Evaluation

                                                                           Evaluation



In this evaluation, i will describe the aims and context of the practical project i had worked on for this year. I will discuss the strength and weaknesses of the project and briefly show what my intent was with the project including the stylistic approaches and the featured content including interviews, extra footage and commentary who have worked with, and including, Robert Rodriguez.

For my practical project, i completed a step out line for a documentary discussing the Latin American influences that are seen with in the films of Robert Rodriguez that would be featured as a bonus feature on a DVD/Blu-ray re-issue of the "El Mariachi" trilogy. The documentary consisted of seven separate scene each highlighting different events in Rodriguez's career that were relevant to the subject material and could be used as main examples. The format was set up as a table which included the scene number, a scene description, slug-line, ending and central question and conflict (if any, depending on the style of the documentary).

The documentary was inspired by the stylistic approaches seen in Robert Rodriguez's films which made me want to go against the conventions of typical documentary, such as basic, clean editing, formally delivered information and the overuse of still images, and make these stylised aspects run consistently through out the feature (i.e. having narration, splitting scenes into chapters/ acts with Spanish titles .etc) I wanted to included celebrities and other film-makers who have associated with Rodriguez in the past and create the impression that they would go into detail about him as a person and creator to gain some background on his influences. The personal representation and the practical representation was shown in contrast to one another as opposed to being split into two sections. The aim was to place emphasis on elements of Rodriguez's first two film that came from a place of Latin American influence, with some mainstream western influence included.

The strengths of the step out line was the description of each scene. The amount of detail to describe each scene was short and concise to allow the pacing of the documentary to be as quick as it is in most Rodriguez's films and match the tone in which he generically creates. I added some descriptions of the visual aspects of the documentary but the focus was on the discussions and the people that were interviewed in relation to the films they were in or the relationship they have with Robert Rodriguez. Another strength was the stylistic choices i had in mind for the visual aspect of the documentary. In some form of homage to his movies, i wanted to emulate some of the tropes and cliches seen in some of Rodriguez's earlier work, such as very quick and manic camera movements, withered film grade filter, multiple cameras during interviews allowing for several angles to be shot at once and quick editing leaving no pause between information unless under specific circumstances such as for comedic effect. I highlighted this in the description but i also connected each scene together with chapter which are titled in Spanish for aesthetic purposes

One of the weaknesses of the step out line was in the pacing of the documentary. Due to it's 30 minute length and the quick delivery that i wanted to address the information with, the documentary ran a risk of being too crammed with the information as it would only have a small time frame to say what it needed to. Another weakness was the level of detail which each interviewee went into. It was not specified in the step out line what exactly was said by each person, or even a basic summary of what they said individually.

Presentation script

                                                           
                                                                Presentation Script



Slide 1- Introduction

Robert Rodriguez, director, writer, producer, editor, musician. A one man film making powerhouse,  Rodriguez was born as a creative and was always eager to create and formulate ideas. He was born in San Antonio, Texas, an area with a rich dose of Latin American culture with in it. From Mexican descent, Rodriguez was heavily influenced by the culture particularly the music and the classic cinema (as well as modern American greats such as the work of John Carpenter). Rodriguez was very rarely seen not working on something and was constantly finding new ways to innovate finding inspiration through the people he meet, the projects he work on or grabbing ideas from the past.


Slide 2- Influences

As an illustrator, he was heavily influenced by comic books, particularly Mexican and Texan newspaper comics, depicting bandits and heroes of the west. The dynamic poses that were drawn in each panel would play a major role in how Rodriguez composed each action shot in his films, making sure that everything that was needed was in frame, everything was naturally placed and that the movements and blocking of the characters made the scene look as stylised as possible without being too "cartoony".

Slide 3-  Focus films

The three films that we will be looking at in relation to Rodriguez's influences are El Mariachi, the sequel, Desperado, and Spy Kids. These three films showcase a lot in the way of possible Latin American influence. From the visual aesthetic such as the setting, where El Mariachi and Desperado are both set in Mexico, the stylistic choices seen in the micro elements and, of course, the morals that taught in Spy Kids, you may notice, if you have seen the film prior to this, that the messages and values, and how they are conveyed, are completely different to what you would see in most American or British film, because they are separated by cultural differences.

Slide 4- El Mariachi

Rodriguez's first film, El Mariachi, was made in 1992 and is certain notable for its budget and how Robert Rodriguez overcame the typical issues found with in the production of most films with only $7000. Borrowing techniques used by people like John Carpenter, Rodriguez had to plan each shot in advanced along with the exacts sequence to avoid the risk of losing expensive film on constant mistakes, so he shot certain parts of a sequence from different angle and edited out the mistakes and replaced it with the same action from a different angle in order to save money and not have to re-shoot the scene again.

Slide 5- Desperado

The sequel to El Mariachi, despite having different actors in the main roles, Desperado is a film that was made in 1995 with a considerably higher budget after the success of El Mariachi. However, despite having ability to hire a larger crew to a lot of the creative and technical work under Rodriguez's watch, he still took the one-man crew, also known as the "mariachi" style of film making in which Rodriguez played an incredibly large role in the entirety of the film's creation. This includes directing, writing, editing, composition, storyboarding, conceptualising and producing


Slide 6- Spy Kids

Made in 2002, Spy Kids was the first family friendly film that Rodriguez had been involved in, While on the surface, with its overly colourful set design and very bright, animated aesthetic, the film seems to share no relation to anything Latin American inspired, (apart from the family that plays a lead role in this film being Hispanic) the huge portion of the film that held these aspects of the culture was the messages and themes. Most American family films usually have the same moral understanding when it comes to the theme of family and will convey it through a very conventional way which most North American families will be able to digest easily because they relate to it. However, with Spy Kids, Rodriguez's delivery of the theme of family is told in, what we believe to be, an a very bizarre and unconventional manner, when in reality, its being told from a traditional Latin American angle. The same way that Robert Rodriguez was brought up with when he was a child when his family would tell him tales with snippets of truth and morality, just as we would.

Slide 7- Opening Scene from Desperado

Now, this is the opening scene from the film, Desperado. When you watch this, I want you to keep an eye out for anything that you would personally associate with Latin American or, specifically, Mexican culture. Even if the aspects you see are stereotypical or clichéd, they still hold importance in regards to Robert Rodriguez's influences.

Slide 8- Key Points about the scene

Slide 9- Influences in regards to filming techniques

Film Language in City of God

Sound 

The music choice in City of God is reminiscent of the setting, being in Brazil, the score is mostly comprised of Latin American instrumentals. 

Editing and Camerawork

Mise-en-scene

Narrative structure of the story

Genre and generic signifiers

Documentary Step Out Lines draft (Work in Progress 30/1/16)

Scene No	1	Page No	1
Slug-line	Int. Robert Rodriguez: Rebel Without a Crew
End point of last scene	N/A
Characters in scene	Danny Trejo as the narrator. Robert Rodriguez, multiple clips of film-makers quickly discussing his influence on Latin American cinema and the American New Wave scene including Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Cheech Marin, Antonio Banderas etc.
Point of scene	Briefly introduce Robert Rodriguez as a film-maker and demonstrate his influence on Latin American Cinema.
Conflict	Financial obstacles that Rodriguez had to overcome to develop his first feature length film "El Mariachi".
Ending/ central question	How will he overcome his financial struggle and how will creation of the final product influence a generation of aspiring independent film-makers?
Scene description (without dialogue) A compilation of clips from behind the scenes of "El Mariachi" and "Desperado" with narration from Danny Trejo, featuring several interview highlights from other film-makers, actors and family discussing Rodriguez and his work. The editing throughout will be quick, somewhat choppy with the delivery of each take along with a stylised film grain filter reminiscent of 70's exploitation cinema.

Scene No	2	Page No	2
Slug-line	Int. Día de Aficionados
End point of last scene	Narrator briefly discusses Robert Rodriguez's career, specifically El Mariachi, along with anecdotes from respective film-makers, actors and family members.
Characters in scene	Robert Rodriguez, David Rodriguez, Tina Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino.
Point of scene	Narrator introduces Rodriguez, giving the audience some background on his childhood and how his interest in film was sparked.
Conflict	N/A
Ending/ central question	How will Rodriguez's early experience with film would affect his creative strive and process during the development of "El Mariachi"?
Scene description (without dialogue) This scene will briefly discuss Rodriguez's early years, including childhood and film related activities all placed in context and with a focus upon the production of "El Mariachi". This includes interviews with family members discussing Rodriguez's gradual interest in film making. This is complimented by pictures and found footage from his childhood that is shown between interviews along with narration from Danny Trejo. Scene ends with Rodriguez starting production of "El Mariachi" with a still image of him holding a camera on set before cutting to black.

Scene No	3	Page No	3
Slug-line	Int. Historia del Bandido Solitario: Capítulo Uno
End point of last scene	The last of Rodriguez's inspiration up to the point of conceptualising "El Mariachi".
Characters in scene	Rodriguez's family, Cheech Marin and Antonio Banderas
Point of scene	Showing the production of "El Mariachi", from pre-production, into main production and post-production and showing what influenced specific features during these three stages of production.
Conflict	Struggles of production, (i.e. writer's block, looking for a creative spark, hardships of working on a low budget etc).
Ending/ central question	Finalising of the film's production. Will the film will be a success upon release?
Scene description (without dialogue) Scene shows footage highlights from production of "El Mariachi" which is shown between interviews and monologues from individual members of Rodriguez's family who explain his work cycle and his thought process in relation to his Latin American roots and how they may have influenced him as a child or in the events leading up to production. These are explained further by the narrator who also goes into specific detail regarding the production value and the obstacles Rodriguez had to overcome in all aspects of the film. The scene concludes with the final shot of the film and Antonio Banderas quickly exclaiming it's success which is spoken in voice over.

Scene No	4	Page No	4
Slug-line	Int. Historia del Bandido Solitario: Capítulo Dos
End point of last scene	"El Mariachi" is completed and a quick summary is given of it's success.
Characters in scene	Tina and David Rodriguez, Cheech Marin and Quentin Tarantino.
Point of scene	To show how Rodriguez advanced after the creation of "El Mariachi" and how what he learned from the production of the movie, aided him during the creation of his sophmore work "From Dusk till Dawn" and later, the sequel to El Mariachi, Desperado.
Conflict	The cons of critical acclaim and success and the development struggle in the planning of his next movies.
Ending/ central question	How will his influences in style in terms of music, cinematography and editing and what he developed upon from working on El Mariachi, carry forth in his next films and will they be as successful particularly with the higher budget?
Scene description (without dialogue) The first half of the scene describes the success garnered after the release of "El Mariachi" including notoriety from other film-makers who wished to work alongside him upon viewing the movie, including Quentiin Tarantino who is then shown in an old interview after the release of Pulp Fiction discussing what he planned on making next which then segues to several clips from the film, "From Dusk till Dawn" while cutting back and forth between two separate interviews, one with Cheech Marin, one with Quentin Tarantino and the other with George Clooney all discussing Rodriguez as a director on the set of that film, in particular.

Scene No	5	Page No	5
Slug-line	Int. Trials and Tribulations
End point of last scene	Rodriguez's begins to plan for his next set of movies, including From Dusk till Dawn and Desperado.
Characters in scene	Robert Rodriguez, Antonio Bandera, George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Cheech Marin, Salma Hayek.
Point of scene	To show the new standards set for Rodriguez's next set of movies and how he overcome the challenges that an amateur filmmaker faces with in the hollywood system and what influenced him to develop in this new creative environment.
Conflict	Struggles of dealing with production companies and tackling budget with higher quality filmmaking.
Ending/ central question	How will Rodriguez move forward as he is getting into the production of Desperado?
Scene description (without dialogue) Behind the scene footage from 'From Dusk till Dawn' playing with audio from interviews with Robert Rodriguez, George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino. Showing focus upon how they practised got inspired for the role or, in Rodriguez's case, the production. After this, narration is provided to explain the success after the film's release and critical and audience reaction to the film. Finally, an old interview with Rodriguez is shown, explaining the possibility of a sequel to 'El Mariachi' maybe in the works. Scene fades to black.

Scene No	6	Page No	6
Slug-line	Desperado!
End point of last scene	Production begins on Rodriguez's next feature film, "Desperado".
Characters in scene	Antonio Banderas, Robert Rodriguez, Cheech Marin, Salma Hayek, Steve Buscemi
Point of scene	An entire summary of the production of Desperado with a focus on the creative process and the factors that inspired Rodriguez to do carry out tasks in specific ways.
Conflict	Rodriguez finding trouble with basic production issues, how he overcame them and the methods used.
Ending/ central question	The completion of Desperado and a personal reflection of the production.
Scene description (without dialogue) Begins with the initial idea for a sequel for El Mariachi, with shots of Robert Rodriguez at meetings discussing ideas and storyboards, with additional commentary from Rodriguez himself and Antonio Banderas. Then cuts to production where we see clips of movie being shot from behind the scenes while interviews with Antonio Banderas, Cheech Marin, Salma Hayek and Steve Buscemi can be heard. Finally, leading towards post production, we see straight footage of Rodriguez editing the movie and finalizing the final film.

Scene No	7	Page No	7
Slug-line	Int. Epilogue
End point of last scene	The completion of Desperado
Characters in scene	Robert Rodriguez and  Danny Trejo
Point of scene	To conclude the documentary and summarise the information previously provided with a personal anecdote from Robert Rodriguez.
Conflict	n/a
Ending/ central question	Scene ends with a brief summary from Danny Trejo in person.
Scene description (without dialogue) Robert Rodriguez gives a reflective look back across some of the key moments of his early filmmaking career with footage from El Mariachi, From Dusk til Dawn and Desperado is shown to accompany it. The scene ends with Danny Trejo, centre frame, concluding the documentary and summarising the key points of the scene.

Scene No	8	Page No	8
Slug-line
End point of last scene
Characters in scene
Point of scene
Conflict
Ending/ central question
Scene description (without dialogue)

Scene No	9	Page No	9
Slug-line
End point of last scene
Characters in scene
Point of scene
Conflict
Ending/ central question
Scene description (without dialogue)

Scene No	10	Page No	10
Slug-line
End point of last scene
Characters in scene
Point of scene
Conflict
Ending/ central question
Scene description (without dialogue)

In what ways does the film challenge mainstream film conventions?

In the film, "Chungking Express", director Wong Kar Wai challenges the generic conventions of modern, mainstream cinema through a more avant garde approach of film-making. This is presented through the unique techniques that Kar Wai uses in regards to micro and macro elements. The different stylistic choices are shown with purpose and despite being unconventional, for the most part, allows Kar Wai to establish the film's themes in clever, interesting and most of all thought provoking manner.

A prominent example of the film breaking mainstream conventions in this way is through the cinematography. For a majority of the film, the camera movement is completely spontaneous with no sense of thorough direction or angular placement, complimented by the sporadic activity of the Hong Kong market during the chase scene. This differs from most films due to it's experimental use of pacing, as the chase scene is split in two with a three long shots of chimneys in between as opposed to one clean cut scene where the action is focused and has no other seemingly irrelevant shots added.  

Emotional Response- The Silence of the Lambs

Character	Emotional Response	This was achieved by
Hannibal Lecter	- Shock - Disgust - Hatred - Horror	The development illustrated in the first 10 minutes of the film that illustrates how evil of a person Hannibal Lecter is. Dr Chilton describes him as " a monster, a total psychopath" and he shows Starling an explicit example of his violent nature. While the image is not shown, we can see the disgust and horror reflected through the horrified expression on Starling's face as she glances at the photograph. Despite this, the most shocking aspect of this scene is Lecter's appearance. As Starling walks towards his cell, we see the other inmates who range from uncanny to downright insane yet when we see Lecter for the first time, he's clean, sharply dressed and presents himself as proper.
Clarice Starling	- Empathy - Compassion - Worry	As a woman, Clarice Starling has to cope with the common attributes of a patriarchal system, particularly in her line of work which is mostly male dominated. Besides Clarice, we only ever see one other woman training as a member of the force, who is Clarice's close friend. While she seems to not take certain acts of sexism around her to heart, it is incredibly apparent that other officials of law enforcement look down upon her, condescendingly. This is highlighted in one scene where before an autopsy, Clarice asks if the sheriffs in the room may leave, to which they stare at her blankly with an expression of confusion and even slight offense that they are being ordered by woman.
Dr Chiltern	- Cringe - Disgust	Dr Chiltern's slimy and mostly pathetic attempt to court with Clarice upon them meeting one another is an all out uncomfortable experience to sit through. This is complimented by the close up shot on Chiltern's face, highlighting most of his specific features. Anthony Heald's performance, as well as the intentionally inappropriate use of vocabulary in the dialogue, makes this entire scene utterly cringe inducing. There is little to no sense of charm in his delivery of the ham handed compliments in an attempt to win the attention of a completely uninterested Clarice who tries to shrug off the comments.
Buffalo Bill	- Horror - Empathy - Disgust