Mise-En-Scene - Avatar (2009)

Mise-en-scene in the 2009 film Avatar the costume has a very unique look and hasnt been done before, in this film new and innovative technology has been used to create a new world, animals and characters that has never been done before, this technology is newly developed and is a big step in future development of films. In avatar they were able to make distinctive new and never before seen creatures that look extremly life like, aswell as making a specie of natives that have an innovative design and human like features. The stand out of the film is the the world in which the movie is set, during the night the scene comes to life and mesmerises the auidence with its lighting and scenery in general.

Camera Angles - The Dark Knight

This is an Example of a close up it shows the full image of the face.

This is an example of a two shot, it shows two characters in the scene.

This is a canted camera shot as it shows distortion and shows a sense of imbalance and danger.

This is a focus zoom, it shows someone close and some of blurred in the distance.

This is an example of an over the shoulder shot where the carea looks over a characters shoulder for a conversation or meeting.

 

This shows a low angle shot, this tpye of shot gives the character a sense of power as the auidence is looking up at him.

 

This is an example of a close up it shows mostly the characters face.

This is an example of a long shot, it is used to show a character or characters at a distance with some scenery in the shot aswell of buildings.

This is an example of a tracking shot, it usually has a moving object and the camera follows it along its path.

 

This is an Ariel shot, it shows a city or landscape looking directly down toward the ground.

Film Poster Final

Institution Research - Paramount Pictures

Paramount pictures is a film production company that produces and distributes film across the world, they were founded in 1912 and are currently owned by media company Viacom, it is currently America’s oldest film production studio and is the only remaining studio to be situated in Hollywood, there current revenue stream is more that 3 billion annually.

Paramount were founded in 1912 under the name Famous Players Film Company, right from the offset they started making feature length films for the target audience, these films led to the studios being more and more recognized, in 1914’s they started releasing films under “Paramount Pictures Corporation”, this led to Paramount becoming the worlds leading film distributor, this led to paramount getting famous and well known actors such as Gloria Swanson etc, this led to them introducing the “Block Booking” system which meant that if a theatre wanted to show a film that had a well known star they had to buy other paramount films as well this is what led to paramount being the no1 film company at the time, with this new found success paramount’s key people wanted to expand this led to them building over 2,000 movie theatres and 2 production studios to maximize revenue they also acquired a 50% equity in CBS(Columbia Broadcasting System). In 1936 Zukor bought out most of the shareholders of paramount and restructured the company as Paramount Pictures, Inc, this led to paramount making some of the most memorable films of recent time, which includes titles such as Titanic and Saving Private Ryan, but early into the 2000’s paramount announced that its parent company’s have split the announcement that CBS and Viacom splitting left Paramount with networks such as MTV and BET.

In 2005 Paramount bought out DreamWorks which is a modern production studios that produces different types of media from films to video games, the deal in which DreamWorks was bought was roughly around 1.6 billion, this led to paramount getting the distribution rights to DreamWorks Animations film which raked in even more money with the releases of the Shrek Franchise, this deal was active until 2008 when DreamWorks announced that they were looking for a new distribution partner. Also during this time Paramount were one of the first major film production/distribution studio to support physical HD Media in the form of Blu-ray and HD-DVD this early support for the format led them to re-releasing there key film franchises in the high definition format as well as adding extras due to the disc capabilities of the physical disc format, also paramount extended there film distribution horizons by opting to distribute through downloads and streaming media through 3rd Party hardware and software e.g. Netflix and through game consoles i.e. Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Genre Research

Genre Research


Genre is a type or category in which a media form or type could fall under. There are many different types of genres for e.g. comedy, drama, horror, action etc. There are also hybrid genres a hybrid genre is a form with two or more genres for e.g. rom-com, action-adventure, Sit-Com etc. As well as genres and hybrid genres there are also sub-genres. A sub-genre is the divided form of a genre with elements which make up a whole genre. Sub-genre could also be defined as a minor style in a normal films genre for e.g. in an action movie you may have disaster as a sub-genre. A genre could be determined by its sense of style as well as the conventions, conventions is what we expect to see which means each genre has a distinctive character or convention in which it determines its style.

Action is a genre in which there is more of exciting action sequences such as fights, car chases, extreme sports etc. rather than a depth of storytelling/narrative. It also focuses more on its sequences and SFX as well as emphasising them more than working on character development. The action genre has many different sub-genres which helps identify the type of action movie. These sub genres can range from a variety of sub styles such as martial arts or any other extreme sports as well as car chases and other types of vehicles. Action is also one of the main genres that are viewed worldwide because of its budgets spend on SFX as well as its hook to intrigue audiences and keeping them on their seats. There are also many conventions in the Action genre, these conventions are:

• Fast Pace: Most action movies are fast paced to keep audiences on edge as well as setting the atmosphere to be tension filled as well as non-relaxing.

• Equilibrium-Disequilibrium-Equilibrium (Hero and Villain): Action movies tend to use the equilibrium balance system to portray action movies this is a convention as well as being one of actions basic narratives, a convention that we would be expecting is that this balance system will usually be shown in good vs. evil i.e. Hero vs. Villains. There are many more conventions of Action.

Comedy is also one of the major genres in film alongside action since comedy appeals to all ages and groups. Comedy is a humorous genre which is practiced to make the audience laugh this is usually at the expense of the character or the situation that they are in. There are also many sub-genres in comedy, these sub-genres can range from different types of sub-genres for e.g. Wordplay comedy, wordplay comedy is a more intellectual form of comedy as it deals with twisting up or manipulating words to make the audience laugh this could be done through puns or rude remarks. There are also different types and forms of comedy such as a mockumentary where it mocks (makes fun of) documentaries, another type of comedy which is similar to mockumentary is spoof/parody, spoof/parody is when there is another movie (comedy) which makes fun of other movies of different or same genre for e.g. Meet the Spartans was a spoof/parody of the movie 300. Like other genres comedy also has conventions, these conventions are:

• Humour: Humour is a main convention of comedy, as the audience would be expecting some sort of comical gags as comedy sets the atmosphere to funny and live sort of place.

• Characters/Situations: Audiences would be expecting some sort of comical trap or comical character so that the audience could laugh at their expense as well as their situation. There are many more conventions of Comedy.

Drama is a genre with a deep storyline and meaning, drama also has realistic characters as well as narratives and heavily realistic themes usually with an in depth emotional storyline. Most of these themes/narratives could be seen on reflecting life such as criminal activities, politics as well as corruption in society and much more. Drama like other genres could also be divided in to sub-forms i.e. crime drama, docudrama etc. Romance and tragedy can also be seen as sub-genres as romance and tragedy have an in depth of emotional storylines as well as having some realistic themes and characters. Although docudrama, crime drama and others, can be seen as sub-genres we could also call them hybrid dramas since these genres have a mixture of two genres. Drama also has conventions audiences would want to see, these conventions are:

• Real life issues: Audiences would expect to see real life issues as drama is based on reality, which means that audience would expect to relate to the drama movies.

• Corruption: In a drama movie we would expect to see some sort of corruption as the corruption is mainly the disequilibrium of the drama.

Romance is a genre that revolves around the liking of someone (love) between a male and a female character, romance like some other genres have deep emotional storylines as well as realistic themes. These themes as well as emotional storylines could also be broken in to sub-genres, the sub-genres are included in romance are comedy, adventure, drama etc. Romance could also be put in hybrid genres such as Action Romance which is a mixture of both the action genre and the romance genre. The Romance drama could also be categorised as a genre that does well when put with other forms of media as it is successful in appealing its target audiences. Like all genres romance also has conventions, these conventions are:

• Male and Female lead roles: Since the genre is romance the audience would expect a relationship between a male and female as well as the lead roles developing on this relationship

• Situation: We as an audience would be expecting to see some sort of situation to see the main leads overcome this situation and work it out so that the characters can show true feelings in the movie as the romance genre is heavily revolved around emotions.

Horror revolves around supernatural and eerie events as horror is meant to keep audiences in the dark to give them a scare. This means that the elements in horror could range from anything such as suspense, action etc anything to keep the audiences on the edge of their seats, the main element that horror uses is supernatural elements and surprises. Horror also has sub-genres; these sub-genres are thriller, action, adventure, comedy and much more. Horror is a successful genre because it also appeals to all ages and different audiences as horror could be very entertaining. Horror like all other genres also has conventions, the conventions in the horror genre:

• Supernatural: We as the audience would expect to see supernatural elements as supernatural events are unusual and unexplained which gives it a scary mystery behind the idea of supernatural events.

• Mystery: Since certain events are unexplained the audience would expect to see mysterious elements which leave’s them in the dark.

British Board Of Film Classification

The British Board of Film Classification also abbreviated/short for the B.B.F.C is a British non-governmental organisation, this means that the government do not own this organization and therefore is seen as an independent business which deals with censoring and certifying movies or other forms of media such as video games, albums etc. The B.B.F.C has been censoring Movies and other forms of media for a long time. It was set up in 1912 originally named the British Board of Film Censors which was then changed in the latter development of the B.B.F.C in 1984.

The B.B.F.C or the British board of film classification, it is an institution as well as taking a form as a regulator, which censors movies and categorises them for the right age. Not only does the B.B.F.C censor movies but it also censors other forms of media such as video games, DVD’s and more. The B.B.F.C was founded in 1912 which was originally named the British board of film censor which was later changed in 1984 to the British board of film classification after the parliament had passed the video recordings act. The B.B.F.C had started when the cinematograph act 1909 was introduced, fearing that the governmental bodies will put down some films, so in response to this fear the film industries had come up with the B.B.F.C to deal with the censoring of films. The B.B.F.C also has a job which is to pass movies, DVD’s etc. this job is taken very strictly as seen with the censoring of movies as well as the advice and critics given to the film industries.

The B.B.F.C does this by viewing the movie more than once to clarify any mistakes which needs censoring and files a review/report based around what needs to be censored and edited. After filing the review/report and advice on what needs to be edited and censored the B.B.F.C will then send back the movie to the institute which produced the movie for the final cuts along with the review. The B.B.F.C will also give feedback to the institute such as comments, suggestion etc. to improve the movie and so that these improvements would be able to bring out the movies full potential. The B.B.F.C will censor the movie or media according to the appropriate age category that the institute which has developed that form of media has chosen. The institute will then have to follow the censor rule and edit the clips which must be taken out but is compulsory if they want to follow the advice or not which gives some freedom to the institute, most institutes follow the advice as it will help them achieve their conventions for the intended audience and in some cases make them change their mind about their target audience for e.g. The bourne identity was the first ever film to be classified as 12a because of its violence and storyline, based around this decision it shows how heavy B.B.F.C can influence an instate.

The B.B.F.C censors movies and other type of media forms so that it can be released legally and so that it can also be released for the right and intended audience. The B.B.F.C also gives information and advice on censoring to the producers so that they can edit it and so that it can also be released in England and other parts of the U.K. The B.B.F.C has a major role to do which is critical in terms of media, the role that they play in media is that they regulate it by viewing different media forms such as magazines, movies etc and give it an age certificate so that it is appropriate for the right audience and age group, also the B.B.F.C gives a brief warning of what the movie contains, this warning is usually seen on the back cover of the DVD box set at the bottom of the cover. The warning that B.B.F.C gives us are: Language: mild, Run time: 1:37 mins, age rating and more. This information also tells us why it is certified for that age group as well as giving us a warning about any offensive material.

The reasons that the B.B.F.C censors most media forms is because it is simple to pick up a weapon/tool to hurt someone else for e.g. picking up a knife and to go out and use it as shown in various movies. Not only are movies imitable but also video games as most video games tend to revolve around pure violence such as games like Call Of Duty.

A prime e.g. of this violent epidemic would be manhunt. The reason that manhunt is a good example to use is because it had been banned in the U.K by the B.B.F.C as it was too violent and too easy to imitate, another e.g. is how Stanley Kubrick had banned his own movie, a clockwork orange. The reason that he banned his own movie is because of his knowledge about how things could be imitable he knew that if it were to be released then crime rates may increase because of all the imitable violence in the movie which can simply be copied, because of these fears that crime rates may increase, the B.B.F.C censors movies, they also censor movie for other reason like:

• Some scenes are not suitable for the intended audience.

• Some scene may be racist and offensive for viewers.

• Many movies have been copied all over the world and has had an heavy impact on society.

• Copying movie stunts has become a major problem as many of these stunts lead to severe injury.

The B.B.F.C uses the age certificate system to classify the movies category regarding age groups. There are many reasons why the B.B.F.C uses an age certificate system for e.g. there may be scenes in an adult movie, which may not be suitable for a child such as sex scenes, racially abusive and sexually abusive scenes. All if not most media forms have classifiers as some do not, for e.g. a media institute which creates educational documentaries do not, this is because it can be used for educational purposes and its intentions are to give knowledge to viewers, not just the educational documentaries which have no classifiers but there are other forms of media which do not have classifiers such as an advertisement’s in magazines and other sources as its intentions are to create consumer awareness.

The B.B.F.C is also there so that violent, unsuitable and abusive scenes are not imitated or shown to the wrong audience, since violent, unsuitable and abusive images can easily influence the audience/viewers to imitate or mimic the scene as well as the behaviour and actions that are shown with in that scene. In our own opinion we think that T.V as well as other types of media forms are being mimicked and imitated heavily. Also the elders have the moral responsibility of setting an example which means that if they start abusing that responsibility by doing the wrong things, then the children who view these elders as role models then they might end up doing the same thing that they see on T.V as they do not know the concepts between right and wrong since they are not up to the level of maturity as we are as well as imitating these scenes as they would want to be like their role models.

There are many reasons for the evidence of mimicking behaviour from what children see on T.V one of these evidence is by viewing the activities on the school play ground or outside of school or during any of their free time. What is seen is that children imitate behaviour from their favourite T.V shows for e.g. YU-GI-OH, Pokémon, Dragon ball z and much more. These behaviour and imitations can be seen in the form of trading card games. This is where the owner of the trading cards can be like the characters from their favourite show.

Even though the B.B.F.C is doing what they think is for our safety and benefit, I think that we should have the freedom of choice based on what we want to watch with out censoring the movie but at a certain age since if the viewer is too young then they might try and take advantage and watch movies which are unsuitable for them. The age group which should be the age that we get to view whatever we like is 16 and over. The reason that I think it should be this age is because if people/audience at any age could be able to watch what they like then many of the younger generation may abuse that privilege and end up watching scenes which may affect them heavily and how they think and also by watching something which can easily be imitated.

Also the reason that I think this age group to watch what they like should be 16 is because at this age group the audience should be mature in what they watch and also before they imitate something from a movie, T.V etc then they will take account of the consequences of their actions and how it can affect them and others around them. These consequences could be:

• Getting in to trouble with the law and ending up in prison

• Harming people around them such as family and friends (mentally and physically)

• Relationships (family and friends) leaving relationships in a negative state

• Society out casting them, not helping them out in times of need

• Reputation turning bad which may result in no one taking them seriously

The opening sequence of our movie will be aged at 15, the reason this is, is because our movie may contain violent images which can easily be imitable since our genre is drama which means that it will be based heavily on realistic themes as well as issues in society.

Institution research - Columbia Pictures

Columbia pictures is a film production company that produces and distributes film across the world, they were founded in 1919 and has gone through many ownerships including being purchased by Coca Cola and more recently Sony. During the golden age of film it was part of the little three this meant that they were a recognised film studio but on a small scale, over the years they have been based in California, there films have tended to be of a wide variety of genre for e.g. comedy. They are now currently part of Tri-star pictures, which is an agreement with HBO, and CBS to produce and distribute film and TV shows. Columbia’s logo is made up of a woman covered in the American flag holding a lamps/light which is called the statue of liberty, usually when it is showed during a film the camera the camera zooms out to reveal the torch and the woman, over the years this logo has gone under many revisions.

The studio was formed in 1919 under a different name, Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales, and was owned by Jack and Harry Cohn and Joe Brandt but it wasn’t until 1922 where they released their first film and soon after that they changed to Columbia Pictures and soon after that they started to become more popular by the 1920s, and with that popularity more lucrative directors wanted to produce films for them one of which is Frank Capra, with his help they were able to lure more well known actors and directors, but with more success meant more money was being spent and soon Columbia couldn’t pay for everything so effectively they had use what there budget could take despite the directors that were signed to them asking for bigger budgets, but there fortunes soon changed as they were getting more annual profit, they were bought out by coca cola in 1982, coca cola decided to buy them instead of investing in Disney and the partnership meant good things for Columbia where they produced films such as Ghostbusters and the Karate Kid, Columbia also branched out into Television, and produced TV shows such as The Jefferson’s, with the increasing cost of film productions Coca Cola brought in some partners in the form of HBO and CBS to form Tri-Star Pictures eventually those 2 partners dropped out and then was renamed Columbia Pictures Entertainment, this soon led to Sony buying them and saw Coca Cola get a feasible profit form the transaction, Sony then expanded by opening Sony Pictures Studios, Soon after it was re-branded again under Sony Pictures Entertainment, they went on to produce stellar films like Spider-man and Men in Black.

Since the take-over of Sony they have produced many of films that have done very well at the box office selling millions and appealing to the mass audience, they have been able to produce as well as acquire lucrative franchises and create new and successful franchises and gaining revenue of over $1.3 Billion and cementing there place as the most successful film producing and distribution company of that year, also Sony bought MGM one of Columbia’s rivals in film production and this gave them access to a larger library of film franchises that was previously held by MGM such as James Bond.