Christopher Nolan's Inception with Hans Zimmer's Dream Is Collapsing

 So I'm sure we've all heard of the notoriously mind-bending/face-melting/thought-provoking movie by Christopher Nolan titled Inception (If you haven't it's obvious that you've been living under a rock for the past five years, just kidding).  This film is a psychological thriller that has evoked different hypotheses amongst the film fanatic community through it's elaborate brain twisting plot. However, if you look more closely, it is evident that the musical score (composed by Hans Zimmer) plays a very significant role in giving this film it's brain twisting ability as well.

 

(Hans Zimmer pictured above)

In the video below is the track that has come to be known by the general audience as Inception's theme song was made to subconsciously cause you to feel like a part of the world of inception and experience sounds as you would if you were being tricked into dreaming by the protagonists.

The Track In Context

              This track has acquired the role as the theme track because of it's prominence throughout the film. The track can be heard periodically from the film's very beginning 'til it's very end appearing in almost every scene that is meant to evoke a sense of anticipation and dramatic action. Although unapparent at first, this track is also very significant to the film's purpose of psychologically twisting the audiences' perceptions about the world of the film. In this film, the different scenes are layered dreams and it's up to the audience to determine which scene is a dream, which is a dream within a dream, and which is reality. Through study and observation it is evident that the ending of this track is often played in the scenes that are occurring in the dreams of the characters. How so you may ask? Well if you're familiar with famous musical scores then i'm sure you've heard Edith Piaf's track titled "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien". Piaf's track is a kind of fast-paced elegant instrumental composition but Hans Zimmer alters it by slowing it down and building upon it in for his own purposes. Zimmer slows the track down because in the world of dreams our minds are thought to work much faster causing any sounds in the world of reality to seem slowed down. Essentially,  all that the ending of Zimmer's Inception Theme track is, is a slowed down version of this track by Piaf. Zimmer does this to show the audience what it would feel like if they themselves were in fact dreaming and still aware of the sounds of the outside reality that they were sleeping in. If this is still unclear to you then feel free to listen for yourself. Things like this are often better explained through example rather than writing.

 (Note: This is just the ending of Zimmer's track)

My Personal Experience With This Track

             As I previously stated above, this track causes you to feel a sense of anticipation and helps evoke an almost adrenaline feeling as you listen to it while watching action scenes in the film. This may be because of it's very dramatic composition that ranges from subtly soft sounds to intense vibrations in a matter of seconds. Aside from this, knowing what I know about the Zimmer's creative process in regards to this track, it also creates a sense of thought provocation within myself because it causes me to suspect that everything that I am watching in the film is all just the dream of an offscreen character, almost as if we're simply watching the dream unfold of someone who we don't know at all.

Evaluation of The Track

           Personally, I think this track is amazing. It's composition and the thought process behind it is truly a work of artistic accomplishment that oddly possesses the ability to tap into it's listeners subconscious thoughts as they witness the events in the film unfold. It most definitely evoked the emotions it was meant to and matched perfectly with each of the scenes that it was used in. Hans Zimmer is a musical genius!

The Treatment: David O. Russell

 

David O. Russel is a film writer/director who has recently released the highly acclaimed film titled Silver Linings Playbook. Prior to this, he is also well known for directing the Oscar-winning film The Fighter (2010). The following blog is a brief summary of an interview conducted by KCRW in regards to Silver Linings Playbook which was conducted on December 12, 2012.

Silver Linings Playbook stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence

Overview

- First and foremost I'd like to state that I am so glad I heard this interview. Listening to this was almost like listening to a message from God. Instead of talking about the usual hollywood jibber-jabber of technicalities an the life of glam, David O. Russell discussed the value of struggle in life. After winning Sundance and directing three critically-acclaimed films, David talks about a time in his life where he was lost. Despite all his success, despite all of his acclaim, despite all of his wealth; he hit a point in his career where he just felt lost. In my opinion, this is human essence in it's truest form. Hearing David talk about all of this felt very real; ironically it felt so real that the interview seemed almost surreal. If I had only one word to describe what I thought of David's character i'd use the word "real". After listening to this interview and hearing all that he had to say about Silver Linings Playbook, it is evident that he is a man that seeks to illustrate the reality of realness and raw human emotion in not only his own life but in this film as well. Interestingly enough, one of the reasons why David decided to adapt this film for the screen was because it revolved around a protagonist who suffered from bipolar disorder; a mental illness that his own son possesses. He goes on to state that this movie became a way of telling his son's story, his difficulties, and his emotional experiences. With this in mind, he goes on to discuss how the most important aspect to this film isn't the plot. Instead it's the rawness of the characters, their interactions, their feelings, and their ways of dealing with the problems that lay before them. This is a value that I feel more of hollywood should come to acknowledge. I want to see more movies like this. I want to see something real, a plot based around characters instead of the characters being placed around the plot. Although I did see and love the film Silver Linings Playbook, I was never a fan of David O. Russell until now. He's an amazing director and a seemingly amazing human being who understands the value of emotion.

Quotes

"If you have a period where you got a little lost, sometimes that's a good thing. I think if you keep working you can find your way out of it".

-  Early in the interview David states this quote. In my opinion, this is a quote of reality and inspiration. Currently I'm at a crossroads in my life and I feel lost. For me, this feeling usually results in becoming unmotivated and giving up. Right now, i've been managing to control those feelings and i've continued to push myself forward on the path of turning my own filmmaking dreams into realities. Hearing David, a very successful writer and director, say that he became lost even after all of his successes is not only jawdropping, but it also sort of smacks reality into my consciousness. You come to realize that life is a series of successes and loses. It's a cycle of ups and downs and the key to being lost is to "keep working [until] you can find your way out of it."
  

"I think I suffered from being too ponderous. [I was] just over thinking the things I was working on and not being instinctive enough... If you're not coming from the gut or heart enough then you'll be too ponderous."

- This is yet another motivational quote that is easily applicable to my own personal life. I am the type of person that tends to over-think everything, almost as though seeking satisfaction through it's process. Basically "What if?" questions tend to run my mind when making any kind of decision even the ones that are supposed to be spawned out of creativity. I definitely do agree what David has to say about this issue. The best work of any category is always work that is illuminated by the heart. It's work that is truly reflected from the soul of the artist. In conclusion, this quote not only instills inspiration within myself but it also serves as a good mental note to advise me on any kind of creative project that I decide to take on in the future.

"...it's so human. It's so raw."

- Lastly, this quote is stated in regards to the characters and casting in the film Silver Linings Playbook. Throughout the interview David discusses the importance of showing humanity in a raw fashion. He talks about many of the actors having strong ties to the characters being played and he discusses how he crafted the film in such a way that it's almost as if the audience is just simply watching the lives of ordinary human beings unfold. I feel that this rawness is what works in his favor. His films are able to touch the hearts in it's audience in a way that isn't typical. Instead of utilizing immense amounts of drama as most films nowadays do, he simply focuses on deep characterization to bond with the emotions that lay dormant within the audience. It's no wonder why his last two films have seen tremendous success in the eyes of both audience and critics.

David O. Russell, Bradley Cooper, and Robert DeNiro

I'd like to conclude this blog post encouraging anyone chasing a dream to go read bio's and interviews with or about successful people. Gaining insight into the lives and minds of successful people will definitely assist and encourage you on your own path to success. This interview and David's story has impacted me in a positive way and has definitely strengthened my drive to pursue my dreams.

The Man Who Wasn't There - Cinematography

Overall Look

Within the film The Man Who Wasn't There Roger Deakins, the Director of Photography, effectively utilizes various cinematographic aspects in order to produce an overall look to the film. Throughout the film Deakins uses harsh light and harsh shadows depending on what the scene is attempting to depict. The harsh contrast between the scenes that are well lit and the scenes that are dimly lit greatly stand out from many films that I've seen. Not only does this cinematographic characteristic add artistic value to the film's overall cinematography, it also helps to emphasize the wickedness that remains prevalent through the development of the film's story. Aside from this, Deakins tastefully uses dolly shots constantly throughout the film. Unlike most films, Deakins only uses these shots subtly and not dramatically. It is apparent that he prefers to use dolly tracks that are shorter than the usual. I believe that Deakins not only uses this to set the film's style a part, but he also uses it in order to allow the audience to process the images within the dolly shots at a slower rate so that they can further examine what they are seeing causing them to think deeper about the film itself. Deakins also routinely uses scenes that are backlit. These backlit scenes are commonly used when we see the protagonist of the film thinking to himself or smoking a cigarette. Lastly, Deakins uses a wide variety of camera angles throughout the film. The one that remains the most prominent in my head is the bird's eye view shot that shows Ed cutting a customers hair. This angle almost put's the audience into a God-like position, where we are examining Ed in his daily life only to later end up more deeply examining him as a human being. When observing all of these cinematographic aspects as a whole, it is evident that their holistic purpose is to help evoke a sense of psychological abnormality within the protagonist's character.

Images

Though sometimes apparent, images within a film can shed light on various messages that are not directly portrayed by the actions or dialogue of a scene.

-In the above image, a typical medium close-up shot, nothing seems to stand-out until you begin looking deeper into what's displayed. In this scene, Ed is shown wielding a pair of scissors right above the head of his soon to be "business partner". Ed is standing behind him, almost as if sneakily plotting something while cutting his hair. The low angle angle in relation to Ed's eye-level also indicates that Ed has more power within the scene. This power seems almost sinister when you holistically analyze the way he's holding his scissors and the expression he is displaying on his face.

 

-In the scene above, Ed is quietly smoking a cigarette as his wife reads while bathing. This scene is interesting because the way it is lit. Ed is backlit and in complete shadow making it seem like his character isn't really in the scene at all. Because of this, the scene evokes an "outside looking in" type of feeling. It's almost as though Ed is just observing the life of his wife rather than being a part of that life. This certainly relates to the title of the film because Ed is clearly "the man who wasn't there".

 

-My favorite scene is the scene above. This scene stood out the most to me when I watched the film because of the vertical bars of shadow that almost symmetrically covered the character in the scene. In my opinion, this scene adds to the "outside looking in" effect of the film. It's as though the people/society in the film are imprisoned within a box. It makes you think that maybe everyone else is wrong about the ideas of how to live a functional life in their reality and Ed may be the only character to come to realize that all of those beliefs are results of conformity, this conformity is like a prison, and the only true way to live life is to simply just let it pass you by.

Shot Length

Within the film, shot lengths don't seem to stand out too much. They're pretty standard. Short shot lengths are used more favorably when more than one character is in the scene. Long shot lengths are used prominently when Ed is either thinking to himself, acting by himself, or smoking a cigarette. In addition, the long shot lengths in this film are usually accompanied by more dramatic music in order to build suspense while short shot lengths are usually accompanied by music that is face-paced or no music at all in order to add a sense of thrill to these scenes. 

Shot Types

This film is flooded with consistent eye-level medium shots. These shots help exemplify the idea that there is something wrong with the society within the film by making everything seem too consistent. In real life, consistency is scarce, so seeing repeated medium shots throughout the film evoke a sense of suspicion in my opinion. Though the film does possess many shots that are typical, it also utilizes shots that aren't. The one that remains the most prominent in my mind is the birds-eye view barber shop wide shot. In this scene the birds-eye view wide shot is used at the beginning in order to help establish the audiences examination role in the film. It is thus noted that the audience is meant to watch Ed's world and examine his interactions and how his peers act around him. Close-up shots are typically used when Ed is questioned or a new aspect about his character is revealed. This is largely because an extreme close-up not only helps the audience better identify with the character, but these shots also help to display the emotional state of the character by exaggerating any facial expressions that are acted out during a scene.

 

-An example of a close-up shot that evokes a sense of wickedness within Ed's characterization

Camera Angle

As stated in previous sections, a lower camera angle is often used in relation to Ed in scenes where he is joined by his victims. This helps to emphasize Ed's power over their lives in the film. Other than that there is only one other camera angle that really stands out and that is the birds eye view angle (as stated in the section above). This angle gives the audience more of a God's eye view than a birds eye view because we are able to see and analyze the inter-workings of the characters within the film and how their actions all tie together and develop into their fates in life. This is also displayed in the scene pictured below that was also shot from a birds eye view angle.

Composition

Just as in the scene above, many of the scenes in this film have a very balanced composition that adds to the film's theme of order in life. However, there are a couple of scenes that are out of balance in order to emphasize the stark contrast of the order within Ed's life and the disorder within his very own mind (Pictured Below).

Camera Movement

-This film is full of dolly shots! The dolly shots in this film help the audience examine the characters, foreground, and background to a greater extent. This results in a deeper analysis of the film itself which ties into the question at the end of the film, does Ed ever change or did he die simply not caring and just letting life pass him by? Through dolly shots, the audience is kept thinking so when the conclusion of the film arrives their minds are already stimulated and they are able to generate their own ideas about Ed's characterization and how it develops, if it developed at all, throughout the film.

Cinematography Style

- I feel that a majority of the cinematography of the scenes in this film are meant to draw attention to them. The film constantly illustrates the contrasts of the blacks and whites by strong lighting matched with equally strong shadows. The intense light and the harsh shadows draw attention to the film but more vividly emphasize the stark contrast within Ed's own characterization. It's like there's a battle going on within Ed's head and this battle is illustrated through the carefully planned out lighting within the cinematography of the film's many scenes.

 

(Pictured above and below, scenes with intense light contrasted with harsh shadows) 

The Dardenne Brothers (Directors)

Jean-Pierre (Left) and Luc (Right)

Early Life

   Jean-Pierre Dardenne was born in Egnis Belgium on April 21st 1951 and Luc was born in Awirs Belgium on March 10th 1954. They both were raised in a middle-class family and grew up in the working-class steel town of Seraing in Belgium.

(Seraing 1960's Labor Movement)

-Because of the Labor movement of the 1960's, the Dardennes witnessed city-wide strikes and rallies that often caused them to miss a lot of school. 

-As a young boy in the 1960's, Jean-Pierre's father forbid him from watching TV and movies.

 

Education

At the age of 17, Jean-Pierre rebelled from his father's distaste in the TV/Film art and moved away to go study acting in Brussel. During his studies, Jean-Pierre came to realize the artistic and political possibilities that film had. Luc Dardenne often visited his older brother in Brussel and became inspired by the ideas that Jean-Pierre was setting forth about the role of film.

Early Works

-The Dardenne Brothers began their career with documentary filmmaking in the 1970's. While working in a cement factory in order to raise money for film-equipment, Jean-Pierre and his brother began documenting the effects of the economic fall out in their town. They documented strikes, rallies, and included interviews that were set on dramatic backgrounds.

-They went on to produce documentaries for Belgium television but soon became bored with the limitations set by the documentary style.

-In 1980 they began working on fictitious narrative films. Their first two films (Falsch and Je Pense a Vou), however didn't receive much attention.

Their Breakthrough Film

-The third narrative film that the Dardenne's worked on was La Promesse
-Shot entirely with hand-held camera's on location
-Used friends as actors
-Kept it as simple as possible

 

Trademarks

-CHOOSE to keep their productions low-budget (gritty rawness)

-Use working class characters that struggle financially

-Often works with Jérémie Renier (Actor) and Olivier Gourmet (Actor).

-Bikes/Bicycle Motif

-Hand-held style cinematographic style

-Often write their own screenplays

-Father/Son relationships

-DO NOT use theatrical scores

Why No Music?

Jean-Pierre: "It’s not a dogma. We haven’t found any place or room for music in our movies. Maybe because we are not able to find the right music, I don’t know. And when we’re shooting, I think that’s where things happen actually. When we’re building our plans, etc., the rhythm of that construction is partly based on the sounds, not only the dialogues, but touching the objects. And rhythm is based on the sounds that we can hear on the set, the noise of the bodies moving, the breathing of the characters, that’s our music. We just don’t see the need for music. When we’re shooting we just don’t think about it. Maybe it’s going to change one day, I don’t know."

Notable Works

The Kid With A Bike (2011)                                                      Golden Globe Nominee - Best Foreign Film                                     Cannes Film Festival Nominee - Palme d'Or award (highest award, presented to the director of the best film in the festival)

 

Le Silence De Lorna (2008)

Cannes Film Festival - Best Screenplay Winner

L'enfant (2006)
Toronto Film Critics Association - Best Director Award Nomination

Rosetta (1999)
Independent Spirit Awards - Best Foreign Film Nomination

Latest Trailer

 

FILM NOIR

"Noir is concerned with error, with confusions. It's the Noir Idea." - Errol Morris (director)

In my opinion, this is a vital concept to the foundation of the film noir style that is prominent in the film The Postman Always Rings Twice. Throughout the beginning of the film, Cora and Frank's fondness of each other develops only after a series of confusing interactions between the two. At first, Cora comes off as a woman who has a dislike for Frank. As the film unfolds that same distaste becomes reason for the audience to believe that she has fancied Frank since their first meeting at her husband's Diner. Further elaborating on this effect, this idea is illustrated consistently throughout the film as the unfaithful Cora Smith and her lover Frank Chambers begin to implement plots to murder Cora's husband Nick Smith. After their first murder attempt becomes flawed, the local Distract Attorney begins to raise suspicion about the two which become a main factor in the developing plot of the latter half of the film. In conclusion, the entire film revolves around the two ideas of confusion and error. It is these ideas that further emphasize and stylize the film noir attributes within this film.


"She's very smart, she's very powerful, and she's extremely sexual... Men have always been endangered by this strong sexual female"  - Janey Place

This quote by Janey Place accurately depicts the role of Cora Smith and her femme fatale power within the film. Since the first introduction of her character in the film, Cora is illustrated in a iconic manner often lit in a way that puts her physical qualities to par with those of a goddess. In her first confrontation with Frank, she seems only interested in her own beauty as she glares into her handheld mirror while putting on lipstick seductively insisting that Frank should pick up the possession that she dropped. Cora is a character that dresses in tight clothes and clearly keeps her sexual presence dominate within her characterization. However, she does not seem to be using Frank as a tool like the usual femme fatales do. Instead, it is evident that she has fallen in love with Frank but only diverts from that after she convinces herself that Frank was in fact using her as a tool to get to her husbands life insurance money and diner property.


Within the film The Postman Always Rings Twice, director Tay Garnett utilizes camera angles and sound in order to add depth to the film noir aspect of this film. Unlike the standard American films of the time period, Garnett often exemplified the prominence of the character Cora Smith with the utilization of lower camera angles to give her a certain appearance that illustrated her dominance within the film. Along with this, these camera angles often simultaneously added a sense idolization to Cora's role in the film. With this in mind, Garnett furthered the depth of the film by utilizing musical scores that helped to evoke emotions in scenes where the direct understanding of these emotions were significant. An example of both attributes is evident in the first scene that Cora Smith is introduced in. In this scene Cora is centered in the middle of the frame with the camera angled a little lower than usual making her instantly known as a woman of importance. To further add to this effect, a slow yet dramatic musical score is used that evokes suspenseful emotion while hinting at Cora's seductive dominance over Frank. On a different note, the setting of the film also takes place within the rising metropolitan city of Los Angeles California. This, of course, is an important aspect to the film noir style of this film for almost all film noir styled films are set in big cities.


Blade Runner (1982) Inspired by the Film Noir predecessor before it, the style of Neo-Noir films implements the old aspects of film noir with a modern twist to add to their plots. Though film noir and neo-noir films are alike in a variety of ways, their biggest difference is their use/lack of use of color photography. Where neo-noir films utilize color in order to add to the overall mise en scene in their film, film noir films accommodate for that with highly dramatic lighting and harsh shadows. Within the film Blade Runner, the detective-like protagonist falls in love with a woman and carries a romantic relationship with her throught the latter half of the film. This is a prominent element to the plots of many film noir movies. Aside from this, the director effectively utilizes mise en scene similar to film noir directors before him through his utilization of dramatic shadows and lighting that illustrate a sense of darkness within the film's setting. In addition, the director also uses musical scores in order to evoke feelings of emotion within his audience in scenes where dramatic senses of emotion are present.