Shameless Mock Exam

This clip shows the representation of social class through different characters and whether they reinforce or challenge stereotypes. At the beginning of the clip, the father comes downstairs presumably drunken because of the beaten down and dirty costume that he is wearing. This reinforces the stereotype that the underclass suffer from drug and alcohol abuse. The camera is handheld and erratic to match his state of mind. The father holds up his shoes, which further adds to us questioning his state of mind. His clothes look worn and dirty, his hair looks greasy. These all come under costumes which creates the stereotype that this character is in underclass. The location is set in the families home, which shows a cramped living/dining room where the family converse. The beginning of the scene starts of with shot reverse shots that create conflict between the family which reinforces the stereotype of the underclass family being a broken family. The camera switches between characters and zooms in on a character to show more conflict between the father and the rest of the family. The father is seen from a low angle to make his seem more powerful, however is argued against, especially by his son, who gets up from their cramped dining table to confront them. The confrontation between the father and son is seen through over the shoulder views and it edited in shot reverse shots. This adds to the conflict that the father and son has and creates the stereotype of a broken family in the under class. The next shot is of the father's daughter, who is holding a baby, presumably hers, due the stereotypes of the underclass. She is feeding the baby milk from a bottle which reminds us that the father has a family to feed. This makes us feel sympathetic because the baby is the symbol for his families innocent in the situation. There is a close up of the fathers face which shows his facial slurring but it also show the intensity on his face. The next shots are of the father, and it shows him becoming angry and crazy. The editing shows the shots as fast and quick, which adds to the drama. The camera also gets more erratic. These shots reinforce the underclass as being dangerous because it makes us afraid of the character and the safety of his family. More shots show close-up's of the father and the shots zoom further to increase suspense and to show his shocked expression. The camera gets less erratic as the father's angry mood fades. The camera zooms in and out between the characters as they talk. The view makes it seem like the audience is there with the underclass family, which makes us sympathise more with them. 

The next shot is an establishing shot of the family's caravan. The camera pans quickly to the family standing outside, which shows the family as united as the composition shows that they are close together. The next shot is of a tortoise, viewed at eye-level rather than a high angle, at which the family would be looking from. This shows us the the tortoise is significant if it is being treated the same way a human would be shot. The camera then cuts back to the family and their conversation. The tortoise is seen again being crushed by the caravan's wheels. The editing then cuts back to the family so we don't actually see the gore of the tortoise death but a squishing sound is shown as non-diagetic sound. This adds to the effect of the death because we know that it's definitely happened, which makes us sympathise for the family. We sympathise more when the daughter goes to mourn over the tortoise pitifully. The rest of the family crowd over the tortoise and one asks "Do you think she was trying to find her way home?". As the tortoise was shown to be significant, I feel it could represent the underclass and how they are perceived in society. A man in a suit comes up to the family and says that he has found a buyer, the shot shows the juxtaposition between them and the man in the suit. The shot shows that man in the suit would presumably be in the middle class because of his costume, dialogue and profession is compared to the family who are quite poorly dressed, has poor dialogue and no professions in the underclass. The man tells the family that the price that the caravan sold for is £40, the father is shocked and questions the figure. This leads the rest of the family to laugh about the figure. Which shows how the underclass family doesn't care about possessions more than other higher classes in society. This challenges the stereotype of the underclass as society would think they would need any money they can get, even if that involves criminal activity, such as drug dealing, theft and human trafficking. However, the family laughs off the price-drop which leads to the next shot of the family seen from a birds-eye view. The view shows the man in the suit walk through the family, the family separates to let the man through. this challenges the stereotypes of classes in society because the underclass family is separating themselves from the higher classes rather than the other way round. This ends the clip which reinforces and challenges the stereotypes of the underclass family in comparison to society. Overall, the family is seen on a positive view in the end, however certain characters such as the father is seen negatively at times due to stereotypes of the underclass in society.

Hotel Babylon Mock Exam

In this clip, the struggles of ethnic stereotypes, who work for the hotel, are shown through different characters which is highlighted when they are juxtaposed against the white society that runs the hotel. The scene starts of with a Caucasian man coming into the scene from behind the wall in a room. This would be reinforcing the stereotypes of ethnicity as the Caucasian man has a high-paid job in society. The mise-en-scene shows the room to be full of cardboard boxes. The close-up shows the man to be cramped which could indicate that he is uncomfortable with where he is; this could suggest that he's up to no good. The shot pans to two policemen who say "We're just here to stop people coming in", the caucasian man in the suit nods his head, understanding that they are they to check up on any illegal immigrants working at Hotel Babylon. I noticed that both policemen are Caucasian which shows that the show is reinforcing the stereotype by giving powerful job roles to the Caucasian ethnicity. The next shot moves to an establishing shot of two women in suits at a reception desk, one is of a Caucasian ethnicity and one is of a South East Asian ethnicity . This shot shows the juxtaposition between the two characters, for example, the woman costumes show that the Caucasian woman wears a white suit with blond hair to show that she's pure and innocent. Whereas the South East Asian woman wears a red shirt with a black blazer which reinforces the stereotype of being dangerous, because red is recognised as an angry colour. As well as this she has black hair, which is in contrast to the blond hair that the other woman has. The shot also compares the two woman as the angel and the devil as their costumes suggest. The shot zooms into the Caucasian women quickly which then cuts to the police walking through the door. The two shots show that they are linked and create panic for whats about to come because it shows us that the men are about to confront the woman at the desk. There is a quick shot-reverse-shot between the two characters which shows that there will be conflict between the two characters. This challenges the stereotype of conflict because often conflict is between two contrasting ethnicities.

After this, a Black ethnic character, presumably a customer staying at the hotel, looks up from his newspaper to see the policemen coming into the hotel. This reinforces the stereotype of the Black ethnicity being worried about law controlling jobs such as policemen because of their history of being judged. The policemen lead a man dressed quite casually with a T-Shirt under his blazer, he introduces himself to the Caucasian woman at reception. The man asks to search the hotel and the woman agrees, but first she alerts her attention to another member of staff to do something for her. The member of staff is of a Black ethnicity, which is again reinforcing the stereotype of hierarchy between ethnic groups. The next shot cuts quickly to the member of staff running through different areas of the hotel. The pace is fast to show how much he's in a hurry. He then alerts the a different South East Asian woman who is sat at her desk, which is in a small room, cluttered with boxes on shelves. The lighting in the small room is dark and the only light comes from a lamp on her desk. By placing the character is a dark, cramped room shows that she is in a situation that's uncomfortable for her. A tracking shot shows her running through the busy underground of the hotel. The tracking shot shows the action in the scene. There is also steam from cooking pots that we see which adds to the ambience of the scene. The next shot shows the woman rushing presumably illegal immigrant workers into a store cupboard. The space is cramped which could be reinforcing the stereotype of being united as the workers are together in the small space. The camerawork is unsteady because the camera would've been held by hand to show frantic movements to match the frantic movements of the workers. The woman counts all the staff members and the panic in her eyes, which is shown through a close-up, tells us that a member of staff is missing. The scene cuts to the missing member of staff hoovering with his headphones on. His props tell us his role in the hotel is presumably a cleaner in which he is missing from the other workers in the cleaning room. Then there is a shot reverse shot showing the workers in the maid's cupboard. This links the two shots together and adds tension to the scene. To add to the drama, a maid faints due to the stress from the scene and presumably also due to tight spaces. The maid is seen from a high angle to show her as vulnerable. By the maid fainting, the space seems more crowded as the drama increases. Another worker feeds the fainted maid some jam in order to give her the sugar that she needs. The worker surprises the South East Asian women because the worker challenges the stereotype of being pitied because he states that he 'wasn't always a cleaner'.

Then the scene cuts to the missing cleaner hoovering. We see this out of focus and we see the immigration patrol, in focus. This shows us that the illegal immigrant workers always have to watch their back and it makes the scene even more tense because the missing worker doesn't see it coming. There is diagetic sound coming from the hoover to further add to his profession. The shot quickly cuts to show the workers expression when he sees the immigration control. The cut is quick to add to the shock that the worker is feeling. He tries to run but then gets captured and taken away by the immigration control. This links back to slavery as the worker is off a Black ethnicity and the immigration officers are of a Caucasian ethnicity. This reinforces the stereotype of conflict between ethnicities. However the kidnap is also ironic because the immigration officers are stopping the worker from working rather than forcing him to work. They drag the worker off and the camera moves to focus on the now unattended hoover which could represent the job that in now vacant. The next shot is a close-up of the maid who fainted, this brings us back to the workers hiding in the store cupboard. Different shots from low angles show the other workers surrounding the maid. Mostly close-ups to show the tension in the scene. This quickly cuts to a next shot which matches the quick change in expression from the South East Asian woman. The shot quickly zooms in on the group of workers to further intensify the drama in the scene, this shows us that they may know that something bad has happened. There is diagetic sound in this scene such as the footsteps and the rustles of the keys which make the scene more realistic. She is greeted by another worker who adds that they (the immigration police) have got someone. This then links to the next scene of the immigration police dragging the illegal immigrant worker into the hotel lobby and out the door. The lighting when the illegal immigrant worker is brought through the door is dark, so it is hard to see the worker. The the lighting gets brighter when they go further into the hotel lobby. This shows that as they move into the lobby with mostly Caucasian customers the lighting is shown stereotypically in comparison to the dark lighting that shows the illegal immigrant worker who is of Black ethnicity. The South East Asian woman argues with the immigration police then the Caucasian reception is left to manage the worried customers in the hotel lobby. This challenges the stereotype of ethnic groups being unified as the Caucasian woman is left on her own to resolve the problems in the hotel lobby. The scene then cuts to a panning shot of the South East Asian woman clearing out the Black worker's locker. The soundtrack is slow and sad to set the tone for the scene. This makes us feel sympathetic for the workers who have now one less colleague. They clear out his locker like they're clearing out their memory of him. The South East Asian woman takes off photos of the workers past of his locker door, which makes us further sympathise with him. This is because we are reminded of how he will get killed if he goes back home. She locks the locker and the scene cuts to workers eating in a canteen. The panning shots show the difference between dividing ethnic groups such as other workers are arguing at lunch whereas two Black ethnic workers are in silence praying for presumably their former colleague. This shows the contrast between the groups and how they each deal with grief. This makes us sympathise further with the ethnic minorities as the scene gives us an insight into how they are feeling about the loss. The Black male of the two Black ethnic workers stop the Black female from eating until he's finished his prayers. This shows that he is in control of the situation, however it also shows that he is not done with grieving. This challenges the stereotypes of ethnic groups as being dangerous as the black ethnic group is the quietest ethnic group in the canteen. He finishes his prayers and the pair finally eat, in silence. Throughout the clip, ethnicity is reinforced and challenged through the different characters who work at the Hotel Babylon and strength and weaknesses are shown through the camera.

Thriller Opening Evaluation of 9 Key Frames

THE TITLE OF THE FILM, FONT, STYLE & EFFECTS

SETTING/LOCATION

COSTUMES & PROPS

CAMERAWORK (SMOOTH, FRAMING, COMPOSITION)

CONTINUITY EDITING

SOUND & FOLEY

STORY AND HOW THE OPENING SETS IT UP

GENRE AND HOW THE OPENING SUGGESTS IT

IMAGE CONTROL & LIGHTNING

Coming Down The Mountain

In this clip, the story is seen from the older brother's, David's, point of view, which is challenging the stereotype of disabled people because we aren't pushed to sympathise with the disabled brother, Ben. The monologue shows that the makers of Coming Down The Mountain wanted to show the view of David deliberately. David see's his brother as a nuisance and doesn't sympathise with him like his parents does. This shows a light on how society view disabled people because often the family and friend's views don't come into context. The beginning of the clip starts of with a birds-eye view of the brother's shared bedroom. David is sitting on his bed, topless, looking over at his disabled brother sleeping on the other side of the room on his bed. The birds-eye view helps to show the difference between the two brothers through juxtaposition, for example, Ben's side of the bedroom is messy and proceeding into David's territory. Also, the Ben's side of the bedroom is more colourful than David's side of the bedroom. These things could represent each brother's personality, so Ben would be messy but colourful and David would be boring but tidy. The next shot pans to a close-up, which could be to show his emotion, possibly about his brother Ben, maybe he's feeling guilt for not sympathising for him. The next shot moves onto a close-up of Ben sleeping. The shot makes the audience uncomfortable because watching someone sleep is uncomfortable. The makers of Coming Down The Mountain would have does this deliberately in order to show Ben as abnormal and vulnerable.

The centre of Ben's mouth then starts of the development of life, from the big bang to the block of flats where the family lives. This could be telling us that the brother may be wondering why he's different, and at what stage did his genes change. An establishing shot shows the block of flats which then fades to a big close-up of the younger brother. The fade into the close-up could be used to make the edit slow rather than fast and edgy because that would show movement. Whereas in this clip the brother is reinforcing the stereotype that disabled people are physically incapable. The close-up would again be used to make the audience uncomfortable and trigger emotion from the audience. The big close-up also shows the brothers disabled features, which shows him as abnormal. The close-up is followed by the older brother glaring at the younger brother. The monologue breaks for this breakfast scene which could show how the older brother is now thinking about his brother, considering how he's looking at him. Then he gets up from his chair to get his breakfast cereal to find out the younger brother ate the last of the cereal. The parents are sympathetic towards the younger brother whereas the older brother is upset at the younger brother, this is shown through the tone in his dialogue. He tries to take food from the younger brother's bowl, but the younger brother reacts and fights back, this challenges the stereotype of disabled people as physically incapable. The parents get the older brother a different box of cereal which doesn't satisfy the older brother, and then they give the young brother more love and attention because of the abuse he's getting from his younger brother. The older brother argues again with the younger brother as the father intervenes.

The next shot is a tracking shot of the brothers walking to the bus stop outside the block of flats. The younger brother is following the older brother in the shot which shows that the older brother has dominance over the older brother. The next shot shows the two brothers sitting together at the bus-stop. The juxtaposition shows the difference between the two brothers. The older brother looks annoyed to be with his younger brother whereas the younger brother looks content with his gameboy. The next shot is an establishing shot which how the brothers are isolated against the background. Then the shot moves onto the younger brother playing with his toys, while the dialogue reads, "normal kids they're like house plants or cats, you feed them and change their litter tray and they're fine. But kids like Ben you have to read them books all the time and buy them educational toys. You go to the same bloody (missing word) in Devon every year because they like the climbing frame and the ice-cream place. And they need someone with them all the time to stop sicko's dragging them off to their sex dungeons". The next scene starts of with the father playing with the younger brother on his bike, then it progresses onto the older brother aiming a toy gun at his younger brother as if he's an animal. He pretends to shoot him with a smirk. Then the scene cuts to people playing on a beach then cuts to the older brother getting a kite out of a tree. It shows the older brother far away in a tree from the younger brother who is shown with more prominence for the composition of the shot. This shows that the younger brother has control over the older brother which shows that they are challenging the stereotype of disabled people as the victim. The shot cuts to the younger brother enjoying an ice-cream, as it's a close-up of his features, it reinforces the stereotypes of disabled people being abnormal. The next shot is of the brothers waiting at a bus-stop and are sitting next to a stranger. The scene is purposefully made to look uncomfortable to show that for the older brother, walking around with his younger brother, is uncomfortable for him. The next shot cuts to the older brother who looks at the stranger who comes into focus. A bus passes by which leads to the next over the head shot of the older brother doodling at school, then a panning shot, then a shot of the teacher teaching the class. This shot shows the teacher with more framing on the screen, which shows that the teacher has control over the students, including the older brother. The teacher asks the However, the teacher loses control when a student argues with the teacher. But the teacher fights back and makes that student feels embarrassed, the older brother smiles. This ends the three and a half minute clip about the show 'Coming Down The Mountain'. 

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Monarch of the Glen

The beginning of the clip starts of with an establishing shot which shows men loading equipment onto trucks. This gives us the idea that the clip will be very masculine. However, as the clip progress we see the main character, who is female, attempt to drive a car. We hear a bang in the distance, which reinforces the stereotypes that teenagers are rebellious, reckless and irresponsible. Also, the editing becomes faster which shows the dangerous stereotype of youth. The scene cuts to the two men in an old-looking office in which the younger man pours the older man a drink. The re-enforces a gender stereotype of men drinking whiskey to calm their nerves.

The scene then cuts to the younger man telling off the young girl. The editing includes shot reverse shots which is fast paced to show the anger from the young mans point of view. The angle at which the camera is at a low angle for the young man to show that he’s inferior to her and a high angle to show the vulnerability of the young girl. The young man also gets more screen time, this shows his prominence and inferiority of a stereotypically butch male. The young girl then asserts her anger by raising her voice and running away. This is challenging the stereotype of a youth because it is showing her as vulnerable and isolated when she runs away.

The scene then cuts to older people working to build something outside. This would be challenging the stereotype of older people because in the scene they are shown as active and together not isolated and frail. The soundtrack also sets a happy mood for the scene compared to a sad and sympathetic soundtrack we usually hear. The scene cuts to a young girl looking at herself in a mirror with photos placed around the edges. This scene again shows her as vulnerable and isolated which is again challenging the stereotypes of youth who are usually in groups and dangerous. 

The props help to create meaning, for example, the mirror is showing that she is reflecting on her times because her image is reflected in the mirror. The soundtrack has a sad mood to it which makes us feel sympathy for the girl. The scene then cuts back to the workers building and the older lady runs to the young man for help, which perceives her as a ‘damsel in distress’. She then breaks the news about the young girl running away. A dramatic soundtrack adds suspense to the news which ends the scene on a cliffhanger.

THE CODE UPDATED

Unfortunately the video was uploaded in bad quality however the concept is still there. I made the music on GarageBand and added the foley later on. I changed the production animation to fit in more with our thriller title sequence. I also had to change the lighting so the change from day to night isn't so dramatic. Towards the end of the title sequence, we used a different camera, which created low quality footage. Although I hope that our main idea is put across.

Lone Survivor Spoiler Review

Based on a true story, director Peter Berg's Lone Survivor stars Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Ben Foster, and Emile Hirsch as four Navy SEALs whose sensitive mission into the Afghan mountains is unexpectedly compromised, leading to a fierce skirmish with a small army of Taliban soldiers. The year is 2005. In the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks, the War in Afghanistan is well under way when military intelligence learns that a senior Taliban member is hiding out in a remote village deep in the Hindu Kush mountains of the Kunar Province. Convinced that his capture or killing could turn the tide of the difficult war in favor of the United States, the Navy SEALs hatch Operation Red Wings. The goal is simple -- send a select team of soldiers to stake out the village from the surrounding mountains, and move on their target when the time is right. Under the leadership of Lieutenant Michael Murphy (Kitsch), Marcus Luttrell (Wahlberg), Matt Axelson (Foster), and Danny Dietz (Hirsch) reach their checkpoint, and quickly realize that another nearby hill will provide a better vantage spot. Shortly after arriving at that new location and getting a positive ID on their target, however, the soldiers are caught off guard by three wandering shepherds, including a young boy. Ultimately, a heated vote over what to do with the captured shepherds leads Lt. Murphy to decide that the best course of action is to abide by the rules of engagement, meaning that the soldiers will abort the mission, release the captives, and retreat to their extraction point. Shortly after the shepherds are set free, however, the four SEALs find themselves surrounded by dozens of Taliban soldiers, and engaged in a fierce gunfight that -- with the aid of some truly brave villagers -- only one of them will make it out of.

Reasonable Doubt Spoiler Review

An investigative news reporter looking for a story that will take his career to the next level suspects that the District Attorney, who is hotly tipped to be the next State Governor, has been deliberately planting evidence to secure convictions in high profile murder cases. To prove his suspicions, he deliberately fabricates circumstantial evidence against himself in an unsolved murder, but his plan goes horribly wrong. Reasonable Doubt (also known as The Good Samaritan) is a 2014 Canadian crime thriller film directed by Peter Howitt and written by Peter A. Dowling. The film stars Samuel L. Jackson, Dominic Cooper, Erin Karpluk, Gloria Reuben and Ryan Robbins. ‘Beyond a Reasonable Doubt’ has a zero rating at Rotten Tomatoes from 22 reviews. I have no doubt it is not the only film to ever receive a zero rating, but it is the first one that I have come across. Writer and director Peter Hyams has had a long career, which has produced a mixed bag of results, from interesting earlier outings like ‘Capricorn One’ and ‘Outland’ to the slightly more recent horror films ‘Relic’ and ‘End of Days’, with a couple of Jean-Claude Van Damme films in between. His past record suggests that he is a better director than this lame and hackneyed debacle would indicate.

Out of the Furnace Spoiler Review

The story of Out of The Furnace focuses on the steel mill town raised Baze brothers Russell (played by Christian Bale) and Rodney (played by Casey Affleck). Russell is a man who does as his family has done for generation, work at the steel mill then go to your loved one, of which for Russell is Lena (played by Zoe Saldana). Rodney, on the other hand, works for the military seemingly to escape the family pattern of working in the mill, but ends up only trading boredom and stability for the gruesomeness of fighting in the Iraq war. These two lead us on a journey in which we watch them both fall, and while Russell is given the chance to stand back up after a drinking and driving conviction which puts him away, and causes him to lose Lena to local officer Wesley (played by Forest Whitaker), Rodney finds himself relying on assistance to stand on his own. You see, while Russell was away, Rodney had to deal with their dad dying as well as mounting debt which seemingly the military wasn’t helping much with. So this leads to him turning to local shark John Petty (played by Willem Dafoe) who he throws fights for. However, once Russell is out, and back at the mill, Rodney eventually figures that he minas well give into fate, but not before one fight to wipe his debt. Enter Harlan DeGroat (played by Woody Harrelson) a Jersey drug dealer, with a penchant for violence. He changes everything for the story by taking out a few characters and getting on Russell’s bad side, and despite Wesley saying he got things handled, Russell decides to play vigilante leading him to face off with Harlan.

Dallas Buyers Club Spoiler Review

Dallas Buyers Club is based on the true story of Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), a Texas man who, in 1985, found out he was infected with HIV. Through Ron, we experience the frustrating and nearly absurd battle fought by millions of people who were struggling just to stay alive. Ron is a proud heterosexual living in Texas, so the fact that he has contracted what was being called “the gay cancer” ostracizes him from his community of rodeo enthusiasts and good ‘ol boys. The only glimmer of hope at that time was the drug AZT whose short-term effects were mildly encouraging and long-term effects were unknown. When Ron is denied entry into an AZT trial, he begins searching for other treatments, a journey which leads him to an exiled former U.S. doctor named Vass (Griffin Dunne). In his desperate fight to stay alive, Ron meets Rayon (Jared Leto), a transsexual who is also infected. Ron and Rayon develop a partnership to sell the alternative treatments Ron has brought back from Mexico. They begin the Dallas Buyers Club, a membership-only organization that provides AIDS-stricken people with the medicine the FDA and doctors won’t let them have. With the help of a rogue doctor, Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner), Ron and Rayon are able to bring a small sense of optimism to the hundreds of infected people living in their community. Ron Woodroof’s story is heartbreaking and infuriating, made more so by McConaughey’s outstanding performance. The last few years have seen McConaughey re-invent himself as an actor, taking roles which challenge him on a physical and emotional level. McConaughey’s dramatic weight loss for the role – and it is staggering – is not the most impressive aspect of his performance. His complete lack of vanity and commitment to the role is akin to the work Christian Bale does time and time again. Ron’s desperation is communicated through the sheer panic in his eyes and steadily more broken posture as he is repeatedly beaten down by the federal government. If not his most impressive work to date, this is certainly McConaughey’s most authentic. Ron’s story wouldn’t be complete without his partner in “crime,” Rayon, played by Jared Leto in a performance that is beautifully deep. Rayon is not a caricature of the transgender community. Leto makes Rayon a real person whose physical appearance betrays his inner self. Leto also transformed himself physically, being almost unrecognizable for most of the film. His voice, though, may be the most surprising change, however. Rayon’s manner of speech, cadence and tone is so completely different from Leto’s true voice it is uncanny. Both McConaughey and Leto deserve serious recognition when the awards season launches next month. 

Despite the two powerhouse performances by McConaughey and Leto, Dallas Buyers Club suffers severely from the lack of directorial control by Jean-Marc Vallee and a maddeningly uneven script from Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack. The film doesn’t progress so much as keep happening. The script signals it will move in one direction and then goes off the rails as a more interesting storyline catches its interest. What begins as a one-man odyssey for justice morphs into what could be a terrific examination of a non-sexual relationship between two men brought together through the most unthinkable of circumstances. This is then eschewed for an overt condemnation of the big pharmaceutical companies and government bureaucracy. Borten and Wallack regurgitate every type of “message film” trope they can conceive of while their script’s tone lacks any type of focus. Vallee, for his part, allows all of this to happen and gets in on the action, blending so many directorial styles it becomes dizzying. The film opens as a tender, indie-spirited drama but becomes a bad Danny Boyle rip off as Ron begins travelling the world, complete with frenetic camera work and excessive music cues. The film, which should be engaging from beginning to end, becomes boring by the end due to Vallee’s pathetic work as director. There is no impact or punch because Vallee lets every story and every character just fizzle out of existence, a sad end to what should have been a magnificent tribute to those whose lives needlessly ended. 

Escape Plan Spoiler Review

Ray Breslin, played by Sylvester Stallone, is a former prosecutor who co-owns Breslin-Clark, a Los Angeles–based security firm specializing in testing the reliability of maximum security prisons. He spends his life getting into prisons to study their designs and the guards' habits to find and exploit their weaknesses, thus enabling him to escape without a hitch. He claims his goal is to ensure that criminals sent to prison stay there. One day, he and his business partner Lester Clark are offered a multimillion dollar deal by CIA agent Jessica Miller to test a top-secret prison and see if it is escape-proof. Breslin goes against all his own rules and chooses the money. He agrees to the deal and gets himself captured in New Orleans, Louisiana, under the guise of a Spanish terrorist named "Anthony Portos", but the plan goes awry when his captors remove the tracking microchip from his arm and drug him on the way to the prison.

Breslin wakes up in a complex of glass cells with no outside windows to indicate the prison's location. He meets fellow inmate Emil Rottmayer, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, and they both stage a fight for Breslin to study the solitary confinement cell, which uses high-powered halogen lights to disorient and dehydrate prisoners. Seeing that the cell floors are made of aluminum, but the rivets are steel, Breslin has Rottmayer procure a metal plate from Warden Willard Hobbes's office floor before the both of them and Muslim inmate Javed are once again thrown into solitary. Using the metal plate, Breslin focuses the reflection from the lights to heat the rivets and pop open the floor panel to reveal a passageway below. He goes through the passageway and discovers that the prison is inside a cargo ship in the middle of the ocean, making a simple escape impossible. Breslin and Rottmayer continue to study the complex by learning the guards' daily routines, and Breslin gives Hobbes false information about Rottmayer's boss, Victor Mannheim. Meanwhile, Breslin's colleagues Abigail Ross and Hush grow suspicious of Clark when Breslin's paycheck for the job is frozen. They discover from hacked documents that the prison, codenamed "The Tomb", is owned by a for-profit organization linked to Blackwater, and Clark was offered a US$5 million annual salary from them in exchange for keeping Breslin behind bars.

Back in the prison, Hobbes reveals to Breslin that he is aware of his identity, and with chief security officer Drake watching him, he wants to ensure that Breslin stays for the rest of his life. Rottmayer has Javed convince Hobbes to bring him on deck to do his nightly prayer when he actually uses a makeshift sextant to get the ship's latitude. Using the latitude and observations of the weather, Breslin and Rottmayer deduce that they are in the Atlantic Ocean near Morocco. Breslin visits the infirmary of Dr. Kyrie and convinces him to help him and Rottmayer escape by sending an email to Mannheim. Breslin then transmits a false tap code message from his cell, giving Hobbes the impression that a riot will occur in cell block C. With majority of the security stationed at cell block C, Javed instigates a riot at cell block A, giving him, Breslin, and Rottmayer time to run toward the deck while a lockdown is initiated. Breslin kills Drake, but Javed is shot dead by Hobbes and his men during their escape. Breslin goes to the engine room to reboot the electrical systems, giving Rottmayer time to open the deck hatch while a helicopter sent by Mannheim engages in a gunfight with the ship's crew. Rottmayer boards the helicopter while Breslin is flushed to the bottom of the ship by the automated water system. The helicopter picks up Breslin, but when Hobbes starts shooting at them, Breslin kills the warden by shooting a group of oil barrels in front of him. They land on a beach in Morocco, where Rottmayer reveals that he is actually Mannheim, Miller is his daughter, "Portos" was a codeword used to alert Mannheim that Breslin was an ally, and Hobbes was originally unaware that Breslin's cover story was fake. Later, at a Moroccan airfield, Ross informs Breslin that Clark had fled, but Hush tracked him in Miami, Florida, and locked him in a container aboard a cargo ship while the existence of "The Tomb" is made public before it is shut down.

Escape Plan Spoiler Review

Ray Breslin, played by Sylvester Stallone, is a former prosecutor who co-owns Breslin-Clark, a Los Angeles–based security firm specializing in testing the reliability of maximum security prisons. He spends his life getting into prisons to study their designs and the guards' habits to find and exploit their weaknesses, thus enabling him to escape without a hitch. He claims his goal is to ensure that criminals sent to prison stay there. One day, he and his business partner Lester Clark are offered a multimillion dollar deal by CIA agent Jessica Miller to test a top-secret prison and see if it is escape-proof. Breslin goes against all his own rules and chooses the money. He agrees to the deal and gets himself captured in New Orleans, Louisiana, under the guise of a Spanish terrorist named "Anthony Portos", but the plan goes awry when his captors remove the tracking microchip from his arm and drug him on the way to the prison.

Breslin wakes up in a complex of glass cells with no outside windows to indicate the prison's location. He meets fellow inmate Emil Rottmayer, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, and they both stage a fight for Breslin to study the solitary confinement cell, which uses high-powered halogen lights to disorient and dehydrate prisoners. Seeing that the cell floors are made of aluminum, but the rivets are steel, Breslin has Rottmayer procure a metal plate from Warden Willard Hobbes's office floor before the both of them and Muslim inmate Javed are once again thrown into solitary. Using the metal plate, Breslin focuses the reflection from the lights to heat the rivets and pop open the floor panel to reveal a passageway below. He goes through the passageway and discovers that the prison is inside a cargo ship in the middle of the ocean, making a simple escape impossible. Breslin and Rottmayer continue to study the complex by learning the guards' daily routines, and Breslin gives Hobbes false information about Rottmayer's boss, Victor Mannheim. Meanwhile, Breslin's colleagues Abigail Ross and Hush grow suspicious of Clark when Breslin's paycheck for the job is frozen. They discover from hacked documents that the prison, codenamed "The Tomb", is owned by a for-profit organization linked to Blackwater, and Clark was offered a US$5 million annual salary from them in exchange for keeping Breslin behind bars.

Back in the prison, Hobbes reveals to Breslin that he is aware of his identity, and with chief security officer Drake watching him, he wants to ensure that Breslin stays for the rest of his life. Rottmayer has Javed convince Hobbes to bring him on deck to do his nightly prayer when he actually uses a makeshift sextant to get the ship's latitude. Using the latitude and observations of the weather, Breslin and Rottmayer deduce that they are in the Atlantic Ocean near Morocco. Breslin visits the infirmary of Dr. Kyrie and convinces him to help him and Rottmayer escape by sending an email to Mannheim. Breslin then transmits a false tap code message from his cell, giving Hobbes the impression that a riot will occur in cell block C. With majority of the security stationed at cell block C, Javed instigates a riot at cell block A, giving him, Breslin, and Rottmayer time to run toward the deck while a lockdown is initiated. Breslin kills Drake, but Javed is shot dead by Hobbes and his men during their escape. Breslin goes to the engine room to reboot the electrical systems, giving Rottmayer time to open the deck hatch while a helicopter sent by Mannheim engages in a gunfight with the ship's crew. Rottmayer boards the helicopter while Breslin is flushed to the bottom of the ship by the automated water system. The helicopter picks up Breslin, but when Hobbes starts shooting at them, Breslin kills the warden by shooting a group of oil barrels in front of him. They land on a beach in Morocco, where Rottmayer reveals that he is actually Mannheim, Miller is his daughter, "Portos" was a codeword used to alert Mannheim that Breslin was an ally, and Hobbes was originally unaware that Breslin's cover story was fake. Later, at a Moroccan airfield, Ross informs Breslin that Clark had fled, but Hush tracked him in Miami, Florida, and locked him in a container aboard a cargo ship while the existence of "The Tomb" is made public before it is shut down.

The Wolf of Wall Street Spoiler Review

In The Wolf of Wall Street, DiCaprio plays Belfort, a Long Island penny stockbroker who served 36 months in prison for defrauding investors in a massive 1990s securities scam that involved widespread corruption on Wall Street and in the corporate banking world, including shoe designer Steve Madden. In the early 1990s, Jordan Belfort teamed with his partner Donny Azoff and started brokerage firm Stratford-Oakmont. Their company quickly grows from a staff of 20 to a staff of more than 250 and their status in the trading community and Wall Street grows exponentially. So much that companies file their initial public offerings through them. As their status grows, so do the amount of substances they abuse, and so do their lies. They draw attention like no other, throwing lavish parties for their staff when they hit the jackpot on high trades. That ultimately leads to Belfort featured on the cover of Forbes Magazine, being called "The Wolf Of Wall St.". With the FBI onto Belfort's trading schemes, he devises new ways to cover his tracks and watch his fortune grow. Belfort ultimately comes up with a scheme to stash their cash in a European bank. But with the FBI watching him like a hawk, they aren't able to maintain their elaborate wealth and luxurious lifestyles.

Individual Edit

The two videos above shown the edits that I have done of the footage we shot. Once includes a filter on the video and one does not.

Filming for our Thriller

For our thriller title sequence, we have filmed the first stage of filming at my house and we will do the other stage of filming at school. We casted Liam to play the killer in which he played this part very well, plus he helped with the shooting as we were missing a person. Stephen played the computer hacker and filmed as well.

Role in Production

1. Camera Operator (or this can be shared by showing on your blog which shots you filmed) NATASHA + STEPHEN
2. Editor - builds the film, adds Titles  NATASHA
3. Sound - foley, mix down, over dubs STEPHEN
4. Visual Effects - Motion Tracking, After Effects, Colourisation NATASHA

Post Mock Analysis of The Hustle OCR Clip

This clip was taken from the BBC show ‘The Hustle’. It shows the group pulling of a con against a greedy store owner by using stereotypical gender roles to fool him. The female con-artist wears a blonde-wig, a tight-fitting business suit as a costume and later wears a revealing low backed dress. She is using her femininity and ‘vulnerable’ status to attract him to be protective of her and he is interested in helping her due to his greed because he sees her wearing an expensive ring. As she leaves to go to her hair appointment she displays how she is using the act of gender to swindle him, letting the audience know that this is a facade. There is a close-up on the key prop - the ring - as this is a point of view shot and it’s the first thing he notices before he looks across to her face. The ring represents ownership as it shows that she is ‘owned’ by her husband, when in reality she is in control of the situation. This reinforces the fact that the gender roles are reversed. 

She is introduced as the sex object because her costume changes to a low backed cocktail dress which exposes her legs and back. The camera uses a tilt shot to gradually reveal her body as if looking her up and down. This can be perceived as the Male Gaze, representing femininity as something to be looked at. This is turned on its head as the female character is really a con-women and masculinity is in her crimes. Plus, she has control the whole time by playing with the act of gender which is the driving force of the narrative. Dialogue reveals that she is concerned about her male partner/ husband reaction when she looses the ring and high angle shots are used when she is on her knees to make her seem more vulnerable. And as she panics the edits are faster and the camera is more erratic to reinforce her emotional instability which is perceived to be a typical female trait. The sound is a non-diegetic soundtrack of a farcical performance from the store owner, who is rather lighthearted and camp which is immediately stopped with a recording of a more masculine reaction to the women’s emotional outburst. 

The composition and angles in the sequence reveal a more equal relationship between the two characters and that he has more respect for her due to her wealth when compared to the height difference and the angles of the first female character in the scene who has everyday casual clothes, unkempt hair, and is less feminine and less focused on her appearance. Juxtaposed with the feminized environment of the Boutique is the Gentlemen club which again has a wipe edit pushing out the previous scene reinforcing the dominance of the masculine location. This is contrasted by the sound and behavior of the two now drunk men blowing raspberries and giggling. Reducing their masculinity to that of two small boys. The camera uses a wide shot to compare their silly boyish behavior to that of the serious masculine set where other actors in suits read serious newspapers. In this homosocial environment femininity is expected to be absent and masculinity is constructed through dialogue as they discuss criminal activity and props as they smoke, drink whiskey and demonstrate traditional male behavior. As the edit is a violent and dominant intrusion between scenes it shows male like behavior again and demonstrates the power to place us in scenes in a dynamic, definite and male way. 

In similar contrast in masculinity the scene with the young, confident, empowered and cool working class man stands his ground and the store owner demonstrates the competition between the two. The young working class man puts on an act of gender to be competitive with the store owner and is aware that he is able to manipulate him by walking away by controlling the salesman. This relationship is reinforced through camera angles. The store owner who is a metrosexual and a rather feminised male is subordinate to women as his job role doesn’t demonstrate heterosexual masculinity and they use a high angle of the store owner looking up and down on his knees to show that the young worker has a higher amount of male dominance so it shows that the young worker is more powerful and masculine. The change of scenes moves from the male character with the alarm to the store owner trying to find the ring. this shows how it jumps from one failed attempt that a man has made to another. This also reinforces how the masculine traits are failing in this clip because the male characters are not capable of living up to stereotypical masculine traits. However, I think that with the male character and the alarm, this is made to look humorous because before he set of the alarm he acted in control to the recipient but didn’t have the ability to carry out his task.