Research Project: 127 Hours

Task 1: The Film

The storyline of this film is A mountain climber becomes trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone near Moab, Utah and resorts to desperate measures in order to survive. The genre of this film is varied between drama, adventure and thriller. The target audience of this film is aimed for people who are called ‘adrenaline junkies’ and who like the extreme sports. The target audience is also people who like sitting at the edge of there seat. The director of this film is Danny Boyle; he also made films such as Slumdog millionaire which was a big British film. The budget of the film was $18,000,000 (estimated). The companies that made the film are film 4, cloud eight films, Everest entertainment, Darlow Smithson production, Dune entertainment 3, Handmade films and Pathe. It was filmed in Moab, Utah, USA and Salt Lake City. The main actors are James Franco, Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara. The studio that distributed the film was 20^th Century Fox. It was released in the US and the UK. The film is from Britain, as the director is known for making many British movies and this one was from Britain. The film has appeared in the London film festival, and also the Austin film festival and has also received some awards like Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 55 nominations.

Task 2: Marketing

The poster

This poster is not very interactive as it doesn’t give any direct mode of address, and also the close up of the mans face is blocked by all the other effects. From this poster you can assume that it will be a British film as the director is a British director. We can also assume it is a sci-fi, drama as the man is obviously looking at something important and he is being blurred and the blurred effect is something that happens to technology, specifically televisions, so we can assume that technology is involved. The target audience would be people who like physiological thrillers or maybe who like true stories. The method to sell the film by a poster is that they have a big name actor in the poster and it stands out to lure the audience in to view his movie. They give information such as that it is a true story, which makes it more interesting, it also gives the reference of the director and also the tag line which is also like what the story is about. Personally I don’t think I would like to see the film, I think they sold it well with there poster but it is not the kind of genre I would go and watch. There different to Hollywood films as Hollywood films have better advertisement and also they always advertise in other countries where as UK doesn’t.

The Website

The website image is more interesting as it is a different image of the man in a dangerous situation; it shows his whole body and the sun going down to show he will be wondering and in a bad situation till dark. It’s very interactive as it makes us intrigued.  We can assume it is a drama as the man is in a tough place and is facing difficulties. The target audience would be people who like physiological thrillers or maybe who like true stories. The fact that the poster is on a website means that the audience can see it whenever they want not just when they are out. This gives an advantage to the makers of the film as they will get a wider response. They give information such as that it is a true story, which makes it more interesting, it also gives the reference of the director and also the tag line which is also like what the story is about. In this image on a website they make it look more of the genre I would watch so I would go to watch it, as the main image makes it look so interesting where as the poster didn’t. There different to Hollywood films as Hollywood films have better advertisement and also they always advertise in other countries where as UK doesn’t.

The trailer

The trailer is the best way to advertise the movie as it shows you parts of the movie, and makes you more interested based on the setting and the use of camera shots.  It is very interactive as the sound and movement help the audience get interested in the film. By the scenes shown the film is like a documentary and movie merged into one. Now watching the trailer I believe that the genre is adventure and drama, as they create suspense through one of the scenes showing them falling through air. The use of camera movement and setting helped sell the film as it helps create the illusion of reality but can also convey a real story. They give information such as that it is a true story, and through the film when seeing all these actions you have to remind yourself that it is a true story, which makes the experience of the film even more interesting and enjoyable. They are successful in making me see the film as the setting and the fact there is a documentary attached interests me.

Analysis of Film poster

The genre this poster represents is an action/ adventure film due to its actors as all of them have been in one action film; the main attraction of this film would be Johnny depp as he is a bankable star, and he has been in many hit films such as Edward scissor hands. Also the props of swords and guns also attract the audience as they can tell it will be a fantasy, the gun is old and no one in today’s society has a large sword. Also the setting looks as if they are in a cave; this makes them appear to be on an adventure, which would appeal to all kinds of audiences, such as families and also adults as there is romance and violence. We can also see that Johnny Depp is the main character as he is in front of the page and also the middle. Also the stars are being used on the posters by images instead of text, this is useful as many people may not know the actors or actress’ name but have seen them in another film and liked them. We can associate films such as Sleepy hollow as it is an a fantasy film and stared Johnny Depp, this would be important when thinking of the marketing campaign of the film because for Johnny Depp to appear in a film the director needs to think of what kinds of genre films he stars in the most, as that audience that view his films would need to like the genre. This movie is totally individual it has its own original music with original storyline. The only text that is used on this poster is the title and the soundtrack. This gives out the mystery of the film and lures the audience into the cinemas to find out more about the film. The composition of the poster is that Johnny Depp is in the middle and dominates the page revealing he is the main character, and then beside him he has Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush which shows they have a quarrel and then Keera Knightly beside Orlando Bloom to show who she is in love with. The camera angle used on this poster is an extreme close-up as it shows the most important thing, which is the cast’s faces, as they all are bankable stars. I believe that the target audience is a range between families and adult couples, as there is romance constantly in the movie whilst also action attracts the younger audience. Since the props and the characters usually have younger audiences it foreshadows what audience they will attract. the unique selling point of this movie is the bankable characters and the genre of the film as both would attract different groups of audiences.

Independant film precious

Precious- independent film (not by big six Hollywood studios)

Research from www.imdb.com

The independent movie I have chosen is precious as it has many stars involved. The idea of the film was inspired by a book called Push written by a woman called Sapphire. The original script was written by Geoffrey Fletcher but he got most of the ideas from the novel push. The financial backers were easy to arrange as major star Opera Winfrey put most of her money into this film as she felt related to it, she was also one of the executive producers. The production companies were Lee Daniels entertainment and also Smokewood entertainment group. The director of the film was Lee Daniels whose production company also produced the film. The Executive Producer was Simone Sheffield. Lee Daniels was also the director; he fulfilled many roles in this film. It was released through lion’s gate entertainment. Precious was filmed on location in various parts of New York City including the film's main setting Harlem, for the period of over five weeks. Daniels believes that his choices for the cast were based on how the actors and actresses worked in there films. Daniels stated he cast her in the role of Mrs. Weiss based on her performance in that film. The budget was $10,000,000 (estimated) and the Gross profit was $47,395,661 (USA). The script was only changed in its music choice Composer Robin Thicke wrote and produced "Push", the film's original main theme music. Later announcements confirmed that the song would be replaced by Mary J. Blige's "I Can See in Color"

Research task

The Hollywood blockbuster film I have chosen was Black Swan as it is a new film that has attracted many good reviews and is a Drama so it would attract a wide audience because it has suspension, tension and keeps the audience at the edge of there seat. The idea of the film was written by Mark Heyman and was screen played by Andres Heinz. He developed the concept by himself but Andres also developed the idea. The idea came from the well known pressures and expectations that are associated with the dancing profession, especially ballet. Thomas Leroy, the artistic director of a New York City ballet company, is mounting Swan Lake as the company's next production. I believe the original script was written by Fox Searchlight Pictures. the production companies were fox searchlight pictures and phoenix pictures are two of the biggest Hollywood production companies as fox has its own channel in America and produces many great films. The director was Darren Aronofsky, and the producer was tom Paul.

The locations where the film was shot are Bowling Green, Lower Manhattan, Manhattan, New York City, New York, the concert hall, performing arts centre, purchase college, State university of New York at purchase. Woodhull medical and mental health centre Brooklyn New York. There were no problems with the cast of the movie, in fact Natalie Portman recommended her friend Mila Kunis or the role of Lily after learning that she was a good dancer. The films budget was estimated at $13,000,000 and it gained $83,250,375

final draft of moulin rouge essay

       How Mise- en- scene and Camera movement creates meaning in a scene from Mouline Rouge

Film: Moulin Rouge

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Year: 2001

Scene: ’Your Song’

Moulin rouge is set in the late 1800’s, in the decadent cabaret club in romantic Paris. Christian and Satine are together for the first time in my chosen sequence.

 Saltine’s mysterious character is represented through her costume, which is black lingerie with black stiletto heels. This provocative costume signifies not only the dark side of her character but also her intimate relationship to the Moulin rouge, a place of debauchery and sex. Her flame red hair and painted red lips show that she is a temptress, highly sexual and passionate. Saltine’s hair is untamed and wild, suggesting that she spends most of the day in bed with a man. She is clearly represented as being a promiscuous woman, one who sleeps with many men. Christian is also dressed in black, this coincidentally signifies the connection between these two lovers. He wears a suit indicating his professional status as a novelist and also showing the contrast of the different worlds that these two are from- one highly respectable and one highly salacious. The setting supports there ideas about Satine as she sleeps in a red velvet bedspread and her décor is also red.

There are heart shaped ornaments that represent her passionate lifestyle or perhaps a longing for love- a contradicting character.

A high angle shot first introduces us to Satine while she wriggles around on the bed. The high angle shows how ridiculous she looks; this clearly influences the audience to view her as foolish and almost childlike, There is a shot reverse shot from her to him to show that her actions are nothing to do with what he is saying and she is making it hard for him to get all of his words out. The shot reverse shot is from her rolling around on the floor groaning, to him attempting to get his words out and looking at her puzzled to what she is doing. 

The camera is a low angle when it cross cuts to him to show is maturity and him stating the real reason why he is there and not jumping into bed with her, this would impress the audience as they would think he is a gentleman for not taking the chance most men would take. When Satine Begins to crawl on the floor on her stomach in her black lingerie moaning and groaning the audience sees the dark side of the Moulin Rouge that it is not all about having fun on both sides, it is a routine of how to survive being a women in the 1800’s.

There is a shallow focus on Christians back from the bright lighted Paris background in front of him as when he sings he is the most important thing at that moment and our attention would be focused on him.

We then get a point of view shot of Paris in the night where he sings into the air, all the houses lights turn on as they heard his voice. There is also iconography used in this scene as we see a landmark of Paris, the Eiffel Tower, the lighting in this scene is bright and stands out among the night. Cross cutting is frequent in this scene as we preview it again when Christian turns around and the facial expression of Satine is speechless as she is dazzled by his voice. We are seeing point of view shots from both characters as they are both looking at each other while this is happening. This means that they both are entranced by each other, also seeing both characters point of view we the audience can understand that the only thing they are focused on is each other.  While Christian is singing the camera stays on him and the camera is not completely still we can assume that a hand held camera is being used at this moment to create a more intense effect on his singing to represent realism to the situation, there is a pull of focus used from shallow focus of a mid shot of Christian to Satine behind him, the camera is following his every move, as Christian turns around we are seeing what he is seeing as if he is the camera. Satines personality is about survival as her motive is to find a wealthy man and have him pay for her to become a real actress; this is shown through her performances to other characters as she pretends to be something which she is not, although Christian sees through her act and makes her feel more then an object.

An over the shoulder shot is used twice, once for Satine to look at Christian and one for Christian to look at Satine, this signifies their bond with each other and how they are so close after a few moments together. As the pair begin to spin together the camera shifts forward to get closer to them, this makes the romance of the scene more intense as it builds up the fantasy of love, the idea caters to the audience being aimed at women as they have the stereotype of having emotional attributes and that being emotional is part of there femininity. By Satine’s associated mise en scene such as her costume and living accommodations, we know that she is a provocative character, but through the camera angles we can see that she experiences more love related emotions instead of lust since she is looking directly at Christian with a simple smile.

There is a long shot of the two leaping through the air to get to another place, as we view this the audience can briefly preview the setting once more as the stars are out in the sky, there are lights around all corners of the buildings and a shade of blue is constant. This switches the beginning scene from a repetition of red representing lust to a blue, which could symbolise dreams and care freeness. In the background of this fantasy there is the iconography of the Eiffel Tower as it builds up the romance of being in love in Paris.

The bright moon in the background is animated it also sings ‘ the man in the moon’, this is known as intertextual references, this animation of the moon singing can be related to the first ever film made called ‘ Trip to the Moon’. The fact that the moon is a cartoon character reveals that the movie was a French film. Since similarities in both films use the setting of Paris and fantasy references such as animated moons. There are similarities between these two films which are that, Moulin Rouge is also set in France, these connections could reveal that the Moulin Rouge was duplicating the first French movie made, the moon in the first French film was shown as an over seer and the French film ‘trip to the moon’ also shows showgirls which is similar to Moulin Rouge as it also portrays the prostitution in Moulin Rouge.

 This setting also sets the scene for romance as it has all the factors of a romantic night. It caters to the illusion the female audience wants which is to experience fantasy love.

 There is a low angle shot of the two under a red umbrella as there are ‘stars’ falling on them show that together they are more alive and happy then being on there own, and that love is just what they needed. The Moulin Rouge is a theatre, which is a show within a show, which is to demonstrate that the director wanted to make it obvious it’s a show and that it is opposite to realism.  Again fantasy is backed up as they reach there destination, there is flutters of something shinny falling through the sky which can be associated with stars. Iconography is used yet again as the Eiffel Tower is shown to set the scene. The Eiffel Tower is the icon of France but especially Paris, the Eiffel Tower is known to be very romantic and so is Paris since there are stereotypes that Paris is the place to find love and romance. The Eiffel Tower is revealed in this scene to be a stage setting that shows the audience they are living in a theatre. While they are in the fantasy sequence their costume turns shiny and glisten which they didn’t before, it resembles a fantasy of everything being perfect when you are in love.

Mise-en-scene and cinematography contradict each other in this scene as Satine is powerful in her costume as she is dressed in flattering clothes, but is dominated by men in camera shots, as there are many high angle shots looking down at her by Christian, this contradiction reflects her life and how she has to depend on men to further herself.

AS Film Practical Coursework: Planning

Moulin Rouge Essay

               

              

Mise- en- scene and Camera movement

The beginning of my film scene ‘Moulin Rouge’  is about two characters who fall in love when they are forbidden, they suffer through many complications like Satine is a Courtesan  and Christian has to strain himself to look past that which makes the love story so intense, my scene starts with the two main characters Satine and Christian as it is there first time together, Satine’s costume is all in black lingerie with black heels which could signify that she has a dark side to her, she also has red hair and red lips to show that she is a temptress as red is the colour of passion and love. Christian is also dressed in black but in a black suit which shows he looks smart and is there for a different purpose then her, there is a constant repetition of the colour red in her room which signifies love and lust as she is a courtesan which could reflect what kind of character she is.

We first embark on the couple in Satine’s room where she is laying on the bed, as she is on the bed the camera is looking down on her from a high angle to show how silly and provocative she looks this may influence the audience in there opinion of her as she doesn’t make a good impression of herself which makes the scene even more intense as she can change her ‘put on face’ into herself, there is a cross cutting shot from her to him to show that her actions are nothing to do with what he is saying and she is making it hard for him to get all of his words out , the cross cutting is from her rolling around on the floor groaning to him attempting to get his words out and looking at her puzzled to what she is doing, the camera is a low angle when it cross cuts to him to show is maturity and him stating the real reason why he is there and not jumping into bed with her , this would impress the audience as they would think he is a gentleman for not taking the chance most men would take.

There is a shallow focus on Christians back from the bright lighted Paris background in front of him as when he sings he is the most important thing at that moment and the audiences attention would be focused on him, we then get a point of view shot of Paris in the night where he sings into the air, all the houses lights turn on as they herd his voice, there is also iconography used in this scene as we see a landmark of Paris, the Eiffel Tower, the lighting in this scene is bright and stands out among the night. Cross cutting is frequent in this scene as we preview it again when Christian turns around and the facial expression of Satine is speechless as she is dazzled by his voice , the audience could also say we are seeing point of view shots from both characters as they are both looking at each other while this is happening. While Christian is singing the camera stays on him and the camera is not completely still we can assume that a hand held camera is being used at this moment to create a bigger effect on his singing to represent realism to the situation, there is a change of focus is used from shallow focus of mid shot of Christian to Satine behind him , the camera is following his every move as if he is the main character, when he turns around the camera follows him as if we are seeing things from his point of view.

Over the shoulder shot is used twice, once for Satine to look at Christian and one for Christian to look at Satine which can also be known as a shot reverse shot, this signifies there bond with each other and how they are so close after a few moments together, which is like a fantasy of ‘love at first sight’ which is not realist but is commonly used in the film world as it caters to the audiences lust for romance and makes them believe that they can experience it. As the pair begin to spin together the camera shifts forward to get closer to them this makes the romance of the scene more intense as it builds up the desire of love. This part of the scene is typical and one of the most romantic parts as it shows the two together and can show there true character, as when we first see Satine she looked very seductive but in this part she revealed that she is a fool for love and is not really a prostitute, and Christian can see that as soon as he looks into her eyes.

There is a long shot of the two leaping through the air to get to another place which demonstrates the fantasy love story they both are in, as we view this the audience can briefly preview the setting once more as the stars are out in the sky, there are lights around all corners of the buildings and a shade of blue is constant, this switches the beginning scene from a repetition of red representing lust to a blue which could symbolise fantasy and care freeness , this setting also sets the scene for romance as it has all the factors of a romantic night this caters to the illusion the audience want to see of love. Again fantasy is backed up as they reach there destination and there is flutters of something shinny falling through the sky and iconography is used again as the Eiffel Tower is shown again to set the scene. Also if the audience looks carefully they could see that the full moon has turned into an animation of a singing smiling moon which relates to the idea of fantasy. Also while they are in the fantasy place there costume turns shinny and glistens which it didn’t before, it is like a foreshadowing of what he promises her if they got together.

In conclusion the genre for Moulin rouge was romance and drama, the scene I studied was about the romance between the two characters and how the camera shots backed up the romance as there were many camera shots but there were also recurring camera shots used such as over the shoulder shot, shot reverse shot, low angle shots and two shots, the characters Satine and Christian in Moulin rouge show there romance by there body language, which makes the audience believe the characters romance, this makes the film more enjoyable and makes the genre more easier to spot.