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WRITTEN WORK FEEDBACK FORM

MODULE TITLE/CODE: Introduction to Film 1/FLM1001

STUDENT NAME: KELLY DRAPER

STUDENT NUMBER: 40202345

SEMINAR TUTOR: DR LAURENCE BESNARD-SCOTT

1st 2.1 2.2 3rd Fail

Quality and range of ideas √
Use of supporting material √
Argument and structure √
Presentation including √
spelling and grammar
Bibliography and referencing √

First Marker Comments:

Kelly, This is a well-argued learning journal which displays evidence of critical thinking.
You have discussed how your chosen films have influenced each other from a thematic
and formal point of view – except, perhaps The Searchers (see comment). Your
discussion is supported by analyses of sequences and their mise en scène. There are a
few imprecisions in terms of syntax (see corrections). LBS

Second Marker Comments (where appropriate):

External Examiner Comments (where appropriate):

GRADE:

First Marker: _68____ Second Marker: ______ External Examiner: ____

PENALTIES: Lateness: ________ Over/Under length: _____ (5% per day)

FINAL MARK: ________ (Conceptual Mark)

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Exploring Cinematic Influences, Canons and Traditions

How has this film been inspired, influenced and shaped by other films? Referencing the

particular history of cinema- it’s relationship to ‘influences, canons and traditions’.

Don’t recycle narrative but more focus on shots and scenes/sequences. Mentioning form

rather than narrative content.

John Ford’s Western, The Searchers (1956) distributed by Warner Bros, revolves around

characters all of whom are driven by the search for home and family 1. The Searchers has a

typical Western genre narrative as Ford creates conflict between opposing civilisations in a

community built on a code of honour instead of law. Ford was known for his intensive

research prior to each film, for example, when he assigned scriptwriter Frank Nugent ‘about

50 books to read – memoirs, novels, anything about the period 2. This enabled Ford to not only

be inspired and influenced by America’s racist history, the civil war 3, and Frederic

Remington’s paintings4 (for example, A beautiful fight ensued5) but also by Western genre

film’s such as Texas (George Marshall, 1941).√

Westerns have been an important aspect of the history of cinema and commercial U.S

filmmaking since Edwin S. Porter’s The Great Train Robbery (1903)6 as a distinct Western

formula was created. The Searchers was strongly influenced by the traditional Western genre

in cinema as the immense landscapes became an epic ‘Ford Country’ 7 as the open location

represents the ‘vulnerability to savage forces’ 8. Western genres emphasis on political life and

psychology shaped The Searchers character’s such as Ethan (John Wayne), as Ethan’s racist

hatred and motives cover debates surrounding natural blood kinship and its importance 9 to

society. For example, when Ethan’s motive is to kill Debbie, it is due to his changed feelings

1
Kitses, J. Page 94.
2
Anderson, L. Page 242.
3
Kitses, J. Page 103.
4
Buscombe, E.
5
Buscombe, E. Page 61.
6
Bernstein, M. Studlar, G. Page 3.
7
Kitses, J. Page 97.
8
Kitses, J. Page 97.
9
Pippin, R. B. Page 226.
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towards Debbie as he feels she has been polluted or spoiled by the Indians 10. Steiner’s score is

also predominantly shaped by Hollywood’s Classical Western in the 1950s as it recycled the

mainstream cinematic soundtrack traditions. For instance, K. J. Donnelly stated that The

Searchers score was a ‘standard blueprint’ for the Western 11, thus highlighting the impact the

Western genre and therefore other Western films had on The Searcher’s non-diegetic score.

Ford stated The Searchers was a ‘psychological epic’ 12 as Martin (Jeffrey Hunter) and

Laurie (Vera Miles) represented America’s multicultural future 13 whilst Ethan ‘stood as an

icon of reactionary politics’ 14. The realistic and detailed American topography of the

Southwest15 creates a distinctive ‘western’ landscape as the film is shot on location in

Monument Valley, Arizona. Ford’s infatuation with American civilisation, the culture of the

19th Century West and American figures such as Abraham Lincoln shapes Ford’s late work as

there is a common auteur theme: American history. Ford’s films are known for having a

common theme revolved around the American home and ‘finding it, building it, [or] losing

it’.16 For example, Robin Wood stated The Searchers had ‘themes mythically central to the

American consciousness’ similar to many Hollywood films during the 1950s. Thus,

emphasising the impact Hollywood’s film structure had on Ford, and how it not only shaped

the Classic narrative structure of his films but also the themes behind them.

Throughout Ford’s films, it is clear he used form as a language by creating meaning

through the mise-en-scène as Lindsay Anderson stated Ford’s most successful films rely on

mood, not narrative.17 For example, in The Searchers there is a sense of continuous isolation

within his framing, such as when Ethan is framed centrally from within a cave, this has no

narrative motivation, but the interplay between light and darkness creates an ‘eerie sense of

10
Pippin, R. B. Page 241.
11
Walker, E. Page 22.
12
Kitses, J. Page 96.
13
Kitses, J. Page 101.
14
Kitses, J. Page 100.
15
Buscombe, E.
16
Buscombe, E. Page 64.
17
Buscombe, E. Page 67.
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isolation’18. This shot is inspired by silent cinema and directors such as David Griffith as it

mimics the iris shot19. Even though scriptwriter Frank Nugent did state Ford had ‘a wonderful

ear for dialogue’20, he had a more confident grasp of filmic forms, this was due to his early

experience in silent cinema enabling him to tell a story through images 21. Overall, Ford was

inspired and influenced by Silent Cinema, Hollywood and the Western Genre films, which

ultimately shaped the themes, mise-en-scène, characters and score in The Searchers.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 1964), which won the Palme d’Or prize at

Cannes in 196422, is an inquisitive combination of The French New Wave aesthetic and its yet

antithetically also the “Tradition of Quality”23. The film is a tragic love story revolving around

a young umbrella boutique worker Geneviève and an auto mechanic named Guy whom is

drafted to serve in the Algerian War. Demy’s ‘nouvelle vague’ masterpiece 24 has been

inspired, influenced and shaped by other musicals such as Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen,

Gene Kelly, 1952) yet contains unique, rare filmmaking techniques such as the dialogue being

entirely sung,presented through French song which Demy playfully describes as ‘un film en

chantéè’25.√

The opening to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is heavily stylised, heightening its cinematic

aspects as the camera tilts down immersingemerging the audience into a choreographed, rainy

sequence filled with pastel umbrellas contrasting to the dark, grey pebble streets 26. The

umbrellas throughout this scene and the pub scene consisting of the sailor’s seems to not only

be ‘recycled from Singin’ in the Rain’27 but also both have a similar use for the prop. For

instance, the umbrellas primary use in both scenes is to lighten up the scene and create a
18
Kitses, J. Page 98.
19
Buscombe, E. Page 64.
20
Anderson, L. Page 244.
21
Buscombe, E. Page 64.
22
Ridley, J. Page 1.
23
Hill, R. Page 27.
24
Kemp, P. H. Page 1.
25
Boineau, J. M. Page 162.
26
Ridley, J. Page 2.
27
Darren, W. Page 51.
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warmer atmosphere despite the cold rain. For example, the moving umbrella’s in the opening

sequence in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg add character to the frame as they are almost

dancing together in synchronisation. Similarly, throughout Singin’ in the Rain, despite the

umbrella being black, Gene Kelly uses the umbrella to dance with in his musical number

‘Singin in the Rain’. Thus, Demy takes inspiration from Singin in the Rain as he uses his

props such as the use of an umbrella, in similar ways as he creates an emotional warmth and

relaxed atmosphereation to the scene despite the dull weather too.√

Michel Legrand’s soundtrack beginning with “Je ne pourrai jamais vivre sans toi” instantly

sets the mood as we follow the leads into a visually colourful, vibrant world. Demy’s opening

scenes seems to be ‘whittling the Hollywood musical’s subject matter down to the particulars

of daily life’28, however the closing sequence of a cheerful yet melancholic ending contradicts

this. Demy follows the conventions of the Hollywood musicals as the characters express their

emotions through heightened singing numbers. Also, the vigorous Eastmancolor process adds

to the typical Hollywood vibrancy of the film linking the aesthetically-pleasing colour palette

to the classic Hollywood genre that influenced Demy.√

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg uses the conventions of Hollywood musicals to express the

characters romantic feelings, yet mimics Hollywood’s unrealistic representation of true love

among youth in the movies. For example, when Madame Emery (Anne Vernon) reassures her

daughter Geneviève Emery (Catherine Deneuve) that ‘People only die of love in the movies’,

she is emphasising how Guy and Geneviève’s love is more sincere. Not only has Demy’s

‘social realistic opera’ been shaped by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly’s work but has also

impacted modern musicals today such as Chazelle’s La La Land (2017). These films share

common aspects as Ridley stated that Umbrellas of Cherbourg had characteristic’s that were

‘recognisably human’ as it is ‘a universe that fuses the commonplace and the cinematically

heightened’. Overall, the sincerity and surreal aspects of the musical are inspired by the

28
Ridley, J. Page 3.
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tragedy in The UmbrellasSingin in the Rain and thus helped Demy to further inspire directors

like Chazelle. √

Jean Rabier’s vivid, spirited and bold cinematography compliments Bernard Evein’s

exquisite set design and Jacqueline Moreau’s costume design visually, creating a ‘tonal

symphony’29 as the cinematography is colour-coordinated with the ‘interior spaces, clothing,

and seasonal shifts.’30 However, the vibrant sets, costume and colour-palette contradict the

harsh narrative plot as the tragic love story consists of singing sequencesenergetic numbers

with mundane, prosaic conversations, which in hindsight makes the movie appearto be seen

as more similar to a ‘plaintively pitched, neo-realist daytime-soap’. This harsh, sincere

perspective on love is what makes Umbrellas of Cherbourg distinctive from the typical

Hollywood Musical and shows that, even though Demy has been influenced by the genre’s

technique and musicals such as Singin’ in the Rain, he has added his own auteur signature to

his work.√

La Jetée (Chris Marker, 1962) has been influenced by film’s such as Orphée (Jean

Cocteau, 1950) and Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958). which all contain major themes that

have been previously addressed by serious European filmmakers since 1945, such as

‘memory, history, war, identity, loss, desire, and the uncertainty of image’ 31. La Jetée is a

story Marker ‘didn’t completely understand’, 32 and is set in a post-nuclear world revolving

around scientists whom carry out experiments in time travel, narratively told through a clear

voice-over commentary, and visually aided by sharp juxtapositions, rostrum pans and zooms

and dissolves. Markers combination of historic documents and facts juxtaposing with his own

footage, interviews and street reportage captured through his video camera 33 creates what

29
Kemp, P. H. Page 2.
30
Carr, J. Page 1.
31
David Campany.
32
Lupton, C. Page 86.
33
Martin, A. Page 8.
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Argentine theatre creator calls the “Minimal threshold of Fiction.” 34 The story was

unconventionally almost entirely shot through stills photographed from a Pentax camera 35

andwhere these images were described by Philippe Dubois as ‘cinematogram’. 36√

Vertigo fascinated Marker as it covered a common theme Marker uses throughout his

films; memory. For instance, Marker created a multimedia memoir, entitled Immemory in

1997. Marker was primarily known as a documentarist and visual artist, rather than a fiction

filmmaker, due to his perception that filmmaking is a form of writing, using the camera as a

metaphorical pen. This could be due to his passion for writing after World War Two as he

published essays in Cahiers du Cinema and Esprit and wrote a novel in 1953 named Le

Coeur net. Marker’s “multimedia bricoleur”37 trademark has influenced David Bowie’s music

video ‘Jump They Say’ (1993), French video artist Thierry Kuntzel’s La Rejetée (1993) and

Twelve Monkeys (1996),.38 Mmaking Marker be known by American film critics such as

Phillip Lopate as “one of the most important filmmakers in the history of cinema” 39. He

thoroughly explores the ‘themes of time and memory, the personal and the political, travel

and globalization’40 throughout his involvement in the making of over forty feature and short

films from the early 1960’s.√

Vertigo and La Jetée are not only both thematically about memory but also contain further

similarities such as the woman’s hairstyle in La Jetée recalling Madeline’s hairstyle when it

was swirled into a bun. There was also similar flower arrangements in both films at the

narrative point in the story when the heroes both see the women they love for the first time.

The fascination Marker had with Vertigo’s filmic quality was due to its ability to create

meaning through form. Therefore, Marker presents the stills images “like memories of a

film”, thus the shots “take on the weight of cinematic presence”. 41 The Pathéorama, which the

34
Martin, A. Page 9.
35
Lupton, C. Page 90.
36
Lupton, C. Page 91.
37
Martin, A. Page 8.
38
Lupton, C. Page 87.
39
Martin, A. Page 7.
40
Martin, A. Page 7.
41
Lupton, C. Page 91-92.
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stills were captured with, enabled a film strip to be cranked frame by frame through an

aperture42 enabling Marker to control the speed of the stills to create meaning. For example,

the clever use of shot duration and rapid cutting of the stills to build up the intensity at the

emotional heightsbeats of La Jetée foregrounds cinema’s primary illusion: “the illusionary

presence through [naturalistic] movement”. The close-ups of the sleeping woman sleeping

also dissolve and increase in speed until normal duration is established for a few seconds.

Therefore, the woman, like cinema ‘unlocks the past and restores the hero to an int act

moment of a previously lived life’. 43 This is directly inspired from Vertigo as Scottie is

haunted by the memory of Madeline, reliving the memory of her and trying to recreate that

memory. Thus, both films surround a man whom seeks to ‘turn back time by recreating an

image of a lost woman, and who fails’, 44 making time-travel a metaphor for cinema, love and

how we contrast our experience of time itself. This led La Jetée to not only be ‘one of

cinema’s finest meditations on its own nature as a medium’ 45 but also ‘inspired sustained

philosophical and theoretical reflections on the imbrication of photographs and moving

images that it enacts’.46 To cConclude,ing that La Jetée was heavily influenced by films such

as Vertigo which shaped the mise-en-scène, use of editing and themes, enabling the film to

create meaning through form.√

Filmography

 Chazelle, Damien. La La Land. 2017.

 Cocteau, Jean. Orphée. 1950.
 Demy, Jacques. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. 1964.
 Donen, Stanley. Kelly, Gene. Singin’ in the Rain. 1952.
 Ford, John. The Searchers. 1956.
 Hitchcock, Alfred. Vertigo. 1958.
 Marker, Chris. Immemory. 1997.
 Marker, Chris. La Jetée. 1962.
 Marshall, George. Texas. 1941.
 Porter, Edwin. The Great Train Robbery. 1903.

42
Lupton, C. Page 90.
43
Lupton, C. Page 94-95.
44
Lupton, C. Page 95.
45
Lupton, C. Page 87.
46
Lupton, C. Page 87.
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Bibliography

 Anderson, L. (1989). About John Ford. Reprint Edition. London. Plexus.

 Bernstein, M. Studlar, G. (2001). John Ford Made Westerns: Filming the Legend in

the Sound Era. 9TH Edition. Indiana University Press.

 Boineau J, C. (1998). Les 100 Chefs-D’oeuvre Du Film Musical, Marabout, Ailleur.

Belgium. Page 162.

 Buscombe, E. (2000). The “Searchers”. Volume 56 of BFI Classics. British Film

Institute.
 Carr, J. [Online Blog] Studies in Cinema: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Blogger.
 Kemp, P. H. (2001). Stingin’ in the Rain: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Issue 16.

Cinémathèque Annotations on Film.

 Kitses, J. (2007). Horizons West. Directing the Western from John Ford to Clint

Eastwood. New Edition. London. British Film Institute. 92-103

 Lupton, C. (2005). Chris Marker, Memories of the Future. United Kingdom. Reaktion

Books.
 Martin, A. (2008). Chris Marker. Notes in the Margin of His Time. Music and

Performing Arts Collection. Cineaste Magazine.

 Pippin, R. B. (2009). What Is a Western? Politics and Self-Knowledge in John Ford's

The Searchers. Vol. 35, No.2. The University of Chicago Press. 223-253.
 Ridley, J. (2014). The Umbrellas of Cherbourg: A Finite Forever. [Online Article].

The Criterion Collection.

 Walker, E. (2015). Understanding Soundtracks through Film Theory. Oxford

University Press.