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.