Our Chosen Directors

From our film research and theme analysis we managed to narrow down what we wanted our film to include and find suitable directors to inspire us.

PETER WIER- An Australian film director

The film we watched that inspired us was ‘Picnic at hanging rock’ (1975) this was his first break through film and atmospheric drama, based on a true story, its is a film made and rejected in America due to its un finished approach to an ending. Known as a key work from the Australian film renaissance of the mid 1970s it was the “first of its kind to gain both critical praise and be given substantial international exposure in the form of productions”

Peter Weirs films are extremely varied in subject and genre, all linked by his use of common themes exploring the actions and behavior of characters who find themselves in unfamiliar or isolating situations. He tends to focus on themes such as forbidden love, clash between two cultures, violence versus pacifism, conformity versus non-conformity, and landscape pieces.”

We thought his work was good to look at for its melancholic qualities in visuals and emotional performance. He used fading and overlapping images with beautiful scenery key things we wish to master. We found that he shoot in a way that allows the nature to overwhelm the characters in scenes in an overpowering way. Camber sands is vast, open and unforgiving so we thought it perfect to play as the second lead character in our film with wind, water, clouds, sun and sand allowed to take over scenes in areas. Weir shoots scenes from all potential angles giving the audience the advantage in understanding the characters full surroundings, sometimes before they themselves do. The audience feel as if they have homed in on a private moment which is extremely appealing and like the reality culture we live in today audiences love to see what is not normally open to them. Other techniques involved moving in and out of focus in a frame and letting the screen go blurry giving the sense that time has passed or being some where different.

Our other inspiring film director is

DAVID LYNCH creates films with overwhelming unpredictability and confusion for the viewer with no intention of explaining the narrative to them its for them to figure out almost. Confusion and surprise run throughout his plots playing with sex, love lust, horror, sorrow etc. Known for being extremely different and avant guard to mainstream film directors we have learnt he has been snapped up by the likes of Gucci and other brand names for promotional adverts. We learnt there was a common theme of sensory over load in the adverts for the consumer to feel and see a brand/ product. It was easy to spot his directing and editing style from the two films we watched translated into the fashion-advertising world. Clever when it comes from horrific eerie films to create desire. The films hit on anger, jealousy, fear, figments of peoples imaginations and dreams. After watching the films you are almost scrambling around for the answer to what the story is to the beginning middle and end of the plot you had just watched, you are left confused in a clever way not in an incompetent way. We want to in the way Lynch has with Gucci input effects to build and break situations so our film is not a stereotypical melancholic love tale and more a piece of art with many layers and meanings.

Lynch uses symbolic props for meaning in an unobvious way, red curtains are often used in his films the same ones in fact. He uses close up raw images and jumpy footage with blunt cuts that is the complete opposite to Weirs style. The director uses different techniques to give the perception of being watched, Lynch does this with lots of TV and CCTV footage particularly with Lost Highway, the effect is creepy. There is an inspirational scene in the desert where a car light shines into nothing ness of the dark sky, and sand skips across the barren plane. He uses fading, jumping overlapping clips, repeating imagery and bright white flashes to build up a love scene that passes through time with a shocking ending to the viewers, of rejection from one lover to the other. The use of editing and building up to the words “You will never have me” Hits the viewers in terms of the plot and the character on screen emotionally.

Lynch stated his films ‘…allows the room to dream…to create mood… to evoke feelings…’