US Cast Study - The Cabin In The Woods

Director: Drew Goddard
Writers: Drew Goddard + Joss Whedon
Cast: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradely Whitford
Rating:
US Release: Blanket release April 13, 2012
Genre: Horror / Torture Porn / Postmodernist
Duration: 95 minutes
Studio: Mutant Enemy Productions
Distributer: Lionsgate
Budget: $30 Million
Total Gross: $66,486,080

Marketing:
The marketing campaign presents us with a various and diverse amount of methods consisting of viral methods, posters on billboards and on the side of buses and of course, the trailer.

Reception:
The film received critical acclaim. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported 92% approval rating with an average rating of 7.8/10 based on 230 reviews. It offers the consensus: "The Cabin in the Woods is an astonishing meta-feat, capable of being funny, strange and scary, frequently all at the same time." On Metacritic the film achieved an average score of 72 out of 100 based on a rating of 40 reviews signifying it had generally favourable reviews"

Independent Film - Case Study Red State

Red State

What makes it independent?

Holds a controversial subject matter about religious extremists which is based on a real figure 'fred phelps'

Overall budget is $4 Million.

Screened at the 27th Sundance Film Festival.

Budget granted through two main private investor groups.

Would not be considered appealing to a mass audience.

Auctioned the film to himself for $20 stating that he would release the film on his own.

Sent posters out with the winning bidder being able to host the poster on their website, this is relevant because he then gave the money from the auction to charity which implies a lack profit motivation.

He was able to have complete artistic control bringing in everyone he wanted to be in it.

The production cost came to $4 million whist also providing an extra $20 for the rights of his own film.

Who stars in it and why?

• Michael Parks as Pastor Abin Cooper
• John Goodman as ATF Special Agent Keenan, investigating disturbances at Cooper homestead
• Melissa Leo as Sarah Cooper, Pastor Cooper's daughter, Caleb's wife and Cheyenne's mother
• Kyle Gallner as Jared, teen who answered online sex ad
• Kerry Bishé as Cheyenne, Sarah and Caleb's daughter and Abin Cooper's granddaughter
• Michael Angarano as Travis, another teen who replied to sex ad
• Nicholas Braun as Billy Ray, third teen
• Ralph Garman as Caleb, Sarah's husband, Abin Cooper's son-in-law and Cheyenne's father
• Stephen Root as Sheriff Wynan
• James Parks as Mordechai, Pastor Cooper's son and Fiona May's father
• Haley Ramm as Maggie
• Kevin Pollak as ATF Special Agent Brooks
• Matt L. Jones as Deputy Pete
• Kevin Alejandro as Tactical Agent Harry
• Anna Gunn as Travis' mother
• Betty Aberlin as Abigail
• Marc Blucas as ATF Sniper
• Elizabeth Tripp as Melanie, Abin Cooper's granddaughter, Caleb and Sarah's daughter
• Jennifer Schwalbach Smith as Esther, Mordechai's wife and Fiona May's mother
• Molly Livingston as Fiona May, Abin Cooper's granddaughter, daughter of Mordechai and Ester.
• Alexa Nikolas as Jesse
• Hoc Sy as Butch
• Kevin Smith as prisoner who tells Pastor Abin Cooper to shut up

These are some well known names, specifically Michael Parks and John Goodman. Specifically Kevin smith wanted Michael parks after seeing his performance in From Dusk Till Dawn and that if Parks had not agreed to be in the film he would have dropped the project entirely.

Samuel L. Jackson was considered for the role that eventually went to John Goodman.

Some fun facts : Casting Director Deborah Aquila was moved to tears whilst listening to Kyle Gallner's performance during the cage scene.

In October 2011, Red State won the Best Motion Picture award at the 2011 Sitges Film Festival, while Michael Parks was named Best Actor. Parks' character, Abin Cooper, received a nomination for Villain Of The Year from the Virgin Media Movie Awards. At the 2012 Chlotrudis Awards, Melissa Leo earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Case Study: Johnny English Reborn.

Director: Oliver Parker

Writers: William Davis, Hamish McColl

Cast: Rowan Atkinson, Rosamund Pike and Dominic West

Rating: PG

UK Release October 7th 2011

Genre: Adventure/comedy

Duration: 101 Minutes

Studio Working Title, StudioCanal, Relativity Media

Budget: $45 million

Total Gross $160 million

Marketing:

The film was a prequel to the first Johnny English made in 2003, which was a previous success with a Box Office of $160.5 million appealing to the previous fans of the first film.

It had it's own iPhone App the Johnny English Mobile Spy Kit including features such as a Voice Disguiser, Lie Detector and Intruder Alarm.

Its website had a lot of downloads like wallpapers, buddy icons and creating your own spy dossier by connecting to Facebook.

Traditional marketing included the viewing of theatrical and teaser trailers (appearing online and as adverts), movie posters (billboards/magazine adverts) and actor interviews.

Reception:

The film received mixed reviews like its previous film. Rotten Tomatoes gave an average rating of 4.7 out of 10 whereas Cinemascore polls reported that the average grade movie-goers gave was B+ (A to F scale).

The world film premiere was in Sydney on September 4th at Fox Studios. The film premiere in the UK was on October 2nd 2011 and Rowan Atkinson even arrived in the famous Rolls Royce phantom in leicester square and in Sydney 

FINAL DRAFT: How does the use of the Mise en scene in a key sequence from Inglorious Basterds convey sorrow?

How does the use of the Mise en scene in a key sequence from Inglorious Basterds convey sorrow?

Inglorious Basterds attempts to provide a historical, postmodernist homage to cinema. Tarantino rolls Adventure, Drama and War into a ball and produces Inglorious Basterds. The scene I have chosen is the Revenge Of The Giant Face. A Jewish girl who escaped the Nazi’s grasp after her family died horribly in her presence dominates the scene.

The opening scene presents us with a long shot with static movement. Shosanna is following the rule of thirds, acting as the framework of the window in the centre of the shot. The use of mirrors directs the viewer to the central window no matter where you look whilst also containing the overpowering use of the Nazi Flag. The mise en scene would suggest that by the dominating use of the Nazi flag, Shosanna’s life is being overruled by Nazi influence. The use of mirrors on both sides of the shot provides us with a use of symmetry whilst simultaneously emphasising that Shosanna is figuratively and literally surrounded by the Nazi regime. Specifically in the mirror to the left of the shot it presents to me a reflection of Shosanna looking out of the window in sorrow or contemplation, looking directly at a Nazi Flag which is much bigger than her, the mise en scene of the flag would continue to emphasise the fact that the Nazi regime is much bigger than herself which vaguely reminded me of a Jack and the Giant Beanstalk or a David and Goliath scenario. It made me feel as if Shosanna has no power whatsoever as all she can do is face the people who had killed her family and have continued to torment her throughout the film. The mise en scene contains red wall paper, red Nazi flags and a red dress this suggests that whilst using the usual connotation of red meaning blood she is also figuratively and literally surrounded by blood, be it the blood of her family or the collective blood that the whole Nazi regime created.

The use of a cross dissolve, paired with a long shot grants me a zoomed in version of the opening scene, this time the window is dominating the scene, the reflection of Shosanna is clearer and I am now able to see outside. The use of a cross dissolve grants the illusion that a lot of time has passed, that she is contemplating or taking some time to herself, this also makes me wonder what else is going to happen afterwards leaving me with a sense of curiosity. I can also see a movie themed poster outside of the window; the mise en scene of the poster only furthers the fact that Inglorious Basterds is a homage to cinema as it provides me with a sense of historical cinema. Again the Nazi flag is shown within the scene to further imply that the Nazi flag is surrounding Shosanna, I feel as if the flag is almost lingering in the background and that the scene in question could arguably be a physical representation of what is happening in Shosanna’s mind, she is isolated in the highest floor of her cinema, surrounded by her own little space whilst outside Nazi flags can be seen dominating her surroundings, almost as if the cinema is her get away from Nazi influence, however in this scene she will be holding a film screening for the Germans which could possibly be the answer to her discontent, the people she despises are imposing into the one place she feels safe. I would like to note that the only movement you can see in the scene apart from the slow waving of the Nazi flags is Shosannas breathing, you can actually see her chest move as she breathes in and out, this gave me the feeling that she is brooding.

Once more Tarantino uses a cross dissolve which is then complemented by a mid shot, non-diegetic sound becomes more prevalent, which makes me feel like it’s foreshadowing events ahead. She is looking down with a hand covering her mouth which suggested to me that she is in a feeling of discourse or perhaps she could be judging the people outside. The mise en scene of the poster outside reflects the females’ emotion inside as both are looking emotionless, almost robotic, which could be attributed by the possibility of brooding. The non-diegetic sound which is currently ‘David Bowie - Cat people’ certainly casts Shosannas emotions throughout this scene, specifically as she is looking down at the street almost judging the lyrics “I could stare for a thousand years” can be heard, which emphasises the possibility that she is brooding.

Again, another cross dissolve finds it’s way to produce the next shot, which is a close up of Shosanna facing the window. This shot only furthers my previous point of Shosanna’s life being dominated by the Nazi flag however the shot is presented in such a way that the framing of the window presents a sort of blockade between Shosanna and the Nazi flag. To me this emphasized that outside of her cinema, her getaway, the Nazi doctrine can be found dominating everything around her. However, her cinema can be seen as protecting her figuratively and physically from the perils outside. As she turns to almost face the camera, I can really see the disdain and anger in her face. A close up of Shosanna’s face contains a slow tilt from her lips to her eyes almost giving me the feeling of determination, she’s been brooding and now it’s time to act.

A series of close ups of Shosanna applying makeup is then displayed with the Nazi flag appearing out of focus in every shot, this continues the feeling that the mise en scene of the flag provides. No matter what she is doing there is a Nazi influence on everything, almost as if the flag is watching her through the  window. The non-diegetic sound then becomes more pronounced and it takes over the scene giving me the feeling that she is preparing for events ahead which dissuades from usual preparation as the makeup, looks and charm can be seen as her weapons. She applies one bit of makeup as if she is a commando about to go into the fray, foreshadowing an internal war she will enter. There is a common theme of Red throughout this scene, she is wearing a red formal dress, applying red make up, there is a Nazi flag somewhere in every shot and at one point she begins to drink red wine, this made me think that she is metaphorically bleeding, she’s bleeding for her family and the peril of her people and she has taken a very large amount of emotional torment. The mise en scene can be said to be crying out Shosanna’s emotions due to her being physically emotionless.

I feel like the next set of lyrics can be very closely correlated to show exactly how Shosanna is feeling. “Feel my blood enraged, It's just the fear of losing you, Don't you know my name, Well you been so long” This perfectly describes the scene and accurately describes her situation, she’s had a close encounter with the Nazi’s yet nobody knows who she is, they’ve killed her family and taken almost everything, now you get a sense of revenge, which can be seen as a predominant theme throughout the film.

Draft Coursework

Inglorious basterds – Revenge of the giant face.

Inglorious Basterds attempts to provide a historical, postmodernist homage to cinema. Tarantino rolls Adventure, Drama and War into a ball and produces Inglorious Basterds. The scene I have chosen is the Revenge Of The Giant Face. A Jewish girl who escaped the Nazi’s grasp after her family died horribly in her presence dominates the scene.

The opening scene presents us with a long shot with static movement. Shosanna is following the rule of thirds, acting as the framework of the window in the centre of the shot. The use of mirrors directs the viewer to the central window no matter where you look whilst also containing the overpowering use of the Nazi Flag. The mise en scene would suggest that by the dominating use of the Nazi flag, Shosanna’s life is being overruled by Nazi dominance. The use of mirrors on both sides of the shot provides us with a use of symmetry whist simultaneously emphasising that Shosanna is figuratively and literally surrounded by the Nazi regime. Specifically in the mirror to the left of the shot it shows me a reflection of Shosanna looking out of the window in sorrow or contemplation, looking directly at a Nazi Flag which is much bigger than her, the mise en scene of the flag would continue to emphasise the fact that the Nazi regime is much bigger than herself. It made me feel as if Shosanna has no power whatsoever as all she can do is face the people who had killed her family. The mise en scene contains red wall paper, red Nazi flags and a Red Dress this suggests that whilst using the usual connotation of red meaning blood she is also figuratively and literally surrounded by blood, be it the blood of her family or the collective blood that the whole Nazi regime created.

A cross dissolve to another long shot grants me a zoomed in version of the opening scene, this time the window is dominating the scene, the reflection of Shosanna is clearer and I am now able to see outside. The use of a cross dissolve made me feel like a lot of time has passed, that she is contemplating or taking some time to herself, this also makes me wonder what else is going to happen afterwards leaving me with a sense of wonder. I can also see a movie themed poster outside of the window; the mise en scene of the poster only furthers the fact that Inglorious Basterds is a homage to cinema as it provides me with a sense of historical cinema. Again the Nazi flag is shown within the scene to further imply that the Nazi flag is surrounding Shosanna. I would like to note that the only movement you can see in the scene apart from the slow waving of the Nazi flags is Shosannas breathing, you can actually see her chest move as she breathes in and out, this gave me the feeling that she is brooding.

Another cross dissolve then presents us with a mid shot, non-diegetic sound becomes more prevalent, which makes me feel like it’s foreshadowing events ahead. Shosanna is well dressed in this shot and she is looking down which suggested to me that she is sad or judging others, I came to the conclusion of judgement because she is looking down throughout the window, looking at the street outside. The mise en scene of the poster outside reflects the females’ emotion inside as both are looking emotionless which could be attributed by the possibility of brooding.

Analysing The Shining

The Shining does not stick to typical horror conventions but is a Horror movie in itself. Throughout the movie it presents us with high key lighting except for a few exceptions of low key lighting and through use of colour and sound makes me feel tense and unnerved which can be attributed to Horror conventions. Narrative plays a huge part in The Shining as right at the start of the film the manager of the hotel foreshadows events ahead by using words like "Alienation" and "Isolation" giving an early hint of the craziness ensuing.

I have chosen this scene in particular for many reasons. It starts as a Point of View shot of Jacks workspace, his wife is finally reading all the work he has done. The lighting in the scene is considered natural apart from further in the room on the balcony it is high key lighting. The sound is distorted, high pitched and fluent which makes me think of a crazed animal which is fairly unnerving. It then cuts to an over the shoulder shot of a silhouette who I can presume is Jack due to his figure. The mise-en-scéne would suggest that religion is a big factor, you can see throughout the balcony at the top it is full of religious crosses which brings the religious element. The colour however, in the scene, has no red whatsoever unlike the usual convention of the connotation of red seen in other horror films the colour is predominantly white this makes me think that, although the non-diegetic sound is telling me otherwise, nothing 'bad' is going to happen.

The non-diegetic sound gets quieter as Jack says "How do you like it?" with the camera still looking over his shoulder. I feel the camera is placed on his shoulder to make us feel like we are with him, one could even argue we are the devil on his shoulder which makes me feel almost responsible for his wife's fright. She is currently holding a bat which suggests that she is/was expecting to use it to defend herself, that she is looking for something and expecting that she is in danger. The camera is currently static whilst jack walks over to her, I know it's jack because I can hear his voice but he is still a silhouette which makes me feel like there is something wrong with him. She screams and we can't see him so naturally my reaction would be to assume he's looking manically.

A swift cut brings us and the camera in front of Jack. Religious crosses are still predominant due to his shirt presenting us with many crosses and/or inverted crosses. The camera tracks and pans Jack over to his desk. A close up of his wife is then shown to express/emphasis her fright in seeing the man she loves whilst the non-diegetic sound becomes almost non-existant but still faintly there. I feel this is used to keep the insanity but allow the actors to converse.

There is a cut to a mid shot of Danny with loud high pitched music and Jack's voice can be heard in a very distorted way, this gave me the assumption that Danny is hearing Jacks voice and that what he is hearing is 'all in his head'. The camera slowly zooms into Danny's face turning the mid shot into a close up which makes you feel on edge. That something is going to happen. The mise-en-scéne would suggest that something bad will happen as typical horror conventions begin to be seen, Danny is wearing a red sweater and the connotation of red being blood and death. A red filter is then put over the camera as we cut to the elevator motif. A liquid, presumably blood is seen surrounding the immediate area and due to the red filter everything we can see is red and as the liquid clears the way, Jacks voice is still being heard seemingly even more crazy. I feel that the camera being placed surrounded by blood makes us feel that this is what Danny is seeing currently, this is only enforced by hearing the same non-diegetic sounds as we did when the camera was zooming in on Danny. Parallel editing is also used here, we are able to see Jack and his Wife conversing and the scared look of Danny seemingly happening at the same time this is again enforced by the elevator shot cutting to Jack and his Wife which makes the two events with no correlation almost intertwine with each other. 

Immediately as we cut back to Jack there is a red door behind him. A colour that wasn't seen at the start can now be seen clear as day. Instantly this makes me feel like something 'bad' will happen. We can also see behind Jacks head there is an exit sign which is previously seen in the close up of his wife. It is reasonable to assume both parties have switched position and it gives me the feeling this has purposefully been done to imply that Jack is blocking or now in front of the exit.

The crazed non-diegetic sound is still being played throughout this whole sequence. Inverted crosses can  be seen everywhere as there is a shot reverse shot between Jack and his wife. His wife is wearing a chequered shirt, there is also crosses in the windows and chequered curtains which allow crosses to be seen almost everywhere, this gives us a feeling of the supernatural and makes me feel like there is something unholy surrounding Jack and his wife. As the mid shot of his wife slowly tracks her while she walks backwards still gripping the bat in defense, Jack is also being tracked to show that they are maintaining distance between each other. The camera makes me feel like I'm both characters due to it's positioning, as Jack's wife talks we are in the Point of view of Jack and as Jack talks we are in the Point of view of his wife, editing also tells me I'm both characters because you can see their eye lines matching.

1016 words.

No Country For Old Men

No Country For Old Men

 

The clip starts with a point of view shot looking from inside a car on the freeway. The camera then cuts to the antagonist within the car, this shows us we are looking through his eyes, he looks down to the tracking device just out of shot then the camera cuts to a PoV shot to the tracking device.

 

Parallel editing shows the protagonist preparing for the arrival of the antagonist. He is shown in this low angle mid shot to be holding two metal tubes, his sleeves are rolled up and top button undone, this foreshadows ‘dirty work’. You can also see he is wearing a wedding ring this portrays his character to include the traits of a family man. 

 

The low key and natural lighting shows us the time of day and also hints at a form of pathetic fallacy as the gloomy overcast also foreshadows events ahead. The sound is primarily diegetic as there is very little to no non-diegetic sounds, this gives us a sense of realism. Throughout the clip there can be seen to be very little dialogue this is because the camera is telling us the story. As the antagonist drives by the motel, the bleeps from the remote in his car bleep faster. This tells us  that the thing he is looking for is within the point that it bleeps the fastest.

 

We are presented with many PoV shots and slow pans as our antagonist pulls into the Motel. We noted that there is a freeway directly outside of the Motel, we found that this isn’t an ideal place to kill someone due to the fact that there are many people just outside of the establishment.

- Crime Drama.
- Authority figures challenge criminal
- Criminal often loses
- Standoff between good and evil
- Criminals often held up in a bank

Why The Lone Ranger was seen as a box-office flop.

The Lone Ranger was considered to be a box-office failure for a plentiful amount of reasons, most of which are pointing to the length of the movie and plot. I’m going to jump straight into it and start handing out reasons and quotes as to why it flopped.

Straight off the bat, the film-critic aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 210 reviews rated the movie 30%, 100% being the highest rating and 0% being the lowest. Already it’s not looking good but as you begin to read the reviews the reasoning to the abundance of unfavorable reviews become clear. “Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp make for an appealing pair of leads, but they’re not enough to make up for The Lone Ranger’s bland script, bloated length and blaring action overkill.” seems to be the general consensus of Rotten Tomatoes, one person even scoffs “Somewhere, around the hour-and-a-half mark, The Lone Ranger makes the fateful decision not to end. Worse, the movie keeps not-ending for another full hour.”

Already people are saying that a run time of 2 hours and 29 minutes is too long for a movie, which in my opinion is completely true. Nobody wants to associate with a bad plot for more than an hour and even a good movie can’t keep me comfortable in my seat for longer than 2 hours.

Now statistically they made $48.9 million over a 5 day frame and expected $60-70 million on the debut. The movie itself received a high amount of bad publicity after with many people comparing to “John Carter” a big budget Disney movie made just the year before. With a reputation like that ratings dropped even more recieving a whole load of critique. Not only could it be comparable to John Carter but also the 1999 movie “Wild Wild West” both sharing a few similarities. Both rating very low, both not being able to hold a plot.

“Basically this $250 million reboot is overlong, over indulgent and uneven, but it’s also stuffed full of deadpan comedy, breakneck thrills and breathtaking visual spectacle.” - Jason Best

I feel this quote says it all. It’s hard to follow the plot and the run time is way too long but it’s also visually stunning. It must be said that Johnny Depp told the media “I think the reviews were written seven to eight months before we released the films and the critics had expectations that it must be a blockbuster. I don’t have any expectations of that. I never do” Whilst also suggesting that the movies performance was hobbled by unfair expectations and bad reviews. Respectfully this could have been the case, even Jerry Bruckheimer and others in the film said “I think they were reviewing the budget, not reviewing the movie and it’s unfortunate because the movie is a terrific one, an epic movie with a lot of humour”

“It's no sort of masterpiece. But The Lone Ranger is a good deal less dreadful than advance word has suggested”. - Donald Clarke

Ashley Price

Favourite Movie This Summer?

Assuming this means my favourite movie that has been released this summer it would definitely have to be “Now You See Me” Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman and Woody Harrelson make amazing leads especially with the teaming of Jesse and Woody back from Zombieland and with an amazing cast behind them produced an brilliant movie about a team of illusionists who pull of bank heists during their performances.

Now I am a huge fan of movies like Donnie Darko, The Butterfly Effect, Red State and Primer. I love movies that make you think, ones that you don’t know what is going to happen. In short, if the plot has twists or you can’t predict what will happen at the beginning of the movie I will rate it highly and this movie does just that.

I love the cast in Now You See Me. I’m not a magic buff but the cast make me believe I am. When you’re watching them perform on stage you can feel yourself swell up in excitement thinking “What’s going to happen next?” The mystery of illusion really keeps you on your feet.

There is an underlying tone of social disturbance and social inequality within the movie. More of a modern day Robin Hood. The illusionists steal money from banks mid performance and give the money to the poor people in the audience. All the people receiving the money reveal to have been screwed over by the same company. It gives a sense of justice to the viewer.

Visually Now You See Me is stunning. At one point the Protagonists are seen digitally on the side of a building. Generating a crowd by initially firing bolts of light through the ground and onto the sides of the building, a breathtaking sight as everything comes together.

The reason I chose this movie over the summer has mainly to do with the fact I’ve only really been re watching older movies. Dog Day Afternoon, The Usual Suspects and American history X to name but a few. Now you see me just has a comparable script/plot to ones previously mentioned and it gripped me from the get go.

There have been some bad reviews claiming that the scattered plot relies on sleight of hand from the director to distract audiences. Now although a clever statement I found this to be the complete opposite. I felt the plot moved a little too quickly but I feel like watching the movie you wont believe your eyes, and that’s the point. It sends the viewer down corridors only to reveal that you’ve been looking in the wrong places the whole movie. It sent me on a comfortable goose chase only to reveal that everything I had been looking for was right in front of me the whole time.

I honestly don’t know if I’m allowed to spoil the movie so I’ll leave out what happens at the end but the script is just, beautiful.

Ashley Price