Ideology in Film

What is ideology and how can it be implicit vs. explicit?

Ideology is a term that refers to the messages and values that a piece of media tries to communicate to the viewer. Explicit ideology is the definite message that a director/producer/writer demands to be communicated to the audience. Implicit ideology is a looser, and more debatable form of ideology. It's an ideology that can be gathered through analysis and argument.

Ideology and Expectations;Give an example of an a actor that presents a predictable ideological package that studios are quick to use. List as many of their film roles as possible – noting the particular actions/dialogues associated with the character that they play. Make a list of the five adjectives that you think best capture their typical role. Produce a detailed description of what you think their next role will be like.

Charlton Heston
Ben Hur - Ben Hur
The Ten Commandments - Moses
Antony and Cleopatra - Mark Antony
Leading, Adventurous, Courageous, Honorable, Influential
If he were to star in one more movie, he would probably play a mature man. He would be a typical role model, and possibly support the ideology of doing more for others than yourself

Personal Ideologies and the Enjoyment of Film: Think of a film that you enjoy and know well. Consider which characters you like. Analyze your favorite character using these useful questions to bear in mind when considering ideology are:

• What is it that you like about them and what has the filmmaker done to encourage you to feel this way? 
• What values am I being asked to share or reject? 
• How are my feelings being manipulated to prefer one viewpoint over another? (Camera placement/movement and editing are particularly important here.) 
• Why might a filmmaker want me to prefer one viewpoint to another? 
• What are the artistic/financial consequences of filmmakers trying to predict what an audience might approve/disapprove of? 
• What are the artistic/financial consequences of filmmakers trying to predict what a film's financier might approve/disapprove of?

Boondock Saints - Connor MacManus (Sean Patrick Flanery)

Connor and his brother were motivated to 'clean up the city' of all the silly mafia gang scum. I admire how they stick up for their morals and values even after given so much power and recognition. When making a hit , they stick with their Irish traditions, place pennies on the eyes of the dead, recite their family prayer, and pay their respects by visiting church afterwards. Debatable values of his actions include, family pride and value of friendship. Editing techniques help manipulate my viewpoint in certain cases. The editor uses slow paced shots when a value is being conflicted or reinforced. For example, during the battle scenes it's mainly fast match-action cuts/montage, but when that's over and they pay respects, the pacing slows down.

Changing Ideologies: Why would the ideologies of a given era or time period change the way a narrative is presented to its audience? Can you give an example of a film narrative that has changed over generations?

Ideologies change in accordance to society of the time. Depending on what the audience wants to see, what they will interpret and learn from the film will change. When ideology changes, interpretation of certain films will change. For example, in southeastern Asia, certain films had censored their government and military involvement in their own countries and other countries in their films. Over time, these governments soon grew to become a topic of interest for some films.

Ideology and the "Effects" Debate: Do you feel that films can affect you and your behavior without being conscience of it? 

Widespread and common ideologies can subliminally affect our own behavior and beliefs. Films tend to show the general content of examples when pertaining to a common ideology. For example, one can relate to a certain film when they themselves have been put in a similar situation. Films can help determine our perspective of 'common sense' and our ability to 'know right from wrong' by depicting these situations and having our protagonists values nobly reflect what should be done.

Ideology and Realism:Define Suspension of disbelief and give an example from a recent film you have watched.

Suspension of disbelief is a term used to explain how an audience accepts certain aspects of cinema that seem to go against reality. Ideology plays a role in this by determining whether breaking reality is acceptable when portraying a certain ideologies. For example, in science fiction films, there is normally very little knowledge on whether half of the scenes we see would be possible in the real world. The reason people don't critique the possibilities is because the film has to stay within the rules for films of the sci-fi genre. Like in Star Trek, Star Wars, and other space films, intergalactic travel isn't highly likely around our day and age. This is also covered by having these films set tons of years into the future, allowing imaginations to roam and explore the possibilities of the future.

Ideology & ownership: Does the financial support of a film or the ownership of a production company influence the ideology represented in a film? Explain with an example.

Financial support does give a movie its potential. High budget movies are expected to be 'the next big thing' out of cinema, or at the very least please their audience. However, spreading ideology is determined by the company itself providing the funding. Becoming well known and having more popularity would mean portraying the ideology behind their film with great success. So funding can cause bias in which way the ideology leans toward. For example, if one's going to advertise their film so widely and successfully, they'd want many audiences to accept it. For it to be accepted, it must appeal to the majority of audiences to gain the most money. Say if a low funded film is shot with an uncommon or opposite ideology than the norm, then it would see very little success in Hollywood cinema unless the film style is nothing short of revolutionary.

Genre

Action/Adventure

Mission Impossible

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbg99ykA2bk

Indiana Jones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BgyhHBoz50

Fight Club

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8PRC3HbWqo

An action adventure film is essentially one long quest with a succession of different chase sequences, each one more death defying and seemingly impossible than the one before. The trick for the producers is to increase tension as the film progresses to a storming end sequence. Will our intrepid explorers make it, or will the evil antagonist get there first.

Typical Plot: The plot of an action/adventure movie would be the typical 3-act structure. We are presented with our main character and s/he comes across something that throws life into disequilibrium. They feel a need to set things right again, so they set out on a quest to do just that. The movie would normally end with the character performing a feat which would amaze and possibly save a part of humanity.
Typical Characters: Both male and female characters have been favorites of action/adventure movies. One would watch in awe of how a male character would fight against his enemies, while one would also be amazed at how well a female character could kick ass.
Typical Dress: Depending on the film, the outfits of the characters could range from standard house clothing, to fully decked-out military combat gear. When given standard clothing, the clothes could tend to rip, receive blood splatter, or show other signs of damage to make the character seem epic, or symbolize how they've changed from a citizen to an action hero.
Typical Dialogue: The action hero would engage in little dialogue unless it pertained to getting information to push them forward on their mission. Some characters would even take a "shoot first, ask later" policy.
Typical Objects or Equipment: The character is often given some sort of weapon or weaponry in aiding them on their quest. This could range from low-tech to high-tech weaponry. Some would be given a simple sword, compared to a full military arsenal.

War
Saving Private Ryan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwhP5b4tD6g

Black Hawk Down

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnV6wM-vd9s

Full Metal Jacket

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAvWQa64B8M

Narrative conventions of a war movie include being able to associate the soldier with their weapon proficiency (e.g. the sniper, heavy machine gunner, explosives expert) which allows us to easily identify them . There is also that key ethnic stereotype character in the team which the audience could easily identify. There is also the last-minute miracle of reinforcements to pull the heroes out of hell and push back the enemy.

Typical Plot: The movie would normally open up with a battle scene on the war front, then sometime afterwards, we would see what would be happening back at home and take us away from the fight. With this trip back, we would begin to understand a bit more of the plot centering around the troop we will be focusing on in the movie.
Typical Characters: Most often, war films would have males as their main character, considering that the film was based off a real historical war. Back then, it wasn't common to see a woman out on the battlegrounds of war, so war films tend to keep that standard when it comes to previous wars. When coming to modern wars or smaller scale non-militaristic wars, there could possibly be some women in the battles.
Typical Historical Setting: Most war films focused around the two World Wars, or smaller scale historical wars like civil wars or proxy wars. Some war films take place in modern times as well, such as a few in Afghanistan.
Typical Look or Style: War films tend to use gritty, shaky cameras when on the war front. Lighting may be dark and grim, or light and uplifting, depending on the mood of the event (i.e. if the battle is either going well or poor).



Horror
Scream

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx3kBUq8UPg

Dawn of the Dead

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpuNE1cX03c

Haunting In Connecticut

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRJA3lN0xCQ

Horror films tend to open with a murder scene of characters irrelevant to the story, or a character that the audience has no care for. This is mainly to help characterize the villain, and what they're capable of and how  they go about taking lives.

Typical Plot: The antagonist of the film tends to be characterized before our protagonist. After their situation has been established, the protagonist tries to survive, or possibly eliminate the antagonist.

Typical Characters: In Horror films, there is often a group of people subject to be victims of the antagonists attacks. Within these groups, females tend to be more feminine and helpless compared to normal women of today. 

Writing About Film - Response

1. What are the 5 kinds of film writing described in the article and what are the key details of each?


 In this article, 5 different types of film writing are described. Formal Analysis is a form of film writing where the writer analyzes different components of the film and how they come together and create a central idea or contribute to the film as a whole. Film History writing focuses on the history of a film and its influence on and from history itself. Ideological Papers analyze films that pertain to a central belief or set of beliefs, and how the film goes about portraying these messages. Cultural Studies/National Cinemas discuss the differences between the films of a different culture and how certain trends represent or portray their country or culture in film. Discussion of the Auteur criticizes the ability of how a single person (most often the director) can incorporate his/her own unique vision into a film and cause the finished product to be recognized as a film of a certain auteur's perspective.

2. What does “Annotating a Film Sequence” involve and what are it’s benefits?


Annotating a Film Sequence is when one takes a certain scene from a film and breaks down its components and identify the effect of each component of the film. It also helps explain how each effect contributes to the film as a whole. One would start by taking the scene and labeling each individual shot. Labeling each shot helps keep track of the complex shot sequences, and when reviewed, will uncover possible patterns or certain editing decisions.

3. What does the author imply when she says to “Think Beyond the Frame?”

To "Think Beyond the Frame" is not to think solely about the film, but instead, about what happens behind the scenes and notice the effort and reason into placing certain content within the film to make it its own. Identifying the director and noticing patterns or trends in his work can contribute to a nice film writing assignment. Production history of the film can help one realize what potential a film has given its certain conditions (budget, casting, writing, etc.) If one reads what critics and scholars have to say about the film, it will become easier to make observations because one could narrow down their observation around what the critics or scholars have appreciated or disliked. A film's genre plays a role in helping one identify limitations of the genre, and how certain filmmakers decide to enforce, or stretch these limitations. Lastly, cultural phenomenon can be seen in certain films which helps add to a message or thesis one might have in a piece of film writing.