The Long Lens
The Long Lens
500 Days of Summer: Challenging the Traditional Rom-Com Narrative by Izzy
Duckworth
Picnic at Hanging Rock: An Analysis by Henry Lee
How I Snuck My Way into the Cambridge Film Festival by Sian Mort
Last Night in Soho: The Rise of the Female Revenge Horror by Marianna Kouznetsov
4 6 11 14
Christmas Films by Sam Gamble Spider-Man: No Way Home by Sam Gamble 23 24 26 18 20
Why Watch 'The Repair Shop' by Bernie Ray Life As A Production Runner by Sam Gamble Graphic Novels: Finding Strength In Limitation by Nic Denny
Welcome to the 5th issue of Long Road's very own lens-based media magazine, The Long Lens!
The magazine has overseen a few changes between the last issue and this one, including an exciting expansion into broader lens-based content such as television and hopefully at some point, photography. The more diverse, the better!
We have a fantastic range of articles, from student analysis of favourite stylistic films to staff reviews of their recommended festive films and TV programmes. No spoilers for the new Spiderman film here!
Most importantly, we hope you enjoy this short but sweet Winter issue and wish all our readers a happy holiday!
FEATURED ARTICLES
500 Days of Summer: How Mark Webb challenges the traditional Rom-Com Narrative by Izzy Duckworth
Picnic At Hanging Rock: An examination and analysis by Henry Lee
How I Snuck My Way into the Cambridge Film Festival by Sian Mort Last Night in Soho: Rise of the Female Revenge Horror by Marianna Kouznetsov
Mark Webb's 2009 Romantic Comedy, ‘500 Day’s of Summer’, takes a very unconventional approach to classic narrative structure that most rom-coms possess.
We begin with Tom, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, a woebegone greetings card writer who becomes infatuated by a new employee, Summer, played by Zoeey Deschanel The film cleverly plays with the idea of perspectives, challenging the idea of a ‘manic pixie dream girl:' a woman who has eccentric personality quirks, is often unabashedly girlish and, without fail, serves as the romantic interest to a surly, depressed male protagonist Tom, our male protagonist, can be seen as the hopeless romantic character and, in turn, we as the audience want him to find his love. We see him pining for this love: the one that he sees in the glossy, rose coloured, distorted Hollywood films But is Summer Tom’s ‘ happily ever after,' or is it just the idea of love that Tom is really yearning for?
The film cleverly challenges the traditional narrative structure of romantic comedies: boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl and then gets her back The film practitioner Todorov's ‘Equilibrium model’ can be applied
500 DAYS OF SUMMER: HOW MARK WEBB CHALLENGES THE TRADITIONAL ROM-COM
to Webb's film. This is the idea that in the beginning of any story there is some form of equilibrium which shortly gets disrupted, and the protagonist then goes on a physical or mental journey, or sometimes both, to find their new state of equilibrium - a newfound sense of harmony).
We start with a state of equilibrium of Tom at his dayto-day office job until the disruption occurs: the arrival of the love interest - Summer. The pursuit and capture of this intrusive, new, and glamorous disruption, results in Tom and Summer’s romantic, passionate, and turbulent relationship. However, the new equilibrium is found right at the end of the film, while Tom has been wallowing in the loss of Summer after she broke up with him and is seen in a waiting room for a job interview In the waiting room for this new job is an eager eyed, well-dressed young woman, whom Tom starts having a jovial repartee with, before being called in for the interview He then quickly turns around and asks for the woman ’ s name, to which she poignantly responds (if not bordering on crassly) “Autumn," thus concluding the equilibrium model and the new equilibrium is found in the implied new love interest, ‘Autumn’.
When it comes to heroes and villains in the film, on one hand, Summer could be perceived as the villain, with
little red horns poking out of her perfectly pristine-atall-times hair, when she broke our beloved protagonist's heart However, we forget that she is entitled to do so: the heartbreak holds more weight because the audience are aligned with Tom - we see the relationship through his eyes, and it’s like we are experiencing the relationship with him
If we were to view the relationship through Summer’s perspective, however, we might think differently about the situation - we have an unconscious bias on who we empathise with through the use of narrative stance On the other hand, Tom could be viewed as the unintentional villain: he didn’t intentionally drive Summer away, and in fact he tried everything to get her to stay, which could be viewed as part of his downfall as a character This idea challenges us as the audience, as we rooted for Tom’s character to end up with Summer. It seems that this specific relationship wasn’t meant to go all the way, unlike in other romcoms where we see the protagonist happily end up with their love interest This emphasises Webb’s unconventional approach to the genre.
By Izzy Duckworth
PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK
AN EXAMINATION AND ANALYSIS
by Henry Lee
Peter Weir is an Australian filmmaker widely known for seminal films like Dead Poets Society, Mosquito Coast and The Truman Show.
Despite the undeniable cultural significance of his more well known American movies, my favourite of Weir’s films is one of his earliest feature length works, 1975’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, an adaptation of the book of the same name by Joan Lindsay from 1967 The film follows a group of upper-class English school girls and the way they and the community around them cope with the aftermath of the mysterious disappearance of a teacher and three of their peers during a school outing to Hanging Rock; an imposing and implicitly mystical piece of the Australian landscape
Picnic at Hanging Rock is a film that demands a multitude of descriptors to try and quantify its unique and all-encompassing atmosphere It’s eerie, haunting, unsettling, romantic, melancholy, Sapphic, otherworldly, beautiful, and above all else deeply sad. Even then, none of these words are enough to break down the dreamlike atmosphere the film effortlessly creates from its first shot What makes Hanging Rock such an effective film is how it never loses grip of its grounding
narrative and characters, and never fades into vague, uncertain self indulgence This is something that would in theory be near-inevitable for a film that places so much importance on its dreamlike, surreal atmosphere and refuses closure or answers for its central mystery Weir builds on Lindsay’s novel in a way to ensure the messages, themes and characters of Hanging Rock are kept in focus at all times, with the central mystery and mood aiding in revealing the truths the story aims to communicate At its core, Picnic at Hanging Rock is a film about characters slowly descending into madness, as their grief is suffocated by the rigid social structures around them. A direct reading of the film could easily lead one to conclude that the missing girls are simply lying dead in an unseen place on the titular rock as a result of an accident or even a group suicide However, Lindsay’s story coyly denies any such easy conclusion. Weir’s filmmaking doubles down on this uncertainty, with the cinematography and sound design of the film playing on the idea that the characters are being confronted with a mystery they have no way of answering.
"Hanging Rock is built up as a mythical presence, the image of it looming on the horizon being enforced by one of the schoolgirls remarking 'Its been waiting a thousand years, just for us ' . "
The uncertainty and constant nagging question created by the decision to never reveal what happened to the girls only assists to enhance the sense of creeping madness and grief that permeates every character in the film in one way or another
This is best shown in the scene where Irma, one of the girls who goes missing and is later found on the rock with no memory of what happened. She returns to school, only to be surrounded and interrogated by her peers, who were at one point concerned about her safety, in a scene that would not be out of place in a production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible in how it shows the damaging effect of repressed trauma on a communal zeitgeist.
The film's most complicated character is likely Mrs Appleyard, the headmistress of the central Appleyard academy. She acts as an embodiment of the stiff upper-lip attitudes of the late Victorian era and how these attitudes were slowly beginning to crumble when they were confronted with the quickly changing world of the early 20th century. She also represents the damaging effects of the deeply internalised misogyny she has had to take as a way of upholding her position of authority in such a patriarchal society She even laments this during the ending of the film, mentioning how she always had to rely on the ‘masculinity’ of Miss McCraw, the teacher who went missing at the start of the film
Mrs Appleyard also brings up the theme of classism in the film, as she takes out her frustrations on the character of Sarah, perhaps the most tragic character in the film
An orphan student at the school who is clearly less upper-class than her peers, Sarah is shown to have an infatuation with Miranda, the most notable girl to go missing at the start of the film
"
Weir shows how a girl of lower class like Sarah is unable to survive in the rigid society that the Appleyard school represents."
Here again, the central mystery of the film enhances its messages as Mrs Appleyard’s creeping insanity develops as a result of the disappearances, and Sarah’s heartbreak over being left behind by Miranda eventually leads to the tragic ending of the film. One of its most haunting images-appears when the gardener enters Mrs Appleyard’s office to inform her of Sarah’s suicide, only to find Appleyard sat in funeral attire staring blankly straight ahead; although whether she is dressed in acknowledgment of Sarah’s death or in anticipation of her own is unclear, a fact that only serves to make the final shot of the film more chilling This costume choice also serves to cement the metaphor of Appleyard as a Queen Victoria figure She appears as the lone female leader of a crumbling upper-class society desperate to suppress her femininity, because she has been told the only way she can effectively govern is as a man
Picnic at Hanging Rock is clearly a highly allegorical film, however just as much time, if not more, can be spent in examining different readings as to what certain narrative decisions mean The film feels uniquely Australian, with its emphasis on the imposing beauty and ancient, unreachable mysticism of its natural environment. In this way, the film is comparable to Nicholas Roeg’s 1971 feature Walkabout, a film that tackles similar subject matters of colonialism, coming of age, and classism in a simultaneously more grounded and more arthouse way than Weir’s film. It is interesting to note how the Aboriginal population never make an appearance in the film, so perhaps Hanging Rock itself can be seen as representative of their presence, proving once and for all to the naïve and arrogant English school girls that the colonialism they represent can never truly conquer nature and the ancient unhuman wisdom of the Australian bush
The film has a thick, dreamlike darkness to its atmosphere, however nearly every shot is bathed in warm, soft sunlight, a detail that acts to enhance the innocence and Sapphic beauty of the film's opening It feels especially relevant when the French Teacher compares Miranda to “ a Botticelli Angel” before the girls go missing. Later in the film, however, it creates a
HANGING ROCK: AN EXAMINATION AND ANALYSIS
sense of constant, sweltering heat as the paranoia and grief of the characters begins to boil. The heat and light of the sun leaves nothing unhidden, which only acts to emphasise the complete lack of answers to the central mystery of the film
Miranda, the character the film centres on during its opening, is a very mysterious character, and her dialogue and performance by Anne Louise-Lambert helps to set the tone of strange and quiet uncertainty She feels very much like a prototype for a character like Laura Palmer from David Lynch’s Twin Peaks- a beautiful young girl who hides deep sadness and dark secrets, but who meets a tragic fate We are never given a true glimpse into Miranda’s personal conflict beyond the fact that she somehow seems to know that she won’t be around much longer; a fact which means Miranda comes to embody the central mystery and seems intrinsically linked to it
"As well as being compared to a Botticelli angel, there are multiple editing choices in the film which tie her with Swans."
These two comparisons paint her as something of beauty and purity, however do not allow her any personality or agency of her own outside of how she is perceived visually by others. This is a fact which means that Miranda also comes to embody a certain superficiality of the time period, based on the way other characters view her This perhaps suggests the implied sadness under the surface of her character is born from an urge to escape from a society that perceives her and her fellow young women in such a reductive way.
Another important aspect of the film is the two most prevalent male characters in the film- Michael and Albert. Michael and Albert are especially interesting
characters because of the different ways that they and their relationship can be interpreted by the viewer On the one hand, there is an undeniably homoerotic undertone to their interactions and relationship. But on the other, the scene where they watch the girls cross the stream whilst talking in an objectifying way towards them perhaps suggests otherwise. There are various interesting details to both characters that inform multiple readings of their relationship with each other and purposes within the plot One reading would suggest that Michael and Albert were responsible for the deaths of the girls on the rock... Michael’s sexual urges repressed by his upper class upbringing might have erupted in a drunken outburst of sexual violence after he and Albert followed the girls up the rock after watching them cross the stream This would perhaps explain Michael’s guilty conscience and nervous recounting of events to the police that transpire over the rest of the film
reading sees Michael as becoming obsessed with the idea of rescuing the girls, due to his growing frustration with the static and unfeeling world around him as he begins to become a man and see the world he was brought up in for what it is Or, perhaps, Michael’s determination to find the girls on the rock is a response to the guilt he feels over discovering the sexual and romantic feelings he has towards another man as he spends more time with Albert. These readings are only beginning to scratch the surface of the various different ways the film can be interpreted Picnic at Hanging Rock remains an enduring platform for theories or discussions about what the various clues or ideas the film presents could actually mean, which is perhaps the main reason it has stayed so relevant since its release in 1973 Another reason is that the mystery at
Another
PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK: AN EXAMINATION AND ANALYSIS
the film's core is so linked to the engrossing, addictive, serene, and haunting tone makes Picnic at Hanging Rock feel almost timeless This might seem contradictory to say, due to the way it so deftly represents a certain time and place - colonial Australia at the end of the Victorian era. But the timeless feeling is so convincing (except for the distractingly dodgy 70s wig worn by Rachel Roberts as Mrs Appleyard) in how the characters and narrative seem to dance around confronting the ugly truth of what really happened on the rock until the end. Perhaps then the mystery of the film is born out of the willingness for the characters dealing with the tragedy to not acknowledge what the most obvious answer is, because of how it would confront and disrupt their world views. In this interpretation, the mystery itself becomes a metaphor. It is this deep thematic relevance of the mysterious nature of the film and its overt LGBT+ readings that help make Picnic at Hanging Rock so timeless As well as being a deeply compelling mystery, it is also, fundamentally, an enduring story about the love women have for women and the love men have for men, which is what truly gives the film its heart
By Henry Lee
HOWISNUCKINTOTHE CAMBRIDGEFILMFESTIVAL
by Sian Mort
The night started innocently. My friend had invited me to a vaguely described Q&A with Darcey Bussell: it seemed wishy-washy in detail, but the prospect was exciting.
The Q&A was in respect to her new film, Coppelia, closely based to the comic French Ballet of the same name Coincidently, in 2020, when the film was intended to be released, it would have marked the 150th anniversary of the first production in Paris. Alas, when we turned up at the Arts Picture House, we were told that it was not an open event, but that we must pay tickets to not just the Q&A but the film as well Being cheapskates, and not the intended audience for the film, we were about to leave in defeat, when a lovely woman asked us if we were part of the BFI, the illusive-in-nature acronym for the British Film Institution We, being meek in nature, politely said no, however as we started to leave, heard her ask two girls behind us the same question. They said yes, and instructions directing them to a bar followed. This was a lightbulb moment for our excitement hungry brains: should we try and blag our way in? After all, “Down the stairs, to the left and the bar is just there," were pretty easy directions to follow. Besides, what was the worst thing that could happen?
Deciding to risk being caught a fraud, and after tactically “looking” for something in our bags, we followed the girls The girls were very lovely and
HOW I SNUCK INTO THE CAMBRIDGE FILM FESTIVAL
welcoming; already we had found a safe space to escape to in the networking event of film professionals. The bar was filled with edgy-looking people, all chatting profusely about the ins and outs of film I, being an A-level film student, had a little knowledge, but nowhere near that of these professionals, and my friend, studying the International Baccalaureate, was more well-versed in the written side of film than the practical side Nevertheless, we endeavoured to make the most of our gate-crashing and learn from these professionals.
"We
were first introduced to the director of
“Together”, a sci-fi film that incorporated images and recordings from NASA."
Admittedly, my friend and I had not seen any of these films (although we will!), as we had stumbled into the event quite by chance Yet the knowledge and conversations we took part in were just as interesting We chatted about acting and voiceovers, and how hard it is to convey realness and rawness on screen;, especially in my case as an amateur She told me how she used to study drama and felt that her knowledge and skill in the area was something that helped her a lot when it came to directing. I asked about the impact of COVID on filmmaking during the pandemic, and Nancy elaborated on the very long and complex process it took to create the film and Nancy elaborated on the very long and complex process it took to create the film during lockdown. Names of cities were thrown around like items in a bag whilst looking for keys: “Boston”, “LA”, “London” and “Cambridge" are the ones I remember All her team connected around the world through the medium of Zoom. She mentioned that the film was filmed on three screens, and that in all honesty, it was awful having to work through that and not on location.
Next, after a pit stop at the open bar, the lovely organiser of the event, Abbie, introduced us to the director and collaborator of the film “The Leerie”, a black and white gothic Victorian-era-based film. The
summary reads: “In 1899, a Scottish lamplighter facing redundancy is haunted by nightmarish visions of an electric future When, an officious lackey from the newly-formed Electricity Board shows up at the Leerie's door, his working days are numbered. As his lodgings become infested with rodents, and his night-time shifts are disturbed by an unearthly spectre, he must reconcile with the future or have his light extinguished forever ” I mean, I’m sold, and cannot wait to watch it The director Joe Daly and Bill (I didn’t get his last name oops!), chatted to us about the importance of collaborating, stressing how
"creating films was not just about your own vision but listening to other voices. "
Bill is a poet and had written a psalm for the film His is perspective as person of literature with the blend of the visual aficionado, Joe, was incredibly interesting. We compared analysing films and literature and how film felt like the natural continuation of the classics with how each impacted each other I mentioned how I loved poetry and was excited to watch their collaboration Bill promptly recommended two films that he thought I would like, which followed a similar premise: Nostalgia and Wings of Desires. Both apparently use long, dream-like sequences and incorporate elements of poetry
Following this conversation we met once again with the lovely organiser, Abbie. We briefly chatted about the joy of not liking a film and how being unhinged by a film, especially films in the genre of experimental and surrealism, invoked an interesting form of spectatorship that we both agreed was one of the best parts of watching. Then the night took another turn: the Darcey Bussell Q&A came up We mentioned how that was why we had come to the Picture House in the first place, and we were upset to not make it And just like a fairy god mother, Abbie waved her magic wand (or phone...
but who’s checking) and got us in, for free, to the Q&A We went to the Lobby of the cinema and bumped into the man who would be interviewing Darcey and the film's makers. “He’s famous!” exclaimed Abbie. He was apparently a radio host for the BBC, which I wish I knew
before blabbering on about ballet and schools. He chatted back to me about how he hoped no one would leave the theatre and told me to make sure I asked my question I assured him I would, and that if need be I’d happily be a bouncer at the door
We managed to catch the last few minutes of the film. It was a blend of real-life dancers and animation, a real feat to create and all backed to the wonderful Coppelia score Guarantee, the film was intended more for children, yet I could appreciate the fresh take on taking ballet to the big screen. The film ended with the incredible cast, Michaela DePrince, Irek Mukemedov, Darcey Bussell, and an ensemble of Dutch National Ballet dancers, dancing with joy after evading the escape of the evil Dr Coppelius.
And promptly after, the Q&A began, and to my knowledge, no one left, meaning my skills as bouncer were not needed Thankfully They began discussing the process of creating the film, something that had taken 6 years in the making, and how what was to come would take even longer Each filmmaker, when asked what they hoped for the film's reactions to be answered, “to be seen, " and Darcey’s quippy answer was “and enjoyed." An exclusive piece of information that was shared by her when asked if she would ever go back to Strictly was “If they asked me to guess judge, yes ” One little girl asked, "do you prefer to dance on stage or for the screen, " and Darcey, ever the performer, with her outstretched legs and feet pointed, even in heels, carefully manoeuvred the question. Not wanting to offend the filmmakers, she carefully trod the line, concluding that dancers need an audience, in whatever nature. With my deduction skills, she prefers to dance on stage, but as she decisively said when asked if she missed the stage, she was very happy to be just a coach After the panel had answered the interviewer’s questions, the interrogations were passed to the audience. The words of the “famous” man echoed in my ears: I knew I had to ask a question. Besides, this was the whole reason I came! When the time came, the host (Chris, or something) told the audience of our conversation earlier (I did die internally at this point) and,
"out of nowhere an usher rushed up with a microphone."
This was very off-putting, which I joked about whilet asking my question, “Gosh, this is weird " My question was pre-planned, yet I still managed to muddle it up, however if said perfectly it would have gone like, “In regards to ballet and film, we ’ ve recently seen the Royal Ballet’s adaptation of Romeo and Juliet to the big screen and now this reimagining of Coppelia, do you feel we are entering a new era of ballet in film and how do you think this will evolve?” The directors answered this question, talking about how the two as art forms complimented each other and how easy it was for ballet, a beautiful art form, to be portrayed on the big screen So yes, they saw it evolving Into what, they were unclear on. And so, the Q&A wrapped up, and the evening came to a close. And, just like every good night of culture, it ended with a trip to Jack's Gelato and an old man kissing my hand and calling me a princess
By Sian Mort
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO
THE RISE OF THE FEMALE REVENGE HORROR
by Marianna Kouznetsov
Dazzling, mystical and magical, Last Night in Soho is filled with sweetly-whispered promises of stardom, and lures the audience back in time to 1960s London, where the lines between fame, idolism and desire blur.
In the present day, the skittishly anxious Eloise (Thomasin Mackenzie) is settling into her first year at the University of the Arts in London. The aspiration to become a fashion designer comes from following in the footsteps of her mother, who committed suicide when Eloise was young, and who visits Eloise in infrequent, silent, but friendly apparitions. However, she is quickly forced out of student halls after clashing with her snobbish hallmates, and finds refuge in the aging house of a strict yet kindly landlady (Dame Diana Rigg’s last film role) A dream come true for the vintage-loving Eloise. Her late-night dreams, though, start to transport her back in time to the 60s, where she meets Sandie (a scene-stealing Anya Taylor-Joy), who has ambitions of her own: to become a lounge singer renowned across the city The film’s transitions backward in time pulse with colour, almost psychedelic in their flashes of red and blue, as Eloise both follows and embodies Sandie on her journey to fame The first half of the film contains clever practical effects that allow the actresses to swap in and out of shot (something that reminded me of the Wachowskis’ genius effects in Sense8).
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO: THE RISE OF THE FEMALE REVENGE HORROR
While paced somewhat awkwardly, the bulk of action hurried out within the last 20 minutes, the film’s most striking aspect is its central theme of female solidarity. Because behind the glamour of the performance and the charming façade of Jack, Sandie’s agent and lover, lies a sordid world of demand and prostitution
Sandie’s dream, once innocent, hits a dead end as she turns to one girl among many on the group stages of London’s entertainment industry, and Eloise can do nothing but stare in horror as the men who demand her more “expensive services” strip her down into a husk of who she once was. “No, no”! She shouts as they pin her down or grab her hair. But she is Sandie and Sandie is her, and she is both dreaming and awake, and trapped in a loop of nightmares Eloise’s growing protectiveness over Sandie manifests externally into a complete breakdown, as an army of haunting spectres escape from the past into her real life, and in her last terrifying vision, she witnesses Sandie being murdered by Jack in a fit of rage
But Sandie is not completely helpless, as Eloise finds out from the spectres who hound her, desperately trying to get her attention. In a shocking reversal of events we
find that the spectres are her victims - men murdered in Sandie’s bed as they attempted to put their hands on her.
"This is not a story of victimhood, or even female aggression, but of selfpreservation. It is made pointedly clear that Sandie, despite her blonde, angelic appearance, is as capable of bloody revenge as the most stoic-looking action hero."
The audience might be reminded of Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman, about a woman striving to get revenge on the man who raped her best friend, and which satirises the common refrain said of ‘promising young men ’ who commit rape and are acquitted due to the bright future ahead of them (nothing to be said on the bright futures of the women whose lives they ruined) Last Night in Soho’s Jack (Matt Smith) is deceptively charming, stringing Sandie in with the promise that propositioning herself will only further her career, a frightening allusion to the nature of the Hollywood casting couch that shows just how little we ’ ve advanced
Last Night and Promising Young Woman are then made only more strikingly effective by the fact that the revenge thriller genre has been completely maledominated. Think of Liam Neeson’s Taken, or in general, the wide plethora of male-led action films that centre on their wrath for the men who killed their wives The
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO: THE RISE OF THE FEMALE REVENGE HORROR
chillingly casual violence against women in these films makes them silent and complicit in their own deaths, with the focus being mainly on a battle of testosterone between two men; a fight over a woman that seems animalistically possessive
While heavily reliant on gore, and narratively clunky in many parts of the story, Last Night in Soho reclaims the revenge trope and makes Sandie the engineer of her own deliciously horrific revenge
By Marianna Kouznetsov
REVIEWS
Alternative Christmas Films by Sam Gamble Spider-Man: No Way Home by Sam Gamble
by Sam Gamble
There are some Christmas films that are a staple every year in my family: 'Love, Actually,' 'The Holiday,' The Jim Carrey 'Grinch Who Stole Christmas.' But I've grown a little tired of these and wanted to mix up my Christmas watching this year.
And so my gift to you for this year is a couple of recommendations for some alternative Christmas viewing. And no, Die Hard is not on this list.
Gremlins
Gremlins is a celebrated cult classic, and for some, might be a not-so-alternative pick But for people of my generation, it doesn't get as many repeat viewings
For those not familiar, the film recounts the tale of a young boy gifted a strange pet for Christmas, and who is warned not break three rules As we all know well, rules are made to be broken, and so true to form, the three rules are broken and a hoard of horrible Gremlins are unleashed on a quiet suburban American town.
A chaotic and darkly funny adventure that feels like what would have happened if Spielberg had experienced a darker childhood, this is of an ilk of...
ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS FILMS
films that were marketed at kids despite very much not being appropriate for them. Whilst it's relatively tame by today's standards, and the humour and chaotic nature of the Gremlins does go some of the way to alleviate some of the horror, the only thing that may appeal to children is the ever cuddly Gizmo But that is entirely the point of him. He's supposed to be the complete antithesis to the creatures he spawns.
Grounded by a realistic performance from its lead actor, this is chaos covered in tinsel, and is absolutely a film for a good laugh, as something to contrast the usual soppy messages of Christmas films
ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE
If I were to use the words 'Zombie Musical' together, would your first guess be that this is also a Christmas film? Well if your answer is yes then you ' re in for a treat
A completely unsung indie from Britain, 'Anna and the Apocalypse' is St. Trinians meets Shaun of the Dead with a makeshift Candy Cane weapon instead of a cricket bat The opening number even directly parodies Shaun's iconic one shot as Anna openly sings walking to school, oblivious to the carnage around her.
Maybe chaos and Christmas is my jam, looking at these two But when you see Zombie Santa get speared by Anna and her rag tag group of Sixth Form buddies whilst singing along to some actually decent songs, that will get your toes tapping and the blood flowing.
One for the horror and musical fan in your life, of the three that exist
KISS, KISS, BANG, BANG
I could've picked any Shane Black film and called it a day, or even just copied his IMDB page But I decided to give over to the one that feels the most inherently Christmassy.
In a pre-Iron Man world, Robert Downey Jr. is dragged into a sprawling detective mystery harkening back to noir in a big and bold way
Witty and clever, it has an improvisational feel, and was my introduction to Val Kilmer. It's seedy, almost predicting Harvey Weinstein, but still manages to feel in some ways as if it's captured the Christmas spirit in contrasting it with such a grizzly murder story and a very black sense of humour.
Swap out the classic Agatha Christie adaptation for this neo-noir classic
Well it's finally here.
For the nerds in the room, this is why we were excited for Christmas Possibly the single most anticipated movie for the last decade, the buzz around this film has hit fever pitch. Hats off to the marketing team, they've done an absolutely stellar job
Now for those who are not aware, Spider-Man: No Way Home is the 8th live action solo Spider-Man adventure. A role now inhabited by the ever charismatic Tom Holland, has previously been portrayed by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield The big rumour has been that there will be some form of crossover the unites these three spider-people in a massive event that is sure to ruffle some feathers.
Now are they in it?
I'm not going to tell you. In fact, I'm writing this bit right before I go and see the film so you know that I have no foreknowledge and no way of letting spoilers out of th bag for those who want to know nothing Journalistic integrity must be maintained.
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
Right, I'm back. I slept on the film and gave it time to process, and here are my two cents. Again, it might get nerdy.
So this film is very much a celebration of all things Spider-Man that have come before. Obviously we have the returning villains, and they actually manage to balance these multitude of characters very well. One of my reservations was that there would be too many villains, and they wouldn't feel properly developed, but what this film has learned from its previous Marvel entries is to lean on what has come before. These are the versions of the villains that we know, and they all serve a purpose in the story from the outset, rather than just being fanservice window dressing Special praise being given to Alfred Molina, Willem Dafoe, who kill it in
roles they played nearly twenty years ago (I know, I feel old too), but actually Jamie Foxx is the one who gets my vote of confidence He's arguably the villain who got shafted the most with the material he was given, and ditches the twitchy, campy performance for something that still delivers the camp, but it's clear he's having much more fun with substantially better material
Tom Holland also gets my praises. This film is still very much rested on his shoulders, Peter Parker is still very much the main character, and he gets a lot more to work with in this one, delivering a very nuanced performance whilst still delivering as both Parker and Spider-Man, each for different reasons. His chemistry with Zendaya is better than it has ever been, and the fact that he's able to hold his own and still stand out from this A-list of villainous royalty is astounding
I do have to say though, that the most ancillary character in this, in a weird way, is Benedict...
Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange. He feels almost like an inciting incident personified in this one, existing for the trailer and for some trippy visuals to match the Mysterio scenes from Far From Home, but in actuality serves little more than that
Like I said, I'm not going to spoil this film, and this is all I feel I can say without giving away too much more. What I will say is, if you feel safe, absolutely go and see this on the biggest screen possible It's a spectacle of a film, and the reactions from the crowd I was with on opening night were palpable. People laughed, cheered, cried (that might have just been me but it felt like everyone)
As a life time Spider-Man fan, who has waited for the MCU to return the character to how I know him, this is an absolute spectacular flick that has risen itself into my top Spider-Man films, of the 9 that we now have to experience
ALTERNATIVE MEDIA
Why Watch ‘The Repair Shop’ by
Bernie Ray
Life as a Production Runner by Sam Gamble
Graphic Novels: Finding Strength in Limitation by Nic Denny
Why Watch ‘The Repair Shop’ TV program?
The Repair Shop that’s on at 8.00 pm on Wednesday evening on BBC1, is a program that I can certainly recommend to everyone Every episode is so refreshing, emotional and satisfying to watch All the skilled people in the repair shop, do an amazing repair or restoration to whatever treasured, sentimental and inherited thing that’s brought through their door and the contributors always leave the Repair shop happy, surprised or loss for words It’s also a reminder of how many old traditional skilled craftsmen and women are valued and needed to carry out such fine and creative work, that has been passed on often through families for generation It’s a great program when you watch it you won’t be disappointed
By Bernie Ray
Every person has to start somewhere. In any industry, in any career, there is always a starting point, and that for me has been as a runner. But what is a runner?
According to screenskills, a runner ‘is the hands and feet of the production team’ which goes as far to say that they do a little bit of everything. It’s an assistant to everyone, exploring the different departments, looking after locations, collecting actors, making teas and coffees; basically anything required by the crew on whatever shoot
My experience has been in television, and theatre, so today I’d like to share a few of the stories I have collected over the years.
My first ever job was for a cooking show called ‘James Martins Saturday Mornings’. A Saturday morning cooking show that is filmed ‘as-live’ ‘As-live’ means that it’s filmed as if it were live, so any mistakes, any asides, any unintentional jokes are left in, but control is given back to the editor to make sure it fits in the times prescribed by the channel of distribution (in this case ITV) My job was primarily with the home economics department to prepare ingredients for use on the show as well as wash up equipment and assist with preparing
lunch for the crew I will say that the crew lunch was not necessarily needed The platter of food available was insane As is often the case, the talent (contributors on the show) would maybe take one or two bites and then hand off to the home ec team What we would then do is set it aside and people would come and pick at it and taste it themselves I had soups, pasta dishes, and a £50 tomahawk steak with homemade aioli and potato croquettes. It was magical.
Flash forward a couple of years (thank you lockdown) I finally get back on set for an antiques show called ‘Dickinson’s Real Deal’. Anyone who’s channel surfed when home sick will probably be at least aware of the show Expert antiques barter with members of the public for items they’ve brought in from home, and then
Peterborough town centre, handing out flyers to anyone that would take them and talking to them about the show, and feeding back to the Shooting Researchers for them to look at and see what they thought of their story From there, they would come to where the show was shooting, bring their items to the dealers, and barter with them.
What I found was how structured everything was, and by that I mean that the interviews, whilst not completely scripted, are definitely more planned than you think The room the shoot was taking place in was divided into four podiums. Each podium had a camera op, a researcher, and a director, and they would all work together to ask the contributor from the public ‘could you make more of a point of that?’ or ‘could you say that again?’ or ‘ we ’ re just going to do that bit from a different angle.’ and expertly and effortlessly guide
someone who had never been on television before into becoming a full contributor
My most recent job was probably my biggest to date, acting as a Location Runner on the BBC Drama ‘His Dark Materials ' A massive show that I am a massive fan of Growing up with the books, enjoying the film (whilst not perfect) and loving the show, this was a big deal for me personally, and therefore
"It was paramount that I remained a professional. "
The biggest issue when you ’ re new in the industry is keeping yourself in check around named talent. It’s always tempting to ask for a selfie or ask them about past projects But the key to remember is that you ’ re there to work. Everyone is there to achieve the same thing, and at the end of the day, all actors are there to do a job, nothing more.
I love being on set. The idea that everyone is working together to achieve one singular goal to the highest standard they are capable of astounds me.
The camaraderie and the passion is palpable, and everyone is still able to have a good time despite being under pressure. The hours are long and the work can be dull at times, but being in that atmosphere is like nothing else I have ever experienced and hope to continue to do so.
By Sam Gamble
If you were to ask anyone who even remotely knows me what they think my most obvious interest is, they’d probably say Anime. It’s not wrong, I do happen to have the most original and not at all common interest of all time for my generation. But over the past few years I’ve found myself enjoying its paperback counterpart (manga) far more.
Perhaps it's the art? Perhaps it comes down to the complexity of the author’s intentions and themes being muddled and not fully understood during adaptation that makes the source material more appealing to me? Or is it just because I like collecting picture books? Honestly, it’s all of these reasons and more Now, I know what you ’ re thinking; ‘Isn’t this supposed to be about graphic novels in general? Am I just reading about anime and manga?’
Yes?
I didn’t want to make this article about purely Japanese graphic novels as that is naturally biased and despite my preferences, there is more out there in the western market. So as to preface this article, if you are at all
GRAPHIC NOVELS: FINDING STRENGTH IN LIMITATION
interested in graphic novels by the end, please go and explore the market for yourself, as there is always something for everyone and what I like might not be your thing (but I highly recommend the series I will talk about in particular)
First of all, assuming many of the readers of the Long Lens are film fans or enthusiasts (which I’d hope to be the case), I wanted to point out something that I think goes completely overlooked in Graphic Novels; they’re basically films on paper. One of the greatest advantages of Graphic Novels is their inherent nature. It is a fundamentally limited medium that requires great skill and true understanding of composition, framing, colour theory and using different shots to accomplish effects etc in order to create something impactful. Of course, this is in order to gain an emotional response from the reader I said for a moment there that it is a
limited medium This is not at all a criticism; I see it as its greatest strength So many authors over the years have created engaging and compelling narratives by breaking the rules of conventional graphic novels through their paneling, onomatopoeia, artwork and eye guiding in order to create further interesting and passionate representations of their stories and ideas Now, I wanted to talk about multiple series and novels to show how different authors do things differently, but for the sake of keeping this article short and sweet I’ve decided to use one series as an example to show how this medium can be used and manipulated to its fullest Enter Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Chainsaw Man.
CHAINSAW MAN: OBSESSIVELY CONVENTION BREAKING
One of my favourite series of all time is the fairly recent Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto which was serialised in Shonen Jump from 2018 to 2020. I wanted to bring up Fujimoto as his works are particularly obsessed with breaking conventions, both through the narrative and the artworks he displays
"Naturally, it’s a story about a guy with chainsaws for everything and it is (as you’d expect) a zany, frantic and action packed narrative befitting of the name Chainsaw Man."
It focuses on some weird, gruesome but nevertheless very human and existential themes such as the worth of humanity, the worth of the self, the nature of fear, the nature of human choice and the raging hormones of a horny teenager Not to dwell too much on that last one, it’s a series that is not afraid to explore some taboo topics and in fact, it wears its taboo themes like a badge of pride, which ends up resulting in genuine comedy These moments work because the author knows when something is too weird, or actually serious He is a master at allowing emotions to naturally fade and resurface and knows when to make us laugh and when to make us cry. He knows what kind of story he’s writing, and because of that he is able to break the conventions of his medium in the most impactful way possible I won’t talk about the actual plot of the series as I don’t want to spoil anything if someone reading ends up giving it a try, but there’s no better time since this series is scheduled for an anime adaptation (next year?) by some really spectacular animators Seriously, the team working on this adaptation is fantastic so if you ’ re looking for something to watch rather than read… don’t. Read it first. But sure, watch it too.
From an art perspective there are lots of fundamentals employed here that relate to film as well such as framing in order to emphasise certain characters, props and locations. But the true power of Chainsaw Man’s
GRAPHIC NOVELS: FINDING STRENGTH IN LIMITATIONS
mastery of framing comes from it’s panelling. The difference here is that framing is used to create one panel Panelling is the layout of the whole page and is about how the layout of the material can affect the viewer’s experience of the narrative. For example, in the first page below you can see the rule of thirds being used to emphasise the already obvious and pagedominating Chainsaw Man Whilst in the second image you can see how onomatopoeia is used in order to visualise the rotation of the chainsaw emphasising its brutality whilst also doubling as a visual sound effect. In addition, the second page ' s orientation cleverly allows allows us to see the chainsaw thrusted into the zombie devil’s eye whilst also allowing us to see the zombie devil looking down at the chainsaw inside of him in the next page - showing us his agony in a clever and creative way
It’s also interesting to note that Chainsaw Man is read from right to left, as to preserve the orientation of the original art It’s sold in the West this way, and almost all manga are To many, it’s jarring to read back to front, but this is how important panelling and orientation of the artwork is. If it’s moved or changed, it suddenly becomes a different scene: similarly to how editing is considered the final re-write of a film in the sense that context changes everything in meaningful narratives
I didn’t want this to end up as a retelling and rant about why I enjoy some of my favourite series so much But my goal was to show a few of the ways that comic books and Graphic Novels can be used to create a wonderful landscape for a story, and how this limited medium can in fact potentially enhance the artistic creativity of the author/s who work on it I only talked about one series and author, but it shows that Graphic Novels can engage, surprise, and compel powerful themes and messages through their artwork. So please, if you ’ re interested, go try something that looks fun and see what you think In the end, it’s about what speaks to you and what you connect with that makes reading books of any kind enjoyable.
By Nic Denny
MEET THE TEAM
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Hello! I'm Dounia and I am the Editor- in- Chief of the Long Lens I edit all the submissions, alongside the deputy editor and oversee the magazine's publication I'm looking forward to developing the magazine and enticing more people to write for the Long Lens.
HEAD OF DESIGN
Hello, I'm Grace and I am the Head of Design for The Long Lens I enjoy Film and Graphic Design and I’m excited to combine the two for the coming issues of the magazine I’m also looking forward to learning more about the world of film and the effect it has on people.
DEPUTY EDITOR
Hi, I'm Marianna the Deputy Editor! I'm looking forward to coming up with creative ideas for new themes and reading everyone ' s submissions. If you see me trying to squeeze feminist and queer theory into everything I write, no you didn't.
DEPUTY HEAD OF DESIGN
Hi! My name is Jaz, and I am the Deputy Head of Design for The Long Lens. I am incredibly excited to work on this magazine as I believe it's a fantastic opportunity for film lovers of all kinds to get together and write about what they love. I'm really looking forwards to this role, as graphic design is a passion of mine, and to be able to be a part of a team doing it is even better
We hope you enjoyed this issue of THE LONG LENS
