Winters Bone

• Winters Bone Opening Sequence: How is cinematography used (2) - Lighting remains natural throughout the sequence, the shots of the sky symbolises how Ree desires to break free, but cannot do so, like many people in that community - Ashlee receives a chick at the end, symbolising a new life, a new chance to break free - Handheld camera - documentary thriller film - vlogging style
• Winters Bone Opening Sequence: How mise en scene is used (3) - Shot on location in ozark mountains misouri - landscape dominates the sequence - Frostbitten authenticity of the scene - harsh lifestyle of the hillbilly's - Ree is not sexualised - laura mulveys male gaze, more realistic of the life they lead there
• Winters Bone Opening Sequence: How editing is used (2) - Alfonso cuaron editing, same editor as Carol - Slow editing style, emphasises realism of the sequence and helps align audience with characters and their surroundings
• Winters Bone Opening Sequence: How sound is used (2) - Non Diagetic acappella music performed by local Ozark musician, emphasises gritty realism in the film - Traditional local music, aligns audience with characters as they feel they know more about their cultural background
• Winters Bone Opening Sequence: How performance is used - We immediatley see Ree is presented with a dilemma, allowing the viewer to be invited into the films deliberate slowness exacerbating her hunt for her dad, and eventually his body
• Winters Bone Cattle Market Sequence: How cinematography is used (2) - Handheld camera, emphasises Ree's distress, and the intensity of the sequence as Ree tries to contact thump - Camera unstable as she runs - Camera frequently positioned angled up towards Ree or down towards thump, reflecting the audiences opinions of the two characters, Ree is a role model and Thump is the cruel antagonist
• Winters Bone Cattle Market Sequence: How mise en scene is used (2) - Cattle market crowd is entirely male - indicating Ree is out of place in this society (why she is in such danger) - Ree is positioned on the walkway above Thump, literally elevating herself above all of the Cattle that he controls, she walks above him in terms of morality, she never lets anybody herd her (cattle are a metaphor for thumps followers)
• Winters Bone Cattle Market Sequence: How editing is used in the sequence (1) - Film connects Ree to the livestock through cuts between her and the animals, the cattle moves as she moves, the cattle are distressed as she is distressed - Ree is moving against the herd breaking free of traditional female roles in that society
• Winters Bone Cattle Market Sequence: How sound is used (3) - Overbearing sound - diagetic and non-diagetic noises makes the audience feel overwhelmed in an oppressive way - Indecipherable screams from the cattle, distressing - Soundtrack speeds up, scene becomes more intense as Ree starts running and screaming
• Winters Bone Cattle Market Sequence: How is performance used (1) - Ree is intially quite reserved, she begins to be more frantic as Thump begins to get away indicating how dire her situation has become
• Winters Bone Party Sequence: How cinematography is used (2) - House lighting is warm and ambient, providing a welcoming communal spirit the house - We are encouraged to watch how the ozark community behave in this sequence voyeuristically, as the camera often from ree's perspective forces us to observe the community and challenge traditional stereotypes
• Winters Bone Party Sequence: How mise en scene is used (3) - Old femalse singer positioned central to everyone, including us, stationing her as a well respected matriarch in the community - Photographs of family and veterans are on the counters indicating the influenes of both family and the military connections to the area - The band is multi generational, ranges from young to old showcasing the connection between families in this society
• Winters Bone Party Sequence: How sound is used (2) - Sound is all diagetic, the music for the sequence is produced by the communal band, emphasising the connective and unified nature of the party - positive energy - The lyrics sung by the matriarchal figure include references to 'sparrows' and a longing to be break free from the lifestyle
• Winters Bone Party Sequence: How performance is used (1) - The faces of the singers although singing an upbeat song, are all solmen and contemplative, as though reflecting the hard nature of their lives as scarring their faces permanently
• Winters Bone Jessups hand Sequence: How cinematography is used (2) - Dark lighting - secret location - Camera tracks Ree, as a result our view is restricted as well as Rees, hence we are aligned with Ree
• Winters Bone Jessups hand Sequence: How Mise en Scene is used (2) - Boat - emphasises how the location of Jessups body was never intended to be found, and as she knows the exact location it confirms the fact that thump was involved in his death - Chainsaw and Jessups hand props portray how gruesome the sequence is, we feel sorry for Ree having to cut off her dead fathers hands
• Winters Bone Jessups hand Sequence: How editing is used in the scene (1) - Fast Paced shots between Ree's hands searching for her dad, and shots of Merab - increases intensity as Ree feels rushed
• Winters Bone Jessups hand Sequence: How sound is used in this sequence (2) - Entirely diagetic - how focussed the audience on the sequence - Chainsaw and water sound effects is used to portray how gruesome the sequence is, and the audience almost feels like, what if this happened to me?
• Winters Bone Jessups hand Sequence: How performance is used (1) - Jennife Lawrence delivers a powerful sequence making the audience imagine what it would be like to be in this situation
• Winters Bone Ending Sequence: How cinematography is used in the sequence (2) - Mid Shot used to represent sentimental moment where teardrop plays the banjo - the fact that they are all together makes it seem like this is the only time in the film she has support - Camera pans and follows teardrops car down the road, leads to us reaslising this may be him departing their lives forever
• Winters Bone Ending Sequence: How is Mise en Scene used (3) - Banjo prop - played by Teardrop, like Jessup did, demonstrating him as a father figure to Ree and the family now - Teardrop says banjo should stay with family, emphasises when he leaves he may not return - Baby chicks given to children symbolising new life and opportunities perhaps to escape hillbilly culture
• Winters Bone Ending Sequence: How editing is used (2) - Long takes - connection between characters and the realism of the scene - Lack of cuts removes any dramatic element of the scene, makes it more peaceful and emotional, symbolising a sort of fulfillment or completion of the story with a new equilibrium
• Winters Bone Ending Sequence: How Sound is used (1) - Diagetic audio of playing the banjo - representing sentimental value of the prop in the family, it is played well, and badly, perhaps portraying how Teardrop can fluctuate from being a goof person to a bad person (avenging the death of his brother)
• Winters Bone Ending Sequence: How performance is used (1) - Jennifer Lawrence embodies Rees character suggesting the film has reached its new equilibrium, however it is obvious that Ree's quality of life is still poor and she continues to dream of the army and a better life, but at the time retaining the house is the best she is gonna get - symbolised through how ashleigh picks up the banjo at the end, symbolic as to how she now has the opportunity, like ree to escape
• Describe the films institutional contexts (4) - Visual style is associated with low budget film with 95% of McDonough's cinematography taking place handheld - the camera is never entirely settled, often peering around corners or over shoulders - Shot on RED digital cameras instead of 16mm - Film takes place across a week - 2 million USD budget, 6 million at box office
• Describe the elements of the spectatorship in Winters bone (3) - Mass culture theory - Stuart hall spectatorship - Active or passive audiences
• how is alignment achieved in winters bone in terms of spectatorship in winters bone (4) - Screentime - Point of view - Performance - Character traits
• Describe mass culture theory in terms of spectatorship in winters bone - Agument that mass culture has a negative effect on its audience (like films) - winters bone is an independant film therefore may not conform with the intention of profit over ideological messages - Its an ideological theory reinforcing the fantasy capitalist vision of the world
• Describe the preferred response to winters bone in terms of stuart hall spectatorship in winters bone (2) - Audience would see and acknowledge the issues surrounding the reality of hillbilly community - See the film as a feminist film - Ree is powerful and strong
• Describe the oppositional response to winters Bone in terms of stuart hall spectatorship in winters bone (2) - Perceive the hillbilly community as viscous, violent people - Thumps clan is overpowering and controlling, portraying the power of masculinity
• Describe the negotiated response to winters bone in terms of stuart hall spectatorship in winters bone - Audience understands the films ideological message
• How could the audience be passive in winters bone in terms of spectatorship in winters bone (2) - Documentary style opening treating the spectator almost as a voyeaur - Lack of understanding of hillbilly culture and community
• How is the audience active in terms of spectatorship in winters bone (2) - moral dilemmas are coded into the film and we impart our own moral understanding onto what happens in the film - we align and have allegiance with ree
• Describe the elements of representation in terms of ideology in winters bone (3) - Ree is represented as a classic hero which is usually associated with a male - Ozark mountains - hillbilly culture
• How is ree represented as a classic hero which is usually associated with a male in terms of ideology in winters bone (3) - Quest based narrative, in which hereos are usually male - Ree is a maternal figure to her siblings symbolising her strength and mentality as the key active character that drives the plot to find her father - Subverts the conventions of a supporting female character, usually portrayed as resources and problem solvers who navigate male power
• Describe the representation of the ozark mountains in terms of ideology in winters bone (2) - Ree wants to join the army, suggesting this is one of the few opportunities available to let her escape - controversial as the US army often targets poorest areas in america - Society is presented as ruthless and traditional in terms of gender roles, ree is shown to be independant and powerful in this traditional world
• Describe the representation of hillbilly culture in terms of ideology in winters bone - Realistic representation - ree and teardrop portray different aspects to society in a community which is forced to be independant and resilient suffering economic deprivation
• Theories of spectatorship evident in winters bone - Alignment and allegiance - Stuart halls reception theory - Mass culture theory
• Describe the perspective the spectator takes on in winters bone with regards to whether or not we are active or passive spectators (2) - Dependent on our situated context we may continue to take on a negative perspective of the ozark community, reading the text negatively - We take on a voyeuristic perspective throughout the film, we feel as if we are watching ree in an environment that does not represent marginalised group in a single way but in multiple ways
• What are the ideological critical approaches in winters bone - Feminist theory - Political analysis of society