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.

/+-

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.

Screenplay

Synopsis

Essay First Draft

In a 1969 interview, Stanley Kubrick said that ‘‘where each viewer brings his own emotions and perceptions to bear on the subject matter, a certain degree of ambiguity is valuable because it allows the audience to ‘fill in’ the visual experience themselves.’’ In regards to this, how does the spectator theory influence Stanley Kubrick as an auteur?

In a interview with Joe Gelmis about his film ‘’2001: A Space Odyssey’’, he states that ‘ambiguity is valuable because it allows the audience to ‘fill in’ the visual experience themselves.’ [1] This quote reveals Kubrick’s interest in giving his audience agency into his films. In a review of ‘A Clockwork Orange, Tim Brayton said ‘’His mode here is primarily diagnostic: we observe without taking part, either by rejoicing in the nastiness of it all or recoiling at the obscenity.’’ [2] Brayton is reinforcing Kubrick’s aim to make the audience part of the viewing experience, by his own position as the spectator. By considering these two quotes, this essay will answer my question of how the spectator theory influenced Stanley Kubrick as a director and to what extent it was prominent in all his films, if his status as a ‘’auteur’’ of film is justified.

The six films I will be looking at are Kubrick’s films from 1968 onwards,

2001: A Space Odyssey- an epic sci-fi film about space, technology and humanity

A Clockwork Orange-  Kubrick’s most controversial film, Alex, a young sociopath obsessed with classical music is arrested for murder and is reconditioned by the government so he can no longer commit violence.

Barry Lyndon- a period film chronicling the rise and fall of Redmond Barry, an Irish peasant in the 18^th century who slowly ascends to wealth and royalty.

The Shining- modern day horror film about a family who spend the winter looking after the haunted Overlook hotel. However the ghosts drive the father insane and he attempts to kill his wife and child.

Full Metal Jacket- Vietnam War film. It follows the protagonist Joker, a pacifist and war photographer through basic training and the Tet offensive.

Eyes Wide Shut- a man finds his marriage, his family and his own life in danger after attending a secretive masked ball orgy.

Reviewers critically acclaim nearly all these films with the exception of Eyes Wide Shut. [3] Kubrick’s rarely stuck to one genre with his films, with Barry Lyndon being a period film set in the 18^th century, The Shining a modern day horror film and Full Metal Jacket, a war film about Vietnam. His versatility and effectiveness in filmmaking meant he could execute each genre of film seamlessly.  My secondary texts will consist of reviews of his films, spectatorship theorists like Baudry, Metz and Mulvey and audience perceptions of his films through websites like IMDB.

In order to answer my question of whether the spectator theory is prominent in Stanley Kubrick’s works, I will have three research questions to help me discover it.

My first research question is ‘’Can Stanley Kubrick’s title as an auteur be justified?’’ An auteur is defined as a director who has complete creative control over a film so that the end product is his ‘vision.’ This could be certainly said about Kubrick’s later films where he had very little interuptance from Hollywood producers during the production of his films. His eye for perfectionism meant that the studios allowed him as much time as he wanted to make a film, Eyes Wide Shut took 2 years of filming to make.

My second research question is ‘’Is the theory of spectatorship influential in all of Stanley Kubrick’s films or is it specific to certain films?’’ The theme of spectatorship in Kubrick films is apparent. In A Clockwork Orange, we are forced into watching horrific acts of rape and violence during the film as the spectator, a direct parallel with Alex’s Ludovico technique, where he is forced to watch violent images in order to make him averse to violence. However can the theory of spectatorship be applied to less apparent films of Kubrick like Barry Lyndon and The Shining?

My final research question is  ‘’How has the audience reception and reaction changed to Stanley Kubrick’s films?’’

It is noticeable during Kubrick’s lifetime that his films when they initially came out were not well received, The Shining was given a Golden Razzy nomination for worst picture and criticised for being not scary enough. However, if we come to the present time now, numerous film critics and audience members have put The Shining on their top 10 horror movies lists or even their best films of all time lists. It is curious to see how reaction has changed over time and could it be due to the spectator theory of the audience building their own narrative construct and interpretation of the film?

Tuesday 23rd September 2014

Non filmed sequence

A synopsis- overview of the scene

A script for the non filmed sequence

A treatment- a written storyboard how the scene will be shot- present shot- link it to Kubrick

A recce report- locations- who it belongs to- how does it fit- camera shot- 

Evidence of casting considerations- who will you use in your scene- need someone u will use and someone u won't use- arrows across face- 

Layouts for 20 key frame stills- describe each layout

A risk assessment

Homework for next lesson 2 weeks

Finish synopsis

Screenplay 5-10 pages

All of them started to an extent

1000 words essay draft

Screenplay divided into scenes- new time period or location- new scene

Slug line- INT EXT DAY NIGHT 

Scene direction 

Character cue

Actor direction

Dialogue

No camera shots or angles

Initial First Essay Plan

In a 1969 interview, Stanley Kubrick said that ''Where each viewer brings

his own emotions and perceptions to bear on the subject matter, a certain

degree of ambiguity is valuable because it allows the audience to 'fill in' the visual 

experience themselves. In regards to this, how does the spectator theory

influence Stanley Kubrick as a auteur.

In a interview in 1969, talking to Joe Gelmis about his film '2001: A Space Odyssey', he says that 'ambiguity is valuable because it allows the audience to 'fill in' the visual experience themselves.' [1]

Using this quote, we get a insight into how Kubrick constructs his films, the 'subject matter'. Does he use his audience as a recurring construct for his films, which impacts them stylistically and thematically or is his use of audience a singular construct designed specifically for select films to create a message designed for that film. This would form the core of my research.

Key Primary and Secondary Texts 

The primary texts I will be studying in this research are six of Stanley Kubrick's films which

are 2001: A Space Odyssey, Barry Lyndon, The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket, and Eyes Wide Shut. My secondary texts will be a mixture of initial critical reception and later critical reception of his films, articles and essays on Kubrick and the spectator theory, analysis of the primary texts and IMDB reviews to show a modern day reaction to Kubrick's films.

Hypothesis

I feel that all of Kubrick's films contain the theory of spectatorship and influencing the audience as a construct to some degree, particularly A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket. However, it remains to be seen if the rest of his films follow  the theory of spectatorship so evidently as the former two. Therefore my two hypothesis are

1- Do all Stanley Kubrick's films have aspects of spectator theory in them as a construct?

OR

2- Is the use of spectator theory in Stanley Kubrick's films specific for certain films to separate them and add significant meaning for them?

[1] 'An Interview With Stanley Kubrick (1969) Joe Gelmis, The Film Director As A Superstar

Essay Plan related to Mark Scheme

. An introduction explaining the focus of the candidates reseach (200 words)
Lots of references are explained in details from reviews, critics and theorists
Creativity in my approach- use of stills quotes font and structure
Write in proper good english
Use correct film terminology

. A description of the key texts both primary and secondary (films and studies based on films) (200 words)
Awesome analysis of films
Use and apply the theories of critics to the films analysed.
Write in proper good english

. The aims of research- details of what the candidate is seeking to find out in the form of a series of research questions (200 words)
Use and apply the theories of critics to the films analysed.
Write in proper good english.
Lots of references are explained in detail from reviews critics and theorists.

. A discussion of ideas, texts, and secondary research in light of the candidate's aims- Paragraphs seperated into resarch questions sub headings (600-800 words per sub heading -3-4 research questions
Awesome analysis of films
Lots of references are explained in detail from reviews critics and theorists
Use and apply the theories of critics to the films analysed.
Creativity in my approach- use of stills quotes font and structure
Write in proper good english
Use correct film terminology.

. Conclusions- a clear statement of what the candidate has discovered in response to their aims
Conclude and evaluate findings well in all paragraphs
Awesome analysis of films
Use correct film terminology

. Bibliography and filmography
Use correct film terminology.

Student Friendly Markscheme

Level 4

32-40 Marks

There is evidence of a excellent level of research into film topics. You will have to do it on your own with little help from teacher.

. Excellent analysis of the films you are looking at, showing understanding through looking at them closely.

. Understanding the context of the films and how it relates to the film.

. Excellent understanding of theorists. Explaining and understanding the theories well and confidently.

. Excellent presentation skills, carefully planned and creatively.

. Excellent ability to come to conclusions

. Excellent evaluation of your coursework.

. Make sure all your work is spelt correctly and structured properly with no errors.

. Excellent referencing of the source materials, making sure all your references are detailed with correct publishers.

. Excellent use of terminology, making sure it is correct. 

How does the spectatorship theory influence Stanley Kubrick as a director?

A Clockwork Orange

In this scene, the main character Alex and his gang break into a house and beat up an old man and rape his wife. It is clear from the first shot of Kubricks style, slow pan shots, medium shots and preferring to look at the action from afar. The house is very colourful and brightly lit, which fits A Clockworks Orange futuristic setting. The lead character Alex beats the old man and woman up to the tune of 'Singing in the rain' as he starts to sing. The use of 'Singing in the rain' conflicts the audience who associate the song with Gene Kelly and swinging around on a lamp post. Now, the audience associate singing in the rain with the rape Alex has committed. This audience re-association is very clever because later in the film, Alex is re-conditioned by the government to be unable to hurt anyone, otherwise he feels physically sick. In Kubricks own way, he has re-conditioned his own audience similarly to how Alex has been re-conditioned.

An brief segment of an essay also connecting the use of audience reconditioning.
In this essay, the writer also points out the use of Beethovens ninth symphony used in the scene of Alex's reconditioning. The scene shocks the audience due to its distressing imagery whilst playing a piece of classical music that the audience will now associate with for the rest of the film.



The Shining 

In this scene, it illustrates Kubrick's desire to alienate his audience and weird them out. Wendy walks up the stairs and sees a man in a bear costume performing a sex act on a hotel guest. The music is very intense and demonic in this scene and the fast zoom in surprises you. This scene does have context however because the Stephen King novel 'The Shining' includes this scene in much greater depth however Kubrick has intentionally taken this scene, took it out of context and put it in his movie to shock his audience. Essentially, the audience is put into the shoes of Wendy who is experiencing the ghosts of the hotel reappearing.

Full Metal Jacket

In this clip, we see Hartman and Pyle meet for the first time. In this clip, Kubrick does not align the viewer with Hartman and Pyle. It is up to the viewer to decide if they feel empathy for Pyle or that he deserved it. This also foreshadows Joker's conversation later in the film about the duality of man. Kubrick does not present the war film as a film discouraging or encouraging war. It is neither an anti-war film or a pro war film. Instead Kubrick presents it as depiction of war and it is up to his audience to decide. In this clip, Pyle could be personifed as anti-war, he is not masculine, he is fat, and has no respect for his superiors. Whilst Hartmann is definitely pro war, he shout obscenties, challenges Pyles masculinity and strangles him. 

Eyes Wide Shut

In the trailer for Eyes Wide Shut, Kubricks last film, towards the ending of the trailer, We see Bill and Alice kissing whilst the camera zooms in on Alice looking uncertain. The scene is interrupted by a split second shot of Bill at the morgue, with a doctor pulling a body out. This scene links to the spectatorship theory by the use of Mulvey's theory that the cinema is viewed from a male perspective. The camera acts a phallic object and the zoom in can be alluded to sexual excitement. This is called voyeurism. However the juxtaposition with the split second shot of the morgue creates an visual link between love and death, Both love and death feature prominently in Eyes Wide Shut.

Barry Lyndon

Barry Lyndon is a film set in the 18th century. It follows the adventures of Redmond Barry, an irish farmboy who finds himself living in a royal family. However, Barry soon neglects his family, abuses his wealth, and becomes an alcoholic gambler who loses everything. The film is based on a book written by William Makepiece Thackeray. This is an example of intertextuality, a film based on a book that the spectator may have already read. However, Kubrick alters his film so that it doesn't strictly follow the narrative of the book, making a few plot differences and ending the film earlier than the book does. Stylistically, Kubrick makes every shot in this film resemble a watercolour painting to echo that time period.

Coursework Ideas

Race in Quentin Tarantino's film

Lots of Quentin Tarantino's films handle race in different ways. Jackie Brown, a homage to 1970's blaxpoitation films and Django Unchained, an spaghetti western set in the American south during the slave trade era both have themes of black culture which could be explored in my coursework. I could also explore other races in the coursework, for example, the Japanese in Kill Bill or how white people are represented in his films and Tarantinos controversial and excessive use of racial slurs in his films.

Relevent Film Theory
Postmodernism- Jameson
Auteur Theory- Bazin

Films to look at
Jackie Brown
Django Unchained
Kill Bill 1 and 2

Spectatorship in Stanley Kubrick's films

Stanley Kubrick was a director who used his audience's emotions and reactions to his film in order to create a mood or tone for his film. He liked to confuse his audience or shock them . Examples of this are A Clockwork Orange where the use of 'Singin in the rain' in a rape scene changes the audiences reaction to that song since they would have associated it with that scene. In 'The Shining' Kubrick challenges the audiences perceptions of the main characters with the use of supernatural visions. To add to this challenging of perceptions, after close observation, the setting of the film, 'The Overlook Hotel' was intentionally designed by Kubrick for the layout of the hotel to be physically impossible.
If I explored this in my coursework, I would look into why and how he used spectatorship in his films and if any other important examples of spectatorship occurs in his films.

Relevant Film Theory
Spectatorship Theory

Films to look at
A Clockwork Orange
The Shining
Eyes Wide Shut
Full Metal Jacket
2001
Eraserhead (david lynch film influenced the shining)

Auteur Theory and Lars Von Trier

Lars Von Trier is a controversial director from Denmark who has directed independent Dogma 95 films and arthouse films. His most recent and popular films are Melancholia, Antichrist and Nymphomaniac however he has been directing for nearly 25 years, with previous films, Breaking the Waves and Dogville both critically acclaimed. In terms of the auteur theory, Von Trier has referred to his last three films, Melancholia, Antichrist and Nymphomaniac as a 'Depression trilogy'. All three films subject matter is about depression, loss, grief or death. If I were to use this for my coursework, I would explore why Von Trier is an auteur and how his films have similar themes and styles. Also why is the controversial nature of his films correspondent to his auteur status as a director.

Relevant Film Theory
Auteur Theory- Bazin
Feminism (Melancholia and Nymphomaniac)- Mulvey
Psychoanalysis - Freud

Films to look at
Melancholia
Antichrist
Nymphomaniac Pt 1 and 2
Breaking the Waves
Dogville