Cinematography in 'La La Land'

Discuss how important cinematography is in establishing strong responses from spectators to a key character in 'La La Land.'

The first shot we see of Sebastian is a eye level shot, continuing the illusion that we, the audience, are part of the ensemble, adding audience participation into the film. However, despite feeling equal to Sebastian, we do not see his face, as the camera is behind him. This makes us feel as if there is something mysterious about Sebastian, or something that we are yet to find out about him. It could also show his closed personality, which could also be why he is wearing sunglasses. The camera pans to the left, before it moves to Mia, but despite being at a side on view of Sebastian, we still son't see a full view of his face before he is out of shot.

This is the first time the audience get to see a front view of Sebastian's face, but he is in the background, showing how he is more of a secondary character. So without even hearing a word of dialogue from Sebastian, we can tell through the camerawork that he is mysterious and secretive, but he is more of a secondary character in the plot of the film. However, despite all of this, the way the camera poses Sebastian, the window frame seems to show him as if he is in a picture frame, like a work of art, which would seem important, completely changing this idea that he is secondary and unimportant to the plot.



This shot is our first introduction to Sebastian as a character, as we see him interact with his sister. He seems to be caring to those close to him, as we can see that he has his hand around her back. The camera keeps at an eye level to Sebastian, never looking down at him or up to him, which keeps this idea that the audience are equal to Sebastian, which makes the audience feel like a part of the film.

The first 20 minutes of the film has shown Sebastian as this mysterious, yet caring person, but this scene flips this idea on its head. As he is angry at being fired, even though Mia is trying to make him feel better, he just walks past her and bums into her shoulder. The camera is now lower than eye-level, and is more in tone with Mia, which is a throw back to the idea from the opening shot, that Sebastian is a secondary character. The camerawork gives the impression that he jumps between a main character and a secondary character, which could reflect Sebastian's uncertainty about how to pursue his dream of being a jazz player.

'Winter's bone' analysis

A) How far does 'Winter's bone' rely upon an understanding of it's social context? Refer in detail to at least one sequence from the film. [20]

Winter's bone's narrative takes inspiration from four pieces of social context: a sense of separation from mainstream US infrastructure,  an emphasis on family loyalty, addiction and its consequences with families and those around the user and the reality of financial insecurity, domestic abuse and mental illness. As Winter's bone drawing inspiration from all four of these sections, I believe it is important to have at least some understanding of the social context of the film.

In Winter's bone, the film helps audiences with no prior knowledge of the social context understand it, as instead of explicitly explaining that a certain scene relates to one bit of the social context, it buries it in the plot, whilst making it aware to the audience. This means that the audience don't need to have a prior knowledge of the context, but for them to understand the messages being conveyed during the film, they need to at least know of the social context, which the film does a good job at showing.

B) 'Winter's bone' - social and production context

The film 'Winter's bone' derives from the usual hollywood type film, as it focuses on the rough and poorer side of America, whereas majority of big budget films focus on the high life of America, influencing how other people outside of America view those who live there. As most audiences aren't exposed to the darker and poorer side of America very often, if at all, then many audience members will have a oppositional reading to the film as a whole, meaning that they won't agree with what the film is trying to put across, and won't enjoy the film as a media text. For those that don't watch independent films often, or stick to a certain genre such as action, then Winter's bone's narrative may seem slow and tenuous, disengaging many audience members.

The film also takes on many issues during the film, which may come across as being too convoluted for many. The film has elements of substance abuse and medicinal drug addiction, domestic abuse, financial insecurity, mental illness, poverty, low educational standards and lack or respect for women, whilst they try to fight the system. As the film takes on so many issues, some of which can be seen in mainstream movies, it has a hard time at tying up all loose ends by the end of the film. It just gives the message that most of the issues are unresolvable and that the characters can't be bothered to peruse changing the situations to better themselves any further. Topics and themes such as drug addiction and lack of female power have been used countless times in mainstream movies, such as Trainspotting (1996). But as these mainstream films only tackle one or two big issues, they are focused on more prominently, and are usually resolved by the end of the film, or are at least hinted towards being fixed later on.

The film was made on a budget of around $2 million, which for any film is a very little amount. Shooting was started and wrapped in a 25 day period, spanning from January to March 2009. Pre production was started two years prior, as it took so long to find and secure filming locations in the south of America. Locations included real life living locations of families living in the south, as to make the film feel more like a social realism film than a high budget flick. The film was shot using high resolution red DV cameras, except the dream sequence, which was made using Super-8 film, as this gives the footage the grainy look seen in Ree's dream.

Analysis of movie opening (Kingsman: the golden circle)

Kingsman - The Golden circle: 

Kingsman: The golden circle is the sequel to the hit 2015 spy movie 'Kingsman: the secret service.' Released in 2017, it carries on the story of Gary 'Eggsy' Unwin and Merlin as they push Kingsman to the next generation of spies. After losing his mentor Harry, codename Galahad, Eggsy is finding it hard to fill Harry's place in the Kingsman. But when all of the Kingsman locations are attacked and destroyed, killing all of the remaining agents, Eggsy and Merlin go over to the cousin agency, Statesman. With America's help, they take on a new organisation called 'The golden circle.'

There are a few reasons why this film was successful with audiences. For one, the film is a sequel, and the first film was well received by new coming fans, so the sequel was guaranteed to have a similar sized fan base. Those that watched the first film would more than likely want to see the sequel, to see Eggsy's story unfold even more, now he has to step up after Harry's demise during the first film.

Secondly, the films features famous celebrities reprising their roles, with Taron Egerton returning as Eggs, Colin Firth returning as Galahad,and Mark Strong as Merlin. Even though the second film lost Sam L Jackson as the villain Richmond Valentine, the sequel did gain Channing Tatum as Statesman agent Tequila. This film also has the traditional guest star appearance, this time by singer Elton John, instead of Mark Hamill in the first film. The film  features so many famous faces, that even to people who hadn't seen the first film, would see that that many well known stars must mean that the film is going to be good, as the studio is prepared to hire so many famous actors.

The final reason why the film resonates so well with the audience is the way the film series handles the theme of spies. Before the first film, audiences had been bombarded with James Bond films, with a new 007 film being released every other year. But when Kingsman: the secret service was released, many audience members were grateful for the change of heart with making spy movies, as the integration of the humour and a more light hearted tone makes it very different from the likes of James Bond.

So overall, 'Kingsman: The golden circle' is a good and intriguing movie for audience members as it is a sequel to a hit movie, released just two years prior, it features multiple stars, and is a different type of spy movie, making audience members feel like they are watching a different type of movie, even though many things in the Kingsman series are similar to things seen in the James Bond series. 

Story board

Screen play

Mine – A Short Film

{the entire film will be edited to have eerie music the entire time}

Opens with a panning shot of the tunnel, covered in graffiti. It then cuts to a still mid shot of the same tunnel from a slight side view.

Scene 1         Our first character walks casually out of the tunnel, no information is given about them apart from they appear to be just a regular person.

A second character exits the tunnel after him looking a bit sketchy. At this point it isn’t obvious that they are stalking the person, it should seem as if they are just walking the same way.

It then clips to a mid shot further down the path where we see a front perspective of our characters walking.

A non-diegetic voice should then be introduced. This voice should be echoey and represent the evil inside our stalker.

Evil voice  Follow him.

Scene 2       Clip to an over the shoulder shot, over the shoulder of the stalker, the focus should be set on the back of the stalkers head so everything else, including our first character is blurred.

A side mid shot then shows our first character walk into frame. They here something behind them and turn. As they turn it switches to a close up of their face to show the confusion.

We are then exposed to why they are confused when it clips to a long shot of the path behind being empty.

Scene 3      We then see another over the shoulder POV shot from the perspective of the stalker. It should show them peering from a bush. The shot should be tilted so that both characters are in shot. It should indicate to the audience that our second character jumped into the bush. Its at this point the audience becomes aware of the nature of this character.

Evil voice  (laughs in a creepy tone)

Scene 4       Through various different shots(midshot, low angle etc) we continue to follow the two characters walking through the park location.

A POV shot from the stalker's perspective is used as he walks closer to the victim from behind.

Evil voice  He will love us.

Scene 5        Next in a low angle mid shot we see our characters walk round the corner into a dark alley way to intensify the mood.

Another over the shoulder POV shot is used, over our stalkers shoulder as we witness the victim turn around and the stalker, in a sort of comedic way, dive behind a pillar to hide.

Scene 6       A mid shot shows the victim walk up to who we suppose is a friend because they start smiling and looking like they get along. The girl is wearing casual clothes including a red sweater that signifies this character has a particular fate.

It then cuts to a semi close up of the girl shoving the victim on the floor, then it tracks as they get up, brush themselves off and then walk away.

While this happens, the voice speaks again:

Evil voice (progressively getting angrier)  Don’t touch him! Don’t touch him! Don’t touch him!

There is then a low angle floor shot showing the bully walking away. The stalker then steps into the shot showing only his foot, creating a sinister tone in preparation for the next shots.

Yet again there is another over the shoulder POV of the stalker as he quickly approaches the bully in an angry way. As he walks the voice from inside says:

Evil voice  Kill her. Come in it’ll be easy!

In the same shot the bully realises the approach and turns around, only to be punched in the face by the stalker.

It then cuts to a close up of the bully as she comes to her senses and notices that her nose is bleeding. Shocked by this she stumbles backwards.

It cuts to a POV shot from the bullies perspective. Again she is punched but this time it causes her to fall to the ground.

Then there is a low down midshot showing the bully, now on the ground being kicked in the head. As the foot connects it cuts to black to make it seem like she's blacked out.

There is then a shot which focuses on the stalkers hand which will be covered in blood. It should be edited to emphasize the blood. It once again cuts to black and the title fades into the center of the screen.

The audience should think that this is the end. However a tracking shot then follows the hand move up to reveal the stalkers face in a close up. He is covered in blood and the film ends with a sinister and disturbing glare into the camera.

Evil voice  You will be mine.

End

Mood board

American Independant film analysis

What Makes an independent film?

Independent films, or indie flicks, are films that have limited budgets and are made by smaller studios, lack of well known stars, limited set, but usually deal with more pressing topics, such as paedophilia, suicide, homosexuality and satanism. Indie films usually target a niche audience, and don't have much regard for profits, hence why they can make films that target a smaller audience.

Pulp Fiction: 

Pulp Fiction is a indie film, made in 1994 by director Quentin Tarantino. It follows two hitmen, Vincent Vega, played by John Travolta,  and Jules Winnfield, played by Sam L Jackson. The film had a budget of between $8.5 and $10 million, which is normal for an Indie film. It was one of Quentin Tarantino's first movies, and generated a profit of $107.93 million in the U.S alone, and $213 million worldwide. 

The film was one of the first to tackle storylines including hitmen, gangsters, drugs and sexuality, which may be seen more common nowadays, but at the time, would have been targeted towards a niche audience. The film had more well recognised stars in it than a Indie film usually would, John Travolta had gone off the grid for a few years prior to Pulp Fiction, and Bruce Willis had really only been seen In the Die Hard series, and was looking for other films to show off his talent. 

Age representation in media

Bad Education series trailer: 

The character of Alfie Wickers, despite being a teacher at the school in his mid 20's, acts very immature, making him seem more like a student in comparison to the other teachers. This TV trailer advertises age as a bad thing, as it represents the older generation as incompetent. One example in the trailer is when the character of Rosie says to Alfie "you're a bit immature." Instead of Alfie disagreeing with what Rosie has said and talking about it, he decides to repeat what she said, but in a mocking tone, which reaffirms Rosie's point, not just to Alfie, but to the audience as well. The following scene is Alfie doing the same mocking tone towards one of the students, Joe, which adds humour to the trailer, as well as showing that this immaturity is a common theme with Alfie. Later on in the trailer, Rosie is talking about a guy, and points out that he is older than Alfie. But Alfie says to Rosie that "it is this many sleeps until I'm 24!" pointing to his fingers, like a child would, instead of just saying that it is his birthday in 9 days. Overall, the trailer does a good job at showing that Alfie is overall immature and childish, and it is a common theme with Alfie across the entire show.

Daily Star front page: 


The main headline advertises how a TV star has died at the age of 55 years old. The headline projects this as negative, as social codes show 5 years old as still quite young, so the fact that she has died so young is out of the ordinary. The headline is large in physical size, as it takes up just under half of the front page, and is the main article that the paper's front page is focusing on. This makes it obvious for the reader, as it is the main focus.

Jimmy Choo fever advert: 

The advert features three young women as the main protagonist, all of which are in their mid 20's. This could possibly be to draw in men to see the advert, adhering to the male gaze. This could be so men see the product, and then go out and buy it for their girlfriends. The advert also appeals to women, as the advert portrays that with the perfume, they will become irresistible to any man they see, and are then able to have the man of their dreams. The advert seems to portray women in power overall, as it is a female perfume that seems to be used by women to get the man they want.

Film synopsis

Synopsis - 

Walking through the park is thought to be a leisurely activity. Well, for one unexpecting individual, their walk turns into a crime scene. 

Follow along as we watch the journey of a normal boy and a deranged, love-struck boy who is driven to the extreme by the evil that lurks inside him. Sometimes it is just too hard to ignore the voice inside you when it tells you that you must do anything to win the heart of the one you admire.  

The evil fully overcomes the poor boy when he becomes the witness to a simple little bullying incidence between his beloved and a rather rude girl in red. Let’s just say that her fate was less than pleasant.  

By the end of the day her jumper wouldn’t be the only thing that is red! It may not be the best solution to bullying, but at least she was out of the way... that’s what the voice said anyway.  

Trainspotting: Misce-en-scene and cinematography analysis

The opening shot is a long shot of Begbie chatting up a girl in the night club. The camera is a long shot, which could tell us that they are not important, compared to characters like Renton, where there a multiple of close up shots. The board in the back lists different sexual positions, which is then later acted on when all of the boys (Renton, Begbie, Spud and Sick boy) end up going home with a girl and having sex. Begbie and the girl are the only people in focus, telling the audience that they are the main focus in this shot, and they should focus on what they are doing. The woman is wearing bright clothes, showing her happiness in the scene, whilst Begbie is wearing quite mundane clothing, with just black and white, which could show how boring and uninteresting his life is. He also is lower in stature, which could show how he has a lack of power in this scene. The camera is at the same eye level as Begbie however, which could be a subliminal way of showing that Begbie is still in control of the situation.

In this shot, we see Renton awkwardly hanging out on the side, as he doesn't feel confident enough to go and dance. In this frame, the camera is using a worm's eye view. This shows us that Renton is the prominent character in the frame, as he is the only character we know here. The poster in the background shows someone holding guns towards an unknown person, representing that they are going to kill the other person. With how the camera is positioned, Renton's head seems to perfectly cover the poster's face, making it seem as if it is Renton who is holding the guns, ready to kill someone. Even though Renton never directly murders someone, he does lead Tommy to die, as he stole his sex tape, which led to Tommy wanting to take drugs after his girlfriend left him. Tommy then contracts AIDS/HIV, and dies of an infected wound. This poster could be foreshadowing that Renton indirectly kills Tommy, due to a chain of events. Despite Renton having the physical height, and therefore power over the rest of the frame, the fact that he has some of his stomach showing through his shirt, possibly due to him being slightly overweight, can juxtapose his power, as his masculinity is damaged, due to him not having a perfect body.


In this shot, Spud and Tommy are talking about their girlfriends, and how they have been treating their boyfriends, using a close up shot, showing the audience that these characters are important. The girlfriends then walk over, and using a worm's eye shot, tower over their boyfriends physically, which could show that they have the power in their relationships, which at the time, would be unheard of in society. The colour of the couple's costumes seem to be similar as well, as a visual way of showing the couples. Tommy and his girlfriend are both wearing green and white, and Spud and his girlfriend are wearing black and white. When Tommy and Spud were talking, they were commanding and seemed to be in charge of their girlfriends, which in the 1990's would have been the norm, but as soon as their girlfriends turn up, they both cower away, and let the girls take control, which gives us an insight into the characters of Spud and Tommy. Their relationship is also foreshadowed here, as we see the girls are in control, so later on, when Tommy and his girlfriend break up, it is her who calls it off, reinforcing the power in the relationship, as she is the one who tells Tommy they are no longer together.

In this shot, we see a close up shot of Renton, as he plucks up the courage to talk to the girls he likes. He is walking towards them, in pursuit of finding someone who he can have sex with. The camera keeps the worms eye view from the previous shot, showing that Renton still has the power in the scene. The lack of people in the background compared to the last time we saw Renton in this place could symbolise how alone he feels. The shot only shows Renton's top half of his torso, which seems to be puffed out to make him seem more 'macho.' His stomach is no longer showing, which could be a representation of Renton's view of himself, with the audience seeing Renton how he wants to be seen. Renton seems to not want girls to see his stomach peeking through his t-shirt, which reflects his insecurities.

Trainspotting: scene analysis

This scene uses misc-en-scene to foreshadow future events. For example, the board in the back lists different sexual positions, which is then later acted on when all of the boys (Renton, Begbie, Spud and Sick boy) end up going home with a girl and having sex. Begbie and the girl are the only people in focus, telling the audience that they are the main focus in this shot, and they should focus on what they are doing. The woman is wearing bright clothes, showing her happiness in the scene, whilst Begbie is wearing quite mundane clothing, with just black and white, which could show how boring and uninteresting his life is. He also is lower in stature, which could show how he has a lack of power in this scene, which would annoy Begbie, being the character he is.









I

Topics that are handled in Rom-Coms

Many genres of film deal with different topics and have certain issues that help the audience tell what type of film they are watching. For example, a horror movie may deal with cults, murder, psychic possession or mental disorders, and an action movie may deal with super heroes, gangs, mythical creatures/characters or time travel. But I want to talk about Romantic comedies, or 'Rom-coms.' These films are usually overlooked as 'idealistic love' and are unrealistic to majority of people. But I believe there are more movies in the past 5 or 6 years that are starting to break down these barriers, and show realistic love, but make it still enjoyable for the audience.

Rom-coms usually follow two characters, a girl and a boy, who are either childhood friends, or meet and it is love at first sight. The film then follows the two characters as they constantly meet each other randomly, or finally come to the realisation that they love each other. Now most Rom-coms are quite simple in their plots, and just follow a simple Freytag's pyramid structure. But some films, like 'The fault in our stars' add a life threatening illness to both of the characters, to make the pressure of fining each other must more pressing, and the relief when they get together much more worth it. there are two movies that are classed as Rom-coms that I would like to talk about: 'Love, Simon,' which is a 'Rom-com' that doesn't follow traditional codes and conventions of a Rom-com, and 'Love, actually' which follows the traditional Rom-com formula. I thought these two films are brilliant to compare, not just because of their similar titles, but they are quite similar films, yet have just as many Contrasts.



The plot of 'Love, Actually' has nine different stories, some of them intertwined, all of them involving two people who have secret feelings for one another, but not all nine couples end up getting together, for various reasons. However, one of the most famous stories follows Mark, who is in love with Juliet, but to hide his feelings, he ignores her most of the time, leading Juliet, and her new husband Peter, to think that Mark despises Juliet, when in fact he is head over heels for her. When she sees a video of Mark confessing his love for Juliet, Mark takes this opportunity to tell Juliet how he really feels, in a scene that has been parodied many times. But despite Juliet being married, as Mark walks off, she runs after him and kisses him. This is they type of unrealistic love that makes people not really like Rom-coms, as this would usually never happen, because majority of those that are married are happily married and wouldn't cheat, even out of pity.

 

'Love, Simon' is a different type of story though. It follows Simon Spier, who is a closeted gay teenager, as he falls in love with someone online called Blue, but neither of them know who each other is. The film sees Simon try and guess who his secret pen pal is, whilst also trying to keep Blue, and his sexuality a secret. During the climax of the film, Simon is outed to the school, and so he has to deal with that, as well as Blue leaving him in fear of his secret being exposed as well. But by the end of the movie, Simon is able to convince Blue to reveal himself as Bram, one of Simon's friends. This film follows similar codes and conventions of a Rom-com, with two people falling in love, and finally getting together in the final few minutes of the film, but there are two key differences between 'Love, Simon' and majority of Rom-coms. For one, the film is between a male couple, which has never been done in the mainstream media before, and part way through the film, the couple end their relationship, as their relationship started early on in the film. Usually, the first two acts of the film build up to the two people getting together, but 'Love, Simon' has the couple get together at the beginning, so they have the opportunity to break up in the middle of the film.

Scene analysis of 'The secret of Marrowbone'

The scene I have chosen is from the 2018 horror film, 'The secret of Marrowbone.' The scene follows Billy, our protagonist for this scene, as he searches for a box of money in the attic of his farm house. But as he tries to escape, the rope he is climbing is pulled, which causes Billy's neck to be trapped in the rope while he is dangling in the air, as he starts to choke.

The setting for this scene features certain shots of the attic, following Billy's eyes as he looks around the attic, looking for the money box. As the camera is mostly at his eye level, it makes the audience feel as if they are spectating what is unfolding, but are unable to do anything, so emotions then kick in, as Billy is seen to nearly die. The camera also takes many shots either looking down the chimney into the attic, or up the chimney, looking at the night sky. The scene is mostly dark, except the match lit by Billy, or the moonlight shining through. This in turn creates a lot of shadows, which gives the audience the impression that something may be hiding in them, but we just can't see them. The misc-en-scene of the dark, narrowing spaces of the chimney all work together to make the audience see that Billy has very little chance of escape or help, which makes us fear for his life even more.

The scene also has a mix of digetic and non-digetic sound. There is a sombre melodic sound throughout the entire scene, which raises and falls in volume at points, to emphasise the importance or the tension of a certain point. For example, when the rope starts to be moved around, the tension rises so the music intensifies, to amplify the danger that Billy is in, as well as quickening the pace of the scene. However, when Billy is just walking around the attic, the music is barely noticeable, which draws the audience's attention more to what Billy is doing. 

There are two distance shots used in this scene and two types of camera movements: close up and medium shot, and crane and panning/tilt. The use of close up shots shows the fear in Billy's eyes. For example, when Billy drops down the chimney, with the rope tied around his neck, the use of multiple close up shots from different angles shows the fear in his eyes before his impending death, which makes the audience feel for Billy, as he was only trying to help his family out by getting more money. But at the same time, medium shots are helps the audience see Billy's surroundings, and makes the audience worry when they see the arm reach out to grab the rope, as the audience see this happen before Billy does, which give the audience the chance to realise what is about to happen, as they realise they can't do anything about it and will have to witness Billy's death. 

The scene uses mostly short duration shots, which keeps the scene alive and upbeat, and not dragged out. Some shots are repeated, such as Billy's eyes, which tells the audience that something is going to happen to Billy, and we need to watch out for him. As well as showing us that Billy is important to the scene, some shots include only Billy's face, blocking our view from anything else that could be hiding behind Billy in the scene, which could scare the audience and they could think that something is hidden behind him, but it is being shielded from us on purpose, and it is going to come out of the shadows and attack Billy. 

Adam Hill.

[614 words]