First draft

First draft

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.