EXAM QUESTION 1 B No country for old men/Captain Fantastic

 Compare and contrast how visual and soundtrack elements ( cinematography, editing, mise-en-scene,  music, sound effects, ) are used in  both films to influence how  audiences feel about characters and the narrative of the film .

The cinematography in No Country for Old Men significantly influences the way the audience interprets what we are shown. an example of this is boots. Boots are a key motif throughout the film; there’s a whole scene where Moss goes to buy some new boots, and Chigurh doesn’t like getting blood on his. In one particular scene, in the foreground, slightly out of focus, are the dead drug dealers boots and they seem symbolic of the old order, worn away by the difficulties of trying to live in such an unforgiving landscape and also the modern world. In the background, the desert stretches - these wide-angle shots of the desolate land are repeated throughout the film, this also gives the added effect of human characteristics being dwarfed and insignificant, this also stresses the harshness of the environment.

However, it could be said the audience is encouraged to feel the opposite about the landscape in Captain Fantastic as the cinematography includes opening shots with extreme long shots of long duration to establish and romanticise the grandeur of the natural world.

Also, the shots of Ben in which he is framed in the rear view mirror in close ups is repeated throughout the film, this conveys his isolation from the rest of the family. 

No Country for Old Men also uses shots and framing to influence how the audience feels about the narrative as neatly all the shots in the scene where Chigurh is in the shop are medium close up and close up of the two men as they talk - the exceptions of this are the close up of Chigurh’s candy wrapper where the camera lingers as it unravels, symbolising Chigurh’s feelings of anger and impatience towards the man unravelling, and the coin, which cuts away before we’ve barely had enough time to see the result of the coin toss, this reflects how quickly the shopkeeper wants this encounter finished as even though he appears slow and nonchalant, he realises he is in the presence of a dangerous man. In this way the shots are furthering the audiences understanding of the scene and the emotions of the characters in it.

In terms of mis en scene, in Captain Fantastic, hair is used as a symbol to mark lifestyle changes and transitions in identity. Ben shaved his beard in one scene and in another Bo shaves his head to demonstrate this. Additionally, the costumes worn suggest they are out of touch with the modern world, particularly in the funeral scene as their brightly coloured clothes contrast with the other people who are wearing black and white, defying traditions - this binary opposite of light versus dark illustrates how separate the family is from the rest of family. The audience is therefore encouraged to view them as different from the rest of society. This idea is further supported by Jack referring to Ben as “some hippy in a clown outfit.” The lighting in the scene where Bo and Rellian are discussing Ben in the basketball court is very harsh, contrasting with the naturalistic lighting throughout the majority of the film. The blackness created here influences the audiences thoughts on their conflicting conversation about whether Ben is “dangerous” not as the lighting encourages the audience to take the situation more seriously and think more. The lighter and naturalistic lighting beforehand added a sense of lightheartedness and this scene contrasts this. 

In No country for Old Men, nearly all the characters wear area specific costumes, rooting them to their location and establishing them as traditional Western characters. An exception to this is Chigurh, who’s costume is dark blue instead of the black of the traditional Western villain. His clothing, as well as his almost comical haircut, imply to the spectator that he is a character that has no place or time. He also stands out against the brown and beige colour scheme of the Western locations.

In Captain Fantastic, the editing is completely continuous, in order for the audience to not notice the cuts when they’re watching, aside from Ben’s hallucinations. This is key to the audience’s interpretation of them. The greek from the editing techniques used in the rest of the film portray these particular scenes as other-worldly. There is a visual softness and choral religious music, adding to this effect.

In No Country for Old Men, every scene is structured around a shot-reverse-shot sequence, as conversations bounce back and forth. Whenever the dialogue take a particularly threatening turn, the shots move closer to each man’s face. This draws the audience closer, resulting in them feel extreme discomfort and danger as they character(s) in the scene are. As the shots move closer, the audience gets a feel as to how the scene is going to conclude. Similarly to Captain Fantastic there are exceptions to this - the establishing shot and the close up of the wrapper, which are both used for effect. It’s also important to note that Llewelyn Moss’ death is not shown on screen. The audience is shown the before and the after, but his actual death is off-screen. This changes the way we are aligned in the movie as for most of it we are following him end his journey. It could also change the way the audience feels about his character, it gives the spectator a chance to step back and evaluate his actions, leaving us to question whether he was a force of good, evil or something inbetween.