A cock and bull story
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Saturday 26 March 2011
More Cock and Bull
· Released in 2006 and directed by Michael Winterbottom.
· Stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon.
· Literary adaptation from The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman – a novel by Laurence Sterne.
· Novel published across 9 volumes between 1759 and 1769.
· Told the story of Tristram’s life.
· One of the central jokes of the novel is that Tristram cannot explain anything simply. He goes off on tangents to the extent that his own birth is not reached until the 3rd volume . The novel is therefore chaotic.
· One of the interesting things about the novel is that it is self-reflexive in that it is as much about the process of writing a novel as it is about telling the actual story of Tristram’s life. This is evident in the film too.
Again, in A Cock and Bull story, Winterbottom uses a range of postmodern techniques.
A Cock and Bull Story
Tends to polarise people! A bit of a marmite film really. Not hugely popular when we watched it in class despite the occasional laughs generated by Coogan and Brydon.Wonderfully postmodern though so useful for our purposes.
Released in 2006, A Cock and Bull Story is an adaptation of the noel Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne. It is immediately clear that this is no straightforward literary adaptation as the film opens with a self-referential sequence as Coogan and Brydon squabble over who has the larger role on the film and how the credits will display their names. This is followed by Coogan dressed in character, breaking the 4th wall by giving the audience some information about the film that they are about to watch.
The film alternates between the literary adaptation and a documentary about the making of the film and about troubles in Steve Coogan's personal life, parodying his tabloid persona. The film within a film is a great example of metatextuality.
24 Hour Party People and Postmodernism
1. Ignoring the 4th wall – characters directly address the audience breaking one of the basic codes of realism.
2. Self-referentiality – referring directly to some of the processes of constructing the film- E.g. the scene where Coogan discusses a scene that won’t make the final cut of the film but will be on the dvd!
3. Intertextual references (eg, the title which is the title of a Happy Mondays song).
4. Intertextual casting of Steve Coogan and Peter Kay – references to their roles as newsreader in The Day Today (Coogan) and Northern Club Owner (Kay). Also key people from the time playing characters in the film.
5.Playful approach to genre – it’s basically a docudrama but is unconventional.
6.Deliberate blurring of truth, exaggeration and fiction. Both in terms of cutting between documentary/archive footage and the footage shot for the film and in terms of the events of the film – some of which are allegedly exaggerated or untrue – think about the character that says “I definitely don’t remember that happening.”
7.Unconventional, playful techniques used – UFO, bird sequence, talking to God, montage showing the audience earlier characters.
8.Some juxtaposition of high and popular culture – lots of references to Greek Myth, the bible and philosophy alongside the film’s primary concern – popular music.
9. Lots of simulacra and simulation. For example, the duo in the club at the end of the film covering Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division.
2. Self-referentiality – referring directly to some of the processes of constructing the film- E.g. the scene where Coogan discusses a scene that won’t make the final cut of the film but will be on the dvd!
3. Intertextual references (eg, the title which is the title of a Happy Mondays song).
4. Intertextual casting of Steve Coogan and Peter Kay – references to their roles as newsreader in The Day Today (Coogan) and Northern Club Owner (Kay). Also key people from the time playing characters in the film.
5.Playful approach to genre – it’s basically a docudrama but is unconventional.
6.Deliberate blurring of truth, exaggeration and fiction. Both in terms of cutting between documentary/archive footage and the footage shot for the film and in terms of the events of the film – some of which are allegedly exaggerated or untrue – think about the character that says “I definitely don’t remember that happening.”
7.Unconventional, playful techniques used – UFO, bird sequence, talking to God, montage showing the audience earlier characters.
8.Some juxtaposition of high and popular culture – lots of references to Greek Myth, the bible and philosophy alongside the film’s primary concern – popular music.
9. Lots of simulacra and simulation. For example, the duo in the club at the end of the film covering Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division.
Michael Winterbottom - Postmodern Auteur
We began our work on Michael Winterbottom by studying 24 Hour Party People, the biopic of Tony Wilson who owned Factory Records in Manchester.
Here's the IMDB page:
Michael Winterbottom is an interesting director because he has made a hugely diverse range of films. In the 2 films that we studied (24 Hour Party People and A Cock and Bull Story) he makes extensive use of techniques that we can consider to be postmodern.
Steve Coogan (playing Tony Wilson) even turns to the camera at one poine and says:
"I'm being postmodern before it was fashionable".
Tremendous.
Monday 7 March 2011
Children Of Men and Postmodernism
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Media Language and Children of Men
There are a couple of really notable things about the Media Language used in Children of Men:
1. The mise-en-scene. Particularly the extensive use of a very desaturated colour pallette which is used to connote the loss of hope in a world where there are no children and therefore no hope. It is a bleak looking film. The other interesting thing about the mise-en-scene is the set design - although the film takes us into the year 2027 the set design is recognisable to contemporary audiences. There are not lots of high tech gadgets or anything that has been designed in such a way that we don't really recognise it. It's interesting to compare the set design and props and so on with I, Robot, which was set in 2035 if memory serves me correctly. I, Robot is obviously much more a film set in the future and is much more evidently of the Sci-fi genre, although it is a Sci-fi and Action Generic Hybrid.
2. The long takes used. There are some notable examples of this. The first example is the scene at the beginning of the film when the coffee shop is blown up. A tracking shot follows Theo out of the shop onto The Strand in Central London and then arcs around him to show the shop being blown up. The sequence when the car is ambushed in the woods goes on for several minutes without a cut. This is a highly ambitious sequence using a sophisticated rig on top of a car. Finally, there is the astonishing sequence in Bexhill when Theo and Kee leave the apartments and the soldiers stop firing momentarily. Again, this is a really long tracking shot.
1. The mise-en-scene. Particularly the extensive use of a very desaturated colour pallette which is used to connote the loss of hope in a world where there are no children and therefore no hope. It is a bleak looking film. The other interesting thing about the mise-en-scene is the set design - although the film takes us into the year 2027 the set design is recognisable to contemporary audiences. There are not lots of high tech gadgets or anything that has been designed in such a way that we don't really recognise it. It's interesting to compare the set design and props and so on with I, Robot, which was set in 2035 if memory serves me correctly. I, Robot is obviously much more a film set in the future and is much more evidently of the Sci-fi genre, although it is a Sci-fi and Action Generic Hybrid.
2. The long takes used. There are some notable examples of this. The first example is the scene at the beginning of the film when the coffee shop is blown up. A tracking shot follows Theo out of the shop onto The Strand in Central London and then arcs around him to show the shop being blown up. The sequence when the car is ambushed in the woods goes on for several minutes without a cut. This is a highly ambitious sequence using a sophisticated rig on top of a car. Finally, there is the astonishing sequence in Bexhill when Theo and Kee leave the apartments and the soldiers stop firing momentarily. Again, this is a really long tracking shot.
Sunday 6 March 2011
Narrative and Children of Men
The film is an adaptation from a P.D. James novel and follows a conventional linear narrative. The events are presented to the audience on screen in the order in which they would have logically occurred.
We applied Todorov's narrative theory to the film and found that it applies quite neatly:
1. Equilibrium - Normal day in London for Theo. Ok, a bomb explodes in a coffee shop but other than that, potentially opposing forces are in balance.
2. Disruption - Theo is kidnapped by the Fishes and offered money to arrange travel papers for Kee.
3. Recognition - Theo is interrogated in the small room by his ex-wife and other members of the Fishes.
4. Actions and Complications - The journey to Bexhill via the farm then all of the events up until Theo and Kee rowing out to sea.
5. Resolution - The 'Tomorrow' boat comes through the mist to collect Kee and her baby, Dylan.
It's a little unconventional in terms of the resolution as we have the death of the hero and there is considerable uncertainty still - who knows whether Kee's baby marks a turning point for the human race? Not me!
If you have a quiet moment, you might also want to think about Children of Men from the perspective of the theories we've looked at more recently- Levi-Strauss and Binary Oppositions and Vladimir Propp and his 8 character types.
Other than that though, it is a conventional linear narrative that adheres to the underlying structural form identified by our Bulgarian friend Tzvetzan Todorov.
We applied Todorov's narrative theory to the film and found that it applies quite neatly:
1. Equilibrium - Normal day in London for Theo. Ok, a bomb explodes in a coffee shop but other than that, potentially opposing forces are in balance.
2. Disruption - Theo is kidnapped by the Fishes and offered money to arrange travel papers for Kee.
3. Recognition - Theo is interrogated in the small room by his ex-wife and other members of the Fishes.
4. Actions and Complications - The journey to Bexhill via the farm then all of the events up until Theo and Kee rowing out to sea.
5. Resolution - The 'Tomorrow' boat comes through the mist to collect Kee and her baby, Dylan.
It's a little unconventional in terms of the resolution as we have the death of the hero and there is considerable uncertainty still - who knows whether Kee's baby marks a turning point for the human race? Not me!
If you have a quiet moment, you might also want to think about Children of Men from the perspective of the theories we've looked at more recently- Levi-Strauss and Binary Oppositions and Vladimir Propp and his 8 character types.
Other than that though, it is a conventional linear narrative that adheres to the underlying structural form identified by our Bulgarian friend Tzvetzan Todorov.
Saturday 5 March 2011
Audience and Children of Men
We struggled to identify the target audience for Children of Men - probably because it isn't a straight forward genre film. Would fans of Sci-fi like it? Possibly, possibly not. Fans of War films? Again possibly, possibly not. You can see the issue!
I suspect that it was a aimed at a fairly broad target audience in demographic terms - both men and women from the ages of about 15-44 and straddling social class demographics too.
Of course, we can also think about audience in terms of audience reception too - i.e. the ways in which audiences 'read' and respond to texts. Children of Men is an open text in that there is plenty of scope for audiences to form their own view about what is being put before them. Cuaron has stated that he hates expository narratives - what he means by this is stories that explain absolutely everything to the audience and therefore require little thought or interpretation. Audiences are left to make up their own minds about possible causes for human infertility. More significantly there is the slightly controversial ending with the death of Theo. Kee and her baby, Dylan are picked up the 'Tomorrow' boat. Cuaron says that if you are optimistic then you see hope in the resolution and if you are pessimistic then you see little but more despair. What he is referring to here is audiences 'negotiating' their own reading of the text. We did quite a bit of work on this at AS - think back to Silent Witness and the representation of ethnicity. We'll re-visit it this year too! How exciting!
I suspect that it was a aimed at a fairly broad target audience in demographic terms - both men and women from the ages of about 15-44 and straddling social class demographics too.
Of course, we can also think about audience in terms of audience reception too - i.e. the ways in which audiences 'read' and respond to texts. Children of Men is an open text in that there is plenty of scope for audiences to form their own view about what is being put before them. Cuaron has stated that he hates expository narratives - what he means by this is stories that explain absolutely everything to the audience and therefore require little thought or interpretation. Audiences are left to make up their own minds about possible causes for human infertility. More significantly there is the slightly controversial ending with the death of Theo. Kee and her baby, Dylan are picked up the 'Tomorrow' boat. Cuaron says that if you are optimistic then you see hope in the resolution and if you are pessimistic then you see little but more despair. What he is referring to here is audiences 'negotiating' their own reading of the text. We did quite a bit of work on this at AS - think back to Silent Witness and the representation of ethnicity. We'll re-visit it this year too! How exciting!
Representation and Children of Men
We didn't do too much on the concept of representation and Children of Men. However, we did think about the ways in which it represents society and the government. There was a particularly interesting sequence when Theo goes to see his cousin (a government official) to arrange travel papers for himself and Kee. As the official car drives towards Nigel's apartment the colour pallette becomes much brighter than at any other point in the film. Exotic animals like camels can be seen in the background too suggesting a society divided and destroyed by a clear opposition between the masses, with nothing, and the few with wealth.
Stereotypes are a key part of thinking about the concept of representation but I'd argue that there are not many obvious stereotypes in Children of Men. The Geordie character that is part of the Fishes group is probably the most stereotypical character as he seems to fit the bill of being an angry young man with strong anti-authority feelings. He's not a central character though and most of the central characters are more rounded characters who have a complexity beyond simple stereotypes.
Stereotypes are a key part of thinking about the concept of representation but I'd argue that there are not many obvious stereotypes in Children of Men. The Geordie character that is part of the Fishes group is probably the most stereotypical character as he seems to fit the bill of being an angry young man with strong anti-authority feelings. He's not a central character though and most of the central characters are more rounded characters who have a complexity beyond simple stereotypes.
Genre and Children of Men
We began by thinking about the concept of genre and talked about a short phrase by Steve Neale that Genre is essentially a system of repetition and variation. Put simply, genre texts (Horror Films or whatever) have elements of repetition - i.e. they'll use the generic conventions (features) that audiences associate with the Horror genre but they'll also have enough variation to ensure that the film is not completely formulaic.
Children of Menis an interesting film to use to think about genre:
1. The basic premise - human infertility (and therefore the end of the human race) would seem to indicate that it will be a Science Fiction film.
2. Setting the film in the future would also seem to suggest this too, it's set in 2027.
BUT...
3. It doesn't focus on the Scientific reasons for infertility, nor on a scientific cure/remedy being found.
4. The mise-en-scene doesn't look like a conventional Science Fiction film. There are not lots of futuristic props (gadgets etc.) or much in the way of futuristic set design. The world looks familiar to our own; deliberately so, Cuaron talked in interviews of the need to rein in design team who wanted to create a futuristic setting.
5. The film uses conventions and techniques from a range of genres.
6. The narrative journey that Theo and Kee undertake is a convention of a Road Movie.
7. There is the sort of characterisation and focus on dialogue that we normally associate with films in the Drama genre.
8. The sequence toward the end of the film in the East Sussex town of Bexhill is constructed to look like a War film.
9. The long takes and lack of close-ups are borrowed from the Documentary genre.
Children of Men goes beyond being a generic hybrid - it's a work of bricolage.
Children of Menis an interesting film to use to think about genre:
1. The basic premise - human infertility (and therefore the end of the human race) would seem to indicate that it will be a Science Fiction film.
2. Setting the film in the future would also seem to suggest this too, it's set in 2027.
BUT...
3. It doesn't focus on the Scientific reasons for infertility, nor on a scientific cure/remedy being found.
4. The mise-en-scene doesn't look like a conventional Science Fiction film. There are not lots of futuristic props (gadgets etc.) or much in the way of futuristic set design. The world looks familiar to our own; deliberately so, Cuaron talked in interviews of the need to rein in design team who wanted to create a futuristic setting.
5. The film uses conventions and techniques from a range of genres.
6. The narrative journey that Theo and Kee undertake is a convention of a Road Movie.
7. There is the sort of characterisation and focus on dialogue that we normally associate with films in the Drama genre.
8. The sequence toward the end of the film in the East Sussex town of Bexhill is constructed to look like a War film.
9. The long takes and lack of close-ups are borrowed from the Documentary genre.
Children of Men goes beyond being a generic hybrid - it's a work of bricolage.
Children Of Men
We began the unit by studying Children of Men which was directed by Alfonso Cuaron and released in 2006.
We looked at Children of Men in a holistic way by thinking about it from the perspective from all of the key concepts AND by discussing some of the ways in which we might call it 'postmodern'.
You can get more detail on the film at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206634
The wikipedia page on Children of Men also has lots of interesting detail at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_men
The trailer is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NikEQy1XxDE
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