FILM:	PREFERENCE: (/10)	MEMORABLE SCENE:	CINEMATIC FOCUS:
BLADE RUNNER (1982. Ridley Scott)	7/10, closer to an 8 than a 6.	Detective Deckard infiltrating the Bradbury Building to reach Roy and Pris, the last replicants on his list. Note that I do not mean the fight itself, iconic as it may be, simply Deckard’s anticipative time alone in the building before he fights Pris.	Mise en Scene

Film	Preference	Memorable Scene	Film Element focus
Bladerunner (Scott, 1982)	9/10	When Deckard and Roy fight in the Bradbury Apartments	Mise en Scene

All time favourites 

Best picture: Howl’s Moving Castle

Best director: Ari Aster 

Best actor: Adam Sandler, Hugh Grant 

Best actress: Anne Hathaway

Did you find this an easy or hard question to answer? Why do you think this is?

I found the question challenging to answer because there’s still so many things I haven’t watched yet. You also find it’s hard to determine something as ‘best’, when ‘best’ can be subjective.

Oscars 2020

Best picture: Parasite

Best director: Bong Joon-ho

Best actor: Joaquin Phoenix 

Best actress: Renée Zellweger

Why are the oscars so important for the film industry?

The popularity of the Oscars brings positive attention/success to films and actors, a boost in sale ratings and they are honouring tradition. 

What makes a film ‘good’?

Justify your answer by referring to aspects of both the macro and micro elements featured in your film

(400-500 word)

The main goal of making a good film is to tell a good story, tell it well and leave some kind of impact on whoever views it. Directors use a variant of different elements to create their story and achieve this aim, including macro and micro elements.

Micro elements are the smaller details that make up films. These include editing, cinematography, sound and mise en scene. Cinematography includes the skills of camera angles and movement, certain choices with the camera (lenses, filters special effect use, lighting, etc) to portray certain ideas. For example, you could use a panning shot to showcase a landscape and give the audience an idea of the setting. Sound is used in film can be used to create an atmosphere and enhance the experience of watching a scene. During a scene in a horror/thriller that is meant to be frightening, certain music or sound effects build the tension and can be used to amplify the fear from audiences. Sound is also used in the form of dialogue to provide context to what is happening in scenes, for modern audiences to understand.  Mise en scene describes what is actually on screen, in the shot. The visuals of the setting, props, costumes, etc. Used for visual storytelling. certain visual clues may give the audience an idea of what’s happening, or what is going to happen. For example, a bright and sunny beach setting may suggest a more positive scene, as we tend to associate good weather with good connotations. Finally, editing. Including the organisation of time to demonstrate the flow the director has chosen, to create a reasonable storyline. 

Macro elements are the larger themes in film storytelling. These include genre, messages and values narrative, style, and theme. Genre describes categories of similar films (e.g, horror, action, comedy, romance, thriller, etc..). Meaning films in these categories will have similar features. For example, jump scares and scares in horror movies. Narrative allows for a smooth, structured story-line throughout the film, often creating a clear beginning, middle and end. Messages and values are the core values at the center of a film, where perhaps the characters go on an adventure just to learn a certain lesson that the director wants to teach the audience. films can sometimes be effective teaching methods in getting across ideas to large audiences.

Different directors will have varied styles when it comes to how they create their films, which gives their creations individuality and keeps films interesting. 

All of these different techniques can be used together for good storytelling, and to achieve the idea of a ‘good’ movie.

I think, like most things communicated between humans, this can be broken down into three major factors;

FLASH, 

TENSION/TORSION, 

and REQUIEM. 

These are the three factors, which in reality are a condensation of many smaller factors, which create the ‘good’ film. Three major pillars of filmmaking which could theoretically spell a shining gold paragon of perfection- the ideal movie. 

WHAT IS FLASH? 

FLASH refers to a few aspects of ‘good’ filmmaking which entices the audience. This extends to areas like cinematography, makeup, special effects and the like- it’s the ability to make your film stand out and appeal to people in a meaningful way. A movie with FLASH is boastful and proud, willing to flaunt every liquid ounce of talent that drips off its reel. 

As a concept, FLASH can mean more than simply what we see in the film itself however. FLASH can also appear in the way a film is marketed. This includes posters, trailer house cuts, articles, interviews, even simple casting choices. Anything in that vein that attracts people toward the film is a proper use of FLASH.

WHAT ARE TENSION/TORSION? 

TENSION and TORSION are the fundamentals of scriptwriting and acting that goes into a film. TENSION and TORSION are extremely similar, and in some ways intrinsically tied, hence their grouping in this factor. 

TENSION is as it sounds, the escalating stakes, and sense of importance inside a story. Whilst this is important to all stories, it has a special significance in horrors, thrillers and westerns, where the idea of the long scene is the ultimate flex of filmmaking talent. These kinds of scenes are the buildup that excites the viewer, the yin to the yang of TORSION.

TORSION, as the name implies, is how the story bends and twists, how it subverts, averts, and plays straight various film tropes. Whilst TENSION exists to pump the blood of the audience, TORSION exists to make them think or feel, through intriguing reveals, or interpersonal drama. TORSION is less suited to action movies, but still appears in them. Moments of TORSION will often occur at the major Act-points of a film to introduce new information or change the established dynamic. 

WHAT IS REQUIEM? 

REQUIEM is the culmination of the FLASH, TENSION and TORSION built up until that point so far, the idea of the release or climax of a movie. And whilst the main REQUIEM present in a film will most likely be the end of its penultimate sequence, with the final sequence being a cooldown or ending, the idea of REQUIEM can occur more than once, or at a different point in the movie. 

The pistol showdown between the bounty hunter and the outlaw Mexican, the final chase between the young girl and the masked killer, and the final sky-high fight between the superhero and his arch nemesis all end in similar ways. 

A piercing gunshot, which tears through the howling desert wind. 

The saving grace that puts the unkillable monster down for good. 

The knockout punch which sends shockwaves through the surrounding city area. 

All a moment of pure REQUIEM, a release of a flood of TENSION and TORSION energy, and the ultimate show of FLASH, with what should be an iconic bit of imagery, accompanied with a climactic bit of orchestration to sell the moment to the audience. 

In conclusion, whilst these ideas and terminology I’ve presented are heavily debatable and subjective, the idea of a ‘good movie’ generally does fall upon the concepts discussed.

When filmmaking, a filmmaker should evaluate what merits their work has according to these, or similar, criteria. This will ensure their film is captivating, exciting, and satisfying. 

A golden movie. 

To answer this question I will be focusing on one film, (2004) Shaun of the Dead, written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg and directed by Edgar Wright. A comedy horror zombie film where we follow Shaun, a salesman as he grows up and starts to put his life in the right direction during a zombie apocalypse. The main ethnicity represented in this film are all white british people with one or two exceptions. The film opens with Shaun and his girlfriend Liz discussing Ed, (Shaun’s friend who gets in the way of their relationship), Liz doesn’t want to be rid of Ed but rather a balance between her and Ed. One of the first shots of the film is Shaun and Liz talking about Ed with Ed in the background between them which quickly establishes one of the main plot point of the film, then next shot also introduces us to Liz’s flatmates Dianne and David, these opening shots also quickly establish the character dynamic of the group. In this film we see a lot of Edgar Wright’s unique cinematography and editing, using up close shots, quick zooms and quick cuts he can turn a mundane task such as making breakfast into an action packed sequence. In these rapid scenes he also uses sound effects to give each action such as grabbing a knife, spreading jam and putting milk in the fridge a level of intensity and speed. Because of the staging and sound design of this film we continually see and hear things that hint at zombies or danger but due to the staging and mise-en-scene Shaun never picks up on these things or never has a chance to properly look at what is going on. Throughout the film we see Shaun finally grow up and start to point his life in some sort of direction as he makes plans to combat the zombie apocalypse, he goes from a lazy slob coasting through life to a selfless hero who disregards his own safety to try and keep the people he loves safe and is selfless enough to shoot his own mother to protect his friends. Later in the film Shaun and his friends and mum are inside a pub after evading the zombies and after turning the power on they are confronted by a zombie and Don’t Stop me now by Queen begins to play and they whack the zombie in time to the song as the camera does constant arc shots around the chaos which makes this scene excellent. As the film reaches its climax Shaun’s mum, Dianne and David all die in gory and gruesome fashions and Liz Shaun and Ed hide in the basement, luckily they are saved in the nick of time by the military. We then cut to 6 months later where zombies are being used for entertainment on TV and we see Shaun with Liz in Shaun’s house, we see him go to the garden shed where Ed as a zombie is chained up playing video games and Shaun joins him, then the film closes with another Queen track “You’re my Best Friend” showing how the two are still close friends even though one is a zombie.

Much like all other different types of artform, films can be extremely subjective depending on the type of person the viewer is and how the particular film makes them feel. That being said there are certain features that a film has to posses to be considered “good.” There are several main pillars that make up a good film. A few of these are Script, Characters, Performance and Visuals. Although vital, all of these are pointless if the movie doesn’t follow a good story that captivates the viewer and the director has put passion into.

The script is made of three parts. plot, dialogue and conflict. You will find it difficult to find a successful film that doesn’t contain conflict, or put in more simpler terms “when things go bad.” Conflict plays a major role in most good films because it allows the story to progress and it also allows directors to develop their characters further, as does dialogue which has a major role in not only defining characters but also setting the tone of the film. The Plot of a good movie has to have a sequence of events that flow together well and keep the viewer captivated. The plot of a film does not have to be linear or “easy to understand” but it does have to make sense, an example of a good film that does not follow a linear plot of a traditional film would be Inception.

Characters in a film are all made up of flaws and desires. For example the schoolboy that wants to impress his parents but keeps on failing, or the hero that wants to protect his city but goes too far with violence. A characters main purpose is to control the viewers emotions whether they are positive emotions such as empathy and relatability, or negative emotions like hatred or disgust. The best characters are usually complex and develop throughout the film as does the viewers opinion and emotion towards the character such as a hero that turns bad.

If the actors do not deliver their performances convincingly it doesn’t matter how good the character is. Good actors need to know how to show their emotion at different points in the play and also how they use their emotion to react to other actors. Without proper use of emotion the illusion is lost. The best actors use their facial expressions, body language and timing to be as authentic as possible to the directors vision and bring the character to life.

For a film to have good visuals in all depends on various things such as the movement and position of the camera and the different types of lenses that are used which can have a big effect on the ambience of the movie. Lighting can change the aesthetic of the film such as a dark gloomy shot of a small space or a bright shot filled with colour of an open area. Location, costume and props can give the viewer lots of context on the time period and type of character.