Media Studies : Research (coursework)

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

Skyfall (2012) Review

Personally I am a big fan of Daniel Craig especially in his portrayal as Bond. He personifies the cool and suave nature of the character. This story forces the British action hero to dig deep into his past and overcoming it. This also applies to M (Judi Dench) who's past comes back to haunt her. I quite enjoyed this movie as much like many of the iconic Bond moments in the past, it has its own once again with its thrilling chases and fight sequences. The only one bad thing I would say is about the cheesy one liners, that the characters came out with, which were unrealistic and sometimes pointless. Javier Bardem who played the villain Silva was fantastic, a bi-sexual and twisted but clever man. He stays one step ahead in the movie but loses out to the hero which is of course James Bond. There is a shocking twist to the movie but I won't ruin it for you if you haven't seen it. Overall a great movie, with lots of amazing Bond scenes that you will love if your of course into Bond.

Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist Review

Summary

An ex-policeman Brian O'Conner partners with an ex-convict Dom Toretto by breaking Dom out of police custodyalongwith his sisterMia Toretto. All three are now on the run and have flown to many defferent borders to escape the police. They end up trapped inR io de Janeiro, so they have to do one last job in order to get themselves the freedomthey so badly want. They put together a team of racers and there only escape is getting to the businessman who wants them all dead. They also have to worry about the Bad Ass federal agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson) who is as sharp and ruthless as they come. He launches an all-out war in Brazil to capture them.

The 'Fast Five' plan on stealing from a druglord called Hernan Reyes. He has Millions of dollars in a giant safe inside a police station, protected by policeman. Dom and his racers steal the dirty money and achieve their freedom, moving to a country with no connections to the USA. Although Luke Hobbs tried his best to stop them, the 'Fast Five'were to much for him.

Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) is broken out of police custody right at the beginning of the movie by his sister and best friend. This in my view is a great way to kick off the fifth installment of the epic action thriller that is 'Fast Five'. Right from the get go, we as an audience are thrown into the movie and immediately I was sitting at the edge of my seat as the use of a car and a moving train made way from an escape from the police for the hero (Dominic) for this movie to begin. The Rock's character Lucke Hobbs for me was the best, he was hard-hitting and trash talking, which made the fight between him and Vin Diesel even better as two guys beating the hell out of each other, what could be better.

They really changed the structure of this movie, as it became less about racing and more about capturing freedom with the use of guns and lots of explosions. It was more the cars were just incorporated to make the movie better but less about the cars. For me as an audience member this made me relate more with the characters and not just look at fancy cars like we did in many other Fast & Furious movies. Of course the movie would be nothing without the gorgeous beach babes and love interests which just make it that much more thrilling to watch. The end escape was extremely clever and is revealed to you after it happens, but I don't want to give to much away. So if your a fan of action thrillers, of big guys beating each other up, of beautiful women and fast cars then this is the movie for you.

Match on Action

Cutting on action or matching on action refers to film editing and video editing techniques where the editor cuts from one shot to the another view that matches the first shot's action.

When Spiderman first gets thrown into the wall it goes from him about to enter into the building to him entering and we as the audience are looking in and it is fluent. This is match on action.

Shot Types

Extreme Wide Shot

The view is so far from the subjects are not visible. Often used as an establishing shot.

VWS (Very Wide Shot)

The subject is visible (barely), but the emphasis is still on placing him in his environment

WS (Wide Shot)

The subject takes up the full frame, or at least as much as comfortably possible. Also known as a long shot or full shot.

MS (Mid Shot)

Shows some part of the subject in more detail while still giving an impression of the whole subject.

MCU (Medium Close Up)

Half way between a MS and a CU

CU (Close Up)

A certain feature or part of the subject takes up the whole frame.

ECU (Extreme Close Up)

The ECU gets right in and shows extreme detail.

Cut-In

Shows some (other) part of the subject in detail

CA (Cutaway)

A shot of something other than the subject

Two-Shot

A shot of two people, framed similarly to a mid shot.

Over-the-Shoulder Shot

Looking from behind a person at the subject

Noddy Shot

Usually refers to a shot of the interviewer listening and reacting to the subject.

POV (Point Of View Shot)

Shows a view from the subject's perspective

Weather Shot

The subject is the weather. Can be used for other purposes, e.g. background for graphics.

Hello Lonesome

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPFHnA0N9xY&safe=active

This movie is a Comedy/Drama about six lonely souls searching for love and learning to receive and give love to that person. The style seems like CGI at most points but on one occasion where you see the building with the cars around it making it look almost real. The realistic nature of the computer generated city highlights how searching for love is also a realistic thing. The font is shown as part of the surroundings not completely taking the attention away from the shots being shown. The camera slowly zooms in before quickly cutting to the next image to draw the audience in, as if every image is important. The sort of bell type music tells me that I am going to be told a story, as it is kind of dream like and no people are in the images, so you are just focusing on the environment. The titles therefore highlight the theme of loneliness as no people are in the shot thus creating the feel for the movie in the first two minutes.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

The genre of this film is an Action/Horror. The idea of using fire throughout the sequence with the drawings of a story clearly symbolized danger and fear, adding to the conventions of a Horror. The newspaper headlines describes the story and already tells the audience the background of the two main characters before the movie starts. The fades and cuts to each headline and images of witches being killed draws you in as it makes you want to find out more. The font is old fashioned reflecting the time period of the film and when it is set.

Se7en

This is a Horror film as the fast cuts and disorientating fades give the feeling of discomfort. The flashes and music draw you in but at the same time confuse you and I am not sure what it is going to happen next. The font constantly changes to different fonts and sizes reflecting the nature of the film. The title: Se7en also makes us think the film is one where the audience has to think and engage to understand the story.

Drive

The Genre of the film is Crime/Drama. As the audience we follow this man on his journey, as he continuously drives in this huge city as the bird's eye view shots show. The font was an italic pink, which juxtaposed the idea of a crime/drama, as pink connotes more lust, and femininity then violence and crime. The dissolves and fades to different shots creates a sort of laid back mood being a part of this characters journey.

Title Sequence that influenced my Main Task

Mr and Mrs Smith

We were mostly influenced by the font and the way each title came up in the sequence. As it was simple yet effective, allowing the action of the scene to continue with the use of a soundbridge when it cuts to black. We encorporated this in our film as it also helped for elliptical editing and skipping unneccessary running by our character Ryan.

Run Lola Run

The slow build up of music is something that we used in our film also as it increases anticipation as to what is going to happen. The rhythm of a clock is used in this film, but in ours we replaced that for a heartbeat because our character Ryan is running from something and it makes it more personal as the audience feel his panic.

Main Task Filming Dates

Friday 8th February

Location: Clissold Park Stoke Newington

Nile filmed long shots of me running past the camera which you see in the film. We also filmed the panning down establishing sahot at the beginning which we kept in the final cut.

Wednesday 13th February

Location: Clissold Park Stoke Newington

Nile riding a bike filmed shots of my feet running to feature right at the beginning of our film to show that my character was actually moving. Also done the shaky cam point of viewshot with myself running with the camera and looking at Nile as I ran past. Tracking shots of the feet were the main shots we tried to get in.

Friday 15th February

Loction: Stamford Hill

Nile filmed me running inside the house doing the match on action through both sets of doorsand running up the stairs to the flat.while inside we filmed my dialogue using the pag lights that we brought with us. We filmed the knocking of the hand on the door and my reaction shot whenopening the door. We left out the establishing shot of the block of flats as we thought that it wasn't needed in the final cut. At first we had the sister of Ryan involved, but as the sound quality was bad and it took the attention away from Ryan. Therefore we took her out in the final cut and instead just had Ryan calling for her. I decided to have the villain/chaser remain anonymous as it created suspense in the movie typical to the conventions of an Action Thriller.

Props

tracksuit e.g trainers, tracksuit bottoms
Gloves for the Villain/Chaser
Keys to get into the estate and house

Weather on our filming days:

Son of the Law Screening and Feedback

The Making of the Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchange a couple of lines of dialogue. This task demonstrates match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule. Roles in the group Director/Actor - Daniel Cinematographer - Charlie Editor/Actor - Brolin Storyline An informer is late to see his boss for a job, he goes to his meeting and walks into his bosses office and they have a sit down, while the boss is powerful and commands the scared informer. The informer then leaves taking up the task he has been given. Script Props and objects Desk and two Chairs Computer Watch Storyboard iv class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"> imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">

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