Face Off Essay

At the beginning of the scene there is an establishing shot from a high angle which shows us where the characters and the scene is taking place, this shot has shown us that this particular scene is taking place in a warhorse that is stocked with jets and parts which appear to be weapons or from the military.

During the action sequence in Face Off the camera switches between a hand held camera for John Travolta and a stationary dolly for Nicolas Cage's character. This shows us that Travolta's character is nervous and unsteady compared to Cage's character who is portrayed as composed and confident.Throughout the scene there are hints of blue lighting which tells us there is a cold chemistry and sour history between the two characters, this also shows the distance between Travolta and cage's characters. The blue tint to the lighting is also contrasting the the fast moving and explosive atmosphere during the fight scene. 

This extreme close up on this characters eyes shows that there is a stand of between the two characters and that a feud or battle is about to commence, Nicolas Cage's character appear to wear a red suit with a dark red silk shirt, this implies that this character is dangerous and violent, contrariwise the red could foreshadow the characters death or that he is about to be injured or partake in bloodshed.

While these two characters have guns hold to their faces the camera does a 180° turn from a birds eye view angle which shows how these characters are now an arms distance away from each other, this shot is very calm even though it is a very intense situation, this shows how calm and collected the character are and how they're a-custom to this type of situation.

There is a close up shot of the knife Nicolas Cage's character is holding to show the impeding danger for Travolta's character. We see Cage take the knife out of the back of his belt, this tells us that his character is very prepared and knows what to expect in a fight him bringing knife to a gun fight shows us that he knows that if he looses his gun or runs out of bullets he has a back up plan.

During this face off scene the background behind Cage's character is a tunnel this foreshadows where he will end up at the end of the scene, also the background behind Travolta's character is the rest of the warehouse which shows us he will be the one to walk away. Also the fact that the jet is in the same shot foreshadows how Cage's character will get to the back of the tunnel.

At the end of the film the focus shifts from Travolta's face to Cage's unconscious face which implies that the situation has not been resolved and that these to characters will once again be caught up in conflict. Also the last sot of the scene s an over shoulder shot of Cage which looks through the bars he is leaning on, earlier on in the scene the two characters talk about jail, the view of the  bars makes it look like Cages's character is in jail and what was said has come a reality.

The mixture of fast paced movement and certain slow motion shots create a contrast between the scenes. The slow motion shots add dramatic tension to the scene and add emphasis on certain moments. For example when Travolta’s character leaps over an extra the scene is plummeted into slow motion, this shows us how this move insignificant to this fit scene and tells us how Travolta’s character has jumped head first into a face to face gun fight with Cages’ character and there is no longer any back up to help him or his opponent.

This scene in all makes me feel on edge, you constantly question the lives of these two characters and weather they will survive this particular encounter. the dramatic atmosphere attracted me to continue watching the scene. The closing shot to the scene made me think into the future of this story line and weather Nicolas Cage's character has died or he will make a forceful comeback. On the other hand i fine this scene stereotypical it has the same camera angles and action hots you would normally fine in a sequence like this, there are no surprises in this scene and it doesn't stand out over other action and fast pace scenes.

Film Noir and horror.

The name ‘film noir’ has the literal meaning of ‘dark’ or ‘black film’. This originated from the 1940’s and early 1950’s where French critics often characterised horror films by cynicism and pessimism, they were also often set within an oppressive urban world of crime.

Horror films generally have twisted points of view that show a main protagonist who is distant and cut off from the rest of civilisation. Common themes of dark films consist or dark shadows and spirits that are linked to the main protagonist, a perverted love and the extinction of unnatural or ‘unholy’ forms and spirits. Through-out the horror genre the directors of the films tend to dominate most of the scenes with shadows and low-key lighting which adds suspicions and an overall theme of darkness to the picture, creating an obscure Mise-en-scène and a feeling of anticipation for the viewer.

In the 2014 film Unfriended director Levan Gabriadze (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q72LWqCx3pc) used; close ups and extreme close ups to emphasise that the teenagers in the film were confronting the poltergeist of their former friend. Through-out the movie the overall space of the shots and the back space is tight and small which presents the audience with the notion that there is no escape and the teenagers are being suffocated by their past.

The film is shot as if you are looking at the computer screen of one of the main protagonists (the girl to the left). Due to the primary camera being stationary on the screen of the computer it causes the audience to feel trapped within the first person perspective of the character and feel as though they are trapped in the technological world these teens were sucked into.

 (This shows what the audience saw through the majority of the film)

The instability of the webcams depicts the idea of these teenagers’ lives being extremely unstable and that they seem to have no control over what happens to them even though they believe they do.

Many films in the horror genre use a mix of diegetic and non-diegetic sound. This represents what is real and what is make believe. For example someone may scream which is diegetic sound, this shows how their fear is real and they are genuinely scared. An example of non-diegetic sound would be loud bangs or music that ascends in volume when something bad is about to happen, this shows how the horrific part of the film is false and not necessarily real.

Directors commonly use camera shots like tracking or pans. Tracking allows the audience to travel alongside the action of the specific subject, this is commonly used in horror films to follow alongside someone running or to follow a person/creature. They also use camera shot like pa and tilt, pan allows you to see the whole scene and create a foundation for what is going on. A tilt can be used to portray the fact any of the situations I horror are show how un-sustainable the lives of the characters are.

 

 

Induction Tasks

AS FILM STUDIES

JURASSIC PARK ESSAY

 The movie franchise of Jurassic Park has become rewound by the world for its leaps in the world of CGI. Although the first Jurassic Park film was released in 1993, the special effects gave an impeccable performance which turned the lost childhood dream of dinosaurs into a new and very real nightmare. As you could guess once the news that a new film (Jurassic world) was joining the series the internet sprung into action and decided whether adding to a perfect series would do bad or good. Many say that Jurassic world became a smash box office success due to the extremely high expectations set by the original series, so even if people when into the cinema expecting Jurassic World to fail as a sequel they were still adding to its outstanding ratings. The people that are cast in a film can really call attention to the whole project and casting Chris Pratt (a star that has found himself in the limelight) as the raptors ring leader Owen was a cleaver move on casting part. Having Chris Pratt who is a lovable and goofy character in himself caused a lot of attention to be turned towards this new film as being a star of many other box office hits can create a positive buzz for a new movie. Alongside and all-star cast and the backing of an already successful franchise people were excited to see the new and re-made dinosaurs. No matter your age witnessing something prehistoric and extinct come to life of the screen in front of you is a spectacle and can even encourage you to believe these magnificent creatures are not the world of a fantastic CGI team but the work of pure magic.

For me I believe that a film’s success is not measured by its feedback and the public reaction. A film can be one of the highest grossing films ever to surface but if the people watching the film can’t stand it then in a whole it’s neither successful nor popular.

On the other hand many disagree and say that a film’s success if measured by its box office rating. Even if the film it widely hated people will still watch it rather because they want to know why people hate it or because they’re a genuine fan of the film; for example Twilight, even though the franchise is rewound for being hated and the butt of every joke it still has a strong fan base and has become a household name. When it comes down to it what makes a film successful is the story line and quality of how it is being made, if a film is poor quality or does not live up to its genre then it will be very difficult to become successful, also I believe in its own way every film can be successful whether its successful for having a supreme music score, incredible CGI, the world’s best actors or even the worst it still gets well known for one of its aspects.

AS FILM STUDIES

PAPER TOWNS ESSAY

For me there is no question that Paper Towns was my favorite film of summer 2015. I have always been a person in love with film and books just the same; in fact John Green the author of the Paper Towns Novel is one of my favourite Authors. John Greens books explore the more ‘real’ side of coming of age stories. He’s not afraid of exploring hard hitting real life issues, such as; terminal diseases, disappearances and deaths at a young age.

Obviously in any teen flick there is a love story, Q has loved Margo ever since she moved into the house across the road when they were little, she always been a mystery (“Margo liked mysteries so much she became one”) They haven’t talked in years until one night she crawls in through his window and whisks him off on a night of revenge and childish pranks. When Margo disappears the next morning Q is left puzzled by the clues left buy his young love. Constantly through this movie you ask yourself the question of whether Q will ever find Margo. He sets of on a road trip with his quirky group of friends for a 26 hour car ride, but as his friends begin to evolved around him he remains the same. The ending to this film was a compromise there was no big movie ending where the guy gets the girl or he sees dead people, no in this film ending the outcome was much like real life and how at the age of these troublesome teens we don’t really change in who we are and the events that happen don’t necessarily cause shifts in our personality.

Throughout this film you pick up on the ‘Easter eggs’ left by john green and the messages he portrays in his writing about how the youth have a more unique way of looking about the worlds and how in reality they’re a lot more clever than they look. Alongside this a lot of people an relate to this film and how it shows that youths do have very real problems and issues within their life and this can draw them to do indescribable things, it shows an important message that even thought you listen to children you never actually hear them.

Paper towns has been my favorite  film of the summer due to dynamic way in which it shows the issues that face teenagers, children and the young adults of today’s struggling society whether it be; bullying, social supremacy, depression, identity issues or even young love. I believe the ending of Paper Towns reveals something very true and saddening about the reality of today, in that very leap you take in life will not turn out the way you want and in the end in reality fairy tale endings are extremely unlikely. The non climactic ending to this film can be interpreted many different ways whether it be that nothing is at it seems, not everyone has a happy ending or that in reality nobody changes, this has to be the best part about the film for me, that anyone can interpret john greens work in their own way, and that the message portrayed is different for every person watching,