A scene I think is done well in Citizen Kane is the scene in which he finds his friend Leland, unconscious and drunk, after writing a negative review about Kane’s wife’s performance. Kane decides to finish the review for him but kept the message the same before firing Leland. In my opinion it is quite surprising as the viewer is not sure what Mr Kane’s reaction to the negative review and his unprofessional behaviour will be. When it is revealed that he does not appear to care and finds the review amusing the audience is surprised as they think Leland has been forgiven. However, the audience’s view is subverted again when Kane fires Leland proving that Mr Kane was angry at Leland but was hiding it. Initially, in Leland’s office the background is backlit with the characters in low key light so that the only features of the walls that can be seen are the windows where the light is entering the room from. This highlights the faces and expressions of the characters focusing the audience into their emotions and reactions to the situation. When Leland wakes up, the background is lit so that the walls can be seen which establishes a passing of time as it acts as if the sun has risen. In this part of the scene the two characters are framed around the ajar door whilst they are talking with immediately attracts the audience’s attention towards it, making the reader curious to what is happening beyond it. As Leland leaves his office, an incredibly deep focus is used in order to capture the entire surroundings of the abandoned office as well as Kane who is typing the review close to the camera. Leland’s office at the far end of the room is filled with light and is used to backlight Mr. Bernstein so that he is seen as a silhouette in the background, suggesting the idea of him watching the firing of Leland without being a part of it. Through Bernstein not advancing into the room with Leland it suggests to the audience that something bad is going to happen to Leland as Berstein does not want to be around when he is fired. Throughout this scene chiaroscuro lighting is used on Kane’s face, possibly highlighting how he is becoming a darker and less happy man as he loses all his friends as he gets older and makes more ruthless decisions.  

Charlie Chaplin

He was one of the first stars in Hollywood and made slapstick comedic silent and sound films. He had his own production company so he could control what films he released. One of his most famous films is The Great Dictator (1940) which made fun of Hitler. It was controversial for being political as he broke character at the end.

Buster Keaton

He was a comedic filmmaker and film star. He was famous for doing deadpan slapstick comedies. He also wrote for comedy shows. He did his own stunts so most of them were done in one take. One of his most famous films is The General (1926) which had a big production and he crashed a train into a river. He was later fired because he was not making back the money from the productions.

Why was Birth of a Nation so successful?

It was first 12 reel film so it was 3 hours long, making it the longest film at that point. It was also focused around the American Civil War. It was the highest grossing film util 1939.

Why was Birth of a Nation so controversial?

It had people in blackface and depicted back men as aggressive and violent and depicted the KKK as heroes. It was one of the reasons why the KKK came back after they had disbanded. The NAACP tried to have it banned but we unsuccessful.

After doing the inventory, I am a complete finisher, a shaper and a monitor evaluator. This means that I can get things finished and done and keep things going. My worst score in this servery was chairperson, which means according to this means my weakest area are being objective and self- confident.

What was the name of the first film made by the Lumiere Brothers and when was this?​

Workers leaving the Lumiere factory (1895).

What is the “Phantom Ride”?​

When a camera is on the front of a moving vehicle so it looks like it is floating.

What was ground-breaking about the silent films “The Sick Kitten” and “Life of an American Fireman”?​

The Life of an American Fireman (1903) was the first example of cross-cutting. The Sick Kitten (1903) was the first close up.

What was the name of the first “film star” in Hollywood?

Florence Lawrence (1886 – 1938).

Who directed Birth of a Nation and why is this film now considered to be controversial?​

D.W.Griffiths. It is controversial as it presented the KKK as heroic.

Which nation’s film industry does Cousin’s describe as “the best in the world” in the 1910’s and why?​

Denmark

Give an example of two films and two directors from this place and time cited by Cousin’s as remarkable.

Benjamin Christensen, The Mysterious X and Victor Sjorstrom, the Phantom Carriage.

Why did film production in USA move from the east coats to Hollywood?

To avoid having to pay the fees of Thomas Edison’s patents for film loops. Also, it was sunny so it was easy to film outside as the lighting was good.

How many cinema screens were there on Jersey during the “Golden Age” of cinema ? (1930s to 60s)

New era cinema (1954-1972) – 770 seats, Forum cinema (1935-1981), Wests (1909-1972), Odeon (1952-2004).

How many cinema screens are there now?

Cineworld. 10 screens

What independent cinema spaces currently exist on Jersey?

None

Explain why the number of cinema screens have declined over the years and what you think the implications are for the film industry in general.

Smaller screens – multiple films shown at once. People will mostly go and see big and popular films rather than smaller films.

Inquiry:

We were all asked to find an example of a good screenplay and I originally found an example from the film Brick. I thought it is good example of a screenplay because it is a compelling mystery that is able to reveal parts of information whilst still making the end reveal impactful and surprising. The protagonist also changes throughout the film as he becomes more and more desperate to find out who killed his ex-girlfriend, so is willing to do worse things. The other person in my group originally chose a film that we could not find an example of the script for as it had only recently been released. We then both decided to do the opening of the Breakfast Club as a good example of a screenplay because it effectively introduces the audience to the characters, their personalities and the situation they are in, in a short time so they can start the film without having to explain the background of everything that is going on. It also tells the audience the general message of the film that you can’t judge a person’s character by assumptions and stereotypes. We thought it would be good to do rather the other options we had as the setting is in a school so we would be able to film it in the correct setting so it would make more sense to anyone who was watching it. We thought about changing the names of the locations mentioned in the monologue to match our location, however, we felt it would be better to keep it as it was as it would not make a big difference. Also, it only has a voice over rather than visual acting on a screen which was good for our group as neither of us wanted to act.  

BLANK SCREEN:
Against Black, TITLE CARD:
 "...and these children that you spit on,
 as they try to change their worlds are
 immune to your consultations.  They're
 quite aware of what they're going through...
 - David Bowie"

The Blank Screen and Title Card SHATTER to reveal...

1. EXT. SHERMER HIGH SCHOOL - DAY

During Brian's monologue, we see various views of
things
inside the school including Bender's locker.

 BRIAN (VO)
 Saturday...March 24, 1984.  Shermer
 High School, Shermer, Illinois.
 60062.  Dear Mr. Vernon...we accept
 the fact that we had to sacrifice a
 whole Saturday in detention for
 whatever it was that we did wrong,
 what we did was wrong.  But we think
 you're crazy to make us write this
 essay telling you who we think we
 are, what do you care?  You see us
 as you want to see us...in the
 simplest terms and the most
 convenient definitions.  You see us
 as a brain, an athlete, a basket
 case, a princess and a criminal.
 Correct?  That's the way we saw each
 other at seven o'clock this morning.
 We were brainwashed

Action:

M:\Students\Year 12\Ebony Parker

Reflection:

We remade the opening of the breakfast club. I do not think that it was very good or effective. We struggled to keep the camera steady as we were using our hands to hold the camera, so many of the shots were moving around a lot when we did not need it to. If we would do it again, we would put the camera on a secure surface. We also felt that we moved the camera too quickly which made it go out of focus and the effect of boredom and emptiness created in the film was not created in our scene due to the fast. movement. If we were to do it again, we would make sure all of the shots are stationary or have less movement. Also, a lot of our shots were very similar (lockers or a corridor) so we should have got more different shots of the school, so there is some variety, so it is more interesting. In addition, the script said to have an exterior shot of the school, but it was raining on the day that we filmed it, so we could not. Our sound was also recorded on a phone, so the quality wasn’t very good. It would have been better if we had recorded it using a microphone in the studio as in ours you can hear background noise of classrooms and people, which does not work as in the scene the school is meant to be empty. Also, the script said to do a shatter effect after the quote, but I did not know how to do a shatter effect, so I chose another one, but it looks worse. However, I do feel like having to edit the shots over the audio has improved my editing skills. I do feel like we worked well as a team to film it as both of us took it in turns to use the camera, however, we both did not know how long the audio was, so we were guessing how long our shots needed to be, meaning they were too short so I could not cut some of the shaky or out of focus parts out of it.  

Brick

I think this film is well written as it is a mystery that has multiple twists and reveals that are surprising whilst still making sense. The protagonist, Brendan, changes as the story advances and he becomes more desperate to find out who killed his ex-girlfriend and who stole the brick. Also, all the characters speak like 40’s detective films.

	Production role 1	Production role 1	Production role 2	Production role 2	Production role 3
Role	Sound A	Sound B	Costume design A	Costume design B	Editing
Genre	Monster/comedy	Horror	60s/50s themed?
Influences
Target audience
Production scale