Silhouettes on the Shade Trivia Quiz

Answer: 'E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial' (1982)

A young lad, Elliott (Henry Thomas), is initially scared by a strange, extra-terrestrial visitor to Earth but eventually welcomes the alien into his home and, out of affection, names the alien E.T. (voiced by Pat Welsh). As E.T. becomes unwell, there is an attempt to return him back to his homeland. The film has been widely analysed since its release in 1982 and a number of interpretations of the film relate aspects of the plot to Christian themes of hospitality and generosity. Other analyses downplay the religious connotations and instead favour political explanations.

The silhouette scene from 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' is an instantly recognisable one; Elliott cycles through the moon-dominated sky with E.T. occupying the basket in front of him.

Answer: 'Gone With the Wind' (1939)

I have personally never really been able to get into 'Gone With the Wind' but it is undoubtedly a classic and widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. Directed by Victor Fleming, this epic romance - set around the time of the American Civil War - was released in 1939, a bumper year for film. Other movies released in this year include 'The Wizard of Oz' and 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'.

Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) accepts the marriage proposal of Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) though she really longs for Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard). There ensues much domestic disharmony, made all the worse by the tragic loss of an unborn child and the death of their young daughter. Rhett eventually decides to leave the relationship - and Atlanta - knowing that it is Ashley that Scarlett yearns for.

The film's scenery is magnificent and silhouettes of characters set against the burnt orange sky can be spotted frequently throughout the movie's lengthy running time.

Answer: 'Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror' (1922)

'Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror', or just 'Nosferatu' for short, is a 1922 film directed by F. W. Murnau that is famed for being an unauthorised retelling of Bram Stoker's novel, 'Dracula' (1897). Rather than overtly using the name Count Dracula however, the main character in this horror is Count Orlok (Max Schreck), a vampire with a rat-like appearance.

Count Orlok lives in, you guessed it, a castle in Transylvania and he is paid a visit by a gentleman called Thomas Hutter for the purposes of discussing a property purchase. Count Orlok begins to feed off the blood of Hutter before heading to the German town of Wisburg (rather than Whitby in England as is the case in the original novel) whereupon death and disruption ensues.

Despite the copyright issues and attempts to destroy all copies of the film, 'Nosferatu' has survived for over a century and has become an iconic and foundational film in the horror canon. One of the most famous scenes is where Count Orlok is ascending a staircase in his castle to feast on Hutter, but the viewer can only see Orlok's shadow, his hand outstretched as he creeps toward his next meal.

Answer: 'Psycho' (1960)

Alfred Hitchcock's shower scene in the 1960 classic, 'Psycho', is much admired, studied and parodied. Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), in possession of a large sum of money that she had stolen, is forced to take a pitstop at the Bates Motel due to bad weather (not a horror trope at all!). During a meal with the motel owner, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), Marion makes some ill-advised comments about Norman's mother before retiring to her room.

Marion decides that she would return the stolen money but before leaving the motel, she opts - infamously - to take a shower. This is *the* scene. On the shower curtain, a silhouette of an ambiguous character is seen wielding a knife. Let's just say that Marion never gets the chance to return the money but the big question posed by the film is, who did it? Norman or his mother?

Answer: 'The Dark Knight' (2008)

'The Dark Knight' (2008) - a Christopher Nolan interpretation of the Batman universe - is the second film in the 'Dark Knight' trilogy, the other two instalments being 'Batman Begins' (2005) and 'The Dark Knight Rises' (2012). Batman, or Bruce Wayne, is played by Christian Bale in this film from the superhero genre that leans on neo-noir aesthetics (the moody Gotham City lends itself to this very well). At one point, Batman is seen in silhouette, standing on top of a tall building looking out over Gotham City at night.

Batman joins forces with members of the police and legal professions in order to bring order to an out-of-control Gotham City. Of Batman's numerous nemeses, it is the Joker (Heath Ledger) that is causing havoc on this occasion, successfully plotting and scheming until the tables are turned and Batman finds himself the subject of a manhunt. This is classic mid-trilogy framing, with the third and final film of a trilogy typically featuring some form of redemption arc.

Answer: 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1' (2003)

Uma Thurman, Japan, swords and an iconic yellow and black costume are things that spring to mind when one thinks of Quentin Tarantino's 2003 martial arts offering 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1'. Thurman plays the Bride, a character on a mission to obtain brutal revenge for the wrongs inflicted upon her by a group of assassins called the Deadly Vipers (a group to which the Bride previously belonged).

Naturally, this mission involved the killing of a lot of enemies and there is a particular sequence known as the 'Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves' in which the Bride takes on countless assassins. At the start of the showdown, the film is in colour but as the struggle progresses, the colour disappears and the film becomes black and white.

As the sequence reaches its climax, the colour literally "flicks" back on momentarily before the lights in the House of Blue Leaves are turned off; only the blue glow from behind a shoji screen can be seen at this point. We watch the Bride - in silhouette - eliminate all but one of the remaining yakuza. The last man standing had no real business being there; he receives corporal punishment from the Bride before being sent home to his mother.

Answer: 'Jarhead' (2005)

'Jarhead' (2005), starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Lance Corporal Anthony Swofford, is a cinematic interpretation of the real-life Swofford's 2003 memoirs (also called 'Jarhead') in which he recalls his time serving in the United States Marine Corps during the Gulf War of 1990-1991.

In the film, Swofford struggles with the military training regime at first but eventually succeeds - with the support and mentorship of Staff Sergeant Sykes (Jamie Foxx) - to become one of a select few to graduate from the program. Swofford is deployed to serve in Operation Desert Shield as a sniper and the film - Sam Mendes directing - often lingers on the all-or-nothing nature of life on the battlefield; one moment Swofford's life is at risk and the next he deals with the boredom and monotony during some of the long periods of nothingness.

In terms of imagery, perhaps the standout scene is where oil fields in Kuwait are furiously ablaze and Swofford stands, rifle in hand, looking out over the hellish landscape. In this scene, Swofford is seen in the form of a silhouette, contrasted by the hues of orange, red and grey that have replaced what would otherwise have been the serene night sky.

Answer: 'M' (1931)

'M' is a 1931 German-language film directed by Fritz Lang who is also remembered for his German expressionist masterclass, 'Metropolis' (1927). The sense that something is not quite right hits you during an early scene in 'M' which shows a group of children on the street singing about death much to the displeasure of a woman trying to get on with her laundry on the balcony above.

This feeling of menace and danger is confirmed soon after when a scene focuses on a wanted poster which shows us that a reward of 10,000 Marks is on offer to anyone who can answer the question "who is the murderer?". A little girl is playing with a ball near this poster and a shadow of a man creeps into the shot, partially covering the poster. The contrast between light (the innocent child) and dark (the murderous Hans Becker played by Peter Lorre) in that scene is both engrossing and horrifying.

The shadowy figure abducts the child and the remainder of the film follows the community as they desperately pull together to hunt down the evil Becker before he could strike again.

Answer: 'Sin City' (2005)

'Sin City', directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller (the latter also being the creator of the 'Sin City' comic books), is a visually appealing neo-noir offering of the early 21st century. Whilst the film's aesthetic takes film noir as its inspiration, it is not beholden to it.

Wheres in film noir, visual devices such as light and dark, shadows, silhouettes and chiaroscuro are more literally interpreted, neo-noir movies such as 'Sin City' are permitted to make use of vibrant yet contrasting colours whilst still honouring the black, grey and white colour palette of old. That said, 'Sin City' makes only sparse use of colour, instead adopting a graphical, comic book inspired aesthetic to bring the "neo" to "neo noir".

SPOILER: The film itself is an anthology of stories, amongst which is weaved a storyline involving a detective by the name of John Hartigan (Bruce Willis), a vulnerable girl called Nancy (Makenzie Vega, with the grown up Nancy played by Jessica Alba) and a corrupt, abusive and evil senator called Ethan Roark (Powers Boothe). Detective Hartigan sees it as his duty to protect Nancy from unimaginable harm at the hands of Senator Roark (which becomes a long-lasting arrangement) and in so doing he must make the ultimate sacrifice; Hartigan concludes that he himself must die in order for Nancy to live.

This gives rise to a standout scene from 'Sin City' as the aesthetic fades to the graphical with the black sky providing the contrast to the white silhouette of Hartigan as he raises a gun to his own head.

Answer: 'The Exorcist' (1973)

'The Exorcist' (1973) is a staple of the horror genre directed by William Friedkin (also known for the 1971 movie, 'The French Connection'). The story is very well known and has been frequently referenced by other films across many genres. A girl called Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) is possessed by a demon after inadvisedly playing with a spirit board; in desperation, an exorcist by the name of Father Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow) is summoned in order to deal with this ungodly problem.

The aesthetic of the scene in which Father Merrin stands outside the austere house of the MacNeils draws heavily from film noir, with Friedkin making keen use of chiaroscuro; a streetlamp - along with the light shining from some windows - proves to be just about sufficient to provide a hazy sense of place and context. The dim light also gives rise to the famous silhouette of Father Merrin carrying his suitcase.

This is not the only use of the silhouette in 'The Exorcist'; there are a few other creepy examples including a silhouette of Regan on the shade as she (and the demon within) wanders around her room.