Analyse opening sequence- rocket man

 

Se7en title sequence notes

Scary

Dark

Fast editing causes anxiety/fear

Sound- non diegetic music is irregular with low drones- unsettling 

Close ups of objects shows us abnormal detail- similar to a serial killer

Writings font is scribbled- looks to be done hastily

Lots of close ups on several objects, fast editing, confuses the audience with lots of detail but no broad picture/ idea

Sequence is very disorienting

Books and pictures shows audience information but no answers- action codes/ enigma codes (why is he crossing things out?)

Photographs of surgery in graphic detail makes the audience feel sick

Sexy beast class notes

 

Wonderwoman marketing research

link to wonder Woman marketing research

Conglomerate essay

Max Wright       20.10.20

Media: ‘What impact does it have on the production of a film, if it is produced by a large global conglomerate?’

 

A conglomerate film company has many impacts regarding the production and advertisement of a film. Their huge budgets and equipment, as well as connections (producers, actors etc…) allow them to make ‘top of the line’ films and attract a large following of consumers/ audiences through the merchandise the conglomerate supplies.

 

Conglomerate film companies have huge budgets, meaning they can afford to really invest a lot of people, time and money into SFX and CGI. Huge film companies such as Warner Bros have their own Studio (Warner Bros Studios) meaning that they can graphically design their own movies without putting in the additional cost of hiring new equipment and graphic designers. It also allows them to save large amounts of time as the same people who produce the film can also monitor the designing of the film. For instance, the film ‘Wonder Woman’ has budget of two hundred million US and paid the actress Gal Gaddot three hundred thousand US dollars. They hired a large cast of actors and trainers for the film. For the ‘Beach warfare’ scene, they split the extras and trainers into two groups to prepare them for the final edits and shots. The extras (Amazon women) were ex-athletes, actresses and fitness coaches to fit the buff role of the warriors women. They were trained in martial arts and how to ride horses for the fight scene on the beach front of Themyscira. The two main actors, Chris Pine and Gal Gaddot were in a separate group with the director, being told how to act and what to feel in each of the scenes and practiced their cues for lines and actions throughout the film. The large budget also helped the film to be set and recorded in different locations around the world. The film was shot in three different countries, England, Italy and France. This helps attract a larger, multicultural and multinational audience, which ultimately is wanted as it creates a larger revenue for the producers and cast members. 

Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins and shot by Matthew Jenson, was primarily shot on 35mm film with Panavision Primo spherical prime lenses, which Workman recommends as a go-to for features. The film was shot with Panavision Millennium Cameras with slow-motion scenes done digitally on the Phantom at five hundred FPS to get a crisps and smooth motion picture.  Wonder Woman wasn’t filmed on IMAX, but Warner Bros released an IMAX 3D version of the film by simply stretching the images of the film. Although it can distort the image, the film being 35mm creates no obvious difference in quality and it is cheaper to stretch the image rather than record it on an IMAX camera. Warner Bros being a huge conglomerate made it easy for them to film Wonder Woman as they have their own backlog of cameras, lenses and 35mm recording tape in storage houses. 

 

A film company as big as Warner Bros gives them the opportunity to re-write history and change many opinion of political and societal topics in the world. Their idea behind the film was to create a strong, independent, feminist character. Wonder Woman (the hero) represents all women and the fight for love and peace. She fights the God Aeres, who enslaves mankind to fight for power and greed. Diana fights against this, and dictates throughout the film that she wants men to feel love and passion. This gives her the strong strength, and speed that a masculine character would have along with her female qualities such as her beauty, feeling of love and mercy. The film was directed by Patty Jenkins, which was done by the producers so a large female audience could be gained as having a female lead character and director allowed them to bond to the viewers and give a woman’s insight and opinion of the society at the time (set in 1918 so women weren’t equal to men, as shown in the film as Diana is thrown out of the meeting consisting of male army officers and generals). 

 

About me

About me

 

My names Max Wright and I am 17 years old. My favourite hobbies are javelin, running, musical theatre, singing and guitar. I’ve been playing guitar for around 2 years and I play acoustic and electric guitar.  Before Hurtwood House I went to Warden Park sports Academy where I played rugby, football, cricket and athletics. However, I now don’t do as many sports and have focused on acting and singing. During lockdown I obtained a distinction for grade 8 acting lamda. Since joining Hurtwood House, I have taken up dance during activities and kickboxing during enigma. 

 

I listen to several music genres but my favourites include 60 swing and jazz and 80s disco and rock. My favourite music artists are Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Barry Manilow, Earth Wind and Fire, Billy Joel,The Beatles and Louis Prima. 

My favourite foods are lasagna and a Spanish fish called Boquerones. My favourite drink is Dr Pepper. 

Every summer holidays I go to Spain for around 4 weeks, but for the recent years we have gone on road trips through France and arrived in Spain. We visit urban and rural areas on the trip to Spain. My two favourite cities we visited were Bourges in France and Barcelona in Spain. When we arrive in Spain we spend time at the beach and go to restaurants with our Spanish neighbours. 

Delicatessen Analysis

 

Prime Evil essay

 Prime Evil

 

In the trap setting scene right at the beginning of the clip, the man laying down the bait is represented as being feeble and not a typical masculine character. This can be seen through the use his costume and body language that is captured in the high angle shot. This has the impact of making him seem vulnerable as he isn’t helping in the main action and depicts him to be a side kick. Further more,  him being low to the ground trying to be careful makes him scene weak as it looks as if he is cowering away from the main action. In addition to this, his pink top and scarf helps demasculinize him as they aren’t typical manly colours like blue or red but more womanly, creating a sense of him being feeble and physically lacking in size (due to the angle).

In the digging scene, the camera cuts away and puts the man in the blue shirt in frame and we get a stringer sense of masculinity and strength from him. This is because the camera angle is eye level and is a medium shot which shows him to look larger than the other man as he is not put to scale with other things such as trees or bushes. This has an impact of making him look in charge of the situation and that he has a greater amount of power as he is monitoring the situation rather than physically doing something. This is fairly archetypal as men who are in charge of something tend to monitor other people instead of doing it themselves. A few moments after, the camera focuses on a hand in the mud and pans back to the ‘leading man’ and he gestures to the women in the digger to stop digging which further supports his authority over others, securing his role as the leader.

Shortly after this the camera pans and a shaky hand held shot is directed into the forest. From this we can understand that something dramatic is going to happen. Following this there are two quick camera cuts; one focusing on the women in the digger frantically trying to turn the engine back on; and the second of the man trying to hide into the ditch to escape the sabre tooth tiger.

In the sabre tooth attack scene, the leading male is shown to become more cowardly and desperately trying to save his own life. This can be scene through the use of the shot/ reverse shot showing the man at a high angle to make him seem insignificant compared to the tiger, which is shown at a low angle shot to make it seem huge and monstrous. However, the women in the digger is shown as heroic and strong/ masculine as she saves the man from the tiger and tries to fight it. Her heroism is emphasised as the camera Tracks and shakes a lot which highlights her bravery in the dangerous moment. This is also clear from her hair, costume and facial expression that is caught in the medium distance shot to show her reaction and body language. Her hair is short and she is wearing black leather which isn’t typically worn among women. This represents her as aggressive or butch. This is archetypal as women with short hair are typically aggressive and controlling. As we lead up to the chasing scene, the man stumbles out of the ditch and tries to lure the tiger away, possibly because he is trying to re assert his masculinity. The camera pans and tracks with him and the tiger as they run out of frame into the wilderness. As the lead male shouts “cmon” we can see the shot includes the rule of three, putting him to the left of the frame so the audience can view the scenery around him to maintain interest.

During the chase scene, the lead man is represented as fierce and brave as he is doing a sacrificial act, risking his own life to lure the tiger away. This has the impact of making him seem heroic and possibly hot headed as he tries to out run a tiger and put himself in a lot of danger. As the man climbs to the ladder, we have a shot/reverse shot, going from him escaping to the tiger climbing up the tree, back to the man at the top of the ladder. As the man slings his belt over the zip line, the use of jump cuts  helps create tension as it makes it look like the man could lose his life as this technique is possibly unnatural. As he travels down the zip line, there are several camera techniques such as tracking, panning, worms eye view, handheld(shakey) and eye line shots. All of these shots keep the audiences attention on the scene and heighten the intensity of the situation as so much is going on with camera work. The tension of the scene is suddenly released as the tiger is hit by the women and dies a satisfying, slow motion death.

At the end of the clip, the final barn house scene depicts two contrasting characters against each other, one being a well dressed lady and another being a work clothed man. These contrast as the woman’s nice cost shows her to be a journalist or investigator of some sort as she is wearing feminine, non action friendly clothes. Where as the man is wearing a jacket and top, which are far more suitable to be working on his farm. In the scene the farmer threatens the women with a gun and pulls her onto the floor. His use of aggression and the high tilt angle of the camera that puts the woman in frame shows her to be vulnerable and scared. This is also shown in her posture and facial expression as she shows concern and cowers behind her arm as she desperately tries to convince the man to stop.

Finally, the lead male and ‘butch’ woman appear to save the ‘damsel in distress’ which further supports their strong, independent characters roles and help set the difference/contrast between the other characters I.e. the feminine man and vulnerable woman.

Mean girls essay

 The scene at Regina’s house starts with an expensive, convertible car pulling up onto a large cobble drive that has been fitted in front of a huge mansion. At first we see the camera pan out and follow the convertible car cruise along the driveway. The radio is on and we hear the four teenage girls playing music. As the camera continues to pan and zoom out to show the audience the full scale mansion, we can see other pieces of set and design in the shot. In the foreground we can see a well kept fountain surrounded by precisely cut bushes and flower beds. This shot of the fountain in the foreground stereotypes the ‘spoilt teen’ Regina is as we see her family value materialistic items to show that they are successful or special in some way. In the background we can see two other sports cars, a red one and a black one. The red car could be for the mum as it seems to be more of a family car then a business car. It being red could also symbolise Regina’s family personality as her mother and sister are sexualised later on in the clip. The most obvious set design/ location in this shot is the grey and white mansion. It’s large white pillars and steps are another materialistic item that the mother wants as it is an unnecessary design to the house.

The next shot is a close up of the girls getting out of the car. We are able to see their costumes as the camera includes the shot of all four girls. Their outfits are all pink and skimpy showing that they are trying to catch the eye of men but remain youthful by wearing a childish and girly colour. If we pay close attention to the girls during the dialogue exchange, we can see that they all are wearing silver or gold coloured jewellery to further materialise themselves to show that they are not only popular and mainstream teenage girls but also wealthy.

As the girls walk through the house and talk to Regina’s mum, they make their way upstairs to Regina’s room. This is an important shit as Regina’s bedroom gives us an insight on her personality, hobbies and interests as a person. At this point, the girls have split into two groups. The three girls who have been to the house many times are kept in a lease together and Katy who is kept in her own lense as the camera switches shot when dialogue is exchanged. As Regina leads her two friends into her room, the camera view switches to Katy’s position as it stays back away from the other girls allowing the audience to view Regina’s bedroom. On the left side of the brief shot of the room we can see Regina’s bed with red curtains and sheets. This is sexually suggestive as red is considered a sexual colour and it being where she sleeps infers her desires to the audience watching. In the background we can see she has two very big french sliding doors that go out onto a balcony. Outside on the balcony we can see a pink sun bed and umbrella which link to her common theme and dress code of pink or red.  On her walls we can see some subtle set design of posters or framed pictures to add personality to the room. Katy is initially shocked at the size of the room and feels out of place. This is shown as the camera focuses on just her when she speaks which helps alienate her from the other girls as she feels alone and is alone in the camera shot. This emphasises her feeling of being incompatible with the girls.

We next see that Katy wonders up to a picture board in the bedroom that has several photos and magazine word cut outs that Regina has made. The photos consist of herself and possibly a boyfriend at some point. One of the photos is Regina wearing a tiara/ crown as she poses with her boyfriend. This depicts Regina as a queen and that she, along with her family, idolise herself/ themselves and believe that they are the most important people in their own and everyone else’s lives.

In conclusion, the camera shots mixed with the location and set design portray Regina and her family as self obsessed people who try to fit in by being popular. Which contrasts with Katy as she feels out of place and out of her depth.

 

Max.

Skins analysis and review

Analysis of ‘skins’ clip

 

 The clip opens with a miss-en-scene montage of short, fast edited clips that over lay one another in between several colourful lines and shapes. This is to set a sense of action and drama to hook the audience before the main story has begun. We see glimpses of teenagers getting dressed and kissing one another which tells the audience that the series is about love and trauma. It gives the audience and idea of the location (main town/city centre), and indicates to what the characters are like (rebellious teens).

After the introduction, the episode starts by zooming out of a birds eye view close up of Tony’s eyes. There is a sound subtle bird cheeps as well as a bell. This sound immediately tells the audience that it is early in the morning. This is shown again as we zoom out even further to see Tony in his bed whilst his alarm goes off. As his alarm sounds, there is a quick edit of a close up view to Tony pushing a button on his music player and starts quite a teenage, base song. There is another cut  to Tony getting out of his bed which is shown through jump cuts, a series of skippy short clips which tells the watcher what happened in a slightly shorter, condensed version. The camera cuts to a bird eye view of Tony stretching and cuts back down to him low to the floor doing exercises. This creates an atmosphere of masculinity as the first thing he decides to do is to keep fit. As he looks at himself in the mirror, bitting his bottom lip which indicates he is full of himself, an alarm sounds as the lady opposite the road gets changed at her window. There is a handheld shot over Tony’s shoulder for the audience to get the view of the character. The camera cuts away to Tony’s sister outside which sets the next part of action to take place. Tony turns on his music, which is loud and rebellious, and indicates to his sister to sneak in up the stairs. We see the Dad yelling at Tony to “turn it down!” and we watch Tony pretend to struggle operating his speaker. This shows he is the classic, stereotypical teenager who does what he wants without trying to cause much trouble. The sister is shown on frame at a high angle tilt camera shot sneaking up the stairs. This angle helps her look more sneaky and vulnerable, making it more interesting for the audience to watch as it emphasises the trouble she will be in if she is caught. We cut back to the father and son arguing via a series of slow, zoom in shot/ reverse shots. This builds tension as we get closer to the actors which highlights their facial expressions, showing the audience the dad is clearly aggravated and that Tony doesn’t really care about his upset father. There are more cut away shots between the sister changing in her room, shown through more jump cuts to make it look like she is in a hurry to get ready for school, and the argument in the other room. The action then changes as the sound overlays a few seconds early to cut to a slow zoom out, mid range shot of Tony in the bathroom reading. As the scene progresses, we get a far out tracking shot following Tony down the drain pipe. This is to give the audience an idea of the location the series is set in (town/city centre as the houses are attached). Tony brushes his teeth and there is another shot/reverse shot that is hand held between him and his neighbour. This emphasises the sexual tension between the two and keeps the audience intrigued as it gives them a break from the main action occurring inside the house. The dad walks into the kitchen to find Tony eating downstairs and not in the bathroom. The cut to the mum and low angle between the two creates a comical atmosphere as the momentary silence allows the audience to take in the humour of the situation. The father bends down to the sink and focuses on his back as his shorts aren’t all the way up, revealing his bum crack. This leads to a close up on Tony’s face and he smirks to his sister who is unamused. This further supports the assumption that Tony is a cheeky and immature school boy who is also a rebellious teen. 

Media: ‘What impact does it have on the production of a film, if it is produced by a large global conglomerate?’ (Conglomerate essay)

A conglomerate film company has many impacts regarding the production and advertisement of a film. Their huge budgets and equipment, as well as connections (producers, actors etc…) allow them to make ‘top of the line’ films and attract a large following of consumers/ audiences through the merchandise the conglomerate supplies.

 

Conglomerate film companies have huge budgets, meaning they can afford to really invest a lot of people, time and money into SFX and CGI. Huge film companies such as Warner Bros have their own Studio (Warner Bros Studios) meaning that they can graphically design their own movies without putting in the additional cost of hiring new equipment and graphic designers. It also allows them to save large amounts of time as the same people who produce the film can also monitor the designing of the film. For instance, the film ‘Wonder Woman’ has budget of two hundred million US and paid the actress Gal Gaddot three hundred thousand US dollars. They hired a large cast of actors and trainers for the film. For the ‘Beach warfare’ scene, they split the extras and trainers into two groups to prepare them for the final edits and shots. The extras (Amazon women) were ex-athletes, actresses and fitness coaches to fit the buff role of the warriors women. They were trained in martial arts and how to ride horses for the fight scene on the beach front of Themyscira. The two main actors, Chris Pine and Gal Gaddot were in a separate group with the director, being told how to act and what to feel in each of the scenes and practiced their cues for lines and actions throughout the film. The large budget also helped the film to be set and recorded in different locations around the world. The film was shot in three different countries, England, Italy and France. This helps attract a larger, multicultural and multinational audience, which ultimately is wanted as it creates a larger revenue for the producers and cast members. 

Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins and shot by Matthew Jenson, was primarily shot on 35mm film with Panavision Primo spherical prime lenses, which Workman recommends as a go-to for features. The film was shot with Panavision Millennium Cameras with slow-motion scenes done digitally on the Phantom at five hundred FPS to get a crisps and smooth motion picture.  Wonder Woman wasn’t filmed on IMAX, but Warner Bros released an IMAX 3D version of the film by simply stretching the images of the film. Although it can distort the image, the film being 35mm creates no obvious difference in quality and it is cheaper to stretch the image rather than record it on an IMAX camera. Warner Bros being a huge conglomerate made it easy for them to film Wonder Woman as they have their own backlog of cameras, lenses and 35mm recording tape in storage houses. 

 

A film company as big as Warner Bros gives them the opportunity to re-write history and change many opinion of political and societal topics in the world. Their idea behind the film was to create a strong, independent, feminist character. Wonder Woman (the hero) represents all women and the fight for love and peace. She fights the God Aeres, who enslaves mankind to fight for power and greed. Diana fights against this, and dictates throughout the film that she wants men to feel love and passion. This gives her the strong strength, and speed that a masculine character would have along with her female qualities such as her beauty, feeling of love and mercy. The film was directed by Patty Jenkins, which was done by the producers so a large female audience could be gained as having a female lead character and director allowed them to bond to the viewers and give a woman’s insight and opinion of the society at the time (set in 1918 so women weren’t equal to men, as shown in the film as Diana is thrown out of the meeting consisting of male army officers and generals).  

Belstone pictures

 Belstone Pictures

 

Belstone Pictures is an independent UK development, production and finance company that makes international feature film content. The company is owned by Finn Cardigan,  who created Belstone Studios in 2012. Belstone pictures’s most famous films are: Tucked (2018), Tank 432 (2015), Making Tracks (2018), Paul Dood’s deadly lunch break and  Room 17. These films had very small budgets. Tank 432 had a budget of $100,000. They currently have some films in preproduction, such as ‘Broken Cove, Open Heart, Cats in Hell’, that they may release in 2021 as they have set a target to release 2-3 films a year as of 2020.

Warner Bros History

 Warner Brothers started in 1903. They originally acquired theatres and then moved into the film industry. They started producing their films in 1917 and moved their headquarters to Hollywood. They then created Warner Brothers Pictures in 1923. The founders of Warner Brothers are Harry Warner, Sam Warner, Jack Warner and Albert Warner. Warner Brothers also own the television company Warner Bros, animation Cartoon Network, Dc Comics and publishing arm Warner Bros. This has helped the studio massively as it provides several smaller incomes that are consistent, where as the films they produce can either sell big or not at all. Warner Bros is now owned by Warner Media, as they renamed the company in 1990 and kept several other branches of the conglomerate such as Warner Studios, Cinemax etc… Warner Bros best Blockbusters are: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 2, 2011), The dark knight rises (2012), The Hobbit an unexpected journey (2012), Aquaman (2018), Joker (2019). Harry Potter made $1,335,157,491. Aquaman made $1,143,966,520. The Dark Knight made $1,082,228,107. These films had budgets of $250 million, $200 million and $250 million. Warner Bros typically re-hire their actors and directors when shooting prequels or sequels of films they have already stared in/ made. This is because it helps keep the same audience as well as the quality and style of acting they want the story line to keep. Currently, Warner Brothers have many films be recorded and produced for 2021 including: The Matrix 4, Dune, Godzilla vs. King Kong, Black Adam and more… The advantage of a big Conglomerate such as Warner Brothers is their almost endless budget and resources on any film/ television show they want to create. Not only do they have huge budgets, but get their editing and camera equipment at no extra cost as they own their own staff and equipment. This lets them monitor what is going on and what they want to do with the thing in production, having the ability to alter anything at any time during production.

Film Genre

 ·      What is genre – genre is a type of film or series e.g. action, romance, thriller, horror, comedy etc…

·      How and why is it used –1. Genre is used by styling the film script and casting the actors as well as the plot of the film. For instance, an action film would have realistic, intense script, a straight forward plot and stunt doubles cast, where as a comedy would have a more light hearted script, not an important objective for the character and comedic actors that typically won’t require stunt doubles or training in something. 2. genre is used to Target a specific audience if they like gory action films or romantic comedies

·      What is sub genre – sub genre is a genre within a style of film. There might be a sub genre of magical creatures in a romance.

·      Typically, people associate these things with genres.

Action: blood, death, violence, swearing, big CGI AMD SFX, battlefield setting

Comedy: props, swearing, drinking, city setting

Thriller: suspense, music (scary), CGI, possibly gore, sense of mystery, woodland setting

Sci Fi: extraterrestrial sounds, CGI, alien costumes and props, different locations, numerous locations/ setting

Romance: male and female lead, several shot locations, some comedy and despair in the script, city set

Horror: creepy music and sounds, possibly CGI, dark costumes, first person/third person camera, city sets or house set, hand held shots

Western: folk and country music, animals and ambient sounds, cowboy costumes, gun props, desert set locations, old towns