British Film

How useful has an ideological critical approach been in understanding the narrative resolution of your chosen films?

One way that an ideological critical approach has been helpful in understanding the narrative resolution in ‘Under the Skin’ is through the films exploration of the ideology of Romanticism. This is because from the opening equilibrium onwards the film explores the loss of innocence and the effect of nature. During the opening equilibrium, Laura (Scarlett Johansson) stares at an ant with a childlike curiosity (performance). The extreme high contrast lighting emphasises her performance, as she intensely stares at the ant. This could be interpreted as a sense of innocence in Laura which would make sense as the non-diegetic phonetic sounds, she made earlier suggested learning how to speak like a child. This child like innocence is lost as the film continues and as she is exposed to the world, linking therefore to the ideology of Romanticism. Later on in the film, the mise en scene of Laura’s black abyss has negative connotations and suggests her loss of innocence after entering and being exposed to the world. It’s also reminiscent of Richard Wilson’s 20:50 oil artwork, meaning this negatively connotated mise en scene could have a link to environmentalism in which the director is trying to say something bad about the way humans treat the earth. Throughout the film, Laura’s performance is shown to us as emotionless. She emotionlessly watches as people drown and she emotionlessly lures men into death. The pivotal turning point in her narrative is the mirror moment. There is a long take of Laura staring at herself in the mirror which is a visual metaphor for her analysing herself and choosing to become a better person as she literally steps into the light. This in turn comes with a representation that she is human like now. She cares for people like Adam Pearson’s character and lets him go, as seeing the fly on the window (extreme close up) made her think of him and feel sorry for him which is a very human thing. This humanity allowed her to feel connected with nature and it’s this connection with nature that proves to us that she is human like now, providing a narrative conclusion. During the closing equilibrium, there is an extreme long shot of the forest super imposed with Laura sleeping. This suggests her closeness and connection to nature and how in nature she can feel calm; linking to Romanticism. This is further proven and emphasised with the contrast to the motorcyclist man who hasn’t had the same journey. The extreme long shot of him standing on the mountains suggests he can’t find Laura because she’s human now, but it’s also reminiscent of Caspar David Fredrich’s Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog, and through this we wonder if he can feel the connection to nature, knowing he probably can’t unlike Laura who’s narrative has concluded with her being proven to be more human due to her kindness, caring nature and connection with nature.

Feminism is also explored in the film ‘Under the Skin’ linking in with the binary opposition of men and women. For the majority of the film, Laura who represents all women are displayed as predator like. For example, the over the shoulder, high angle shot of her in the shopping centre makes her seem predator like, as does the mise en scene of her picking a fur coat. She’s also expressed as a predator later in the film when she’s luring men in her abyss room. The non-diegetic eerie music is in sync with her performance making her seem powerful, dangerous and predator like. To contrast, the men are seen as the victims/prey as they aimlessly get lured into death by Laura. However, there is a narrative flip during the ending equilibrium that flips the binary oppositions of men and women and therefore prey and predator. During the ending, she is chased by a man who is attempting to rape her. The lack of music during this scene emphasises the scariness and horrificness of the situation as it doesn’t need music to convey it’s horrifcness. The extreme long shot of her hiding in the trees paired with her scared expression suggests the danger she is in as well. To contrast, the man’s performance is disgusting and terrifying, as he continues to chew gum while aggressively attacking her. There can very easily be a feminist critique of the film, as the binary opposition of men and women hardly ever suggests equality, apart from maybe straight after she saves Adam Pearson. Plus, there has been critique of how she dressed herself up in a stereotypically attractive way, and how she hardly speaks and lures men in with the idea of sex, it can come across as objectifying.

One way that an ideological critical approach has been helpful in understanding the narrative resolution in ‘Moon’ is through the films exploration of the ideology of capitalism; specifically, its critique of capitalism. During the opening of Moon, the montage of the earth has high key lighting, and is all colourful. This contrasts to the monochrome like and dirty mise en scene with functional lighting of Sam’s work base, suggesting an unfair working environment to Lunar Industries Workers. Plus, Sam is seen running on a treadmill which could be a visual metaphor for him putting in all the work but getting nothing back. This all links in with the ideology of capitalism as capitalism doesn’t benefit everyone, like workers, and through this representation the film presents a critique of capitalism which is still evident in the narrative conclusion possibly suggesting no hope. The spider like shadow of the Eliza arrival, and the mise en scene of them carrying guns all has connotations of this capitalist company being dangerous. The motif of the countdown device of the Eliza arrival diegetic/foley countdown also suggests their dangerousness, as we are told to worry about them arriving before Sam leaves.  When Sam does escape, we hear non-diegetic voice over of the earth’s reaction to what he has told them about Lunar Industries and their exploitation of workers through cloning. He’s called a ‘wacko’ and an ‘illegal immigrant’ suggesting that what he has to say isn’t listened to, meaning the film could be saying that capitalism couldn’t be taken down.

Another ideology that is explored in ‘Moon’ is environmentalism. During the opening infomercial montage that uses archive footage, the voice over discusses how Lunar Industries is positively impacting the environment by finding an energy resource (the moon) that doesn’t hurt the environment. It contrasts long shots of factories producing pollution to extreme long shots of greening deserts suggesting it can help make this positive change. Plus, the positive non-diegetic major music also has positive connotations. However, viewers are also told to question them. The immediate switch to more negative non-diegetic music is one of the reasons why. Plus, how they say they are environmentalists, but they’ve just move from harming one unrenewable resource to another. Plus, during the animated sequence they present the areas they are going to help (70%) as basically purely West America, setting up the binary opposition of the east and the west as well as suggesting that they are corrupt to the audience. This idea of corruption plants the seed of doubt in the viewers mind, allowing things like the ticking time bomb of the Eliza arrival during the ending to create tension, as well as again linking into capitalism as Lunar Industries are a capitalist company. This is allowed an impactful narrative conclusion due to build-up of tension and doubt. However, the environmentalism problem wasn’t solved by the end of the movie. Possibly being suggestive of real life as the film was made in 2009 and environmental problems were a big deal then as they still are now.

3. ‘A comparison of the opening and closing sequences of a film reveals its ideological messages’: to what extent is this true of the films you have studied? [40 marks]

Comparing the opening and closing sequence of ‘Under the Skin’ reveals the films ideologies such as Romantic primitivism. During the opening equilibrium, there is a long shot of Laura staring at an ant on her hand. She comes across as staring at it with a childlike curiosity and innocence, especially since this is her first proper interaction with the world.  However, this innocence is lost as the film goes on. For example, the narrative repetition of her leading men into the abyss. The abyss room is similar to Richard Wilson’s 20:50, and it’s possible that the director was exploring environmentalism as the artwork used oil, and he portrays the abyss room as very negative. The abyss room is also completely black (binary opposition of white and black), contrasting to the abyss room at the beginning which had high contrast lighting and was completely white, this has connotations of her losing her innocence which happened after being exposed to society. During the ending equilibrium, the ideology of Romantic Primitivism is brought to a close with the mise en scene of her body on fire in the snow. The red fire contrasts to the white snow, and as white can have connotations of purity and innocence, it could be a way of contrasting her morality to goodness and innocence, suggesting that she has lost it. The film does however end on a shot of the snow falling down, which could be interpreted that the film is showing her as innocent still, however it can also be interpreted as a way of presenting the idea the Laura is at peace during death, and possibly going to a better place. It would make sense for this film to be exploring Romantic primitivism as it also explores the Romantics. Such as, the extreme long shot of the motorcyclist on the mountain which is reminiscent of Caspar David Friedrich’s ‘Wanderer above the sea of fog’ painting, which is about the sublime; the audience is left to consider whether the motorcyclist can feel the sublime like humans can, and will probably that decide that he cannot unlike Laura who now can, which is shown by the super imposed image of her sleeping among the trees, suggesting she is connected to nature and finds peace in nature.

Comparing the opening and ending scenes of ‘Under the Skin’ also reveals the ideology of feminism, which links to the theme of gender. During the opening of the film, both the motorcyclist man and Laura are presented as emotionless through their performance. Such as, the way that the man carries the woman and how Laura emotionlessly undresses the unconscious woman and drops her head on the ground when undressing her. However, the unconscious woman is shown as emotional, as when there is a close up of her face the audience can see that she is crying. By the end of the movie Laura has changed, she has become more emotional. This can be seen by her fear during the ending, which can be seen through her performance such as her scared noises and her facial expressions. Plus, the long shot of her crouching behind a tree in the forest makes her seem vulnerable, emphasising her fear. However, a lot of this ideology is explored during the middle of the film rather than just at the end and the beginning. Such as, how her change to becoming completely emotional happens during the middle when she analyses herself during the long duration shot when she looks in the mirror, and metaphorically and literally steps into the light. Plus, during the shopping mall sequence she is presented as a predator with the high angle shot of her on the escalator. The mise en scene of her picking a fur coat also shows her as a predator. This predator representation of women is continued when she leads men to their death in the abyss.  The non-diegetic music that follows her every footstep emphasises her power during this sequence, and therefore her predator like qualities. In this scenario, the men are shown to be the prey and the women are shown to be the predators, but this changes. Such as, when the bus man leads her to the castle, the narrative repetition of her leading men is flipped which is why she is so cautious to continue as she fears that it is a trap. And also, during the ending equilibrium, when she is chased by the log man. This sequence has a lack of music, as it is scary enough already which emphasises his cruelty towards Laura. As well as this, the motorcyclist can be interpreted as a failed predator during the ending, as the extreme long shot of him in the mountain suggests that he has lost Laura, and so cannot do any harm.

Comparing the opening and closing sequence of ‘Moon’ reveals the films ideologies such as Capitalism with a Marxist critique, as well as showing how the film explores the binary opposition of worker and employee. During the opening equilibrium, there is a montage of the moon and Sam on the moon, during this montage, Sam’s performance explores the ideology of Capitalism such as through the mise en scene of him running on the treadmill. This can be considered to be a visual metaphor of how he is putting effort into his job but getting nothing out of it; just like he is running on the treadmill but getting nowhere. This could be a critique of capitalism, as it is showing how Sam Bell is not benefiting from his job, and Capitalism doesn’t benefit everyone. The opening also shows this through the mise en scene/cinematography of the moon being desaturated, which contrasts greatly to the saturated and highly colourful earth during the opening montage infomercial made of archive footage. The moon being desaturated contrasting to the earth attaches negative connotations to the moon and Sam’s work life there. The ending equilibrium also explores the ideology of capitalism as it continues to show how the Sam’s do not benefit from their work, just like not everyone benefits from Capitalism. Such as, the first Sam we meet has to die, and the only time that the second Sam we met is exposed to anything positive is when he leaves the work environment. Such as, when he is travelling back to earth, the cinematography and mise en scene of colourful lights such as blue by his head have positive connotation, suggesting that leaving the workplace is beneficial for him.

However, comparing the films opening and ending is not always a good way to show its ideologies. Such as, the ideology of existentialism can’t really be found during the opening equilibrium but is still explored throughout the film such as during the ending. For example, the narrative repetition of the diegetic voice over of the Eliza arrival can be heard while there is a lingering long shot on Sam 3, which suggests that his life is important, despite being a clone. This links to the binary opposition of human and clone and how both are presented as important individuals. As well as this, Sam 1 dying to let Sam 2 leave suggests a meaning to Sam 1’s life, which links to the ideology of existentialism. In the same way that Sam 2 leaving to expose Lunar Industries can be seen as his meaning in life. However, the voice over of the reaction to him being on the earth presents the idea that people have not and will not react to him very well. For example, he is called a ‘wacko’ and an ‘illegal immigrant’. This could link to the ideology of nihilism, as it suggests that despite the Sam’s best efforts, they could not change anything such as the world’s opinions. Nihilism is also explored during the ending equilibrium as it is suggested through this voice over that the problem with the earth is the people on it, and that they cannot be changed, and so problems will still exist despite any effort to stop it. Such as the corruptness of companies like Lunar Industries which is shown during the opening equilibrium during the animated sequence of the montage edit. For example, we learn that they plan on using the moon instead of the earth for energy which is just swapping one finite resource for another suggesting that they are not as environmentalist as they try and seem.

How does editing make meaning in the British films you have studied?[20]

In the middle sequence of ‘Moon’, editing makes meaning with a montage made from jump cuts of Sam 2 searching for the clones while he is always in the centre of the screen. Because of this and the fact that there isn’t a change in shot length, and because it’s fast paced editing we get the idea of fragmentation in the Sam’s lives. This is because Lunar Industries has been using them for labour and has lied to them. They are actually clones that only live to work. This links to the ideology of capitalism which the film often explores as it shows that the workers aren’t benefiting from their work, just like not everyone benefits form capitalism; the film offers a Marxist critique of capitalism. During the closing equilibrium, the audience hopes for change when Sam 22 leaves for earth, but it’s far more disappointing than this.  The edited in mise en scene of the yellow and blue lighting when Sam 2 is going to earth makes his journey seem positive, as they are both bright colours and yellow can have the connotation of happiness. To contrast, Sam’s attempt at telling the world about Lunar Industries doesn’t work as the people on the earth haven’t changed. They call him an ‘illegal immigrant’ and a ‘wacko’. This links to the idea of determinism which the film explores, in this moment, this ideology is supported as Sam’s free will made no difference to the world or Lunar Industries. Plus, the movie also ends on a sad note because the audience know that Sam has a limited time to live. Also, during the ending sequence, the motif of the non-diegetic Eliza arrival countdown is very prominent, and it acts like a ticking time bomb for the Sam’s. This editing builds tension in the audience.

In the opening sequence of ‘Moon’, the editing makes meaning because it is a montage edit that uses documentary footage with an animated sequence made to be an advertisement for the company Lunar Industries. This montage edit and animated sequence provides lots of contrasting information about Lunar Industries. For example, the montage edit shows how Lunar Industries presents themselves as an environmentalist company, but isn’t. The long shot of the greening deserts contrasting to the long shot of polluting factories, with a voice over that says how Lunar Industries is planning on making a positive change, paired with the non-diegetic major piano music, makes Lunar Industries seem like a good and environmentalist company. However, the animated sequence shows that they use the moon to get energy to save the earth, they are swapping one finite resource with another and therefore are not an environmentalist company. This makes them seem untrustworthy to the audience. Their representation of 70% of the population also makes them untrustworthy to the audience, as well as presenting them as corrupt. Despite initially making it seem like they will help everyone, the binary opposition of the east and the west is created. On the globe during the animated sequence, they highlight the 70% of the world as West America, meaning they will only help what the audience assume to be a developed country. The audience might also assume that the previous montage was full of lies, because the long shot/mid shot of the children sorting through rubbish looked like an under developed country that was really struggling, and we get the idea that Lunar Industries might not be helping them. These are ways in which we are shown Lunar Industries as corrupt, making the only dramatic irony in the film as we know that the company is not trustworthy before the Sam’s do. The reason why this is the only dramatic irony in the film is because of the films themes and genre involving secrecy and mystery, we find out information at the same rate as the Sam’s so we can identify with their human like emotion which proves to us that they’re not emotionless clones and that they didn’t deserve to be treated so badly.

During the ending sequence of ‘Under the Skin’ editing makes meaning with the slow cut rate while Laura is running away. Normally in a tense and scary scene, the cut rate is faster, but the film doesn’t need to tell the audience what to feel in this scene with the editing or with the sound (hence why there’s no non-diegetic noises); the scene is scary and horrible by itself. Also, during the ending sequence, there are several editing techniques that portray the idea of calmness, peace and freedom to the audience. For example, the super imposed tree image on Laura when sleeping gives the idea of freedom and calmness in the beauty of nature. This is a Romantics idea that links to the extreme long shot of the motorcyclist standing on the mountain as it’s a reference to the Wanderer above the Sea of Fog painting which is about the sublime and being close to nature, another Romantics reference. During this scene, we consider the binary opposition of human and alien and whether the alien can see the beauty and sublime in nature that humans can. Another example of editing in the ending sequence that shows freedom and calmness is the long duration shot of the snow after Laura has died, as she doesn’t fit in anywhere anymore (not human enough to fit in on earth, and she can’t go back home after feeling empathy), this shot gives the idea of freedom in death for Laura, which is a bitter sweet ending to the film for the audience.

In the middle sequence, the editing makes meaning with the cross fade of Laura in her alien form and Laura in her human form.  They are looking in different directions, which suggests to the audience that they now have different paths in life and new moral principles; Laura is becoming more human and possibly breaking away from the lies that her planet told her about humans. Or, it could show that is looking inside of herself and analysing her identity, she is recognising that she is becoming more human. This message is also shown through mise en scene, as Laura later gets out of her van which is a symbol for her old life and starts to walk. Plus, at the end, when she goes in a van she can’t make it work, showing that she has come too far from her old life to go back again and that she doesn’t belong there anymore. This links to the binary oppositions of human and alien, the fact that Laura belongs to neither of them shows how she fits in no where anymore because of the job she was given; this links to the ideology of capitalism and how it doesn’t benefit everyone such as its workers. Laura’s job took away her identity, and the company of such would have known that would happen if the woman before was also a “failed” alien. It’s suggested that this woman was a “failed” alien because there are links between her and Laura, not only do they look similar, but the close up of the woman’s face at the beginning where she is crying is similar to the close up of Laura holding her human face at the end of the film which is still blinking. This similarity also provides a circular structure to narrative, along with the open ending, as we assume as an audience that they will just bring down another alien.

Explore the binary oppositions in the British films you have studied [40]

In ‘Moon’ the binary opposition of human and technology is set up in the opening equilibrium with an extreme long shot/long shot of many people relaxing on the beach while ignoring the factory behind them and the environmental problems that it creates; this links to the ideology of environmentalism which the film frequently explores. As the film was set in 2009, environmental problems such as global warming would be a very real and worrying element of the audiences lives. Seeing this in the movie may have promoted them to consider if they are ignoring the environmental problems, and if they themselves are doing enough to help; this might have been what the director Jones wanted to achieve from this scene. A similar binary opposition is the opposition of human and machine. This is set up with the Sam’s and Gertie and the surprising similarities between them, it involves the narrative theme questioning the morality and mortality of machines/robots which links in to the real worlds quickly developing technology. At one point, Sam 1 when upset draws faces on the wall. On the one hand, the close up of his drawings shows the narrative repetition as the audience can see the faint drawing of the same faces that previous Sam’s had drawn before the Eliza arrival people (which act like a ticking time bomb throughout the movie) rubbed them out, this shows how all the Sam’s acted in the same way, therefore becoming an example of narrative repetition. On the other hand, the mise en scene of these faces links to the binary opposition of human and machine because the faces that Sam draws (although a clone, is represented to feel like a human) look similar to those that Gertie has on his screen that represent his emotions drawing a connection between the Sam’s and the robots emotions. Therefore, the film is suggesting that the machine Gertie has morality inside of him. The performance of Sam 2 also supports this, as he takes the post it note reading ‘kick me’ off of Gertie, suggesting he felt Gertie had some sort of humanity because he felt that Gertie didn’t deserve the sign on him. This again links to the rapidly developing technology at the time the film was released in 2009 (and now), Jones might be trying to portray the opinion that technology will come what might be too far, as although Gertie does no harm, it’s only because he is programmed to help the Sam’s not hurt them, and so Jone’s might be creating a warning  that powerful technology has the potential to be used for bad impact.

Another binary opposition in ‘Moon’ is the binary opposition of the earth and the moon. In the opening, the mise en scene of the earth is saturated, making it seem more beautiful than the moon which is desaturated and mainly just greys, making it seem sadder. This links to the mistreatment of the worker Sam, and therefore capitalism, as Sam isn’t benefiting from his work for Lunar Industries.  In the opening, Sam is seen running on a treadmill which is a metaphor for how Lunar Industries treat him, he puts in lots of work and effort, but they give him nothing in return. However, Sam 2 returning to earth gives the audience no sign of better treatment. The yellow and blue lighting when Sam 2 is leaving suggests the idea that he will be listened to and accepted, as these bright colours contrast the desaturated aesthetic of the moon. However, the response to Sam arriving (heard as a non-diegetic voice over) is negative. They call him an ‘illegal immigrant’ or a ‘wacko’, which links to the ideology of determinism, suggesting that Sam’s attempts of exposing Lunar Industries was always going to fail. It also links to the idea of existentialism, Sam 2’s purpose was to stand up for what was right but unfortunately the world wasn’t ready to listen. The director, Jones, may have been trying to make a point by making the world not even consider listening to Sam 2.

The opening of ‘Moon’ presents the binary oppositions of the east and the west, and the wealthy and the suffering. During the animated sequence of the montage advert for Lunar Industries, nearly 70% of the planet is represented as West America on the globe, the rest is left in the dark. This presents Lunar Industries as corrupt to the audience, as in the documentary footage part of the document, they also showed under-developed countries shown by the mise en scene of children in piles of trash. The audience might now assume that these children will not be helped, as they might assume that West America will be developed further than this and not be the ones needing help despite being the ones receiving it from Lunar Industries. This binary opposition of the east and the west links to the binary opposition of the wealthy and the suffering, and the opposition of developed and underdeveloped. This means that, because Lunar Industries is helping the wealthy rather than the suffering, and the developed rather than the underdeveloped, as well as the fact they try to present themselves as an environmentalist company, but they just trade one finite resource for another, they are a corrupt company. The audience is given this information in the opening equilibrium, but the Sam’s don’t find out that Lunar Industries can’t be trusted until the recognition of disequilibrium causing dramatic irony for the audience as we know that the Sam’s aren’t as safe in Lunar Industries care than they think. The diegetic sound of the Eliza arrival sounds much more ominous to the audience, as though it was a ticking time bomb, that to the Sam’s until they figure out that Lunar Industries is a corrupt company. However, this is the only dramatic irony in the film. Jones may have not included any more because he wanted u to learn along with the characters, maybe to show that it wasn’t their fault that they failed to teach the world of Lunar Industry’s true working methods and to keep suspense and tension when watching the movie.

In ‘Under the Skin’ one of the main binary opposition’s links to the films representation of gender because it is the binary opposition of men and women. In the opening, we are presented the idea that men are emotionless as the motorcyclist man’s performance is emotionless and rigid which contrast to the actions taking place on screen. He is kidnapping who we can assume to be the worker alien before Laura, and he shows no doubt or questioning or difficulty in doing so. Laura, in the opening, is presented the same way. She undresses her, and her performance too is emotionless as she drops the unconscious woman’s head on the floor. The audience are aligned with the woman, who is unable to move and shown through a close up, the audience learn that she is crying. Which is why it’s rather surprising to the audience, when Laura becomes more interested in the ant, show through an extreme close up which is jolting to the audience, than the woman on the floor. The ant is Laura’s first proper interaction with humanity, her exposure to humanity is what makes her feel empathy and stop what she has been asked to do by the aliens. We can assume as an audience that it was her job to come down to earth and lure men in to an abyss. The close up of their body parts with the red lighting (connotations of danger) is given with no explanation, but we can assume that Laura is an exploited worker, which links to the ideology of capitalism, as Laura isn’t benefiting from her job. In fact, it makes her loose her identity after she starts to feel humanity and empathy, so she no longer fits in back home or on earth. It’s this change in personality that leads her to be on the run from her home/job. She starts to feel empathy after refusing to kill Adam Pearson’s character. His character didn’t show interest in just having sex with Laura like the other men, instead he looked around and commented on where he was. This showed Laura that not all men were interested in just having sex, breaking the negative representation of men, causing her to go back and save him after a long duration shot of her looking at herself in the mirror, where she physically and metaphorically moves into the light, analyses herself, and decides to go back and save him, and stop what she has been sent to do. In this mirror moment, she is analysing herself, it’s a common technique in films. The audience might assume that Laura had been given twisted and fake information about humanity and men, that they are only interested in sex, by her job, and he has now learnt that she was lied to. In this moment, the representation of men is better as they are not just shown as interested in sex and the representation of women is that they are able to make their own decisions. But as Laura see’s the good in humanity, humanity show their bad side. Normally, when Laura is luring in men, she has power over them.  But by the end of the film, this narrative is flipped as a man attempts to rape her. During this scene, there is no non-diegetic music as the scene is horrible enough, the audience don’t need to be told what to feel. The performance of the man chewing gum while trying to undress Laura is disturbing and gross and shows how emotionless and horrible, he is. This scene is very difficult for the audience to watch as it is gross and brutal, and it ends with Laura violently being killed by being set on fire in her alien appearance. When Laura holds her own face, the close up of her face blinking still links back to the woman in the opening equilibrium who was still crying, creating a link between them and a circular structure to the narrative. The way that the man kills Laura (a woman alien) contrasts greatly to how Laura killed people, as she slowly led them into an abyss which may have been inspired by Richard Wilson’s 20:50, whereas the man ripped her apart before setting her on fire which is much more brutal. This links back to the binary opposition of men and women and how the power and/or violence dynamics between them varies as the film goes on; which therefore links to the binary opposition of the powerful and the powerless.

An example of the powerful and powerless binary opposition is the motorcyclist man against Adam Pearson’s character. After Laura had set him free, Adam Pearson’s character walks through nature (binary opposition of nature and town) to get back to where there are people. The motorcyclist physically grabs him and forces him into the back of a car. Plus, the non-diegetic drumming sound when motorcyclist is catching the man and the non-diegetic eerie noises that are a motif makes the audience feel tension and stressed. The drumming sound can be interpreted as Adam Pearson’s character’s heartbeat, and how he is in a dangerous and stressful situation. All of these things emphasise the power dynamic between the two of them, and how one is much more powerless than the other.

Another binary opposition in ‘Under the Skin’ is the opposition of human and alien. The motorcyclist is a good example of this binary opposition as during the end sequence, there is a mid to long shot of him standing on a mountain which was a contextual reference to the Wanderer above the Sea of Fog painting which is all about humans and the sublime and seeing and feeling the beauty in nature. The audience knows that the motorcyclist man will not feel the sublime or see the beauty in nature as he has not come on the same journey as Laura who has started to feel empathy and humanity. This adds to the binary opposition of human and alien as a human would have appreciated and felt emotionally connected with the view, but he wasn’t. The audience is even shown a clip of beautiful nature, there is a calming long shot of the ocean and the waves, in which the audience approaches nature which helps them to recognise what the motorcyclist man cannot feel and understand the contrast between the humans and the alien. Laura becomes more human than alien as she starts to feel empathy. But she cannot be fully human. For example, she cannot enjoy food. The mid shot of her trying to eat chocolate cake includes her spitting it back out. Laura even tries to have sex with a man but isn’t able to. This is because empathy isn’t the inly thing that males us human, which is shown by humans with lack of empathy on the movie, such as the man who brutally tries to rape her, or the elder woman who watches the motorcyclist kidnap Adam Pearson’s character and does nothing, her performance is that she just stands her. The proxemics in this scene are ironic, as although she is physically higher than the motorcyclist man, she is not on moral high ground. Meaning that the binary opposition of human and alien is complicated, as even as Laura becomes more human after saving Adam Pearson’s character and her long duration shot of looking in the mirror where she analysed her identity, and began to feel more humanity, she still is an alien. And no longer fits in anywhere. And even though some people are human like the elder lady, she doesn’t show empathy which was the humanness in Laura. Therefore, it is showing that, it takes more than one thing to be human but that empathy and humanity is the best human trait of them all, because as an audience we start to like Laura after she feels those things.

British Film: Explore how narrative structure or narrative devices are used in both of your chosen films

The narrative structure in under the skin makes meaning when you compare the opening equilibrium to the ending equilibrium because not only does it show the audience Laura’s character development, but it also shows the films ideologies and binary oppositions. One way that Under The Skin’s narrative flips is with the binary opposition predator and prey. At the beginning of the movie when Laura is in the shopping mall, she is presented as above the human race and as a predator because of the over the shoulder, high angle shot of Laura when she is on the escalator. She is also presented as a predator in the opening sequence through her performance. As an audience, we feel concern for the woman that is laying frozen on the ground and forcefully undressed, and so Laura’s treatment of her, dropping her head on to the ground and showing no sympathy, makes Laura feel like a predator. The high key lighting with a white background also makes Laura seem more threatening because she appears as a silhouette which makes her more threatening to the audience. This changes by the ending equilibrium. After Laura feels empathy and runs away from her life and her job, she must face the fact that she doesn’t fit in anywhere anymore. This links in with the ideology of existentialism as she is questioning the meaning of her existence. During this time, humanity shows its evil side to her; the juxtaposition of the natural forest to the evil and unnatural way that the man treats Laura when he attempts to rape her highlights how humans can be very inhumane and evil. When running from this man, there is a long shot of her hiding in the trees making her seem vulnerable, as does her performance and proxemics as she is crouching behind nature trying to hide. This is a narrative flip as she is no longer the predator. The binary opposition of men and women has also been reversed, up until Laura changed her path in life she lured in men and killed them, but now a man is attacking her and in a much more violent way than she ever did to the men. This representation of men is that they are violent and cruel, and the film tended to present men as only being interested in sex; hence why Laura could lure in so many men to her van and into the lightless void; the design of which could have been inspired by Richard Wilson’s 20:50 art work. This representation is bad as obviously categorising a gender in to one single and very negative box is always incorrect, but the audience might interpret that the film only focused on the bad to show the bad side of humanity rather than to try and present an entire gender as bad.

In multiple ways the narrative in under the skin has a circular structure. One example is how the film starts with what can be interpreted as Laura’s creation and ends with her death. The opening sequence can be interpreted as her creation because of the mise en scene, the exploded projection with a planetary feel could be Laura’s eye being made. Plus, the non-diegetic voice over of Laura speaking phonics suggests her learning to speak like a baby/toddler. The closing sequence is Laura’s violent death, she is physically broken before being set on fire. This provides a circular narrative. The similarities between the frozen woman at the beginning of the film and Laura at the end also provide a circular structure. The appearance of these two characters are very similar, for example they both have black hair. And the close up of Laura holding her human face which still blinks might remind the audience of when we got a close up of the woman’s face and she cried. This provides circular structure because the opening equilibrium is the same as the ending equilibrium but it also gives an open ending because it suggests that the woman at the beginning was like Laura and was just replaced by her when she felt empathy, meaning the audience is left thinking Laura will be replaced by her kind and the cycle will just start again. This links to the ideology of capitalism because the film shows how not everyone benefits from a capitalism such as the workers (the woman and Laura) as they are in work they hate, lose their identity and then die and get replaced.

In the opening sequence of under the skin, the cinematography serves as a narrative device because it provides a jarring experience for the audience which in turn aesthetically makes them feel disconnected from the film just like Laura does from society, therefore making the audience feel a very particular and important way when watching the film, making them feel different about life when the film is over. Examples of the cinematography being jarring are the sudden switch from low key to high key lighting and the extreme close up of the ant that Laura holds.  This ant is the first proper interaction that Laura has with living beings from earth, she stares at it with a child like curiosity suggesting a child like innocence to her. This links to the ideology of Romantic primitivism which the film may have been trying to explore as Laura is corrupted by the interactions and pressure and constraints of society and looses her innocence and curiosity.  This would make sense as this would not be the only aspect of the film that was influenced by the Romantics; at the end, the extreme long shot of the motorcyclist on the mountain is reminiscent of Caspar David Friedrich’s painting ‘wanderer above the sea of fog’ which is about the sublime. The audience is left wondering if the aliens can appreciate the sublime like human’s can, or maybe if Laura could but only after feeling empathy and becoming more human, hence why the super imposed image of the extreme long shot of the trees and her sleeping provides a sense that she is completely at peace due to nature.

In the opening of ‘Moon’ the ideology of environmentalism helps set up the binary opposition of humans and machinery as well as setting up the narrative plot for the rest of the film. The opening montage infomercial for Lunar Industries uses archive footage that presents Lunar Industries as an environmentalist company as they contrast negative images, such as polluting factories and the long shot of humans ignoring the problem on the beach with factories in the background (binary opposition of humans and machines), with positive ones, such as the greening deserts, while the non-diegetic voice over states that Lunar Industries can make this good change, therefore presenting Lunar Industries as an environmentalist company. As this film came out in 2009, environmental problems would be very relevant in the audience’s lives as well as the characters because of issues like global warming. This means, the audience is initially set up to like them because of the company helping the environment, but also set up to mistrust them because the audience would question how they managed to solve such a big problem. The binary opposition f human and machine is explored through those ignoring the problem on the beach with the long shot of people relaxing with a polluting factory in the background, this may make audience members consider their own lives and if they ignore environmental problems too. However, the audience also starts to not trust the company during the animated sequence. Despite the upbeat major non-diegetic piano music, the audience will know that Lunar Industries are only swapping one finite resource for another, the moon. The reason why the earth is portrayed as saturated but the moon as monochrome and desaturated could be a subtle way to show how they are already destroying the moon. Therefore, Lunar Industries is not as environmentalist as they try and portray, and so the audience doesn’t trust them. We also don’t trust them because of how they represent the 70% of the world that they can help, it’s almost all West America which creates the binary opposition of the east and the west as well some audience members seeing a possible contrast of the images they showed before, for example the children sorting through rubbish, to who Lunar Industries plan to help. This presents Lunar Industries as corrupt in the opening equilibrium and so through dramatic irony we as an audience know to not trust the company before the main character Sam does. However, this is the only dramatic irony in the film as throughout the rest of it we learn with the character which keeps up the mystery and dystopian side of the films genre.

Editing techniques are frequently used as narrative devices in moon. For example, in the opening sequence, the montage of the desaturated moon includes a mid-shot of Sam running on a treadmill. This is a metaphor for how Sam is working but getting no benefits which links to the ideology of capitalism which is explored allot in the film though the Sam’s and how they are used and have to work hard but get no benefits, instead they get killed (capitalism doesn’t benefit everyone). The film provides a Marxist criticism of capitalism.  The representation of gender in this sequence and in the film can be criticised as Sam is presented as the headworker while the woman is at home with children and presented as a prize for the man to go back home to rather than having any personality traits or aspirations of her own. Another narrative device is parallel action in the ending equilibrium of the film. The parallel action of Sam 2 trying to escape, Sam 3 waking up and the Eliza countdown which acts like a ticking bomb; this helps build tension for the audience. By the end of the sequence, Sam 3 has broken the cycle of the Sam’s by breaking the tower meaning Sam 3 will know the truth when he wakes up. This is part of the film’s exploration of nihilism and how ‘Moon’ presents nihilism as wrong in this case as Sam 2 was able to break the cycle. However, the comparison of the opening and closing equilibrium show that nothing big has changed. Although Sam 2 told the earth what had happened, the non-diegetic voice overs show the audience that the world will do nothing to prevent companies repeating the same evil plans because they call Sam an ‘illegal immigrant’ and a ‘wacko’, this inks to existentialism and how the Sam’s are presented in this case to have meaningless lives as despite their attempts to make things right, the world hasn’t changed and their efforts accomplished next to nothing.

One of the narrative points in ‘moon’ is the questioning of the morality of machines, specifically Gertie, which links to the binary opposition of human and machine. Moon has similarities to ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ as they are both set in space and question the humanity in machines. In 2001: A Space Odyssey, the robot is Hal and is evil with the capabilities to hurt the humans so that it can achieve its mission, similarly, the way that Gertie acts is also so that he can achieve what he was programmed to do and achieve his mission but it contrast to Hal as achieving his mission means saving and helping the Sam’s. Therefore, despite looking similar, white design, they are very different. The fact that Gertie helps the Sam’s because he is programmed to suggest that he has no empathy or humanity, but some things such otherwise. Such as, the performance. Sam takes the ‘kick me’ post it note off of Sam because he felt empathy for him, suggesting that Gertie is in some way humane. Plus, in one scene Sam 1 draws faces on the wall which look similar to Gertie’s emotions pictures. This suggests that Gertie has empathy as he feels the same as the clones do, and as the clones are presented to be like humans (binary opposition of human and clones), such as their raw emotion and empathy when Sam 2 save Sam 3, Gertie is therefore presented with human like qualities. The mise en scene of Sam drawing the faces on the wall also provides a circular structure of the narrative as we can see faint faces that were drawn on there before by previous Sam’s but were rubbed off by the company, we see how the Sam’s each met the same fate and acted in the same way which links to the ideology of nihilism.

Explore how binary oppositions in the two British films you have studied generate meaning

In the opening of ‘Moon’ the binary opposition of human and technology is explored to get across the ideology of environmentalism and how some humans ignore the environmental problems that they instead should be facing. The opening is a montage edit of archive footage that is set up to be an infomercial for Lunar Industries, they present long shots of factory’s causing pollution and contrast it with an extreme long shot of greening deserts to present themselves as an environmentalist company. In this montage, there is a shot of many people on a beach with factories behind them and ignoring their problems, creating the binary opposition of humans and technology. It explores the idea that some humans ignore the problems of technology and let it damage the earth while others have to suffer the consequences, creating the binary opposition of those who have and those who have not. As the film was made in 2009, this idea would relate to the audience of the time and their lives and make them question whether they are ignoring environmental problems as well. The montage also shows clips of children sorting through rubbish, which makes the audience feel empathetically towards them, contrasting them and the situation to the humans who are ignoring the technology and its downsides while on the beach, which is the exploration of the binary opposition environment and consumer.

The infomercial includes an animate sequence of space which explains how Lunar Industries is using the moon instead of the earth and claiming that this solves their problems. The audience may think they were corrupt because of this, as they previously represented them selves as having environmentalist views yet swapped one finite resource with another. Another way the come across as a corrupt industry/company is through the binary opposition of the east and the west. During the animated sequence the voice over speaks about how Lunar Industries will help 70 percent of the planet which lights up on the earth as West America creating the binary opposition of the east and the west and shows the company as corrupt as they don’t plan on helping the people who appeared to have needed the most help during the montage. In 2009, the audience might assume that the people who were struggling, like the children sorting through rubbish, weren’t in America as in their own lives this would likely be the case, so they might think about the representation of children and believe that Lunar Industries used children as a way of getting empathy rather than to show who they were going to help, showing them as corrupt through the binary opposition of the east and the west. This causes dramatic irony as we know that Lunar Industries can’t be trusted before Sam knows.

The opening equilibrium also sets up the binary opposition of the earth and the moon. The mise en scene/cinematography of the earth is saturated and colourful with colours like bright green. The moon is the opposite and is desaturated and has lack of bright colours. This also suggests a corruptness with Lunar Industries as everything isn’t as nice as they say it is and it shows they don’t treat their workers well. For example, Sam’s outfit is dirty instead of pure white. He is also first seen running on a treadmill which is a metaphor for him and his work and how he his doing lot of work for Lunar Industries but isn’t getting anywhere himself. This links to the binary opposition of Marxism and capitalism. Lunar Industries is shown as a capitalist company, for example, they exploit their workers without giving them a fair reward. The Marxist critique of this would be that Sam, the labour worker for the company, isn’t being treated fairly and that capitalism doesn’t help everyone which is explored throughout the movie as the Sam’s continue to face struggles.

Gerty, the robot that is with the Sam’s, creates the binary opposition of human and machine. Throughout the film the narrative of whether Gerty feels empathy is questioned. As Gerty looks similar to Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey, as well as there being other references to 2001: A Space Odyssey like the chair that the first Sam we met sits in, the audience may feel scared of Gerty and think that he will in some way hurt Sam who we have been aligned with as an audience. However, as the narrative progresses, we learn that Gerty isn’t evil and to some level feels empathy. In the final sequence, the performance of the second Sam we see taking the ‘kick me’ post it off Gerty suggests he felt as though Gerty had some sort of humanity in him. Plus, earlier on in the film Sam one draws faces on one of the walls that look similar to the ones that express Gerty’s emotions, suggesting that what Gerty feels is the same as what Sam feels and so he therefore has humanity. A similar opposition to this is clone and society. When Sam two escapes after having saved Sam three he goes to earth to expose Lunar Industries for what they have done. This links to existentialism as trying to stop the cycle of clones and expose Lunar Industries becomes Sam’s purpose in life, it also shows how the people on earth haven’t changed. When you compare the opening and the ending equilibrium the audience finds that nothing has changed because the people haven’t and are the source of the problems. The voice overs call Sam an ‘illegal immigrant’ and a ‘wacko’ and suggesting that they should lock him up which shows that it’s unlikely Sam has made any difference as humans are not willing to believe him or pursue his points and complaints. The comparison also shows that one of the morals of the story was not only that humans are their own downfall but a critique of capitalism and how it has very negative effects on people such as the workers like Sam who had to suffer or even die because of the company.

In ‘Under the Skin’ one of the main binary oppositions is men and women. At the beginning of the film, the alien Laura who takes a female appearance is like a predator who preys on men (binary opposition of predator and prey). For example, the high angle over the shoulder shot of her in the shopping mall makes her seem above the public and like a predator as the public appear like prey. Plus, throughout the film she tracks down men and lures them in before killing them in a black void that looks like Richard Wilson’s 20:50 oil art work, meaning that Laura is a predator. Also, during the shopping centre sequence, there is a montage of Laura picking out clothes, the fact that it is a montage creates the idea that Laura knew exactly what she wanted, especially as we don’t see her thinking whether to buy something else. Some people may view the clothes she picked as a way that she is purposefully trying to appear sexy to attract men into her van. The representation of women here can be critiqued as Laura can be interpreted as being objectified due to her role being to attract men in with her body and that she hardly speaks. Men are shown as only interested in sex, Laura appears to easily attract men in and fulfil her job’s task. However, if you compare the opening and ending equilibrium there is a narrative flip as Laura becomes the prey. During the ending, she runs away from a man trying to rape her, the long shot of her hiding in the forest makes her seem vulnerable and her performance shows her as afraid through facial expressions; there’s also no music when she’s running away because it’s scary enough already. Plus, the motorcyclist man is trying to hunt her down as she left her job possession, the long shot of him on the mountains shows his hopelessness of finding her but also links to the painting ‘The Wanderer above the sea of fog’ in an ironic way as the audience would doubt that the motorcyclist feels any sense of sublime as they would assume he is like Laura before she felt empathy, emotionless as he has done so many cruel things like shove a man into the boot of a car.

This links to the binary opposition of human and alien.  The narrative follows Laura becoming more human as she begins to feel empathy for others. At the beginning, the binary opposition of black and white emphasised her emotionlessness as he appeared as a black silhouette due to the high contrast and high key lighting making her seem powerful and evil while dropping the woman’s head on the floor with seemingly no worry for her, aesthetically the high contrast between the white and black builds tension in the audience and the opening also includes unnerving close ups of an eye and an ant as well as dramatic changes from low key to high key lighting making the audience separate themselves from Laura just like Laura is separated from humanity. However, the more she spends time with humans the more empathy she feels for them, some audience members may interpret that Laura was lied to by her company about humans and we see her progressively learn that humans aren’t as bad as she was told they were, this links to the ideology of capitalism and how it doesn’t benefit everyone like Laura who was exploited and lost her sense of identity due to her job. After meeting the man with a disfigured face, there is a scene with a slow cut rate where she looks into the mirror. In this scene, the audience would think she in analysing herself as a person, as she steps into the light which lights up her face, suggesting she is walking into a better pathway in life as she has recognises killing humans as not humane because the man taught her that not all men are interested in sex and/or what she thought humans were like (he looks around the room instead of focusing on her). She then tries to act human, she tries eating cake but can’t and even tries having sex with someone but can’t. Despite feeling empathy, she can never be human meaning she no longer fits in anywhere as the binary opposition of human and alien represented her two worlds, neither of which she now fits into as she has lost her identity. At the end when she tries to escape the woods in the van, it is a symbol/metaphor for her old life, but the van won’t start because she has left that life behind now. This suggests that the movie is telling the audience being human is more than feeling empathy, as they even show the dark side of humans like rapists as well as the elderly lady who watches as the motorcyclist puts someone in the trunk of car and does nothing.

The binary opposition of the city and country explores the representation of Scotland in which Scotland stands in for the whole world to Laura as that’s the only place she goes. The representation of Scotland is negative, the mise en scene/cinematography makes the nature appear desaturated, and the mise en scene of the house Laura is in makes it appear run down. Some audience members may interpret that this representation is actually from an alien’s point of view, that she cannot see the beauty of the nature in Scotland as she isn’t really human. Both in the city where Laura is surrounded by people and in the country where she is alone and free (suggested by the overlaying image of her sleeping in the extreme long shot of the trees) she doesn’t fit in. Suggesting that the binary opposition of the city and country was used to show that Laura doesn’t fit in anywhere.