CF & NCFOM -> Key Scenes & Exam Q's

Captain Fantastic - Key Scenes:

Bo – oldest son

Kielyr - daughter

Vesp – daughter

Rellian – son

Nai – youngest?

Zaja – youngest? Difficult to tell, even gender

Hippy names – alienating?

00:00 –

Opening sequence –

Tracking (helicopter) across vast forest – isolation, wilderness, beauty, birdsong, wind

Initially uninhabited – deer – like nature doc

Violent death of deer – alignment with Bodevar? Children emerge, mud-caked – like aboriginal initiation rites

Camouflage within nature – Ben enters, removes heart – Bo eats it, animalistic – Ben’s bloodied hands – enigma initially with his muddied face

Deer on spit, hung from tree, gutted

05:30 Music in – celebratory w/ cross cutting of various preparations – idyllic, almost nostalgic way of life – primal

08:00

Training begins

Alignment? Stabbing – Ben = ‘good’.

09:00

Evening

Reading around fireside

Ben observing his children – strict w education – goes against hippyish representation? Difficult to categorise – after w guitar around fire – duet w Bo – element of patriarchy (eldest son assumes greatest importance)

Rell drumming – early demonstration of teenage frustration, rebellion

Dancing around fire – paganism – foreshadows cremation scene

13;00

Sound bridge to following morning

Ben as hypocrite – wife in hospital

Ben and Bo into bus – leaving children alone – irresponsible

Journey in bus – major key, sweeping score, celebratory

Bo meets girls – tongue-tied – educated, strong etc. though socially immature

Bo w uni letters – NB surname = cash – irony?

16:40

Ben calls sister in law (Harper)

Learns of suicide BCU Ben

Hangs up – long cut/take

Close-ups of kids crying in reaction to the news

- Dialogue, Ben tells the kids bluntly what happened
Ben under waterfall – back to camp –

Tells children of suicide – very direct, blunt – sounds of sobbing

Rell yelling – conformation w Ben, stabbing wall “I fucking hate you” – who?

Originally align with Ben as he has to break the news to the kids. However the blunt format he stated

Non-diegetic sound of music + diegetic sound of footsteps as Ben walks towards the kids
Music fades, no sound before Ben tells the kids

Diegetic sound of kids crying -> diegetic sound enhances emotion of the scene

20:30

Last will and testament

Next morning, bagpipes – slightly absurd

Children training next morning

Calisthenics, planks etc

21:45

Bar – Phone call to father (Jack)

Going against Leslie’s will

Threaten of arrest if attend funeral

Jack’s wife as go-between

24:15

Evening

Leslie VO while Ben dreams

Fantastic man – flashback, fetch, dream, hallucination

Into morning – kids packed for journey

Rell “it’s the least you could do”

26:30

Rock climbing episode

Rell’s injury

Irresponsible fathering – to form basis of debate later on

Rain comes – children shivering – parental cruelty?

After call to glacier

29:00

In bus – Ben in rearview

Some fights you can’t win – powerful control lives of powerless – ideology of capitalism – we have to shut up and accept it – well, fuck that

Bagpipes in

Montage driving, joining freeway – emergence if civilization, trains, malls

The business of America is America

Frenzied shopping

31:40

Kielyr reading Lolita

Ben digging for her analysis – radical, though sensible, slant on education

What does rape mean? Zaja

What’s sexual intercourse? – very blunt answer from Ben

34:10

Waiting room

Obesity of Americans

Don’t make fun of people – except Christians

Police car trailing bus, pulls them over

Bo as Christian, starts singing hymn, children join in

Ridiculing religion, authority – attack on US ideological values

37:10

Kiel hunting – sees sheep, can’t fire arrow – won’t shoot because hunt is too easy

Journey continues

Esperanto +other languages  – excludes spectator, alienates, makes us feel stupid

39:20

Diner sequence

Poison water – children want junk food

Supermarket sequence begins – coruscating light, order, Titanic muzak playing

Ben feigns heart attack

Theft by children – assault on US medicine culture, consumerism – but…

42:00

Analysis of supermarket heist Mission: Free the Food

Cake – Noam Chomsky Day – riverbank

Present-giving ceremony – all weapons – NB US weapons culture

Joy of Sex

Rell’s reaction – angry – Ben’s challenge vs Christmas

DINNER SCENE:

Setting:
- Suburban
- Middle class
- Facade of happiness
- 'Middle America'
- Everything 'perfect'/neat on the outside
- Ben + family juxtapose suburban idea

Body Language:
- Kids slumped, on phone
- Ben's family sitting up rigidly
- Hippy-ish costumes of Ben's family


Sounds:
- Mostly diegetic
- Sounds noticeable: (clinking, phones)

Camera:
- Ben = head of the table, also deems him as the outsider, separated from the rest, isolated
- Ben = in the middle, kind of a 'mediator' at the table between the two sides
- Very handheld -> creates sense of underlying tensions
- Shallow depths of field to pick out individual characters
- Staid atmosphere
- Keeps cutting back to Dave & Harper to show their reactions to Ben's family
- Lots of close ups
- Editing techniques
- Muted colour palette

- Attacks education system in America
- In it's meanings, its a very dissident film, anti-dominant ideology

- Talk about dialogue but don't go into too much detail
- After 'fucking bitch' comment, camera pans to Harper

- Over the shoulder shots from Ben's perspective -> he has the power, sense we are living the scene through Ben. When he apologises, over the shoulder shot from Harper's perspective = lost a lil power, power balance shift = really good example of a camera technique being used to highlight a macro-feature
- Proximity of gaming; Jackson & Rellian isolated from the rest of the kids, the rest of the kids seem horrified by video games -> no point to this violence unlike the violence they have done, violence for entertainment and not violence for survival

- Education scene: empowering for Ben, big close up
- Zaja speaking: pan-right rack-focus to Ben

- Jackson & Justin left in the dark, in a narrow corridor -> the 'dark' is protection whereas Zaja with 'light' is exposed to the real world.
Key timestamps for Dinner Scene:

45:50

Journey continues – to suburbia, Harper, Dave etc.

Mealtime – Jackson, Justin playing video games at table – these are normal teenagers, but to us, now, they seem abnormal

Ben giving wine to children – reaction of Harper; discussion of crack

Kids never heard of Nike, Adidas

Dave vs Ben – Ben’s bluntness, honesty; confrontational – alignment?

Dave’s explanation of Leslie’s death vs Ben’s

Harper storms out; Ben distributes wine

52:10

Later – video games – kids’ shocked reaction

Ben vs Harper, Dave

Dave – neighbours – setting, dog barking, crickets/cicadas

Kids emerge w sleeping bags for sleeping in garden

54:10

Next morning, breakfast

Discussion of kids, education

Dave: kids need to go to a real school

Harper steps in – with whom do we align?

Justin and Jackson test – Bill of Rights – education system

Zaja – daughter, 8 years-old; understanding of Bill of Rights

And yet – is he bullying Justin and Jackson

58:30

Leaving – flipping the bird

Montage of journey

Music playing – soft rock

Arrival at trailer park

Bo sees Claire and her mother – after practising yoga (pranayama)

Claire smoking, challenges his name – tongue-tied at first, awkward

1:01:30

Claire, Bo, evening – discussion of music – completely different worlds

Dr Spock

Asks about mother – Bo lies – US government, classified

Share kiss, cicadas in trees, heavy breathing

Claire’s mother (Ellen) catches them – Bo’s proposal  - they take it as a joke

Bo left alone – we laugh, but …

1:06:55

Morning – Ben naked

Clothes when we eat

Driving away – Bo in back of bus, waving

Montage of journey

Arrival at church – sleeping – Ben hallucination of Leslie, Buddhist prayer beads

(NB signs he has a strong imagination)

1:09:00

Funeral ceremony begins

Ben enters w family – costume – bright clothing, anomalous

Jack’s reaction

Priest – didn’t know her – loved their dogs –

Ben steps in – speaks to congregation

Religion as dangerous fairytales

Bangs on coffin lid, swears

Bundled out by security

Priest continues

1:12:40

Outside after

Coffin brought out

Confrontation w Jack

Jack w children – loving grandfather – he also wants to do right by them – so too grandmother (Abby)

Hippie is a clown outfit –

Jack also controlling (of Abby)

1:14:20

Driving to burial

Argument w children

Bo: I don’t want to lose you! He stops bus

Realises he will be arrested – this is also Ben’s grief – responsibility of being a single parent

1:15:40

Dusk

Ben w guitar, drinking

Rell on basketball court, night – Bo goes to him

Angry, confused teenager

Dad made her crazy. Dad’s dangerous.

Ben not a perfect father in Rell’s eyes – he is a kind of cult figure to the others?

Ben w Bo – shows his uni letters

Confrontation – Ben drunk? Empty bottle of wine.

It was Mom. Ben’s reaction. You made us freaks!

Education vs real world experience.

1:20:00

Arrival at Jack’s place

Rell w Jack laying video game

Rells decision to stay w Jack and Abby

I hate you! I fucking hate you! He’s feral…

Jack fires arrow at Ben

Mission: Free the Food

Jack’s arguments are sound (stealing) – stealing, giving of weapons, Rell’s broken hand, bruises over body, child abuse

Filing for custody of children – warrant for arrest

Jack calls police – in cahoots w authority

1:24:00

Later – night – children in bushes w Ben

Vesp sent in over rooftop – tension w sound of roof tiles, silence – heightens injury sounds

Into hospital – Ben CU – does he doubt himself?

Vesp’s lucky escape – death or paralysis

1:27:35

Family arrives at Jack’s

Jack’s look at Ben, shakes head

Calisthenics in garden w Jack as Ben looks on, music, their b.g. laughter

Abby w Ben – shows Ben letters from Leslie

“Burn the other letter” – Leslie torn as well

1:29:45

Ben in shower

Later – w children – reveals they will be staying

It’s a beautiful mistake.

Ben reveals reasons for the life they built – for Leslie to get better – he knew it was too much – so was Rell right?

Ben back into house

1:32:10 unpacks bus

Discussion w Jack in study

Look at photo of Leslie – impression Jack will make a good grandfather. “We’re going to look after your children.” You’re doing the right thing.

Hand shake

1:33:30

Bus drives away

XCU Ben crying – long cut, music – empty rear of bus

Bathroom of service station – shaves off beard (symbol of rebellion)

Fire on hillside w city in b.g.

Rell from bus followed by others – I wished you’d helped Mom. Me, too.

Mission: Rescue Dad and Mom.

1:37:45

Cemetery

Grave digging.

Let’s dig. Otherwise she has to lie under that bullshit forever.

Driving away – night – montage w music to dawn break, morning

Use of light – saturation, lens flare – magic realism

Children around open coffin, flowers in mother’s hair as they prepare for cremation

Bo shaving head – counterpoint to Ben – sign language in rearview

1:41:40

Helicopter shot to clifftop

Funeral pyre

Bright sunshine, gulls in b.g., sound of waves

Flowers, nature – pantheism

Feather in posy – symbol of flight

Sweet child of mine as pyre burns

Idyllic backdrop

Tempo shifts – becomes celebratory (of life, not about death)

Sound bridge to:

1:45:20

Airport –

Ashes down toilet, laughter

Bo to Namibia – Ben’s advice on sex

Don’t die.

Touching of foreheads – spiritual

Exit Bo

1:48:05

Music in

Idyllic life, corn fields, American pastoral

Bus (Steve) as chicken coop

High saturation

Compromise between different ways of life – kids to school

HW at table

End w silence at breakfast table

Ben sighs

Music in

Cut to black

No Country For Old Men - Key Scenes:

Opening:

In the opening scene of 'No Country For Old Men', the spectator is introduced to a sheriff talking about his career which is accompanied by a collection of shots of the rural landscape, displaying conventions of the Western genre. // (better sentence: The opening scene in NCFOM initially appears to conform to the Western genre for the spectator)

With the collection of static establishment shots with a deep depth of field of the deserted dry landscape, which as the setting. While accompanied by the Texas draw accent of the Sheriff and the diegetic wind sound. This shows that the Coen Brothers are attempting to conform with the conventions of the Western Genre. However before the appearance of the police car via a tilt upwards/camera panning left following the country road, subtle hints provided for the spectator to make them believe that the film is not a typical western, for example the appearance of barbed wire fences, counter the idea that the film is set within the Western period.

Micro-features with Chigurh:
- Mise-en-scene - Costume - dark, incongruous to western attire
- Colour palette - setting - scorched - burnished - arid - parched
- Hair (no Hat) - Casting - Javier Bardem - Spanish
- Blocking - placement of character within frame - body language - back to camera shot - profile - lighting - silhouette - cage effect - distanced spectator - enigma code
- Shot size
- Depth of field
- Props - captive bolt pistol

The introduction of Chigurh immediately distances the spectator due to the mise-en-scene surrounding Chigurh. This creates enigma codes including costume, props and his position within the frame. The enigma code through costume is created through his dark outfit that is incongruous to the Western attire which forces the spectator to question why he is in this setting. The close up of the captive-bolt pistol being placed on the car seat, paints the question of the nature of Chigurh's character due to the ambiguity of the purpose of the prop.  The first appearance of Chigurh in a back to camera shot where he is being led by the deputy sheriff immediately characterises Chigurh as the villain according to the spectator, the silhouette of Chigurh denies the spectator of any detail about him, which could be seen as a deterrent from the typical conventions of the Western genre where the villain would often be introduced clearly and their intentions against the American Dream would be made apparent. This is also seen through the shadow of jail bars on the car; this is an allusion that Chigurh is going to get away with his actions, once again going against the typical conventions of the Western genre.

Micro-features:
- Deep depth of field / - VO - Texas drawl / - establishing shots / - static
- desert / - wind - diegetic / - telegraph poles/cables / - barbed wire fence

Opening: Written Example

Red = point. Blue = specialist terminology. Green = meaning. Orange = spectatorship

In the opening of No Country for Old Men, the Coen brothers challenge the spectator’s expectations of genre; specifically, the western. A series of static establishing shots chronicle sunrise over desert landscapes: arid hillsides, parched flatlands, desolate vistas. These immediately evoke landscapes familiar to spectators of westerns. The diegetic sound of wind adds to the sense of emptiness indicative of old frontiers; coupled with this is Bell’s voiceover narration, his thick southern drawl linking the film to southern US states such as Texas. The sunrise coming over the hills imparts strips of light over broader swathes of shade, suggestive perhaps of the dawning of hope; though also, of a landscape wherein darkness is prevalent. At odds with this notion of the western, though, are features of the landscape that seem anomalous: a barbed wire fence, telegraph poles; and, in the final panning shot, a police car parked on the side of an asphalt road.

As the camera pans to the police car, Chigurh enters the frame in a medium, back-to-camera shot with the sheriff’s deputy leading him to the car. In terms of costuming, he wears dark, unremarkable denim clothing that is nevertheless discordant with the western genre, thereby demarcating him as an outsider. We then cut to Chigurh’s profile, though due to the blocking of the scene, with the deputy in the foreground, much of him is obscured, creating an enigma code around his character that makes any sense of character alignment problematic for the spectator. This is further exacerbated by the final two shots of the sequence. In the first, the deputy places Chigurh’s weapon of choice in the front seat of the car: a captive bolt pistol unfamiliar to most spectators. In the second, seated in medium long shot in the rear of the car, with the deputy in front, a shallow depth of field is used to render Chigurh blurred from view. In effect, he is reduced to an anonymous silhouette. The grille in the police car creates a barrier both literal and metaphorical: between Chigurh and the law; and between spectator and character.

Depth of field is used to continued effect as we cut to the police station. At the start of the sequence, the sheriff’s deputy is seated in the foreground, centrally framed in medium shot. Chigurh is seated behind him background right in long shot, out of focus through the shallow depth of field. The framing of Chigurh to one side of the screen again positions him as outsider. With the camera slowly tracking in, the spectator begins to feel a sense of alignment with the deputy, whilst in the background, Chigurh’s movements create an immediate threat as he manoeuvres himself out of his handcuffs and approaches. The camera holds on the deputy in close up with Chigurh now behind him such that his head is out of frame, creating further alienation between spectator and character. A series of (relatively) quick cuts follows, with the two men struggling on the floor as Chigurh strangles the deputy. The first time Chigurh’s face is revealed in its entirety is through a high angle, medium long shot, with the camera slowly tracking in and rotating right. In contrast to the deputy’s frenzied thrashing, Chigurh assumes a look of jaw-clenched, animalistic yet dispassionate intensity, firmly and brutally establishing him as the villain.

In terms of spectatorship, the casting of Javier Bardem in the role of Chigurh again creates problems with regard to character alignment. Bardem will be known to most cineastes through his roles in European and arthouse films, such as Biutiful and Live Flesh and to some more mainstream cinemagoers playing the role of the villain in Skyfall. However, his persona as an actor is rather obscure, so there is little scope for spectator alignment based on pre-existing expectation.

Micro-features with Chigurh:
- Mise-en-scene - Costume - dark, incongruous to western attire
- Colour palette - setting - scorched - burnished - arid - parched
- Hair (no Hat) - Casting - Javier Bardem - Spanish
- Blocking - placement of character within frame - body language - back to camera shot - profile - lighting - silhouette - cage effect - distanced spectator - enigma code
- Shot size
- Depth of field
- Props - captive bolt pistol

The introduction of Chigurh immediately distances the spectator due to the mise-en-scene surrounding Chigurh. This creates enigma codes within costume, props and his position within the frame. The enigma code through costume is created through his dark outfit that is incongruous to the Western attire which forces the spectator to question why he is in this setting. The close up of the captive-bolt pistol being placed on the car seat, paints the question of the nature of Chigurh's character due to the ambiguity of the purpose of the prop.  The first appearance of Chigurh in a back to camera shot where he is being led by the deputy sheriff immediately characterises Chigurh as the villain according to the spectator. The silhouette of Chigurh denies the spectator of any detail about him, which could be seen as contradictory to the typical conventions of the Western genre where the villain would often be introduced clearly, and their intentions against the American Dream would be made apparent. This (contradiction?) is also seen through the shadow of jail bars on the car; an allusion that Chigurh is going to get away with his actions, once again going against the typical conventions of the Western genre.

Coin Toss:
(Timecode: 20:21)
- High angle establishing shot with Texaco sign: co-incides with Western conventions, desert setting, lifeless, the sound (e.g. the wind) -> similar to a saloon
- Shot reverse shots
- The camera slowly zooms in closer towards the shopkeeper as the tension builds -> slow tracking-in shot
- Shots: medium close-ups to begin with -> tighter on Chigurh than the shopkeeper originally
- Framing: Chigurh on right hand side & off-centre, Shopkeeper centre frame with window behind him -> character alignment: Chigurh is unbalanced as he's not centre frame, he's peripheral and marginalised, an outsider, also shows he has the power to move
- Character alignment: empathise with shopkeeper, fear for him -> also magnetically drawn to Chigurh as his powerful
- Moral code to Chigurh through the coin toss, lets the shopkeeper live
- Imbalance: Chigurh moralistic but leaves everything to chance -> can link to framing
- Lack of music -> builds up intensity in the scene
- Back & forth dialogue, lack of pauses, quick energy -> Chigurh = very literal with his words, no small talk
- Non-diegetic minor key music towards the end of the scene
- Costume: shopkeeper -> shows an average, ordinary man, lumberjack shirt, redneck wear, braces -> shows his an American working class man. Chigurh set apart -> anonymous to surroundings -> his hair cut, clothes etc
- Start to align with shopkeeper when he becomes intimidated by Chigurh
- '12 nooses' behind shopkeeper, looks like he is being lined up to be killed by Chigurh so its surprising for the spectator that he survives
- The music & tracking shot start at the same time -> tension building, making the spectator become more involved as literally getting closer to the characters, more of a personal investment in this scene
- Significance is given to an inanimate object (the coin)
- Chigurh = twisted sense of morality

Dog Scene:
- Cut aways to the mountain & hills
- Shot size smaller after every cut away -> goes from establishing shot to a medium/long shot of the people on the hillside -> distancing (alignment) with the characters -> increases tension
- Fast pace editing heightens the tension, cut aways to the car increase tension as spectator sutured into the scene
- Uses horror genre tropes, off-centre framing to see the space behind the people
- Slow tracking-in shot bringing us closer to Moss when he hides under the car
- Extreme low-key lighting creates a sense of danger and uneasiness -> highlights unclarity as to whether Moss escapes
- Track behind shot -> another convention of horror genre
- Static charge connotes danger -> pathetic fallacy
- Static shots distances the spectator from the violence into safety -> encouraged to watch it from an outside perspective -> confounding the spectator's expectations -> constantly asking questions how your looking at this film
- Sound = diegetic sound of Moss' breathing + the pursuing truck -> persistent and menacing
- Takes place at pre-dawn: lights of truck look demonic -> has a demonic presence
- Setting = isolated, propelled into sense of danger for Moss
- Shot reverse shots heightens suspense -> brings danger closer -> compresses time & makes it feel shorter -> scene quickly gets light
- Nebulous presence of henchmen pursuing Moss -> look like silhouettes -> shot in long/extreme long shot from low angle -> increases sense of alienation -> menacing floodlights of truck
-

Introduction to Moss:
- First shot: PoV of deer -> introduced to the audience as a hunter/predatory -> becomes prey later in the film -> reversal of character role
- Shallow depth of field, extreme close up = next shot of Moss -> shows concentration -> character alignment
- Both Chigurh & Moss say 'can you hold still' before shooting -> a connection between them? -> difference in character alignment is Moss killing a deer and Chigurh killing a person
- Darkness (from storm clouds) coming towards Moss
- Blue Jeans, chequered shirt, cowboy hat etc = clotheing
- Scene has a dustiness to it
- Moss hiding his tracks -> instilled into him after his days in the military -> don't like to leave a trace
- Setting = desolate, arid landscape
- Chooses to inhabit empty landscape

Chigurh kills Carla Jean + Car Crash (1:43:36-1:49:56)

Lighting
Imagery of death -> costume -> Carla Jean in black -> just came back from funeral -> connotes foreshadowing of death
Close-ups of characters

Sound -. increases in build up to car accident for tension,

lack of diegetic/non-diegetic sound when Carla Jean arrives home also increases tension

Goes against convention of a western, the villain walks away, sirens = sound representation of walking away from his crimes -> link to spectator response
Camera movement/editing: crane up, track in and right -> type of camera movement you'd expect to find in a film

Colour palette reflects typical Western setting


End Scene:
- Low angle at funeral: proximity between Carla Jean and the grave foreshadows that she's going to die, costume emphasises this; in black and arrives from funeral -> connotes foreshadowing of death
- Lack of men at the funeral, could represent that all the husbands have died. Women sidelined throughout the film, underdeveloped
- Exterior of the house + Suburban Street where Chigurh crashes: looks like a horror film, elements of the horror genre, isolated
- The interior design of the house is quaint and homely, contrasts previous settings in the film
- Diegetic sound of Carla Jean's footsteps -> increases tension
- The lingering shot of the neck curtains: shows there has been a break-in -> Kuleshov effect -> PoV shot
- The over the shoulder shot shows Chigurh is continuing with his journey -> relates back to the use of shot-reverse-shot in the coin toss scene
- Lighting in the bedroom just misses Chigurh, his positioned in the shadow -> nightmarish figure in the background
- Carla Jean shot at a very slight low angle
- Closer alignment with Carla Jean, shot closer to the camera than Chigurh who's still lurking in the camera

EXAM QUESTIONS:

= No Country for Old Men, set in rural Texas in the early 1980s, is a powerful, intricately plotted thriller that explores the consequences of the choices individuals make.

= The independent American films characteristically explore non-mainstream cinema subjects and tend to adopt stylistic features associated with lower budget production.

= Captain Fantastic presents a very alternative way of life and ideological take on contemporary US society. A father homeschools his children in a natural environment but the family is forced to confront the outside world. 

How far do your chosen films demonstrate a constant shift between passive and active spectatorship? Refer in detail to at least one sequence from each film. 

- an understanding of spectatorship in terms of the level and type of engagement a film elicits in the spectator including, for example, concepts such as identification, alignment and allegiance 

• how key features of the films, such as camera position, editing, sound, performance or aspects of narrative and genre can create passive and active responses 

• some recognition of the role of viewing context and spectators' social and cultural background in influencing spectator response 

• a recognition that spectators are likely to shift between passive and active viewing. 

• Band 5 responses may see the relationship between passive and active spectatorship both in terms of shifting responses and as a tension between spectators' points of view (their ideological positions) and the points of view (ideologies) films may convey. 

How far do your chosen films demonstrate the importance of visual and soundtrack cues in influencing spectator response? Refer in detail to at least one sequence from each film.

an understanding of spectatorship in terms of the level and type of engagement a film elicits in the spectator including, for example, concepts such as identification, alignment and allegiance 

• an understanding of visual cues in terms of varieties of cinematography (e.g. distance, angle and movement), intensity of lighting, specific aspects of mise-enscène (e.g. setting, props and costume) and performance 

• an understanding of sound cues in terms of diegetic sound (distinctive dialogue, voice, foley sound, sound effects) or non-diegetic sound (music or other aspects of sound design) 

• a recognition that visual and sound cues play a significant role in spectators' responses. 

• Band 5 responses may recognise that spectators do not always respond in the way they are encouraged to ('cued to') and may provide reasons. 

How valuable has ideological analysis been in developing your understanding of the themes of your chosen films?

Candidates will show knowledge and understanding of ideological analysis / critical approaches to the films studied and relate these to textual details in developing a response to the question. 

• Candidates will evaluate the ideological analysis / critical approaches they have used in relation to the films studied by considering whether such an approach has been important to their responses. 

Candidates may include the following: 

• The use of particular ideological analysis / critical approaches such as feminism or political approaches as appropriate to the films studied. Some candidates may develop their answers by referencing debates and alternate readings within a particular ideological analysis / critical approach, such as debates within feminism about a particular film. 

• A response that focuses upon ideologies conveyed by the text; ones which inform it or ideologies which may have influenced it at the time or place of production. Candidates may feel that considering these films within their American contexts may reveal more interesting and valuable new ways of studying them. 

• Candidates may develop a response that argues that an ideological analysis / critical approach can make studying a film far more interesting because of the pleasures it can give in explaining narrative enigmas or generating discussion and debate amongst audiences. 

• A variety of theoretical perspectives such as spectator positioning, binary oppositions or semiology in order to form an ideological analysis of the films studied. The candidates’ approaches may be varied but should be relevant and appropriate to the films studied. 

Band 5 responses may: 

• Consider the possibilities of different ideological analysis / critical approaches, such as ideological, narrative or aesthetic analysis / approaches, as not necessarily being mutually exclusive and may consider the benefits of different analysis / approaches being used alongside each other. 

• Consider how an ideological analysis / critical approach may encourage a different response from other ways of experiencing the film, for example as an emotional narrative or an aesthetic form. 

How useful is an ideological critical approach in examining the impact of the films you have studied on the spectator?

Candidates will show knowledge and understanding of ideological critical approaches to the films studied and relate these to textual details in developing a response to the question. 

• Candidates will evaluate the ideological critical approaches they have used in relation to the films studied by considering whether such an approach has been useful to their responses.

 • The specification recommends centres study either a political or feminist critical approach in relation to these films, though centres may wish to choose their own. 

• Candidates will consider the impact that the chosen films have had upon spectators in the light of the critical approach studied. 

Candidates may include the following: 

• A consideration of different kinds of spectators in terms of cultural and filmic knowledge, which may vary depending upon the films studied. Some candidates, for example, may frame their response within a consideration of how different genders have responded to the films. 

• A discussion of the impact in very different ways, by considering the narrative or aesthetic impact of the chosen films, in comparison to a possible ideological impact. Different approaches may depend on the films chosen but there should be some evaluation of the importance of an ideological approach in examining the films’ impact on spectators. 

• A consideration of spectator positioning and mode of address adopted in the chosen films and the implications of this for spectators. 

Band 5 responses may: 

• Recognize that the impact of a film on different spectators can be a complex and dynamic effect that is difficult to capture in the application of a single critical approach. 

• Apply various methods of ideological critical approaches such as the discussion of connotations or the use of binary oppositions in narrative and formal elements of the chosen films.