Spectatorship / Ideology
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 appearance 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 to the police car which appears incongruous to the desert setting and the western genre. This conveys to the spectator that this film that this film may initially subvert ideas on the ideology of this genre.
Costume: dark, incongruous to western genre. Scorched, burnished, parched
Hair
Casting - Javier Bardem - spanish
Props: Captive bolt pistol
Shot sizes: depth of field - silhouette - cage effect distances the spectator = enigma code (makes the spectator ask why)
blocking placement of the characters within the frame
The introduction to the character of Chigurh distances the spectator, preventing the ability for character alignment. The shot of sugar in the police car behind the grill including Chigurh's silhouette, created by the lighting contrast, darkness inside the car and the naturally high key lighting with a warm yellow palette from sunrise outside the car creates two types of distancing. It creates a cage effect, distancing the spectator from the character of Chigurh by providing the enigma for the spectator as to why this character has been seemingly randomly placed here; not being able to physically depict his appearance. Secondly Chigurh is distanced from the outside world. This is achieved by creating a barrier between Chigurh and the warmth of the outside, posing him as an unlikeable outsider*. This could symbolise further that Chigurh's character is incongruous to the Western setting. Altogether, this prevents the spectator from sympathising or connecting with his character, thus they are distanced.
- Really good analysis of character alignment and the way that the film elements in this scene create your ideas regarding character alignment
* Here I'd add another sentence about how this barrier achieved -> can maybe show how costume (Chigurh's costume being dark) creates the contradiction between Chigurh and the warmth of the outside
Micro Features notes: deep depth of field, series of establishing shots, diegetic wind sound, telegraph poles, barbed wire fence.
Micro Feature: The static establishing wide angle shots combined with deep depth of field of a vast stretch of desert landscape during sunrise, combined with diegetic sounds of blowing wind; allows the spectator to immediately associate the film with the western genre and subconsciously look for other western features.
Micro Features:
- Western - generic conventions
- Alignment of character
- Spectator response
- Passive / active
- Preferred / negotiated, oppositional, aberrant - US ideology of American dream and freedom
In the opening sequence, the deep depth of field shots showing the desert landscape suggests to the spectator that they are watching a take on a western, this with the voiceover of the Sheriff which is a typical Western genre convention; however the shot eventually pans to a police car which appears incongruous to the desert setting and the western genre and conveys to the spectator that the film may intentionally subvert ideas and the ideologies.
In the opening scene for no country for old men, the spectator is introduced to a sheriff reminiscing about his career through a voiceover which is accompanied by a collection of shots o the rural landscape, displaying some of the conventions of the western genre.
-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 appearance 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 to the police car which appears incongruous to the desert setting and the western genre. This conveys to the spectator that this film that this film may initially subvert ideas on the ideology of this genre.
Costume: dark, incongruous to western genre. Scorched, burnished, parched
Hair
Casting - Javier Bardem - spanish
Props: Captive bolt pistol
Shot sizes: depth of field - silhouette - cage effect distances the spectator = enigma code (makes the spectator ask why)
blocking placement of the characters within the frame
The introduction to the character of Chigurh distances the spectator, preventing the ability for character alignment. The shot of sugar in the police car behind the grill including Chigurh's silhouette, created by the lighting contrast, darkness inside the car and the naturally high key lighting with a warm yellow palette from sunrise outside the car creates two types of distancing. It creates a cage effect, distancing the spectator from the character of Chigurh by providing the enigma for the spectator as to why this character has been seemingly randomly placed here; not being able to physically depict his appearance. Secondly Chigurh is distanced from the outside world. This is achieved by creating a barrier between Chigurh and the warmth of the outside, posing him as an unlikeable outsider*. This could symbolise further that Chigurh's character is incongruous to the Western setting. Altogether, this prevents the spectator from sympathising or connecting with his character, thus they are distanced.
- Really good analysis of character alignment and the way that the film elements in this scene create your ideas regarding character alignment
* Here I'd add another sentence about how this barrier achieved -> can maybe show how costume (Chigurh's costume being dark) creates the contradiction between Chigurh and the warmth of the outside
Micro Features notes: deep depth of field, series of establishing shots, diegetic wind sound, telegraph poles, barbed wire fence.
Micro Feature: The static establishing wide angle shots combined with deep depth of field of a vast stretch of desert landscape during sunrise, combined with diegetic sounds of blowing wind; allows the spectator to immediately associate the film with the western genre and subconsciously look for other western features.
Micro Features:
- Western - generic conventions
- Alignment of character
- Spectator response
- Passive / active
- Preferred / negotiated, oppositional, aberrant - US ideology of American dream and freedom
In the opening sequence, the deep depth of field shots showing the desert landscape suggests to the spectator that they are watching a take on a western, this with the voiceover of the Sheriff which is a typical Western genre convention; however the shot eventually pans to a police car which appears incongruous to the desert setting and the western genre and conveys to the spectator that the film may intentionally subvert ideas and the ideologies.
In the opening scene for no country for old men, the spectator is introduced to a sheriff reminiscing about his career through a voiceover which is accompanied by a collection of shots o the rural landscape, displaying some of the conventions of the western genre.
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