Example Annotated Catalogue
Here is an extract from a well structured Annotated Catalogue with good notes and good detail. Use it as a guide to the way your own catalogue should be submitted. (Some items have been omitted)
Male flawed characters with a goal are a predominant theme in Christopher Nolan’s films, does this make him an auteur?
Films
Item 1
Inception- (2010) director- Christoper Nolan
I chose this film as my focus film as it shows Christopher Nolans’ clear auteur presence as he deals with the theme that I am focusing on – a flawed male character, in this film the characters flaw is his emotional life and family that drive the narrative of the film. It also looks at his other auteur themes such as moral ambiguity, the characters and composers he uses and psychology. This film also explores the relationship between Chris Nolan and the genre of Crime films that has established his idiosyncratic style.
Item 2
Batman Begins (2005)- I chose this as my second film to look at as the theme I am looking at is explored in this film. The male character is also flawed with his emotional life as well as his fears. Other themes are also shown in this film such as revenge, power, psychology and moral ambiguity. This film is also in the crime genre and so many of the same conventions are used as in Inception.
Item 3
Insomnia (2002)- This is a film by Christopher Nolan which also explores the flaw of a male character, in this film the character suffers from insomnia. Guilt is another theme in this film and is important in defining the role of morality and we see the protagonists desire for justice which is another theme found in the other two films I am looking at. Al Pacino plays a sympathetic protagonist with a degree of warmth. The genre of the film is also crime.
Magazines
Item 4
Empire online- This is useful as the article explains how the flaws of the main male character of Inception drive the narrative of the film. It also states that the character is “a bruised dreamer himself, grieving for his wife and driven to new lengths of dream larceny. “ As well as the emotional core of the film coming from Leonardo Dicaprio who plays the main character. Another article in this magazine suggests that in Batman begins the flaw in the main male character is that the reality of his life is very grim and extremely intense and it is this that motivates him to make himself extraordinary, this is purposely done for the audience to believe and experience the journey with him. Another flaw of Batman is the psychology of the character and the intense motivating rage he feels. The article states that throughout the film we're constantly finding out the purpose of his rage and what's happened to him, and finding out his purpose. The reason for the flaw in the male protagonist in this particular Nolan film is because Batman's mortality and his vulnerability are what distinguishes him from any other superhero. Another article in this magazine states that in insomnia Christopher Nolan required was a sympathetic protagonist, someone with charisma, a degree of warmth, who would draw you into the series of events with him
Item 5 ................................................................................
Item6
Guardian, Wednesday 15 June 2005- is a short interview that is interesting and useful as it gives an in-depth reasoning behind why Christopher Nolan enjoys creating philosophical meanings. It is an insight into the film Batman Begins, showing its central figure as a study in psychological damage. Batman is seen as a superhero but in reality he is just a human being with flaws. This theme is also predominant in my other films for example in Insomnia, Al Pacino suffers from Insomnia and in Inception Cobbs’ wife haunts his subconscious.
Interviews
Item 7- Modern master award SBIFF 2011, 30 January 2011-
This item is useful as it explains that Batman is not an ordinary superhero but an ordinary man with money and with money comes power this can be seen as one of his flaws. As Batman is seen as an ordinary human being he is a relatable human being and Christopher explains that Batman is a relatable character with his desire for revenge. Revenge is one of the flaws in this film as Christopher Nolan states that it shows what revenge does to a person and the different ways to pursue it. Leonardo Dicaprio later on gives a speech and states that his films explore the frailty of the human condition and that there is always an intimate, relatable and honest character that shows emotional authenticity.
Item 8-WonderCon, 3rd April 2010 –
This is useful as in a question and answer session where someone asks him what inspires him Christopher Nolan replies saying real life inspires him and events in his life. Also directors such as Ridley Scott with his films like Blade Runner have fed his enthusiasm to make these crime/ film noir films. Another question that was asked was about all the male twisted characters that are featured in his films and if he would use a twisted female character and Christopher Nolan replied that in Inception Marion Cotillard plays an extremely complicated individual and gives a fascinating performance showing that the theme is not only in the male characters but has started to be portrayed in the female characters also.
Item 9- Christophernolan.net-
This is useful as in interview with Christopher Nolan on insomnia he tells us how the film is about responses to guilt, and two characters who deal with guilt in opposite ways. On thematic level the film says something about the role of guilt in defining morality or suggesting morality. Both characters in some sense have transgressed to cause their reacting to guilt. This suggests that in insomnia the characters flaw is the guilt he has and it is because of this guilt he suffers from insomnia.
Item 10 – ............................................................................................
Item 11-Screemwritersutopia.com- 6th April 2002
This interview with Christopher Nolan is useful as he states that the protagonists performance is a guide for the audience so they don't get lost in the world and that it is important to have a point of focus for the audiences' sympathy and attention and this is done through the characters emotion and flaws.
Item 12- .........................................................................................................
Item 13- http://www.deadline.com/2010/07/nolan-says-hed-love-to-do-bond/
This is important as the James Bond films have hugely influenced Christopher Nolan. Their style can be seen in a lot of Christopher Nolan’s films. The James Bond films captured Nolan’s attention due to the infinite possibilities about the world they create, much like in Nolan’s films where he creates his own world in which the film is set and the narrative unfolds. This interview also shows how Christopher Nolan came to linking Inception with James Bond and how he naturally gravitates towards the Bond films because of the expression of cinematic potential.
Internet
Item 14- http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/49821542.html
A piece from Oh No They Didn’t!—titled “Does Christopher Nolan have a woman problem?”—has been circulating the web recently, and it details the questionable use of female characters in Nolan’s films. The article asserts that Nolan “fridges” the women in his films, meaning he kills them off “solely for the purpose of giving the story’s main male hero a reason to angst”. In this article the reasoning behind christopher Nolans' auteur style is explored finding the reasons for why the main protagonist is always male. It is stated in this article that for reasons that should be obvious, men are more capable at examining the psychological states of male characters, and conversely, women are more capable at examining the psychological states of female characters. It comes with the territory; people write what they know, and they know their own gender better than the other. Acknowledging this, it’s only natural that a male filmmaker would relate stories around male protagonists. The real problem is, there aren’t nearly enough women filmmakers, so the balance is too often tipped in favor of the male perspective.
Item 15- http://rachelmariemohr.blogspot.com/2010/07/deep-freeze-christopher-nolans-woman_31.html
This article is useful as one of Christopher Nolan’s traits is that he ............ He has been criticised a lot for this. Here the blog offers facts about how many of the characters out of all Christopher Nolan’s films cast were male and female. How many of those female actresses were given speaking parts and how many were still alive by the end of the films. This is important to use as it is evidence supporting my point that Christopher Nolan could be classed as an auteur due to his ........................
Item 16- nolanfans.com –
A forum on this site argued whether the male protagonist was a trademark or mere coincidence and one reply reported that there are many other themes in Nolans work such as: His films usually revolve around characters that are afflicted with some kind of psychological disorder- Al Pacino's sleeping disorder in Insomnia, Christian Bale's phobia of bats in Batman Begins. Characters in films often gain a physical or psychological handicap in the course of the film, in 'Insomnia', Dormer gets insomnia. His films often have obsessive protagonists with a troubled past, who are obsessed to gain justice by any means in life Al Pacino's character in Insomnia, Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins. Cobbs' wife in inception commits suicide and Cobb is accused of her murder. Also his films' protagonists have mostly lost their loved ones &/or failed in love, a circumstance that causes them to turn into malevolent &/or apathetic forever- Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins and Cobb in Inception. Finally his main characters are usually men with a goal who face adversity.
Books
Item 17 : https://theses.ncl.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/10443/961/1/Hill-Parks10.pdf
This enables the reader to fully explore the techniques used that make his films so unique, and yet similar to one another, it is an interesting aspect of the auteur theory as It is a lengthy insight to all of Christopher Nolan’s films, giving him praise for his high standards in film making and comparing his abilities to strengthen a storyline by making them familiar to the similar individual films made.
Item 18- An Introduction to film studies
I am using this book as it states the auteur theory. This helps me understand what makes the director I have chosen an auteur and will enable me to argue about this in my presentation script. The auteur theory is described as a cult of the personality in which a film text under close examination might reveal the ‘essence’ of its director and hence invite the granting of auteurist status.
Male flawed characters with a goal are a predominant theme in Christopher Nolan’s films, does this make him an auteur?
Films
Item 1
Inception- (2010) director- Christoper Nolan
I chose this film as my focus film as it shows Christopher Nolans’ clear auteur presence as he deals with the theme that I am focusing on – a flawed male character, in this film the characters flaw is his emotional life and family that drive the narrative of the film. It also looks at his other auteur themes such as moral ambiguity, the characters and composers he uses and psychology. This film also explores the relationship between Chris Nolan and the genre of Crime films that has established his idiosyncratic style.
Item 2
Batman Begins (2005)- I chose this as my second film to look at as the theme I am looking at is explored in this film. The male character is also flawed with his emotional life as well as his fears. Other themes are also shown in this film such as revenge, power, psychology and moral ambiguity. This film is also in the crime genre and so many of the same conventions are used as in Inception.
Item 3
Insomnia (2002)- This is a film by Christopher Nolan which also explores the flaw of a male character, in this film the character suffers from insomnia. Guilt is another theme in this film and is important in defining the role of morality and we see the protagonists desire for justice which is another theme found in the other two films I am looking at. Al Pacino plays a sympathetic protagonist with a degree of warmth. The genre of the film is also crime.
Magazines
Item 4
Empire online- This is useful as the article explains how the flaws of the main male character of Inception drive the narrative of the film. It also states that the character is “a bruised dreamer himself, grieving for his wife and driven to new lengths of dream larceny. “ As well as the emotional core of the film coming from Leonardo Dicaprio who plays the main character. Another article in this magazine suggests that in Batman begins the flaw in the main male character is that the reality of his life is very grim and extremely intense and it is this that motivates him to make himself extraordinary, this is purposely done for the audience to believe and experience the journey with him. Another flaw of Batman is the psychology of the character and the intense motivating rage he feels. The article states that throughout the film we're constantly finding out the purpose of his rage and what's happened to him, and finding out his purpose. The reason for the flaw in the male protagonist in this particular Nolan film is because Batman's mortality and his vulnerability are what distinguishes him from any other superhero. Another article in this magazine states that in insomnia Christopher Nolan required was a sympathetic protagonist, someone with charisma, a degree of warmth, who would draw you into the series of events with him
Item 5 ................................................................................
Item6
Guardian, Wednesday 15 June 2005- is a short interview that is interesting and useful as it gives an in-depth reasoning behind why Christopher Nolan enjoys creating philosophical meanings. It is an insight into the film Batman Begins, showing its central figure as a study in psychological damage. Batman is seen as a superhero but in reality he is just a human being with flaws. This theme is also predominant in my other films for example in Insomnia, Al Pacino suffers from Insomnia and in Inception Cobbs’ wife haunts his subconscious.
Interviews
Item 7- Modern master award SBIFF 2011, 30 January 2011-
This item is useful as it explains that Batman is not an ordinary superhero but an ordinary man with money and with money comes power this can be seen as one of his flaws. As Batman is seen as an ordinary human being he is a relatable human being and Christopher explains that Batman is a relatable character with his desire for revenge. Revenge is one of the flaws in this film as Christopher Nolan states that it shows what revenge does to a person and the different ways to pursue it. Leonardo Dicaprio later on gives a speech and states that his films explore the frailty of the human condition and that there is always an intimate, relatable and honest character that shows emotional authenticity.
Item 8-WonderCon, 3rd April 2010 –
This is useful as in a question and answer session where someone asks him what inspires him Christopher Nolan replies saying real life inspires him and events in his life. Also directors such as Ridley Scott with his films like Blade Runner have fed his enthusiasm to make these crime/ film noir films. Another question that was asked was about all the male twisted characters that are featured in his films and if he would use a twisted female character and Christopher Nolan replied that in Inception Marion Cotillard plays an extremely complicated individual and gives a fascinating performance showing that the theme is not only in the male characters but has started to be portrayed in the female characters also.
Item 9- Christophernolan.net-
This is useful as in interview with Christopher Nolan on insomnia he tells us how the film is about responses to guilt, and two characters who deal with guilt in opposite ways. On thematic level the film says something about the role of guilt in defining morality or suggesting morality. Both characters in some sense have transgressed to cause their reacting to guilt. This suggests that in insomnia the characters flaw is the guilt he has and it is because of this guilt he suffers from insomnia.
Item 10 – ............................................................................................
Item 11-Screemwritersutopia.com- 6th April 2002
This interview with Christopher Nolan is useful as he states that the protagonists performance is a guide for the audience so they don't get lost in the world and that it is important to have a point of focus for the audiences' sympathy and attention and this is done through the characters emotion and flaws.
Item 12- .........................................................................................................
Item 13- http://www.deadline.com/2010/07/nolan-says-hed-love-to-do-bond/
This is important as the James Bond films have hugely influenced Christopher Nolan. Their style can be seen in a lot of Christopher Nolan’s films. The James Bond films captured Nolan’s attention due to the infinite possibilities about the world they create, much like in Nolan’s films where he creates his own world in which the film is set and the narrative unfolds. This interview also shows how Christopher Nolan came to linking Inception with James Bond and how he naturally gravitates towards the Bond films because of the expression of cinematic potential.
Internet
Item 14- http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/49821542.html
A piece from Oh No They Didn’t!—titled “Does Christopher Nolan have a woman problem?”—has been circulating the web recently, and it details the questionable use of female characters in Nolan’s films. The article asserts that Nolan “fridges” the women in his films, meaning he kills them off “solely for the purpose of giving the story’s main male hero a reason to angst”. In this article the reasoning behind christopher Nolans' auteur style is explored finding the reasons for why the main protagonist is always male. It is stated in this article that for reasons that should be obvious, men are more capable at examining the psychological states of male characters, and conversely, women are more capable at examining the psychological states of female characters. It comes with the territory; people write what they know, and they know their own gender better than the other. Acknowledging this, it’s only natural that a male filmmaker would relate stories around male protagonists. The real problem is, there aren’t nearly enough women filmmakers, so the balance is too often tipped in favor of the male perspective.
Item 15- http://rachelmariemohr.blogspot.com/2010/07/deep-freeze-christopher-nolans-woman_31.html
This article is useful as one of Christopher Nolan’s traits is that he ............ He has been criticised a lot for this. Here the blog offers facts about how many of the characters out of all Christopher Nolan’s films cast were male and female. How many of those female actresses were given speaking parts and how many were still alive by the end of the films. This is important to use as it is evidence supporting my point that Christopher Nolan could be classed as an auteur due to his ........................
Item 16- nolanfans.com –
A forum on this site argued whether the male protagonist was a trademark or mere coincidence and one reply reported that there are many other themes in Nolans work such as: His films usually revolve around characters that are afflicted with some kind of psychological disorder- Al Pacino's sleeping disorder in Insomnia, Christian Bale's phobia of bats in Batman Begins. Characters in films often gain a physical or psychological handicap in the course of the film, in 'Insomnia', Dormer gets insomnia. His films often have obsessive protagonists with a troubled past, who are obsessed to gain justice by any means in life Al Pacino's character in Insomnia, Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins. Cobbs' wife in inception commits suicide and Cobb is accused of her murder. Also his films' protagonists have mostly lost their loved ones &/or failed in love, a circumstance that causes them to turn into malevolent &/or apathetic forever- Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins and Cobb in Inception. Finally his main characters are usually men with a goal who face adversity.
Books
Item 17 : https://theses.ncl.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/10443/961/1/Hill-Parks10.pdf
This enables the reader to fully explore the techniques used that make his films so unique, and yet similar to one another, it is an interesting aspect of the auteur theory as It is a lengthy insight to all of Christopher Nolan’s films, giving him praise for his high standards in film making and comparing his abilities to strengthen a storyline by making them familiar to the similar individual films made.
Item 18- An Introduction to film studies
I am using this book as it states the auteur theory. This helps me understand what makes the director I have chosen an auteur and will enable me to argue about this in my presentation script. The auteur theory is described as a cult of the personality in which a film text under close examination might reveal the ‘essence’ of its director and hence invite the granting of auteurist status.