Spectatorship and emotional responses - A Clockwork Orange

Intro

During the opening credits the bright red screen, we only have minimal writing of the production company, director and the title of the film. The main reason for this is to grab the spectators attention and become mesmerised by the cinema screen and the loud music. There is nothing to look at, and you are strongly pushed towards listening to the empowering soundtrack. It then cuts sharply to a close up of Alex, staring directly into the spectator. Immediately breaking the forth wall and connecting with the audience. Without breaking eye contact, the camera tracks back slowly as Alex raises his glass to the spectator before drinking, including you as the audience into his company. As the camera continues to track backwards, you see more characters, but they are looking away, whilst Alex continues to stare through the screen at you. As the camera reveals all four of the group, Alex introduces himself to you, talking directly to the audience, naming all four of the boys, what they were doing, and what they were going to do. This instantly aligns you subconsciously with Alex within less than a minute. He stares directly at you, raises his glass, introduces himself and tells you his plans for the evening. You align with him and not the group because he is the one speaking to you, and you know he is the leader. He refers to them as 'his 3 droogs.'

 Tramp Assault

The very first shot of this scene the camera focuses on two bottles of alcohol, telling you instantly this man is a heavy homeless drunk. As the camera tracks backwards, you see that the man is alone in the underground location. Then you see four shadows block the light, instantly you know it is Alex and the other 3, and you know exactly what they are going to do. This plays a part in aligning you with Alex, as you know what he is going to do in a situation before it happens, you are positioned behind him. Again, he talks to the spectator, telling you what he hates, drunks singing in the night. As he approaches the man, you only see a dark silhouette of Alex and his droogs as they mock the old man. When Alex hits the man with the stick, it cuts to a high angle shot of the man, immediately showing him as inferior and weak, then cuts to a big close up of Alex with a menacing look on his face, towering over the man. The shot reverse shot of the two only last for the talking, until Alex takes a swing at the man. Then it cuts to a long shot of Alex and the others as they beat the old man together. This was done to make Alex anonymous to the group, and to only align you with the 'other side' of Alex. And not with the beatings.

Driving the car to first assault

In this scene, the camera remains the same for the most part, a mid shot of the 4 as they cruise through the country looking for a victim. The diagetic sound lowered to allow Alex to talk again to the audience. This showing his power, and connection with you, as he lowered the volume of the scene to talk directly to you. He tells you about his car, and describes the feeling of driving it. The orchestral music provides a juxtaposition to the evening they have had so far, and is a bit strange to hear as they are running from the police. It then cuts to a POV shot of Alex driving as they cruise down the country road, almost running a farmer over and dipping underneath a lorry. It then switches between POV shots of Alex and reaction shots of the other 3 as they continue down the road, driving everyone on it off into the grass. Then there is an extended close up of Alex, tracking slowly forwards, bringing him closer to the spectator as he tells us what they did for the evening so far, and where they were going next, he is including the spectator in his plans, and allowing you to follow.

The attack on the couple
During the attack on the couple, we see it all happening from the male point of view, primarily Alex. We follow him as he trashes the place, keeping the focus on the predator and distracting us from feeling empathetic for the victim, which would destroy alignment with Alex. We constantly view Alex from low angle shots to give him dominance and we get very little alignment with the woman. The woman in the scene, the writers wife is just an object. She is hesitant to open the door at the start, and only does so because the man tells her to, and meets her fate, because of his actions. She is passive in all she does, and when she is in the hallway, the mirrors allow the spectator to see literally every angle of the woman, further sexualising her. It is worth noting in this scene that we actually get a POV from someone else, the writer. Kubrick done this to position us both separate from Alex, and to test us. When we have the POV, Alex says ''Biddy Well Brother,'' telling us it is too much for us to watch. And subliminally allowed the spectator to realise we are separate, but we share his view, and his alignment, but we are not him. The test is also shown as we are positioned with someone who is tied up and held to watch a sexual attack, yet we still align with Alex, as we don't get to see the act, or him because of his mask.

Ludovico