Research Catalogue

What  Films have influenced the stylistic aspects of Edgar wrights directing technique.

Films

Item 1

Shaun of the dead (2004, universal pictures)

This is one of my primary sources. It is Edgar Wright’s first feature film, which he directed and co wrote with Simon Pegg. In my opinion it is a valuable source because the movie reflects lots of elements from other famous zombie movies such as dawn of the dead and evil dead 2, through the use of cinematography and editing. It also makes small references to these movies through mediums like character names, and even the title. These influences are commented on by Wright in the commentary feature on the DVD.

Item 2

Hot fuzz (2007, universal pictures)

This is one of my primary sources. It is Edgar wrights second feature film with him as both director and co writer (along with Simon Pegg) and is the second film in their definitive blood and ice cream trilogy.  It is a valuable source in the same way that Shaun of the dead is a valuable source. Because reflects lots of element from other more iconic films in the same genre. The difference being that because this is, primarily an action movie it makes reference to films like die hard and point break instead of dawn of the dead. These influences are commented on by Wright in the commentary feature on the DVD.

Item 3

Fistful of fingers (1995, blue dolphin film distribution)

This is a remake of a film Edgar Wright made whilst in school. The reason for remake his on film was this time he had a bigger budget as he had won funding because of the quality of his early films.  This film is homage to the spaghetti western genre, primarily the il buono, il brutto, il cattivo which has been described by Edgar as a big influence.

TV

Item 4

Spaced series 1 and 2 (channel 4, 1999-2001)

I have chosen spaced for similar reasons I have chosen the films, because it makes references/spoofs/reflects different films that have influenced/inspired Edgar Wright in his style of directing. Because this is a TV show it has different narratives for each episode meaning it references a wider verity of films than both hot fuzz and Shaun of the dead.

Internet

Item 5

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/feb/12/guardianinterviewsatbfisouthbank (Jason Solomons, February 2007, the guardian)

Although in this interview Edgar Wright dose not talk a lot about films that have had a great influence on his directing and writing, he dose talk about how he has been a great lover of films since a very young age and how that has effected his life early on and later in life and some of his favourite directors and actors. This is a reliable source as it is from the guardian newspaper.

Item 6

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0942367/

Edgar wrights imdb (internet movie data base) page. A large source for quick references that includes film names, release dates. Also lists numerous quotes and general information about Wright. Should be noted that much of the information found on the website is provided by volunteers so may not be considered 100% reliable, it dose however have 20 members of staff who’s job is to check information.

Item 7

http://www.edgarwrighthere.com/

Edgar Wright’s official blog. Gives information about his early life and how he managed to get to where he is in the movie business. Also, it is regularly updated by Edgar on his current film projects. This is a reliable source as Edgar Wright himself writes it.

Item 8

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=8&sid=606a35c1-f197-499d-b009-cb9da8685415%40sessionmgr10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ukh&AN=52619562  (Ethan Alter, film journal international vol. 113 issue 8 pg10-12, 01/08/2010)

This is an article/interview taken from the film journal international magazine. In it they talk about how Edgar developed a love for cult cinema from an early age. Also talks about how his blood and ice cream trilogy (Shaun of the dead, hot fuzz, the world end (not yet realised)) are suppose to homage to the films they spoof.

Videos

Item 9

http://www.empireonline.com/features/edgarwright/

This probably the most valuable source out of all the sources I have found because it is a video of Edgar Wright naming ten of his favourite movies and how they have influenced his style of directing and writing. This is a reliable source as the list was comprised by Edgar Wright

Books and magazines

Directors A-Z a Concise Guide to the Art of 250 Great Film Makers (Geoff Andrew 1999)

This is a “companion to 250 of the all time great visual stylists.” I have chosen to include this book into my research because it includes information on directors of films Edgar Wright has stated to be a big inspiration to him, such as john woo and George Romero. This is a reliable source because the author is one of Britain’s leading film critics and the fore word is written by the Coen brothers.

The cult film reader (Ernest Mathijs, Xavier Mendik, December 2007) 

This book delves into the realm of cult films all the way from the start of cinema to present day. I have included this into my research as Wright is a self confessed lover of cult films and many of his favourite movies are cult films and are discussed in this book (evil dead 2, dawn of the dead). This is a reliable source because the author is the director of the cult film archive and convenor of the ma in cult film and T.V. at Brunel university.

Sergio Leone: Once upon a time in Italy (Christopher Frayling 2005)

A biography of Leone’s film career. I have included this as it Edgar Wright has described leone and his films (especially the dollars trilogy) as having a major impact on him when he was younger. This is a reliable source as the author was the governor of the British film institute and was knighted for his services to art and design education.

Discarded sources

Scott pilgrim vs. the world (2010, universal pictures)

I first choose this film to be one of my sources because it the biggest budget film Edgar Wright was involved with, so with there for mean he would be able to do a lot more in this movie than his others. In this sense I was right but the movie did not have lots of influences from films but games and modern pop culture.

http://www.empireonline.com/interviews/interview.asp?IID=155

Although this is a q and a with Edgar Wright about Shaun of the dead, the whole interview is focused more about the process of filming and editing and the reception it’s got.

Gomorrah

Gomorrah follows muitlpe chacters as they live there lives out in an area of napples that has a high level of mafia activity. one of the narratives follows to friends as theyattempt tomake a name for themeseleves in the worldof crime, another follows a a young boy as he joins a gang and then struggles to cope with the the responsibilities, another follows another follows a mafia crime boss as he attempts to use a unused area of land to dump toxic waste. in my opinion the main problem with this movie was the use of multiple narratives. i know that multiple narratives can be used to great effect in a movie (pulp fiction, city of god) however gomorrah did not have the same effect. i found it hard to connect with the characters so therefore i did not get that involved in the film. whilset some of the narratives showed potential pirticularly the about the two friends, and the one about the young boy , becuase you get a clear insight into the world of orginised crime and if given the chance to develop more could of been quite entertaining, the other narratives were just boring. for example the one about the the mafia man trying to dump toxic waste out.

however there were some good pointys to this movie. it did manage to show power poverty and conflict on a range of levels. you have the conflict between the two rival gangs (this shown very effectivly when two who are best friends tell eaach other that they are now enimes and while shot the other after allieing them selevs with different gangs.) poverty is shown alot as most of the minor characters and some of the main ones are living in some state of poverty (which is proberley why most them turn to a life of crime). power is shown

Presentation plan

First slide.

 In this presentation I will be discussing what films have influenced Edgar Wright and given him such a unique style of directing.

List of films:

1)     Shaun of the dead.

2)     Hot fuzz.

3)     Fist full of fingers.

Second slide

Use this slide to talk about Edgar Wright and give some brief background information on him.

1)     How he started making films at an early age.

2)     Reference interview from the guardian where he talks about how he developed a likening for film at a young age.

3)     Reference film journal international magazine interview where he mentioned his love of cult cinema.

Third slide

Title film: Shaun of the dead.

Project: Shaun of the dead poster.

1)     Talk briefly about the origins of the movie (opening scene of spaced).

2)     Talk about how this film is influenced by Edgar’s love of zombie horror movies like George a Romero’s of the dead series (dawn of the dead, night of the living dead) and Sam Raimi’s evil dead trilogy. Reference video interview on empire where Edgar lists 10 favourite movies.

3)     Talk about small references to other films. (Character names, film titles places and cretin scenes.)

4)     Talk about use of violence and dark humour, which is common in zombie movies, especially evil dead 2 (show scene where they are beating up zombie to don’t stop me know by queen.)

Fourth slide

Title film: Hot fuzz.

Project: hot fuzz poster.

1)     Talk briefly about the movie’s plot and what it was Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg were trying to achieve with it (make a good Hollywood style British action movie)

2)     Talk about how (like Shaun of the dead) this movie was greatly influenced by another of genre of movie, action movies. Talk about the movies of john woo inperticular hard-boiled, and who Edgar names this as one of his favourite movies in the video interview with empire.

3)     Talk about how this movie uses a lot of fast paced camerawork and editing to give it a high pacing, which is very common in action movies.  Also talk about how I’t copy’s other element such in terms of narrative, characters and cheesy one liners.

Fifth slide

Spoof or homage.

1)     Talk about how the legitimacy of these film sources can be brought into question as they are spoofs of the genres they portray.

2)     Compare to films like scary movie and not another teen movie.

3)     Talk about how that because it’s a spoof it could mean that Edgar write dose not like that genre of movie.

4)     Make reference to article were Edgar write says that while the movies are spoofs he also likes to think of them as homage that praise the genre they spoof. Also reference empire video and talk about how both movies have serious aspects to their narrative.

Sixth slide

1)     Talk about how most of Edgar’s influences are confined to one film. For example in hot fuzz there are a few cheesy one liners, like the ones found in action movies, but this use dialog is only found in this film.

2)     There are a few elements to his filmmaking style that he has clearly picked up from cretin movies that can be seen in a majority of his work.

3)     Make reference to tv series spaced.

Seventh slide

In this slide, talk about one of Edgar trademark styles mentioned in the previous slide.

1)     talk about his use of fast paced camera work and quick cut editing.

2)     Talk about how this style of camera work and editing is used during car chases or gun fights, yet Edgar uses it during less action packed scenes to keep up the fast tempo.

3)     Project clip from Shaun of the dead when Shaun is getting ready for work in the morning to demonstrate my point.

4)     Talk about how this is something he most likely picked up from movies like hard-boiled and bad boys two.

Eighth slide

In this slide talk about another one of Edgar trademark style of filmmaking and where he most likely picked it up.

1)     Talk about a majority of Edgar’s work contains some form of dark/surreal humour and gory effects.

2)     Talk about how this is most likely something he picked up from evil dead 2 which is known the world over for its dark and serial humour and gore.

3)     Project clip from hot fuzz where pillar crushes man’s head and clip from Shaun of the dead where zombies rip David apart.

What films have influenced Edgar Wright as a director and writer?

From my research I have found a number of films that have influenced Edgar Wright in many aspects of his film making technique but it is clear that some films have had had a greater effect on him than others. For example in my research I found an interview with Edgar write where he talks about his favourite films and the ways they have influenced him. One of the films he mentions is the good the bad and the ugly. the influences of this film can be clearly seen in one of his earliest films fistful of fingers, which is a spoof/homage to the western genre. But the influences are of the good the bad and the ugly is present in this film and don’t really transfer over to his other films (from what i have seen) . This is the same for many of the other movies he has mentioned because his most famous films are spoofs/homage of other films. it also appears that most ofn the films he talks about inspired him to become a film maker and have not influnced his work.

However there are a couple of films the have clearly influenced and those influences show up in a lot of his films. One of these films is hard boiled. From this film he seems to of inherited a habit of using lots of fast pace quick cutting editing that is used not just in action scenes but in some of the more slower paced, less action filled scenes in order to keep a fast pace through out the film.  He also has inherited a likening for dark humour and gory effects. I believe that he has inherited this traits from the evil dead series (mainly evil dead 2) which is known the world over for it’s excellent mix of horror and comedy.

Comparison of power poverty and conflict in a prophet and city of god.

All three of these themes play big part in both city of god and a prophet but some more then others in each film. I think that the theme of poverty is much more prominent in city of god than it is in a prophet.  One reason for this is because city of god is set in what is at first a small shanty where the in habitants have to depend largely on the tender trio to get buy, even after a few years when city of god has grown to a small, the streets are dirty and people homes appear torn and empty. It could also bee considered that it is because of the poverty of the shanty town that made lil ze desire to be a powerful gangster which would mean that the theme of poverty drives the story forward

In a prophet we don’t much of the story set outside of the prison. One of the few scenes set in the outside world, Malik visits his friend at his apartment. From what we see of it, the apartment seems fairly small and unfurnished. This is the only sense of poverty we see in the film and dose not drive the narrative the same as city of god because we know next to nothing about Malik’s life before prison (however it is likely he lived in some state of poverty as we know he did not finish school.

Power is also a big part of both films. In city of god we see the journey that lil ze takes from being a small time crook/con on the streets to being one of the biggest drug lords in south America. In a prophet we see Malik go from assaulting police officers (which may have been in self defence) to owner of his own drug smuggling operation. However the level of power each character holds and the reason why they attain it is different.

One of the reasons why lil became a criminal may be because (as I said above) because of his desire to escape the clutches of poverty in the shantytown he grow up. But a big part of it his desire to grab power could because he just a psychopathic by nature. This seen when as a young child he goes round the motel the tender trio just robbed and shoots everyone in there whilst laughing. In a prophet Malik is forced to kill a Muslim by Cesar. After he kills the target he comes under the protection of Cesar and his gang and eventually becomes an integral part of it. Whislt towards the end of the film malik untroubled by the violent acts he must to perform in the drug world.at the beginning he dose not cope that well. When he is first told that he must murder someone, it is clearly visible that the idea of killing someone causes him much emotional distress. Even when he becomes a member of the Corsican mafia and is use to have to beat people up he stll see’s the corpse of the man he killed where ever he gose showing that he is not completely keen with murder.

The same cannot be said for lil ze. Through out the movie he kills possible hundreds of people and it seem to cause to him no visible distress. The only death that dose effect him is the death of his best friend Benny. The city of god also seem’s to make a statement about power. That statement being that power is a never ending cycle that keeps getting bigger. Frist we have the tender trio. Three guys how rob trucks at gunpoint when they drive through their town, then lil ze takes over and by his late teens he own all but one drug selling groups in Rio De Janeiro. Then lil ze is killed by the runts who are around the age of 10, and they start making a hit list of people they need to kill in order to take over the drug empire.

In a prophet there is a similar cycle with Cesar and Malik. At first Cesar is the biggest crime boss in the prison and practically owns the prison and Malik is an uneducated 19 year old of North African descent sent to prison for assaulting a police officer. By the time Malik is released he is running his own drug bracket and Cesar is left in prison with a fraction of his former power. A prophet also seems make a point that the environment some one is in will effect what they become. At first Malik is a small time offender but then changes into a big time crook.

city of god

In my opinion there is one main message that the director is trying to convey in the city of god. that message is that violence is an endless cycle. this is seen when at first the main trouble makers are the tender trio, but eventually they stop there life of crime (or get killed) and then lil dice/ze takes other and becomes even more violent. then at the end of the film lil ze gets killed by the runts (young troublwe mamkers) and we here them talk about how they are going to talk other the city by kill anyone who gets in there way. while there words may seem like an empty threat you must remember that lil ze started gaining power at there age.

The film uses quite a lot of fast paced editing to keep up the tempo of the film. during benys party when lil ze and beny are fighting and beny eventually gets killed by blackie the director uses the setting of the party to keep up the fast paced action. the music that's playing has a fast upbeat tempo, strobe lights are the only source of light are most of the camera shots are taken with in the crowd. this makes it hard for the audience to follow what is happening and makes it seem like we are actually at the party. it not until beney is shot and the crowd has cleared that you truley understand what happend. during the scene when lil ze sends a messenger to carrot to tell him to hand over knock out ned and the messenger runs away after seeing knockout ned the screen splits into to seprate shots, one showing us carrots men chasing after the messenger and the other showing use carrots talking to knockout ned. this helps keep the fast paced action during what would of been just a conversation between two people.

because this movie is based on real events, alot of what happens in the movie reflects what was happening in cidade de deus, and many other parts of brazil, at the time. even though it is based on real events i was under the impression that some of the film would of been exagerated, but after reading a gaurdian in the article i  found that i was wrong and that in some cases the state of affiers was worse than it was depicted, even to this day the violence is still growing with marcilio dias being on of the most violent places in the world. a nurese working in one of the more violent areas dose not think of dead bodies turining up every few days as excessive.

what films have influenced edgar wright as a director

One of the biggest influnces of edgar wright would be the zombie horror genre, namley the evil dead series and films directod by geaorge a remero. these influnces can be clearly seen in shaun of the dead, edgars rom zom com. there are many small refrences in the film such as charcters that have names that refrence characters from other zom films and the scene in which simon and co are fighting a zombie to queens don't stop me know is Reminiscent of the dark humor found in the evil dead 2.

other films that have influenced edgar wright as a director are action films such as hard boiled and die hard. these influnces can be seen in hot fuzz, where he micks cheesey catch phrases and action packed fights.
in his tv series spaced most episodes/narrative/cinematography have been infunced by some film or other type of medium, such as (goodfellas, the matrix, pulp fiction, evuil dead, star wars) these influnces effect different aspects of the show. one episode's narrative features characters that are clearly influnced by the agents in the matrix, whilest in another episode they have a scene which is near exact copy of the pop tart scene in pulp fiction even though it has a completely different narattive.

while most of his movies may seem to be spoofs of other popular films , edgar wright has stated that while they are suppose to thought of as funny and to be taken lightly there are, as he consdiders, to be a homage to the films that they spoof.

film catalogue

What films have influenced Edgar Wright as a director and writer?

Films

Shaun of the dead (2004, universal pictures)

This is one of my primary sources. It is Edgar Wright’s first feature film, which he directed and co wrote with Simon Pegg. In my opinion it is a valuable source because the movie reflects lots of elements from other famous zombie movies such as dawn of the dead and evil dead 2, through the use of cinematography and editing. It also makes small references to these movies through mediums like character names, and even the title. These influences are commented on by Wright in the commentary feature on the DVD.

Hot fuzz (2007, universal pictures)

This is one of my primary sources. It is Edgar wrights second feature film with him as both director and co writer (along with Simon Pegg) and is the second film in their definitive blood and ice cream trilogy.  It is a valuable source in the same way that Shaun of the dead is a valuable source. Because reflects lots of element from other more iconic films in the same genre. The difference being that because this is, primarily an action movie it makes reference to films like die hard and point break instead of dawn of the dead. These influences are commented on by Wright in the commentary feature on the DVD.

TV

Spaced series 1 and 2 (channel 4, 1999-2001)

I have chosen spaced for similar reasons I have chosen the films, because it makes references/spoofs/reflects different films that have influenced/inspired Edgar Wright in his style of directing. Because this is a TV show it has different narratives for each episode meaning it references a wider verity of films than both hot fuzz and Shaun of the dead.

Internet

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/feb/12/guardianinterviewsatbfisouthbank                (Jason Solomons, February 2007, the guardian)

Although in this interview Edgar Wright dose not talk a lot about films that have had a great influence on his directing and writing, he dose talk about how he has been a great lover of films since a very young age and how that has effected his life early on and later in life and some of his favourite directors and actors.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0942367/

Edgar wrights imdb (internet movie data base) page. Lists although movies/TV shows he has worked (and is going to work) on as a writer, director, actor, editor and producer. It lists miscellanies trivia about him, famous quotes and his trademark writing and directing techniques.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Wright

Edgar wrights Wikipedia page. Gives information about his early life and how he managed to get to where he is in the movie business. It must be noted that all this information may not be very reliable as Wikipedia entries can be edited by anyone.

Videos

http://www.empireonline.com/features/edgarwright/

This probably the most valuable source out of all the sources I have found because it is a video of Edgar Wright naming ten of his favourite movies and how they have influenced his style of directing and writing.

Discarded sources

Scott pilgrim vs. the world (2010, universal pictures)

I first choose this film to be one of my sources because it the biggest budget film Edgar Wright was involved with, so with there for mean he would be able to do a lot more in this movie than his others. In this sense I was right but the movie did not have lots of influences from films but games and modern pop culture.

http://www.empireonline.com/features/edgar-wright-talks-scott-pilgrim-teaser-trailer/

At first this seemed like a informative source but I have chosen to discard it for the same reasons I discarded the Scott pilgrim vs. the world film, because most of the influencing factors are not films but more about games and popular culture.

http://www.empireonline.com/interviews/interview.asp?IID=155

Although this is a q and a with Edgar Wright about Shaun of the dead, the whole interview is focused more about the process of filming and editing and the reception it’s got.

How the cities in La Haine and Taxi Driver have a direct effect on the narrative.

In both la Haine and taxi driver the city settings play an important role in the narrative, however I believe that the city setting in taxi driver is more important the story than in la Haine.

My first reason for this is the way Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) talks about the city, first of al he dose talk about the city but when he dose he talks about it he personifies it a cretin extent, making it sound like it parasite is that it has been infected. Travis is always saying that the city is a disgusting place and he wants to clean it up making it almost seem like the city is the antagonist and Travis is the protagonist.

In la Haine the he city (Paris) looks a lot different to the New York in taxi driver. In taxi driver the streets look dirty, dark and damp. On the street corners women sell there body’s for money and people sell drugs, vents spew steam into the alleys and one of the main sources of light come from neon sign’s advertising strip clubs. In la Haine the suburbs of Paris look somewhat like barren and empty, which in emphasized by the black and white picture. When the setting changes to the actual city things start to look more glamour’s and alive, but I becomes immediately obvious the Vince, Hubert and said do not fit in.

What is also different is the characters position with in the city. In taxi driver Travis thinks of himself of being above what happens and has a desire to change things for the better. In la haine Vince, Hubert and said seem too apart of the crime that takes place and Vince at first has a strong desire to be a gangster. Also the city dose not seem to play a big a part as it dose in taxi driver. As I have said in taxi driver Travis make it sound like the city is the antagonist, in la Haine the city is not really personified in the same way. 

la haine

i thought that overall la haine was a fairly good movie. The use of black and white film woked well at helping to establish bleakness of the estates and the situations the main characters find themselevs in.The way the characters were written, so when they started getting harased by the police or mourning the death of a friend i found myselfs sympathising with them. The use of real life footage of riots in france gave the film context and helped me better understand what is happening with in the film. one small problem with the film is that the story is a bit disjointed this was not such a big problem as as i have said before the characters were well written.

thoughts on hidden

Overall i thought that hidden was boring . I understand that the director (Haneke) was trying to push the boundries of film convention through his use of long static shots and lack of sound in order to create suspense but i think it did not work at all. The story was the best part but it progressed fairly slowly and i only watched a small part of the film so i was not hooked and did not really care about who this mystirous cameraman was and who the child in the window was. Also the director showed the audience scenes that did not advance the plot or develop characters, an example of this is when the audience is forced to watch the pierrot at a swimming class
However if i were to watch whole film my opinon of the film may change, but that is not very likely.