Reflective Essay
For my war/romance film I chose to begin my storyboard a couple of minutes into the film. The first shot begins with a medium long shot, to create the feeling of the scene, and introduce the audience to the setting of the film. The shot is focused on Ben, so the audience gets to know Ben as the main character, and begin to know how he is feeling from his facial expressions and his body language. There is only the sounds of sad music, to back up the Bens feelings, and the sound of things frying in a pan, the make the scene seem more realistic. The music is non diagetic, so the character cannot hear it, added in editing. But the sounds of the frying pan is supposed to be heard by the character as it is a part of the scene but can be added in editing. The lighting in all the shots are ambient because if further support the mood of the section of the film, as I wanted to display emotion in the shots.
After this short introduction to the main character, the shot fades, and gradually takes us to the scene where Ben is eating; the slow why he is eating, and his body language also show the audience of his unhappiness, also you can tell from the untidiness of the house that Ben is not at all a happy person. His clothes are creased but are nice, meaning that he once took pride in his appearance. Also the ambient lighting of the shots makes the house feel more homely, yet as it is dark it conveys that Ben is downhearted.
When the close up of the tear comes into shot, it seems very brightly lit, focusing on the tear as light is reflecting from it, the audience then begins to feel sorry for Ben, and the connection of the audience and the main character is made. When he returns to eating you see the ambient lighting again.
The shots are slightly lightened in the kitchen scene, as there is a light directly above Ben. This could be classed as hard lighting. The kitchen is also a mess, this again shows the disturbance in Bens mind. Again his facial expression and body langue shows that his mood has not improved since the last shot. There are bin bags on the floor full of rubbish, and what seems like unwashed pans from a few days ago which depicts to the audience that Ben does not care for a clean and tidy house. For a different shot size, I chose to focus on Ben’s hands in the washing up water, this is a close up, and the shot also seems brightly lit, compared to the scenes away from the kitchen. When the camera zooms out again as a transition to him washing up again you notice the change in his body language, yet still the unhappy facial expression. The lighting reflects off the sparkling plate that he has just washed; as the shot before lasted a long time of him washing the same plate, the audience get the feeling that he used to have pride in his house and the contents, but now, as he is sad, he no longer does.
As a last shot for my storyboard, I chose to use a long shot, to show the Ben’s home, and how it was still untidy, as he watches the television Ben is hunched over, again body language to show his unhappiness. Cushions on the floor along with cups and plates show again that he does not take pride in his house.
Overall the audience have made a connection with Ben and his emotions in the scene, however the mystery is still what is making Ben like this, this puts the audience in suspense as they want to know why their main character is so downhearted. They see the way he lives and their impression of him is made, hopefully they feel sorry for him, as this is my aim. Throughout the scene there has been a sad soundtrack been playing, this is the make sure the audience know the emotion of the film, yet the music is very dull in the background as the viewers are to concentrate on the actions of the main character rather than the music, the music is there just as a sound to fill in the quietness of the scene, as there is no dialogue and the camera is mostly static in the sequence, therefore making it more interesting.
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
How far was it World War 1 that was essentially responsable for the downfall of the Romanov's in 1917?
There are many reasons for the downfall of the Romanov’s in 1917, my belief is that the Tsarina was left to govern the country, whilst the Tsar was away on the front line, in charge of the military, but there are many other reasons for the downfall.
As there was huge military losses when Russia were fighting in the war in 1914 and 1915, it left the Russian people very insecure about there position and how they were able to cope, when the Tsar took control in 1915 he was blamed for more defeats, the people saw this as the Tsars fault and began to loose faith in the Romanov’s this caused the downfall because the Tsar lost the backing of the people in his country. Also while the Tsar was away on the front line, taking charge of military actions, he left the Tsarina and Rasputin at home to govern the country, while the Tsar had been very indecisive in his rulings, and really had no clue on how to run a country so large, and in such a dangerous position, the Tsarina was worse, this made the monarchy a laughing stock, and by 1917 they had lost most of their supporters, their leadership was indecisive also, and the scandal of the Tsarina and Rasputin’s alleged affair undermined the Tsar’s reputation, this caused the downfall of the Romanov’s because they lost the support of the people, and were defeated in almost every battle in the war, moral was seriously down at this time in Russia.
Also the lack of political reform was a key issue into the downfall of the Romanov’s, the Duma was a way to give him a break, and take some power off the Tsar to allow changes to me made to the country, that would stop the revolutions to come, and bring some reform into Russia. But as he took this away the Tsar was falling in the populations opinions and very rapidly. This caused the downfall of the Romanov’s because it was a chance to give some reform to the people that had worked so hard for the country, but the Tsar took this power away from politicians and suddenly the people were turning to hate the royal family.
Also the living standards in Russia were rapidly decreasing, as food and fuel supplies were falling, and more and more people were unemployed as there was less work for farming, and more for the industrial factories, which people did not have the training for. Loved ones of families were dying helplessly on the front, this caused the down fall of the Romanov’s because it increased the dissatisfaction with the tsarist regime.
In conclusion to this, I see the war as the most significant reason to why the Romanov’s experienced the downfall in 1917, as it highlighted all the key issues that were wrong with the Russian economy and the leadership, it showed how the people of Russia felt and from this resentment of the Tsarist regime the downfall came in 1917.
As there was huge military losses when Russia were fighting in the war in 1914 and 1915, it left the Russian people very insecure about there position and how they were able to cope, when the Tsar took control in 1915 he was blamed for more defeats, the people saw this as the Tsars fault and began to loose faith in the Romanov’s this caused the downfall because the Tsar lost the backing of the people in his country. Also while the Tsar was away on the front line, taking charge of military actions, he left the Tsarina and Rasputin at home to govern the country, while the Tsar had been very indecisive in his rulings, and really had no clue on how to run a country so large, and in such a dangerous position, the Tsarina was worse, this made the monarchy a laughing stock, and by 1917 they had lost most of their supporters, their leadership was indecisive also, and the scandal of the Tsarina and Rasputin’s alleged affair undermined the Tsar’s reputation, this caused the downfall of the Romanov’s because they lost the support of the people, and were defeated in almost every battle in the war, moral was seriously down at this time in Russia.
Also the lack of political reform was a key issue into the downfall of the Romanov’s, the Duma was a way to give him a break, and take some power off the Tsar to allow changes to me made to the country, that would stop the revolutions to come, and bring some reform into Russia. But as he took this away the Tsar was falling in the populations opinions and very rapidly. This caused the downfall of the Romanov’s because it was a chance to give some reform to the people that had worked so hard for the country, but the Tsar took this power away from politicians and suddenly the people were turning to hate the royal family.
Also the living standards in Russia were rapidly decreasing, as food and fuel supplies were falling, and more and more people were unemployed as there was less work for farming, and more for the industrial factories, which people did not have the training for. Loved ones of families were dying helplessly on the front, this caused the down fall of the Romanov’s because it increased the dissatisfaction with the tsarist regime.
In conclusion to this, I see the war as the most significant reason to why the Romanov’s experienced the downfall in 1917, as it highlighted all the key issues that were wrong with the Russian economy and the leadership, it showed how the people of Russia felt and from this resentment of the Tsarist regime the downfall came in 1917.
Explore how one or more of mise-en-scene (including lighting), performance, cinematography, editing and sound; construct meaning and provoke response in a film extract.
http://splodetv.com/saving-private-ryan-omaha-beach-scene
The film I have chosen for this question is ‘Saving Private Ryan’. Saving Private Ryan was directed by Steven Spielberg in 1998, who is undoubtedly one of the most influential film directors in film history, and probably the best known director. The film is briefly; following the Normandy Landings, a group of US soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.
I chose to look at this film because it’s clever use of sound and the mise-en-scene. I chose an extract of this film that showed the sound and mise-en-scene to its best. The beach landings, the scene I have chosen, hold the audience in suspense, as the danger and excitement of the scene is clearly seen in the faces of the soldiers.
At the start of the scene the only thing you can hear are men shouting, this is a diagetic sound, as it belongs to the scene. This has an immediate effect on the audience, because the scene is very fast paced and the loud sounds add to the effect that you are witnessing the event on the beach. You see one of the commanders laid up against a bank beckoning his soldiers to join him, this is also a diagetic sound and then the sound of the action around them really becomes apparent, (this is most likely a studio sound, as it is very high quality because there are no ambient sounds), the constant sound effect of the booming of artillery shells dropping in the background; of the men shouting. This affects the audience as they are confused as the soldiers to what they are supposed to do, or in fact feel. The men’s voices fade as the screeching of bullets come forward to be the main sound feature, this represents how fast he scene is going, and how fast paced the soldiers had to work to basically keep their lives, and is also a diagetic sound to the scene. The audience then feel endangered as the bullets seem to be flying everywhere and fear for the soldier’s lives. To end this sound of the bullets, a large shell drops close by to the action we have been watching and all the sounds become apparent again, there is a large bang, and the sound of sand being scattered everywhere, which both are sound effects as it is synchronised with other sounds in the scene, the viewers then feel the emotion of panic as they are included into the scene by the bombs explosion consumes the camera. From this shell dropping you can hear injured men crying in pain, this makes the audience feel sorry for the injured soldiers and helps them to realise the horrors of the war. The sound of guns gets louder as soldiers rush to their injured comrades, not to help but to take the spare ammunition, by orders yelled by their commanding officer, this is heard by the actors so the sound is diagetic, the audience continue to feel sympathetic feelings towards the soldiers as they are receiving no treatment for their horrific injuries. The guns getting louder shows the danger that the soldiers are putting themselves through to get the ammo and bring it back to their commanding officer who is sat giving out orders in a safe place, this gives the audience a new feeling of emotion (hate) towards the commanding officer as he is not including himself in his orders and putting other soldiers lives in danger. When all this panic has paused for a while, the camera is focused on a conversation between the officer and a soldier, they are speaking in a very loud, but frantic tone and the soldier disappears with a reluctant look on his face, again the audience feel sorry for the soldier as he is endangering his life again, for the officer. The sound of the shells dropping and bullets screeching past comes back as the main sound of the scene, which are sound effects added in editing. Also a new sound effect is added, ammunition clinking, as it is gathered together off dead or injured soldiers, the viewers feel as though they have returned back into the action that is happening on the beach.
For the rest of this essay I will be discussing the effects mise-en-sene has on the audience. The first section of the scene you see all the soldiers in their uniforms, matching green trousers and top which shows the audience immediately that they are soldier from the Second World War. The uniforms have been researched, and the actors are made to look like they have military training. When the clip changed scene, you can tell that it is set on a beach at a crucial time of war, as there are bodies covering the sand, all in the same colour uniforms so we know they are allied soldiers, many of them dead. A bomb explodes in the middle of the scene, and the audience are felt to be included in the scene, as the explosion consumes the camera and knocking it back as if the audience has been affected by the action. This gives the audience a sense of excitement and fear, what the soldiers are feeling. Also when the bomb has hit, soldiers rush over to the bodies and take ammunition from them this makes the audience believe that the scene is actually real and they feel the desperation of the soldiers still alive. Many men lay injured or wounded around the still fighting soldiers, this makes the audience feel and see the horrible conditions that no one should have to witness. Throughout the scene there is a dark sky, filled with smoke and dust from the fighting and plumes of black smoke coming from behind enemy lines into the sky, this makes the scene seem real and suspends the audiences belief that it is actually made in 1998, after the real event. Also around the beach there is fires in the background all over the beach from where the soldiers have had artillery shells shot at them, this also makes the audience believe that it was a real life event of the war. To add another effect to make the audience believe that the film is made at the time of the war is the way the sand is messy and in some areas it looks as if someone has been laid, run through and fallen in, others it is blood stained, this makes it seem all the more believable.
The film I have chosen for this question is ‘Saving Private Ryan’. Saving Private Ryan was directed by Steven Spielberg in 1998, who is undoubtedly one of the most influential film directors in film history, and probably the best known director. The film is briefly; following the Normandy Landings, a group of US soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.
I chose to look at this film because it’s clever use of sound and the mise-en-scene. I chose an extract of this film that showed the sound and mise-en-scene to its best. The beach landings, the scene I have chosen, hold the audience in suspense, as the danger and excitement of the scene is clearly seen in the faces of the soldiers.
At the start of the scene the only thing you can hear are men shouting, this is a diagetic sound, as it belongs to the scene. This has an immediate effect on the audience, because the scene is very fast paced and the loud sounds add to the effect that you are witnessing the event on the beach. You see one of the commanders laid up against a bank beckoning his soldiers to join him, this is also a diagetic sound and then the sound of the action around them really becomes apparent, (this is most likely a studio sound, as it is very high quality because there are no ambient sounds), the constant sound effect of the booming of artillery shells dropping in the background; of the men shouting. This affects the audience as they are confused as the soldiers to what they are supposed to do, or in fact feel. The men’s voices fade as the screeching of bullets come forward to be the main sound feature, this represents how fast he scene is going, and how fast paced the soldiers had to work to basically keep their lives, and is also a diagetic sound to the scene. The audience then feel endangered as the bullets seem to be flying everywhere and fear for the soldier’s lives. To end this sound of the bullets, a large shell drops close by to the action we have been watching and all the sounds become apparent again, there is a large bang, and the sound of sand being scattered everywhere, which both are sound effects as it is synchronised with other sounds in the scene, the viewers then feel the emotion of panic as they are included into the scene by the bombs explosion consumes the camera. From this shell dropping you can hear injured men crying in pain, this makes the audience feel sorry for the injured soldiers and helps them to realise the horrors of the war. The sound of guns gets louder as soldiers rush to their injured comrades, not to help but to take the spare ammunition, by orders yelled by their commanding officer, this is heard by the actors so the sound is diagetic, the audience continue to feel sympathetic feelings towards the soldiers as they are receiving no treatment for their horrific injuries. The guns getting louder shows the danger that the soldiers are putting themselves through to get the ammo and bring it back to their commanding officer who is sat giving out orders in a safe place, this gives the audience a new feeling of emotion (hate) towards the commanding officer as he is not including himself in his orders and putting other soldiers lives in danger. When all this panic has paused for a while, the camera is focused on a conversation between the officer and a soldier, they are speaking in a very loud, but frantic tone and the soldier disappears with a reluctant look on his face, again the audience feel sorry for the soldier as he is endangering his life again, for the officer. The sound of the shells dropping and bullets screeching past comes back as the main sound of the scene, which are sound effects added in editing. Also a new sound effect is added, ammunition clinking, as it is gathered together off dead or injured soldiers, the viewers feel as though they have returned back into the action that is happening on the beach.
For the rest of this essay I will be discussing the effects mise-en-sene has on the audience. The first section of the scene you see all the soldiers in their uniforms, matching green trousers and top which shows the audience immediately that they are soldier from the Second World War. The uniforms have been researched, and the actors are made to look like they have military training. When the clip changed scene, you can tell that it is set on a beach at a crucial time of war, as there are bodies covering the sand, all in the same colour uniforms so we know they are allied soldiers, many of them dead. A bomb explodes in the middle of the scene, and the audience are felt to be included in the scene, as the explosion consumes the camera and knocking it back as if the audience has been affected by the action. This gives the audience a sense of excitement and fear, what the soldiers are feeling. Also when the bomb has hit, soldiers rush over to the bodies and take ammunition from them this makes the audience believe that the scene is actually real and they feel the desperation of the soldiers still alive. Many men lay injured or wounded around the still fighting soldiers, this makes the audience feel and see the horrible conditions that no one should have to witness. Throughout the scene there is a dark sky, filled with smoke and dust from the fighting and plumes of black smoke coming from behind enemy lines into the sky, this makes the scene seem real and suspends the audiences belief that it is actually made in 1998, after the real event. Also around the beach there is fires in the background all over the beach from where the soldiers have had artillery shells shot at them, this also makes the audience believe that it was a real life event of the war. To add another effect to make the audience believe that the film is made at the time of the war is the way the sand is messy and in some areas it looks as if someone has been laid, run through and fallen in, others it is blood stained, this makes it seem all the more believable.
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
I have chosen to study Ryan Gosling's performance in 'The Notebook'. This film was directed by
Nick Cassavetes in 2004.
I have chosen to analyse this actor because he put so much feeling and emotion into this performance, also, I have never seen him in any other film, so this suspends my disbelief that he is not Noah.
Noah Calhoun is one of the main characters in the story, he tells his story to his wife, Allie, everyday, to make sure she remember how they met, and fell in love over a long time and trough al of hardship because she has some kind of memory disorder. This is one of the most heartfelt and saddest films i have seen.
The sequence i have chosen to study is when he has just built his house, that him and Allie designed together when they were young lovers, at the age of 17. This had been their dream.
There is no dialogue from Noah, but you can tell his emotions from his facial expressions and his body language. The only person speaking in the sequence is the narrator, or Noah as his older form.
He has grown a beard that this point, so he looks messy and untidy, showing that he couldn't care less about his appearance now that he does not have Allie. His facial expression is just a straight expression which shows he is sad, or depressed about something. Loosing the love of his life to another man maybe the reason. But most of all in the sequence when Noah is stood, he is hunched, he does not stand up straight, this connotes as him being very upset and sad, not happy with his work he had achieved and maybe feeling it was worth nothing.
From what i can see his clothes are all the same, beige trousers and a white top, this may be because he does not want to standout he just wants to be left as he is, and to mope about loosing Allie.
Noah does not interact with other characters during this point, he only shakes his head very sincerely and does not seem to want to interact with other characters.
The props used such as the gun to scare away willing buyers from his house is a good use of props, as he put full effort and meaning into wanting to scare them away from the house, as he says they were 'mad to offer this much money' he also has a beer bottle in his hand for most of this sequence, this could tell us that he is unhappy with his life and has turned to drink to keep him hoping for some better aspects.
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