Worksheet: Living in Oblivion

1. a Summarise the storyline of Living In Oblivion.

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?

b Does it follow the ‘classic Hollywood narrative’?
 
3. a  How does mainstream cinema show dream sequences?

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.

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?

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.