a-level film studies project on shane...

[sarah-leigh]

basically i've chose to study Shane as part of my A-Level Film Studies course. i'm looking at him in terms of being an auteur and arguing my point as to whether he is or not. part of my reasearch has to be a questionnaire, and i thought it was a better idea to post in on here and get decent answers from genuine fans, rather than to hand it to people in college and maybe not get answers that would help me. pleasee fill it out it would really help, there's only 6 questions.. just copy and paste the questionnaire into a reply. thanks a lot

Q1. Are you familiar with the “Auteur Theory”? (Answer Yes or No.)


Q2. If answered yes to the above question, please give a brief outline of what you do know about the Auteur Theory…


Q3. Please list your three favourite films by Shane Meadows and give a brief reason for each choice…

1 -
Reason -


2 -
Reason -


3 -
Reason -


Q4. Do you find there to be certain aspects of Shane’s directing skills that feature throughout all of his films? (For example; a repeated use of similar locations, story lines, characters, actors, etc.) (Answer Yes or No.)


Q5. If answered yes to the above question, please give as many examples as you can, referring to particular moments in the films if possible…


Q6. If you did answer yes to question 1 and are familiar with the Auteur Theory; do you consider Shane Meadows to be an Auteur?

[Bill Edwards]

Oh goody! An excuse to wax lyrical about Mr Meadows' fillums. ;D

Q1. Are you familiar with the “Auteur Theory”? (Answer Yes or No.)

Yes


Q2. If answered yes to the above question, please give a brief outline of what you do know about the Auteur Theory…

I don't know a lot about the Auteur Theory (using 'the camera like a pen' sticks in the mind) but I think it means that the director has a recognisable style that is carried through their body of work. There will be reoccurring motifs, themes and archetypal characters. The director will draw from a small pool of acting talent often using the same actors again and again.


Q3. Please list your three favourite films by Shane Meadows and give a brief reason for each choice…

1 - Dead Man's Shoes
Reason - This was my proper introduction to Shane Meadows. I don't count OUTITM which I had seen previously and enjoyed but thought nothing more of. I knew next to nothing about the DMS and its director other that the director was a Midlands boy and the film was made in Derbyshire and featured local acting talent.

With this film I experienced an epiphany. I was completely blown away. Totally uplifted. Sent (to coin old hipster slang). Within moments of the film starting I was experiencing tingles, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I sat up and forward in my seat and it just got better and better and better and better. I was almost choking with awe. I could barely believe what I was seeing. My the time it had finished I was proclaiming to all who would listen that I witnessed genius. Add to these feeling of joy the facts that it was an independent local film by a guy who lived on my doorstep and which was filmed on my doorstep! In the past films that have these effects on me have been made by people who might as well have come from another planet.

With DMS I loved the use of music, the way the camera moved, the naturalistic dialogue, the other worldly quality it had as if being recalled from a memory and the neat trick of mixing comedy with horror so seamlessly that one wonders why so many other directors fail to pull it off themselves.

Sorry. That wasn't at all brief!


2 - This Is England
Reason - My expectations where blown away. I was waiting for DMS with skinheads but what I got was a beautifully judged and soulful study of the loss of innocence and growing up. It was also a nostalgic trip for me having been 12-13 in 1983.


3 - 24/7
Reason - A film I ignored when it came out as I dismissed it as a boxing/sporting movie so not for me. Was intrigued at the time that it was B+W and I remember the fuss about Bob 'Oskins being in a young film maker's first full length film.

I saw this after DMS and once again could barely believe I was witnessing such noble beauty. Why isn't this film better known? Yet another soulful and intuitive study of working class notions of masculinity.


Q4. Do you find there to be certain aspects of Shane’s directing skills that feature throughout all of his films? (For example; a repeated use of similar locations, story lines, characters, actors, etc.) (Answer Yes or No.)

Yes.


Q5. If answered yes to the above question, please give as many examples as you can, referring to particular moments in the films if possible…

Locations? Well so far, the Midlands! The East Midlands in particular. All films! Council housing estates feature heavily in 24/7, ARFRB, OUTITM, DMS and TIE.

Regular themes include working class men struggling with their sense of masculinity and their place in the world, and boys becoming men. All of his films.

In ARFRB and TIE there's the theme of childhood being prematurely eclipsed by damaged adults.

Actors: Paddy Considine, Andrew Shim, Jo Hartley, Vicky McClure, George Newton, Frank Harper, James Higgins and many more.


Q6. If you did answer yes to question 1 and are familiar with the Auteur Theory; do you consider Shane Meadows to be an Auteur?

As little as I know about the complexities of the Auteur Theory I still do consider Shane Meadows to be an auteur.

Thanks sarah-leigh. I enjoyed that! All the best with your studies.

[Gareth]

I wouldn't think there's much debate, he's definatly an auteur

Q1. yes

Q2. as far as I know it generally applies to writer directors but not exclusively, I understand by that word a filmmaker who makes deeply personal films that follow certain trends (the same themes for example).

Q3.

This Is England; This film encapsulates growing up, I see the skin head movement and racism as the setting of the film, at the core it's a rights of passage. The main reason I love this film so much is the empathy I feel for Combo it would have been easy to just make him a monster but he's a truly dimensional character. I also love the signature meadows humour at it's best, when I showed my Mum the bit in the shoe shop she was in hysterics.

Deadmans Shoes; The first meadows film I ever saw, absolutely stunning. Again I think its all about the empathy, I feel for every character on screen plus Paddy and Toby Kebbles performances are some of the best I've ever seen.

A Room for Romeo Brass; from the opening credits I'm smiling ear to ear, this film is absolutly hillarious, my favorite character apart from Morrel is Knock Knocks Dad, I think it's Shanes drama teacher, any way he's absolutly hillarious. I just love how the tone of the film just switches you don't have a clue what could happen next. Also how much I feel for Morrel

Q4

all performances are naturalistic with a focus on realism, there is always a big brother/ father figure and always loneliness at the heart of one of the characters, obviously the Midlands is usually favored location wise. Working class. The tone is always inconsistent mixing humour in between darkness (making it more real in my opinion)

I've ran out of steam, I'll come back to it tommorow, hope this helps out so far!

[anonlytwin]

alittle aside... if you go a looking sarah, there is already a chat about auteurs on this forum.. might be worth a look

[sarah-leigh]

thanks a lot, all of yr answers were really useful thank youu