What is real?

OverviewInception is directed by Christopher Nolan.This film will be used in the Through their eyes (Close Reading of a film) Achievement standard, so in this ppt we will:• Watch scenes from the film.• Analyse 2 key scenes in detail. Looking at mise-en

scene, music and characterisation.• Practise writing a response to scenes in the film,

looking at mise-en-scene, camera shots, characterisation, symbolism and music.

• Begin the assessment.

Characters

Christopher Nolan

• Born in Britain, but his mother was American.• Directed Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.• Is renowned for pushing the limits of film-

making, particularly by using camera angles and mise-en-scene for dramatic effect.

Characters in Inception• In an interview Nolan explained that he based the

roles in Inception on those of film making, but our knowledge of the Hero’s Journey and Propp’s archetypes provides us with identifiable roles for each character too.

• Cobb – director• Arthur – Producer• Ariadne – production designer/writer• Eames – actor• Saito – studio• Fischer –audience

Archetypal character roles in Inception

• As we run through the characters in the following slides, decide which of these archetypal roles you would assign them. (Some roles may be missing, some characters may have more than one role.)

• The hero The villain• The dispatcher The helper• The donor the false hero• The princess/prize• The father of the princess

Leonardo DiCaprio as Dom Cobb:A professional thief who specializes in conning secrets from his victims by infiltrating their dreams. Cobb leads a team with the goal of influencing Robert Fischer's actions via his dreams. The hero The villain

The dispatcher The helperThe donor The false heroThe princess/prizeThe father of the princess

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur:Cobb's partner who takes "point" during jobs and is responsible for researching the team's targets.

The hero The villainThe dispatcher The helperThe donor The false heroThe princess/prizeThe father of the princess

Ellen Page as Ariadne:A graduate student of architecture who is recruited to construct the various dreamscapes, which are described as mazes.

The hero The villainThe dispatcher The helperThe donor The false heroThe princess/prizeThe father of the princess

Marion Cotillard as Mallorie "Mal" Cobb:Dom Cobb's projection of his deceased wife and a frequent presence in his dreams. As the film's main antagonist, she is a manifestation of his guilt about the real Mal's suicide. Dom is unable to control these projections of her, challenging his abilities as an extractor.

The hero The villainThe dispatcher The helperThe donor The false heroThe princess/prizeThe father of the princess

Ken Watanabe as Mr. Saito: A businessman who employs Cobb for the team's mission, and insists on joining them inside. The hero The villain

The dispatcher The helperThe donor The false heroThe princess/prizeThe father of the princess

Tom Hardy as Eames:A sharp-tongued associate of Cobb's. Eames uses his ability to take the form of others inside the dream world in order to manipulate Robert Fischer in his own dreams.

The hero The villainThe dispatcher The helperThe donor The false heroThe princess/prizeThe father of the princess

Dileep Rao as Yusuf:A chemist who formulates the drugs needed to sustain the dream states.

The hero The villainThe dispatcher The helperThe donor The false heroThe princess/prizeThe father of the princess

Cillian Murphy as Robert Michael Fischer:The heir to a business empire and the team's target.

The hero The villainThe dispatcher The helperThe donor The false heroThe princess/prizeThe father of the princess

Background notes for Inception

• Was made in 2010.• During production the film’s plot was kept

secret. Nolan said, “it is set within the architecture of the mind.”

• It was originally conceived as a horror film, but Nolan rewrote it as a heist film, although “traditionally they are very superficial in emotional terms.”

• Nolan decided to “make sure the emotional journey of his character was the emotional driving force of the movie.”

genre• This makes the film’s genre a difficult thing to pinpoint.– It is a combination of science fiction (set in the future

with new technology), heist (a thief attempts to steal something from a multi-million-dollar corporation), film noir (dark and sensual plots), action film (hero is involved in battle, car crashes and explosions) and thriller (suspense is built).

– To assist the viewer to distinguish one dream from another, each level of the dream is a different kind of film: The kidnapping is a thriller, the hotel is a heist, and the mountaintop is an action film.

– Each also has different hues: first Saito meeting is red/yellow, kidnapping=blue, hotel/heist=brown, mountaintop=white.

The 6 Key Scenes

• Exposition – not studied• Mirror Scene – not studied• Mombasa (dreaming and chase) – not studied• Mal Commits Suicide• Zero Gravity Scene• Final Scene – not studied

Mirror Scene

Dreaming in Mombasa

Final Scene

Mal Commits Suicide

Before we watch the clip

Answer the following questions individually:

1. Why do you think Mal kills herself?2. What effect does this have on Dom?

Physically? Mentally?3. What genre do you think this scene portrays?

Why?

We will now watch the scene 4 times. As you are watching the scene I want you to take notes on the following:• Mise en scene• Use of Camera • Characterisation• Music Each time we watch the scene you should focus on a different aspect (e.g. music) of the scene. Be prepared to feedback after we watch the scene.

Now we have watched the scene and you have a deeper understanding of the scene, lets look at the questions we answered at the start of the lesson:

1. Why do you think Mal kills herself?2. What effect does this have on Dom?

Physically? Mentally?3. What genre do you think this scene portrays?

Why?

Think, Pair, Share

Now that you have a deeper understanding of the text, you are going to use the think, pair, share technique to answer your questions.

Think: 2 minutesPair: 3 minutes

Share: Be Prepared!

Mal’s Final SpeechYou are waiting for a train, a train that will take you far away, you know where you hope this train will take you, you don’t know for sure, but it doesn’t matter because you will be together.

Mal’s Final Speech

Discuss in your group how Mal’s Final Speech further reveals the genre of this scene.

Be prepared to share your answers.

Zero Gravity Scene: let’s watch it

Another Gravity Defying SceneWe are now going to watch a clip from a film that preceded Inception, and which would have influenced the director.

• Matrix• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d14jRsAobtk

As you watch this clip write down the differences between this and the Inception scene. Which scene is the most effective and why?

In The Matrix a character can defy gravity if they choose to do so. The fight scene in Inception

has no gravity to defy and Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the team’s point man, has to figure out how to achieve his objective while

fending off projections. Watching a fight scene without gravity is awesome!

This was filmed on a massive rotating set – something like a theme park ride which gives the impression of gravity being absent. Matrix used wires because gravity was always briefly defied.

• In groups you are going to answer questions on the zero gravity scene.

• Each worksheet has questions focussing on Setting, Camera Shots and Music.

• Answer the question in as much detail as possible.

• We will play the scene a few times through the lesson.

Remember our essay paragraph structure: TEXAS orPointContextEvidence DetailAnalysis

You now have to write a paragraph including each of the elements you answered questions on:• Setting• Use of Camera Shots• Music

Peer AssessEach person will peer assess one other group member’s paragraph.

Remember to give positive feedback and targets to work on for redrafting.

Use this feedback for redrafting the paragraphs.

Jigsaw Lesson

Inception Key Scenes

Part One - Jigsaw taskLEARNING GROUPS:• You will have 12 minutes in your groups to gather

the information.

In Your Groups you need to explain the genre your scene portrays, have notes on each of the following:• Mise en scene • Use of camera,• Characterisation• Music

Part Two - Jigsaw taskTEACHING GROUPS:You will now be organised into ‘teaching groups’ that include a member from each of the ‘learning groups’ (so that there is someone one who has knowledge/information from each area.)

Each person in the teaching group should share their information so that everyone in the group has written notes for each key scene.

Teaching GroupsYou will teach the rest of your group about the key scene you focussed on.

You will have 4 minutes each to teach the rest of your group about your key scene and the genre it portrays.

You need to explain each of your points clearly and be prepared to answer any questions.

These notes will help you write your assessment.

Beginning the assessmentSelect one excerpt from Inception that clearly shows the director’s concerns and style. It can be one of the four key scenes examined in the

groups, or it can be another self selected scene. Refer to Resource B on the AS 3.9 NCEA task

sheet for additional aspects to examine for this assessment.