Analysis of Braudy and Cohens Film Theory and Criticism - Essay Example

Film work Piece of Work One: Analysis of Braudy and Cohen’s Film Theory and Criticism (6th edition) The Braudy and Cohen’sFilm Theory and Criticism (6th edition) analyses various aspects of film and the film industry, starting from the history of films, the language application, to various breakthroughs based on various theories, such as psychoanalysis and feminism. The book addresses the uniqueness of films and the role they play in the society, especially the informative roles (Braudy & Cohen, 2004 p22). The book gives valuable insights into films and film interpretation, ranging from the visual codes, the sound application, sign usage and many other aspects that influence the film process to be what it is, in the final product (Eberwein, 1979 p41). The most interesting aspect of Braudy and Cohen’s Film Theory and Criticism (6th edition), is the discussion of the female characters and their context in the Horror films (Braudy & Cohen, 2004 p36). The argument presented here is that; despite the presentation of women under a problematic image, “the audience reaction may either subvert it or undercut it” (Braudy & Cohen, 2004 p27). The idea is interesting in the sense that, the argument indicates that despite showing women as bad in the Horror film, people are not likely to buy the idea, or even if they would want to do it, they will still undermine the bad image as portrayed by the film, or at least weaken the seriousness of the bad image presented about women, in their interpretation (Storrs & Tyrrell, 2008 19). There are several reasons that can underline this argument. First, women are believed to be members of the weaker gender, according to gender stereotypes. Therefore, their image in the minds of the people, mostly the audience, is that of weak individuals, who are not directly confrontational and harmful, meaning that they are always subject to being dominated over by their male counterparts (Merrell, 1985 p23). This being the case, it therefore becomes very hard to convince the minds and the perception of the people that women are capable of being extremely dangerous and harmful, as could be painted by the bad image about them in the Horror movie. While it is observed and generally agreed that women are capable of many things, including being evil and capable of causing harm to others, it is still not convincing that they are extremely harmful, to the extent of fitting into the bad image portrayed in the Horror movies (Eberwein, 1979 p44). Therefore, people will tend to either undermine the bad image that is portrayed of them, or at least weaken its seriousness. Secondly, the feminine notion has always painted women as the victims, rather than the culprits or the oppressors (Barsam, 1976 p12). This makes it extremely difficult to persuade the minds of the audience that women are capable of causing the extreme harm associated with horror films, since such is expected to have them as the victims. Therefore, any portrayal to the contrary cannot easily persuade the mind of the audience (Andrew, 1989 p37). Despite the Braudy and Cohen’s argument being crafted back in the year 2004, it has its true applicability well beyond the foreseeable future. To conclude, a question arises; what can the future Horror film makers learn from the Braudy and Cohen’s theory, regarding women’s role in the horror film? The future convincing power of the Horror film is locked in the portrayal of women as the victims, and not the contrary. Piece of Work Two: The scene Analysis In this analysis, through applying the semiotic theory, I shall analyze the post wedding scene in the Me, Myself & Irene (2000) film, where Charlie (Jim Carrey), has just wedded Layla (Traylor Howard), in a wedding ceremony attended by his colleagues, who are state police officers of Rhodes Island (Jacobs, Farrelly, Cerrone, Farrelly & Carrey, 2000 p68). After their marriage, Charlie and Layla are ferried in a limousine by a dwarf black American driver, Shonte (Tony Cox), who is offended by Charlie’s question; “Do you people take checks?” which the driver interprets as a racist question, undermining him because he is black. In the confrontation that ensues between the driver; Shonte (Tony Cox) and Charlie, Charlie seems to be overpowered by the Shonte, and his newly wedded wife adds to the defeat by scolding him. The wife is certainly siding with Shonte, as opposed to supporting her husband during the confrontation. Later his wife forges some immediate friendship with the limousine driver, after realizing that he is also a member of the high IQ club, Mensa, as she was (Jacobs, Farrelly, Cerrone, Farrelly & Carrey, 2000 p55). The subject of focus in this analysis is the color usage, which is used to symbolize a dark end to the marriage between Charlie and Layla. Despite an indication that the wedding happened on a bright sunny day, the scene is marred by darkness and dull colors, especially in the house, where Charlie is taking her wife for the first time. There is nothing that can be seen inside the house, since dark color has been applied to symbolize the mock of love, which is certainly displayed by Layla. The kissing between them after entering the house cannot be seen, because it happens under darkness, which does not allow the audience to see the kissing happening. This is in sharp contrast to the scene in the start of the film, which is characterized by blight colors all along, until the wedding happens (Jacobs, Farrelly, Cerrone, Farrelly & Carrey, 2000 p34). The application of the dark colors for this scene conveys a message to the audience, that something bad is going to happen, since dark colors symbolizes something bad. This is actually what happens, since the film progresses with only a short stint of togetherness between Charlie and his wife, before she starts engaging in infidelity, which leads to her giving birth to three sons, who are not fathered by Charlie, but by the dwarf limousine driver, Shonte (Lotman, Eco & Shukman, 17). The scene there after entails Layla divorcing Charlie and moving out, leaving him to suffer psychologically, to the extent of losing his mind and developing a double personality, which displays another rude character, Hank Jacobs, Farrelly, Cerrone, Farrelly & Carrey, 2000 p61). The ideology applied in this scene is the communication to the audience that they should expect the marriage between Layla and Charlie not end-up well. This is exactly what happens, since the marriage ends soon after that scene, and Charlie is forced to live a depressed life until he meets Irene and they get married. Therefore, dark and dull colors are applied as a symbolism for a bad ending, of the marriage between Charlie and Layla. Piece of Work Three: analysis of a film applying a critical/theoretical approach Introduction In this analysis, I will be focusing on scene where Ali Atto, a war lord in Somali, is captured by the Delta Force operators in Black Hawk Down (2001). The emphasis is on the analysis of the application of lighting and color, some components of the Formalist Theory, as discussed under the Bordwell David’s " Making Meaning: Inference and Rhetoric in the Interpretation of Cinema ". My argument is that; the application of light and color serves to inform the audience he theme of the film, without them necessarily following the narration of the film closely. Therefore, the scene is a precursor for informing the audience what kind of an ending the film is going to have, since the lighting and the color application in this scene, symbolizes a horrendous end of the film. Setting out the theory and what is interesting about it The Formalist Theory perceives the application of sound, lighting and color as the concepts behind the creation of some expectations by the audience of a certain film, which keeps the audience readily awaiting certain occurrences, such that they might be bypassed by certain other scenes without keen interest, awaiting for a certain occurrence, which is already preconceived in the mind of the audience (Ben-Shaul, 2007 p12). In " Making Meaning: Inference and Rhetoric in the Interpretation of Cinema," Bordwell David discusses the Formalist theory of film analysis, arguing that the application of lighting, scoring and color, serves as an effective way of introducing the audience to the idea of what is to be expected in the film. Through such applications, an audience is prompted to develop certain expectations, which will then inform whatever the audience will be looking in the film (Bordwell, 1989 p44). The most interesting aspect of this argument is that; a film is created to deliver certain messages to the audience, whether informatory, persuasive or entertaining. However, as the audience receives such information, they should be prepared to await certain occurrences in the film, which will form their basis of climax in the film (Andrew, 1976 p21). It is through the application of film concepts such as scoring, lighting and color, that the emotional and the intellectual aspect of the film is elicited, since the audience is drawn towards the synthesis, or lack of synthesis of multiple elements of the film, through having the attention of the audience focused on certain predetermined occurrences of the film, which the audience feels informs the reason of the film creation. This idea is interesting in the sense that, it forms the reason why different audience will perceive a film differently, considering that through the application of lighting, scoring and color, the audience’s attention is selectively drawn in the preconceived occurrence that every single individual forming the audience is anticipating, forming a multifaceted film perception (Aitken, 2006 p47). Thus, Bordwell David’s discussion of the Formalist theory of film analysis applies well in this analysis, considering that it concentrates on the film style, and how such style is applied to communicate ideas, emotions and themes, as opposed to merely concentrating on the themes of the film (Bordwell, 1989 p32). Through the application of style to communicate ideas and emotions, and consequently the theme of the film, the audience is better placed to synthesize the reason for which the film was made. Testing the theory by analyzing a scene using the theory’s methods The Bordwell David discussion of the Formalist theory functions well in the film, Black Hawk Down (2001). Ali Atto was a Somali war lord who was supporting the major Somali warlord, Mohamed Farrah Aidid, who was being hunted by the US Delta force, for causing great suffering to the Somali people, through killing many of the civilians and condemning million others to great suffering (Buchanan, 2005 p102). The scene under discussion entails the capture and consequent interrogation of Ali Atto, who was another warlord, selling firearms to the main war load, who was being pursued by Delta Force wing of the USA army. Having been captured, he is taken to a room for interrogation by General Garrison (Nolan, 2002 p19). The room is partially lit, with most of it being dark and all the colors in the room are dull. The lighting to the room is only through some small windows, which does not allow enough light into the room, and there is barely any blight color that manifests itself. After the two gentlemen sits to have a talk, the only thing that can be seen is their faces (Knight, 2003 p12). The rest of the body is covered in darkness. This scene sets a disturbing feeling for the audience, creating an anticipation of more dark moments. It is such a scene that arouses the emotions and the interest of the audience, towards the formation of a mental picture of what is likely to happen in the film, prompting the audience to set their standards of expectation at a certain level. The application of partial lighting and dull colors, is a precursor for bad things to come in the film, since there lacks any indication that the mission of rescuing the Somali people from the oppression of the warlords is going to succeed. The expectations of the audience that have already been created by the scene are bound to come true, since soon the USA Delta Force plans for an attack mission to capture the warlord aides, which turns to be fatal for the Delta Force. Most of them perish in this attack mission, which does not succeed in capturing the aides that were being sought (Knight, 2003 p27). This is a demonstration of the perfect application of the Formalist theory, which captures and prepares the mind of the audience for the things to expect in the film, which actually turns out to be the exact happening. Therefore, the components of lighting and color have completely suited their application; to communicate the dread end of the film, through capturing the imagination of the audience, and forming an emotional and ideology of worse occurrences. The intent of the Formalist theory is fully captured in this scene, since the understanding of the theme of the film does not emanate from the narration itself, but from the synthesis of the multiple theory elements that have been applied in the film, to communicate the emotions and ideas of the film, which then translates into the conception of the theme of the film (Bordwell & Carroll, 77). Findings The effectiveness of Formalist theory can be assessed through cross-checking whether a single or some combination of elements of a film, gives the desired effect. The evaluation of the theory can concentrate on a single aspect of the film, for example sound, and evaluate how effectively it has been applied in the film to give the desired film impression, while also creating the effectiveness of the theme that the film is presenting (Eagle, 1981 p84). On the other hand, the assessment of the effectiveness of the Formalist theory can take the form of comparing how the combination of several film elements, such as sound, music, color and lighting, as well as movie editing has been applied to drive the necessary impression and theme of the film, home. While assessing the effectiveness of the Formalist theory in the Ali Atto capture and interrogation scene, we can deduce that the theory has been effective. This is because, the theory is based on the application of some film elements, to allow the audience understand the theme of the movie, through the creation of an imagination and anticipation, generated by a given scene (Andrew, 1976 p28). While considering the combination of lighting and color elements in this film, it is apparent that the scene creates both emotional and intellectual feeling, that the movie will certainly have a horrendous ending. In the scene, there is no aspect of blight color or even ample lighting, which would signify some sort of good anticipation. The scene is partially dark and mostly dull-colored, making it even more difficult for the audience to see the actors in the film, since it is only possible to see their heads, while the rest of the body cannot be seen, especially when they sit down to talk (Ben-Shaul, 2007 p33). The fundamental principle of the Formalist theory is that; it concentrates on the film style, evaluating how the style has been applied to make it possible for the audience to deduce the theme of the film (Burnett, 1991 p65). The findings of this evaluation is that, the theory fits very well into the Ali Atto capture and interrogation scene, because the combination of the lighting and color style helps the audience to deduce the theme of the film, and thus form an expectation ideology. Conclusion In conclusion therefore, by considering the concepts of the Formalist theory, it is easy to understand the theme of the film, not necessarily through interrogating the narration of the film to understand what it leads to, but through considering the style of the film. The major components of the style include sound, music, color, editing and lighting. This theory has proved applicable in the film, Black Hawk Down (2001), especially on the Ali Atto capture, and interrogation scene. The combination of the film style elements of lighting and color has made it possible to deduce the horrendous theme of the film, even without necessarily following the narration of the film. References Andrew, D. (1976). The major film theories: An introduction. London: Oxford University Press. Andrew, J. D. (1984). Concepts in Film Theory. New York: Oxford University Press. Aitken, I. (2006). Realist film theory and cinema: The nineteenth-century intuitionist realist traditions. Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press. Barsam, R. M. (1976). Nonfiction film: Theory and criticism. New York: Dutton. Ben-Shaul, N. S. (2007). Film: The key concepts. Oxford: Berg. Bordwell, D. (1989). Making Meaning: Inference and Rhetoric in the Interpretation of Cinema. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Bordwell, D. & Carroll, N. (1996). Post-Theory: Reconstructing Film Studies. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Braudy, L. & Cohen, M. (2004). Film Theory and Criticism (6th Ed.). 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Black Hawk down: The shooting script. New York: Newmarket . Storrs, W. R., & Tyrrell, M. (2008). Me, myself, and Irene: A memoir of Walter Robert Storrs. St. Paul, Minn: Memoirs, Inc. Read More