Monday, 17 March 2014

Cold mountain analysis

Cold Mountain

The scene began with a Extreme long Aerial shot - this was used to establish setting and shown us that this man had traveled far, which made us want to know where he was going.



The shot tilts to show us this man's footprints, and doesn't reveal his face until the end of the shot due to the silhouette - which makes him shady and mysterious. 

We can tell that he's been traveling in the cold for a while due to his exhaustion and the frost in his beard, this makes us want to know what is so important to risk the cold environment, and it's not obvious where he's come from and where he's going.

In the parallel cut edit, it shows us that he's separated from his wife, which makes me feel sympathetic toward him - and that they long for each other because of the voice over which is reading the letter to us. This is also shown in the way that the voice over starts just before the cut, and he looks up, as if he's listening to her voice.
The low key lighting in this shot is to show her loneliness and distress.

In the next cut we see a dead deer, which has been frozen to death which shows how dangerous the environment is and are foreshadowing for the deaths that are about to happen. 

This is mainly Low key lighting, made of natural light from the fire and little fill light - this is to give the contrast of the background, which has been illuminated blue to show the coldness. The closeness of the warmth and cold shows that in this setting you're never far away from danger.
Two new characters join the shot quite abruptly due to the darkness of the environment, and they are wearing all black clothing which is commonly known as evil which signify's that they are not to be trusted. They also arrive on the shot on horses, which shows their  dominance, power and control over these other characters. 


The guy above is seen unlit unlike the other characters, and the fact that he's hiding behind a rock could show that he's cautious and untrusting of the two men that arrived out of nowhere - we see most of the shots of the characters around the fire from his point of view. The close up shot allows us to see the fear and his emotions of the other characters.

I feel like the shot where the two characters get shot is the strongest shot, as it affects you emotionally. I felt shocked when the two characters were shot - this could be due to one of the characters (Right) acting childlike and oblivious to what was going on around him, we could see this as he was smiling still when they made him cover his face. We feel empathy for this character, as well as the other character (left) as he act's like his father, and looks after him. The childlike manner of the Right hand guy makes us think of him much younger than he actually is.


After a jump cut, the next shot is of two women who are talking about the war - the woman above is mostly seen from the camera behind objects (Above). This could show her distance from the other character and her distress. The change of time from night to day could show that the evil's past, and that they're safe for a while. 

Tuesday, 11 March 2014

Key themes (messages and values) for lovers on the lam

Key themes

The American Dream

Something everyone can attain 'pop' icons, mirroring or copying.

Dysfunctional Family

A result of those unrealistic ideological beliefs.

Rootlessness 

The characters have no 'roots' or ties to any family, for a variety of reasons and they embark upon a road trip to sustain their love. 

Modern Fairytale 

The films present a highly romanticised view of what it means to be in love. Love conquers all, overpowers obstacles and anything is morally acceptable to maintain the relationship.

Animalistic Nature 

Trapped/freedom - notions within their environment and the characters situation. There is a constant struggle between these opposing issues to maintain there partnership. 

Genre and narrative conventions of Lovers on the Lam

Lovers on the lam - 'Romance, road movie, crime' 

Mise-en-scene 

Locations: 

  • Mid west or Southern US/desert or 
  • open plain locations/
  • the open road/
  • diners
  • motels 
  • gas stations.
( Conventions used often for lovers on the lam settings)

Camera:

  • Two shot
  • wide shot
  • low angles 
  • high angles

Lighting:

  • Low key/ often tinted
  • red/white/blue + green (American theme)

Characters:

  • Lovers/ A character as an obstacle to overcome.

Editing:

Differs vastly between each film
  • Badlands - classical/slow paced
  • Natural Born killers - experimental/ energetic/ frenetic

SectionC Natural Born Killers

Section C Natural Born Killers











Natural Born Killers

Directed by: Oliver Stone


Budget: $34million


Box Office: $61,615,296


Natural Born Killers is a 1994 American crime-action film about two victims of traumatic childhoods who became lovers and mass murderers, and are irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.

Stars

Woody Harrelson

Woody Harrelson is an American actor and activist. His breakout role came in the television sitcomCheers as bartender Woody Boyd. Some notable film characters include basketball hustler Billy Hoyle in White Men Can't Jump, a crippled bowler in Kingpin, serial killer Mickey Knox in Natural Born Killers,Haymitch Abernathy in The Hunger Games, and Merritt McKinney in Now You See Me



Juliette Lewis

Juliette Lewis is an American actress and singer. She gained fame for her role in Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake of the thriller Cape Fear for which she was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. This followed with major roles in What's Eating Gilbert GrapeNatural Born KillersStrange DaysThe Evening StarKaliforniaFrom Dusk Till Dawn, andThe Other Sister. Her work in television has resulted in two Emmy nominations.


Lewis launched a career as a singer and musician, leading the American rock band, Juliette and the Licks, until 2009 when she launched a solo career


  



The film is based on a screenplay by Quentin Tarantino that was heavily revised by Stone with writer Dave Veloz and associate producer Richard Rutowski. Notorious for its violent content, the film was named the eighth most controversial film of all time by Entertainment Weekly in 2006.

  • Natural Born Killers was promoted with such taglines as: "A bold new film that takes a look at a country seduced by fame, obsessed by crime and consumed by the media" and "In the media circus of life, they were the main attraction." It was released theatrically in the United States on August 26, 1994.


Studio

  • Regency Enterprises
  • Alcor Films
  • New Regency

Distributed by

  • Warner Bros Pictures
  • Lionsgate Films

    



Introduction



Mickey Knox (Woody Harrelson) and his wife Mallory (Juliette Lewis) stop at a roadside café in the New Mexico desert. A group of rednecks  arrive and one begins sexually harassing Mallory. She briefly encourages him before beating him to a pulp. Mickey and Mallory then murder all but one of the diner's patrons, culminating in a morbid game of Eeny meeny, miny, moe to decide who lives and who dies. After executing the waitress Mabel, the couple ensures that the only survivor remembers their names (which is their modus operandi) before they embrace and declare their undying love. Note that Owen Traft, participant in later scenes and an alternative ending to the movie, is in the roadside café and fades out before the "action" occurs.

Low budget british film


Low Budget British Film

Low Budget British Film - The inbetweeners movie


                                                                                                                                                                                
Budget:£3.5milliom
Box office: £57,699,138
Release date: 17th August 2011 (uk)



Stars:  Simon Bird           
Simon Bird is an English actor, and comedian. He is best known for playing Will McKenzie in the BAFTA-winning E4 sitcom The inbetweeners, and for playing Adam Goodman in the Channel 4 Comedy Friday night Dinner.
 Bird set up the sketch comedy group "The House of Windsor" with Joe Thomas (who plays Simon) ]They performed at the Edinburgh Festival in 2007 and in 2008 with a show called The Meeting, described as a site-specific comedy installation set in an actual boardroom, which received national media attention and a clutch of five-star reviews.
He won the 2008 British Comedy award for Best Male Newcomer and the 2009 British comedy award for Best Actor and Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme at the 2009 BAFTA awards.

 
James Buckley
 
 James Buckley is an English actor and musician, best known for his role as Jay Cartwright in the British comedy series The inbetweeners.
 
His stage credits include the West End musical Les Miserables as Gavroche and Whistle down the wind as Clarence. As well as The inbetweeners, The inbetweeners movie, and Rock and chips, Buckley's other credits include an episode of Skins and episodes of The Bill, Holby City and Teachers.
Buckley received a BAFTA nomination for his role in The Inbetweeners
 

 
 
 
Blake Harrison
 
 Blake Harrison is an English actor, best known for playing Neil Sutherland in the E4 comedy The inbetweeners.
Blake starred in three series and a subsequent film of the multi-award winning comedy The Inbetweeners'. Harrison's other television work includes the BBC Three Comedy Way to go , Comedy Central's Big Bad World 'The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff, and The Bill.

 
Joe Thomas
 
 Joe Thomas is an English actor best known for his role as Simon Cooper in the E4 sitcom The Inbetweeners Thomas recently  appeared as Kingsley Owen in the Channel 4 comedy-drama seriesFresh Meat.
 
Genre
 
A British coming-of- age comedy film based on the E4 sitcom The inbetweeners. Due to the film being based on a popular sitcom on E4 the fan base is already there for the film, so there was a much more confidence knowing it wouldn't be a flop.
 
Production company (studio)
 
Film4 Productions
Bwark Productions
Young Films
 
Certificate
 
The film was rated a 15 however controversially the series was an 18. This could suggest by lowering the rating and cutting out some inappropriate scenes that  it would attract a larger audience, To add to that because the film was released in August, the summer holidays, the seasonal demand would be at a peak for families and teenagers, so the lower the rating the more viewers they would get at that period of time.
 
Marketing
 
How was it marketed?
 
The inbetweeners film was marketed to the British public through teaser trailers in order to generate hype and generate excitement to get the target audience talking!
Film posters were created because they built up the films popularity by integrating them into the audiences lifestyle. For example at bus stops and billboards.

Why was it marketed?

 The inbetweeners movie was marketed in order to promote the film and attract its target audience so that it can be successful across media platforms. If it wasn't marketed then the consumer would not have been known to the product.
The role of the marketing development: Create visibility, generate a word of mouth, demonstrate a good use of internet and produce the trailers. E.g social network sites such as twitter can be used as a low budget to market the film.

Rewards: The Inbetweeners Movie has picked up best comedy at the Empire Film Awards.

Reviews

Empire: 'Like any holiday, it is episodic and suffers from repetition but this is gag-for-gag the funniest film of the summer and a fitting end to a much-loved series. So long boys, it's been great to know you.'   -  was given 4stars ( reviewed by Ian Freer)

The Guardian  'It sticks to the Brit-holiday-abroad template, but the gag rate is high in this TV sitcom spin-off'. - was given 3 stars ( reviewed by Steve Rose)