Captain fantastic: Opening montage
This scene begins by the family hauling back the deer they killed in preparation to cook and eat it; slightly redeeming themselves from the previous scene in all eyes except for vegans. There is a light melodic non-diegetic piano tune playing and the diegetic jungle noises continue. They kids begin to hang the deer up from tree as ben, showing the audience his authority on the children reminds them "training in 60 minutes".
after this line of dialogue, the montage of their every day life begins. The non-diegetic music's tempo changes and is now slightly more upbeat and straightaway the audience is aware the family may not be what they first presumed. This scene starkly contrasts the last in almost every element of film form, and their family is presented much more positively. There is bright and warm toned lighting and sun is even let into the lens. Furthermore it's set in a domestic setting with many domestic props in the mise-en-scene.
In the close-up of the food, there is lots of bright colours and warm toned lighting. The effect of this shot is to highlight self-sufficiency. The water schedule introduces the notion that everyone contributes and participates in this household, subtly hinting at left wing ideologies which are later referred to with Bo claiming he has moved on from being a Trotskyite to A Maoist. However, as a counterargument thanks to active spectatorship, the family enjoy hunting their food and training to kill which wouldn't exactly be associated with being far left.
There is a shot of the two girls skinning the deer in preparation for dinner. Due to active spectatorship there is multiple interpretations. On one hand, it's not vert feminist of the girls to be prepping dinner whilst the boys run round and play, yet using sharp boning knives to skin the dinner and getting elbow-deep in it's guts is arguably very different from a 50's housewife boiling some vegetables and hemming a skirt.
There is a shot of Bo filling a cup of water from a large tank, once again highlighting self sufficiency. As the violin joins the melody we are introduced to another domestic prop: a clothes line. There's lots of vibrant colours in this scene and there is mix of clothing- a knitted hippie jumper and a blue plaid shirt which is predominant in the framing.
The next shot summarises their lifestyle on the surface; an extreme domestic set up in an extremely remote jungle location. We see their sink set-up which includes props such as a drying rack full of plates and a tumbler full of t toothbrushes. The wonderfully vibrant plants and trees in the background added to the mix makes for a perfect symbolic representation of their life in one shot. We are then invited into their wig-wam. Upon a freeze-frame one might think this was the inside of a regular house- Theres a book shelf and an arm chair in the mise-en-scene. We also receive a close up of a picture frame (presumably Bo as a baby). The kid in the picture is sitting on an highchair and it looks as if he's indoors, although that's slightly ambiguous. The audience can later infer this was the house they lived in before moving out into the jungle. In the background there is a record player and more books in the background- functional props to represent the talented and extremely intelligent nature of the children.
Next there is a brief shot of Ben gardening. His ultra-macho appearance combined with this gentle and caring activity effectively characterises Ben.
We catch a glimpse at another picture frame: Ben and Leslie on their wedding day. It's traditional in the sense that Leslie is wearing a white gown and a veil, yet Ben is wearing a bright red suit. Due to active spectatorship the audience can decide this implies Leslie as the traditional one who regretted moving into the wilderness like she blatantly stated in her note and therefor Ben is the quirky and indie figure with all the wacky ideas. Or it can be deduced that this costume dynamic represents the balance of traditional and alternative values within the family and subsequently the letter as being an effect of a bipolar episode- once again that's left to the viewer to decide.
The picture frame establishes a missing narrative: where is the mum?...
The girls who are still prepping dinner notice that one of their knives has gone missing and call out "Dad! Sasha took the boning knife again!" conveying that Ben is the key authority figure.
Ben climbs up a tree house to discover his youngest daughter cutting open a rat with the missing knife. He looks up and with matching eyeliner and invisible editing, we receive a shot of what appears to be some kind of shrine to Paul Pott, foreshadowing some fractures of what's to come. Some may argue that Sasha is showing clear signs of sociopathic tendencies or some may argue it's a dark phase that a lot of kids go through, once again decided by the viewer.
As it can be seen, the themes of alternative family lifestyles are introduced here yet none of its fractures have been shown yet and subsequently the debate. In this sequence Ross uses passive spectatorship to guide the audience into viewing this lifestyle as heaven; a romanticised version of what we soon find to be reality.
after this line of dialogue, the montage of their every day life begins. The non-diegetic music's tempo changes and is now slightly more upbeat and straightaway the audience is aware the family may not be what they first presumed. This scene starkly contrasts the last in almost every element of film form, and their family is presented much more positively. There is bright and warm toned lighting and sun is even let into the lens. Furthermore it's set in a domestic setting with many domestic props in the mise-en-scene.
In the close-up of the food, there is lots of bright colours and warm toned lighting. The effect of this shot is to highlight self-sufficiency. The water schedule introduces the notion that everyone contributes and participates in this household, subtly hinting at left wing ideologies which are later referred to with Bo claiming he has moved on from being a Trotskyite to A Maoist. However, as a counterargument thanks to active spectatorship, the family enjoy hunting their food and training to kill which wouldn't exactly be associated with being far left.
There is a shot of the two girls skinning the deer in preparation for dinner. Due to active spectatorship there is multiple interpretations. On one hand, it's not vert feminist of the girls to be prepping dinner whilst the boys run round and play, yet using sharp boning knives to skin the dinner and getting elbow-deep in it's guts is arguably very different from a 50's housewife boiling some vegetables and hemming a skirt.
There is a shot of Bo filling a cup of water from a large tank, once again highlighting self sufficiency. As the violin joins the melody we are introduced to another domestic prop: a clothes line. There's lots of vibrant colours in this scene and there is mix of clothing- a knitted hippie jumper and a blue plaid shirt which is predominant in the framing.
The next shot summarises their lifestyle on the surface; an extreme domestic set up in an extremely remote jungle location. We see their sink set-up which includes props such as a drying rack full of plates and a tumbler full of t toothbrushes. The wonderfully vibrant plants and trees in the background added to the mix makes for a perfect symbolic representation of their life in one shot. We are then invited into their wig-wam. Upon a freeze-frame one might think this was the inside of a regular house- Theres a book shelf and an arm chair in the mise-en-scene. We also receive a close up of a picture frame (presumably Bo as a baby). The kid in the picture is sitting on an highchair and it looks as if he's indoors, although that's slightly ambiguous. The audience can later infer this was the house they lived in before moving out into the jungle. In the background there is a record player and more books in the background- functional props to represent the talented and extremely intelligent nature of the children.
Next there is a brief shot of Ben gardening. His ultra-macho appearance combined with this gentle and caring activity effectively characterises Ben.
We catch a glimpse at another picture frame: Ben and Leslie on their wedding day. It's traditional in the sense that Leslie is wearing a white gown and a veil, yet Ben is wearing a bright red suit. Due to active spectatorship the audience can decide this implies Leslie as the traditional one who regretted moving into the wilderness like she blatantly stated in her note and therefor Ben is the quirky and indie figure with all the wacky ideas. Or it can be deduced that this costume dynamic represents the balance of traditional and alternative values within the family and subsequently the letter as being an effect of a bipolar episode- once again that's left to the viewer to decide.
The picture frame establishes a missing narrative: where is the mum?...
The girls who are still prepping dinner notice that one of their knives has gone missing and call out "Dad! Sasha took the boning knife again!" conveying that Ben is the key authority figure.
Ben climbs up a tree house to discover his youngest daughter cutting open a rat with the missing knife. He looks up and with matching eyeliner and invisible editing, we receive a shot of what appears to be some kind of shrine to Paul Pott, foreshadowing some fractures of what's to come. Some may argue that Sasha is showing clear signs of sociopathic tendencies or some may argue it's a dark phase that a lot of kids go through, once again decided by the viewer.
As it can be seen, the themes of alternative family lifestyles are introduced here yet none of its fractures have been shown yet and subsequently the debate. In this sequence Ross uses passive spectatorship to guide the audience into viewing this lifestyle as heaven; a romanticised version of what we soon find to be reality.
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