Style and Genre of MR.RED: Comparison
Syed Kazim Abidi
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of Master of Fine Arts in Film and Television
at
The Savannah College of Art and Design
© March 2012, Syed Kazim Abidi
The author hereby grants SCAD permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and
electronic thesis copies of document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter
created.
Signature of Author and Date
(Michael Chaney)
Committee Chair
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(Ken Daniel)
Committee Member
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(Amanda Kulkoski)
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Style and Genre of MR.RED: Comparison
A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Film & Television Department
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of Master of Fine Arts
Savannah College of Art and Design
By
Syed Kazim Abidi
Savannah, GA
March 2011
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The research for my thesis and the written component was never possible without the artistic
guidance of my thesis committee members.
I want to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Michael Chaney, Prof. Ken Daniel and Prof.
Amanda Kulkoski for all the efforts they have taken during my thesis project. As English being my
second language, they offered me the best guidance to make this Project possible. I am extremely
thankful for encouraging me on every moment and making my course innovative. I thank my
committee for all the wonderful work that you have done and wish you all the best for your
endeavors.
Table of Content
Contents
List of Figures
1
Abstract
2
Introduction
3
Figure 1.0
Figure 1.1
4
4
Text
5
Figure 1.2
6
Figure 1.3
6
Figure 2.0
8
Figure 2.1
10
Figure 2.2
10
Figure 2.3
13
Figure 2.4
13
Figure 3.0
14
Figure 3.1
14
Figure 3.2
15
Figure 3.3
15
Figure 3.4
15
Figure 3.4A
15
Figure 4.0
16
Conclusion
18
Bibliography
19
LIST OF FIGURES
1.0 Dhoti
1.1 Maula Jutt
1.2 Soft pornography
1.3 Neglected Theatre
2.0 Spicy Look
2.1 Mainstream films of South Asia
2.2 Mainstream films of South Asia
2.3 Training Day
2.4 Denzel Washington
3.0 Downtown Time-lapse
3.1 Steve Taxi driver
3.2 A view of Downtown
3.3 Damaged Light
3.4 Character of Mr. Red
3.4A Scene from ‘MR.RED’
1
i
Style and Genre of Mr. Red: Comparison
Syed Kazim Abidi
March 2012
ABSTRACT
The film, MR.RED is a dark combination of hatred and revenge. It captivates and holds the
audience in suspense concerning the characters and their behavior. Acknowledging my own
cultural diversity, my hypothesis addresses the western style of filmmaking applied to the film,
as it represents a realistic world to its audience.
2
INTRODUCTION
“Pakistani cinema is dead, poisoned by cultural atrophy and stabbed by official
incompetence."1 Film and theatres are neglected when essential needs like energy
utilities, transportation, and infrastructure, government services are seriously lacking.
As we read in Hojbjerg article, “Some Aspects of Style and Space”, the author David
Bordwell considers condition and state of mind, which has been explored by the cinema as a
powerful medium. The moving picture represents an inner world for which cinema plays a
great role. “David Bordwell proposed his poetics of film in the early 1980's. In contrast to
the semioticians, Bordwell's theory is based on the viewer's reception. The theory conceives the
spectator as creator of the meaning of any given film”2
In the context of Hollywood film, with a Neo-Noir style, I impart the images and put
them into Western style of filmmaking, showing the dark side of the American dreams. I
simply avoided the style of a Pakistani movie in MR.RED, which is today, with rare
exceptions, considered too crass to be taken seriously by anyone. This style is also applied in
most of the mainstream movies, commonly mixtures of spicy-curry look of the South Asian
cinema, having social dramas, thrillers along with many added dances. Every genre has
its own form of stylization that represents the mood of the film.
1
“Why is Pakistani Cinema Dead?”, Blurt it, accessed ,Undated,
http://www.blurtit.com/q977357.html
2
Lennard Højbjerg. “Some Aspect of Style and
Space”,http://pov.imv.au.dk/Issue_04/section_1/artc2A.html (accessed Undated)
3
instance, a horror movie is more dependent on stylization, which explains the camera
placement more subjectively.
The visual strategy of MR.RED revolves around the concepts of sin, violence, emptiness
and forgiveness in suburban society and its relation to the life of the characters of my thesis
film that tells a story of a taxi driver. We simply avoided the style that is applied in Pakistani Bclass movies. For example, the protagonist is in a regional costume known as a DHOTI, and
riding on his horse. He fights alone with twenty men to save his love.
“A Dhoti garment is worn in some rural areas of Punjab province in Pakistan.”3
DHOTI
“Maula Jutt”- Punjabi Cinema
(Fig 1.0)
(Fig 1.1)
In MR.RED, my critical choice was to protect the audience’s sensitive eyes from the
violence of murder.
3
“Dhoti”, Wikipedia, accessed February 24,2012, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhoti
4
TEXT
The British ruled India in 19th and 20th Century when Muslims and Hindus were one state.
In 1947, Pakistanis got their independence with a new identity to represent ourselves as
Pakistanis. Yet there has been no difference in culture and heritage, which still remain the
same.
I grew up as a privileged member of a larger under-privileged society. With rare expectation,
movies were considered too irritating to be taken seriously by anyone. Now state of cinematic
arts in my native country on the whole is dilapidated and certainly not what I believe it ought
to be. I saw that as social conditions have exacerbated, so too has a passion for the arts waned
among people. Social conditions have not only been conducive to artistic development, but in
fact have been detrimental. As a result the once flourishing artistic scene in Pakistan has
languished and flagged considerably.
Journalist Alex Rodriguez says, “Back in the 1960s and '70s, Lahore buzzed with movie
shoots, red-carpet premiere and box-office hits.”4 In the golden era of 1960‟s, the country was
liberal and rapidly growing in the world of cinema. We had the lowest taxes in South Asia;
even Indian filmmakers did a co-production with the Pakistani filmmakers. Over all
there were 1100 theatres in Pakistan. Two hundred were in Karachi and Lahore. These cities
were known as the hub of the film industry. Still 65% of Pakistan’s revenue is generated just
from Karachi .It was that 250 movies were produced every. But then in the late 1970‟s, political
uncertainty took charge over the film industry.
4
Alex, Rodriguez, Pakistan Film Industry in Collapse”, Los Angelas Times,
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/nov/08/entertainment/ca-lollywood8(accessed November
8,2009.
5
The hypocritical government imposed new registration laws for film. The theatre owners
were forced to close the theatres, especially in Lahore. Regional language filmmakers, having
political support added soft-pornography to attract the viewer. Their main target was the lower
class labor audience who are deprived of education.
Soft Pornography Posters
(Fig 1.2)
Neglected Theatres in Lahore, Pakistan.
(Fig 1.3)
6
It was 2001 when revival of cinema took place. Some very good movies have been
produced in the past by young filmmakers. They are known as the A-class films, based on
social and domestic issues that exist in our society. A-class movie is released once every three to
five years. It deals with the power of art to affect a positive change confronting and judging
society. It deals with moral issues, mostly taboo issues. The stylization of an A-class relies on
the pace. It is slower than that of which is slower than the US Cinema. However, it allows for
character development.
A mainstream film in South Asian cinema includes music that goes with the story and
explains the emotions of the actor. “There is a strong Indian tradition of narrating mythology,
history, fairy stories and so on through song and dance.”5 In my work, I simply stayed
away from the cliché dramatic, romance and thriller genre that we get in the South Asian
cinema. For example, if I followed the formula I could have inserted songs or shown that Steven,
the Taxi driver meets a girl in his journey; they fall in love; a song starts showing the couple
dancing in Europe and after the song they are back in their native country. The girl then
makes him realize his wrongdoings. So, he goes to the police station and confesses his
crime and is charged accordingly. The girl then waits for his release and afterwards they get
married and live happily ever after. I find the music to be unsophisticated yet amazingly
appealing. It simply entertains the viewers but is unrealistic and illogical for the American dark
genre. A normal contemporary Western film’s goal is to maintain law and order. It is a fast
paced action story and it combines the elements of action, drama and comedy to entertain the
audience.
5
Filmi Girl, “Bollywood for Beginners,” Filmi Girl, http://filmigirl.blogspot.com/2011/01/bollywood- forbeginners-post-2.html (accessed January 20,2011)
7
Spicy look of Bollywood Movie
(Fig 2.0)
The screenwriter Pat Leonard and I saw Steven’s character, which is that of the taxi
driver, as more of a workingman than killer who is bored with the monotony or normalcy of
life. According to American philosopher Carroll Noel, “Suspense depends on our forming
tacit questions about the story as it unfolds.”6 When an audience perceives, in advance,
that the antagonist will not be successful in achieving his or her goal, the mood of the suspense
breaks. This goes with the protagonist too when he is about to achieve his goal, the mood of the
audience breaks. The mood and look of the MR.RED is highly inspired by the Scorsese’s movie,
TAXI DRIVER (1976). The main aim was playing with the audience’s imagination
emotionally and at a slow pace. The critical choice was to put an extreme emotional emphasis
on the character by confusing the audience and then delving into the relationship of the actors.
The dark look and the binary relationship between the actors during their journey are stylistic
tactics that are always important to keep in mind. Rapid editing, setting and of course, the
framing are the tactics.
6
Noel Carroll, Engaging the Moving Image (New Heaven &London: Yale University
Press), 98
8
As we enter in the 1970’s, Scorsese’s film Taxi Driver (1976) which is known
today as “a masterful psychological study of an unbalanced soul who reverts to complete insanity
but winds up a media hero at the conclusion. We never know if he has changed or will
revert to the violence of his claustrophobic world.”7 In MR.RED‟s ending scenario we
suddenly become aware that protagonist is psychotic we realize that the conversation we have
been following since the beginning was a falsity. This taxi cab driver is killing people and
giving them one last drive around the town. But throughout the film,
his
mental
instability makes him unpredictable, fooling the audience's preconception. They assume
that Steve is the protagonist but is later revealed that he is not. Using various structure
techniques, MR.RED gives a feeling and understanding to the elements that have been
applied into it. This includes color, light and camera aspects.
Color is considered a powerful tool in the world of storytelling. “Films use light and color
to tell a story in a special narrative way, which delivers a strong emotional and intellectual
impact on the viewer. That made a very strong impression on me and has affected how I
try to use color in all of my films, Scorsese said.”8
Color plays a major role in
communicating details to the audience. By applying the bluish warm tone in MR.RED, is
representing a warm feeling and confidence, rather than applying bright color as we see we
see in the South Asian cinema that has nothing to do with the story of the film.
7
Robert Schwartz, Neo-Noir: The New Film Noir Style from Psycho to Collateral
(Maryland: Scarecrow Press Inc.), 35
8
Evad,”Martin Scorsese’s Favorite Light and Color Films”, Color Lovers,
http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2010/06/09/martin-scorseses-favorite-light-color-films
(accessed June 9, 2010)
9
No threat of any death or violence is concerned. On the other hand, the bluish tone also
represents depression and sadness. NIGHT ON EARTH (1996) by Jim Jarmuch, tells the story
of five-taxi driver in five different places. The relationship between the taxi driver and his
passenger is explored in each story and segment. It defines a comic mood of the taxi drivers with
passenger but its all falsity. The Director’s critical approach in the whole movie was to relate
loneliness and weirdness in the life of characters. The characters in this film are impulsive and
unique; the mundane yet bizarrely striking situations are very different from the rest of films
that have been mentioned. Steven in MR.RED is in the taxi business believing as he learned
from the movies that it was a job full of new and interesting people. He quickly learned,
however that is quite the contrary. The truth is that people don’t care about Steven or his family
life or his hobbies.
(Fig 2.1)
Mainstream Films of South Asia
(Fig.2.2)
MR.RED is a documentary of the emotions of the characters, not a documentary of their
lives. Our cinematographic approach was to use dramatic lighting. We lit the movie as it pretends
to be a documentary, but in fact it’s theatrical and not realistic at all. It was
10
not meant to be realistic. Most of the scenes have been shot according to Mr. Red’s
perspective; the point of view is from. The stylization of the scenes and have been kept longer
and slower which can be seen visually.
MR.RED FADES IN with a voice over, entering the mind of the protagonist. The taxi
driver is the villain but his romantic vocal charm often gives way to his sophisticated power on
and off stage as well as to the audience and modifies the audience’s patience. His voice tells the
audience he wants people around him. He wants people to listen, to make him feels like he is
cared for and it FADES OUT.
The time lapse starts on the rhythm of beats. The lighting starts going dark to the dawn,
which then changes into the late night look of the Downtown. We see Red, Yellow and Green
lights defining the sickly state of mind of the character. On the other hand they are also
glowing the whole world where the scene is taking place.
The description and the beginning the conflict introduce the character in a world that
seems to be normal and unthreatening. The false protagonist (at least at first) is flatter,
generally wider, normally shot, and with greater affinity to convey an unthreatening “normalcy
“Frames are tighter, space is deeper, and there are more contrasting relationships in terms of
mass and color.
Michael Mann style of filmmaking always portrays the dual relationship of his characters,
the consequences they experience in their tenure and how, in the end, they are separated. Mann
emphasizes the commonality in them. They stick to their law and ethics “Mann excels when
confined (either by means or by design), since, as much as he tends to abandon plot, his films
still rely on narrative, or its semblance, and structural sleight of hand is easier to trace on a
11
small scale.”9 Inspired by Michael Mann’s approach, MR.RED gives a clue mostly with the
movement of the camera and its framing rather than dialogues.
In COLLATERAL (2004), and MR.RED most of the settings are combined with
characters to be together, such as Jamie Fox and Tom Cruise, and on the other hand
Steven and Mr. Red. The movement of camera keeps registering more subjectively on the
characters. “The thriller emphasis on suspense and surprise encourages the filmmaker to
mislead the audience.”10 In the whole movie, shadows have emphasized a lot of the character of
Steven rather than emphasizing more on Mr. Red. The whole film has been shot in dark high
contrast light that we can see falling onto the false protagonist Steven, the taxi driver, and the
subjective character that is the passenger, Mr. Red, in the car. The rest of the exterior is still
bright.
The composition explains the complexity on the character of Steven as we see him on
right side on the frame. It describes him as weaker but Mr. Red, the passenger is on the left
side. Artistically speaking, Antoine Fuqua gets a big credit for stylizing his film TRAINING
DAY (2001). The negative character played by Denzel Washington reflects the dark genre for
the audience. The hero is always supposed to be good for the audience but the director’s
approach reflects how he kept the audience in the dark by showing the character of Washington
as a catalyst. Below in (fig 2.3) and (fig 2.4), the shadows and darkness
9
Reverse Shot, “Michael Mann”, Touch: Ryland Walker Knight on Michael Mann‟s Manhunter
and Miami Vice, http://www.reverseshot.com/article/michael_mann (Accessed: Undated)
10
David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction (New York: McGraw
Hill), 114
12
darkness can be compared with the given two close-up shots of the movie, TRAINING DAY. The
scene has been set-up in the ghetto where Alonzo (Washington) lives and Hawks antagonizes
him. Rise in tension to the highest point, Washington is emotional and angry. This explained
by the key light hitting his half face from one side. It builds up the shadow of the taxi driver. In
all three images confrontation and resolution is noticed which leads the scene contrast of shot
sizes.
Scene from “TRAINING DAY”
(Fig 2.3)
Denzel Washington in TRAINING DAY
(Fig 2.4)
13
The editing method that has been applied in the opening sequence of “MR.RED” as
well in the whole movie is according to the 1960’s when fast cutting rate was adopted by many
American filmmakers. But in the opening sequence there is no conversation going on between
the characters. Cross cutting is also noticed but the director has emphasized more on the
emotions of his characters by keeping the pace slow.
MR.RED has normally fast cuts that have been applied in the film. These cuts are less
than three and maximum of five seconds as well as slower cutting. The overall pace of the
scenes where the relationship is developed between the character has been kept slower in
order to develop a character’s emotions in the eye of the audience which requires that
they know more about the movie. Mostly, scenes portray the “normal” world, but may
slip into more contrast relationships, in terms of mass and color.
Initial two shots of the
main character and the cop officer give way to more unconventional shots of the Mr. Red’s
character, the odd man, also reaction shots, etc. as they chase through the streets. Sometimes an
instant fast cutting is irritating, as it does not allow the audience to understand the mood of the
character and makes the whole story confusing.
Downtown Time-lapse
(Fig 3.0)
Steven-Taxi driver
(Fig 3.1)
14
A view of Downtown
MR.RED in a Scene
(Fig 3.2)
(Fig 3.3)
A scene from “MR.RED” showing damaged light
(Fig 3.4)
Taxi Driver from “MR.RED”
(Fig 3.4-A)
15
MR. RED’s stylization relies on the mystery overtones and how they apply to the real
world neither without any interference of dances or songs that have no link to the story nor
without adding any of the soft pornography. Our intent is to convey these differences through:
Flat space vs. Deep space
Deep vs. Shallow depth-of-field
Balanced vs. Unbalanced shot framing
Static vs. Moving staging of camera and characters
Affinity vs. Contrast of tone and color
Visual Component Graph
(Fig 4.0)
16
1. EX – Voice over (O.S)
2. EX- View of the Downtown
3. CO – Steven is introduced and is trying to fix the bumper
4. CO – Cop light flashes.
5. EX- Steven stops and gives his registration papers to the Cop.
6. CO – Cop starts sniffing the interior of the car
7. EX – Cop asks about Mr. Red
8. CO –Cop tells Steven to step out of his car
9. EX – Cop tells Steven to get his bumper fixed
10. EX-Cop allows Steven to leave.
11. EX-Steven sits back in his car
12. CO-Cop again appears on the window of the car
13. EX – Cop gives Steven’s license back.
14. CO – Cop tells Steven to move along
15. EX– Steven is on his way
16. CO- Steven takes out Mr. RED from the car
17. CO- Blood appears on his Steven’s hand
18. CO- Steven throws Mr. Red in to the swamp
19. EX-Steven comes back to his taxi
20. CO-Digital flashlight appears
21. CO- A teenager wearing a hood is seen
22. EX. Steve sits in his car talking on his cell.
23. CO-Teenager is asleep, on the back of the seat
24. EX-Steve cont his journey.
17
Conclusion
“Drawn to the harsh big-city lights and the darkness that dwells under their glare, these
gifted filmmakers, Bollywood „outsiders‟ all, have turned their gaze on a wicked, crooked
world where mankind is caught between a rock and a hard place.”11 The dark and emotional
elements of the comparable films inspire my own work in film. Despite the cultural
normalcies I have encountered in my own native culture of film there is a subtle shift in the
direction of filmmaking, which is slowly becoming apparent to the viewers. Being subjected to a
range of cultural stylization allows me to conceptualize a new and stimulating art of my
filmmaking, created in my own vision with a unique conglomeration of culturally traditional
and contemporary western style of film.
11
Saibal, Chatterjee, “Dawn of darkness”,
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110305/saturday/main1.htm accessed March 5, 2011)
18
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Why is Pakistani Cinema Dead?” , Blurt it, accessed ,Undated,
http://www.blurtit.com/q977357.html
2. Hojbjerg, Lenneard, “Some Aspects of Style and Space”,
http://pov.imv.au.dk/Issue_04/section_1/artc2A.html (accessed Undated)
3. “Dhoti”, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhoti, (accessed
February 24,2012)
4. Rodriguez, Alex, “Pakistan Film Industry in Collapse”, Los Angeles Times,
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/nov/08/entertainment/ca- lollywood8(accessed November
8,2009)
5. Filmi Girl, “Bollywood for Beginners”. Last modified January
20,2011,http://filmigirl.blogspot.com/2011/01/bollywood-for- beginners-post-2.html
6. Carroll, Noel, Engaging the Moving Image, (New Heaven& London: Yale University Press),
98.
7. Schwartz, Robert, “ Neo-Noir: The New Film Noir Style from
Psycho to Collateral (Maryland: Scarecrow Press Inc.), 35
19
8. Evad,”Martin Scorsese Favorite Light and Color Films”, Color Lovers,
http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2010/06/09/martin- scorseses-favorite-light-color-films
(accessed June 9,2010)
9. Reverse Shot, “Michael Mann”, Touch: Ryland Walker Knight on Michael Mann’s
Manhunter and Miami Vice, http://www.reverseshot.com/article/michael_mann (Accessed:
Undated).
10. Bordwell. David, Thompson, Kristin, Film Art: An Introduction
(New York: McGraw Hill), 114
11. Chatterjee, Saibal“Dawn of darkness”.Last modified March
5,2011http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110305/saturday/main
1.htm accessed March 5,2011).
20