Winter's Bone Important Notes

Winters Bone 

Narrative
Ree is the protagonist. She is 17 years old and she looks after her two younger siblings, as her father has disappeared and her mother has a mental illness. Ree soon discovers that her father put her family home up for bonds and he is due in court. She is told by the sheriff that if he does not show up for court her family will lose the house. She seeks answers about her father's whereabouts from her small community because she doesn't want to lose the house in which her mother, brother and sister also live in.

Key Themes

• Family Relationships
• Addiction
• Binary Opposition   
• Tight Community

Mise-en-scene

• Csotumes-rural colours, giving the film a sense of realism
• Performance-some of the characters are played by professional actors/actresses and others are played by people who live within this environment. This creates realism because the people who live in the environment know the type of lifestyle that needs to come across or be portrayed.
• Setting-the film is independent and had a budget of $2 million. Unlike mainstream films, such as Inception, it was filmed in the Ozark, Missouri and not on the set of a big production company in Hollywood. This means that there are a variety of rural and cold shots and it seems very realistic and not fake.
• Lighting-most of the lighting in this film is natural.
• Props-they provide an authentic feel to the film. For example the rusty rocking horse

Spectatorship

Winters Bone requires a significant amount of active spectatorship because information and detail about what is happening in each scene isn't spoon fed' to the audience like Inception. For example when Merab and her daughter arrive at Ree's porch active spectatorship is required to understand that they are going to take her to her father's bones.