The Desperation of the Main Character Henry Barthes in the Tony Kayes Detachment Film - Movie Review Example

In what ways do photography, editing and breaking the fourth wall successfully review the desperation of the main character Henry Barthes in the Tony Kaye’s detachment film. University Student Id Course Date Abstract The essay is primarily aimed at exploring the different literature related to the research question: In what ways do photography, editing and breaking the fourth wall successfully review the desperation of the main character Henry Barthes in the film detachment by Tony Kaye. The film detachment is a drama film of the year 2011 that was directed by Tony Kaye where it is centered on the teacher and his daily activities that do surround him. The movie took place in New York where the director made use of Henry aiming at proving the satire to the American education system. The director of the film has made use of the close-up shots the moment Henry is addressing the audiences showing the face of desperation. Henry was trying to explain while demonstrating using facial expressions the desire for teachers to make a change in the education system but in vain. The topic is relevant in the film as Tony Kaye has made use of editing, photography and breaking fourth in the process of communicating the theme of desperation in the film. In the essay, the uses of photography, editing, and movements in film production will be explored. Besides, the relationship existing between the protagonist and the other characters, mental struggle, and contradictions in the movie are explored. Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 3 Section 1: the use of photography 4 Section 2: the use of Editing 8 Section 3: the use of Movements the film 11 Analysis: 14 Relationship between the protagonist and other characters in the film 14 The mental struggle of the protagonist and reason for that 16 Internal and external contradiction, and finally combination of them in 17 Conclusion 18 References 19 Addendum 22 Introduction Watching detachment by Tony Kaye makes on have a view of struggle in the American education system. The theme of struggle and helplessness surrounds the whole movie where the characters seem to struggle and have no way out. Socially Henry Barthes is unsocial and does not date making his life full of struggles and of no taste forcing him to try to detach himself away from the world by choosing his way of life. Henry Barthes shuns any emotional connections where he does not stay for long in one school making him fail to create bond with his colleagues and students where he seems to be lost and troubled. Section 1: the use of photography Photography helped in communicating desperation theme in detachment Tony Kaye made use of photographs in the process of communicating the theme of desperation that dominates the film. Using photographs is crucial in the film as they ensure that you learn about each part of the film itself using photo. The photos of the main character have been used in the film aiming at communicating state of desperation that was present. However, if the camera is left in a full auto mode for a few clicks of the dial, good photos could be obtained (Metz, 2005). When selecting a roll of a film to put in a camera, the ISO speed of the camera is effectively set; thus you cannot change that film unless you have finished. In detachment film, the use of photography played crucial role in communicating various themes. Screen capture1: showing the use of photography in communicating desperation Detachment film made use of photograms to ensure that the characters could be shown the emotional stress they were going through. For instance, in the photographs taken in the film showed the main character as a victim of situations where he was in bad terms with the world. Through the use of photographs the necessary emphasis were made in the film where the theme of desperation was best communicated through the use of photographs. Therefore, photography was used in communicating to the audience where photographer can identify the possible mistakes he or she may make during the actual photo taking, and there they are able now to identify those mistakes and correct them appropriately (Pink, 2001). The film made use of Long shot, Close-up shot and Medium shot in the process of ensuring that the desperation theme is communicated in the right way. Communicating struggle in the film Photography has been used in the film to communicate the kind of struggle that the main character was experiencing. The struggle theme could be communicated through the use of facial expressions that could make the audience learn the kind of emotional stress that the character was going through. Screen capture 2: showing the struggle of Henry Barthes Through the use of photography Mr. Barthes has been shown expressing his emotional stress. The emotional struggle can be clearly shown in the picture where he is shown crying and facial expressions expressing life challenges and emotional feelings that were disturbing. It is through the use of photos that we realizing the way Mr. Barthes was facing numerous struggles in the film. The use of photography communicated the emotional journey that Mr. Barthes was going through as the main character in the movie where he plays the role of a teacher in the movie. Through the use of photos the interactions of Mr. Barthes as the main character with the students. Mr. Barthes is shown helping the students try to change their lives where he faced numerous challenges in motivating the students learn. Despite the rudeness of the students Mr. Barthes is shown enduring the challenges and applying the necessary efforts to ensure that the students could be in a position to understand the need to get serious with studies. The students did not seem to realize the importance of education where medium shots were used in the process of showing the level struggle that Mr. Barthes was going through in the process of restoring the situation in the school. High-angle shot and Low-angle shot has been used in the film to help in communicating the struggle them in the detachment film. Tracking has been used in the process of following the struggle behavior of the main character where his behavior and the encounter with the rude students is tracked through the use of photographs. In the film, Tony Kaye was establishing shot and focus ensuring accurate focus of the main character to put the audience in the shoes of the main character. Besides, through zooming Tony Kaye managed to make the characters in the movie especially the main character communicate the different situations he was going through. This assisted in putting emphasis on the various challenges that were being experienced in the movie (Banks, 2008). Achieving quality Tony Kaye made use of photography to achieve quality of the film in the process of ensuring that the desperation of the main character was properly communicated. Through the use of Eye-level shot Tony Kaye managed to produce a high quality film that ensured proper communication of the various themes in the movie. Ensuring quality view assisted the audience to keep track of the changes in emotional struggle where state of desperation that existed among the various characters in the movie. Screen capture 3: showing the use of photography to achieve quality Tony Kaye made use of photography in the whole film to achieve high quality movie. Through the use of sensor of a camera an expensive imitation in the roll of the film was possible assisting in achieving quality. The colors found on the photos taken are most appealing to the eyes more than in the digital, since a roll of a film is not usually limited to the restrictions as a sensor (Balázs, 2000). Tony Kaye made use of photos to capture the purple, red, blue and also the brown color without actually losing its original colors. Tony Kaye managed to achieve dynamism in the film through shooting the film using different ranges where zooming proved to be important in ensuring dynamism in the film (Reisz and Millar, 2001). Tony Kaye found that the film was much sensitive and also better to handle as compared to the digital camera used. The photos which are produced through the film shooting are usually much smoother as compared to the photos which are shot on digital. Moreover, this photo is a good example of showing how the dynamic range is better placed with the film (Jacknis, 2008). It is quite good to have photos which have physical copies so that you can be able to frame and then hang the photos just around the house. Therefore, the photography films have facilitated an easy way to obtain the physical appearances of the main character. Screen capture 4: showing how photography can be used to achieve dynamism Section 2: the use of Editing Determining meaning of film Tony Kaye in the film detachment made use of editing to ensure the audience can grasp the meaning of the various themes communicated. Rhythm is used in the detachment film assisting in determining and ensuring proper communication of the film message. Also, the detachment film has achieved continuity through editing of the relevant information concerning the main character and his experience the pace of the narrative is achieved (Carroll and Swaminathan, 2000). Editing has been utilized as an intellectual function where it can be used in ideological assertions that are related to emotional appeals of the main character. Editing has proved to be useful in the detachment film as it has assisted in ensuring that the film production objective can be attained (Piech and Morris, 2005). Controlling the speed Tony Kaye made use of editing to achieve speed in the detachment film thus assisting in communicating the desperation situation of the main character. Editing is said to be determined by the speed at which a certain film is moving, where the editor plays a significant role in the determination of the shooting duration taken. However, the longer the duration of shooting the slower the shooting speed as the events of photography occur because the shooting duration affects the speed of the shooting process. Besides, the editor can also determine the event which goes in or the event which should go out of the sequence (Reisz and Millar, 2011). Importantly, the kind of edits that exist between the film shots are mostly determined by the speed. In various situations, editing provides an individual who is a photographer with the necessary information concerning the subsequent events. The flow of information in the detachment film was made possible through editing the film. Ensuring illusion of unity of the film The detachment film has achieved unity in the communication of the various themes through the use of editing. The emotional and desperation characters of the main character were communicated proper as editing ensured flow of events in the move helping in linking the different evens. The editing explains the kind of relationship that exists between the shots and the ways in which they are combined in the detachment film. Duration of shot Tony Kaye used editing to create the space of narrative and also to establish the necessary time for narrative (Gunning, 2006). Screen capture 5: showing illusion of unity of the detachment film The relationship that may exist between various shots in the detachment film can include; the graphic, rhythmic, and also temporal relationship (Lindgren, 2010). The detachment film made use of specialist for the purpose of ensuring that during every take, the objects do not change positions, and also to make sure that the actors deliver their lines on the same beats (Bordwell, Thompson, and Ashton, 2007). Also, editing normally based on ideas obtained from different angles aiming at providing useful and basic information focusing on what is happening instead of focusing on the angle which has changed. The detachment film ensured variations in both light and color occur from shot to another shot, can end up breaking the continuity of the cuts hence ensuring a high-contrast and color balance. Screen capture 6: showing the use of editing to screen direction in the film. Through editing screen direction in the film the main character is extended from left to right, then automatically the same characters will move left to right in the next shot since this is how the concept of screen direction is perceived in communicating the film themes. Cutting on the action is a rule whereby the terms of cutting, which allows editing to be involved in the action which is occurring (Davenport, Smith, and Pincever, 2011). The important thing in cutting on the action is making use of shots which match the actions from a shot to another. Section 3: the use of Movements the film Tracking shots Detachment film has made use of movements in the film production to track shots in te process of capturing the desperation theme. Tony Kaye used movements towards and way from camera to communicate the desperation theme that was associated with the main character. In moving sideways the tracking shots, the camera usually moves forwards, backward or may move sideways. A photographer can track shots in forwards to move through space, to construct intensity in a close up, or to show their point of view concerning a certain shot (Hall, 2000). On the other hand, tracking backward can help the photographer in revealing more information related to the main character. However, the tracking shots was better used in the detachment film especially when zooming out, or make use of a camera with wide angle lens; thus the tracking shot will look more dramatic, and therefore the camera shake will be less obvious. Screen capture 7: showing the use of tracking shots Detachment film made use of the sideways tracking shot to scan across a certain scenario in the movie (Siemann, 2005). Tracking shots in the film made the movie much smoother and more appealing. Also, the photographer in the detachment movie made use of a system such as a guide track which allows the running of the camera on rails (Aitken, 2013). Besides, the detachment film has made use of movements to ensure sequencing shots in the film. The photographer in the film took sequence shots, whereby a continuous camera movement is used instead of editing the shot. However, the photographer should plan well about the shot, because there are various great sequence shots. In the case of a crane shot, the camera usually moves vertically, above or across the action (Ruby, 2000). Sequencing shots in the detachment film assisted in achieving the actual motion can be easily captured and then downloaded into the computer in the exact time; therefore, rapid results are usually required in the process of creating the animation. Screen capture 8: showing use of movements to achieve sequencing shot Movement has also been used in the detachment film to zoom through the change of length of the lenses to enable an object to appear either further or near the frame. Video cameras in detachment ensured zooming as they developed various features enabling zooming that can include zooming manually and speed zooming (Lin, 2007). Movement in the detachment film allows for pedestal where there are usually two types of the pedestal which are; the pedestal up and the pedestal down. Pedestal up involves moving the camera up while the pedestal down usually involves moving the camera down. Screen capture 9: showing the use of zooming in the film Analysis: Relationship between the protagonist and other characters in the film Henry Barthes plays the leading role as the protagonist where he gives a notable contribution in the movie as a substitute teacher where he faced numerous challenges in the process of establishing relationships. Henry Barthes is shown in the movie as a talented teacher with the ability to connect with students, but he buried his talent. He spent his life as a substitute teacher where he avoided emotional connections by failing to stay somewhere for a long duration that could make him establish a relationship with the colleagues or students Screen capture 10: showing the social struggle of Henry Barthes In the movie, he seems very helpless righteous where he is dedicated to change the situation he finds the students at. The school system did not allow the protagonist to establish good relations with other characters. Henry is shown wondering how he could change the students who were not willing to learn despite his efforts to change the situation. The other teachers seem to face challenges in the process of establishing a relationship with the students worsening the situation in the school. For instance, Lucy Liu who is the frustrated counselor without justification called one student a shallow creature suggesting that she could go for in life. Barthes has a unique understanding of the existential angst and bitterness makes him reach the hopeless in the school better than others. However, he failed to establish the necessary relations and attachments that could assist in changing the school due to his temporal nature of his job. The film has portrayed an environment that is very hostile and grim full of student misconduct. The protagonist tried to establish a close relationship with students aiming at changing them, but they showed very little chances of change. Besides, the relationship existing among the teachers and the students is challenging the students are becoming uncontrollable despite their hopeless situation making it challenging for the teachers to continue being in the school (McCrea, 2007). Only the protagonist who seem to have the unique character that could withstand the rude behavior of the students. Screen capture 11: showing existential angst and bitterness The mental struggle of the protagonist and reason for that The protagonist in the movie is shown to be a struggle trying to adjust to the new school environment full of rude students. He seems to avoid emotional connections with the students. Henry Barthes is struggling with the past as he is psychologically challenged by the past. Besides, in the new school, he is also troubled by the students where he was to ensure that the students are transformed. Henry finds a runaway teen who is also lost realizing that he is not alone in the death and life struggle in the process of living in the loveless and vicious world. The protagonist is shown in the film struggling with marital and professional issues where he is committed to helping the students who are lost and hopeless. The students are facing challenging situation due to the missing parents and the increased allegations concerning sexual misconduct. Henry Barthes is trying to hide the pain and real problems especially in losing his morals involving the voices of the devil. The protagonist is shown running away from reality where he seems to be covered by a huge curtain that hides him from facing the truth. The major curtain that has been hiding the protagonist from the truth is primarily his ego. However, at some point, the protagonist is shown finding his way the moment he met the young lost soul where he started embracing future. Henry Barthes tried to construct his life to be able to live in the society where he tried to function in the society without necessary being part of the society. The protagonist does not have a permanent job where everything about him is minimal. His flow of words can express the thoughts of the protagonist during a conversation where he seems, to be honest, and sharp. Screen capture 12: showing mental struggle of the protagonist The struggle of the protagonist and the social life he chose makes him look like a living dead. Also, life becomes a hell for the protagonist after his mother committed suicide in his early ages when he was still a kid. The death of his mother seems to be a traumatic experience that made him chose to detach himself from the world (Brown, 2015). Life was playing a joke on the protagonist, but he did not go mad like the grandfather or decided to commit suicide like one of the students who killed himself after realizing that he was a victim of bad life joke. Henry shut down from the world and tried to quit himself from the world. As a result of the protagonist viewed himself as an empty vessel due to the social challenges she was facing making him be traumatized by the psychological stress he went through. The nature of his social life made his life in his world with no close connection with anyone. Internal and external contradiction, and finally combination of them in The external contractions in the film are mostly under the radar, the cinephiles were pretty happy when the Tribeca film festival announced the addition of the film detachment to its lineup. Tony Kaye was not only the cast top notch but also he was the British provocateur thus he was the filmmaker behind the controversial of American History. However, in the interim, the both internal and external contradictions have been much tough, thus making it difficult for the film detachment. Since detachment was the first narrative film in the year 1998, it greatly interfered with the time when Star Edward Norton eventually took over the detachment film and then edited it in his way without even consulting the director (Parton, 2016). However, Tony Kaye subsequently made a change in the film, therefore placing ridiculous ads in variety, and also he tried to remove his name from the film detachment and replace with the Humpty Dumpty. Edward Norton still went ahead to accept an Oscar nomination for his performance while Tony Kay ended up being poisoned in the director jail for almost a decade. The internal contradiction in the film can be communicated by the face that henry Barthes has commitment of ensuring change of the students but in the film he is not much concerned with going through with the students in classroom. Besides, the students seemed very rude and violent to henry but they have the courage to tell him that they will miss him after he has left their school. Also, despite the social challenges faced by henry he is seen as the role model for the students, this is contradiction as no reasonable man could wish to live the life of henry. Conclusion The tactics employed by Kaye seemed to be quite obvious, even though the biggest wastage here is usually the cast, who are totally dedicated to the kind of the information that Kaye would think that he was going to get. The experienced ideas of Kaye seemed to affect his narratives at every time. Lastly, Tony Kaye made two quotes about detachment on his document of drama. One of the quotes was from Albert Camus, while the other one was from Edgar Allan Poe. The both quotes contained the information about the happenings in the film of Kaye. The film failed to address the issue of hopelessness in the students and the necessary policies that needed to be employed in the process of solving the problem. References Aitken, I., 2013. Film and reform: John Grierson and the documentary film movement. Routledge. Balázs, B., 2000. Theory of the Film; Character and Growth of a New Art. Banks, M., 2008. Visual anthropology: Image, object and interpretation.Image-based research: A sourcebook for qualitative researchers, pp.9-23. Bordwell, D., Thompson, K. and Ashton, J., 2007. Film art: An introduction(Vol. 7). New York: McGraw-Hill. Brown, T., 2015. Teachers on Film. In Popular Culture as Pedagogy (pp. 49-66). SensePublishers. Carroll, G.R. and Swaminathan, A., 2000. Why the Microbrewery Movement? Organizational Dynamics of Resource Partitioning in the US Brewing Industry1. American Journal of Sociology, 106(3), pp.715-762. Davenport, G., Smith, T.A. and Pincever, N., 2011. 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Springer Berlin Heidelberg. http://septemberfilm.nl/film/persmap/1339161395056_3358073d0adbcaf62ba4b0897ee990c7.pdf’ http://entertainment.time.com/2012/03/22/detachment-hey-teacher-leave-them-kids-alone/ http://www.npr.org/2012/03/15/148595402/a-public-school-drama-with-detachment-at-its-core https://lostinthecloudblog.com/2012/07/16/some-thoughts-on-detachment-tony-kaye-2011/ https://ufilmanalysisrobinson.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/detachment/ http://www.filmjournal.com/content/film-review-detachment Addendum Screen capture 1: showing the struggle of Henry Barthes Screen capture 2: showing the use of photography in the film Screen capture 3: showing the use of photography to achieve quality Screen capture 4: showing how photography can be used to achieve dynamism Screen capture 5: showing use of editing to achieve illusion Screen capture 6: showing the use of editing to screen direction Screen capture 7: showing the use of tracking shots Screen capture 8: showing use of movements to achieve sequencing shot Screen capture 9: showing the use of zooming in the film Screen capture 10: showing the social struggle of Henry Barthes Screen capture 11: showing existential angst and bitterness Screen capture 12: showing mental struggle of the protagonist Read More