Celine's Film Blog

 BINARY OPPOSITES  CAPTAIN FANTASTIC Jack vs Ben Traditional vs Alternative (lifestyle and family) Academic education vs Practical education/life experience /social skills Conservative vs Progressive Cold lighting vs Bright lighting  Parent vs Child Ben vs Bo Communism vs Capitalism Equality vs Inequality Suburbia vs Wilderness Safety vs Risk Formal traditional ritual vs Informal unconventional ritual

 RITUALS  THE FUNERAL Cinematography  When Ben wakes up, he hallucinates and sees his wife. His wife is shown through his POV in extreme close up shots and his actions match what the audience sees in his POV and out of his POV. Close-ups of people crying and grieving. Close up of Ben over the casket with the flowers to show he brings light and contentment for Lesley. Handheld the camera as the security grab and escort Ben out. Establishing shot of the family as they enter the Church. Close-ups outside the church showing the children facial expressions Mise-en-scene They enter the church with saturated bright clothing rather than the traditional black attire, as they believe in celebrating life and not the fact that she is dead. Ben wears red which can be linked to a superhero and he has not fulfilled his superhero role. He has let his children and Lesley down. Flowers in the girl's hair - symbolism of nature, therefore portraying that they brought nature with them The pri...

 ISSUES AND IDEOLOGIES  In the Bill Of Rights scene, Ben is criticised for homeschooling his children rather than sending them to a regular school similarly to Harper's and Dave's kids. During this scene, the kids are questioned on the bill of rights. Harper's kids Justin and Jackson deliver an extremely informal answer in comparison to Ben's 8-year-old Zaja, who can effortlessly recite the text word for word and even grant his own analysis of the meaning and importance of the document. From this, the audience is encouraged to side with Ben as it's displayed that his way of teaching outperforms the education system. Moreover, the cinematography supports this; When the children were being questioned, the camera angle makes Harper's children fill the screen whilst for Zaja( who is younger than them) is presented smaller and the camera is placed above him, demonstrating how his amount of knowledge at such age is imposing. Furthermore, the mise en scene during this ...

 "Connect is about how life can be isolating, and the need to connect with others" There's a diegetic sound of her music through her headphones. The only people that can hear the sound is the girl and the audience who are watching. This gives the impression that she is set apart from the rest of the characters and we, therefore, naturally focus our attention on her. This emphasises how "life can be isolating" as the girl uses music as an escape from reality and the feeling of loneliness.  Two shots between her and the man, showing a connection between them which drives the narrative forward. They are closer than the rest of the people both physically and emotionally which encapsulates the idea that the girl is in "need to connect with others'". 

 CAPTAIN FANTASTIC We are initially presented with long shots of the natural world for a long duration, which was probably done on purpose by Ross (the director) to allow the audience to appreciate the beauty of the forest and nature as a whole. There are diegetic sounds and no artificial lighting, the colours are beautifully saturated and vibrant which emphasises the beauty of nature and the wilderness.  Moreover, this could also highlight how the family is socially disconnected and isolated from society. We are initially aligned with the deer, we perceive motivated close-ups of the deer's eyes watching through the foliage. hear people creeping around, resulting in the deer feeling on edge. We sense the threat the deer is facing. It holds horror-Esque qualities, the hunter and the haunted in close proximity, we can see the victim clearly but we don't know what or who the threat is. The mud-covered bodies make the humans look monstrous, threatening and inhumane, making it hard...