Apollo 13 - First Key Scene

Oxygen is running out: 00:58:36 - 01:04:59

Micro Techniques and Relevance:

- The sound creates much of the suspense of the scene as when a problem is presented a crescendo occurs causing the audience to really know something is wrong. This tells the audience that what happened is really serious.

- The location of the scene is as realistic as possible to the real thing and therefore the cramped nature of all the shots is meant to mirror the real thing. Also this has the effect of making the scene more frantic for the viewer to watch.

- The lighting is also very authentic using visual sources such as panels that would be very much like a real capsule.

- As well as this by having limited lighting it enhances the warning lights in the shots.

- Having the voice over of the mission control gives a sense of the voice of God which could be a good representation of how the men saw Houston.

- Hand held camera also helps the enhance the frantic nature of the ship and the steady camera on 'earth' helps to show the feelings in the ship.

- Authentic sound makes the film seem very true to real events.

- When at Lovell's home there is no soundtrack and the only sense of fear is through the acting of his wife. This shows that the events took a while to sink in.

Characterization and Relevance:

- In this scene Gene is given a very authoritative role and this helps to show that NASA had everything under control.

- Having Lovell, the captain on equal terms with his crew mates in this shot could be a way to show the audience that the real crew took no hierarchy in being the leader of the group but instead decided to work equally as a team. 

- With all the men on 'earth' being very similar and hard to distinguishes this could be an effect to show the audience just how many people were involved and one man just blurs into another.

- Only men are shown in this shot which could be a nod towards the time that women were considered to just e the 'characters' who just sat at home crying for their husband.

- Every single character in the scene are real people and no fictional characters are added to create more drama or thrill. This may be down to the fact that Ron Howard felt the events were so dramatic themselves they didn't' need more added.

- Having all real people in the shot is a good way to link the film to the American dream as everyone involved is therefore represented as a successful American.

- Mrs Lovell is a strong character and this is relevant because it shows the audience that it was not only NASA who had to be strong but the whole of America (American dream).

Message and Values:

- The main message in this scene is to show that the idea of achievement is far fetched.

- Another message is that the world is only interested in an event if it is new or a disaster however this is touched on more later in the film.

- The American dream is also a value in this film as it it what holds all the characters together through the resilience they show and their connection with one another.

- The last message I could see in this scene is that the event was scary and that it was very close to having fatal consequences.

Narrative Devices/Features and Relevance:

- There is no obvious restricted narration. However, through the scientific and technical dialogue used by the characters, the audience doesn't 100% know what is going on. This could be a devise used to show how it really felt during the event.

- Suspense is also used throughout this scene with the cutting between Apollo 13 and Houston as this stops the action form one scene to the next and delays answers. This helps to make the events seem more serious and scary.

- The narrative is completely driven by true fact and events making this scene more real for the spectator.

Sources Table

Consumers Demand Ficiton Instead of Fact

Titanic aims to let you relive the experience of the actual event through "cinematic story-telling". This tells me that the film had to create spectator response and a reaction. This therefore leads James Cameron to use cinematic convections such as dramatic irony, suspense, empathy and characterisation. Each of these example can be seen in the film.

Dramatic irony when Mr Lovejoy places The Heart of the Sea in Jacks pocket and only the audience are aware of that and as a result Jack is taken from Rose.Suspense is created through the different stories on the ship whilst it is sinking. Having Jack and Rose fight to stay together, the 3rd class struggle to get to the life boats and Huckly try his hardest to find Rose and then a boat. Empathy is simply created when a montage of different peoples stories are shown as the ship sinks, for example the old couple who stay in bed together and the mother who tells a bedtime story to her children. Characterisation is maintained though the whole film especially through Roses character as she develops through the disaster. First a damsel in distress then a final girl.

Each of these techniques lead to the film creating "true lies" this is due to James Cameron wanting to us as a modern audience to relate to the story "more than mere fact or documents ever could." This shows that Titanic is good representation into the fact that  fact in fiction needs to be modified due to consumer demand.

Lubin, D.M. (1999) ‘Titanic’. London: British Film Institute

Titanic: Real Events vs Ficiton Events

Real Events:

2,227 souls on board

1,178 life boat spaces

1,517 people dies

The band kept on playing until the ship sank

Fictional Events:

1,500 people went into the sea

700 people made it into the life boats

The band kept on playing until the ship sank

6 people saved from water

1 boat came back

"The loss was due to a collision with the iceberg, brought about by excessive speed with which it was being navigated." - Judgement of the Official British Inquiry into the Titanic's sinking, 1912

Grant, R.G., Kay, A. and Kerrigan, M. (2011) History of Britain & Ireland: The definitive visual guide. New York: DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley).

Titanic (Focus Film) - Second Key Scene

Rose is rescued: 02:46:10-02:52:13
Micro Techniques and Relevance?:

- Exaggerated blue makes it really obvious sot the audience that is cold and takes away from the fact it is not a real location, trying to hide the 'home made' part of the film.

- Location looks real, the water used is tinted like the sea and the vastness of bodies makes the set look really big and is hard to take in.

- Cameron may have exaggerated the body count by putting so many bodies in the shot, here he might have a little artistic license over the shot it is most likely exact to real events.

- The camera pans over the large number of bodies creating a horrific effect as they are all dead and therefore James Cameron is just trying to show the absolute dictator Titanic was.

- Soundtrack is barley audible whilst the crew are looking round the bodies for survivors this has been done to show the dead though another sense.

- Long shots one again show the vastness and it also helps for the images to sink in, this scene is used very well as a reality shock for the film.

- The acting in the scenes takes away from the fat of the film as it all about the fictional love story created by James Cameron, therefore this scene shows that the film has a blend of fact and fiction all the way throughout.

- The soundtrack doesn't mirror fact in this scene it only mirror the fiction creates as we hear sad music when we find out that Jack is dead, the made up character. This tells me that throughout the film the only focus wasn't just on telling the fact.

- Slow motion is used to show that the boat is leaving her behind and this shows that the film is trying to create empathy for her and not for the other people who may or may not have been real characters.

- Close up on old Rose so that the rescue scenes concluded with a fictional character. This may be done to exaggerate how little people where saved by the life boats.

Characterization and Relevance?:

- The whole scene should be about all the people needing rescuing however with the fact that James Cameron has created a character who survives, he uses her to show that others don't survive.

- Having the old Rose be shown as soon as her young self is rescued shows that the film was always about her and the that she is important in tell in the audience the truth. We need her to survive to know the truth.

- Rose is a final girl and creating a good role model for children as she is fighter and doesn't give up. She shows the American dream in her resilience and survival.

- The crew who come back are the minor characters of the whole crew in general and this shows that the rescuing of people was a 'minor' job, no one wanted to do it.

- Having Jack die in this scene is key because it helps the create empathy for the character of Rose. However, this could be considered bad as the audience will momentarily forget about the rest of people who have died and aren't fictional.

Messages and Values:

- The values in this particular scene is that the fight for survival during the event was the only thing that could keep you alive. This shown through Rose, who uses the Jacks power to keep her alive as well as her fight to "never let go" of her promise to him.

- The message of the scene is also that fear can make people bad people. By only having one of the life boats come back it tells the audience that the fear of people will change them and not even help humanity when they are capable.

- The main message of the scene is that the whole event was tragic, having a mother holding her child dead in the sea is just a subtle way for Cameron to show the audience that no one was safe: Rich, poor, young, old. 

Narrative Devises/Features and Relevance:

- The fact that the scene is meant to seem like the old Rose is telling the story, means that James Cameron had to focus on her struggle, he couldn't include another persons fight, win or defeat.

- There is no restricted narration in this scene, everything that is shown to the audience is clear to identify and nothing is made subtle or cryptic

- The narrative to this scene is completely driven by the fictional love story created by James Cameron and therefore the story is forced to focus in fact rather than fiction.

Titanic (Focus Film) - First Key Scene

Searching the Titanic: 1:45-7:35
Micro Techniques:

- Screaming, non-diegetic, in the background barely audible, foreshadowing

- Naturalistic lighting, relevant to the fact it is a fake submarine, therefore it is trying to look like a real beam coming from a submarine.

- Image quality changes with the difference between fact and fiction. This may have been done to show the audience the difference between real footage of the Titanic and created footage.

- Soundtrack is quiet and very peaceful to mirror the action of the shot, a sign of resect could have been created by James Horner on purpose.

- Cross fade is used to open the sequence, show that everything is connected

- Foley sound of the submarines added to immerse you into the scene more, make the contrasted footage seem more real to the audience, little room for hint of a lie.

- Only lighting in screen is given off by the submarines, this exaggerated they are deep under the sea.

- Set design is exact to the real thing and makes the audience question what is real and what is created by James Cameron, lines are blurred.

- There's a mix of panning and tracking shots when looking at the submarines, using a tripod.

- Hand held camera is used when showing the effect of a video log, this is also used when real footage is shown of the Titanic taken by James Cameron.

- Actual location is used, much like a documentary , some of the footage of the Titanic is taken by James Cameron himself on his own dives. This may have been done so that Cameron can make the love story between Jack and Rose feel that little bit more real.

Characterisation and Relevance?:

- The scenes shows only men and none have a connection to the Titanic.

- This whole scene only shows fictional characters, this may be so that James Cameron can make the real characters from the flash back sound out be more poignant.

- Fictional characters give fact to the audience e.g ("Where she landed at 2:30 in the morning of April 15th 1912") by doing this James Cameron is entwining the fact and fiction form the very beginning and therefore it becomes known by the audience as his narrative for the rest of the film.

- Very little information is given about these characters, this may be down to the fact that James Cameron doesn't want the audience to focus to heavily on fictional characters other than the ones on the ship i.e Rose and Jack.

- The names of some of the characters on the ship layer on in the film are mentioned however by not going into the detail James Cameron want the audience to get to know them fully in their period (though the flash backs).

Messages and Values:

- From the very beginning the message of the film is that it was a disaster and James Cameron want sot respect it, he is passionate about the subject.

- Although the characters aren't real you can tell that the message is that everyone in the film is somehow connected and effected by the disaster.

- Through the fact there is an American describing the disaster a sense of American disaster is created and therefore linking to American dream. This is reinforced through the fact the main characters are American throughout.

- Another message that could be seen just though this first scene and is then continued throughout is that money is very powerful.  The reason these people are searching the ship if for 'The Heart of the Sea' worth millions and then later on money is reinforced through the use of class.

Narrative Devises/Features and Relevance:

- The narrative of the film is very delicate as the story is told to us by Brock Lovett who has a lot of respect for the ship.

- Although a love story isn't suggested through this scene a sense of foreboding is created by the fact they are searching for 'The Heart of the Sea' I feel this is key as it means that mots of emotion is holding together the narrative.

- Although the scenes shown to the audience are direct and obvious as to what is happening, as an audience were are unprepared for the flashback given to us by Rose.

Thursday 6th October Research

I found some interesting information in the Sight & Sound Magazine about the making of Apollo 13 and it's authenticity. I found this interesting as it shows the want to keep the film real.

Sight & Sound 1995