INDEPENDENT STUDY
IB FILM – HIGHER LEVEL
Candidate Name:
War Films
How do directors in Czech and American war films choose to portray the main characters through the use of camera and editing in order to bolster national awareness and comradery?
RATIONALE
The aim of this documentary is to analyze how the use of camera and editing techniques impact upon the perception of nationalism and camaraderie in American and Czechoslovakian war films. The time period of the four chosen films varies greatly; the oldest of the films chosen is Atentat released in 1964, and the newest of the films is Black Hawk Down released in 2001. Apart from the time elapsed between the films, a far greater difference is the budget on which the films were run: the American films had a budget about 25 times bigger than their Czechoslovak counterparts.
Word Count: 99
http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/11702339808/Saving-Private-Ryan-Steven-Spielberg
http://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/private-spielberg
The three components of the IS:
*Rationale
*Script (12-15 pages, Courier, single spaced)
*Annotated list of sources
Video Audio
A centered long shot into an old projection room, where the bright projector light starts pouring onto the rugged movie screen.
Cut To: cliché black and white countdown begins from 5 to 1.
Cut To: Fade in to historic movie clips of the American flag, the SSSR flag, and Japanese flag.
Cut To: Black and white movie clip of people in Nazi Germany gathering around a cinema.
Cut To: Clip of Steven Spielberg directing the set of Saving Private Ryan.
Cut To: Medium shot of Ridley Scott talking to Josh Harnett at the set of Black Hawk Down.
Cut To: Close up shot of Zdenek Syrovy’s face.
Cut To: Long shot of Jiri Sequenes directing Atentat.
Cut To: Shot of Tom Hanks helping Edward Burns from a trench in Saving Private Ryan.
Sound: Rattling sounds of the old projector starting to function.
Sound: Sounds of the rattling projector accompanied by loud ‘beep’ sounds for each number.
Music “Lonely Solider” song.
NARRATOR:
Since the invention of cinema, similar to the form that we know of today, cinematography rapidly became one of the most important mediums in promoting nationalism and national awareness across the entire globe.
As a result of cinematography’s success in putting forth the ideals of national awareness and comradery to the masses, films were widely employed by countries in times of war.
Contemporary war film directors such as:
Steven Spielberg
Ridley Scott
Zdenek Syrovy
Jiri Sequens
built upon the foundations of their predecessors in promoting the ideals of comradery and national awareness (wheatear it be good or bad) through the works of their films.
Due to the vibrant nature of film as an art form, there are, however, a great number of ways in which the directors may choose to sway the primary concerns surrounding the main characters.
Cut To: Tight medium shot showing the scared American troops about to land on the German shores in Saving Private Ryan; this image is clearly evoking comradery and empathy in the eyes of the audience.
Cut To: A sequence of black and white shots in the normally colored film Cerni Baroni, when the STB (Czechoslovak version of Russian KGB) were beating up political prisoners.
Cut To: Medium shot of rounded up ‘politically problematic’ soldiers listening to their commanding officer scream at them.
Cut To: Close up shot of ‘problematic’ Czechoslovak solider turning to the one on his left.
Cut To: Medium shot of screaming officer
Cut To: Close up shot of ‘problematic’ Czechslovak solider
Cut To: Vivid image projecting all the names of the films attached the their directors.
Steven Spielberg- Saving Private Ryan
Ridley Scott- Black Hawk Down
Zdenek Syrovy- Cerni Baroni
Jiri Sequens- Atentat
Cut To: Fade in from the film Cerni Baroni. A long panning shot of a murky morning, with a light drizzle establishing the scenery of the military base.
Cut To: Shot of the ruined church right next to the barricades from which the Officers would satiricaly preach.
Cut To: Long shot of the politically problematic soldiers sitting in semi dressed military uniforms on their military bed bunks talking to each.
Cut To: A medium shot looking down at the primary soldiers this film concerning, sitting next to each other making fun of the communist regime and smoking American cigarettes.
Cut To: Close up shot on the face of the commanding officer, who is wearing a classical lower officer green hat. His face is red due to alcohol and as a result of him screaming at the soldiers preparing to shower.
Cut To: Close up shot of Count Sternberg adjusting his military outfit in order to look well. He is confident in himself and his facial expression is that of a man whom the officers will not throw of.
A close up shot of the commanding officer continuing to scream loudly.
Cut To: Medium shot of Count Sternberg with a smug smile on his face responding to the officers false.
Amongst the many devices that directors may choose to employ, the by far most prevalent in war movies used to reflect national awareness and comradery are the camera angles,
editing, and the
Dialogs between the main characters
Sound:
Voice of Officer in Cerni Baroni screaming:
Our party and government can offer you what?
Solider in the back: He whispers, it can kiss our ass.
Officer screaming: It can only give you time for re-education.
Solider: You heard the name of the Lord.
Narrator:
Lets begin by talking about the camera angles as means through which Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Zdenek Syrovy, and Jiri Sequens achieve national awareness and camaraderie throughout their war films.
It is a murky morning, deep within the borders of Warsaw pact in Czechoslovakia and the year is 1969. The people are scared and fear is spread within, no one is a friend. We are in the midst of the Czechslovak film Cerni Baroni, where politically dangerous intellectuals, from aristocrats to doctors, are trained in order to become part of the reserve forces for the Czechoslovak national army.
It is 5 am in the morning and the tired troops in training are being waken up.
The camera’s parallax is well above their heads looking down at them, as if we were standing above the soldiers lending them our hand: here let me help you I see your misery.
The cameras close distance creates a tight frame clearly outlining the tight pact between the soldiers supporting the idea of camaraderie against the dictatorial commanding communist enthusiast officer.
The screaming commanding officers are all taken in loose frames and always from below in order to reflect upon their statute of power in relation to the politically unsettling soldiers.
The camera angles always adjust to who is in power in the frame.
This traditional use of the camera angle in order to reflect position of power is altered to add a comedic aspect to the stories and in to bring the soldiers closer together.
For instance when one of the officers starts harassing count Sternberg.
Officer: Look at you Count, already dressed up as a posh solider, you wont use such a outfit here. Not in construction. There you bourgeoisie will find out what is real industrial work.
Count Sternberg: Mistake solider, I am feudal and bourgeoisie is our common enemy.
You may notice that the cameras have shifted the position of power to the Count as he has made a valid point, made his comrades laugh-bring them all together against the officer- and
Brought down the officers position of power.
Video
Audio
Cut to: Medium front view close up shot of general in headquarters staring into a computer monitor, while filling the whole screen with his shoulders and head.
Cut to: Medium front view close up shot of the captain sitting next to the general, starring in focus on the monitor.
Cut to: an eye level close up shot of the general. The room is dark with only the light from computer monitors illuminating the faces of military personnel in the room. The General is standing up and looking into a computer monitor with terror in his eyes. His body is absolutely still.
Cut to: eye level close up of a captain standing to the right of the general in the previous shot. His eyes are filled with terror as he watches the screen and then glances at the general in disbelief.
Cut to: extreme close up shot of the general’s eyes.
Cut to: panning close up of the sergeants inside the shot down Black Hawk helicopter. The colors and lights are very dim in the helicopter and the air around the soldiers is filled with dust making it harder for the audience to see their expressions clearly.
Cut to: Over the shoulder shot from one of the Somali militant rebels that use an RPG to take down the second Black Hawk helicopter in this film. The RPG hits the control rudder of the helicopter; the helicopter then looses control and crashes into the ground.
Cut to: Long crane shot from above the crashed helicopter revealing the sergeant leaning on the helicopter shooting dozens of Somali rebels that are attacking him.
Cut to: Close up of his face revealing his exhaustion and pain, as he is mildly injured from helicopter crash.
Cut to: Medium shot from below of the sergeant. The cockpit is in the left of the frame and he is resting his body on it. The middle and the right of the frame are completely empty. After a few seconds of this shot, two support troops arrive and then fill in the middle of the frame and the right part of the frame. After that they all commence to shoot the Somali rebels together.
Cut to: Long shot of soldiers sitting around a table, in mild light and surrounded by bunk beds, in a military base talking to each other.
The shifting of power through the use of frame space is very prevalent in Ridley Scott’s film Black Hawk Down.
You may see that every time the general is in frame his head touches the top frame, especially when he is making a decision, whereas the captain who is his inferior always has a gap between the top of the frame and his head, thus portraying his inferiority.
Apart from the shifting of power the camera angles and shots chosen by Ridley Scott in Black Hawk Down emphasize the theme of camaraderie between the soldiers.
For example after the first Black Hawk helicopter is shot down the camera angles used reveal the emotions and connections amongst the characters.
NARRATOR
The first camera shot is an eye level close up shot of the general revealing his shock that they have lost a helicopter and a few elite American soldiers. The eye level shot of the general was first used in this scene, as in the prior scenes all the camera shots were from below the general. The eye level camera angle and shot reveal a much deeper human connection between the audience and the general adding to the shock value.
The second camera shot is an eye level close up shot of the captain showing that he is in a similar state of shock as the general.
NARRATOR
The third shot in this sequence is an extreme close up shot of the general emphasizing even more the gravity of the situation and the fact that he deeply cares about his soldiers.
The last shot in this shocking sequence is a transition to an eye level close up shot of the faces of the sergeants inside the black hawk helicopter, which reveal a genuine feel of camaraderie between the soldiers and their superiors.
This is, however, not the only sequence of shots that uses camera angles worth noting in Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down.
The second sequence of interesting camera angles and shots comes around after the second Black Hawk helicopter is shot down.
NARRATOR
The sergeant in the shot down Black Hawk is put in a difficult position as he has a great many Somali rebels attacking him and he is alone. The long camera shots reveal his isolation and the fact that he is very venerable on his own.
This close up shot reveals the sergeants desperation, showing that he is running out of means to defend himself at this moment in time.
NARRATOR
This following medium shot reveals how alone and vulnerable the solider is. Almost the entire frame is empty showing the sheer size and gravity of the situation. It is as if this frame is inviting someone else to join him and fill in the missing space. This does happen when the two supporting soldiers arrive and fill in the empty space with their bodies. Their presence in this shot truly brings forth harmony and calmness as the rule of thirds is fulfilled and the camera shot appears complete.
SOUND: Soldiers laughing in the background.
NARRATOR:
This naturally creates a feeling of camaraderie in the eyes of the viewers amongst the soldiers as it shows that they can rely upon each other in times when they need in. That-to use the metaphor of this shot- they fill in the blanks in time of need and don’t let their friends fall behind and into the eyes of the enemies. This reinforcing theme also brings forth the idea of nationalism.
Video Audio
Cut to: Epic extreme long shot of Black Hawk helicopter falling from the sky and ultimately crashing into the ground.
Cut to: Epic extreme long shot of French beach where German troops are destroying American troops.
Cut to: Long side shot showing 20 German soliders marching next to Charles bridge in Prague and chanting a military song.
Cut to: Medium shot of 3 Czechoslovak paratroopers sitting in an Andula paratrooper aircraft.
Cut to: Medium front view shot of Jozef- a paratrooper dressed in casual clothes sitting in a kitchen in a small Czech apartment- who is looking at Jan sitting beside him.
Cut to: Medium front view shot of Jan who is also a casually dressed paratrooper sitting to the right of Jozef.
Cut to medium front view shot of Adolf, also a paratrooper sitting to the right of Jan.
Cut to: Long shot showing the tree of them sitting around a small table in the kitchen. The room is relatively dark with only the strobe light illuminating their faces and the portrait above their heads. Above them is a presidential portrait of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, the first Czechoslovak president. SOUND: Helicopter alarm and the sound of a breaking rudder.
NARRATOR
The themes of camaraderie and national awareness are created very similar to that of Cerni Baroni in Atenant as opposed to Black Hawk Down and Saving Private Ryan. The primary reason for this is that the Czech films have a much smaller budget than their American counterparts and therefore have to be more economical with the shots they take.
SOUND: German Nazi chanting song
NARRATOR
In Jiri Sequence’s 1964 film Atentat the use of camera angles reinforces the positioning of power and brings in the Czechoslovak paratrooper closer to each other.
DIALOG:
Jozef: It is imperative that once we are in front of the vehicle we manage to throw the grenade accurately.
Jan: Will we have anything else to back ourselves up.
Adolf: We will have our regular paratrooper guns.
NARRATOR
For example in the sequence we may notice that the position of the camera frame and eye level angle shows how they each develop their own individual point and at the end of the dialog they are all united in the same cause above the Czechoslovak flag. The first 3 shots reveal each of the characters separately. It is not until the last long shot that unites them all in the their mutual cause of killing Reinhard Heydrich. This long shot also reveals a picture of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk above their heads, who was the first Czechoslovak president and a great nationalist.
Video Audio
Fade to: Long front view shot dolling out. The setting is in a world war II cemetery where men who died in the war are buried. Private Ryan is now a second world war veteran. He is standing in this frame looking towards one of the white crosses in this cemetery under which lies Captain Miller was buried. His wife is standing at 5 a clock a few meters beside him, and his grandchildren and great grand children are standing at 5 a clock to his wife. At the end of the shot he salutes looking down at the cross.
Cut to: A crane over the shoulder shot from private Ryan’s perspective moves closer and below the Captain Miller’s white burial cross. The crane movement ends with the crane pointing into the sky.
Dissolve to: Medium upwards point shot of Captain Miller’s white cross that has the American flag appearing in its background; eventually the cross disappears and the only the American flag stays waving in the wind.
Fade to Black:
Cut to: Long shot of Steven Spielberg, slowly dolling in, sitting in a dimly sit room talking into the camera. SOUND: Saving Private Ryan theme song by John Williams
NARRATOR:
The theme of nationalism is strong throughout Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, and is reinforced by the last scene of Private Ryan paying homage to the captain that saved him.
The dolly out shows the breadth of the fatalities World War II had by showing partially the amount of soldiers that died in the conflict and that each shared or could have shared a story similar to that of Captain Miller.
NARRATOR:
This shot which dissolves the cross, when looking into the sky, for the American flag enforces a strong feel of nationalism. This is because this shot indicates that Captain Miller died for an American cause and therefore as a true American deserves to be celebrated. This shot is to a certain extent archetypical as this instant- the replacement of the cross for the American flag, representing that they died in essence for Americans- could be applied to the other crosses in the cemetery, since they are all victims of the same war while defending the American stand. The theme of brother in arms is also prevalent as the soldiers lie dead next to each other, the same way they fought, and each solider is treated the same- creating the feeling of unity.
Spielberg:
In saving Private Ryan the American government is basically sending eight people out, all of whom have parents, to rescue one boy and send him back to his mom when any or all of these kids, along the mission route could be killed. That was the central tug that wanted me to shoot this film.
Since I was a young kid my father used to tell me world war I stories so I always had great respect and admired soldiers in what they do for their country.
The use gentle cinematographic techniques such as long and gradual camera takes with hints of patriotism, such as the intro and outro of this film, should remind the people of what the soldiers went through and how they stayed true to their country.
Cut to: Dim black and white screen with a loose filmstrip being cut by scissors without human intervention.
Cut to: A medium front view shot of a young solider -ranked private- who is kneeling down beside an armed Humvee, while being shot at.
Cut to: Point of view shot from soldier’s perspective looing at a torn of hand with an American watch on it.
Cut to: A medium front view shot of a young solider picking up the
Narrator:
Now that we have discussed the use of camera angles in both, American and Czechoslovak, films used to bolster national awareness and camaraderie, lets now talk about how directors achieve this through the use of editing.
Sound: “Gortoz a ran” Theme music from Black Hawk Down”
Sound: Bullets ricocheting around the solider.
Narration:
In this sequence Ridley Scott wanted to create a minimalist moment through which the audience could grasp the horror the soldiers were going through on a much more intimate level.
Sound: All surrounding sound is muted.
Sound: The sound of bullets and screams abruptly resumes.
Sergeant’s voice: “Come over here private”.
Narrator: This intimate sequence of shots edited in correlation with sound to create such an effect clearly outlines the feelings of camaraderie the soldiers had between each other. One motto of the rangers is: leave not man behind. This solider risked getting shot to pick up a torn of hand of an American solider. So even though he risked loosing his life, he prevailed to keep the motto going. Through this sequence of editing Ridley Scott further emphasized the themes of camaraderie and national awareness, as the watch was an American watch and the solider, metaphorically stayed true to it.
Sources
http://xman.idnes.cz/sest-filmu-ktere-vas-zavedou-do-valky-dwv-/xman-styl.aspx?c=A090722_171536_xman-styl_fro
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|