Class Presentations: No Country for Old Men
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 around him.
Also emphasises the gun, and feels as if it is being pointed directly towards the spectator, this makes them fearful for Moss.
"I don't always buy into the fact that low angle shots are empowering" CB
- The phone ringing is a monotonous sound
- Bold use of silence whereas this has no music at all. The silence allows for the spectator not to be distracted.
"I become a lot more emotionally invested with films with use of silence in them" - CB
Allows you as a spectator to make up your own mind, we are more active spectators because of that lack of non diegetic music.
Why use a lot of silence in this particular scene in terms of the spectators relationship with Moss, focusses the audience and builds tension because every sound is heightened.
the use of silence complements Moss' fear of being heard.
Seeing Moss' reaction to sugar's feet under the door is an example of the kuleshov effect. We see a POV shot, allowing the spectator to further align with Moss. This builds up a sense of fear an and a sense of ominous oppressiveness. The fact that we are aligned with moss increases our feelings of vulnerability.
Creaking floorboards within his room and the corridor builds up a sense of nervous energy.
Class discussion
"The camera is motivated by moss so although so although it is ostensively static, it is actually moving and it is moving with Moss".
Yuval: the camera is always force to move with moss.
Eliot: yeah but where else is it gonna go
Yuval: No it adjusts to moss rather than him adjusting to the camera eg: with the thumb the camera tilts down
It almost becomes a hybrid genre of western and thriller...
"the use of closeup is a western convention and emphasises Moss' vulnerability." - ES
Character Alignment
Performance: his facial expression of fear: tensed facial muscles shows his vulnerability.
"this whole seen is a bit like something like jaws, the only glimpses that we see of Sugar really builds a shadowy enigmatic villain" - CB
- The lighting is pretty similar to in the hotel, low key with shades of golden.
-"No use of 3 point lighting, natural lighting but WHY? -> its for the realism... so in terms of the spectatorship we can closer align as we experience this natural lighting." - YP
Seeing the scene from Moss' perspective allows you to align with him.
Sugar is not seen until the end of the scene.
The significance of the setting
- Traditionally in westerns you would have the shootout in a desert setting however, this is a contrast of the urban setting of a street. This reflects the idea that you cant have a western in the modern world?
-Linking back to US ideology, there is nothing to be won. The american empire is on a decline and there is no sense of industry.
The end scene with sherif, etc retiring saying: the empire is slipping away, it is a failed enterprise and cannot exist.
"it does look a bit like one of those oldern towns but the guy is driving a truck and a volley of shots towards a guy desperately trying to escape, taking some of the convention" - CB
scattering of odd gun shots -> adds a sense of enigma, the camera is lingering
the idea of patterning and trying to find meaning is subsided. its just a series of events that arbitrarily happen.
Bleak view of the american dream. in a sense it is anti capitalist.
Coin Toss: Eliot Sorraff and Jonathan Sinyor
(Timecode: 20:21)
- High angle establishing shot with Texaco sign: co-incides with Western conventions, desert setting, lifeless, the sound (e.g. the wind) -> similar to a saloon
- Shot reverse shots
- The camera slowly zooms in closer towards the shopkeeper as the tension builds -> slow tracking-in shot
- Shots: medium close-ups to begin with -> tighter on Chigurh than the shopkeeper originally
- Framing: Chigurh on right hand side & off-centre, Shopkeeper centre frame with window behind him -> character alignment: Chigurh is unbalanced as he's not centre frame, he's peripheral and marginalised, an outsider, also shows he has the power to move
- Character alignment: empathise with shopkeeper, fear for him -> also magnetically drawn to Chigurh as his powerful
- Moral code to Chigurh through the coin toss, lets the shopkeeper live
- Imbalance: Chigurh moralistic but leaves everything to chance -> can link to framing
- Lack of music -> builds up intensity in the scene
- Back & forth dialogue, lack of pauses, quick energy -> Chigurh = very literal with his words, no small talk
- Non-diegetic minor key music towards the end of the scene
- Costume: shopkeeper -> shows an average, ordinary man, lumberjack shirt, redneck wear, braces -> shows his an American working class man. Chigurh set apart -> anonymous to surroundings -> his hair cut, clothes etc
- Start to align with shopkeeper when he becomes intimidated by Chigurh
- '12 nooses' behind shopkeeper, looks like he is being lined up to be killed by Chigurh so its surprising for the spectator that he survives
- The music & tracking shot start at the same time -> tension building, making the spectator become more involved as literally getting closer to the characters, more of a personal investment in this scene
- Significance is given to an inanimate object (the coin)
- Chigurh = twisted sense of morality
End Scene: Jordan Elan
- Low angle at funeral: proximity between Carla Jean and the grave foreshadows that she's going to die, costume emphasises this; in black and arrives from funeral -> connotes foreshadowing of death
- Lack of men at the funeral, could represent that all the husbands have died. Women sidelined throughout the film, underdeveloped
- Exterior of the house + Suburban Street where Chigurh crashes: looks like a horror film, elements of the horror genre, isolated
- The interior design of the house is quaint and homely, contrasts previous settings in the film
- Diegetic sound of Carla Jean's footsteps -> increases tension
- The lingering shot of the neck curtains: shows there has been a break-in -> Kuleshov effect -> PoV shot
- The over the shoulder shot shows Chigurh is continuing with his journey -> relates back to the use of shot-reverse-shot in the coin toss scene
- Lighting in the bedroom just misses Chigurh, his positioned in the shadow -> nightmarish figure in the background
- Carla Jean shot at a very slight low angle
- Closer alignment with Carla Jean, shot closer to the camera than Chigurh who's still lurking in the camera
-
Chigurh wipes his shoes as he leaves the house to show he has killed Carla Jean. Use of Eliptical editing - makes the audience a more active spectator. The spectator must infer and there is a number of different possible interpretations that can be made from the scene.
diegetic soundscape of birdsong
As chigurh drives along the road in silence the spectator is taken aback by the sudden crash of the car
Camera krane shot (camera goes up) along with tracking and right
The spectator is left with the uneasy feeling that murderers exist in the world
Yuval and I notes :
Moss finds a shootout and a big bag of money, takes it to his trailer. He goes back to the trailer with the water to the trailer to give the dying man the water.
He wants to risk his life to save a stranger - for a pointless purpose - it is arbirtrary.
The spectator is torn between aligning with Moss and supporting his decisions.
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 around him.
Also emphasises the gun, and feels as if it is being pointed directly towards the spectator, this makes them fearful for Moss.
"I don't always buy into the fact that low angle shots are empowering" CB
- The phone ringing is a monotonous sound
- Bold use of silence whereas this has no music at all. The silence allows for the spectator not to be distracted.
"I become a lot more emotionally invested with films with use of silence in them" - CB
Allows you as a spectator to make up your own mind, we are more active spectators because of that lack of non diegetic music.
Why use a lot of silence in this particular scene in terms of the spectators relationship with Moss, focusses the audience and builds tension because every sound is heightened.
the use of silence complements Moss' fear of being heard.
Seeing Moss' reaction to sugar's feet under the door is an example of the kuleshov effect. We see a POV shot, allowing the spectator to further align with Moss. This builds up a sense of fear an and a sense of ominous oppressiveness. The fact that we are aligned with moss increases our feelings of vulnerability.
Creaking floorboards within his room and the corridor builds up a sense of nervous energy.
Class discussion
"The camera is motivated by moss so although so although it is ostensively static, it is actually moving and it is moving with Moss".
Yuval: the camera is always force to move with moss.
Eliot: yeah but where else is it gonna go
Yuval: No it adjusts to moss rather than him adjusting to the camera eg: with the thumb the camera tilts down
It almost becomes a hybrid genre of western and thriller...
"the use of closeup is a western convention and emphasises Moss' vulnerability." - ES
Character Alignment
Performance: his facial expression of fear: tensed facial muscles shows his vulnerability.
"this whole seen is a bit like something like jaws, the only glimpses that we see of Sugar really builds a shadowy enigmatic villain" - CB
- The lighting is pretty similar to in the hotel, low key with shades of golden.
-"No use of 3 point lighting, natural lighting but WHY? -> its for the realism... so in terms of the spectatorship we can closer align as we experience this natural lighting." - YP
Seeing the scene from Moss' perspective allows you to align with him.
Sugar is not seen until the end of the scene.
The significance of the setting
- Traditionally in westerns you would have the shootout in a desert setting however, this is a contrast of the urban setting of a street. This reflects the idea that you cant have a western in the modern world?
-Linking back to US ideology, there is nothing to be won. The american empire is on a decline and there is no sense of industry.
The end scene with sherif, etc retiring saying: the empire is slipping away, it is a failed enterprise and cannot exist.
"it does look a bit like one of those oldern towns but the guy is driving a truck and a volley of shots towards a guy desperately trying to escape, taking some of the convention" - CB
scattering of odd gun shots -> adds a sense of enigma, the camera is lingering
the idea of patterning and trying to find meaning is subsided. its just a series of events that arbitrarily happen.
Bleak view of the american dream. in a sense it is anti capitalist.
Coin Toss: Eliot Sorraff and Jonathan Sinyor
(Timecode: 20:21)
- High angle establishing shot with Texaco sign: co-incides with Western conventions, desert setting, lifeless, the sound (e.g. the wind) -> similar to a saloon
- Shot reverse shots
- The camera slowly zooms in closer towards the shopkeeper as the tension builds -> slow tracking-in shot
- Shots: medium close-ups to begin with -> tighter on Chigurh than the shopkeeper originally
- Framing: Chigurh on right hand side & off-centre, Shopkeeper centre frame with window behind him -> character alignment: Chigurh is unbalanced as he's not centre frame, he's peripheral and marginalised, an outsider, also shows he has the power to move
- Character alignment: empathise with shopkeeper, fear for him -> also magnetically drawn to Chigurh as his powerful
- Moral code to Chigurh through the coin toss, lets the shopkeeper live
- Imbalance: Chigurh moralistic but leaves everything to chance -> can link to framing
- Lack of music -> builds up intensity in the scene
- Back & forth dialogue, lack of pauses, quick energy -> Chigurh = very literal with his words, no small talk
- Non-diegetic minor key music towards the end of the scene
- Costume: shopkeeper -> shows an average, ordinary man, lumberjack shirt, redneck wear, braces -> shows his an American working class man. Chigurh set apart -> anonymous to surroundings -> his hair cut, clothes etc
- Start to align with shopkeeper when he becomes intimidated by Chigurh
- '12 nooses' behind shopkeeper, looks like he is being lined up to be killed by Chigurh so its surprising for the spectator that he survives
- The music & tracking shot start at the same time -> tension building, making the spectator become more involved as literally getting closer to the characters, more of a personal investment in this scene
- Significance is given to an inanimate object (the coin)
- Chigurh = twisted sense of morality
End Scene: Jordan Elan
- Low angle at funeral: proximity between Carla Jean and the grave foreshadows that she's going to die, costume emphasises this; in black and arrives from funeral -> connotes foreshadowing of death
- Lack of men at the funeral, could represent that all the husbands have died. Women sidelined throughout the film, underdeveloped
- Exterior of the house + Suburban Street where Chigurh crashes: looks like a horror film, elements of the horror genre, isolated
- The interior design of the house is quaint and homely, contrasts previous settings in the film
- Diegetic sound of Carla Jean's footsteps -> increases tension
- The lingering shot of the neck curtains: shows there has been a break-in -> Kuleshov effect -> PoV shot
- The over the shoulder shot shows Chigurh is continuing with his journey -> relates back to the use of shot-reverse-shot in the coin toss scene
- Lighting in the bedroom just misses Chigurh, his positioned in the shadow -> nightmarish figure in the background
- Carla Jean shot at a very slight low angle
- Closer alignment with Carla Jean, shot closer to the camera than Chigurh who's still lurking in the camera
-
Chigurh wipes his shoes as he leaves the house to show he has killed Carla Jean. Use of Eliptical editing - makes the audience a more active spectator. The spectator must infer and there is a number of different possible interpretations that can be made from the scene.
diegetic soundscape of birdsong
As chigurh drives along the road in silence the spectator is taken aback by the sudden crash of the car
Camera krane shot (camera goes up) along with tracking and right
The spectator is left with the uneasy feeling that murderers exist in the world
Yuval and I notes :
Moss finds a shootout and a big bag of money, takes it to his trailer. He goes back to the trailer with the water to the trailer to give the dying man the water.
He wants to risk his life to save a stranger - for a pointless purpose - it is arbirtrary.
The spectator is torn between aligning with Moss and supporting his decisions.
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