Case study - The day the earth stood still

This film is a new release as of 12/12/08, this film is a modern day war of the worlds and a remake of the 1951 "the day the the earth stood still".

The 1951 version the box office results in rentals of the film was around $1,850,000 in USA alone.
The box office results for the first weekend is a gross to date of $30.5 million in the USA and is now at the top of the chart for box office. These recent results from IMDB.com show that as of the 12/12/08 this film is now beating the Quatum of Solace rating at just $3.72 million at the present time- http://www.imdb.com/chart/ . However the day the earth stood still is still not beating the box office results for the Quatum of Solace in its opening weekend.

However in UK cinemas, Madagascar 2 is at the top and the day the earth stood still is second, according to the guardian film site. The UK box office results for the day the earth stood still is roughly around £ 3 million pounds in its opening weekend. Where as Madagacar 2 is rougly around £10 million - http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2008/dec/16/uk-box-office-analysis

Since the film is a remake the older generatiopn who watched that film is likely to go and see this one. The older generation are not the only ones however who are interested. The younger generation today who are interested in sci fi film are likely to be interested too. The marketing for is coming mostly from trailers and the posters and the internet, mainly through MSN, Bebo, Facebook and other social networking site advertisements and pop ups on the pages.
This film acorrding to a review from the guardian film critic it is a big budget film with big budget stars such as Keanu reeves, Kathy Bates and John Cleese.

Most papers and internet sites have given the film a majority rating of around 6/10 overall.

Film Production and Distrobution Summary

For the power point presentation, I decided to use the new UK bond film Quantum Of Solace and a recent USA film Burn after Reading.



There is so much marketing about the film Quantum of Solace such as trailers, posters, phone and tv adverts etc. The film was directed by Marc Foster who has directed films such as "the kite runner" and "Stranger than fiction". The producer is Babarba Broccoli who has produced the last two Bond films ("Casino royale" and "Die another day").
The younger generation of Bond fans I think are drawn in by the action and the special effects and the marketing scheme of the film (e.g. phones, HD TV advert etc). whereas the older generation of Bond fans are drawn in by the fact that this film was produced by Barbara Broccoli,who has produced the last two Bond films. As well as this the older generation is more interested by the fact that the Bond films have been running and made into films for the past 30-40 years, and the Quantum of Solace may draw in more attention, as according to the reasearch this is the first Bond film not written by Ian Flemming which is what the older genereation grew up reading.

The Bond films are known all over the world and we found that in it's first weekend, it made a gross to date £15,384,217 in it's first weekend! the box office results showed that the film was rated 1st in the top 15 most viewed film in the week of 31st october to the 2nd Novemeber. In America I found that it was shown in 5,900 screens and raked in a gross to date $70.4 million. Even thought Bond orginates from the UK, the US has a wider auidence and population of film fanatics and Bond fans. The reviews from most papers were quite bad however The Times newspaper had a diffrent view-
What makes Marc Forster’s film such an intriguing watch is that this is the first of the 22 Bond movies where the plot flows organically from the last instalment, and Quantum of Solace looks a far stronger picture for this rare continuity.



Burn after reading is a new film made by the US, in the UK the biggest marketing scheme is the facrt that the cast of the film includes many big stars known all over the world, such as George Clooney and Brad Pitt. However in the US, the marketing scheme is slightly wider as the film was directed and written by some of the most famous US directors Joel and Ethan Coen aka "the Coen Brothers". They also made films such as Fargo and O Brother where art thou.
From the reaserech collected, I found that in its 11th week of opening in the US it made a gross to date of $60,029,592 and in the UK it has made a gross to date of $11,167,982 (roughly converted that would be around £ 55, 839,91)
I found that the marketing that appiles mostly to the younger generation is the cast member Brad Pitt as teens and young people have grown up watching his films or appearences on TV. the older generation will be drawn from the fact the George Clooney, Frances MacDormand (who was in the previous Coen Brothers film "Fargo") and John Mallovich (who was recently in Juno, a film aimed mostly at teens).
The film was a success in the US, as it is in the UK as statistics show it was appreciated, however most people did go to see purely because of the Star- studded cast, in british papers it got very good reviews for example-
"THIS comedy begins by zooming in like a satellite camera from outer space down to the corridors of the CIA in Washington.
If that spy camera was to focus on the homes of the Coen brothers instead, it would probably find a mile-long queue of Hollywood stars outside their doors.
Right now there is no other writing and directing team as certain as Joel and Ethan Coen to make an actor hot." - The Sun newspaper.

To conclude, Bond seems to be the most successful film of the two however since Bond has been around alot longer it is understandable. However for a new film Burn after reading is blossoming in box office numbers and still growing much like the Bond film as well.

Evaluation - "The Meeting"

Evaluation

For our sequence we did a police officer and arresting a student for our chosen storyline. We used this because we could use the editing to portray a different meaning for each cut. However we found that the editing intertwines with the cinematography, as for the first shot we didn’t use a cut but a continual shot to give the police officer (me) authority and power in the eyes of the spectator. We used a continual shot because the next part of the “film” is just of me walking and so we used this technique to build on tension and suspense.
The next still of my feet walking we used the edit match on action as in the “film” the camera will go beyond my feet and track along the carpet. It then switches from the carpet I’m on to the carpet Amy’s on. We thought that is was a good technique because it shows a significant link between the two characters, showing that they will meet at some point during the “film”, hence why the title is “The meeting”.
The third edit is when Amy is in the classroom waiting to be arrested. We used a sort of cheat cut as we don’t waste time in actually showing you what time the clock says at first. We used this shot first of Amy looking nervous because it show how scared she is and how much anxiety was built up in her and at this point the spectator still has not idea what’s going on only that there will be a meeting of the two characters.
After this we used a straight cut from Amy to the clock to show that it’s four minutes to one and it forces the audience to conclude that Amy is expecting to be arrested at precisely one o’clock. This cut was used because we knew that it would heighten the sense of suspension and anxiety for the audience.
I think that this fifth cut was the best one as we portrayed that the camera zooms in towards the clock even further then used a graphic match then zoom out to reveal my handcuffs. We used this because the audience will now know that I’m a police officer and Amy is about to be arrested. We used this graphic match because we thought that now we’ve finally given away the plot, the audience will now included in the “film”. This cut yet again links the two characters together, showing that their meeting is evitable and is about to come very soon.
From my handcuffs to my feet used a straight cut because we thought that this will bring the audience back into the confusion they felt to begin with. It creates a feeling of uncertainty because it is prolonging the meeting of the two main characters.
In this cut we used a the transition fade from my feet to the clock showing that its now a few minutes past one, making the audience think that now that I’m late the meeting between the two characters is never going to come and that the film has no purpose what so ever.
Amy looks relieved in the next shot showing making the audience think she is also off the hook. We had this idea from Alfred Hitchcock films because he used the technique that builds up tension only to have nothing happen then suddenly a huge amount of tension is built all at once.
We then used another clear cut straight from Amy to the door handle opening very slowly to build the tension that vanished in the last shot, renewing the sense of anxiety and suspense in the eyes of the spectator.
In this shot, there was a lot of cinematography intertwined with the editing; I thought that this was also one of the best shots because of its cinematic quality. We used a jump cut from the door handle to the point where the door has already been opened so that we didn’t use a time consuming shot of the door actually being pushed open as it wasn’t relevant to the film. In this shot there was a point of view shot as well as both types of depth of field. The shallow depth of field is the door with my hand on it, to place me in the frame, which is from my point of view which gives me the importance in that shot. Amy is in the deep depth of field as she is out of focus and this gives her less authority than me. This shot also shows that the two characters have finally met and the deep and shallow depth of field shows that.
We used another clear cut from the door to Amy’s eyes looking scared, which shows the urgency of the situation and places the spectator in the film again so that they empathise on Amy’s feeling of fright, panic and anxiety.
After this we used a shot reverse shot, between Amy’s eye and mine reflecting on each one of the characters emotions and body language. Amy’s body language is tense showing she’s scared and mine is relaxed but also slightly intimidating because I know I have more power over Amy.
This shot is the continued cut of the shot reverse shot because in the last shot Amy is looking up at me and there is another point of view shot from me. In some way we also used another straight cut because it jumps from my eyes to Amy’s eyes then to my point of view what I’m seeing through my eyes. The “film” then ends on a parallel between the two characters, concluding “The Meeting” between them.

Elephant

Title: Elephant
Director: Gus Van Sant

Setting: USA, 2003

• Tilt shot up to the sky- possible time lapse as it shows day turning into night



• Airel shot following car



• Panning shot following John when he looks down at the damage of the car and then follows him back into the car



• Facial shot of John father, and camera stays on John's Dad whilst they converse



• Shallow depth of field see people in background blurred and people who Elias is talking to stays in focus



• 360 degree panning shot when Elias is taking pictures of the couple



• Small time laspe editing e.g when "Alex" is in the bathroom then we're in the canteen and he pops up again



• Tracking shot following John- always stays at the back of his head



• Close up on John's face when he is on the phone



• Shallow depth of field, John stays in focus on the phone and the teacher stays blurry



• When boys are playing football on the field there is a deep depth of field, boys stay in focus and the people on the far side of the field are carrying on with traininig etc.



• Tracking shot of guy in lifeguard jumper camera satys behind his head



• Spectator is involved in the film following everyone's story from their "memory"



• Sinsister dark lighting suggest sinsiter events will happen



• Slow motion of John playing with the dog- suggests photographic moment significance of some kind to film



• Over the shoulder shot of guy in red jumper then tracking shot in front of him which doesn't usually happen with other characters



• Tracking shot along desk suggests a link between all characters at some point during the film, though at that point so no acknowledgement of each other



• Voices sound distorted when John is alone in the room and when the girl comes over and starts talking- close up shot of John's upset face



• 360 degree panning shot and close up of teachers and students faces in disscussion group



• Shallow depth of field focused on faces not on the background of classroom which is blurred



• Lighting is dark on the couple - something bad coming their way??



• Tracking shot of John again at the back of his head



• 2 boys walking in army get up - mysterious characters?



• Red notebook- significance to film- later find out he is planning the attack



• Colour red used in all shots- jumper, t-shirt, notebook, lights at school, body warmer, trousers- all signify danger



• Tracking shot on all the characters and always stays behind their heads



• Lots of facial shots of all the character at one point or another



• Switches from one story to other- hard to keep up with them - always picked up from whre we left each story. All stories intertwine at some point



• Spectator is always in with each person's lives and personal business- almost as if we are observing them as well



• Zooming in shot of person on laptop- definate significance to the film



• Tilt shot to sky again used for time lapse- bright into dark



• Shallow depth of field- we're focusing on the TV and there are people in a delivery van outside which is blurred



• Deep depth of field- only close ups of the people shooting everyone everything else is blurred



• Use of 3 shades of blue- once when everything was normal (light blue) when dark things were happening (dark blue) and when it ended (normal bluish colour)



• Deep depth of field when shooter is walking towards camera- camera stays where it is perons face is only in focus when he's right in front of the camera



• Photograph- significance to film captures particlaur moments of time

Fargo review

title: Fargo
Director: Joel Cohen "Coen Brothers"
Setting: USA 1996
Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller/Comedy??

Fargo is an excellent piece of film making especially in the sense of Mis-en-scene, the way that the Coen brothers used landscapes, costumes and lighting for significance to the film.
For example the "main" character Jerry, who is introduced at the beginning of the film straight away you see how the colour of his clothes reflect not only his personality but the mood he is in for most of the film. He always wears beige or brown dull coloured suits, shoes and casual clothing, which reflects exactly to his personality, the fact that he is a passive aggressive person, as we see when he is angry he bottles it until he is alone and lets loose, his body language shows that he fades into the background when he's with someone, and that he is quite weak and a pushover. In the end he does himself more harm than good. Marge the Police officer is mainly dressed in her uniform signifies that she is a figure head in the film and "in power" as people call her chief a lot in the film as well. The costumes are also used for impact in The other Boleyn Girl which is the work of director Justin Chadwick, the costumes in this is also used for firgure headed people such as Henry the eighth.
We also see that there is a lot of bland snow landscapes where there is nothing to be seen except for one car on the road, and it relates back to Jerry as we follow his story through out the film, the blandness of the landscape signifies isolation ,which is what Jerry feels constantly, loneliness and vastness which also signifies Marge the police officer's journey towards solving the long line of crime all linked to Jerry. Using landscapes to reflect to characters is also a favourite mis-en-scene aspect of Alfred Hitchcock, especially in North By North West.
The lighting through out the film is also of significance because it mirrors the personality of the characters e.g there is dark light constantly on the "Henchman" they are very dangerous and vicious people and are in on the set up formed by Jerry. The light on Marge the pregnant police officer is quite soft at first to show her delicate state but when she catches one of the henchmen at last, putting his accomplice in the wood chipper the light is bright symbolises triumph as well as power. The lighting to invoke impact to the spectator is also used in Speilberg films a lot particualrly in Jaws, where lighting is usually used to impact sinsism.
The props that are used by the Henchman are quite signifcant as well because both of them never go any where without a gun, which symbolises the fact that they are quite dark people and dangerous as well as sinster. The blonde henchman constantly has a cigarette in his mouth as well which represents the fact that he is either trying to maintain his "tough guy" image or that he is trying to calm his nerves as the situations that he finds himself in are quite stressful and dangerous. The brown haired henchman is the foul mouthed talkative one and he is contantly trying to talk his way out of everything whislt trying to matian his "tough guy" image. Both men's body language and language show that they are dark, sinister people and that they will talk down to anyone that stands in their way.
I think that film making wise this is an excellent film, however my reponse is that this is one of the stranges and most mentally disturbing films ever made. The plot does not make any sense at all and it is hard to follow the stories of each indivdual character. The director used most of the scenes gore and violence to shape my reaction to this film. The film making however has taught me that film making is an art and the plot doesn't have to make sense to be make the film a good one, also that many aspects of mis-en-scene can have a lot of impact to the spectator views.

Shrek

Title:Shrek
Genre: Comedy
Directors: Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jonson
Setting: USA, 2001

• Beam of light, panning shot, follows the light down to the book, instant , link to a fairytale
• Non- diagetic music playing in the background
• Diagetic souns e.g Shrek talking, toilet flushing
• Non-diagetic music starts again when Shrek enters the scene
• Director surprises you when Shrek reads the book in a heavenly, dreamy voice as if the book was a real story- then a huge green hand and booming voice and laugh breaks the silence- and links it back to the genre comedy
• The lighting on Shrek's house, suggests happy peaceful atmosphere, although it contrasts with what it actually is- an ugly huge tree stump with moss around it
• Switching shots of Shrek giving the spectator and idea of whats sort of character he is
• When people of the village are planning in the sand you can see straight away he's seen as an enemy to them
• Tracking shot when the men come to kill him, as he's sneaking up behind them
• Beofre that they have a blatant disregard to his privacy and have no respect of him
• Close up facial shot when he's walking to towards the hunters then cuts to his back and then follows him forward
• Sarcastic facial shot when the hunter threatens him with the torch and then Shrek calmly puts out the flame
• Point of view shot of the Hunters when Shrek is yelling at them
• Hunters keep screaming even after Shrek has stopped and shows facial shots of terrified faces
• When Shrek whispers the line "this is the part where you run away" links back again to the genre- comedy

Disturibia (mis - en- scene)

Title:Disturbia
Director: D.J Caruso
Setting: USA, 2007 released 2007 in USA and UK
Genre: Thriller, Horror, romance
Starring: Shia La Boeuf

The basics of the film is that one boy (Kale) loses his father to a car accident. When he hits his teacher he is placed under house arrest, and before long he starts to develop anxieties and he starts spying on his neighbours to keep himself busy, but he finds out that his neighbour is a serial killer, but when he tries to tell some one the killer covers his tracks and no one believes Kale. So he goes out of his way to prove that he is right, when the terrifiying and gripping adventure begins.

• Mountains in the background and light colours suggest happy relaxed atmosphere oblivious to danger or disaster - portrays a "candy in the sky" happy film


• The Father and son bonding moment at first


• Colours and relaxed atmosphere is in total contrast to the film's actual genre


• When the Father and son are driving home and on a mobile phone- accident waiting to happen, builds a lot of tension because you don't know which disaster is going to strike- in total contrast to the relexing tones of voice with the phone conversation


• When the disaster happens there is a point of view shot when the car crashes into the other and there is a long shot to show the seriousness of the situation and how much damage the car crash has caused.


• Disaster- relates to he rest of the film because it twists from a light mooded film to one where everyhting goes wrong from that incident


• the change in the tone of voice from the dad- from caring to unrgency when the on coming car crashes into the side of the car.


• Cinematography- there is a lot of facial shots in the scene, to show emotions empathises situation


• Swaps from one end of the phone conversation to the other ( Editing) - from the car to the family home kitchen.


• After the crash, the boy goes round to check on his dad and there is one last facial shot to show the panic, anxiety, shock, fright and upset on the main character's face reflects on what he feels like through out the rest of the film.


• During the last facial shot of the scene there is Non diagetic music- souns eeire and also has a serious quality to the music too.


• Scene ends with a blank screen, whislt non-diagetic sound is stilll playing and the title of the film fades in to increase dramaticity.


• Diagetic sounds (natural to the film) at the start of the film with the rushing water in the river, and in the car you can hear the hum of the engine, then you hear the car crashing and the shattering glass etc.


• After the title sequence there is editing - a time lapse to a year later

North By North West

Title: North by North West
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Genre: Thriller
Setting: USA, 1959
Starring Carey Grant

This film is about an advertising exceutive who gets mistaken for a governement agent, he is kidnapped by two men and interogated by them and then let go however he is trying to track down the real government agent.

• Sense of confusion in the desert scene, baroness of the film indicates feeling of loss


• Loud sounds indicates silence, which creates the feeling of hopelessness - lack of music


• Strange man indicates danger- points out the crop dusting plane where no crops are growing


• Builds tension between the two men, then nothing happens


• Fright when plane turns on the man and attacks him


• Wide angles, cuts (editing) crane shots


• Vunderablility of the main character in a huge plac, on his own- portrayedas one tiny object


• Hitchcockshows the main character's body language changing with each situation


• Diagetic sounds- natural sounds to the film, e.g bus revving, crunch of stones beneath feet


• Anti- climax tension buliding, then letting down - false platter high tension levels decreasing then rising again


• Desert's baroness reflects on characters confusion and bewilderment


• Long road implies long journey for character

Thelma and Louise

Title: Thelma and Louise
Genre: Buddy movie, chick flick, feminist drama, road drama, crime, thriller etc.
Setting: USA,(Texas/ Colorado) released in 1991
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis

The basic plot of the film is about two women who embark on a journey that gets them into a lot of trouble.... they lead completely different lives Louise is a busy waitress, very neat and free and single and proud of it and keeps herself to herself. However Thelma is a bored housewife and is tied down in a marriage to a powerhouse man who thinks more of himself than his wife, she's quite open and very careless with housework and organisation.

• The busy place at the beginning- activity and atmosphere shows everyday ordinary activity
• 2 women who are in complete contrast of each other but compliment each other well
• Use of close up shots to show facial expressions
• Crane shot at the beginning to show the busy environment where Louise is then crane shot to show Thelma's trapped and quiet life, both environments reflect both women's personality
• Freeze frame of when the women take a picture to show significance of the 2 women's friendship- show they're about to embark on a journey
• Language and music suggests small town, southern accents
• Lighting in both the restaurant and Thelma's kitchen reflects the mood of each women.
• Use of non- diagetic sound
• Props- e.g gun shows its significance to the film the way Thelma is handling it suggests danger.
• Film centres around Louise's thunderbird '66 car- the background in which the car is first shown has mountains which gives clues about how the film is going to end.
• Editing- used for time changes (skips entire day from morning til the afternoon) used for the time lapse through day/week/month