Narrative Structure in A Close Shave

A Close Shave is a 1995 Wallace and Gromit short film directed by Nick Park. This film follows a quest narrative structure. Every film is likely to contain various character archetypes and this film in particular the main characters are Gromit as the hero, Wallace as the ally, Wendoline is a shape shifter and Preston is the shadow.

The audience is fed the exposition in a breakfast scene where it is established that Gromit, the dog is the more rational individual between him and Wallace. The two individuals’ career is also established as we find out that they are window cleaners with Wallace having aspirations of being an inventor. The audience is eventually introduced to Wendoline where It then could be assumed that she was intended to be Wallace’s love interest. Wendoline’s back story is told and it is told that her father was once an inventor just like Wallace, giving these two characters something in common. In the fictional world of Wallace and Gromit, animals are seen to be sentient beings and Wendoline’s dog Preston’s intentions are motivations are initially unclear but at a major turning point in the film, where Gromit gets framed for Preston’s actions and ends up in prison. It is revealed at this moment that Preston is the Shadow and therefore the antagonist of the story.

The narrative follows a linear structure as we are not shown any flashbacks or flash forwards and we experience the story as how the characters were. The first turning point of the film happens in the opening scenes. We witness Shaun, a sheep escape. This Is significant as without this particular event taking place the plot of the film would not have taken place. It can be debated as to whether Shaun is a Macguffin as his character has little to no impact on the events of the film but still would further the plot.

In my opinion, the Wallace and Gromit films are unique in the sense that even though there are humans, the plot is driven by Gromit, an animal. Throughout A Close Shave, Gromit’s decisions like searching Wendoline’s shop furthers the plot. The film is also almost entirely told from his perspective apart from a couple scenes where we follow Preston instead. There is a twist that takes place at the conclusion of the film where it is revealed that Preston was actually a robot. This fact is withheld throughout the film which creates tension and suspense.  There is closure that comes from the epilogue of the film. Preston is turned into a harmless robot controlled by remote and the side plot of Wallace’s pursuit of Wendoline is also put to halt as a piece of dialogue reveals that Wendoline does not like cheese, much to Wallace’s horror.

Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster is seen to be one of the best actresses working today. A couple of films that she has starred in have immense popularity and some of the characters that she has played have become household names. Clarice Starling from The Silence of the Lambs would be the prime example.

It has definitely not been an easy route for Foster to reach the stage she is at now. Jodie Foster started her acting career as a child actress in a variety of television programmes before being cast by Martin Scorsese in his 1976 film, Taxi Driver. Foster played the role of a teenage prostitute which gained her much critical acclaim and was rewarded with an Academy Award nomination at just thirteen years of age. In 1981, Foster got her first taste of the downsides of being a famous actress. She had been stalked by John Hinckley who then went on to attempt an assassination on then US president Ronald Reagan. Hinckley had claimed that his reason for the attempt was simply to impress Jodie Foster. This particular incident gave Foster much coverage in the media.

1991 was when it all changed for Foster. Jonathan Demme’s thriller, The Silence Of The Lambs released to universal acclaim and with substantial box office numbers. Her role as Clarice Starling was also widely praised and propelled her status as a role model to women. Clarice Starling was the first of quite a few roles for Foster in which she plays very strong willed, independent and smart heroines. At the time, the biggest stars were mainly male like Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Cruise and so the character of Clarice Starling and Foster’s convincing performance was extremely refreshing.

Foster’s next box office success was a Western film, titled Maverick, released in 1994. She again played a strong willed and confident female in a world largely dominated by men. Maverick was also a huge box office success earning $183 million in 1994. Her role in Maverick cemented Jodie Foster’s status as a bankable star. Her characters were relatable to many a female viewer especially after her situation with Thomas Hinckley in which most females would have been horrified by and therefore have an emotional attachment to Foster.

Jodie Foster’s tough road to the top where she managed to overcome the atrocity of the John Hinckley incident to become one of the most successful and famous actresses on the planet is inspirational to many. She has been largely type cast to always play strong willed females successfully but these roles are surely a form of motivation to many young females around the world who are of the belief that they are living in a man’s word. Brianne Hogan writes in a blog post on Clarice Starling:“I had never been exposed to a female character like Clarice before, and she intoxicated me. I was hooked on her bravery, her independence, her strength..”

 

Dark Water (2005)

Dark Water directed by Walter Salles is a horror remake of a Japanese film of the same name. The film follows Dahlia Williams and Ceci Williams, played by Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly and Ariel Gade respectively. Ceci finds herself caught in the middle as her parents fight for her custody and Dahlia struggles to contain issues from her past as they both move in to a run-down apartment.

What I find Dark Water does effectively is that it follows the conventions of horror pretty well. The film contains many common horror themes like revenge, death and insanity. The Mis en Scene within the film are also reminiscent of many a horror film. The apartment where the film is set seems extremely isolated and evokes feelings of claustrophobia. This setting reminded me of The Shining (Kubrick, 1980). There is a significant usage of Pathetic Fallacy as the rain that constantly pours throughout the film mimics the hectic nature of the main character’s state of mind. Another horror convention that is littered towards the end of the film would be the usage of false endings.

The main performances, especially from Jennifer Connelly are impressive, they are effective in evoking a sense of empathy with the viewers. Sufficient back stories are given to the main characters in which we are then able to emphatise. The situation that they had found themselves in is rather common in life and so their plight might be relatable to a wide range of people.  My criticism for the film however would be for the side or minor characters. Two pretty big actors, John C. Reilly and Tim Roth are used sparingly. John C. Reilly’s character largely serves only one purpose and that is to provide comic relief and we are initially led on to think that Tim Roth’s character would play a bigger role when he is introduced, only for him to disappear towards the final stages of the film.

Another piece of criticism that I have for Dark Water would be that the ending is rather predictable. After the first act of the film, it becomes pretty clear how the ending would be. Although predictable endings are also commonly found in horror films I find it to be a flaw in that it takes away massively from my general enjoyment of the film. My favourite films are those with endings that I could never see coming. As I mentioned earlier, The Shining which I feel holds quite a few similarities to Dark Water mostly In its atmosphere and setting, keeps the audience on their edge of their seat as the plot could have really gone anywhere

Dark Water, though impressive in Mis En Scene choice, effective cinematography that sets the mood and stand out performances from the leads suffers from quite a few issues in which I feel holds the film back in reaching its potential. Certain choices made towards the conclusion, I felt could easily have been left out and at the same time making it a more suspenseful and therefore entertaining film.

Editing and Sound in Psycho’s shower scene

I am not a fan of horror films. As an appreciator of all films in general, horror is the one genre that I have had the most difficulty appreciating. Out of the horror films that I have seen in the past, many of them rely on what I consider to be cheap and exploitative jump scares with little meaning to them except to shock the viewer. Psycho released in 1960 and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, dubbed the “Master of Suspense” is seen by many as one of the scariest films of all time. The shower scene in Psycho is also regarded as one of the most iconic scenes in cinematic history and the use of editing in order to create suspense and horror is a far cry from what we see today.

The sequence that leads to that infamous scene in the shower starts with the main character Marion, doing some calculations on her notebook, flushing it away in the toilet and eventually getting into the shower. These shots depicting these actions are longer in length and acts as a build-up. These shots are detailed and it gives the viewer time to ponder on the scene that is to come.

When we first see the killer or the Psycho as the title of the film suggest, it is not a jump scare as many horror film directors and writers choose to introduce their antagonists nowadays. The silhouette is seen through the shower curtain from behind Marion as it moves closer and closer. As the figure opens the shower curtain the scene explodes with the sound of the infamous soundtrack and Marion’s screaming.
The attacker’s face is veiled in darkness as the scene becomes a stark contrast from what we had seen just one minute ago. The shots are extremely quick showing us multiple shots of the knife but we never actually see it pierce any body parts. The choice to use these quick shots was to evoke a sense of panic from the viewers and mimics Marion’s emotions. The change up from the longer and calmer shots of Marion before with no non-diegetic sounds being used to a frenzy of quick second long shots is absolutely disarming.

As the storm of the murder settles with a shot of the shower head, Hitchcock uses a match cut to transition from it to Marion’s lifeless eyes. This is used to illustrate and establish that Marion is truly dead with a lingering shot on her eyes. What I feel is the most effective in making this scene truly horrifying is the choice of music. A conscious decision was obviously made for the music to mimic screaming and that coupled with the rapid succession of shots is haunting and I am of the opinion that it is a much more meaningful and effective tactic than simply using a jump scare.

Hitchcock with Psycho has given me a completely new outlook on how Horror should be. It is so much easier to appreciate horror films of this ilk when you are aware of the many editing techniques used in order to evoke emotions from the viewer. When there is much more to a film than cheap jump scares, I wouldn’t mind being scared out of my wits.  

Cinematography in Raging Bull

The La Motta VS Cerdan fight scene in Raging Bull is seen to be one of the greatest scenes in film history. The Cinematographer of the film, Michael Chapman has said in an interview that he and the director, Martin Scorsese wanted to distinguish Jake La Motta’s life in the ring as a boxer from his personal life with the decision to use vastly different camera techniques from each other.

We follow La Motta from the dressing room to the ring with continuous long shot. The choice of camera used by Michael Chapman was the Steadicam. The smoothness and stability of the long shot gives the feeling that we are with La Motta as he makes his reentrance to the boxing scene. The Camera is set at a medium shot size following De Niro at eye level.

 

The entirety of the shot where la Motta makes his way to the Boxing ring was using a 50mm lens. Being at eye level with Jake and Joey puts us in their shoes. For Jake, a look of determination and for Joey, anxiety seeps through. When Jake enters the ring, the lens is switched to a wide angled one and the camera pan upwards towards the crowd. The sheer amount of people there to spectate gives the event a sense of scale and magnitude. A close-up shot is used when Vickie, La Motta’s wife comes on the screen. Every other character around her is full of smiles and in unison in their support for Jake La Motta but Vickie’s facial expression is one of indifference.

 

As the fight begins, a lot of close-up shots are used. The shots emphasise on the two fighters, La Motta and Cerdan’s faces as we notice the intensity and determination etched on their faces. The camera angles during the fight rotate between medium shots and close-ups. The choice of camera angles was mostly at eye level which would make the viewer feel part of the action. When the fight begins to wind down, a canted angle is used on La Motta’s opponent in two different shots.  The first angle establishes La Motta’s dominance over Cerdan. The second angle, a slightly more canted angle establishes Cerdan’s defeat.

 

As the fight comes to a close, a slow-motion effect is used when the referee decides to call off the fight and to declare La Motta the winner. I believe the slow-motion effect is to emphasise on La Motta’s facial expression. Some extreme close ups are used on La Motta’s face during the celebrations. La Motta’s face and his reaction to the adoration that he was receiving after the game is heavily emphasized during the celebrations. It is a contrast from the unhappy life that he had been living at home with his family. I think Scorsese and Michael Chapman had the intention of giving the audience the impression that La Motta only really feels happy when he has the adoration of everyone and when he is fighting in the ring.

Martin Scorsese was initially reluctant to make Raging Bull but after he managed to survive a drug overdose, Scorsese could relate to La Motta’s life. Scorsese compared Film making to boxing and  is quoted as saying “you make movies, you’re in the ring each time”. Martin Scorsese along with his Cinematographer, Michael Chapman in 1980 made a film that feels timeless with the choice of cinematography techniques that can be seen in a lot of the films that we see today. There are many who feel that the visual decision using slow-mo to indicate a character’s state of mind was groundbreaking. Roger Ebert wrote in a in a 1998 interview “The most effective visual strategy in the film is the use of slow motion to suggest a heightened awareness, so LaMotta sees Vickie so intently that time seems to expand around her. Normal movement is shot at 24 frames a second; slow motion uses more frames per second, so that it takes longer for them to be projected; Scorsese uses subtle speeds such as 30 or 36 frames per second, and we internalize the device so that we feel the tension of narrowed eyes and mounting anger when Jake is triggered by paranoia over Vickie’s behavior”

 

 

The use of Mis En Scene in Metropolis

Silent films have never really appealed to me. I found little interest in watching films that had no dialogue. I had my doubts on whether these films could really tell a cohesive story without the use of voice. Many of my favourite films feature heavy dialogue which is also used as a device to further the plot and also to develop the characters. It was not until I watched Metropolis with the intention of picking out the mis en scene did I realise that a story could very well be told without any use of dialogue. Metropolis, filmed in 1926 and directed by Fritz Lang is an expressionist film. One that imagines the future. We also know that there are two different groups of people in Metropolis, “the workers” and “the rich”. We find out all this information within the first five minutes of the film, with the help of the mis en scene applied.

When we are first introduced to the workers in Metropolis, we see them line up in an orderly fashion all in the same dark uniform and with their heads bowed. I noticed this to be the first time Figure and Costume was used in the film. The image of the workers lining up in that manner and their costumes immediately gives you a lot of information about the workers without any use of dialogue. We can imagine that the workers are restricted and unhappy with their situation. The mood throughout the scene is set with the lighting being low-key. The use of low-key lighting evokes a depressed feeling which could be a representation of workers’ plight.

 

The film then takes us above ground to a vastly different looking location. It is almost a complete contrast to the setting in which we saw the workers. The lighting shifts to high-key and the characters that we see don extravagant bright clothing. It is established by an intertitle that above ground, is where the rich live. From these images, we can deduce that the workers are working for the rich and live in a completely separate area from them.

A character named Freder gets introduced. When we see Freder, with the help of an intertitle, we can clearly tell that he is the son of a very important figure in the Metropolis lore. His costume is bright and proper and his movement unrestricted. A complete contrast to the workers who were the complete opposite in costume, movement and even facial and body expressions.

The next character to be introduced is a girl in significantly less extravagant clothes to the one Freder had been spending time with in the pleasure garden. This girl leads a group of children with similar clothing to the workers. The lighting is significant in her introduction as a bright light is used on her face but not on the other children. From the choice of lighting and the expressions on Freder’s face we can see Lang’s intention in making Freder and this girl the main characters of his story and potential lovers. The girl is immediately ushered away down to where we had seen the workers.

We are again brought down to the workers area in which Freder finds out for the first time how the workers were being treated. An explosion occurs killing several workers and the machine seems to shift its image to one that resembles a demon. The scene shows the workers moving into the fire of the demon’s mouth. The imagery of fire and the demon gives the impression that the workers are in hell.

It is clear from the opening scenes of Metropolis why it is seen as a Classic Film and how it has so much influence on so many of the films that we watch today. The setting of Metropolis has been re used and re imagined in a couple other films that are also seen to be important like Blade Runner (1982) and the Star Wars series.

 

 

One of my favourite films- Gone Baby Gone

I have never been to Boston but after watching Gone Baby Gone, i feel that i’ve lived there for years. The characters in this film are so rooted in reality that it is completely believable that they are real people. The fact that most of the extras that were used in this film were just passers-bys in Boston added so much to how realistic the film felt.

The lead, Casey Affleck puts in a performance in which i found myself rooting for him and hoping he makes the decisions that i myself would make. His character, Patrick Kenzie finds himself in some difficult situations and has to make a decision that had me in a debate whether he had actually made the right decision.

 

Gone Baby Gone is Ben Affleck’s directorial debut which thoroughly adds to my enjoyment of the film especially after knowing his career and the roles that he had taken prior to Gone Baby Gone. Affleck being a Boston native would also naturally know how a Boston community would work and that definitely helps in the film’s realism.

Most critics agree with me on how realistic the film comes across as. Angie Errigo from Empire Magazine wrote in her four star review : ” Director Ben Affleck has taken a thoughtfully subdued approach to what is, it seems, his favourite novel. He sustains a concrete, authentic realism in what is, after all, his own hometown setting”

Film Studies Blog