Inception and Captain Fantastic -Spectatorship

Spectatorship 

 Spectatorship -  is the active response of someone when viewing a film by engaging with it and forming a response whereas an audience of a film is just viewing it passively without engaging or responding.

The factors which affect how spectators respond to the film is ;
- their age, gender, ethnicity
- how the film is consumed whether it is alone or in company, at home or in a cinema
- their personal experiences
- their social, political, cultural beliefs.




1) One element in Inception that might affect the different responses that spectators have is Ariadne's character in the film, because she is represented as one of the most dominant characters this may evoke different responses for spectators. For example, spectators who are older may have a negotiated response to her character as they may believe that stronger females wasn't the norm in a society when they were growing up but they may accept that in today's society there is more equality and freedom for women and are gaining to dominance, because of this the older generation of spectators may still disagree the representation of her character but accept that this is what todays society is like. Also Ariadne's character might evoke a different response if the spectators are feminists, because of this they might have a dominant response when responding to this film because her character is portrayed as the stronger character in comparison to Cobb's character, they would completely agree with the way her character is presented because this reflects today's society.

Another element in Inception that might affect the different responses that spectators have is the theme of Capitalism. This is portrayed negatively in the film because the storyline is the destruction of capitalism by corporate espionage, because of this people from working class backgrounds or people who have no knowledge of what capitalism entails they may not respond in the same way that someone from a more privileged background would because those who understand capitalism or are a capitalist themselves would have an oppositional response when watching this film because they would completely disagree with what Cobb's jobs is and what the film is about. Whereas those who aren't capitalists or aren't aware of the capitalistic society may have a dominant response when watching Inception because they believe that the portrayal of capitalism in the film is bad and so may agree with Cobb's views.


2) One element in Captain Fantastic that might affect the different responses the spectators have is the portrayal of Ben's character. Ben is represented as the stronger character in Captain Fantastic as he is the decision-maker in the film because he controls the lives of his children. Some spectators when watching this film may dislike Ben's character and may have a oppositional response if they are maybe from a younger generation disagree with the way he is bringing up his children. The younger generation of spectators may dislike Ben because he is a father trying to control his children lives by making them grow up isolated, away from society. Also people who perhaps don't have any children may have a negotiated response when responding to Ben's character because although they might disagree with the way he is bringing up his children the spectators won't be able to empathise with Ben because of this factor.

Another element in Captain Fantastic that might affect the different responses that spectators have is how the theme of capitalism is reflected throughout the film. Spectators may have an oppositional when responding to the film if they hold capitalists beliefs, because of Ben's negative portrayal of Capitalism and the effect of a capitalistic society people who are themselves capitalists will perhaps dislike his character because of this. Whereas those who share Ben's beliefs may have a dominant response when responding to this film if they agree with the way he was bringing up his children and also agree with his views of capitalism.

Inception and Captain fantastic - Gender representations

Using examples from both films, outline how inception and captain fantastic represent gender, commenting upon how stereotypes are challenged and reinforced.

In Inception gender stereotypes are somewhat reinforced, this is represented by the male dominated cast in which there are only two leading female characters. This reinforces the stereotype that woman are seen are less superior and that males are the more important gender in society. However this is challenged by the female characters because Ariadne and Mal are both portrayed as the most dominant characters in Inception, for example in the scene where Ariadne is first introduced to Cobb he places her in a dream in which she begins to gain the control when she is manipulating her surroundings which leads Cobb asking her questions, this represents him as weak in comparison to her, challenging the stereotype that females are in fact weak but in todays society females are gaining more importance and equality. Mal also challenges this stereotype of females by the control she has over Cobb, an example of this is seen throughout the film when she is seen in the dreams as a projection which leads Cobb to lose control of his reality making him a flawed male character in the film emphasising Mal's authority in the film reflecting today's society.

In Captain Fantastic the gender stereotypes are mainly challenged, this is shown by the equally dominated cast of males and females, in which both males and females in the film are equality portrayed through the characters of Ben and his children which there are three females and three males. The gender stereotype is challenged in this film by the representation female children : Vespyr, Kielyr and Zaja. An example of this challenge is equal role they have as a family, in the opening scene it shows that male and female characters both train together and hunt together which portrays their characters as powerful but also portrays that they have equality and are both as superior as each other, reflecting todays society in how females are gaining more freedom and equality. The stereotype is also challenged in Captain Fantastic by Ben's character, he is portrayed as a powerful male but he is also represented as weak an example of this is the loss he suffers over his wife's death and how he is unable to bring up his children in a way that is beneficial for them when in fact he is putting them in danger by isolating them away from society. This portrays him as a flawed male character in the film which challenges the stereotype that males are more powerful that females and females are weak.

Inception -Social contexts

How does the film mirror the way video games are constructed?

The film mirrors the way video games are constructed by the frequent use of lifts which represents the different levels of video games and the different dream states they are in also represents the layers of the video games. The use of green screen depicts the unrealism of video games and how they alter reality for example the scene in the hotel where Arthur is trying to fight the projections.

How is a crisis in masculinity shown in the film?

Crisis in masculinity in shown in inception by the portrayal of increased gender equality, the female characters gain of superiority in the film when Ariadne controls the dream that Cobb has put her in makes Cobb's character less dominant in comparison to ariadne showing their crisis in masculinity, and also the control Mal has over Cobb because of her death and how he sees her projections in the dream shows his male trauma by the loss he has and the loss of his role on his children's life. 

Captain Fantastic - spectator responses

• Captain Fantastic and Inception, both employ techniques to try and create emotional responses. In Captain Fantastic some spectators will be emotionally affected by this film because of who they are, how the film is consumed - in a cinema or at home - or whether they are alone or have company. In the opening scene some spectators could feel anger and disapproval towards the eldest son (Bo) when he brutally kills the stag, this could be due to spectators life choices such as being a vegetarian and so killing any animal to them is seen as inhumane, which would create anger. The use of no sound in this scene creates a more realistic picture of how they hunt for food and how they live isolated from society, which could make the spectators feel more strongly about their emotion. Also in Captain Fantastic some spectators could feel agreement when the children are cremating their mother, spectators could feel this because they are obeying her wishes of being cremated, also the use of diegetic music, which the children are creating could create joy for the spectators because although she has died the children are all happy and optimistic, but some other spectators may feel sympathy for them because of this, or empathy if the spectator has experienced a loss. In Inception some spectators might feel shock and sympathy in the scene when Mal commits suicide by jumping off the window ledge. The spectators could feel this by the mise-en-scene, which includes the performance of Cobb when she does jump as he gives a realistic reaction of what losing someone would be like, because of the realistic depiction this could heighten the spectators emotions. Also the placement of Cobb and Mal creates enough space between them so that Cobb can't save her which could make the spectator feel more sympathetic towards him because he couldn't save her in time. Also the end scene of Inception is left open-ended, this is when Cobb returns back home and sees his children and his totem is still spinning, which could mean that he is still in a dream but the spectators are unaware because the close up of the totem doesn't show whether it stops or not before it cuts to a black screen. This could make the spectators feel joy because he is back with his children but also anger because it may be a dream and they are unaware of the ending

• The factors that affect how different spectators might respond to certain elements of the films are; their age - this could affect them because a younger spectator might not understand the aspect of mental illness shown in Captain Fantastic but also may be uneducated about suicide as well which is shown in both films. Gender may also affect their response because both Inception and Captain fantastic show flawed masculinity, which to spectators who aren't female, might not relate to and so possibly won't have a stronger response than male spectators. Other factors that can affect the way spectators respond is how the film is consumed - whether it is at home, where you are comfortable and possibly be distracted by other things surrounding you so could be disconnected from the film whereas in a cinema the surround sound and big screen makes you more fixated on the screen because you can't be distracted by other things so may have a stronger connection when watching the film leading to a differed emotional response than watching it at home. Also whether you watch a film alone or in company can affect the spectators response because when in company they can be easily distracted and so aren't concentrating but when watching the film alone they may feel more tension because they aren't distracted by others. In Captain fantastic the spectators social and cultural beliefs might affect their response because if the spectators disagree with capitalists views within society they may relate more to Ben and the way he is bringing up his children away from today's society whereas those who agree with capitalists views may reject Ben's ideas of being isolated from society. In Inception the spectators social and cultural beliefs might also affect their response when watching this film dependent on whether they agree with the capitalist views or not if they themselves are a capitalist or hold capitalist views then they would disagree with the idea of ruining someones business purely to benefit those who aren't whereas non-capitalists would agree with Cobb and his job to take apart Fischer's business. The spectators personal experiences may affect the way the respond to both films, in Captain Fantastic the spectators who have maybe lost a family member to suicide or a mental illness or suffers from this themselves might have a stronger response to this film whereas the spectators who haven't will not be able to have a stronger response when watching the film, also in Inception the spectators who have may have a stronger response of sympathy when Mal dies if they have lost someone themselves whereas someone who hasn't experienced this won't have a stronger connection.

Inception - narrative/ portrayal of male characters/ non-linear narrative

• Outline with examples how the film's narrative is designed to mirror the way video games are constructed               

This films narrative is designed to mirror the way video games are constructed by the multiple scenes there are in a lift when they are all within the dream, the lift represents the different levels in a video game and how in each layer they are going up.

• How does the film portray male anxiety and trauma

The film portrays male anxiety by the fundamental ideas of having a dream and that within the dream the significant person is hiding key information from people and it is Cobb's job to be the 'extractor' of this an example of this is when Cobb uses him to plant an idea in his head to dissolve his father's company (which he is the heir to) as his father has recently passed away. This then also links to trauma as he has lost his father, and also how Cobb is struggling from the loss of his wife and how in the dream she is a projection of his subconscious.

• How does the non-linear and multi-linear narrative in the film create meaning for the spectator 

The non-linear and multi-linear narrative in the film creates meaning for the spectator as the film is about dreams the spectator can easily understand all the different ideas that form a dream and how they never follow a pattern which mirrors the narrative of the film. The open ending of the film shows his totem is left spinning and the end never reveals if he is still in a dream or not which can also reflect how dreams end because you can never remember the ending of a dream.

Captain Fantastic - spectatorship essay

1. Explore how far spectators respond in the same way to film. Illustrate your answer by close reference to your chosen film.


This essay will explore how far the spectators respond when watching Captain Fantastic in the same way, spectatorship is how individuals engage with the film and develop their own response.


Filmmakers use a range of key and structural elements of the film so that spectators will respond in a particular way. All spectators will have an active response when watching captain fantastic, because they are consuming it, engaging with it and forming a response when watching the film, whereas they won't have a passive response because they will do all these things. Some spectators may have a negotiated response when watching the opening sequence where Bo brutally kills the stag, the spectators may respond this way due to their social or cultural backgrounds, they may disagree with the way they have killed the stag or think its inhumane to kill any animal or they may be vegetarian or vegan and so reject their life choices of eating animals. However the spectators may disagree with their life choices, they acknowledge how the family wish to live. The spectators may feel sympathetic towards Rellian in the scene when they're all rock climbing and he breaks his arm, in this scene Ben refuses to help Rellian instead makes him carry on rock climbing because he argues that they must be dependant on themselves. Spectators may have different responses depending on whether they agree with Ben's views, they may feel sympathetic towards Rellian if they reject Ben's beliefs and parenting skills, however the spectators that agree with his beliefs wouldn't feel sympathetic for him if they do believe they have to depend on themselves.

Spectators may also have different responses in the funeral scene when they're cremating their mother. Some spectators may have a oppositional response when watching this scene, because the spectators will have a rational response by questioning of how they all managed to dig up her coffin and how they managed to carry it and transport it. Because of this some spectators may reject this scene because of the unrealistic aspects but other spectators may have the emotional response of sympathy for the family because of the loss of their mother. Other spectators may respond in a different way than most spectators due to their personal experiences for example, they may feel empathy towards the family over the loss of their mother if they have lost someone themselves. Also the use of diegetic music in this scene, when they are cremating their mother heightens the sympathy that some spectators may feel if they have lost someone, because the children are creating it themselves, this makes the scene more meaningful and sincere when commemorating their mother. Whereas those who can not empathise may not respond in the same way because they can't relate to the children in this scene.

In conclusion, spectators won't respond in the same way when watching Captain Fantastic, this is due to their cultural, social or political beliefs because of this they may reject Ben's views on raising his children away from society however other spectators may agree with his views and so wouldn't feel sympathetic towards the children. Spectators may also respond differently due to their personal experiences, or their response might be dependent on their age for example younger spectators may not understand the political views represented in the film so will not respond in the same way as older spectators who will.  Also gender and ethnicity affect the way that spectators respond when watching Captain Fantastic.

Captain Fantastic - plot summary/ flawed masculinity/ ambiguity/ consumerism & villains/ heroes

Captain fantastic  

Plot Summary - 

Captain Fantastic is about Ben Cash- the father of six children who live their lives isolated away from society to teach them to live without the necessity of technology etc. The children's mother (Leslie) suddenly passes and Ben must take them into the outside world for the first time to attend their mothers funeral and to grant her wish of being cremated.

Flawed Masculinity - 

 The film represents the flawed masculinity within it as Ben ironically tries to save their children lives by separating them from society but as a result of this he is in fact killing them because they don't have the skills they need to survive in the real world because of this.

Ambiguity in Captain Fantastic - 

The ending of the film is ambiguous because the spectators may interpret the ending differently because we aren't aware whether they are now leading a normal life and going to school etc or whether they lead the same life as before.

Consumerism and Alternative lifestyles -

consumerism in this film is how the Americans buys the things in life that aren't always necessary such as fast foods but they buy anyway. The family in Captain fantastic reject this and the governmental ideas and only survive of the things that are naturally placed in the world because of this they may be classed as misunderstood or strange.

Villains and Heroes- 

Neither Ben or Jack (the grandfather) are the villains or heroes because they both deprive the children what they want for example cremating their mother or letting them go home, but they do this to help them live a better life as a part of society.

Inception - plot summary/end sequence & wider representations

Summary - 

Inception has a range of genres from being an action, science fiction and thriller to a heist movie, it is about a thief (also known as extractors) - Dom Cobb - who has the ability to enter peoples dreams and steal their secrets from their subconscious. His ability to do this has made him an asset in the world of corporate espionage. Dom gets a chance at redemption when he is offered an impossible task to plant an idea in someone's mind. 
The confusing elements of this film are the many narratives within it, this is shown by the different layers of dreams they are in, but also by the end of the film the spectators don't know whether Dom is still in one of the dreams because his totem (the spinning top) is still spinning and so there is no resolution. 

The recruitment of Ariadne - 

The purpose of this scene besides the recruitment is to explain the fundamentals of the dreams and what Dom job is.
We can tell from the performance of Ariadne that she slowly begins to realise she is in a dream by how shocked she looks when the shops surrounding her are exploding and when Dom questions her on how she got to the cafe, because she can not remember. 
The audience placement in this sequence changes throughout as firstly it is Ariadne who questions Dom about the physics of the dreams and he has all the answers. But then the power switches when Ariadne shows what she can do as she starts manipulating the landscapes in Paris and then it is Dom who has all the question for Ariadne. 

The end sequence - 

The camerawork in this sequence used is tracking shots, close ups, slow motion and over the shoulder shots. This creates an active response the spectators can begin to feel like they are a part of it. 
The end scene links into the conventions of a heist movie when they silently acknowledge each other and nod whilst they are all leaving the airport. 
The ending of the film is uncertain because the spectators aren't aware whether Cobb is still in a dream or whether he is in reality because his totem is still spinning. This is a suitable ending for the film because the spectators are left to question if Cobb was still in a dream.

Emotional responses - 

Pessimism - This response could be created by the capitalism views represented by Fischer's company and how he is trying to expand his wealth. 

Optimism - This response could be created by the representation of the flawed male characters.

Empathy - This response could be created by the relationship between Cobb and his death wife, as she is a projection in his dream which the spectators could relate to if they have similar dreams. 

Sympathy - This response would be created by Cobb's relationship between his wife and also his kids. 

Visual and Sonic techniques -

                                                frequent repetition of elements in the film 

Totems (spinning top, chess piece, loaded die) -  Is used for the characters to check if they are still in a dream or in reality. 
Water - Is used to represent refreshness which reflects what the dreams are in each stage. 
Lifts - To represent the different layers of their dreams and so it appeals to gamers.
War/fighting - To show they are in the middle of a battle 
Musical motifs (lietmotif) "Je Ne Regrette Rien" - Used to awaken the characters when they are in a dream and so they know when they are near to end of the certain 
Tempo (of the music) - Reflects the level and depth of the dream they are in 

Wider representations -

The implanting of an idea in Fischer's head represents capitalism and how this film is about trying to stop Fischer's energy company from gaining too much power, because of this Inception can be seen as an anti-capitalism film.

Also this film represents male trauma post 9/11, which can also reflect the crisis in masculinity and how the characters are flawed.

Gaming is shown which could represent the different layers of dream but also could reflect the gaming generation which is the intended audience for Inception.