Intro to Film 2025 • Professor Gregory Zinman • Emory University

Author: Lindsay Taylor

  • Ideology in Kubrick’s war films

    Upon rewatching Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, I thought back to our discussion about ideology, particularly during one famous scene. A Colonel asks the main character, Private Joker, “You write ‘Born to Kill’ on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What’s that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?” A few lines later, Joker responds, “I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, sir.” This particular scene has stuck with me ever since I first watched the film, but having now almost completed Film 101, I feel like I can view it through a new lens.

    Before going into this scene, I think it is important to address a glaring ideological aspect to the film- simply the fact that it is a war film. War films, or the idea of the “anti-war film”, is a very debated topic. Many believe that there is no such thing as a true anti-war film, and I mostly agree with that- I remember reading an article about how they spike our adrenaline and excite us. For example, there is a claim that the first Top Gun film significantly increased navy recruitment (albeit I don’t know the truth behind that). The ideology of these action-packed and violent films may be an attempt to display to horror of war, but they often have the negative effect of creating an idealistic and heroic version of it instead. While I am not preaching to undermine all of the brave war heroes of the past, this is not what should be fed into the minds of impressionable teenagers. War is hell. In an article I read in a high school politics class about Vietnam, a veteran talked about war as paradoxical, indescribable, and the part that some war films are hesitant to show about the side they are painting as the “good” side: the vileness of human nature. This is what I believe should be shown in war films- and this is why I like Kubrick’s.

    Now, back to talking about the scene in Full Metal Jacket. If any scene in film were to address a paradox of war, this may be the most direct. Private Joker brandishes a pin of a peace sign, originally an anti-war symbol, while wearing a helmet that says “Born to Kill”. How can someone be both anti and pro-war? Well, Joker answers that: “I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, sir.” One of the largest faults of proclaimed anti-war films is in making things black-and-white. That’s not how life is, and that is certainly not how war is. No one side or person is “good” or “bad”, rather, we all have darkness and (most of us) empathy inside of us. Even Private Joker, the main character we are inclined to root for, has his moments in the film that make you hate him- after all, he is no hero, he is just a man who is a soldier in a war. I appreciate Kubrick’s acknowledgment of this in his war films.

    If I am talking about Full Metal Jacket, I feel the need to also talk about my favorite war film: Kubrick’s Paths of Glory. This film is awful- not in how it’s made, of course, but because it is made so well. There is no happy ending for the characters, in fact (spoiler alert), three soldiers who are innocent (in terms of committing any war crimes) are executed at the hands of their own leaders because a top general did not want to admit his own faults. This is the reality of war! People suck! And for a moment, this is the only feeling the film leaves with you- until the final scene. There is a bar of random men shown, with a female German hostage brought out to sing. At first, the soldiers are catcalling her and finding humor in her fear and tears. However, as soon as she finally starts singing, the whole mood changes. The soldiers begin to grow solemn. And then they begin to cry. These soldiers have wives, mothers, sisters, and children that they have left behind, much like this girl. Beyond just acknowledging her humanity, they now feel sympathy for her. This is hope for humanity in the midst of all of its faults which have been shown throughout the film. This is an ideology that I resonate with.

  • Combining CGI and Reality in RRR

    I was amazed by the visual effects in many of RRR‘s scenes. There was a particular feeling of grandeur that almost reminded me of a CG Lawrence of Arabia, and I was curious as to how Rajamouli’s team achieved this look. I found both a video going through the visual process and an article discussing it.

    Article

    VFX Breakdown Video

    Animatrix, a visual effects company, helped with camera tracking in the film. Motion capture supervisor Ben Murray emphasizes that “it always ends up looking better when you combine real action with CGI, rather than relying entirely on the computer generated side.” You can see this blend clearly in the video with a mixture of sets, props, and green screens which are overlayed with CGI. The computer imagery is largely used for the animals, objects in a path of destruction/objects that are destroyed, and backgrounds to achieve a look of grandeur.

    This is not from my imbedded video but I thought it was funny

    Murray also talks about how Animatrix used NCAM which makes it possible to see CGI while filming, leaving less chance up to post-op. This is used in large Western blockbuster films such as Warner Bros films as well as for sports games like Fox Sports. It makes sense that this production, with its level of CGI, required this kind of technology.

    NCAM

    “Our aim is to revolutionise augmented reality and real-time visual effects. This is why our technology is so unique. Our patented camera tracking is able to continuously stream data to industry standard graphic engines, resulting in the photorealistic and immersive integration of virtual assets. The versatility of our design means you can use Ncam across multiple applications and interchangeable configurations.” -Nic Hatch, CEO of NCAM

  • “Do the Right Thing”: Interviews with cast and crew

    While searching for relevant sources, I encountered an article that interviewed both the cinematographer Ernest R Dickerson and Giancarlo Esposito (who plays Buggin’ Out in the film). https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jul/22/how-we-made-do-the-right-thing-spike-lee

    I found myself wondering while watching Do the Right Thing how a film is shot in one location and the challenges that accompany that. Dickerson answers this question in the interview, which I thought was really interesting:

    “I knew our biggest challenge was going to be shooting over eight weeks and making it look like one day. We looked for a street that ran north-south. Since the sun travels east to west, one side would always be in shade. That way, when we had to shoot on cloudy days, I could just make it look like we were in the shaded side of the street. That really saved us, because the first two weeks we had a lot of rain. Some shots where it looks sunny – you can actually see rain if you look really hard.”

    Dickerson also talked about the films that inspired him and Spike Lee in the making of this film: The Third Man (specifically for the canted angles), Black Narcissus, A Matter of Life and Death, and The Red Shoes. The final three movies were all worked on by cinematographer Jack Cardiff whose use of color inspired Dickerson.

    Canted angle in The Third Man
    Canted angle in Do the Right Thing

    On the other hand, Giancarlo Esposito speaks on the attitude of the film industry regarding race during the time of filming:

    “My background is half-Italian and in those days, being a lighter-skinned black man, I couldn’t get cast as a white person or a black person. So I was playing Spanish roles. This follows me to this day: a lot of people are shocked to realise Buggin’ Out and Gus Fring [from Breaking Bad] are the same person. So Spike gave me the opportunity to play black.”

    I thought this was particularly interesting as the film is about racial tension in two specific demographics but this highlights tensions and stereotypes beyond that.

  • Night Moves: a crime film about a bad detective

    I did not know exactly what to expect from Arthur Penn’s Night Moves before I watched it, but I was pleasantly surprised when I realized it was not your average overdone crime film.The main character (Moseby) is not a genius detective that follows a trail throughout the film and is then rewarded by his big find at the end. Rather, he is not only flawed but actively misses clues throughout the story, culminating in an ending this is not satisfying but instead hopeless. He technically “solves” the case, but not purposefully, and fails to save anyone.

    I really appreciated Moseby’s character. He is imperfect and painfully ignorant, but despite there being signs of this all around him, he still continues to try with good intentions. And yet, he gets a bad ending. It is depressing, but it is real: the story doesn’t try to glorify or glamorize this tragically human character.

  • “Film Art” Chapter 10 and Mixed Media

    This chapter of Film Art introduces documentary, experimental, and animated films. Documentary films interpret reality to tell what is meant to be a nonfiction story. This can be a nonpartisan organization of information or an attempt to persuade the viewer into believing something; these are defined as categorical and rhetorical. Experimental films do not follow traditional narrative rules, but rather may focus on patterns of sound or light and may have an unconventional narrative or no story at all.

    There are many types of animated films, but their defining characteristic is that it constructs reality by drawing, computer generating, or manipulating objects frame-by-frame. When I read this section in Film Art, I reflected on how a lot of animated media uses multiple forms of animation. One film that came to mind was Jimmy Murakami’s 1986 war film When the Wind Blows.

    The film utilizes a mix of traditional and stop-motion animation, which creates a juxtaposing effect that is perfect for the message of the film. The two characters are drawn and animated with the process of cel animation. This is when clear sheets of celluloid (or “cels”) are drawn on and then layered and photographed. When these cels are shifted, it creates the illusion of movement. However, rather than a drawn background. This film uses sets made of real objects and adds the drawn characters in later. The objects in the set are animated to move as characters interact with them. This film is about the devastating impacts of nuclear warfare, but the characters are relatively oblivious to the danger they are in, which is displayed by the set around them mimicking reality as they remain drawn. There are even multiple live-action scenes in the film, such as when the bomb drops in the film. I don’t think this fully classifies as experimental but the use of mixed media definitely breaks traditional narrative rules.

    Another animated movie that came to mind was one of my favorite animated films, Satoshi Kon’s Paprika. This film blends hand-drawn imagery (cel animation) with CGI, which is computer-generated imagery. This is an extremely surrealist film with an extreme amount of detail, and the CGI is used to aid the drawn animation to aid this effect and be more efficient. (https://www.tboake.com/manipulation/yeung/4films/paprika.html)

    After reading the Guardian article about Paris is Burning, I think it raises a concern in documentary-making that I never considered. The documentary received backlash because the director is a white filmmaker making a film about a predominantly black/latino scene. This raised questions about cultural appropriation and lack of profit/recognition for participants in the film. This also highlights how, while documentaries are meant to be fully nonfiction, the experiences/identity of the filmmaker always matters as it can create bias.

  • “Nope”: a homage to those exploited in Hollywood

    Jordan Peele’s Nope was an intriguing multi-genre film that was not only entertaining but also full of historical and social commentary. When viewing Nope’s genres through a “reflectionist approach”, it becomes clear that they function together to tell a story about he history of Hollywood. Near the beginning of the movie, we see OJ and Emerald on a film set, surrounded by all white workers. While OJ tries to tell them about the safety precautions for the horse, they brush him off, ignoring his voice. Simultaneously, they ignore the needs of Lucky, not treating him like a real breathing animal but rather a prop. Emerald also tries to promote her directing and acting to he white audience but is not taken seriously. All of this highlights the exploitation of animals and marginalized groups throughout the history of Hollywood. 

    This is where the Western genre present in the film is so crucial to its message. Unlike the white-dominated industry, OJ has the ability to understand that the horses are worthy of respect as much as humans are because he understands them due to his job. He does not attempt to exploit them for the purpose of entertainment or a “spectacle” like Jupe. 

    However, while Jupe’s character functions as both an example of those who exploit and those who were exploited. This is where the horror genre comes into play. As a child actor, Jupe faced a traumatic experience on set which was then brushed under the rug- it was even flipped into a comical incident and put on SNL. It is clear throughout the film that this experience still affects him. However, possibly as a way to cope with it, he exploits the incident for money, charging tourists to enter the small museum he has built dedicated to it.

    Finally, the idea of exploitation ties into the sci-fi genre of the film. At one point, OJ thinks back to how Lucky became aggravated when looked at and realized that also applied to the alien. Just as the horse had to be treated with respect on the film set, the alien could not be “domesticated” as Jupe tried to accomplish because he treated it as a prop without attempting to understand it. The idea that a catastrophe could be prevented if only you don’t look is analogous to how exploitation could be prevented if only people were not so eager to see a “spectacle”. 

    What are other examples of exploitation in the film? How does Peele combine genres to make other commentary about society? What is the significance of Jean Jacket?

  • Debbie Reynolds and Singin’ in the Rain

    I encountered an interesting video on YouTube of a more recent interview of Debbie Reynolds. She talks about how, surprisingly, she had no formal dancing experience when she was cast as Kathy. Thus, she had to undergo rigorous rehearsals, eight hours a day for two months, before shooting began.

    I found this surprising because she plays such a convincing performance in the film, with her dancing being extremely technical and well-done. In the interview, she talks about her determination to keep up with her co-stars who had much more experience than her. I find this fascinating as it mirrors her character in the film; both are talented performers but had to work extra hard to prove themselves in an industry of veterans. Overall, knowing this detail now almost adds another layer of authenticity to the film.

    screenshot from video

    I also found it interesting in the video that they address there being two directors and how that worked in the making of the film. Reynolds talks about how Gene Kelly directed the actors while Stanley Donen mostly worked behind the scenes with the crew and cameras. Given the technicality both in the cinematography and the mise en scene, it is not surprising that they would divide and conquer.

    screenshot from video

    Ultimately, this video highlights the tedious work put into the making of such a grand film, reminding us how it has become such an acclaimed production.

  • Editing and Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove

    This chapter covers how editors can manipulate time, space, and emotion through choosing which shots to include in a film and how they will be arranged. Film Art discusses four different relations that could happen between two shots: graphic relations, rhythmic relations, special relations, and temporal relations.

    Graphic relations includes using contrasts or similarities between two clips; one example is making a graphic match which links shots by close graphic similarities.

    Rhythmic relations is characterized by using cuts of certain lengths to create a rhythm. Additionally, this technique uses different cuts to evoke different emotions, such as flash-frames; this is often used in action films as it stresses a moment and can elicit suspense.

    Spacial relations uses editing to establish and manipulate space. One example of this is the Kuleshov effect, which we talked about in class. This effect is used to reveal the emotion or intent of a character by showing a person and then the object they are looking at, allowing us to interpret what they may be thinking.

    Temporal relations shapes how the viewer sees time. For instance, a flash forward manipulates the chronological order of information the viewer gets. Additionally, editing can condense or expand the duration that a certain action can take. Elliptical editing can present an action as taking less time than it actually does, while overlapping editing can prolong an action.

    One specific type of editing than manipulates space and time is crosscutting, when the plot alternates shots of one story with shots of another one elsewhere. My favorite movie, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, utilizes this technique very effectively. There are two simultaneous events happening during the film: the politicians and military deliberating in the war room, and the lieutenants in the B-52.

    The constant crosscutting creates suspense, as the people in the war room cannot communicate with the personnel in the B-52, unable to call them back to abandon their previous order to bomb the Soviet Union. Switching between these two simultaneous events, with each side holding limited information, builds tension for the viewer who can see the whole picture. We understand that if the B-52 successfully manages to bomb the USSR, it will activate the “doomsday bomb”, which will essentially wipe out all life on the planet. However, the people in the plane do not know that. Additionally, we see the B-52 evade getting taken down from Soviet airspace, but feel anticipation when we see that the people in the war room do not realize that until it is too late. Overall, I believe this film perfectly demonstrates how crosscutting can create suspense and highlight the motivations and emotions of two different places at once.

  • The Use of Color and Framing in Portrait of a Lady on Fire

    We looked at two examples in class where red was used as a motif of passion, and this film utilized a similar system to convey the characters’ desires. Marianne was always clothed in red, characterizing not only her passion but her defiance and freedom. Unlike Héloïse, she has has the autonomy to pursue her interests and travel the world, as well as choose whether or not to marry. Conversely, Héloïse wears blue, which mirrors the sea. This reflects her desire for freedom from her social constraints, as well as a parallel to her sister and their sadness. However, when she wears the green dress, it reflects her submitting to her social role.

    Either way, the two characters wear opposing colors of clothing; Héloïse wears cool colors while Marianne wears warm colors. This suggests their inability to be together due to society’s standards. Additionally, it serves as foreshadowing for their separation at the end of the film.

    Sciamma utilizes many long and extreme long shots throughout the film, most of the time with the characters being the center focus of the frame, which emphasizes the film’s nostalgic nature as it is through the memory of Marianne; this is reminiscent of The Grand Budapest Hotel. This film is about observation, which is very prevalent through this framing. As a painter, Marianne is constantly observing, and we are observing with her through her point of view. This is first because she is painting Héloïse and later because she falls in love with her. However, the emptiness of the background in many of the scenes invokes a feeling of solitude and longing as Marianne is melancholy when she looks back at these memories.

    Questions:

    1. What is the significance of the low contrast in many scenes between Héloïse and Marianne? What does this say about scenes of high contrast?
    2. What are the functions of the framing in this film, especially when considering we are viewing this story through Marianne’s point of view?
    3. What is the significance of the scene when Marianne literally turns Héloïse’s heart on fire (when she lights the old painting)?
    4. What is the significance of the story of Sophie in relation to the romance plot of the film?