Evaluation

Evaluation

For my evaluation, I have picked three key concepts that link to my essay. These key concepts are the style of Stanley Kubrick, spectatorship and the use of locations in my key frames. I have picked these concepts because the style of Kubrick links back to my essay because he is the director whose films I am looking at, the theory of spectatorship, specifically the theorists Metz and Baudry, and the locations which are fundamental in showing how Kubrick worked symbolism and messages into his films.  All of these concepts link to my essay and are therefore; shown visually in the twenty key frames I produced in my coursework.

Style

In all of Stanley Kubrick’s film from 2001: A Space Odyssey onwards, there is a noticeable style about all of his films in terms of cinematography and editing.  There are a lot of medium shots, tracking shots, POV (personal own view) shots, symmetry, careful framing with the rule of thirds and one-point perspective shots. There is also a lot of fast zooms (crash zooms). A type of editing technique Kubrick used was the dissolve effect where when the scene ends; the scene fades into the next scene. A lot of Kubrick’s films also featured long takes with little to no cuts away from the scene, no matter how banal it was which can be considered an editing decision to have a lack of editing. As a result of this, Kubrick’s films were often criticised for being emotionless, cold or detached. My research into this was the viewing of all his films and looking at stills of the cinematography online. In terms of my own coursework, I incorporated this style into my key frames. There is evidence of medium shots, framing using the rule of thirds (most of the characters are placed centrally in the middle of the shot.) One point perspective is also evident in key frame three. There are also long protracted scenes of tracking shots when the boy is walking down the hallway and looking at the ghost who pops the balloon and when the old man enters the boy’s bedroom. The editing technique of the dissolve is evident in frame nine and a fast zoom in frame six. In terms of effectiveness and how successful the frames were, I felt I understood Kubrick’s style well and that the techniques worked well in my key frames. However the only problem I had with the cinematography were the bathroom scenes because the bathroom was quite small and it was difficult to get a medium shot in there. Instead, key frame seventeen looks a bit like the wide-angle technique used in A Clockwork Orange when Alex is attacking the cat lady.

Spectatorship

My second key concept centres on the theory of spectatorship, specifically the theories of Christian Metz and Jean-Louis Baudry. Metz’s theory of spectatorship was about the mirror stage in childhood development, the stage at around fifteen to eighteen months where a child looks into a mirror and becomes self aware that they are looking at them. Researching these theories, Metz compares the spectator engaging in a film similar to the mirror stage of self-recognition. The spectator views the film already having experienced the mirror stage and perceives the film as non-reality and is aware he is viewing a construct of non-reality. However in order to make sense of the film, the spectator views the film on a symbolic level. Baudry spectator theory by stating that the cinematic apparatus produces a representation of reality to the viewer. Dominant narrative practices hide the effort the filmmakers have gone to make the distinction between realities seamless. This gives the spectator the impression they are in control over the meaning of the text because they are the one who determines it. I presented this in my key frames by visually showing the two theories. Metz’s theory is shown through the ambiguous and symbolic nature of the narrative in the key frame and the use of a mirror in the bathroom. Baudry’s theory is represented through the use of symbolism and interpretation in the key frames, for example the recurring colour of green in my key frames with the toy car, the balloon, the bathroom and the mark on the closet door. In terms of effectiveness, the Metz theory was that effective because my child actor couldn’t reach to look at the ghost in the mirror. Baudry’s theory was well integrated into my key frames through the recurring colour of green. The symbolism is subtle and you don’t notice it straight away.

Locations

Finally, my research told me that Kubrick’s shooting on location and sets depends on the film he was making. He shot on location for A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon and Full Metal Jacket. 2001, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut were all sets. This was partly due to Kubrick’s phobia of flying and his personal preference to make films in England. For my key frames I had to shoot on location like A Clockwork Orange.

The idea behind the scouting of my locations was to imitate Kubrick’s locations in his films as homage. I picked the location of the nursing home because of its long red hallways and symmetrical design, which echoed the shining. I aimed for a look of a tracking shot like in frame four with a reverse shot tracking back following the child. It is homage to the shining. My second locations of a child’s bedroom was used because it looked a bit dilapidate and didn’t have the conventional look of a children’s bedroom. It had grey boring walls, which adds to the ambiguous nature of Kubrick’s films. The bathroom was used as a location because it is a recurring location in Kubrick’s filmography in important scenes, for example when Jack talks to Grady in The Shining and Pyle’s suicide in Full Metal Jacket. I think the locations in my key frames were good. They looked ideal for the cinematic aspect of the key frames, especially the long hallways in the nursing home that were intended to be like the hallways in The Shining.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I feel that I copied Kubrick’s style quite well, with attention to detail to the cinematography of his films and the editing, pace and narrative direction of his films clearly presented. The spectatorship was difficult to express through key frames, which is why I decided to make it visually expressive through the key frames. The biggest disappointment in the key frames was the clear oversight I had about the mirror and that the actor wasn’t tall enough to be in it, which would have helped me, express Metz’s theory a lot better. My locations were well picked and looked reminiscent of sets and locations from Kubricks films which worked well because that’s what I intended.

20 Key Frames

Cast Considerations

For the main character of my key frames, I chose a child actor who was a similar age to the child actor in 'The Shining'. He is also quite small  which helps in the positioning of my frames since he will be in the middle for lots of them, allowing more room for the upper sections of the frames. He also looks quite innocent which is a aspect of Danny in 'The Shining'.

Risk Assessment

In my shoot, there will  be minimal risk for me or any of my actors. All the locations are indoors and there is no immediate dangers to anyone or anything. 

My first location will be a care home. We need to be quiet during our shoot there and to not disturb the occupants there since they live there. There are no immediate risks at all but if any freak accidents did occur, the care home helpers would help us.

My second location is a house, using a child's bedroom and a bathroom. There are no immediate risks whatsoever inside the child's bedroom. However for the bathroom sequence, the child actor would have to wear a protective glove or plastic bag over their arm when putting their hand in the toilet. This would be from a long shot, so the arm would only have to be slightly in the toilet and only for a few seconds. If we did not this, it would be harmful to the child.

If any accidents happen, the child's parent would be there and a phone number with an ambulance is always there, however any scenario like this is extremely unlikely due to the low risk of the shoot.

Layout For 20 Key Frames

Layout For 20 Key Frames

Frame 1- An exterior shot of the boy and his mother walking to the entrance of the nursing home. It is a medium shot from behind them and they are positioned in the middle of the path walking towards the door.

Frame 2- An medium shot of the boy sitting in a long hallway, we see the legs of his mother and her hand placing a white toy car in front of him. The frame is positioned so that we see behind him in a medium shot, with the boy positioned in the middle with his mother to the left of him. This frame is similar to the first shot.

Frame 3- A medium shot, the frame is a one point perspective from a high angle. We see a long hallway, and at the bottom, just before the corner of the hallway turns , a single white balloon hovers mid air as if it were bouncing. The use of one point perspective links to my research because Kubrick used this technique in lots of his films so it was one of his motifs.

Frame 3 would look like this, with the same framing and attempt
to capture the mood of the film.

One point perspective, where the shot is framed using right angles and
squares to make it seem to the viewer that they are seeing the action
from only one perspective and that is what they are restricted to.
It is prominent through Kubrick's work in Barry Lyndon, Full Metal Jacket,
A Clockwork Orange and 2001.

Frame 4- A medium shot facing the boy walking forward towards the balloon away from his white toy car, behind him is a open door which we assume his mother has entered to see someone. The boy is positioned in the middle of the frame again and he looks puzzled.

Frame 5- The camera is now at a low angle to simulate the boy's short stature- it is a POV (personal own view) from the perspective of the boy. The right of the frame is cut off by the corner of the wall but we can see the left of the screen, around the corner of the wall. In the middle of the long symmetrical corridor is a man dressed in a suit, holding a glass of water. The man is looking straight ahead and we can see the white balloon bouncing around below his feet.

The POV would be like this scene in ''The Shining''.  A long tracking shot
with a heartbeat in the background.

Frame 6- This frame is split into three different sections to illustrate a zoom in. The first section is still the POV shot of the wall and the suit man, but now the suit mans eyes are looking directly at the boy, which is at the viewer. The second section is a closer shot of the man, with motion blur around the edges of the screen to illustrate that it is a quick zoom in. The third section is a extreme close up of the suit man's eyes looking straight at the viewer/boy. This zoom in is a reference to the fast zooms in used in The Shining.

An example of the fast zoom in, usually accompanied by a loud noise in
The Shining. The motion blur around the edges is visible mid zoom.

Frame 7- The next frame continues from the same shot type as frame 5 except the suit man's foot is raised to stamp and pop the white balloon below him. Using the three frames for one small part shows Kubrick's attention to detail and his preference for slow long takes to build atmosphere.

Frame 8- A medium shot from behind the boy, his mother taking him by the hand as the boy looks up at her, they are not positioned in the middle of the frame but are instead towards the right of the hallway and frame. The shot of the boy and the mother from behind is used lots of time in 'The Shining' with Wendy and Danny.

An example of the mother-son tracking shots in The Shining.

Frame 9- This frame is again split into three sections again, the first section is a birds eye view of the remnants of the white balloon contrasting with the red carpet. The second section is a dissolve of he previous frame with the next frame slightly visible. The third section (the largest) is a establishing shot of the boy and his mum entering their home. It is a long shot, with the camera being positioned from across the street. Kubrick used the dissolve in a lot of his films and it was one of his motifs, a stylistic cut he used in all his films.

An example of a dissolve, this dissolve in 'The Shining' is used when
the camera zooms out of the television, showing the whole room, then
cuts to a image of a doorknob and chain, but it slowly takes over
the image of the whole room.

Frame 10- An medium shot with the boy entering his bedroom, an medium shot which captures the whole room. To the right of the frame is the boy's bed, in the middle of his pillow is a black bow tie, visible from long distance.

Frame 11- A close up side shot of the boy sitting on his bed, holding the black bow tie, studying it. The boy is positioned in the middle of the frame, although he is not sitting in the middle of the bed.

Frame 12- The next frame is a side shot of the boy standing in front of his toy box to the left of the frame , it is open indicating he has been playing with it. In front of him is a old man dressed in 1940's esque outfit, he is at the end of the bedroom to the right of the frame, essentially the boy and the old man are at opposite ends of the room. 

This sort of tracking shot, with the threatening figure positioned in the middle
of the frame in a side shot. From Eyes Wide Shut

Frame 13- The next frame is the same side-shot as frame 12, but the old man has taken a big step forward so he is now in the middle of the frame, level with the boy's closet. The boy has tightened his grip on his toybox, frightened.

Eventually he stops walking straight in the viewers direction
and looks straight at them in another side shot. The use of ''Stop''
says all he needs to say.

Frame 14- We see again the child's POV, it is the old man opening the doors of his closet and walking in, he is staring at the boy and thus, because we are seeing the frame from the boy's perspective, at the viewer. 

Frame 15- A medium shot from inside the closet, showing the boy's clothes but also the boy looking blankly into an empty closet.

Frame 16- The next frame is the boy in his bathroom, a sickly green colour scheme and lots of mirrors, it is a long shot from behind him, we see a toilet and a bathroom indicating he is in his bathroom. We can see from a distance that the boy is about to drop the bow tie into the toilet. It is another one point perspective shot.

The bathroom of Room 237 in The Shining.
Sickly green colour scheme and reflective surfaces/mirrors.

Bathroom scenes in Kubrick's films. Another bathroom scene in The Shining where
Jack is finally convinced to kill his family, In Full Metal Jacket, Pvt Pyle kills himself
giving Joker his first experience of war,  A Clockwork Orange, Alex sings Singing in the rain
revealing his real identity to the old man and the bathroom Bowman finds
himself in at the end of 2001.

Frame 17- The next frame is the boy turning round and looking shocked, he sees the old man Baker giving him the Kubrick stare in anger and pointing at the toilet, with the bow tie in it. This is a low angle shot from the boy's perspective, making the old man look taller and more foreboding.

The Kubrick Stare- a reoccuring motif in his films.
Featured is Alex from A Clockwork Orange, Pvt Pyle from Full Metal Jacket
Jack Torrance from The Shining and  Redmond Barry from Barry Lyndon.

Frame 18- It is the same frame as 16, the same positioning of the frame and the camera, except the boy has his hand in the toilet bowl, fishing for the bow tie. The old man is standing in the left of the bathroom, overlooking the boy.

Frame 19- A medium shot from in front of the boy, his mother walks in whilst his hand is down the toilet, he looks back in panic, the old man is gone. Low angle. Kubrick also used low angles regularly in his films.

The low angles of Kubrick's films. 

Frame 20- A close up of the boy's face looking into a mirror, terrified as his mum scrubs his arm by the sink, she is not looking in the mirror. In the reflection of the mirror,through the open bathroom door, we can see the suited man from earlier standing there, a evil smile on his face holding the bow tie.

In 'The Shining' supernatural ghosts and spirits are only seen
by Jack when he looks into mirrors. He is talking to the caretaker
Delbert Grady who killed himself and his family the previous winter
since he is the previous caretaker of the Overlook Hotel.

Danny talks to his imaginary friend Tony whilst looking in
the mirror continuing the theme of the supernatural when Tony predicts
the future.

Recce Report

For my coursework, one of my locations is a care home. My script is heavily influenced by 'The Shining' and I used this care home because it is reminiscent of the long symmetrical hallways I am using in my script.

Below are some photos of the Care home, showing the setting I wanted.

The three above pictures demonstrate the locations symmetrical hallways.
The walls and ceiling are white , with the carpet being red creating
a contrast, similar to the Shining's hallways. The hallways are also quite long
and narrow, illustrating the idea of being trapped. I got the permission of the home to use these 
long hallways for my shoot.

The inspiration for these long hallways are shown in the pictures below.

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This is the exterior of the location at the front door, even though
it is outside of the care home, the path is still quite symmetrical
creating a sense of foreboding for what exists inside.

My two other locations are the boy's bedroom and the bathroom in his house. These are locations in my grandmother's house and so I have permission to use them as much as I need. The boy's bedroom is appropriate because it contains a closet in it which is used in my script and is big enough for a reverse shot that is used in one of my key frames. The window is also similar to the window's seen in The Shining, where you can't really see out of them. It also has a symmetrical look to the room.

The windows are similar, with white balance being so high
you can't see out of the window illustrating the isolation of the interiors.

The front view of the bedroom has a child's bed and door visible with quite banal and

grey wallpaper, reflecting the mood of the original film. 

The bathroom scenes will be shot near the door from a one point perspective.  I will make

the bathroom look more green through Photoshop after the frames are shot. I will also

utilize mirrors in the bathroom to reflect The Shining's use of them.

Treatment

Treatment

There is an establishing shot of the nursing home from outside, a young boy and his mother visible walking down a pathway to the entrance. A cut to the young child sitting in a long hallway, a medium shot. We see the mothers legs and hand as she places a toy car down by the boy,. The mother's legs move as she walks out of frame. We then are from an medium angle from above behind the child, a one point perspective, as he sits in the hallway playing with his toy car. A  red balloon appears from the end of the hallway, a close up shot. We then cut to a medium shot of the boy from the front to catch his reaction. He is puzzled and starts to walk towards it in a tracking shot. During this tracking shot, it is interspersed with a cut of the medium shot of the balloon in the middle of the floor whilst ominous music plays . The boy reaches the  red balloon and looks round the corner of the hallway, we see it from the boy's POV tracking the wall until the slow reveal. A old man dressed in a suit holding a glass of drink. We then cut to a medium shot of the boy looking round the corner looking scared. We cut back to the boy's POV, the suit man is looking straight ahead, oblivious that the boy is there. He looks deadpan, straight ahead and says ''Isn't this place just grand...''.

He takes a sip of his drink, all the while, the ominous music plays in the background. The suit man sneers and takes a look at the boy menacingly. The red balloon enters the frame from the right and bounces until it is perfectly aligned with the suit man's foot.

''Shame about the balloons.''

In one swift movement, the man's foot comes down and pops the balloon. A loud POP! Suddenly, the boy's mother grabs the boy's arm in a close up of the boy. She sounds annoyed and asks him why he wandered off. The boy looks at her, her face is off frame, it's just her neck from below. The boy looks away from her to where the suit man was standing. POV shot of just a popped red balloon down the hallway. The boy's mother takes him by the hand and they walk back down to the corridor, a medium shot behind them.

A dissolve between them walking down the corridor and a establishing shot of the boy's house. A medium shot of the boy's bedroom, with the lights on. The boy opens his door and walks in, shutting the door behind him. He turns round and looks on his bed, sitting there is a black bow tie, resting on his pillow. Curious, he slowly walks over to his bed and sits down on it, picking up the bowtie. The same ominous music begins to play in the background. After a while, he puts it back on his pillow and stands up. This is all in one long take. He walks to his toybox and opens it, rummaging around, this is from behind in a medium shot.  Close up, he picks up a blue toy car and turns round. We cut to a medium shot of the boy facing his door. Standing in front of the door is another man, wearing a coat, trousers and gloves with a woolly hat on. The same reoccurring ominous music begins to play in the background. Close up of the boy's face, scared. The man rubs his gloved hands together and starts to speak.

''Hello young man..'' His tone is friendly. He takes one step forward towards the boy. He continues talking.

''My name is Albert... but my friends call me Baker.'' Baker smiles. ''You can call me Baker if you's like.''

Close up of the boy's reaction, he is uncertain confused, unable to move. Cut back to a shot of Baker. A medium shot of him standing in the small room. Baker looks to the side of him at the boy's bed. He points to the bow tie.

''You shouldn't have this.'' Baker's smile disappears. He looks back to the boy. The tone of Baker's voice changes, it is threatening. The ominous music starts to get louder.

''It has a bad...a bad trace on it...best to just put it away...put it away...somewhere far.''

Baker takes another step forward, it is still the long take.

''Somewhere far, somewhere far where no one find it.''

We see a close up of the boy's face, who looks scared, Cut back to Baker.

''You can do that for me...can't you boy.''

. Baker takes another step forward so he is now level with the boy's closet just in front of him. There is a silence. Cut to a close up of the boy, he is frozen with terror, still unable to move. Finally, he nods very slightly. Baker smiles and starts to talk.

''Good. Take it far.''

We then cut to a long take in the same medium shot. Baker bangs his gloves together, turns to the left so he faces the boy's closet and opens it. He takes one look at the boy, but it looks like he is looking at the audience, and walks into the closet. He shuts it behind him. Then silence. The camera cuts back to a long shot of the boy standing alone in his room. The ominous music starts to get louder and louder. The boy slowly in front of his closet, we cut to a medium shot behind him as he quickly opens both doors, The ominous music stops. There is nothing there, except the boy's shirts and coats.

A medium shot from inside the closet looking out at the boy. He takes a deep breath and shuts the closet. We then cut to a close up of the back of the boy's head, he slowly turns around, whilst deep breathing and the same ominous music starts to play in the background. The boy turns around until he is facing the camera. We then cut to a medium shot of the boy's bed, the black bow tie laying on the pillow.

We cut to the boy's bedroom door from outside in the hallway. The hallway looks a lot different than what the boy's bedroom looked like, different colour scheme, carpet. The boy opens his door, and he exits his room, walking down his hallway, bow tie clenched in his hand. It is a tracking shot following him down the hallway from the front, similar to how he walked down the hallway.

We cut to a POV shot of the boy opening the door and looking into his bathroom. The bathroom has a sickly green colour scheme. There is lots of mirrors and reflective surfaces in his bathroom. Cut to a medium shot from the side, with the boy's toilet located to the left of the frame. The boy walks in to the frame and sticks out his hand, dropping the bow tie into the toilet. There is an audible quiet splash and the boy quickly flushes it. There is a loud flushing noise and the boy slams the seat down. POV shot of the toilet seat being put down. The boy turns to leave but the ominous music flares up loud and the boy stops dead in his tracks. Cut to a medium shot of Baker standing in front of the closed bathroom door.

Baker is angry, his eyes underneath his brow in a menacing gaze directed at the boy. He shouts out ''NO!''. The camera starts to slowly zoom in on Baker's face. There is a quick cut to the boy's face to show he is scared and then back to the zoom in. He starts to speak, a snarl on his face,

''I told you's to take it far...take it...far...''

The camera cuts to a medium shot from the side of them, showing the height difference between the boy and Baker. Baker starts to talk, a low rumble, far different from the friendly voice he used in the boy's bedroom.

''Seeing as you don't listen, I want you to reach into the toilet.... and pick it up...and give it to me.''

We cut back to a close up of the boy who looks back at the  shit toilet seat and then back at Baker. Cut to a low angle POV shot, Baker's hand is stuck out awaiting the bow tie, his face a grim snarl. Cut back to a medium shot of the boy and the toilet to the left of the frame, the ominous music gets louder. The boy lifts the toilet seat up and looks inside. Cut to another POV looking down upon the bow tie in the toilet bowl, floating. The boy looks up at Baker, his hand still stuck out looking impatient. The boy reaches in slowly.

Suddenly the bathroom door opens behind the boy, the boy's mother walking in, Baker is gone. We are seeing this from the side medium shot, the boy's mother is standing where Baker was standing. She gasps and shouts in a condescending tone, ''What are you doing Danny?!''. Cut back to a close up of the Danny's face, confused. Cut back to the side shot, the mother grabs Danny's arm and yanks him over to the sink. She lifts his arm up and starts scrubbing it with a sponge and soap. As she is busy scrubbing, Danny looks in the mirror and his jaw drops, We cut to a close up of Danny looking in to the mirror and he can see the suit man from earlier standing in the open doorway, glass in hand, a menacing grin on his face. Ominous music becomes louder and louder, The camera is still aimed onto the mirror, we see the suit man pull out a green balloon from behind him and he drops it. It slowly floats to the ground, the suit man never breaks contact with Danny. The balloon falls on the floor, and a leathery black sole hovers about it, just ready to pop.

Suddenly, the ominous music stops and Danny's mother lets him go. His mother tells him to go to bed and Danny looks at her. This a medium shot from the doorway. Cut to a close up of Danny's face and he looks aghast. In the hallway, is a single green balloon.