Choose a film director who you think qualifies as an auteur i.e has a creative signature or recognisable style in use of film form , casting , use of narrative and genre.

 Director of choice: Tim Burton

Tim Burton is one of those directors who has an easily identifiable visual style. Almost all of his films revel in gothic imagery. From the characters themselves, to the props, to the houses and cities where the films take place are sculpted in an an exaggerated, almost cartoonish way to emphasize “goth” features.

His notable films included Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, and Alice in Wonderland.

Edward Scissorhands  (1990) marked Burton’s first collaboration with actor Johnny Depp. The two subsequently worked on such movies as Ed Wood (1994), a biopic about a cross-dressing filmmaker who was called the worst director ever; Sleepy Hollow (1999), which was based on Washington Irving’s story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”; and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s book of the same name.

(Extra: An auteur is an artist, usually a film director, who applies a highly centralized and subjective control to many aspects of a collaborative creative work; in other words, a person equivalent to an author of a novel or a play. The term commonly refers to filmmakers or directors with a recognizable style or thematic preoccupation. Auteurism originated in the French film criticism of the late 1940s as a value system that derives from the film criticism approach of André Bazin and Alexandre Astruc—dubbed auteur theory by the American critic Andrew Sarris. The theory found its official name in 1955 articles by François Truffaut. He defended directors Alfred Hitchcock and Howard Hawks, proposing to see their works as a whole, with recurring themes and obsessions.)

Write a summary of a short film which includes a narrative twist

 It is the story of Columba, a Human from Brighton. The short film starts zooming away from Columba's Blue eye. it carries on zooming until we zoom into Ronnie's eye. we sense an instant connection between the two as they share an experience. a memory. the contrast in the glances each girl gives as they stare at the slowly bleeding gunshot wound on Columba's chest. slowly a singular drop of blood spills onto the snow. "oH" and she drops. everything zooms back out, where we see Ronnie walking away from Columba, apologising for bumping into her.

Based on our class discussions and resources on the blog, briefly summarise the Hollywood studio system, focusing on the following:

 During which decades was the Hollywood  studio system at its most powerful ?

The Hollywood studio system was probably at it's most successful during the Great Depression- which was from the 1920's to the late 30's. despite everyone having literally no money or will to live, it was more common for people to go to the movies than to watch a play or go out and drink.

What were the major "big five " studios ?

the "Big Five" studios were Warner Bros( the same company that created Casablanca), Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, and 20th century fox.

What areas and roles in film production did the studio system have direct control over ?

In its prime, the studio system had control over everything; from something simple such as editing, to the cinemas and when the movies were showed to the public.

Why was this factory method of production successful ?

The Factory Method pattern is useful when you need to abstract the creation of an object away from its actual implementation

Why did the studio system lose power and control in the 1950s and 1960s ?

because there was a new generation. more and more children were coming to cinemas instead of adults and so they had to figure out how to appeal to their new audience

Analyse how the following elements of film form are used to create meaning and guide audience response ( understanding of narrative, setting,characters , plot, themes etc. ) in the " Introduction to Rick's Bar " sequence.

 Cinematography:

regarding camera shots, Casablanca is a classic, and so director Michael Curtiz used a close-up, POV shot. the first time we see Rick's bar, is not from a distance but still far enough to get a vibe check. the audience can clearly see the sign "Rick's Café American", which gives an indication to Rick's character already despite us not seeing him yet. the sign is bold, easily noticeable, and just to the left of centre screen. this action is constantly repeated, the camera constantly moving towards the left, towards Rick himself, and in between movements  we get more and more of a clue as to what kind of man Rick is. As for lighting, most would think there wouldn't be much to say- the film is in black and white after all- but the texture of the lighting gives so much away about Casablanca. for instance, when we see the outside of Rick's Bar, there is a single search light going from right to left, however not stopping outside Rick's, merely carrying on. this suggests that although Casablanca is considered a criminally infested place, Rick's bar is safe from the majority. the camera pans in on the front doors to the bar, and the search light comes round again. the lighting inside the bar is quite dim, insinuating a welcoming vibe for those inside. Regarding the camera movements, the camera is moving forward with a POV shot, as if the audience themselves are walking into Rick's. 

Editing: 

Editing allowed for the movie to work, seeing as there are physical continuity errors with the dimensions of Rick’s bar. With the use of panning shots, this would never fly with the audience because these flaws could easily be pointed out. But because of the editing, shots are cut together and keep the viewer focused on the characters and story rather than obvious mistakes. According to Umberto Eco’s take on Casablanca, the chances that the movie could be successful, considering all the factors working against it, are very low. Through the frequent use of editing it is possible to create a story and characters that are both entertaining and fairly easy to follow.

Mise-en-scene:

The setting seems to be fairly simple. It is a very divided café in which Germans do not wish to mix and mingle throughout and instead seclude themselves to a table in the back. Rick starts at an elevated point looking over his café as king would look over his kingdom. Captain Louise seems to establish a middle ground at the bar where he seems calm and collected with a drink in his hand.  There is a very distinct difference between those more associated to the Revolution and those closer to the Germans in this scene. Captain Louise is wearing a very dark uniform along with the rest of the Germans. Louise’s makeup is also done very well, he doesn’t seem sweaty or nervous about the situation that occurs. Mostly everyone who is a part of the Resistance is wearing a much lighter colour including Rick and Laszlo. The best makeup is with Ilsa, the obvious choice. Strasser seems to look sweaty like he might be nervous about how this battle ended.  

Sound:

One of the first known movies, Casablanca, was acted by Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, directed by Michael Curtiz. The music of this movie was made by Max Steiner. The sound is one of the important components in the movie because it shows the emotions of the actors as it also shows the importance of the scene. However, the spoken language must be one important thing that the editor must focus on because it shows the culture of the country where the story-plot of the movie is happening. This movie tells a story of a man, Humphrey Bogart, who is trying to help the woman that he loved before by making her escape from Casablanca with her husband and continue the fight against the Nazi’s oppression. This movie has different sound effects, dialogues and musical tones.

Performance:

meh, idk how to explain it tbh

Evaluate how successfully a film of your choice develops one of the four key narratives.

 Evaluate how successfully a film of your choice develops one of the four key narratives.

narrative of choice: Narrative which develops main character

film of choice: Train to Busan

Train to Busan is a zombie horror film in which one of the "infected" manages to get onto the last available train to safety. one by one the zombie converts the majority on the train, creating its very own swarm. the plot is following the story of businessman Gong Yoo and his daughter Su-an, a lonely little girl who just wanted to spend her birthday with her mother.

in terms of Characterisation, the development of Gong Yoo is immensely significant because it. shows that instead of simply being a self absorbed, ignorant twat that ignored his daughter for work, he's become a father who would bravely sacrifice his life for his little girl. as well as this, the daughter manages to maintain her innocence throughout the entire film, not being corrupted despite being surrounded by gore and horror and death.

a significant scene in the film is the final scene, the pregnant lady and Su-an alone together, managed to get off the train and are walking through a literal war zone, not focusing on the dead bodies but instead on each other. the unnamed woman is clutching her stomach, protecting the innocence within. the camera shows the backs of the two girls, walking into the darkness, suggesting that even the pure can get consumed in the end. the next thing we see is a gun, held by a soldier who is ready to fire at any given moment. There is no music in the scene, only background noise and the voices of the soldiers. as the soldier gets ready to fire, the next thing we hear is the child singing- showing that she is in fact stll alive and still a child.

However, a point worth mentioning is this; who is the main character of the film? is it the heroic father? or the innocent child? i guess it can be left up to interpretation.

 Evaluate how effective the plot twists of High Maintenance are executed

The short film, Hight Maintenance, has quite a few surprises and plot twists. the film starts with an ordinary couple sat at a dinner table having a meal. at first there seems to be nothing wrong, but the audience soon see the tension and awkwardness between the husband and the wife. seeing as the genre is Sci-Fi, we naturally expect something to happen and soon. the music in the first scene is very calming, lulling the audience into a false sense of calmness. the lighting is very dim, intimate and could be considered romantic.

the first surprising element in the film is when the wife is sat on her husband's lap, a seemingly harmless gesture, stroking his hair, when she suddenly turns him off. literally. this sticks the audience as we didn't expect the husband to be a robot, at least not at first. looking back we can see that he shows quite a few characteristics of a robot that were simply hidden. his offence at the mention of some "short mechanical sex" etc.

however, the biggest plot twist was saved until the end of the short film, where the woman's new robotic husband gives her a massage, but he abruptly turns her off as well. literally. we find out that she herself was in fact a robot. there are some red herrings to show us otherwise but rewatching we are left with an even bigger question; is everybody a robot in this world?

all in all, I'd say that the plot twists in the film are quite effective, however they could've been something more. the final plot twist in which the female is revealed to be a robot, was remarkable however the other twist was not as much.

Shrek (2001)

Cast: Mike Meyers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow

Director: Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson

Synopsis: Once upon a time, in a far away swamp, there lived an ogre named Shrek (Mike Myers) whose precious solitude is suddenly shattered by an invasion of annoying fairy tale characters. They were all banished from their kingdom by the evil Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow). Determined to save their home -- not to mention his -- Shrek cuts a deal with Farquaad and sets out to rescue Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) to be Farquaad's bride. Rescuing the Princess may be small compared to her deep, dark secret.

Review:

Possibly the best cinematic creation in history, Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson bring an action packed, yet simply sweet, twist on fairytales to life. We can recognise many familiar voices and are introduced to a whole world of characters.

When Shrek's( Mike Meyers) lonely, peaceful life is interrupted by hordes of fairytale creatures, he sets out to find the man behind it and get his swamp back. Shrek is joined by an "annoying talking Donkey"( Eddie Murphy) to rescue the beautiful princess as a bride for the compensating Lord Farquaad( John Lithgow).

The film serves as great entertainment for all ages with its vibrant cast and meaningful messages within. Adamson and Jenson brought together actors you probably wouldn't expect to be in a film together and each and every one of them shone in their respective roles. Mike Meyers knew exactly what he was doing when demanding our Angry Ogre have a Scottish accent.

a key scene in this iconic film is during the final "battle", in which Shrek and the newly exposed Ogre Fiona( Cameron Diaz) struggle to stay together whilst fighting off the guards of Farquaad. The Scene ends with Lord Farquaad being eaten alive by the Dragon, and the two ogres reuniting. this scene in particular shows important significance because it symbolises the pure determination Shrek has had since the beginning of the movie, however his motivation has changed. instead of serving Farquaad