Influence and impact on contemporary films and media

Influence and Impact on Contemporary Films and Media

The dogme 95 rules was lashed out the technological “deception” in contemporary popular film and offered a commitment to make it in more uniform of approach and a discipline of rules. Dogme 95 Manifesto said that: “we must put our films into uniform, because the individual film will be decadent by definition!” What’s the meaning of uniform? And how it can be uniform? The “uniform” is represented by the “Vow of Chastity”, which can clearly express a kind of reactionary realism. 

One of the Dogme 95 director, Lars von Trier is interested on the subjects like missing children and traumatised childhood, and it has been show in the different movies and TV series, such as the TV series The Kingdom (1994), movie like Europa (1991). Lars von Triers has made his interest subject became an important part of dogme 95 in the way of aesthetic and psychological determinant. For further information, please refer to http://books.google.com/books?id=Lik_L9f1iEcC&pg=PA124&dq=dogme+95&hl=en&ei=sEiCTvnbKoTOsgbx6KSkDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q&f=false

The impending age of digital film technology was threatened the cinema in an uncertain point in 1995. Therefore, Lars von Trier called up Thomas Vinterberg and asked him if he'd like to "start a new wave" with him. Hence, they start with the Dogme 95 as a rescue action in the film industry. There are 108 films have been consider as “Dogme” movement, but only the first 31 movies received the certificates to prove that is dogme movement. In the contemporary, start from the year of 2002, most of the dogme 95 films were officially dead, it declared by the two creators. The reason is it starting to become a genre, for example The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity have also become the genre of horror.

There are a few contemporary films that were influenced by the film movement of dogme 95. Usually dogme 95 movies will be filmed by using handheld camera and the cost for the dogme 95 film was $20k which is a lower budget. 

There is a horror movie which was influenced by dogme 95, it was Paranormal Activity. The production cost for this film from 10k to become 100k plus box office. Most of the directors have been use the dogme 95 rules and we can see that the Paranormal Activity did follow some of the dogme 95 rules but at the same time also have broke some rules and added their own bits and bobs.

Paranormal Activity is a famous dogme 95 horror film, and it is shot through a camcorder, and presents itself as real found footage. In Rule 8, “Genre movies are not acceptable” and also in Rule 6 “The film must not contain superficial action (murders, weapons, etc). According to Paul Michael Egan, he mentioned that is not so much to make an actual Dogme 95 film according to the 10 rules, but rather use Dogme 95’s rules to launch a pad and make feature film. As we can see that, the director had broke the rules when he filmed Paranormal Activity in the genre of horror and the characters were take the weapons to protect themselves when they see the ghost.  

Paranormal Activity was shot with an “amateur” point of view and documentary style. Based on the Rule 1 of Dogme 95, filming must be done on location. In Paranormal Activity, the movie is influenced the scenario set in one location, which is an empty house. For the lighting part, in dogme 95 rule, special lighting is not acceptable. However, the light switching on and off is very common that happened in Paranormal Activity. This happens because an energy, which is the “ghost” in movie passes by the light and sucks or drains the electricity from the source temporarily.

In Paranormal Activity 1, director Oren Pelie recalled, stating that the film would be shot day and night, edited at the same time, and would have the visual effects applied to it as the acting footage was being finalized. In rule 5, optical work and filters are forbidden. Throughout the editing process, they already add in the effect and optical work on it which it breaks the rule 5.

Dogme 95 film stated that the film must not contain superficial action. But, there is the murdered scene in Paranormal Activity 1 which is Katie killed Micah and it consider as superficial action. In other hand, Katie hold the knife as weapon to kill. The weapon is a superficial action as well. In Paranormal Activity 2, Abby is attacked violently off-camera and apparently.   On October 9th, a night after Micah is killed, Katie, possessed and bloodstained, breaks into Dan and Kristi's home and kills Dan by breaking his neck. Meanwhile, I Paranormal Activity 3, Lois looks down to Dennos, Dennis's body is suddenly and violently contorted, snapping backwards and killing him. All the murder and violent scene is diverse to what Dogme 95 stated.

As stated in the 10 Rules, among these, temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. In Paranormal Activity 1, director Oren Peli took a year to prepare his own house for shooting, going so far as to repaint the walls, add furniture, put in a carpet, and build a stairwell. It already created the place of shooting.

When Dogme 95 start to launched, it stated that genre movies are not acceptable. Nowadays, in contemporary film, there is only the influence of dogme 95 but not purely non-genre movies. The example of Paranormal Activity, it is a supernatural horror film in2007 and it was screened at 2007’s Screamfest Horror Film Festival.

In contemporary film, the director is credited. As we know, Dogme 95 is stated that the director must not be credited.  In Paranormal Activity 1, the director is Oren Peli and Paranormal Activity 2 is directed by Tod Williams while follow by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman directed the Paranormal Activity 3. 

           Dogme 95 had also influence in today’s film. Let’s take the example of REC. REC is a 2007 Spanish horror film co-written and co-directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza. The film was released in English in November 2007.  REC also released the second and third version which is REC 2 and REC 3.

[.REC]

          Here REC said that is an influenced by dogme 95 with the similarities of shaky handheld camera. The shooting are done in location as well. But there are a slightly changes in REC which contrast to dogme 95. In Dogme 95, the film must not contain superficial action. In REC, there is murder scene and also weapon like gun is carry on. Here, director also being credited which is also diverse from the style of Dogme 95.

 

There is a murder scene in REC which is diverse with dogme 95.

 

REC contain superficial action (weapon—gun)

          The other film that influenced by Dogme 95 is The Blair Witch Project. was a 1999 American independent supernatural horror film, written and directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez.

 
The Blair Witch Project

          In the same way as Dogme 95, The Blair Witch Project used handheld camera to shoot. For example the footage found from the missing students in Maryland while they are shooting a documentary in The Blair Witch Project. Besides, the film has shown the reality and real color which is not manipulated in any way.