(Note: While I only list the sources here from my Annotated Bibliography, I do intend to try and find a few more sources for use here.)

Paragraph 1: Introduction

Colonialism has been present in nearly all of the societies of the world in some form since it’s conception and spread across the world. It even has it’s roots in Cinema with films such as Avatar, and District 9. Both of these films show different forms of Colonialism and how it can affect the plot or even be a main point in the plot of a film. In James Cameron’s Avatar we see the classic postcolonial plot of the White Savior: A white person, normally a male, comes to the aid of a “lesser” race out of the goodness of his heart and not only helps them but becomes the leader of them. In the other case Neill Blomkamp's District 9 we see different types of colonialism but in particular is one known as Settler Colonialism: A type of colonialism where a foreign group moves into the space previously inhabited by its natural inhabitants, who are normally forced out in favor of these foreign settlers. I will be expanding on these in detail using information from both the films themselves and the various sources I have found.

Paragraph 2: Colonialism in film.

Sources:

https://oneroomwithaview.com/2015/05/27/beginners-guide-post-colonial-cinema/

Paragraph 3: Avatar

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/08/opinion/08brooks.html?em

https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/why-avatar-is-a-truly-dangerous-film/

http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/reviews/avatar/

Paragraph 4: District 9

http://www.newsweek.com/real-district-9-cape-towns-district-six-78939

http://archive.jsonline.com/entertainment/movies/53074407.html

https://the-artifice.com/district-9-post-colonial-analysis/

Paragraph 5: Conclusion

Scene Alaysis

Scene Analysis: Standoff at The Cemetary

Context

This scene takes place shortly after the start of the 128 minute film, and features a number of characters. The important characters that are introduced that will play center stage during the rest of the movie are Chris Adams (Yul Brynner), Vin Tanner (Steve McQueen), and Chico (Horst Buchholz). Various other extras and unnamed characters are featured in this scene. The setting is main street of the dusty western town seen in the film, and follows the main street outside of the town and up to Boot Hill.

Summarize
 

The scene opens with Chris Adams and Vin Tanner driving a horse drawn hearse through the town to carry the body of an Indian past racist members of the town to bury him. They make it to the graveyard’s gate unscathed, aside from Adams’ cigar which got shot by a man in a window earlier. The men at the gate tell them to turn back and go down the hill, but are quickly shut up by Adams drawing his gun and wounding two of them. They then leave and the men of the village take the coffin of the Indian inside to bury him. Throughout the scene the young gunslinger Chico is seen following behind with the rest of the townsfolk and watching the actions of Adams and Tanner with amazement.

Context

Soundtrack: The music used in the scene is an orchestra piece that starts out quiet and becomes progressively louder and more booming the more they climb the hill. This assists the build up of the scene as the tension builds, beginning with the shot from the man in the window and only ending when the music goes silent as they approach the men at the top of the hill. The only sounds heard then are the voices of the characters followed by the 2 gunshots from Adams. The music only resumes once the confrontation has ended, continuing the slow music that was being played at the start of the scene.

Mise-en-scène: “Put into Scene” is the direct translation of this phrase, and it is referencing anything directly seen in front of the camera during the scene, including props, setting, lightning techniques. The setting of the scene is a dusty and currently empty town, all the townspeople located behind the hearse being driven by Adams. The empty town serves to show how easily frightened people of the Old West are in the film of anyone with weapons, a trait that carries over from this town and into the one the main plot of the film shall take place. The camera follows Adams and Tanner, only cutting back to the frightened following townsfolk rarely, always focusing on the gunslingers or soon-to-be gunslingers in Chico’s case.

Cinematography: We see various filming techniques used in this film, the largest of which being the constant Following Shot used for much of the scene. The camera follows Adams and Tanner with few cuts, two of them being Point of View shots that show the group of men assembled at the entrance to the graveyard. We see the use of Shot/Reverse Shot once they reach the top of the hill, moving back and forth between the group of men and Adams and Tanner.

Pivotal:

I found this scene important to the film as it introduces Adams as a courageous man who will do what he believes is right, and Tanner as well. It also introduces Chico as an inexperienced boy who is following Adams and Tanner like a child watching his heroes. The introduction of these characters and the fear of the normal townsfolk sets the tone for the rest of the film.

Annotated Bibliography

Central Question: How are the portrayals of Colonialism different in District 9 and Avatar?

Films: Avatar and District 9

Brooks, David. “The Messiah Complex.” NYTimes, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/08/opinion/08brooks.html?em. Accessed 20 March 2017.

Brooks explores and explains the idea of the White Messiah, which is very similar to the White Man’s Burden idea. This will allow me to look more closely at how these ideas relate to a post colonial world and why these ideas have popped up so much in recent cinema.

Dominguez-Chio, Amanda. “District 9: A Post-Colonial Analysis.” The Artifice, https://the-artifice.com/district-9-post-colonial-analysis/. Accessed 20 March 2017.

This article presents the ideas that what is happening in District 9 is settler colonialism, with the aliens being the members of the settler colony. These ideas and explanations within support my belief that District 9 has very particular types of colonialism at work.

Kavaney, Roz. “Avatar Review.” Strange Horizons, http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/reviews/avatar/. Accessed 20 March 2017.

In this review, Kavaney brings up how the idea of a white male coming and saving the day is repeated so much because it is one of the few types of films that is allowed to come out of Hollywood. Overall it addressed the pressures of making films in a postcolonial world.

Riazuddin, Hana Shams. “Why Avatar is a Truly Dangerous Film.” Ceasefire Magazine, https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/why-avatar-is-a-truly-dangerous-film/ . Accessed 20 March 2017.

Riazuddin states that much of Avatar is based on the limited belief of what most people think a tribal group looks like, and addresses how it is colonial practices being done to the na’vi. This supports and answers my question of what kinds of colonialism is found in the film and gives supporting evidence.

Zellhuber-McMillan, Ellena. “A Beginner’s Guide to...Post-Colonial Cinema.” One Room With A View, https://oneroomwithaview.com/2015/05/27/beginners-guide-post-colonial-cinema/. Accessed 20 March 2017.

The article goes into detail in explaining what Post-Colonial cinema is, and provides examples of the different traits it exhibits. The information supplied here gives me both examples needed for post-colonial cinema and also the main ideas behind it.

Johnson, Scott. “The Real District 9: Cape Town’s District 6.” Newsweek, http://www.newsweek.com/real-district-9-cape-towns-district-six-78939. Accessed 20 March 2017.

Johnson’s article goes into the history of real life districts that people lived in, before being forced out and finding themselves in various slums. It’s said Director of District 9, Blomkamp spent time studying this district in order to understand some of the ideas he would incorporate into District 9.

Dudek, Duane. “‘District 9’ Social Theme isn’t So Alien.” JsOnline, http://archive.jsonline.com/entertainment/movies/53074407.html. Accessed 20 March 2017.

Dudek brings up how the film’s setting and ideas being presented are meant to remind people of the time of Apartheid shown in South Africa. Apartheid is a post-colonialism idea that was put in place to continue the racism of slavery and to keep the natives of South Africa under the former colonists.

Prospectus District 9 and Avatar

Avatar

Avatar is a Action/Sci-fi film released December 18th, 2009. It follows Jake Sully, a paraplegic marine placed in a “Avatar”, a alien body that is used to interact with the society of aliens on the planet Pandora. He soon has to choose between his life as a human and his life as a Na’vi as he finds himself adapting and finding he enjoys Na’vi society.

District 9

District 9 is a Action/Sci-fi film released in August 14th, 2009. It follows Wikus van de Merwe, an Afrikaner bureaucrat in charge of the relocation of an alien race that has found refuge in Johannesburg, South Africa. During one of these relocations, he is sprayed in the face by a black liquid one of the Aliens has been collecting and soon finds himself turning into one of the Prawns. The rest of the film is his battle with this transformation, and the decisions he must make for both himself and the Aliens.

Colonialism

Colonialism was a practice that has had echoes ringing throughout history all the way up to the present day, having left it’s marks on the entire world. In Avatar and District 9 we see Colonialism in two different forms, from people attempting to colonize a planet, to groups of aliens being moved from one land to the other in the vein of Settler Colonialism. How are the portrayals of Colonialism different in District 9 and Avatar?

Both films feature main characters that are changed into the films respective alien race, a Na’vi for Jake Sully and a “Prawn” for Wikus van de Merwe. I will address how each of these characters transformations affect them and how it fits into the narrative of Colonialism seen in the films.

Timeline

Prospectus: 1/13/2017

Annotated Bibliography:

• Find 5-7 Secondary Sources: 3/18/2017
• Cite Sources: 3/19/2017
• Write Annotated Bibliography: 3/20/2017

Thesis and Outline:

• Thesis Statement: 3/23/2017
• Outline: 3/24/2017

Rough Draft:

• All Prose Draft: 4/4/2017 - 4/6/2017
• Grammar Review: 4/9/2017
• Rough Draft Comments: 4/11/2017

Final Draft: 4/22/2017 - 4/29/2017

Machete Review

Machete Review

 

So what is it about?

A cheesy action flick about one man's battle with both ruthless drug cartels, and racist American border patrol. Robert Rodriguez’s Machete is a over-the-top action film filled with guns, blades, and plenty of blood. The main character Machete is a former Mexican federal agent, who lost his family and fled to America after swearing he would take down a notorious Drug Lord,  He is soon strong armed into an assassination attempt by a local businessman, quickly betrayed, and a rampage quickly begins that takes Machete across Texas and back to Mexico where he has to face Rogelio Torrez again.

What are the little details about the film?

Created in the US and released September 3rd 2010, Machete had an estimated budget of $10,500,000 and in the USA alone grossed $26,589,953 by November. Since it’s release it has become one of Danny Trejo’s most recognizable roles, although not his first as he has appeared in various other films over the years such as Heat, The Devil’s Rejects, Anaconda, Con Air, Predators, and various others.

What Genre is it?

A cheesy Mexploitation action film.

What did I go in expecting?

I went into Machete expecting a bloody action film, filled with lots of fight scenes, shootouts, explosions and pretty much everything else you would see in your standard action flick.

I hadn’t seen or really thought much about the concept of Mexploitation films, so I hadn’t gone in expecting to really focus on and see the underlying messages the film was trying to convey.

I had expected something similar to a B-movie from the trailers and few scenes I had seen before.

How does it hold up to those expectations?

In the action department I found that I had hit the nail on the head, plenty of blood, gunfights, and various other things associated with action films. I still feel that had the messages of the film not been so heavy handed, I would not have really noticed them. The vigilantes are extremely stereotypical of the racist white southerners who hate immigrants and anyone different from them. The production of the film was also much higher than I had expected, with a large amount of A-list actors appearing for even just short cameo shots.

Overall, Machete is a very enjoyable film that I would suggest people watch.