Poster and Explanation of Theme - 'Rise of the Machine'

For the poster project, I have decided to go with the theme of Modernism and the rise of machines. I made this choice because I felt that there is so much potential for a poster as a result of the sci-fi genre being very popular and having the potential to have a lot to work with. Another reason is because the idea of robotics is so broad meaning that there would be a lot of content, ideas and quotes to use to construct the poster.

The idea behind the rise of the machine is that, as we advance in technology and science, we are allowing machinery more access to skills and what we can accomplish. The media has taken this idea and created many different products with the idea of advanced artificial intelligence (‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ featured HAL 9000 as the antagonist for example) to the point that Iasac Asmiov introduced the idea of three laws that robots must follow in his 1942 short story ‘Runaround’ featured in his short story compilation ‘I, Robot’. The laws involved not injuring humans or allowing them to be harmed, obeying orders given by humans and projecting its own existence as long as it doesn’t contradict the previously stated rules.

The way that robots are portrayed in the media varies depending on the source. Some films such as ‘The World’s End’ portray them as trying to make the planet a better place by replacing all the humans while on the other hand, a film such as ‘The Terminator’ implies that the advancement of technology and awareness of artificial technology will lead to a war between humans and robots. What I find fascinating about the theme of rise of the machine is that it plays a lot into morality. ‘The World’s End’ makes it debatable as it whether or not they are wrong. Characters mentioned that the replaced people are friendlier and make Newton Haven a better place yet, in essence, people are still being killed in the process.

Rise of the machine can also see technology outside of robotics advance too with life imitating such as the use of mobile phones first seen in ‘Star Trek’ or devices very reminiscent of iPads and the use of touchscreens seen throughout the sci-fi genre. Now, these ideas that were simply dreamed up for fiction are a part of our everyday lives which will instantly display how far with technology we have come.

For the final poster, I had to come up with what actors to use based on their previous works or what they were working on recently. For example, Jared Leto, Jaimie Alexander and Chadwick Boseman are all involved in comic book films with Alexander and Boseman being part of the Marvel Studios films and Jared Leto being cast of the Joker for the next Batman film. Since comic book films clearly have a strong hold on Hollywood, it therefore made sense that these would be names that sci-fi fans would be familier with and would ultimately want to see based on actors alone. I picked Andrew Lincoln for his work as the protagonist on 'The Walking Dead' which is the most popular post-apocalyptic series at the moment and Alan Tudyk for his sci-fi works such as the TV show 'Firefly' and starring as the main robot, Sonny, in 'I, Robot'. 

Looking at Women

Key Theorist
 - Laura Mulvey
   - 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema' (1975)
   - Discusses the male gaze
   - Female in film is passive, Male is active

Male Gaze
One element of cinema that has risen and identified as a result of theory is the idea of the 'Male Gaze'. The male gaze is the idea that films objectify women for sake of pleasure towards a male dominant audience. Women are depicted as erotic objects for characters within the narrative to view and generally fall within two categories of being either sexually active or powerless. More recently, films have strived to change this outlook with films such as 'Alien' or 'Kill Bill' showing off more dominant and capable heroines who do not fall within the categories. It brings about the idea that there are two types of looking at women in film: voyeuristic, looking without the subject knowing, and fetishistic, applying sexual feelings to anything. The reason it is depicted as a 'male gaze' is because the films position themselves at the spectators being heterosexual and male and fits the hegemonic ideologies in society.

"Men look at women, women watch themselves being look at"
 - John Berger (Ways of Seeing)


“When I talked to audiences about the epidemic of eating disorders, for instance, or about the dangers of silicone breast implants, I was often given a response straight out of Plato’s Symposium, the famous dialogue about eternal and unchanging ideals: something like, “Women have always suffered for beauty.”
 - Naomi Wolf (The Beauty Myth, 1990)


Looking deeper into the idea of watching, there are many sub groups that this can fall under. These include:

Scopophilia 
This is the idea that pleasure is derived from looking at certain objects and is instinctive when people or images are depicted as erotic objects. It can also be considered perverted if it is connected to deviant behaviour such as the aforementioned voyeurism

Narcissim
This is the idea of erotic pleasure being derived from looking at one's own body and, as a result, the media using this as a way of making the audience identify with the image on screen. Specifically for cinema, this is often explained through Jacque Lacan's idea of the 'mirror stage' which emerged as a result of infants gaining awareness of mirrors and their own bodies.

Voyeruism
This is pleasure gained from the subject being watched being unaware of being looked at. An example of this would be 'Peeping Tom' (Michael Powell, 1960) which brings on the idea that, not only is the audience voyeurs, it could be argued that the camera is a voyeur too. One of the finest examples of voyeuristic behaviour in film is Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rear Window' as the protagonist can only spend his time watching the neighbourhood from his window as a result of being confined to a wheelchair. 


Fetishism
For the last one, and most relevant to use of women, this is the idea of an object becoming a fetish as a result of being focused on as sexual desire. The audience can idealise an object when presented in front of them in a sexualised way to displace any sexual anxiety to the extent that even shoes or hair can take on sexual connotations depending on the specific spectator. The audience may also be aware of excessive objectification of the human body, more commonly female, with numerous shots of legs and breasts being focused on. A strong focus on parts of the female body is a fine example of fetishism being used in cinema.

Modernism in Art

Modernism (1850-1970)
 - Experimental
 - Radical
 - Revolutionary
 - Ready-made
 - Primitive
 - Expressive truth
 - Art and industry
 - Internationalism

 - Changing rights for women
 - Japonism
 - Association with art and abstraction

Example of surrealist cinema - 'Un Chien Andalou' (Luis Bunuel, 1929)

 - Simplicity
 - Symmetry
 - Abstraction
 - Consistency
 - Unity
 - Organisation
 - Economy

Names linked with modernism
 - Karl Marx
 - Igor Stravinsky
 - Pina Bausch
 - Bertolt Brecht
 - Walter Benjamin
 - TS Elliot
 - Andre Breton
 - Salvador Dali
 - Bela Bartok
 - Arnold Schoenburg

Postmodern Shift
 - Parody
 - Pastiche (Soft mockery)
 - Bricolage (Tat)
 - Kitsh (Giving object more value than it actually has)
 - Banal (Pointless)
 - Intertextual (Reference)
 - Appropriated (Taking something to make your own)
 - Plundered (Stolen)

Modern
 - Production
Post Modern
 - Consumption

Guy Debord (Society of the Spectacle, 1967)

Modernism and the Rise of the Machine

Modernism
Science-fiction has depicted the idea that machines have grown in intelligence over time based on our influence and intention to better our technology. There are many ideas that have risen from this including science and technology taking over the human race and acting as Earth's 'New Saviours' as well as the advances in warfare and weaponry which could lead to our downfall as depicted in films such as 'The Terminator' (James Cameron, 1984). In a more realistic and positive outlook, the rise of machine can also be seen as a celebration of industry and new materials, a look at our development and progress as human beings to the point of being able to now create artificial intelligence as well as having greater access to discovering new things and explanations for things thought unknown.

"We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and, to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." I suppose we all thought that, one way or another."
 - Robert Oppenheimer, 1965 (From documentary 'The Decision to Drop the Bomb')

Threat to humanity
The rise of intelligence given to machines inspired many works that looked deep into how much of a threat to humanity these can be thus giving rise to new inspiration for the science-fiction genre. Common tropes that appear as threats to humanity within this genre include:
 - Machines, robots, cyborgs
 - Monsters
 - Aliens
All of these are inspired by the advancements in technology with machines being from our intention of creating artificial intelligence, monsters commonly being caused by our influence or accidents such as 'Godzilla' (Ishiro Honda, 1954) or 'The Host' (Joon-ho Bong, 2006) leaving aliens as an advancement of the idea that we are closer to space travel and explores the idea of life outside of our planet and in the depths of space.

Specific examples of these ideas placed in media include:

HG Wells - 'The War of the Worlds' (1898)
Aliens from outer space invade Earth through the use of advanced technology

Roland Emmerich - 'Independence Day' (1996)
A more modern interpretation of alien invaders using their technology to their advantage

Fritz Lang - 'Metropolis' (1927)

Explores the idea of combining the human mind with the body of a robot

Alex Proyas - 'I, Robot' (2004)

Artificial intelligence rivals that of humans and dives into Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics

- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

- A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Stanley Kubrick - '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968)

The on-ship computer, HAL 9000, follows its command of "saving the mission" by using its technology to kill the humans on the ship

 James Cameron - 'The Terminator' (1984)

Using both time travel and robots disguised as humans as it depicts a futuristic war between human and machine.

Link to my review of 'The Terminator' - http://opinionmoviegoer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-terminator-james-cameron-1984-review.html

The Wachowski Brothers - 'The Matrix' (1999)

Brings about the idea of another reality different to the one we live in which is apparently a dream-like state brought on by our bodies being encased in machines.

Link to my review of 'The Matrix' - http://opinionmoviegoer.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/the-matrix-andy-wachowski-and-lana.html

Christopher Nolan - 'Interstellar' (2014)

Our decisions and influences have brought on the upcoming end of the world and we use our technology to explore far off worlds with their own life and ecosystems.

Postmodernism

 - Jean-Francois Lyotard
 - Zygmunt Bauman (1993)
   - Modern 'Pilgrim' becomes postmodern 'Nomad'
 - Jean Baudrillard (1988)
   - No distinction between representation and reality

What impact does it have on us? 
 - How reliant on technology are we?
 - Computer technology has changed the way we live our lives
 - Knowledge sourced without internet
 - Social life and friends can be 'virtual'
 - We are plugged into the interface for much of our time
 - We consume information exponentially

Screenshot from 'Misplacement'

Critical Analysis of Project

My project started off after watching ‘Sin City’ as well as ‘The Naked Gun’ which gave the idea of creating a short film that captured the style of ‘Sin City’ through the use of black and white footage, voiceover and the look of the character as well as applying a more comedic tone over it with the idea of giving an incompetent person a lot of authority and power as displayed in ‘The Naked Gun’. As the planning and filming progressed, certain aspects started to change as the film began to become more unique. Instead, I began to focus on the idea of taking a generic character and placing them in a more relatable setting.

My film is seen through the perspective of the main character who was made to be a generic noir character which I displayed with the use of the voiceover filled with clichés (mostly the character’s view on crime inspired by ‘Sin City’) and the way the character looks as he wears a long coat just as they do in ‘Sin City’. Because he see it in his perspective, it therefore had to be shot in black and white as I surmised that is how a noir character would see the world as the whole genre is often depicted in black and white. While I did have the idea of different shots in my head, the underlining references such as the contrast between the black clothing and white backgrounds as well as the texture of the wall being split down the middle were all found based on location. While I had an idea of where I was shooting, I didn’t take the details of the locations into account.

My aim was to explore the use of voice over and establish characters and narrative within the time limit assigned. While I was disappointed in my performance in the voice over, it works well in establishing the tone and idea of what I’m aiming at with the character losing focus in his head and establishing that the film is aimed to be self-aware of generic conventions and tropes. I am also glad I managed to get the narrative I had scripted into less than 2 minutes as I was worried it would be too long.

I have learnt through the filming and editing process where my strengths and weaknesses lie. I had no issues with writing, acting or positioning shots however I found issues with editing and actually controlling the camera. As a result, the quality had diminished however I felt it actually worked for this film as the grainy look harkened back to the early days of film that also had film grain. I have many other ideas for short films that I hope to implement in later projects so writing won’t be an issue and, as an aspiring actor, acting will be fine too however I will try hard to improve in other areas of film making. 

Further Evolution of Short Film

This is my first post after finishing my short film and now I am free to comment on the process.

Filming
While I didn't have a story board as I felt it was difficult to capture what I was planning on paper and instead found it easier just to recount my thoughts when on location. I did have an idea of what shots I wanted to do when filming so I didn't make it up when there. The only times I had to improvise shots were when the location had limitations that we had to work around such as space or lighting. Due to time constraints such as availability of crew and working around schedules, there are many differences between the final film and the script. Most noticeably is the timing as the script called for shooting at night time while I could only work during day time. However, it worked in favour of the film as it was a good way of playing with generic expectations which already gives the audience the impression that, while the character matches the tropes of the genre, it gives the impression that he is in a world that he doesn't belong in.

Editing
Since we are seeing the film from a noir-esque character's perspective, it would be down to the editing, With the brighter look as a result of filming in the day, the film ended up looking better in my opinion as the contrast between the white backgrounds and the black clothing made the characters stand out even better. All three characters seen feature a black element whether it be clothing or hair which makes them stand out among the backgrounds. This is enforced further with the overlays added in post. The choice for making it black and white was done to capture the 'Sin City' style which I also added effects to reinforce the contrast which I intended.

While editing, I found that the sound editing was significantly more challenging and more time consuming than the actual film footage. As this was an early project, I applied simple cuts between shots so that there wasn't that much to edit as the clips simply fell into place. The audio was another thing though as the way the sound was recorded initially meant I had to sync up the sound with the video myself. We recorded the sound externally so that it would be of better quality however this meant I had to go through each clip and make sure the sound is matched perfectly.

Themes and evolution of Short Film

The primary theme in which my film is driven by is the sense of misplacement, hence the reason that I titled the film as such. The scenario of the film is what would happen if a character from a specific and iconic genre filled with noticeable film conventions, this being the noir genre, was thrust into a more realistic and relatable environment. Seeing a gruff, long coat wearing detective walking down the darkened streets of Plymouth to assess a very simple and null situation that befalls many people was a bizzare yet intriguing concept I wanted to go further with. With a genre I have set to imitate, I set out to look up the iconography and mise en scene of the genre which led me to the work of John Alton.

These are shots captured John Alton featured from 'He Walked by Night' (Alfred Werker, 1948), 'T-Men' (Anthony Mann, 1947) and 'The Crooked Way' (Robert Florey, 1949). I find these shots the most fitting to my film purely because they are less extravagant than other shots he was provided and focus on two or three characters which fits because my film also features three characters.  As my film idea progressed due to me finding a genre to focus on, I was able to scout locations in order to capture the shadowy look that Alton incorporates on a regular basis. Due to this, a night time setting was picked to incorporate shadows for a stronger effect.

There were some changes to the iconography due to the placement of the protagonist in a modern setting which mostly comes down to the costume. The classic look, as seen above, is wearing a suit, fedora and trenchcoat. The reasons for the changes were down to observations I have made recently regarding how the clothing items are portrayed now. Fedoras and Trilbys have been overused by many people and has gone beyond the point of relevancy. The coat is cotton and shorter due to my actual problem of finding long coats and instead used my own personal one instead. The suit was adjusted slightly to capture the smart casual look which drops the tie. Overall the outfit I went with is very reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes' clothing in the TV show 'Sherlock'.

This was picked due to this being a modern interpretation of an iconic detective as well as my interest in the show itself.