Wednesday 29 September 2010
Sunday 26 September 2010
This is England- Warp Films/Shane Meadows
This is England was produced by a small production company called Warp Films.
Warp Films-
- Warp Films were set up in 1999 with the fundings from NESTA (National endowment for science, technology and the arts)
- They are the sister company of Warp Records
- Based in Sheffield, and have a further office in London
- They have 14 staff
At present there have been 4 releases from this small production company, one of which won the best short film award at the BAFTA awards.
Shane Meadows-
Shane Meadows was born on 26th December 1972, he is an English film director, screenwriter, occasional actor and BAFTA winner.
Warp Films-
- Warp Films were set up in 1999 with the fundings from NESTA (National endowment for science, technology and the arts)
- They are the sister company of Warp Records
- Based in Sheffield, and have a further office in London
- They have 14 staff
At present there have been 4 releases from this small production company, one of which won the best short film award at the BAFTA awards.
Shane Meadows-
Shane Meadows was born on 26th December 1972, he is an English film director, screenwriter, occasional actor and BAFTA winner.
Meadows grew up in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, he left school shortly before reaching his GCSEs. He moved to Nottingham when he was 20, while living in the Sneinton area of Nottingham, he made roughly about 30 short films with the friends he met there. He could not show these films to anyone because there were no film festivals in his area. His friends started one in the local cinema which became popular with the town. The vast majority of his films have been set in the Midlands area, they recall the kitchen sink realism of film makers such as Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, with a post-modern twist. He has a relaxed directing style, encouraging the actors to ad lib in order to create a better sense of reality. Much of the content of his films is semi-autobiographical and based on his experiences in Uttoxeter.
Skins - Tony (Episode 1)
Tony (Episode 1)
When we are first introduced to Tony, we see him from above. He is wide awake, even before his alarm clock rings, which our class noticed and found very odd. One of the first things we can hear is the ringing of church bells, as the shot zooms out, we can see already that he has an excentric personality by his bed covers, as he gets up and starts his daily routine, we learn alot more about him as a person, he does a workout every morning - this shows that he likes to take care of himself, and takes pride in his appearance, he is also an extremely neat person, we know this as his bed covers were perfectly made even when he was in them, his polo shirts were folded perfectly in his drawer, and his room was just immaculate, which for most teeangers of this age, it would be completely the opposite. Tony seems like quite a crafty person, as he sneaks his sister in every morning by blaring out his music on purpose so his dad comes in his room, that is then a perfect oppurtunity for his sister to sneak up the stairs and into her room, as if she'd never been out, he also manages to lock his dad out of the bathroom by climbing out the window and walking back through the front door. His arrogance is made quite clear aswell, he obviously likes the woman in the house opposite and we see him watching her from his window as she gets dressed in the morning, they both swap looks and smiles, this shows that he is used to attention from girls as he is standing there with no top on, he seems very confident and takes pride in his appearence and he 'checks him self out' in the mirror and smiles, so he is clearly happy with what he looks like. We noticed aswell the book he was reading, Nausea By Jean Paul Sartre, it is a very complex book and not many people of his age would choose it as a book to read for pleasure, this suggests that he could be very intellectual, quite broad minded, so he could have alot of potential, also his room is very plain, and is covered in posters from films, but not the films you would expect, he has posters of old films which not many teenagers would know about.
When we are first introduced to Tony, we see him from above. He is wide awake, even before his alarm clock rings, which our class noticed and found very odd. One of the first things we can hear is the ringing of church bells, as the shot zooms out, we can see already that he has an excentric personality by his bed covers, as he gets up and starts his daily routine, we learn alot more about him as a person, he does a workout every morning - this shows that he likes to take care of himself, and takes pride in his appearance, he is also an extremely neat person, we know this as his bed covers were perfectly made even when he was in them, his polo shirts were folded perfectly in his drawer, and his room was just immaculate, which for most teeangers of this age, it would be completely the opposite. Tony seems like quite a crafty person, as he sneaks his sister in every morning by blaring out his music on purpose so his dad comes in his room, that is then a perfect oppurtunity for his sister to sneak up the stairs and into her room, as if she'd never been out, he also manages to lock his dad out of the bathroom by climbing out the window and walking back through the front door. His arrogance is made quite clear aswell, he obviously likes the woman in the house opposite and we see him watching her from his window as she gets dressed in the morning, they both swap looks and smiles, this shows that he is used to attention from girls as he is standing there with no top on, he seems very confident and takes pride in his appearence and he 'checks him self out' in the mirror and smiles, so he is clearly happy with what he looks like. We noticed aswell the book he was reading, Nausea By Jean Paul Sartre, it is a very complex book and not many people of his age would choose it as a book to read for pleasure, this suggests that he could be very intellectual, quite broad minded, so he could have alot of potential, also his room is very plain, and is covered in posters from films, but not the films you would expect, he has posters of old films which not many teenagers would know about.
Friday 24 September 2010
Monday 20 September 2010
HOT FUZZ STORYBOARD.
Hot Fuzz (2007)
Director- Edgar Wright
Writers- Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg
Cast- Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Bill Nighy, Martin Freeman, Jim Broadbent.
Location- London Police Station
- Sandford, Gloucestershire
Stereotypes- Policemen in London, serious, smart, proper, higher archy.
- Policemen in Sandford, laid back, not bothered.
- Youths; hoods up, causing trouble, mouthy.
Humour- Contrast between stereotypes.
- Playing against existing perceptions of the police.
- Very realistic in some cases/scenarios.
Camera work & edition- lots of close ups.
- fast paced editing.
- they make mundane things seem really exciting.Iconography/signification- Metropolitan Police
- Underground/taxis
Sunday 19 September 2010
American Beauty
^^ Link to opening scenes of American Beauty.
The Burnham Family:
They are creatures Of Habit- they have the same routine, same music, it all seems very repetative. The father and daughter used to be close, what happened? We see family photos which show the Burnham's in happier times, at the dinner table, Lester is slumped over which makes his wife Carolyn, look down on him and seem bigger as she is sitting in a normal posture. The motif of the film, (the red roses) are used again in this scene, they are in the middle of the table infront of the daugher, they stand out in the dining room as it is neutral, the use of red, white and blue are also again noticable. The music being played during this scene is 'Bali Hai' from South Pacific, this could indicate that Carolyn is stuck in the past, maybe old fashioned? We hear the daughter ask why they have to listen to the music every time they have dinner, she is clearly fed up and bored of the way that they live.
- The music adds emphasis to the scenes, creates a very awkward and uncomfortable atmosphere, also indicates the dullness and repetative routine that they all have.
- The view of the dining room is a long shot/establishing shot- The camera slowly zooms in, it makes the audience feel like they're spying on the family.
- Lester and Carolyn are on opposite ends of the table, the daughter is in the middle
- Their daughter is in the light, along with the motif, parents are in the shadows (like Lester in the beginning of the film)
- Stalker- very freaky, frustrated, angry, looks disturbed.
American Beauty Work-
Lester Burnham-
He is trapped; Explain.
When we first see Lester, (from a birds eye view) he is in bed, in the shadows of the curtains, in the dark. From then on, it becomes apparent that he is somewhat trapped, behind bars of a sort. For example, when he is in the shower, the scene is shot from outside of the cubicle, so Lester is behind the shower screen. The fact he puts on slippers indicates that his is trapped by his wife, maybe she makes him wear them? When Lester is looking at his wife from behind the window, the shot we see, makes him look like he is behind prison bars, is Lester a prisoner in his own house? On the way to work in the car, he is made to sit in the backseat as his daughter Jane, sits in the front with her mother, this suggests that Lester is treated like a child/teenager instead of being treated like an adult. At work, we see Lester's reflection in his computer, that also looks like he is behind bars, even at work.
Colour is used in a very interesting way; why?
The colours used in the first few minutes are, red, white and blue and basic neutral colours, the neutral colours link to the atmosphere in the house, they also make the red, white and blue stand out, the motif in this film is a rose, so when the roses appear in the scene, they are very obvious as the colour stands out. The colours create a representation of a repetative routine, like the music being played throughout these scenes.
Lesters wife, Carolyn, is the dominant member of the Burnham family, being stereotypical here, she acts like the man of the family...
- Up and ready before everyone else
- Driving to work, beeping the horn impatiently to hurry eveyone up
- The look of disgust and dissaproval when made even more late for work
Lester states that his wife and daughter refer to him as some kind of 'gigantic loser', and by the looks he gets from them both, it is evidently true.
Normally in an average family, the herarchy goes...
Father
Mother
Children
But in the case of the Burnham Family, the herarchy goes...
Mother
Daughter
Father
He is trapped; Explain.
When we first see Lester, (from a birds eye view) he is in bed, in the shadows of the curtains, in the dark. From then on, it becomes apparent that he is somewhat trapped, behind bars of a sort. For example, when he is in the shower, the scene is shot from outside of the cubicle, so Lester is behind the shower screen. The fact he puts on slippers indicates that his is trapped by his wife, maybe she makes him wear them? When Lester is looking at his wife from behind the window, the shot we see, makes him look like he is behind prison bars, is Lester a prisoner in his own house? On the way to work in the car, he is made to sit in the backseat as his daughter Jane, sits in the front with her mother, this suggests that Lester is treated like a child/teenager instead of being treated like an adult. At work, we see Lester's reflection in his computer, that also looks like he is behind bars, even at work.
Colour is used in a very interesting way; why?
The colours used in the first few minutes are, red, white and blue and basic neutral colours, the neutral colours link to the atmosphere in the house, they also make the red, white and blue stand out, the motif in this film is a rose, so when the roses appear in the scene, they are very obvious as the colour stands out. The colours create a representation of a repetative routine, like the music being played throughout these scenes.
Lesters wife, Carolyn, is the dominant member of the Burnham family, being stereotypical here, she acts like the man of the family...
- Up and ready before everyone else
- Driving to work, beeping the horn impatiently to hurry eveyone up
- The look of disgust and dissaproval when made even more late for work
Lester states that his wife and daughter refer to him as some kind of 'gigantic loser', and by the looks he gets from them both, it is evidently true.
Normally in an average family, the herarchy goes...
Father
Mother
Children
But in the case of the Burnham Family, the herarchy goes...
Mother
Daughter
Father
Sunday 12 September 2010
REPRESENTATION- The Man.
My first impression of this man was admittedly not a very positive one, from what he was wearing i made the assumption he was possibly homeless, as he looked very scruffy and un-kempt and looked as though he belonged to a low class society. As we examined the picture in more detail, it became apparent to the class that the man was wearing a well made pair of shoes, they looked good enough to even be hand made. We also noticed his clean beige trousers, with neatly sewn patches and perfect roll-ups. The man was wearing a fashionable plaid shirt, accompanied by a scarf, and a well fitted cardigan. We noticed that he is also stood in a rather particular pose, one which suggests he doesn't give a damn what the public think of him, he is smoking his cigarette in a way most homeless people wouldn't and looks as though to have a quite quirky and confident personality.
This photo, was taken outside the Ralph Lauren Store, Lexington Ave. NYC.
This photo, was taken outside the Ralph Lauren Store, Lexington Ave. NYC.
Tuesday 7 September 2010
My grades at GCSE were...
B- Drama
C- English Language
C- English Literature
C- Science
C- Science Applied
C- Maths
C- French
C- Art
C- Religious Studies
D- Graphic Products
The courses i am doing at AS are... Music, Media, English Language and University Award.
Films- The Hangover, The Holiday, Pulp Fiction, Bridget Jones, The Proposal.
TV- Gavin and Stacy, Inbetweeners, Fresh Prince.
Music- Eliza Doolittle, Train, Michael Bublé, Olly Murs, Razorlight, Katy Perry, Ellie Goulding.
Magazines- Vogue & Look
Books- I heart New York & I heart Hollywood, by Lindsey Kelk
B- Drama
C- English Language
C- English Literature
C- Science
C- Science Applied
C- Maths
C- French
C- Art
C- Religious Studies
D- Graphic Products
The courses i am doing at AS are... Music, Media, English Language and University Award.
Films- The Hangover, The Holiday, Pulp Fiction, Bridget Jones, The Proposal.
TV- Gavin and Stacy, Inbetweeners, Fresh Prince.
Music- Eliza Doolittle, Train, Michael Bublé, Olly Murs, Razorlight, Katy Perry, Ellie Goulding.
Magazines- Vogue & Look
Books- I heart New York & I heart Hollywood, by Lindsey Kelk
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)