Enrolment Task: Explain How Dennis Hopper's 'Easy Rider' Has Been Constructed To Create Meaning.

Explain how Dennis Hopper's Easy Rider has been constructed to create meaning.

In the clip from Dennis Hopper's 'Easy Rider', (1969), it is evident that elements of American New Wave production have been used to convey a  deeper meaning and to encourage critical analysis to the audience. Concepts which are explored by Hopper both in his narrative and by the compositions relate to the sixties as an era of rebellion, violence and change; Hopper's use of semiotics symbols as well as lighting, editing and camera techniques seek to inform the viewer of his opinion.

One way that meaning is conveyed through 'Easy Rider' is through the significant attention to Christian symbols and literature within this scene to highlight the essence of change to societal morals and values founded by Christianity in the 1960's, kick started by the anti-war movement that grasped the youth of America. The first time this symbolism is used is within the first upshot, where the camera focuses on the compositions, Wyatt, Karen, Mary and Billy, drinking wine and engaging in dialogue about drugs; The location used is a church and cemetery, a place of Christian worship, which is displaying an evident, and at that point controversial, disregard for traditional Christian ideology and morals such as the statement in The Bible, "do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery, instead be filled with the Spirit", Ephesians's 5:18. This is further highlighted by the use of the Apostles creed over footage which emulates the experience of an LSD trip; The Apostle's Creed, or 'the catechism of the Catholic Church', is a prayer of devotion to following Christ-like example and living in the image of God, meaning that Hopper's use of this in correlation to drugs and the anti-war movement is controversial in context with it's intended audience. The use of contrasting non-diegetic sound here is an indicator of Hopper's abandonment of cohering to societal values, and also displays the use of the auteur theory, originating from Nouvelle Vague and meaning that the director "has such a strong signature sensibility that you know his or her film without seeing their name on it. They authored the film." In addition to this, the use of cut-away editing in this scene, switching between the characters and footage of the Apostle's Creed being spoken in church, upwards panning shots of the Christian Cross and of the church further affirms the idea of breaking away from traditional beliefs, but also acts as an almost hallucinogenic experience that we might relate to the experience of taking a psychedelic substance.

Imagery is used in a heavily symbolic manner within 'Easy Rider' to project an essence of change and rebellion to the viewer. This again, is indicative of New Wave concepts in cinematography and film; nudity, images of a pornographic nature, the characters costumes, and drug use, making Hopper's choice to use these concepts within his production controversial, revolutionary, and heavily suggestive of his want to break away from the stereotypical romanticized 'Hollywood' production. He did this by challenging the boundaries of what was acceptable as one of the first productions to sway away from 'classic' film and focus on issues that were relatable; in short terms, Hopper did this in order to speak for a community which was either poorly or misrepresented in the media at the time.
The choice of costume within the scene is stereotypical in terms of the psychedelic style of clothing that is associated with Hippies and the Free Love Movement; the rise of a "new counter-culture" (2016) All That's Interesting, originating in San Francisco from University students who objected to the Vietnam war, their motto being "make love, not war". By 1969, the year of the film's release, this movement has taken the United States into it's grips and with it came significant change and this is symbolized by Hopper through scenes of nudity and a sexual nature both between the characters and through showing women stripping on screen, which was revolutionary at the time and gave the film the title of one of the most influential films of that era.

In this scene, the director also uses sound to convey deeper meaning. As previously mentioned, the use of the Apostles' Creed as non-diegetic sound in the clip represents the abandonment of traditional societal values based on Christianity; the addition of white noise to this creates an almost unhinged, mysterious atmosphere and adds to the emulation of an LSD trip to the viewer when combined with the cut-away style editing in a similar manner to psychedelic rock of the same era. This is also reflected in Hopper's choice in score for the film; artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison who were incredibly influential in the hippie movement and performed at the Woodstock in 10969 which "became synonymous with the counterculture movement of the 1960s". The dialogue between Wyatt, Billy, Mary and Karen in this scene is also significant in symbolising the counterculture movement. This effect is created through clever script-writing; the use of downwards divergence, which "occurs when the speaker emphasizes the non-standard uses of their speech", Sally Wide (2013). This is particularly evident through the use of slang such as "man", and "right", used by Billy and Wyatt in the scene, and the use of almost lackadaisical intonation and pronunciation throughout the short amount of dialogue the viewer sees. Furthermore, elements of the dialogue such as "put it on your tongue" could also be seen to link back to religious concepts as well as the literal meaning which is the method of ingesting a drug; this is because the Eucharist, or 'body of christ' is received in the same manner in mass, it is placed on the tongue by the priest, which again shows complete disregard for traditional religious views and practises.

In summary, Hopper's 1969 production, 'Easy Rider' uses a variety of cinematic techniques such as the auteur theory, semiotics, a range of camera and editing techniques,  and diegetic and non-diegetic sound to symbolize an entire decade and to incorporate his own beliefs into the film in such a way that it did not limit his creative ability; in doing so, Hopper gives the audience the opportunity to explore the deeper meaning conveyed in 'Easy Rider', the rise of the counterculture in the 1960s that took America by storm due to the Vietnam war and the ideology of the abandonment of traditional societal values and morals founded by Christianity, and the essence of rebellion and change that grasped the decade, making it an iconic symbol of 1960s America and of the American New Wave.






Bibliography

• Hopper.D, Easy Rider, 1969, Raybert Studios
• Ephesians, 5:18, The Holy Bible, King James Version
• All thats Interesting, An Intriguing Look Into The Hippie Movement, April 4 2005, available from: https://allthatsinteresting.com/a-breif-history-of-hippies
• History.com Editors, Woodstock, March 2018, available from: https://www.history.com/.amp/topics/1960s/woodstock
• Wide.S, Convergence and Divergence in Bilingual Education, April 2013, available from: https://ezinearticles.com/?convergence-and-divergence-in-bilingual-eduation.
• Renee.V, Auteur Theory, What Does it Mean and How Can You Author Your Films?, April 2015, available from: https://nofilmschool.com/auteur-theory-complete-guide