Emotional Response- The Silence of the Lambs

Character	Emotional Response	This was achieved by
Hannibal Lecter	- Shock - Disgust - Hatred - Horror	The development illustrated in the first 10 minutes of the film that illustrates how evil of a person Hannibal Lecter is. Dr Chilton describes him as " a monster, a total psychopath" and he shows Starling an explicit example of his violent nature. While the image is not shown, we can see the disgust and horror reflected through the horrified expression on Starling's face as she glances at the photograph. Despite this, the most shocking aspect of this scene is Lecter's appearance. As Starling walks towards his cell, we see the other inmates who range from uncanny to downright insane yet when we see Lecter for the first time, he's clean, sharply dressed and presents himself as proper.
Clarice Starling	- Empathy - Compassion - Worry	As a woman, Clarice Starling has to cope with the common attributes of a patriarchal system, particularly in her line of work which is mostly male dominated. Besides Clarice, we only ever see one other woman training as a member of the force, who is Clarice's close friend. While she seems to not take certain acts of sexism around her to heart, it is incredibly apparent that other officials of law enforcement look down upon her, condescendingly. This is highlighted in one scene where before an autopsy, Clarice asks if the sheriffs in the room may leave, to which they stare at her blankly with an expression of confusion and even slight offense that they are being ordered by woman.
Dr Chiltern	- Cringe - Disgust	Dr Chiltern's slimy and mostly pathetic attempt to court with Clarice upon them meeting one another is an all out uncomfortable experience to sit through. This is complimented by the close up shot on Chiltern's face, highlighting most of his specific features. Anthony Heald's performance, as well as the intentionally inappropriate use of vocabulary in the dialogue, makes this entire scene utterly cringe inducing. There is little to no sense of charm in his delivery of the ham handed compliments in an attempt to win the attention of a completely uninterested Clarice who tries to shrug off the comments.
Buffalo Bill	- Horror - Empathy - Disgust

Scene Analysis- Clarice meets Hannibal

How is camerawork and editing used to create an emotional response?

The use of camera work from the opening segment where Clarice and Dr Chilton are in the office to the point where she first meets Hannibal, heavily highlights the descent towards the underground cell in which Lecter is kept. As we see Clarice and Dr Chilton gradually move further down to the cell, the inevitable threat becomes much more apparent, as Chilton explains how dangerous of a man Lecter is. This complimented by the use of close up shots on Clarice's face when she sees exactly what Lecter is capable of, through a photograph of a previous victim. While we, as viewers, do not get to see the pictures for ourselves, we can see the terror emulated through her reaction on the close up. The use of the close up shot is seen again, largely, when Clarice first confronts Lecter. The focus on his face, particularly the eyes, gives what appears to be this well kept, well-mannered and well-spoken individual the darker and and more sinister edge that was established in Chilton's initial description.


How is dialogue and the performance of the actors used to create an emotional response?

Anthony Hopkin's performance as Hannibal Lecter, while disturbing, is incredibly subtle as portraying this force of evil. The psychotic aspects of his personality are presented through the delivery of the dialogue and the semi-sinister expression across his face. Complimented by the lighting, the portion in which he asks for Clarice's credentials, his eyes are notable for their size and a lack of movement with a complete focus on Clarice with a prolonged stare before he actually takes a look at her badge. However, Hopkin's performance becomes a lot more unsettling when he begins to smell Clarice and identify the skin care products she uses. The animalistic way in which he smells her and the incredibly specific details in which he identifies the products as is truly disturbing and somewhat non-human in nature. Foster portrays Clarice as understandably unnerved by Lecter's interaction. As confident as she may have been, initially, Lecter completely softened her up with his creepy mannerisms and then utterly ruins her with an onslaught of insults directed towards her upbringing and her appearance.


How is mise-en-scene used to create meaning (costume, setting, scenery etc.)?

The juxtaposition between the main office area in the mental institution and the cell block on the ground floor shows a distinctive difference between the sane and good natured working above and the  insane and true evil lurking below. The cell blocks look less like typical prison cells and more like a medical dungeon, with the old, withered brick work, rusty metal bars and a dark, gloomy atmosphere. The anomoly being Lecter's cell which is well lit and has a large glass panel, most likely to stop him from grabbing at the staff who monitor him. However, along with his correct posture and courteous manner, the cleanliness of his cell reflects Lecter's personality very well, showing that despite his psychopathic nature, he is a clean cut, intelligent and smartly dressed man. There is even a set of washing and hair products seen behind Lecter during this sequence. The juxtaposition between the two sides of his character perpetuates a sense of fear of a man who not only has the willing to harm, seen through his violent past, but have the capacity to commit said harm, established through his
mannerism.


What are the emotional responses a spectator might have to this scene?

There are a variety of emotion that can be evoked from this particular segment, based on how quickly it twists with the atmosphere and the emotional responses from the characters themselves. From the very beginning, we see a close up shot of Dr Chilton with his smurk and unsettling expression while trying to court with Clarice. While he isn't the antagonist, anyone in the audience, particularly women, could feel discomforted and somewhat alarmed by his perversive mannerisms. The use of the POV shot makes this much more unsettling with Chilton's face almost perfectly with in frame and his quiet thick accented voice being heard clearly as if he was whispering in the viewer's ear.

Character Analysis- One Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Character	Emotional response	Created by
Randall McMurphy	-       Joy -       Sadness -       Sympathy	- McMurphy is the first character in the institution that gets the inmates excited and develops an incredibly bond with them. He also teaches and guides them through internal endeavours such as loss of identity and independence, which is heavily illustrated in the scene in which McMurphy takes the inmates fishing, showing them the outside for the first time in a while. I also feel empathetic towards, particularly at the end where he is lobotomised at the hands of the system.
Nurse Ratched	-       Anger -       Hatred -       Disgust	Nurse Ratched is a manipulative human being who uses her position of power within the institution to seemingly place the inmates within a state of displeasure. Her obsession with the order of the hospital, especially once McMurphy checks in, she feels like he is a threat to the system put in place, and how aggravated she seems when he counter acts her demands, which can be seen when McMurphy pretends to watch a baseball game and gets the rest of the patients to cheer along with him, even after Nurse Ratched rufuses to show the game.
Billy Bibbett	- Empathy - Anger - Sadness - Happiness	Billy Bibbett is an innocent young man, placed into the institution as a result of his depression and suicidal tendencies. Along with his stammer, this causes him to shy away from the rest of the inmates and not really associate himself with the rest of the group. It's thanks to McMurphy, that Bibbett begins to become more open as a person and starts to explore more of what a young man his age should experience. Because of this, we feel proud of Bibbett's progress and are glad of his partaking in his new discoveries.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest- Sequence Analysis 1- The Electric Shock Treatment

How is Camerawork and editing used to create an emotional response?

1) The camera work in this scene has an overwhelming focus on Nurse Ratched as she responds to
questions asked by the inmates. Her broad posture and monotone response accompanied by the use  of symmetrical framing conveys her dominance and control over the group as she condescendingly  talks to each person individually. The camera work is also used to foreshadow the events between  this scene and the section with the electric shock treatment where the film shows a burning cigarette  caught on the trousers worn by Christopher Lloyd's character. There are several cuts to the cigarette  which builds some anticipation for a reaction which inevitably comes and causes havoc amongst the  group. This is where the editing is used to its full potential, where each shot during the group  discussion is long and sustains its position when the scene is at its calmest point, however as soon as  a commotion arises, the camerawork shows showcases a lot more movement and the the editing is    incredibly quick and choppy.


How has the narrative been used to evoke a response? What is the effect of "dovetailing" this scene between the two on either side of it?

2) The ways in which the narrative evoked different emotional responses comes from the cycle    between humour, sadness and the disturbing and shocking content. In this scene in particular, before  Murphy enters the room for shock treatment, he is enthusiastically conversing with Chief about    possibly escaping from the facility. Even when entering the room, he is extremely calm, peppy and  appears to be in full control, showing he either nows what awaits him and is not phased due to the  news previously provided to him, or he is completely oblivious to what will happen. The film "dovetails" between different emotions within the same scene, each having different human effects on the character, however we see, as the audience get to see each unique layer to the character's personality as they develop and see their reactions to different environments and conditions.


How does our engagement with the characters affect our emotional responses?

3) As the characters develop, after engaging with new people and

Small Scale Research Project - Catalogue

               
                        The Latin American Influence with in the Robert Rodriguez's Filmography


Introduction

For my research project, the focus will be on "The Latin American influence in the films of Robert Rodriguez". I will analyse the individual cultural aspects that Rodriguez has implemented into certain movies. This will include the heavy use of mariachi in his score (all of movies excluding Sin City and The Faculty, common Mexican or Texan setting (El Mariachi series, Machete, From Dusk Till Dawn), traditional Latin American themes and values (Spy Kids franchise, El Mariachi series).



Filmography

Item 1


El Mariachi - Robert Rodriguez's first feature length film, I chose to use this film as it demonstrates the key tropes of Latin American cinema particularly in regards to music, setting and cinematography. Spoken in Mexican, this film is also the most heavily rooted in Rodriguez's heritage, with a rich Latin American setting, all Hispanic cast and Mariachi score.

Item 2

Desperado - The sequel to El Mariachi, with a high budget, this film still took to it's Latin American roots however developed and experimented with a stronger emphasis on westerns and integrated elements from the action genre.

Item 3

Spy Kids- Similar to Desperado, the integration of western styles with the Latin American aesthetic makes up a predominant portion of the film. However, as this film is suited for families, there is an underlying moral about family that is heavily linked to Rodriguez's family roots which is indicted through the values illustrated in the movie. 


Books, Television and Magazines


Item 4


- Rebel Without a Crew - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rebel-Without-Crew-23-year-old-Film-maker/dp/057117891X 

Rodriguez's first feature length film, El Mariachi, was made with a budget little under $8000 which was prize money that he won in a small film competition. Rodriguez used a variety of methods when filming to avoid stretching the cost of filming and the time spent of certain sequences. These techniques would be taught to aspiring film-makers, by Rodriguez, through the "Robert Rodriguez Film School" which was put on the special features on the DVD's of most of his projects. His film school would be converted in to literary format in 2007 with the book, 'A Rebel Without a Crew'.



Item 5

El Rey- Rodriguez's Television Network - www.elreynetwork.com/ 

This website is for Robert Rodriguez's television network with a list of shows, movies and scheduling.
This site is helpful because of one particular show called 'The Director's Chair' which has Rodriguez has
a one on one interview/ discussion with another director, notable examples being the likes of Quentin
Tarantino and Martin Scorsese. In these talks, Rodriguez and the other director will discuss how they tackle 
certain aspects of film production and how they established the style that they are now known for.  

Item 6

Red Bulletin - a talk with Robert Rodriguez - https://www.redbulletin.com/us/us/culture/robert-rodriguez-rebel-with-a-cause



Articles and Interviews


Item 7

Robert Rodriguez IMDB- www.imdb.com/name/nm0001675/
A long, descriptive version of Robert Rodriguez's biography, including his early life, filmography, associated
work, trivia and brief description of his personal life. The information about his upbringing will be especially 
useful, as certain points in his life may have contributed to his style of direction, editing and music.





Item 8

Robert Rodriguez's Wikipedia Article- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Rodriguez
A concise description of Rodriguez's career, along with his personal life, interests, filmography and other notable works, with additional references from other websites and blogs.




Item 9

Robert Rodriguez's discussion way he creates his own score and the creative process of his music in his movies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feN63Yvh1wk
This interview in which Robert Rodriguez discusses the music he uses in his movies, more specifically in Once Upon in Mexico. This is useful because he begins to delve deep into his inspirations from cultural heritage and how they effect the mood of his films, effectively.



Unselected material

'The Faculty' being a horror film that was completely backed by a separate production company, meaning that the film had to cater to a demographic as opposed to being a product of Rodriguez's creative ability. This film does not contain any aspects or follow the conventions that are evidently inspired by Latin American cinema, or the by the culture as whole. 'Shark-boy and Lava-girl', on the other hand, were made specifically for Rodriguez's own children, so a majority of ideas and inconsistency were intentional considering the fact that they stem from the imagination of his own children. The third rejected item is the film 'Sin City'. This is due to the fact that this film borrows little to nothing from Latin American culture and the majority of the inspiration came straight from the graphic novel it was based on, therefore it is not relevant to the question.  

Million Dollar Baby

1)   Through out the film “Million Dollar baby” there are a variety of events that have the potential to provoke certain emotions from the perspective of a spectator.  These emotions vary based on the opinions and actions of the characters such as the scene towards the end of the movie where Clint Eastwood’s character puts Hilary Swank’s character to rest after a crippling accident. The emotions evoked from a scene like this would be along the lines of sadness (from the death of a likeable and fully fleshed out character), relief and happiness (from the fact that she has been laid to rest, away from her vegetable like state). As a drama, these emotions are meant to jump back and forth as it would, realistically.  For example, the character of Danger is the film’s comic relief who is blissfully ignorant and unintelligent. He unsuccessfully gets himself involved in boxing, much to the amusement of everyone around him, and using racial slurs towards Morgan Freeman’s character in an oddly innocent, ignorant manner. These elements of comedy balance out the harsher aspects of the film such as the scenes suggested above. Another key emotion in the movie is shock. When Hilary Swank’s character is illegally struck by her opposition in a title match, resulting in her falling onto to a stool, landing on her neck and breaking it. The scene is made more cringe inducing by the grotesque sound design and the use of slow motion which prolongs the snapping of the neck. Despite the audience being aware of the outcome, the body horror is what makes us as a viewer feel sickened, not only by her injury but the actions of her opponent who caused her virtually fatal harm.

2)   The use of micro elements in the movie are used to compliment the performances of the characters and fully convey the emotions that Eastwood wanted. The last scene where Eastwood’s character is in the hospital, the lighting dimly lit with a lot of heavy shadows and the light only cast over a sleeping Hilary Swank, placing her as the focus and convey the misery around her with nothing but dark shadows. This scene also has no music to accompany it, allowing you to only hear the beeping of the heart monitor.

3)   No, in my honest opinion, I do not believe that the film is a weepie. The reason being that there are only a few scenes which could be considered upsetting to the spectator. Furthermore, the context in which she is injured has most likely never happened to the average spectator (i.e. a sport related injury as severe as hers).  The scene is would probably not be relatable to the average film viewer as the means of her accident is would be quite obscure. I believe most would feel a sense of empathy for Hilary Swank’s character but not feel completely saddened by her death.