Abbigail Azirou

 Buster Keaton's scarecrow, some of the most iconic conventions are used such as props, chase scenes and animals. In the "one room house" sequence, props play a key role in the comedic elements, like in "One Week". As the two men sit down to have breakfast, they begin passing each other props such as salt. yet just as every joke has been made out of everything possible in the framing, Keaton changes the framing so it is more zoomed out and he manages to make another joke from another propane the frame. During this scene, Keaton displays his enthusiasm for modern technology with the props he uses which is why Keaton could be associated with the concept of modernism. Once again, Keaton exhibits quite a progressive mind-set in relation to the representation of women through a character played by Sibyl Seely. Her character is simply shown dancing for herself and her own enjoyment. Although the men watch her dance, she seems to be in the position of power as the male...

 Buster Keaton generally avoided using title cards in his films, yet when he did, alliteration was popularised in the era of silent comedy, this is why Keaton utilises sibilance with "such a sweet sound but such a sour echo" as well as antithesis. In this film Keaton uses his small stature to provide commentary that him and his wife are both equal in the relationship, which is unfortunately quite an uncommon and progressive concept in the 1920's. In the opening sequence, Keaton relies on a prop to deliver a joke which satirises the tradition of throwing shoes before the newly weds. Of course, there is a chase scene which is very typical considering the era of silent comedy.  The narrative is relatively simple and definitely linear- Keaton and his new wife are gifted a portable flat pack house in which they must build themselves, yet Hank, "The fellow she turned down" sabotages the construction (which ultimately results in the house referring to Cubism in the hou...

 Due to sound not being used in cinema until almost 1930, filmmakers had to improvise- and with that came genre conventions. In silent comedy, they used their body language to deliver visual jokes rather than facial expressions and dialogue for obvious reasons; those being sound was not invented as well as close-ups being quite difficult to do at the time. Because of this, many key figures adapted a characterising prop to distinguish them- such as Charlie Chaplin's hat and moustache or Buster Keaton's dead pan face. This is also why slapstick comedy became popularised within silent comedy, as well as stemming from Vaudeville (in addition to the use of animals as props and an array of stunts and chases). This greatly appealed to the mainstream working class audience since Vaudeville was seen as the working class version of theatre. Because of these conventions, the use of mise-en-scene became essential to the narratives, which tended to be quite basic and linear.  Many silent c...

The shot-reverse-shot which has the fawn in the frame of the shot, yet not in the reverse shot in Captain Vidal's p.o.v can be used to argue the underworld is in fact in Ofelia's mind (although Some may argue due to him being under the influence this can't be used as evidence to support this argument- it is left very ambiguous and open by Del Toro for interpretation for the audience to decide). The cinematography of the final scene blends both the warm toned lighting of the underworld with the golden hues of the real world. It is evident as Ofelia runs towards the icy toned portal as a roaring fire burns behind here. She is literally and metaphorically running away from the mortal world. The dietetic noise of Mercedes' lullaby which plays in the opening scene aids the cyclical nature of the film. The man speaking through voiceover beckons Ofelia, his daughter, to the underworld. A golden hue fills the screen and a blur is used to transition. The shot is finally both war...

The pale man scene is an iconic scene for the horror genre. The scene is full of symbolism, art references, beautiful use of cinematography, traditional use of the horror genre conventions such as sound, and finally it represents the key theme: Disobedience.  Ultimately this is the most ambiguous scene in terms of meaning. The audience questions who the pale man is, who he represents and whether or not he belongs to the underworld or is part of something else. From the very beginning of the scene, when Ofelia remains in the cool-toned real world, the rules are made explicitly clear: "Don't eat or drink anything during your stay". As soon as Ofelia's chalk door opens, the sinister orchestra music plays as the camera zooms out through a long corridor, adhering to the genre conventions of horror. The shot is symmetrical and utilises the rule of thirds. Although we are in the underworld and there lighting is warm-toned, it's still not inviting or cosy. The first signi...

The opening scene of Pans Labyrinth proves the cyclical structure related to City of God whilst tying both  the realistic random violent and facist reality of post civil war Spain in 1944 with the underworld where rules and consequences make sense.  From the beginning, pans Labyrinth immediately begs the questions within the audience- is the underworld real? personally, I don't think so. I think it can easily be argued both ways, but through film form we it's evident to me which world we are really living in.  The scene opens with Mercedes Melody which we also hear in the closing scene. the contextual subtitles establishing not only the harsh reality our protagonist lives in, but the one she desperately want's to escape from. Then, a close up which gradually opens into an extreme close-up into Ofelia's eye follows to convey, perhaps to the people who believe that the underworld is a coping mechanism for Ofelia, that we are in fact in her head.   The cinematograp...

  The end scene is crucial for exploring and presenting the ideological themes of the film such as escapism ,urban life and the changing nature of it's crime.  Towards the end of the film, Rocket begins to see light at the end of the tunnel in terms of his escape. Through use of mise-en-scene we are put in a professional office environment which reveals major hope for our antagonist as we haven't seen outside the city before,  however the cool toned lighting which looms over the present day is still prevalent. Finally, in relation to Rocket's escape, he gets another camera from a photographer he looks up to. This can be seen as symbolic for his journey, however Rocket is not the one character upgrading his weapon- Both gangs buy guns from the police yet Lil Ze doesn't pay for them. And thus the "beginning of the end" scene commences and the City Of God is transformed into a war zone.  In the closing scene, we are brought back to the opening scene which enforce...

  City Of God   "The Runts" Scene Analysis This scene differs strikingly to the usual highly stylised and kinetically edited scenes that City Of god is known for; instead this scene utilises more traditional shots such as close-ups and class over-the-shoulder shots. The result of this is to highlight the grim and shocking consequences of the gang violence rather than displaying it as merely action in a movie. Inevitably, the audience is much more emotionally evolved in this scene due to being aligned with Lil' Ze's victims for a brief moment, the significance of how young these children are, the traditional use of shots which are usually avoided to create a more upbeat and almost glamorised version of the violence, and finally the performance.  In the beginning of this scene, we are aligned with the youngest boy through a high angle shot when he reaches for the sweets as the runts hold up the shop- this establishes his youth.  This clever technique makes the shooting...

City Of God- Opening Scene Analysis The opening scene of City Of god displays very typical stylistic use that can be seen throughout the film. Immediately, within the first five seconds the films kinetic style and unique use of cinematography can be detected. The first noise we hear is the diegetic sound of the street noise which clarifies the urban setting. Next another diegetic sound of a knife is utilised to elude to the theme of violence. Traditional Brazilian music becomes integrated as kinetic editing takes place, intertwining all of the diegetic noises together. Additionally, in hindsight the audience is aware they are in the present day due to the extremely cool -toned lighting. Soon, a chase after a chicken unfolds which has an added element of threat due to the low angle shots as we are aligned with a chicken. These shots emulate a very claustrophobic feel to a very otherwise upbeat scene which includes dancing and drinking. Various close-ups of the street life are edited tog...

Meshes Of The Afternoon X The Grandmother X Pitch Black Heist Both Meshes Of The Afternoon by Maya Deren, 1943 and The Grandmother by David Lynch,1970 can definitely be characterised as "experimental" films. Both short films share a dream-like quality accompanied by an uneasy feel, yet The Grandmother seemingly takes this further by adding an explicitly sinister and chilling atmosphere. It's as if Maya Deren has recreated a light and airy dream with ominous undertones and Lynch has recreated a surreal nightmare. Both films break the rules of traditional editing by using jump cuts. They also both dabble with certain horror conventions. Additionally, unlike mainstream films nowadays there is little to no dialogue in both. Finally, they both explore an enigma and social theme.  Pitch Black Heist shares some of these qualities yet ultimately it is quite different. Director John MacClean explores experimental aspects through use of film form rather than an ambiguous a...

This short film's style is heavily influenced by social realism. It influences it's core themes and underlying messages.  The short is set in a council estate; a setting that most people are either familiar with or at least aware of it's attributes. Throughout the film it is evident that the protagonist, Zoe, is struggling with money and raising four kids alone. She is framed through a p.o.v shot from her daughter counting her coins. This invites the audience to see the situation from the children eyes which makes it that much more pitiable. She gives the kids a bag of sugar to "share out". This line of dialogue is repeated again at the pub when the kids are asked to "share out" two bags of crisps.  There is lots of camera movement and hand held shots throughout the short- specifically the fight scene. It's very shaky and intense which puts the audience in Zoe's shoes. We feel claustrophobic and there is not a second to breath. It's i...

This short film is described as an animated comedy, however it consists of hints to other genre conventions. Through both diegetic and non diegetic sound, cinematography, camera movement and finally some of the horror/thriller genre's most famous iconographies are introduced. The scene opens with jaunty non-diegetic music- a trumpet melody played in a major key, indicating the upbeat and sustained equilibrium in the beginning. However,  fractures are hinted at in terms of Wallace and Gromit's relationship in the beginning such as the issue of Gromit birthday and his "gift" which he's not entirely pleased about. It doesn't take long for the fractures to turn into colossal cracks. In this short the tone is heavily conveyed through use of sound. The most noticeable horror iconography for me was the scene of the penguin framed from the window. It's raining raspingly to set the gloomy tone and the  loud diegetic noise of thunder is utilised to furthermore s...

In Shaun of the dead, the main Protagonist, Shaun, and the love interest, Liz, both embark on a journey of social class. From the beginning Liz has many expectations for the relationship that are influenced by her upper middle-class friends, Diane and David. Liz appears unhappy because she wants Shaun to grow up a little bit and "want to live a little". For her this means going out to nice restaurants instead of pubs, drinking wine instead of beer, giving up smoking and going on holidays. Her friends suggest activities such as going to see listed buildings or going to the theatre. Evidently these are all upper middle-class  social expectations on how to live life as a mature adult and how to measure success. On the other end of the spectrum, Shaun's friend Ed enjoys his time playing video games, lazing round unemployed and spending most of his time as the pub drinking and playing on the slot machines. Occasionally he sells weed... From the beginning it can be seen that...

Essentially, the first half of the film takes place in the genre of a romantic comedy- the only hint of what's to come is the sound references through film form to the zombie horror genre. In the opening scene the equilibrium of the rom-com genre is set up perfectly- a romantic standstill. The scene  explains Shaun's problems to be: he needs to grow up and mature a little bit for Liz, mend his relationship with his step-father and finally find a solution to ensure Davs and Diane as well as Ed are no longer stuck in the middle of his relationship. The scene opens with a long mid-shot of Shaun smoking in a pub as relaxed diegetic music plays and the camera slowly zooms outwards, establishing our protagonist as well as the setting through the British iconography of  the location- an english pub. One of Shaun's problems is explicitly stated from the offset by Liz. Although we go on to have allegiance for Ed  in a way we agree with Liz. She states "it's ...

The final scene of Shaun of the dead proposes a compromise between Shaun and Liz which enables their relationship to work. However it's important to note that Davs and Diane have to be out of the picture for the relationship to work and for this compromise to be made. Additionally, Ed to an extent. More importantly it can be seen that the disruption of the zombie horror allowed for the resolution of the rom-com.  The last scene begins with a repeated scene of Shaun stumbling into the living room yawning like a zombie, only this time instead of Ed sitting on the couch it's Liz.  In terms of mise-en-scene, there's been a huge compromise. The room has been tidied up, a floral painting is hanging on the wall and a pink pillow and some fluffy throws have been added to the couch. Yet the walls still remain the same shade of blue and the same posters are still hanging up. It's clearly a compromise for both Liz and Shaun. In terms of dialogue we can see that Liz has re...

 is set in post-industrial Leith in the 80's during the height of poverty,  unemployment, low aspirations and an aids/heroin epidemic. Although in the book, Thatcherism and it's policies is explicitly mentioned to influence the main characters- with Irvin Welsh claiming that Thatcher was the "invisible author" of the book- it results in a group that are products of their political and social environment. However in the film, which is made during the optimistic wave of new labour is a bit more ambiguous surrounding this concept. It is evident in the film that Thatcherism is very much in the background of the film influencing its characters. Not once in the film do we see a character working in a traditional work environment in Leith. The only time one of the characters gets a taste is when Spud, the least likely out of the group, secures a job interview. However upon turning up to the interview on speed, he "fucked it up good and proper" as Renton exp...

Tommy's Narrative Resolution Tommy's best encapsulates the narrative themes of drugs and it explores their consequences, which is ironic since at the beginning Tommy seemed the least likely character to explore this theme. Additionally the themes life and death are highlighted in this scene, which can also be looked at as binary opposites.    In the cut before this scene Renton mentions how lucky he actually is to be tested negative right in the middle of an epidemic. The audience then infers the subtext in the next scene.   From the offset this scene is different in terms of the movie's typical bright and surreal colour palette. The framing of Tommy looking out of the window with his hands up against it, distorted from the glass with faeces smeared across his walls and "aids junky scum" highlighted with graffiti is immediately quite grim and depressing. As we enter the apartment the bright and colourful look associated with the characters bedsit...

The worst toilet in Scotland scene perfectly adheres to the nature of Trainspotting as it encapsulates both the most grim and dark as well as the surreal glamorisation. The scene begins with the jaunty non-diegetic music utilised for comic effect. As Renton begins his voiceover the flats he walks by are insanely and very imaginatively colourful, keeping the film very vibrant whilst discussing quite a repellent topic- Renton being "no longer constipated". We are still very much aligned with Renton through voiceover and point of view shots. As he walks into the bar a shaky hand held camera and disorientating white noise is used whilst all the faces stare into the camera ensuring the audience feels the same anxiety Renton is feeling. Furthermore his luxurious description of his ideal toilet heightens the sense of disgust when we soon see the worst toilet in Scotland. The colour palette in this scene is extremely dull at this part of the scene and the cinematography is not nece...