Film Texts - Preparation for Lantana

Today we watched 5 clips from various films and looked at the techniques which are used to create mood, convey messages, etc.

The first clip, from 'The Seventh Seal', showed a man playing a game of chess against Death in order to stay alive. The title of the film is a biblical reference from the Book of Revelation. The image of Death in a black, hooded gown makes it appear to be a shadow which lurks around its victims. The film is shot in black and white, which gives it a sense of darkness.

The second clip is from the movie 'All or Nothing. It uses dull colours to show the sadness and lack of joy in the scene as Phil and his wife, Penny, argue in their living room. Most of the scene is made up of close-up shots of both Phil and penny, who sit on opposite sides of the room. Phil is only ever shot from the side, while Penny is only shot from the front. This give the sense that Phil is shying away from things when Penny is trying to get him to face that he's not being a good father. After the conversation gets serious, the only time Phil really turn towards Penny is when he confronts her about how he believe she doesn't love him anymore.

In clip #3, taken from 'The Umbrellas of Cherbourg', bright colours set the scene for a love story between a young man and woman. Every line in the movie is said through song. In this particular scene, the lovers are are saying goodbye to each because the man is leaving for national service for 2 years. When they are on the train platform, the man is waving goodbye and the woman is left standing there as the train pulls out from the station. the image of her getting smaller as the train moves farther away symbolises how she feels when she is watching him leave.

The fourth clip is taken from the movie 'Don't Look Now'. There is a recurring use of the colour red in this movie. Red is seen in the colour of the young girl's coat, the strange hooded figure in the picture, the girl's ball, and the cut on the young boy's finger. This particular scene has a very strong emotional impact. The editing shows the correlation between what is happening inside and what is happening outside by quickly cutting between the two places when certain things happen, like a pane of glass breaking.

In the last clip, the beginning of the movie 'Walkabout' gives an impression of the city as being something that is uniform and limited in colour. There are lots of shots of legs walking around the city, and one with a young boy hidden behind the legs of soldiers. Any images of nature are shown dominated by buildings or with signs attached to them that classify what their scientific name is. When the father of the two main children in the film is first shown, he looks small in comparison to the large concrete pillars around him, and walks in a way that is stiff and robotic. All of this makes the city appear to be something that is lacking in life, where all the people are just faceless figures with no outward signs of personality.

Superman and Paula Brown's New Snowsuit

In Sylvia Plath's semi-autobiographical story 'Superman and Paula Brown's New Snowsuit', the narrator moves from being an innocent child with a wild imagination to a child who has been awoken to the real world of adulthood. Plath uses metaphors and strongly descriptive language to create mood in the world the narrator lives in. In the beginning, the bright, sparkling lights of the airport outside the narrator's bedroom set the scene for the place where she revels in her "technicolor dreams" of flying with Superman. This is later contrasted with the darkness of the hallway outside her bedroom after the evening of Paula Brown's ruined snowsuit, which is when "the silver airplanes and the blue capes all [dissolve] and [vanish]".

The transition from child to adult begins when the narrator sees a graphic war film when she goes to the movies for Paula Brown's party. The movie makes her feel so sick that she "[vomits] up the cake and ice cream." Such an act gives the impression that she is throwing up a bit of her childhood. However, the event seems to finally drain the colour from the narrator's world is the afternoon when Paula Brown's new snowsuit is ruined. The other children turn on the narrator and blame her when Paula falls in a puddle of oil slick, covering her snowsuit in oil. She runs home looking for comfort but her mother and her Uncle Frank, who she imagines to be the Superman of her fantasy world in the beginning of the story, don't believe her. The feeling of being ostracised for something she didn't do and then having the people she loves not trust her causes the narrator to feel as though her world has gone dark.

Snowdrops

Today in class we discussed a Welsh short story called 'Snowdrops'. The story tells about a young boy who is excited to see snowdrop flowers for the first time. The boy has a very strong imagination, which allows him to conjure up images in his mind of what the snowdrops could look like. However, when he finally sees them, he "[feels] a slow, sad disappointment." He looks around for his teacher, Ms Webster, to explain the flowers to him, but she is down at the gate watching a funeral procession. On his own, the boy moves past his initial impression of the snowdrops and comes to realise that they are fragile but valiant.

There is a clear separation between adults and children when the death of a 20 year old man is mentioned by the boy's father at breakfast. The mother quickly shushes him when he mentions that the man had been friendly with Ms Webster. The mother's efforts to keep the information from her son indicate the desire of most adults, parents in particular, to protect children from the harsh realities of the adult world. The children at the school seem to be able to sense Ms Webster's sadness when she comes to school that day after the funeral, but they can't quite understand what's wrong. They become scared later when Ms Webster begins to cry as she watches the funeral procession from the school gates.

The story captures the stage of growing up during which young children are filled with questions, wonderment, and curiosity about the world around them. It shows the beginning of the realisation that there is a world beyond that of childlike innocence which is full of strange, unexpected, and occasionally frightening things that we will sometimes have to face on our own.

A collection of tales I have read and thoroughly enjoyed throughout my years

Rosie Sips Spiders - Alison Lester

When I was in kindergarten, this was my favourite in a series of books about 7 children and their favourite things. I read it over and over again, and I would look at the illustrations for hours at a time.

Mediator series - Meg Cabot

This was the first kind of "scary" book I read in primary school. It took me a while to get through the first book and get comfortable with the violence and ghosts, but from there I thoroughly enjoyed the series.

Georgia Nicolson series - Louise Rennison

In late primary school/early high school, this series was a bit of an obsession of mine. Along with some of my friends who were reading the books as well, I began using some of the slang terms the characters use. This was the first book series I ever wrote fanfiction for.

An Abundance of Katherines - John Green

This was the first John Green book I read. It sparked my interest in graphs and anagrams, and my copy is now a bit worn out from being read so much.

About A Girl - Joanne Horniman

I happened across this book when I was wondering through Borders in late year 8 and wrote the name down in my phone so I could look it up later. It wasn't until mid year 9 that I finally got to read it, but I felt it was well worth the wait. This was one of the few books I've read that had me shutting myself in my room and reading for days at a time, completely ignoring all opportunities to interact with other people.

Selected Poems by T.S. Eliot

The book that got me into reading, enjoying, and analysing poetry.

The Fault in our Stars - John Green
John Green has been my favourite author since I first discovered him in year 8. His latest book, The Fault in our Stars, has made me feel more emotional and attached to the characters than almost any other book I've ever read.