Monday 12 December 2016
Thursday 8 December 2016
princesas
towards the begging of the film Princesas there is a scene where the character Zulema gets officially introduced into the plot.
Thursday 17 November 2016
Chungking Express
How far does the impact of the films you have studied for this topic depend on distinctive uses of film techniques?
Chungking Express, to a certain extent, does depend on the use of distinctive film techniques to create an impact. Throughout Chungking Express the directory Wong Kar Wai has used a variety of technical and editing techniques such as the montage editing technique to portray the context behind the film, which is change.
Chungking Express, to a certain extent, does depend on the use of distinctive film techniques to create an impact. Throughout Chungking Express the directory Wong Kar Wai has used a variety of technical and editing techniques such as the montage editing technique to portray the context behind the film, which is change.
Monday 7 November 2016
Presentation Script
Could the working relationship between Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio suggest an auteur tendency?
Speaker:
Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio have been working in collaboration for 14 years and they have made a total of 6 movies together, including, Wolf of Wall Street, The Aviator and Shutter Island. These are the three films i will be looking at to help answer my question.
Martin Scorsese is known for his auteuristic tendencies to develop collaborations with method type actors, who are able to fully emerge themselves into roles, thus meaning they are able to successfully portray characters exactly the way that Scorsese wants them to be portrayed. Scorsese often developed characters that are obsessive or have some sort of physiological issue. This is made clear by his previous collaboration with Robert De Niro, "The Scorsese/De Niro partnership galvanized audiences with the physical and psychological transformations of movies like Taxi Driver and Raging Bull; it’s safe to say that Scorsese/DiCaprio movies, while usually in receipt of good critical notices, are not quite so well-regarded"(1). It is also evident throughout his films with DiCaprio. Scorsese's tendency to develop these types of relationships is the main reason as to why he developed a collaboration with DiCaprio, because "DiCaprio’s willingness to plug his movie-star wattage into that electricity and still cap the role with an unceremonious death explains why he’s made such an excellent match as a late-career collaborator for the legendary director some three decades his senior."(2) Therefore Leonardo DiCaprio is known as a method actor, much like Scorseses "his previous and similarly named muse, Robert De Niro."(3)
"The more you define who you are personally, the less you are able to submerge into characters you do, and people will think 'I don't buy that role.'"(4). Thus making the motive behind the Scorsese/Dicaprio collaboration clear.
However, I feel the answer to this question is very ambiguous, as it is unclear who possesses more auteur tendencies, Scorsese or DiCaprio, or if it is the collaboration itself that is auteuristic
rather than just one or the other? DiCaprio often takes his own films to directors whom he knows will be the very best at successfully creating characters and portraying the narrative, much like Scorsese only choses actors whom he knows he can trust to successfully portray his obsessive, psychotic characters. "I Vowed to myself that i was going to work with directors who were changing cinema, doing something important"(5) The fact that DiCaprio takes his films to directors that he knows will create the best character roles, suggests that he is auteuristic. For example it was Leonardo DiCaprio who took the idea for The Wolf of Wall Street to Martin Scorsese, as he knew, after working on previous films with him that contain a character consumed by obsession and psychotic, that Scorsese was the perfect director for developing the protagonist, Jordan, who is obsessed with drugs, money, and women/sex. Thus making him slightly psychotic.
I have chosen to look at The Wolf of Wall Street as my focus film because it is the latest film that DiCaprio and Scorsese have worked on together and it portrays a character taken over by obsession of money, sex and drugs. In this scene from The Wolf of Wall Street we see Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Jordon, illustrating his obsession for money by dedicating a ‘motivational speech’ to making money and what to do with it all.
Projector:
https://youtu.be/fpnhfq6Q2b0
Speaker:
The majority of shots that Jordan is portrayed in are close up shots, Scorsese may have done this to enable the audience to be able to see his facial expressions as he talks to passionately about money. Jordan's facial expressions throughout this scene emphasise the passion and obsession he feels for making money an owning expensive things. Moreover, the lack of non-diegetic sound in this scene means that the audience pays more attention Jordan's speech and everything he is saying within it. It is only when the speech ends that the use of non-diegetic music is re-incorporated. Furthermore, the way that Leonardo DiCaprio performs the speech helps to emphasise the idea of passion and obsession. DiCaprio over dramatically performed the speech rather than just 'delivering' it. He does this by shouting the majority of the monolog and performing bold over exaggerated movements, for example when he pretends to suck off the microphone. Jordan comes across as so passionate about what he is speaking about, his faces beings to go red and his veins become visible.
DiCaprio's character also demonstrates an obsession/addiction for drugs throughout the film. This obsession is clearly portrayed in this scene from the film, where Jordan is seen walking through his house listing all of the drugs that he takes and what for.
Projector:
https://youtu.be/-UTSqg4sqlU
drugs;
-quantatiy of drugs
-voice over shows obsession
-refer to goodfellas, also a voice over
-also introduces hi obsession with sex and woman "buys better pussy"
Notes
human condition
aspects of male obsession
dicaprio is encapsulating everything that he wants to tell in the narrative about that type of person
likes method actors
their collaboration is auteuristic
mentalistic
quotes:
has yet to attain the same mythic cachet in its time as Scorsese’s collaboration with his previous and similarly named muse, Robert De Niro. item11
Scorsese, in turn, makes DiCaprio movies a lot more fun than some of the serious-minded stuff he does with less talented directors. -item 11
"Became incredibly self indulgent, consumed a lot of drugs, was with a lot of women and became consumed by greed"- item6
Yet the DiCaprio/Scorsese relationship has become enormously productive for both artists, helping to define both of their careers for over a decade and, as such, becoming a vital part of Scorsese’s development as an artist.-item 11
they’re actually mutually beneficial: DiCaprio expands Scorsese’s palette, while Scorsese applies his personal signature to the kinds of big, serious, adult-minded movies DiCaprio actively pursues. -item 11
But it’s not always bad to see an actor sweat a little, and Scorsese has harnessed that striving quality in DiCaprio better than almost any other director and physicalized it, too. His transformations aren’t as impressive as the ol’ De Niro weight gain in Raging Bull, but Scorsese’s intensity has a way of fraying at DiCaprio’s default seriousness, rendering it both more vivid and more vulnerable.-item 11
being a project De Niro brought to his friend and collaborator during a particularly dark period in Scorsese’s life, just as DiCaprio has approached Scorsese in less tumultuous times.)- item 11
“The Wolf of Wall Street” marks the fifth collaboration between him and Scorsese, a partnership that began in 2002 on the period piece “Gangs of New York.” Since then, it has blossomed into one of Hollywood’s greatest actor-director relationships.- item 12
"The more you define who you are personally, the less you are able to submerge into characters you do, and people will think 'I don't buy that role.'"(4). Thus making the motive behind the Scorsese/Dicaprio collaboration clear.
However, I feel the answer to this question is very ambiguous, as it is unclear who possesses more auteur tendencies, Scorsese or DiCaprio, or if it is the collaboration itself that is auteuristic
rather than just one or the other? DiCaprio often takes his own films to directors whom he knows will be the very best at successfully creating characters and portraying the narrative, much like Scorsese only choses actors whom he knows he can trust to successfully portray his obsessive, psychotic characters. "I Vowed to myself that i was going to work with directors who were changing cinema, doing something important"(5) The fact that DiCaprio takes his films to directors that he knows will create the best character roles, suggests that he is auteuristic. For example it was Leonardo DiCaprio who took the idea for The Wolf of Wall Street to Martin Scorsese, as he knew, after working on previous films with him that contain a character consumed by obsession and psychotic, that Scorsese was the perfect director for developing the protagonist, Jordan, who is obsessed with drugs, money, and women/sex. Thus making him slightly psychotic.
I have chosen to look at The Wolf of Wall Street as my focus film because it is the latest film that DiCaprio and Scorsese have worked on together and it portrays a character taken over by obsession of money, sex and drugs. In this scene from The Wolf of Wall Street we see Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Jordon, illustrating his obsession for money by dedicating a ‘motivational speech’ to making money and what to do with it all.
Projector:
https://youtu.be/fpnhfq6Q2b0
Speaker:
The majority of shots that Jordan is portrayed in are close up shots, Scorsese may have done this to enable the audience to be able to see his facial expressions as he talks to passionately about money. Jordan's facial expressions throughout this scene emphasise the passion and obsession he feels for making money an owning expensive things. Moreover, the lack of non-diegetic sound in this scene means that the audience pays more attention Jordan's speech and everything he is saying within it. It is only when the speech ends that the use of non-diegetic music is re-incorporated. Furthermore, the way that Leonardo DiCaprio performs the speech helps to emphasise the idea of passion and obsession. DiCaprio over dramatically performed the speech rather than just 'delivering' it. He does this by shouting the majority of the monolog and performing bold over exaggerated movements, for example when he pretends to suck off the microphone. Jordan comes across as so passionate about what he is speaking about, his faces beings to go red and his veins become visible.
DiCaprio's character also demonstrates an obsession/addiction for drugs throughout the film. This obsession is clearly portrayed in this scene from the film, where Jordan is seen walking through his house listing all of the drugs that he takes and what for.
Projector:
https://youtu.be/-UTSqg4sqlU
drugs;
-quantatiy of drugs
-voice over shows obsession
-refer to goodfellas, also a voice over
-also introduces hi obsession with sex and woman "buys better pussy"
Notes
human condition
aspects of male obsession
dicaprio is encapsulating everything that he wants to tell in the narrative about that type of person
likes method actors
their collaboration is auteuristic
mentalistic
quotes:
has yet to attain the same mythic cachet in its time as Scorsese’s collaboration with his previous and similarly named muse, Robert De Niro. item11
Scorsese, in turn, makes DiCaprio movies a lot more fun than some of the serious-minded stuff he does with less talented directors. -item 11
"Became incredibly self indulgent, consumed a lot of drugs, was with a lot of women and became consumed by greed"- item6
Yet the DiCaprio/Scorsese relationship has become enormously productive for both artists, helping to define both of their careers for over a decade and, as such, becoming a vital part of Scorsese’s development as an artist.-item 11
they’re actually mutually beneficial: DiCaprio expands Scorsese’s palette, while Scorsese applies his personal signature to the kinds of big, serious, adult-minded movies DiCaprio actively pursues. -item 11
But it’s not always bad to see an actor sweat a little, and Scorsese has harnessed that striving quality in DiCaprio better than almost any other director and physicalized it, too. His transformations aren’t as impressive as the ol’ De Niro weight gain in Raging Bull, but Scorsese’s intensity has a way of fraying at DiCaprio’s default seriousness, rendering it both more vivid and more vulnerable.-item 11
being a project De Niro brought to his friend and collaborator during a particularly dark period in Scorsese’s life, just as DiCaprio has approached Scorsese in less tumultuous times.)- item 11
“The Wolf of Wall Street” marks the fifth collaboration between him and Scorsese, a partnership that began in 2002 on the period piece “Gangs of New York.” Since then, it has blossomed into one of Hollywood’s greatest actor-director relationships.- item 12
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(3)Item11
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Thursday 3 November 2016
City of God
How far does the impact of the films you have studied for this topic depend on distinctive uses of film techniques?
City of God depends a lot on distinctive uses of film techniques to develop themes, genre and a sense of verisimilitude.
City of God opens with flash imagery , the opening shot being an extreme close up of a knife begin sharpened on a rock, it then a fast, straight cut to a blank screen. The close up shot of a knife being sharpened along with the over exaggerated diegetic sound, of the knife helps to set a theme of violence for the film and foreshadows some of the events that are to come. The high key lighting in the knife shot and the darkness of the blank shot that makes up the flash imagery, is all put together in a sirens of fast pace editing, this suggests that the film is going to be fast paced throughout and filled with action. throughout this sequence of shots, there are also cut aways, from the knife to extreme close ups of people playing instruments, we also hear the non-diegetic sound of traditional Brazilian instruments. These cut aways help to suggest where the film might be set.
We then begin to see extreme close up shots of dead chickens, chickens being killed and one live chicken, it then becomes apparent that these fast pace cuts and shots that we are seeing, could be from the point of view of the chicken as it is part of this fast pace life that is going on, however it doesn't really know what is gong on properly, much like the audience doesn't have a clear idea of what is going on yet. the chicken is also seen blinking briskly, much like the cuts look as thought they are blinking as it cuts between the knife and a blank screen. We also know we are seeing things from the chickens point of view because of the amount of reaction shots we see of the chicken and how much attention it gets from the camera. the chicken then goes on to escape and attempt to run away to avoid facing its inevitable doom, this is significant as it introduces one of the main themes of the film. Instantly after e see the chicken get free, there is a close up shot of a bowl of blood, this suggests to the audience that the chicken is still going to die, regardless of its escape. This introduces the idea that the consequences of trying to escape is death, which is a common theme that runs throughout the film.
City of God depends a lot on distinctive uses of film techniques to develop themes, genre and a sense of verisimilitude.
City of God opens with flash imagery , the opening shot being an extreme close up of a knife begin sharpened on a rock, it then a fast, straight cut to a blank screen. The close up shot of a knife being sharpened along with the over exaggerated diegetic sound, of the knife helps to set a theme of violence for the film and foreshadows some of the events that are to come. The high key lighting in the knife shot and the darkness of the blank shot that makes up the flash imagery, is all put together in a sirens of fast pace editing, this suggests that the film is going to be fast paced throughout and filled with action. throughout this sequence of shots, there are also cut aways, from the knife to extreme close ups of people playing instruments, we also hear the non-diegetic sound of traditional Brazilian instruments. These cut aways help to suggest where the film might be set.
We then begin to see extreme close up shots of dead chickens, chickens being killed and one live chicken, it then becomes apparent that these fast pace cuts and shots that we are seeing, could be from the point of view of the chicken as it is part of this fast pace life that is going on, however it doesn't really know what is gong on properly, much like the audience doesn't have a clear idea of what is going on yet. the chicken is also seen blinking briskly, much like the cuts look as thought they are blinking as it cuts between the knife and a blank screen. We also know we are seeing things from the chickens point of view because of the amount of reaction shots we see of the chicken and how much attention it gets from the camera. the chicken then goes on to escape and attempt to run away to avoid facing its inevitable doom, this is significant as it introduces one of the main themes of the film. Instantly after e see the chicken get free, there is a close up shot of a bowl of blood, this suggests to the audience that the chicken is still going to die, regardless of its escape. This introduces the idea that the consequences of trying to escape is death, which is a common theme that runs throughout the film.
Sunday 30 October 2016
course work quotes
Item 7-
"Although a certain nebbishy auteur has come to stand as the paradigm of the New York director, there are arguably two other candidates well suited for that honor. Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee."
Item8-
"Martin Scorsese is known for collaborating with a tight-knit group of actors throughout his career: In his legendary run in the Seventies and Eighties, he worked frequently with Robert De Niro; in recent years, he's found acclaim directing Leonardo DiCaprio."
Item9-
"Leonardo DiCaprio will star in the long-in-development “The Devil in the White City” with Martin Scorsese directing for Paramount, sources confirm.
The project, which has been in the works for more than a decade, reunites DiCaprio with Scorsese two years after “The Wolf of Wall Street.”"
Item10-
"Yet the DiCaprio/Scorsese relationship has become enormously productive for both artists, helping to define both of their careers for over a decade and, as such, becoming a vital part of Scorsese’s development as an artist."
Item11-
"This self-described accidental collaboration has produced five distinct films so far, each with its own singular lead performance from DiCaprio: In “Gangs of New York,” he played an immigrant in a city on the cusp of self-destruction; in “The Aviator,” he was the influential and inimitable Howard Hughes; in “Shutter Island,” he was a detective looking to solve a mysterious disappearance at a psychiatric facility; in “The Departed,” he portrayed an undercover cop attempting to take down an infamous mob boss; and now, in “Wolf of Wall Street,” he plays a scumbag trying to scam money off of unsuspecting civilians. This is an impressive body of work. The fact that it was done with Martin Scorsese, one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, makes it that much more remarkable."
Item13-
"They form one of Hollywood's most successful partnerships.
Now Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese are preparing for a sixth collaboration together."
Tuesday 11 October 2016
Monday 3 October 2016
Could the working relationship between Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio suggest an auteur tendency?
Area of investigation: Martin Scorsese
Interviews
Item4- Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese 2014 SBIFF Cinema Vanguard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJJlXWHW9diYg
In this interview featuring Martin Scorsese and Leonard DiCaprio, they talk about the films that they have worked on together and how their collaboration first came about. This interview is useful as it talks about some of the reasons as to why their collaboration came about and explain why they chose each other to work on specific films together. Therefore this interview will enable me to create valid points as to why they chose each other to develop and create the characters in films, this will therefore enable me to work out wether there is a pattern in the motive for the collaboration, thus helping me to determine weather Martin Scorsese is an auteur director.
item5- Leonardo DiCaprio on The Wolf of Wall Street After Oscar Lunch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mlgcXJVNd4
In this interview with Leonard DiCaprio he talks about The Wolf of Wall Street and why he chose Martin Scorsese to direct it. I chose this interview as Leonardo DiCaprio talks about how he approached Martin Scorsese about directing The Wolf of Wall Street, which gives an example of their partnership been driven by DiCaprio, rather than Scorsese, which may prove that their collaboration does not make Scorsese and auteur.
Item6-Leonardo DiCaprio - THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oYiq31FN9U
In this interview, Leonard DiCaprio talks about the type of character Jordan from The Wolf of Wall Street is and how he proceeded to prepare for the role. This is useful because it explains how the character is consumed by greed and becomes obsessed with money, sex and drugs and therefore this will help me create an argument, putting forward the idea that Scorsese is an auteur because he always creates characters who are consumed by some sort of obsession.
Magazines
Item7- http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/martin-scorsese-shutter-island/#_
In this online magazine article, there is a short interview held between Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese, in which Spike Lee asks Scorsese about Shutter Island, which was his latest film at that time. In this article there is also a short intro, which proposes the idea that Martin Scorsese is and auteur director. Therefore, this magazine article is useful because it gives me a talking point when i comes to arguing the idea that Scorsese is an auteur director. Moreover, at the end of the interview, DiCaprio's and Scorsese's collaboration is briefly mentioned, when Lee asks who is staring in his latest film and then goes on to comment on how well their collaboration is going. This will be useful because it suggests that DiCaprio's and Scorsese's collaboration is possibly what makes Scorsese an auteur, thus enabling to argue that their relationship is has auteuristic traits.
Item8- http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/videos/martin-scorsese-reunites-robert-de-niro-leonardo-dicaprio-20150114
In this online "Rollingstone" magazine article it talks about a short film called "The Audition", directed by Martin Scorsese, staring Robert Di Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. The article also contains a clip of the trailer for the hot film, made to promote Asian casinos. This article is useful as it talks about Martin Scorsese's collaborations with method actors, such as Robert Di Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, therefore it enables me to make a point about how Scorsese always creates collaborations with method actors, which is a demonstration of an auteur tendency.
Item9- GQ magazine June 2016
In the June 2016 edition of the British GQ magazine, within the entertainment sections there is a quadruple page spread about Leonardo DiCaprio and his life and career. Within this article he talks about what it takes to be a successful actor and how he submerges himself into his roles.
I will use it to help explain how he is a method actor, which is useful because it is an argument as to why Martin Scorsese may always cast him. It is also useful for quotes that explain about how DiCaprio emerges himself in to a role.
Internet
Item10- http://variety.com/2015/film/news/leonardo-dicaprio-martin-scorsese-reunite-for-devil-in-the-white-city-1201567113/
This online article talks purely about Scorsese's and DiCaprio's most recent collaboration "The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and the Madness at the Fair that Changed America." and gives some context about it. This is useful for supporting evidence when making a point about what type of films Scorsese often makes, however other than that it is not as useful as the others.
Item11- http://www.avclub.com/article/martin-scorseses-work-dicaprio-just-vital-his-work-227782
This item is possibly the most useful item as it is an article based on Scorsese's collaborations with method actors, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Di Niro and essentially analyses the importance of both relationships. It does this by looking at films that they've worked on together. This article is useful as it talks about all of the films that DiCaprio and Scorsese have worked on together, the plot, characters and who took the film to who. The article will help me to answer my question as it backs up the argument that Scorsese creates relationships with very successful method actors in order to successfully portray psychotic, obsessive characters.
Item12- http://www.indiewire.com/2014/02/leonardo-dicaprio-talks-his-work-with-martin-scorsese-says-he-wants-more-movies-like-wolf-of-wall-street-more-89046/
In this online article it begins by talking about The Wolf of Wall Street and how audiences responded to it and it sates that some people loved it because it was very honest in the way it portrayed stockbrokers as greedy, therefore this could be slightly useful when I go on to explain how Scorsese is an auteur because he often creates greedy type characters. Moreover, further on in the article it begins to mention DiCaprio's and Scorsese's collaboration and it stages that it is one of the most famous Hollywood relationships, therefore this is useful because it will help me to explain that their relationship is auteuristic because they are both very well known for it.
Item13- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Scorsese_and_Leonardo_DiCaprio
This Wikipedia page has been created specifically for the relationship of Martin Scorsese and contains information about everything that they have worked on together and the collaboration its self and also contains useful links to other online articles. This page is useful because it will provide me with supporting evidence when talking about their collaboration and films, which will thereofr help me to explain that their relationship is auteuristic because of the types of characters that Scorsese asks DiCaprio to play.
Books
Item14- "The Passion of Martin Scorsese" By Annette Wernblad- To Beat the Devil- chapter 8
This book talks about the entire cinematic works of Martin Scorsese including most of the films that he has collaborated on with Leonardo DiCaprio and it explains the characters and plot of every individual film, therefore this will be useful when I come to explain the type of characters that Scorsese creates and how DiCaprio executed them in such a successful way.
Item 15-The Films of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro-Andrew J. Rausch
This book is about Martin Scorsese's and Robert De Niro's impressively long, artistic collaboration, this is useful because it will help explain that the artistic relationships that Scorsese forms are auteuristic because he always choses actors whom he know will be able to successfully portray characters that are often taken over with obsession, therefore this explain why he has used the same two actors on multiple occasions. the obsessive characters that Scorsese creates will be explained throughout the book and it may also contain information as to why he chooses De Niro or how successfully he portrayed these characters. However, although I will be able to apply Scorsese's reasoning for picking De Niro for certain roles, to his relationship with DiCaprio, it may not be as useful as a book about Scorsese and DiCaprio because he doesn't explain about their relationship, only his and De Niro's.
Item16- ’The Pocket Essentials Guide to Film Studies', Andrew Butler
Within this book, the auteur theory has been explained, this will therefore be useful to prove that Martin Scorsese is an auteur director because I will be able to apply the theory to the work he does and explain how he fits the description of an auteur director.
Newspapers
Item17- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3194248/Leonardo-DiCaprio-Martin-Scorsese-reunite-sixth-time-make-film-America-s-serial-killer-H-H-Holmes.html
In this newspaper article it talks about Scorsese's and DiCaprio's latest film together "The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and the Madness at the Fair that Changed America." It also talks about the plot of the film and some of the character roles. This is useful as it reveals that the main character is a serial killer, therefore has psychological issues, this will help further support the idea that Scorsese often creates characters with some kind of obsession or psychological issues and picks method actors that he knows will successfully portray the thoughts and feelings of the character.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3194248/Leonardo-DiCaprio-Martin-Scorsese-reunite-sixth-time-make-film-America-s-serial-killer-H-H-Holmes.html#ixzz4S2xmbEYL
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Draft title: Could the working relationship between Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio suggest an auteur tendency?
Films
Item1- The Wolf of Wall Street(2013)
The Wolf of Wall Street is about a stockbroker, Jordan, who embraces the stockbroker life and gets involved in drugs, alcohol and prostitution. Jordan, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, becomes so obsessed with his new life he gets in to trouble with the FBI, but he manages to narrowly avoid arrest throughout the film. I chose this film as my focus film because it is the latest film that Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese and it is a very good example of a character that Scorsese has created who is consumed by obsession, as he is obsessed over multiple things.
Item2- Shutter Island(2010)
Shutter Island is about a patient named Andrew Laeddis (Leonardo DiCaprio) who is obsessed with this hyper reality world, where he believes his perhaps on the island is as a detective investigating the case of a missing patient from the hospital for the criminally insane. I have chosen this film as one of my focus films because it portrays another of Scorsese's characters that has a real obsession over something, to the point that it causes him to become mentally ill. These are common themes throughout many of his previous film made with Robert Di Niro, such as Taxi Driver.
Item3- The Aviator(2004)
The Aviator, is about a film director who is obsessed with planes, building them and flying them. Howard Hughes(Leonardo DiCaprio) begins to direct a film named "Hells Angles," during the filming Hughes becomes obsessed with getting it perfect. He becomes so obsessed over perfection, his already existent OCD gets predominately worse, to the point he becomes mentally ill and starts to go crazy.
Item1- The Wolf of Wall Street(2013)
The Wolf of Wall Street is about a stockbroker, Jordan, who embraces the stockbroker life and gets involved in drugs, alcohol and prostitution. Jordan, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, becomes so obsessed with his new life he gets in to trouble with the FBI, but he manages to narrowly avoid arrest throughout the film. I chose this film as my focus film because it is the latest film that Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese and it is a very good example of a character that Scorsese has created who is consumed by obsession, as he is obsessed over multiple things.
Item2- Shutter Island(2010)
Shutter Island is about a patient named Andrew Laeddis (Leonardo DiCaprio) who is obsessed with this hyper reality world, where he believes his perhaps on the island is as a detective investigating the case of a missing patient from the hospital for the criminally insane. I have chosen this film as one of my focus films because it portrays another of Scorsese's characters that has a real obsession over something, to the point that it causes him to become mentally ill. These are common themes throughout many of his previous film made with Robert Di Niro, such as Taxi Driver.
Item3- The Aviator(2004)
The Aviator, is about a film director who is obsessed with planes, building them and flying them. Howard Hughes(Leonardo DiCaprio) begins to direct a film named "Hells Angles," during the filming Hughes becomes obsessed with getting it perfect. He becomes so obsessed over perfection, his already existent OCD gets predominately worse, to the point he becomes mentally ill and starts to go crazy.
Interviews
Item4- Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese 2014 SBIFF Cinema Vanguard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJJlXWHW9diYg
In this interview featuring Martin Scorsese and Leonard DiCaprio, they talk about the films that they have worked on together and how their collaboration first came about. This interview is useful as it talks about some of the reasons as to why their collaboration came about and explain why they chose each other to work on specific films together. Therefore this interview will enable me to create valid points as to why they chose each other to develop and create the characters in films, this will therefore enable me to work out wether there is a pattern in the motive for the collaboration, thus helping me to determine weather Martin Scorsese is an auteur director.
item5- Leonardo DiCaprio on The Wolf of Wall Street After Oscar Lunch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mlgcXJVNd4
In this interview with Leonard DiCaprio he talks about The Wolf of Wall Street and why he chose Martin Scorsese to direct it. I chose this interview as Leonardo DiCaprio talks about how he approached Martin Scorsese about directing The Wolf of Wall Street, which gives an example of their partnership been driven by DiCaprio, rather than Scorsese, which may prove that their collaboration does not make Scorsese and auteur.
Item6-Leonardo DiCaprio - THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oYiq31FN9U
In this interview, Leonard DiCaprio talks about the type of character Jordan from The Wolf of Wall Street is and how he proceeded to prepare for the role. This is useful because it explains how the character is consumed by greed and becomes obsessed with money, sex and drugs and therefore this will help me create an argument, putting forward the idea that Scorsese is an auteur because he always creates characters who are consumed by some sort of obsession.
Magazines
Item7- http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/martin-scorsese-shutter-island/#_
In this online magazine article, there is a short interview held between Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese, in which Spike Lee asks Scorsese about Shutter Island, which was his latest film at that time. In this article there is also a short intro, which proposes the idea that Martin Scorsese is and auteur director. Therefore, this magazine article is useful because it gives me a talking point when i comes to arguing the idea that Scorsese is an auteur director. Moreover, at the end of the interview, DiCaprio's and Scorsese's collaboration is briefly mentioned, when Lee asks who is staring in his latest film and then goes on to comment on how well their collaboration is going. This will be useful because it suggests that DiCaprio's and Scorsese's collaboration is possibly what makes Scorsese an auteur, thus enabling to argue that their relationship is has auteuristic traits.
Item8- http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/videos/martin-scorsese-reunites-robert-de-niro-leonardo-dicaprio-20150114
In this online "Rollingstone" magazine article it talks about a short film called "The Audition", directed by Martin Scorsese, staring Robert Di Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. The article also contains a clip of the trailer for the hot film, made to promote Asian casinos. This article is useful as it talks about Martin Scorsese's collaborations with method actors, such as Robert Di Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, therefore it enables me to make a point about how Scorsese always creates collaborations with method actors, which is a demonstration of an auteur tendency.
Item9- GQ magazine June 2016
In the June 2016 edition of the British GQ magazine, within the entertainment sections there is a quadruple page spread about Leonardo DiCaprio and his life and career. Within this article he talks about what it takes to be a successful actor and how he submerges himself into his roles.
I will use it to help explain how he is a method actor, which is useful because it is an argument as to why Martin Scorsese may always cast him. It is also useful for quotes that explain about how DiCaprio emerges himself in to a role.
Internet
Item10- http://variety.com/2015/film/news/leonardo-dicaprio-martin-scorsese-reunite-for-devil-in-the-white-city-1201567113/
This online article talks purely about Scorsese's and DiCaprio's most recent collaboration "The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and the Madness at the Fair that Changed America." and gives some context about it. This is useful for supporting evidence when making a point about what type of films Scorsese often makes, however other than that it is not as useful as the others.
Item11- http://www.avclub.com/article/martin-scorseses-work-dicaprio-just-vital-his-work-227782
This item is possibly the most useful item as it is an article based on Scorsese's collaborations with method actors, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Di Niro and essentially analyses the importance of both relationships. It does this by looking at films that they've worked on together. This article is useful as it talks about all of the films that DiCaprio and Scorsese have worked on together, the plot, characters and who took the film to who. The article will help me to answer my question as it backs up the argument that Scorsese creates relationships with very successful method actors in order to successfully portray psychotic, obsessive characters.
Item12- http://www.indiewire.com/2014/02/leonardo-dicaprio-talks-his-work-with-martin-scorsese-says-he-wants-more-movies-like-wolf-of-wall-street-more-89046/
In this online article it begins by talking about The Wolf of Wall Street and how audiences responded to it and it sates that some people loved it because it was very honest in the way it portrayed stockbrokers as greedy, therefore this could be slightly useful when I go on to explain how Scorsese is an auteur because he often creates greedy type characters. Moreover, further on in the article it begins to mention DiCaprio's and Scorsese's collaboration and it stages that it is one of the most famous Hollywood relationships, therefore this is useful because it will help me to explain that their relationship is auteuristic because they are both very well known for it.
Item13- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Scorsese_and_Leonardo_DiCaprio
This Wikipedia page has been created specifically for the relationship of Martin Scorsese and contains information about everything that they have worked on together and the collaboration its self and also contains useful links to other online articles. This page is useful because it will provide me with supporting evidence when talking about their collaboration and films, which will thereofr help me to explain that their relationship is auteuristic because of the types of characters that Scorsese asks DiCaprio to play.
Books
Item14- "The Passion of Martin Scorsese" By Annette Wernblad- To Beat the Devil- chapter 8
This book talks about the entire cinematic works of Martin Scorsese including most of the films that he has collaborated on with Leonardo DiCaprio and it explains the characters and plot of every individual film, therefore this will be useful when I come to explain the type of characters that Scorsese creates and how DiCaprio executed them in such a successful way.
Item 15-The Films of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro-Andrew J. Rausch
This book is about Martin Scorsese's and Robert De Niro's impressively long, artistic collaboration, this is useful because it will help explain that the artistic relationships that Scorsese forms are auteuristic because he always choses actors whom he know will be able to successfully portray characters that are often taken over with obsession, therefore this explain why he has used the same two actors on multiple occasions. the obsessive characters that Scorsese creates will be explained throughout the book and it may also contain information as to why he chooses De Niro or how successfully he portrayed these characters. However, although I will be able to apply Scorsese's reasoning for picking De Niro for certain roles, to his relationship with DiCaprio, it may not be as useful as a book about Scorsese and DiCaprio because he doesn't explain about their relationship, only his and De Niro's.
Item16- ’The Pocket Essentials Guide to Film Studies', Andrew Butler
Within this book, the auteur theory has been explained, this will therefore be useful to prove that Martin Scorsese is an auteur director because I will be able to apply the theory to the work he does and explain how he fits the description of an auteur director.
Newspapers
Item17- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3194248/Leonardo-DiCaprio-Martin-Scorsese-reunite-sixth-time-make-film-America-s-serial-killer-H-H-Holmes.html
In this newspaper article it talks about Scorsese's and DiCaprio's latest film together "The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and the Madness at the Fair that Changed America." It also talks about the plot of the film and some of the character roles. This is useful as it reveals that the main character is a serial killer, therefore has psychological issues, this will help further support the idea that Scorsese often creates characters with some kind of obsession or psychological issues and picks method actors that he knows will successfully portray the thoughts and feelings of the character.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3194248/Leonardo-DiCaprio-Martin-Scorsese-reunite-sixth-time-make-film-America-s-serial-killer-H-H-Holmes.html#ixzz4S2xmbEYL
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Rejected Items
A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies [1995] [DVD]
This DVD is not useful as it only talks about all of Scorsese's films rather than the specific DiCaprio films and it doesn't really contain much about the obsessive characters within them, or his relationship with DiCaprio.
Scorsese on Scorsese-book
This book is not so useful because its more about the influences and creation of his films, rather than his relationships, however there is a small section on his collaboration with Robert De Niro, but its not enough to explain how his collaboration with DiCaprio is auteuristic because it doesn't specifically talk about DiCaprio.
Scorsese by Roger Ebert
This book is not useful because it was written by the film critic Roger Ebert and the whole book is just about him critiquing Scorsese's work, there is nothing to support that he is an auteur.
A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies [1995] [DVD]
This DVD is not useful as it only talks about all of Scorsese's films rather than the specific DiCaprio films and it doesn't really contain much about the obsessive characters within them, or his relationship with DiCaprio.
Scorsese on Scorsese-book
This book is not so useful because its more about the influences and creation of his films, rather than his relationships, however there is a small section on his collaboration with Robert De Niro, but its not enough to explain how his collaboration with DiCaprio is auteuristic because it doesn't specifically talk about DiCaprio.
Scorsese by Roger Ebert
This book is not useful because it was written by the film critic Roger Ebert and the whole book is just about him critiquing Scorsese's work, there is nothing to support that he is an auteur.
Friday 30 September 2016
la haine
Cycle, inequality, racism, violence, diversity, class, identity, projects, unity, drugs, alcohol, crime
poverty: Hubert in his house with his family
Power: Police interrogation
Conflict: when Hubert and said walk off and get mugged and vinz threatens them with a gun
poverty: Hubert in his house with his family
Power: Police interrogation
Conflict: when Hubert and said walk off and get mugged and vinz threatens them with a gun
Thursday 28 January 2016
coursework reflective analysis.
The main aim of our horror sequence was to create a sense of
suspense, fear and to play on the common fear of the unknown. We attempted to
do this through the use of common conventions used in the horror genre, such
as, close up shots concealing the surroundings, high pitched music, and the use
of props.
I felt like we used these common conventions effectively
throughout the making of our film. However, in my opinion we could have
incorporated even more common horror
conventions into the film, such as pathetic fallacy and low-key lighting. I feel that our use of
lighting techniques was poor and therefore as a result the sequence did not
seem as scary as it could have. There were some elements of lighting skills
portrayed at the end of our sequence where we have used low-key lighting at the
death scene to make it seem more sinister and threatening, however our lighting
skills were not demonstrated consistently throughout the sequence, therefore I
think that out lighting techniques were poor and could have been improved
on. On the other hand, I feel that we successfully addressed the fear of the unknown concept by using two cameras to film our short sequence. We used one camera as the villain’s eyes, to make it seem like the character was being followed and venerable. And the other camera we used as a kind of a prop to film the same things but from the characters view point. We incorporated the second camera into the sequence by using it as the camera that the character uses to make her daily vlogs, this enabled us to make it seem as though she was being followed.
Moreover, the use of two cameras also enabled us to use the parallel editing techniques. The use of Parallel editing builds tension because it slowly showed how the villain and the character were getting closer to each other, foreshadowing that something bad was about to happen. The parallel editing that we used in our sequence also enabled us to be able to clearly convey that the girl was being followed by someone, by using straight cuts from one camera to the other it showed the girl in one place and the villain in another place, nearby, looking at the girl.
Tuesday 5 January 2016
Aims and context fm1
- Target audience~ 12-18 year olds
- Genre~ psychological horror
- our sequence is about a young girl being followed by someone who is never seen by the camera, we use two cameras to create the sequence, one is operated by the girl who is filming herself running away and the other acts as the eyes of the villain watching the girl filming her self. All of the camera work is hand held to make it seem more realistic which makes people get more scared by the film because they feel like they're there. the hand held camera technique is a common convention of the horror genre, therefore we decided to incorporate it into our sequence.
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