Reflective Analysis

For my A2 film coursework, I decided to write a screenplay based on short film. It centres around a protagonist, Ezra and an antagonist, Sven. The first part seems like a mystery but encorporates the martial arts genre.

My storyline was inspired by Jo Nesbo's scandinavian novels as I envisioned what they would look like look if they were eventually filmed. One theme I was particularly interested in stretching was European crime, so I set the scenes in Germany. The motifs of the Berlin setting and the fox were inspired by my favourite film 'Hanna'. The fox was a symbol from the Grimm's Fairytale as it foreshadows the fact that Ezra will be seriously hurt, but will survive. The Grimm's fairytales are also prominent in Hanna. Some of the shots in Scenes 1,2 and 3 are taken from 'New Wave' cinema, I wanted mundane tasks to juxtapose with the eventual climax of the rising action. This creates a nice balance for the audience as it isn't throwing them straight into the action but starting them off comfortable to eventually explode into the climax. The short scenes in the exposition are showing everyday life but the moment Ezra is trapped in the car wreckage, the tone of the script changes. I emphasised this to show the dangerous possibilities of life; anything can happen in a second. This was inspired by the French film La Haine.

The characters of Ezra and Sven are binary opposites, one is good, one is bad. This turbulent relationship is highlighted when Sven tries to torture Ezra twice in the hospital and the car crash without actually killing him. Ezra represents Redemption whereas Sven represents Injustice, 'There is a way to be good again'. This is a theme in one of my A2 subject films, Fight Club, as The Narrator wishes to be everything Tyler is even though he is corrupt. The idea of their 'brotherhood' being disrupted for a foolish, thoughtless action may be relatable to the audience. Another inspiration was Clive Owen and Vincent Cassel's characters in Derailed, another inspiration for scene 9. The fighting in Scene 9 was meant to be reminiscent of the Indonesian film 'The Raid'. The fighting descriptions are realistic, so the audience are more likely to become involved if they're given visuals which they can better respond to. I think the fight scene in particular worked particularly well and would be constructed for a cinema audience and not an on-demand movie that goes straight to TV, however due to the general narrative, I think it would work better as an art house/film festival movie. Director's that would bring it the screen well would be David Fincher, Joe Wright and Dennis Gansel. The narrative followed the structure of David Fincher's 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' in which the audience had to work out the mystery for themselves. Elements of the fighting in the penultimate scene were inspired by the TV show 24 not only because the fighting is dramatic but also more realistic and gritty.

If I could change an element of the screenplay it would be to make it a short extract of what the screenplay would be and not a whole short film. I had a few problems such as too much dialogue and spelling the narrative out, a convention of typical Hollywood movies and not Foreign independent dramas. The clues had to be spelled out in the visuals, this was something that appeared more difficult as I went on. The short mundane scenes in 1,2,3 and 4 are also there to dupe the reader into thinking that a small clue will be left to progress the mystery, however there was not. Most of the mystery derives from the car crash and the fight scene. It's possible that the reader feels unsettled by the rising action and therefore receives the film as an indie flick. All the scenes are conventions of independent dramas and the male antagonist fits the stereotypical family man archetype who must save his family and himself etc. This can be seen as a convention of Hollywood cinema but to intertwine them both would unsettle the audience more as there is no sense of consistency. My target audience would be predominantly 23-30 male and females in an A,B socio economic demographic.

In the mise-en-scene in Scene 1 and 8 there is a lot of derelict language to explain how dark and dingy the settings are, I set the film in Berlin, Germany because it's not only my favourite place but a highly used setting in foreign dramas. The setting adds to the 'unsettling' feel as it's not a paradise. The wife, Cara is described as having red nails and lips to show a more sexual side. Ezra has a seductive wife which he loses, this causes him to react more to the antagonists threats. Another mise-en-scene element running throughout was the constant use of green and emerald to show an illness, a sickness that links to the derelict settings and language. The fox on the sofa had the contrast of ginger and green, just like Marissa Wiegler in the last scene of Hanna where she is also bleeding and wounded. The short bouts of dialogue gave the film a 'New Wave' feel as the actions speak louder than the words. The dialogue itself is specific to the genre, there is a jargon used for the crime aspects in Scene 7, this not only makes the dialogue more subject specific but allows the reader to know exactly what kind of film they're watching. The name was originally going to be 'Ash Tree Lane', the lane where Ezra finds the wounded fox but I later changed it to 'Traces Of A Fox's Kill' from the Snow Child story in the novel The Bloody Chamber, another inspiration of mine. 

Aims and Context

• Mystery/Psychological 

• Script

• Linear Structure 

• 21+ Male and Female audience. Premiered as Art house/Film Festival

• key stylistic elements of sequence (cinematography, editing etc)

The 'Reflective Analysis' should be approx 1,000 words 

It should include/discuss: 

• How successful the work was produced in terms of meeting its aims and context. Themes, issues, style and music should be assessed in terms of appealing to its target audience. (Refer to key films and filmmakers/screenwriters whilst also highlighting and defining your intended means of exhibition - arthouse/mainstream/film festivals etc)
• How well you utilised certain styles, techniques and methods of production in your work. What was successful, less successful and/or unsuccessful in your intended aims (refer to your aims and context: be critical of your own work). 
• Give a critical account of exactly what your role was in the process and discuss; difficulties encountered in production (technical or group dynamics). Assess your own abilities; strengths/weaknesses. Refer to elements that you have altered to meet its aims.
• A discussion of what you have learnt about the filmmaking process and the difficulties that may be encountered by undertaking this practical exercise and a critical reflection of the whole process. 

The supporting written work for this assignment should be detailed, concise and show a good grasp of all elements of the filmmaking/screenwriting process throughout. Your ability to identify styles, techniques and influences on your work should reflect a strong understanding of the chosen form you have worked within. 

Discuss some of the ways in which the film or video work you have studied for this topic requires a different kind of spectatorship from that which mainstream spectators bring to their mainstream film-going. [35]

Discuss some of the ways in which the film or video work you have studied for this topic requires a different kind of spectatorship from that which mainstream spectators bring to their mainstream film-going. [35]
How do experimental  films differ from mainstream?

Experimental films are often easier to understand than mainstream films as there is a lot to discuss and the topics vary much more. In 1929 Luis Bunuel created 'Un Chien Andalou' in which surrealist themes ran wild. I found this film to be disturbing and I started to wonder where ideas, such as the armpit on the mouth, even came from. It seems like a film that reflects social context such as post war drama and religion. One of the male characters actually drags two priests on the ground which can be seen as people dragging religion on the ground because they lost belief in the war. It appears to be a film about escapism and exploring Freud's theory of the unconscious mind and how dreams make no sense. There is clearly an identifiable message within the film whereas compared to Mission Impossible which is aesthetically pleasing but not worth anything more than the typical 'fighting for your life' storyline.

 In films such as Kenneth Anger's 1947 film 'Fireworks' there is much deeper interpretations going on such as illegal homoeroticism. 'It's a dream within a dream. He goes to bed less empty than before'. It was incredibly influential on queer cinema such as mainstream Oscar winner 'Brokeback Mountain'. Through the mise-en-scene, there are flashes of light. Maybe to symbolise that finding his homosexuality is finding the light, and therefore himself. It's violent imagery is a lot more controversial and high brow than a 'popcorn' film. Similar shots are used in 1999 cult film 'Fight Club'. I thought that it was respectively daring but didn't entertain me, it was very realistic as some men do get beaten up for their sexuality. So in this way I think it was making a powerful statement, as this was still a time where homosexuality was classed as a disease in medical books. For a 17 year old, it inspired much more artistic viewings outside The L Word and Queer As Folk.

How useful has a particular critical approach been in gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of your chosen film? 

My chosen film that I have studied for this topic is David Fincher's 1999 film 'Fight Club' which had a number of critical approaches such as Freudian and Post modernism but the critical approach that was most useful to me was this idea of the crisis of masculinity. The films exposition starts with [Jack] the narrator at a self help group for men, all sat in a circle in a gym. As men they should be playing basketball in front of the american flag but instead they are discussing their feelings and massaging each other. The diegetic sound of alarm bells ringing in the background symbolise that what is happening is wrong, it goes against the status quo. Jack suffers from Insomnia, probably as a result of too much TV and a lack of meaning in his life, 'If I didn't cry, I didn't sleep'. He lives his life out of an IKEA catalogue picking out pieces of decorum; something men are stereotypically not meant to do. When his house blows up after meeting Tyler, it is argued that this was the best thing to happen to him. 'It's only when we've lost everything, that we are free to be anything'. Marla (anagram for alarm) flips this idea of a feminine masculine on its head, Jack appears to not be interested in her but his alter ego Tyler is interested in her sexually. A more freudian approach of the id and the ego is applied here. This would make him more masculine because he does not admit his feelings (like women often do) and only desires her sexually. To counteract their growing feminine sides they start a fight club to reclaim their masculinity.

'Experimental Film requires a different kind of spectatorship.' Has this been your experience? [35]

'Experimental Film requires a different kind of spectatorship.' Has this been your experience? [35]

Experimental films are full of strange mixtures of images, situations, words and expressions that may not tell a cohesive story but, in the end, don't have to in order to achieve an emotional goal. This type of film therefore requires the spectator to shift their conventional cinematic expectations to accommodate more radical narrative techniques, themes and meaning construction. 

Un Chien Andalou, the infamous 1929 surrealist short film from Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali, attests to this. This, in ways was a tad unsettling to watch. The eyeball cutting scene and the drooling was a bit weird. It deals with very taboo themes such as severed hands and naked women. I found the music a bit annoying, but it was nice they didn't have a narrative, it made everything more up in the air. It made being a viewer more challenging and you had to work hard to find the themes. Some of the themes outside of surrealism was religion, the piano drags two priests on the ground and so they are dragging religion on the ground. It's very dreamlike. In dreams there is no consistency, time doesn't really exist. I think it was mocking society or rebelling from it, it's exploring the sexuality and the unknown. It explores themes like androgyny, this was first explored in the 16th century.

Chris Marker became known internationally for the short film La Jetée (1962). It tells of a post-nuclear war experiment in time travel by using a series of filmed photographs developed as a photomontage of varying pace, with limited narration and sound effects. Twelve Monkeys and Minority Report took inspiration from this film. The narrator tells us what is happening, this makes viewing more easier than Un Chien Andalou. The photographs are representing memory and time. These are typical sci-fi conventions. It is really all about perspective and how we choose to view it, I felt it was like a war documentary. When the guy went back to the dead woman i found there love story quite charming. There is no movement, but they made it look like the guy was running and the woman was blinking. All these are very inception like , a paradox. The French and German whispers made the war feel more documentary-like. The movement often challenges perceptions. Did that movement really happen? 

Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) is a work that maintains all of the mystery, tranquility, unpredictability, and personal attachment that is ever present within the world of dreams. This had a more clearer narrative than Un Chien Andalou, we can tell that she is dreaming when she closes her eyes and the imagery becomes more bizarre, such as with the man in a cape with a mirror for a face. The woman sees herself in the mans perspective, only the image they have for her. So when she breaks the mirror, she is breaking the mans view of her. There are symbols of this with the key in her mouth, she is unlocking herself and her opinions. It seems like a dream-within-a-dream but towards the end it reveals her suicide and so the piece becomes more self-destructive. There's a time lapse of eye being closed, like slow motion.  This shows dreams don't have a time concept. The sound at times made it difficult to watch. There is a sense of experimental techniques with there being two people in the same shot. It acts almost like an early Inception. Settings such as the kitchen adds a maternal feel. The knife is a recurring theme, it's exploring themes of violence. 

Reflective Analysis

Film Studies

Reflective Analysis

We decided to do a new wave short inspired by Chungking Express, which took 1 hour to film and another hour to edit. We used many new wave techniques including slow motion/fast paced tempo, smudge motion, jump cuts and close up camera shots. The students walking by took part in the hustle and bustle scenes to show that the main character in an emotional stasis. Life is passing him by while he stays on his own; this was shown in the jump cuts and slow motion. The mundane tasks are very often shown in new wave cinema and we wanted to make that apparent, this gave it a documentary feel. I particularly liked the main character touching the engraved names on the wall- this showed a search for identity, a common convention in new wave cinema. The twisting of the metal wire into a knot showed how the main character wants to fix his broken situation and his broken identity. What I would have changed is maybe having an apparent situation where there is a broken relationship and because this character is so stuck in the past he cannot do things himself. I also wanted to use a close up on the posters in the common room such as ‘Adam Bede’, which would evidently show a sense of identity; the dropping of an ID card could show this as well. The non-diegetic music is by DJ Shadow, it felt very 90’s and that would reflect the time period of Chungking Express.

Presentation script

Does the use of hyper violence in the films of Nicolas Winding Refn qualify the director as an auteur?

PROJECTOR: Item 1 - Drive Elevator scene

SPEAKER: For my research project I will be looking at the prominent use of violence in the films of Nicolas Winding Refn. Violence is an attack from a build up of stress and in Freudian terms, sexual tension. Refn shifts between several genres and presents his audience with a dream-like reality where stylisation dominates over content. As you have just seen. some have viewed Drive [1] as overly violent, especially in the elevator scene where Irene and Driver kiss. But as the kiss ends, so do the dream like settings, the lighting turns back to normal [14]. Reality is mean and Refn knows this from his tough upbringing in Denmark. Perhaps Refn's introduction to America when he turned 8 drew him to the character of Driver, who is an outsider, morally schizophrenic, an enigma to the rest of the characters in the film.

In past films, for example Terence Malick's 'Badlands' the characters of Kit and Holly are so alienated they are driven to a killing spree across America. This has caused alienation themes in films to interlink with violent ones. Driver transforms himself into a superhero by doing what is necessary, does Refn suggest violence is merely 'getting things done'? Carey Mulligan's Irene was a mirror image of Refn's wife, 'The moment Carey walked through the door I knew I wanted to protect her. And then I realised that this whole film is basically about my relationship with my wife and what I would do to protect her.' [14] Drive is a homage to L.A, the perfect crime city filled with make believe enchantments and violent warfare. Thus, Drive categorises itself as a Noir and action-romance film.

PROJECTOR: Item 1 - Scene of Driver's motel being ransacked by armed men.

SPEAKER: That particular scene was one that combined violence with suspense and created a thriller aspect. Refn does not consider himself a violent man but he has a 'fetish' for violent emotions and images that he can't explain. He sees violence as a survival instinct, something humans were built to do, but even though we are more domesticated now does not stop our violent urges- which itself can be an act of violence. [8] Refn doesn't want to know why he has a fetish, because if he analyses himself it will cause him to not film these themes anymore. 'Art is best when it is all about the flow of emotions'. Refn always links his movies back to what his life was like in that period, such as Bronson which in some ways was an autobiography whereas Drive is his first love story about his wife and the behaviour he would succumb to protect her. Refn suggests 'art is an act of violence. It's meant to penetrate you, and be part of you, but it's not negative, it's not destructive. REAL violence is destructive. War is destructive. And the DNA of violence and war are the same thing. The only difference is where war destroys, art inspires'. [11]

PROJECTOR: Item 2- Scene of Radovan punching Frank several times and another man holding a knife to Frank's throat.

SPEAKER: Pusher has a documentary feel, he partakes in more realistic filming to add to his potential auteur characteristics. Refn realised, much like director Joe Wright that growing up as an adult in this world was a 'horrible, horrible nightmare' that the world is terrifying. Refn presents so much violence in his films because it represents how life really is. In this way Refn could categorise himself as an auteur due to his violent and realistic themes that occasionally juxtapose themselves with dream like settings. Refn presents the audience with an illusion but then tears it away by replacing it with a gritty, realistic world. Modern audiences are desensitised to violence, such as the horror film 'Cannibal Holocaust', if not for the violence we would have never even heard of it, no one would have bothered watching it. [10] Watching somebody get shot to death is like watching an advert for modern audiences these days. It takes something really shocking to make us feel uneasy, maybe that's what Drive was aiming to do, push the envelope in shock cinema such as Hitchcock's Psycho. Refn set out to make a violent film, but the use of violence is decadent, it mixes with the film's other visceral elements well and arouses emotions. Done by any other director, it probably wouldn't have been as good. [6]

PROJECTOR: Item 2- Clip  of Frank fighting with Tonny.

SPEAKER: In Pusher, the characters are brought up around drugs, even glamourising them to an extent, this makes them violent. Frank turns on his friend Tonny in a split second and fights him until he's unconscious. The film itself seems to be a warning that drugs and alcohol bring out repressed emotions such as violence. The whole movie is expressed very physically.
William Goldman argues that this part of Refn's work (the auteur theory) does not exist. Gore Vidal argued that 'the true influence of the director died with the coming of sound'[7], Refn uses violent images that are processed within our minds and can ultimately influence us and that makes him more of an auteur. Refn puts a lot of his views towards feminism and violence in every film, he thinks that violent men are very much feminine, such as Driver who despite his violent actions is also very shy, self-conscious and feminine. To Refn, watching one of his films is relieving yourself of pent up feelings and tensions by putting yourself in the viewpoint of his aggressive characters. 'Making violence is very much like sex. If you believe the build up to the climax it becomes so much more engaging'. Driver uses his violent emotions because he cannot communicate with the rest of society like others can, this perhaps makes him more intimate and primal than the rest of the characters because he uses his actions rather than his words to explain himself.

PROJECTOR: Item 3-  Clip of Tonny killing  a man, stabbing him with a screwdriver.

SPEAKER: In Pusher II, Refn admitted to killing off the characters in very ambiguous ways to add authenticity, in reality people just disappear, we talk about it for some time but we sometimes never really know where they've gone. Pusher II had none of the drug glamorisation as the first one did but instead had a cold, negative outlook on Refn's country. The Pusher trilogy shows the characters becoming violent because they are trapped in a hopeless society, Refn may be trying to hint this to his views and make a change. Indeed, Refn wants to make a positive change with his stamp on violence ' But we're also obsessed because the media has glamorised crime, repackaged and resold it very falsely as escapism with a positive bent, and I could not disagree more with that. I think that being able to work in art, you have a responsibility, you have to remember that you do affect people. Shouldn't you do something good with that?'. 

PROJECTOR: Item 3- Tonny is beaten up in the prison yard.

SPEAKER: William Goldman states that the film title must succeed the director's name such as 'Steven Spielberg's Jaws'. [7] However, Drive is always seen as 'the movie with Ryan Gosling in' not Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive. So in this way he might not be considered as an auteur. Although he didn't write the screenplay for Drive, Hossein Amini did, he wrote and directed the Pusher trilogy and Only God Forgives. 
He may not be considered an auteur because he did not write Drive but he made that film into something completely different to the novel. It's also original for the author to write the screenplay to their book adaption. I think that Refn's unique stamp on the film industry and his talked-about violence themes categorise him as an auteur despite William Goldman's anti auteur theory.

Abigail Remmer