Skimpy clothes/rah-rah skirt, red lips, dark eyes (nightmare)
Represents the temptation to drink
The guy:
Normal looking
Similar look/style to Justin Bieber
Represents the female protagonist’s addiction
The friends:
Own style
Production Schedule
Sunday 24th – Friday 28th October
(Actual days for each location depend on weather)
Two days park:
Before dream sequence
Part of dream sequence
Part of nightmare sequence
Female protagonist: 2 days
Seductress: 2 days
Guy: 2 days
Friends: 1 day
One day tunnel/underpass:
Transition from dream to nightmare
Female protagonist and Seductress
One day leaving house, bathroom and symbolist shots:
Mostly indoors
Female protagonist (maybe Seductress)
Synopsis
A girl leaves her home with a bottle of, what appears to be, water and sits in her local park to watch the world go by. However, everything changes and the world isn’t what she knew it to be; she enters a dream-like world and is led by a girl in white through a forest to a small gathering of friends who are happy to befriend the girl. Amongst the friends is the girl’s dream man and he leads her farther into the forest. After presenting her with a gift, the dream world shifts and becomes a nightmare. The girl feels powerless against the horror and stops everything the only way she knows how to...
We discussed Characters in lesson, We know will have our protaginist, which she has to be: 16- 19 years old.
We also looked at how we think the girl would look like, so we could scout a girl who possible incorporates all our ideas or similar to.
Justyn:
- Strong features, no specific skin colour, middle height, medium hair.
Roisin
- Nothing special with features,'a balnk canvas' we could mould and style, white/ dark hair
Perpe
- Messy erratic hair, arty, tall and skinny.
We discussed the use of other charachers within the shortfilmand dream sequence for example: family members, possible ex boyfriend and friends she looks tofor acceptance.
Tuesday 6th October 2010
Group members: Perpe, Rosin and Justyn
In this lesson, we discussed our initial short film idea further by discussing in more detail how we could expand the narrative and other details.
Our initial idea.
A lonely, isolated girl suffers trumatic blackouts regulary, which often results in her missing crucial moments in her life.
In this lesson,we decided to rework the idea to possibly present a reason for her blackouts or incorporate more of a narrative idea.
We wanted to incorporate a dream sequence into the short film, which will be what is happening in her thoughts during her balckouts. The 'dream sequence' will show symbolises through imagery of what she is suffering from, and her need to escape. The dream sequence will be vital component in the short film, so it has to be perfectly planned.
Dream Sequence-6.10.10 discussion.
We discussed the tone of what the dream sequence should be, look like, reflect to the audience.
We all imported ideas and said we want it to be: elemets of darkness, show the prettiness and simplistics feel of a dream and a fantasy/abstract elememt.
We then disucssed the narrative and what issues and topics we would like to highlight.
Roisin- ' I think we should take a serious tone- creating impact with the audience'
Perpe- 'Two extremes collidating together - taking two sides of the world and meshing it together'.
Roisn- 'In the dream sequence- she can be in a wedding dress- happy then turns the corner and she's herself getting beaten by her lover'.
Justyn- 'Dark, Gritty- Fantasy- abstract- conclude with suicide in a bth tub- battling with herself. Leave the audience with a question.
The dream sequence could be a fantasy dream turned into a dark,gritty nightmare.
Narrative.
A girl in her late teens- Straight A student- perfect life- lives in a 2.4 family, however she has no friends, lonely and in need of acceptance. She is suffering from alchol abuse and goes to a park wiht a bottle of vodka to drink it, The dream sequence then begins.
Interview with Founder and Managing Director of Red Bag Pictures.
Red Bag Pictures is an independent company.
1. What motivated you to get into Short Film?
I had completed an evening course at Carshalton College in TV & Video Production and I wanted to practice my craft in a live environment.
2. What is RedBag Pictures? include: - History of Redbag.- What you produce.- Awards- Reason for setting up. - What films you direct and produce & Why?( Could you send a few shorts over, please.)
Redbag Pictures is a small privately owned production company specialising in Audio/Visual Production and soon Training. I wanted to have control over the films I made and create an inclusive and diverse environment within which a bridge could be created to the wider industry.
3. What do shorts offer that feature films cannot?
Freedom to be truly creative, make mistakes and learn your craft.
4. What is the significance with Short films and the internet?
Making any film is the easier part getting it distributed is tougher. The internet has started to make distribution easier.
5. What do short films offer aspiring film directors and those just breaking into the industry?
A chance to showcase what they can do on limited resources.
6. From experience and generally speaking, How experimental can you be with short film? As experimental as you want, depending on what audience you have in mind when you start.
7. What's the future for short films? - Advancements in technology. I would like to see a broader mainstream appreciation for shorts in their own right. Being screened across all media platforms, sold as compilation albums or mixtapes once were.
8. Will short films develop more of a presence amongst the TV circuit?
We already have channel 4 with Coming Up & 3 minute wonders but it would be good to see the other broadcasters coming in line with similar slots.
His shortest film, The Stairwell, was shot on a mobile phone and is just 40 seconds long. It consists solely of a man and woman, played by Meadows regulars Andrew Shim and Vicky McClure, violently bumping into each other on a stairwell.
The film plays with camera angle, it uses alot of POV shots to track characters as they are coming down the stairs- this creates a feeling as it the character are floating. The music is pacey, adding tension- we do not know where the character are heading. The film is mostly shot on steady and cuts between handheld. The interesting shots used engages the audience as it tell a journey rather than just a 40 minutes narrative. The characters faces are hidden from the camera which creates mystery. The end brings the audience to a climax however is the ending- it is effective for a short piece.
Shane Meadows is an English director, who is most renowned for his edgy and gritty style within film, he’s ‘kitchen sink’ representation of England and innovative and unique film techniques.
Shane Meadows journey into film was unorthodox; as he left school with no GCSE’s, fell in a delinquent crowd and became a regular tenant in his local prison station. Meadows reformed character came when he enrolled on a performing arts course at Burton College. He began making films with the approach of ‘kitchen sink realism’. He’s determination to create a film which was true to real life allowed his actors to act freely and even ad lib at times.
Twenty Four Seven, is a motivational film about a young boy, Alan Darcy who decided to give youth a safe haven from the streets and establishes a boxing club. The film is semi- autobiographical and was inspired by Meadows experience growing up. The film gained favourable press in the UK, it was nominated for a 1998 BAFTA award, and At the British Independent Film Awards won the Douglas Hickox Award and the FIPRESCI award.
A Room for Romeo Brass and Dead Man Shoes were all inspired by his youth, showcasing the different sides of growing up in Uttoxeter. Meadows mantra ‘stick to what you know, then you wouldn’t go wrong’ is trust to Meadows style and is a running feature throughout his films.
This Is England, is Meadows most famous film. Set in England 1983, it tackles various issues of racism, trust and friendship. The film cemented Meadows in the industry as a evocative and fearless film maker.
Meadow's lastest venture was the screen- drama adaption of his feature film, This Is England '86. The film is set 5 years after the film story and all the characters are grown up and ready to tackle new issues in their lives. The film captured the essences of This Is England and presented a new realm of realism.
Although the script structure had to be adapt to be including in 4 series segments, the raw emotions and captivating narrative still shocked audience espeically in episode 3- 'Rape Scene'.
The scene was intensfying and controversial for TV, even after water-shed. I felt it contained more emtoion than a soap opera, which is a testiment to Meadows expertise in directing and repore he has built with the fellow actors.
...'[Episode 3] was tough to watch,' tweeted another. 'You can rely on Meadows to deliver those shocking and horrific moments.'
'But seriously, This Is England '86 is a brilliant piece of TV, Shane Meadows is absolutely stupendous making it,' chipped in a fellow microblogger as the inevitable wave of fury at Channel 4's lack of sufficient pre-warning about the rape scene began to hit.
Short Film Festivals are exhibitions and celebrations of short films and directors.
Short film festivals have been running for over 20 years and are global occasions throughout the year aiming to collaborate the best in the world of film.
Many shorts and directors gain recognition from festivals. Many aspiring directors and crew gain valuable contacts and even some short leading to sponsorship or funding opportunities for future features.
When English Film director, Shane Meadows was a rookie director, he was aware they're was nowhere for directors to screen films they had made so created a festival in his location area called 'Six of The Best'. The festival include work of his and other locals.
There are short film festivals in all the world continents and over 50+ countries. They attract a wide verity of people and many critics.
TropFest is stated to be the world's largest film festival. Founded by award- winning actor/ director John Polson. He established TropFest in 1993 for friends and family at the Tropicana Cafe in Sydney, Australia.
The reputation of Tropfest is world-renowed for discovering new filmmaking talents. The festivals give a platform and exposure to premiun short films. The festival is set outdoors and is an entertainment experience above most all.
'You’re going to see people who make movies for Tropfest go on to win Academy Awards, there’s no doubt about it.’
George Miller, Oscar-Winning Director of 'Happy Feet', Tropfest Patron and Judge
MOVIE EXTRA TROPFEST 2011 is officially scheduled for SUNDAY 20 FEBRUARY - entries close THURSDAY 6 JANUARY!
London Shorts Festival have been running for 7 years and each year has been a bigger success.
For the 3rd year the UK Film Council is sponsoring the Award for the Best Film of The Festival. The winner was announced as YOU’RE THE STRANGER HERE, directed by Tom Geens.
These were the nominated films:
THE BEDFORDS (Henry Coombes)
BELIEVE (Paul Wright)
JADE (Daniel Elliot)
KID’S MIGHT FLY (Alex Taylor)
LAST TRAIN (David Schofield)
THE REAPERS (Nick Jordan / Jacob Cartwright)
RED SANDS (David Proctor)
STRANGE LIGHTS (Rosie Pedlow / Joe King)
THE WAKE (Loren Slater / Kerry Kolbe)
YOU’RE THE STRANGER HERE (Tom Geens)
This year’s judges were:
Jo McClellan (New Talent Executive, Film4)
James Mullighan (Creative Director, Shooting People)
Kate Taylor (London Short Film Festival Co-Founder and Co-Director, 2004-2009)
Silver Films were formed in 1996 by Producer Janey de Nordwall with commercial director Richard Oliver joining in 2006. Silver films have produced BAFTA award winning content and have had numerous TV commercial features across the world.
In 2000, Nordwall approached the North West Business Angel Network- Technivest- and sold percentage of her company to raise capital to part finance two shorts- About a Girl and Jump. This led to Nordwall relocating to London.
Due to the success of About A Girl- Nordwall shared a win with director Brian Percival for Best Short at The BAFTA's in 2002. She also nabbed first prize in Turner Classic Movies short film award.
In 2000, Nordwall pitched her business idea to business angels. They backed her idea and she began producing to build the reputation of Silver Films and saw this business venture as route into learning how to make films herself. In 2001, She solely chose to focus her business on film production.
Nordwall was eager to find a script she was passionate about and be able to take it forward. After research and investigating she came across the script- About A Girl written by Julie Rutterford. Nordwall states 'Everyone in the industry told me, you do not want to make that, it'll do you no good... you ought to be making a comedy'. She was forced to question 'would this be a viable decision for the company', however she strongly believed in the project, followed her instinct and pursued.
The success of About A Girl cemented Nordwall into the industry as a fearless and innovative producer, gaining her recognition and credibility.
About A Girl Awards
“this film is strong and meaningful, from the age of 13 I also had ambition and dreams to prove to people that I could do it.. my parents are exactly the same, push you to one side with a bag of chips and a can of coke. It’s [sic] hard when you cant [sic] talk to someone”.
EMMA ROSE (POSTED DECEMBER 2008) posted on BBC FILM NETWORK.
By 2002, Silver Films strengthen and within it first year it had been funded £100,000. This including £35,000 it costed for About A Girl, Short film Jump which costed £55,000 plus her office move from Manchester to London.
Sponsorship and product placement came from contractors in the gaming industry. 3DO- a company Nordwall used to work for. 3DO were aware of their gamer's lifestyles and from marketing prospective wanted to sponsor area in which their clients would also enjoy. The sponsorship involved 3DO logo on Jump T- shirts and financing their premier.
Did you always want your own company?I realised early on that I wasn't good at working for someone else and I was quite opinionated - I like to have my opinions (laughs). I found it quite difficult working for other people and also that there were quite a few people I didn't like working for - I wanted a choice of whether or not to work for them and working freelance gave me that choice.
- Interview with Janey de Nordwall.
Janey de Nordwall and Richard Oliver first business collaboration came in 2008, with short film, Gardens with Red Roses. Oliver directed and co- produced the film which was a supported by AGE CONCERN. The short is begin used proactively by ACTION on ELDER ABUSE to raise awareness.
Dominic and Debbie are hopelessly in love. They live with Grandad
but dream of getting a place of their own. Set amidst New Labour’s
1997 election landslide, this is a film about love, aspiration and morality
in post Thatcher Britain.
Can they find a way out?
Garden With Roses- Awards
Silver films puts their success down to five key factors:
1. Catalyst- they make things happen.
2. Conduit- we make connections
3. Malleable- We're surprisingly flexible
4. Craftsmanship- We are good at what we do
5. Polished- apples look better when they're polished.
Silver films TV commercial clientele range from car manufacture Toyota to gaming company, 3DO.
Silver films latest project, was just being commissioned by Lexus Europe to produce a series of short films showcasing the full Lexus range for initial distribution of Lexus website. The series of shorts will be shot in Barcelona.
Oliver commented on the commissioning:
“In each film the vehicle will be the star and our objective is to really help the consumer to get to know the personality of each car. Lexus is an aspirational brand and this is reflected in the high production values of the films. They will also feature a specially commissioned, cutting edge soundtrack which will combine the sounds of the vehicles themselves – the soft closing of the door, the purring of the engine, the opening of a window – along with digitally stylised sounds from nature”.
Within the past 10 years, Short Film have become a growing features on the World Wide Web. With new technology advancements and the introduction of the masse public interaction being able to interact with the internet, it has been increasingly easy to view, share, upload and exhibit short films worldwide.
YouTube have been a fundamental tool in providing amateur directors a place where they can upload and share video composed from all video content and genre up to the internet. In May 2010, it was estimated that YouTube had 14.6 billion videos on their website, which was viewed by 144.1 million people daily. It is stated that each YouTube user watched an average of 101.2 video during May.
***
Many sites on the internet cater for specifically short films. Examples of websites are: Coffee Shorts: http://www.coffeeshorts.co.uk/
Coffee Shorts stream Independent short films across a range of styles. Styles they include are
- Narrative Short films.
- Experimental short films
- Music videos.
- Documentary short films
- Animated Shorts.
Coffee Shorts was set up simultaneously with their production company which they have a team foe experts making film. Coffee Shorts passion for sharing exceptional content led to the sites progression and to the growing reputation they have obtained.
BBC Film Network: http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/
BBC Film network is a online community to provide new film makers with guideline, advice, support and a platform to showcase their work.
The films featured on BBC Film Network are form a wide variety of topics and background, and all tackles issues with uniqueness.
BBC Film network have expanded and crossed over many platforms within the media world. They have a virtual cinema in popular online virtual game, SecondLife. The SL users can teleport to a location within the game world and watch shorts films.
Penelope Rose Bartlett, the programmer for the short-film section of the Chicago International Film Festival, argues: "The best short films should feel complete and self-contained, not like truncated features. The constraints imposed by the time limit in a short film make it challenging to develop convincing characters, so I'm always impressed by shorts with characters that feel real."
The Times have recently posted a list of 25 must see shorts films:
I feel as the Internet grows and develops, Short films will become a distinctive element within its growth. It is estimate that over 150,000 shorts films online, which is a exceeding number growing daily. It will spark a new generation of short film lovers and give aspiring directors, actors and media fanatics, a new method of networking.
In Thursday 9th September video production lesson, we looked at the camera's we will be using for our short films in more depth by exploring it's many function of the camera. The camera we used is the Sony HD V1.
GAIN: Gain is used when their is not enough light within a location, so the camera can internally provide light. The more light that is required will subsitute the quality of the image.
Gain is meausred in DV- Begining from 0 - 18. It is adviced to not go higher than 12 for quality purposes.
SHUTTER SPEED: Shutter speed allows more frames to be taken a second, this effects how the image moves on the LCD screen. Tv uses 24 frames per second and video uses 50-fps. If you want to achieve a slow down footage you would increase the shutter speed and to speed up footage you would decrease it,
WHITE BALANCE: controls the camera coloring it gives to an image in different settings. It is vital to make sure you have the correct white balance.
Three setting which white balance has: 'Tungsten' for indoor footage. | 'Outdoor' used for filming outdoors. | Manual Customs for both indoors and outdoor filming.
To test if the white balance is correct for the location, you zoom into something white and change the settings.
MENU button: Controls the camera and allows user to change settings. It allows the user to check if they are shooting in the correct format.
STATUS CHECK: This button allows the user to check the current stats the camera is on. This give users an easily way to overlook the camera settings.
EXPANDED FOCUS: It double checks whether the camera is in focus. T
FOCUS: This button automatically changes the focus for the user. To focus you zoom into something with fine detail e g: hair and it shall focus.
- The Microphone.
The microphone is located at the top of the camera and is plugged in through a jack at the top side of the camera.
If you are using one mic all switches on the top side of the camera should be up.
If there's more than one mic, then the first switch in-between stereo and mono should be down.
EXPOSURE/ IRIS: The iris defines how mcuh light is let in the camera. When gain is set, exposure cannot be altered.
PUSH AUTO FOCUS: asks the camera to focus quickly. This button is useful to press if the useful if your not completely sure of there judgement or you are filming a live show such as a concert.
AUTO LOCK- all the settings are on auto- unless specified.
Avant Garde is a film making style which involves experiemental techniques and ideas. It can also include new forms, ideas and ways of expression. The word Avant Garde oringated from the french word "ahead of the crowd" and in contempary english "cutting edge".
Avant Garde films are defined by visual experimentation, challenged convention of narrative and its abstract structure. The movement was birthed from film makers difiance to mainstream cinema through the 1900's.
In 1920's avant garde was originated in Europe through visual artists Dadists and Surrelists expanding their movement to film. Entr'acte (1924) directed by Rene Clair is considered to be the first short film created. It involved various technqiues and debuted camera angles and terms. The film involves people running in slow motion, seeing image from worm eye view and screen titles.
Entr'acte showcases daring styles and presents Clair innovative approach to film. The film was premiered between acts at the Theatre des Champs- Elysees in Paris. The music was composed by Erik Satie- a renowned pianist through 1920's.
The short saw some fundamental elements which was ground breaking for the 20th century technology.
Meshes of the Afternoon, directed by Maya Deren, 1942 is considered to have revolutionized short film and Avant Garde.
The 17 minutes short was the birth of American experimental film making and Maya Deren is considered to be the "Mother of Avant Garde".
The short was a collaboration between Maya and her husband, Alexander Hammid who provided the soundtrack for the film.
The film is abstract, lyrical and dream-like combining reality with innovative camera angle and editing techniques. I feel the film tackles challenging issues such as: suicide, death and grieving in an artistic and intensifying way.
Deren's influence in the 1920's amongst the short film industry was extremely fundamental and controversial. Deren stated "the cost to make one of my short films, is the same Hollywood spend on a tube of lipstick". Her fearless and innovative approach to film was admired by many and inspired many.
Meshes of the Afternoon
"Aside from being Maya Deren's most successful film, I also find Meshes to be the most intriguing for a number of reasons. The ability to tap into the human mind and realms of the unconscious through film art is amazing to me. Meshesis not just a feminist film trying to show a woman's place in a male-dominated society, but is also a dramatic and intensifying experience for the viewer. Perhaps one of the reasons why this film is so compelling is because it is about her. The legendary Maya Deren came up with her ideas from personal experience, from feelings, emotions, and anxieties of her own. Just as we have many layers of consciousness, some that we are unaware of, Deren 'was always trying to bring out the multiple layers of meaning of everything that went into her films'
In today lesson, Wednesday 15th September, I had to analyse a short film which I had choose to the class.
The film I choose was Envy directed by Sam Hendi found on The BBC Film Network.
Envy is an urban tale about friendship, love, honesty and trust.
Textual Analysis.
INTRO TITLES: the blurred car lights lets the audience know it will be set in a suburbanised environment possible involving cars.
The blurred lights symbolises hidden identity and strengths the audience mystery in in what the short film will exactly involve.
The 'ENVY' title is strong and a outstand feature on screen. It is visual bigger than the blurred lights to draw the audience attention to the title. The letter 'E' in the title is distorted like it has been cut with a knife. There is suddenly digectic soun which remodels it back into place.
The digectic music adds mood and effect letting the audience know the genre.
2. The lights fade onto a caucasian girl's face. The camera is a CU of her face in profile position. The camera is visually compositioned on her eyes, it bring mystery to the audience as we do not see her surrounding location or where she is going.
3. The camera changes to a MCU. The girl is breaking the 4th wall as she is talking to the camera address the audience. The light is dim and she is in a car within a dark, empty car park. We learn information about the main protagonist Rebecca, as she is addressing her audience.
As Rebecca is talking, there are scene of the characters in question for example: her boyfriend. The mise en scene is highly saturated to show its a flashback sequence.
The camera does a slow zoom in to the main protagonist face then does a sudden zoom and pause in to create dramatic tension.
The silhouette in the door, adds mystery to the story strengthening its darkening atmosphere. It arises questions in the viewers mind's regarding who's house is it and where is she going. The silhouette creates tension.
A new character is introduced to the audience, she is sitting in a car and in the same location as Rebecca. The camera does a slow pan across her face. The camera is handheld. There are jump cuts whilst the character is speaking to the saturated life.
There is then a extreme close up of the new character's lips. This creates mystery as we cannot see the characters lips. The digectic music reaches a crescendo and as the camera pace increases.
A tracking shot of a red car which supposedly Rebecca is driving is shown on screen. Red within the movie reflects passion, danger and blood.
In the next shot, the car window is down and Rebecca face is slightly illuminates by the car light. The mise en scene is dark and gritty adding to the tension of film.
There is a sharp forceful zoom- her facial expression tell her there is a climax coming up.
There is focus pull when Rebecca confronts Sohpie and her boyfriend, this is a shot to show they has been a complex to the scene.
When Rebecca slaps Sohpie, there is a slow motion effect. ECU to show emotions and expressions of characters.
The camera zooms to reflect emotions- handheld camera.
It then cuts to a ECU of Rebbeca in the car location, slowly pans in.
I found this short film interesting and engaging. It explains a story through voiceover and documentary style narrations. I feel the short film idea was simplistic and was shot in a captivate and innovative way using various shots and camera angles to communication to the audience. I like the use of colours within the film to represent various different emotions.
In todays lesson, we looked at ways to get Inspiration and to generate ideas for our short film. We focused on how film synopsis and idea can be generated from analysis and investigating a piece of art e.g: a picture, song lyrics, objects, etc.
We looked at PostSecrets, These are a series of real- life postcard which the public send in their deepest secrets, anonymously on a homemade postcard to share to the world. The concept was founded by Frank Warren, and between 2005- 2007 he had received over 2,500 original pieces.
I was given a series of 4 postcards and I had to selected 2 postcards and develop a film synopsis from the post card imagery and words. The idea of the task was to see how we can create a simple short film idea from just one source.
My first choice was:
Film Synopsis
Mary- jane, 16 is overweight for her age. Her mother, Christine is small, frail and boarder-lining anorexic. Mary Jane has dreams of going to fashion school and has a passion to make clothes for plus size woman, however knows the industry is infatuated with her mother's 'healthy' slim-line figure. Mary Jane is trapped in world of self-hate and a society of social oppression. She often makes clothes for her mum, and even after her death to anorexia - Mary always hopes her mother will finally discover she always wrote her messages in the seams.
My second choice was:
Film Synopsis
Danny, 42 has been diagnosed with cancer. He is sitting in the hospital waiting for his family to visit. They visit everyday at 6pm, its 5:59 at no sign of them. He them begins to wonder- where could they be. Its Christmas day, they would want to send it with their dad- in hospital, right? It's been years since he was able to show love to his wife- she still loves him- right?
Rubber Johnny is a 6 minute experimental short film, directed by Chris Cunningham. The short was initially intended for the purpose of TV promo for the band, The Ahpex Brother new album, however Cunningham decided to expanded the piece to a feature length short. The short contains explicit content and shock imagery, which coincides with the underlying narrative of the story. Rubber Johnny, within the short is a shape shifting 'deformed' young person who is trapped in a basement.
The film uses multi- effects and experiments with fluorescent light and night vision, it makes the short very creative and innovative. I found Rubber Johnny to be an interesting and engaging short film. I feel its an experimental short which displays codes and conventions of many different media formats within one and showcases future trends.
Luis Brunel, was a Spanish director who was a founding pioneer in the surrealist sector of the Avant Garde movement. His filming style was iconic to surrelist imagery and is considered one of the greatest directors to work in cinema'. (1)
Brunel first and most notable short film is Un Chien Andalou (1928). The film was a collobration of Brunel and Dali (a surrestlist artisit). The project was described as "an encounter between two dreams"(2).
The film explores themes of dreams, and has no clear structure or plot. Brunel stated 'the only rule for the writing of the script was that "no idea or image that might lend itself to a rational explanation of any kind would be accepted."(3) This was the essence of surrealist films summed up.
Un Chien Andalou, no narrative plot formation was an example of Brunel allowing the audience to escape from the confines of film. Throughout the film, it forces the audience to think about what they are watching.
The film features shocking imagery, especially within the opening scenes of which Brunuel is shown holding open a woman eye on a balcony, about to slice it open with a razor. The scene is cut between images of a cloud passing a full moon as if going to bisect it. I feel the idea of the eye slicing scene was to shock the audience through allowing them to question what film is and I feel Brunel wanted to challenge the notions of what it is to view a film.
There is a scene of ants crawling out of a man's hand. In the film there is constant correlation to humans and nature. I feel humans are very much shown connected to insects through they're mannerism or actions. There is a bird's eye view shot of people, which is reminiscent of ant. They scurry away, leaving only one woman, who eventually get run over by a car, which may represent a predator.
The film is based on the concept of suppressed human emotions, which throughout the film is exagerated to answer the question of 'what it is to be human?'.
Overall I feel the film provided a foundation for the development of surrealist cinema. It is a fundemental exmaples of showing what it is to be experimental with film.
Simone Mareuil's eye being held open by Luis Buñuel in the opening scene.(4)
L'age d'Or (1930), followed Un Chien Andalou and was Salvador Dali and Luis Brunel second collobration. The film explores religion and showcases controversial imagery and symbolisms. A noteable scene within the film and the main plot is a man and woman passionately in love in a garden. The pair are often interupted by digectic noise then the scene is cut to an orchestra playing.
The film is a rebellious stance to the oppression of 1930's society. The young girl fallacting a religious statue toe caused a roit and was banned after the Board of Censors reviewed the film.
Conclusion.
Lusi Brunuel approach to film was unorthodox, he tackled various issues with ideolisms of what film is. He openly critical of middle class morals, often questioning the Roman Catholic Church. This led to many disputes with collegue Dali, who was highly religious.
Examples of films were: Un Chien Andalou; which include priests and tablets of The Ten Commandments.
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Bu%C3%B1uel
Luis Buñuel stands with Eisenstein, Chaplin, Renoir, Dovzhenko, Mizoguchi and Fellini as 'one of the greatest directors ever to work in cinema'. -- Joan Mellen
2. Luis Buñuel in his autobiography, My Last Breath, Jonathan Cape, London, 1983, p.103
