Independent Study- Example 4

8/2/2019 Independent Study- Example 4

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Video Audio

Soldiers in Paths of Glory

jeer at a singing German

prisoner. Soldiers face camera

as to address audience

directly.

Soldiers cheering and whistling

loudly. The cheering slowly

subsides to change emotional

tone to one of pity and

sympathy.

Retreating from a chaotic

battlefield at night in

Blessed by Fire with handheld

camera style

The faithful Hussar sung by

German girl in Paths of Glory

Sound from clip is lowereded,

to resemble a reminiscence

instead of an actual scene.

Cut to static shot of singing

German girl, with tears

streaming down her face.

The Faithful Hussar song

continued silently.

No diegetic sound from clips.

Cut to the protagonist of Land

and Freedom, David, being held

at gunpoint, also in tears

Diegetic sound is cut out in an

eerie silence while Hussar

continues

Protagonist, Werner, of Das

Boot stares upon the dead crew

of the submarine

Hussar continues.

(Soundtrack silenced)

A crying youth from Die

Brcke limps away from the

battlefield in tears.

Hussar continues, soldiers

start humming

A soldier wipes away tears in

his eyes in Paths of Glory

Hussar continues, soldiers

humming grows louder and drown

Title fades in, Anti-War

films

Hussar fades into title

sequence into silence

Still, wide shot from Birth of

a Nation with troops firing

from horseback. (Observational

documentary conventions)

Narrator:War

Sound from following clips are

lowered to enhance narration

All Quiet on the Western

Front trench sequence. Camera

is confined the narrow trench.

N: Since film was created, war

has been mimicked on screen

Saving Private Ryan s opening

sequence exhibits use of much

CG and historical props.

N:Though Saving Private Ryan

has been praised for its

gritty realism...

Troops storm the beach aside

injured soldiers clutching

their wounds also demonstrating

skilful use of makeup.

N: ...it has a strong reliance

on visual effects and makeup,

clearly contradicting realist

conventions.


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Video Audio

A young soldier cries over one

of his comrades in Die

Brcke, who lost their lives

in a pointless battle.

N: It is evident that

emotional realism takes

precedence over true

realism...

Examples of the war in a

documentary form within Land

and Liberty, juxtaposed by the

the protagonists reaction

towards it.

N:with the absence of editing,

little camera movement, natural

lighting and conventional lack

of a structured narrative.

Protagonist, Estebn, of

Blessed by Fire looks upon

the battlefield in a night

skirmish

N: Evidently, one can see that

both contemporary films, albeit

less,...

Protagonists of Die Brucke

duck in cover of an enemys

aircraft as it bombs a nearby

building.

N: ...share nearly identical

usage of pyrotechnics and

makeup and even special effects

with that of previous years.

Visual Effects montage of

Black Hawk Down. 1) A

helicopter hovers above a

square while taking gunfire.

N: It is true that contemporary

films have the aid of Computer

Generated Imagery in portraying

the heat of battle.

2)Soldier spots troops circlinghis building. Return to 1),

where the helicopter is shot

down by an explosive

N: However, this investigationexamines Anti-war themes its

influence

Combat scene of Die Brucke

clearly demonstrates the use of

props, makeup and pyrotechnics

and its similarity of usage in

to contemporary texts.

N:from the verisimilitude

from films before and after

1991 to determine the evolution

of war realism.

Fade out to black to next shot Fade to silence.

Stock footage of military

operations in an observational

documentary form.

N: The main challenge for the

films is the need to bring

history to life.

Protagonist as old, dying man

from Land and Freedom in

modern day UK.

N:Ken Loachs Land And

Freedom and Bauers Blessed

by Fire...

Protagonist of Blessed by

Fire in the present day as a

middle aged man.

N:draw the audience into the

text by illustrating past and

present versions of the

characters...


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Video Audio

Cut to young protagonists of

both films as a young men

through quick fade transitions.

N:which highlight the

characters story as well as

their present social,

historical and economic status.

A paramedic team enter David

Carrs modern day house, trying

to revive him.

N:In Land And Liberty this

is taken further by equating

the audiences experience...

Cut to granddaughter character,

going through her grandfathers

newspaper cuttings of the war.

N: ...to the experience of a

granddaughter, a modern youth.

Closeup of Lt Werner as a war

correspondent taking shots of

activity in the U-Boat. This isalso a self-reflexive choice by

the documentary to acknowledge

the subject of the discussion.

N:Das Boot does not utilise

a transition through time, Lt.

Werner is placed into themicrocosm that is the submarine

as the guiding character for

the audience.

Quick cut between each

protagonist at home and on the

front line, suggesting a notion

of parallelism between

civilians and soldiers.

N: With many of these films, it

blurs the line between soldier

and civilian, insinuating the

proximity of war to anyone,

including the audience.

Fade to black. Fade to silence

Long shot of seaside during

Narrators speech. Cut to the

three protagonists of Blessed

By Fire sharing jokes beside a

sheep they have just eaten.

N: Many anti-war films employ a

band of friends or comrades.

(In Spanish)Do pigs really

squeal a lot when theyre

killed? Yes, like pigs -

chuckling-

Multiple closeups of crew as a

ship passes by. Captain issues

orders silently as he smiles tohis crew.

Sound cut out for narration.

N:The characterisation in Das

boot centres around a tightly

knit group of individuals.Soundtrack: Das Boot Soundtrack

played softly in background

Cut to talking head shot of

Wolfgang Petersen with posters

of his films placed behind him,

framed with rule of thirds.

Directors name fades in.

Wolfgang Petersen:Our captain

on this boat is 30 years old.

He was like a father to his

crew because... the way he

decided was death or life.


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Video Audio

Departure sequence. Crew are

jovially waving to port while

sailing away. The colourful

fanfare accompanying their

departure is gradually mutedthrough the rest of the film.

-Pause-

Petersen: The others are more

between 17 and 25, kids. And to

watch them leave enthusiastic,full of energy

Still shot of the submarine

returning to port while the

submarine crew pan from left to

right with battle-hardened,

thousand yard stares, while

being strongly juxtaposed with

celebratory music at the port.

Petersen: ... and to come back

as old men.

N: Therefore, anti-war films

can be seen as having coming-

of-age themes, implemented by

father and child character

archetypes.

The youths are shown withboyish excitement at being

recruited, while their school

teacher looks away distraught.

Youth:Look! Heres my draft!We have to be at the barracks

tomorrow morning at 7!

Scene continued, sound

softened.

CUT to Ullman, a young sailor

with a boyish face writing

letters to his girlfriend. Shot

used for juxtaposition.

N: Here, we can see a major

criticisms of warfare: its

reliance on an archetypal view

of a man, through gender

representation and

masculinisation of war.

Protagonists of Blessed By

Fire chase sheep in their

spare time with giddy

excitement. As opposed to the

expected archetype of war

preparation.

N: Which, paradoxically,

sustains the prevalence of the

theme of innocence, naivety and

maturation into adulthood in

multiple films.

Pan around the protagonists of

Die Brcke, who are teens

dressed in iconographicallysignificant military wear.

N: An interesting consequence

of this is the surprising lack

of female characters.

Klaus from Die Brcke, asks

for his watch back, symbolic of

their relationship. His

girlfriend looks away with a

look of complete shock seeing

Klaus has chosen to be

indoctrinated into warfare over

sustaining their relationship.

N: Some film analysis have even

claimed that war is surely the

most masculine of genres.

Girlfriend:I want to ask you

something You can ask me

anything, Klaus. This is our

last evening together. Can I

have my watch back?


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Video Audio

Two brothers, Hans and Albert,

are packing to leave their

caretake Mrs Mutz, a symbolic

mother, as Albert packs his

things boyishly and innocentlyas if he was going on holiday.

Themes of adulthood and

childhood are present here.

N: Feminist critics of the war

film, most notably Susan

Jeffords, have argued that the

genre plays a role in the

masculinising process necessaryto the creation of warriors.

Mrs Mutz:I beg you, Hans,

take care of him.

Protagonist of Blessed by

Fire abandons his superior

officer to search for his

friend.

N: Ultimately, these narrative

themes lend themselves to a

criticism of coming-of-age

elements in war films.

Fade to black. Fade to silence.

The three protagonists from

Blessed By Fire appear out of

their cramped dugout.

N: In forming the emotional

context of characters on the

battlefield, setting

Pvt Joker walks through a

burning building in Vietnam in

Full Metal Jacket

N:plays a major role. For

example, it can be depicted as

their personal hell.

Estebn from Blessed By Fire

steps into the frame, looking

out into the foreboding mist,symbolic of his uncertain

future as a soldier, as well as

the literal battle ahead.

N:The director of Blessed by

Fire makes great use of

pathetic fallacy to projectthemes of uncertainty and

foreboding felt by soldiers,

emotionally engaging the

audience on a non-verbal level.

The U-Boat from Das Boot

appears from murky green sea.

The shot is suffocatingly two-

dimensional, with no other

points of attention.

N:Similarly, Das boot draws

attention to the claustrophobia

of the submarine; a physical

representation of entrapment

experienced by the soldiers.

The U-Boat is thrust into chaos

with water spraying into the

cabin & gas pipes bursting open

while crew rush to repair it.

Sound from clip. Narrator cuts

out.

Wolfgang Petersen: There was no

way out.

Stock footage of Vocano filming

Das Boot in very close

proximity to the characters,

portraying the intensity of

facial expressions, thereby

eliciting emotional sympathyfrom audience.

Petersen: Jost Vacano

(cinematographer) developed his

own camera system. He could

walk around in the smallest

spaces. It gave you the feeling

of being inside the submarineall the time.


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Video Audio

Claustrophobic closeups of

troops in the sandy trenches of

Gallipoli

N: Even in other films, the

location itself, such as the

harsh desert trenches...

Cut to a soldier runningdesperately to send a message

to the front line.

N: ...of Turkey, can be atechnique utilised to elicit

emotion.

Talking head shot of Peter Weir

aligned on power points of the

screen. Name & role appear

below.

Weir: You can wander in the

trenches [in Gallipoli] and you

can pick stuff up...

Shot of protagonists standing

in trenches in Gallipoli, as

a parallel to the modern day.

Weir: and theres no one

around. You have one of those

odd moments where you knowthat...

Back to talking head shot. Weir: ...the history that was

in the books did happen.

One of the young soldiers

patrols the bridge surrounded

by total darkness of the night.

N:The visual look of Die

Brcke has a strong influence

from German Expressionism...

Shot continued. The sides and

end of the bridge are dark,alluding that there is no

true way forward for the

soldier.

N: ...as the director utilises

chiaroscuro lighting to, again,psychological isolation

experienced by the soldier.

Cut from talking head shot to

continuation of scene above,

Crew of submarine looking

around in fear straining to

hear the sound of the enemys

destroyer near them.

N:With specificity to Das

Boot, sound plays a large role

in creating the feeling of

tension and anticipation as

well as fear.

Captain orders the descent of

U-Boat, away from enemy vessels

signified by the ever-frequent

sonar ping.

Petersen: The sound in a

submarine movie is...

everything.

Sound from clip lowered.

Scene continued, everyone goes

silent to hear the strains on

the submarines hull.

Submarine crew:We cant hold

the boat Diegetic sound:

Creaking and grinding of the

hull under pressure.

Crew aboard submarine exchange

nervous whispers in an

internally framed shot.

CrewWhat about the torpedoes?

Crew 2: Any minute now...

[distant boom of a torpedo]


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Video Audio

Crew of the submarine whoop and

cheer hearing news of a

successful torpedo strike, but

are hushed by a senior officer.

Only the faint ping of sonarcan be heard.

Petersen: The finest, tiniest

faintest things they hear.

Anything could be very

frightening.

Sound from clip heightenedafter cheering subsides.

British sailors jump from the

burning wreckage of their

destroyers. Their faces masked

by the darkness of the night,

but screaming in helplessness.

N: The sound in itself,

represents the enemy, who are

represented as an imposing

whole, as opposed to distinct

characters.

Previous scene fades into

talking head shot, then into

crew of U-Boat, showing avariety of individuals on

board.

Petersen: This is not about

Germans or English or

Americans, its just aboutpeople.

Talking head shot of Andrew

Kelly (film analyst). Name and

title appear below.

Kelly: These films show the

brutality of war but go

further.

Re-used clip from Paths of

Glorys final scene in which

French soldiers arrive at their

epiphany, realising the Germanpeoples are just like them.

Kelly: By saying that the

ordinary soldier on one side

was equal to those on the other

it provided a new message ofhope.

Protagonist, Pvt Joker,

encounters the female sniper in

the final sequence of the film.

N: Kubrick takes this to

another level in his next war

film Full Metal Jacket...

Joker encounters the female

sniper in the final sequence of

the film who has been wounded,

gasping for her last breaths.

N: ...where the protagonist is

so horrified at the innocence

and helplessness personified by

the female enemy...

Joker executes the sniper. The

viewer is left to interpret his

blank expression whether it was

out of mercy or disgust.

Fade to black

N:who he kills in cold blood

Loud clap of gunshot.

Fade to silence.

Fade in to Paths of Glorys

trial scene, which utilises

tilted two-shots establishing

the hierarchy between the

soldiers and the generals.

Kelly: Paths of Glory is

Kubricks quintessential film

about military incompetence and

the brutality and slaughter it

engenders.


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Video Audio

Closeup of General Mireau and

General Broulard with

oppressive snaring eyes.

Andrew Kelly: Much of the film

attacks the opportunism and

greed of the French High

Command

A General panics and gives the

order for artillery to fire

upon his own men, while others

around him look dumbstruck,

highlighting the absurdity of

warfare and the generals lack

of reason.

General Mireau:Captain

Nichols Order the 75s to

commence firing on our own

positions

-silence-

General Mireau:Captain, do

you fail to comprehend the

meaning of my order?

The captain and his crew view

the luxuries afforded by theirposition. This is reflected

through the warm yellow

lighting on the ship.

N: Disillusionment also occurs

in Das Boot where the crew,knowing of the reality of war,

board their seniors yacht.

The crew are welcomed on board

with a Nazi salute, but they

exchange a knowing glance of

the futility of command.

Senior Official:Gentlemen.

Three cheers for our brave U-

Boat men. Sieg HEIL! Sieg

HEIL!

Scene continued. Foolishly, the

commander mistakes another crewmember for the captain,

revealing a lack of knowledge.

N: Even their clothing reflects

the manner of criticism, thatthe commanders arent aware of

true war.

The lieutenant of the squadron

barks orders to the conscripts,

shot by a handheld camera

promoting a sense of realism.

N:This is apparent in Blessed

by Fire as well. Bauers work

received a great influence from

his previous work with the

documentary form.

An army regiment assembles in

formation.As narrator dialogue ends, the

senior officer attempts to drum

up motivation from his troops.

N: This is strongly evident

through his usage of hand-heldcinematography and some use of

natural lighting.

Scene continued. Themes of

failure of command emerge from

an idealistic rant. The setting

is again a cold muddy hillside,

as reflected by squelching mud.

Lieutenant: (Shouting) Cold

does not exist.

Hunger does not exist.

Only GOD and the FATHERLAND.

Long live the FATHERLAND!


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Video Audio

In the final battle scene of

the film, the protagonist packs

his superiors belongings as he

has been ordered to, but

refuses to carry it.

N: Further on, the protagonist

achieves a moment of emotional

catharsis as the climax of the

narrative, where we see they

have fully rejected authority.

Scene continues.

The protagonists refusal to

take an order escalates to an

argument. Mise-en-scne

indicates a reversal of power

and hierarchy through the use

of a slightly upward tilted

camera angle looking up at the

protagonist.

Protagonist: I have to help a

wounded comrade.

Lieutenant: Get over here! Who

the HELL do you think you are?

Are you refusing to obey an

order? Were losing because of

people like YOU!

Protagonist:No, its because

youre all incompetent!

His rant is interrupted by an

aerial attack. He regains his

authority after diving to the

ground first.

N: Hence this highlights

another evident theme of anti-

war films: the failure of

ideology.

A soldier from Blessed by

Fire, kneels in a submissive

position after he is spotted

outside after curfew.

N: As proposed by Antonio

Gramsci, ideology is an

establishment of a power

hierarchy.

David and other militia memberswalk up to a camp with a

striking red flag, symbolic of

left wing ideology.

Loach: Our countries stood byand watched fascism win. But

these men would today be

trying to break the illegal

Israeli blockade of Gaza.

The conflict carries on until

the evening, where both sides

are exchanging insults towards

each other, causing the

audience to ask are they

really that different?

Protagonist:Hey you! Stalins

sidekick! What division are you

in?

Unknown rival:You dont even

know whos your enemy. You

idiots!

The militia engage in a small

skirmish in a town amidst

civilians, asserting their role

as liberators of the town.

Loach: It was a war in defence

of a democratic government

against fascism.

Scene continued. One of Davids

friends is shot, making the

audience question how much his

life was worth.

Protagonist: (as his friend is

shot) - Coogan! Coogan! No!

Coogan!

Cut to previous talking head

shot.

Petersen: There is something so

interesting about...


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Video Audio

Chief engineer of Das Boot

cowers in a corner hearing

grinding pressure on the hull.

Petersen: ...what is of course,

frightening and shocking.

Talking head shot of Petersen.The shot is sustained, then cut

to a closeup for emphasis on

his words.

Petersen: They though that theywere going to be the big

heroes, and all of a sudden,

they really found out what it

meant to be on a submarine.

An English crowd is galvanised

by the prospect of fighting in

Spain, chanting in support of a

volunteer recruiter

N: Indeed, this epiphany of war

is what spurs much of war

criticism. (Chanting) No

pasaran! No pasaran!

A funeral procession in LandAnd Freedom brings out

elements of life/death in anti

war films.

N: To the soldier, it reallygets them to question What

cause are we fighting for?

Burial scene in Land And

Freedom where a man delivers a

eulogy. David casts a look of

speculation and doubt when he

mentions cause.

Eulogist:And we shall

continue: Its what they would

have wanted. Theyre here with

us, fighting for the same

cause

Land allocation scene of Landand Freedom, where the militia

argue over the course of land

reform, but scales into an

argument.

N: Even for those fightingalongside each other, divisions

can occur.

(Soundtrack of argument

increased to highlight

conflicting ideology)

Talking head shot of Dana

Polan, film critic. Name and

role appear below.

Polan: Without a coherent

ideology to shore it up, the

war film becomes incoherent.

Protagonists of ApocalypseNow traverse a base under

attack, lit in a surreal manner

with red lights and smoke. This

emphasises the distorted,

warped view of the battlefield

that a soldier experiences from

prolonged warfare.

Polan: For example, images thatare overfilled and chaotically

unreadable, narrative

trajectories that fragment into

monadic bits, an experimental

fascination with a sheer

temporality in which pure

duration comes to substitute

for the progress of narrative


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Video Audio

Old documentary film reel used

in Land And Freedom - a self-

referential tool, shown to the

characters as well as the

audience indirectly.

N: Returning to the subject of

verisimilitude, historical

accuracy is sometimes

sacrificed to convey a films

morality.

Attack sequence of Paths Of

Glory.

N: For many filmmakers,

historical fact isnt an end in

itself.

Talking head shot of Ken Loach.

Cut to closeup as he pauses for

emphasis.

Loach: The final battle...

which was modelled on the final

battle...

Final battle of Land And

Freedom at murky dawn, again,an example of the setting

becoming an imposing obstacle

for characters.

Loach: ...of the POUM which

happened over a period of aday.

-Soundtrack of gunfire and

shouting as the militia presses

an attack-

Scene continued, sound

softened.

N: Where many of these films

disregard historical fact to

craft themes to criticise war.

End Title card from Die

Brcke.This happened on April 27th

1945. It was so insignificant

that it was not mentioned in

any military report

N: Bernhard Wicki uses this to

illustrate the futility andinsignificance of the lives

these boys sacrificed.

-Silence to read titlecard-

Fade to black. Fade to silence.

Blanca in Land And Freedom is

is shot in the back.

N: Finally, the true...

inescapable...

Cut to funeral procession shotused earlier.

N: ...theme of war films is

-pause-

Death of submarine crew in Das

Boot as the U-Boat itself

sinks too.

N: ...Death.

-silence for emphasis-

Juxtaposed with images of the

crew singing happily as they

set sail.

Sudden increase in sound as the

crew sing Its a Long Way To

Tipperary, ironically, a

British song.


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Video Audio

Scene continued, the U boat

sails peacefully in calm sea.

Song continues, but sailors

voices are made to seem

distant, almost ghostlike.

Juxtaposition again with thedeath of protagonists in Die

Brcke as a youth is shot off

his perch on a tree and falls

beside some of his friends.

Boys: -screaming indesperation- Jrgen! Jrgen!

-gunfire in background

representing impending their

deaths-

Protagonists of Die Brcke

cheer over a stash of alcohol

they discovered in a river,

while they laugh happily.

Boys: Oh boy! It must have been

the Easter Bunny!

Another Boy: Easter Bunnies

dont bring booze!

Juxtaposition AGAIN, Estebn asa grown man stands beside his

ex-soldier friend who attempted

suicide.

Estebn: (Melancholically)Crazy fool

His words are silence compared

to hospital machinery hissing

and beeping around him.

Younger versions of the same

people sit together, exchanging

their distaste for the food.

Young Estebn: You know what

piss is? This (pours his tea on

the floor) is piss.

The boys of Die Brcke

discover one of their friendswas gunned down by a plane.

N:The one unifying thing, that

ALL these directors have...

Cut to them standing around

their dead friend.

N: ...implemented, is the death

of major characters.

Match cut to Pvt Joker from

Full Metal Jacket looking

down on two of his dead

comrades. Shot revolves to his

squadmates.

Squadmate:Youve gone home now

Semper Fi.

Squadmate 2:Were mean

marines, sir.

Squadmate 3: Go easy, bros.

A youth from Die Brcke cradles

one of his friends.

N: This effectively associates

the genre with tragedy

Scene continued. The line

between life and death is

blurred as well...

Youth:(Softly) Karl, Karl

-Gunfire skitters above his

head- (Shouting) Karl? Karl!

Scene continued, as the youth

wonders whether his friend is

dead or not.

N: ...carrying its emotional

load... such that it highlights

the destructive nature of war.


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Video Audio

A wounded crew member is

carried to a small bed, while

he produces a guttural scream.

N: Any depiction of an atrocity

cannot avoid being an

atrocity...

Estebn carries a comrade intothe infirmary.

N: ...regardless of nationalityand culture and context.

Scene continued.

The camera swirls around

Estban, with a montage of

emergency surgery, the deceased

and soldiers convulsing in

pain.

N: Many of the soldiers in the

infirmary are groaning,

screaming and crying, string-

based music rises to depict

Estbans shrill discomfort of

the overriding theme of death.

He limps out, clearly shaken

onto the quiet street amongstother soldiers like him.

-pause-

N: To conclude, The finalmessage of war films is that

Night combat scene of blessed

by fire, closeup on feet

running through muddy ground.

N: ...in whatever era and in

whatever language, common

themes emerge.

Closeup of youthful U-boat

crew-member of Das Boot, dead

at the submarine base.

N: From the struggle of

maturing into an adult...

Closeup of the femaleVietnamese sniper in pain. N: ...to the depiction of theenemy...

The young boys of Die Brcke

stand in formation as they are

surveyed by a senior officer.

N: ...to failing ideology,

hierarchy and patriarchy...

The captain of the U-Boat sees

his ship sink and dies with it.

N: ...to the final morbid truth

of death.

David sits helplessly on a

donkey-pulled cart beside

Blanca after she has been shot.

N: ...all the films reject war

equally regardless of whether

it attempts to draw out

verisimilitude through...

The militia of Land and

Freedom sing, once again

reinforcing the

characterisation of the group.

N: ...the emotional engagement

of settings, hierarchy and

characterisation.

(Soundtrack softened)

Credits with backdrop from Dr.

Strangelove. Music is highly

ironic, suggesting Well meet

again, is a lie.Fade to black.

End sequence from Dr.

Strangelove with Vera Lynns

Well meet again

Fade to silence


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Independent Study- Example 4

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Transcript of Independent Study- Example 4