How valuable has ideological analysis been in developing your understanding of the themes of your chosen films? Introduction – Ideology is a network of values and beliefs which people share. These are included in the ideological framework of society and culture. Ideology is present within the media as it has a function of ‘social connection’ and works to communicate and often challenge viewpoints and set morals and belief systems. Audience ideology is what they expect of a film due to personal ideologies. Filmmakers ideologies are presented in films due their specific world views. Beast of the ..read more

Context – La La Land was directed by Damien Chazelle in 2016 after the previous success of his film Whiplash released in 2014. Similarly to Whiplash the story is orientated around jazz culture. The film is different from many other contemporary films in that its musical elements links back to the golden age of Hollywood. The film’s style combines both artistic elements with the common tropes of a romance. However, it’s still a heterosexual romance following the trend of the Hollywood output. The film had a large budget of $30 million and stars two fairly large stars as the lead roles. It also ..read more

Context – Beasts of the Southern Wild is a low budget film and targets a niche audience and wasn’t financed by any of the major 6 Hollywood studios. Most of its marketing was accomplished through word of the mouth due to its critical acclaim which generated publicity for the film. It also had success in film festivals and award shows. The film can be considered an indie film which is any film which is made without the contribution of any large studio. Bob Rosen is one of the founders of the Film Independent non-profit organisation which created four categories for what an independent film shou ..read more

Beasts of the Southern Wild is an adaptation from Lucy Alibar’s play ‘Juicy and Delicious.’ The film was released in June 2012 after premiering at many film festivals. Upon release the films met with commercial success and critics acclaim due to the filmmaking as well as Wallis’s performance. Additionally, the film was nominated for 4 academy awards with the categories of ‘Best Picture, Best Director (Benh Zeitlin), Best Adapted Screenplay(Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin), and Best Actress (Quvenzhané Wallis).’ Wallis is the youngest ‘best actress’ nominee at age 9. The film ..read more

La La Land is a musical/romance film which follows Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian’s (Ryan Gosling) relationship as they attempt to balance both their relationship and their aspirational careers. The film is located in Los Angeles and uses locations around Hollywood which links to Mia’s aspirations of being a Hollywood actor. The film was originally conceptualised by Chazelle and Justin Hurwitz at Harvard University. Chazelle originally wrote the film in 2016 but it wasn’t taken up until after the success of his film Whiplash, which was released in 2014. Filming took place in 2015. La La Land w ..read more

Ideology is a network of values and beliefs which people share. These are included in the ideological framework of society and culture. Within a population people may share similar beliefs which can change their perceptions on society and the world. People’s individual ideologies change the way they relate to each other. There are two definitions of ideology – 1. A belief system or world-view; a coherent structure of thinking 2. A set of values shared by a social/cultural group Although beliefs may differ from person to person there are ideologies that are mostly agreed upon within a country ..read more

Both Casablanca and Bonnie and Clyde have differences in the extent in which they reflect the auteur signatures of their filmmakers. Casablanca was produced during the Golden age of cinema where the production company developed a house style in which all their films followed. This resulted in the the production company becoming the auteur rather than the director due to the lack of creative freedom the director was given. This heavily contrasts from Bonnie and Clyde, where Arthur Penn had a large amount of creative freedom which is shown through the clear auteurship throughout the film and the ..read more

Both Casablanca and Bonnie and Clyde reflect their different production contexts through the times in which they were produced. Casablanca was produced during the Golden age of cinema where the production company developed a house style in which all their films followed. Additionally the use of sets as well as lighting and shots present the age of cinema in which the production was made. This heavily contrasts to the production of Bonnie and Clyde as it had heavy influences from the French New Wave resulting in a film utilising on location filming natural lighting and wide apertures, heavy vio ..read more

Research and write about how Bonnie And Clyde is an example of a product produced under the influence of auteurs. Despite Bonnie and Clyde’s attitudes towards realism the film still has many 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 showing its strong auteur influence. 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. The film uses ..read more