Arthur Penn: Copycat Auteur

Despite Bonnie and Clyde’s attitudes towards realism the film still has subtleties of the French New Wave style. Warren Beatty (Clyde) who took the role of producer was interested in the French New Wave and therefore originally approached directors of this movement for the film. This influence would be present throughout the entirety of the production of Bonnie and Clyde and would influence Penn’s conception of the of the film. Bonnie and Clyde uses techniques from French New Wave for the characteristics of the characters as well as utilising fast cuts and changes in music to spontaneously shift the tone. There are similarities between Bonnie and Clyde and the French New Wave film Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless as they both feature anti hero protagonist’s who are arrogant and rebellious. Both protagonists are very masculine and have a sexual facades, where their characteristics of confidence and brutality (which attracts the audience) are the very flaws that lead to their downfall. The bluegrass music is used to show change the tone throughout the film from the serious tone of the robberies to the spritely tone of the getaways.

David Newman was a screenwriter from America who’s career with Robert Benton expanded from the late 60s to the early 80s. Both of them worked together for the screenplay for Bonnie and Clyde which increased the demand for them in Hollywood. David Newman was awarded an Academy Award, the National Society of Film Critics Award, New York Film critics Award, and three Writers Guild of America Awards for multiple screenplay including Bonnie and Clyde. Robert Benton was a screenwriter and director who won many awards for both writing and directing. Benton wrote many screenplays and won multiple awards including the Best Original Screenplay for Bonnie and Clyde.

Arthur Penn was a director and producer known for his association with the American New Wave and directing films such as The Chase (1966), Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Alice’s Restaurant (1969). His work is the 1970s weren’t regarded as highly and he eventually returned to television and stage direction/production. He was nominated for several Academy Awards by the time he died in 2010 along with many other awards. These include three Academy Awards for Best Director, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, two Emmys, and two Directors Guild of America Awards. He also recived an Honoury Golden Bear, Tony Award and the Akira Kurosawa Award from the San Francisco International Film Festival.

Waving Goodbye: New Hollywood (1961-1990)

The decline of Hollywood came to an end because of two prominent factors, the invention of TV and antitrust actions. Major film companies relied on purchasing theatres for decades which would only show films produced by the company that owned it. Because this was a monopoly this forced ‘Assistant Attorney General Thurman Arnold’ to take legal action against the eight majors as it was claimed that it was in violation of Sherman Antitrust Act which aims to regulate composition. This therefore lead to the Hollywood cooperation being forced to release their ownership on their theatres. This helped stop “the pre-sale of films in various theater districts, to prohibit film companies from scheduling more than 5 films in theaters, and finally, to establish a board to enforce these rules.” This had a dramatic effect on Hollywood as companies started releasing and revising employees contracts. The individuality of the firms disappeared with the redo of their creative teams and led to fewer films being made but with larger budgets.

The invention of the television can be shown to have majorly effected the market for theatres as people started to prefer television over the cinema. This increase in competition along with the antitrust regulations meant there was far less money filling the industry creating a decline in profits. In 1948 only 1% of the American population had a television, however, by 1953 more than 50% of American households had one. From the early 1960s more than 90% of households had a television.

Towards the late 1980s Americas industry for independent cinema began to grow in a few ‘major American cities’ and then became a far stronger presence in Americas public culture. Independent cinema pushes against the grain offering harder and more edgy stories contrasting with Hollywood’s ‘happy endings.’ Independent films are often distinguishable from films produced by a large production company as their style and their content present the filmmaker’s artistic vision and not the production companies vision. Additionally they often have lower budgets than film from major studios. It’s common for independent films to be shown at specific film festivals before their wider release. With the correct funding and distribution independent films can rival major studio productions.

Arthur Penn collaborated with actors such as ‘Marlon Brando (1966’s The Chase), Dustin Hoffman (1970’s Little Big Man), Gene Hackman (1975’s Night Moves), and Jack Nicholson (1976’s The Missouri Breaks).’

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

An American Werewolf in London is a horror film with comedic elements that was released in 1981 and directed by John Landis. The film starred actors David Naughton, Jenny Agutter and Griffen Dunne who played David Kessler, Nurse Alex Price and Jack Goodman.

The film successfully uses tension in order to create an aesthetic synonymous with horror films. This is combined with comedic relief which overall adds to the effectiveness of the scenes of gore that follow them. The film utilises physical/practical effects to create realistic and harrowing effects which still remain good quality to this day. In some respects the physical effects seem more dark, disturbing and gruesome than some CGI effects.

The transformation scene has become very iconic and is known for it’s groundbreaking use of practical effects. It used modern technology to create a more shocking and disturbing transformation possible and was regarded as one of the most notable use of special effects in horror films at the time. The transformation is long and drawn out to create a disturbing yet engaging experience for the viewer. This moment is built up to throughout the scene as the audience are aware of the impending doom of the eventual transformation. This rises the tension throughout the film making the transformation that much more effective.

The role of Griffen Dunne as Jack Goodman is very effective throughout the film as Kessler’s conscience and adds many comedic elements to the film. Jack’s role is to add tension to the film as he urges Kessler to end his life before his inevitable transformation. He creates a moral battle for Jack adding another element to the film as he questions what he should do.

A scene which I think work effectively in the film is where Jack and Kessler are talking in the cinema. The absurdity of the scene due to the serious topic they’re talking about, contrasted with the absurdity of Jack’s appearance and the involvement of the other dead people. To add to the absurdity the film playing in the background contrasts with the mood of the situation entirely with unexpected jokes within the film that they’re watching.

The vivid dreams before Kesslers first transformation are effective ways of progressing the story line and keeping the film engaging for the audience before the actual action happens. These scenes cross the barrier between what’s real and what’s a dream which adds to the ambiguity of reality in the film. Additionally the effect of having a dream within a dream adds another layer of surprise keeping the audience on edge.

Overall, An American Werewolf in London is an extremely engaging and gripping film which perfectively balances a combination of horror, gore and violence with romance and comedy.

Audience reactions

Throughout my short film I will involve many different techniques in order to provoke responses from the audience. The opening scene and enigma of the film is meant to unsettle the audience through the use of score as it’s very dark and ominous. The colour grading of this scene will be dark and unsaturated to show the lack of life to provoke feelings of uncertainty and ambiguity to the audience.

Contrasting to this, the scenes of the canoe drifting down the river are meant to make the audience relax and appreciate the beauty of the scene. This will be done through diegetic sound, vibrant colour colour grading and slow and floaty shots. Seeing the protagonist in the positive and innocent setting will help the audience feel connected to the character making the scenes later in the film more impactful.

During the rise in tension I will use shaky hand held shots as well as a score which becomes louder in the mix in order to make the viewer feel in suspense. The flashback scene will be tense for the viewer throughout created by fast cuts and closeups in the cinematography as well as the violent perform aimed to shock the audience and make them grow a hatred towards the antagonist.

The climax of the film will use a combination of score, cinematography, editing and colour grading in order to rise the tension as much as possible and result in an impactful ending for the viewer.

Equipment/camera/lens research

The equipment available for use is a simple DSLR camera, a pistol grip tripod, a Zoom sound recorder, a Rhode microphone and a boom pole. Although this equipment is very simple and limited my short film is made up of mostly simple shots that can be achieved with either hand help shots or with a tripod. However, because of the location that I’m using this does present difficulties as a lot of the shot will be hand held shots from in the river. This presented a difficulty as I don’t have any equipment to hold the camera over the river. To combat this issue I’m instead going to use a second boat in order to take shots from on the river and do this with hand held shots. For most of the shots I’m planning on using a 50mm lens as it’s extremely versatile.  

Special Effects

Special effects aren’t a large component of my short film however, there’s a scene where the antagonist stabs the woman which will require an effective solution of making this look realistic. A whip pan will be used to mask that the woman isn’t really being stabbed but instead a retractible blade will be used or a pocket knife with the blade folded in on itself. Because the whip pan is moving at the same speed as the knife the blur of the shot will mask this. The woman will already have a blood patch applied onto her before the whip pan as this can be revealed as the camera focuses after the pan. This will be an effective way of realistically showing the violent act without the need of extensive editing or practical effects.

Shot Ideas

This post is to document my initial ideas for some of the shots I may include in my short film.

• Mid shot of the lower half of the woman’s torso floating in the water. The camera zooms in to a closeup for dramatic effect. Cuts to black followed by a fade in to show the passing of time.
• Long shot of the river as the canoe slowly drifts into the shot.
• Camera pans across the width of the river showing the sun glazing across it.
• Cuts to a crab shot of the bank showing the greenery.
• Shots of the surrounding fields and woodlands to show the isolation of the river.
• Gripping of the paddle to closeup of the paddle in the water for a match on action shot.
• Close up of the eyes as the look to the bank for a glance object shot
• Closeup of the side of the canoe with half of the frame taken up by the river.
• Over the shoulder shot from the protagonist point of view of the car driving down the road.
• POV of the car pulling over in the distance.
• Closeup of the protagonist darting eyes.
• Over the shoulder shot as the protagonist approaches the car.
• The shot continues as he exits the canoe, dispersed with mid shots and close-ups as he ventures through the foliage.
• Glance object shot of the knife.
• POV as he approaches the body resulting into a mid shot of the dead woman.
• Slow zoom from a mid-shot to a close-up of the woman’s face to exaggerate her wounds.
• Closeups of both the antagonist’s and the woman’s face dispersed with a close up tracking shot of the antagonist reaching into his pocket.
• Flash of the knife to a whip pan showing the woman impaled by the knife.
• Crying in the flash back transitions to dripping of the water off the protagonist.
• Mid-shot of the protagonist holding the woman as the headlights light up the shot.

Location Scout/Practice shots

For my film there will be two locations. The first is the river which is where most of the film will take place. The area of the river is essential in order to plan which shots will work best. For my short film I had already thought of an ideal location along the river in my local village and therefore wrote my treatment with this in mind. I scouted both sides of the river while brainstorming shot ideas and planning ahead to my actual day of filming. I found ideal areas for critical plot points in my film and now have a plan on how I’m going to approach the filming on the day.

This is the location where the canoe will drift into shot to introduce the protagonist. It’s ideal for this as it’s a large open area so the focus will be drawn to the canoe. It also establishes the location well.

These are shots from under a bridge on the left side of the river. The man made structure of the concrete bridge will add a contrast in setting, therefore showing the distance he’s travelling throughout the journey.

These are birds-eye view shots from the bridge over the river. This will add a nice differentiation of shots and will effectively show the protagonist travelling out on their journey.

This is a standard shot of the river with the camera facing towards the right showing he’s travelling out on a journey.

This is a mid-shot of some foliage by the river. Shots like these will be used to set the scene at the start of the film.

These shots of the road are important as the car travelling by the bank is an essential plot point. The road is positioned much higher than the river meaning the antagonist will have a height advantage and therefore a dominating and powerful effect.

This shot is similar from what the protagonist will see when the car pulls up by the bank.

This is what the protagonist will see while trying to see what’s happening from behind the foliage. These bushes have an ideal density so that the view will be distorted yet not completely blocked out.

This is the area where the protagonist will dismount the canoe to climb onto the bank.

This is the areas where the body will be found.

This is the area from the protagonists initial perspective.

This is where the protagonist will come from as he ventures through the foliage.

These shots are POVs from the protagonists point of view as he encounters the body for the first time.

This will be where protagonist will enter the water to help.

These shots show where the protagonist will be holding
the woman before they are greeted by the lights of the killer. This final shot of the protagonist will be framed similarly to the first frame of the protagonist to tie the film up effectively.

The second location will be where the flash back takes place. It will take place in a bedroom and down a corridor. For this location I am using my house as it’s accessible and the room is quite spacious which is good for filming. There is also a staircase outside the room which will be useful for some of the shots I am planning on using.

These are shots taken from all four corners of the room. Before shooting I would add props into the room to so that it suites the antagonist’s personality.

After exiting the room the rest of the flash back scene will take place in the corridor and down the stair case.

I found this location scout very useful as it allowed me to start to form a plan in my head and start to have shot ideas.

Soundtrack research

Soundtracks are an essential aspect of a short film to portray emotions to the viewer. A soundtrack can help rise and relieve tension, as well as creating a sense of calmness and solitude.

In my short film the use of soundtracks will be essential in order to control the audiences reactions and to ensure my short film is effective in portraying the story. The soundtracks that I have found are royalty free so that I have fair use of them in my film.

In the opening scene of the girl submerged in the water I needed a dark non-diegetic compiled score to portray the sense of severity and the darkness of the situation.

When the film cuts to the protagonist in the boat the soundtrack needs to highly contrast the one before it. I’ve decided on using a mixture of diegetic sounds in order to portray the tranquility of the scene. I will use a mixture of royalty free tracks and tracks that I record at the location.

When the tension begins to rise throughout the film there will be a dark ambience and ominous tracks played to aid the rise in suspense. This will slowly rise in the mix until it’s the most prominent track.

In the credits I wanted to find a dark yet quiet and tranquil score which I could layer over the sound of the lapping river in order to create a relaxing yet off putting aesthetic.

Make up

Make-up will be an essential aspect to my production in order to increase aspects of realism. Fake blood and other make-up will be used to create realistic effects to show the actresses knife wounds and pale face for extra effect. I’m planning on using friends to help do the make up on the day of shooting in order for the production to run as smoothly as possible.