films. For instance the scene where the German officer gets beaten to death with the baseball bat is very hard to watch as Tarantino has made it more personal where as the slaughter in the cinema is different.
Books
Item 4: Tarantino A To Zed - Alan Barnes and Marcus Hearn - I have chosen this book as it is has a whole section on the violence Tarantino uses within his films and makes note of the significant differences between his style of violence and that of other prominent directors suggesting that his use of violence is distinctive. As well as the deep analysis of the scene in Reservoir dogs in which a cop has his ear cut off.
Item 5: Quintessential Tarantino - Edwin page - I have chosen this book mainly for the analysis of Reservoir Dogs particularly the scene in which the cop has his ear chopped off. I am also using it as it has many different quotes and facts from Tarantino himself that will be useful for my argument.
Item 6: Tarantino - Jim Smith - This book was chosen as it contains an important quote "Reservoir Dogs establishes a lot of what audiences would come to think of as trademark Tarantino directional elements" This supports my theory that Tarantino is a Auteur as he has a consistent trademarks that mean a Tarantino film can be quickly identified without needing to be told who the director is.
Item 7: Teach yourself film studies - Warren Buckland - This source is useful to me as it explains that Auteurship is when a director shows a consistency of style and themes across their films. Tarantino meets this criteria, the similar theme being violence which spans across all of his films. I can use this in my presentation script as it will make it easier to explain how Tarantino meets this criteria and ho
Articles
Item 8: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/13/django-unchained-jack-whitehall-james-delingpole - Charlie Brooker - I have used this review as it mentions the violence within Django Unchained saying that it is "insanely violent" yet in the same paragraph says that the movie "contains some of the funniest moments" that he had seen. This shows that the violence is intertwined with the humor within his films, one often enhancing the other.
Item 9: http://flavorwire.com/482300/why-are-we-so-obsessed-with-tarantinos-violence-an-excerpt-from-pulp-fiction-the-complete-history-of-quentin-tarantinos-masterpiece - This article explores the reasons in which audiences are obsessed with the violence within Quentin Tarantino's films. It specifically talks about the scene within reservoir dogs where the Cops ear is cut off and how it prompted discussion about morality and the aesthetics of onscreen violence.
Item 10: http://mikesmoviereview.weebly.com/3/post/2012/08/what-makes-a-quentin-tarantino-movie-so-unique.html - This article details the many ways in which Tarantino's films are distinctive referring specifically to his use of violence, wit and humour supporting my theory that Tarantino is an auteur as his style is consistent.
Item 11: http://www.thewrap.com/quentin-tarantino-you-think-django-unchained-violent-try-slavery-68356/ - In this article the author mentions Tarantino's trademark sardonic and grim humour even going as far as calling him an auteur supporting my argument. Also it discusses the fact that Tarantino could not make films based on violent historic events such as World war Two and the holocaust and slavery without depicting the violence on screen.
Interviews
Item 12: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EEpTrPb0-c Quentin Tarantino argues about movie violence - I have chosen this interview as it is Tarantino himself defending his over the top use of violence within his films, calling violence "Fun" and making it known how different he sees violence in real life and violence on screen. Item 4: Tarantino A To Zed - Alan Barnes and Marcus Hearn - I have chosen this book as it is has a whole section on the violence Tarantino uses within his films and makes note of the significant differences between his style of violence and that of other prominent directors suggesting that his use of violence is distinctive. As well as the deep analysis of the scene in Reservoir dogs in which a cop has his ear cut off.
Item 5: Quintessential Tarantino - Edwin page - I have chosen this book mainly for the analysis of Reservoir Dogs particularly the scene in which the cop has his ear chopped off. I am also using it as it has many different quotes and facts from Tarantino himself that will be useful for my argument.
Item 6: Tarantino - Jim Smith - This book was chosen as it contains an important quote "Reservoir Dogs establishes a lot of what audiences would come to think of as trademark Tarantino directional elements" This supports my theory that Tarantino is a Auteur as he has a consistent trademarks that mean a Tarantino film can be quickly identified without needing to be told who the director is.
Item 7: Teach yourself film studies - Warren Buckland - This source is useful to me as it explains that Auteurship is when a director shows a consistency of style and themes across their films. Tarantino meets this criteria, the similar theme being violence which spans across all of his films. I can use this in my presentation script as it will make it easier to explain how Tarantino meets this criteria and ho
Articles
Item 8: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/13/django-unchained-jack-whitehall-james-delingpole - Charlie Brooker - I have used this review as it mentions the violence within Django Unchained saying that it is "insanely violent" yet in the same paragraph says that the movie "contains some of the funniest moments" that he had seen. This shows that the violence is intertwined with the humor within his films, one often enhancing the other.
Item 9: http://flavorwire.com/482300/why-are-we-so-obsessed-with-tarantinos-violence-an-excerpt-from-pulp-fiction-the-complete-history-of-quentin-tarantinos-masterpiece - This article explores the reasons in which audiences are obsessed with the violence within Quentin Tarantino's films. It specifically talks about the scene within reservoir dogs where the Cops ear is cut off and how it prompted discussion about morality and the aesthetics of onscreen violence.
Item 10: http://mikesmoviereview.weebly.com/3/post/2012/08/what-makes-a-quentin-tarantino-movie-so-unique.html - This article details the many ways in which Tarantino's films are distinctive referring specifically to his use of violence, wit and humour supporting my theory that Tarantino is an auteur as his style is consistent.
Item 11: http://www.thewrap.com/quentin-tarantino-you-think-django-unchained-violent-try-slavery-68356/ - In this article the author mentions Tarantino's trademark sardonic and grim humour even going as far as calling him an auteur supporting my argument. Also it discusses the fact that Tarantino could not make films based on violent historic events such as World war Two and the holocaust and slavery without depicting the violence on screen.
Interviews
Item 13: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uveuX1pcC5o rare reservoir dogs interview - I have used this Tarantino describes his love for violence within movies and talks about the fact that his violence is closer to realism. Also he discusses the fact that within his films you are quite often laughing and then all of a sudden there is blood on the walls and this highlights how closely linked his use of violence and humour are.
Videos
Item 14 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzCLBLX3z4o How Quentin Tarantino Uses Violence - this video shows through analysis and a mix of different scenes from Tarantinos films that he uses similar shots, builds up to violence with interesting or obscure dialogue and then often breaks the suspense made by gunfire or a sudden burst of violence. This can be seen in the dining scene in Django unchained along with the Bar scene in Inglorious Bastards.
Item 15 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IprM5uCT_Ts -Inglorious Basterds; Making fun of you - I have used this video as it highlights some of the similarities within Tarantino's films in regards to violence, calling it hyper-violence. It also states the statistics around violence in Inglorious bastards with a staggering 395 death count. 342 deaths are in the fire in the cinema, with 57 kills via varying violent means. There is a gruesome death in Inglorious basterds every two and a half minutes.
Rejected Items
- Kill Bill; Vol 1 & 2 (2003- 2004) - I have chosen to reject both of the Kill Bill films due to the fact that Uma Thurman had a lot of input with some of the creative differences, for instance it was her that suggested Beatrix Kiddo be in a wedding dress when she was shot thereafter being nicknames the bride. Also it was would of been difficult to choose just one of the films to include and to include one without at least mentioning the other film.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrsJDy8VjZk Quentin interview "shutting your butt down"- I have chosen to reject this interview as it is mainly about whether or not violent movies make violent people. It is clear that the questions asked by the interviewer are not well received by Tarantino by the fact that he walks out half way through the interview and refuses to answer some questions asked. It can be said that this is more of an argument between them rather than an interview.
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