Marxist Film Theory

'Marxist film theory is one of the oldest forms of film theory. Sergei Eisenstien and many other soviet film makers in the 1920's expressed forms of Marxism through film. In fact the Hegelian dialectic was considered best displayed in film editing through the Kuleshov experiment and the development of montage.'
This theory focuses on the ideas of capitalism and society. Although my short film refrains from bringing politics to topic, it does however underpin the attitudes of society. A positive, open minded attitude in relation to culture is arguably one of the most important messages that my film could contain. It focuses on equity of a variety of cultures as well as ethnic and perhaps religious values too. Another interpretation of my film could be the idea that it disagrees with the theory in terms of individual control and power, in more detail the influence of one person or culture, whereas my film aims to emphasise the alikeness of importance of any ethical values of cultures.

Location // Filming

 Sikh Temple -

In order to create a great short film I need to consider location for filming. Therefore I have decided to shoot some scenes at the Sikh temple for emphasis on religion in relation to the Asian side of my short film. The same way for the British culture I will be filming Georgia in a Christian Church.

I will be uploading photos throughout my filming process with images of the location too.

Since Raveena is Sikh, I felt that it was completely necessary to use this as part of my filming location. The image on the left is a photo of the main Prayer Hall at a local 'Gurdwara'.
I visited this temple on the day of Diwali (an Indian celebration) and took a few photos for my blog. When I make my film, I will be focusing the religious scenes in this room, so I feel that it is important that the significance of this room is clear, and that the location I am filming in is understood too.

Mood Board - Collage of Inspirational images

Here is a collage of inspirational images that I took from my visit to the Middle East. I have included elements from various parts of my visit; including the journey on arrival, food, scenery, the Jimmy Choo store at the Dubai mall, (and the words 'Jimmy Choo' in Arabic), images from 'The one and Only Royal Mirage' as well as time at Madinat Dubai. When I create my short film I will be keeping in mind my favourite aspects of my visit in regards to the culture of the city, so that I can highlight key variations in the two cultures that I will be comparing.

Looking at cultures - The Middle East // Further Inspiration

Visiting Dubai, the United Arab Emirates:

Earlier this year my sister immigrated to Dubai (UAE). 

After visiting the UAE I was fascinated by its vast culture and bright scenery. When I started making my short film I considered including elements of my visit in my final film. I am still to come to a conclusion on whether or not I will actually do this, due to the fact that it needs to fit with my film and I am not sure how I will place my visit clips into my film. However, here are some of the clips from the things I got up to: 

Above is a video I took of the Dubai Marina. This is one of the central elements of the city. It is surrounded by yachts and apartments making it a fun place to be. Everything is new, nothing is old. 

This is a clip I took of Dubai from the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. As you can see Dubai was built on desert, however this is the only view that the desert is visible from as when you are on the ground, you cannot tell the difference!

This is inside the marina, the view from Elle's (my sisters) apartment. I took this to show the cleanliness and busy atmosphere of the city. The city is still under constant construction, and the traffic is very similar to that of India.

Here is a shot of Dubai from above. This is an image used to show the intensity of the bright lighted city which is visible through the aeroplane. 

This is a clip I took from the 'Yacht Club' Dubai's prosperity had never been more noticeable than this moment. In this moment I was completely mesmerized.  

Here is a photo of the view from the Burj Khalifa, allowing the world built by Emirates to be increasingly clear. 

Although Dubai is a new place and has little historic platform, after observing the Arabic culture, I was motivated to base my film on way of life. This is how I came to a decision to do a culture comparison as it is interesting and I learnt something new. 

I hope this post makes my filming inspiration clear, as this is a little insight into my influence.

Research into film posters

What are film posters? 

A film posters is used to advertise or promote a film. Studios often print many posters, in various forms and sizes with content tailored to suit a specific group of people (audience). More often than not they will contain one main image as the central focus of attention, which will be surrounded by text. Today, most of the posters will feature the famous actor or actress that will be starring in the movie being promoted.

When film posters first came around, they were not used as they are today. They were produced exclusively for the use of theatres that the film would be distributed in. Once the film had been shown, the posters had to be returned to the distributor. In the USA, film posters were often returned to a nationwide organisation called the NSS or the National Screen Service. This organisation is significant because they printed and distributed the majority of film posters for studios between the years of 1940 to 1984. Films at this time could however stay in motion for several years.

Some notable film poster artists include: 

- John Alvin: e.g. Blade Runner, The Lion King

- Richard Amsel: e.g Raiders Of The Lost Arc, The Sting 

- Saul Bass: e.g Vertigo, The Shining, Love in the Afternoon 

- Reynold Brown: e.g Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman, Creature From The Black Lagoon 

- Robert McGinnis: e.g. Casino Royal, Breakfast at Tiffany's 

When I make my own film poster, I will be considering the focal point, the background colour, the size and the text that will be on the page. After doing some research, I have come to a conclusion that I think it would be best to have the characters in my film on the cover. Therefore I will take lots of images using various camera angles, mise en scene and editing techniques to achieve a product that I am pleased with and will be successful in advertising my film. I have realised that on my poster I will need to make it clear what my film is about as using posters is a huge marketing technique in order to promote my short film.

STORYBOARD - Ideas for my short film

Here is a rough storyboard plan of  the scenes that I would like to include in my film. I have included the comparisons of the actions of my two key characters & details from each scene. This storyboard may change over time, as I may change my scene ideas if some of them don't work or if I come up with better scenes. So far there are six scenes which have been separated into grids to make each different scene clear.

I chose to include six scenes because this is how many steps are involved in the explanation of my short film.

Inspiration - Looking at other cultural texts

For my Cultural short film, I decided to do some research into current cultural themes and ideas. On YouTube I found a channel by a lady who refers to herself as 'Superwoman'. I found that her videos reflect similar attitudes towards the Asain culture that I would like my short film to reflect. She approaches every video from a light hearted perspective always ensuring that her videos are funny and not offensive. She successfully makes all of her videos comedic, especially the ones associated with the Indian culture in particular. Her name is Lilly Singh.

Here are the links to some of her videos, where I have got a small element of my own inspiration:


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More music ideas

Choosing music for my short film is really important because this will be a key convention in separating the two cultures that I will be portraying. For the footage filmed reflecting the life of Raveena, I have brainstormed some more potential song choices:

- 'Amplifier' By Imran Khan
- 'Akiyhan'  By PBN
- 'Beware of the boys' By Punjabi MC & Jay-Z

I will be experimenting with all three of these song choices in order to decide which one works best with particular scenes from my short film.

As I continue my filming process, I will be considering what music I shall be using for the scenes that I will be filming Georgia and her life. At the moment I am thinking on the lines of 'One Direction' or some type of young boy group. However, I am very indecisive and I my actual music may slightly be different from my theory.

Research - Analysing Film Posters

Here is an analysis of three movies: The Great Gatsby, The Twilight Saga New Moon and The Devil wears Prada

When I make my own film poster I will be comparing real and current film posters to that of my own. In order to make my posters look pragmatic and authentic I need to follow some of the stereotypical codes and conventions of posters today.

Here is what I have found so far

Film Poster Analysis from Avigill123

Uses and Gratifications Theory