Project 9
Our genre is action.
We plan to reflect this genre by using special effects such as slow motion, and other various camera technics, with a second line of action. I would feel that the location, being an alleyway would also reflect the action genre.
We have rationalised that this would work better as a Extract rather than a short, because there is no "Definite" start/middle/end.
Our main target audience would be those aged 12-25 and fans of the genre.
We would focus mainly on camera and editing.
The avengers: Joss Wheedon
Transporter: Louis Leterrier
Sherlock: Guy Ritchie
Time start: 1:40
The location will be outside the college, and an alleyway in New addington, Brierley road.
The setting of this extract is in one room, this is a "hideout" for the other three characters. The main prop used in this scene is the big kahuna burger and sprite. This is used to show the twist of power, the character Brett thinks that he has the power, because he is giving the money over and that he has played Marcel Wallace and has gotten away with it, however, Jules has been sent to intimidate and kill Brett because of this. So the Prop which is owned by Brett is then used to show the intimidation because Jules asks for it, knowing it is his, and Brett cowardly replies "yes". However when Jules takes it, he takes almost all of it, ad takes all of the sprite, this is showing the intimidation because Brett then says nothing.
costume, hair make up
The difference between the two types of character, the heavy business men who take orders and the ones who have no power ( power struggle ) is that the characters Jules and vincent wear clean cut suits with ties. This looks professional and confident, like any man on a mission. Contradictory to this is the characters of Brett and Burr and Marvin, because they are wearing jeans and polo neck t-shirts, almost Hawaii styled, this creates the look of comfort and relaxation. So immediately the costumes of the characters express what their motive is and also their status on the dominance rank.
The use of the setting is clever, because the setting itself is quite small so the use of camera work in this limited space works well. The use of close ups creates the amplified effect of emotions, for example when the character played by
costume, hair make up
The difference between the two types of character, the heavy business men who take orders and the ones who have no power ( power struggle ) is that the characters Jules and vincent wear clean cut suits with ties. This looks professional and confident, like any man on a mission. Contradictory to this is the characters of Brett and Burr and Marvin, because they are wearing jeans and polo neck t-shirts, almost Hawaii styled, this creates the look of comfort and relaxation. So immediately the costumes of the characters express what their motive is and also their status on the dominance rank.
The use of the setting is clever, because the setting itself is quite small so the use of camera work in this limited space works well. The use of close ups creates the amplified effect of emotions, for example when the character played by Samuel L Jackson (Jules) asks "What does Marcel Wallace look like" the character sat in the chair says "what", this creates Jules to become infuriated, like I mentioned this is amplified by the use of a close up.
Also the camera work amplifies the period in which Jules is about to shoot the character Brett, he walks away, and the camera tracks him, but does not move, and then Jules spins while presenting his monologue and holds his gun up at Brett, at this point the camera zooms into a close up of Jules face to show his incentive and the lack of remorse.
Throughout the scene the characters of Jules and Vincent are always stood up, they never crouch and they always stay straight, in all their movements, like when Jules raises his arm there is no bending of the elbow, this creates the look of professionalism and the effect that he knows what he is doing, and that he has done it a thousand times before. However Brett and the others never get up (apart from Marvin), they are either laying on the couch, to show they are unaware of the imminent danger, or they are sat in the middle of the room, like they are being interrogated, and when they try to get up, a stern look forces them back into his seat.
The use of lighting is quite yellow, this is to show the use of dark and dingy, like the characters that are inside it are rats. But the best use of lighting was the briefcase. Instead of showing the audience what is in the briefcase, the director uses a bright yellow light to symbolise what would be inside the briefcase. This leaves the audience to wonder whether the character is seeing money, drugs or something that would emit a yellow light, I feel that this is clever, because it shows that the endeavour of Jules and Vincent was not for what is in the briefcase, it was to show that Marcel was angry and wanted the respect and pride of knowing they paid for making him angry, this is also shown when they leave Marvin alive, to show that no one should mess with Marcel. Samuel L Jackson (Jules) asks "What does Marcel Wallace look like" the character sat in the chair says "what", this creates Jules to become infuriated, like I mentioned this is amplified by the use of a close up.
Also the camera work amplifies the period in which Jules is about to shoot the character Brett, he walks away, and the camera tracks him, but does not move, and then Jules spins while presenting his monologue and holds his gun up at Brett, at this point the camera zooms into a close up of Jules face to show his incentive and the lack of remorse.
Throughout the scene the characters of Jules and Vincent are always stood up, they never crouch and they always stay straight, in all their movements, like when Jules raises his arm there is no bending of the elbow, this creates the look of professionalism and the effect that he knows what he is doing, and that he has done it a thousand times before. However Brett and the others never get up (apart from Marvin), they are either laying on the couch, to show they are unaware of the imminent danger, or they are sat in the middle of the room, like they are being interrogated, and when they try to get up, a stern look forces them back into his seat.
The use of lighting is quite yellow, this is to show the use of dark and dingy, like the characters that are inside it are rats. But the best use of lighting was the briefcase. Instead of showing the audience what is in the briefcase, the director uses a bright yellow light to symbolise what would be inside the briefcase. This leaves the audience to wonder whether the character is seeing money, drugs or something that would emit a yellow light, I feel that this is clever, because it shows that the endeavour of Jules and Vincent was not for what is in the briefcase, it was to show that Marcel was angry and wanted the respect and pride of knowing they paid for making him angry, this is also shown when they leave Marvin alive, to show that no one should mess with Marcel.
The title of the film is Iron Man 2, the year of release for this film was 2010 and the director of this film was Jon Favreau.The film is about a rich man who owns a weapons company, but he encounters a evil villain who ends up working for his competitor and tries to kill him and take over the world. This is quite obviously a Action film.This specific extract comes at the start of the film and is about Stark (Robert Downey Jr) being accused of withholding a weapon from the government, but he doesn't want to give it up.
I found that this scene was very juxtaposing, as the rest of the film is very action packed and stuffed with special effects. I would chose the following theme, power and manipulation and use Mise-en-scene and performance to analyse these.
Firstly, the location of this extract is set in a small "court" room, in which would give the audience a sense of oppression which reflects the fact that he is being sentenced. I feel that this is amplified with the use of space, as the back of the set is not used much, apart from extras, making the room seem smaller.
The props in this extract are the Tv screens and the use of effects, and that it is meant to be "live" on Tv.
The first prop is used as evidence against Stark, to show him that his weapon is being redeveloped, however Stark then uses his phone to take over the screens to give him proof that they are not as much of a threat, which tips the balance of power in Starks favour. The other prop I feel this gives a sense of realism towards the audience, because it gives them the feel that they are watching the news, or a channel broadcasting this. I feel that this can help increase the way that the audience react and relate to the scene by "adding" them into the movie.
Next is the lighting, the lighting in this scene is very high key, as all the main three lights are fully lit, this draws attention to the character, I think that the back light is maybe less well lit as the audience behind Stark is maybe dark and hidden. I feel that the lighting draws attention to the main character and maybe gives the audience more to focus on Stark and his emotions, especially in the close ups.
The lighting of the Starks peers is bright but also dark, as they have definite shadows, creating the "good vs bad" scenario.
The positioning of the characters is well placed, I think this because the Main character is centre of the frame and set, I think this also draws attention to him as a character, but also, the fact that the peers are in front of him, they are also on a higher platform, giving the sense of downtroddenism. Also the crowd behind him includes Pepper, who is his assistant who always looks out for him, maybe adding to the phrase " i've got your back". I feel this helps in the power struggle as Stark at the start is quite the underdog but uses props to shift the power in his favour.
The use of the hair and make up, give him the look of cockiness or confidence, as he is wearing a sharp cut suit and his hair is pointy and straight, I feel that these add to the end of the extract because is shows confidence and that is what he uses to his advantage to gain the upper hand. This is amplified with the use of Robert facial expressions, for example, Robert himself uses this scene to express many emotions, this is due to the power shift, for example, to start with he has to express fear and worry, where-as in the middle he has to express confidence and cockiness and in the end he has to express triumph and glory, in such a short sequence. This is unusual to a action movie considering that mostly the main character only has to express maybe anger or glory. I think that Robert played this convincingly because it is meant to be naturalistic, because he has to reflect how we would be in that situation and make us believe that the emotions he puts across are real.
Robert did not have to change very much of his own persona or his appearance to play the part of this role, where some may see this as lazy or boring, I would say that this adds to the performance as he can act how he would as his persona, so he doesn't run the risk of sounding unbelievable or breaking character.
Robert uses the characters in this extract to convey his own emotions, for example, Pepper is there to support him, and she is very close to him, so he opens up to her a little more. She also acts a mother figure, when she tells Robert off with a stern look for gloating, especially considering he at this point is still the underdog. Another person who has a deep relationship with the Stark is his best friend, who comes in to try and "help" but unfortunately they use him against Stark by only reading part of his report. I feel that at this point Robert really makes Stark come alive in this part because, he is basically being betrayed by his best friend. I feel that robert portrayed his emotions well to express betrayal and hate towards his peers and also frustration as they use their own powers to twist the power in their favour.
I feel that he helps portray the feeling of the power shift by changing his whole mood and becoming someone with the power, for example to begin with he is slouchy, tries to use comedy to divert subjects, however, once they make his friend betray him, he becomes angry in confidence by becoming straight, talking briefly and making a lot fewer jokes, because he knows he is in power.
Firstly, In Bruges uses these Mise-en-scene aspects to develop and reflect the characters of Ray, Ken and Harry by firstly using Setting and props, this is the most common way, the film uses Location very wisely, as it could just be set in the one hotel room, rather than the whole of Bruges, by doing this, they can introduce different characteristics of the characters, for example, when they visit the bell tower, Ken goes up, because he is enthusiastic about the location, whereas Ray stayed at the bottom doing nothing, this shows a significant difference between the characters, indicating that maybe Ken is more mature in comparison. Later this is also shown when they go to the church, where again, Ken stays and Ray leaves out of frustration and boredom.
Another way the location develops the characters is that, being in a confined location, the characters explore their past, and they reflect on their mistakes, in this scene Ray opens the past, of his first contract, and explains about the death of the child. This makes the characters strange compared to the normal impression of Hit-men, they are thought of as very controlled and composed, whereas these two are not. They express their emotions.
Next, the costume. They are wearing overcoats, leather jackets e.t.c but they don't look like the average assassin, for example, Hit-man wears a suit, leather gloves, which gives the impression of a cold, emotionless killer. Where-as Ken and Ray wear more colorful clothing, and at one point Ray wears glasses, which is strange to see in a action movie, because I think it does reveal a lot of the characters personality. The make up isn't very important in this film, which is common in action movies, apart from the scenes of injuries, like when Ken is bleeding and then at the bottom of the tower after throwing himself off. I think the way that they use the make up in these two scenes is very effective and it helps extenuate the emotion of the character Ray. The lighting and colour in this film
produce different emotions and feelings, especially for the audience,
for example the start is quite dim, but the main effect is the lack of
very much colour, its not like the middle where many warm colours are
used. Another scene this is prevalent in is the scene in which Ken dies,
the lighting is dim, especially in the stairs, but the weather is also
cloudy and dark, which produces quite an amount of doubt and fear in the
audience towards Ken and Ray. This is also used in the scene where Ray
is almost shot, the lighting is quite bright and colourful, which I
believe is to give the audience hope.
I think the positioning within a frame can be key in some aspects, for example the scene in which the character Ken and Harry where in the tower and the stairs, the two characters were fighting on the stair well, which was a hard location to film, as a long shot would be ridiculous. Another way that they did well with this was the trailing blood scene, and how they followed the stream to Ken, who was climbing the tower. Another time this was key was when the coins were dropped from the top, the camera had the couple at the restaurant talking but the view had the tower in the background, so the coins were visible.
The actual performance of the characters was very good, because at no point did I feel that it wasn't natural or unbelievable ( maybe apart from the bit where he is still alive from a 100 meter fall ), but they have had to give a what would normally be a quite calm controlled and emotionless character, some meaning and relationship, I think that this helps with creating a relationship between the characters and the audience, which really helps in the two scenes in which Ray nearly gets shot by Ken, and where Ken dies. I also feel that another way that this has been done is by introducing a bit of comedy in the film, not a lot, but subtle enough to create a warm feeling for what otherwise would be a cold character. I think that the lack of this helps develop a hate of the character Harry, who only really appears in the second half of the movie, but his first "entrance" where he sends the letter with much swearing and anger whilst we start to see Ray and Kens character draws hate to him, as we see that Ray and Ken are humans, and that they have feelings.
I have chosen two extracts, the first is Forest Gump and the second is The Matrix
I have chosen the scene of Forest gump running for a long way across the country, and to contrast this I have chosen the scene where Neo learns Kung Fu.
Firstly, Forest gump mainly uses medium length shots where the chest and head are visible, but along with that they use many long shots. These uses of shots are to show how he has a larger following each time the chronological order skipped maybe a week, and to show the character in more detail and to let him express emotions and to interact with others they use medium shots, this is so both the main character and the other character are shown, but also so his following crowd is visible too, these shots tend to be about 2-10 seconds long each, this creates a sense of time and slow pace to make the audience feel like it has been a long time.
However the matrix is very different, the use of the scene is fast paced and ranges dramatically, they also use slow motion to complete that effect. I feel that this increases the speed of time and also helps to give the audience a sense of action and a sort of thrill. They also use many different camera shots from long shot to close ups, this gives the audience the ability to process what is happening in the fighting sequence but also what the characters are feeling.
A way that both these films are similar is that the Forest gump movie uses cut aways frequently, between characters that he has interacted with and the love of his life to keep the audience interested and to also create a second narrative alongside the current one. The Matrix also does this, because they cut between the fast paced fighting scene and the alternate universe in which their friends are watching all of this actions and moves.
One last way in which both these films differ is that the Forest gump movie does not use many different angles, the shots tend to stay level, apart from some long shots in which they are tracking the character, this creates the sense of consistency, whereas The Matrix uses many different angles, along with the range of distance shots, for example, tracking shots, trolly shots and mainly, canter angle shots, in which many actions are performed. I find this amplifies the effect of the faced paced fight scene.
My idea for my final analysis would be the court scene from Iron Man 2, With Tony Stark as the main character played by Robert Downie Jr
I chose this scene from the film because unlike the rest of the film it is not action packed or stuffed with special effects, instead it is the development of the characters.
I would chose the following theme, Worry and Laughter.
I would also chose the following categories to analysis this scene with Mise-en-scene, Performance and Cinematography.
The reasons I chose these forms of analysis would be because for Mise-en-scene I can point out the location of the scene and how it is used to express hidden meanings such as oppression, being sentenced etc.
I would also point out about the use of make up and hair, that it makes him look more confident or cocky.
I would also then use the last point being Roberts use of facial expressions and his body language to move swiftly onto the Performance of Robert himself.
I would briefly describe what he has done to prepare for the role previous to production. I would note that this genre of film (action) requires what I think, the least amount of acting skills out of all genres, but this scene requires a certain amount of acting skill.
Lastly I would analyses the Cinematography. First I would mention that the use of space in the scene is well done mainly with the distance of shots. But also the camera movement too. I would also mention the Lighting with this analytical theme, Ie. the way that they use the main three to produce the least shadow to amplify the face of the characters.
Firstly, lets discuss what he did prior to the role.
To prepare for the role of a part, you have to fit every aspect of what is expected by the Director or, in this case because it is an adaptation of a book, the description of the character ( depending whether the director is following the book like a bible...).
The actor is very fitting to the description of the character,
He isn't too tall, nor too short. (5".9')
The character is healthy due to his involvement with parents, being wealthy, but he then loses much weight due to the abandonment on the boat.
I think Suraj did well to fit the part here because he had to diet and practically starve to look the part.
He fits the ethnicity/nationality of the character.
And he also fits the speaking style as he is from New Delhi, India.
Most of this is not prepared but chosen by the cast director, but the weight is something that takes a lot of mental strength.
He also had to grow out his hair to fit the part too.
The reason he was cast was because,
"Several rounds of auditions ended when director Ang Lee chose Sharma because of his expressive eyes and innocent appearance."
Also
"According to him, Sharma had not only the emotion, but also the "look" of Pi. His "medium complexion" and "average build" were deemed perfect for the role."
To play the part Suraj had to gain a lot of experience, he had to take part in many things, the first was Yoga, he also had to attend acting lessons becuase he is a new actor and has never been in a film before, he also had to learn how to breath, what the ocean was like, because he had not known much about it, along with that he had to learn how to swim, but the toughest was gaining weight and losing weight dramatically. These are hard enough alone, but when you have to do them all, throughout pre production, production and post production, it has to be very difficult. Although he was picked for his looks, he was not picked for his abilities. Which proves quite difficult especially on a deadline too. This genre of film was Adventure/Drama/Fantasy. This is quite a range of genres for one film, but also, has a lot of expectations with it too for example, for those genres there is a specific type of acting that you have to do, it's naturalistic, this is because if the director would want the audience to get involved in the film and relate or even question the film, the actor has to make the whole scene seem believable even if the location is surreal. The character has a main role in the setting of the story ( the narrated start ), in this he has to act very young and nieve, but throughout the film, the actor develops with the the maturing form of the character, there is a second meaning to the film, (which is found near the end ) where the animals on the boat relate to the people on the boat, and the Tiger was ment to represent him and his dealing with the evil inside him, after the killing of his (mother) Orang-utan. Whereas this can be easily hidden by the actors performance, but when analysed further, the performance can be seen to have an underlying theme, with the mental reality and dealing with the underlying metaphor. In this scene in which Pi (Suraj) is trying to "train" the Tiger, because he has to try and survive with the Tiger, during this scene he has to get a range of emotions across to the audience, ranging from scared, confident, angry and relief. I think that Suraj did amazingly in this scene because he managed to convey all these emotions without seeming unrealistic, which makes the acting seem more naturalistic, again, involving the audience. With all these factors included I think that he has managed to adapt and become the character very well to play the part, especially considering the amount of training he had to do.
