Controlled Assessment - December 2011

Controlled Assessment - December 2011

I chosen to do "Donnie Darko - The Director's Cut" (2004) (original 2001) as my chosen mock controlled assessment. I picked this film as critics highly enjoyed this instant cult-classic thriller sub-genre psychological film. I also enjoyed the film, and found it very interesting.

The thriller genre has many sub-genres. One of these is the psychological thriller. The psychological sub-genre can include normal conflicts between main characters which could lead to violence. This conflict is mental and emotional, rather than physical. As the conflict is mental and also emotional, it can possibly be something that wouldn't be scientifically possible in real life.

The film had many conventions, such as clocks, wide open spaces, lavatories, characters with dark pasts, triangles leading to murder, the interior of vehicles and many more, hence the reason why it's a strong thriller sub-genre film - even through the film has elements from other genres too, such as sci-fi and horror. I also chosen this film because of the response which I was given on my "Thrillers I've Watched" post. You can view this HERE.

However, as Miss pointed out below, the film is more a psychological dioma (drama? dilemma? - hard to read writing) and/or horror.

I understand the response which Miss has given me.

Below I have enabled a "Show/Hide" button so that your browser you are using will not crash while loading due to the file size of the images and CPU usage. Please click on these to show the images. You can click again to hide the images afterwards. I recommend 'showing' one image at a time. 

Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino - 1997)

Jackie Brown (1997) - Quentin Tarantino


Info:
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Release: 1997

A female flight attendant becomes a key figure in a plot between the police and an arms dealer. - IMDb

The Introduction of Jackie Brown

At the beginning of the scene, Quentin Tarantino introduces a character called "Jackie Brown" (actress Pam Grier). Non-diegetic sound has been edited into the film at the beginning. The non-diegetic sound is a soundtrack which is called "Across 110th Street" by  Bobby Womack.


(Here is the non-diegectic soundtrack for your listening pleasures.)



The soundtrack is very upbeat and powerful. The lyrics begin when Jackie Brown enters the scene in a medium close up. This immediately establishes the character of Jackie as being upbeat, glamorous, powerful and confidant - the lyrics support this. Because of the soundtrack, Jackie Brown is represented as being a "Femme-Fatal". This is a thriller convention that establishes the genre.

For the first opening minute, the camera constantly tracks Jackie Brown as she moves throughout the scene. The costume which she is wearing is a Flight Attendant's uniform. The costume is bright blue and white. This colour choice can support the fact that Tarantino is trying to represent Jackie as a Femme-Fatal as the colour is bright, eye-catching and glamorous.


Throughout the opening scene, the camera cuts between medium, extreme and close ups of Jackie Brown each differentiating between low angles and "shoulder" height angles. This signifies that the audience should constantly keep an eye on Jackie Brown. Especially as Tarantino has established her as being a Femme-Fatal - a deviant and dangerous woman who looks innocent. On top of this, within the mise-en-scene of the extreme close ups, Jackie Brown is the only figure who is in the camera's focus. This also suggests that the audience needs to keep a close eye on her, or even that everything around Jackie is insignificant. She is above everyone else, more important and can do anything she wishes - another common characteristic of a Femme-Fatal. 

This is also backed up by the fact that Jackie Brown walks past a crowd of people queueing to scan luggage. Scanning luggage is a protocol in Airports encase of an attack on an aircraft - they search for dangerous weapons or bombs. Because of the fact that Jackie Brown walks past this important protocol, it can suggest that she is going to do exactly the same, but this time, to the police. No one will suspect her committing a crime, or helping anyone who does.

The Shooting of Beaumont 

During "The Shooting of Beaumont", Quentin Tarantino uses the representation of the character's clothing to establish power within the scene. The mise-en-scene shows that one character is dressed and the other 'bare' or even shown as being 'naked'. By doing this, Quentin Tarantino establishes that the character wearing clothes is far more superior then the character without.

As this is a Quentin Tarantino film, he's used his iconic low angle shot. The low angle shot shows the two characters looking into a car boot. Again, the low angle show can represent having superior power as the characters are towering above the camera. 


Quentin Tarantino uses this low angle shot in many other films. This can be seen as an intertextual reference. The reference is that characters, who have more 'power' in the scene tower above the camera. These films include:

Kill Bill Vol.1:

Reservoir Dogs:

Pulp Fiction:

Thelma and Louise (1991) Screen Shot Analysis

Thelma and Louise (1991)

Screen Shot Analysis

Director: Ridley Scott
Release date: 1991

Location:

• The location of the scene is in a car park. This is a classic generic convention which establishes the thriller genre. The car park is used as a confined space that makes the characters feel alone and scared.

Characters:

• Within the mise-en-scene, both characters show different emotions.
  
  - The female character looks shocked. We can tells this by the over expressing of the eyes. Eyes are important features within thriller films as they show fear and tension within the scene for the character. The reason why the eyes are over expressed in this scene is because the female character - The "Femme-Fatale" is stepping out of place from a male dominated world, she is worried about what will happen to herself. 
  
  - The male looks worried and stressed about the actions of the female. He is worried about what she would do in a male dominated world. Especially as she is holding a gun. The gun is often used to symbolise male power. The female character shoots the man in the heart. This can represent that the males in the film have no respect for female welfare. 

Lighting:

• The lighting within the image is ambient which is very dark and is almost shown as a Noir-like thriller. This could of been used to represent the female presence within the male world, by doing this the female character is dressed in colourful clothes whereas the male is dressed plainly.   

Camera Angle:

• The camera angle used is a medium close up. The medium close up is used to capture both the male and the female's emotions at the same time. This is important as the emotions shown represent the characters personality in the scene.

Props:

• The only prop used in this scene is the use of a gun. The gun is often used in thriller films as it is a generic item found within the thriller genre. The use of a gun symbolises male dominance, however, as a female is holding the gun the director is challenging the generic convention.
  
  

Other Notes That I Find Important:

Inter-textuality:

• During the ending scene of the film, Thelma and Louise are on the run from the police. They decide it is in their best interests to drive off the edge of the Grand Canyon than being court by the police. I haven't seen this film before but I remember a scene from an episode of "The Simpsons" which follows the same plot of the film. 
  
  This episode is called "Marge On The Lam". This is when a character called "Marge Simpson" becomes friends with "Ruth Powers" who has moved next-door. Ruth Powers drives a blue convertible. The blue convertible is an intertextual reference as it is the same colour and type of car which is used in "Thelma and Louise (1991)". The blue convertible can also represent that both characters are Femme-Fatatles. They are stylish, glamorous, attractive and eye catching.  
  
  Near the end of this episode, the two girls are being hunted down by the police in a wild car chase and they decide to drive off the edge of the Grand Canyon. This is also an inter-textual reference as the film and episode have similar endings and story plot.