I chose Mamma Mia as they used a beautiful (real) place for where Donna lived. The iconic hut on the island made a reappearance in the prequel “Mamma Mia – Here We Go Again” however, they used a different island for the second movie. In Mamma Mia, most of the outdoor scenes were filmed on location at the small Greek island of Skopelos, and the seaside hamlet of Damouchari in the Pelion area of Greece. The film’s main location site in Skopelos was Kastani beach on the south west coast but Mamma Mia 2 was filmed on August 12, 2017 in Croatia, including the island of Vis. In October 2017, the cast gathered at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England, to film song and dance numbers with Cher.
I chose the movie Gladiator (Dir. Ridley Scott, 2000) for its costume design because of the work put in by Janty Yates in researching not only the clothing worn by the Emperors of 180 AD, but also of the lesser known and far less represented gladiators of this era. Yates won an Oscar in 2001 for her work on Gladiator because of how accurate and complex the clothing was for the time. Yates was especially praised foe her work on Maximus’ clothes and armor as well as a very high level of continuity throughout the film.
I chose this as a good example of costume because I think that it’s a good example of how the feeling of how the costume reflects the impression of the character in genres where the costume is really important like fantasy or science fiction
Film: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Alien was directed by Ridley Scott, David Fincher, James Cameron, Jean-Pierre jeunet in 1979. I chose this film for its set design because how everything was created to look futuristic, yet familiar to audiences in 1979. Even though it is set in 2122, the main area where the crew of the Nostromo interact feels realistic and lived in. it is also a stark contrast to the horror elements of the film, as it feels very safe and normal, compared to the danger and disturbing nature of the alien Xenomorph itself.
A good example of a film which utilizes long takes is ‘Children Of Men’ (By Alfonso Cuaron, 2006). There is around three long takes in this film, which is a great achievement; considering how challenging they can be for a director to produce. It can be agreed that when done right, a long take can provide an interesting visual and can also be integral to the plot because it sets the tone. With action, thriller or horror genre; they can be used primarily to create suspense and keep the audience on the edge of their seat
However, despite the obvious pros, there can be a lot which can go wrong with a long take. They require lots of hard work, dedication and commitment to get right, so therefore I think that they should just be used if the director thinks it will work or is necessary
Since it is all filmed in one shot, everything comes down to timing. If an actor misses their cue, or a car drives in at even a fraction of the wrong second, the whole thing will need to be restarted. This can be frustrating for both directors and actors, especially if the take was working extremely well prior to the error. Long-takes require persistence and the ability to bounce back and continue onwards
There is also the possible issue of a lack of film. Some films intend on using long-takes but their cameras cannot hold enough film to make it work. A notable example of this is the film ‘Rope’ (By Alfred Hitchcock, 1948). Hitchcock intended for the film to have a continuous long-take, but the cameras could hold no more than 1000 feet of 35 mm film. As a result, each take used up to an entire roll of film and even lasts up to 10 minutes. In the end, the film consisted of only eleven shots
In this film, the usage of multiple long-takes were aided by CGI but still looked effective and worked well. Cuaron had also experimented with long-takes in several other movies including ‘Gravity’. Most of his work is influenced by varied different shots and takes which ensures that his work is as unique as possible. As well as the interesting plot, this film is mainly famous for it’s long-takes because of how unique they are. It is not a surprise that it grossed 70 million dollars at box office, due to its sucess
This scene is from Ready Player One (2018 , directed by Stephen Spielberg ) and the composition is balanced and this draws attention to the Iron Giant in the center which is the point of convergence in the center of the shot and this means that the Giant is the central focus point of the shot.
“The Nun” (directed by Corin hardy, 2018) Is a horror film about a nun that took her own life and the death of which is investigated by a priest and a novitiate. Together, they uncover the “Order’s” unholy secret, risking their lives in the process. The Costume designer Sharon Gilham did an amazing job. The horrific makeup and costume for the nun created an extremely eerie atmosphere. Although this film did not have a large amount of cheap jump scares, it had a lot of psychological mind tricks that are arguably even more terrifying than a jump scare. The costume design really helped create psychological thrills and was very accurate. I’m sure many people are going to have the face of the demonic nun in their heads for a long time as the makeup was too frightening to forget.
I have decided to use the Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2 (2017,directed by James Gunn ) as an example of the innovative use of color in film because in this film color is used to give each character a distinct visual identity in the often drab world that they inhabit and this makes the film visually pleasing to watch
I think that this scene from Thor: Ragnarok (dir. Taika Waititi, 2017) has used the idea of spacing very effectively. The director has chosen to have the Valkyrior coming from above, and for Hela to be positioned below, which creates a stunning contrast between the two. The audience could also interpret this as having a symbolic meaning – as the Valkyrior above represent heavenly angels. This was a very good decision by the director, as the positioning emphasises how Hela is bad and could bring chaos to Asgard. Even though nearly the entire scene was made using visual effects in post production, it still looks amazing.
