Research For Shocking Cinema.

Using the two films Halloween and Exorcist, In class we looked at documentaries on both of these films. I wrote notes on some of the key social, political and economic events that were mentioned in the documentary.

Notes on Exorcist
Film made people faint and be sick.
Actors were worried how to portray the emotions of the characters.
Fires on set while no one was there.
There was 9 deaths related to the film while they were making it.
The Director went to extremes to make the film, including risking the actors during the stunts.
He also brought guns to set to motivate the cast.
The masturbating scene is the most shocking scene of the film and is still talked about as one of the most shocking scenes from a film.

Note on Halloween
Small budget film that made it big.
Released in 1978.
It was a cultural  Phenomena.
The budget for the film was only 32000 dollars.
Shocked the film industry
The word Halloween was never used in the movie business before.
Halloween was influenced by Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.
The director wanting the film to be the best.
The direction of the film created great suspense.

The similarities between these two films are the suspense used to draw in the audiences and the dedication of the directors.
The films were released in the 70’s , Exorcist in 1973 and Halloween in 1978.

Economic events of around this time was the Hippie movement that wasn’t all peace and love like people believe. There were cult followings like Charles Manson. In 1973 the last of the US forces moved out of Vietnam. US president Nixon resigned. 1976 was the end of the Vietnam war. In 1979 Margaret Thatcher.

The Exorcist tackles issues such as religion, family life, childhood, redemption. Halloween tackles issues of sociology, social issues, family life.

10th December 2008

Question: In what ways do surrealist and fantasy films challenge our usual expectations of conventual narrative cinema?

The different aspects of surrealist and fantasy films are very different to the normal narrative of cinema. Surrealism explores the abstract structure of film, a surrealist film encourages the audience to explore the social and moral questions to which they question themselves when watching because there can be no moral or social reasoning behind the surrealist shots. 

The fantasy genre explores the world of myths and legends and creates a world in which is like a dream. The audience is drawn in and is encouraged to become apart of the world with the characters. 

There are clearly different aspects to the surrealism genre and the fantasy genre. In the fantasy genre, it explores the dream element and creates a world in which not all is as it seems but it can be explained. With the surrealist genre it also explores the dream element but enters in more with great depth and it is very hard to define the reality elements to the dream elements. 

With conventual Cinema there is a plot that is followed throughout the film, the characters types that are constant, however surrealism and fantasy challenge this by creating aspects in there genres that don’t have to apply to the normal conventions and can explore the conventions by adapting them to create there own style. With surrealist and fantasy films there is an expectation from the audience to explore the unknown of cinema. 

Examples of these two genres being used is in Jan Svankmajer Alice and Disney’s version Alice in wonderland. Jan Svankmajer created a world in which things were not as it seemed In part the young girl encounters a taxidermist rabbit who she follows through this very disturbing and decaying world. That appears to be created from the young girls disturbed mind. 

In the fantasy version of Alice in wonderland created by disney, The story is just as strange but in the fantasy genre you can find logic within its conventions. The disney version of Alice in wonderland is easy to watch because of all the strange and wonderful bright colours used to draw the attention of young children and in turn is a children’s classic. 

Notes on Elizabeth opening sequence

• Sound- old English opera 
• When the women’s hair being cut panning shot
• Burning of the prositance, hair has been cut of
• Birds eye shot of them burning
• Bells chiming news of queen with child
• Dark lighting, solemn music in the queens court, dark clothes
• Bright and cheerful lighting when princess Elizabeth is shown, bright coloured clothes (Elizabeth in bright green dress and pink sash over her shoulder)
• Sound- light music playing when she is dancing with Robert (strings)
• She is arrested by Sussex and taken is taken to the tower

Three main parts of the opening scene

·        Burning of the prostiants

·        Queen Mary

·        Princess Elizabeth

Values

·        Power comes greed

·        Betrayal and deceit

·        Religion, Catholics and prositant

·        Conflicting believes

  

Step by step opening sequence

First shot

·        Intense opera music

·        Distorted cross’s

·        Image of Henry the 8^th

·        Country divided

·        Orange, red colours

·        Hell, Power, Fire

·        Image of Mary

·        Image of Elizabeth

·        Montage

·        Cuts to black

·        In the name of god on the document

·        Wax stamped on document

·        Chains panning shot

·        Cutting of the hair-reborn, de humanises them

·        Talking religious babble

·        High angle of doors being opened and the convicted being strapped in a triangle.

·        Rotating camera shot

·        God looking down at them

·        Camera follows the fire

·        They start to burn

·        Shot of the crowd- blank look on the crowd’s faces. Used to what is happening

·        Flames covered them

·        The crowd adds more wood so they burn quicker to make there deaths quicker

·        Low angle of the guards on the horse, power

Second scene

·        High angle in court

·        Makes the important people look small and insinifant

·        Camera focus on Norfolk

·        Camera angle looking through the bars

·        Eavesdropping on the conversation

·        Secret conversation

·        Sexual power over her.

·        Dark lighting- cut off from her country

·        Crabs around and upward camera angle shows she is powerful

·        Camera looks up at Norfolk gives him power

·        Reforment of catholic believe by talking about good.

·        Visual of queen looking decused when her sister is mentioned

·        The queen seeks advice from all the men around her shows she is not cable of running the country by herself

·        She uses fail language about her sister.

  

Third scene

·        Bright shot of Elizabeth with her ladies, dancing, playing.

·        Knight comes on a white horse

·        She doesn’t run to him like the rest of the girls

·        Her back towards him playing hard to get

·        Out of focus person running shows that something is happening

·        Cuts to Robert and Elizabeth shows imtermentacy

·        Shows guards- man in black symbolises evil

·        Shows how Elizabeth is venerable

·        Man in black low camera angle gives him power

·        Inside building was joy and safety now she is walking out into danger

·        Close up of Sussex

·        Elizabeth shows fear first of all then courage as she walks towards him knowing her fate in the tower.

Audio

• Intense music at the opening credits, Holy music, Powerful music.
• Religious shouting of the women and then quiet praying from the man,
• Chains jingling.
• Scrapping of scalp as there hair is cut
• Opening of the doors
• Noise of the crowd
• Priest preaching and condemning them
• Screaming of the women
• Chanting in latin as the fire is lit
• Fire crackling
• Them screaming
• The crowd screaming
• Choir music
• Horse clogs on the pavement

Second scene

• Bells ringing
• Echo of the people below talking and walking
• Fast walking on the pavement
• Conversation between them
• Brass sound
• Talking and there is an echo
• Music in the background
• Wind in the background
• Music grows louder as they are all being dismissed

Third scene

·        Giggling of her ladies

·        As she turns to him the music starts

·        Soft and seductive love music

·        Running of the messenger

·        Horses running

·        Banging on the door and messenger shouting

·        Drum role as the guards gather round the house

·        Shouting of Sussex, music has become more dramatic

·        When he looks at her the soft music returns

·        The birds treating in the background

Story Board Notes
Film Studies

Love story idea: Girl out with her friends having a laugh catch’s this guy looking at her from across the room there eyes meet. she looks away. later that night she leaves her friends and walks home she bumps into him on the way home they stop stare and kiss.
Setting: Cold autumn night, still light but cold.
Costume: Coats, gloves to reflect the cold.
Locations: Homes, Pub, Path next to road.

Development of Love story with camera angles and shots.

Girl getting ready to go out with her friends No dialogue there is going to be music playing in the background of each shots the song Girls just want to have fun by Cyndi Lauper (shot of each girl getting ready to go out. Over shoulder shots of them getting ready in the mirror so reflections are shown, and on there way to where they will be meeting for a drink, shots of them walking or in back of car).

She stands and waits for her friends outside the pub.( shot of her standing and waiting, then a pan shot of her group of friends walking over all arm in arm wearing coats because its cold)Then she sees her friends walking towards the pub.

They all walk into the pub and walk to find a table where they can chat and have a laugh. (shot of the walking through the door from the outside then cuts to them walking in from inside, cuts back to the last person walking through the door from the outside then the camera follows them walking with them to find a table (point of view shot as if the camera is one of the girls)

They sit down at a table in the corner already chatting away. (Shot of them walking up the stairs. shot of the table in the corner, then they walk to the table then and sit down.)

They look at the drinks menu and two of them walk to the bar and the other two stay seating at the table, leaving them to chat. (shot of the girls looking at the drinks menu. Then two of the girls walk to the to the bar to get the drinks and then a shot of the two standing at the bar. over the shoulder shot of each of the girls sitting at the table while they are having a conversation.) (Then a close up of the main character at the table having a conversation with the other girls).

In the middle of the conversation she looks over and her eyes meet with the boys across the room. (close up of the girl looking up and then a close up of the guys face from across the room, close up of her eyes looking at him and a close up of his eyes.)

The girls are all saying good bye outside the pub, then the boy walks out the pub and sees the girl standing there with her friends. (medium shot of the girls standing outside the door, then a over the shoulder shot of the boy walking out the door and seeing the girl standing there.)

She leaves her friends and starts walking home. She can feel someone looking at her from behind and then hears footsteps. She pulls her coat closer around her body feeling the warmth. (over the shoulder shot of him looking at her as she walks away, medium shot of her walking, medium shot of him walking, long shot of him behind her seeing her pull her coat closer around her.)

She can feel eyes watching her she stops and turns.Then there eyes meet, he is stood right close to her and as they stand there looking at each other there eyes burning into each others souls.(medium shot of her turning around to see what is behind her and seeing him, close up of her face reaction, medium close up of her face then medium close up of his face from side angles, camera zooms out into a medium shot of them standing looking at one another.)

They kiss and everything around them disappears and its just them standing kissing.(medium shot of him leaning in and kissing her, medium close up of them kissing then screen fades to black on that shot.)