Tuesday, 16 December 2014

Clockwork Orange Notes

What is clockwork orange?

  1. In an England of the future, Alex (Malcolm McDowell) and his "Droogs" spend their nights getting high at the Korova Milkbar before embarking on "a little of the old ultraviolence," while jauntily warbling "Singin' in the Rain." After he's jailed for bludgeoning the Cat Lady to death, Alex submits to behavior modification technique to earn his freedom; he's conditioned to abhor violence. Returned to the world defenseless, Alex becomes the victim 
    of his prior victims.

    NOTES :-

- Opening scene - three men on sofa one man standing, in long black room full of mannequins with coloured wigs on
- Naked mannequins fit together to make a table.
- Homeless man singing "one thing I could never stand was a filthy old man singing" - narrator
- The gang kills and beats the homeless man with whips and sticks 
- Grand music - derelict casino, rape scene, constrasting
- Crashing of the casino and fighting when the music gets louder and faster
- Fast car scene - obvious green screen, non Diagetic sound of car 
- Sign of 'HOME' lit up as the men get out of their car, shot of them sneaking up to the grand house
- Modern and futuristic house for that era
- The men ask to use the telephone and say they're a been an accident, they grab the owners and beat them - kick the man and tape up the woman. They trash the place and the CD rack ("SINGING IN THE RAIN") 
- They cut of the women's red jumpsuit and make the man watch as they rape the wife/partner.
- Pulls a pint of milk from a mannequins tits
- Main male character has false eyelashes on one eye.
- "Oh bliss. Bliss and heaven"
- Cuts to weird montage
- Mum knocks on his door like a kid. SHE HAS PURPLE HAIR?!?
- Snake on bed, Beethoven framed on wall.
- Combination on his door
- Walks in underwear
- Man in room talks to Alex and keeps finishing his sentences with 'yasss'.
- Says he's up to no good, lies him down on the bed. Grabs his balls, Alex gets up in pain.
- Cuts to scene of girl sucking on an ice lolly - phallic imagery
- Alex walks round a record store - see soundtrack of 2001.
- Two girls beside Alex sucking on ice lollies
- fast paced threesome sex scene
- Cut to the men discussing in front of defaced art
- cuts dims hand after pushes him into a river "Now they know who's leader"
- go to rob a rich lady at her home where she own loads of cats 
- Pop art of graphic scenes on her wall in lounge
- Penis ornament "Naughty naughty you filthy..." , rocks it back and forth 
- Fights her with the ornament
- Smashes the ornament head down into her mad knocks her out - flashing image of a smiling vagina - Yonic imagery
- Leaves Alex behind for the police
- Interrogated by the police, pushes down on his broken nose, blood on the white walls
- "This is the end if the line for me. The end of the line, yasss" Detective (Man in Green)
"Your a murderer Alex" 
Spits in face like another crude sexy act
- Alex goes to prison, enters room filled with boxes
- The police confiscate his things and keep the things they like etc choc and cigs 
- Plice inspect him when he's naked - getting what he deserves, humiliate others and gets humiliated back
- Cuts to priest teaching the prisoners that they will go to hell for what they have done
- "I would not be controlled. I was a wayward child..." singing like a hymn
- Studying the 'big book' BIBLE
- Intertexual reference of Jesus on cross as seen previously in the film
- Alex imagining himself as if he we're in bible times. Actually imagining himself more with the ladies back then
- Calls the prisoners by numbers - dehumanising them like in 'Full Metal Jacket' (INTERTEXTUAL reference to Stanley Kubrick)
- pleads to Father to go through a technique that let's him out of prison quickly "Be patient have faith in The Lord"
- Graduation song as New Minster of Interior comes to prison  - Pictures of naked women in Alex's wall, a cross, bust and picture of Beethoven
- "He's enterprising, aggressive, out-going..." "He'll make a good one"
- "SHUT YOUR FILTHY HOLE YOU SLUM" says a Guard
- Lodovico Treatment - Alex is moved to a place outside the town centre to be reformed into a better man
- Dr Alcott welcomes Alex
- Dr Brown checks on Alex "we're just going to show you some films"
- In cinema, bound in straight jacket, held  his eyes open, made to watch film of violent beatings, rape
- 6 or 7th film he began to feel sick but couldn't stop watching the film - 'deep feelings of terror or helplessness'
- "Your becoming healthy that's all" Dr Brown
- Video of Nazis marching set to happy tunes, "I have truly done my best to do it their way" - Alex
- Ludwig Van Beethoven set to horrible footage makes him plead for forgiveness, "ITS A SIN! ITS A SIN" referring to the use of the music for the footage, that's the thing he rejects "ITS NOT FAIR"
- "IM CURED! PRAISE GOD!"
- Alex stands on the stage with a spotlight like he's an ACT, FREAK, NOT PART OF SOCIETY
- Gets taunted on stage and abused to make him fight back "IM GONNA BE SICK"
- Makes him lick his shoe. He does, no retaliation 
- Naked woman on stage to woo him, taunt him, see if he attacks
"She came towards me ...With the light like heavenly brace"
- "Enough, thank you very much" says the Doctor
- "I wanna marry a lighthouse keeper" song
- Greets his family, father scared of him hitting, Mum dressed in mini dress
- Lodger renting room eating crisps - Diagetic sound "Your back to make misery to your lovely parents" 
- Alex can't handle to confrontation - feels sick "Would you like me to make you a nice cup of tea son?" mum says 
- Alex leaves cut to him walking down the river Thames 
- Same homeless man repeats "Can you spare some copper me brother?" - Alex gives him money- He recognises that he beat him up and drags him to him homeless friends - Homeless people beat him up, "It was old age having a go at youth"
- Dim helps him out - police officer- picks him up and takes him through the woods. Gets punished for what he's done in the past. "they don't call me Dim no more" - Drowns him whilst beating him, non-Diagetic gong to beatings
"A bit more he's still kicking"
- Cut to "HOME" sign - back to his former victims - in the rain, thunder 
- Diagetic breathing of someone else working out who comes into framing
- Victim whose a man in wheelchair - recognises the victim and the victim recognises him as a 'victim of the new technique' "you come here and I thought you were a victim" says man "draw a bath for this young boy"
- Cut to Alex humming in the bath - SINGING IN THE RAIN, same song that he sung last time he was there, victim
recognises it, has a flashback, makes weird stroke face
- Cut to Alex eating spag bol in the victims house
- "Good evening sir!"
- "Good evening?"
- BLANK -
- "Food good?
- "Yes"
- "Wine?"

- Becomes the victim of his victims
- "Please you appreciate good wine?" says the victim 
- "I phoned some friends...they wanted to 
help you"
- A man and women come over to visited and are interested in his case, "I'm very fond of music...it just so happen that the background music was playing Beethoven"
- He can't listen to the ninth Beethoven symphony
- "I still very miserable" says Alex "I can't see much in the future. I feel like something very terrible is going to happen to me"
- Alex flops down on his spag bol - cut to waking up in pain - they play 9th sympathy - want to endure pain in him, want him to suffer like the victim did with Singing in the Rain.
- Alex has deep thoughts of suicide - jumps out window, doesn't die, left in full body cast, let's out groan, gets woman groan back, doctors come out from having sex
- "What make you think you are welcome?" Alex says to his parents
- Governemnt drove him to commit suicide
- Tracking shot of psychiatrist walking in
- Shows him slides and he asks about a dream of 'doctors playing with his brain'
- Comes out with random responses
- "You seem well on your way to making a full recovery" says Psychiatrist
- Gets a visit from Minister of Interior who feeds Alex like a father to a son
- "They would've been glad to have you dead and blame it on the government" 
- "What job and how much?" Alex asks abruptly.
 - Ending of Alex listening to the 9th symphony and he goes back to be just as crazy if not worse
- Completely used as a political tool
- Back to his old ways

Tuesday, 2 December 2014

Tuesday 2nd December Lesson

First, we will watch the film 'Full Metal Jacket' by Stanley Kubrick.

Then, you will answer the following questions. You may, of course, refer back to your blogs.

Reception Theory:
- Was this film provocative, throwaway or intellectually demanding? Why?
- What is the preferred reading of this film?
- If you took a negotiated/oppositional reading, what was it and why?

Central Imagining
- Choose two scenes where Kubrick combines all the elements of production: Mise-en-Scene, cinematography, sound and editing, to create a 'central-imagined' response.
- Choose two scenes where you took a more 'a-central imagined' response. What extra-textual information made you feel that way?

Alignment
- Which two characters did you align with most? Why? How did the director make you feel this way?
- Name all the characters you felt allegiance to. What extra-textual features made you feel this way?