Unit 11 film - Types of shots to include

Here are a few planned shots and techniques that I plan to incorporate into my film:

• Timelapse - An effective shot, showing people moving rapidly around a still standing subject, giving a sense of time and loneliness.
• Studio shot - A subject standing against a plain black/white background, again, giving a sense of loneliness and isolation.
• Shallow depth of field - Separating the subject from their surrounding, being around people but not involved with them.
• Soft focus - Once again, separating the subject from their surrounding.
• Framing - Framing the subject, showing the importance of the subject in that location.
• Natural lighting - Giving a sense of realism and day-to-day life.
• Instrumental non-diegetic sound - Giving a sense of calm.

Here is a plan that I have created, featuring different shot types that I feel would work effectively in my film, based around Lacan's lack theory:

Camera techniques - Timelapse (un-finished)

Timelapse is a video technique where the camera is set to record a series of numerous images, or minutes/hours of film footage, with the film rate sped up to show a short montage of fast moving footage.

I feel that this would be a brilliant technique to use in my film based around Lacan's lack theory, as I plan on conveying a theme of emptiness and isolation. I would use this technique effectively by using an actor standing in a busy location/crowd, with people carrying on in their day-to-day lives, and my actor standing still in the crowd. This would show a sense of loneliness effectively, especially at dusk, when the light has a transition of light to dark, showing an extended period of time. I plan to use this technique, in addition to other similar ones, showing a separation from society and human interaction, such as shallow depth of field and soft focus.

Experimentation:
Here I experimented with the technique myself. Placing my camera on a tripod and filming my subject in a busy location, standing still for approx 2 minutes, then speeding up the frame rate in post-production, via Premiere Pro. This is a test sample of the technique, to experiment whether it works effectively or not, so I can use it in my film footage.

...video will shortly follow!

Slavoj Žižek

Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian Marxist philosopher and cultural critic, born March 21st 1949. His work and thought, aims to provoke and critique common views of the self and the world. The philosopher, for Žižek is more someone engaged in critique than someone who tries to answer questions by creating a theory. Žižek achieved international recognition as a social theorist after the 1989 publication of his first book, The Sublime Object of Ideology, which disputed a Marxist interoperation of ideology as a false consciousness and argued for ideology as an unconscious fantasy that structures reality. Žižek considers himself a political, radical and critic of neoliberalism. His political thought represents one of two paths of a progressive alternative. Either a return to the program of socialism, or the proposal of an alternative vision of social arrangements.

His unorthodox style, frequent newspaper op-eds, and popular academic books have gained Žižek a wide following and international influence. He has been labelled by some the Elvis of cultural theory. Foreign Policy listed him on its 2012 list of Top 100 Global Thinkers, naming him as a celebrity philosopher.

Ontology, ideology, and the real

In developing a thesis of ideology and its function, Žižek makes two intertwined arguments:

1. He begins with a critique of Marx's concept of ideology in which people are beholden to false consciousness that prevents them from seeing how things really are. Žižek argues that peoples deepest motives are unconscious and that ideology functions as a justification for the existing social order. That is reality, constructed through ideology.
2. However, the real is not equivalent to the reality experienced by subjects as a meaningfully ordered totality. For Žižek, the real name points within the ontological fabric, knitted by the hegemonic systems of representation and reproduction. Which nevertheless resists full inscription into its terms, and that may as such attempt to generate sites of active political resistance.

Žižek gives primacy to the creative subject who can manipulate discourse even while he or she is shaped by it. This is illustrated by the proposition that although biological psychology might one day be able to completely model a persons brain, there will still be something left over that can not be explained. Žižek suggests that consciousness is opaque. He says that one can not ever know if an apparently conscious being is truly conscious or a mime, and furthermore, that this confusion is fundamental to consciousness itself.

The Pervert's Guide to Cinema (2009)
Slavoj Žižek guides viewers through some of the greatest movies ever made, discussing the hidden language in film and revealing what movies can show people about themselves. Here he delves into the work of David Lynch, prompting revaluation of opinions about Alfred Hitchcock films.

• In Possessed (1947), the train acts as order. She views the 'magic of the screen', almost as she is in a cinema. Class, race and social construction of the world is portrayed.
• The Matrix (1999), the blue pill and red pill is not a choice between illusion and reality.
• The Birds (1963), is a psychological story surrounded by females. Why do the birds attack? A foreign dimension intrudes, that literally tears apart reality.
• Psycho (1960), explored Freud's theory, of the id, ego and superego. The id is the basement, the ego is the ground floor dealing with reality and normality, and the superego is the attic with the mother being the dominant voice.

Camera techniques - Soft focus

Soft focus in camera/film can be achieved by smearing petroleum jelly/Vaseline on the camera lens. This can be a time consuming process and can be achieved by smearing, cleaning and then reapplying it after each shot. This technique is also known as vaselensing. It creates a blur around the model, diverting focus from everybody around. This process was used for the endoskeleton in The Terminator, the pterodactyl's wings in When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, and the terror dogs sequence in Ghostbusters.

This clever technique goes back to the early days of photography and video. Giving a nice soft focus around the edges of the frame. Another way of doing this technique is by using a cheap UV filter, and carefully smearing vaseline on that, so not to damage the camera lens. Other substances would work effectively, however vaseline is the most common used, as it is known to be effective and is a cheap alternative, giving a dream-like effect. Commonly used in old films and portrait photography to soften the image slightly. An alternative to vaseline is using an old pantyhose, filtering it across the lens for a soft focus of the entire lens, rather than just around the edges.

Unit 11 film ideas/design brief

For unit 11, we are tasked with creating either an essay, video presentation or a short film. I have chosen to plan and create a film, approximately 4-5 minutes long based around Lacan's lack theory. The concept between Lacan's theory is the lack that we feel in our lives and how we feel that crucial missing piece with obsession.

• Obsession of love/a particular person - lacking companionship
• Obsession of technology/social media - lacking of human interaction
• Obsession of material possession e.g. clothing or a vehicle - lacking an aspect of lifestyle
• Obsession of a location - lacking an aspect of lifestyle
• Obsession of nature/animals - lacking human interaction
• Obsession of music - lacking physical expression
• Obsession of celebrities - lacking an aspect of lifestyle

After researching Lacan's lack and different types of obsession, I have chosen to base my film around the lack and obsession of a want of human interaction and companionship. I want to portray this by filming an actor in a busy location/city, but alone and separated from everybody around them. I find this obsession interesting because we all have a crave for human interaction, as it is usually a part of our day-to-day lives, however some people fill that lack with other obsessions, such as Timothy Treadwell in Grizzly Man, who filled his lack of human interaction by living and associating with wild bears and nature.

This song/music video, performed by City and Colour, titled The Lonely Life, features many visual techniques that portray loneliness, by using a shallow depth of field, blurred/smudged edges of the frame and a lack of actors/people in wide open locations. I will be creating a separate blog post on soft focus, which can be found here... (http://sarahdavismediahnc.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/camera-techniques-soft-focus_5.html).

I plan to use technical features and editing aspects associated with obsession, such as close-ups, shallow depth of field, long takes, diegetic sound and instrumental music. I also plan to shoot in a wider range of locations, since my last film based around the American New Wave was shot in two locations, which I feel could be improved. Since planning, shooting and editing my last film, I evaluated aspects which I feel were positive, and things which needed to be improved to increase the quality of my film.

I will be considering health and safety as I shoot, with regards to equipment, and locations. Ensuring that I/whoever I am with, are away from danger e.g. busy roads.

Grizzly Man (2005)

In 2008, Werner Herzog directed a remarkable documentary, following Timothy Treadwell, also known as 'grizzly man'. Over 100 hours of footage was recorded by Treadwell, which was then edited together after his death. The documentary examines the calling that drove Treadwell to live amongst a tribe of wild grizzly bears on an Alaskan reserve. He was a devoted conservationist with a passion for adventure. Treadwell believed that he had bridged the gap between human and beast. In October 2003, Treadwell and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard, were viciously killed by a large male grizzly bear.

Treadwell wrote "there are many times that I feel death is the best option. My work would be much more seriously looked at, and possibly make the difference that in living I can't do".

Within the documentary we can clearly see Lacan's lack theory. Treadwell is a loner, at ease and feeling greater comfort around bears and nature than with other humans. Although in some of his footage he discusses relationships and questions why he is still single. He tries to fill his lack of a human connection by using bears as a way of escapism. Timothy makes up for a lack in his life by befriending bears and wild animals. Treadwell reveals that he was an alcoholic, and that nothing was stopping him from drinking until he discovered the danger that the bears were facing in their natural habitat, and lived with them in the wilderness. He also states that he runs free with the bears, emulating a child. His parents state that he feared rejection and had always had a love of bears and nature, unhappy in his life until he was out living with the bears, 'saving' them. Although it is disputed that he was doing them more harm than good.

"We explored the glacier in the back country of his grizzly sanctuary. This gigantic complexity of tumbling ice and abysses, separated Treadwell from the world out there. And more so, it seems to me that this landscape in turmoil is a metaphor of his soul".

With the documentary compiled from hours of footage filmed by Treadwell himself, Herzog carefully selected shots where he is alone with the bears showing the full extent of his loneliness, or when he is riled up and discussing his anger. The mood of documentaries depend on how camera techniques and voice overs relate to the audience, transmitting different feelings/emotions. Shots similar to the screenshot above show how Herzog carefully selected these shot types, emphasising Lacan's theory:

• Lonely locations and severe backdrops.
• Treadwell is the only person in the shots/alone with the bears.
• Natural framing.
• Natural lighting.
• Diegetic sound from Treadwell's footage. Non-diegetic instrumental sound added in post-production, used to emote sympathy for him.
• Handheld camera.

Lacan's theories

Lacan's lack

Jacques Lacan was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist, who has been named as the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud. He was born in 1901 to a bourgeois Catholic family.

Lacan created the idea of 'lack' and that it causes desires to arise. Desire is a relation to being to lack. The lack is the lack of being properly speaking. It is not the lack of this or that, but lack of being whereby the being exists. Lacan contrasts the lack of being, which related to desire, with the lack of having, which relates to demand.

Lacan distinguishes between three kinds of lack, according to the nature of the object which is lacking.

• The first type of lack is symbolic castration - and its object related is the imaginary phallus.
• The second is the imaginary frustration - and its object related is the real breast.
• The third is the real privation - and its object related is the symbolic phallus.

The three corresponding agents are the real father, the symbolic mother, and the imaginary father. Of these three forms of lack, castration is the most important from the perspective of the cure.

Lacan's mirror stage
Initially, Lacan proposed that the mirror stage was part of an infants development from 6-18 months. By the early 1950's, Lacan's concept of the mirror stage had evolved. He no longer considered the mirror stage as a moment in the life of the infant, but as representing a permanent structure of subjectivity, or as the paradigm of 'imaginary order'.
The concept of the mirror stage was strongly inspired by the earlier work of psychologist, Henri Wallon, who speculated based on observations of animals and humans responding to their reflections in mirrors. Wallon noted that by the age of 6 months, human infants and chimpanzees both appeared to recognise their reflection in a mirror. Whilst chimpanzees quickly lost interest, human infants typically became very interested and devoted much more time and effort in exploring the connections between their bodies and their images. This could be interpreted biblically, as the bible recognises that humans are the dominant race, and can appreciate higher qualities, whereas animals only require the ability to survive and reproduce.

The Machinist (2004)

Brad Anderson's 2004 psychological thriller follows Trevor Reznik, played by Christian Bale, a factory worker who suffers from insomnia, so severe that his condition has taken its toll on his weight and mental health. When Trevor unintentionally causes an accident at work and injures a co-worker, he begins to become even more troubled. Despite a relationship with Stevie, he descends further into paranoia, blaming his problems on an enigmatic figure named Ivan. The film has a tendency to question what we perceive to be real and how the mind deals with trauma.

We can see almost instantly that Reznik suffers from mental health issues, due to his scrawny pale body, which other characters within the film mention continuously. Already considered as an outsider at the factory he works at, Reznik is further pushed over the edge when he is the cause of a serious accident, when a colleague loses an arm. The accident is a result of his concentration lapsing, because he is focused on Ivan. This pushes Bale's character further into distress, his insomnia intensifies due to the guilt he feels over the accident. We soon discover that nobody other than Reznik has seen Ivan or knows of his existence, leading us as an audience to question the reality of Ivan. We see how tormenting Ivan is to Reznik, as recurring motifs appear. His paranoia heightens as nobody believes in the existence of Ivan. Stevie, a prostitute Reznik has relations with, seems like the only person he can confide in, finding peace and comfort with her. Which tips him over the edge when his jealousy over an imaginary relationship between Ivan and Stevie startles him.

Despite all of his troubles, he attempts a relationship with Maria, a waitress and her son, Nicholas. The three take a trip to a theme park, where he takes Nicholas on a fairground ride, turning into an experience for the both. Trevor sees many disturbing subliminal messages, whilst the flashing lights spark an epileptic fit for Nicholas.

As we reach the climax of the film, flashbacks reveal to us that a year previously, Reznik was involved in a hit and run with a young boy, who turns out to be Nicholas. The events during the film are revealed and the true meaning of his insomnia is revealed, due to the guilt of the accident. His mind created the character of Ivan as a way to re-direct his guilt.

We can relate Freud's theory to this film, as the film covers memory repression. Defined as in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defence mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings and memories. Freud came up with the idea of defence mechanisms and said that they were unconscious. According to Freud, people repress painful memories to protect ones self concept, and to minimise anxiety.

Reznik's insomnia is a result of his guilty conscience. Using Freud's theory, we can identify Ivan as the id, the repressed part of the personality. The id is the primal, instinctive aspect of personality, expressing emotions and carrying out actions without the ego.

Trevor is the films ego, as he is the main character, dealing with reality and the never ending battle between his insomnia and therefore, his guilt.

The relationship with Maria and Nicholas, in addition to Stevie play out as the superego. Maria and Nicholas' fictional relationship with Reznik show a possible source of repentance. His kindness towards them both, Nicholas in particular, shows he is feeling guilty and trying to make amends. However Stevie provides comfort and warmth for him, advising and helping him.

The techniques used in the film demonstrate Lacan's theory, and show Reznik's loneliness, and ultimately, his lack:

• Low key lighting, connoting darkness and evil.
• Long, drawn out shots. Slow paced using panning and tracking shots, giving a stronger sense of realism.
• Mainly diegetic sound, however when we do hear non-diegetic sound it is instrumental and gives us a dark and eerie feel. Main use of violins and synth, which alters in volume, giving a sense of tension.
• Point of view shots.
• A mixture of high and low angles. Making him appear both dominant and then opposing this by showing him as being weak (mainly high angles).

Trevor has 3 physical choices of direction to take within the film. Within the first, he takes the left option, going to the 'highway to hell'. Taking this choice his mind continues to play tricks on him, whilst his past haunts him. Once again, he chooses the left option, further descending on a pathway of destruction. Finally, in the last scene, he has his final choice, the airport, to escape from his troubles and past, or the 'right' choice, towards the light shown in the past two choices, to hand himself into the police precinct and admit to the crime which has haunted him. He takes the right option, the 'road to salvation'. Which as the ego, is the most predictable verdict for him, as he is dealing with reality, and must face the consequences of his past.

Freud - Id, Ego, and Superego

Sigmund Freud argued that the creation of civilisation has resulted in the repression of basic human instincts. Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality states that personality is composed of three elements. These elements of personality known as the id, the ego and the superego work together to create complex human behaviours.

The Id

• The id is the only component of personality that is present from birth.
• This aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and includes the instancing and primitive behaviours.
• According to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality.

The id is driven by the pleasure principle, which strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and needs. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state anxiety or tension. E.g. an increase in hunger or thirst should produce an immediate attempt to eat or drink. This is very important in early life, because it ensures that an infants needs are met. If the infant is hungry or uncomfortable, he or she will cry until the demands of the id are met.
However, immediately satisfying these needs is not always realistic or possible. If we were ruled entirely by the pleasure principle, we might find ourselves grabbing things we want out of other peoples hands to satisfy our own cravings. This behaviour would be disruptive and socially unacceptable. According to Freud, the id tries to resolve the tension created by the pleasure principle through the primary process, which involves forming a mental image of the desired object as a way of satisfying the need.

The Ego

• The ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality.
• According to Freud, the ego develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world.
• The ego functions in both the conscious, preconscious and unconscious mind.

The ego operated based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy the id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways. The reality principle weights the costs and benefits of an action before deciding to act upon or abandon impulses. In many cases, the id's impulses can be satisfied through a process or delayed gratification, the ego will eventually allow the behaviour, but only in the appropriate time and place.
The ego also discharged tension created by unmet impulses through the secondary process, in which the ego tries to find an object in the real world that matches the mental image created by the id's primary process.

The Superego

• The superego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalised moral standards and ideals that we acquire from both parents and society. Our sense of right and wrong.
• The superego provides guidelines for making judgements.
• According to Freud, the superego begins to emerge at around age five.

There are two parts of the superego:

1. The ego ideal includes the rules and standards for good behaviours. These behaviours include those which are approved of by parental and other authority figures. Obeying these rules leads to feelings of pride, value and accomplishment.
2. The conscience includes information about things that are viewed as bad by parents and society. These behaviours are often forbidden and lead to bad consequences, punishments or feelings of guilt and remorse.

The superego acts to perfect and civilise our behaviour. It works to suppress all unacceptable urges of the id and struggles to make the ego act upon idealistic standards rather than upon realistic principles. The superego is present in the conscious, preconscious and unconscious.

Interaction between the Id, Ego and Superego
With multiple competing forces, it is easy to see how conflict may arise between the id, ego and superego. Freud used the term ego strength to refer to the ego's ability to function despite these duelling forces. A person with good ego strength is able to effectively manage these pressures, whilst those with too much of too little ego strength can become too unyielding or too disrupting. According to Freud, the key to a healthy personality is a balance between the id, the ego and the superego.

Vertigo (1958)

Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 American romantic story of obsession, manipulation and fear, stars James Stewart and Kim Novak. The narrative follows a detective forced to retire after his acrophobia (fear of heights) causes the death of another officer, and Madeline, the wife of his friend Gavin, when he is hired to follow her after her husband worries of her sanity. He becomes dangerously obsessed with her and saves her from a suicide attempt. Later on she climbs up a church tower, and due to his vertigo he is unable to save her from death. An enquiry finds that she did not intend to commit suicide, and indeed blames Scottie for her death.
Months later he meets Judy, a woman who closely resembles Madeline. We later learn through flashbacks that it was indeed her that we saw running up the stairs of the bell tower and her that he was following all along, and that when she got to the top, Gavin was there, holding the lifeless body of Madeline, with Judy and Madeline were wearing the same outfit. Judy screams and Gavin throws Madeline's body from the bell tower. Gavin knew of Scottie's vertigo and knew he wouldn't be able to make it to the top, but he would be a credible person to say that Madeline had taken her own life, unknowingly helping to cover up her murder.
Scottie begins to date Judy, but attempts to make her look more like Madeline. He then forces Judy to re-enact Madeline's death to give himself a second chance, but as they reach the top of the tower he conquers his vertigo, figuring the whole conspiracy out. Judy confesses her love for Scottie, and tells of how she has fallen in love with him. They kiss, but a sudden appearance of a nun startles Judy, who then trips, plummeting to her death from the church tower.

Certain scenes within the film show the full extent of Scotty's obsession and Mulvey's male gaze, with the most notable being when Scottie buys Judy clothes to make her look more like Madeline, the café/restaurant scene and the final scene when Judy falls from the church tower.

Title sequence

• Non-diegetic music, creating tension and emphasis.
• Fragmentation of a woman's lips (male gaze).
• The colour red connoting passion, lust and death.
• Spinning shapes, giving a sense of disorientation and a literal vertigo.

Film

• A woman drawing a picture of another woman in a corset (male gaze).
• Scottie and Midge look at/speak about her brassiere and it's "revolutionary uplift" (male gaze).
• Scottie shown from a low angle, giving him power and authority.
• Midge shown from a high angle, showing her as being vulnerable and weak.
• Madeline stands out wearing green, showing Scottie's sickness and jealousy to be with her (male gaze).
• Side profile of Madeline, with a shallow depth of field and a red background behind her, focusing all attention to her (male gaze).
• Reverse shot of Scottie as Madeline elegantly walks away (male gaze).
• POV shot from Scottie following Madeline (male gaze).
• Close-up shot of a bunch of flowers next to Madeline, looking at a painting in an art gallery with the subject of the painting resembling her very closely, suggesting that she sees the woman as an ideal self - she had earlier visited a gravestone of the name Carlotta Valdes, and the painting is named 'Carlotta'.
• Madeline's clothes are hanging up, with a slow pan from Scottie, to the clothes, then to her lying in bed (male gaze).
• Madeline is undressed in bed, with a high angle showing her as vulnerable.
• Madeline enters the room wearing a red dressing gown, connoting passion and lust, with the music increasing in tension (male gaze).
• Scottie buys Judy clothes to make her resemble Madeline, controlling her to be an object that he will desire.
• A store assistant is modelling clothes for Scottie and Judy, with the camera fragmenting her body, not showing her face, therefore her identity as a person (male gaze).
• Judy refuses to wear the clothes that he chooses, he grabs her arm, then she gives in to his whim, showing his control over her.

When applying theory to Vertigo, we can add Mulvey's male gaze, as Scottie has a set image of a woman in his head, and turns Judy into that image. The camera also fragments Madeline, objectifying her, so the audience has no option but to look at her as an object of desire and attraction.

We can also apply Freud's scopophilia theory, the love of watching. The audience takes pleasure in watching Madeline/Judy, looking at aspects such as her face and figure. Close-up shots and panning shots engage the audience because they are enjoying looking. During the opening sequence we are shown this instantly, with the colour red, and connotations of passion, love and danger.

Laura Mulvey's visual pleasure theory (1975)

British born feminist, Laura Mulvey, born August 15th 1941 was educated at St Hilda's College in Oxford. She is currently a professor of film and media studies at Birbeck, University of London, having previously worked at the British Film Institute. Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema was an essay written by Mulvey in 1973, published in 1975. The essay coined the term 'male gaze', which soon became a highly discussed and debated theory.

Mulvey's world famous visual pleasure theory was thought of in 1975, with the basic view that within the male gaze the audience is put into the perspective of a heterosexual male. This is demonstrated by a scene in a movie focusing on a females figure, putting the viewer in a males position. However, it is only said to be the male gaze theory if specific conventions are used, for example, slow motion, deliberate camera movements and cut aways. The theory suggests that it denies females of human identity, portraying them as objects for visual pleasure. The theory also states that women can often watch a movie from a secondary perspective subconsciously, viewing themselves from a male perspective. Mulvey cited that the presence of a female is vital in film, however she has no real importance, and only exists in relation to a male, and the way that she makes a male feel is her main role within the narrative. Mulvey stated that the role of a female character in a narrative has two functions, to pose as an erotic object for the characters within the narrative to view, and as an erotic object for spectators within the cinema to view. Only 16% of media creators are male, proving that in the media industry men have the power and dominance, controlling the mass media and what we see as a public audience.

Examples of the male gaze in film:
- The James Bond (007) franchise
- Sin City
- Charlie's Angels
- Transformers
- Kill Bill
- The Dark Knight Trilogy
- Tomb Raider
- Psycho
- The Avengers

Not only is this theory applicable in film, modern music videos are subject to the male gaze, as most of the time men are shown fully clothed with scantily clad attractive women in their company, with the man often looking at the woman's body, and the camera fragmenting her body.

Scopophilia literally means 'love of watching', deriving pleasure from looking. It refers to sexual pleasure, derived from looking at erotic objects. The term was thought up from Sigmund Freud. He considered pleasure in looking to be a regular partial instinct in childhood, which may be sublimated into interests such as art, or alternatively becoming fixated in curiosity of the female body.

Jacques Lacan subsequently drew on the theory  of gaze to link scopophilia with the apprehension of the other, "the gaze is this object lost and suddenly refpund in the conflagration of shame, by introduction of the other". Lacan privileged scopophilia in his theory of how desire is captured by the imaginary image of the other. Other French analysts have emphasised how the discovery of sexual difference in childhood, and the accompanying sense of not knowing subsequently fuels the scopophilic drive.

Voyeurism and the male gaze have been seen as central elements in such mainstream cinematic viewing, most famously discussed by Mulvey. Voyeurism derives sexual gratification, from observing others in secret. Often the object of voyeurism is undressed or engaged in some kind of sexual activity. The key factor in voyeurism is that the voyeur does not interact personally with the person being observed. Voyeurs are also known as 'peeping Toms'. Traditionally, the audience of a film sit in the dark, observing the activities of the people who appear on screen, who are unaware that they are being watched. Horror films in particular are strongly voyeuristic, as they identify the viewer with the point of view of the 'monster'.

Hard drive failure 10/11/2014

A failure in my hard drive, resulted in me loosing my filming footage, which I filmed in preparation for my film, inspired by the American New Wave.

This has encouraged me to back-up all of my work in numerous places, to ensure nothing like this happens again. I will be using the same design brief as before, with the same intention and roughly similar shots, re-done.

American New Wave research - extended

My chosen films are Taxi Driver (1976), The Graduate (1967) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).

Here is some extended research into the history of America, relating to my chosen films, at the time they were produced:

• (1947 - 1991) - The Cold War.
• (1955-1975) - Vietnam War.
• (1960 May) - The Civil Rights Act of 1960.
• (1963) - Civil rights becomes a central issue and leads to President Kennedy's Civil Rights Address.
• (1963 June) - The Equal Pay Act of 1963.
• (1963 August) - Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
• (1963 September) - The 16th Street Church bombing carried out by a KKK splinter group killed four African-American girls, in what was seen as a turning point for the Civil Rights Movement.
• (1963 November) - President John F. Kennedy's assassination.
• (1964 July) - Civil Rights Act of 1964 is signed into law. Outlawing both segregation and major forms of discrimination against black and women.
• (1965 August) - The Voting Rights Act was signed into law.
• (1965 October) - The Immigration act of 1965 was signed into law.
• (1965 November) - The Higher Education Act of 1965 was passed.
• (1966 June) - The feminist group, the National Organisation for Women (NOW) was formed.
• (1968 October) - The Gun Control Act of 1968 was signed into law.
• (1971 June) - President Nixon declares a "War on Drugs", stating that drug use in the U.S. is "public enemy number one".
• (1973 August) - Vietnam War ends with the U.S. pulling out.
• (1974 August) - President Richard Nixon resigns.
• (1976) - Unemployment rose.

Life in the 1970's.

The Cold War 1947-1991

The Cold War was a political and military strain after World War II. The tension was between power in the Western Bloc (the United States, its NATO allies and others) and powers in the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union and its allies in the Warsaw Pact).

The war was to dominate international affairs, many major crises occurred, including the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Hungary and the Berlin Wall. However, the growth in weapons of mass destruction  was the most worrying issue. There was a clash between different beliefs and ideology, capitalism vs communism. Each was held with almost religious conviction formed the basis of an international power struggle with both sides vying for dominance, exploiting every opportunity for expansion anywhere in the world.

So why were these two super powers so distrustful of each other?

America:

- Free elections

- Democratic

- Capitalist

- 'Survival of the fittest'

- Richest world power

- Personal freedom

- Freedom of the media

Soviet Union:

- No elections or fixed

- Autocratic/dictatorship

- Communist

- Everybody helps everybody

- Poor economic base

- Society controlled by the NKVD (secret police)

- Total censorship

Camera techniques - Shallow depth of field

Here is a video clip and a couple of photographs demonstrating shallow depth of field.

For the video I used a shallow depth of field of approx f/4. I set the camera to a manual focus, and manually put the lens out of focus, this meant that when the subject was a distance away from the camera she was blurred, however when she moved closer to the camera she came into focus. This technique was used in New Wave to separate the main subject from their surroundings. The camera was on a fluid head tripod, with a shutter speed of approx 1/60, and an ISO of approx 150/200.

Using a shallow depth of field for film has the same effect for still images. I photographed these images with a higher aperture than I used for the video, however it still has the same effect in distinguishing the main focal point and 'taking it away' from the surroundings.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) - Film 3

New Wave techniques in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

• Opening non-diegetic sound is in keeping with the rural landscape of mountains, and key character Chief Bromdon's ethnicity and heritage (American Indian).
• Dust on the film throughout, gives the picture an authentic feel. Mistakes that were not corrected. This was a common feature of New Wave.
• Diegetic sound.
• Natural lighting.
• Eye-level camera, point of view, giving perspective.
• Slow zoom into Nurse Ratched.
• Usually long cuts giving a sense of realism.
• Randle and the Chief are looking through the fence, shown behind bars and trapped.
• Framing.
• Handheld camera.
• Shallow depth of field, attracting focus to the key characters.
• Candid non-actors in the streets, when the patients are on the bus travelling.
• Fast cuts when Randle is fighting with a member of staff. Opposite to the usual long cuts.
• The electroconvulsive therapy scene reflects that time in America, when the treatment of patients in care was unknown behind closed doors.
• Mainly close-ups and mid-shots.
• The film opened peoples eyes and changed views on the treatment of psychiatric care within the current society, with scenes demonstrating electroconvulsive therapy and lobotomy.
• Randle McMurphy challenges the status quo, 'curing' the sick by inspiring confidence which they lack. His fellow inmates may be regarded as his 'disciples'. McMurphy is betrayed by Billy, as Judas betrayed Jesus. McMurphy dies for others 'sins', or trying to help them overcome them. In death, he inspires others to believe in themselves and something greater.
• The music from the opening scene is repeated again in the final scene when the Chief escapes the ward. Repetition in scenes was common in New Wave.

The Graduate (1967) - Film 2

New Wave techniques in The Graduate

• Diegetic sound.
• Diegetic sound in the airport fused with the song "The Sound of Silence", as Ben is in his 'own world' despite being in a public place.
• Soundtrack by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, music from the era.
• The song "Mrs Robinson" is played in numerous scenes featuring Mrs Robinson.
• Long tracking shot of Ben on a travelator, giving a sense of realism as the shot is so long.
• Handheld camera shots, giving a perspective view and sense of uneasiness when Ben is feeling uncomfortable at his party.
• Long cuts, with minimal editing at the party scene.
• Eye-level camera giving perspective.
• Natural lighting.
• Fast cuts of Mrs Robinson when she is trying to seduce Ben in the bedroom, showing how uncomfortable Ben is, also common of the New Wave.
• At the following scene in Ben's garden, the camera is showing a point of view, and the sound outside is muted with just diegetic sound of him breathing. Again, he is feeling alone and isolated, apart from the people around him.
• In the pool, the sound of the next scene can be heard in the current scene, overlapping and not in sync with each other.
• Mise-en-scene establishes the era e.g. buildings, clothing and music.
• Shallow depth of field when Ben is feeling nervous, concentrating his attention to one specific subject, the hotel receptionist.
• High angle, showing his loneliness and vulnerability in the hotel lobby.
• Shadow of the cameraman can be seen in a wooden door in the hotel lobby. Mistakes like this were left unedited and common of the New Wave.
• Lens flare.
• Jump cuts of different locations/memories, non-linear.
• Ben is shown in low key lighting when telling Mrs Robinson his feelings for her, showing his guilt and shame.
• Fade out edit to the next scene.
• The shot outside the strip club is a long shot from across the street, diegetic sound and a lot of people around them, using non-actors.
• Camera transition from out of focus to in focus in the same shot.
• Close-up of Mrs Robinson zooms out to a long shot then showing Mrs Robinson and Ben.
• Ben sitting alone at the fountain, then a straight cut to a crowd of people around him, with the camera in the same position.
• Fast zoom in on Elaine by the fountain.
• Framing the subjects.
• Candidly watching Elaine and other people walking, point of view.
• Busy streets with people doing day-to-day activities, using non-actors.
• Ben shown behind bars at the Zoo, suggesting he is trapped.
• When Ben is asking Elaine to marry him, a clock tower bell is heard diegetically, sounding like wedding bells.
• An instrumental of Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs Robinson" can be heard, sounding like a more childish version of the original, as Elaine is the daughter of Mrs Robinson and younger.

Taxi Driver (1976) - Film 1

New Wave techniques in Taxi Driver

• Introduction with non-diegetic jazz music, which was popular in New York at the time, reflecting the society at the time.
• Travis has a mental handicap.
• Set after the Vietnam War, Travis is an honourably discharged (May 1973) U.S. Marine who is lonely and depressed, suffering from insomnia.
• Camera tracking shots.
• Natural lighting.
• Jump cut shows Travis walking from one side of a street to the other instantly, showing the transition in time.
• Voice-over from Travis' diary allows the audience to know exactly what is happening within the narrative.
• Point-of-view shots, showing what Travis is seeing, putting the audience in his position. "Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets".
• Handheld camera following people candidly walking down the street, non-actors.
• Diegetic sound of car horns and city noise.
• Clothing establishes the era.
• Out of focus shots in the city.
• Travis hates the city. "Clean up this city here, because this city here is like an open sewer you know. It's full of filth and scum".
• Client in the back of the taxi uses the word "nigger", reflecting the race issues of the time.
• Colour connotations e.g. red showing the danger of the city.
• The camera is seen in the window reflection.
• Travis seems fixated with guns when the salesman is showing him a selection, reflecting the mental handicap he has from the war, and the increasing violent crime and murder rate in America with guns in the mid/late 1970's.
• Repetition of part of the scene in Travis' bedroom, common of the New Wave.
• Panning camera shots.
• Iris makes a reference to women's lib (women's liberation and equal rights). The women's liberation movement was a type of feminism that began in the late 1960's and persisted throughout the 1970's.
• Shots are re-created compositionally in separate scenes.
• Long takes give a sense of realism.
• Travis is determined to assassinate Senator Palantine. He cuts his hair into a mohawk. This is a visual device that shows he is consciously removing himself from "normality". Mohawks were much less frequently seen at the time the movie was made.
• The modern mohawk haircut originated among soldiers in World War II, who would shave their heads in the style of old Native American warriors before going into battle. Travis is a Marine veteran who may have been exposed to soldiers with this type of haircut when he served in the war.

New Wave film design brief

For this task I will be planning, shooting and editing a New Wave film, based around the American New Wave. This genre of film challenged the Hollywood stereotype of film, and broke the rules of cinema. After researching the New Wave, I have gathered enough techniques and qualities of the genre that I plan to adapt and use. I want to use similar features such as long takes, jump cuts, natural lighting, diegetic sound and urban environments.
New Wave films were experimental, which I intend to simulate in my own film. I am researching Taxi Driver, The Graduate and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and plan to use techniques used in these films, but experiment with other elements to make my film different and individual.
My main aim is to create a montage sequence, looking as though it could be a sequence from part of a film. New Wave films do not tend to use actors and actresses, using people candidly and a lot of improvisation e.g. movement and dialogue. I will not be planning much of a narrative, as I want to capture footage that gives a true representation people in day-to-day life. I will be using shots from busy bustling locations, to isolated lonely places, giving binary opposition and experimental qualities.

I will be considering health and safety as I shoot, with regards to equipment, and locations. Ensuring that we are away from danger e.g. busy roads.

Here are some examples of techniques that I plan to use, in addition to others, as shown in my selected films:

Eye-level camera and framing in Taxi Driver.

Candid crowds in The Graduate.

Shallow depth of field in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Camera techniques - Using a reflector

Using a reflector whilst filming can make a big difference to the lighting, whilst still using natural light. Reflectors are a cheap and effective method of catching light and projecting it onto a specific area/subject. New Wave films used reflectors, a good example being Easy Rider, where a reflection of a reflector can be seen on a large copper tower. Mistakes like this in New Wave films were not corrected and added authenticity.

I have a homemade reflector, which I made from a large piece of cardboard, attaching plain white paper onto one side, and tin foil onto the other side. The white side casts a very soft and clean light onto the subject and is useful in a studio when a flash is used, or when there is ample light outside, like during a sunny noon-time shoot. The reflective silver side is great for shooting in low light, or where a strong light is needed, however this light can be too strong for mid-day shooting unless it is feathered away. Most photographers use the silver side of a reflector more, as it casts a stronger reflection. I made this for my AS photography course 2 years ago, and still have it. If I find it as effective whilst filming as I did when taking photographs, then I will be using a reflector for my New Wave film.
Professional reflectors can often have a gold or black side. The gold side casts a very strong warm light onto the subject, whilst the black side is an anti-reflector, which photographers use to cast a shadow onto certain areas of the subject.

Below are some images that I have taken with a reflector, showing the changes in light by using the plain white side, and then the shiny silver side. In my opinion this technique is very effective in emphasising natural light, which was a very common feature of New Wave film. I could have improved by experimenting in different locations and weather conditions, also by using a wider range of coloured reflectors e.g. gold and black.

Using no reflector.

The white side of a reflector.

The silver side of a reflector.

American New Wave research

The term American New Wave has been used to refer to at least three generations of American filmmakers. The first, emerging in the 1950's in New York, were concerned with realism and a truthful depiction of American society at the time. The second, often called the New Hollywood generation, rose to prominence in the late 1960's, bringing a new set of values representative of the counter-culture, and an aesthetic influenced by the French New Wave. More recently, in the late 1980's and 1990's, a new generation of filmmakers.
American New Wave is also referred to as New Hollywood or post-classical Hollywood. This refers to the time from the late 1960's (Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate) to the early 1980's (Heaven's Gate, One from the Heart) when a new generation of young filmmakers came to prominence in America, influencing the types of films produced, their production, marketing and the way major studios approached filmmaking. The director in New Hollywood films took on a key authorial role. They introduced subject matter and styles that set them apart from the studio traditions that an earlier generation had established during the 1920's-1950's. New Hollywood has also been defined as a broader filmmaking movement influenced by this period, which has been called the Hollywood renaissance.

Notable films of American New Wave:

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

The Graduate (1967)

Planet of the Apes (1969)

Easy Rider (1969)

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Paper Moon (1973)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Taxi Driver (1976)

Jaws (1975)

Major figures of American New Wave:

Martin Scorsese

Stanley Kubrick

Peter Bogdanovich

Miloš Forman

Dennis Hopper

George Lucas

Terrence Malick

Mike Nichols

Roman Polanski

Sydney Pollack

Ridley Scott

Steven Spielberg

Notable actors of American New Wave:

Woody Allen

Robert De Niro

Danny DeVito

Faye Dunaway

Jane Fonda

Jodie Foster

Richard Gere

Goldie Hawn

Dustin Hoffman

Steve McQueen

Jack Nicholson

Al Pacino

Christopher Reeve

Susan Sarandon

Roy Scheider

Sissy Spacek

Donald Sutherland

Christopher Walken

Gene Wilder

Techniques of American New Wave:

Trippy dream sequences.

Rapid-fire editing.

Camera angle changes less than 30 degrees, having a disorientating effect on the viewer.

Sudden/jarring cuts.

Public locations.

Natural light.

Improvised plot.

Improvised dialogue.

Diegetic sound, including mistakes and intrusions.

Long tracking shots.

Handheld camera.

Here is an extract from the documentary Cutting Edge, focusing on the rules of editing in the American New Wave, featuring Bonnie and Clyde and Easy Rider.

Camera techniques - ISO, aperture and shutter speed

ISO:
ISO is the sensitivity level of your camera to available light. The lower the ISO number, the less sensitive it is to light, whilst a higher ISO number increases the sensitivity of the camera. The component within the camera which can change sensitivity is called the image sensor. It is the most important and expensive part of the camera, being responsible for gathering light and transforming it into an image. With increased sensitivity, the camera sensor can capture images in low-light environments without having to use flash. But higher sensitivity comes at an expense, adding noise and grain to the pictures.

Here are comparisons between different ISO settings, the difference is clear, the higher the ISO number, the more noise and grain, compared to a lower ISO setting.

Every camera has a base ISO, which is typically the lowest ISO number of the sensor that can produce the highest image quality, without adding noise and grain. On most modern cameras, the base ISO is typically 100-200. Ideally, the base ISO should always be stuck to, to attain the highest image quality, although this can be difficult, especially when working in low-light conditions. The increase in ISO numbers go in geometric progression (power of two), so the ISO sequence is 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400 etc. Each step between the numbers effectively doubles the sensitivity of the sensor.

ISO speed examples...
ISO 100 - 1 second.
ISO 200 - 1/2 of a second.
ISO 400 - 1/4 of a second.
ISO 800 - 1/8 of a second.
ISO 1600 - 1/16 of a second.
ISO 3200 - 1/32 of a second.

Aperture and depth of field:
Aperture is the opening of the lens. When you hit the shutter release button of your camera, a hole opens up that allows your cameras image sensor to catch a glimpse of the scene you're wanting to capture. The aperture that you set impacts the size of that hole. The larger the hole the more light gets in, and the smaller the hole, the less light.
Aperture is measured in 'f-stops'. They are shown in f/numbers e.g. f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/22. Moving from one f-stop to the next doubles or halves the amount of light that gets in. Large apertures that let lots of light through are given smaller f/stop numbers, and smaller apertures where less light gets through have a larger f-stop number. So f/2.8 is larger than f/22.

The depth of field (DOF) is the amount of your shot that will be in focus. A large/extended depth of field means that most of the image will be in focus, whether it is close to your camera of far away. Small/shallow death of field means that only part of the image will be in focus and the rest will be fuzzy.

The first image (top) has a large depth of field as both the foreground and background are in focus, taken with an aperture of f/22. The second image (bottom) has a shallow depth of field, as only part of the image is in focus, this image was taken with a very shallow depth of field at f/4.5.

In most landscape photography, a small aperture will be used, to ensure that the foreground to the horizon is relatively in focus. Portrait photography usually has the main subject in focus with a blurry background to ensure that the subject is the main focal point and that other elements of the shot are not too distracting. In this case you would use a large aperture to ensure a shallow depth of field.

Shutter speed:

Shutter speed is basically the amount of time that the shutter is open. In film photography it was the length of time that the film was exposed to the scene that was being shot, and similarly in digital photography, it is the time that your image sensor 'sees' the scene that you are attempting to capture. It is measured in seconds, or in most cases, fractions of seconds. The larger the denominator the faster the speed e.g. 1/1000 is much faster than 1/30. A shutter speed of 1/60 or higher is most commonly used, because anything slower than this is very difficult to use without getting camera shake, and in that case, blur of the image. Using a slow shutter speed, anything under 1/60 will need either a tripod or some form of image stabilisation. Shutter speeds usually double e.g. 1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8 etc. There is also an option to use slow shutter speeds e.g. 1 second, 10 seconds, 30 seconds etc. These are used in very low light situations, when you're going after special effects and/or when you're trying to capture a lot of movement in a shot. Some cameras also give the option to shoot in bulb mode (B). This lets you keep the shutter open for as long as you hold it down.

 Here are examples of fast and slow shutter speeds. The first image (top) travels from left to right with a fast, mid and then slow shutter speed. The second image (bottom) has a slow shutter speed, this can be identified by the water current.

Nottingham shoot 30/9/2014

Myself, Megan and Rory went to Nottingham to shoot for our New Wave film. We planned features of the shoot together, such as the location, date, times and equipment. Other aspects we arranged ourselves e.g. where to shoot within the city, which shots we wanted and techniques we wanted to use individually. I feel that the shoot was a success, although I will need to go out and film again, as there are more shots that I want in my film, which I had not planned at the time of the Nottingham shoot.
I did not plan in too much detail which I shots I wanted to shoot, as the original New Wave films were not planned and spontaneous. I wanted to achieve a similar feel and outcome to the classic New Wave, which is why I only planned parts of the shoot. However, doing this resulted in a lack of footage, as during and after the shoot I thought of new shots that I wanted in my film. I can film locally for some of this, as I do not necessarily have to go to a major city every time. This has encouraged me to plan my shoots better in the future, to minimize the amount of filming, although I would shoot again anyway as I am not 100% happy with the footage I have from Nottingham, and want to achieve some variation.
I will be posting short videos of my footage with a brief analysis of what I did and why, followed by the full edit of my New Wave film and evaluation.

Easy Rider brief analysis

As a group we watched and analysed the 1969 American New Wave film, Easy Rider. We watched this film as it is a classic New Wave film, in addition to it giving great examples of New Wave shooting, editing and techniques, which will become useful when we begin to shoot our own New Wave films.

• The viewer is put into the same situation as the characters --> a foreign environment (Mexico) and a language barrier.
• Long/establishing shots.
• Counterculture --> cocaine use/dealing.
• Regular people are in the area, including non-actors.
• Using famous people for cameos e.g Phil Spector.
• Diegetic sound --> aeroplanes at the airport.
• Uses music of the time/era.
• Lens flare.
• Song lyrics replicate the story, "I've smoked a lot of grass".
• Fast-cuts and close-ups.
• Peter Fonda's character goes by the name 'Captain America' --> intertextual reference. American hero?
• Not wearing their helmets when riding their motorbikes whilst "Born To Be Wild" is playing, showing a rebellion.
• There is no vacancies at any hotels --> intertextual reference to Mary and Jesus, 'no room at the inn'.
• Handheld jump-cut POV shots/edits.
• Dennis Hopper's character called Billy --> intertextual reference to Billy the Kid, a historical American outlaw.
• Reference to the West --> cowboys and indians.
• Actors actually smoked drugs for effect and some sequences were un-scripted.
• People's reflections in windows/mirrors are filmed and left unedited.
• Shallow depth of field and focus shifts.
• Visual metaphors.
• Montage sequences in between scenes.