Comparative Film Analysis
Introduction
Fictional films range substantially from one another in our modern society with
the message they carry or interesting concept they explore along with
constantly developing technology. Generally, most films the majority of people
know come from a big budget Hollywood format, with more interpretive films
coming from the formats of independents and film festivals. All films have an
innate purpose to entertain and inform, sometimes spreading ideologies with the
topics they use, while also using it as a way to showcase talent and sell
brands to the audience.
Genres are another way of categorizing film, a concept I believe is created by
audiences, for audiences to more easily group films, similar to the way that we
use stereotypes to judge groups of similar individuals, as each genre
connotates its own tropes which we can then use to formulate likes and dislikes
of what we prefer to watch. Steve Neale declares that genres are instances of
repetition and difference, as the repetition provides the structure of the genre,
and the difference gives the films their own unique elements to still be viewed
as different from one another. Often many films use more than one genre to
categorise themselves as to gain interest from a wider audience while also
giving themselves more conventions and codes to work with and use, creating
hybridity and subgenres.
Comedy-Drama is an interesting example of hybridity, as it combines two
categories which are used to provoke an emotion from the audience when two of
their favourite characters have a heart-to-heart, soon broken up one of the
funny side characters interrupting, both creating conventionally different
emotions. It makes a cyclical rush of emotions from fun and laughable to an
either exciting, emotional, or unexpected event or circumstance. On the other
hand, Sci-fi Horror creates a feeling of fake emotion, as the fear itself is
irrational since it is not based in reality, so audiences get a kick out of the
thrill of without the existential dread that it is a possible reality for them,
bringing them into that world of scary monsters and inevitable death compared
to their boring same old life.
Mise-en-scene
Mise-en-scene is a very important element when it comes to film making as this
is what makes ups the scene itself, gives each shot character and personality
to better visualise an explanation of what the director is trying to put
through, so the audience can interpret the feelings and elements the scene is
bringing to life. Directors tend to stick to conventional settings, that many
can easily interpret as to keep the attention of the audience rather than
confuse them, really helping to immerse their audience into this other world
they have created.
Clip - https://youtu.be/3YTIMGmZUr4
For example, in the big budget film ‘Alien’ mise-en-scene plays a really big
part in the introduction of the alien to Brett while wandering off looking for
the crew’s cat onboard their spaceship tug Nostromo, after previously exploring
a mysterious derelict spaceship on an uncharted planetoid, and one of the
members of their group surprisingly and gruesomely dying in front of them all,
releasing this extra-terrestrial creature after all of them. This is already a
very conventional use of the genre as generally there is always a group of
people banding together to stop a foreign enemy, which can foreshadow the fact
that mise-en-scene is also going to use codes in a conventional way. Firstly,
the use of darkness throughout the scene really plays into the scary aspect of
it all, as the darkness reflects the fact they are out in space, alone and
helpless in this generic sci-fi setting. Providing such little light other than
the opening pouring in water gives the scene a dim view and is also a use of
conventional pathetic fallacy in a place where rain isn’t possible, but still
is able to portray to the audience that something isn’t right about this scene.
This is the only point of lighting used, casting dark shadows over Brett’s face
as a clear conventional code of the horror genre, setting up his death,
obscuring his face to show how he is no longer playing an important role as the
second he stepped into that room his death was inevitable. Furthermore, the
wind chimes in the first shot (0:00 – 0:22) are placed in such a way that they
cover and obscure the view of Brett, further pushing the idea of the alien that
is possibly lurking, while also could be providing the point of view of the cat
Jonesy he is looking for, creating this multi-strand narrative that is playing
out as too which creature this may possibly be watching his moves, a very
conventional shot used in a lot of horror films. Finally, from 1:28 – 1:52 when
the alien appears and Brett sees it, this is quite a subverted way of
introducing the monster role, as in this shot the alien lingers behind him for
quite some time before the slow turn and realisation to the character that the
alien had been there all along. This is a way to introduce the alien to the
audience before the character, making that gut deep sense of dread for what’s
to come for the character who is blissfully ignorant in his relief of finding
his cat, creating a better connection to the scene rather than the conventional
thrill of a cheap surprise jump scare. Then as he is attacked, the scene isn’t
shown, rather a close up shot of the cat’s face, eyes wide at what the small
animal just watched unfold. This is used as an echo of what the audience is
feeling, shock and fear in the eyes of innocence as the scenes sub plot wraps
up, leaving the cat back at the Equilibrium (Todorov Narrative Structure
Theory) of being found but soon lost again, with the cat being the only one
knowledge of what happened to Brett. This is a great subversion of the way a
character tends to die in situations like this, as usually no one has the
knowledge of what has happened, whereas leaving it in the hand of this small
animal gives realisation to what just happened but is still no use since it has
no way of relaying the things it has seen. Overall, Alien uses the conventions
of its genre to its advantage to create setting and feeling, while also
subverting some aspects to better provide entertainment to the audience.
Full Film : https://youtu.be/Lq7k6Y4FVV4
Similarly, to ‘Alien’, the short film ‘The Mayflower’ plays into a lot of the
conventions of the Sci-Fi Horror genre in its use of mise-en-scene. In the
opening establishing shot there is a clear view of a ship in space heading
towards a planet, a very common convention used in helping to establish the
setting of the scene, creating again this sense of alone and helplessness with
the ship floating in the vast emptiness. Then throughout the film the use of
the code colour red is spread through the parts, where the alien of the film
is, again a frequently used convention of the horror genre this danger is a big
connotation of the colour.
Clip: 1:01 – 2:27 https://youtu.be/6I4OsYMR290
While different in genre, the comedy drama 'The Truman Show' also uses its mise-en-scene in way that subverts its expectations to better convey its story and plot line. With the story being of a man who's been lied to all his life and is the star of a reality tv show being secretly filmed, and now he is slowly starting his adventure of realisation into figuring this out. This gives a whole new meaning to the way the mise-en-scene is being preserved by the audience since the whole set of the film is a set within a set. So, while Truman see's Seahaven Island as his home, the audience is omniscient much like all the actors he is surrounded by, the director and the audience in the film itself in knowing that all of it is a façade to fool him and use him for their own entertainment. This is a very unique way of using the mise-en-scene like no other comedy drama does, really pushing against the genre conventions to create this fake realty within a fake reality. A really interesting use of this set design comes to light more as Truman starts to see more and more cracks in his reality. For instance, in this clip where Truman bumps into his dad, who in his world is dead, the second this happens people whisk his dad away and several interruptions with the group of joggers, work men, people on bikes and cars slow down Truman in his attempt to reaching him. The entire set begins to work against him in a way to keep Truman from the truth and real-world realisation using all of these perfectly timed and placed 'incidents' Linking to the cause-and-effect theory, the root cause of Truman's dad showing back up on set sets in motion both a desirable and undesirable effect, both being things that could be viewed as opposites in different views. The desirable effect of this event is that it is one of the first sparks of change that pushes Truman into figuring out what it is that is actually happening and sends him on his journey, but this could also be seen as the undesirable effect from the point of view of his fans or the director as he is becoming more aware and ruining their show. In this situation the desirable effect could also be seen as the undesirable as these events are bringing an end to Truman's ignorant bliss as the world, he's known all his life begins to fade and crumble into the fake set that it is. This is again a very unconventional use of the mise-en-scene as most films no matter the genre sticks to the fact that the world there in tend to aid or at least not intervene in the characters adventure, while in this case the mise-en-scene is used purposefully to impede on his journey to realisation.
The use of genre conventions in these films show how sticking the to the unspoken rules and codes can be great in setting out to the audience the simple meanings of what is happening, but subverting these as well can make for a much deeper and more meaningful connotation the audience can still pick up on and follow.
Camerawork
Camerawork is also a big aspect that is greatly considered when making a film
as this is what decides how what is being filmed will appear on the screen.
Shot type, framing, angle and camera movement all come together to give scenes
hidden meaning that the audience subconsciously recognise through the use of
hitting genre conventions or can interpret new meanings through subverting
those conventions.
Clip : 1:01 – 2:27 https://youtu.be/6I4OsYMR290
In the film Comedy Drama 'The Truman Show' camerawork is used a very special
way as to make the character appear like he is in a reality tv show, but going
along with the story of the film, he is unaware of this and unaware of the
cameras capturing his every move. This makes for quite a weird perspective for
the audience, creating this world of them watching an actor within an actor
through the lens of unaware voyeurism. This really subverts the normal
convention of the knowing and unknowing connection to the film as the audience
watches Truman's journey of realisation and escape. At 1:46 in the clip after
Truman bumps into his dad who previously he knew to be dead, the cracks in his
false reality began to show so the producers in his world rush to stop this. As
this happens the camera shots become wide angle long shots of him desperately
trying to reach his dad which represent his feeling of being lost and confused
of him being another one the characters within this world that is falling apart
around him, showing his desperation to figure out this place and if all he's
known may possibly be fake. This use of camerawork represents the change in
motivation for the protagonist, as he stops focusing on his '"life",
and rather aims to see what is going on in this world he is in. This shows a
very subverted use of the camerawork to the normal genres it is categorised
into conventions to better visualise the storytelling of this concept.
Full Film: https://youtu.be/der7Gxyyuqo
However, in the comedy drama short film 'Just a Drill', There is a clear use of
conventions that is used in order to create drama. In the scene of the teacher
in her classroom (1:41) after the announcement is made about the fake school
shooting drill, a mysterious character enters the view of the medium long shot,
obscuring the left side of the frame with the back off the character, this
gives a sense of dread to the announcement previously mentioned as it gives it
more meaning more than just being a fake drill, as this person has ominously
entered shot is being perceived as having bad intentions, already setting up
plot and suspicion. This is a very common trope of the drama genre, having an
unidentified figure step into frame just as something has been said or
announced, framing them already as the bad guy. Then, this character is soon
revealed as one of her students, coming to ask about a quiz he is trying to
make up, becoming more of an argument than a discussion as it goes on. A lot of
the conversation focuses on the over the shoulder shot from the student’s
perspective as the entire time the teach is in shot, camera follows her, almost
like it is representing the student watching her every move. This is a big
convention of the genre as it represents where the student’s anger and
frustration is being directed at, directing the drama towards her, as if she is
in the wrong, pushing further this setting up of suspicion in hand with the
'fake' shooting drill that is taking place. These points link to Propp's
narrative theory, as all of this is framing the student as the villain, while
the teacher is viewed as playing the damsel in distress / victim. This frames the
story for the rest of the film, explaining to the audience through this theory
in the camerawork what role each character plays in this conventional use of
the drama convention.
Clip - https://youtu.be/3YTIMGmZUr4
Similar to the short film using the genre
conventions of drama, 'Alien' also uses its camerawork in a very common way for
the horror genre in its way of positioning the audience to create meaning. When
Brett is seen walking around looking for the cat, at 0:23 the camera switches
to a shaky handheld first person perspective of presumable Brett himself, this
a very common filming trope for horror feels as it gives the representation of
placing the audience in the front seat, allowing for a better connection between
character and audience as they are positioned to view what he is seeing. This
also adds to the scary and eerie element for the audience as this scene already
feels like a part where something bad is going to happen, so this gives more
suspense to the audience waiting for that to happen, a genre convention that is
very common in other horror films. Another interesting way of framing a shot a
lot of horror films use is throughout the 20 second long open shot there are
wind chimes that are out of focus in the camera shot. This positioning of the
camera to seem as if it is watching the character from a hidden perspective,
creating a sense of being watched for the character that he doesn't notice but
the audience can. This can be representative of what’s to come for Brett with
his death from the Alien that seems to appear out of nowhere, so this camera
perspective can be seen as the alien watching, waiting to strike. This idea of
using the camera as the POV of the monster is a big convention horror films to
show its presences to the audience for them to react and give suspense for when
it eventually comes lurking out the shadows.
The way camerawork is used in these films are great examples of how correct use of the conventions of this technical coder can really add to the atmosphere of any genre. While subverting them wasn't common, when they didn't conform to the genres conventions it still made for a very interesting and meaningful use of perspective, framing and view.
Editing
Another way of either conforming or subverting the genres conventions can be
through the use of editing, something which is used similarly throughout all
film, let alone standalone genres. All editing can convey some sort of meaning
but whether those transition hit the genre tropes are up to the interpretation
of the director.
Full Film: https://youtu.be/der7Gxyyuqo
The use of editing in the short film 'Just a Drill' is again a very
conventional way of putting together the scenes to tell its visual story. For
example, several times throughout the film, the scene cuts from the teacher
looking out the door, to then cutting to the empty hallway. The use of cross
cutting from that scene to the next represents the alone and sacredness she is
feeling compared the students in her classroom, the cut to the empty
representing what she is seeing. This is a great use of the conventions of the
drama as these cuts back and forth are used to emphasis the character's
feelings, extending out to the audience that this is what they should be
feeling as well, really making this sense of drama.
Clip : 1:01 – 2:27 https://youtu.be/6I4OsYMR290
In the 'The Truman Show', editing is used a lot more conventionally than the
camerawork was in representing his character and the way he is feeling. Again,
looking at 1:46 of the clip, as he makes contact with his dad, the editing
changes instantly with a quicker pace, more frequent cuts between long shots
and medium shots of his character. This shows a clear change in his feelings as
the editing becomes frantic so does, he, and represents his confusion and
concern as too what is going on, why his dad is there, why he is being taken
away from him and why is this happening? The editing represents this frantic
race of thoughts in his mind as this happens. This further shows the audience
that the cracks are beginning to get bigger, as the character himself learns he
is playing a character. This is very conventional to drama genre as when action
takes place, the editing tends to speed up along with the pace which this has
correctly represented.
Full Film : https://youtu.be/Lq7k6Y4FVV4
The sci-fi horror short film 'The Mayflower' also continues on similarly to use editing in a conventional way to construct its use of the nonlinear narrative it explores. Throughout the first half of the film, there are several instances of very quick cuts and flashes used to represent the flashbacks the main character is having in trying to piece together what had happened since he fell asleep. These are used a very conventional way many films use to portray a character’s hazy memories by making them short clips with sharp cuts and edits to convey this to the audience. This editing really helps to create a connection with the visuals with the hauntingly red gruesome clips it is playing in his flash backs as it shows how the past, he is trying to remember is dark and scary, adding back into the horror genre element. This aspect is shown more as the editing of these flashbacks become more fluent as the retrieval of his memories explain to the audience the backstory as to why he ended up this way, before quickly cutting back into reality to where the plot point of the alien attached to his body is revealed. This over all use of this type of editing helped to display the characters bad memories in a desperate and disturbing way in this great use of telling the narrative in a non-linear way, a convention many horror films hit in order to introduce its monsters and villains more creatively.
From this look at editing across different types and genre of film I can see that editing is a technical standpoint that doesn't really subvert from the natural rules each genre creates for them since it is such an engraved way that the pace of editing something to be quick is exciting or scary, and slow means emotional and sorrow. So, sticking to these unbroken rules is an easier way of getting across the films meanings rather than subverting them.
Sound
Finally, Sound plays a big role in the way audiences can intercept a film.
Happy music over a murder scene is a big juxtaposition that can provoke many
different views of reading the meaning due to the encoded meaning and message
the director may have put into that specific use of sound. The use of the
genres conventions in this category are an essential part in making scenes make
sense unless they take the route of inverting meanings and connotations.
Full Film : https://youtu.be/Lq7k6Y4FVV4
Back to the short film 'The Mayflower', the use of sound throughout is used in
a great conventional yet subverted way in order to represent to the audience
the danger the main character is in due to his confusion and cognitive state.
For example in the his flashback scenes to the grotesque close ups of the alien
that is later revealed to be part of him, there is a constant high pitch static
noise, a common code used to convey confusion or fogginess of the mind,
representing the man’s loss of memory of the events that happened to
previously, while also clearly explaining to the audience using this sound that
it wasn't a good situation pared with the visuals, so this forebodes the danger
he is going to find himself in. Throughout the film the ships onboard AI, which
conventionally in a normal sci-fi genre setting is there to support the crew on
the ship, is constantly speaking to the crew member, becoming more and more
unhinged and against him as the film goes on. This constantly overlaid voice
telling him what to do manipulates him into feeding and growing the alien
attached to him, doing the very opposite of what the job of the robot is. This
aspect subverts and obeys the conventions it is using at the time, as there are
other sci-fi films that use this act of AI defiance to further the plot and a
provide a point of interest for antagonist to manifest.
Clip - https://youtu.be/3YTIMGmZUr4
However, in 'Alien' I believe sound is used in a very conventional way in this
clip, quite different from the codes and conventions it used in its
mise-en-scene. A very obvious use of the sound is the strange whirring and
noise used in the background throughout the whole scene, the majority of sci-fi
films use this to add the feeling of the deep space adventure, really reminding
the audience that all of this is taking place nowhere. But this also acts as
reminder of them being all alone in the suffering they are going through. This
interpretation is using its conventional sound to subvert the meaning of it by
using the sounds of their world against them to emphasis their isolation. The
use of the wind chimes in the scene uses similar effect again by giving this
sense of familiarity to the character and audience in this sci-fi setting, but
these loud safe sounds are in fact hiding the foreign noises of the alien out
to get Brett. This false sense of security for the character lets the audience
in on the fact that nothing is going to be normal about the scene that is going
to unfold, purposefully forcing the audience to read the oppositional meaning
behind the noise as it is not at all doing what it is supposed to mean. This is
a common trope in horror films of inverting the meaning of normally innocent
and friendly noises and visuals.
Full Film: https://youtu.be/der7Gxyyuqo
Whereas, in the comedy drama 'Just a Drill' the sound is used in quite a subverted way in order to leave the film on a cliff hanger and leave the ending up to the audience. At the very end of the film when the student, Simon, she was talking to comes back, banging on her door in quite a serious way begging her to let him say there was a shooter out in the hall, the last clip is of her looking over at the lock on the door before cutting to black with no sound. It’s this lack of sound that gives the film its cliff-hanger plot as there are so many questions raised as to what could have happened next. Is Simon the shooter? Are there multiple shooters? Was this the plan of someone from the Drama Club? What happened with the new teacher? Did she open the door? This lack of noise really creates a binary opposite effect for Simons character, as he could either be in actual distress begging for his life, or he may be doing this as an act as he said he was part of the drama club for the drill, or even adding on to this, he is tricking her in to letting him in cause he is in fact a real shooter and he has come back with a grudge to kill her since their only scene previous was them arguing and getting upset over if was allowed to re take his quiz. This lack of sound used really puts the ending in the audiences’ hands for them to reflect on what they just watched a figure out their own ending, leaving it up to interpretation. This a great conversion to the conventional use of sound because the meaning and depth behind it is only constructed due to the lack of sound.
Sound is used in a big way in all of these examples to add to a scenes atmosphere and plot whether they do that in a conventional or unconventional way to the genre they are assigned.
Conclusion
Overall, all of these films used the genres they explore in their own unique
way of conforming and subverting those expectations of the audience. 'Alien' is
often referred to as a genre establishing film of its time which is clearly
seen in its use of the conventions of the sci-fi genre in comparison to the modern
day 'The Mayflower' short film using the genres conventions to its advantage to
still tell a very interesting story concept. The comedy dramas 'The Truman
Show' and 'Just a Drill' can be both seen using similar techniques in order to
create meaning and emotion for their characters, but both explore opposite
concepts of reality becoming fake to fake turning into reality. I think this
shows genres are a quite fluid set of rules films follow in order to better
categorise the film for its audience but then explores the conventions its own
way to better for the individual film.
Bibliography
Alien - https://youtu.be/3YTIMGmZUr4
The Mayflower - https://youtu.be/3YTIMGmZUr4
The Truman Show - https://youtu.be/6I4OsYMR290
Just a Drill - https://youtu.be/der7Gxyyuqo
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