Film essay

Compare the attitudes to poverty conveyed in the films you have studied for this topic

In this essay I will be discussing and comparing the attidues to poverty conveyed in the films I have studied for this topic. Tsotsi (2005), City of God (2002) and La Haine (1995) are the films foreign films I've studied and all have the same themes even though set in different times such as poverty, conflict, violence and lack of authority. Each film reacts similarly and differently by showing the attitudes to poverty.


In the opening scene of Tsotsi is Tsotsi himself playing cards with his friends. Dices are shown in slow motion being thrown on the table to represent the hope and chance the characters need and want because of the poverty. Betting on their lives is the only way that the characters can possibly get out of the poor environment they are in as the dices symbolise their lives being thrown for a bet, it may go right, it may go wrong. 
Similarly in the opening scene of City of God, the theme of chance is again seen as the scene consists of a chicken run as the chicken getting ready to be killed runs away and is getting chased. The chicken symbolises the youth of the environment in City of God as they took their chance of escapism and followed it through. This shows us, the western audience, that chance/hope and betting are all daily activities and thoughts for the youth of the two films as needing to bet your life for the chance of escaping or getting out of the poverty is crucial and the number one motive. 


Escapism and "getting out of here" are themes in all three films due to the poverty the youth are surrounded in. In Tsotsi, he travels to the outskirts of his environment to get a gazing view of the city of Johannesburg. This shows us the inequalities of the two social scenes in the post- apartheid setting of South Africa. Tsotsi wanting to look at the city shows us that his thoughts are of wealth and living like the people working at the city as he is surrounded in poverty and only dreams an 'escape' to the sweet life. 
The same theme is in City of God as different characters go to the beach and smoke a joint and take a view of the sea and the transparent mountains in the distance. The relaxing scenes of which the characters engage in this gives us a peaceful and calm sense which juxtapositions the violence, poverty and conflict we are watching and feeling throughout the film. It is also binary oppositions as we have the setting of the beach which is peaceful and the favelas which are violent. This shows us the western audience that in environments drenched in poverty, the youth and people have to find these binary oppositions and these peaceful locations and states of mind to escape from the cruel reality they must return to sooner or later. 
This is the same in La Haine where we get numerous shots of the three young friends sitting around looking bored in different locations such as a kids playground. This shows us that they are somehow trapped in this never ending routine by the performance of the actors not enjoying all this sitting around and giving this impression they have to go and sit through it because of the poor environment they are in. This shows us that even though we see these binary oppositions and sense of escapism, the characters cant exactly leave so easily as it seems they are only viewing the future whereas actually reaching out and grabbing it, for example Tsotsi gazing at the city and Rocket smoking in front of the beach.


Violence is key in all three films and money seems to be the greater motive for it. In Tsotsi, in a brutal scene set in the interiors of a train, Tsotsi and his gang stab an innocent man because of his wealth and to steal his bag of money. This shows us that the only reason this youth is doing this is because of the poor environment they were raised in and that they have to turn to violence as a source of financial income. The western audience are also shocked as it the scene is held inside a train and is surprised how noone saw or maybe that noone cared as it is such a  common thing which reinforces the dramatic situation of how poor these environments are. 
On the other hand, In a scene in City of God money is not the motive but poverty is still the reason as Lil Zee holds ups a group of children misfits in the favelas and orders two of em to shoot and kill another one of the kids. The western audience are again shocked as the situation is so drastic that children are being ordered to kill their friends for no valid reason. Children in film and in life are such a delicate subject, so in City of God, the directors really wanted to show the brutality and horror that poverty creates in these environments by using children as a real punch in the gut in showing the reality of the environment by making it as candid as possible by shocking an audience that doesn't know anything about this.
 La Haine is similar along the lines of being violent as the opening scene shows us real life footage of Riots occurring in Paris. By using real life footage, the audience feel more as if they have to believe the rest of the film as they see it more as a fact than a story like with documentaries. But the clips of the youth and public throwing bricks, smashing glass and tipping cars alongside reggae music shocks the audience as they are told this is real and not actors doing this which makes it more effective as it is golden proof and evidence of the effects of being under poverty or a corrupt environment involving different classes on regards of the money in their pockets as the audience can see this is what happens when people are put in these situations and environments.


In conclusion, all 3 films have similar and different attitudes towards poverty for different reasons. Having studied 3 foreign films, I think that having the films in different settings such as outskirts, third world countries and the streets and also having it being in the language of the mother tongue of the setting, make the films more realistic in a way that the audience are engaged in learning about these situations and themes and not particularly too happy about it because they tell the truth about their own countries and their own problems and situations they are in. The audience can't look away but at the same time can't keep full attention to the films as they might feel embarrassed that maybe they didn't know these situations of poverty were going on or that maybe they hadn't ever seen scenes such as realistic in the films. The films are clear potryal of a democratic public standing up and saying "were not taking it anymore". Violence, corruption, and conflict are all themes factors created by poverty which is ignored and also enhanced by the government and authority as seen in City of God and in La Haine. which is also a clear representation of what is happening at the moment in America as two cases of white police officers shoot/beat innocent black individuals, and the public don't want to stand for the class segregation anymore just like in La Haine.

Simon Poggi personal statement

As a relatively social individual I find that film is a common interest to every one of all ages whether it be a Disney or a Tarantino there is something to be enjoyed by everyone. I would love to deepen my knowledge within film so that I can devlop this into a career.

Films are a diverse way to visually communicate and act as a portal of imagination, It allows the viewer to absorb into their own interpretation of the film and distance themselves from reality.  Films are also a way to communicate globally as the same film will be viewed across the world, Which I think makes it a powerful subject. I desire to study film at university as I believe it brings people together while using other sources of media such as music and art. Films have been my hobby for years and after looking into careers I realised I could put my passion into a career and I believe that by studying this course it will allow me to do so. By attending higher education it will not only open many opportunities within my chosen career which will be an advantage, but will also open my eyes to a completely different social scene with diverse people, and a mature lifestyle which I believe will enhance my life experience. 

Whilst studying Media GCSE, I noticed I gained an interest in anyalising key scenes from Television programmes, films and commercials. From learning what mis-en-scene, non/diegetic sound and lighting is and how it can completely transform a scene to convey meaning to the audience. It gave me the basic knowledge to understand how to set a scene up by knowing what appropriate sound/music to have, what settings and props are usually linked with the genre to ultimately understand what makes a scene. With knowing i want to enlargen my knowledge of film I took AS film studies as it was the more specific subject for me. Whilst analysing key scenes of movies I chose to study in depth, I found myself facinated on how much I can alaylise scenes minute by minute and how many things actually matter in the scenes.

- I often hear refrences to movie trademarks such actor look alikes and quotes which demonstrates how film is loved by its audience.

Whether it be an actor or a storyline I hear references used my a range of different peoplein day to day life

-excitement for new films cinemas

-previews events related to film

-heres johnny premier inncc

- bubba gump 

- universal, Disney, studios

-oscars

For my career I am particularly interested in becoming a director…

Asset to uni because- open minded 

I want to study film in higher education as I believe I already know more than an average person my age but because I want to fill my brain with entire knowledge of film and film making to then become a film maker. As I started getting more interested in film and what happens behind the camera, I started watching films from another viewpoint. I learnt that a lot of directors are actually auteurs as their film’s consist of the re-occurring themes, camera shots, music and all have the same style as their other films. 

-why do you love film

-What makes you so sure that film is what you want to study?

-who are you influence that inspired you into doing film at uni?

-why film of all subject why not media, art or science?

-how does film make you feel when studying it

-what have you done to work towards your carrier as a film director

-what will you do to be successful in becoming a film producer

Investigating Tarantino as an auteur by shocking and controlling the audience?

3 FILMS

Item 1) RESERVOIR DOGS - Quentin Tarantino (1992)

This particular film is important for me as it was his first major picture in 1992 and boomed with awards and memroable scenes but ultimately set the scene for the "violent-humorous" cult era that Tarantino is all about. The violence, the comedy, the characters and the blood is what Tarantino is known for and Reservoir Dogs opened the door for all of that.


Item 2) PULP FICTION - Quentin Tarantino (1995)

This film is majorly useful as it reinforces the idea of Tarantino being an auteur as the film follows in the same footsteps along the lines of the themes as Reservoir Dogs. With an All star cast on his fingertips, Tarantino was able to create an interwining storyline of romance, violence, vengance, redemption and comedy whilst still shocking the audience. Tarantino plays with our minds in the film by keeping the theme of the unkown vivid as we dont know what were going to see next or whos going to die next.


Item 3) KILL BILL - Quentin Tarantino (2003)

Known as probably Tarantino's most violent film and maybe Hollywood's, Kill Bill is very important in showing how violent Tarantino wants his films to be whilst still showing a structured interwined storyline. Very useful as upon its release, Kill Bill shocked a lot of audience members and made history as the most conterversy film made. Tarantino also shows us in Kill Bill that he likes to shock but also play with stereotypes as he chooses a female to be the protagonist of this neo-samurai film rather than a male.

INTERNET

Item 4) KRON news article, Tarantino defends use of violence in films
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGQaJcwAtpU
This video interview featuring Quentin Tarantino on the violence in Kill Bill was taken from youtube. It was useful because it shows us how passionate and delicate Tarantino is regarding his movies involving violence. The interviewer confronts Tarantino in asking why he uses so much violnce in films and if kids viewed it they would engage in violence in the future. Tarantino argued back in explaining the difference between film and reality and ultimately stating that violence in movies is fun. This shows us that Tarantino only believes in the movie, which means every theme in his movies whether its violence or bad language.

Item 5) Quentin Tarantino Angry Interview: 'I'm Shutting Your Butt Down' 
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7ER_q0B1-I This channel 4 interview shows Quentin Tarantino promoting his new film Django Unchained. As the interviewer goes on asking questions about his use of violence, Tarantino kicks off and refuses to answer any more questions on that matter. " My fans know where I stand on violence", says Tarantino shows us that he has been questioned and tormented about his use of violence in his films for many years and has finally had enough of explaining the enjoyment in violence in films and the fact that films are a "fantasy" and "not real life". This is useful as it shows us that Tarantino is in fact an auteur as he justifies he has a distinct style and on going status quo in his movies that will never change.

Item 6) The most shocking Tarantino scenes by ShortList.com
Source: http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/films/the-most-shocking-tarantino-scenes This article on 'The most shocking Tarantino scenes' shows us that Tarantino has been shocking and manipulating the audience with his use of violence ever since his first movie. "Still, it shows Tarantino's signature mix of finger-clickin' good tunes and ultraviolence was there from the start", a quote from the article explaining the movie Reservoir Dogs,  reinforces that Tarantino is an autuer as his films have followed the same style and recepie ever since "the start" with Reservoir Dogs. The article provides clips of 'the most shocking Tarantino scenes' and a little synopsis. What is noticible is that all the clips are simliar as they all have a mini lead up to something the audience isn't expecting at all, which is what shocks us. This shows us that he is an auteur as all the clips from each of his films have the same style but still suprises us and shocks us as we dont know when and what to expect the violence.

BOOKS/MAGAZINE ARTICLES

Item 7)  Media Magazine Issue fifteen/Febuary 2006

Item 8) 'Royal with cheese: Quentin Tarantino and the blood-letting of culture'
Source: Media Magazine Issue 35/Febuary 2011
This article, 'Royal with cheese: Quentin Tarantino and the blood-letting of culture', was very useful in once again showing Tarantino to be an Autuer of all audiences. "Changing the face of American cinema by speaking to all auidences", a quote taken from the article showing us that Tarantino has the power to connect with a wide range of audiences which makes him an Auteur as audiences recognise his work and accept his unique and distinct styles. "Films such as Pulp Fcition (1994),  Reservoir dogs (1992), Kill Bill (2003/04) can be seen to emphasise the human element - these are films that deal explicity with human themes of guilt, forgivness and redemption". Another quote from the article stating that Tarantino is an Auteur as he deals with the same re-occuring themes that attracts a wide range of audiences. This makes him an Auetur as people can recognise his work by his trademarked themes such violence, gory scenes and witty dialouge which are all themes and icons now in Tarantino's contemporary filmmaking. This article was excellent in showing Tarantino to be an Auteur as it describes him and his work in a way that every Auetur is described.

OBSERVATION SURVEY

Item 9) Observational survey of peers engaging with text
I asked one of my friends to watch a Tarantino movie and to tell me what they thought of it and if tehy could pick out some major elements in his filmaking. The film was Pulp Fiction (1994), and my friend expalined after watching the movie that he was abit confused with the structure of the movie due to the non-linear structure that Tarantino is famous for. He also mentioned that the film was really violent but enjoyed it as it was served with dark comedy which helped him keep positive when watching the film ultimately stating that he laughed out loud at moments he thought he shoudlnt have. I then asked him to watch another Tarantino movie the following night. I chose Reservoir Dogs (1992), and he stated the same techinques and elements of Pulp Fiction but for Reservoir Dogs which made him realise all of his filmography follows a distinct and unique recipe for filmmaking. This was important for me as it shows a person who has never seen a Tarantino movie can realise that he is an Auteur due to the way he can control the audience's emotions and feelings especially using comedy and violence together. But also how all of his films are similar in a way due to the themes, techinques, actors, locations and dialouge, which means if you like one of his films, your most likely to like all of them.


INTERVIEW

Item 10) Family member interview on use of violence.
I interviewed a family member on their thoughts of Tarantino and their appreciation towards the idea of him being an Auteur. My dad who has seen all of Tarantino's works was very possitive in expessing his feelings towards him and by stating that he was infact an auetuer. On the otherhand my mum said that his work does contain alot of blood and gory scenes which can be un easy to watch, but thats what makes it a 'Tarantino movie'.

MIND MAP
SIMILARITIES                               CRIME CONFLICT &POVERTY
DIFFERNCES
TECHNIQUES
STORIES

Simon Poggi    

Aims and context - "Swinging Cats"


- The opening of a motion picture screenplay named "Swinging Cats"
- Influences are : Goodfellas, Reservoir dogs,  A Clockwork Orange.
- Target audience : unisex with age rating 18+, crime genre lovers.

Reflective analysis - "Swinging Cats"

I created a crime/caper film set in the fashionable swinging 60s London era. The film is mostly based on 3 professional criminals who take on a major heist for their boss in one of the many jewelries at Hatton Gardens, Diamond district of London. The heist doesn't go too well, but the three criminals seem to have get off scot-free until their boss assures them people know it was them, and orders them to 'ged rid' of the troubles.

After watching a video of screenwriter and director, Quentin Tarantino, talking about what makes a perfect screenplay? He mentioned that its all about the pen on the page, that you should make it all about the page and the making it pleasant for the reader to read it and understand it as a story and not as a technical movie. So I decided to make characterisation key and give the three characters really firm different personalities so they would each give their own unique style to the movie, and also make it more enjoyable for the reader as it can stretch their imagination for who these characters really are.
Johnny is a very slick, smooth talking young man who sweet talks the ladies to get information and pretty much whatever he wants. When brainstorming this character, my influences was the character of Warren Beatty in Bugsy (1991),  James Caan in Godfather (1972), George Clooney in Ocean's eleven (2001) and Alain Delon in Le Samurai (1967). I wanted to have a character with that kind of personality as every crime film needs it to glamourise the situation and let the audience be entertained as the female target audience want the character and the male target audience want to be the character.
Butch is very manly, more older and wise and leads the group of bandits in a way. My influences were Sean Connery in The untouchables (1987), Robert De Niro in Goodfellas (1990), Cary Grant in North by Northwest (1959) and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942). I wanted a character like Butch to really represent a man and a leader, a man who dresses well, deals with the authority and makes sure everything runs smoothly but ultimately has a bad past like any other criminal. The character of Butch puts the organised in organised crime.
Sully, on the other hand, is very different as he isn't attractive as the other two characters, psychically and personality wise as he is very short tempered, loud mouthed, and very violent. My influences were Joe Pesci in Goodfellas (1990), Samuel Jackson in Jackie Brown (1997), Malcolm Mcdowell in A clockwork Orange (1971) and Bob Hopskins in The Long Good Friday (1980).  I thought a character like Sully is ideal for my movie as it brings even more drama into the situation and achieves interest for the trigger happy audience members due to his violence. Characters like Sully are used in movies to show the bad side of crime as they indulge themselves in blood soaking violence that puts the audience off, and just like every hollywood film, the character always ends baldly.

I chose to set my screenplay in the mid 1960's London as Ive always been really into the decade and thought it would just fit more into the crime genre and also setting it in the diamond district of London reinforces the heist situation of the movie. Music from british groups from the era such as The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The kinks, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The who and Deep Purple have always been influential for me from a young age so i wanted to write something about characters in that era. As London was very popular in the 60s, ultimately gaining the nickname, the swinging 60s, actors from around the world would visit to get a taste of 'the good life'. The retro style, the crazy hair, good music, and hippie flower movement was all happening in the 60s which is what I've always found interesting and fascinating. But what made me set my crime story in the 60s was the influential mob brothers, The Krays. Probably the most infamous British criminals alongside Jack the ripper, The Krays basically owned most of London and for me set a cult message as they were the first to inhabit the american mobster way of doing business which was what made them so iconic for London. As i researched more about The Krays, setting a heist/crime movie in London during the time was so ideal as in a way it actually what was happening at the time as London was violent and criminals such as The Krays (and my characters) ruled the criminal underworld.

The opening scene in my screenplay isn't actually the beginning of my story but actually mid way through. The idea of having a non linear structure came from Tarantino and Scorsese films as Ive always been interested how well they've worked and how they drag the audiences attention in such little time. The first time I watched Pulp Fiction, I watched it straight again after as I wanted to figure out the order of the scenes in my head, which is what I want my audience to do. By throwing your audience into the scene mid way through, they look around and look closer as they want to know where they are and where there possibly going, which is much more interesting for them. Also what influenced me to do a heist story without actually seeing the group of 3 entering the jewerelly store and robbing it, was Reservoir Dogs (1992) as the whole film is tense and were following these characters talking about a heist but never actually seeing it. This level of suspense also comes from the films of Hithcock as the simple element of not seeing something makes it even more scary/tense/suspensful. For example in Psycho (1960) You never see the knife penetrate Janet Leigh, but the audience still scream and close their eyes in terror.

I chose to have the character of Johnny speaking over the black as Ive always thought that its the best way to open a movie. From films such as Godfather, A clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, Casablanca and Annie Hall opening with a quote or a statement drags your audience in as its the first thing that is said, and the audience will use their judgement to carry on watching. By speaking over the black, the audience wonder who's speaking? what character it is? And why are they saying this?
The opening scene is set in a high class restaurant for aritrocats, politicians and people of wealth. I chose to have the scene in a classy restaurant to show the audience the rich and lavish London lifestyle, and also give to give them a sweet evil taste of what crime can buy you. I had the image of Ernie's restaurant in Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) as it consisted of a lot of red bright colours and extravagant materials and furniture. the main colour was red, which symbolises passion, beauty and danger and blood which had a double effect and meaning. What made me want to have this very over the top restaurant was also Stanley Kubrick's amazing use of colours, shapes, symmetry and 60s retro as seen in most of films. I liked this as it makes the setting of the scene iconic as the audience would not only remember the characters from the film but also unforgettable setting of the scene if its done well. The costumes for the characters were chose to be suits as it represents business, gentlemen and wealth. As I've always been fascinated by protagonist's costumes in Scorsese films such as Goodfellas and Casino, I wanted to have my characters have similar flashy suits as it almost disguises their bad deeds, and sugar coats the danger that lys behind the blazers. Having the scene cut to different conversations helps the audience ask who these people are but also subconsciously introduces the main characters without making it too obvious as they listen to conversation to conversation and pick up on the different characters trademarks, for example Johnny's flirty self and Sully's short temper.
The opening scene ends with the 3 criminals killing the person they were conversing with and all link at the middle of the restaurant and exit together as a gang and as they walk in the street the camera pans across the street and we see the Jewellery store they were all talking about. I thought this would shock the audience as they wouldn't of expected the men to be together as they were all in different conversations across the room, and also being shocked about the murders. By having the shot of the Jewellery store at the end makes the audience jump of the seat and think 'thats the thing they were talking about!', which also adds a bit of irony as they walk past somewhere they've committed a crime right after they committed another crime. So as Pink Floyd's "Money" plays during the opening credits, the audience would ask themselves Who were they? why did they murder those people? How are they linked? Are they involved in the heist that they were speaking about? All these valid questions helps the audience focus themselves for the rest of the film and motivate themselves to find out the truth.

I re-watched a lot of movies that influenced my idea and story and researched certain particulars such as the setting, clothes and dialogue to make the screenplay correct and candid. I also read some screenplays such as Pulp Fiction (1994) which helped me with writing a scene with non linear structure and making characterisation important to illustrate to the audience who these characters really are and what they do. When showing this idea to peers and my teacher they said it could work really well if it was done well by showing different characters and trying to make the dialogue easy and simple to follow but also be dragged by it and not bored. Different scripts of Tarantino also helped me learn how to make an audience let out a laugh in situations of the story which aren't supposed to be naturally funny.










                                                                   

For my project in photography i have decided to base it on architecture because after looking at different photographers i found that i was interested in buildings and how they are able to completely change an image. I then developed this idea by looking at old buildings and comparing them to new. I decided to base my shoots in London as its famous for its buildings and city scales, and people travel across the world just to see it for its history which is portrayed through its architecture but by adding modern buildings are we losing the traditional image that its known for?

Battersea  Power station 
Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Battersea. I chose to focus on it as I believe it is one of London's' most iconic monuments but also one of London's most important monument. The power station has become a visual icon as it has been used in many popular culture references such as The Beatles film , 'help' and Pink Floyd's 'Animal' album cover, which reinforces it being a british icon as both of those group bands are english. But one of the reasons I've made an interest in Battersea Power station is because it links with my question about modern architecture as next to the power station, plans to build modern apartments are already mid way in process. I thought this was interesting as the power station is now seen with cranes and a building site. This was perfect in showing traditional against contemporary.

Young men from ethnic minorities are the main social group represented in both films. In City of God, we follow Rocket as a young boy but we also see a group of younger kids when Rocket is grown up called “The Runts”, who indulge themselves in crime due to the poverty surrounding them. In Tsotsi, the main characters are also teenagers which shows the audience that living in poverty and being surrounded by conflict ultimately influences young children to get involved in crime at a young age because the only people in that environment who have money and own a tiny percent of wealth are drug dealers and criminals. In a scene in City of God, Lil Ze, confronts “The Runts” and hands a gun to one of the children and orders him to kill one of the others after he had already shot them both in the foot. This shows the audience that the young characeters are getting involved in crime and getting hurt. The scene in City of God shocks the western audience as a man handing a gun to a child seems so abnormal and reinforces the conflict and disorientation of decency in the favelas and environment of Rio De Janerio.