Madichi's Blog: Film

To what extent does your film experiment with conventions of narrative and genre? Pulp Fiction was made in 1995 directed by Quentin Tarentino. It has many tropes from various genres including: noir, crime, action and comedy. It could be classed as an experimental film as the narrative is out of order. As well as that, there are three different stories being told at once- Jules and Vincent's story, Vincent and Mia's story and Butch's story. Later Pumpkin and Honey Bunny's story is added in to inter-twine with Jules and Vincent.  The interweaving of Tarantino’s three stories puts a spin on the commonly used linear structure for films and presents it in an interesting way that allows themes of chance to dictate the narrative. An example of how this plot structure creates interesting results is with Vincent who is killed in one scene in the movie only to reappear again in the final scene. This has the ability to confuse the audience whilst also engage them an

Pan's Labyrinth The opening scene in Guillermo del Toro's 'Pan's Labyrinth' changes the common narrative structure. At first we are immediately given the setting of the film with the time and date of the film. It then has writing giving some more contextual information. The film itself starts with a close up panning shot of a young girl's dying body.  There is a hint that this takes place at the end of the narrative as we see blood going back up into her nose almost as if time is being reversed. The film then cuts to a very long, wide shot of the Underworld. Del Toro has many scenes like these in the openings of his movies showing the realism that he wishes to show in these magical worlds. The world is portrayed as dark and gritty yet well-built. The camera then rises towards a light until it goes above ground showing the real world. The first thing we see is the ruins of an old building. This use of mise-en-scene can convey that the real world, our world

Very Rough Coursework idea The main synopsis of the short film. A person who is leaving home. Spends his last day with a few close friends. Here he reminisces about the good times he has spent over the years. . Scene 1: The film would most likely start in a house with a group of friends hanging out, playing video games etc. The characters are shown conversing however the dialogue is mute. However, there will be a sad song in the background. It is not immediately clear that the main character is leaving home. It will be made to look like just another day. However, I want the main character to walk out of the room, look back and there is close up of his face as he smiles. Scene 2: Friends saying goodbye. Here there will be a few lines of dialogue included. Fades from person to person. Top down shot of person walking away emphasises a building distance between characters. Scene 3: Main character goes in a car and is driven off.   

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Jurassic World is an adventure and science-fiction film released in 2018. It is a sequel to Jurassic World and the 5th film in the Jurassic World franchise. It was distributed by Universal Studios and Amblim entertainment- Stephen Spielberg's production company. After the fatal events of the last film, we return to the park for another Jurassic film. This time, returning characters Claire ( Bryce Dallas Howard ) and Owen ( Chris Pratt ) have to return to the abandoned park in order to save the remaining dinosaurs from an exploding volcano. Unlike the previous Jurassic World film, it relies less on nostalgia to the original 1993 Jurassic Park film. It tries to be its own story. However, I did notice some scenes that mirrored the previous one- mainly at the beginning of the film.  Fallen Kingdom  does initially seem very different to the others,with the human characters attempting to rescue the dinosaurs instead of running from them. That is un

Representation of women in 'Timbuktu'  Timbuktu is a 2014 independent film set in the Malian city, Timbuktu. It features people's lives being shown as the city is overrun by Jihadi soldiers. One of the main themes of the film is the treatment of women. The representation of women in the film is fairly strong considering the regime that they are being forced to live under. They are mostly seen as strong-willed and able to speak their minds. One women, who is forced to work selling fish, stands up to a soldier after he tries to force her to wear gloves. She argues that it is not possible to do her work and wear gloves simultaneously. The fact that she has the courage to stand up to him shows a change in what would usually be shown. Even though she is taken away as a result, she still shouts at the soldier and does not leave reluctantly. Another strong female character seen in the film is a mother of a girl who has been asked by a stranger to marry him. At first she t

Weekly film: Deadpool 2 Deadpool 2 is an action, comedy, superhero film that was directed David Leitch (John Wick, Atomic Blonde) and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The main theme of the film (as described by Deadpool himself) is about family. It was released on May 18th 2018 The film focuses on the new characters much more than the old characters, which is understandable as it focused more on Deadpool's X-Force team rather than the X-Men. Still, I would have liked to see a bit more of Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead in the middle of the film. There are plenty of new characters in the film including: Cable played by Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men), a hard as nails time-traveller, Domino played by Zazie Beetz a mutant who possesses the power of being lucky and Peter a regular person "with the power of type one and type two diabetes" who is there because he "just saw the ad".  One character from the first film that got more screen-time

Weekly Film: Avengers: Infinity War Avengers: Infinity War is a film released in 2018 by Marvel. It is directed by Joe and Anthony Russo who also directed two other films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Captain America 2 and 3. The film is a huge culmination of 18 films and 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It contains themes of: love, loss, power and sacrifice. As with the previous entries it is distributed by Walt Disney Studios. It had 2 unique selling points. The first is that Infinity War marks the first time that a feature-length movie has been filmed entirely on IMAX cameras. The 2nd is that the directors promised that several characters will be killed off which was something that fans wanted due to the argument that the films lack stakes if characters always survive. There are over 40 main characters in this film with pretty much every superhero from previous films making a return. These include: The Avengers, The Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-man, Doc

Compare how far the actions of the main characters are influenced by the times in which the American film you have studied were made (Casablanca,Kurtiz/ Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee). 'Casablanca' and 'Do the right Thing' both contain themes that strongly affected the world at the time: World War 2 and racial injustices respectively. Casablanca, despite being set in 1941, was made in 1942. These films both contain characters that likely contain the viewpoints of the director and go with the message that they are trying to portray. For example, in Rick's bar the French people stood up to the Germans by singing the national anthem. As a result of this, it could be classed as war propaganda like many of the 1940s noir films were. Another comparison between the two films are the character arc that the main characters (in this case Rick and Mookie) go through.  They both start off as introverts who mainly worry about themselves. However as the plot unfolds ther

Character Creation 17 year old boy Student  Lives in modern-day London with his dysfunctional family Witnesses parents arguing a lot Has a few friends but is overall an introvert  Fights on behalf of sibling. Agile as he did gymnastics in the past Dealing with a surge of gang violence in the area People do not feel safe on the streets When sister is attacked, takes matters into his own hands Learns how to fight for 3 years Joins a team of people who fight for the same cause. Weakness: when beaten he lacks self-esteem and the ability to carry on Questions his role in life Struggles to find the line between good and evil

Ready Player One Ready Player One is a science fiction film that was directed and produced by Steven Spielberg (E.T., Jurassic Park) and distributed by Warner Bros Pictures. It is based on a highly successful book written in 2011 by American author which became a New York Times bestseller and won multiple awards. It is set in a near future in the year 2045. The film contains themes of escapism due to all the characters choosing to spend most of their time in a virtual-reality landscape rather than the real world. The film follows Wade Watts, who is portrayed by Tye Sheridan (X-Men Apocalypse), an avid gamer who spends the majority of his time in the OASIS, a virtual world in which players can be whoever they want, whenever they want. When the creator of the OASIS, James Halliday (Mark Rylance, The BFG), dies he leaves behind a hidden Easter egg that players have to find in order to inherit his company.  This leads Wade's avatar Perzival and his clan to go through 3 differe

Film theories and Shaun of the Dead Propp theory: Propp's theory of narrative is that it is driven by 8 characters. The Hero, villain, princess father, dispatcher, donor, false hero and sidekick. This works for Shaun of the Dead as each character could fall into these brackets. Shaun is the obvious hero, Ed is the obvious sidekick and it could be said that the villains are the zombies themselves. Liz is the princess character as she is the typical love interest. Yvonne could be described as the helper or the donor character due to her help in the narrative. Dave is the false hero which is primarily seen in the middle of the film where he tries to shoot Shaun's mother after the revelation that she has been bitten by a zombie as well as when it is revealed that he is in love with Liz. The story is driven by these characters and how they respond to zombies attacking them. Barthes theory: Narratives are a series of codes that are read and interpreted by the audience. These

'We Need To Talk About Kevin' Analysis We Need To Talk About Kevin is a psychological drama film directed by Lynne Ramsey. It contains themes of mental health. It was adapted from a book written by Lionel Shriver. The BBC got the rights to the film in 2005 and started developing the film form there. However the film took 5 years to make, with filming commencing in 2010 and the whole film eventually being released at the Cannes film festival in April 2011 and released theatrically on 21st October 2011. There are three main characters in the film. These are Eva, the mother portrayed Tilda Swinton (Doctor Strange), Franklin, the father portrayed by John C. Reilly (Step Brothers) and Kevin, the troubled son played by Ezra Miller (Justice League). Despite Kevin being the titular character, the film is taken from the mother's perspective and how she deals with her son's actions. Colour is used quite often in the film, particularly the colour red which symbolises

Weekly Film: A Wrinkle in Time A Wrinkle in Time is a fantasy, adventure film directed by Ava DuVernay, famous for the multi-award winning film Selma. The film  had a budget exceeding $100 million, making her the first African-American woman to direct a live-action film with a budget of that size. Despite the main character being portrayed by child actor Storm Reid, the marketing department chose to focus on established actors: Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kaling and Reese Witherspoon's involvement. The film is based on a novel written in 1962 by Madeleine L'Engle.  The film contains themes of self-belief and has the clear binary opposites of light vs dark, good vs evil.  It consists of main character, Meg Murray embarking on an adventure to try and find her missing father  whilst trying to avoid the dark entity known as the IT. They are accompanied by the three Mrs: Who, Which and Whatsit. To be honest the Mrs do not exactly help her at all doing little to actually help M

Industry news: Spielberg's Netflix claim Widely known and praised director Steven Spielberg has recently stated that he believes that films made for Netflix do not deserve to win Oscars. Spielberg, who is famous for making films such as E.T and Jurassic Park, told ITV news that he does not believe that they should be qualified for an award that is made to celebrate films that have been released in cinemas. As Netflix was created initially as a TV streaming site, he believes that their original films should count as TV movies and instead be nominated for Emmy's (the awards for TV shows) stating that 'once a director commits to a television format, then it should be considered a television movie'. In recent years, Netflix and other streaming services has become more and more popular and have been blamed as one of the reasons for the recent downfall of people who are going to the cinema. One of Netflix's original movies 'Ojka' premiered at the Cannes

Under the Skin: Character analysis The woman in Under the Skin portrayed by Scarlett Johansson is meant to be a mysterious figure whose intentions are not quite clear to the audience. At the start of her film, we see her repeatedly lure men into her van and then her house in order to seduce and have sex with them. The reasoning behind it are unexplained leaving the audience to have to imagine and assume an answer for themselves. Throughout the film the character is cold and emotionless; that gives her an inhuman-like persona. However, she is clearly portrayed as approachable as many people are able to walk up to her and converse with her without feeling uncomfortable or on edge. The conversations that she has with people are simple and quiet and it is clear that they are kept on her terms. She is always the dominant figure in the relationships and has a powerful status over the types of men that she meets, who are usually hitchhikers, wanderers or people who would not be missed i

Industry news: Black Panther's record breaking Black Panther was a highly anticipated film by Marvel Studios directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Chadwick Boseman. It was the first mainstream superhero film with a predominantly Black cast. Because of this many people saw this as more than a film, but as a sign of cultural appreciation. The American ticket monitoring service Fandango reported that within its first 24 hours, ticket pre-sales for the film were the largest ever for a Marvel film. By the time the film was released it was 4th of all time only losing out to the 3 recent Star Wars films. The film was released in the USA on February 16th, however many countries got it sooner such as the UK, where it was released on February 13th. In the UK, it received the highest opening day box-office of 2018 so far, gaining £2.67 million in its first 24hours. But it didn't stop there!   In the US it grossed $75.81 million in its first 24 hours which is the 2nd largest ope

Fish Tank Analysis Fish Tank was an Independent British drama released in 2009. It was written and directed by Andrea Arnold known for the short Oscar-Winning film 'Wasp'. The film contains themes of isolation, poverty and rape/grooming. It follows a working class family living in a council estate around East London.  The film shows the life of 15 year old Mia (played by Katie Jarvis), a girl who feels alone and distant from the rest of her family.  There is a scene in which she is seen in a dark room looking out of a large window at the brightly lit world outside looks as if she is inside a fish tank. This can show that she feels trapped and alone in a glass cage. This was Katie Jarvis' first acting role. It also stars Michael Fassbender as Conor, her mum's new boyfriend. At first the audience is encouraged to like him as he is the only character who Mia opens up to and who supports her dream of dancing. However, when he grooms and takes advantage of her, th

'Choose Life' meanin g Out of all the characters in the 'Trainspotting' book, Danny Boyle chooses to make Mark Renton the character that we- as an audience- go along with. Out of all the characters Renton is the most sympathetic and relatable (within reason). He is the most sensible amongst his friends and the character that actually tries to change his ways and do good. He is also the character that has the biggest arc throughout the narrative as seen by both of his 'Choose Life' monologues at the beginning and end of the film. All the things that he lists in the speech are seen as norms in the average persons life and a load of other things that have connotations to domestic living. However by the end of the opening we see Renton lying on his back smoking, alone in the middle of his empty flat showing that he has not chosen any of these options. He makes this clear by saying 'now why would I want to do a thing like that?' He claims that he has

Marvel's Black Panther Black Panther is an Action Superhero film directed by Ryan Coogler ( Creed ). It stars Chadwick Boseman reprising his role as T'Challa/Black Panther from Captain America: Civil War. Black Panther makes history as it is the first ever superhero movie to have a predominantly black cast. Coogler is also the first black director to work on a Marvel film. The film is mostly based in Africa in the fictional techno-advanced country of Wakanda. The film consists of a lot of panning wide shots in order to show how large the nation is. The outside scenery is also very bright and colourful with many settings standing out such as the African plains and the waterfalls. The mise-en-scene is also very vibrant and the film tries its best not to be too westernised with their clothing. Many of the characters wear traditional African clothing and have traditional tribal symbols. Each member of the cast stands out yet blends together strongly. As well as having a

Looper Looper is an action sci-fi film released in 2013 starring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon Levitt. It contains themes of crime, time travel and running from a past.  It was directed by Rian Johnson, who work includes Brick and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The film has two different actors playing the same character: as an older and younger version. Bruce Willis portrays an older Joe whilst Joseph Gordon-Levitt portrayed a younger Joe. In order to make his role as a younger Willis more realistic Levitt studied Willis' older films to pick up his mannerisms. I would definitely say that Levitt's character is the most intriguing in the entire film due to his great portrayal and interesting ideals. Looper was made on a budget of $30 million and managed to gain over $176 million at the worldwide box office. It received exceptional reviews by critics and audiences earning a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.4/10 rating on IMDB. It won multiple awards that mainly praised Johnso

Trainspotting Analysis Opening The first minute of Trainspotting jumps straight into the action showing the main characters running through the streets of Edinburgh. The camera is shaky and the characters run towards it whilst it runs away. The scene is accompanied by 1970s rock music. The first character we see is the main one: Renton. When we see him he is portrayed to be young, reckless and carefree. He is hit by a car and looks directly into the camera looking eye to eye with the audience. The audience is meant to feel uneasy as Renton just laughs maniacally. There is a freeze-frame of his face accompanied by his name as if this is summing up his character . The opening of Trainspotting subtley introduces all 5 main characters' personalities through a game of football. The way that each character plays the game shows what kind of person they are. For example, Begbie is a plays dirty fouling the opposition showing that he is the cruelest in the group. Like Renton, all

Favourite film scenes One of my favourite scenes from a film that I think would be suitable and not too difficult to recreate is the Joker interrogation scene from The Dark Knight. I like it due to the harsh realism of it in a type of movie that audiences would not usually consider realistic. 

Baby Driver Analysis Baby Driver is an action, comedy film released in 2017 starring Ansel Elgort. It contains themes of crime, relationships and trying to leave an old life behind. It was directed by Edgar Wright, someone who has been known to do comedic films in the past such as Shaun of the Dead and Ant Man. The opening of the film relies heavily on its soundtrack which is impressively synchronised into what is happening in the narrative. This use of intertexuality is quite nostalgic to a certain period of time (the 80s). Colour is subtley used throughout the film reflecting a characters personality. At parts of the film where the main character, Baby, was living for the thrill of the chase, the environment is very bright and sunny. The settings mise-en-scene includes tall buildings and fast cars, things commonly associated with a rich and satisfying lifestyle. However at points when he is feeling low and trapped he is seen in darker settings. I would not considered