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.