Transcript Slide 1

Run Lola Run
Module A: Experience Through
Language
Elective 2:Distinctively Visual
How the conventions of textual forms,
language modes and media shape meaning
How our perceptions of and relationships
with others and the world are shaped in
written, spoken and visual language
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?
This elective concentrates on how language features and structures are
manipulated by the composer to create distinctively visual effects. It
focuses on:
- developing your awareness of language
- helps you understand how perceptions of, and relationships with,
others and the world are shaped in and through film language.
Visual details enhance what is being represented:
- these may influence the responder’s evaluation and analysis of the
subject and wider context
- enhance your exploration of language
- enhance the development of your own distinctively visual
compositions.
Elective 2: Distinctively Visual
• In their responding and composing students
explore the ways the images we see in texts
are created.
• Students consider how the forms and
language of different texts create these
images, affect interpretation and shape
meaning.
Assessment Task
Speech with PowerPoint
presentation
Distinctively Visual
Image: How the forms and language of different texts create
images, affect interpretation and shape meaning
Images: the images we see
Imagery: the images we visualise
Bush all around – bush with no horizon,
for the country is flat. No ranges in the
distance. The bush consists of stunted,
rotten native apple-trees. No
undergrowth. Nothing to relieve the eye
save the darker green of a few she-oaks
which are sighing above the narrow,
almost waterless creek.
Distinctevely Visual
POINTS TO CONSIDER:
 Lola as a superhuman (avatar) who
rebels against father and society
 An electronic, virtually real punk
Berlin
 Chaos of possibilities
 Plurality of viewpoints
 Flashbacks and snapshots of the
future
 Split screen and jump cuts
heighten tension
 Pastiche of 35mm colour and
monochrome film, video, and
animation
 Symbolism: close-up of clocks
ticking towards high-noon = fate
 Non-diegetic sound: frenetic,
pulsating techno soundtrack
Distinctively Visual
Ideas and Meaning
 We shall not cease from
exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first
time - T.S.Eliot, ‘Little Gidding’
“The journey not the arrival
matters” T.S. Eliot.
 Coincidence as the arbiter of
destiny - three alternative
versions
 Crime and its effect on essentially
innocent individuals
 Time as an unforgiving concept
DISTINCTIVELY VISUAL ELEMENTS IN
‘RUN LOLA RUN’
• A totally different look and style to mainstream Hollywood
productions
• A hybrid combination of live action and animation, colour and black
and white footage, 35mm and handheld video camerawork
• Undeniably contemporary and experimental style
• The single most distinctive visual feature is the image of a sprinting,
flame-haired woman – Lola’s athleticism and stamina give off an
incredible kinetic energy that propels the film physically and
metaphorically
• A complex range of cinematic techniques have been used to
achieve the visual impact that is the key feature of the film
• Manipulation of what is seen begins with the central running figure
of Lola that is shot from multiple angles throughout the film.
• The viewers are positioned to see her sprinting figure as a heroic
quest to save a life.
Run Lola Run
100,000 in 20 minutes, or lose the game.
•
Spirals: Spirals represent the circular
narrative,
and
the
cyclical
and
interconnected nature of life. Here are some
thoughts: “…spirals represent confusion and
desperation. It is used in scenes in which a
character is unsure of what to do or is
puzzled about what is going to happen next.
The spiral is used to imply Manni's confusion
about the events of the day prior to his call to
Lola while he is outside of the Spiral Bar. The
logo of the bar, a spinning spiral that hangs
above the entrance, is seen above Manni's
head as he makes his frenzied call to Lola.
The spiral helps the viewer to understand the
confused thoughts that are running through
Manni's head as to what to do about the
money he owes to Ronnie, a German
gangster. It also represents Manni's
desperation for help, which is the reason he
calls Lola in the first place. It is seen with Lola
as first leaves her house she is seen running
down a spiral staircase”
Symbolism is used in film to imply
thoughts, feelings, or ideas in the
characters that the director does not
want to state outright through speech
or action.
•
Boxes: Manni is often filmed within a box, or
looking at boxes. This symbolises his feeling
trapped within his situations. It is not until he
comes out of the telephone booth in the
final sequence that he stops looking at boxes
or being trapped within one (he is able to
chase down the bum and retrieve his money,
thus freeing him from his situation)
• Colours (Red): “…red is used to
symbolize danger and death. Not
only does the film use red, it uses an
intense, vivid shade of the brightest
red. We are easily able to see the
colour on different objects as it
stands out and catches our eye as we
watch. The first time we see the
colour red, it is the phone that Lola
answers in her apartment. Sitting in
the middle of the room, the bright
red phone seems to be the bearer of
bad news - news of danger and
death. After Lola answers the phone,
we realize that we were correct as
Manni gives her the disastrous news.”
The intermission scenes after each
death are also tinged with this same
vibrant red. Red also acts as a
reflection of the situation and
heightened passions.
• Glass: symbol of vulnerability (esp.
when tested by Lola’s force). When
she shatters both her father’s clock
and the glasses of the casino patrons,
it’s as if she is shattering their world
(symbolically).
Repetition
• Director Tom Tykwer is a
fan of repetition—both
visual
and
aural…
Tykwer's
use
of
"Groundhog
Day"
repetitiveness, with its
three parallel realities,
often gives us a second
and sometimes even a
third chance to see
certain events in the
movie.
• The purpose of the
repetition is to highlight
the concepts of chance
(and the slight changes
which affect it). It also
allows the audience to
grasp a deeper meaning
of the film by being able
to compare the scenarios.
Quotes and Time
The text is also filmed in real time.
That is, the approximate time of the
events within the film are the same as
time in real life.
Quotations by T.S. Eliot and Sepp
Herberger: The modern poet talks
about circular time, continuous
learning and expanding perspectives.
Germany’s soccer hero Herberger, who
coached the German national team to
win the 1954 world cup, on the other
hand simply states: “After the game is
before the game”. Time is the main
character in Run Lola Run and the
rules of the game are quickly
established: come up with 100.000 DM
in twenty minutes or you lose. After all,
the German word Spiel means 'game'
and a feature film (or Spielfilm) lasts
about ninety minutes.”
“The ball is round, a game
lasts 90 minutes, everything
else is pure theory. Off we
go!”
“Man... probably the most mysterious species
on our planet. A mystery of unanswered
questions. Who are we? Where do we come
from? Where are we going? How do we know
what we think we know? Why do we believe
anything at all? Countless questions in search
of an answer... an answer that will give rise to a
new question... and the next answer will give
rise to the next question and so on. But, in the
end, isn't it always the same question? And
always the same answer?”
20
•
20 is a significant integer of the film:
20 minute deadline, 20 minute
sequences, number 20 at the casino.
•
Lola learns not to rely on parental
support and as such. Lola also figures
out how to win her game. Instead of
robbing a supermarket or a bank, she
finds herself in front of a casino. she
screams and breaks a lot of glass and
shatters realism. Not having to
depend on weapons or her father,
she has learned to trust herself and
uses her voice to stop the wheel of
time and the roulette wheel to win
the 100,000 DM. It has taken her
twenty minutes and she bets
everything on 20 (significance of
‘20’).
Video Game Concept
•
The plot of the film is non-linear, in
a similar way to video games. This
idea is obviously supported by the
three lives idea: make a mistake,
die, re-spawn, try again by slightly
changing your decisions. In each
sequence, the characters also gain
‘new skills’ (such as Lola learning
how to use a gun correctly).
•
This is also further supported by
the cartoon Lola sequence: It is
this which is where the first change
in each sequence occurs (with her
run in with the boy and his dog).
•
Lola is also given three chances in
this film to start over, whereas
many similar films only give two
chances. Consider: It's obvious that
Lola simply saved her game right
after she spoke to Manni on the
phone, so she could go back and
try again if the game ended. And
just as she would do playing a
video game, Lola uses knowledge
acquired in previous iterations and
anticipates some of the obstacles
that tripped her up before, making
the replay smoother...at least until
new obstacles crop up.
Clocks and Time
• The cartoon Lola is swallowed up by the pendulum clock in the
opening sequence – highlighting the significance of clocks and time
from the very beginning.
• She is able to use her voice to stop time (casino scene), and time is
what dictates the entire film (the 20 minute deadline).
• It is interesting to note that in the opening credits, each name
disappears with the stroke of the pendulum clock, again symbolic of
the importance of time and its effects on people.
• The audience is constantly aware of the time, and clocks are a
constant feature of the film. They have an increased presence as
each sequence comes to a close, thus increasing the tension of the
scene as the characters ‘race against time’.
Three Sequences and Chance
•
•
The point of the alternate storylines is, of
course, a simple take on the butterfly effect
– the old theory that the tiniest interactions
have the most drastic consequences. Every
time Lola begins her run something minor
occurs in the beginning animated segment,
and it generally informs the new direction
her run will take her.
Tykwer is making an argument for the idea
of predestination and fate with these runs.
When Lola runs past a cyclist the first time
and we see his future, we see that he
eventually crashes, falls in love with the
nurse who helps him recover, and the two
live happily ever after. The second time Lola
passes him, we see that he becomes a bum.
Everything is all a game of chance, and our
lives all depend on the tiny interactions that
make them up. (This also highlights the
significance of her winning roulette – a game
of chance – to “win” the overall “game” of
the story).
•
•
Life is a complex interaction between
chance and order. Chance adds uncertainty
to the direction of events, but order is
imposed by a number of factors, including
the human will.
The “What If…” idea: this links in with the
butterfly effect. The idea of “what if…I didn’t
meet that person/catch that train/say that
thing” changing the ultimate outcome of the
day.
Extended Response Questions
1.
In What ways are people and their experiences brought to life through the
distinctively visual?
In your response, make detailed reference to your prescribed text and at least
ONE other related text of your own choosing.
2.
What important elements have helped to create distinctive and effective visual
impacts in Run Lola Run and ONE other related text of your own choosing.
3.
Compare the ways the distinctively visual is created in Run Lola Run and in ONE
other related text of your own choosing.
4.
Every image is different and every image reveals to us its own vision of the
world. How true is this statement of Run Lola Run and ONE other related text of
your own choosing.