2 Style, Theme And Project
- 1. 21 – 22 – Putting It Together
- 2. Outline You now have the bulk of the information that you need in order to be successful in the end of year exam. What we need to do with the analysis that you have carried out so far is to target it so that you are able to discuss the implication of each piece of analysis on the wider text.
- 3. Outline The five major areas that have come up in the past three years have been: Character – major, minor, change, relationships Theme – also purpose, message, idea, thoughts, helped you to understand Scene – also section, segment, episode, beginning, ending Setting – environment, atmosphere, situation Audience response – made you feel, respond, think, react
- 4. Outline We will soon be completing a group project which will look at all five of the areas is some depth, however, over the next few lessons I will be guiding you through the idea of how to turn knowledge about techniques used and effects into solid analysis.
- 5. Patterns In order to achieve at Level Two it is important that you understand how a technique has been used across the text, and not just one example. I call this the idea of patterns . A marker wants to not only know about the one midshot from the first scene, but they want to know about how this particular shot is used throughout. Some key indicators to whether you are discussing the pattern of a technique is the number of different examples you can give, whether you contrast examples, or talk about this example emphasising a previous one or foreshadowing the use of it somewhere else. A solid essay will ‘discuss across’ the text. This is what you will need to do to achieve the high grades you are capable of.
- 6. Overall Style In order to talk about the patterns, you need to have an understanding of the overall style of a text. What is the overall style of Children of Men that Cuaron used? Why did he choose to use this?
- 7. Documentary The overall style of the film has been described numerous times as a ‘realistic’ or ‘naturalistic’, and even as a kind of ‘fictional documentary’. Cuaron and his creative team spent months working out how to make the film evoke feelings of our own world, how we can become involved, feel a part of this world and relate to it.
- 8. Documentary Some important quotes from the film clip that are worth discussing: A little bit the way a documentary film maker would do it, would approach a subject like this Lubezki Rather than being very manipulated shots going through all the elements and cutting backwards and forwards he is trying to get a very visceral feel…see the chaos, feel the chaos Owen One of the rules to keep with natural light to make the movie realistic and naturalistic as possible and that’s also because we didn’t want to glamourise that moment in history, or humanity and we wanted to make it look as close to what’s happening right now and to make the people feel that something like that could happen Lubezki This movie has to look raw, it has to look real Cuaron
- 9. Documentary The way that Lubezki and Cuaron discuss the film is an indication of how you will need to discuss it if you are aiming high in the exam – note that they talk about the overall style of the film, and not just of a singular technique. It is the lighting, with the special effects, with the colour, the sustained shots, the handheld camera and so on that create a feeling, an atmosphere and environment to the film. So…why is it shot in this style? How does this style help to convey an idea?
- 10. Documentary The film shot in this manner creates a sense of realism. If we are to heed Cuaron’s warning do we not have to believe that it is a possibility? Creates a stronger effect in the viewer. The documentary style, the realism, does not allow us to escape and just pretend that the film is an ungrounded fantasy. The style places us in the film. Not only is it real by the documentary style means that we have to participate – in a way making us experience the world that we have created through our own acts. The idea of a documentary gives the film a sense of momentousness, of a potential history being created. We only generally make documentaries about interesting, historical, important aspects of society. Therefore, this style gives the film a sense of importance, that this moment, this time when the idea of humanity and how we react to adversity is being played out, is crucial to us all as human beings. The realism relates to our own world, we must link this future world to our own world so that we can see that this is the consequences of our current actions. It is also a type of ‘war’ documentary. Gives the impression of an embedded war correspondent. This heightens the violence and conflict of the setting. We can link this to familiar images that we have seen in our current world.
- 11. Design Of course one of the largest stylistic elements is the futuristic design of the film. It is interesting that it is not so much the ‘futuristic’ design that stands out in 2027 London, but the lack of a ‘futuristic’ design. The following clip examines the way in which the designers (costume, set, production etc) created the world for Cuaron’s film. As you watch think about the overall reasons WHY they made the decisions that they did.
- 12. Documentary So…if we can link the techniques to the overall style of the film the last thing we need to do is examine what this helps to show us about those five key elements that we looked at: Theme Setting Character Personal Response Individual Episodes
- 13. 23, 24 – Theme
- 14. Themes and Films Nearly every question that you answer at Level Two requires you to have a clear idea about the themes and ideas of the text. In this case you will need to have a clear idea about the themes and ideas of Children of Men . Task: Group Think In your groups on a large sheet of paper write three key theme statements that you believe are central to the film. Rework these so that they are well worded, make complete sense, and capture exactly what you mean.
- 15. Themes Your Ideas What did you come up with?
- 16. Social Commentary One idea that has become quite prevalent is that the film is a reflection of our current situation. Remember Cuaron noted that: We decided not to, in terms of what you see, not to see the future, we try to recognise the present. A Social Commentary is a text that sets about reflecting the current world back on itself. In a way holding a mirror up to our own world and asking its viewers/readers to think about their current actions, their current lives and so on. The mirror, however, in a social commentary is generally slightly skewed to what the director/writer wants the viewer/reader to see.
- 17. Social Commentary If the text is a social commentary what is Cuaron saying about our current world and what is happening around us? Is Cuaron warning us about something that is taking place right now in our world? Does Cuaron suggest a solution to the current problems that we are facing, or a new way to look at these problems?
- 18. Social Commentary As always when a film of this nature comes out many people begin to see it as prophecy, reinforcing religious beliefs, an attack on George Bush and so on. What is interesting that Cuaron actually allows a documentary making such modern comparisons to appear the Special Edition of the DVD. It would seem that Cuaron wants us to think about the modern comparisons, to see it as prophecy. So…should we be afraid?
- 19. Some Thoughts Warns about the dangers of forgetting about human rights when facing adversity. Examines the lengths that people will go to for self-preservation. Discusses the need for hope is the face of futility. But there are so many more ideas than this that are brought up in the film…what is important is that the idea that you choose to write about can be justified. That you can clearly analyse how and why techniques were used in the way they were to show this.
- 20. Some Thoughts Think about: Are individual human rights more important than the right of the state to survive, protect itself (Gitmo etc) If Kee’s baby could bring about peace and acceptance of ‘fugees’ should she be forced to give it up? If yes, why? If no, why not? In 2027 London would not be able to handle all of the refugees that were entering the country, therefore do they not have the right to protect their own citizens and close the borders? Why is it the people of Britain’s fault that other countries infrastructure collapsed? Why should they have to carry the burden? Surely a state that is about to end has to be oppressive. If there was not stricter, tougher law enforcement at a time when people were depressed, knew that there would not be a future generation, no longer cared about survival, there would be more crime? Harsher law enforcement is therefore necessary to ensure the safety of others.
- 21. 25 - 29 – Group Project
- 22. Group Projects Over the next four periods you will be working on a group project to put all of the details together. This group project will form the bulk of your notes for the unit and therefore it should be completed as well as possible. The rest of the class is depending upon you to do a good job.
- 23. Task Outline Each group will be made up of six members. Four groups will be looking at the different elements of the film (Lighting/Colour/SFX, Diegetic Sound/Music, Dialogue, Camera Work) and one group will be looking at the Setting of the film. Each member of the group will have a different responsibility: analysing the way the element shows the main character, minor characters, key themes, causes a response in the viewer, is important to two different scenes. For the setting group each member of the group will look at the way a different elements helps to show the setting. Each member of the group will be responsible for making notes, analysing the text, and creating PowerPoints for there topic. The group will then put the PowerPoints into one. The group will then need to present their information to the class. Each member of the group will have to present their own slide. These PP’s will then be put on FirstClass for everyone to access.
- 24. Task Outline Remember: Work together. You will need to listen to one another, decide who is going to be doing what and make sure that you meet team commitments. Meet the deadlines. If you do not finish this in the class time you will need to finish it at home for homework and make sure that it is ready to present on the presentation day. Make it brilliant. Really think about what you are doing and try to make sure that your work is thorough, accurate and insightful.
- 25. Resources Resources: A task outline An individual outline of your topic will be on FirstClass Analysis Sheets (ideas to explore) on FirstClass