“People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.” This quote is taken from the film ‘V for Vendetta’ which tells the story of a romantic freedom fighter (or callous terrorist as seen from the perspective of the government) waging war on a totalitarian regime set in future England. The story draws strong parallels with the fascist regime of 1930’s Nazi Germany, and bares resemblance to the present US government’s current war on terror. Good morning class, today I will be analysing how the Director James McTeigue explores different techniques of cinematography and a variety of other film elements, in order to convey the historical and political background of the story and effectively portrays a visually appealing adaptation of the comic novel ‘V for Vendetta’.
“Remember, remember the fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot, I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot”. This opening line in the film immediately makes a historical connection to the 5th November 1605, when a group of conspirators, led by Guy Fawkes, and intent on restoring a Catholic King to the British throne, attempted to amass explosives under the British houses of parliament and so destroy them in a symbol of protest. The key character, V in this story models himself on the infamous Guy Fawkes whose character symbolizes a bold challenge to the authoritarian regime.
The story was first written in the mid 1980’s, at the height of Margaret Thatcher’s conservative Britain, a period of intense nationalism in the UK, where years of progress in civil liberties were called into question, immigration laws were tightened, and tolerance towards religious minorities and homosexuals diminished....
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Owootomo, D. (2012, 09 26). V for Vendetta Cinematography Analysis. Retrieved 05 2014, from AS Film Studies: http://davidowootomofilmstudies.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/v-for-vendetta-analysis.html
Significance of Fireworks & Lamps on Diwali. (n.d.). Retrieved 05 2014, from Diwali: http://diwali.getit.in/about-diwali/significance-of-fireworks-lamps
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(V For Vendetta Movie Analysis Film Studies, 2014)
(2013, 04). Film Techniques Used to Emphasize Themes in V for Vendetta. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 04, 2013, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Film-Techniques-Used-To-Emphasize-Themes-1606259.html
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In this day in age, it is very common to find films adapted from books. Many of those films do a very well in their adaptations, but some fall short. Since it was finished, and even before its release date, the V for Vendetta film has gained some controversy from its own author. But, although the film did not end up how Alan Moore, the author, would have wanted it, he did not contribute to the project, even so, the filmography very clearly kept with the original work and showed itself as a product of the time.
When I was 14, I watched “V for Vendetta”, a movie based on the graphic novel of the same name. It’s an action movie about a dystopian, Orwellian future in the UK, and one man’s attempts to bring freedom back. Many denounce the movie as merely anarchist propaganda, but I believe that it is more than just that. I believe that it is about modern moral ambiguity, taking responsibility for one’s own wants and needs, and freedom conquering oppression.
Karlin, Fred, and Rayburn Wright. On the Track a Guide to Contemporary Film Scoring. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2004. Print.
Bordwell, David, and Kristin Thompson. Film Art: An Introduction. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997.
V for Vendetta is a rather graphic novel written by Alan Moore in the late 1980's. The novel takes place in an alternate-reality; one in which Britain is ruled by a fascist government rules over Britain, and the rest of the world is believed to be in ruins due to nuclear war. The main protagonist/villain, depending on your viewpoint, of the story is a man simply called "V", He is a mysterious man and a self-described anarchist who survived a government experiment of a compound called Batch 5. Although his face is never shown in the book, V still draws the reader’s attention by being such a dark presence.
The setting of the film, as a whole, displays Marxist ideas of capitalism. One of the foundational themes of Marxist thought is that, within a capitalist society, there will be a distinct polarization between two classes: The ruling class (bourgeoisie), and those whom they rule over (proletariats) (Korczynski, Hodson, & Edwards, 2006, p. 33). V for Vendetta takes place in a not-so-distant future version of a dystopian England.
Analyze a film shot or scene to explain how filmmakers use cinematic techniques to tell a story, develop characters, create atmosphere, and evoke emotions.
Lewis, J. (2008). American Film: A History. New York, NY. W.W. Norton and Co. Inc. (p. 405,406,502).
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Bordwell David and Thompson, Kristen. Film Art: An Introduction. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008.
In the film V for Vendetta the director James Mcteigue uses a range of different film techniques in order to gain the audience's attention and to make the movie more interesting. The four film techniques I’m going to focus on in this essay are editing, music, camera angles and the lighting. I am going to do this by analysing the ‘Domino Montage’ scene.
The postmodern cinema emerged in the 80s and 90s as a powerfully creative force in Hollywood film-making, helping to form the historic convergence of technology, media culture and consumerism. Departing from the modernist cultural tradition grounded in the faith in historical progress, the norms of industrial society and the Enlightenment, the postmodern film is defined by its disjointed narratives, images of chaos, random violence, a dark view of the human state, death of the hero and the emphasis on technique over content. The postmodernist film accomplishes that by acquiring forms and styles from the traditional methods and mixing them together or decorating them. Thus, the postmodern film challenges the “modern” and the modernist cinema along with its inclinations. It also attempts to transform the mainstream conventions of characterization, narrative and suppresses the audience suspension of disbelief. The postmodern cinema often rejects modernist conventions by manipulating and maneuvering with conventions such as space, time and story-telling. Furthermore, it rejects the traditional “grand-narratives” and totalizing forms such as war, history, love and utopian visions of reality. Instead, it is heavily aimed to create constructed fictions and subjective idealisms.
The act of watching a film is a fairly effortless process. Individuals around the world enjoy watching films as a pastime activity because it engages one without the need to put in effort. This effortless entertainment is possible thanks to the way the producers carefully control and edit films to insure that their audience will experience what the film was intended to make them feel. In order to ensure that the audience will be able to engage into the film and understand its meaning an element known as Cinematography is needed. Cinematography is a very important element to this process because it controls the way the audience views and interprets the images that are being displayed.