1) 2012

2) Titanic

3) Unstoppable

4) The Core

5) The Poseidon Adventure  

6) I am Legend

7) The Towering Inferno

8) The Day After Tomorrow 

9) Volcano

10) Contagion

 

All of the films have a problem which has erupted that needs to be fixed. Both Contagion and I Am Legend are based on medical problems. Two of the films (Titanic and Unstoppable) are based on true events. Some are natural disasters (The Day After Tomorrow, Volcano and The Core). Whereas Unstoppable's disaster is based on another persons mistake and the other characters have to work together to fix it. Both Titanic and The Poseidon Adventure  are based on sea based disaster which cause the boats the characters are on to be affected. 

Codes and Conventions - 

Problems which could end the world/kill people.

Urban/Busy City.

Hero Character.

Famous landmarks.

Natural Disasters.

Sacrifice of Character to save world.

Main character tries to protect family. 

Massive effects to create end of world atmosphere.

                                     

start of film evaluation

Film Evaluation

Since starting GCSE Film studies I have learnt to draw a storyboard correctly, how to identify what genre a film is by its codes and conventions, how to write macro and micro essays, how to analyze a sequence or film, how to write a screenplay and I have learnt different types of shots and camera angles.

The film production cycle has five stages. The stages are Pre-production, Production, Post Production, Distribution and Exhibition. Pre production is the stage in which you select Locations, Cast and Props. The production stage is where the film itself is actually shot, when the film is shot the production stage is over. Post-production is the stage in which the film is released to screenings and cinemas, it is common for post production to consists of film festival screenings, press releases, interviews with cast and crew and launch parties, all of which to promoted the film.  Distribution is when the film is released to the public on such as releasing the film on DVD or Blu Ray. 

Film Marketing and Merchandising.

Merchandising a Film:
The most common types of merchandise are posters, replica's of props, stationary, t-shirts, Key rings, Glass cups, Tea cups and figurines. Merchandise can bring in huge ammount of money for cult films.


How to market a film:
Advertise on popular websites such as Facebook and Hotmail.
Enter films in festivals.
Hold premieres for your film, which inculde the cast and crew attending which will attract more attention.
Private Screenings.



Replica of Thor's hammer.

Replica of Captain America's shield.








Superbad T-shirt.

Thor - Review.

I was told about the release of Thor by my Dad. My Dad is a huge superhero/comic fan and has bought me up making me watch superhero films with him. A few months before Thor was set to be released, i was showed a trailer. At first I didnt have any intrest in it, I thought it looked boring and lacked what a superhero film needed. It grew on me within time. The film was directed by Kenneth Branagh, a famous shakespearean actor, so it made me think whether or not he could direct a cult superhero film.

The film revolves around the comic book character Thor. Thor is the god of thunder, lightning, storms, strength, destruction and the protection of mankind. Thor disobey his fathers orders and is stripped of his god powers and is exiled in Earth. He is found by Jane, a scientist doing research in New Mexico. Loki, Thor's brother is later releaved as the films antagonist.

I thought the beginning sequence was too long, but it also helped you understand the characters of Thor and Loki more. I've seen Natalie Portman in plenty of other films and thought she was a great actress, but her role as Jane seemed pointless and she came across "annoying". Chris Hemsworth bought a laughable side to Thor and was the perfect choice for the role. Tom Hiddleston was the best out of the main three characters, he played the role excellently, as you didn't except half of the stuff Loki did/planned to do.

The film was released so the that the character of Thor could be introduced before the release of The Avengers which is due for release May 4, 2012 (2012-05-04).

Film rating: ****
film r

Film Production Cycle

Pre-production-
Pre-production is the start of making a film. It covers:
Finding locations to film.
Hiring cast/crew.
Planing a budget.
Costumes.
Permisson.



Production-
Production is the second part of the cycle to make a film. It inculdes:
Sticking to the original budget and not going over it.
Writing up the final script.
Filming.
Mise-en-scene.



Post-production-
Post-production is the thrid part of the cycle to make a film. It inculdes:
Finishing the plot/story.
Getting feedback and deciding on final ideas.
Deciding on the soundtrack/music.
Editing (they decide which bits to take out and bits to add)



Distribution-
Distribution is the fourth part of the cycle to make a film. It inculdes:
Deciding on a distributor.
Agreeing a budget.
Planing details such as releases and planned ratings.
Having an audience and knowing what you want in your film to appeal to them.
DVD releases are planned.
Film is supplied to cinemas across the world that want to show it.


Exhibition-
Exhibition is the fifth and final part of the cycle to make a film. It inculdes:
Showing the film and promoting the film. This can be done by press conferences and trailers/posters.

Textual (Mirco) Analysis. Second.

The Mist
Sequence: 00:00:23-00:05:00

The opening scene introduces the main character David. He is in his basment painting. This shows his love for art and you quickly get to know the character. There is a close up of his painting, which could connote that his painting could be related to what will happen further on during the film, as there is light/mist on the painting. The bad weather shows that something bad is about to happen (phathetic fallacy), which does and as the family awake they discover a tree has crushed their house during the night. It foreshadows that the events are going to get worst throughout the film.

Once the family awake the next morning, the lead character David gets annoyed at the events and swears, showing that his character can be easily annoyed, as well as laid back. His painting is destroyed, and he blames himself. There is also a establishing shot, this allows the audience to see the devastation within the mise-en-scene.

The camera work shows that a stedi cam is used, it provides almost a subjective point of view as if something is surrounding the person watching. There is contrapuntal sound in the basement, it is very peaceful and shows David's personality.

Pitch a film.

Stage 1: Resolution Film.

Stage 2:
My chosen genre is tragedy. The conventions are death, tragedy, murder, etc.

Stage 3:

Main Characters:

Natalie Tree is twenty two year old girl. She likes to drink and party, she's doesnt like the idea of growing up. Although she's shy and insecure about herself, and doesnt like to be around people she doesn't know. Her bestfriend Josh is the only person who's stuck by her throughout her troubles, such as bullying. He is hopelessly in love with Natalie, and often gets jealous over Natalies junkie on-off boyfriend Callum. Josh is also shy but constantly happy. He grew up in a abusive household, His mother is bipolar and his dad left him and his siblings when Josh was six. Eliza is Josh's younger sister, she is eighteen, she is very confident within her looks and is described by people as "the girl who gets around". Jamie, was Elizas boyfriend, he was accidently "killed" by Natalie two years ago, he was Natalie's age and a very close friend. Police officer Jackson is the officer who investigated Natalies death and takes Eliza to jail.

Narrative:
Natalie is on her way to Callum's house. On the way she bumps into Josh, the two go to a coffee shop for a catch up as Josh has been on holiday for the past three weeks. The two are in the coffee shop for more than two hours, it starts to frustate Callum how late Natalie is. The film switches to Callum, showing him in his room, he pulls a knife from his draw and starts to cut himself, flashbacks are shown. Its revealed he regularly self harms, and has to take anti-depressants. Eliza walks into Callum's room, and its shown that Callum is having an affair with Eliza. He texts Natalie telling her not to bother coming round and that he isnt "in the mood" anyway.  Natalie complains to Josh about how controlling Callum is, and Josh admits his feelings for Natalie, not caring that he could lose her as a friend. Natalie tells Josh that she loved him for a longtime, but he never got the hint and eventually she fell in love with Callum and her feelings dissapeared. Natalie leaves the coffee shop, you see her with tears in her eyes, although Josh doesn't see this. Natalie decides to go round to Callums, she knocks and Callum manages to hide Eliza in his closest before Natalie walks in his room. Natalie and Callum have a huge arguement, and it is revealed that Natalie was lying and that she is undeinable in love with Josh still, but Callum is blackmailing Eliza to be with him with something terrible that she done, which could affect the rest of her life. Its revealed that Eliza accidently killed Jamie (Elizas previous boyfriend, from two years ago), Natalie and Jamie were both drunk and while waiting for the bus, Natalie fell onto him, which resulted in him falling in the road and getting ran over. Callum only knows as he was there, and sober. He soon blackmailed Natalie into doing what he wanted. While Natalie is shouting at Callum and saying that he's cruel for getting pleasure out of her doing something she regrets, she is unaware that Eliza is in the closet. Callum tells her to shut up but by the time she decides to listen to him Eliza had already heard the whole story. Natalie storms out, and as soon as she's gone Eliza comes out of the closest she was hiding in, her and Callum have an arguement and she slaps him. She takes the knife that Callum used to self harm, and leaves his house. It then switches to Natalie, who is trying to call Josh to admit everything to him. Josh doesnt pick up his phone as his phone is on silent. She leaves him a voicemail telling him everything and that shes inlove with him. Eliza sneaks up on Natalie and stabs her in the stomach, when interviewed by Police officer Jackson Eliza says that Natalie deserved it for killing the one person she loved. Natalie is rushed to hospital, and pronouced dead an hour later. Josh finally finds the voicemail and trys to find Natalie to tell her that everything will be ok and he loves her still, He then gets a call from Police officer Jackson saying that Eliza had just murdered a young girl, and Josh would have to come straight down to the Police station as his mother couldn't be contacted and Josh was her only other local relative. He then finds out the girl she murdered was Natalie. The film ends at Natalies funeral, after the funeral Josh finds Callum and threatens him, Callum then reveals it was infact him that accidently pushed Jamie into the road, but decided to blame Natalie as she didnt remember the evening and was easily foaled. Josh holds a knife to Callum and tells him that he's going to feel what natalie went through. You never find out if Josh kills Callum or not.The film cuts to Eliza finding out that the real killer was infact Callum and that she killed Natalie for a crime she didnt do. The film ends.

Stage 4

Natalie - Ellen Page
Josh - Carter Jenkins
Callum - Nicholas Hoult
Eliza - Hayden Panettiere
Police officer Jackson - Leonardo DiCaprio
Jamie - Michael Cera (flashbacks only)

The film would be set in New York City, as its a busy place and in a city.

Stage 5:

The film would be directed by Joss Whedon. Mainly because he has cult status for creating successful television shows (Buffy the vampire slayer, Angel, Firefly) and films (Announced as director for upcoming films Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers). He also is known for using women as the more powerful character rather than men,  he identifies himself as a feminist and feminist themes are common in his work.

Textual (Mirco) Analysis

My sequence is 00:00:23 - 00:05:23

The opening scene introduces the main character David. He is in his basement painting. This shows his love for art and you quickly get to know the character. There is a close up of the painting, which could symbolise that his painting is could be related to what will happen further on during the film, as there is light/mist on his painting. The bad weather shows that something bad is about to happen, which does and as the family awake they discover a tree has crushed there house during the night. It foreshadows that the events are going to get worst throughout the film. Once the family awakes the lead character David gets annoyed at the events and swears, showing that his character can be easily annoyed, aswell as laid back. It is shown that the painting he spent working on was destroyed when the tree crashed through his basement. This could be symbolising the events which will come. David blames himself for the painting being ruined by saying "he should of taken it upstairs with him" even though he had no clue that it was going to happen. It is easily established that David is the main character, as the other character's don't have as camerawork and framing. He also has the most dialogue in the opening scene. There is a establishing shot of the lake, which is the area the family live in. There is a close-up of David's expressions when he see's the damage the tree has done to the lake. There is also a over-head shot of him holding his head with his hand when he see's the lake, which probably is out of anger or stress. There is a wide shot of a white mist coming over the lake as David and his family are looking onto the lake. David doesn't take much notice to the mist and just refers that "he has seen mist on the lake before and its probably left over from the storm", this being foreshadowed as a horror/diaster from the beginning and the title being "the mist" shows that the mist will play a key part in the rest of the film. David comes across as a reasonable person when he attempts to talk to his neighbour about the tree falling in the night, while his neighbour comes across slightly ignorant. The noise in the scene is mainly diagetic e.g the voices of the characters, thunder storms and rain (which could also come under non-diagetic). The mist automaticly grabs the audience attention when David's wife raise's her concern about the mist, claiming " that they've not had mist over the mountains" its shrugged off by David. I think the opening scene forecasts that it is a horror/diaster film as it gives hints things are going to get worst as time goes on. We learn about David's family life and the area he lives in with his wife and young son. Not a huge ammount of dialogue is used between David and his family, but it is easily recognised that he is a good man and is happy with his life. Tension is built up in the first five minutes, by the tree crashing and the mist on the lake, it makes the audience want to watch on to discover why there is mist on the lake and what will happen to the characters we've already met.

The Mist - Exhibition.

The Mist overall recieved good reviews, The Mist received a 73% approval rating, based on 139 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. Bloody Disgusting ranked the film #4 on their list of the 'Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade',

Positive review by James Berardinelli (online critic) -

The Mist is what a horror film should be - dark, tense, and punctuated by just enough gore to keep the viewer's flinch reflex intact. ... Finally, after a long list of failures, someone has done justice in bringing one of King's horror stories to the screen. Though definitely not the feel-good movie of the season, this is a must-see for anyone who loves the genre and doesn't demand "torture porn" from horror."

I agree with this review, many other Stephen King films have not been succesful or either Stephen King has slated them himself, whereas this film was perfected and followed the book. For anybody who are fans of horror or disaster are sure to like the film.

Negative review by Roger Ebert (extremely famous and successful film critic) -

"If you have seen ads or trailers suggesting that horrible things pounce on people, and they make you think you want to see this movie, you will be correct. It is a competently made Horrible Things Pouncing on People Movie. If you think Frank Darabont has equaled the Shawshank and Green Mile track record, you will be sadly mistaken."

I don't agree with this review. Darabont's work is always referred back to Green mile because it was such a success. Green Mile had a $60 million budget and had more commercial intrest than The Mist did. The Mist's budget was $18 million and didn't have much intrest at first.

The Mist Distribution

The mist was heavily promoted by director Frank Darabount who gained a huge fan base from previous films such as works The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, which gross wise were very succcessful films. There were also appearences at events such as comic con, san diego.

The film was adapted from the cult writer Stephen King novel, which intrested a variety of fans. Posters and teaser trailers were also released to gain the publics intrest.

The Core.

1) How is the fact that this is a disaster film foreshadowed in the opening of the film?


 The film is showed to be a disaster film from the start. There is hints that are given. Such as natural disasters occuring and important and clever people being picked out and hired for the misson to the core. Also people are randomly fainting and falling over in the street, which suggests something is wrong and needs to be solved.




List the 8 main characters.
2) The main characters are: Doctor Josh Keys, Serge Leveque, Conrad Zimsky, Ed Brazzelton (nicknamed Braz), Theodore Finch (nicknamed Rat), Robert Iverson and Rebecca Childs (nicknamed Beck).


How is sound and editing used to create tension and drama during the spaceship landing scene?
3) The sound and music caused alot of tension during the spaceship scene. When the connection is lost on their misson to the core, the music speeds up and gets higher. The cuts between the inside of the ship and the outside get much more frequent. The crew soon begin to realise what is happen, this is when panic and chaos is shown. Once everything is safe and the space ship lands safely, the music slows down rapidly and the cuts aren't as often.


How is sound and editing used to create and ellipsis after the team first meet?


4) The sound is in the background, mainly. The editing creates the ellipsis which speeds up to give the audience the thought of time passing quickly.


How are two of the following used to create tension and drama during the lightning storm on rome?
- sound, editing, camera work and Mise-en-scene.5) The scene of the natural disaster (lightning storm) there is a lot of sound, such as people talking (dialogue) and  noises from the tv in the cafe (at the start of the scene). Once the tv turns off, the light goes off, which also causes tension. The music starts, and eventually gets faster and faster. The music increases during all the chaos in Rome. There is a huge ammount of editing. Such as the lightning storm itself, the destruction of the coliseum and the cafe which was shown previous during the scene.

Avatar Research

Your task is to research 3 marketing strategies used to promote the film Avatar.

 

1 -

The website is huge, its bigger and better than the majority of film websites. Its clearly set out and has special features. On the site navigation it has the following:

Videos, Images, About, Downloads, Video Games, Toys, Mobile, News and Music. The website advertises the new release with horurs of extra features. There is also promotions, such as chances to win money. There is games based after the film to play online for free.

 

2 -

Ubisoft created most of the avatar games for the website and for sale. Ubisoft also oragnised and held the avatar press conference to promote it worldwide.

Panasonic launched exclusive blu-ray DVD pack. They have had a long involment in Avatar, from its development.

Coca-Cola helped promote avatar and they advertised on there products. Coca-Cola Zero’s global partnership with avatar comes as a result of the brand’s ability to quickly identify the unique and celebrate the extraordinary.

 

3 -

Avatar is one of the worlds most promoted films in history, with its more than successful grossing of over 2 billion. The director James Cameron appeared at San Diego Comic Con in 2009 to promote the film along with main actor Sam Worthington.

The Mist - Production. Second Draft.

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 at box office. The running time is rougly 126 minutes and the US release date was November 21, 2007.

The film received mixed reviews at box office release. In the UK it was rated 15, with a gore rating of 8. The Production company for the film was Dimension. The Cinematography was done by Rohn Schmidt, and the editing was done by Hunter M. Via.








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.