Manipulation of our emotional response in a mainstream film

Form Vs. Content What it is showing e.g. Graphic and visual horror How it was made e.g. Mise-en-scene Cinematography Editing Sound Genre expectations Spatial and narrative disruption Performance What it is showing e.g. Graphic and visual horror Racial views and political opinions Distressing/taboo topics Children in peril

Within the study of Spectatorship: The relationship between the text and the viewer is complex. There exists a plurality of readings and subjectivity of response. The viewer enters into a discourse with the text they are viewing. The viewer’s ‘reading’ of a text could be preferred, negotiated or oppositional - or even aberrant (Stuart Hall).

Reservoir Dogs – Quentin Tarantino (1992)

Consider whether the nature of the shock changes on a second viewing, and if so in what ways. Are there other emotional responses that you or other spectators have had to either of these scenes? Could you imagine the possibility of further emotional responses which might be possible?

Content and Form Compare the way in which the scene from Un Chien Andalou is constructed with the slicing off of the policeman's ear in Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino, 1991) The basic content is similar but what about the way the scenes are constructed? Which is more powerful? Consider the use of mise-en-scene, performance, cinematography, editing and sound in both cases.

Reservoir Dogs – Quentin Tarantino (1992) Juxtaposition of genres (Comedy/gangster) Music Juxtaposed with context of scene – Torture What is happening is left to the imagination; we don't see what happens Subjective camera shots – cinematography implies the violence rather than shows it. Spatial disruption when Mr Blond leaves the warehouse to acquire petrol.

How are we positioned in this scene? For the brutal ear-cutting moment in Reservoir Dogs, we are not given a choice: the camera looks away for us. What does this suggest? How do we respond?

How powerful is the scene in manipulating the emotional response of the spectator?