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Showing posts from October, 2018

Scream (1996) - Postmodernism

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Figure 1. Movie poster (1996) Scream is a 1996 mystery/ slasher film directed by Wes Craven. In the film a young, teenage girl is gruesomely murdered, sparking more murders throughout the fictional town of Woodsboro, California. In the film the characters are unaware that the killer has been living among them, slowly finding ways to kill the victims. Throughout the film references to other horror movies are made such as Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th.  How does Scream relate to Postmodernism: A estheticization of violence - Throughout the film, Wes Craven focuses on the violence of the murders committed. A variety of shots are used throughout the film to show the murders after they have happened and during.  Figure 2. Murder of Steve Figure 3. Murder of Casey Hyper realism - Scream can be seen as realistic as the film was set in the present day (1996) when it was released, but it can also be seen as hyper realistic. This is as the murders and the q

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind (2004) - Non-linear storytelling

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Figure 1. Movie poster (2004) Non-linear methods: Chronicle (Linear storytelling)  - The film starts off  with a non-linear storytelling method. This is as the audience are unaware as to where they are, who the characters are and what they are doing. The scenes also change suddenly and time shifts backwards and forwards. The story then becomes linear once Joel starts to get his memories of Clementine removed. This is as he is in a dream state trying to stop his memories of her from leaving him.  Figure 2. Joel and Clementine meeting Retrograde (Events in reverse order)  - This is shown throughout the movie without the audience realising until they are nearing the end of the film. At the start of the film the audience understand that Joel and Clementine have only just met and that Joel and Clementine's feelings towards each other grow, but towards the end of the film it is made clear that not only did Clementine and Joel know each other previously, they were also

Character design - Lesson 4 - Posing and character design

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Character posing For the first part of the day we focused on how characters are posed and how their poses relate to their emotions and status.  In the lecture we were put into groups of three and given 10 poses to complete. During this part of the lecture one person stood in front of the two other people in the group and posed while the other two drew. Below are the drawings that I completed. We were told to draw stick figures so that it was easier for us to draw. For the second part of the lecture we focused on our own characters. I decided on how the story was going to unfold in my animation and selected the bugs that I would use as characters.  The villain - A centipede. This is as a centipede has multiple legs and due to this he would be able to carry multiple guns in the story. Justin and I also looked further at centipedes and Justin suggested that as the character is long it could almost act as though it is two separate characters e.g. the char

Mulholland Drive (2001) - Postmodernism

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Figure 1. Mulholland Drive Movie Poster (2001) Intertextuality - In the film a variety of genres are shown. The Western genre is shown when the cowboy appears. The romance genre is shown when Rita and Diane get intimate with each other and the Mystery genre is shown throughout the film through the different scenes as the audience does not know which parts of the movie is reality and which is not. Hyper realism - The film is an example of hyper realism as throughout the film the audience is unable to distinguish which scenes are 'real' to the character and which are not. Figure 2. Cowboy scene Non-linear narrative - The film has a non-linear narrative as the scenes flick between what is reality and what is not. So much so that the audience are unable to see which parts of the film Diane has actual gone through.  The unreliable narrator - Due to being unable to distinguish reality in the film, the audience are unable to trust / believe Diane throughou

The Impossible (2012) - Three act structure

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Figure 1. Movie poster (2012) The Impossible is a disaster film directed by J. A. Bayona, which is based on the 2004 tsunami that hit Thailand. The film is based on the real life situation of a family of five who have travel to Thailand on a family holiday. The storm then hits the part of Thailand where the family are staying and they all become separated .  The three act structure The three act structure suggests that when creating there are three acts. The set up (exposition), the confrontation (obstacles) and the resolution. Figure 2. The three act structure Looking at the film:  The start (Ordinary world) -  At the start of the film the audience is told that the film is based on a true story. The opening shot shows the plane coming into Thailand with the family on it. This is where we are introduced to Henry (the Father), Maria (the Mother) and Lucas, Simon and Thomas (their three sons). It shows the family settling down at their holiday resort and enjoy

Inception (2010) - Postmodernism

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Figure 1. Inception movie poster (2010) Hyper reality  - Inception has a lot of hyper reality shown through out the film. This is evident as the characters are able to appear in other character's dreams which can not happen in reality. The characters are also able to warp the dreams, an example of this is when Adriadne (Ellen Page) starts to cause the city to bend in Cobb's (Leonardo Dicaprio) dream.  Throughout the film CGI is heavily used to help ensure that the film is seen as more realistic to its audience. The CGI also helps create unrealistic effects that would be impossible to create otherwise. For example, the scene where the city bends. Figure 2. City bending (2010) Linear narrative - The film is shown to have a linear story, meaning that the film stays to one story and one time line although time does act differently in the character's reality world and dream world. For example, 15 minutes in reality is 1 hour in the character's dream state. Thi

Character design - Lesson 3 - Research and location drawings

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In the lesson today we looked at location and how the weather and other things within the environment can effect the atmosphere. At the start of the lesson each person was given a well known land mark. We then had to use caricature to alter the land mark. I was told to look at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. The Guggenheim Museum, New York City I looked at the curvature of the building and extended both the curves and the height. After showing him what I had drawn, Justin suggested looking at the building as though it was a slinky. I much prefer this design as the building is still very similar to its original structure but has more character due to the curvature of it. We then moved on and spoke more about how weather can effect the environment's atmosphere. We were each given a character and were told to show the character's emotions through the surrounding environment. I was given a World War 2 solider as a character. I looked at a v

Life drawing - Lesson 2

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For the first and second exercise we were given 30 seconds to draw the pose that the model had taken. After the the 30 seconds the model then changed pose. For these exercises I used a blue felt tip pen. For the third exercise we given a minute for each pose and were told to draw five poses to create a walk cycle. For this exercise I used a grey felt tip pen. I believe that the last pose I drew (at the bottom right) was my most successful. For the fourth exercise we were given 10 minutes to draw the model, focusing on light. I decided to focus on the light on his face. Here I used four shades of felt tip pens to try and make the lighting effect on his face more effective. For the fifth exercise we were given 25 minutes to complete the drawing. I continued to focus on lighting on the model's skin. I believe this is my most successful piece as the whole body is shown and the perspective is correct. For the sixth exercise we were give another 25

Film review - Spider-man: Homecoming - Archetypes

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Figure 1. Movie poster (2017) Hero - In the film, Spider-Man, also known as Peter Parker (played by Tom Holland), is the main protagonist. This is as he is the main character shown in the film and the film is based on his life being Spider-Man. Shadow - The shadow character in the film is Vulture (Micheal Keaton). Throughout the film Vulture is shown to sell salvaged Chitauri (creatures that fought The Avengers in the first Avengers film)  weapons  to the Black Market. He then also uses one of the weapons to murder one of his  henchmen. Having seen the weapons power, along with the help of his suit, Vulture tries to hijack a plane carrying the Avengers' weapons but Spider-Man stops him. Vulture's daughter also starts to date Peter Parker, causing Vulture to become suspicious about Peter's alter ego. Mentor - Throughout the film Peter Parker is helped by and saved by Iron man/ Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr). An example of this is where he helps to fix the ferry th

Kill Bill (2001) - Postmodernism

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Figure 1. Kill Bill Movie Poster (2003) Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, Kill Bill (2003) is a crime and mystery film that is iconic for it's postmodern film design due to the use of many different film types combining together to create the film.  1.  Intertextuality  -  Kill Bill  is created using film conventions from many different films. This is shown through Tarantino's use of Japanese style fighting scenes and mystery. Figure 2. Fight scene  2.  Non-linear narrative  - There is a strong use of non-linear narrative through the film, meaning that the film's story line and narrative are disjointed. This is shown in the film with flash backs, for example, when 'The Bride' (Uma Thurman) see's Vernita Green (Vivica. A. Fox) and the siren sounds. Figure 3. Flash back  3.  Challenging gender stereotypes  - The main character in action films are usually muscular men with a woman as either their love interest or side kick. In  Kill