The Theory Of Film
From films like 'The Boss Baby' to 'A Clockwork Orange', the art of cinema has visited many places, told many stories and created unique experiences. Since the emergence of film as an art, directors from all across the world have made audiences laugh, cry and much more. They have achieved this through creatively using different cinematic theories. In this report I will be discussing how the 2018 blockbuster epic 'Avengers: Infinity War' demonstrates the cognitive theory; and how the peculiar ambiguous comedy-drama 'The Lobster' explores the auteur theory.
'Avengers: Infinity War' is the pinnacle of the superhero genre, described by its directors (The Russo Brothers) as "the most ambitious crossover yet". The film is the first part in the grand finale of part of a universe that has been built up for 10 years. Over the span of the creation of this universe, audiences have grown to love and have become familiar with characters such as Tony Stark, Peter Parker, Steve Rogers, and even though it may seem strange, CGI characters such as Rocket Racoon and Groot. These characters have joined the ranks of household names like James Bond, Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker. In other words, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has built these characters up to be the strong and kindhearted role models, that children of today aspire to be. Captain America taught audiences that matter how big or small you are or what race you are, you can always be of help to those in need. Tony Stark taught audiences how to use intelligence to help others, rather than solely yourself. Finally, Black Panther taught audiences that anyone could be a superhero, regardless of your race or background.
With all this being said, 'Avengers: Infinity War' exceeds expectations by not only giving the story's main villain a heartbreaking backstory, but also making audiences feel sympathetic towards this character. Rather than despising Thanos, audiences try to understand his reasoning for his actions and in the process the audiences unconventionally want to see Thanos succeed, in comparison to audiences usually wanting the villain to fail. The Russo achieve this through the use of the Cognitive Theory. The brothers use flashbacks that frequently appear during the film to elicitate certain emotions to be felt towards Thanos, such as sympathy and sadness.
The Russo Brothers have previously worked on films such as 'Welcome to the Collinwood' and 'You, Me, Dupree'. However, in 2014 the brothers joined the Marvel franchise as they directed the film 'Captain America: Winter Soldier' and later directed the final film in the 'Captain America' trilogy. Their films have been very well received which could possibly explain why they were asked to take on the task of such a large scale cinematic event.
In contrast to the blockbuster, 'Avenger: Infinity War', The Lobster is a much quieter and abstract film that shows the auteur theory. Yorgos Lanthimos tells the story of a dystopian society where single people spend 40 days in a strange hotel trying to find a partner and if they don't they'll be transformed into an animal of their choice.
Yorgos is classed as a greek auteur who recently made his english film debut in 2015. he often uses fish eye lenses, long scenes and slightly off centre camera angles. Since he has 2015 debut Yorgos has used Olivia Coleman in both of his english films "The Lobster" and more recently 'The Favourite".
Yorgos's style is so distinct that you can recongise his films just by watching the first 2 minutes. "The Lobster" opens with classical music playing as text appears on screen, the text is small which reflects the small story portrayed in this film. we then see a mid shot of a woman driving in her car, the shot is dimly lit and the colour grading can only be described as Grey and flat, The use of this colour grading pin points this strange story in our world. at 1 minute and 8 seconds into the film the woman steps out of her car whilst holding a gun a proceeds to walk up to some donkeys that are standing in the field. She then proceeds to shoot and kill one of these donkeys. There is no context to this scene which only leaves the audiences with questions. 'Who is this woman?' "Why did she kill the donkey?' are some that may run through someones mind whilst watching this sequence. After this scene the Title appears on screen. This opening sequence perfectly conveys the overall aesthetic of "The Lobster".
Yorgos perfectly manages to create familiarity in this abstract world with characters like 'Nosebleed woman' (Jessica Barden) and 'Biscuit Woman (Ashley Jensen). Despite the strangeness of their names these characters are pretty normal in terms of the overracring story. I believe that Yorgos likes to place Average people in perculiar situations and this is what make his films so unique.
To conclude Film is a very diverse art form that allows for hundreds of creatives, whether it be Steven Spilberg or even your local film maker, to tell stories on the big screen in unique and distinct ways that demonstrate all different types of film theories.
Yorgos's style is so distinct that you can recongise his films just by watching the first 2 minutes. "The Lobster" opens with classical music playing as text appears on screen, the text is small which reflects the small story portrayed in this film. we then see a mid shot of a woman driving in her car, the shot is dimly lit and the colour grading can only be described as Grey and flat, The use of this colour grading pin points this strange story in our world. at 1 minute and 8 seconds into the film the woman steps out of her car whilst holding a gun a proceeds to walk up to some donkeys that are standing in the field. She then proceeds to shoot and kill one of these donkeys. There is no context to this scene which only leaves the audiences with questions. 'Who is this woman?' "Why did she kill the donkey?' are some that may run through someones mind whilst watching this sequence. After this scene the Title appears on screen. This opening sequence perfectly conveys the overall aesthetic of "The Lobster".
Yorgos perfectly manages to create familiarity in this abstract world with characters like 'Nosebleed woman' (Jessica Barden) and 'Biscuit Woman (Ashley Jensen). Despite the strangeness of their names these characters are pretty normal in terms of the overracring story. I believe that Yorgos likes to place Average people in perculiar situations and this is what make his films so unique.
To conclude Film is a very diverse art form that allows for hundreds of creatives, whether it be Steven Spilberg or even your local film maker, to tell stories on the big screen in unique and distinct ways that demonstrate all different types of film theories.
