Tag: Cinema

Cinema as Brain

“Mind game films implicate the spectator in ways that can no longer be accounted for by classical theories of identification, alignment and identification, because the ‘default value’ or ‘degree zero’ of normal human interaction and perception are no longer in operation” (Elsaesser & Hagener, 2009).

Films continue to become more complex as they enter the genre of mind game films. These types of films can be shown through many ways including; films in which a character is being played games with, a film in which the audience is played games with, mind game films about the mind, and about the nature of consciousness.

A favourite mind game film of mine – that still to this day leaves me questioning whether it was reality or it was all in the character’s head – is Shutter Island (2010). The film follows a U.S Marshal as he investigates the dissapearnce of a murderer who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane.

Spoiler alert – it is revealed that the main character portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio is actually a patient at the hospital and that his psychologist encouraged him to act out his delusion.

But audiences are left questioning whether the doctors set him up to make him look as though he really is a patient but is actually a U.S Marshal, or whether he really was just a mentally ill criminal the whole time. 

Another film in which mind games are used is Christopher Nolan’s Inception (2010), which follows a thief who uses dream-sharing technology as he must use it in order to plant an idea into the mind of a C.E.O.

There are multiple elements in the film, which make it considered to be a mind game film. This includes the manipulation of the architecture, more specifically the Penrose staircase. Which is an illusion, that tricks the mind into believing that they are going up/down stairs, when in reality, it is a continuous loop.

But a scene that still gets me to this very day, is the final scene in which Cobb is finally being reunited with his children. When he gets home he spins his totem – which if it stops spinning and topples over it means that he is awake, but if it continues to spin it means he is still dreaming. But the final clip shows the totem still spinning – so it poses the question is he back to reality or is he still dreaming?

Mind game films leave us all questioning what just happened, and they make us wonder if we ever truly understand everything we’ve just watched. But that’s also what makes them so interesting, especially as everyone understands things differently, and may notice things that others hadn’t previously.

Reference:
Elsaesser, T, Hagener M, 2009, ‘Cinema as Brain – Mind and Body’, “Film Theory: An Introduction Through the Senses”, p. 156

Cinema as Eye, Look & Gaze

“The determining male gaze projects it’s fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly. In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact…” (Mulvey, 1975, p. 19).

In Laura Mulvey’s ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’, Mulvey discusses women essentially being something that men ‘gaze’ at as “women (are) displayed as sexual object(s)” (Mulvey, 1975, p. 19) for men to desire over.

The idea of the male gaze is something that has continued to be prominent to this day still. This is commonly seen in teenage rom-coms, as the guys “sees” the girl for the first time.

An example of this is from the film She’s All That (1999) which follows a high school jock who makes a bet that he can turn an unattractive girl in the prom queen.

The male gaze is seen as Laney walks down the stairs as she is introduced as ‘the new Laney Boggs’ and Zack is seeing her for the first time.

The shot of coarse begins from her high heels, up her legs to her dress and finally to her face, which essentially gives the audience a shot of how Zack is ‘gazing’ at her. With the iconic song ‘Kiss Me’ by Sixpence None The Richer playing alongside the shot, it intensifies how the audience feels alongside Zack looking at the new Laney.

An older example of the male gaze as seen through cinema is shown in Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958), which follows a former police detective as he wrestles with his personal demons and his obsession with a beautiful woman.

The male gaze is seen during the scene where John first sees Madeleine out to dinner, he is instantly entranced with her the moment he lays his eyes on her.

It’s as though he can’t look away from her for just a moment, as he is distracted by her beauty.

Essentially Mulvey says that the role of women is to satisfy the male gaze by ‘looking good’. It is something that has been seen through the early days of cinema and is still continuously being used in cinema today.

Reference
Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”, Visual and Other Pleasures. Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 1989 Pp. 19.

Cinema as Door

“A threshold always points in two directions, because it is simultaneously connects and separates – a border can be crossed precisely because a division always implies spatial proximity.” (Elsaesser & Hagener, 2009).

Doors throughout cinema can be more than just an objected used to walk in and out of. It can be a tool that can evoke an emotional response from the audience, such as suspense in horror/thriller films for what is behind the door that they must face, for example in the classic film The Shining (1980).

In the iconic scene where Jack is using an axe to break down the door, whilst Wendy is waiting on the other side in fear for her life. The door is a symbol for what is to come from the other side once it is opened and creates suspense for the audience.

Not only that, in sci-fi films a door may represent a gateway into a completely different universe, as shown in films such as The Chronicles of Narnia (2005).

The door represents the difference between one world, which is deemed as reality, where the rules and “social norms” are completely different in comparison to the world, behind the other side of the door.
The door is the separation between the two worlds, not only literally but also figuratively.

This is also seen throughout the film Monsters, Inc. (2001) as the monsters use the different doors as portals into little children’s bedrooms in order to scare them in order to power the city.
The doors seen throughout the film juxtaposes the two different worlds behind each side.

But, a door does not always have to be something that is overlooked as apart of the location of a scene; it can be used in many ways & can become an iconic part of the film.

For example in the film The Hobbit (2012), the bright green door has become significant, and therefor has become a tourist attraction in itself. People travel to New Zealand and visit the famous landmark to take photographs in front of the door, which people are then able to recognize the film it is from and think about the movie moments when it is seen in the film.

Reference:

Elsaesser, T, Hagener, M, 2009, “Cinema as Door – Screen and Threshold”, ‘Film Theory: An Introduction Through the Senses’, p.37

Cinema as Window & Frame

“In other words, the cinema as window and frame – the first of our seven modes of being (in the cinema/world) – is ocular – specular (i.e. conditioned by optical access), transitive (one looks at something) and disembodied (the spectator remains a safe distance).” (Elsaesser & Hagener, 2009).

Windows and frames are common themes throughout most films. Windows are the obvious ones, used to see through to the outside or through to the inside of a scene. Framing is used in each shot in films in order to to set up a character or scene in a particular way, as well as to include important aspects that may be in the background.

An example of windows used in film is Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954), which follows a photographer who is wheelchair bound as he spies on his neighbors through his apartment window.

The window is a key theme throughout the film as the main character uses binoculars in order to spy on his neighbours and witnesses things, that lead him to uncover that one of them have committed a murder.

The window positions Jeffries in a position of power in the sense that he is able to sit above and look down upon his neighbours. He does not hold all the power though as he is bound to his wheelchair with his heavy cast.

 It also creates a safe distance for him from the action that was occurring whilst still being able to observe. Essentially the window allows audiences to see the ‘action’ of the film from a new perspective and like the main character – at a safe distance.

Windows are also an immense theme used throughout the film Girl on the Train (2016),which follows a divorcee who becomes entangled with a missing persons investigation.

The protagonist Rachel takes the same train every single day and she is continuously shown to be looking through the train window, watching as houses go by.

The window in this situation symbolizes her isolation as it separates her from a specific home, which she watches everyday. She begins to observe the family that lives there and becoming obsessed with imagining what goes on behind the windows in the home.

Windows can be more than just something that a character looks out of, they can symbolize many different types of things, as seen through these two examples.

Reference:

Elsaesser, T, Hagener, M, 2009, “Cinema as Window and Frame”, ‘Film Theory: An Introduction through the Senses’, p. 14

Cinema as Mirror

“The look into the mirror of the screen no longer resembles – as was still the case with balazs – the recognition of a human being through another. Rather, what takes place is an act of false recognition or mis-cognition, as if one were to recognize another as oneself, or converlsey (mis-) perceive oneself in and as another,” (Elsaesser & Hagener, 2009).

Mirrors have be used in many different ways throughout cinematic history. They’ve been used as a way for a character to look at themselves and see their true self, they’ve also been used as a way to show an alter ego of the character, but they can also be used in a magical way like a portal and a paranormal way to see spirits.

An iconic mirror movie moment that always come to mind for me is from the film Black Swan (2010), which follows a dancer as she struggles to maintain her sanity after she has received the lead role in the production “Swan Lake”.

The mirrors are a reoccurring theme throughout the film in order for the protagonist Nina, to slowly begin to see her true self, as the black swan inside her torments her for control.

As the film progressed, whilst Nina continued to look at her reflection in the mirror, it reflected the illusion of an evil persona – a.k.a the black swan. The mirror allowed Nina as well as the audience to see the other side of her, which she herself did not know was in her previously.

Mirrors can also be magical as well, as seen through Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001), which follows an orphaned boy as he embarks on the school of wizardry, where he learns the truth about himself and his family.

The Mirror of Erised is inscribed with the legend; “erised stra ehru oytube cafru oyt on wohs i” – “I show you not your face but your heart’s desire”. Which is why Harry sees his parents through the reflection of the mirror.

Harry is shown in the reflection between both his parents, appearing as a happy family, when in fact his parents had been murdered by Voldemort when Harry was a baby.

Mirrors can be a useful tool, and can do more than just show one’s reflection. It can be used in a variety of different ways as seen through many films over the years.

Reference:

Elsaesser, T, Hagener, M, 2009, “Cinema as Mirror and Face”, ‘Film Theory: An Introduction through the Senses’, p. 65

Cinema As Ear

“The spectator is no longer a passive recipient of images at the pointed end of the optical pyramid, but rather a bodily being enmeshed acoustically, spatially and affectively in the filmic texture.” (Elsaesser & Hagener, 2009)

A film in which I first really noticed and took an interest in the full soundtrack would have to be Guardians of the Galaxy series (2014-2017).

It intrigued me so much that after the film I looked for the soundtrack through Spotify for both films, which I had never found myself doing before.
The soundtracks consists of older hit songs, which in my opinion really makes the whole film as the music is shown to be just as important as the images.

A scene that has always stood out to me in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is the scene in which tension is shown between the guardians as they decide to split up.

Star-lord questions rocket, “What is your goal here? To get everybody to hate you? ‘Cuz it’s working,” queue The Chain by Fleetwood Mac.

Not only is it a great song, but the song adds more emotional depth to film as plays from the chorus talking about essentially the chain breaking which is also shown throughout the images of the scene. But it gets the audience more emotionally invested as they sing along.

Nowadays if I hear any of the music from the soundtrack outside of the film, it always immediately makes me think of the film & makes me want to watch it again.

Another soundtrack that has always been a  favourite of mine and what I would consider my whole childhood, is the High School Musical series.

I was only 8 when the first High School Musical was released but it was instantly a hit for me and would say without a doubt that it changed my life. Not only was I obsessed with all 3 movies on their own, but also the soundtrack that came along with them.

I begged Santa for all of the dvds and cd’s so I could listen to the soundtrack at anytime on my hot pink cd player that I had gotten for my birthday.

I even learnt all of the dance moves from the movie that went along with the music.

To this day I still listen to the soundtracks every once and a while, and I still proudly know every lyric to every song.

One song that will always be memorable to me is from the original movie High School Musical, called “We’re All In This Together,” sung by the whole cast.

The song holds memories for me outside of the film itself, as it was my graduation song back in primary school. Whenever I hear it, I think back to being in my school’s auditorium, singing and following the film’s dance moves along to the song in front of all of our parents.

Soundtracks such as these two can be very powerful to an individual, and really personal to them. A song or the whole soundtrack may resonate with someone because they simply may like the music, or because they have a personal connection or past memory linked to it. Either way music in films is a crucial tool that affects people in many different ways.

Reference:
Elsaesser, T, Hagener, M, 2009 “Cinema as Ear – Acoustics and Space”, ‘Film Theory: An Introduction Through the Senses’, p. 132.