link to coursework blog.

http://jodie-annkingasmediacoursework.blogspot.com/

Let The Right One In Essay.

Let the right one in.

Let the right one in is a Swedish romantic horror which is directed Tomas Alfredson. The films main character is a young boy named Oskar who gets tormented and bullied at school, throughout the film he becomes friends and lovers with a vampire who recently moved in next door to him. It is set in western Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1982. When Oskar is away from his classmate bullies in a safe place, his home, he plots what he want’s to do to them, he reads the murder enquires in the newspaper, and he then collects them and sticks them into a scrapbook, this could show it is special to him as he has keeping them safe.

The use of mise en scene is very important, as this makes shows the viewers how the actors feel, it sets the scene as if the character is feeling unhappy the film will be very dark and the music will be low however if they character is feeling better about themselves the music and settings will be enlightened.  The film begins with dramatic music; this is to set the scene it represents Oskar’s mood, it shows the viewers he feels very low, the surroundings around him are dark and cold as it has been snowing, this could represent how Oskar is feeling, the icy snow for his heart, as we see he keeps cuttings of murders this could show he doesn’t have a heart and doesn’t care about the deaths.  The snow could also represent his feelings, throughout the whole film it’s there, the weather can determine whether Oskar is happy or not, when it’s the sky is dark he is unhappy, he doesn’t like his life and he feels very down, however when the sky brightens up he has cheered up, this is shown when Eli says that she will be his girlfriend and also when Oskar starts to stand up for himself against the bullies, I think it’s very clever how they do this because both cases involve Eli in making the scene brighter and happier however she is completely the opposite to that.In the film there is not a lot of special affects, if any, this is because the film is a low budget however I think that’s what makes the film more realistic, just a simple outside scene in the snow can set the atmosphere. Because of the low budget they had to show the characters feelings in simple ways for example the way they dressed, you can tell they are not very expensive, some just rags, this could show what they were in the 1980’s with not much money, we can tell he is not well off from his small flat, the clothes Oskar and Eli wear are very dark and mutual colours at the start of the film, this shows their mood however when they become more comfortable with each other and become close their moods change and so does the colour of their clothes,  it’s not a large difference as they didn’t want to completely change Oskar’s appearance just when Oskar and Eli are together Oskar starts to wear colours like red, orange and pink, personally I think red represents blood and anger but in this way they have used it to show happiness.

In the film the camera work was used very effectively, with a low budget they did as much as they can and it worked very well. It is quite simple as because of the low budget, no special affects and it being a horror they needed to make it simple for the audience as it would have drawn the realism out of it. Whenever something frightening or sickening happened the shot would go to a close up, however the violence would be shown off-screen, for example when Oskar is being whipped by the bullies you can’t actually see what’s happening, but after you see the cut on Oskar’s face. As well as the close up’s there were many long shots also, when Eli is in the tunnel saying ‘help me’ however it does go to a close up when she pounces on her target. There was also a lingering shot of his fathers friend, shown just in his sandals and socks in the snow.

The music and sound in the film is one of the most important factors, it sets the mood, if there is a sad or creep scene there will be low dramatic music however whenever the mood is enlightened it goes much more cheerful and high. It brings a lot of tension to the scene, it can build up a point in the scene, the music gets louder and louder at one point until it completely stops to draw us in, this is what happens in most films, it draws us in as we know something is going to happen and in this film it is used very well. At the end of the film also music is used from the audio player, the music was quite upbeat, for the film anyway, Oskar was dancing/exercising in the water, then when the bullies walked into the swimming pool area it was still on until when one of them kicked it into the water, this could be seen as they were putting a stop to the happiness as the song was quite a happy song, they were now going to make his life misery once again. The use of sound was also used very well, when the bullies are telling him to ‘squeal, squeal like a pig…’ Oskar talks to himself quite a lot, when he is out in the courtyard ‘fighting’ with the tree, he repeats the saying, pretending the tree is his bullies he is standing up too, he does this to show he can stand up for himself, however he cant, at the beginning of the film, he wants to a brave tough man who can stand up for himself, however he is just a small weakened boy until Eli comes along.

Claude-Levi Strauss was a French pronunciation, the write of ‘Let the right one in’ he was born on the 28^th November and died on the 30^th October 2009. His focus was binary opposites, for example, good v evil and happy v sad, he believed that everybody had a total opposite to the other, we can tell this by the film, Oskar could be seen as a good lad however bad also because of the newspaper cuttings and the knife under his bed, although you can see that he is bullied, these are bad and they could of pushed Oskar into the position he is in, keeping a knife under his bed for the safety against the bullies.

Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp was a Russian Soviet formalist who was born on the 29^th April 1895 and died on the 22^nd August 1970. His theory was that every person has a role, these were, the hero, the villain, the donor, the princess, her father, the helper, the dispatcher, and the false hero.  I think most of these roles are Eli and Oskar, for example Eli being the false hero as she helps Oskar however she has committed many murders and Oskar being the helper, although he doesn’t do much to help he does keep check on Eli.

Tzvetan Todorov was born on March 1st 1939 and is living in France to this day from 1963. He is a Bulgarian structuralism linguist publishing influential who worked on narrative from the 1960s onwards including writing books and essays about literary theory, thought history and culture theory.

The Soloist

The Soloist.

The film was released on the 24^th April 2009. It is an DreamWorks production. The film is based on a true story, chronicled by LA Times writer Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.), a columnist searching for a human interest subject to write about.

 It’s a true story. 117 mins dreamworks. Budget- $60,000,000 (estimated) $9,716,458 (USA) (26 April 2009) (2024 Screens)

The storyline; In 2005, the only thing hurting Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez more than his face from a recent bike accident was his pressing need for story ideas. That is when he discovers Nathaniel Ayers, a mentally ill, homeless street musician who possesses extraordinary talent, even through his half-broken instruments. Inspired by his story, Lopez writes an acclaimed series of articles about Ayers and attempts to do more to help both him and the rest of the underclass of LA have a better life. However, Lopez's good intentions run headlong in the hard realities of the strength of Ayers' personal demons and the larger social injustices facing the homeless. Regardless, Lopez and Ayers must find a way to conquer their deepest anxieties and frustrations to hope for a brighter future for both of them.

Summarising the key points from production notes.

*DreamWorks Pictures and Universal Pictures Present In Association with

StudioCanal and Participant Media A Krasnoff/Foster Entertainment Production

In Association with Working Title Films “The Soloist” starring Jamie Foxx, Robert

Downey Jr, Catherine Keener, Tom Hollander and LisaGay Hamilton.

*Based on the book about Steve Lopez.

*Rated PG13.

*Present a fresh cinematic view of LA.

*After spending time watching Nathaniel and Steve together, Foxx and

Downey also latched onto the fun at the centre of their unusual relationship,

something that really came across when they were on set together.

*
42% of the homeless say they have an addiction to drugs or alcohol.

 

Film Making

Understand Film Making.

The idea;

Inspiration- ideas for films are everywhere they could be complex or very simple for example just a small conversation between two people can give out a lot of ideas.

 Producer- even if many people have the same good idea it’s the producer who makes the final decision; they decide what the film is going to be about.

Director- the director makes the film happen; they take all of the ideas and put it onto the screen.

Writer- the writer also takes all of the ideas, they then write about them and make the main characters, they write the story of the film.

Treatment- the writer then writes the treatment, this is a one page description of the main story and the characters.

Development Finance;

Pitching the product- this is where the producer uses the pitch and treatment to get as money as they can to develop the script.

Production Companies- the producer approaches film production companies for development money.

Sales Distribution Broadcast- the producer can offer money for the future sales and broadcast rights to the film if in return there is money for the script.

Script Development;

Synopsis- first of all the writer produces a synopsis and they and the producer agree on what they like of the key scenes and events in the film and what they don’t.

Drafts- part of the writer’s fee is the conditional of delivery of the first draft, this can sometimes be one of the hardest things to do.

Final Draft- when everybody is happy with the final draft it is locked off there maybe only a few drafts or a lot, when it is finalised the writer is paid.

Packaging;

What is packaging?- the producer and writer work together to package the script together into a full commercial proposition ready for financing.

Detailed Budget and Production Schedule- they do this to make the film into a proper business proposition, the producer must know how much it will actually cost to make it.

The complete package- when the package has been completed.

, they then get to see what people think of it.

Finance;

The market-  They can be anywhere in the world, to make sure the film investment is secured.

Pre-sales- The produce can make money from ‘pre-sales’ from selling the rights to the film before it is even made.

Green light-  When all the essential funding is finished and the insurance is secured, the film gets the ‘green light’

Pre-Production;

The kick-off meeting- When all the heads of department are hired they then start shooting script is circulated and the pre-production begins in earnest.

Production design- The production designer plans every aspect of how the film will look, they then hire the designers for each building part.

The production unit-The 1^st ad, the line producer and the production manager make up the key logistic triangle of the production.

Shameless Series 1, Episode 1.

How are sexuality and regional identity represented in this episode?

I think Ian's life is really hard, he has to act like a different person as he doesn't what his family knowing he is gay, he has to fake his personality, basically he can't really live his life happily, the way he hides himself being gay is by having posters of girls up in his bedroom to give of that he's into girls just like other teenage lads. A way we see he is gay is because of how emotional he is- when he is crying in his bed,  this is quite feminine for a sterotypical gay. because he doesn't feel right when a girl is sexual with him and also Lip knows he is gay.

Pauls Blogs.

Pauls Blogs;

Audience participation cast answers audience questions.

Teaser

Fans of working title films- Simon Pegg fans

Document production

Main actors- featured

Behind the scenes, cast and crew- connection with audience

What the film is about-conscious of spoiling the plot

Incentive to watch the film

Extras on DVD-bonus features, want to buy DVD.

Eva Mendes

Eyes looking away,perfect body,ready,really long legs-on tip toes and wearing heels,messing hair,wet,sweaty-a ‘sex’ look, very attractive, the male fantasy, sexual, body-oily,confident,in pain, looking away, doesn’t care.

The Male Gaze, Music Video.

The Male Gaze.

Marjorie Ferguson

Chocolate box - Half or full-smile, lips together or slightly parted, teeth barely visible, full or three-quarter face to camera. 
Invitational - Emphasis on the eyes, mouth shut or with only a hint of a smile, head to one side or looking back to camera. 
Super-smiler - full face, wide open toothy smile, head thrust forward or chin thrown back, hair often wind-blown. 
Romantic or Sexual - a fourth and more general classification devised to include male and female ‘two-somes’; or the dreamy, heavy-lidded, unsmiling big-heads, or the overtly sensual or sexual.

Trevor Millum

Seductive - Similar to the cool/level look in many respects - the eyes are less wide, perhaps shaded, the expression is less reserved but still self-sufficient and confident; milder versions may include a slight smile. 
Carefree - Nymphlike, active, healthy, gay, vibrant, outdoor girl; long unrestrained outward-flowing hair, more outward-going than the above, often smiling or grinning. 
Practical - Concentrating, engaged on the business in hand, mouth closed, eyes object-directed, sometimes a slight frown; hair often short or tied back. 
Comic - Deliberately ridiculous, exaggerated, acting the fool, pulling faces for the benefit of a real or imaginary audience, sometimes close to a sort of archness. 
Catalogue - A neutral look as of a dummy, artificial, waxlike; features may be in any position, but most likely to be with eyes open wide and a smile, but the look remains vacant and empty; personality has been removed.

freddie ljungberg calvin klein

strong,eye candy,fit,nice body,tattoo,posing,teasing,confident,eyes straight at camera,no smile,good posture, red background, necklace, pouting lips, looks too posed, muscular, bar-prop,to show off his muscles, feminine and masculine,straight and gay,appeals to women,shimmery,toned,greasy,tanned,sweaty,masculine haircut,stubble-manly,attractive to women,tan line,shaved,looks like a boy not a man,pulling boxers down-seductive,fist-aggressive.

Compare how Hot Fuzz and This is England appeal to a British audience.

Compare how Hot Fuzz and This is England appeal to a British audience.

Both directors, Edgar Wright  who wrote  ‘Hot Fuzz’ and Shane Meadows who wrote ‘This is England’ are British, worked with British film companies to make the films this is one of the main reasons it appeals well to a British audience because there views can relate to British people, if an American company had made the films they wouldn’t know how the British lived without a lot of time studying them would of taken too much time and lost the time on making the film, but with them both being British it really helped as they knew how to get to the audience.  Both of the directors used there own experiences from the past too create the films, the reason for this is other people could relate to them they may have experienced it themselves as they live in Britain.

The film Hot Fuzz is located in London, this appeals to the audience straight away as that is the capital of England and many people have been there, it has many recognisable features which the audience could relate too, the atmosphere is created to be the same as when you visit it, it is also set in Sanford (Gloustershire) although not as many people can relate to this as much as London it is just a traditional village in Britain which many people living in the countryside could relate too however as it was suppose to be a quiet village except for the murders that were happening  it could Relate to people living in the city also as  living in the city is very busy and loud where as they could see how the countryside is quite and peaceful, normally. This is England does not actually give us the name of where it is set but we do know it was on the North Coast during the year of 1993. One of the reasons they could have done this is so it relates to the whole of England not just one part and they wanted to make it appeal to a wider range of England with the stereotypes that people can relate too.

The cast plays a big part in both films, Hot Fuzz uses a lot of stock actors, these are actors that have already been used by the director, this could help a lot as they know exactly what they are going to get from the actor, and they can chose them accordingly to what the actors are going to be in the film. They are all distinguishable English actors, including Simon Pegg and Nick Frost who are the main characters,  this is why it appeals more to the British audience a they are more recognisable here than overseas where they are not that famous, on the other hand in This is England the actors used were completely unknown however some were known just not very well, this worked well as they were used more for stereotyping, many people in the timing of the film were living like that so they were easy to relate too, I don’t think rich people would enjoy it as much as the poorer or middle class as they would not find it easy to relate too, most actors were common and unknown picked randomly from a few auditions which was good as it was cheap and although they didn’t have much experience this helped the film appeal to the British audience at the time even more.

In both films a lot of stereotypes are used,  in Hot Fuzz the main ones are the policeman and the youths, the film begins with Simon Pegg walking up to the camera very serious and smart what we the British audience think that policeman should be like, however it then goes on to another police officer Nick Frost who doesn’t really see the serious side to the job, he see’s it more like a bit of fun, he’s in it just for the action which in the countryside you don’t really get, this film was also a comedy and from the directors views knew they Britain enjoyed this so the two together was good mix, like seeing a policeman not taking his job seriously. In This is England, stereotypes are used in way which the audience could easily relate to them, the skinheads were very popular in Britain when the film was set, the reason they did this is so they could link it to the audience.

Edgar Wright using a lot of realism in the film with the stereotypes, this relates to the audience as he looks at the film from his point of view, him being British helps this as he knows what the audience want.

In both films the directors chose the budgets very differently. Hot Fuzz which was made by Working Title has a big budget of around £8 million this abled them to use a large variety of camera work, editing and many scenes, they could also afford the more famous actors, the reason there was so much money involved was mainly because of the effects I think without them it wouldn’t be as action packed as it was, it would have been quite boring. This Is England had quite a lot smaller budget only £1.5million this made the film have less effects, made on the computer a lot of the stuff was hand made I think this was good as it linked to the actors which weren’t the richest of people and by doing this it didn’t make the film go over dramatic which also made it more realistic and I think this is one of the reasons it appeals to the British audience so much because it is made so realistic. Also the advertising for both films were very different due to the budget they used.

In conclusion to both films, they were both made in very different ways Hot Fuzz is more about entertaining where as This is England is more about getting a message across to the audience, also the times when the films are set are different however linked at how they both were trying to appeal to the British audience, also both films have humour in them. But the main reason for them appealing to the British audience so much is because they are British actors, British directors and a lot of British culture in it.

AMERICAN BEAUTY - the family.

music over the top of speaking-peaceful.
sound, part of the film, creepy.
red roses, blue vase- everything else is neutral.
creatures of habitat-routine, same music, repetitive.
daugther&dad use to be friends.
wasn't always this bad (family picture) shows happier times.
'traditional family - Dad in the 'proper' place.
Dad is sitting on a smaller chair.
Lester has poor posture- slumped.
Bali Hai from South Pacific, old fasioned, trapped?
Carolyn is in charge of choosing music as she cooked the meal.
Kitchen scene- emphasis, sad/slow.
boy watching, music goes creepy.
Long shot, establashing shot.
Camera zooming in slowly, were spying on them.
Child keeping parents together.
Boy looks angry/creepy- blue eyes.

Hot Fuzz Storyboard

Hot Fuzz Storyboard

This Is England.

The production company that made 'This is England' which was released on 27th April 2007 UK is a warp film and film 4. Shane meadows is the writer of the film. Shane grew up in the Westlands Road are of Uttoexter, Staffordshire, it was a single road of council houses, this relates too the film as in one of the first scences you see council houses. He was born on 26 December 1972 and started his career in 1995 it was a tough start for him as he could not show the films where he was living as there were no film festivals but he still made 30 short ones with the friends he made when he moved to Nottingham at the age of 20. Before moving to Nottingham Shane left school shortly before reaching his GCSE's and turned to petty crime, this leads on to when his Father found the  body of child murder victim Shane was considered a suspect and for this got bullied this could of led on to Shane turning to crime when he was older. Meadows had a huge passion for the cinema and attented the  Elite Cinema regulary.  Shane attented a Peforming Arts course at Burton College, while there he and a few friends formed a band. The majority of his films have been based in the Midlands.

Skins, Series1, Episode1 - Tony.

tries to make himself look good.
clothes are very neat(tops are all folded in drawer)
representable. neat-OCD
he has a precise routine everyday;workout,dressed,lets sister in.
plain-boring.
unbranded clothes.
arrogant- when he's by the window.
ambitious-sexually.
his room is neutral colourwise.
posters of films- class,mature.
book of nausea.
intellectual.
pretentious.
eccentric-bed sheets, style of cover, as if not slept in.
cares about his sister but not about his dad.
crafty(sneaks sister in, locks dad out)

why add church bells?

School Magazine Cover and Contents Page (Coursework)

American Beauty.

AMERICAN BEAUTY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSSCo3ncYag

Director;Sam Mendes

Actors;

Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey)
lazy, bored, dissapointed with life, wife&daughter dissapointed in him, given up, pessimistic, expressing regret-it wasn't always like this, likes his daughter, controlled by wife, treated as a child.
Carolyn Burnham (Annette Bening)
Jane Burnham (Thora Birch)
Mena Suvari (Angela Hayes)

About the film;
family is a cliché [typical family]
neutral/bland colours
the roses stand out
red,white,blue [flag]
song is repetitive [life]
bedroom, neat&tidy
roses on jacket

Trapped
behind 'bars' his image reflected in the computer screen.
looking out of the window, bar like.
in the shower- behind the screen.
trapped by his wife- made to wear slippers.
in the shadows when in bed.
only time let out is when he goes to work.
sitting in the back of  car- like a child/teenager.

Family Herachy
father(3)                            the mother is acting like the man (stereotypically)
mother(1)                          (1) driving the car.
daughter(2)                       (2) she's ready first.

A motif is an element that is repeated throughout a text.
The motif can be visual as well as sound/audio- (James Bond theme-used various ways throughout all the films)


Colors
neutral/boring colours- helps created an atmosphere, links to representation of L.B as he is boring etc.
makes the brighter colours stand out [of the motif in this case] stand out.

Music
repetitive- awkward sounding- uncomfortable, music fits the visuals.

'tramp'

stands out

patched trousers [can sew, talented?]

unique

nowhere to go

lived a hard life

no friends- by himself.

pose- doesn't care what people think about him.

polished shoes- looks after himself.

fashionable/style

ABOUT ME.

Academic-

GCSE

English Literature- C

English Language- C

Maths- D

Science-C

Science-C

Textiles-D

Art-C

Ict-D

History-D

Learning Skills-Pass.

AS LEVELS

Media

Travel&Tourism

Health&Social

Maths Retake

Media Interests.

Films- The Holiday, Green Street, Bridge To Teribithia, Open Season.

TV- Gavin&Stacey,Desperate Housewives, Skins, Eastenders.

Music- Scouting For Girls, Kate Nash, Jedward, Eminem, Snow Patrol, The Script, Kasabian, Example.

Magazines/Paper- The Sun, News Of The World, Heat, OK.

Books- Twilight, Autobiography's.

Games- Xbox; Call Of Duty, Fifa, Guitar Hero.

The reason I chose media is because I have always had a huge interest in the process of films,tv etc.
 I like looking into the detail of photo's, how they are taken, the angles, depth and detail. Films really interest me as I ..