Aims and Context

For my practical assignment i will be making a short experimental film from 3 to 5 minutes long. Because i am doing an experimental film, my target audience is that of the older generation and people who are more culturally competent and therefore who will appreciate the art of film. Furthermore,  due to the niche target audience, the film will be made to be exhibited at places like, art galleries and film festivals. The topic of my film is depression. I will be looking at my views of depression and using water as a metaphor to portray it. As such, i will be using techniques like: close ups, extreme close ups, depth of field, pul focus and slow motion. I may also possibly think about using a blue gel. I have taken influence from Andy Warhol's

La Haine

princesas

towards the begging of the film Princesas there is a scene where the character Zulema gets officially introduced into the plot.

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.

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

(1)Item11

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(3)Item11 

(4)Item9
(5)item9 

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.

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."