I chose to include these images because they do a great job of illustrating how such common, everyday spaces can be transformed by their context. As mentioned in the first post, Privet Drive is an incredibly ordinary house from the outside. The middle image shows a set merely consisting of some bland seats on a train, and the last the train from the outside. There is nothing evidently striking about them, but people come from all over the world to get close to them. This demonstrates just how powerful a story Harry Potter is and has been, and the desire it instills in people to immerse themselves within the story.
A few weeks ago Professor Petersen brought up the idea of modern media and how it often lacks an "original", i.e. a song produced only digitally or an image made entirely on a computer. The creative media widely enjoyed today is becoming less and less tangible. I think this is another reason why the Harry Potter studios are so popular: it gives fans a concrete experience of the art they enjoy. They are able to go beyond the screen, walk through the sets, drink the Butter Beer. The urge for this "real life" experience makes a lot of sense, but for a lot of modern art such an experience is never accessible to the public. The film begins with a scene of conflict between Harry and his family at Privet Drive. This house is particularly ordinary on the exterior, blending in entirely, however the events that occur inside are other-worldy. The next major scene is Harry's first encounter with the Night Bus; it differs from a regular London bus, as it is purple and has three floors rather than two. The bus crew are bizarre and don't really react to the perilous and strange situations the bus creates and houses; Harry seems to be the only one who finds it a bit odd. In this scene, Harry takes on the role of an outsider, as we all have done as tourists. He must adjust to this new world, like going from Florida to London, but in this moment he's surrounded by new, unknown things. This is the train that Harry takes to Hogwarts with Hermione, Ron, and Professor Lupin. At first, this is a place where Harry can comfortable enjoy time with his friends, as he travels from the muggle world that doesn't quite fit him, to a world with people whom he identifies with. However, Dementors soon attack and the place is quickly transformed into hostility and chaos. The train, that transports them in a physical sense, is also a place of emotional transformation. The Great Hall in Hogwarts parallels British pub culture. It makes the experience of eating food into a very social activity and a place of interpersonal connection. Much of the communication between students, as well as faculty occurs here throughout Azkaban and the rest of the books/films. It is a place where all four houses merge on a daily basis, going beyond the groups and identities they are declared as. Hagrid's cottage is a consistent safe space for Harry, Hermione, and Ron throughout the series. Hagrid is notably different from most of his colleagues; he's much less refined, shockingly tall, and a little rough around the edges. Accordingly, his cottage is not in the main Hogwarts building, it is down the hill and towards the woods. This space represents a departure from tradition, and when the traditional figures do enter this space in the film, it brings negativity and malice.
Free Cinema Assignment: The Union Makes Us Strong As an American visiting London in 2023, I find the dynamic between the British public and the Monarchy to be particularly fascinating. At a time when one in five Brits are considered impoverished (one in four children) and a widespread cost of living crisis, the amount of resources dedicated to parading the Monarchy seems especially garish and even offensive. I chose to explore this subject for my Free Cinema assignment. The film largely utilizes juxtaposition to communicate a point, through both the shots and the non-diegetic soundtrack. The first half of the film is shot at Buckingham Palace, a landmark that articulates the grandeur of the UK’s commitment to promoting and maintaining monarchical culture. I use the opening shot, a close-up of a royal guard with an abrupt zoom-out to the entire palace, to emphasize the building’s sheer scale, and how minute the individual appears in contrast to it. The following shots are mostly still-frames showing the surrounding statues and fountain, as well as the crowds of people peeking through the barred fence to the palace beyond. I transition from this ideal and sanitized slice of England, to the “real world” through mirroring the tense expressions on the statues’ faces to an Amazon ad on the Underground. Their similarly disapproving faces stare down at tube-gowers, a status endowed this time by a billion-dollar brand rather than royal connection. The second half of the film depicts areas of Soho and Bloomsbury that are contrastingly messy, dirty, and bearing imperfections. This half is depicted only at night, to symbolize how the Royal version of the UK differs from the world Brits actually experience, and how this flawed version is not likewise flaunted. The film references the core principles of Free Cinema in its up-close and personal nature as well as its rejection of traditional power. The shots and production are by no means perfect on a technical scale, but perfection is not required nor expected in the spirit of Free Cinema. Sources “Overall UK Poverty Rates.” JRF, 25 Jan. 2023, https://www.jrf.org.uk/data/overall-uk-poverty-rates. Excursion Week Cinema Assignment Oxford is one of the most iconic cities in the United Kingdom. It has an extensive history and has maintained its prestige and allure over hundreds of years. The two movies I watched as a study of Oxford are Brideshead Revisited (2008), and An Education (2009). While these two films were created around the same time, they are set in the 1920’s and 1961 respectively. The main characters of both films are involved with the University of Oxford, as enrolled students and prospective students. Brideshead Revisited is largely about two young men, Charles and Sebastian, one of astonishing wealth and another of lesser means, who meet as students at Oxford and quickly form a deep bond. Sebastian is homosexual, and clearly has an affection for Charles, however their relationship is never precisely defined. Here, Oxford serves as a convergence of classes, but the air of esteem and old money is ever-present. The film shows the historic architecture of the city and upper-class men galavanting about in suits and tophats. Many characters speak with a clearly elitist attitude and are uncomfortable with Charles’s relative lack of money as they gather for an extravagant lunch in Sebastian’s home. Despite this, Charles appears unbothered and continues to deeply enjoy his time there. Much of the drama and tension in the film arises when our main characters go to Sebastian’s grand country house, Brideshead. The house represents his extreme wealth, the tight grip of his family, and the pressures placed upon him by his religious affiliation. Here, Sebastian must constantly veil his sexuality from his family, and is often upset by interactions with them. This juxtaposes Oxford as a place where one can be their true self, away from the constraints of family and religion and in a world where people of different class, religion, and sexual identity can coexist. The scenes outside in the city of Oxford are always brightly lit, depicted in the sun and clearly warmer months of the year. Conversely, scenes where Charles returns home to his withdrawn father as well as to the Brideshead house are shown at night in the darkness or during rainy, gray weather. An Education tells the story of a 16-year-old girl living in London, Jenny, who dreams of attending Oxford. She is initially a dedicated student with an endearingly immature love interest, however after encountering an older man who takes romantic interest in her, she drops out of school and gives up her academic dream to marry him. In this film, Oxford is more present as a representative idea than an actual location where the plot takes place. Jenny does visit the city of Oxford with her new love interest and his friends, however they spend their time there drinking in a bar and later having an uncomfortable sexual encounter. The scenes here happen almost entirely at night, with dark lighting and in small, confined spaces such as the bar and hotel room. The University serves as a symbol of Jenny’s original self, a girl of ambition and self-sufficiency. As she loses sight of herself and gets involved with the older man, Oxford becomes less and less relevant to her until she forgets it completely. At the end of the film, Jenny has a moment of realization about the negativity of her relationship. Jenny ends things with the man, gains an alternative older figure in her formal schoolteacher, and the movie ends with her acceptance into Oxford, on a hopeful and happy note. Again, in this film Oxford is representative of one’s true self. Physical and emotional distance from Oxford is associated with detrimental relationships and drama, and likewise, a character’s proximity to Oxford seems to represent their proximity to happiness. As an old and esteemed institution, I might have expected the University of Oxford to symbolize things like classism and bravado; however it seems the alternative is true. There is certainly an element of these themes, but the experience of education largely appears to be a powerful enabler of social mobility and self-actualization for the characters in these films. Sources An Education. Directed by Lone Scherfig, 2009. “An Education (2009) - IMDb.” Www.imdb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt1174732/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0. Accessed 20 Mar. 2023. Brideshead Revisited. Directed by Julian Jarrold, 2008. “Brideshead Revisited (2008) - IMDb.” Www.imdb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0412536/. Oxford University. “Introduction and History | University of Oxford.” Ox.ac.uk, 2018, www.ox.ac.uk/about/organisation/history. |