Section A

How far are developments in film exhibition changing the way in which audiences watch film? 

What are some of the main factors that influence different kinds of film production today? 

How mise-en-scene and cinematography effects meaning in the 'People didn't even have five minutes' scene in Chernobyl Diaries

Through the use of different aspects of mise-en-scene within Chernobyl Diaries alters the obvious and hidden meanings of the film. The scene opens with mid-shot of three of the characters walking in; the way it was shot makes me feel like something was waiting for them in that room. The mise-en-scene of room itself is then shown through the use of another midshot. The cinematography here is quite shaky as if it were filmed hand-held, a common convention of the horror genre. This type of camera work makes me feel like I am with the group of people exploring this room because the hand held style of cinematography works to include the audience due to its personal perspective.

The mise-en-scene is drab and rotten from years of neglect so there is wallpaper peeling from the walls and abandoned belongings scattered left, right and centre. The open space in the middle of the floor represents the isolation and emptiness of Chernobyl. An important aspect of mise-en-scene within a horror film like this one is lighting. The mise-en-scene of the lighting inside the room is low key, dull and invokes a feeling in me that makes me feel trapped and on edge as anything can hide in the shadows. On the opposite side of the room towards the window and balcony it is naturally lit as the sun is still shining through the empty space where the window once was. This is a good starting example of binary opposition: dark vs light or good vs evil. The bright natural light represents safety and promise whilst the dreariness of the inside of the building represents chaos and unforeseeable fear. The types of lighting used within film is important because not only does it affect the scene but also impacts on the viewer, personally the more low key lighting used the more likely I am to feel on edge as it is within human instinct to be afraid of the dark, or rather what hides in it.  

Close-ups show specific details of a scene that are important within the story. In this case it is that a character has stood on an old broken picture frame containing a photograph of the family that used to reside within the apartment they are all exploring. The diegetic sound of cracking glass seems to be intensified. This makes me feel odd as it sounds like an ASMR extract therefore making me shudder at the bottom of my spine. The cinematography of this shot affects the mise-en-scene by adding depth to the story; by putting a hint of a backstory in a sequence it makes me think that there will be hidden meanings within the rest of the film. Low-key lighting is used coupled with a point of view shot when looking at the photograph. The use of cinematography here makes me feel like I am part of the group looking and investigating the picture. Subsequent to this, the tour guide, Uri, goes on to explain about how 'people didn't have five minutes to pick up their belongings'. The mise-en-scene is effecting the meaning here once we realise that the reason the belongings are spread everywhere is because of the tragic events that previously took place within the walls. There is an aura of sadness surrounding each object due to its tragic history. One of the tourists proceeds to go to pick up an expensive looking watch off the side table but is told to put it down as it is contaminated by radiation. The cinematography is at a high angle focusing on the watch then quickly tilting up to show a close up of the visitor in questions reaction. The rapid tilt implies the speed that everyone else in the room notices what he was doing but possibly also how fast the previous tenants had to evacuate the building thus not having time to grab any personal possessions. Uri talks about how when looters attempted to take things from Chernobyl they 'got sick' from the radiation after selling the items on the black market; the mention of places like the black market make me feel worried about the visitors because the same fate could have easily happened to them. The cinematography then pans right, back to the man who tried to take the watch and shows his awkward expression. This makes me feel uncomfortable because for a second everyone stops talking and leaves an awkward silence hanging in the air. 

The tour group moves from inside to the outside onto the balcony and the mise-en-scene changes to show more natural lighting. The natural lighting is from the sun but the sky, instead of being the usual blue, is a dull grey and clouds hang down and surround the Chernobyl reactor unit. This makes me feel uneasy because only the vague outline of the reactor can be seen instead of the full building therefore suggesting there is something hiding within; the partly hidden reactor foreshadows the events that will transpire. A low angle mid shot of a portion of the group is shown with parts of natural lighting cast upon them. This type of cinematography shows a current position of power but also regarding the lighting, a binary opposition of good vs evil. This can be inferred because although there is some high key lighting on the characters, a large percentage of their bodies are obscured by the darkness of the mise-en-scene of the room. The mise-en-scene here effects the perception of the characters as it is difficult to figure out how to interpret each one. 

A couple is shown on the balcony in each other’s arms as Uri walks back inside and away from the group. His isolation is apparent by the mise-en-scene being dark, dull and decaying. Uri stands alone on the opposite side of the apartment and takes a glance out of the window with no non-diegetic music present. Unlike the other characters, no natural lighting is cast on him when he does this, suggesting he is a darker, shadier character. The choice of lighting makes me feel as if Uri has a darker past and is not to be trusted. The camera tilts down to follow his eye line as he spots some still warm coals in the corner of the room. The mise-en-scene becomes slightly tense and fearful because Uri's expression changes to one showing nervousness. This makes me also feel nervous also because I realise that no one else should have been within their vicinity for several years so there is no explainable reason as to why there would be a small human built fire. Uri then snuffs out the remains of the fire with his foot in an attempt to hide it and suggests to the group that they should 'go now'.

A diegetic crashing noise can be heard within the building, this makes me jump slightly as the sequence was previously quiet. A backwards tracking shot-reverse-shot is used in between the tour group and the empty exit corridor, effectively creating distance between the characters and the way out through cinematography. The mise-en-scene of the corridor is dark and threatening; I feel mimics the corridor scene in the first Insidious movie. The camera continues to track back during this mid-shot of the tour group, the focus being on Uri. Uri then continues to walk down the corridor but separates slightly from the group to travel forward. The camera pans to follow him but does not track him, suggesting vulnerability and possible harm as he is being shown isolated, a common horror convention. Once a portion of the rest of the group join him, due to the low-key lighting, they're shown as silhouettes. Silhouettes invoke distrust in my impression of the characters because their faces cannot be seen and the eyes show the most emotion. Suddenly, there is a jump-scare of a large bear growling and running down the corridor towards the group. The mise-en-scene changes from tense but calm to fearful and terror because of the large, loud bear. This shot makes me jump as it is the climax of the scene. Coupled with diegetic noises and non-diegetic noises alike, the fast moving mid-shot is easily comparable to the 'window scream' scene in The Woman In Black.

Once the bear has dispersed from the vicinity all the characters rush out of the building through the use of several different cinematographic elements. The main element is tracking, this creates a connection between me and the characters as the cinematographic style keeps us together and makes the experience more personal like in Paranormal Activity with the use of hand held devices.

In conclusion, I believe that through the use of cinematography and how the mise-en-scene of the shot is made up creates new meanings within the film and makes the sequence feel more relatable. Although it is not a critically acclaimed piece, I think Chernobyl Diaries is cleverly shot in order to effectively entertain, which it does.

Past The Point Of Noir Return reflective analysis

My groups intention was to make a short film noir sequence to a good standard and I believe that we achieved this. We included a variety of shots and angles to fit the conventions of the genre, for example, a high angle, a two shot and an extreme close up. The high angle in the middle of the sequence is used to show the area but also to imply weakness within characters; the two characters are walking but the first is being followed by the second but the angle type shows that both are vulnerable. Non-diegetic music is also running throughout the entire feature to create atmosphere. The whole sequence is in black and white to imply it is old and dark. I played the 'femme fatale', a classic character of the film noir genre. There were a couple of things that we could not include due to time issues like a prop gun for the shooting scene which we improvised with a picture of a gun or clouds of cigarette smoke as we did not have an cigarettes readily available. Another well known convention of film noir is a voice over from the male lead character so i scripted our voice over to fit to the shots perfectly and using the same colloquial terms that were used in the original film noir movies. In my opinion, the film came together well as my group all worked well together to produce the final product.

Bears in 'The Shining'

After watching 'The Shining' you may have noticed a running theme; bears. Several scenes include the use of bears to premeditate situations or directly contrast with earlier scenes. 

In one of the scenes near to the beginning of the film Danny is lying on his bed being talked to by a psychiatrist. She sits down on his bed and puts her arms over his legs, an important detail I will refer to later on is that Danny is covering his crotch area at this specific point. The conversation between them refers to 'Tony'. 'Tony' being the so called imaginary friend of Danny's, although later on in the film it is clear that 'Tony' is a much darker entity. The beginning of this scene is shot using a long shot to show parts of Danny's surrounding room. Colour connotations of red can be seen, presumably to represent blood but can also link to the love Wendy has for her son as she is getting him this help. Wendy stands against the back wall of Danny's room as if in slight fear of him. All these things are a use of mise-en-scene. Shot-reverse-shot is used during the conversation the psychiatrist and Danny have in his bedroom, this takes place through the use of various close ups to show the exact emotion of the characters face. The entire sequence is shot with high key lighting, unusual for a horror film. The generic horror convention of the use of low key lighting allows darkness to fill a room and shadow to form and dance within the shots but within this sequence there is no sight of dark shadows. But although there are no shadows, the bathroom stool Danny first used when communicating with 'Tony' is slightly visible in the left hand corner. This is a clever use of mise-en-scene as the entire conversation is based around this 'Tony' being. Danny seems to become uneasy when 'Tony' is brought up as if he is subconsciously telling him to stop revealing information. The tone of Danny's voice changes from being quite monotone to distrsseed with a hint of anger like the voice is not his own. 

The meaning of the iconic bear suit scene in the ending half of the film is highly debated among fans of 'The Shining'. This is because unless you actually look into it, it seems like a pointless scene. It is definitely one of the weirder scenes within the film as the bear suit is quite surreal. From the long shot from Wendy's point of view  it is clear to see that the being in said suit is commuting some form of sexual act on the Grady as there is a butt-flap on the suit that is open and revealing a not too flattering full moon. The long shot quickly zooms into a close up of the bears face which is accompanied by non-diegetic music that could be said to mimic Wendy's fast paced heartbeat. It fits the horror convention of non-diegetic music because the music used is high pitched and uses the string section of the orchestra most frequently. This type of music made me feel tense as it penetrated my ears and rattled my brain. The fast zoom could signify the confusion and fear of the situation because when scared, minds race, just like how fast the zoom occurred. Equal to the first scene I discussed, high key lighting is used during this shot. You would think that more low key lighting would be used because it's a horror film and more shadows could be created to inject fear into its audience. 

Linking the two scenes together is the tie of bears. Also, if 'The Shining' is played both forwards and backwards at the same time then overlapped both scenes happen to coinside; evidently the director must have somehow planned this. Again, linking the scenes together, I previously mentioned the important detail about Danny covering his crotch area. This is interesting because obviously in the second scene the sexual innuendo of the sequence is the main theme whilst in the first scene obviously the main theme is childlike innocence and protecting the sanctity of bears being a childhood item. Subtly, all of the details of each sequence directly contrast with one in the other. This could suggest that Danny was abused by someone, possibly Jack, as is represented by the bear; the bear meaning to be a symbol of someone Danny thought he could trust to look after him. Even the use of mise-en-scene with the door way or exit is showing before a close up. This signifies that there is time to escape but once a conversation has started or a particular detail has been noticed it will be much more difficult to make it leave your mind. 

I believe that both scenes affect the audience differently as everyone is an individual. It will confuse some but terrify others, it all depends on how you perceive things and how far you look into them once the credit roll. Although the average film goer is most likely not to notice these similarities and differences within two sequences or even how alike some shots are filmed, subconsciously, their brains will be making small links that they will understand once they really think about it. There are so many conspiracy theories out there about 'The Shining' it's hard to know where to start, but the use of bears in my opinion is definitely one of the most obvious ones. 

In conclusion, I personally think that all these links to bears in the film do have deeper meaning. Deeper meanings are what get an audience interested in a movie a lot of the time. People like clever plot twists even if they don't realise they're there. The sheer amount of thought that goes into directing such an intricate film is outstanding. 

Inside Out

My favourite film I saw this summer was Pixar's 'Inside Out'. Although it was marketed as a children's film it was in fact very clever. I have thought of several interesting series about this movie. The movie shows the five main emotions: Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust. The character of Joy seems to be in control of Riley's mind but when both Joy and Sadness go missing Riley is left with only Fear, Anger and Disgust to run her. This brings her into conflict with her parents a lot since they moved to a new state. I believe that losing Joy and Sadness was a metaphor for depression as depression is not always just being sad. A lot of the time it is repressing the two extremes and lashing out with anger. Obviously sadness is also a key feature, hence why I'm assuming the Pixar animators made sure Sadness touches Riley's 'core memories' to make them sad; yet another link to depression. Another theory about Riley is that she might be transgender. This is because she is in fact the only character to have both male and female emotions whilst everyone elses emotions are the same as the gender identity.

The emotion running the mother's mind is Sadness whislt the father's is anger. This could also link to mental health issues. The father seems, throughout the film, calm and collected even though Anger is the one controlling his mind. This could suggest bipolar disorder or something as simple as anger issues.

I feel like using the characters in 'Inside Out' in counselling sessions would work incredibly well because then the person could arrange their 'mind' to show what emotion they think controls them. Some people are too shy or simply do not know how to put their feelings in words so being able to simply point out what they're feeling would make the process a lot easier I believe.

I think it is important to show kids and teach them about mental illnesses to avoid prejudices later in life. I enjoyed this movie a lot as it had a clever plotline, beautiful animation and a fair few relatable scenes. Pair that up with a good cast and some funny jokes and you've got yourself a good old-fashioned family friendly movie. You're never too old for Pixar movies! The clever colour scheme also helps children identify which character is which and motion. Red is for anger presumably because of the colour a person's face would usually turn when I angry, yellow is for joy because it is a bright colour to match the sun, green is for disgust which also links to envy, blue is for sadness because for some reason the colour blue has always to my knowledge been a colour connotation of sadness, and finally purple is for fear because maybe when you clench your fists in fear your fingertips turn a bluey purple.

In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this film no matter of your age. It was very interesting and well thought out.

Jurassic World

There is no denying 'Jurassic World' was a box office hit. The 'Jurassic Park ' franchise never seems to fail at exciting the public. Eventually, like all things, people will unfortunately grow tired of dinosaurs but today is not that day. Although some new dinosaurs may have been added on actors changed the plots never disappoint. The first 'Jurassic Park' movie was truly cinematic genius with effects that were far more advanced than its time. A mixture of anamatronics, suits and CGI dinosaurs were used to complete this iconic film. Any close-ups on the velociraptors were mostly actors in hand painted silicone suits for a better effect; the only scene in 'Jurassic World' in which the velociraptors are not actors in full body suits is when they're shown feeding near the beginning of the movie. They are CGI raptors but actors were stood in their places so the animators knew where to put them. The velociraptors in the 'Jurassic Park' franchise or not even velociraptors but in fact are called deinonychus, a lesser known fact.

A film's success is measured and how much it makes at the box office, how many awards it wins and how popular it appears to be online. 'Jurassic World' made $1 billion in only 13 days at the box office, the fastest film to do so ever. It beat 'Furious 7' as it made it $1 billion in 17 days earlier on in the year. So far the film has brought $402.8 millions to the U.S box office alone. 

The 'Indominus Rex', I feel, was the main reason why 'Jurassic World' had so much success. Just like the movie suggests, a new dinosaur always attracts more people. Just like in 'Jurassic Park 3' when the spinosaurus was introduced. 'Jurassic World' claims that the 'Indominus Rex' was the park's first hybrid when technically all the dinosaurs are hybrids. According to the first 'Jurassic Park' instalment the dinosaur DNA code was not complete so the gaps were filled with frog DNA. The 'Indominus Rex' is a T-Rec crossed with a velociraptor but also has chameleon characteristics. This means that it can camouflage itself and regulate body temperature. 

There were a few mistakes in 'Jurassic World' that I am surprised more people have not picked up on. For example, in the 'Indominus Rex's' enclosure there is a large glass window. For a dinosaur that can easily break through huge steel gates, a glass window should not have been able to contain it. Especially when it supposedly has the higher intelligence of the velociraptor. So if a film's success is measured by it mistakes, 'Jurassic World' might not have been so popular. 

In conclusion, although 'Jurassic World' had its fair share of mishaps, it's clever plot lines and talented cast made sure it pulled through. Just like how 'Jurassic Park 1' all began with a T-Rex, 'Jurassic World' ended with one; a clever Easter egg for long-term fans. 

B Movie reflection

Personally I believe more could have been done to ensure the success of our movie. Unfortunately due to lack of teamwork and time we did not have much to go on. I planned out the storyboard, found the locations available for filming, directed and acted within this abomination of a scene. In hindsight, more planning should have gone into this sequence as what we have is just a mash-up of shots with no particular meaning and comprehendible story. The idea was to film a horror movie sequence in which someone was being pursued by a supernatural force but it more looked like just a male in a hoodie nonchalantly watching another person mind their daily life. The concept and storyboard alone were both good ideas and executed to the best of my ability within the given time limit and ongoing pressure to complete said tasks.

Face Off scene analysis

The scene opens with a left panning shot showing the exit to the location then blurring the background until the camera reaches an extreme close up on the characters eyes. The blur suggests that the background itself is in fact unimportant at this moment in time whilst the detail that can be seen in the characters eyes shows a determined but slightly uneasy look. Extreme close ups are used when the director wants their audience to see the finer and more discreet details. Coupled with this shot is a non-diegetic soundtrack that get louder and more threatening as the camera advances on the character; music such as this usually foreshadows a large event about to take place. The fact that this is the first character within this scene it can easily be inferred that he is a main character and deserves to be the focal point of the audiences attention. The character then shifts his eyes towards to left, thanks to the extreme close-up we as an audience can notice this without difficulty thus telling the audience they also need to be ready to look left.

A high angle long shot that proceeds to tilt in a downwards fashion to show the layout of the inside of the building accompanied with non-diegetic slightly dark music is shown to create tension within the film. The scene then quickly cuts to a second unknown character stealthily walking gun in hand on high alert; diegetic footsteps are heard coming from him with the non-diegetic sounds completely silent. The shot is coming from a high angle looking down, this possibly suggests this character is seen as small and powerless even though he holds a weapon. This second character is perspirating heavily and noticeably anxious whilst the first character on the other hand remains cool and collected, presumably, in hiding. We know this because there is a parallel cut back to him, this is a close up and depicts him looking left to where the gun man is searching; he blinks and turns his head away before another cut back to the gun man.

An extreme close up on a gun is seen as the character changes cartridges with an enhanced diegetic cracking sound and another extreme close up of the first characters eyes. By these shots the audience assumes that this gun belongs to the initial character. This character blinks slowly then the camera switches back to the second character quickly whilst he walks round corner; the camera tracks backwards then rapidly pans to reveal a third character. This said third character pivots, looks at the gunman and creates the impression that he's going to shoot but the first character promptly shoots him square in the chest. When this character is initially show he is shown from a high angle shot, implying that he is of unimportance and weak. The first character is showed in a mid shot, the first time anything more than his eyes are seen. Non-diegetic drum beat music is heard echoing through the factory building as this shoot out is occurring. It can be inferred that the drum beat, as it is fast paced, is there to mock a human heartbeat because of the severity of the situation the characters have been placed in.

Horror: Tricks of the trade

Horror movies have evolved over time to become more and more frightening as the quality of special effects and cameras have heightened. The genre started off quite simple and has now produced some of the most psychologically damaging plot lines to date, added with some clever camera angles and sounds, modern horror has never been so debatably frightening. Horror films are based on the fears of the public at the time it was made. There are many different types of horror so don't be quick to generalise; from psychotic murderers to the supernatural, anything you fear could be found in some sort of horror film. There is just something about being scared that an audience seems to crave. People sometimes even begin to idolise certain horror movie icons, for example, you could go into any shop near Halloween and you could find the iconic hockey mask in the Friday The 13th and the Ghostface mask from Wes Craven's cult classic, Scream.

Horror started off with classic films like Alfred Hitchcock's 'Pyscho' where although the plot and filming technique were slightly poor, the audience were still scared and entertained because they knew no different; everything was new and exciting to them. Films like 'Pyscho' were known for using the same sort of background music and diegetic sounds to create an eerie atmosphere. The rapid high pitched style music that was used kept the audience on edge and showed how the character was anxious and fearful. 

'The Blair Witch Project' is known as a 'found footage' film. So like 'Paranormal Activity', it is claimed to be shot by the protagonist of the story. These types of films include the audience more and opens up new opportunities for jump scares as it is a P.O.V. The odd thing about this movie though is that it is based on a true story, yet another thing to scare the audience, throughout the film you never seem to see anything supernatural. Yes there are some creepy noises and events but you never physically see the 'Blair Witch'. Depending on the viewer, they will either see it as a wast of time or something that will make them never want to go camping again. 

The popular horror franchise 'Saw' does not use pyschological horror such as 'The Blair Witch Project' to frighten it's viewers, instead producing straight up gore. There is nothing more toe-curling that seeing someone be slowly tortured in high definition close ups with disgusting non-diegetic sound effects. Only a certain few gorey horrors can pull off this sub-genre as if the special effects are not good enough then the illusion is ruined. The problem is that the majority of people now are so desensitised to gore now that writers are constantly having to come up with cleverer torture methods. 

There are certain films like 'Sinister' and 'Sinister 2' however that manage to show off a certain amount of gore whilst still keeping that supernatural element added to a deviously clever plot line. It is these kind of films that manage to terrify the audience as the use of tracking shots and mid-shots make the viewer have to watch the background for whatever goes bump in the night. The majority of movie ghosts and demons are CGI but the demon 'Baghul' from the 'Sinister' franchise is fully human, therefore creating more of an impact on the audience because of how real he appears. 

Although the horror genre has changed drastically over the years one thing is for certain... There will always be a way to inject fear into the public.