Film Studies A Level

How far do your chosen films demonstrate the importance of visual and soundtrack cues in influencing spectator response? Refer in detail to at least one sequence. [40 marks] (To what extent does No country for old men show that the micro elements importantly influence the spectator.) In the scene wherein the police send a dog to chase Moss through water, it could be argued that the extent that the spectator is influenced by the visual elements is questionable or small. In terms of cinematography, the extreme low key lighting creates a sense of danger and uneasiness, which has the potential to suture the spectator into the scene; however it also restricts the spectator's ability to picture the small details of performance clearly, such as Moss' movements, highlighting the lack of clarity as to why Moss is being chased. This idea can be further supported by the scenes absence of dialogue, therefore the spectator is given no information or clarity through speech and is not inf...

Caitlin Grills All ideas are owned by CAITLIN GRILLS ™  unless otherwise accredited.   * "The point is there is no point" - CB *  KEY THEMES: * Character alignment * Suspense * Going against a conventional western ................................................................................................................................................................... - Low key lighting builds a sense of uncertainty and mystery "The fact that you see him in silhouette and the use of chiaroscuro, he's got moral flaws to his character" - CB How suspense is built -Long takes -Low angle shots allow the spectator to think that Moss knows what he is doing like we are in safe hands - also emphasises the emptiness around him. -Foley sound: hyperreal sound of the door - Wide shot allows Moss to look small The use of the low wide angle shot here could be seen as empowering for moss effect often has, vulnerable because emphasises the space a...

Mise en scene it gets light very quickly. Sound - The lack of non diegetic music in the background makes the scene unpredictable and forces the spectator to work harder in terms of gathering their opinions on the character of Lewelyn and analysing the severity of the situation.The sound of the truck is menacing and persistent. combined with - Exaggerated gunshot sounds Editing -Fast paced, heightens tension. -Many cutaways to the car increase tension as it allows the spectator to be sutured into the scene, being able to view the danger of the situation. Horror film references with the off centre framing of the car on the hill. Pov shot  of the car driving closer = align with moss lightening = pathetic fallacy. The spectator's expectations are confounded. Cinematography -Extreme low key lighting, creates a sense of danger and uneasiness as well as highlighting the unclarity as to whether Moss will get away. - As the lighting becomes slightly more high key as Moss s...

Micro Features x5 -western generic conventions -alignment of character -spectator response -passive/active -preferred negotiated opposition -> US ideology of american dream and freedom sound: all diegetic cinematography: deep depth of field, camera tilt upward to reveal sugar, low angle In the opening of the film, No Country for Old Men, the spectator is not drawn to align with any character. Point: The opening scene of No Country for Old men appears to conform to the western Genre for the spectator.  In the sequence, the static establishing shots showing the desert landscape with a deep depth of field, along with the voiceover of the sheriff, initially suggests to the spectator that they are watching a take of a western film. However the appearan ce of telegraph poles and cables as as well as a barbed wire fence, suggests to the spectator that the film may challenge the convention western set in the late 1880s. In the final shot of the sequence the camera then pans...

"The hero never really wants to accept civilization as embodied by the woman (who brings with her from the east the notion of community, family  and so on.) Rather he is always desiring to be on the move in the wild west. The cowboy with his restless energy and rugged dogged individualism, is the western embodiment of american frontiersmanship, or at least the myth of that frontiersmanship". "The fact that the cowboy or gunman is always represented as being caught between that two values points to the ideological contradictions inherent in the myth of that frontiersmanship. The hero's actual ambivalence reveals the nation'sown ambiguous attitude towards the west. Civilizing the west meant giving up the freedom it represented, including of course the freedom of the individual, a high price for Americans to pay for national unity" Typically, this is why the hero never settles with 'the girl' at the end of the film. The west had not yet been won, a...