Andy Warhol's Heat 1972

Released in 1972 and directed by Paul Morrissey, Heat was set as a parody film based on Sunset Boulevard and quickly became one of the most scandalous films released in the 1970's. Andy Warhol originally aroused the idea of creating the film but lacked film technique; due to this Warhol chose Morrissey to support him in creating his next piece of art by becoming the director for Heat.

Joe Dellasandro was picked by Warhol so that he could mold Dellasandro into a "super star" a term Warhol used for exceptional famous individuals. Joe Dellasandro had no acting experience prior to filming Heat; he was chosen by Warhol mainly due to his look and physique. You can notice throughout the film that the camera concentrates on the male form, this is a style that Warhol has given to the film. Heat's filming was done on a budget which resulted in interpretive acting, which from a spectator ship view can be seen as very comedic, as much dialogue makes little sense and it tightly rushed. Due to the low diegetic sound quality of the film it is also to troublesome to understand the conversations of the characters 100% of the time. The film was filmed in one take for each scene due to the budget of the production, this resulted in multiple noticeable mistakes throughout.

From a spectator point of view Heat presents itself as a trashy substandard version of Sunset Boulevard which I believe is what Warhol was trying to achieve, although set on a budget with poor acting Heat does bear many quality shots and camera techniques. Warhol intended that Heat become part of the trash cinema genre which are films particularly filmed on low budgets which poor performance in acting and low quality shots. Trash cinema is also very ludicrous and playful with slapstick themes. The film bears many hyperbolic sex scenes which create unwanted discomfort as a spectator, as the films narrative could be run without half of the sex scenes. Warhol more than likely decided to implement the scenes to add increased sexuality to the film, to make the film as trashy as it could possibly be.

In conclusion, Heat directed by Morrissey was based around the ideology of the successful film Sunset Boulevard, Warhol wanted to design Heat to be the trashiest film of its time, as film was a new thing Warhol was experimenting with he chose not to direct the film himself but played a huge role on the production and filming of Heat. In terms of spectatorship Heat is incredibly hyperbolic and playful with its narrative, although featuring some serious themes it turns them into parody's of themselves making the movie seem realistically humorous.