Wednesday, 29 January 2014

'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' opening scene analysis

As apart of practice for my AS Film Studies coursework, I was required to write a piece on the opening sequence of 'Etenral Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'.

Essay:

Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind, directed by Michel Gondry, is created to provoke a certain response from the audience. The opening scene sees the protagonist (Joel) waking up for work in a blandly coloured environment. Gondry uses metronomic music which signifies routine and passing of time. The natural light that shines through his window represents a basic and starkness feeling towards his life. When Joel sees the dent in the side of his car, this portrays what looks like the beginning of a unfortunate day. When Joel decides to skip work, his day suddenly takes a spontaneous turn, and the dialogue tells the audience it is out of character and an unusual thing for him to do. Everything the audience sees in the opening scene builds a certain mood for them to feel. The colours and weather correspond together as they are both very plain and simple, the weather is dull and bleak, while all of Joel's clothing is black and neutral. Whilst Joel is on the beach, the weather is bleak, and the snow enables the viewer to feel the coldness that he is feeling emotionally. As the establishing shot introduces the character Clementine, the shot brightens up and her outfit stands out from everything else in the shot. This shows that she brings colour to the scene and to Joel's colourless existence. This could also signify that Clementine is about to make a change in Joel's life.

The following scenes that include the brightly clothed character Clementine, differ to the previous scenes that show Joel on his own. Clementine's bright orange jumper stands out from everything else seen in the shot and catches the audiences eye. Gondry may of clothed her this way to represent a change in Joel's current mood and to portray a possible alteration to his future. There is a big change within the choice of music as Clementine begins to speak to Joel. An upbeat, different and happier tune is played in the background of the two talking. This can tell the audience that Joel is now feeling a little more accompanied, content and chattier as he speaks to Clementine. Clementine's hair goes through several colour changes through out the film, blue, orange, red, green, and brown which seems to be her natural hair colour. This helps the viewer keep track of where her relationship with Joel corresponds to the plot.

In a later scene where Joel is now situated in Clementine's flat, the atmosphere is very different to the beginning scenes of the film. More relaxed and vibrant colours are used within the scene which could indicate how the two of them are feeling, and I also noticed how the colour blue is used frequently within the scene. Blue represents the unconscious part of the mind in the Jungian theory. So the blue of Clementine's hair and the presence of the colour in her flat, i.e the the surrounding objects and the drinks named blue ruin they drink suggests she is still in Joel's subconscious mind, even though he had tried to erase her from his memory. Although Clementine blatantly feels very relaxed and friendly towards Joel, he seems to feel a little awkward and uncomfortable around her, which tells the audience what kind of person he is, or has been in the past. He often frets to leave and states that he has work early the next morning, but Clementine doesn't want him to leave. In further scenes, they both feel comfortable with each other and Joel seems to get on with Clementine more.

In a latter scene, Joel is shown driving in his car quite obviously crying and looking upset. There is a change in the colour, the music, and in the camera work. All of the colours are very dark, plain and gloomy, expressing the way Joel feels about something. The music playing over the scene could be described as sad and depressing, which could go alongside the atmosphere within the scene. Most of the camera work is close ups of Joel's face whilst he is crying, making sure the audience can see there's been a big change within the mood and atmosphere in previous scenes.


Throughout the whole opening scene, some clues are hinted to give the audience an idea of the things that could be connected with the memory erasing process that takes place in the film. Firstly, as Joel wakes up, we hear a car door slam shut and drive off, this is the character Stan leaving Joel's house after finishing his memory erasing. Another clue is when Joel is writing in his journal, he notices that pages are ripped out, and doesn't remember doing it. The pages are ripped out because they were filled with memories of Clementine and he needed to get rid of them in order proceed the memory erasing process. When Joel impulsively decides to skip work and travel to Montauk, it's assumed he does it randomly, but in the final memory Joel has erased of Clementine, she tells him to meet her in Montauk, because he realises he doesn't want to forget her. Also, in the train scene where Joel and Clementine are talking, she sings him a song which is often used to make fun of her name, but Joel is not familiar with the song. This is because when Joel is having his memory erased, he pans off into a different memory which has nothing to do with Clementine, in order to cancel the process, but the memory is eventually erased. The memory is of his child hood when his mother is singing the song (that Clementine is singing) to him.

Main interest in films

I enjoy watching a wide variety of cinematic films including Independent films, Cult films, and Hollywood establishments of famous novels. I find that the films that have the biggest impact on me are the ones that strike me as well written and that have incredible directors behind them.
Some of my overall favourite films would be 'Thirteen' directed by Catherine Hardwicke, 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' directed by Michel Gondry, and 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' directed by Lynne Ramsay. All three of these films are successful productions that achieved high status.
I do believe that all three films, as well as other films that share similar qualities, would inspire me whilst creating my own work. The use of colour throughout these films are a constant representation of themes and emotion. I admire a directors eye for detail whilst making sure that colour is representative through out their creative productions.
Some films that inspire me for story writing are 'Heathers' directed by Michael Lehmann, 'Lost In Translation' directed by Sofia Coppola, and 'Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist' directed by Peter Sollett. With 'LIT' and 'NANIP' I am drawn to the romance elements that are portrayed throughout the narrative, and with 'Heathers' I take note in the cult status they built through the use of original comedy and style.
I admire many other films in the industry which I receive great pleasure from watching such as 'Mean Girls', 'Jawbreaker' and 'Teeth', where as I would not necessarily link them in with my inspiration.

Tuesday, 28 January 2014

Auteur study: Sofia Coppola

As a part of my A2 Film Studies coursework, I was set a task to create a study revolving around anything that took my interest, this could have been on specific themes such as gender, war, or race, or an auteur study, exploring a famous directors themes within their films. I chose to study Sofia Coppola and her films as she is a personal favourite of mine, and I love all of the films that she has written and directed.

Study below:

This assignment is an auteur study about Sofia Coppola, and three of her self-directed films. Coppola is an American award-winning filmmaker, director, producer and screenwriter. She was born May 14, 1971 in New York City. Coppola was introduced into the film industry as the daughter of successful filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. He is the director of ‘The Godfather’ trilogy and ‘Apocalypse Now’; she is also the cousin of Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage. Coppola’s career started at a very early age in her life as an actress, mainly playing minor roles in her father’s films, such as ‘The Godfather’, ‘The Outsider’, and ‘Peggy Sue Got Married’. At the age of fifteen, Coppola interned with Chanel and worked for Karl Lagerfeld, Coppola stated
I was in the design studio, so I got to see Karl Lagerfeld doing haute couture sketches for the final shows. It was incredible - he is so creative. I was getting coffee and doing intern stuff, but just to be around him was amazing.' Vogue (2013).
After dropping out of college in her teenage years, she created a clothing line named ‘MilkFed’ that is now exclusively sold in Japan. As Coppola grew up, she realized that acting was not her forte, but rather filmmaking was, Coppola stated
Acting wasn’t for me, but it’s good to know all the different aspects when you’re making a movie’ (David Letterman, 2004)
Her filmmaking career kicked off in 1996 when she co-directed a short film named ‘Bed, Bath and Beyond’. It was in 1998 when Sofia began to write and direct her own material, in which she created her first short film ‘Lick The Star’. Sofia’s directing debut feature-film was ‘The Virgin Suicides’, made in 1999.

Feature Films

Coppola has created five feature presentations between 1999 and 2013. She was twenty-eight when her directing debut feature-film ‘The Virgin Suicides’ (1999) premiered. This film is based on the same titled novel written by Jeffrey Eugenides, as it tells the story of five upper-middle class sisters from Detroit in the 1970s living under close scrutiny by their parents after the youngest sister makes an attempt to commit suicide. As the movie progresses, we witness increasingly depressive behaviour from the sisters, the film explores themes of isolation, teenage lust, adolescence and loss. Coppola’s most successful feature-film ‘Lost In Translation’ (2003) premiered in 2003 when she was thirty-two. The story written by Coppola is about an aging actor named Bob Harris and a recent college graduate named Charlotte that cross paths whilst both staying in a Tokyo hotel and create an unlikely connection. This film explores themes of loneliness, insomnia and existential ennui. It is believed that the story was written at a specific time in Coppola’s life when she divorced from her ex-husband, so a lot of the story is claimed to be based on her life. ‘Lost In Translation’ was a major critical success whilst winning awards such as Best Original Screenplay, as well as a commercial success, as it grossed almost $120 million from a budget of only $4 million. One of Coppola’s latest feature films ‘Somewhere’ (2010) premiered in 2010 when she was thirty-nine. This film is a drama written by Sofia about a newly famous actor named Johnny Marco that is trapped inside an existential crisis whilst feeling very little emotion during his every day life, until he spends more time with his daughter Cleo, and learns to extract joy and pleasure from everyday life. The film explores themes of celebrity ennui, parenthood and the comedy of show business. Although Sofia was inspired by her own childhood whilst writing about eleven-year-old character Cleo, she denies the film is autobiographical.

Directing Style

Sofia uses a very slow approach in her films, as many of them explore stories that are often slow paced whilst actually lacking an understandable plot, and rather developing on characters and personality.
The director's vision shapes the look and feel of a film. He or she is the creative force that pulls a film together, responsible for turning the words of a script into images on the screen. Actors, cinematographers, writers, and editors orbit around the director like planets around the Sun.’ (Annenberg Learner)
Whilst Sofia’s films may be criticized for lacking a plot, they do not lack in stunning visuals or deep themes. Many of her films such as Lost In Translation and Somewhere are targeted for being too slow paced, repetitive or meaningless, whereas Sofia shines in portraying personalities and exploring existential crisis’s. Coppola claims
I always like characters who are in the midst of a transition and trying to find their place in the world and their identity. That is the most heightened when you’re a teenager, but I definitely like it at the different stages of life. I like stories where the drama comes more as an internal part of the character as opposed to from outside forces that make you change.’ (Rookie)

Trademarks
With Coppola only having made five feature presentations, there are only so many films one can watch and analyse to identify specific trademarks within each film. Each of Coppolas films follows a pattern of basing its plot around high status individuals, commercially famous actors, or celebrity culture. All of which link together quite suitably.
'Even if the contexts of her films differ wildly, they share a preoccupation with celebrity - whether of the high school or Hollywood variety - and the pitfalls thereof. Wanly beautiful heroines, cool clothes, and even cooler soundtracks are a given.' (Film 4)
With that said, Coppola's films all also share captivating soundtracks that add the finishing touches to each creation. Coppola has used artists such as Air, New Order, and Sleigh Bells, each defining each of her films in ways that stick into the viewers mind. Colour is also a large addition to Coppola's trademark, with each film glaring with a specific set of colour. Alan Woo (2008) carried out a project to find out if there were any stark similarities or contrasts within particular films. He used a program written in processing that captures each frame of each movie that created a pie chart of the colours contained within each film. He found that three of Coppolas films, The Virgin Suicides, Lost In Translation, and Marie Antoinette all have a specific colour code, green, blue, and orange.

Female representation
Coppola is one of very few successful female directors in the film industry. The film and many other industries are extremely male dominant, and it can be hard for females to allow their talent to shine.
Employing women in writing and directing roles makes business sense, yet is still relatively rare, suggests a new study by the BFI. The report, Succes de plume? Female Screenwriters and Directors of UK Films 2010-2012, indicates 30% of the most successful and profitable independent British films of the period had a female screenwriter and/or director.(The Guardian)
Coppolas representation of females in her films is mostly positive, as they are more than often the protagonists of each story. This allows Coppolas female audience to relate to her characters and her stories. Coppolas films that have female protagonists areThe Virgin Suicides,Lost In TranslationandThe Bling Ring. Coppolas female characters are often represented in a progressive manner, as theyre strong-minded and independent. However Coppola sticks to traditional female roles as all of her female characters dress in a feminine way and identify as being straight, therefore not separating from the norm of female representation and sticking with a comfortable representation that sells well to the public.

Ennui
Coppola more than often explores ennui within her characters and bases her stories around individuals suffering from existential crisesthat feel lost or lonely in their lives.
A feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement(Oxford Dictionaries)
From the Lisbon sisters experiencing boredom in their youth, to Bob Harris experiencing a life crisis in his late adult years, Coppola seems to follow a trend in most of her films.
Two of Coppolas filmsLost In TranslationandSomewhereare influenced by her own experiences whilst growing up. Both films showcase their location, as Coppola spent her college years living in Los Angeles, and her early 20s in Japan. Both films look at each location as an outsider entrancing and connecting to the viewer.(Amanda Elizabeth Clarke)

With that said, a selection of Coppolas films reflect her own personal experiences and feelings shes had in the past, whilst telling a new story that a viewer and enjoy and relate to.