Characters

• Sam Bell clones – male, middle aged, white
• Tess Bell – woman, middle aged, white
• Gertie – male robot

The way that gender is represented – the males have the important job working on the moon and the woman is at home looking after the child. This supports the gender stereotype however may just be done for the narrative and plot.

The motivations of the characters

• The Sam clones initially wanted to do their job and go home, but when the cloning was discovered they wanted to discover the true meaning to themselves and what was happening, as well as escape and break the cycle. They also wanted to see their (dead) wife and daughter.
• Gertie – Gertie was programmed to help the Sam’s, so his only motivation was to help the Sam clones in every way they can

How does the opening and closing of the film compare? What has changed? Or are things the same as ever?

• The cycle has been broken, the clones will be able to find out that they are clones and that they’re lives are a lie. Also, the motivations of the characters have changed.

What is the film saying? About humanity, life on earth, work/employment, nature?

• Determinism – (put very simply) If a person were to live their life again, they would end up in the same place as free will is an illusion. (Dictionary/Google defines it as: the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes regarded as external to the will. Some philosophers have taken determinism to imply that individual human beings have no free will and cannot be held morally responsible for their actions.)
• Could have suggestions to the danger that technology may cause, not necessarily in the way we initially imagine (the robot), but with cloning etc.

How does the film sustain ‘narrative tension’ or drama? (How does it keep you interested?) What technical/formal devices does it use?

• Using the wife and child to make you care for the man’s ambition to go home, and to make you feel bad for him when you find out she is dead and that the videos are fake, as well as himself
• You feel bad for him when he finds out he’s a clone because you start to care for him
• The timer countdown of when the others arrive builds tension as they need to solve the mystery and escape in time
• The set is small and claustrophobic, making the tension rise as the Sam’s have limited space making it feel as though they are trapped

Can you link this film to any other film you’ve seen? How? Why?

• I can’t think of any similar films

How does this film make you feel? What ideas does it inspire in you?

• Confused – the number of clones and their backstory became hard to keep track off. I didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t even when the characters found out the truth.
• Sad – because not every Sam made it and because the replicant Sam made life seem a bit meaningless, he could just be replicated

First responses to ‘Moon’

• Initially, I thought that the robot would be evil. The face on the machine seemed ominous and impersonal. This turned out to be false. This could show that technology is not the problem, its humans (and how they use it?) and/or that there could be other technology problems such as cloning
• Blue lighting and yellow lighting were used to create certain responses from the audience
• The film seemed to be de-saturated, or at least not colourful or bright which could represent the bleakness of the situation
• The film was confusing because of the clones, suggesting it could be a good film because it makes the audience think
• I think Sam got burnt on his hand at the beginning to help identify the Sam’s between one another, as well as one of the Sam’s having a mark on his face (before becoming seriously ill)
• The hallucinations were confusing, but the women that wore a yellow dress could have the connotation of sickness
• It could be showing how human life is important, as the idea of clones are portrayed as negative because individual people and their feelings are important or portraying the insignificance of life as the clones were easily created and the emotions towards the wife were easily manipulated and based on lies