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Film Worksheet Step 1: Select a Film Seeking a film to choose for this assignment, I finally found something special. It is a film of Lars von Trier's trilogy titled Dancing in the Dark. It dates back to 2000 and differs from the Hollywood projects. The unique style of this art-house film conquered me totally. Step 2.1: The Audience and the Space, and You Musical drama films are not popular for watching in big screens, but small ones make a week of European movie from time to time. I was lucky enough to buy a ticket on this film. Having expected to see mostly adults in the cinema on Dancer in the Dark because it can be concerned old, I was deeply surprised to meet young people there. While watching a movie, an ambience of the cinema itself annoyed me. To my mind, such kind of films is likely to be watched at home rather than among a big audience. The reason is that drama movies usually depict real-life situations that can evoke different feelings while watching it, including sadness, sorrow, or even make a viewer start crying. I was in a bad mood preparing myself to watch an art-house Danish film, and each person with popcorn in hands exasperated me. The building of the cinema was one of those common-or-garden places. Nevertheless, I was impressed by the scale of the cinema hall in which Dancer in the Dark was presented. I have never been to such little halls before. Surprisingly for me, there was a gorgeous stereo system producing excellent sound which is very significant for the musical dramas. Step 2.2 The Film and You In my opinion, the style of Danish director is unique and exceptional. Dancer in the Dark is a drama with musical elements. The way Lars von Triermanipulates the pace of the film is different from that we became accustomed to. There is no dynamic action excluding those scenes which relate to a musical one. However, even they cannot be totally stated as dynamic. The scenes penetrate one into another by blurring the picture. The story is depicted coherently, without any time jumps. Thus, at the end of the film, the viewer feels as the events portrayed in the film are based on a true story. The camera work itself could be estimated as unprofessional and revolting for those viewers who are not familiar with art-house. The way this Danish movie is filmed can be described as home video. It is not very popular nowadays, but I cannot imagine it to be filmed in another way. Musical elements are an integral part of the movie. The blind Selma, who centers the film, does personal interpretation of the sounds that surround her. I did not revealed any scene to be shown ridiculous or tiresome. Moreover, this home video style tends to be emotional and moving. Step 2.3 Analyze the Film Technically Literary Aspects Analyzing the film, I ascertained that it relates to a Dogme 95 style of filmmaking, which was created by Lars von Trier. Bordwell and Thompson explain, The story of a film comes from a collaboration of both the information directly presented to the viewer by way of what is seen and heard in the film and the inferences made by the audience after viewing and listening to the information that has been given.This notion refers directly to Dancer in the Dark. Moreover, the film can theoretically be divided into two lines, namely melodramatic and musical which influence the viewer creating the entire impression after watching it. Melodrama is presented in the plot while the musical part leads the line of the protagonists imagination. The musical part serves as resistance to the main plot because it seems to a viewer that two worlds are struggling with each other in Selma's mind. The way Selma percepts sound and imagines her playing a role in a musical is a pearl of von Trier's story. Dramatic Aspects All characters in the film are dressed appropriately to the rural American style of the late 1960s. It should be noted that the difference in costumes of Selma and her landlords defines the contrast between communistic and capitalist lifestyles shown in a naturalistic way in terms of mise-en-scene. Selma's extravagance varies from a strange appearance of a woman of wisdom to self-sacrifice. Her real life resembles a melodrama in which she plays as convincing as she can. The last scenes, in which she cries before execution, could be affecting for a viewer because it seems that she awoke from her dream. Cinematic Aspects The camera angles are varying from close-up angle to normal. It draws attention to quintessence of the film. An extensive use of tight shots was focused on the facial expressions and gestures. This technique makes the audience feel as though they are participants rather than just mere observers . As aforementioned, Dancer in the Dark is filmed in home video style. Sounds are an integral part of the film which contained no non-diegetic sound. I suppose that the director seeks to stress on the importance of the sounds in the lives of blind by using special camera style and complicated sound supplement. From the beginning of the film, Selma was losing her sight whereas it disappeared completely at the end. This line of plot corresponds accurately to sound and visual effects of the film because closer its end, a viewer observes the portions of musical. Step 3. Analyze the Film 1. Who is Telling the Story? Generally, the story is told in dialogues led by Selma and her familiars. They recalled communism several times as Selma is a Czech immigrant. Initially, it seems that Von Trier describes the weakness of the regime as he shows the difference between Selma and her landlords. However, in the end of the film, the viewer can understand that the deepness of injustice goes far beyond the regimes and lies in human nature. The director did not seek to appeal for a vast audience. The film is brilliant; it has been highly rated by a great number of famous critics and film festivals. 2. How Is It Experienced? Dancer in the Dark refers to the small niche audience of movie addicted people due to its style of performance, the plot, and ideas it conveyed. In my opinion, this film is likely to be viewed at the age of 20 and older because some of the scenes are shocking and violent. However, it does not lessen the overall attitude to the film since the deepness of Von Triers ideas influences the viewers. Having analyzed this movie, I explored that all public reviews could be divided into those exalting the film and those finding it nonsensical. Generally, famous critics highly appreciate it. 3. How Is It Made? The film has its special almost art-house style. Von Trier uses a new DV-realist tradition of photography and 00 simultaneously rolling cameras to shoot the musical numbers . These cameras are concealed together. The technique grabs the attention of the audience till the end of the film. Dancer in the Dark is the last film, which forms the final installment of the Golden Heart trilogy. There is a special filmmaking movement started by Lars von Trier in 1955 called Dogme 95 to which Dancer in the Dark relates. Recently, the Dogme 95 Collective or the Dome Brethren was formed by Danish directors. 4. How Does It Convey Meaning? Noises are more than sounds in Dancer in the Dark, and they play a major role in the film. Selma lives in her world of sound interpretation. However, it does not mean that conversations are senseless. Some of Selma's words became nominal; for example, a musical, nothing dreadful ever happens. Selmas facial expression corresponds to her strong but sometimes childishly naive role. It moves the viewer while the person is strong and weak at the same time. Concerning visual effects in the musical part, I can assume that the reason of brightening musical scenes is in Von Triers goal to emphasize on the way Selma's imagination transforms her life. 5. How Does It Represent Its Subject - Especially With Reference to a Time Period? Dancer in the Dark represents the place of the immigrants in the society and their hard life in America of late 1960s. As aforementioned, Von Trier uses a classical Marxist concept of the poor and the rich. It is embodied in role of Selma and her landlords. However, at the same time, the director demolishes the stereotypes as demonstrated in the episode when the policeman, her landlord, steals Selmas miserable savings. This episode represents a conflict of classes and imbalance of human morality level and their office. The characters and their roles are breathtaking and even shocking due to their hyperrealist manner.

About author Monica is the author at https://essaysleader.com/dc-vs-marvel-comic/ She always dreamed of working in this position, working with texts and new information. After all, her credo in life is to develop daily in different fields and be an interesting person. She is fluent in three languages and holds a Masters Degree in Philology and Translator, and is also trying to master new fields in order to be knowledgeable in everything.



Revision: r1 - 2021-05-31 - 21:30:22 - MonicaDennis

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