Practice exam question- City of God

How far does the impact of the films you have studied for this topic depend on distinctive uses of film techniques? (35 marks)

The beginning of City of God starts with an extreme close up on a knife being sharpened and this is a metaphor to describe how the people in the favelas are living on the edge of a knife because someone dies every 90 seconds in the favelas. Then there is a chicken which is tied up but it escapes and in this scene there is a sense of verisimilitude because a handheld camera is used with a tracking shot following the chicken running away. However, the people chase the chicken to stop it from getting away and this is a representation of how the people in the favelas are trapped there and that they could die at any moment, just like the chicken.

Another scene in the film shows Goose, Clipper and Shaggy go to a motel to rob it. They walk into the exit of the motel which could be a foreshadowing of their exit out of the film.  Inside the motel they tie up the staff and steal anything of value. The film is very fast paced at this moment too to get across that they are in a rush to get out so that they don't get caught, however there is a moment inside the motel where Clipper goes to steal jewellery but he sees a crucifix necklace and he hands it back to the man. This scene is clearer than all the others inside the motel and this is done to make clear to the audience that Clipper is religious and this is a sign that he can still be saved, he will not suffer the same fate as Goose and Shaggy. After they leave the motel they cannot find lil Z so they assume that he has been taken by the police and then there is a sweeping pan camera motion across each room in the motel, as if they are all one room, and everyone is dead. From this, the audience can assume that Lil Z set them up and went in to kill everyone after they left. He did this so that they would all be arrested, killed or would have to leave, and so that he could assume the position of leader of the rising gang in the favelas. In an earlier scene in the film, we were shown a foreshadowing, of Lil Z assuming this position, where he was sat at the top of the pile of bricks while the tender trio were stood around him or sat below him.

Practice exam question- La Haine

How far does the impact of the films you have studied for this topic depend on distinctive uses of film techniques? (35 marks)

In La Haine there is a Close up of Said's face at the end of the film when Hubert and the Policeman are pointing guns at each others head after the policeman shot Vinz. The close up shows Said's realisation that something bad is going to happen and he doesn't want to see it because he doesn't want to believe it so he closes his eyes and scrunches his face up, waiting for the gun shot sound because he knows its coming and there's nothing that can stop it. This gives the viewer the realisation that the film will not have a happy ending and this was the harsh reality of Paris in those times, that in most cases people struggled to ever get out of the projects and away from the violence that they were surrounded by there and that a lot of the deaths there were through violence. It shows that in reality the police aren't always good people and they are just as violent, if not more, as the supposedly violent youths that they are beating up and shooting. The close up on Said's face emphasises the fact that young people are scared of the police. Also in this scene there is a ticking sound in the background, counting down to the gunshot. This sound, as well as the gunshot, happens throughout the film when the digital times come up on the screen

La Haine

Violence
Religion
Race
Social Class
Corruption
Wealth






2 scenes for poverty- Saïd robs a sausage at the barbecue because they're selling them to make money but he can't afford one.
2 scenes for power- end where police officer points gun at Vinz and shoots him.
-vinz gets one of gang member at gun point (has power over him) but Hubert uses reverse psychology which stops Vinz from hurting him so Hubert has power over Vinz.
2 scenes for conflict- when the news team ask saïd, Vinz and Hubert questions but they throw stones at them.
- Hubert and police officer, that killed Vinz, in shoot out.

aims and context

Step outline

Short Thriller film

Target audience is 15+

Key conventions of thriller films e.g. low lighting, close ups, low angles.

case studies

Jurassic World - US Blockbuster
Budget= $150 million
Box office= £1,668,912,312
Opening Weekend= $524,418,134

Stars- Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Nick Robinson, Ty Simpkins, Vincent D'Onofrio, B.D.           Wong, Irffan Khan

Genre- Science Fiction Adventure

Production Company- Amblin Entertainment, Legendary Pictures

Distributer- Universal

Running time= 124 minutes

Release Date- May 29 2015

Marketing= $34.9 million TV Advertisements, interviews.

Certificate- 12
Successful because chris pratt is famous, lots of advertisement and marketing, other jurassic park films to back it up. Big budget and released in cinemas worldwide. was in talks to produce this reboot for about 10 years. Interviews talking about their part in movie and the production process.

Kings of Summer- US Independent

Budget= $2 million

Box office= $1,315,590

Opening Weekend=

Stars- Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Erin Moriarty

Genre- Comedy, Drama

Production Company- Big Beach Films, Low Spark Films

Certificate- 15

Release Date- May 31 2013
Distributer- E1 films Canada, JIL, Arthaus Filmverleih, QED International
Running Time= 95 minutes
Not very successful because independent movie, not highly advertised/marketed, not well known stars. Loads of interviews with pop sugar etc promoting the movie and themselves. Show parts of film in interviews to encourage people to go watch it.

The Riot Club- UK
Budget-
Opening weekend= $808,939
Box Office= $2,146,041
Stars- Max Irons, Sam Claflin, Douglas Booth, Jessica Brown Findlay, Holliday Grainger
Genre- Drama Thriller
Production Company- Blueprint Pictures
Distributer- Universal Pictures International
Marketing- Trailer released May 2014
Quite successful because Sam Claflin was in hunger games, Douglas Booth is hot, Max Irons is Jeremy Irons son. So quite well known actors in UK. Interviews, talk about characters and their part in the film.
Director- lone scherfig known for an education- 2009

Film Noir Practical Task Reflective Analysis

For this task we had to take 5 shots of film sequence that was in the style of 1940s Film Noir. We had to include conventions of film noir such as the venetian blinds, shadows, and low angles. We also had to include a voiceover and flashbacks. During pre production we had to make up a story and plan what camera angles/movements we were going to use and we took a long time to do this because at first we couldn't think of any ideas, but after a while we started coming up with lots of ideas. My part in the production of the film was mainly filming, Rebecca edited it and we both directed it and helped each other with our roles. James did the acting and the voiceover. For our story we used a circular narrative in which at the end of the film we went back to the start and the middle of the film explained what was going on. In the first scene there is a birds eye view of the victim and it goes from an extreme close up to a mid-shot which we did so the audience focuses on the victim and also the birds eye view is used to show that they are a victim. Then we used a dissolve transition to show that there is a flashback, which goes into a long tracking shot of James' character walking down a street and at the end of the shot the camera tilts upwards to a spooky looking tree just to add to the mysteriousness. Then the next shot we did was a close up of a sign saying "strictly no admittance" which we used to show it was a crime scene. After that there is a shot of James looking through some venetian blinds, which are a convention of film noir. The last scene goes back to the start where there is a birds eye view of James but this time we go from a mid shot into an extreme close up as at the end his character dies so we wanted the audience to know this by zooming in on his eyes closing. We also recorded a voice over as this is also a convention of film noir and it helped the audience to know what was going on as it was only a short film sequence. In the end of the film he realises that he was the murderer because he has a split personality and he kills himself because he feels so guilty. During the making of our film the things that went well was the editing because me and Becca worked together but when we were trying to film it took us a long time because James kept walking off and chatting to his friends and we couldn't film anything because he was the actor in our film. So in the future i would work with Becca again because we work well together but James is too unreliable.

2 genres 5 conventions 5 themes

Western Conventions
Hats/boots
Guns/Shoot outs
Desert/ranches/jails/saloons
Cow boys/ gunslingers/bounty hunters

Themes
Shoot outs/show downs
Justice
Rescuing damsels
Fighting crime
Conflict

Romance Conventions
Wedding
Couple
Love
red/pink
Hearts

Themes
Obstacles e.g. infidelity, illness
search for love
Marriage
Forbidden love/ love at first sight
Overcoming obstacles