Easter Booster

7/28/2019 Easter Booster

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Key Feedback Points

NONE OF YOU READ THE QUESTION PROPERLY!


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This was one of the second questions on the paper that focuses

on a more broadly based consideration of areas of

representation.

A production company often casts the same orsimilar actors in key roles and this contributes to theoverall identity of the company over a period of

time.

How far have you found this to be the case in thefilms you have studied for this topic?

Key Words for Question 2:

Messages and values; Stereotypes; British values; British attitudes; 'Being

British; Representation; Characteristics (of WT films)


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For every exam question:

1. Identify the key words in the question make

sure you are clear on EXACTLY WHAT THE

QUESTION WANTS YOU TO ANSWER

2. Write a plan

3. Write your essay

4. Check your work


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Task: Identify the key words

A production company often casts the same or

similar actors in key roles and this contributes to

the overall identity of the company over a period

of time.

How far have you found this to be the case in the

films you have studied for this topic?

Task:Succinctlyexplain what you are being asked to do


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Task: Write a plan for the question

(now that you know what you are doing)1. Decide upon what you think is the identity of WT (think about representation what are the messages and

values of WT/ what is the representation of relationships etc)

2. BRIEF background to enable you to write What is WT known for? What were they known for? (Diversity, rangeof genres etc)

3. How/when did this change? (bought by Polydor more money made them able to invest more in films, FWAF,emergence of rom-com as a strong genre for WT, following a similar model e.g. British cast supported by bigAmerican star link this to key scenes! able to afford big star because of support from Polydor!)

4. The format of FWAF influenced the identity that WT has today. You can mention that they do make a diverserange of films butthey are best known for this format and even in their other genre of films there is a similarformat support for British industry but knowing how to appeal to a wide audience ( REPRESENTATION class,gender, messages and values in the film, relationships in FWAF how does this appeal to audience and link toidentity of WT choose key scenes)

5. Pool of talent has grown and developed since FWAF and sees the same or similar actors in key roles linkFWAF to LA similar format, same/similar actors even though LA was produced under Universal(REPRESENTATION in LA and identify at least one key scene)

6. In contract, there is Shaun of the Deadmade by WT2 (smaller, more intrinsically British arm of theproduction companydidnt need the big American star to appeal to home audiences) Think aboutREPRESENTATION in Shaun of the Dead...

7. BUT Shaun of the Dead dips into the WT talent pool andhas its own talent pool (Pegg, Frost etc) to create anidentity of British films rather than WT films could you argue this??

8. Conclude - How far have you found this to be the case in the films you have studied for this topic? Make briefreference to the points you have made already in your essay.

And all the time make sure you are using P-E-E-L to refer

back to the question and/or key words


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Homework

Choose at least one of the Section B questions

from the blog to answer and bring the

response (along with any planning you did) to

your lesson with me on Tuesday (period 2, G9)

http://filmstudiesatcampion.blogspot.co.uk/2

013/04/revision-tasks-section-b-working-

title.html
http://filmstudiesatcampion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/revision-tasks-section-b-working-title.htmlhttp://filmstudiesatcampion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/revision-tasks-section-b-working-title.htmlhttp://filmstudiesatcampion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/revision-tasks-section-b-working-title.htmlhttp://filmstudiesatcampion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/revision-tasks-section-b-working-title.htmlhttp://filmstudiesatcampion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/revision-tasks-section-b-working-title.htmlhttp://filmstudiesatcampion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/revision-tasks-section-b-working-title.htmlhttp://filmstudiesatcampion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/revision-tasks-section-b-working-title.htmlhttp://filmstudiesatcampion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/revision-tasks-section-b-working-title.htmlhttp://filmstudiesatcampion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/revision-tasks-section-b-working-title.htmlhttp://filmstudiesatcampion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/revision-tasks-section-b-working-title.htmlhttp://filmstudiesatcampion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/revision-tasks-section-b-working-title.htmlhttp://filmstudiesatcampion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/revision-tasks-section-b-working-title.htmlhttp://filmstudiesatcampion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/revision-tasks-section-b-working-title.htmlhttp://filmstudiesatcampion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/revision-tasks-section-b-working-title.htmlhttp://filmstudiesatcampion.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/revision-tasks-section-b-working-title.html


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Section C:

American

Comparative- Westerns


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Section C: American Comparative

WesternsYou are required to compare and contrast two films from thesame genre or dealing with a specific theme.

The questions will have an emphasis on the relationship

between aspects offilms narrative in relation to genericcharacteristics.

1. The first question will be based primarily on narrative study.

2. The second will be based on contextual study.

Issues ofrepresentation will be common to both questions.

You will only answer one question.


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Examples of Past Exam Questions

The first question will be basedprimarily on narrative study.

Discuss some of the similaritiesand differences between the twofilms you have studied for this

topic with particular reference tonarrative and genre features?

Compare and contrast themessages and values conveyed bythe narrative resolutions of your

chosen films?

How important is place incontributing to key themes in theAmerican films you have studiedfor this topic?

The second will be based oncontextual study.

How far do the two films youhave studied for this topicpresent similar messages andvalues?

What have you found interestingin the representation of gender inthe films you have studied?

With reference to your chosenAmerican films, compare theextent to which their messagesand values reflect the times inwhich they were made?


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Exam Question Key Words

The first question will be basedprimarily on narrative study.

Themes

Key sequences

One sequence (ending?)

Messages and values

Setting/place

Narrative

Genre

Narrative resolutions

Discuss

Compare and Contrast

How far?

The second will be based oncontextual study.

Messages and values

Reflect the times they were made

Films reflect the time and place they

were made Representations

(women/men/masculinity/ gender)

Contextual studies

Themes and ideas

Messages and values

Similarities and differences

How far?

Compare the extent...

Issues ofrepresentation will be common to both questions.


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The Western


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Western SettingsThe western film genre often portrays the

conquest of the wilderness and the

subordination of nature, in the name of

civilization, or the confiscation of the

territorial rights of the original

inhabitants of the frontier.

Specific settings include:

lonely isolated forts, ranch houses, the

isolated homestead, the saloon, the jail,

the livery stable, the small-town mainstreet, or small frontier towns that are

forming at the edges of civilization. They

may even include Native American sites

or villages.


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Western IconographyIconic elements in westerns include:

the hanging tree

stetsons and spurs,

saddles, lassos and Colt .45s

bandannas and buckskins,

canteens

stagecoaches,

gamblerslong-horned cattle and cattle drives

prostitutes (or madams) with a heart of

gold, and more

Very often, the cowboy has a favoured

horse (or 'faithful steed')


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History of the WesternHistory of USA and the Mid- West

The US established independence from

Britain and the British Empire following the

War of Independence (1775-1782) and

began to look for their own new lands tocolonize.

By 1820 land as far as the Mississippi was

occupied and states were established.

By 1860 California and Oregon were

established as states on the west coast

only the mid-west needed to be filled in

order to span the continent.


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Establishing the Mid-WestBy 1869 the

transcontinental

railroad was

complete

From 1860 to around

1900 the mid-weststates were

established


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The RailroadsWestern railroads expanding the West

connected the middle of the continent of

America when all that investors saw were

worthless sage brush, insurmountable

mountains and a few scattered settlers.

The building of the transcontinental western

railroads brought together California with the

rest of the nation and it was the largest single

western railroad expansion. With two small

ribbons of steel, the Union Pacific and Central

Pacific western railroads brought commerceand a population of immigrants to a nation.

Western railroads brought tremendous

wealth to some men, often through less than

honourable means. Sometimes the western

railroads created and destroyed men'sdreams.
http://www.linecamp.com/museums/americanwest/western_clubs/transcontinental_railroad/transcontinental_railroad.htmlhttp://www.linecamp.com/museums/americanwest/western_clubs/union_pacific_railroad/union_pacific_railroad.htmlhttp://www.linecamp.com/museums/americanwest/western_clubs/central_pacific_railroad/central_pacific_railroad.htmlhttp://www.linecamp.com/museums/americanwest/western_clubs/central_pacific_railroad/central_pacific_railroad.htmlhttp://www.linecamp.com/museums/americanwest/western_clubs/central_pacific_railroad/central_pacific_railroad.htmlhttp://www.linecamp.com/museums/americanwest/western_clubs/central_pacific_railroad/central_pacific_railroad.htmlhttp://www.linecamp.com/museums/americanwest/western_clubs/union_pacific_railroad/union_pacific_railroad.htmlhttp://www.linecamp.com/museums/americanwest/western_clubs/union_pacific_railroad/union_pacific_railroad.htmlhttp://www.linecamp.com/museums/americanwest/western_clubs/transcontinental_railroad/transcontinental_railroad.html


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American Civil War 1861-1865War between the eleven southern slave states

(Confederates) and US Federal Government (the

Union) came about when Abraham Lincoln

declared he did not wish to see the spread of

slavery.

The South felt that if it did not spread then

slavery would die and the South relied upon

slavery for the cotton trade which accounted for

2/3 of the value of American exports.

The North (Union) won and African Americans

were freed from slavery shortly after the end of

the Civil War. The victory of the Union preserves

the US as one nation.


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The Declaration of IndependenceThe Declaration of Independence

was used again in the Gettysburg

address of 1863

We hold these truths to be self-

evident, that all men are created

equal, that they are endowed by

their Creator with certain

unalienable Rights, that amongthese are Life, Liberty and the

pursuit of Happiness.

The Declaration of Independence,

Thomas Jefferson, 1776


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Melting PotThe Declaration of Independence and

victory of the Union in the American

Civil War put forward the image of

America as the land of opportunity,

the Land of the Free.

This attracted immigrants from Britain,

Scandinavia, Germany, Poland, Russia

and other European countries as well

as marginal cultural strands such as

African, Asian and Hispanic cultures.

It was a period in history of a huge

inland migratory expansion of people

from different ethnic groups into a

melting-pot.
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=S3rarFlQ4EEpxM&tbnid=GXoY31hVnJLEYM:&ved=0CAgQjRwwADgS&url=http://www.willisms.com/archives/2005/09/trivia_tidbit_o_168.html&ei=Xq9kUYaQF-707AaOhYGYCA&psig=AFQjCNGkH3jASqSecBm3MmyG7iY2-tJCfQ&ust=1365639390442409


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The Western : RootsIt is said the westerns are a way of

interpreting the social complexities

and conflicts in America (as result of

immigration and migration) to give a

coherent sense of the Americanpast.

This is the period of formation that

has been assessed, reassessed,

mythologised and re-mythologised infilm to the point that the western has

become central to how Americans

see themselves and how the rest of

the world sees America.


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The WesternThe westerns are popular histories

mythologizing the heroic pioneering

spirit involved in establishing this

recently created country.

In narrative thematic terms the

western genre has been used by

science fiction film such as Star Wars.

The iconography of westerns

(handguns, rifles, horses, saddles,

bedrolls, Stetsons, spittoons, rugged

landscapes) are easily recognisable.


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Myth and Binary OppositionsThe purpose of myth is to provide

a logical model capable of

overcoming a contradiction.

(Lvi-Strauss)

Myths are stories we tell ourselves

as a culture in order to banish

contradictions and make the world

understandable and thereforehabitable; they attempt to put us

at peace with our existence.


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Binary OppositionsLevi-Strauss observed that we make sense of the world,people and events by seeing and using binary opposites

everywhere. He observed that all narratives are organised

around the conflict between such binary opposites.

According to Lvi-Strauss, myths are structured in terms of

binary oppositions and meaning is produced by dividing

the world into mutually exclusive categories:

culture/natureman/woman

black/white

good/bad

us/them


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Binary OppositionsThe narrative power of the western is

derived from its structure of binary

oppositions:

Inside society/Outside society

Good/Bad

Strong/Weak

Civilization/Wilderness
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=cbjxRwSyMOG1rM&tbnid=soEv2cO3A09coM:&ved=0CAgQjRwwADhY&url=http://www.online-archaeology.co.uk/home/aboutarchaeology/archaeologydictionary/tabid/176/filter/a/default.aspx&ei=4LBkUbrKL83Q7AaC_4HoBA&psig=AFQjCNEQG-9QTDGc-BOZB9LKE-HOBwrtRw&ust=1365639776847957


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Evolution of the WesternAccording to Will Wright - the western

has evolved through 3 stages:

1. classic (including the vengeance

variation)

2. transition theme

3. professional


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ClassicInside society/Outside

society

Good/Bad

Strong/Weak

Civilization/Wilderness

In the classic western thehero and society are aligned

in opposition to the villains

who remain outside society


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VengeanceThe path to respect and love is to

separate yourself from others,

struggling individually against

your many and strong enemies but

striving to remember to return to

the softer values of marriage and

humility.

(The Searchers, John Ford, 1956)

Protagonists are on a vengeance

mission seeking to wreak

revenge for a wrongdoing


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TransitionHero/Society

Outside Society/Inside Society

Good/Bad

Weak/Strong

Wilderness/Civilization

Bridged the gap between the classic andprofessional western. Anticipates new social

values the individual stands righteously against

the intolerance and ignorance of society.


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Professional

Companionship and respect are to

be achieved only by becoming a

skilled technician, who joins anelite group of professionals,

accepts any job that is offered,

and has loyalty only to the

integrity of the team, not to any

competing social or community

values.


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ThemesBecause of its widespread appeal some critics claim the western is used and

viewed for reworking older and more universal themes that were already in

existence, for example:

Conquest of the wilderness and subordination of nature

(agrarian/industrialisation)

individualism/community

society organized around codes of honour and personal, direct or private

justice

a story that centres on the life of a semi-nomadic wanderer, usually a

cowboy or a gunfighter (similarity to Knights errant from historical tales) Westerns often stress the harshness of the wilderness

In some Westerns, where "civilization" has arrived, the town has a church

and a school; in others, where frontier rules still hold sway, it is, as Sergio

Leone said, "where life has no value".


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Messages and ValuesThe western is crucial to sustaining an American

identity that is repeatedly under attack.

Ever since the closing of the frontier, Americanaudiences need the western to provide them with a

mythical, quasi- utopian past in which they are

empowered as individuals and become members of

a society whose values and beliefs are rooted in thestable realities of the land itself.


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Further Reading

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_(genre)

http://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgiven

http://www.furiouscinema.com/2011/06/true-grit-a-comparison/

http://www.truby.com/im_truegrit.php

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=23&ved=0CHQQFjAMOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.wix.com%2Fugd%2F130a65_ec97d0197e4df774607f50d1969b5de6.pdf%3Fdn%3DTrue%252BGrit%252Bor%252BShane.pdf&ei=r7NkUfWWFIimhAewiIHIBg&usg=AFQjCNE3MgA-yAhRu_oKo8imynZHuzru0A&sig2=ynHqWedSkZvUgPRloGmSNQ&bvm=bv.44990110,d.d2k
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_(genre)http://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://www.furiouscinema.com/2011/06/true-grit-a-comparison/http://www.truby.com/im_truegrit.phphttp://www.truby.com/im_truegrit.phphttp://www.furiouscinema.com/2011/06/true-grit-a-comparison/http://www.furiouscinema.com/2011/06/true-grit-a-comparison/http://www.furiouscinema.com/2011/06/true-grit-a-comparison/http://www.furiouscinema.com/2011/06/true-grit-a-comparison/http://www.furiouscinema.com/2011/06/true-grit-a-comparison/http://www.furiouscinema.com/2011/06/true-grit-a-comparison/http://www.furiouscinema.com/2011/06/true-grit-a-comparison/http://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/cowboys-wander-women-stay-at-home-shane-true-grit-unforgivenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_(genre)

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