Influence - The Coen Brothers

Influence - The Coen Brothers

One influence of mine was The Coen Brothers. Their combination of dark humour and undelining  tines is somthing i want tyo replicate in my film. Here is a review I did of thier 1998 film, The Big Lebowski. 

Just like in Fargo, Barton Fink and any other of their notable greats, the Coen Brothers have created a film that is not only a great viewing for anyone looking for a great comedy/action film, but a piece that has a range of underlining messages and themes that can be explored once we step into this wacky, unique, but still very human world.

When "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) is mistaken for a millionaire Lebowski (David Huddleston), two thugs urinate on his rug to coerce him into paying a debt he knows nothing about. While attempting to gain recompense for the ruined rug from his wealthy counterpart, he accepts a one-time job with high pay-off. Along the way he enlists the help of his bowling buddy, Walter (John Goodman), a gun-toting Jewish-convert with anger issues, who despite his often seemingly negative outlook and actions, still remains a good friend. Deception leads to more trouble, and it soon seems that everyone from porn empire tycoons to nihilists want something from The Dude.

It can be easy miss due to the seemingly fast pace and urgency the story is pursued, but this film is largely about an attitude rather than focusing on a narrative. All The Dude wants to do is go bowling with his friends. Unlike many others around him, he does not want to seek the ‘American dream’ as he is already living in it. He is content and happy with what he has in his life, even when visits his rich and powerful namesake he does not go looking for money, but just wants to replace his rug because it “tied the room together”. He’s an unemployed layabout who he spends his days drinking and has not motivation whatsoever to find a job - and we love him for it. Alongside his best friends Walter and Donny (Steve  Buscemi), we meet many other colourful characters along the way, from rival bowler Jesus (John Turturro), rich Lebowski’s trophy wife Bunny (Tara Reid) and his ‘arty’ daughter (Julianne Moore). It’s a classic Coen brothers cast, using typical American stereotypes we have seen in hundreds of other films and gives them a new lease of life; throwing them into this rollercoaster of a world that we, the audience will be there to enjoy every turn and loop.

If there is one small criticism, it is that the focus on character and dialogue can sometimes subtract from the plot, you may even get the feeling that sometimes the story ‘gets in the way’ of the brilliant conversations riddled throughout. That’s not to say nothing happens in the story, it has kidnapping, ransom money, a porno king, a reclusive millionaire, a runaway girl, the Malibu police, a woman who paints while nude and strapped to an overhead harness, and a fight seen between an overweight Vietnam vet and three bumbling gangsters. By those who re just looking for film like this, it can still be watched as a basic humour filled flick, although it would seem much weaker if ‘consumed’ in this way.

For those who are fans of the Coen Brothers (and if you aren’t, you really should be, it’s a perfect, pure film, 

full of the quips and quirks we have to come to love to love from the two brothers, Joel and Ethan. Even if this is your first dipping into this brilliantly mad style of film, it’s still a beautifully shot, wonderfully scripted piece. To fully appreciate the film, it may take more than one viewing, but do this and you’ll be able to fully immerse yourself in one of the all-time greats.

Best Bit: The dialogue scenes between The Dude and Walter can be anything from hilariously true to surprisingly motivating

Worst Bit: The story may seem weak compared to some other films, as the characters take a central stage.

 5/5

Treatment

Treatment 

Jacob (protaginst) walks into a cafe, and sits down expecting to be seved soon by the waitress. The waitress, however keeps going to seve the person sitted behind Jacob and he is unsure why. 

He tries to get the attention of her, but misses his chance everytime as he is  on his phone, tying his shoe up, etc. As his frustartion grows we see various shots of him reaching for something in his pocket, and the shot is replicated evertime he is annoyed. He eventually stands up and grabs the waitress to get her attention but is told "Just a minute". He gets annoyed and pulls out a gun, shooting the waitress. He then turns around and guns down the other customers in short space of time. He drops the gun and returns to his seat. 

After sitting for a while we hear the waitress ask him a questiuo, and it is revealed that the shooting was a daydream, and he about to be served. 

Genre Theory - Part 2

Genre Theory Continued....

To state that films of the same genre are all the same, and have differences, is vastly understating the genre theory. Steve Neale declares that 'genres are instances of repetition and difference' (Neale 1980, 48). He adds that 'difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre': mere repetition would not attract an audience. Texts often exhibit the conventions of more than one genre. John Hartley notes that 'the same text can belong to different genres in different countries or times'. 

Genre Theory- Part 1

Genre Theory


"for most of its 2,000 years, genre study has been primarily nominological and typological in function. That is to say, it has taken as its principal task the division of the world of literature into types and the naming of
hose types" - Robert Allen defining 'genre. 

In the past, before it was studied and expolred, genre was decided solely on the base conventions we see on screen (horse + guns = western. for example). Even though what we see on the front is ususally correct, sometimes eploring the film, acessing not only it's basic conventions, but also what makes up the film for what it is (structure,etc) and what sets it apart from others allows us to expand the idea of genre and make it so that we are able to seperatew films that may seem similar on the front, but differ at the core.

Daniel Chandler said: " Conventional definitions of genres tend to be based on the notion that they constitute particular conventions of content (such as themes or settings) and/or form (including structure and style) which are shared by the texts which are regarded as belonging to them."

In the past, genre has been regarded as a fixed form, but theorits in more recent have argued that this no longer the case, that films differ in their function and form, so we cannot label a film based on a sole genre. David Buckingham said something similar about this topic: "Genre is not... simply given by the culture: rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change."

Storyboard Draft

Here is my hand drawn draft of the storyboard, with the actula one being posted soon.

Short film setting

 As stated in my pitch, I want my short film to be set in typical cafe,  I want the audience to be able to identify that it is a cafe within the the first shot of seeing it. This would require it too look more sterotypical, and would means using some genreic aspcets to get showcase the setting easier. Here are some inspiartions for my setting (the narratives of the ones used here does not reflect mine).

Who are the audience for short film? - part 2

Succeeders

Succeeders are the people who often have the higher wages, the people in higher positions, the ones with the important jobs. In terms of film industry this would be the producers, the coparte ones. They are normally intersted in short film for the money opportunities

Aspirers

Apirers are the creative people, the ones who have a vision in thier head, they would like to be working on something creative. Whilst they want to be succesful, money is not always theor ultimate goal, they would rather have their name out their. In terms of the film industry this would be the writers, the directors, etc. 

Individualists

These are the people who want to stand out among others, they will go off and do their own things, something tha is opposite to the mainstream. They care more about creativity than getting famous, and will try to bring across what they want. In the film industry, these would be the indepent film makers, who wouldn't their product altrered by bigger companies for the sake of getting more money. 

Poster Research 2

Poster Research 2 

Minimalist poster style

Who are the audience for short film? - part 1

Demographics


When describing an audience, we can do so by describing the certain 'demographics' that make up the viewers. The audience for short film is very different to those of major, big budget more mainstream films. We can normally describe the audience to be one of two people - those in the industry (Critics, other filmmakers, etc) and unemployed students whop are looking too take inspiration and make a break into the industry. 

Social Groups

The employed professional part of the audience would probably be part of the A to C1 social group. These are people who are looking for potential 'investments' to be made, looking for the latest up and coming director who will be their next market project, for their respective company. The students would more than likely be part of the E social group, as they would have a minnimun income, but their parents would be form the A to C1 group. Part of the reason they are an audience for short film is because makin their own one would likely be part of their course, and viewing others films would help them in their reasearch. 

Rick Altman - Genre Theory

Genre Theory

In 1984 Rick Altman set out to end the contradiction and vagueness that had prevouly been around when there was a study on film genre. He had said how genre was almost always discussed in wither an 'inclusive' way or an 'exclusive' on, meaning that people had been only pointing out, for exaple, if a film is not of the action genre or not, there was no discussion into the points. This is why Rick Altman  proposed the semantics/ syntactic aproach to film genre. 

Semantics

The idea behind the semantics approach is one that was a lot like what previous critics had used prior to Altmans theory. It's basically the generic converntions of a film; what the audience can expect going into a fim. For example, in a western film, the audience expects the film to be set in the American west some time between 1840 and 1900. They expect to see horses, gunfights and cowboy hats. This is where we can identify the 'stock' characters, setting, props, etc. Its the basic things that the genre will use to help the audience identify the genre of the film they are watching, and allows the director/scriptwriter to use this as a base of creating something original whilst still being original. 

Syntactics 

The syntactics part is Rick Altmans main point of his theory, it deals with the realtionship between the generic conventions we see in the film (semantics), and what makes the film unique - the story, structure and componts of a film. For example in a zombie film we will see the same basic story (there will be an outbreak, hero will have to find a cure) but what sets films apart and makes them them different to one another is the whole point behind the syntactics theory. For example, World War Z is very differnt to Dawn of The Dead despite them both being in the same genre. Yes the film has to has some basic structure and story line elemnts that stay the same other wise it will dismissed by the viewers, but the film is still allowed to bring i some new elements as long as it fits within the genre conventions. 

Influence scene analysis

Influence scene analysis


One influence for my short film is the film Falling Down, and in particular this famous scene. The whole films narrative can essentilay be explained via this once scene. Michael Douglas' character, D-Fens  is frustrated after being told that he cannot order breakfast from a fast food restaurant as he is too late. He ends up pulling a gun on the manager as a means of getting his meal.

One part of the extract that I want to reflect the shock of the other people in the scene when he pulls out thye gun. The manager probably has to deal with situations like this everyday, so he will be used to angry customers, but he isn't used to people actually taking action, so that explans his shock. The scene is about halfway through the film so that fact that he pulls a gun out may seem a bit over the top, but this a the point in the movie where mundane things have pushed him over the edge in to the point of insanity. This is something I want to captur ein my film, but I have to do so in the 5 minute span rather than 90mins of build up.

This scene also contains some comedic elements which is something I want to incorporate in my film. It isn't over top, laugh a minute comedy, but rather a comedy that adds to the story. The comedic in my film will be used in a way that almost mocks the central character, something that adds to insanity. As I don't have a lot to show the full story, the comedy parts will help to show the changing mental stage of the character. 

Short Film Logline

A man walks into a cafe/restaurant and tries at numerous attempts to place an order. After being frustrated with the lack of service he lashes out at the staff and other customers, shooting them with a gun before sitting down back in his original seat.

It is then revealed that he was daydreaming that whole event and is about to be served.