Living in Oblivion

Living in Oblivion worksheet

  1. a Summarise the storyline of Living In Oblivion.

    2. b Divide it into dreams and real occurences

    c How much of the film is devoted to dreams and how much ‘really’ happened?

  2. a How does the narrative structure differ from a mainstream Hollywood film?

    3. b Does it follow the ‘classic Hollywood narrative’?

  3. a  How does mainstream cinema show dream sequences?

    4. b Is it always obvious that we are seeing a dream? Why?

  4. Compare a dream sequence from a Hollywood film with one from Living In Oblivion.
  5. Why doesn’t Tom DiCillo use a Hollywood method of making the dreams obvious to the audience?
  6. Dream sequences, like flashbacks, are viewed from certain characters’ perspectives.

    7. a How do we know (in hindsight) that the first dream belongs to Nick the director?
    b How does Nicole’s dream differ?
    c How is the final scene different to both of these dreams?
    d How does the use of colour differ in each sequence?
    e What is the significance of the use of colour and black and white in the film?
    f Can you think of other films which use both colour and black and white for particular reasons?

  7. a In what way is DiCillo poking fun at Independent film-making?

    8. b What problems does Nick encounter that wouldn’t exist on the set of a big-budget film
    c How do we know that DiCillo’s film is clearly low-budget compared to mainstream films that you are familiar with?

     

  8. Summarise the ‘alternative’ characteristics of Living In Oblivion.

© Cath Davies 2001