The Wolf of Wall Street Research Paper 1

The Wolf of Wall Street Research Paper

Kelsey Chaney

Shepherd University

Comm 399B
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Abstract

Films are a form of entertainment designed to affect viewers. The Wolf of Wall Street,

was a large scale production released on December 25th, 2013. The film is a drama and

biography of author, motivational speaker, and former stockbroker, Jordan Belfort. The film

itself it based around Belforts adult life as a stockbroker. Starting in his twenties with his penny

stock franchise, Stratton Oakmont, to his addiction with drugs, and his recovery, the film focuses

on key points in Belforts life.

The Wolf of Wall Street, focuses around the ideal, American Dream, of

becoming wealthy. As a brief summary, the film begins with Jordan Belfort introducing himself

in his prime. He was wealthy, had a beautiful wife, two children, owned a multimillion dollar

home, and went into brief detail of his excessive drug use. In the first three minutes of the film

the character Jordan narrates his life and then rewinds the film to when he was twenty-two and

starting off his career on Wall Street. Moving forward Jordan becomes the founder of Stratton

Oakmont, a penny stock franchise, and finds himself working in risky business. He leaves his

wife, remarries, practices excessive drug use of cocaine, Adderall, morphine, Xanax, and

Quaaludes and finds himself being investigated by the federal government.

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The Wolf of Wall Street Research Paper

Narration has a great deal of psychological depth on an audience. It can manipulate the

plot time, and the viewers subjectivity. Throughout the film Leonardo DiCaprio, Jordan Belfort,

narrates scenes to give the viewer an inside look as to what his character is thinking or

explaining what is occurring in the scene for a better understanding. Narrative films like, The

Wolf of Wall Street, always tell a story. With a story there is always going to be a cause and

effect. For example in the film Belfort was a money thirsty stockbroker on Wall Street.

Therefore, his greed led to him being indicted for security fraud and money laundering. With a

cause and effect story line there is typically strong closer. In, The Wolf of Wall Street, the

strong closure is Belfort being indicted and facing his punishments from the United States

government.

Preparation

As one can imagine, preparation in creating a film can take years at a time. Leonardo

DiCaprio, Jordan Belfort, waited seven years to film, The Wolf of Wall Street. In fact DiCaprio

and director Martin Scorsese were debating whether or not to film the 2010 film, Shutter

Island, before, The Wolf of Wall Street. With a strong cast of DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, and

Matthew McConaughey the actors prepared themselves properly to fulfil the roles of drug

addicted, greedy, upper class citizens. For example, DiCaprio spent time getting to know the real

Jordan Belfort. He listened to his motivational speeches, read his book, The Wolf of Wall

Street, and even watched him reenact the way his body reacted to Quaaludes. The real Belfort

even allowed DiCaprio to record him rolling around on the floor. Belfort was so brutally honest

with DiCaprio and in his book, that made it convenient for him to learn how to be that form of
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Belfort. DiCaprio would typically call Belfort in between scenes to ask questions and for advice

on how certain scenes should play out.

The actors also had to prepare for vulgar scenes. In a movie based around drugs, money,

and sex there are obviously a good amount of sex scenes that are only appropriate for a mature

audience. Sexual scenes were actually one of the most difficult scenes for these actors to film.

Luckily, for the actors, Scorsese stayed behind the camera and let the actors control the sex

scenes. DiCaprio claimed that Scorsese, has a more voyeuristic approach, when it comes to

sexual scenes and will become more hands on and involved during scenes involving violence.

The strong cast and crew made the preparation run smoothly for everyone working on the film.

With a strong cast and crew a film also needs a strong soundtrack and music behind it.

The films soundtrack relates perfectly to the time era that the film is meant to be set in, the

1990s. The soundtrack involves music from Billy Joel, John Lee Hooker, and Jimmy Castor.

Music plays an important role in all films because it can help set the mood of the scene. For

example, about an hour into the movie the character Jordan Belfort is hosting a party at his beach

house. The song playing is Jump by Kris Kross, while this song is playing it shows people

snorting cocaine, partying, drinking, and dancing. It sets the mood for a reckless party. Another

example is the Quaaludes scene at Jordans beach house. During the scene Donny, Jonah Hill, is

feeling the reaction to the Quaaludes. The goal is to make the viewers believe that he is in

another state. During this scene the background music is orchestra music that makes the viewer

believe they are in a different world with Donny. In reality he is at a massive party with rap

music and people dancing, but in his head he is thinking of Steve Madden in a peaceful and quiet

world. Music as stated before can have a large impact on how the viewer perceives the scene. If

there were fast paced rap music in the background of the first Quaalude scene it would lead the
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viewer to believe Donny was not in a peaceful and calm world, but the viewer would think he

was in an angry and anxious world.

Iconography

Iconography plays an important role in the production of, The Wolf of Wall Street, as

well. Iconography includes the setting of the film, the desired lighting, and the makeup used.

The Wolf of Wall Street, was filmed in twenty-three different locations. These locations varied

from Italy, New York, New Jersey, California, and the Bahamas. Surprisingly, majority of the

film was shot in New York and California, only a handful of scenes were filmed out of the

United States. Many times directors and producers will want to film scenes in one place and

mask it to lead the viewer to believe it is somewhere else. This was not the case in, The Wolf of

Wall Street.

Lighting is something many viewers do not appreciate for what it is. Many do not realize

the impact of lighting. The scenes that caught my attention the most, in terms of lighting, were

the romantic scenes. For example, when Belfort first goes out to dinner with his soon to be

second wife, Naomi, played by Margot Robbie, the lighting is dimmed. It is not bright, but it has

a yellow tint to it to add that romantic glow on the actors faces. In times of anger or aggression

the lighting was always brighter. An example of this would be when Belfort was confronting his

butler for missing money. The lighting in this scene was so bright that there was almost a glare

coming off of DiCaprios and Hills foreheads. It intensified the scene itself.

The makeup in, The Wolf of Wall Street, played a key component in the time setting of

the film. Majority of the time it is difficult to distinguish how much makeup male actors are

wearing. DiCaprio may not have appeared to have much makeup on but as you watch the entire
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film you notice him aging and the physical effects the drugs are having on his character. In the

beginning of the film Belfort looks young and refreshed! He appears to be excited to start his

career on Wall Street. As the film continues the viewer begins to notice more stress lines in his

forward, sweating during his experience with drugs, and overall aging. It is much easier to

determine how much makeup female actors wear. Actress Cristin Milioti plays Belforts first

wife, Teresa. During her scenes in the film her makeup represented the 1990s. With bright pink

blush, a miniscule amount of eye shadow, and pink lip stick Teresa represented a middle class

woman from the 1990s perfectly.

Hair also plays an important role in setting the scene in, The Wolf of Wall Street. With

the male actors the beauticians seemed to focus on the slicked back hair. Many of the male actors

had their hair slicked back or combed over, which were the typical hairstyles for men during the

1990s. For example, the character Donny had a perm and always had his hair filled with gel. For

the females, the style was hair with plenty of volume. The character Teresa is the perfect example

for this as well. Her hair yet again represented the middle class woman from the 1990s. She had

a perm and her hair was always filled with volume and teased. The character Naomi also had

large hair with plenty of volume but has a more sophisticated look to it to represent that she is in

the upper class.

Finally, costume design is important in terms of iconography. For majority of the film

DiCaprios character, Belfort, wore suits to portray his wealthy lifestyle. Same goes for his wife

Naomi in this film. The character thats costumes stood out the most were Belforts entourage of

friends. Donny was constantly in bright colored button ups and obnoxiously designed ties.

Teresa, Belforts first wife, was constantly in floral designs, high wasted pants, and jackets with

shoulder pads. Without proper costume attire the film itself would not give off that 1990s vibe.
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Themes

Themes also play a powerful rule in every form of entertainment. The Wolf of Wall

Street, gives off the theme that everyone wants to live that American dream of being wealthy,

partying, and living a life full of excitement and risks. Unfortunately, the easiest way to became

disgustingly wealthy, and party as Jordan Belfort did, is to break the law. That seems to be the

films explicit meaning. Throughout the entire film viewers watch Belfort break the law time after

time, although in the film the illegal activities when it comes to Wall Street are more discreet.

The implicit meaning is interpreted by the viewer and it can vary from person to person. The

Wolf of Wall Street, can have many implicit meanings, such as greed can lead people to do

anything, how addictive drugs can be, how Wall Street is a mischievous work environment, and

money cannot buy happiness. Large scale films with a dramatic storyline behind them can hold

many themes and meanings behind them. The whole purpose of a film is to entertain and make

profit, but it can also be to educate viewers and teach important lessons so they can learn from

others mistakes.

In terms of drugs the film portrays an important message. Throughout the films the

characters practice the use of many drugs. Two of the drugs in the film that are used by the

characters are cocaine and Quaaludes, as stated before. Actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill

are the two in the film that portray feeling the effects of these drugs. They both studied before

filming to learn the effects and how these drugs effect the human body physically and mentally.

During their scenes of being influenced by the Quaaludes both actors become extremely

disoriented as to what reality is. During Hills trip at the beach house party he can hardly walk

and is slurring his words. Minutes later his character is found downstairs at the party
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masturbating in a public environment. During DiCaprios expired Quaaludes scene he seems to

be effected much worse than the beach house scene. DiCaprio loses all capability to walk and

speak. At the moment he is effected by the Quaaludes he is at a country club close to his home.

DiCaprio had to crawl like a worm to get to his car, thats actually exactly how he did it. He

imagined himself as a worm crawling. DiCaprio told the press that after shooting that scene he

did have to see a chiropractor.

Those two scenes can hold a major impact on viewers opinions on drug use and drug

abuse. It sends an important message to the audience that drugs should not be used for

recreational purposes. They can cause serious damage mentally and being under the influence

can lead to harming yourself or someone else physically. It also shows that drug abuse can lead

to relationship problems. Repeatedly through the film relationships are ruined due to drug abuse.

In the beginning of the film Belfort is caught snorting cocaine off of the character Naomi by his

first wife Teresa. This incident of adultery leads to the two getting a divorce, and the audience

never hears about Teresa after that. Moving forward Belfort loses a close friend Brad that he did

under the table work with due to a massive heart attack at the age of thirty-five. Cocaine itself

has a huge impact on someones heart rate. The use of cocaine increases heart and blood pressure

while constricting arteries. This can result in an interruption of blood flow to the heart and can

cause a massive heart attack, although that is not stated in the film. Another relationship

impacted by drug abuse was Belforts relationship with Naomi, a relationship that also started

with drug abuse. After Belforts experience with the expired Quaaludes scene his relationship

with Naomi reaches an all-time low. She soon asks for a divorce and leaves Belfort because of

his drug abuse and lack of a well-rounded, healthy lifestyle.

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Another important message behind the film is that money cannot and will not buy

someone happiness. All throughout the film Belfort spoils his wives with gifts such as jewelry, a

yacht, a beautiful mansion, and cars but neither one of his wives were happy to be with him in

the end. It is obvious in the first half of the film that Teresa was slowly losing her connection

with Belfort and the same was occurring with him when the narration shares with the audience

that he wanted to have romantic relations with Naomi over Teresa. In the second half of the film

the narration shares with the audience that Belfort and Naomi started every morning off with a

fight about Belforts activities the night before. That eventually led to Naomi leaving Belfort

regardless of all the money he had and all of the gift he had purchased for her. Money cannot buy

long-term happiness. It can make life less stressful and sometimes easier, but it will never keep

anyone around forever.

Conclusion

In conclusion, The Wolf of Wall Street, is a powerful drama and biography. It displays

the dramatic storyline of Jordan Belforts life before he became a motivational speaker and

author. The film concentrated on the importance of correct and proper iconography such as the

setting, makeup, hair, and costumes to send the audience back in time into the 1990s. The film

also focused on themes that are relevant to todays society. Drug use was and still is extremely

popular in society and will continue to be until people can truly understand all of the harmful

effects drugs have on someones body, mental health, and life overall. Money is a drug. It can

cause people to do terrible and greedy things. DiCaprio, Hill, and director Scorsese did an

outstanding job of retelling the incredible story of Jordan Belfort.

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References

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Cocaine Use and Its Effects. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2016, from

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DiCaprio talks Wolf of Wall Street. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2016, from

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How the Wolf of Wall Street' Really Did It. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://comlabgames.com/45-

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Weisenthal, J. (2013). 'The Wolf Of Wall Street' Was An Amazing Movie With An Important

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