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.