Oh! what a lovely war, directed by Richard Attenbourough is a musical film based on he 1963 stage musical which summarises the on goings of world war one using many popular songs if that time era to tell the story.
Within the opening credits there was a range of war artifacts shown on the sides of the text which gave me insight to what items they owned and used to both live and fight. This inspired me to think about how one item could have many functions for example their hats were used to protect them when in battle however it could have also been used to carry items in or even eat out of if they didn't have bowls. The items included badges and guns etc and has also influenced my research into the theme and what props I could create for my project.
The film still sticks to its theatrical roots by using sets that look as if they have been replicated from the stage version, this was the impression I got from the opening scene with the grand white structure at the back of the shot (see image above). Also many of the shots took place in a simplified version of Brighton pier and its fun-fair giving the light-hearted look on the war that the film portrayed throughout. This is shown in the opening scene (see image above) where all the men are standing on a large rug with the world map printed on it. Each man stood on their country and discussed if they were going to go to war or not, within the discussion they all had a carefree attitude towards such a serious event and spoke as if it was a game. This attitude continues throughout the film along with the light-hearted outlook on the war being portrayed strongly within the whole of the film.
One scene that to me worked really well and showed what the film was all about was when the soldiers and woman were all dancing around the carousel. This really highlighted the reality of war with the men galloping around the carousel acting as a metaphor for them going into battle, this again showed the how they were trying to bring a high-spirited take on the war by using a fun and exciting element to portray such a worrying moment when they all go into battle. The combination of sound effects and music was also very important within this scene as well as many others. The music moved the scenes along when there was no speech and the use of the song helped the audience connect to the characters with the clever lyrics allowing you to understand their thoughts and feelings in a more creative way pulling the audience in and making the film more enjoyable to watch. This worked well with me as I love to watch musicals and therefore this was a film I really enjoyed watching and talking about. One scene that portrayed this well was near to the end when the families were standing on the pier saying goodbye to the soldiers. At the beginning when all the families were stood together the music was up beat and jolly showing the characters happiness, which is something that the audience automatically pick up on due to the association we make between music and feelings. As the soldiers had to rush off the tempo started to increase and overall the the music sounded busy adding any instruments in all at one time before it then started to slowly decrease again pulling the shot away from the soldiers as if they were walking away. The further away they got in the shot the quieter the music got with the solid drone in the background fading into silence, focusing the camera on the faces of the families. This was one process that really drew the audience in, and was effective in my opinion as it made you connect with the characters and feel for them as you have a connection. This is due to everyone having lost someone in their life so can relate that to the situation. This was one element that made the film appealing to me and made me want to watch more as well as showing me the importance of music within a film.
The use of sound effects was used within the film to portray background situations that wernt necessary for the audience to see and also brought in the reality of the time that was hidden behind the light hearted exterior they show in the film. Within the carousel scene the sound effect of gun shots were used to move away from the jolly song and link into the next shot where you see all of the dead bodies where the soldiers had been killed. The sound effects are the only thing that signifies the killing of the soldiers due to only seeing the before and after shots, this is used throughout the film and if extremely effective as at no point did I feel that you needed to see the action in the middle and you could link the sound effects and the shots together yourself to create a clear image in your head as to what would have happened which meant that the film was not dragging on. The use of red poppy's (see image above) to signify trouble or death was also a technique that appeared throughout and all you saw were still shots focusing on the flowers, leaving the audience to connect that to the death in the same way as the link between the sound effects and the action it was portraying.
The use of costume within the film is one element that always draws me in as I am so interested into that part of any film. From this film I was able to see how they changed the costumes to fit in with the emotions of the characters. At the beginning of the film there was a lot of pastel colours within the everyday clothing however as the film went on the costumes became darker which reflected the emotions of the characters, as they realised the reality of war and came to terms with loosing people in their life. The every day clothing also also showed the difference in class within the area as you could see the range in the colours they wore as well as the materials their costumes were made out of. This is one factor that wasn't so obvious in many of the black and white films as you could only go by the different shades of colour.
Finally the way they switched from scenes in the fun-fair to those based on the war was very clever and made the film flow a lot more than if they had just used static shots. To create this fluidity they used props that you would find in both the fun-fair and the war, for example they stared off by a shooting range stool at the fair then as the gun was lifted and the camera angle was changed the gun was now part of a army shooting practice. This connected both sides of the film together through out as well as giving the film a good balance between the focus on war and life back home. It also allowed me to compare the two and expand my research into home life as there was alot I could refer back to.
Overall this was a film I really enjoyed watching and has helped with many aspects of my research, and developed ideas into what props I could produce.
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