Headhunter's Analysis

Headhunters was produced in 2011 and directed by Mortem Tyldum. The film is a Norwegian crime thriller starring Aksel Hennie, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau etc.

Roger is a man who is seen to have it all; he’s Norway’s most successful headhunter, he’s married to a beautiful gallery owner called Diana. He is shown to have a far to expensive villa, but still to keep himself financially stable he steals art. Clas Greve is seen in his eyes to be the perfect candidate for Roger and his new recruitment assignmet. Greve is also in possession of a very valuable painting that Roger wants to get his hands on, because it would allow him to get rid of his financial worries and get his greatest score. We find out however that Greve is playing games, and when Roger breaks into Greve’s house he discovers something that changes his pathway and makes him run.

The genre for this film is thriller with a sense of romance. The key genre is thriller due to the overall feel of the film and what each character is presented doing. For example you are set on suspense when the scene involves a gun or a chase, which relays to the audience that the thrill is what excites you. The sense of romance is seen with the connection between Roger and Diana, as throughout you suspect Diana or playing Roger and being in on the game but you later on find out the true connection she has which surprises he audience but still with aspects of a thriller. The film involves a variety of themes that contribute to the overall atmosphere of the film. The themes include betrayal, insecurities which both Diana and Roger show throughout the film, love, hate, revenge and death.

The insecurities in the film are a major part of the film as it is shown that each character has insecurities, this is not shown in many action filled films as they are shown to be inferior and fearless but this film really shows a true reality to the action in films. Roger throughout mentions his height and not being tall enough and how he doesn’t see why his wife is with him as she is tall and she could be with anyone. This leads to many of the insecurities of the women and really how you feel that they are being presented in a way that they are cheap and used apart from Diana, showing her superiority.

The other women that were in the film were shown more as sex objects rather than a proper connection or relationship. The girls that are prodomenetly shown with the men in the film are either a prostitute or a mistress e.g. the women having sex with Roger in the Kitchen.  This shows the way that many women are seen, to be for sex and being in the kitchen.

The main thing that I was able to realise in this film was the way the men were being shown to be heading towards the dominant ideology, which is middle aged, white and middle class. This shows the role reversal from the men to the women. The women are at the complete opposite spectrum to the men and this has been the way for many years, people feeling that women are not like the men. Diana’s character however shows how this can be broken, as she is successful and wealthy doing her own thing.

I liked this film because it was a different approach to a thriller and action and allowed many different aspects to be shown that have not in many of the other films. The way the characters were presented and how was totally different and this allowed the audience to connect to different characters and I found this very clever.

Revision Plan

9th-15th March

Look through revision book and choose chapters and post-it note them.

16th-22nd March

Read through those chapters and make brief notes

23rd-29th March

More detailed notes= Mind Map/notes/board

30th-5th April

Extra Work and reading through

6th April-2nd May

attend workshop

exam questions/past papers

3rd May onwards

Go over notes to understand them and seek assistance when needed

Reflective analysis

For my AS Film production coursework, i decided to create a sequence for a thriller film, using the viewpoints of both the antagonist and the victim. The target audience for my production was 15-25 year olds as many of the micro-features and features were intended for this age range. I decided to create various different encounters and atmosphere's to attract the audience and attach their minds. The most focused part of my production was the editing and cinematography.

For achieving the two viewpoints, i decided that i would use two different camera so you were able to distinguish between them both. The camera's were vital or the audience would have difficulty knowing who the antagonist was or the victim until the final scene. For the victim i decided to use (the college camera) as i wanted to  have a different feel for the victim. For the antagonist i used my gopro head mount so i could capture the POV and this made you feel like you were the person stalking her and the feelings you have created. I felt that the gopro was effective in creating a sense or fear and mystery as it made you think what it could be like in that situation. I made the decision for these two camera's as i felt the gave both the victim and antagonist viewpoints to the audience. i decided not to focus on the antagonists clothing as i wanted the audience to remain vary and have that sense of mystery as to who it was, and i felt this was obtained in a clever and well thought out way. For the victim i decided to chose quite a laid back look using the all black outfit to show she might not be confident or quite shut in as she seems plain, however the outfit also connotes the sense of threat which i what i wanted to achieve as this could mean the ending ends in a different way that yo might have expected. I felt these things were the most appropriate choices, as it seemed obvious to the audience who the victim was and the antagonist, without having the confusing time of figuring it out.

The next key area of Cinematography in my sequence was sound and lighting. For myself to create the perfect atmosphere, i decided to choose different sounds that fitted the action or circumstance well. I asked some of my fellow class members and a review that stood out was about the sound and it stated that 'the sound overlayed was good and the music fitted the certain moods' which was what i was aiming to achieve. I decided to mute each of my scenes in the sequence as i felt that i would achieve the suspense and narrative without various people talking but instead using sound and actions to achieve what the diction would have, the lack of diction adds to your own interpretation of this piece then having the story completely in concrete. For the lighting of my piece i decided to use natural lighting for a large portion of the scenes as i felt it lit the certain scenes well, however for the antagonist in the house i decided to darken the lighting as i wanted you to get the sense of the daylight going down and it being night, i felt like was successfully achieved.

The editing and shot sizes in this production were a key feature as it brought all of the elements together, the choice of areas to focus on were very important. i felt that the shots and angles in this piece were successful in acquiring the right information for the victim. I tried to achieve that the angles would make it easy to connect the audience to the production for example the over the shoulder shot when the victim is reading the letter from the antagonist, i felt this worked well because you were able to see her viewpoint, connecting the audiences emotions. For the antagonist i used varies subtle angles such as a close up and long shots, as i wanted it to stay as realistic in a POV shot as possible, i felt this achieved the suspense in the production.
To keep the sequence fast paced and appealing, typical of many thriller films, i decided to use a variety of sounds and also angles to keep minds flowing and keep the audience interested. By having the POV shots it told the audience what is to come which is the foreshadowing i used for the piece to connect. The various shots were utilised to achieve the victims fear throughout the the circumstances.

Overall i felt my first ever self production was a success. Many different elements had to be considered and evaluated in many circumstances but in the end i feel that the message i had hoped to be portrayed has been, and the idea for two camera's worked effectively after a lot of deliberation. The only challenge that had got in my way was one shot that needed to be closer but the gopro did not have that ability but overall i enjoyed this production and i felt it has achieved.

Stills

My Analysis of Bloomington

Analysis of a Film Extract - Bloomington

Analysis of the way Cinematography and Editing create meaning in a scene from ‘Bloomington’

The scene: 1:9:45 - 1:13:00

Word Count: 1548 

This is a coming of age drama about a former child actress called Jackie ( Sarah Stouffer) attending college in order to become more independent and free but with this freedom she becomes romantically involved with one of the professors Catherine (Allison Mctee) causing problems throughout the film.

As the scene begins you are introduced to Lillian’s (Katherine Ann McGregor) accommodation who is Jackie’s mother. The scene is being shown to us in a long shot. Surrounded by other houses close by it shows that Lillian is living in a close community (Image 1). This informs us that Lillian and her family are some what rich and come from quite a middle class background due to the houses being shown to us. This contributes to the perception the audience have already identified about Lillian of disapproval and disinterest which she shows earlier in the film towards Jackie. Additionally, the house tells us that Lillian prefers to stay home and not travel due to the permanent routes she has made with the house, it isn’t just a flat or caravan it is a large suburban house in a neighbourhood telling us she knows the people there and is friends with many of them. You are able to see that Jackie does not reside at home and this is due to the old and slightly childlike room (Image 2). You are able to identify that it is a childish room due to the bunkbed which is mainly identified with young children, which could mean that Jackie has not been home for a while. This is identified in the earlier parts of the film when you learn that Jackie is a young actress and has been on a film set for most of her youth and resided with her manager rather than her family, this might be telling us the relationship between Jackie and her mother. The travelling contrasts greatly with her mother as you see that she most probably hardly leaves were she feels comfortable unlike Jackie who ventures to whole knew surroundings and experiences. This connotes to the audience that Jackie seems to hold the power and dominance in the relationship between herself and her mother or she would not have gone of because it seems her mother did not agree with many of Jackie’s decisions.

In the bedroom scene the director has used a variety of shots including a long shot (Image 3) which is used to show in this moment that Lillian is being inferior to Jackie as she is standing tall and not backing down to Jackie, this tells us that in this moment she feels she is stronger but this however is contradicted as Jackie is the one packing her boxes ready it seems to leave telling us that Jackie is in fact the inferior in this scene and is leaving again from her selfish it seems mother. When the scene starts you get a feel for the great performances being portrayed. You are able to see that Jackie is very independent which is shown when she is packing her room up instead of getting any help from anyone and this is due to the mother just standing and it seems being selfish as ever, there is no offer to help her in any way and when she offers it just seems like they are empty words. 

When Lillian enters the room the camera stays fixed on Jackie not moving up to see Lillian meaning that Jackie is the focal point in this shot (Image 4). There is an over the shoulder shot and a close up which is used to highlight the character’s relation between each other and emotions. The performance is outstanding when you feel that Jackie and her mother are slowly becoming closer by Lillian saying “It will be hard getting used to not having you around here again" and Jackie responds with “same here”. At this point i felt that maybe after everything they may be becoming more like a real mother and daughter, however then Lillian states “we will make do”, this response truly opens my eyes to the real dysfunctional relationship presented to us between Lillian and Jackie which tells us that not every family has a great relationship and many present issues in the everyday life.

Jackie seems to have a certain angered and mysterious expressions about her due to the stillness of her expressions and her face which is being projected to hold everything in and not let it out with her expressions (Image 5). While her mother’s face and body stance is quite scrunched up and her arms crossed showing that she is with held and not open to much or scared to open up to face the consequences (Image 6). In relation to the context, this seems to be perfect as her mother seems to hold everything back emotionally and Jackie is holding everything back physically and emotionally it seems, so in the end this connects them in the situation and also the relation between the characters.

The camera is used in this section of the scene to communicate the two sides of things, Jackie’s side were she feels she need to leave and get away from her mother as she seems unwanted and uncared for and her mother’s side of everything that communicates that she seems held back from her feelings towards her daughter and doesn’t feel she really has a say in things as she really hasn’t cared for Jackie or her career for a long time so she is really there just because she is the mother and feels she has to be seen in shoots to show the dysfunctional relationship.

In this next section of the scene you are able to see how elements have been edited and drawn together to help create a two sided story presented as one. The scene starts with the lighting being imminent with Jackie, she is important with the lights on her and really the attention (Image 7), while Catherine has a dull and unimportant light it seems (Image8). This reflects to us that Jackie seems to be doing well and going somewhere due to the light showing hope and then it seems Catherine is going no where or is but not forwards. The two viewpoints edited together are cleverly presented as you see that they are going through the same sequence however totally different situations. The over the shoulder shot has been used for both situations (Image 9&10), the over the shoulder for Catherine is used to show the emotion she is feeling using a slight close up, the emotion shown is slightly confused and scared it seems while Jackie seems all bright and happy. This is evident due to the emotion being shown in the shot and the amazing portray that each character is performing. The editing really opens this scene up with the same music playing more each character which seems to me that both Catherine and Jackie are connected still and not everything is lost.

The next few snippets show the similarities between the situation that Catherine and Jackie are both in but not the same circumstances in the end. The similarity here is the pieces of paper being presented to both Jackie and Catherine (Image 11&12), however you are able to see that Jackie’s is going to be around her future and the show while Catherine’s you get an idea of the paper being something bad and life changing. This is clear to us (Image 13) as Catherine is given the pictures of herself and Jackie while their relationship was going on showing that it has been found out, the emotion is clear that now everything will change and for Jackie that means her career taking of and for Catherine it seems that the career is at an end. This edit is clever in showing near exactly the same thing happened however the shots showing totally different viewpoints and situations. The side view of Catherine and the boss shows clear tension (Image 9) while the over the shoulder shows a quite intimate shot (Image 10).

The best piece of editing i feel was the edit of both the hand shaking (Image 14&15) which was done by cutting the two frames together to fit each other, the lighting also carries on throughout this scene showing the difference between a bright future and a career that has just ended showing there doesn’t really seem to be a bright future ahead. The farming of both the two scenes and two viewpoints shows both the similarities of the path ahead but now thing you see is when it is all over there is still a hope it seems for both of the with the light in the corner (Image 16) and the dull but imminent light on the board in the classroom(Image 17), showing how both their lives are about to change but they still have the connection they once had and that one day they would be connected again.

To conclude, the director has applied Cinematography and Editing to create meaning effectively and intelligently. This was done and shown as power and futures. The director has also ensured that the audience understands and the plot of the scene being presented which was greatly done.

IMAGE1

IMAGE 2

IMAGE 3

IMAGE 4

IMAGE 5

IMAGE 6

IMAGE 7

IMAGE 8

IMAGE 9

IMAGE 10

IMAGE 11

IMAGE 12

IMAGE 13

IMAGE 14

 IMAGE 15

 IMAGE 16

 IMAGE 17

Selfish Giant Review/Analysis

Selfish Giant Review/Analysis

Selfish Giant was produced on the  25th October 2013 in the UK. The film was directed and also written by Clio Barnard, and also written by Oscar Wilde (inspired by the 'Selfish Giant'. 

The selfish giant is about a 13 year old called Arbor (Connor Chapman) and his best friend called Swifty (Shaun Thomas). Arbor and Swifty were both expelled from school and now seem to also be excluded from their own neighbourhood so they begin to start looking for something else to do. This is when they come across Kitten (Sean Gilder) who is a local scrap dealer. Arbor is seen to have a natural talent while you see that Swifty has a gift for horses. They start to travel around town picking everything up and then you see Kittens favoritism for Swifty causing Arbor to feel angry and neglected. This drives a huge wedge between the boys, this causes Arbor to become greedy and uncontrollable, this leads to a lot of tension which leads to the devastation.

• Mise en Scene

Setting

The film is seen to be shot in Bradford which fits in well with the overall idea of the film and also the people. You see the run down houses and flats that give the overall feel of the position most of those families are in and also their earnings. Overall this seems to help the fact that this film is a social-realism drama. Certain details explain what kind of place it is and these things are the huge power plants and the large expanse of electrical cable, this tells us that it is a very primary place with most of the jobs labour intensive and low waged.

Props

It seemed like all the props used in this film were done so professionally that i felt nearly all of the props looks realistic. The scraps used were done to perfection. Having the props looking realistic meant that you got the whole feel of the film and these helped you to truly connect to the character and each of their jobs.

• Cinematography

The cinematography was shot extremely well for this film, each scene you grasped what they wanted you to understand and also your emotion. A good example of well shot scenes was when the large expanse of land was shown you could see how different it was from the panoramic view with the harsh skies and the large power plants in the distance showing how soon this was going to cause a lot of heartbreak. The skies were a huge part of this also because when they scene was happy the skies were bright, however when the skies were dull you understood that something bad could be happening to cause the sadness.

• Sound

Each sound in this movie is reflective of what they want you to feel and the emotion that should be felt due to the nature of the scene. A part that connected well with is when the music is soft and sheltered, this is played in quite meaningful scenes and powerful ones. Then when a sad or harsh hitting scene comes along the music seems to stop as it wants you to think about what they would be feeling in that moment making you connect to the character a lot more.

• Performance

I felt that all the performances in this film were professional and all the lines were delivered well. I felt that the performances that touched me the most were the ones of Arbor and Swifty, their connection and chemistry on the screen is so heartfelt and each scene is delivered to the full extent to their ability. The scene that touched me the most was when Arbor stayed outside the house of Swifty after his swift death, i felt that Swifty's name in this connected to his death and the way he was there one minute and seconds later he was gone. Arbor stays there in all the weathers and then ventures home to be left with no one. Until he imagines Swifty and his hand coming towards him, this touched me because you don't truly understand what each of them meant to each of them as one leaves the other is left alone.

Overall the feel of this film was completed and captured because of the incredible performances of each of the cast members in it making it possible which i find incredible.

• Editing

All the editing done in this film was done perfectly, each of the scenes connected with nothing missing. This made the film flow smoothly and not make it confusing at all. Certain scenes in the film were sped up because it showed the time flying by and the concentration that was going into each of the jobs, but i felt that created an atmosphere which worked well with the film and messages being put across.

I liked this film because of the characters and their roles that lead you to feel very little emotion to nearly flooding the floors with tears which i find quite incredible that anyone can change your emotion in a few minutes. Overall the film was worth the watch and it surprised me from what i first thought it would be like which was a nice surprise.

My Brother the Devil Review

My Brother the Devil Review

My Brother The Devil is a social realism drama film. The film was produced on the  9^th November 2012 in the UK and filmed in Hackney, London. The film was directed and also written by Sally El Hosaini. The producer's of this film were Julia Godzinskaya, Gayle Griffiths and Michael Sackler.

My Brother the Devil is a story about two Arab brothers living in the Hackney, which is a London Borough. Mo the 14 year old brother (Fady Elsayed) idolises his nineteen-year-old brother Rashid (James Floyd). Rashid is part of a drug gang which provides the money for his support to his family and Mo aspires to be like him however Rashid hopes that his younger brother Mo will choose a different path instead of the drug life. Rashid's best friend gets stabbed by the enemy gang, this is when things start to change for Rashid as he starts to question about his life ahead and if he wants to be the one with the stab wound because this would most probably happen. Rashid becomes associated with a photographer named Sayyid who opens up a whole new world and new possibilities for Rashid. The gang become to get suspicious about Rashid as he is changing, not turning up and disappearing for a long amount of time. Mo soon becomes part of the gang his brother tried so hard to keep him from, and then not too soon after his whole world collapses around him when when he discovers that his once idolising brother is gay. Mo decides in order to protect himself and Rashid he lies and tells all of the people asking that Rashid and Sayyid are involved in bombs for the Jehad's plot. Not to longer after however the gang discover the truth and they decide that they want Rashid to pay or even die. Mo will have to face his own battles if he wants to save his brother's life. 

The genre for this film was Social Realism this was evident because you can see every social issue wrapped into one film. You see how being gay in their religion and community is considered wrong and disgusting which is evident when the gang want blood from Rashid for him being gay. You see the way the community is presented the large and extensive council flats representing the minimal wealth of the place. I think the genre of this film is presented in some very imaginative ways that show just how hard life can be but if you're happy then it gets better in most cases. 

Micro features

• Mise en scene

The setting of this film was presented to us in a run down urban area which helps us connect to the story as the area in which it is produced is where many of these things would have taken place. We are shown a large expanse of flats and council houses which i think is good with the story that is playing out. Another thing that helps us connect and believe the story a lot more is the props used, each of the weapon you saw were realistic and believable which put you on suspense for a large portion of the film.

A good example of certain belonging that represent a person was when we were first introduced to Sayyid's apartment which shows a lot of wealth in my opinion because you are able to see the camera, bikes and quality equipment which is very expensive to buy, this could also mean that is he is a good businessman and a hard worker.

• Performance

I felt that the performances in this film were quite astonishing as they captured every emotion and gave them back to you in a believable and incredible manor. Each actor was crystal clear in their line delivery and their interpretation of the emotion that is needed to be presented for a believable and world class performance. Certain people in the film like Rashid and Mo's mother did not have a lot of lines in the film but it seemed like she didn't need many you knew from her emotion and performance what her feelings were towards certain news.

Overall i felt that the brother's performances could not have been topped as they put across emotions that were believable, love scenes which were lustful and love that was really never broken just cracked a little.

• Sound

The sounds presented to us in this film seemed to differ from one song to the next, from that genre to another.

The rap music is heard when in the start firstly Rashid is with the gang and then later on you hear it again when Mo is over at the house with the gang. The music i think represents the intensity and fast track lifestyle they have and how some aspects you don't understand you just sit back and listen that reminds me of the music being shown in film. There are a few other moments when the music fits in well to the situation and this is good in presenting the character and also the emotions. Some of the sounds used were used for effect rather than music for the film like the sounds of knives sinking into the body which in my opinion shows the raw lifestyle of the 'hood' and how anything can change in seconds.

• Cinematography

The cinematography presented to us in this film was fitting with the social realism genre and the feelings the scene were trying to put across for example the parts that were happy moments were presented in a way that brightened up the mood for example the lighter skies the happy birds chirping, these certain things brought out the mood a lot more. On the other hand when scenes were unhappy the skies were darker and the music was harsher. The position the scene is being filmed as well means that the point you want to get across will hopefully be presented. Each of these aspects really make the scenes what they are. 

• Editing

The editing to this film was really well done because no scenes seemed to be missing which was good because it meant that each of the scenes were fitted together and none of the story was lost due to bad editing. I think it was very well done and very professional.

Overall i liked this film due to the overall story and presentation of different topics that made you think how hard it could be in different families and also different religions. I really liked the story and the idea behind it.