Santina's Film Blog

The Evaluative Analysis Beyond is a short film that shows a mysterious woman having to choose between life and death on a subconscious level. This psychological drama portrays a symbolic idea of death as a decision that depends on the individual itself, based on what her subconscious shows her, trying to overcome bad memories. This film presents a lot of symbolism that aims to generate an effect on the viewer and to have them interpret what they represent. In spite of having a baleful atmosphere, the first idea of this short film was not to have it become a horror, instead, to use iconography, sudden transitions and intense sounds to show a dreamy environment where the woman is somewhat trapped. Its main objective is to make the audience doubt about what is real and what is part of her imagination, if she is in danger or if she needs protection from herself. Everything is aimed to make the viewer wonder and come up with theories about what they are seeing on screen. At the end, the mai...

Opening scene - Trainspotting The opening scene of Trainspotting is a high paced scene that engages the audience's attention instantly and where the main characters are introduced. The film is based on the 1990s Scotland, where drug addiction was an issue that destroyed many people’s lives – but through the use of film elements the directors achieved to present this depressing theme of addiction from the addicts perspective and showed why they did drugs in the first place: for the pleasure.  The immediate voiceover of Renton makes the audience align with him and assume that he is the main character. At the same time, the camera shows Renton running away from guards with Spud close behind him: the framing of this shot, where Renton is in the foreground and Spud in the background, emphasises Renton’s “leader” role while Spud following behind could represent a sense of loyalty that he has towards him as we learn later in the film. Through this fast paced (reinforced by cuts and quick ...

BEYOND - Script 1. EXT. THE WOODS – DAY  A WOMAN, whose face remains unshown, finds herself in the middle of the woods, barefoot and wearing ripped jeans and an old white shirt.  She is surrounded by trees and a baleful atmosphere. Unconsciously, she starts walking down the dirt path with doubtful steps until she reaches a slow but continuous pace.  The trees that completely surround the path move due to the soft wind. The woman’s unbuttoned shirt also moves slightly, imitating the branches as a consequence of the blowing wind coming from an unclear direction.  The woman keeps walking without hesitation through the dirt of the path but stops when she hears her name being softly called, almost like A WHISPER. She suddenly stops walking and turns towards the direction of the noise –  towards the trees. The woman sees nothing out of the ordinary as she keeps turning on her place. Her breathing intensifies and gets louder in the empty woods, but she resumes her walk...

Exam Question: No Country for Old Men & Captain Fantastic How far do your chosen films demonstrate the importance of visual and soundtrack cues in influencing spectator response? Refer in detail to at least one sequence from each film (40 marks). The films “No Country for Old Men” and “Captain Fantastic” demonstrate the importance of visual cues in numerous occasions through the film which, at the same time, manipulates the audience response to align with certain characters. The introduction of the film directed by the Coen Brothers and the “Captain Fantastic” funeral scene have similar ways of mise-en-scene that influence the audience’s perspectives to side with whom they want them to sympathise with. The voice of Sheriff Ed Tom Bell presents the film with a sincere and sensitive monologue about himself while showing still images of the countryside of Texas. This opening makes the audience automatically align with the Sheriff, in spite of not having seen him yet, as he is being op...

 No Country for Old Men - Ending and Resolution  The reaction to the ending of “No Country for Old Men'' from a first time viewer is generally disappointing, shocking and/or confusing. It does not have a satisfying ending where the audience sees a close resolution to the story of each individual, instead we get the death of a main character off-screen and we miss a climactic confrontation between the two remaining main characters – Chigurh and Sheriff Ed Tom Bell. But once the ending is analysed and thought through, usually the audiences’ reaction changes from disappointment to curiosity. The worst ending from the audience perspective is definitely Llewellyn’s death off-camera. It feels unresolved and too realistic for a film: very unexpected. He was meant to meet his wife Carla-Jean, but died later in the afternoon before she could get to the motel. A Mexican gang killed him, characters who barely were mentioned and seen in the film, instead of Chigurh who was the one that wa...

  Captain Fantastic: Final scene The ending of “Captain Fantastic” after the airport scene, where Bo is seen for the last time, the Cash family leaves and it jumps in time to a near future. This is seen when the injured daughter is not injured anymore, and runs with her sister through a garden/orchard. There is a big difference in environment; in spite of not living in the middle of the forest, as they did in the past, they are still in touch with nature as they grow their own natural food. This is also under a small construction that shows more organisation, space and that they are settled in this place. A small, colourful house, with a car parked by it can be seen in the background as the daughters keep running between the herbage. A sign of adaptation to society and of stability in spite of still being somewhat different and rural. The bus that was named “Steve” does not have any wheels and it is now being used as a henhouse for the chickens - it is not a vehicle anymore. Inside...

 Captain Fantastic: Issues and Ideologies. Rituals (Pt. II) There is a big difference between the rituals that each side of Leslie’s family holds for her. Her parents, more traditional and part of society, have this common ceremony where her own wishes of what she would like to happen to her body are not being respected. On the other hand, Ben and their children end up holding a ceremony where they remember their mother happily and do as she wished with her body and ashes. The traditional funeral shows that the event itself is not for Leslie, but for those still alive. A chance to mourn her (whether they knew her or not) and support the closest family to her. Meaningless words are always being shared in this type of events: the priest and those giving their respects to Leslie’s parents – Jack and Abigail – being good examples of this. An impersonal ceremony held for those alive which was not even what Leslie wanted for herself. As a comparison to this, the personal ritual that Ben ...