How significant is editing and/or sound in contributing to the power of the narrative in the films you have studied for this topic?

For the films I have studied for this topic, sound plays an important role in contributing to the power of the narrative, as well as highlighting social issues of an urban story.

Within the films I have studied, the common narrative convention of the characters being trapped and restrained due to their surroundings is typical of an urban story, and is often supported technically through the use of sound. This can be seen in 'City of God', directed by Fernando Meirelles, in the beginning sequence, in which we see a close up shot of a knife being sharpened, then switching to an extreme close up when it it sharpened right at the point, then cutting back again, which is emphasised even further due to the fast editing. The diegetic sound of the blade is incorporated with the non-diegetic sound of up-beat Brazilian music, signifying how violence and weapons are a part of the culture in the favellas, which is supported through the various shots of instruments, such as the close up shot of the guitar. The technique of placing the non-diegetic sound at the beginning of the film, shown firstly with a black screen to make the viewer solely focus on the noise, also sets the tone for the remainder of the narrative, suggesting that violence is un avoidable within their urban environment. The juxtaposition of the harsh sound of the knife and the up-beat festival like music shows the constant reminder of violence even within a positive party like atmosphere, shown through the close-up shots of various brazilians laughing and singing. The use of sound within this scene contributes to the narrative through representing how the  inhabitants are forced to live on the edge due to their urban environment, and how they are subsequently trapped because of this. This is similar to 'La Haine', directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, which is placed within a time period of 24 hours, constantly reminded to the viewer through the use of a shot of a digital clock counting down throughout the film, which is emphasised even more so through the juxtaposition between the white colour of the time shown on a black background. The non-diegetic sound of what resembles a ticking bomb used along side the theme of time symbolises how something inevitable is going to happen, with the constant change of time, for example '14:21' to '6:01', it represents how they don't have a choice, and choices are made for them due to the restrain-ments of their urban environment of the projects. 

Experimental and Expanded film/video works are often perceived as being 'difficult'. As a spectator, how far has this been your experience with the films you have studied for this topic?

Experimental film often uses abstract and surreal visual imagery to represent themes and issues, unlike mainstream cinema, which uses often characters and a narrative to make the viewing easy to watch. For me, as a spectator who is used to mainstream cinema, this can sometimes make watching and understanding experimental film difficult.

'Un Chien Andalou', directed by Luis Bunuel rejects all mainstream conventions of film, which I personally found difficult to watch, due to the surrealist and unconventional approach to the non linear narrative. This can be seen within the sequence where we see a long shot of the actor, Luis Bunuel dragging two pianos with dead mules with rope, towards the woman, who has backed away into the corner. It then cuts to a mid shot, in which the audience is able to see Luis Bunuel's struggle within his facial expression, representing  his struggle against societies ideology and his own sexual desires. For me, this use of symbolism within the sequence of Luis Bunuel struggling to pull the rope was very confusing on my first viewing, due to the ambiguous imagery, like the mid shot of the two priests attached to the rope to represent societies ideology holding him back from his desires. This made my first viewing experience boring as it was difficult to understand, however, after repeated viewing, I felt that I was able to gain more experience with experimental films approach to representing themes and issues through surreal imagery, which made me appreciate the film more. The sequence then cuts to a close up of the womans face to highlight her fear, and then cuts back to a long shot as she runs into the near by door, with Luis Bunuel releasing the rope, as well as societies dominant rules, then running after her and trapping his arm the door as she shuts it. This is even more so highlighted with it changing to a mid shot to fully show his pain in his gestures and facial expression, which is used to represent the consequences of giving into his sexual desires. The sequence then cuts back and forth to show both the woman holding the door back and rejecting his desires, and to show Luis Bunuel's in pain through exaggerated gestures. The shot then cuts a close-up of Luis Bunuel's hand through the door, with ants crawling out from within the middle of his palm, representing his inner corruption being revealed through him giving into his desires, with him then clenching his fist to try to repel this. However, experimental films are often polysemic and rely on the spectator to derive their own personal response, which is something I found difficult on first viewing as I was used to mainstream cinema confining how they want the audience to feel, for example a close up shot to show the emotion of a less fortunate character for the audience to sympathise for. The sequence then cuts to a long shot of Luis Bunuel lying on a bed in a blank motionless state, showing the surreal non-linear narrative of the film. This made the film very confusing for me, as the film jumped from a confrontation to Luis Bunuel becoming static, which I caught me of guard, as I'm used to being told how to think and feel from watching mainstream cinema. However, after gaining more experience in experimental film and becoming more of an active viewer, I felt it much easier to understand the film is based more around themes than a conventional narrative, meaning I was able to find the film less difficult to watch than on my first viewing.

In comparison, 'Body Song', directed by Simon Pummell, uses similar techniques to mainstream cinema, through using non-diegetic soundtracks over scenes to affect how the viewer will feel when watching the film. This can be seen within the sequence which represents the violent nature of humans, through using found footage that differs between location and time periods to show that violence is universal and a part of the cycle of life. Specifically, within the scene where we see black and white footage of hundreds of World War One soldiers within the trenches, which can be see through the mise-en-scene of the guns and their old fashioned uniforms and the location of a deserted land. It is captured at a long shot, and as the soldiers begin to run up from the trenches, the camera slowly pans to the right, allowing the viewer to fully see the quantity of people risking their lives. Personally, I found this quite shocking and was hard for me to watch, as I have never seen footage from World War One which shows such raw representation of violence, compared to mainstream cinema, which is often overly dramatised for a more exiting viewing experience. The non diegetic soundtrack used within this sequence encourages the audience to view this sequence as a daunting representation of human nature, due to it being slow paced and ominous, which influenced my experience of the sequence to be very bleak and gloomy. On my first viewing, this familiar technique of placing non-diegetic music over scenes caused me to passively watch the film due to it telling the viewer how to feel through sound. However, as I learnt more about how the film is created through using found footage from over 100 years of film, it gave me more in sight into the philosophical meaning of the piece representing the cycle of life and human nature, and how the film creates this meaning as a whole, rather than just through particular scenes. The sequence then cuts to footage from around Asia to support the idea that violence is universal, which is even more emphasised through the juxtaposition between the colour change of the black and white footage to colour, which also shows a change in time periods as well. The shot shows a mid shot of a young Vietnamese boy crying as he is being held by the shoulder by a soldier pointing a knife towards him, with another soldier in the background holding a gun. The mise-en-scene of the weapons, such as the knife and the gun, the military uniform and the rural setting suggests that it is found footage from the Vietnamese war. For me, I found this to be very shocking due to the young age of the boy showing that the affects of violence are not being limited by age. The camera then pans round to a mid shot of the young boys family, showing a mother with three young children, with the mother then walking towards the boy and pulling him away from the soldiers. Personally, I found that the footage was hard to watch, as it places the viewer purely as a spectator to a disturbing and inhumane situation without any ability to change it, which is even more so heightened through the family starring directly into the camera. This self-reflexive aspect used within this scene is similar to the Screen Tests by Andy Warhol, which uses a static camera to capture a close-up shot of a subject, for example, Salvador Dali, looking directly into the lens for over 35 minutes. This rejects mainstream cinemas aim to draw the audience into a false reality, through breaking the illusion and reminding the viewer that they are just watching a film. From my own personal experience, I felt that the technique of placing suitable non-diegetic music over sequences made me sometimes view the film passively, however, through using self-reflexive footage and a different view point of well-known historical events, it made my experience of watching the film much more interesting and eye-opening to the philosophical approach to the cycle of life.

In conclusion, I feel that Experimental film is often viewed as being difficult, due to it rejecting mainstream approaches to film. For me, I felt that this made it difficult for me to decode the films meaning in the beginning, as I am used to mainstream cinema using conventional editing, sound and narrative techniques to make the film easy to watch. However, through gaining more experience in experimental film and thus becoming more of an active viewer, I feel I'm able to approach the films abstract and surreal imagery and decode the themes and issues behind them, meaning as a spectator, my experience has become less difficult because of this.

How useful has a particular critical approach been in gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of your chosen film?

Fight Club, directed by David Fincher, can provide the viewer with a deeper understanding and appreciation through approaching its issues of The Narrator rebelling society, as a crisis of masculinity.

Through approaching the film through the critical approach of the crisis of masculinity, we are able to see the Narrators reasoning behind rebelling against dominant society. This can be seen within the testicular cancer sequence, in which the camera slowly pans back from one of the cancer sufferers, Thomas, as he confides with the group about his problems with his children, and his wife leaving him, causing him to eventually start crying. The feminine dialogue and the gesture of Thomas crying shows how modern men have become feminised, which is juxtaposed due to the mise-en-scene of the setting of the basketball court, which is normally a masculine surroundings, providing a post modernism aspect of irony. When the cancer sufferer Thomas begins to cry, we can hear the non-diegetic sound of alarms ringing at the same time, which is a recurring motif through-out the film for the narrator disagreeing with dominant society’s ideologies, through witnessing men being feminised within the self-help group. In occurrence to this rejection of dominant ideologies, after the narrator leaves the self-help group, we see the first blink of Tyler. Through approaching the sequence with the critical approach of Freudians theory, we are able to understand that the Narrators Id, Tyler Durden, is becoming more dominant and conscience within his life, due to his crisis of masculinity within the self-help group.

Through approaching the relationship between Marla and the Narrator critically, we are able to see this as a sign of the crisis of masculinity. Marla plays the role of the femme fatale character, with her being first introduced with the mise-en-scene of her dressed all in black, wearing sunglasses and a hat, and smoking a cigarette, which represents her as a more modern ideology of women in dominant society. She is represented as the source of the narrator problems, which can be seen within the self-help group sequence, with the non-diegetic voice over of the narrator saying "Her lie reflects my lie". The narrator uses the self-help groups as a source of emotional release, which can be seen in the testicular cancer sequence, with the narrator having a spiritual revelation whilst hugging Bob, which is supported through the non-diegetic religious music and the voice over of the narrator saying "Losing all hope is freedom". However, through approaching the scene through Freudians theory, we see that narrators Id, Tyler Durden, is rejecting this conforntment to dominant society, through the non-diegetic sound of alarms over the scene of him crying with Bob, showing that repressed self wants to rebel. This emotional release relieves him of his insomnia momentarily, until Marla reminds him of his problems through reflecting his lie, and also showing a more feminist representation of a woman, again repressing the narrator into having to conform to a more modern ideology surrounding women.

We are also able to see the narrator’s crisis of masculinity through the scene where Marla is wearing a pink bridesmaid’s dress that she got "from the store for one dollar". Marla’s mise-en-scene represents the dominant ideology of having to get a job, get married and start a family, in which the Narrator rejects, which we can see through the structure of the scene. The camera cuts from the diegetic dialogue of Marla talking about the bridesmaid dress and the glass slipper being like the modern day condom, to an extreme close up of the Narrator scrubbing a toothbrush against a piece of cloth. Both the juxtaposition of the shot type from a mid-shot to an extreme close-up and the increase of diegetic sound of the scrubbing when the camera is closer represent the Narrators rejecting of dominant society. We are able to see his crisis of masculinity within the modern ideologies, through the frantic scrubbing of him wanting to cleanse and remove any imperfections. This relationship between Marla and the Narrator in this scene can be viewed as the crisis of masculinity, due to the Narrator rejecting and wanting to escape from all modern ideologies telling him how men are supposed to be. We are able to see him rejecting this ideology through the narrative of him rejecting Marla, causing her to call him a "nutcase" and leave the house in anger.

In conclusion, I feel that through analysing the film with a critical approach of the crisis of masculinity, it allows me to gain a deeper understanding of the possible hidden motives of the films narrative, which has been useful in gaining a better appreciation of the film. I feel that through using the crisis of masculinity as an approach to the film, it allows me to understand the possible reasoning behind the Narrators escalating rebellion against society throughout the film, starting with the self-help groups, then the Fight club, then Project Mayhem.

Aims & Context

• Type of Film/text-Exprimental film
• Target Audience-Arthouse audience
• Technical aspects used-Inflencing light/colour
• Genre/narrative codes applied-Experimental approach towards film
• Influences-Stan Brakhage, Chris Cunningham, Abstract
• Individual or group project-Individual
• Issues/theories explored-Life/death 

How useful was a particular critical approach been in gaming a deeper understanding and appreciation of your chosen film?

The film 'Fight Club' contains various post modernism elements which with a deeper analysis, allows the audience to understand and appreciate the film more. We are able to see an insight into the on going post modernism theme of the film, through the scene where Edward Norton, the narrater, is describing his experience with insomnia, as it being 'a copy of a copy of a copy'. This narrative link towards modern life and post modernism is even more supported by him standing by the photocopier, with the irony again depicting post modernism features.

'Experimental Film requires a different kind of spectatorship.' Has this been your experience?

'Experimental Film requires a different kind of spectatorship.' Has this been your experience? 

Experimental films are full of strange mixtures of images, situations, words and expressions that may not tell a cohesive story but, in the end, don't have to in order to achieve an emotional goal. This type of film therefore requires the spectator to shift their conventional cinematic expectations to accommodate more radical narrative techniques, themes and meaning construction. 

Un Chien Andalou, the infamous 1929 surrealist short film from Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali, attests to this. The film revolves around various themes, many relying its avant grade outlook on how the audience responds. This can be seen in the opening scene, where we are introduced to a man, the director Luis Bunuel, sharpening a razor in rhythmic diagonal strokes. He then steps on onto the balcony, where we see a cloud 'disecting' the moon. This is then repeated with Bunuel taking the razor and slicing it through a womans eye. The scene is shocking, and with it placed at the start of the short film, creates a statement surrounding the ideology of what film is supposed to be. The cutting of the eye also represents how the eye deceives you, with it reinforcing the theme of an overall rejection towards all conventions and traditions. The scene also represents the requirement of spectatorship, specifically within experimental films, as films such as 'Un Chien Andalou' rely on the audiences response for the films to create the desired statement. If the audience was not shocked by the scene, then the film would not have any effect on the audience, therefore showing how experimental film requires spectatorship. 


Chris Marker became known internationally for the short film La Jetée (1962). It tells of a post-nuclear war experiment in time travel by using a series of filmed photographs developed as a photomontage of varying pace, with limited narration and sound effects. The film is based around the theme of memories, which is visually and technically represented through the connotations of using photo roman. By making the audience view the film through this technique, we are 



Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) is a work that maintains all of the mystery, tranquility, unpredictability, and personal attachment that is ever present within the world of dreams. The film uses the the theme of dreams, which is technically represented through 

Item ten: Interview with Quentin Tarantino on David Fincher

Interview with Quentin Tarantino in which he discusses the difference between David Fincher and himself (A Writer-Director).