Film analysis

The opening of the film "The Cleaner" starts off in the streets of the city as we follow a woman to her mother's house. The colours of the starting sequences is very grey and dark while we see smoke/smog coming up from the ground. This was done intentionally as it sets the mood for the film as being dark. it also corresponds to the type of job that the main character does as it is a dirty business. The use of the voice-over is instantly recognised as Samuel L. Jackson, which is the main character of the film. The viewer comes to the film knowing this so knows straight away what he is saying is important and relevant to the narrative of the film. The voice over is the biggest narrative tool as it is the only thing that informs us of what is going on. Without the voice over we could've interepreted the opening differently for example, during 1:02 the narrator details the women's death. We also start to get an idea of the Jackson's character before we've even seen him because of how easily he is able to talk about his gruesome profession and how lightly he feels about death. The camera shots become jumpy at 1:13 for only that part of the clip because it is meant to represent the frame of mind that the women is in after seeing her dead mother. The non-diegetic soundtrack at the start of the film opening, I feel, is quite mysterious as the narrative is beginning to be created. It also starts to become low and more quite as the death of the mother is described and her daughter's cries can be heard. Although, after that it becomes more casual as we're now past the initial death and moved onto the business side of someone dying. It almost makes it seem normal and natural to the main character that his job revolves around people dying.

Group

We've recently been put into our groups for our future film opening. The group I am is Group T where I am with Holly Oxley, Aisha Essoulami and Max Davies. I knew Max previously but I have never et the other two girls before. I'm quite happy with the people group as everyone seems smart at what they're doing I hope I'll get on well with the whole group.

Secrets and Lies

The males body language show how that they are uncomfortable with the photo shoot while the women are enjoying it. The men are dressed casually and scruffy while the women have used a lot of effort in dressing up nicely. Their facial expressions of the son and husband show discomfort and annoyance for having to do this while the women constantly smile. Dull colors are used and it helps represent the dull mood of the family having to do the photo shoot.


His costume represent his attitude towards the photo shoot and how eager and excited he is to do it. His body language is very energetic and loose which shows how comfortable he is with it. The light is brighter than usual to show the light off his muscles and reflect his mood of excitement, the boxing gloves are also captures the audiences concentration. His facial expression makes it seem like he’s arrogant, showing off as if proud of his body. The red boxing gloves represents to love and passion he has for the sport and the anger


Her body language paints her as stuck up, boring and miserable, her facial expression reflects this. Trying to be professional. The main color of the clip is of her uniform which shows she may be a nurse. The fact that the photographer takes the picture at the split second she smiles is comical and represents how rare her smiles may be.


A lot of white is used which represents the purity of new life e.g. the baby and clothing The main focus of the clip is the baby and everyone else’s body language is leaned towards the baby which makes it the centre of attention. This also stereotypes women as the dominant parent when it comes to child care, this is done by only having women in the shot; the mother and the woman helping. This is also emphasized by the woman on the left muttering “look at the baby”. The cross around the woman on the left is reflected by the light which could show a religious aspect of purity and relates to Christ’s birth. The lighting mainly focuses around the facial expressions of the mother and the baby as it tries to show a loving expression from the mum towards the baby and adds a glow around the pair.


The dog is the centre of attention is sitting on a brightly colored table so draws our eyes towards it. The women also wears red clothes which links her to the table and how the dog dominates her and she lives for the dog. The woman also has a dog on her jumper which represents her love for dogs, this is backed up by the way she doesn’t leave the dog alone to have it’s picture taken. The dog’s body language shows how the dog doesn’t really care for the pictures but the woman is very flustered and worrying about the dogs appearance, showing a stereotypical dog lover.


Stereotypes old women as cat lovers as she is getting a picture with her and her cat. The cat is centered and elevated on a chair which represents it’s importance in the woman’s life. The lighting mainly focuses on the cat in the centre and is the color a bright white while on the other hand the woman is to the side and wearing dark clothing so that she isn’t very eye catching.


His body language is very stiff and upright which shows how he may not be very happy about getting married. The colors he wears are very bland and dull which contributes to his feelings toward getting married. His facial expression shows unease and worry which could reflect his feelings towards marriage. He uses slang words such as “init” which could represent how young he is that he is still using these kind of words, making it seem he’s too young to get married and it’s family’s choice.


The man in the extract is trying to impersonate Tom Cooper. His body language is very upright and straight which gives the idea that he knows what he wants when it comes to having his photo done. It’s ironic because Tom Cooper is a comedian and should be funny but this man has the opposite, serious personality. The only bright color is his hat which is an iconic piece of clothing from Tom Cooper.


The woman in blue is the centre of attention in this extract because she is wearing bright clothing, unlike the other two women. She is also the one trying the hardest to act the most slutty. The woman is also centre of the picture which could show how eager she is to do these pictures. The women’s body language tries to make them seem sexy and appealing as they stand in revealing positions. Black is used a lot in the picture as the women try to be sexy and appealing but it can also be that the women may blend into the background because of the woman in blue being the centre of attention. After the picture has been taken the women seem to go back to how they would usually act.


This extract stereotypes women as the dominant parent of children and wanting their children to be pretty due to there being two women fussing about the dresses of the children. The color blue is used a lot as the children wear a light blue which could represent their youth while the mother wears a mainly dark blue dress which could represent her age and how she may have once wanted to be a dancer herself. The color also makes the children stand out from the photo and the lighting is centered on the children as well.


The costume the boy wears is very formal and the impression is given that his mum has dressed him for this occasion. His hair is also combed to the side to try and make him seem smart and formal. The chair he is also sitting on seem very expensive and fancy. The boy is picking his nose through out the extract so it shows how oblivious he is to the formal scene but rather his mother has picked this setting for him. The lighting is bright on the boys clothes and on the chair he’s sitting on to bring emphasis to the expensive clothes and furniture.


A lot of black is used in the extract in an attempt to make herself seem sexy. Her legs are revealed and in the centre of the frame to try and highlight her features. The green plant also makes the woman seem more goddess-like as it can be related to Greek Gods. Her facial expressions and body language try to make her seem more seductive and sexy but after the photo has been taken she returns back to her normal personality.


Stereotypes British men as business men as men from all ages are dressed formally in the picture, one man even looks at his watch during the photo shoot giving the idea that he has better things to do. The photographer tries to get the men to smile by laughing but the men ignore him and want it to finish by the looks on their face. Stereotypes the men as being miserable. Dull lighting and colors are mainly present and the lighting is mainly focuses on their facial expressions. The dull lighting and colors represent how boring they are and the emphasis on their faces also show this.

Paired work with Harry O'D

Fringe Vs Pillow Talk

How are the sequences from “Pillow Talk” and “Fringe” different?

 

In my essay I will be talking about the differences and similarities in sequences when it comes to certain extracts in the two films “Pillow Talk” and “Fringe”. “Pillow Talk” is a 1959 romantic comedy that was directed by Michael Gordon while “Fringe” is an American TV series that was first broadcasted in 2008. Many factors influence the audience’s reception with the style of editing, camera angles, pace and the target audience.

The style of editing used in each film is very different as both films use a very diverse range of cuts that appeal to their own target audience. In “Fringe” we see that a conversation is split up into many clean cuts to close-ups that last only a few seconds, they also show the characters faces as they speak and sometimes when they are spoken too. By doing this the director allows the viewer to watch the character’s facial expression in reaction to the dialogue of the other character. This helps attach the audience to the characters emotionally as we can see their own emotion clearly displayed on their face. An establishing shot is also used in the extract as we see something weird happen outside. This is important for the series as the location of the events that will unfold is important to the plot of the story. It also provides a link between the show and the audience as since it is an American show the American audience will automatically recognise the location in which it is set in. In “Pillow Talk” we see how the amount of cuts drastically decreases in contrast to “Fringe”. In the conversation over the phone we see how the director uses a split screen instead of constant cuts to each character. It carries a similarity to “Fringe” in the sense that they use close-ups to capture the emotions of the characters to create a link between the audience and character. It achieves this effect by using the split-screen to emphasis their facial emotions at the same time. The date of the film may have influenced this decision as multiple cuts in films hadn’t fully integrated into films yet due to the technology. Another difference is that “Pillow Talk” as the camera angles mainly focus over the shoulder and doesn’t really revolve around who is talking. In some instances we will see the back of the head while they are talking, which rarely happens during “Fringe”. This extract also manages to achieve the effect of a scene change which differs from Fringe’s establishing shot by using a dissolve edit into the next scene. The director does this as it moves quite softly into the next scene, keeping the audience focused on the conversation at hand rather than where they are having this conversation.

The pace of the extracts also differs as the pace in “Fringe” is very quick in contrast to “Pillow Talk”. In “Fringe” we see how the average of the cutting is about 3 – 4 seconds. This happens mostly as the conversation progresses. This is because it helps build up the tension and the suspense that the audience has, making it seem more intense. The time period in which the TV series was broadcasted in has an effect on the pace. The target audience of the programme is mostly aimed at a younger generation of people so they are looking for fast-paced action because they are able to keep up with it. Therefore it assumes that the audience is watching, intensely, to what is going on and that they are up to date with the storyline. It also fits into the genre of the TV series, an action sci-fi show making fast cuts a convention of this genre. This contrasts a lot with the pace of the cuts in “Pillow Talk” as the average of the cuts is about 11 seconds. The pace also represents the age in which it was broadcasted in. Action paced shows weren’t fully developed unlike the action shows that we can watch today. The fact that this film also is a romance film indicates what the pace of the cuts will likely be. The slow pace of cuts also represents the intensity of the conversation. The first conversation is simply one shot so it represents how the conversation may be light-hearted between the two who are most probably friends. The second one includes more cuts as the conversation becomes more serious as the man provokes the woman. Although the last conversation is serious it isn’t as intense as the scene from “Fringe” therefore it isn’t as quick but a lot of cuts happens to show the emotions on the characters faces, similar to “Fringe”.

The audiences’ response differs greatly between the two extracts due to the huge time gap in which they were both created. “Pillow Talk” was shown to audiences in the 60s so the style of editing isn’t as diverse as it is in modern films. Therefore people who have only ever seen the modern films of their own time will receive the film differently than someone who was of age during the 60s. The slow pace of editing and simple camera shots are perceived as good from people who are from the 60s because that was the best that they had in that era of time. This is similar of the reception of “Fringe” from someone who was born in the 90s or much recently. This is because they have been brought up watching films to similar to this particular series with face pace editing and a lot of different camera shots & angles. For someone who has grown up with films such as “Pillow Talk” they will not believe that “Fringe” is as good as “Pillow Talk” and vice verse. Gender plays a huge role in the audiences’ reception. Men are more likely to prefer “Fringe” over “Pillow Talk” due to the intensity and action that comes with it. While women may prefer “Pillow Talk” because the genre is a romance so the film has been directed for that specific genre. So the appeal towards women is greater than the appeal towards men.

In conclusion, the sequences from “Pillow Talk” and “Fringe” are directed very differently due to the time period that they were created but still hold the same meaning, for example, capturing facial emotions.

Horror still image

For my horror still image I used my friend to dress up like a serial killer. I used a low angle shot so as to make him seem powerful as we look up at him. I made sure that the tip of the axe shines from the rest of the picture which adds to the danger of the image. The branches that are around the bottom of the image makes it seem like the viewer is on the ground as the killer stands over them. This differs from my original design as I didn't think about the lighting effects that would come with taking the image outside but I managed to overcome it. I think I did well with my horror still image as I tried to use the rule of thirds to make my image seem better.

Started on Secrets and Lies

In class, we're currently watching several clips from the film Secrets and Lies. We plan to look into each clip and analyse the clips and see if we can find connotations. I hope to document these in a powerpoint presentation but I have heard that these do not work well on the blog so I may have to post the information manually.