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.