Screen Arts 9/3

Dogme 95

This style of film making was created in 1995 by Danish director Lars Von Trier and Thomas Vinterburg. It took them 25mins to create the manifesto that described a new film making purity. The inspiration behind this was they felt that technology was hampering genuine creation and the dogme style is a way to fight Hollywood globalisation. Kristian Levrig and Soren Kragh-Jacobsen soon signed on and the 4 of them became the Dogme 95 Collective. With technology allowing everyone to create cinema, they believed that discipline was necessary and laid down the indisputable Vow of Chastity rules.

• Shooting must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in. If a prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found
• The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. Music must not be used unless it occurs where the scene is being shot
• The camera must be handheld. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted. The film must not take place where the camera is standing ; shooting must take place where the film takes place
• The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable. If there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera
• Optical work and filters are forbidden
• The film must not contain superficial action – murders, weapons, etc. must not occur
• Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. That is to say the film takes place here and now
• Genre movies are not acceptable
• The film format must be Academy 35mm
• The director must not be credited

Some notable Dogme 95 films are

• Breaking the Waves, 1996, Lars von Trier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHqZh-9AiCs
• The Idiots, 1998, Lars von Trier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWaPAQwDS5s
• Festen (The Celebration) 1998, Thomas Vinterberg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=96&v=vKe_AxTFGXc
• Mifune, 1999, Søren Kragh-Jacobsen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6PsTbD8tZQ
• The King is Alive, 2000, Kristian Levring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1y2Ue5Vd98

The Name of This Film is Dogme 95

• Provide a summary of the Dogme 95 Movement - a bunch of directors fed up with the current film techniques decided to create a "pure" method of film-making with specific rules to follow.
• Who were the directors involved in the movement? Lars Von trier( self identified as a nazi and was black listed due to sexual assault and sexual harrassment), Thomas Vinterburg, Kristian Levrig and Soren Kragh-Jacobsen
• When did the movement end? technically the original four directors all only made one movie each and that was it. None of them have any plans to create another dogme film. However, there has been several new directors all attempting to make this kind of movie with varying success.
• Do you feel that an imposed set of rules on film making would help in making a more “pure” film that improves the focus on story and character? I think it helps create a specific style of film, but doesnt necessarily improve the story or characters at all.
• Research Lars von Trier’s “Dancer in the Dark” (2000).  Did von Trier follow his own Dogme 95 rules?  Where did he break them?  Von Trier breaks a few rules for Dancer in the Dark, he used violence, non-diegetic music and it was a period piece, however he differentiated these scenes using a static camera and brighter colours.