The Day After Tomorrow Micro Essay

In 'The Day After Tomorrow' editing and sound are majorly used. The editing is used mostly for the weather based effects such as when the water leaks into New York City. While the water overflows into NYC, it destroys iconic landmarks such as the statue of liberty, this leaves an affect on the audience as it is completly demolished and worries the audience as its so famous and they know how bad the climate change is. Also the Hollywood sign is demolished by a hurricane in LA city. Editing is used when the pilot of the helicopter crashes and freezes instantly when he steps out. Also in the opening credits of the film, there is a scene where the explorers are in Antartica, the effects of climate change causes a major part of special effects, as the men nearly drop to there death when the ice cracks. Close ups are used alot in the film to show the emotion and shock on peoples face when they learn about what has happen. Such as when Jack Hall finds out Earth is going into a ice age, like he predicted but thousands of years early. There are also many extreme wide shots to show the damage the weather has caused to citys and the deaths its caused. Such as when LA is destroyed and the janitor opens the door of the building he works in, to see the ruins of the hurricane. It has an effect on the audience.

Theres a lot of Diagetic and Non-diagetic sound used in the film. Examples of Diagetic sound would be noisy citys, speech and the phone ringing. Examples of Non-Diagetic sounds would be the water gushing into the city, wolfs howling (there special effects wolfs) and the hurricane wind. We also have orchestra music added, which comes under Diagetic sound, this makes the scene more epic and stands out more.

The Key themes within The Day After Tomorrow (in my opinion)  would be action, diaster and adventure. On IMDB the themes are listed as: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi and Thriller.

The key characters are Jack and Sam Hall. Jack is an Paleoclimatologist, who is away from home often on trips to Antartica and varies of other places. Sam is Jack's son and an straight A student, with a very academic mind. He is invited to a school event in New York. He has to take a plane there and that is where he is first effected by the weather when the plane nearly crashes. Once him and his two friends arrive in New York they find out it has been raining non-stop for the past three weeks. All of the weather based events have lead up to the Earth starting a new ice age. Due to Jack being absent for most of Sam's childhood there is a very strained relationship between the two. Jack shouts at Sam for getting an F in an exam without asking Sam for a explation. But as the film gets deeper in, it shows that both Jack and Sam care deeply for each other, shown by Jack traveling the ice age to rescue his son.  It makes the audience show that even though lots have happen to them throughout the years, they will also be there for each other. There relationship is also comment on by Sam's mum who says Jack wasnt there for his son while he was growing up and that he shouldnt disappoint him anymore.

Genre

Genre can be identifed by the denotation and connotation of the film. It can also be indentifed by the props and costumes used within the film, which makes it appeal to a certain genre. Genre is a criteria that a film fits into, so if the themes in a film were dark alleys, grave yards and death, the film would be linked into the horror genre. We can also identifiy by the actors in the films, such as Sarah Michelle Gellar who is linked to horror films. The narravtive/backstory of the film also shows the genre. The style of the film such as the music used and the shots.

The typical settings for an science fiction film would be - space, alien spaceships, science labs, other planets, in the future or the past.

The typical settings for an action film would be - an urban setting such as a city or busy place.

The typical settings for an horror film would be - night time, dark location, empty areas, alley ways, haunted houses, urban homes.

Genre is used by the audience in many ways.
1) Its a way of spotting the audiences likes and dislikes at the cinema.
2) It helps comparing one film from another.
3) It helps responding to the short cuts and cules within the films language.

The genre is important to the film maker because the director will use the genre to sell his films to a target audience. The film makers will want to make a mark over there film and envole it into there own. Some film makers will change the genre by making typical traits of a genre go the other way round.

Homework

Setting: Dark area, Fairytale like, Church/chapel like place, Forests.

Characters: Main Character (little girl), Fairy tale creatures, Insects, Important people.

Props & Significant objects: Strange tree, Old cars, Soliders uniform, Books, Chalk, Doors, Ropes, Swords, Umbrellas, Mirrors, Hourglass.

Narative plots: Theres a little girl who goes into a world with mystical creatures, she looks scared and confused. From the trailer it seems like a twised fairytale.

Themes: Fantasy, Dark, Horror, Upsetting.

Style: Fantasy, The music is slow paced but builds up tension throughout the trailer.

The film looks like it has a fantasy genre, i think this because the trailer looks very dark and the creatures are mystical. In most trailers of the fantasy genre it will suggest something to make it look fantasy, for example the forest.

IMDB has given this film: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery and War. I agree with Drama, Fantasy and Mystery. I dont really think the trailer gives off the feeling the film will majorly be about war, apart from the weapons. I think its very much fantasy by the trailer. I think its Mystery as because of the little girl walking into a strange place which makes you wonder who she is and wheres shes going.

                                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqYiSlkvRuw&feature=player_embedded

The Mist - Production

The Mist is an american horror film based after the novel of the same name by Stephen King. Its stars Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden and Laurie Holden. The film is directed and produced by Frank Darabont, who is familiar with adapting novels to films. The plot is based around a violent storm, which appears to be normal for the area. As the film moves on the residents notice an unusual mist coming towards their lake, it later spreads over the whole town. When the main character David Drayton (Thomas Jane) takes his young son to the local supermarket, monsters emerg from the white mist, taking lifes and leaving David and many others in the supermarket fighting for there lives. Not only do they have to battle the monsters, but also the mental religiously crazy Mrs Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden). The film has emotional aspects and an ending which shocks everyone that watches it. I chose this film because its definitely one of my favourites. I love Marcia Gay Harden's performance, and i think she completes the film.The director and screenwriter Frank Darabont is famous for directing many other films such as The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and most recently the tv show The Walking Dead. Frank Darabont agreed to make the film with Dimension only under the rule that no matter what they wanted to do with the film, they couldn't change the planned ending, the ending being extremely shocking which made it much more popular. The budget of the film was 18 million us dollars but grossed over 57 million us dollars.

The film received mixed reviews at box office release. In the UK it was rated 15, with a gore rating of 8.
Trailer








                                                                    Cast/Characters

Thomas Jane is the lead role in The Mist. He is most well known for his role in The Punisher, and later on The Mist. He currently stars in a tv series called, Hung. In The Mist he plays David Drayton, a devoted father and husband to his son and wife. He works as an artist and is successful at it. He is shown to be a kind soul, who works only to help others.

Marcia Gay Harden plays is the villain in The Mist. She is most famous for her breakthrough role in "The First Wives Club" (1996). She plays Mrs Carmody, who is known as the "local nut". Mrs Carmondy is a woman of strong belief in christian views, to the point of insanity. She is the main antagonist in the film. She gains many followers throughout the film, while getting many killed. She is dubbed "annoying" for viewers and is eventually killed, but with  devastating consequences to follow.

Laurie Holden plays Amanda Dumfries. She is more well known for being a human rights activist, than an actress. Her character Amanda is a young, married teacher who becomes friends with David (Thomas Jane) and his son, while being trapped in the local supermarket with them. Her efforts of become friends with Mrs Carmondy (Marcia Gay Harden) are just met off with insults.