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Video Audio
Soldiers in Paths of Glory
jeer at a singing German
prisoner. Soldiers face camera
as to address audience
directly.
Soldiers cheering and whistling
loudly. The cheering slowly
subsides to change emotional
tone to one of pity and
sympathy.
Retreating from a chaotic
battlefield at night in
Blessed by Fire with handheld
camera style
The faithful Hussar sung by
German girl in Paths of Glory
Sound from clip is lowereded,
to resemble a reminiscence
instead of an actual scene.
Cut to static shot of singing
German girl, with tears
streaming down her face.
The Faithful Hussar song
continued silently.
No diegetic sound from clips.
Cut to the protagonist of Land
and Freedom, David, being held
at gunpoint, also in tears
Diegetic sound is cut out in an
eerie silence while Hussar
continues
Protagonist, Werner, of Das
Boot stares upon the dead crew
of the submarine
Hussar continues.
(Soundtrack silenced)
A crying youth from Die
Brcke limps away from the
battlefield in tears.
Hussar continues, soldiers
start humming
A soldier wipes away tears in
his eyes in Paths of Glory
Hussar continues, soldiers
humming grows louder and drown
Title fades in, Anti-War
films
Hussar fades into title
sequence into silence
Still, wide shot from Birth of
a Nation with troops firing
from horseback. (Observational
documentary conventions)
Narrator:War
Sound from following clips are
lowered to enhance narration
All Quiet on the Western
Front trench sequence. Camera
is confined the narrow trench.
N: Since film was created, war
has been mimicked on screen
Saving Private Ryan s opening
sequence exhibits use of much
CG and historical props.
N:Though Saving Private Ryan
has been praised for its
gritty realism...
Troops storm the beach aside
injured soldiers clutching
their wounds also demonstrating
skilful use of makeup.
N: ...it has a strong reliance
on visual effects and makeup,
clearly contradicting realist
conventions.
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Video Audio
A young soldier cries over one
of his comrades in Die
Brcke, who lost their lives
in a pointless battle.
N: It is evident that
emotional realism takes
precedence over true
realism...
Examples of the war in a
documentary form within Land
and Liberty, juxtaposed by the
the protagonists reaction
towards it.
N:with the absence of editing,
little camera movement, natural
lighting and conventional lack
of a structured narrative.
Protagonist, Estebn, of
Blessed by Fire looks upon
the battlefield in a night
skirmish
N: Evidently, one can see that
both contemporary films, albeit
less,...
Protagonists of Die Brucke
duck in cover of an enemys
aircraft as it bombs a nearby
building.
N: ...share nearly identical
usage of pyrotechnics and
makeup and even special effects
with that of previous years.
Visual Effects montage of
Black Hawk Down. 1) A
helicopter hovers above a
square while taking gunfire.
N: It is true that contemporary
films have the aid of Computer
Generated Imagery in portraying
the heat of battle.
2)Soldier spots troops circlinghis building. Return to 1),
where the helicopter is shot
down by an explosive
N: However, this investigationexamines Anti-war themes its
influence
Combat scene of Die Brucke
clearly demonstrates the use of
props, makeup and pyrotechnics
and its similarity of usage in
to contemporary texts.
N:from the verisimilitude
from films before and after
1991 to determine the evolution
of war realism.
Fade out to black to next shot Fade to silence.
Stock footage of military
operations in an observational
documentary form.
N: The main challenge for the
films is the need to bring
history to life.
Protagonist as old, dying man
from Land and Freedom in
modern day UK.
N:Ken Loachs Land And
Freedom and Bauers Blessed
by Fire...
Protagonist of Blessed by
Fire in the present day as a
middle aged man.
N:draw the audience into the
text by illustrating past and
present versions of the
characters...
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Video Audio
Cut to young protagonists of
both films as a young men
through quick fade transitions.
N:which highlight the
characters story as well as
their present social,
historical and economic status.
A paramedic team enter David
Carrs modern day house, trying
to revive him.
N:In Land And Liberty this
is taken further by equating
the audiences experience...
Cut to granddaughter character,
going through her grandfathers
newspaper cuttings of the war.
N: ...to the experience of a
granddaughter, a modern youth.
Closeup of Lt Werner as a war
correspondent taking shots of
activity in the U-Boat. This isalso a self-reflexive choice by
the documentary to acknowledge
the subject of the discussion.
N:Das Boot does not utilise
a transition through time, Lt.
Werner is placed into themicrocosm that is the submarine
as the guiding character for
the audience.
Quick cut between each
protagonist at home and on the
front line, suggesting a notion
of parallelism between
civilians and soldiers.
N: With many of these films, it
blurs the line between soldier
and civilian, insinuating the
proximity of war to anyone,
including the audience.
Fade to black. Fade to silence
Long shot of seaside during
Narrators speech. Cut to the
three protagonists of Blessed
By Fire sharing jokes beside a
sheep they have just eaten.
N: Many anti-war films employ a
band of friends or comrades.
(In Spanish)Do pigs really
squeal a lot when theyre
killed? Yes, like pigs -
chuckling-
Multiple closeups of crew as a
ship passes by. Captain issues
orders silently as he smiles tohis crew.
Sound cut out for narration.
N:The characterisation in Das
boot centres around a tightly
knit group of individuals.Soundtrack: Das Boot Soundtrack
played softly in background
Cut to talking head shot of
Wolfgang Petersen with posters
of his films placed behind him,
framed with rule of thirds.
Directors name fades in.
Wolfgang Petersen:Our captain
on this boat is 30 years old.
He was like a father to his
crew because... the way he
decided was death or life.
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Video Audio
Departure sequence. Crew are
jovially waving to port while
sailing away. The colourful
fanfare accompanying their
departure is gradually mutedthrough the rest of the film.
-Pause-
Petersen: The others are more
between 17 and 25, kids. And to
watch them leave enthusiastic,full of energy
Still shot of the submarine
returning to port while the
submarine crew pan from left to
right with battle-hardened,
thousand yard stares, while
being strongly juxtaposed with
celebratory music at the port.
Petersen: ... and to come back
as old men.
N: Therefore, anti-war films
can be seen as having coming-
of-age themes, implemented by
father and child character
archetypes.
The youths are shown withboyish excitement at being
recruited, while their school
teacher looks away distraught.
Youth:Look! Heres my draft!We have to be at the barracks
tomorrow morning at 7!
Scene continued, sound
softened.
CUT to Ullman, a young sailor
with a boyish face writing
letters to his girlfriend. Shot
used for juxtaposition.
N: Here, we can see a major
criticisms of warfare: its
reliance on an archetypal view
of a man, through gender
representation and
masculinisation of war.
Protagonists of Blessed By
Fire chase sheep in their
spare time with giddy
excitement. As opposed to the
expected archetype of war
preparation.
N: Which, paradoxically,
sustains the prevalence of the
theme of innocence, naivety and
maturation into adulthood in
multiple films.
Pan around the protagonists of
Die Brcke, who are teens
dressed in iconographicallysignificant military wear.
N: An interesting consequence
of this is the surprising lack
of female characters.
Klaus from Die Brcke, asks
for his watch back, symbolic of
their relationship. His
girlfriend looks away with a
look of complete shock seeing
Klaus has chosen to be
indoctrinated into warfare over
sustaining their relationship.
N: Some film analysis have even
claimed that war is surely the
most masculine of genres.
Girlfriend:I want to ask you
something You can ask me
anything, Klaus. This is our
last evening together. Can I
have my watch back?
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Video Audio
Two brothers, Hans and Albert,
are packing to leave their
caretake Mrs Mutz, a symbolic
mother, as Albert packs his
things boyishly and innocentlyas if he was going on holiday.
Themes of adulthood and
childhood are present here.
N: Feminist critics of the war
film, most notably Susan
Jeffords, have argued that the
genre plays a role in the
masculinising process necessaryto the creation of warriors.
Mrs Mutz:I beg you, Hans,
take care of him.
Protagonist of Blessed by
Fire abandons his superior
officer to search for his
friend.
N: Ultimately, these narrative
themes lend themselves to a
criticism of coming-of-age
elements in war films.
Fade to black. Fade to silence.
The three protagonists from
Blessed By Fire appear out of
their cramped dugout.
N: In forming the emotional
context of characters on the
battlefield, setting
Pvt Joker walks through a
burning building in Vietnam in
Full Metal Jacket
N:plays a major role. For
example, it can be depicted as
their personal hell.
Estebn from Blessed By Fire
steps into the frame, looking
out into the foreboding mist,symbolic of his uncertain
future as a soldier, as well as
the literal battle ahead.
N:The director of Blessed by
Fire makes great use of
pathetic fallacy to projectthemes of uncertainty and
foreboding felt by soldiers,
emotionally engaging the
audience on a non-verbal level.
The U-Boat from Das Boot
appears from murky green sea.
The shot is suffocatingly two-
dimensional, with no other
points of attention.
N:Similarly, Das boot draws
attention to the claustrophobia
of the submarine; a physical
representation of entrapment
experienced by the soldiers.
The U-Boat is thrust into chaos
with water spraying into the
cabin & gas pipes bursting open
while crew rush to repair it.
Sound from clip. Narrator cuts
out.
Wolfgang Petersen: There was no
way out.
Stock footage of Vocano filming
Das Boot in very close
proximity to the characters,
portraying the intensity of
facial expressions, thereby
eliciting emotional sympathyfrom audience.
Petersen: Jost Vacano
(cinematographer) developed his
own camera system. He could
walk around in the smallest
spaces. It gave you the feeling
of being inside the submarineall the time.
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Video Audio
Claustrophobic closeups of
troops in the sandy trenches of
Gallipoli
N: Even in other films, the
location itself, such as the
harsh desert trenches...
Cut to a soldier runningdesperately to send a message
to the front line.
N: ...of Turkey, can be atechnique utilised to elicit
emotion.
Talking head shot of Peter Weir
aligned on power points of the
screen. Name & role appear
below.
Weir: You can wander in the
trenches [in Gallipoli] and you
can pick stuff up...
Shot of protagonists standing
in trenches in Gallipoli, as
a parallel to the modern day.
Weir: and theres no one
around. You have one of those
odd moments where you knowthat...
Back to talking head shot. Weir: ...the history that was
in the books did happen.
One of the young soldiers
patrols the bridge surrounded
by total darkness of the night.
N:The visual look of Die
Brcke has a strong influence
from German Expressionism...
Shot continued. The sides and
end of the bridge are dark,alluding that there is no
true way forward for the
soldier.
N: ...as the director utilises
chiaroscuro lighting to, again,psychological isolation
experienced by the soldier.
Cut from talking head shot to
continuation of scene above,
Crew of submarine looking
around in fear straining to
hear the sound of the enemys
destroyer near them.
N:With specificity to Das
Boot, sound plays a large role
in creating the feeling of
tension and anticipation as
well as fear.
Captain orders the descent of
U-Boat, away from enemy vessels
signified by the ever-frequent
sonar ping.
Petersen: The sound in a
submarine movie is...
everything.
Sound from clip lowered.
Scene continued, everyone goes
silent to hear the strains on
the submarines hull.
Submarine crew:We cant hold
the boat Diegetic sound:
Creaking and grinding of the
hull under pressure.
Crew aboard submarine exchange
nervous whispers in an
internally framed shot.
CrewWhat about the torpedoes?
Crew 2: Any minute now...
[distant boom of a torpedo]
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Video Audio
Crew of the submarine whoop and
cheer hearing news of a
successful torpedo strike, but
are hushed by a senior officer.
Only the faint ping of sonarcan be heard.
Petersen: The finest, tiniest
faintest things they hear.
Anything could be very
frightening.
Sound from clip heightenedafter cheering subsides.
British sailors jump from the
burning wreckage of their
destroyers. Their faces masked
by the darkness of the night,
but screaming in helplessness.
N: The sound in itself,
represents the enemy, who are
represented as an imposing
whole, as opposed to distinct
characters.
Previous scene fades into
talking head shot, then into
crew of U-Boat, showing avariety of individuals on
board.
Petersen: This is not about
Germans or English or
Americans, its just aboutpeople.
Talking head shot of Andrew
Kelly (film analyst). Name and
title appear below.
Kelly: These films show the
brutality of war but go
further.
Re-used clip from Paths of
Glorys final scene in which
French soldiers arrive at their
epiphany, realising the Germanpeoples are just like them.
Kelly: By saying that the
ordinary soldier on one side
was equal to those on the other
it provided a new message ofhope.
Protagonist, Pvt Joker,
encounters the female sniper in
the final sequence of the film.
N: Kubrick takes this to
another level in his next war
film Full Metal Jacket...
Joker encounters the female
sniper in the final sequence of
the film who has been wounded,
gasping for her last breaths.
N: ...where the protagonist is
so horrified at the innocence
and helplessness personified by
the female enemy...
Joker executes the sniper. The
viewer is left to interpret his
blank expression whether it was
out of mercy or disgust.
Fade to black
N:who he kills in cold blood
Loud clap of gunshot.
Fade to silence.
Fade in to Paths of Glorys
trial scene, which utilises
tilted two-shots establishing
the hierarchy between the
soldiers and the generals.
Kelly: Paths of Glory is
Kubricks quintessential film
about military incompetence and
the brutality and slaughter it
engenders.
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Video Audio
Closeup of General Mireau and
General Broulard with
oppressive snaring eyes.
Andrew Kelly: Much of the film
attacks the opportunism and
greed of the French High
Command
A General panics and gives the
order for artillery to fire
upon his own men, while others
around him look dumbstruck,
highlighting the absurdity of
warfare and the generals lack
of reason.
General Mireau:Captain
Nichols Order the 75s to
commence firing on our own
positions
-silence-
General Mireau:Captain, do
you fail to comprehend the
meaning of my order?
The captain and his crew view
the luxuries afforded by theirposition. This is reflected
through the warm yellow
lighting on the ship.
N: Disillusionment also occurs
in Das Boot where the crew,knowing of the reality of war,
board their seniors yacht.
The crew are welcomed on board
with a Nazi salute, but they
exchange a knowing glance of
the futility of command.
Senior Official:Gentlemen.
Three cheers for our brave U-
Boat men. Sieg HEIL! Sieg
HEIL!
Scene continued. Foolishly, the
commander mistakes another crewmember for the captain,
revealing a lack of knowledge.
N: Even their clothing reflects
the manner of criticism, thatthe commanders arent aware of
true war.
The lieutenant of the squadron
barks orders to the conscripts,
shot by a handheld camera
promoting a sense of realism.
N:This is apparent in Blessed
by Fire as well. Bauers work
received a great influence from
his previous work with the
documentary form.
An army regiment assembles in
formation.As narrator dialogue ends, the
senior officer attempts to drum
up motivation from his troops.
N: This is strongly evident
through his usage of hand-heldcinematography and some use of
natural lighting.
Scene continued. Themes of
failure of command emerge from
an idealistic rant. The setting
is again a cold muddy hillside,
as reflected by squelching mud.
Lieutenant: (Shouting) Cold
does not exist.
Hunger does not exist.
Only GOD and the FATHERLAND.
Long live the FATHERLAND!
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Video Audio
In the final battle scene of
the film, the protagonist packs
his superiors belongings as he
has been ordered to, but
refuses to carry it.
N: Further on, the protagonist
achieves a moment of emotional
catharsis as the climax of the
narrative, where we see they
have fully rejected authority.
Scene continues.
The protagonists refusal to
take an order escalates to an
argument. Mise-en-scne
indicates a reversal of power
and hierarchy through the use
of a slightly upward tilted
camera angle looking up at the
protagonist.
Protagonist: I have to help a
wounded comrade.
Lieutenant: Get over here! Who
the HELL do you think you are?
Are you refusing to obey an
order? Were losing because of
people like YOU!
Protagonist:No, its because
youre all incompetent!
His rant is interrupted by an
aerial attack. He regains his
authority after diving to the
ground first.
N: Hence this highlights
another evident theme of anti-
war films: the failure of
ideology.
A soldier from Blessed by
Fire, kneels in a submissive
position after he is spotted
outside after curfew.
N: As proposed by Antonio
Gramsci, ideology is an
establishment of a power
hierarchy.
David and other militia memberswalk up to a camp with a
striking red flag, symbolic of
left wing ideology.
Loach: Our countries stood byand watched fascism win. But
these men would today be
trying to break the illegal
Israeli blockade of Gaza.
The conflict carries on until
the evening, where both sides
are exchanging insults towards
each other, causing the
audience to ask are they
really that different?
Protagonist:Hey you! Stalins
sidekick! What division are you
in?
Unknown rival:You dont even
know whos your enemy. You
idiots!
The militia engage in a small
skirmish in a town amidst
civilians, asserting their role
as liberators of the town.
Loach: It was a war in defence
of a democratic government
against fascism.
Scene continued. One of Davids
friends is shot, making the
audience question how much his
life was worth.
Protagonist: (as his friend is
shot) - Coogan! Coogan! No!
Coogan!
Cut to previous talking head
shot.
Petersen: There is something so
interesting about...
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Video Audio
Chief engineer of Das Boot
cowers in a corner hearing
grinding pressure on the hull.
Petersen: ...what is of course,
frightening and shocking.
Talking head shot of Petersen.The shot is sustained, then cut
to a closeup for emphasis on
his words.
Petersen: They though that theywere going to be the big
heroes, and all of a sudden,
they really found out what it
meant to be on a submarine.
An English crowd is galvanised
by the prospect of fighting in
Spain, chanting in support of a
volunteer recruiter
N: Indeed, this epiphany of war
is what spurs much of war
criticism. (Chanting) No
pasaran! No pasaran!
A funeral procession in LandAnd Freedom brings out
elements of life/death in anti
war films.
N: To the soldier, it reallygets them to question What
cause are we fighting for?
Burial scene in Land And
Freedom where a man delivers a
eulogy. David casts a look of
speculation and doubt when he
mentions cause.
Eulogist:And we shall
continue: Its what they would
have wanted. Theyre here with
us, fighting for the same
cause
Land allocation scene of Landand Freedom, where the militia
argue over the course of land
reform, but scales into an
argument.
N: Even for those fightingalongside each other, divisions
can occur.
(Soundtrack of argument
increased to highlight
conflicting ideology)
Talking head shot of Dana
Polan, film critic. Name and
role appear below.
Polan: Without a coherent
ideology to shore it up, the
war film becomes incoherent.
Protagonists of ApocalypseNow traverse a base under
attack, lit in a surreal manner
with red lights and smoke. This
emphasises the distorted,
warped view of the battlefield
that a soldier experiences from
prolonged warfare.
Polan: For example, images thatare overfilled and chaotically
unreadable, narrative
trajectories that fragment into
monadic bits, an experimental
fascination with a sheer
temporality in which pure
duration comes to substitute
for the progress of narrative
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Video Audio
Old documentary film reel used
in Land And Freedom - a self-
referential tool, shown to the
characters as well as the
audience indirectly.
N: Returning to the subject of
verisimilitude, historical
accuracy is sometimes
sacrificed to convey a films
morality.
Attack sequence of Paths Of
Glory.
N: For many filmmakers,
historical fact isnt an end in
itself.
Talking head shot of Ken Loach.
Cut to closeup as he pauses for
emphasis.
Loach: The final battle...
which was modelled on the final
battle...
Final battle of Land And
Freedom at murky dawn, again,an example of the setting
becoming an imposing obstacle
for characters.
Loach: ...of the POUM which
happened over a period of aday.
-Soundtrack of gunfire and
shouting as the militia presses
an attack-
Scene continued, sound
softened.
N: Where many of these films
disregard historical fact to
craft themes to criticise war.
End Title card from Die
Brcke.This happened on April 27th
1945. It was so insignificant
that it was not mentioned in
any military report
N: Bernhard Wicki uses this to
illustrate the futility andinsignificance of the lives
these boys sacrificed.
-Silence to read titlecard-
Fade to black. Fade to silence.
Blanca in Land And Freedom is
is shot in the back.
N: Finally, the true...
inescapable...
Cut to funeral procession shotused earlier.
N: ...theme of war films is
-pause-
Death of submarine crew in Das
Boot as the U-Boat itself
sinks too.
N: ...Death.
-silence for emphasis-
Juxtaposed with images of the
crew singing happily as they
set sail.
Sudden increase in sound as the
crew sing Its a Long Way To
Tipperary, ironically, a
British song.
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Video Audio
Scene continued, the U boat
sails peacefully in calm sea.
Song continues, but sailors
voices are made to seem
distant, almost ghostlike.
Juxtaposition again with thedeath of protagonists in Die
Brcke as a youth is shot off
his perch on a tree and falls
beside some of his friends.
Boys: -screaming indesperation- Jrgen! Jrgen!
-gunfire in background
representing impending their
deaths-
Protagonists of Die Brcke
cheer over a stash of alcohol
they discovered in a river,
while they laugh happily.
Boys: Oh boy! It must have been
the Easter Bunny!
Another Boy: Easter Bunnies
dont bring booze!
Juxtaposition AGAIN, Estebn asa grown man stands beside his
ex-soldier friend who attempted
suicide.
Estebn: (Melancholically)Crazy fool
His words are silence compared
to hospital machinery hissing
and beeping around him.
Younger versions of the same
people sit together, exchanging
their distaste for the food.
Young Estebn: You know what
piss is? This (pours his tea on
the floor) is piss.
The boys of Die Brcke
discover one of their friendswas gunned down by a plane.
N:The one unifying thing, that
ALL these directors have...
Cut to them standing around
their dead friend.
N: ...implemented, is the death
of major characters.
Match cut to Pvt Joker from
Full Metal Jacket looking
down on two of his dead
comrades. Shot revolves to his
squadmates.
Squadmate:Youve gone home now
Semper Fi.
Squadmate 2:Were mean
marines, sir.
Squadmate 3: Go easy, bros.
A youth from Die Brcke cradles
one of his friends.
N: This effectively associates
the genre with tragedy
Scene continued. The line
between life and death is
blurred as well...
Youth:(Softly) Karl, Karl
-Gunfire skitters above his
head- (Shouting) Karl? Karl!
Scene continued, as the youth
wonders whether his friend is
dead or not.
N: ...carrying its emotional
load... such that it highlights
the destructive nature of war.
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A wounded crew member is
carried to a small bed, while
he produces a guttural scream.
N: Any depiction of an atrocity
cannot avoid being an
atrocity...
Estebn carries a comrade intothe infirmary.
N: ...regardless of nationalityand culture and context.
Scene continued.
The camera swirls around
Estban, with a montage of
emergency surgery, the deceased
and soldiers convulsing in
pain.
N: Many of the soldiers in the
infirmary are groaning,
screaming and crying, string-
based music rises to depict
Estbans shrill discomfort of
the overriding theme of death.
He limps out, clearly shaken
onto the quiet street amongstother soldiers like him.
-pause-
N: To conclude, The finalmessage of war films is that
Night combat scene of blessed
by fire, closeup on feet
running through muddy ground.
N: ...in whatever era and in
whatever language, common
themes emerge.
Closeup of youthful U-boat
crew-member of Das Boot, dead
at the submarine base.
N: From the struggle of
maturing into an adult...
Closeup of the femaleVietnamese sniper in pain. N: ...to the depiction of theenemy...
The young boys of Die Brcke
stand in formation as they are
surveyed by a senior officer.
N: ...to failing ideology,
hierarchy and patriarchy...
The captain of the U-Boat sees
his ship sink and dies with it.
N: ...to the final morbid truth
of death.
David sits helplessly on a
donkey-pulled cart beside
Blanca after she has been shot.
N: ...all the films reject war
equally regardless of whether
it attempts to draw out
verisimilitude through...
The militia of Land and
Freedom sing, once again
reinforcing the
characterisation of the group.
N: ...the emotional engagement
of settings, hierarchy and
characterisation.
(Soundtrack softened)
Credits with backdrop from Dr.
Strangelove. Music is highly
ironic, suggesting Well meet
again, is a lie.Fade to black.
End sequence from Dr.
Strangelove with Vera Lynns
Well meet again
Fade to silence
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