Lecture 5.

To quote from the Dogme 95 website, "DOGME 95 has the expressed goal of countering “certain tendencies” in the cinema today". Dogme 95 is basically an idea devised by Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg in 1995. The film business, they concluded, had become overly dependent on special effects, fancy camerawork, and other techniques of production. Rather than being built on the bedrock foundations of drama - actors playing real human beings in a story - movies were becoming more and more dependent on special lighting, impressive sets, optical effects and all the other modern effects of showbiz. The vital essence of film, dramatic narrative, was in danger of being submerged in the glamour of hollywood. And as if this weren't enough, they also concluded that the cult of personality surrounding the film director was detrimental to making good films. Movies are not the work of a single visionary, they argued, and too many directors spend time making "artistic statements" to gratify their own egos when they should be concentrating on characters and story. From this, they created a movement to try and move way from "hollywood-type" productions. Until now, 19 Dogme films have been made and many more are to come.

Here are the 10 Vows of Chastity:

1. Shooting must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found).

2.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).

3.The camera must be hand-held. 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).

4.The film must be in color. 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).

5.Optical work and filters are forbidden

6.The film must not contain superficial action. (Murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.)

7.Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. (That is to say that the film takes place here and now.)

8.Genre movies are not acceptable.

9.The film format must be Academy 35 mm.

10.The director must not be credited.



Dogville, a film by Lars Von Trier is a movie that used very minimal settings to tell a story. The set is basically one big room and to tell the places apart, words were used to describe where everthing is. For example, the outlines of gooseberry bushes have the text "Gooseberry Bushes" written next to them. While this form of staging is common in black box theaters, it has rarely been attempted on film. The bare staging serves to focus the audience's attention on the acting and storytelling, and also reminds them of the film's artificiality.



Dogville is not a Dogme 95 film but it was directed by the same person who started the Dogme 95 movement. Everything was very minimal. The movie was told simply without any special effects. It was heavily focused on acting and story-telling. The movie bored me for a couple of minutes but it turned interesting when I began to realise that it was actually very good! Maybe because I didn't have enough sleep the night before.




I for one agree and support Dogme95 films because I truly feel that movies nowadays are too generic and rely too much on expensive effects to tell a story rather than talent.