BRITISH HORROR: (2) EDEN LAKE

Eden Lake draws from a number of American horror films and although the film has been positioned under the category of 'urbanoia', many of the conventions hark back to the American slasher film. The following links make for useful background reading:

http://filmstudiesforfree.blogspot.com/2009/05/final-girl-studies.html (this gathers together a wealth of reading on the final girl convention)

http://www.gotterdammerung.org/books/reviews/m/men-women-and-chain-saws.html

http://www.theblacklodge.co.uk/jamesrose/descent.html

THE USE OF SOUND IN APOCALYPSE NOW

Apocalypse Now (1979, Francis Coppola) – Opening Sequence; ‘This is the End...’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njfbVrYn4CU

(You may need to consider the use of editing, mise-en-scene and cinematography)

You must be able to differentiate between diegetic and non-diegetic sound:

Diegetic sound is any sound presented as originating from the source within the film’s world:

• voices of characters
• sounds made by objects in the story
• music represented as coming from the instruments in the story space

Non diegetic sound is represented as coming from a source outside the story space:

• narrators commentary--voice over
• sound effects
• musical score

Watch the sequence then makes NOTES under the following headings:

1). SOUND EFFECTS

2). MUSIC/LYRICS

3). DIALOGUE/SPEECH

Using your notes, write a 500 word response to the following question:

How does the opening sequence to APOCALYPSE NOW use sound to create meaning and generate an emotional response?

MICRO ELEMENTS: CINEMATOGRAPHY

Cinematography is predominately concerned with shot sizes, angles, camera movement and lighting. Here are some sequences that make interesting use of cinematography:

1). Children of Men - Miracle Cease Fire Scene



2). Touch of Evil - Opening Long Take



3). Elephant - Steadicam



4). Kill Bill - Split Screen

MICRO ELEMENTS: EDITING

The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing is a documentary that interviews Hollywood editors about the process of editing. Here is the first part:



Here are some examples of film editing:

1). The Godfather - Baptism Sequence



2). City of God - Chase the chicken



3). Silence of the Lambs - Parallel Editing



4). Breathless - Jump Cuts



5). 2001: A Space Odyssey - Match Cut

EARLY SILENT COMEDY - CHAPLIN, KEATON AND LLOYD

Some of the earliest film comedians to appear on screen were also some of cinema's most creative and innovative directors. Both Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were able to develop a relationship with the audience which was affectionate, political and very involving. Chaplin was one of Hollywood's first true visionaries and he had complete creative control over many of his projects.

EARLY SILENT CINEMA: PRIMITIVES AND PIONEERS

Film is a relatively new art form. It has only been around for 100 years. The evolution of film has been rapid and the emergence of film grammar has allowed film makers to innovate and create new kinds of genres, styles and ways of communicating with the audience. Here a few sequences from turn of the century:

AN INTRODUCTION TO WORLD CINEMA

The first part of the A2 film exam is on world cinema. The first thing you will need to get to grips with is the world of subtitled foreign films collectively known as world cinema. But what exactly is world cinema in light of today's globalised society? What are the origins? How do we/you define it? What kinds of films do we tend to associate with world cinema? These are just some of the questions you will need to consider whilst broadening out your viewing range.

Here is an introduction to world cinema:

world cinema on Prezi

A2 FILM COURSEWORK: THE SMALL SCALE RESEARCH PROJECT - Setting up your own blog

One of the first tasks that you will be complete as part of the shift into A2 film studies is creating and maintaining a blog allowing you to track your research as part of the coursework. The A2 film coursework is divided into 2 parts - 1). Small Scale Research Project and 2). Creative Work.

The research demands that you develop appropriate research skills, investigate an area of film that interests you and that you support your final arguments with critical support from a range of primary and secondary sources.

Maintaining a blog will allow you to build up a steady bank of useful and relevant resources for your research project - this can include websites, links to articles, YouTube videos, posters, etc. You will also use your blog to post any related reviews or comments on films that you have to study as part of your research.

You must ensure that your blog is well organised and clear to read - do not overcrowd it with too much information. The templates will allow you to consider colour and fonts whilst sidebar tools are useful as a way of listing favourite websites and film lists.

Whilst some of you may have come across blogger before the following video offers a quick run through of setting up a blog:



Here are some important sites linked to blogging:

http://buzz.blogger.com/ - The official site from blogger

http://www.youtube.com/user/BloggerHelp?blend=3&ob=5 - Blogger's YouTube HELP channel; lots of useful step by step videos on how to improve your blogging skills

Hollywood Blockbusers - Case Study on THOR (Dir. Kenneth Branagh, 2011, US)

The teaser poster for the film which appeared at Comic Con months before the was released.

Marvel was bought up by Disney in 2009 for a massive $4billion deal. Thor was a comic book adaptation long in the making and with a $150 million production budget minus the massive marketing campaign the gamble for both Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures (acting as distributor) seems to have paid of with the film opening tremendously well internationally. With no stars and a relatively obscure comic book hero when compared to the likes of Iron Man or Spiderman, Thor's commercial success was dependent on a few crucial factors - one of them being a strong critical reaction to the film. Marvel were cautious in their choice of director and leading man - both Kenneth Branagh and Chris Hemsworth do carry out their roles with relative ease and assurance.

Yet again a tent pole production like Thor proves that the old adage of idea is king still reigns supreme amongst the studio mentality towards mainstream cinema. In many ways, Thor works whilst other comic book film adaptations have failed is due largely to the old fashioned morality tale at work amongst the expensive special effects budget. Thor is not a stand alone film or simply a competent slice of Hollywood entertainment as it follows its predecessors like Iron Man in showing explicit links to the forthcoming Avengers film. With the upcoming Captain America, Spiderman re-boot and the final chapter in Nolan's Batman saga, the comic book film genre continues to evolve rapidly into one of the most debated and contested of recent film genres.

Here are some useful links to the film:

First let's begin with the trailer to the film:



The official website connects into the Marvel universe - http://thor.marvel.com/

The Hollywood Reporter gives the thumbs up to the film - http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/thor-film-review-179283

British Director Kenneth Branagh talks about the experience of working on a blockbuster - http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2011/04/21/thor-kenneth-branagh/

The wikipedia entry brings to light the arduous journey the film took to finally make it to the big screen - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_%28film%29

Here is a video interview with Branagh on making the film:



You can easily use THOR as a case study for producers and audiences as it offers current engagement with Hollywood cinema as an industry.

PRODUCERS & AUDIENCES - Section A: Exam Feedback

The Oscar winning The King's Speech is an excellent example of a current film that could easily be used to support all areas of the producers and audiences exam.

Most of you have written a response to Section A now. Whilst the questions on Horror and Noir are more predictable and much easier to revise for, Section A is notoriously difficult to predict and tends to leave us guessing what exactly will appear. However, certain areas have appeared over the years which continue to be important to this section:

• The State of the British Film Industry
• Hollywood Cinema Today - High Concept, Franchise, The Opening Weekend
• Film Stars and Audiences
• Film and Technology - consider here the emergence of 3D, Imax and Digital Screens
• Marketing
• Distribution
• Exhibition
• The Studio System
• Film and The Internet
• Fandom
  

What is most critical really is being able to keep up to date with developments in the American and British Film Industry as the examiners tend to look favourable upon those candidates who are able to engage with current films on release. It is imperative to move beyond the stimulus material you are given and think about what is not so obvious - this will likely to get you the higher marks.

The following are useful websites for film news and developments:

http://www.screendaily.com/
http://www.slashfilm.com/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film
http://mubi.com/notebook/posts