A Case Study of “Bus 174 Film” by Felipe Lacerda

Abstract

Medium specificity is a concept that is very common in

film theory in the world of arts today. It basically

means a piece of art or artistic medium that represents

the characteristics and qualities of the raw material

from which it is made. This study looked at medium

specificity, life, death and temporality of images in

films from the perspective of Bus 174. The study

adopted a phenomenological case study design. The

researcher looked at the various film theories and how

they conceptualize image on one hand and life and

death on the other. This was by using Bus 174 as the

reference point.

Introduction

Background Information

Medium specificity is a concept that is popular in the

film industry today. The concept can be looked at by

defining the two terms that make it up and then relating

them to art as media. The two terms can be defined

separately so as to get a deep insight into the concept.

They can be defined from the perspectives of different

scholars. As Bernstein (2012) states, the word

‘specificity’ is used to describe a scenario in the arts or

to depict the specific nature of events as they occur in

the environment. Medium on the other hand is the

original material used in making art and which is

brought about through creativity on the part of the

artist. The two words are also used within the context

of life, death and temporality of images as far as film

as a form of art is concerned.

So far the researcher has looked at the two concepts

differently. At this juncture, the author will look at the

two words together and analyse the meaning they

convey when combined. The term ‘medium specificity’

implies that the ‘character’ expressed by the work of

art reflects the original ‘character’ or state of the

components used in compiling it. In other words, a

piece of art that is ‘medium specific’ takes the forms of

the raw materials from which it was made. The two

terms therefore are linked and are very significant in

art today. Under different circumstances, the term

‘medium specificity’ exhibits the actual phenomenon

that exists in the artistic environment. This process of

imitating the actual or original raw material is referred

to as the effect.

It is noted that that medium specificity takes into

consideration several effects. For instance, when paint

is used to cover a given surface, it takes the shape of

the surface being painted. The paint assumes the

structure and appearance of the canvas that was used.

This is how Shankel (2011) describes the relationship

between materiality and the effect of characterisation.

This is not to say that the paint will change the colour

of the surface being painted or the canvas. The actual

effect of the canvas remains the same. The final

product in this case takes the form of paint and brings

out the actual materiality in its art to maintain a

“………close connotation of characters” (Shankel

2011).

Problem Statement

As already stated earlier in this paper, medium

specificity is an expression that is common in

contemporary film theories today. According to

Bernstein (2012), the expression can be looked at by

defining the two words “medium” and “specificity”.

According to this author, specificity within the context

of arts can be conceptualized as the “…….quality or

fact (of) being specific in operation (and) effect”

(Bernstein 2012, p. 1). It can also be conceptualized as

the ability of a given phenomenon, object or subject to

possess a specific character. On its part, medium

within the context of arts can be viewed as the

“……….raw material (and) mode of expression (that is

used) in an artistic or creative (undertaking)”

(Bernstein 2012, p. 1).

Having looked at specificity and medium as distinct

terms and expression in the artistic world, Bernstein

turns his attention to the combination of the two words

to form the term ‘medium specificity’. The latter is

defined as the “…..quality of being specific (in both

operation and effect) to the character of the raw

material being used as a mode of artistic expression”

(Bernstein 2012, p. 2). From this author’s arguments,

one can conclude that medium specificity connotes an

artwork that manifests the characteristics, traits and

qualities of the raw material which it is made from. A

case in point is a painting as an artistic media. The

paint can be said to be medium specific under given

circumstances. It has to be made of the paint and the

surface on which the paint is spread (a phenomenon

Shankel [2011] refers to as operation). The paint

should also “represent and imitate” the two materials

from which it is made, a phenomenon that is referred to

as effect by the author (Shankel 2011).

According to Bernstein (2012), medium specificity is

dependent on the “distinct materiality” (p. 3) of the

artistic media such as a painting or a photograph.

However, it should be noted that the qualities that

characterize or categorize a medium are neither

irreducible nor inherent. Rather, an artistic medium

such as film is more or less a tool and practices that has

being structured historically.

To this end, the author is going to analyse the concept

and how it has been used in the film Bus 174. In

addition, the author is going to analyse death, life, and

temporality of images in the film.

Temporality of images is a concept that is used in the

film to represent tense. Tense is important as it is used

to put images within a certain time frame and in a

given context. What happens behind the scenes is

always represented by gestures used in the film.

However, this fails to account for presentness, past

tense and even the future. To contextualise this point,

the author will use an example in literature. For

instance, book writers can go back in time and present

information in the past tense whereas the film does not

have the capability to shift to the past to fish out

information pertaining to a particular incidence.

Temporality of images becomes an important aspect of

this research which will be used to depict how the film

was presented.

Having this idea in mind, the researcher will

incorporate the thinking of various film theorists and

how their arguments relate to this particular film. This

is especially so on what the various thinkers have to

say about temporality of images and such other issues.

As already indicated, the researcher will analyse life

and death in images to bring out the essence of the

film. The use of images becomes a vital tool in

explaining how and why the film was acted in a

particular manner.

Some of the most influential aspects in the presentation

of the film include Bazin’s classical film theories. Film

theory is a collection of frameworks and principles that

interpret and explain how films are made and received

both by the audience and the critics. The frameworks

are not static or frozen in time and space; rather, they

are dynamic phenomena that vary from one period to

the other. The theories borrow from other fields such

as philosophy and social sciences.

Bazin is one of the most popular film critics of all time.

This scholar made a case for films based on objective

reality. These are for example documentaries. He also

advocated for invisible directors. He argued for the use

of deep focus, wide shots and such other traits of film.

According to him, a film should be a manifestation of

the director’s personal vision.

The study then proceeds to contemporary cultural

critics such as Barthes who argue for temporality of

images and their unique relationship to life and in

extension death. The researcher noted that modern day

writers such as Mulvey and Doane had taken up this

line of inquiry, arguing for a specifically cinematic

form of time.

The researcher analyses the ideas presented above from

the perspective of Bus 174. This is a Brazilian

documentary revolving around a life and death event.

The documentary raises questions on both televisual

and cinematic representation.

Research Objectives

The objectives of a given study can be taken as the

aims that the researcher has in mind and which they

expect to attain through the findings of the study. This

research had one major objective and three specific

objectives. By addressing the specific objectives, the

researcher would have effectively addressed the major

objective of the study. The major and specific

objectives are listed below:

Major Objective

The major aim of the research is to analyse the

film<Bus 174and find out how it depicts medium

specificity, life, death and temporality of images.

Specific Objectives

1. Analyse medium specificity, life, death and

temporality of images in arts with special focus

on films

2. Analyse medium specificity, life, death and

temporality of images in the context of the

film<Bus 174

3. The research also seeks to analyse the arguments

of contemporary cultural critics regarding the

relationship between images, life and death and

how this relationship affects contemporary films.

Research Questions

It is noted that that research questions are related to

research objectives. This is given the fact that by

answering the research questions, the researcher would

have effectively achieved the objectives of the study.

Therefore, like in the case of the research objectives,

the current study had one major research question and

three specific questions. Again by answering the

specific research questions, the researcher would have

effectively addressed the major research question. The

major and specific research questions are listed below:

Major Research Question

How does the film Bus 174 reflect medium specificity,

life, death and temporality of images in film?

Specific Questions

1. How is medium specificity, life, death and

temporality of images reflected in arts especially

films?

2. How are medium specificity, life, death and

temporality of images reflected in the film<Bus

174?

3. What are some of the arguments made by both

classical and contemporary film theorists with

regard to medium specificity, life, death and

temporality of images in film?

4. How are the arguments of classical and

contemporary film theorists on medium

specificity, life, death and temporality of images

reflected in the film<Bus 174?

Scope and Limitations of the Study

In the process of formulating the research design and

collecting data for the study, the researcher identified

several limitations that were inherent in the study. The

limitations were both from within and from without the

research design. It is not possible to address every

aspect of a given topic in a single study. On realising

this, the researcher found it important to focus the

study in a particular area of interest. This formed the

scope and limitations of the study. It was the boundary

within which the study was conducted. Here are the

scope and limitations of the study:

1. The research was limited to the study of medium

specificity, life, death and temporality of images.

This is despite the fact that images have many

other characters which were left out of this study

2. The study was also limited to film as an artistic

medium

3. The study was limited to the film<Bus 174.This

is despite the fact that there are other films that

express medium specificity, life, death and

temporality of images

Significance of the Study

In any given field, there are a number of studies that

are going on at any one given time. As a result of this,

any new study conducted in the field has to be

justified. One way to justify the study is to identify its

importance or the value that it is going to add into the

field. This in other words is the significance of the

study. The current study was not an exception.

Following are potential practical applications of the

findings of the study:

1. The findings of this study will contribute to the

wealth of knowledge in this field. This is by

coming up with new information

2. The findings will help film theorists and other

stakeholders in relating the concepts of film

theories to real life

3. The researcher will identify gaps that exists in

this field and in addition make recommendations

for future studies in the field

In this section, the author introduced the reader to the

study by addressing some of the major highlights of the

research. The areas addressed include background

information, problem statement, research objectives,

research questions, as well as the significance of the

study. This was to give the reader an idea on what the

whole study was all about.

In the next chapter the author is going to introduce the

reader to the film<Bus 174. This is the film which the

study will revolve around. In other words, it is the case

for this study. Several aspects of the film will be put

into perspective. These include the synopsis as well as

the main themes of the film.

Bus 174: The Film

Introduction

Bus 174 is a film depicting a life and death scenario

and which was produced way back in the year 2002. It

is a debut film which was directed by Jose Padilha in

form of a documentary reflecting life in Brazil. In this

documentary, a young man by the name Sandro Rosa

do Nascimento boarded a bus plying route 174 with the

intention of stealing from the passengers. The heist did

not go as planned and it turned into a tragedy for the

young man. The events taking place in the bus were

telecasted live on national television in Brazil

(Villarejo 2006, p.117).

Bus 174: Synopsis

The film revolves around a failed robbery in which the

hijacker takes the passengers of the bus hostage to

avoid being arrested by the police. This Brazilian

documentary tries to analyse the scenes captured live

and transmitted to the national televisions as the poor

young man named Sandro do Nascimento

commandeers Bus 174. Live cameras captured almost

five hours of the tense scene as the police tried their

best to save the people trapped in the bus (Young 2003,

p.29).

As the police and television crew converge on the

scene, several civilians as well as the police are

interviewed on what took place prior to the hijacking.

It was found that Nascimento was avenging the death

of his Aunt who was killed few years ago. On top of

that, he had escaped death from police who were

targeting a group of young men who planned and

carried out a massacre in a church in the year 1993. All

this information was gathered from a person who was

identified as Nascimento’s relative (Young 2003, p.

30).

Nascimento took the passengers hostage as the police

continued to surround the scene of crime. He assured

everyone that he had no intention of killing anyone. He

reported that he had no intention of harming members

of the press, police, passengers as well as the civilians

who were standing by. The driver escaped through the

window while the police surrounded the bus.

Nascimento was demanding that another driver be

deployed to the scene immediately. He even asked for

more weapons from the police, threatening that failure

to comply with his wishes will leave him no option but

to take action. At around six o’clock local time, he

vowed to kill one of the passengers since none of his

demands had been met (Villarejo 2006, p. 117).

One hour later, Nascimento decided to attract the

attention of the police and the onlookers by faking

death. All along he used the passengers as human

shields, a fact that prevented the police from acting.

Using a 38 calibre revolver, he fired and ordered some

of the passengers to act as though they have been shot

dead. He called the attention of the police to this

supposed execution but nothing happened. He tried to

pull several pranks on the police and members of the

public and the media to show his seriousness but none

of his wishes were granted.

Given that no driver was sent to the scene, he decided

to use one of the hostages by the name of Geisa Firmo

(a school teacher) as human shield to walk out of the

bus. As he exited the bus, his attention was focused on

one side of the crowd. He was exposed from behind

but he did not know this. An armed police officer crept

on him from behind. As the police was approaching the

two, Nascimento turned and jerked his hostage from

the grip of the police. Unfortunately he lost his balance

and fell down but he still held onto the man he was

using as a shield (Villarejo 2006, p. 119).

On falling down, the armed police officer shot at him

several times. Other police officers joined in and

converged on the place where Nascimento and the

teacher were lying. The shots did not meet the target

given that he was still using the human shield and the

police were wary. But at long last the police were able

to immobilise him. The onlookers rushed to the scene

to take a look at the person who had gripped their

attention all this time. They shouted in unison “kill

him! Kill him!” (Villarejo 2006, p.120).

Nascimento was escorted to a police car under heavy

guard and after sometime, it was announced that he has

died. The announcement read that he died of

asphyxiation meaning that he was suffocated and

deprived of oxygen. Different reports indicated that he

was shot dead and in fact several police officers who

were in charge of the situation were charged with

murder.

One victim used by Nascimento was shot dead by the

advancing police officers behind the culprit. There

were conflicting reports as some of the media houses

reported that the lady who was a school teacher was

shot four times on the face. But the police on the other

hand deny this claiming that she was shot just once.

The media concluded that Nascimento may have been

shot by the approaching police officer when they were

struggling with the man on the ground. The charges

that were preferred against the police were ruled out on

the basis of the fact that the shooting was not intended.

Bus 174: Major Themes

Postmodern Documentary

The term documentary can be used to describe the way

truth is organised and presented to the audience.

Theoretically, documentaries are moving away from

the perception of reality to what photography implies.

At the heart of the problem, truth must prevail. The

film Bus 174 can be described as a postmodern

documentary given that it is a recreation of real life

event that actually took place. The movie uses imagery

to represent people moving away from certain truths to

an indexical relationship with the subject (Bazin 1999,

p. 44).

In this segment, the author is going to dwell much on

the truth behind the postmodern documentary which is

film Bus 174. It is obvious that the film contains some

aspects that are associated with documentaries in

contemporary society. This includes the use of

sophisticated cameras and other photography

equipments as well as depiction of some of the traits of

a postmodern society. This is for example the trait of

the clash between different classes in the society; the

clash between the government and the governed. The

creator of the movie uses images to depict how the

young man (represents the common man) clashes with

the police (representing those in authority) (Bazin

1999, p. 47).

There are other events that clearly come out in this

film. These include the illustration of Latin America as

having a different cultural background from other

societies in the world. Secondly the documentary

incorporates some aspects of modernity which include

film as well as cinematic arts. Finally the aesthetics

used by the director to drive the point home are

fascinating and has attracted the attention of

stakeholders in the film industry as a whole (Blakeney

2009, p. 4).

This film is the first in Brazilian history as far as

documentation in film is concerned. The film has been

made popular by the fact that the director used a

sophisticated strategy to create this art. The director

made use of both aesthetic and narrative components

that characterise fiction to come up with this film. The

art is rich with tension from the spectators at the scene

of the crime as well as the audience watching the film.

Some contradictions are however evident in the film.

For example the focus of the film keeps shifting from

the spectators around the scene and those watching the

events on the live telecast (Bazin 2009, p. 59).

Documentary has many features that can be found in

fiction. This makes it one of the most popular forms of

art in cinemas. The characteristics of the film are in

line with the expectations in film making. Cultural

aspects in Brazil also play a huge role in determining

the kind of film that is suitable for such a generation.

In this case, it is noted criminality is a common feature

of this society. One of the ways to express the gap

between criminal and the justice system is through the

use of reality productions or documentaries like in this

case (Young 2003, p.38).

The Theme of Time

The use of time in the film helps in presenting the state

of the country in an attempt to denounce crime and

injustice taking place. Use of live telecast is a

presentation of the reality in the present form.

Elsewhere in this paper, the author has mentioned the

use of temporality in images to identify the relationship

between the film and time. The reader will agree that

there are different time spans that have been used in

the film, for example the chronological and the

psychological time spans. All this will be looked into

as the author addresses the use of temporality of

images in the film (Young 2003, p.41).

Realism

Another important theme that clearly comes out in the

film Bus 174 is realism. Different films have used

different methods to represent the reality in the world.

Documentation has been widely used to represent real-

life scenarios in a real world situation in the film Bus

174. Unlike the other methods which are

predominantly used by other film producers, this film

is able to capture the concept of reality. The film is

said to always possess the present but according to

Bazin,

No matter how long a film is, every frame at the instant

of its projection portrays the present – a flashback may

be supposed to be occurring in the “then” of the story

but it is on the “now” of the screen, just as it was in the

“now” of the present mind – and any written word rests

on the page, or is read, in its present tense (Bazin 2009,

p. 52).

The film uses time to represent events that took place

long time ago. For instance, the director tells us about

the past of the hijacker and which made him carry out

the awful act. Theorists would say that film represents

only the presentness. This does not imply that the film

does not have the capacity to use time scale. Use of

time scale enables the journalists from the Brazilian

television crew to follow the events and analyse why

they took place. Bazin who is an experienced theorist

on matters that concern film confirms this, arguing,

We shall begin, necessarily, with the photographic

image, the primitive element of the ultimate synthesis,

and go on from there to outline, if not a theory of film

language based on the hypothesis of its inherent

realism, at least an analysis which in no way

contradicts it (Bazin, 1958 p.59).

This statement is inconsistent with the fact that for the

medium to be effectively presented, the images needs

to be manipulated to fit in the mind of the viewer and

to make sense while extracting truth. This inherent

reality influences the work of the director in the film

Bus 174 where he has the ability to manipulate the

images to reflect what is happening beyond the filmic

world for the viewers.

The author of this paper introduced the reader to the

film which is the main focus of this study. A brief

introduction to the film Bus 174 was provided

including a synopsis which was put into perspective to

make sure that when the author embarks on the

analysis of the film in relation to medium specificity,

life, death and temporality of images in film, the reader

will understand fully where the author is coming from.

The author has also shed light on some of the themes in

the film.

In the next chapter, the author is going to engage the

reader in a discourse touching on the concepts of

medium specificity, life, death and temporality of

images in film with special focus on the film Bus 174.

The relationship between film and other artistic media

such as photography, video and television among

others will also be analysed.

Medium Specificity, Life, Death and Temporality of

Images in Film

Introduction

Having discussed the film Bus 174 in the previous

section, the researcher will now turn to the issue of

medium specificity, life, death and temporality of

images in media and especially in film. Special focus

will be given to Bus 174 given that it is the case for

this study.

Film as an art is a process through which static or

motionless objects are put into motion (Uroskie 2003,

p. 2). The images are then recorded in a photographic

film with the help of a camera. The pictures may also

be put into motion through the use of animation

techniques which is also a way of making films.

Medium Specificity: An Overview

Medium specificity is the nature of any photographic

techniques that are use to put images into motion.

Medium specificity exists in two different components

which are internal and comparative components.

Comparative medium specificity compares what a

given medium is capable of doing compared to other

media. This is for example what a canvas used in

drawing is capable of doing as compared to a screen

used in film. The film Bus 174 is an analysis of a live

news telecast which is streamed through more than one

channel in Brazilian televisions. This is different from

a canvas that is used by an artist in capturing an image.

Internal medium on the other hand allows the medium

to perform different actions in areas of its specificity.

Doing better in this context is the live documentation

of images in the film. Compared to other

predominantly used film categories, documentation has

been used perfectly to address the desire of pointing

out the social menace in the country.

The art of film making is to be found in different

cultures in the world. This diversity gives rise to

specific artistic characteristics that vary from one

culture to the other. This means that the film industry

as an artistic media is appreciated by people from

different cultural backgrounds. Film has been used to

portray the kind of culture adopted by a particular

society. For example in the film Bus 174 there are

various cultural traits that are expressed by the film.

On the other hand, the film affects culture by altering

the behavioural patterns of people in the society

(Uroskie 2003, p. 3).

To this end, film as an artistic media is used in

different ways. It is both a source of entertainment and

an educational tool too. In most cases, it has been used

to instil cultural values in members of the society in a

given country.

The author of this paper notes that film is a collection

of images referred to as frames. It is noted that most of

the times, these images stick to the mind of the

individual viewer even after it has been removed.

Medium Specificity in Film

In chapter one, the author defined medium specificity

as a process whereby art is constituted to reflect all the

characteristics of the raw material. This concept is

linked to modernism even though it appeared in the art

scene much earlier with the contribution of veteran

artists such as Clement Greenberg. He encouraged the

use of the term by film and art critics to analyse both

aesthetics and art itself (Cubitt et al. 2012, p. 4).

Manipulation of characters in a given work of art with

the view of reflecting the medium is the basis of

medium specificity. Bus 174 is an example of film that

has several attributes which indicate or represent

medium specificity, life, death and temporality of

images in film.

An objective view of reality is presented in the film by

using a direct mode of cinema to reflect the actual and

live activities in the film. The footage allows Sandro’s

actions to be viewed live but his actions cannot be

explained. The director uses the direct interview

medium by digging into the past to explain the current

actions of the hijacker. The media presence in the

location influences Sandro’s actions, motivating him

and giving him confidence in what he is doing.

Media presence has been used by the director to report

on the firsthand information without even editing the

actions. This tells how medium specificity has been

manipulated to give the viewer a personal

interpretation of the reality in Brazil. Elements of

medium specificity are used in the film to depict the

unknown events behind the hijacking incidence. The

insight is achieved by interviews as well as testimonies

to show medium specificity.

Documentaries have made it possible to employ

medium specificity in films and other forms of art. It

makes it possible to develop and employ features that

are used in fiction and narrative forms of art. Features

have been used to replace lies and with the emergence

of technology, observers and members of the audience

are not given the opportunity to interpret the contents

of the film (Bernstein 2012, p. 17). Several theorists

have contested the fact that directors working in the

production of a given film need to be guided by their

own vision in the process. This gives the observers a

chance to employ an array of analytical techniques as

they evaluate and criticise the work of the writer and

the director of the film.

Relationship between Media Images, Life, Death

and Temporality in the Context of Bus 174

Death in film is a realistic phenomenon that needs to

be captured with professionalism. Medium specificity

as it has been analysed elsewhere in this paper requires

the image to represent the view as it would have

appeared in a real life situation. For example a reality

show illustrates all the scenes as they occur in a real

life situation. Images are not manipulated to suit the

viewer’s interpretations but to allow the director to

express his vision in the film (Campany 2009, p. 25).

The film Bus 174 was recorded two years after the

hijacking incident took place. The directors found it

important to refine the images to suit the cinematic

view required for the film. This required appropriate

sound effects with background information leading

from one incident to the other. This way, the director

was able to give the images life, depicting the close

relationship between images and life. The quality of

images is complemented by the quality of the

background sound in the film. In other words, the

sounds give life to the images.

Death is also a theme in the film as it is illustrated by

the hijacker. He uses fellow human beings to shield

himself from the police. As the police from the park

approach Nascimento from behind, he fires at them but

misses his target. Instead, the lady Nascimento was

using as a shield was shot in the face. Death in the film

takes a temporal part as the incidence shows that the

hijacker is determined to kill. But his actions

demonstrate something different from what the

audience is expecting from him. Instead of killing the

lady, Nascimento uses his hands to embrace the lady

on her neck. All these scenarios depict life and death

and they are used to illustrate the behaviour of the

images used in the film (Campany 2009, p. 19). In such

scenes, it is noted that the director is using images to

express life and death. From an abstract perspective, it

is noted that the director is able to create a link

between life, death and images. This is given the fact

that images are used to illustrate life and death.

Temporality is another aspect of this film. It has been

used in the documentary to illustrate the truth by

building on the evidence gathered from the scene as

opposed to contradictions from various individuals in

the area whom are interviewed by the media. Even

though they give all that information, the viewers are

taken back to the hijack scene which where the director

shows them the kind of person the hijacker is.

Relationship between Film and other Forms of Media

such as Video, Photography and Television

Film is related to other forms of media in many ways.

The author of this paper is going to focus on just a few

aspects which will help in analysing how the film Bus

174 is related to the other forms of media. Camera

Lucida which is associated with Bathes illustrates the

tautological aspect of photograph as a form of art. To

put it in another way, photographs display “…….along

with them their own reference” (Bernstein 2012, p 12).

The observer does not need explicit details to reference

the image on the photograph.

Television on the other hand is another way through

which motion pictures as well as still objects are

displayed. In many cases, television is a stream of live

objects and events as they occur in the environment.

Television is different from film since the images and

other aspects like background sound and background

information have been refined. To this end, it can be

argued that the life, death and temporality of images in

film vary from that of images in television. This is

given the fact that the directors give the images life

using different strategies. The background sound and

information which are used to give the images life vary

between film and television. As noted earlier, the

background sound and information in television is

more refined than it is in films.

Regardless of these subtle differences, both film and

television present the viewer with information. But

television images lack the multiple interpretations that

are present in film images. To this end, it can be argued

that images in television are more temporal as

compared to images in films such as Bus 174. On this

point, theorists contend that film directors should have

a personal vision of the film.

Video is closely related to film as a form of art. It is

noted that the relationship between video and film is

closer than that between film and other forms of artistic

media such as television. After episodes of the

‘bus174’ incident were streamed live in the televisions,

most of the audience did appreciate the concerns of the

young man who had hijacked the bus. Two years later

the episode was crafted into a cinematic form of art so

as to capture other aspects such as sound, light and

even background activities (Gaut 2010, p. 7).

In this chapter, the researcher analysed some of the

attributes of film as an artistic medium. To this end, the

researcher looked at aspects such as medium

specificity, life, death and temporality of images in

film. Bus 174 was used as the point of reference for

this chapter and of course the whole paper.

In the next chapter, the researcher will analyse film

theory from the perspective of different scholars. The

agreements and disagreements between these authors

will be analysed and where possible, efforts made to

resolve them.

Film Theory and Bus 174

Introduction

The basic concept in a film is the ability to give human

mind another opportunity to record what was viewed

even after the actual viewing has taken place. This is

what is referred to as the indexical relationship

between the images in reference to life and death in the

film. However, documentaries in general lack the

ability to present the incident and imagery concept of

the events. Hence there is need to manipulate the

images to achieve the aspect of medium specificity in

the film Bus 174.

The film starts with raw news telecast live but more

events are incorporated as the film goes on. The

director of the film imposed the use of archived news’

casts to balance between current narration and past

incidents. Film theory comes into play with reference

to Barthes Roland in the use of myth as a language in

the film. In this case, use of narration is blocking or

dehistoricising the documentation process. In the

current media process, archival footage is the living

evidence of all aspects of viewing. Young D. defines

archival footage as…..…recovered actuality footage

incorporated into a secondary text… that was not

recorded for the specific purpose of being included in

the film……. (p.4)

The postmodern documentary has given film directors

a myriad of options since they can fabricate images and

truths to achieve reduced distinction between fiction

and documentary. Analysing Roland’s myth theory

today and its implications in the film Bus 174, the

author finds that there is the significant use of initial

raw material. As far as myths are concerned, there is

need to present them in a collection of signs that are

important to the entire process. For example, the

director of the film Bus 174 talks about the prison

guards but according to theory of myths, it is all about

the corrupt political regime. On the second collection

of signs implicating myth, the director of the film talks

about the former news footage archives by stating that

the prison guards are always corrupt (Bernstein 2012).

Theoretical frameworks have been used in film studies

to analyse several aspects of film as a form of art

(Bazin 1978, p. 4). Ricciotto Canudo is one of the

earliest scholars to have come up with theoretical

frameworks in film studies. His first theory was

applied on the birth of the sixth art. Other theorists

have argued that film is different from reality but they

agree on the fact that film is a valid form of art (Bazin

1978, p. 8). Just like paintings, music, sculptures or

videos, a film is used to represent the reality in the

society and as such, it can be said to be a true form of

artistic media.

From these arguments emerged Bazin’s theory which

differed from other theories as he contended that film

was able to manipulate reality “……..and not different

from reality as the other theorists argued” (Bazin 1999,

p. 54). He argued on the basis of reality hence the

emergence of the realist theory. Though there are other

recent theoretical frameworks which are significantly

different, in this section the researcher is going to

dwell on Bazin’s classical film theory in attempts to

analyse the film Bus 174.

Andre Bazin’s Film Style Theory

Although Bazin died in 1958, his contribution becomes

an important aspect in this film through his expertise in

film concepts. His works has elicited criticism from all

sides and it becomes important in analysing this film.

As a theorist, he is a person to reckon with when it

comes to matters to do with film concepts. Film theory

entails looking for correspondence between images and

realities when the camera is rolling.

This kind of concept is being used in films today.

According to Bazin, it restricts stylistic manipulation in

attempts to fabricate the images. Bazin’s argument in

this theory is based on ethical consideration. For

example, the ethical issues in Brazil play an important

role in the context of Bazin’s theory of film.

The film also makes use of cinematography where it

utilises the concept to bring into focus the views of all

people and exhaust the information. Other models as

far as realism is concerned include documentary,

Italian, neo-realism and finally the perceptual realism.

Realism in general expresses the existence of reality in

human life. The existence of reality varies from one

individual to the other and from one place to the other.

This is to say that what is considered reality in one

society or community may not be regarded as such in

another society. For example in the film Bus 174,

crime and police brutality are depicted as realities in

the Brazilian society. This may not be the case in other

societies in the world (Bazin 1999, p.31).

The philosophy of realism has been narrowed down to

include reality in theatrical arts. Bazin being one of the

philosophers as well as a film critic in early society has

made major contributions to film theory. His

contributions have influenced other people in the field.

Bazin has come up with many arguments and contends

that film is supposed to exhibit multiple interpretations

to capture the mind of the observer. He did not agree

with other theorists such as Pudovkin who claimed that

film making encompasses the use of hypothetical

points of view. This is limited to observers in the film.

On the contrary, Bazin approached the point by stating

that film makers need to focus more on the film’s

starting point. Even though this approach was ideal in

the film making industry, Bazin opposed Pudovkin’s

arguments (Bazin 2009, p. 22).

Bazin argues for sound manipulation to bring to bear

the aspect of temporality of images in film and other

artistic media. This is the basis of realism as there will

is no intention of creating expressions to drive the

point home. In addition, there is also the importance of

applying space and depth to create reality as opposed

to director’s point of view. In the case of the Bus 174,

the directors used various strategies to address the view

of the observers. For example have the media interview

members of the public are a move to show that

interpretation of events is left to the observer and not

the director. In this case, it is the director’s vision

which will be used if the viewer interprets the scenario.

Several social aspects are evident in the film and the

director has used visions display them to the public.

The public is then left to interpret the issues and

problems in the society as the reality is presented in

almost all telecast media in the Brazil. Bazin’s views

can be used to interpret the events taking place in the

film. He further argues that the film makers should

rather use reality as opposed to image. He draws a

sharp distinction between those directors who use

image and the others who use reality in their film

(Bazin 2009, p. 23). Reality is very much evident in the

film used as case study in this research. The film has

captured the real life scenarios as they took place on

the ground. Of further significance is the fact that the

images were moulded live on the national televisions.

The viewers were able to give their opinions regarding

what was happening in the scene, both in the real life

situation and in the film scenario. To this end, it can be

argued that the film directors were able to give the

images life by eliciting the interest of the members of

the public.

Bazin continues to argue that reality gives a film the

credit that it deserves. On the other hand he accepts the

fact that films are moulded on montage foundation

even though the still images are not sufficient to create

film scenes without the help of juxtaposition (Bazin

2009, p. 24). Editing of the film images denies them

the ability to depict reality and hence the realism

theory.

Bazin’s theory contains elements that support reality.

One of it is the use of sound and sound effects. In the

film Bus 174 sound is altered to capture the explosion

of bullets and how they were fired. Sound is also

evident where the crowd yells at the police to kill

Nascimento.

The dramatic acts in the film are not exaggerated at all

unlike the justice system in Brazil which is

exaggerated to capture the attention of the viewers.

This is what Phadilha (the director of the film) is trying

to show. The viewers are expected to pick on the

contradicting reports that the police are giving

concerning the case of the hijacker. The environment

of the film is natural as there are no artificial items or

aspects introduced in the setting. The medium takes the

viewer through a series of scenes including the life in

Brazilian slums and some of the reasons that drove

Nascimento to commit the crime.

The onlookers on the scene cannot see this but those

following the events on national televisions can

interpret what is happening from one act to the other.

Bazin’s theory in such a case argues to the contrary

indicating that in an artificial film the images have

been manipulated to influence the viewers’

interpretations. The film in this case is appropriate as it

allows the viewers to make open ended interpretations.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Bazin’s Theory in the

Context of Bus 174

Bazin’s theory has some strengths and weaknesses

which are clearly seen throughout his arguments. The

major strength is the ability of the theory to identify

ethical issues in the society, like those depicted in the

film Bus 174. Here, the emphasis is on the film maker

and the viewer who is able to support refute the events

going on in the society, giving them a chance to correct

them. This is the main strength of the theory as far as

this film is concerned.

Another important and vital ingredient of the theory

and which is employed in the film is the ability to use

the three dimensional concept. This is from a

perceptual point of view another form of realistic

theory. In addition, acoustic information is relayed in a

very clear manner as opposed to other film concepts in

different film theories. The theory’s focus on

cinematography gives the director the chance to

convey the information relating to every day’s life.

In spite of this, the theory contains some weaknesses

that may negatively affect the arguments made and its

contributions to this film. First, the concept typifies

only a small number of films which makes it difficult

for different directors to use the same concepts in

address issues across the continuum.

Transformative elements deny the film the ability to

depict some important events and this represents

another weakness of Bazin’s theory of realist. For

example, the onlookers can only see what is happening

but they are not filled in on what led to the action.

They angrily support the police encouraging them to

kill the hijacker. But with the media around the scene,

the hijacker is confident enough as he is aware that the

world is watching. Those who are watching through

the media are provided with information unlike the

onlookers (Bernstein 2012, p. 22).

In his film theory, Bazin contradicts his interpretations

of film as an artistic media. To begin with he brings the

montage aspect into scrutiny and denounces the aspect

of editing. He argues that editing of the images deny

the viewer the chance to interpret the correct and real

scenarios in the field. The life of the film images is

affected by the editing or so Bazin argues. This being

the case, he agrees that the use of montage has given

the directors an opportunity to help the viewers make

adequate and accurate conclusions about the themes of

the film.

The whole of Bazin’s classical theory as far as film is

concerned places more emphasis the reality of imagery

art. This is where the strength of the theory lies. He

contended that the director needs to address his vision

in the film and on the other hand the observers or

members of the audience need to employ multiple

interpretation techniques to make sense of what is

happening to the real objects. In the case of the film

used in this study reality is expressed where the

director of the film tries to theorise on the life of the

rich people as well as the poor people in a Brazilian

society. The conflict between crime and justice the

justice system is a normal occurrence for the low

earning citizens of the Brazilian society. The rich do

not use bus to commute between work and home. This

being the case, it can be argued that Nascimento

hijacked poor people to whom he is related. The justice

system in the country is seen to be strict and hard on

the poor people too. The lady is shot when the police

officers on the scene are trying to kill Nascimento.

Bazin’s theory at this juncture gives the viewers the

opportunity to ponder on what befalls a particular

group of people in the society.

Having looked at Bazin’s classical film theory, the

author will now shift their attention to other

contemporary film theorists and relate their arguments

to the film bus 174.

Contemporary Film Theorists

Roland Barthes

Roland Barthes is another important figure as far as

literary theory is concerned. His theories have been

applied in different fields in spite of the fact that he

was a writer. One of his major influences in artistic

media comes from his theory explaining the various

attributes of photography. This theory plays an

important role in this case study. He showed that

photography could be used to reveal naturalistic truths

in a particular society.

To this end, he engaged himself in writing about

photography and the issues surrounding this form of

artistic medium. Some of his works include the camera

Lucida which postulates the use of image and

interpretation of the same. Two words emerge in

Barthes’ interpretation of a photograph as a medium.

These are stadium and punctum where the latter

implies the symbol used to represent truth while the

former implies interpretation of the photograph on the

part of the viewer.

The contributions made by this theorist were instigated

by his mother’s death after which he resolved to use

photography to investigate and learn more about

nature. To this end he used photography to show how

the image can affect the spectator. The interaction

between the viewer and the image gives the latter an

aura of life, death and temporality.

As the researcher has already stated in this paper, the

stadium was a representation of the cultural aspect of

the photograph. This idea can be used to analyse the

film used as the case for this study. The use of

photography in the film Bus 174 has elicited mixed

reactions and tension from the observers. As the media

delves into the live interviews, photographic images

were used to illustrate the different forms of life within

and without the Brazilian society.

The other term punctum depicts the close relationship

between the hijacker and the environment within which

the crime was committed. Therefore, Roland attempts

to bring out the relationship between the object in the

photograph and the surrounding environment. This is

how he gives his images life.

The camera Lucida compilation was like a eulogy for

his mother. Reality was used here as the theorist used

photographic images to reflect death. It is also

important to note that Roland died shortly after

publishing his work. Here, a link between photographic

image and death is evident as it appears that the scholar

wrote his own eulogy using the images in the

photographs.

Bus 174 brings to life all the scenes that were captured

as live images on camera. Viewers are given the

chance to see the events live as they occurred on the

ground. Temporality of images in the film appears to

hog the limelight as far as Roland’s Camera Lucida is

concerned. Documentary is at its best when the

temporality of images depicts the realist nature of the

film. It is noted that reality in this case is captured and

appears in the form of medium specificity.

Laura Mulvey and Ann Doane: A Critique of

Cinematic Concepts

The feminist models are part of theories that are

suggested in making a film. In making a film, gender is

used to depict incidences that postulate preferences

which can connect various issues in the film. For

example, the film Bus 174 has used women to link

social practices and mentalities. The images of women

used in the film are put there by men. The good thing

with this theory is that it insists on gender preferences

used to drive the interaction of images from one point

to another in the film. Hence, Laura Mulvey and Ann

Doane are important theorists in this film.

These two scholars are feminist theorists contesting the

cinematic apparatus used in the film to make women

appear as the major objects of attraction. Mulvey

argues that women are specifically identified as objects

to be desired. No wonder the hijacker used a female

school teacher to distract the attention of the police and

to avoid being shot. On their part, the police fired and

unfortunately the woman was killed. The documentary

vividly depicts this aspect when the director attempts

to provide a reflection on the position of women in the

society. Reality speaks for itself as the woman falls

down on being shot.

Mulvey’s works on visual pleasure and narrative

cinema argue that men are seen as the ones driving the

film, making it move forward. Mulvey and her

colleagues thought that cinematic concepts are

supposed to portray a symbolic medium in which the

audience are portrayed as bourgeois objects. To further

support their arguments, a psychoanalysis approach

centering on gender as a visual apparatus is adopted.

Ann Doane on the other hand likens this to a visual

gaze as men are identified as the spectators in this case.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Having looked at the case study carefully, it is now

time to draw conclusions as far as medium specificity,

life, death and temporality of images in film is

concerned. In relation to the film Bus 174, the

researcher notes that there are several conclusions that

can be drawn from the whole documentary.

Bus 174 clearly illustrates how facts and images are

represented in both televisual as well as cinematic

artistic media. As far as televisual presentation of

images is concerned, it is noted that facts have been

captured and telecasted live to almost all televisions

networks in Brazil. This gave the viewers a chance to

have a personal encounter or experience with the actual

event that was taking place. The media personnel were

strategically placed together with their instruments to

be able to capture all the events that were taking place

(Gaut 2010, p. 18).

Televisual aspect is illustrated with the use of actual

images as the camera captures them and creates

photographs from the events taking place in the field. It

is not fiction per se as it is obvious that most of the

scenes have not been interfered with. Questions arose

from the film as the episodes continued to be aired.

Journalists continued to interview people and this

seemed to lead them into the truth of the matter. Police

were interviewed as well together with the street

children who provided the observer with an

opportunity to interpret social decomposition in the

society. There was no editing carried out to manipulate

the images for the sake of the audience. This exposed

the truth behind the event through a discourse on

sobriety.

Post modern cinema has been used mainly to reflect

the culture of post modern society. On its part, Bus 174

appears to illustrate modernism in the society as

opposed to post modernism. This society is

characterised by many people with different needs

leading to mass consumption. The consumption

changes with technology and the use of reality

documentaries illustrates the true nature of all the

scenes without creating illusions. This is what

modernism requires and the documentary seems to

achieve it fully.

Violence in contemporary society is also reflected

along with other social problems. If fiction was used to

create this artistic medium, the information provided

may not have exposed what really exists in the society

today. Temporality of images comes to the rescue and

enhances the ability of medium specificity to present

the truth to the audience. For cinematic purposes, the

visual element is represented through the use of

temporality to address aspects such as background

sound, lighting and such others. This is where the

difference between televisual casting and cinematic

presentation comes in. Both are films drawn from a

real life event but adjustments are made to include

sounds and lighting to create surreal scenery that

closely resembles the real environment (Gaut 2010, p.

21).

There is no need to manipulate the Images in both

cases. However, cinematic presentation alters the

blurred images to reflect actual ones as they would

appear in the initial place or the material they were

harvested from. The cultural ambiguities and

controversies that exist are illustrated well in the

cinematic presentation of images. For example the rise

of a hero is substituted with anti heroism to

misrepresent the social problems. It could have been

appropriate if the hijacker was able to present the

views of the downtrodden members of the society like

himself rather than attacking his ilk.

Finally, self reflective components give the film an

aesthetic touch as the images that are deemed to be

against the law are made open to the viewers. Bus 174

was perfect for this because it captured the attention of

the viewers as well as the aesthetics of the situation. In

addition dramatic elements and suspense contributed

significantly to the success of the film.

References

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Bazin, A 1999, The evolution of the language of

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Bazin, A 2009, What is cinema? Caboose, Montreal.

Bernstein, BE 2012, Medium specificity, Free Press,

New York.

Blakeney, K 2009, ‘An analysis of film critic Andre

Bazin’s views on expressionism and realism in film’,

Film and Cinema, vol. 1 no. 12, pp. 1-10.

Campany, D 2009, Photography and cinema, Free

Press, New York.

Cubitt, S Palmer, D & Walkling, L (2012),

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Shankel, N 2011, The relationship between film and

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Question, Spring 2003.

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Cinema Journal, vol. 46 no. 1, pp. 115-120.

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