Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)

Question 1

Context of Alien

Answer 1

.Space set film
.Loud screeching soundscapes created
.Overcrowded settings
.2 female cast in group
.Excellent sound and music
.Repetitive sound for danger
.Huge scifi set
.Space themed music, creates a strange scifi atmosphere
.Bright, smokey, foggy lighting and Haze
.Moments of silence compared to moments of sound
.3 shots to long shots
.Dark suspensful beating repeatedly playing
.Loud breathing of astronauts
.Discovery of the big disgusting creature
.Investigation int other spacecraft
.Huge sets made cast seem smaller
. Mythical creatures created
.Dystopian Universe made to make space seem scary and horrifying
.Thrashing music creates tension
.Wierd. gory scene of death through Alien inside of human

Question 2

What happened in the death of Old Hollywood

Answer 2

.Introduction of Television
.End of long term actor contracts
.Hays code no longer used for films
.Foreign films rising - less restricted
.Lack of engaging audiences
.Old genres no longer popular
.End of vertical integration - 1948
.Younger audiences wanted more

Question 3

What happened in the rise of New Hollywood

Answer 3

.Foreign films rising
.More director freedom
.Film schools for future directors
.New locations
.New genres emerging, anti authority, method acting
.New narratives dealing with youth and taboo subjects

Question 4

What happened in the Death of New Hollywood

Answer 4

.Directors got too much freedom
.Less Pessimism and more optimism
.Summer blockbuster films created
.Expensive sets
.Films distributed in mass release
.Films stop making money
.Rise of sequels, concepts and studio control

Question 5

What are the Auteur features of ‘Alien’

Answer 5

.Distinct voice of the director expressed in the film
.Directors styles of film are more visible
.Reoccurring themes are recognisable
.Fantasy worlds and built sets
.Powerful women (Mother - name of computer)
.Horror close ups - Chest burster scene
.Lighting - colour pallets etc

Question 6

Opening Ship scene: Cinematography

Answer 6

.Low key Horror lighting adds tension
.Establishing shots and Wide shots leave the characters behind
.Walking to abandoned ships in tiny lights - shows sense of scale
.Sense of alone and isolated
.Wide shots of the setting to close ups of characters
.Lighting lacks filming astronauts perspectives

Question 7

Opening Ship scene: Editing

Answer 7

.Small crew - set scale height
.Minimal continuity editing
.Chronologically ordered
.Cross cutting from their ship to the abandoned ship in space
.Creates more suspense
.Audience know more then the crew on the ship

Question 8

Opening Ship scene: Sound

Answer 8

.Non Diegetic music
.Parallel sound
.Beatings of drums, heartbeat
.Diegetic dialogue, beeps, buzzing, breathing of astronauts
.Crackle of the monitor