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Hollywood

The Birth of Hollywood

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1.Why did film makers and producers move to Hollywood?

The mountains and the large untouched land made it ideal to establish studios

2.Name some of the big stars, directors and pictures from the Silent Era of Hollywood? (at least TWO of each)

director – Charlie Chaplin April 16, 1889

director – Lois weber June 13, 1879

actor – Clara bow

actor – Harold Lloyd

3.In what ways were the early Hollywood studio system like a factory or production line or even the Premier League (football)?

the early system made actors worth very little and could be loaned over to other film companies similar to how footballers could be sent over to play for other teams. Actors were told what they were and were not able to do making them very dependent with their managers.

4.When and what was the first “talking picture”?

The Jazz Singer, which premiered on October 6, 1927. A major hit, it was made with Vitaphone, which was at the time the leading brand of sound-on-disc technology.

5.Why did the end of the silent era cause problems for some performers working in the film industry?

When actors were able to use their voice, some actors didn’t match their characters persona which made the characters appear confusing.

6.What was happening in America(and around the world) at this time?

WW1 , GREAT DEPRESSION , wall street crash 1929. These all made holly wood more successful since they were realising up to 800 films a year, meanwhile we only release less than 400 in todays date

The Hollywood studio system

•1) What were the Big 5 studios & what type of movies was each studio famous for?

MGM – musicals, melodramas, literary adaptations (Wizard of Oz)

Fox – Musicals (The Grapes of Wrath)

RKO – musicals, comedies (Bringing up Baby)

warner bros – melodramas , gangster movies (The Public Enemy)

Paramout – comedies (Morroco)

•2) Explain what vertical integration and block-booking was?

block-booking – selling films to theaters in units

vertical integration – when a Media Company owns different businesses in the same chain of production and distribution. For example, a 20th Century Fox owns the studios in Hollywood, they also own the cinemas, the TV channels and the DVD rental shops

•3) Why and when did the original studio system collapse?

In May 4. 1948 , the USA rules that Paramount and 8 other companies violated anti-trust laws since they were exercising an unfair monopoly by dictating what movie go into their own theaters.

•4) What was happening in America(and around the world) at this time?

The great depression and wars

•5) What genres were popular and why did people go to the movies in this period?

Westerns, comedy , musicals and animated cartoons were popular. During the great depression people could only afford to watch movies for entertainment.

classical Hollywood style

  1. what is meant by the invisible style of story telling?

it is when in classical Hollywood they chose to hide the artistic choice from directors in order to present a more natural story to the audience.

2. what is continuity editing?

it is when they edit the scenes in a film together to make it feel seamless and that there isn’t a cut. In classical Hollywood they didn’t use jump cuts and made sure it wasn’t obvious to keep the natural feel.It emphasis dialogue reaction cause an effect.

This is England, Uncategorised

This is England Micro-elements

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Sound

The movie starts of with an upbeat song over the credits. The song started the movie on a positive note which made me feel like the movie was going to be light and happy which was partially true since the movie included a lot of humor however it was mostly negative. The music was a form of non-diegetic sound since it didn’t come from the world of the movie.

cinematography

The cinematography throughout This is England makes the movie feel more personal to the audience. In this specific scene there is a close up of Shaun while talking Combo about how he feels. This close up shows how much the two characters are getting along especially since its switching between the two characters (POV shot). Not only does the close up make the characters feel closer, but it also makes the audience feel closer as well.

mise-en-scene

The mise en scene in the movie is consistent and gives the movie a overall chaotic feel. In this shot specifically, it shows how unserious the characters are since their costuming is random and not sensible. The setting they are in is also an abandoned house filed with graffiti which shows how they don’t tend to follow the rules and live life freely. A final mise en scene factor in this image is the coloring on Woody, while everyone else is wearing dull colors and balding in, Woody is wearing a bright blue which shows how he’s the ‘leader’.

editing

Throughout the movie, the editing is subtle and adds small but necessary visuals for the scene. The editing in this scene is particularly impressive since its a fading transitions of the English flag. This adds to the movie since its a bold way of showing what every character in this image stands for. Its also only a short insert and only slightly visible so it doesn’t take away from the visuals of the scene but it servers as a reminder of why the characters are connected.

Representation, Uncategorised

Aesthetics

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aesthetics definition – The overall style of a film and the visual appearance. This can include the costumes and the set design throughout the movie

Aesthetics term 1-realism

definitions

Realism – a way to represent real life issues / characters through film

verisimilitude – The appearance of being true or real; believability

Example– Selma is an example of verisimilitude since its based on real events that happens (the fight to pass the voting act right)

social realism – Effects on the environment and the factors of the development of characters throughout

Example – This is England is an example of social realism since in the movie represents real life England and its issues, including the racist development of Shaun.

magic realism – a literary or artistic genre in which realistic narrative and naturalistic technique are combined with surreal elements of dream or fantasy

example – Encanto (2021) is a magic realist film since the movie has surreal elementals like magical powers the a realistic feal from the community and village

hyperreality definition – over dramatic version of reality or reality that is emphasized / too real to be real

Example – The Barbie (2023) movie is over emphasized and a dramatic look of reality

aesthetic term 2 – Visual style

Visual style – the look and the feel of a film / language

iconography – the visual images and symbols used in a work of art or the study or interpretation of these

example – The boy in the stripped pajamas (2008). The reoccurring pajamas symbolize the holocaust and the people who suffered throughout

intertextual referencing – when films and other arts/literatures collide in a movie

Example – In Monsters inc other Disney movies are referenced like in the scene where they are trading plushies of nemo

visual / sound motifs –  a recurring sound element that is associated with a particular character, theme, or idea within a film or audio-visual work

Example – The movie jaws has the memorable sound track whenever the shark is nearby

colour grading – digital tools used to make videos or films look better or change the colour tone and mood

Example – In the movie corpse bride, the colour grading waw a cool toned blue throughout adding the the eerie feeling

auteur trademark – something used by directors to make sure no one else steals their work

Example – Stanly Kubrick has a signature style of symmetry throughout all of his movies e.g. the shining

Aesthetics terms 3 – Tone

Tone – The overall mood/ atmosphere

Pathos – capture audience through emotion

Example – In the movie Frozen when Anna freezes , the emotion displayed on Elsa can be captured to the audience

bathos – an anti-climax, when the audience is expecting bigger and better and the outcome is not what expected

Example – Spiderman across the spider verse. This movie ends on a part 2 right before the action part is about to begin

suspense – holding something back form the audience and increasingly adding to the tension building

Example – Zodiac is a great example of suspense especially since we never find out who is the zodiac killer in the end

comedy – a humor themed movie with jokes and the aim is to make the audience laugh, sometimes comedy is mixed with other dark genres to create a more textured movie theme

Example – A great comedy movie was sherk 2 since the main characters were alraedy established making more room for jokes

dramatic irony – when the audience understands more of the situation than the characters

Example – In Romeo and Juliet the audience is aware that Juliet is only pretending to be dead when Romeo finds her

distancing effect – a sense of distance between the characters and the audience

Joker

Exam Feedback

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  1. using more impressive vocab/phrases such as ;
    • ‘connate’
    • ‘within the films diagetics’
    • ‘encourage to sympathise’
    • ‘This suggests to the spectator that’

Diegetic definition – Any sound or things that come from the world of the film for example the sound of doors slamming and isn’t added after like music.

Cathartic effect definition – Its an emotional experiences that the audiences goes through while watching a specific movie / scene e.g. feeling sad at the movie UP

reframing definition – when the camera angle is changed without using a cut in order to change the focus of the scene

connote definition – To signify or suggest something in addition to the original point

Throughout Joker, cinematography is used effectively to create a sense of chaos within the film’s diegetic world. This is particularly evident in the scene towards the end of the film where Arthur is shown in a  low- angle, close-up looking out of the police car window and reacting with glee at the riots taking place around him. Here, the camera is used to position  the spectator as not only connecting with Arthur, but now looking up to him. This suggests to the spectator that the tables have turned and Arthur, who was earlier depicted as pathetic and sad, is now depicted as powerful and heroic. This “reframing” of  the central character” has a potentially cathartic effect on the spectator who has, up until this point, been encouraged to sympathise with Arthur’s point of view as a victim of circumstance. The deliberate and stylised use of this slow-motion reaction shot, enables the spectator to get a sense of poetic justice being served: Arthur is now on his way to prison.

Representation, Uncategorised

representation

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all aspects of film form including narrative contribution to the representations of cultures and societies’ (gender, ethnicity, and age ) including the ideological nature of those representations

ideology – a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.

performance

  • age
  • ethnicity
  • body language
  • costume
  • facial expressions

stereotype

a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing e.g. all black people are criminals

countertype

an opposite of the stereotypes that are already in place. it opposes stereotypes e.g. a black president instead of a white president

Sarah Conner example

Sarah was a stereotypical American waitress in he first terminator movie. She is shown to be weak and incapable of doing her job since she spills the coffee on the man and when she arrives late she isn’t phased or bothered by it.

in the follow up movie, she breaks away from the female stereotypes and becomes a countertype. During this time and becomes a heroin, she is shown holding a gun and she looks to be skilled with it, she’s also has muscles and is no longer the weak woman she was in the first movie.

Trainspotting Representation

1 who is doing the representation?

Renton and his group

2 who is being represented?

Renton and his friends represent a clique friend group who have issues and do drugs. drug addicts are being represented and so are people with mental issues

3 what social groups are omitted from the representation

people who are of colour and diverse women

4 what message about particular social groups are being conveyed

The message was that drugs are a life changing choice and once you get caught up in social groups with people who drugs you are bound to fail e.g. tommy ends up dead due to his friends co orison into heroin

5 which characters or social groups have power within the representation

Mother superior had the most power since he provided them with drugs. The parents in the movie also had power since they were the adults and created rules.

6 do the characters adhere to or challenge stereotypes

I believe that they do challenge societies stereotypes of drug addicts since they are white men in a white base country. The character of Renton also came from a functioning family with two parents which goes against the ‘people who do drugs came from a broken home’.

7 are the characters typical of films in that genre

The genre of Trainspotting is a dark comedy and I believe that the characters do fit the the genre since they are young adult men.

8 what do representations tell audiences about society at the time the movie was made

It shows us how society viewed different groups of people e.g. woman weren’t seen often in the movie other than Diane who was only displayed as a woman used for Renton’s benefits. There was also little to no people of colour in the movie which showed how they weren’t expected to be in movies at the time and where an afterthought.

This is England, Uncategorised

This is England

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Shane Meadows (2007)

overall score – 8/10

I gave this movie a 8/10 because the film was engaging and I believed it was funny since there was a lot of jokes made throughout. The characters where entertaining and also shows a wide range of different types of people in a group of friends. Some scenes in the movie where difficult to watch and it was hard to understand what the characters where saying at some points.

Memorable scene

A memorable scene in the movie was when Shaun was hanging out with woody and al of his friends and it was the first time we get to see Shaun not picked on and actually have a fun time. Its also a fast pace scene with the camera angles changing rapidly and the camera following in them around at times, this made me feel more involved with the scene and see from their perspective

Uncategorised

trainspotting micro elements

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Cinematography was use well in the scene, one of the camera angles used was a birds-eye- view. This camera angle allowed the audience to get a direct view of the characters facial expressions which made the scene feel more horrific. It was also a long shot which made the whole character of Renton visible in the center of the screen, this made him unavoidable which added to the fact that Renton had to get through the challenging part of withdrawals to become sober and move on in life.

Editing is used in this scene in the form of a J cut. the audio from the next scene where Renton breaks into a car is heard in the scene before it. The j cut adds an extra layer of interest t the audience and also shows how badly drugs can effect you since the scene transitions from doing heroin to committing crimes.

Non-diegetic sound was used in this scene with the song ‘perfect day’ in the background. The song added irony too the scene since Renton was overdosing and sent to the hospital, the use of the non-diegetic sound added humor to a disturbing scene which could make the audience feel less tense about what’s happening and also feel more horrified .

Coloring i this scene shows the romance and lust that Renton has for Diane since the red can symbolize romance. The intense red on the walls and Diane’s jacket makes it her stand out in the dress which shows how she’s the focus of attention.

Uncategorised

Trainspotting 1st response

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critical score 6/10

Danny Boyle (1996)

i gave the movie a 6 out of ten because i believe the movie did a impressive job at depicting the use of drugs and the issues that heroin causes. I also thought that the cinematography added to the intense scenes, For example when Renton was overdosing, the close up of the needle made the scene feel much more grave and disturbing. It also showed how just one needle can ruin someone’s life. The cinematography in the swimming scene made the scene feel unreal , especially when he started to swim towards the camera with his hand reached out. However I didn’t like how vulgar the film was and some scenes were difficult to watch.

My most memorable scene is when Renton was having withdrawals and hallucination in his room. This was because the birds-eye-view added a different perspective from the hallucinations and it also let us see the fear in the main characters eyes when the different people and the baby were approaching him

Sound

sound design

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the difference between a sound design and a sound mixers is a sound mixer mixes multiple different audio’s and adjusts them to creates a sound atmosphere that fits the tone of the scene. They also adjust the quality of the audio so its easier to listen too.

A sound editor makes sure everything sounds perfect and makes sure that the dialogue music and effects all sync together well for the specific scene. They also polish off any sounds or audio and add in sound bites ( short audio clip taken from a larger audio clip) where needed.

diegetic – joker

this scene is diegetic since the sounds you can hear in the scene e.g. the crumpling paper and the TV in the background actually exist and you can see them. Therefore all of these sounds come naturally from the movie and isn’t ‘added’ in separate from the world in the movie

Non-diegetic – joker

This is an example of a non diegetic scene because in this scene the background music doesn’t actually exist in the world of the film and the joker cant actually hear the music but as the audience we can

what is a sound effect

sound effects are usually artificially created or enhanced sounds that are used inartistic work to emphasize or express an action mood of feeling. sound effects were initially used in radio dramas but can be observed more often today in podcasts theatre films and television shows.

Needle drop and why we use it

A needle drop in film is when a pre-existing song syncs up with a scene making the scene unforgettable, the song doesn’t need to be made from scratch or be original for it to sync and create a certain mood or display an emotion.it can also be used to create irony by having a song played in the background that gives the opposite feel to what’s happening in a scene.

Needle drop are used to enhance emotions in the scene by using songs we are familiar with to underscore the scene.

asynchronous sound is no matched with the visible source of the sound on screen and is used when the director want to create tension as the viewer can hear the sound but not where its coming from.

synchronous is sound that us matched with the action and movement being viewed

Sounds that would be made by a Foley artist

A Foley artist finds creative ways to mimic sounds that need to be added and synced into a scene post production. These can be any sounds including animal noises e.g. a horse running or a dog walking. It can also be movement sounds like a fight scene or someone skiing down a hill. its normally recorded in a sound proof studio and then that audio is layered over

Leitmotif

leitmotifs condition the audience emotionally for the intervention arrival or actions of a particular character. is can also relate to the character and make the audience relate a specific song with a character or a scene/ location

Leitmotif can be use to show how the character develops over time , for example in star wars darth vaders theme song is used throughout the time we see him including when he was young and while he’s dying.

Leitmotif also shows us when a character related to the song is about to come in, for example in jaws we rarely ever see the shark but we know its there from its catchy song that we relate to the shark.

sound bridge

a sound bridge occurs when sound carries over a visual transition in a film

A J cut and and L cut are two good example of this

Voice over

a voice over is a narration over the the film and its often to give context of the film or scenes while they are happening. Narration is usually in the first person or from ‘gods perspective’

narration often tells the audience what we need to know for context, however they may not always be reliable

score/underscore

the score for a film is the theme of the music composed especially for it to enhance the mood/themes of the visuals which appear on he screen. The underscore music is played under the sequence to enhance the mood and its often mixed with dialogue/ sound effects.

in the movie Casablanca the underscoring in the final scene adds sadness to the mood which shows the character emotion through the music, the music also starts when she finds out she’s going to be separated from the man and has to go on the plane alone which adds to the shock with the sudden music.

sound perspective

refers to the apparent distance of a sound source evidenced by its volume timbre and pitch. The sound in a movie isn’t always aligned with where the camera is which makes the sound an important aspect of a movie.

For example in the movie Munich the sound in the scenes are so powerful you don’t need to be watching the movie to understand what is happening, like when the assassins are planting the bomb, you can hear the ambient sound of the city changing as the assassins are working.#

favourite film sound track

my favourite film sound track is the frozen sound track. This is because its one of the most memorable Disney movie sound tracks and is used through all the different movies which ties them all together. Its also one of my earliest memories of film and the sound in the film is still I’m my memory after years of the films release.

Moonlight

Moonlight shot distances 

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This close-up shot in the movie moonlight added extra emotion for the audience, for example, it added a sense of inclusion since the character stares directly at the audience, making it appear like she is talking to them. As an audience member, the close shot made me feel like I was close to the character on screen, and it added a sense of tension since her gaze was unavoidable which further enhanced the scene. The close up shot also made it clear that the only thing that mattered on screen was the character of the mum since everything else was blurred and out of focus. 

This close-up shot makes the scene more colorful and less bland. It also makes the audience have more of a picture of the scene since the focus remains on Chiron since he is the only one in the scene, but it also shows the importance of the area he is in since you can see the bright colored tiles on the floor. It also creates some distance between the character and the audience, which shows how detached Chiron feels from everyone else. 

This Long shot moved the focus on the main character, Chiron. This showed how he is the focus of the scene and how he is the main character. This also Made him look weak since the long shot displayed his whole body and how he looked small and helpless in comparison. This could make the audience feel pity for Chiron since he is all alone and does not have anyone to help him. The long shot made me feel like there was no one there for Chiron since there was no one else in the scene other than the long empty road which made him look small and helpless in comparison. 

This high shot added a lot to this scene and made it feel more intimate. This is because we can see both characters look directly into the camera at the same time which would make the audience members still feel like spectators but more included in the scene. The high shot also lets us see how vulnerable and careless they are since, as the audience, we see them as smaller and feel more impower. As a viewer I felt like this camera angle made the scene feel more peaceful since we can see that they are looking up at the night sky. 

The eye level camera angle makes the audience feel more drawn into the conversation between Chiro and Kevin. It also makes both characters seem equal in the conversation and more intimate. Both characters are centered which allows their eyes to be in the center of the screen, making it easy for the audience to follow the character’s gaze. As an audience member I felt like this scene flowed very well and the camera angle helped keep the pace of the scene smooth and coordinated. 

This low angle shot makes the audience see Juan from Chiros perspective, since in this scene chiro is much younger and much smaller than Juan. It also shows the audience the dynamic between the two since Chiro is looking up to him as a father figure or a guide since Chiro doesn’t have anyone else to look up to. This made me feel compassion for Chiro since it’s evident he’s a small child looking for role models in his life. 

In this scene, the camera pans over to the right of Kevin, this creates a very intimate scene since it’s just a close of Kevin’s face while the camera moves to show the audience Kevin’s side profile. This allows the audience to have a moment with Kevin since he is a large part of the movie, it also gives the eyes something to visually look at and makes the scene more interesting even though nothing is happening in the scene. 

In this scene, the camera pans down across Chiron’s bathroom shelf. This shows the audience a physical depiction of Chiron’s state of mind after the fight. It also shows Chiron’s home life since his bathroom is dirty and filled to the brim with pill bottles and various other bathroom supplies. This helps the audience feel more sorrow for the main character since we get a chance to see parts of him that were hidden and horrific to see.