Analysis and Reflection 2 (Film-Tv 1)

QUESTION 1:
In the film Clown Train how does sound contribute to the atmosphere of this film? Describe what you heard? Can you make reference to another genre film and how they utilise sound to create tension and a unique filmic space?

The sound in this film was highly suspenseful and I found myself constantly waiting for what would happen next. The sound made the film feel surreal and as if it wasn’t happening – it allowed for the plot to build. The sound had a mix of diegetic and non-digetic sounds – allowing for a eerie, and even creepy, atmosphere to be created. It didn’t quite feel real and originally I felt that the guy was in a dream.

A similar soundscape is usually implemented in horror and thriller films – when suspense is needed. The eerie and non-matching sound with the visuals created a certain discomfort and unease within an audience. This allowing audience to feel suspense and the known feeling that something bad is about to happen – they are just waiting for the time it will happen and perhaps what it will be. The tension created with sound and visual is for the film maker to somewhat guide the audiences emotions – perhaps to get emotionally involved and ‘feel’ something towards the scene the are watching.This type of sound created anticipation and suspense – waiting for something perhaps bad to happen.

The simplicity of the film made me really love it and it left a lot of the thinking up to me – as we didn’t know a started point of a full ending point. I really enjoyed the film.

QUESTION 2:
Select from one of the readings, up to but not including Week 5, and briefly describe two points that you have taken from it. Points that excite you, something that was completely new to you.

– Sight and hearing. In Bresson, R. Notes on the cinematographer, (p. 50-52). London: Quartet, 1986.-

A sound must never come to the rescue of an image, nor an image to the rescue of a sound”

I had to read this point a few times to fully understand it’s meaning – and it’s the fact that sound and image come hand in hand. What I took away from this was the fact that sound and image work together and to become a whole. It’s also not up to one element to ‘save’ another – they must be as powerful and as striking as one another, as well as relatable to one another.

Image and sound must not support each other, but must work each in turn through a sort of relay”

For me, this created the visualisation of obviously a relay – in athletics where you past the Baton and obviously can not do it without other team members. Constantly throughout the race someone is holding the Baton and if they aren’t, then the whole team is disqualified. This is similar to film – if sound and image don’t work together there is an obvious disconnected and the ‘realism’ from the film is taken away (disqualified).

QUESTION 3: 

Rolling (Short Film)
In 300 words or less describe what you thought worked or didn’t. At this stage we don’t expect you to have a great deal of film knowledge or language. Don’t be afraid to use your own words. Things you could talk about – script, casting, timing, camera movement, location. You may not remember much detail, if so, it could be helpful to talk about your first impressions, after all this is what most of us are left with after one viewing

Rolling was what I thought a well thought out short film – as everything was in relation to one another. My first impressions of the film was the the narrative was done nicely but the acting and ‘slow camera’ with the actors sort of detached from the film and made it seem a bit awkward and not as good as it maybe could have been – this may have had something to do with the script.

Although, I found the location and general plot well done. My favourite frame was all the toilet paper in his living room – I don’t particularly know why, but it sort of made it clear to me how much he liked her and the lengths he would go to even talk to her. It also shows how badly he choked which enables a comedic element throughout. The comedy in the film was subtle and probably my favourite part of the film – as it wasn’t over bearing and in your face, although it was obvious what was funny about the situation.

The ending for me was also well done, as I liked that we (the audience) ended where we started. But I would of like maybe 5 seconds longer of the film – maybe to HEAR her reaction to the toilet paper in the living room (like a gasp) and then maybe a comment from him. I feel this would have resolved the film further and also allowed the comedic element to continue. Although I do like how it is up to the audience to interrupt how she may have acted when she saw it.

FILM TV 1 – Idea / Plot / Synopsis

IDEA –  Scarlett leads a repetitive lifestyle (wakes up early, eats breakfast, waits for the bus, goes on the bus, goes to work and comes home) and is never late but always early. One day the bus never comes and she finds herself confused as to what she is meant with the time that is usually filled by her daily tasks. She discovers spontaneity and this changes the way she perceives the world.

PLOT / SYNOPSIS – Scarlett is an ordinary girl that lives by time and zones in her life. There is the waking up zone, eating zone, drinking tea, waiting for the bus, work, home, coming home, eating, watching tv, sleep and then it repeats. She is never late, always early. The film starts off with this repeated lifestyle. The silence of what she does – the only sounds are diegetic, ie pouring of the tea. She stands by the bus 5 minutes early every day and the bus gets to her stop on time every day. One day it doesn’t come and she finds herself confused and disorientated. She has never had a complex thought on what would happen if the bus never came. She looks around and sees things anew. Ordinary people start to look extraordinary and she starts wanting to know about people. She starts coming up with stories of their lives in their head just by looking at them. One girl walks to school – V/O of her voice starts and she creates a story for the people she sees. Girl walking to school – “has a crush on a boy that doesn’t even know her name. Incredibly intelligent but dumbs herself down so that she fits in with her other peers. Although she will realize this isn’t the way and she will become a heart surgeon saving people’s lives – and go home to a husband that appreciates her intelligence”. This continues with a few more people and then she find herself back at her house and a V/O (her voice) says her future and life. “Scarlett, who once liked being called Scar, will find happiness beyond routine. She will want go to bed at 9:30 tonight, but maybe 12. She won’t eat toast and peanut butter for breakfast, maybe cereal, she will skip her tea drinking and go straight outside. She won’t go to the bus stop but instead walk to work. And it’s there she will find the person she is meant to be with that will fit into her plans of change”. Throughout this V/O, the story will play out what the voice is saying. It will end with bus driving past and her not on it.

WEEK 3: ‘The Lens of Fear’ (Communications Debates and Approaches)

How, according to Altheide, does the mass media construct a discourse of fear?

Mass media constructs the discourse of fear through continuous news, talk shows, dramatic TV – this highlighting violence  and what should be “feared” within the world. The mass media presents stories in a way that directs to the audience in an emotive way – this enabling the audience to feel somewhat of a connection with the situation or event. The embedding of fear of the emotional side can perhaps convert the audience to feel that they themselves can be the victim. The media embellishes and capitalises on these stories and events and therefore it constructs a discourse of fear throughout society.

– Altheide, D 2002, ‘The Lens of Fear’, in Creating Fear: News and the Construction of Crisis’, Aldine De Gruyter, New York, pp. 175-198.-