Title Sequence

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

Plot Summary

Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber) saved his fellow soldiers after his army unit was ambushed during the first Gulf War. His commanding officer Captain Bennett Marco (Denzel Washington), was knocked unconscious. Shaw becomes a vice-presidential candidate and Marco becomes a Major who is constantly dreaming of what happened or didn't happen in the war. He investigates to the point where he questions if any of it happened. Is it possible the army unit was brainwashed to believe Shaw is a war hero as part of a plan to takeover the White House? The Manchurian Global corporation appear desperate to stop him from finding out.

Liev Schreiber - Sergeant Raymond Shaw

Denzel Washington - Captain Bennett Marco

I've chosen to look a short clip from the movie which is Marco being interrogated by government officials and police.

The camera angle is tilted almost portraying the pressure and madness of this intense situation. However Marco stays calm under pressure rising above it. The shots put us in the room as if we are looking at this interrogation ourselves and the slow methodic music builds up the pressure of the scene, so when Marco punches the officer us as the audience are shocked as it was unexpected.

FilmFour Film - Slumdog Millionaire

It is adapted from the novel 'Q&A' by an Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup. It is completely set and filmed in India. The story is about a young man named Jamal Malik from the slums of India, who exceeds expectations in the Indian version of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'. Many officials are suspicious that he may have cheated to do so well.

Director - Danny Boyle

He won a number of awards for the movie including the Academy Award for Best Director. He was also the Artistic Director for the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony called the Isles of Wonder. The first movie he directed was 'Shallow Grove' and was commercially successful in  1995 and this led to the production of 'Trainspotting' based on a novel by Irvine Weslh.

Producer - Christian Colson

He received a number of awards for the movie, including the Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA Award. Other movies he has produced are The Descent, Separate Lives, Eden Lake, The Descent Part 2, Centurion, 127 Hours and Trance.

Scriptwriter - Simon Beaufoy

He won the Acdemy Award for best Adapted Screenplay, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award. He has recently adapted Thr Raw Shark Texts, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and Full Monty. He also worked with Christian Colson on 127 Hours.

Analysing a Film Poster

Blumler and Katz (1974) - Uses and Gratification Theory

Surveillance - Becoming aware, informed and educated about the world around them

Personal identity - shaped by hating/relating to specific characters.

Personal relationships - with the media and with people about what happened in the media.

Diversion - escape and entertainment

Editing

Different Editing Transitions

• Cut
• Fade
• Dissolve
• Wipe
• Digitals effects
• Match cut

Cut

an instant change from one shot to the next.
Cuts are used in Michael Jackson's Don't Care About Us video, throughout the video:

Wipe

one shot replaces another by travelling from one side of the frame to another
Paris When it sizzles uses Wipes to cut into the story during the credits:

Fade

Fades the shot to a single colour, usually black or white. The "fade to black" and "fade from black" are ubiquitous in film and television. They usually signal the beginning and end of scenes.
At the begiining Fade is used to show his face:

Disolve

a gradual fade from one shot to the next

Digital effects

effects include colour replacement, animated effects, pixelization, focus drops, lighting effects

Match Cuts

Cut between either two different objects, two different spaces, or two different compositions in which objects in the two shots are similar in some way.
2001 A Space Odyssey - match cut of the bone then cutting to a ship: