The big shave short film mind map
Scorsese presents us with close ups of shiny bathroom equipment such as faucets with an almost sterile white background, giving clinical connotations as well as implying something mundane, therefore setting up the coming character to be possibly psychologically damaged and of a normal background. The sterile white background and shiny furnishing also un nerves the spectator with everything feeling blindingly bright and so sterile. The man is also dressed in a white t shirt, here the micro feature of mise en scene is used through costuming, to again give clinical connotations but could also imply purity or religious morality, as heaven is commonly associated with white implying American beliefs that they are morally pure and religiously correct. I would use this technique to also set up my character in a more subtle way, by for example showing a series of close ups of objects that connote achievement to set up a successful person but also juxtapose these objects with something more sinister.
Colour is also powerfully used when the man starts cutting himself, the crimson red of the blood stands in stark contrast to the white sink and the mans light skin drawing attention to how the man is clearly damaging himself but is entirely unaware, just like american society is unaware of what its doing to itself. The clean shaven look and act of shaving also emphasises American values of being civilised, and how america is attempting to spread civilised values, but this 'civilised' act of shaving draws blood reminding us of the blood shed caused by the spreading of American 'civilised' ideals. It could also be specifically referring to the Vietnam war which was particulary bloody for th Vietnamese and Americans, which saw America trying to spread democracy (American idea of being civilised) to Vietnam but caused massive unnecessary blood shed throughout the late 50's, 60's and 70's. - mise en scene
I could also similarly use starkly contrasting colours, such as also contrasting red and white but to show the ruining of innocence. This allegory for the vietnam war and America harming itself without even knowing is effectively done through such a simple story, of one man in one bathroom essentially shaving; similarly i may use an allegory for example a man performing on stage unsuccessfully to show his constant strive for approval and or society as apathetic, this however being a less subtle approach.
The same song pervades throughout, unchanging just like the mans performance as well as the cinematography and editing to further show how oblivious the man/ we are. It ultimately shows how we as a society continue to harm ourselves by previously accepted values, represented by the perfect middle class american man and the charming old fashioned music, despite how obvious it is we are hurting ourselves. The consistency and unchanging nature of the song also suggests to the spectator that it seems as tho nothing will change if we continue on as we are.
An old fashioned, romantic almost whimsical song plays over the visuals which becomes contrapuntal once the man starts cutting himself. The music can be with its old fashioned sound, said to represent traditional american values which this man seemingly represents being a handsome middle class young man, so at the beginning the music emphasises the man as being the traditional American man. This music however becomes incredibly unsettling once the man starts cutting himself with the razor but is entirely unflinching and unaware of what he's doing to himself. Here the music becomes contrapuntal and shows how these traditional American values are damaging us with out us even knowing despite how obvious it, instead we carry on like the music does living according to these values.- Sound
I like the use of contrapuntal sound and could use it in my own film to evoke a feeling of unease in the viewer.
Once the man starts cutting himself, the editing barely changes, showing the same shots at the same frequency and just like the man the short film acts as tho nothing out the ordinary is happening, emphasising how oblivious we are that were hurting ourselves despite how clearly obvious we are.
At 1:13 we see the man take off his top from several different shots, through this repetition a mundane feeling is evoked, as we watch him repeat the same task in the same white bathroom multiple times with the only slight variation being the angle we see it from, showing how repetitive and mundane this mans life is - editing
The extreme close ups create a feeling of mundanity, as each similar shiny object is closely inspected with the same sterile blinding white background, also creating a sense of unease and anxiety through the clinical feel of these objects as tho this mundanity has reached a breaking point, a psychological break down is imminent. - cinematography
At 4:17 the cinematography finally changes to zoom out a bit into a close up to show the scale of self mutilation the man has committed continues to commit. The following shots stand out due to the fact a series of close ups had just preceded them, it also sees the man cut his nick from ear to ear, mimicking the phrase 'smiling from ear to ear', a very sinister idea that is ironically committed with a completely blank expression.
These close ups also keep us focused on the protagonist and the preciseness of what he's doing, similarly i may use close ups and or extreme close ups to emphasise an action or object.
There is one character throughout this whole short film to keep it simple and focused. The character is a handsome, middle class young man wearing a plain white t shirt. This character represents the ideal american man and is used to criticise American society at the time through other micro and macro features. The use of only one character interests me as it creates certain limitations, as the character is mostly explored through visual means and deprived of interaction with other people.
The narrative doesn't seem to follow any real narrative structure, it more so subverts narrative with the man beginning and ending in the exact same place, it can be argued the climax is when the man cuts himself, but he then carries on as tho nothing has happened. There is also no attempts to renter a state of equilibrium, therefore not using equilibrium narrative ideas. This short film relies on the continuity of the task being performed therefore disregarding traditional narrative structures that would disrupt continuity, this continuity is needed to reflect the continuity of American society harming itself and doing nothing about it or releasing it. Using a lack of narrative in my short film may be il advised however as interesting narrative techniques are required, i could however use lack of narrative in some aspect such as having a lack of narrative arc is a specific character to show them as unchanging in their ways in a negative way, such as parent who never changes their abusive ways to show the continual abuse the protagonist is subject to.
Colour is also powerfully used when the man starts cutting himself, the crimson red of the blood stands in stark contrast to the white sink and the mans light skin drawing attention to how the man is clearly damaging himself but is entirely unaware, just like american society is unaware of what its doing to itself. The clean shaven look and act of shaving also emphasises American values of being civilised, and how america is attempting to spread civilised values, but this 'civilised' act of shaving draws blood reminding us of the blood shed caused by the spreading of American 'civilised' ideals. It could also be specifically referring to the Vietnam war which was particulary bloody for th Vietnamese and Americans, which saw America trying to spread democracy (American idea of being civilised) to Vietnam but caused massive unnecessary blood shed throughout the late 50's, 60's and 70's. - mise en scene
I could also similarly use starkly contrasting colours, such as also contrasting red and white but to show the ruining of innocence. This allegory for the vietnam war and America harming itself without even knowing is effectively done through such a simple story, of one man in one bathroom essentially shaving; similarly i may use an allegory for example a man performing on stage unsuccessfully to show his constant strive for approval and or society as apathetic, this however being a less subtle approach.
The same song pervades throughout, unchanging just like the mans performance as well as the cinematography and editing to further show how oblivious the man/ we are. It ultimately shows how we as a society continue to harm ourselves by previously accepted values, represented by the perfect middle class american man and the charming old fashioned music, despite how obvious it is we are hurting ourselves. The consistency and unchanging nature of the song also suggests to the spectator that it seems as tho nothing will change if we continue on as we are.
An old fashioned, romantic almost whimsical song plays over the visuals which becomes contrapuntal once the man starts cutting himself. The music can be with its old fashioned sound, said to represent traditional american values which this man seemingly represents being a handsome middle class young man, so at the beginning the music emphasises the man as being the traditional American man. This music however becomes incredibly unsettling once the man starts cutting himself with the razor but is entirely unflinching and unaware of what he's doing to himself. Here the music becomes contrapuntal and shows how these traditional American values are damaging us with out us even knowing despite how obvious it, instead we carry on like the music does living according to these values.- Sound
I like the use of contrapuntal sound and could use it in my own film to evoke a feeling of unease in the viewer.
Once the man starts cutting himself, the editing barely changes, showing the same shots at the same frequency and just like the man the short film acts as tho nothing out the ordinary is happening, emphasising how oblivious we are that were hurting ourselves despite how clearly obvious we are.
At 1:13 we see the man take off his top from several different shots, through this repetition a mundane feeling is evoked, as we watch him repeat the same task in the same white bathroom multiple times with the only slight variation being the angle we see it from, showing how repetitive and mundane this mans life is - editing
The extreme close ups create a feeling of mundanity, as each similar shiny object is closely inspected with the same sterile blinding white background, also creating a sense of unease and anxiety through the clinical feel of these objects as tho this mundanity has reached a breaking point, a psychological break down is imminent. - cinematography
At 4:17 the cinematography finally changes to zoom out a bit into a close up to show the scale of self mutilation the man has committed continues to commit. The following shots stand out due to the fact a series of close ups had just preceded them, it also sees the man cut his nick from ear to ear, mimicking the phrase 'smiling from ear to ear', a very sinister idea that is ironically committed with a completely blank expression.
These close ups also keep us focused on the protagonist and the preciseness of what he's doing, similarly i may use close ups and or extreme close ups to emphasise an action or object.
There is one character throughout this whole short film to keep it simple and focused. The character is a handsome, middle class young man wearing a plain white t shirt. This character represents the ideal american man and is used to criticise American society at the time through other micro and macro features. The use of only one character interests me as it creates certain limitations, as the character is mostly explored through visual means and deprived of interaction with other people.
The narrative doesn't seem to follow any real narrative structure, it more so subverts narrative with the man beginning and ending in the exact same place, it can be argued the climax is when the man cuts himself, but he then carries on as tho nothing has happened. There is also no attempts to renter a state of equilibrium, therefore not using equilibrium narrative ideas. This short film relies on the continuity of the task being performed therefore disregarding traditional narrative structures that would disrupt continuity, this continuity is needed to reflect the continuity of American society harming itself and doing nothing about it or releasing it. Using a lack of narrative in my short film may be il advised however as interesting narrative techniques are required, i could however use lack of narrative in some aspect such as having a lack of narrative arc is a specific character to show them as unchanging in their ways in a negative way, such as parent who never changes their abusive ways to show the continual abuse the protagonist is subject to.
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