How far do the American films you have studied for this topic depend on well established narrative and/or genre conventions?
Badlands and Natural Born Killers have many similarities and the main one being they are both an example of the American lovers on the lamb sub-genre. Badlands was made in 1973 and set in 1959, a time when all people across the USA was in search of the American dream. Natural Born Killers was made in 1994 and was a revive of the genre. A standard convention of this genre is a dysfunctional family and a family member that gets in the way of the lover's plans. In Badlands, Kit knows that he wants to be an outlaw right from the start. However, he takes Holly, an innocent girl out of her American Dream lifestyle and into a killing spree. The film is largely based around the real-life killing spree of Charles Starkweather in 1957. Natural Born Killers follows the typical convention of a dysfunctional family as Mallory Knox, one of the protagonists, was raped by her father.
Also in Badlands, the dysfunctional family is shown through the use of mise-en-scene. Holly's father is painting a billboard with a picture of the American dream. However, their is a piece missing and Kit is standing next to it. This shows that Kit thinks that he is the missing piece to the family. Holly's father disregards Kit and the level of power is shown through high and low angle shots, Holly's dad having the upper-hand. Natural Born Killers is a lot less subtle than Badlands and the dysfunctional family is shown through an American styled sitcom. It shows Mallory's father talking about how he sexually abuses her and we can hear a non-diegetic audience laughing at these points. Similarly, it is trying to be a cartoon in the sense we can hear iconic birds tweeting when Mallory's father gets hit by Micky.
The clear message in Natural Born Killers is that violence is influenced by the media. Their is many cartoons used in Natural Born Killers and other television shows that promote violence included. When Mickey kills Mallory's father he is watching wrestling and this shows that everyone is influenced by the media. The media is also integrated with Badlands as Kit is compared to James Dean. Kit says he always knew he wanted to be an outlaw because that would get him known and make him famous just like James Dean. When Kit and Holly are finally caught, the police treat him like royalty and a prestigious figure because they have seen him on the news and heard the stories so they see him as celebrity. Kit also treats himself as a celebrity and this is clarified when Kit is standing on a plane surrounded by guards and is giving out his personal belongings.
Monday, 3 March 2014
Monday, 9 December 2013
Spike Island
Director: Mat Whitecross (English)
Writer: Chris Coghill (English) Screenplay
Budget: Low
Release Date: 21/06/2013
Main Cast: Elliott Tittensor,Nico Mirallegro, Jordan Murphy, Adam Long, Oliver Heald
Certificate: The certificate was given a 15 by Insight. It was given a 15 due to containing very strong language, violence,
strong sex references and drug use.
Production Companies: Fiesta Productions, Bankside Films, Head Gear Films, Metrol Technology, Revolver Entertainment
Distributors: Vertigo Films, Universal Pictures (UK)
Plot: Set in May 1990, SPIKE ISLAND is the story of five 16 year old boys die-hard fans of UK band The Stone Roses, a band whose place in music history is unsurpassed. They dream of making it big with their own band Shadow Caster, and of seeing their heroes live on stage at what will be the gig of the decade. As they celebrate the end of their school days and make plans to attend the band’s legendary concert on Spike Island, we follow their journey which sees life-long friendships tested and their future together brought into question. The fact that they don’t have tickets doesn’t deter them nor does the jealous rivalry which rears its head when a girl threatens to ruin their perfect world. In an emotive climax, the boys realise that their journey to Spike Island and adulthood will see them changed forever.
Director: Mat Whitecross (English)
Writer: Chris Coghill (English) Screenplay
Budget: Low
Release Date: 21/06/2013
Main Cast: Elliott Tittensor,Nico Mirallegro, Jordan Murphy, Adam Long, Oliver Heald
Certificate: The certificate was given a 15 by Insight. It was given a 15 due to containing very strong language, violence,
Production Companies: Fiesta Productions, Bankside Films, Head Gear Films, Metrol Technology, Revolver Entertainment
Distributors: Vertigo Films, Universal Pictures (UK)
Plot: Set in May 1990, SPIKE ISLAND is the story of five 16 year old boys die-hard fans of UK band The Stone Roses, a band whose place in music history is unsurpassed. They dream of making it big with their own band Shadow Caster, and of seeing their heroes live on stage at what will be the gig of the decade. As they celebrate the end of their school days and make plans to attend the band’s legendary concert on Spike Island, we follow their journey which sees life-long friendships tested and their future together brought into question. The fact that they don’t have tickets doesn’t deter them nor does the jealous rivalry which rears its head when a girl threatens to ruin their perfect world. In an emotive climax, the boys realise that their journey to Spike Island and adulthood will see them changed forever.Monday, 25 November 2013
Sunday, 17 November 2013
How does the use of cinematography create suspense in the prison cell sequence from Halloween?
How does the use of cinematography create suspense in the prison cell sequence from Halloween?
One distressing scene is the scene where two cousins are working late hours at the prison and decide to rape a new female inmate in Michael Myers' prison cell. The scene begins with a long shot of the prison at night which chillingly sets the scene, it is a common slasher horror convention as it is a large, isolated prison at night. This made me feel uneasy because at night is the time when the majority of security guards go home and dark shadows begin to appear and creates mystery so i wasn't completely comfortable with the surroundings. Both cousin's have hats on which stops the high key lighting above them reaching their faces making them shady characters inferring that they are not going to be trusted. One of them is wearing an orange beanie, the colour is same as a pumpkin which is suitable for the title of the film, Halloween because when we think of Pumpkins we think of Halloween. That same character then says "Mikey, Mikey, Mikey" looking up the long empty corridor while the camera cuts to a long shot of the corridor, specifically at Michael's door. This creates suspense because it means he has something in mind so we have to wait nervously to see what he does. I feel like this technique has now become a common device in horror. It reminded me of a scene in Scream 4 (a slasher film) when the killer is on the phone to a young woman and is tormenting her. He is teasing her and makes us think he is in the wardrobe by focusing on the closed door; therefore creating suspense because we don't know if he is inside it. When the camera cuts back the other cousin has arrived out of the cell with the new female inmate, holding her arms from behind making her vulnerable and powerless.
The woman herself is wearing a white garment indicating she is pure, innocent and the prey of the twisted cousins. The camera then exploits the fact her chances of escape are very slim by framing her in the middle of the two men with a medium long shot. They then begin tormenting her and touching her in inappropriate places but they do this is in low key lighting as if they would not commit this act in daylight or if anybody was around. Throughout this, we see closeups of the men and you can clearly see that they have no remorse or guilt. They drag her up to Michael Myers' cell and go in there with her. The mise-en-scene in this cell features masks that Michael has made covering the walls from top to bottom. By this time Michael had lived under a mask for 15 years making no one know what he properly looks like. Even though Mike has his backed turned from the cousins and victim, the masks are facing them giving me an indication that Michael is aware of what is going on behind him. The cousin in the orange beanie then proceeds to persuade Michael to join in with abuse of the woman. When the man viciously forces the woman onto the bed, the low non diegetic sounds we were previously hearing suddenly changes to a high-pitched screech with a fast drum beat that is gradually getting faster. This created suspense because we know that it is building up for something.
However it is not just the sound that creates the tension, it is also the cinematography. The editing is cutting very fast, moving around fast and adding closeups of the rape making it also very distressing. When Mike doesn't respond one of the cousins hits him across the back of the head. After that, the camera cuts to a high angle shot in the ventilation system behind a cage. This made me feel like the woman was trapped and was in cage with no means of escape. The two cousins then proceed to mock Mike by calling him "faggot" and taking his masks off the wall and wearing them, the camera cuts to a close up of Michael when he is turning round. He is wearing a mask so the only thing we can see is his eyes. In his eyes you can see that he is feeling angry and provoked. The camera then does a tracking shot of him standing up. In this frame you can see Michael standing over one of the cousins, I think this means he is the more dominant and is looking at him as if he is the predator and the guard is the prey. The camera is focusing on Mike and not the cousin and this created suspense because we know that Mike is evil; he is staring at him and we are unable to see any emotion so we cannot predict what he is going to do to him.
While the camera is building suspense the music is getting louder and higher. It reminded me of an air raid siren and air raid sirens are let off when a dangerous force is about to attack so I now had an idea of the outcome after this. Mike then grabs the one who hit him across his head pins him up against the wall and repeatedly keeps smacking his head off the wall. While he has him pinned up by his neck, medium close shots show Michael in full control and one of the cousins struggling to breath. The main rapist then pulls out a truncheon and screams for Michael to put down his cousin. The camera then cuts to a low angle medium-long shot and Mike then throws his victim near the camera. In this shot we witness the strength that Michael has and his resentment to pain as he has the ability to throw a man and get it hit by a weapon at the same time. It made me feel like the main power in this sequence had shifted from the two men to Mike.
Meanwhile the camera is cutting very fast creating suspense in this sequence because its a fast paced action scene, meaning that I held my breath nervously waiting for what was going to happen. Michael turns from the man he had just thrown on the floor to the other man, who soon realises that Michael is going to kill him. We know this because the camera cuts to a close up of him looking into Michael's face and we can see that Michael has put the fear of God into him. He tries to escape the cell and leave his fellow companion but fails and falls over because his trousers are still round his ankles from when he was raping the inmate. Again, the camera cuts to a close up of the cousin trying to escape on the floor. It made me see that he was struggling and also I felt like I was on Michael Myer's side for once because the man on the floor deserved to be killed.
Throughout the whole film, Mike takes actions that make him a horrible person. He kills many innocent people and even people who try to help him. However, when I seen the closeup of the man struggling on the floor the suspense was making me thirsty for the death of the man as I felt like justice would have been served then. Michael wraps his hand around the neck of the man and slowly drags him up the wall. I think this was done so that it gives the camera an opportunity to do a close up shot of the man struggling to breath and to show he is powerless. When he is standing up against the wall looking into Michael's eyes the camera cuts to a long shot of the corridor and see Michael land the final slam to the man's head. The long shot created suspense for me as you are waiting for the kill, I felt that this camera shot was out of place because throughout this scene all the camera has been doing is short range shots, exploiting the claustrophobic environment in the prison cell. I think the long shot was to also show Michael is now free as well as create suspense. The camera cuts to a close up again and you can see the now-dead rapist slowly sliding down the wall with a trail of blood. At this point the music stops, emphasising that the suspense has been built up and passed. Blood is a normal horror convention and this film's sub genre being a slasher; you would expect to see blood in a death scene.
One distressing scene is the scene where two cousins are working late hours at the prison and decide to rape a new female inmate in Michael Myers' prison cell. The scene begins with a long shot of the prison at night which chillingly sets the scene, it is a common slasher horror convention as it is a large, isolated prison at night. This made me feel uneasy because at night is the time when the majority of security guards go home and dark shadows begin to appear and creates mystery so i wasn't completely comfortable with the surroundings. Both cousin's have hats on which stops the high key lighting above them reaching their faces making them shady characters inferring that they are not going to be trusted. One of them is wearing an orange beanie, the colour is same as a pumpkin which is suitable for the title of the film, Halloween because when we think of Pumpkins we think of Halloween. That same character then says "Mikey, Mikey, Mikey" looking up the long empty corridor while the camera cuts to a long shot of the corridor, specifically at Michael's door. This creates suspense because it means he has something in mind so we have to wait nervously to see what he does. I feel like this technique has now become a common device in horror. It reminded me of a scene in Scream 4 (a slasher film) when the killer is on the phone to a young woman and is tormenting her. He is teasing her and makes us think he is in the wardrobe by focusing on the closed door; therefore creating suspense because we don't know if he is inside it. When the camera cuts back the other cousin has arrived out of the cell with the new female inmate, holding her arms from behind making her vulnerable and powerless.
The woman herself is wearing a white garment indicating she is pure, innocent and the prey of the twisted cousins. The camera then exploits the fact her chances of escape are very slim by framing her in the middle of the two men with a medium long shot. They then begin tormenting her and touching her in inappropriate places but they do this is in low key lighting as if they would not commit this act in daylight or if anybody was around. Throughout this, we see closeups of the men and you can clearly see that they have no remorse or guilt. They drag her up to Michael Myers' cell and go in there with her. The mise-en-scene in this cell features masks that Michael has made covering the walls from top to bottom. By this time Michael had lived under a mask for 15 years making no one know what he properly looks like. Even though Mike has his backed turned from the cousins and victim, the masks are facing them giving me an indication that Michael is aware of what is going on behind him. The cousin in the orange beanie then proceeds to persuade Michael to join in with abuse of the woman. When the man viciously forces the woman onto the bed, the low non diegetic sounds we were previously hearing suddenly changes to a high-pitched screech with a fast drum beat that is gradually getting faster. This created suspense because we know that it is building up for something.
However it is not just the sound that creates the tension, it is also the cinematography. The editing is cutting very fast, moving around fast and adding closeups of the rape making it also very distressing. When Mike doesn't respond one of the cousins hits him across the back of the head. After that, the camera cuts to a high angle shot in the ventilation system behind a cage. This made me feel like the woman was trapped and was in cage with no means of escape. The two cousins then proceed to mock Mike by calling him "faggot" and taking his masks off the wall and wearing them, the camera cuts to a close up of Michael when he is turning round. He is wearing a mask so the only thing we can see is his eyes. In his eyes you can see that he is feeling angry and provoked. The camera then does a tracking shot of him standing up. In this frame you can see Michael standing over one of the cousins, I think this means he is the more dominant and is looking at him as if he is the predator and the guard is the prey. The camera is focusing on Mike and not the cousin and this created suspense because we know that Mike is evil; he is staring at him and we are unable to see any emotion so we cannot predict what he is going to do to him.
While the camera is building suspense the music is getting louder and higher. It reminded me of an air raid siren and air raid sirens are let off when a dangerous force is about to attack so I now had an idea of the outcome after this. Mike then grabs the one who hit him across his head pins him up against the wall and repeatedly keeps smacking his head off the wall. While he has him pinned up by his neck, medium close shots show Michael in full control and one of the cousins struggling to breath. The main rapist then pulls out a truncheon and screams for Michael to put down his cousin. The camera then cuts to a low angle medium-long shot and Mike then throws his victim near the camera. In this shot we witness the strength that Michael has and his resentment to pain as he has the ability to throw a man and get it hit by a weapon at the same time. It made me feel like the main power in this sequence had shifted from the two men to Mike.
Meanwhile the camera is cutting very fast creating suspense in this sequence because its a fast paced action scene, meaning that I held my breath nervously waiting for what was going to happen. Michael turns from the man he had just thrown on the floor to the other man, who soon realises that Michael is going to kill him. We know this because the camera cuts to a close up of him looking into Michael's face and we can see that Michael has put the fear of God into him. He tries to escape the cell and leave his fellow companion but fails and falls over because his trousers are still round his ankles from when he was raping the inmate. Again, the camera cuts to a close up of the cousin trying to escape on the floor. It made me see that he was struggling and also I felt like I was on Michael Myer's side for once because the man on the floor deserved to be killed.
Throughout the whole film, Mike takes actions that make him a horrible person. He kills many innocent people and even people who try to help him. However, when I seen the closeup of the man struggling on the floor the suspense was making me thirsty for the death of the man as I felt like justice would have been served then. Michael wraps his hand around the neck of the man and slowly drags him up the wall. I think this was done so that it gives the camera an opportunity to do a close up shot of the man struggling to breath and to show he is powerless. When he is standing up against the wall looking into Michael's eyes the camera cuts to a long shot of the corridor and see Michael land the final slam to the man's head. The long shot created suspense for me as you are waiting for the kill, I felt that this camera shot was out of place because throughout this scene all the camera has been doing is short range shots, exploiting the claustrophobic environment in the prison cell. I think the long shot was to also show Michael is now free as well as create suspense. The camera cuts to a close up again and you can see the now-dead rapist slowly sliding down the wall with a trail of blood. At this point the music stops, emphasising that the suspense has been built up and passed. Blood is a normal horror convention and this film's sub genre being a slasher; you would expect to see blood in a death scene.
Thursday, 17 October 2013
The Shining
Written by Stephen King and directed by Stanley Kubrick, The Shining is a psychological horror that lived up to all the popular hype around it. It was released on the 23rd of May in 1980 which made $20 million within the first three years. It follows the story of Jack, Wendy and their son Danny's move to an isolated hotel in the middle of a snowy mountain range. With the location being this, it lays the perfect foundations for a typical horror convention. After watching this film it made me feel awkward and nervy with Jack's twisted mind polluting my mind.
In the scene where Wendy believes Jack is the one who has made the marks on Danny's neck, she backs away slowly up a staircase clenching a baseball in her hand. Jack is tormenting Wendy by saying gruesome things like he will bash her brain in while she cry's with tears of desperation running down her face. The lighting in this scene is very interesting and I have my own set of beliefs about. The main lighting is coming from the window, as Jack comes up the stairs, the lighting makes one half of his light and the other dark. This symbolises two halves to Jack, the good and the bad. As he edges closer to Wendy, the lighting changes until there is no high key lighting on his face. This shows his evil transformation and also shows that all the good has gone and the bad has taken over him. At the top of the staircase high key lighting is presented which suggests that Wendy is on the stairway to heaven. When people have near death experiences they see a bright light at the end of a tunnel. This reminded me of a that and made me think that Wendy is in a near death experience of herself. The high key lighting gives us a little bit of warmth in this dark scene of Jack going mad and makes us realise Wendy is trying to find safety.
When she finally gets to the top of the stairs that is the moment she strikes out at Jack with the bat. This justified my understanding of the light being the protection in what Wendy relied on. With Jack and Wendy slowly going up the staircase, the high key lighting slowly fades away on Jack's face making his face turn red from the colour of his surroundings. This made me feel threatened because the red reminded me of danger and made him look demonic. Once Wendy strikes him, he dramatically collapses and falls down the stairs back into the high key lighting making him bright indicating he is harmless and unable to attack while knocked out. It was peaceful a ending to that scene while Wendy makes her escape from Jack. Although, I didn't still feel safe on my own behalf or Wendy's because he could wake up at anytime.
Another scene that displays interesting camera lighting is the scene where Jack is in the bar having a conversation with the bartender, Lloyd. Jack is facing Lloyd in a close-up shot with his hands on his eyes with a low key lighting in the background. I think this is trying to show that Jack doesn't want to ascend into the darkness which is indicating he doesn't want to turn bad but his mental health is too bad just to turn away from it. Low key lighting is a common horror convention and I think this is why it was put in this scene. The lighting gave me a sense of mystery, it was hard for me to understand Jack and I think this is why it was done to confuse the audience and emphasise that Jack is no longer normal. The sources of light in this shot are from the bar, behind Lloyd and candles behind Jack. The high key lighting stands out especially behind Lloyd, making every camera shot facing him seem as if he is non-existent. I felt from this that Lloyd was just a figment of Jack's imagination and that Lloyd didn't exist. The lighting on the bar lights up Jack's face from a low angle which is a classic convention of horror therefore gave Jack a creepy look about himself. The way the lighting had been placed below him made me feel as if he was a greater power or that's what he thought of himself, as if he thought he was superior. Lighting is balanced is this scene, there is a good mixture of low key lighting and high key lighting. It is a big room which is lit up with very few candles making only certain parts high key lighting. With mixed lighting gave me mixed emotions of Jack, what was happening and my security when watching the film.
Overall, I think Kubrick did a fantastic job with the lighting in this film. It definitely is a big element in this film and it makes it feel as if its part of the story. The use of low key and high key lighting throughout this film shows Kubrick has a brilliant eye for detail. High key lighting in other horror films generally means security and that it is building up for low key scenes, and that is where most scares/ false scares tend to be. However in The Shining, we do not feel secure even in the high key lighting scenes. The purpose of this horror film from my perspective is to play with your mind rather than scaring you. I think it does great in fulfilling this purpose and the lighting is amazing in doing this. For me, in certain scenes lighting is not important and I think Kubrick has done this on purpose because he doesn't want you to focus on the lighting but in other scenes you can tell he does want you to focus on the lighting. For example, the scene where Wendy is trapped in the bathroom while Jack is trying to kill her. The lighting in the bathroom didn't add any emotion or feelings to me, it was more Wendy's emotions and camera work. I think Kubrick made The Shining to perfection with making the lighting a sufficient factor in some scenes and not others.
Written by Stephen King and directed by Stanley Kubrick, The Shining is a psychological horror that lived up to all the popular hype around it. It was released on the 23rd of May in 1980 which made $20 million within the first three years. It follows the story of Jack, Wendy and their son Danny's move to an isolated hotel in the middle of a snowy mountain range. With the location being this, it lays the perfect foundations for a typical horror convention. After watching this film it made me feel awkward and nervy with Jack's twisted mind polluting my mind.
In the scene where Wendy believes Jack is the one who has made the marks on Danny's neck, she backs away slowly up a staircase clenching a baseball in her hand. Jack is tormenting Wendy by saying gruesome things like he will bash her brain in while she cry's with tears of desperation running down her face. The lighting in this scene is very interesting and I have my own set of beliefs about. The main lighting is coming from the window, as Jack comes up the stairs, the lighting makes one half of his light and the other dark. This symbolises two halves to Jack, the good and the bad. As he edges closer to Wendy, the lighting changes until there is no high key lighting on his face. This shows his evil transformation and also shows that all the good has gone and the bad has taken over him. At the top of the staircase high key lighting is presented which suggests that Wendy is on the stairway to heaven. When people have near death experiences they see a bright light at the end of a tunnel. This reminded me of a that and made me think that Wendy is in a near death experience of herself. The high key lighting gives us a little bit of warmth in this dark scene of Jack going mad and makes us realise Wendy is trying to find safety.
When she finally gets to the top of the stairs that is the moment she strikes out at Jack with the bat. This justified my understanding of the light being the protection in what Wendy relied on. With Jack and Wendy slowly going up the staircase, the high key lighting slowly fades away on Jack's face making his face turn red from the colour of his surroundings. This made me feel threatened because the red reminded me of danger and made him look demonic. Once Wendy strikes him, he dramatically collapses and falls down the stairs back into the high key lighting making him bright indicating he is harmless and unable to attack while knocked out. It was peaceful a ending to that scene while Wendy makes her escape from Jack. Although, I didn't still feel safe on my own behalf or Wendy's because he could wake up at anytime.
Another scene that displays interesting camera lighting is the scene where Jack is in the bar having a conversation with the bartender, Lloyd. Jack is facing Lloyd in a close-up shot with his hands on his eyes with a low key lighting in the background. I think this is trying to show that Jack doesn't want to ascend into the darkness which is indicating he doesn't want to turn bad but his mental health is too bad just to turn away from it. Low key lighting is a common horror convention and I think this is why it was put in this scene. The lighting gave me a sense of mystery, it was hard for me to understand Jack and I think this is why it was done to confuse the audience and emphasise that Jack is no longer normal. The sources of light in this shot are from the bar, behind Lloyd and candles behind Jack. The high key lighting stands out especially behind Lloyd, making every camera shot facing him seem as if he is non-existent. I felt from this that Lloyd was just a figment of Jack's imagination and that Lloyd didn't exist. The lighting on the bar lights up Jack's face from a low angle which is a classic convention of horror therefore gave Jack a creepy look about himself. The way the lighting had been placed below him made me feel as if he was a greater power or that's what he thought of himself, as if he thought he was superior. Lighting is balanced is this scene, there is a good mixture of low key lighting and high key lighting. It is a big room which is lit up with very few candles making only certain parts high key lighting. With mixed lighting gave me mixed emotions of Jack, what was happening and my security when watching the film.
Overall, I think Kubrick did a fantastic job with the lighting in this film. It definitely is a big element in this film and it makes it feel as if its part of the story. The use of low key and high key lighting throughout this film shows Kubrick has a brilliant eye for detail. High key lighting in other horror films generally means security and that it is building up for low key scenes, and that is where most scares/ false scares tend to be. However in The Shining, we do not feel secure even in the high key lighting scenes. The purpose of this horror film from my perspective is to play with your mind rather than scaring you. I think it does great in fulfilling this purpose and the lighting is amazing in doing this. For me, in certain scenes lighting is not important and I think Kubrick has done this on purpose because he doesn't want you to focus on the lighting but in other scenes you can tell he does want you to focus on the lighting. For example, the scene where Wendy is trapped in the bathroom while Jack is trying to kill her. The lighting in the bathroom didn't add any emotion or feelings to me, it was more Wendy's emotions and camera work. I think Kubrick made The Shining to perfection with making the lighting a sufficient factor in some scenes and not others.
Friday, 4 October 2013
Cold Mountain - The Deaths of Pangle and Stobrod...
Cold Mountain
Cold Mountain, a motion picture set in the time of the American Civil War, focuses on how harsh life was in such an environment as a mountain range. The American Civil War was fought between the years 1861 – 1865 was fixated on abolishing slavery and left 600,000 soldiers dead after gruesome combat. Directed by Anthony Minghella and featuring Jude Law and Nicole Kidman, it reached $173,013,509 in box office profiting near on $95 million. The narrative of the movie concentrates on the love of two of the protagonists, and shows their constant separation throughout the film. It is a typical Romeo/Juliet style film with the two lovers united towards the end.
This section of the film is heavily dependent on light to emphasise
As said before, the light in this extract reflects the mood existent at the time of the narrative. We humans have a preconception about light. We perceive day to be safe, harmless and welcoming which is juxtaposed by night being dark, mysterious and ominous and because of this naïve reality, the director uses it to his advantage. He plays on our mind by using our prejudice so as not to waste valuable screen time explaining the mood via dialogue. This mere fact is staged so clearly in the clip. The death of the two musicians coincidentally occurs at night, while the man who is running towards safety is shown in broad daylight. The director could have included both anecdotes at night, which may have had just one effect on us as a group, fear, for both the musicians and lone man. Instead he used high key lighting for the scene of the witness seeking refuge to emphasise the safe, secure mood which daylight brings. We, as a group, did fall into this well-designed yet so simple trap created by Anthony Minghella.
During the start of this sequence the camera pans rightward to reveal the location of where the man is heading and what is in his surroundings, thus an establishing shot is created. Its’ composition is so well designed that both horizontal and vertical thirds are very noticeable consequently producing an image which is equally informative but also attractive. After the cut, the camera tilts from the ground to the person overlooking the landscape which again is informative and appealing. To us, we were more focused on the scenery and more taken by the picture than actually processing the information that we were given.
The footprints were captured to emphasise the distance of the journey that the man endured and by tilting the camera upwards rather than down towards the floor, it also portrays his progression. Just before the final edit, it shows the situation of the two women and then suddenly cuts straight to the same man featured at the start of the clip, on yet another trek. Parallel editing of this sort is used to show the distance between the two protagonists and is extremely effective when used in an almost invisible cut.
Sunday, 29 September 2013
Slumdog Millionaire is a film that I immediately thought was interesting and inspiring. The film is based a round a man named Jamal, who enters quiz show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire". Before he answers the final question, he is took into an interview room by police to find out how he knows the answers to the previous questions without being educated and living on the streets. The film then goes back to events in Jamal's life that give him the answers to the questions.
One scene in particular that stands out to me is the scene when Jamal is a boy playing cricket on the airfield with his friends when the police start to chase him. The beat of the drums makes it so tense and with the tempo increased when he is running through the streets it builds up tension. It made me feel pumped up because I wanted Jamal to escape from the guards. With this scene, you get a feeling of personal identity because it makes you think about your childhood when you was out playing sports with your friends. Social integration is linked with this because it makes you go off to your friends and talk about past similar situations. It provides a lot of entertainment as the scene is so upbeat and gives you an escape from reality.
Despite this film providing a sense of relation, it shares different perspectives of lives that contrast with my own. In one scene Jamal and his brother have snuck onto a train and are trying to sell things to make some money. They even try to steal food to eat, the music in the background is so casual that it makes you think this is normal to them which mad me feel like my life is so much different to theirs. This scene, in a way, provided me with information because I found out about how poverty effects people's lives and taught me about the world.
The ending of Slumdog Millionaire is when Jamal is reunited with the love of his life Latika. It is very emotional with slow music playing in the background and close-ups of both characters faces to show how they are feeling. It made me feel very happy for both of them especially Jamal as throughout the majority of the film he was searching for Latika and it is a huge relief and fills you with comfort when he is reunited with her.
Overall Slumdog Millionaire made more educated about the world as it gives a really good insight to the effects of poverty and how people adapt to it. It was enjoyable to watch as it entertained me throughout with chase scenes and tense moments. The ending was happy which made me feel good for all the characters. The film also gave me a personal identity, because we follow Jamal throughout the entire film I felt like I was him and had an understanding of him because as a viewer I got to learn more about him and his background. This is a very good film and I would watch it over and over.
One scene in particular that stands out to me is the scene when Jamal is a boy playing cricket on the airfield with his friends when the police start to chase him. The beat of the drums makes it so tense and with the tempo increased when he is running through the streets it builds up tension. It made me feel pumped up because I wanted Jamal to escape from the guards. With this scene, you get a feeling of personal identity because it makes you think about your childhood when you was out playing sports with your friends. Social integration is linked with this because it makes you go off to your friends and talk about past similar situations. It provides a lot of entertainment as the scene is so upbeat and gives you an escape from reality.
Despite this film providing a sense of relation, it shares different perspectives of lives that contrast with my own. In one scene Jamal and his brother have snuck onto a train and are trying to sell things to make some money. They even try to steal food to eat, the music in the background is so casual that it makes you think this is normal to them which mad me feel like my life is so much different to theirs. This scene, in a way, provided me with information because I found out about how poverty effects people's lives and taught me about the world.
The ending of Slumdog Millionaire is when Jamal is reunited with the love of his life Latika. It is very emotional with slow music playing in the background and close-ups of both characters faces to show how they are feeling. It made me feel very happy for both of them especially Jamal as throughout the majority of the film he was searching for Latika and it is a huge relief and fills you with comfort when he is reunited with her.
Overall Slumdog Millionaire made more educated about the world as it gives a really good insight to the effects of poverty and how people adapt to it. It was enjoyable to watch as it entertained me throughout with chase scenes and tense moments. The ending was happy which made me feel good for all the characters. The film also gave me a personal identity, because we follow Jamal throughout the entire film I felt like I was him and had an understanding of him because as a viewer I got to learn more about him and his background. This is a very good film and I would watch it over and over.
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