Overall I would give the movie a 6/10. The pacing, camerawork and acting were good quality. However I thought the story and message it was trying to give was un engaging. The story’s third section was hard to follow and I didn’t really understand it. The best scene of the movie was when Shyrone hits the bully with a chair. I thought it was significant as it is when Shyrone changes and we can see that later on when he becomes more strong and we see that through other characters reactions.

What does James Monaco think the spectrum of the arts is.

Reading a film is subjective to everyone who watches it. Some may “read the film” differently to someone else and pinpoint areas of the film that other wouldn’t class as reading it. I believe reading a film is understanding and analysing what you see on screen, as well as acknowledging the films elements, themes and ideas presented that makes up the film’s language.

The writer of the book ‘how to read a film’, James Monaco, has a section in his book called the nature of the arts. In this section he mentions an idea called the spectrum of the arts. I believe the spectrum of the arts is the shape, form, colour, texture, and space. An example of shape is when Monaco explains that you can use shape and geometry to trigger emotions. The brain can give abstract meaning to different shapes such as in the field of animation, villainous and evil characters are shown frequently with sharp, rigid and pointy features like noses, fingernails etc as it brings out a sense of fear and intimidation in the brain.

Form is what a viewer perceives in a film. This includes its elements that bring the film to life such as its colour and camerawork and music. The various film techniques used add form to the film as an art piece. For example, Colours are used to identify prominent settings in the film, such as in iconic 1939 film, The wizard of Oz. In the film the location of Kansas was in black and white but when they arrived in Oz the film exploded with colour and became a very bright movie.

Texture is the quality and nature of shots and is the most important factor of the spectrum of the arts. I believe this as without texture your shots will feel like a dull group of geometric shapes. Lighting and colour can be manipulated using digital effects; however, texture cannot be manipulated and is unique because of that. This is because texture shows the personality of the location. Showing factors like age and condition.

I believe James Monaco came to his conclusion that the spectrum of the arts is a combination of all the important film techniques that make the film unique and an art form. Texture doesn’t work at its best without lighting and colour and vice versa. Without this combination of art, the film would be left empty and lifeless.

By Josh Wright.

What makes a film good, this is a question asked constantly in the film industry. A film being seen as good depends on the persons individual opinion and how they understand the movie. The film I am going to be analysing in this essay is the 2017 film Blade Runner 2049 and its micro and macro elements that make this film good.

Blade Runner is in the science fiction and neo noir genre. It embraces themes of loneliness, identity, society and class and technology and modernization. It uses lighting, a quite minor toned soundtrack, and real life sets to make the world feel alive.

The film’s main protagonist, K, is presented as a lonely man trying to discover purpose in a society that isolated people from one another. The films’ themes of discovery of identity are major parts of the story of blade runner.

The film deals with the theme of loneliness and purpose in many unique ways that differ from other pieces of storytelling. The main character, K is a “replicant” which is an artificial human, because of this he deals with discrimination from his peers and others around him. He also has a fake hologram girlfriend called Joi who is his only escape from the dull and lonely dystopian future he lives in. Her personality contrast to the rest of the cast of characters in the movie as she is always bright and cheery, and everyone else accepts their miserable world they live in. The film is great at presenting this idea of how artificial satisfaction is destroying our lives. This makes it engaging as some can relate to the themes of the movie. Well-choreographed action scenes are also sprinkled into the movie which keeps tension throughout.

The film uses techniques such as lighting and contrast to convey emotions and even messages in scenes without the use of saying it to the audience. For example, the director of the movie, Denis Villeneuve, links the colour yellow to information. We see him do this as the library of knowledge is a yellow room, as well as Vegas in the movie is a yellow dusty city which is the area where the protagonist learns the truth about his identity.

The film also has stunning visual effects and impressive set pieces that make the world of Blade Runner feel real and lived in. This adds to the cinematic experience of this world and makes it engaging to the audience.

The Film’s graphic and depressing presentation of this dystopian world in the future is also a message to the watcher. Denis Villeneuve warns us that environmental damage, dehumanisation and personal estrangement could lead our society to what is is in Blade Runner. 

In conclusion, what makes a film good is its micro and macro elements and how well they are shown. Blade Runner 2049 does this to near perfection by making use of its unique style to convey powerful messages, making a wel

l written narrative. Because of this, we can see how audiences relate to the movie and show the film excellent quality.

After watching Joker, I thought that it was a 10/10 film. The cinematography and camera work were incredible. The director of the film, Todd Phillips, made the shots of the movie unique and stunning. I noticed that he uses vibrant colours to depict the mood of the scene. For example, the movie uses more bright colours when joker becomes happier and freer later. Two of my favourite scenes of the movie was when joker was dancing on the stairs. This is the point of the movie when main character becomes free and not constrained by the pressures of society. My other favourite scene is when Arthur goes on Murray show. From the start of the movie, Murray is seen as a hero figure towards Arthur, but later in the movie when is comedy is used for a joke, he finally snaps and makes his own comedy, it is a brilliant plot twist. That is why I think joker is a 10/10