the westworld mindmap
TRANSCRIPT
the westworld mindmap
revision
the westworld mindmap
Narrative
Constant explanation through John, advert and
scientist (conventional technique).
Linear narrative, but open ended.
Equilibrium - a world where you can holiday in different worlds.
Bar confrontation - "You talk too much" - first blow is dealt, after this the film is about technology fighting back.
Cause & Effect chainBrothel, machine disease identified,
Peter is arrested (become desperadoes)
Key turning point - rattle snake "That wasn't supposed to happen".
Main problem - loss of robot control, logic circuits have failed.
Resolution - kills the gunslinger
Structure:1) Optimism2) Enjoyment3) Malfunction4) Rejection
Problems - Snake, seduction 'refusal', Knight kills
guest, John is shot.Day (resort/fantasy),
Night (Clean up/repair)
Have to suspend our disbelief
Central tension (binary oppositions)Human : non human
Feelings : emotionlessWarm : cold
Final death : rebuiltOrgans : circuits
Once the Gunslinger is chasing Peter, it becomes more like a sci-fi
(fight for survival, underground, man versus machine)
the westworld mindmap
Characters
John - cynical, confident, natural and slips more easily into his
'character'.
John is more masculine (costume and figure movement)
Peter - reluctant hero, apprehensive, naiive and 'feels silly'
Peter - just divorced? Taken advantage of by wife? Less of a man?
Sex provides Peter with confidence (masculinity is confirmed)
John as narrative device (has visited before)
Archetypal characters - provides us with expectations (prostitutes, sheriff, gunslinger, landlady, cowboys,
saloon owner, scientists
Women as secondary
Anthropomorphic characters
the westworld mindmap
Themes
Man vs. machine/technology (there to serve men)
What it means to be human? (indicated by female robot at the end)
Identity - Characters accept quite quickly that this is real
Fear
Paranoia
Anxiety (about the future - utopia or dystopia?)
Playing God (dangerous)
Artifice - games, fantasy, stage managed activities (resort activities in the morning)
the westworld mindmap
Style
Wild west music
Conventional editing techniques for a western
(shot-reverse-shot, slo mo)
Sci-fi music (used when 'bodies' are collected at night)
Bar room brawl (montage sequence, hilighting fun, pretense and artifice - it is stage managed) POV of the gunslinger - pixelated image
Gunslinger chasing Peter - sound is loud and repetitive like a machine.
Leitmotif - sound to indicate Gunslinger is back
Colour pallet of a Western
70s imagining of the future
the westworld mindmap
Iconography
Shuttle - like a passenger plane
Mission control - flashing lights and monitors
Baron landscape - foreshadows the wilderness later (when Peter needs
to escape the gunslinger)
Typical cowboy paraphenalia (stetsons, chaps, spurs)
Identifiable wild west town (saloon, brothel, etc)
Robots
Delos operations room (scientists)
the westworld mindmap
They haven't perfected the hands yet.
Authentic experience.
Just enjoy yourself, it's like a theme park.
Guns with sensing devices.
Disease spreading from one resort to another (not ordinary machines, like living organisms and humans don't know exactly how they work)
Ending - Peter has no emotions watching the gunslinger burn (has
become cold himself) but retains his humanity when he believes the
woman asking for help is a human.
Sense of play acting, life not being real, simulated fun which gets out of control (links to themes)
the westworld mindmap
IconographyAerodynamic aircraft
humans are the fathers of robots
children rebelling
robots sight is weaker than humans
supposed to be perfect
technologygenre juxtaposition
FuturisticUtopian
Hovercraft sequence
style of the futuresocial class
vital exposition
Lawless violence
Relaxed morality
historical chivalry
mise-en-scene
ConsumerismSense of foreboding
Further analysis
New frontier
The furthest place you can explore
metaphor
Peter exploring himselfrobot sex
bank robberykilling
imperfection
robot woman fears death
Gunslinger has no fear
emphasis on eyes
robot woman during sex
anthropomorphism
SoundUpbeat country style music
reflects characters' mood
sonic leitmotif
Signifies sci-fi element