Thriller Planning

Basic plot:

When me and Alice sat down to plan the thriller we first had to first decide upon the basic format for our thriller. We decided that we would not use dialogue due to the fact that it would sound rough if we plan to use the school camera equipment. It would be much smarter for us to use non-diegetic sound throughout the scene. Secondly we decided on what we thought would make our thriller stand out, gender and social status were our first ideas, but after much consideration we decided that it would be much better to have a middle aged woman as the centre of attention. The image I had in my head was a far more deviant version of 'Jackie Brown'.
We then had to start work on the shot list. Without dialogue there would be very little point in using the 180 degree rule, however, to contrast victim and killer we may have used some form of the rule with extreme close ups.
The shot list is as follows:

1) The camera is facing from some distance away at the second story front windows of a house. The camera does not need to be parallel, it can be a high or low angle... The shot will be taken at night time and the lighting will come entirely from the room that the camera is focused on. There will be a woman in this room and she will be walking around in a hurry, picking items up etc. The camera will slowly zoom into the top left hand corner of the window, where the production company's name will appear. I took actually spent a lot of time deciding which corner of the window to zoom into, I decided on the top left corner mainly because we right from left to right, so if we were to zoom into any corner we would feel more comfortable with the right hand side.... I decided that if we are already reversing gender roles then why not build up to this by reversing the shots as well.
2) The previous shot has faded to white and now a new shot fades in. This shot is of a car park, the camera is facing down a hill looking into the car park. The shot is an over the shoulder shot, we see the hair of a woman so we know that this is the character from before. She is looking down at two men in the car park. I want to trick the audience by reversing the shot so that we see the men looking up at the woman but It would be hard to do this without breaking the 180 degree rule, however, I shall try my best to succeed.
3) we shoot from the floor for the next shot, it is an extremely low angle, we see one of the men from the car park walking towards the camera, as he comes closer and closer he covers more and more of the shot, finally he walks through the shot, revealing the woman from before to be walking behind him at some distance.

4) the final shot shows an elevator, the man presses the button and waits for the lift to reach him, when it does the woman is there, the camera moves slowly to the left to show a blank wall. We hear the diegetic sound of fighting and the film title suddenly appears on the wall along. The title will be in the classic Quentin Tarantino font and colour (yellow).
The idea of the first 3 scenes is to quickly show that there are two characters, both equally deviant, one a man one a woman, in the fourth scene we know that they have a fight but we do not know who started or won the fight. After the forth scene fades out the words '4 Weeks earlier will appear upon a black screen'. This shows the audience that this is in fact the end of the film, and to understand the history behind the characters and what happened at the lift they must watch the events of the previous weeks. The idea that this film is non linear not only helps create suspense straight away but it also insures that the audience stay to watch the rest of the film.

Essex Boys

Essex Boys is a film directed by Terry Winsor, the film was made in the year 2000 and it is based around the Murders of three drug dealers in 1995. Below are the opening scenes.

The first scene we see shows a garage door being opened, the garage is very small creating a claustrophobic atmosphere. The character of Billy, who has just opened the door turns on several lights, this illuminates the room showing cobwebs and dirt. The way in which the shot comes from within the room and not from the character is what takes this scene away from looking like a horror and more like a thriller. The character moves around in a cheap black suit and starts to narrate in an essex accent. The character speaks about a man called Jason, who has just been released from jail. The shot moves to show the view from the passenger seat, the shot shows the windscreen wipers cleaning mud from the glass. A man is standing under a lamp infront of the car. This character is obviously Jason, his stance shows dominance and the dirty glass symbolises the difference between Jason and Billy. Jason is dressed in a leather coat and a very unflattering yellow patterned shirt. This links to the character of Bill from Kill Bill, because both men are dressed in a cheap and shoddy way, this shows that the characters are trying to give of the image of power, even though they do not have as much power as they'd like. 

The second scene shows a car driving slowly down into a tunnel, this once again creates a very claustrophobic atmosphere whilst also implying that being with Jason alone is dangerous. The car slowly gets further and further away from the camera as it drives into the tunnel, showing that Billy is digging himself a hole in his situation with Jason. The tunnel itself looks a lot like the barrel of a gun, this scene may be used again with an actual gun to show that Billy made the wrong choice by driving in the tunnel.

The third shot shows Jason sitting in the back of Billy's car with his arms behind his head, this shows that he is very calm and relaxed, we then see through the windscreen that Billy is far from relaxed. The comparison between the two characters shows that Billy is not the kind of person that would act like Jason and that Billy is the more favourable character.
As we watch Billy drive the lights from the tunnel roof shine down, creating jail bars on the windscreen, this shows us that the characters actions are going to be quite deviant and also that Billy knows the possible consequences of his actions. As the characters leave the scene the camera pans to the right to show a 'Welcome to Essex' sign. This is another cultural signifier, it helps show that the film is following some element of truth, for example that it is based on a true story.
The next shot is a point of vue shot from Billy as he watches Jason, the narration talks about how Jason wanted to meet a friend, that he knew from before he went to jail. The shot contrasts well with the calm narration because from the chair leg in his hand and the look on Jasons face we see that the meeting is not with that of a friend. we see from to views as Jason attacks, firstly from the crowd overlooking the fight, and secondly from Billy as he looks through the windscreen. The first shot shows that this kind of behavior is not uncommon, because the crowd are cheering on the fight. The second shot shows that the character of Billy is incredibly scared and is starting to truly understand the situation he has placed himself in.

Witness

Witness

The film 'Witness, which was directed by Peter Wier in 1985 is about an Amish boy who witnesses a murder at a train station in Philadelphia. The first shot within the murder scene shows the small boy looking up at a large statue, The statue seems to be some form of war memorial and this is an important symbol because the Amish boy does not understand war and modern society. We also see his innocence when the camera angle is from the statue looking down at the boy, The way in which he looks up (with his large hat creating a Halo) shows that he is bewildered by the norms of this new society. The next scene shows the young boy and his mother sitting alone in the vast empty station. The small boy asks to go to the toilet and forgets his hat, his mother reminds him and puts it on his head. This to me sums up the Amish community and the child's personality, not only does it show that they are keeping themselves innocent so that they do not become part of the apparent evil of our communities. The boy is so innocent that when he enters the toilets not only does he smile at a strange man but also leaves the toilet door unlocked and slightly askew. This shows that he does not understand danger or in fact any for of evil. We see the small gap in the toilet door throughout the following scene as two men enter the toilets after him. The two men brutally attack the man and kill him.

This is a very sudden turn of events, this shows the boys sudden change of emotion, from being safe to in danger. One of the murderers is washing his hands when the small boy lets out a small noise (something between a grunt and a squeal). The imagery of a murderer casually washing his hands usually shows guilt, but in this situation the casual way in which he washes shows no guilt within the character. The Murderer (who has heard the noise) starts to kick in the doors. The boy changes his heart and locks the door, This shows that he now understands danger. when the man gets to the final door (in which the boy is situated) he cannot open it, as the man kicks the door the small boy climbs under the side of the cubicle and into the next basin. As he does this he drops his hat on the floor, when he picks it back up he does not place it on his head, this is because the halo which used to show is innocence no longer has an relevance to him. 

Possible case Studies

1) Reservoir Dogs (1992)
A thriller about several criminals who after a failed jewelery heist return to a warehouse only to begin suspecting each other of being a police informant. After watching this thriller I instantly went through all of the other Quinten Tarantino (The films director) films which had managed to navigate around my search for every film in existence. This film would make a good case study because within the 99 minutes that we are glued to the screen and seat, there is a perfect build of suspense and tension between the characters. The camera angles are also highly effective and I have already thought of 5 camera angles to include within my own thriller, they are not recreated shots from within the films because that lacks originality, instead they are shots which have entered the vast emptiness of my mind whilst I intake the film.

2) The second Film I could use as a possible case study is Memento (2000)
The film stars Guy Pearce as a young man hunting for his wife's killer, He suffers from short term memory loss and must use photos and tattoos to remember important facts about the man he is searching for.
The film is non linear and every scene we see is the memory of the scene before, this overlapping system leads to several different interpretations of the same situation. This would make a good case study because it slowly builds not only suspense but also because it keeps the audience thinking and would help teach me the techniques used to make a film more entertaining and gripping when watched.
3) I spent a long time thinking about what my third potential case study would be, at first I thought that 'The day of the Jackal' would make an interesting study. This idea was quickly removed due to several reasons, one reason is because of definitions. Language is always changing and therefore has changed a lot since 'The day of the Jackal' was aired in 1973. This therefore means that the film itself may not fit the modern definition of a Thriller. Another reason is because the film itself is hard to acquire and having watched it quite long ago I doubt that with just memory it would make a sufficient case study. Finally I narrowed my choices down until I decided that my third case study would be 'Inglorious Basterds'. The reason behind choosing another Quentin Tarantino film was because with my cravings for more of his films the only logical answer was to involve his most recent work. I believe that 'Inglorious Basterds' stuck out was not just because it was his most recent work, it was most likely because it was so far from his usual work. 'Inglorious Basterds' is set within an alternative history in which the Americans succeed in an attempt to kill Hitler. The film would make a good case study due to the situation of the Jew's hiding in Nazi occupied france, this creates excellent tension on stage, whilst also creating a surreal evil within the strong Nazi characters within the Film.

Preliminary Evaluation

Preliminary Task

When I first started work upon the preliminary task I instantly wanted the dialogue to be the key feature, in my minds eye I imagined capturing the perfect scene between our teenage actors. After several seconds I realised that I was going about this entirely the wrong way, when filming for the first time, we are not trying to create a cult classic, instead we are merely supposed to show that we can hold a camera without spontaneously combusting or falling out of a window. 

With this new, slightly improved mindset, I wrote a script and set about to the important business of finding the best shots. The end product is what I can only describe as being a 'colourful checklist', where each shot that was listed is shown one after the other. I know that this was not exactly the most imaginative system but with a preliminary task I personally believe that the best way to flourish is to merely successfully do everything that was asked of us.

From the preliminary task I have gathered one thing, dialogue will not work without a boom. The sound is so clunky and irritating that either we add a warning at the beginning of our video, or we find some non-diegetic sound and use it to replace the diegetic sound. 

The second thing I have learnt is that we need to think outside of the very small box that is commonly referred to as 'logic'. For this outburst I would of course need to be very ambitious and somewhat over prepared. Seeing as I currently have no idea how I will manage this I must make haste to the drawing board and work on either the use of shadows or darkness, for they would be the hardest shots to capture.

My original ideas behind my Thriller

From my persepective, there are three ways to make a great thriller, these three things are not what makes a thriller but personally what should be included to make a thriller successful.

1) Dialogue:

Dialogue is by far one of the best features of any extraordinary film due to its effect on the audience and ability to create tension and suspense between characters. For example, Pulp Fiction is a long stream of perfectly written dialogue. The script is written in such a way that throughout the film that the dialogue does not give the effect of being informative, instead the film is portrayed to the audience as being a sequence of events. The very idea that watching a film should be like watching extracts from potentially real events, is what most films miss out on having, I believe that most modern thrillers are instead seen more as being a story which leads from A to B. This simple story technique does not allow the audience to truly emerse themselves within the plot-line and therefore does not allow the audience to see any form of tension of suspense.

2) The Camera Angles:

A film of course work with a well written script, but without a visual aspect, I doubt many people would watch or appreciate the film. And so came about the unintentional invention of camera angles and shots. The visual side to films sadly dominates the audio side, and therefore films like Avatar can entertain an audience with beautiful scenes whilst having a script and storyline equal to the conversations shared between children and toys at a lonely teddy bare tea party.

Certain shots are what create amazing films, within Animal Kingdom, there is one scene were the Josh (the main character) is standing in a hallway, he has a blank emotionless look on his face and slowly looks behind him to see the police run from one side to the other of the hallway. This shot stuck with me because it not only uses an amazing angle but it also utilised the characters facial expressions to adapt the imagery of the shot.

Another amazing shot is in fact Quinten Tarantino's commonly used 'Car boot shot' which is used in 'Reservoir Dogs', 'Pulp Fiction', 'Jackie Brown', 'Kill Bill' and 'Death Proof'. The angle of the camera is placed in a car boot and looks up towards one or more other characters, the camera symbolises somebody within the car and it portrays the characters above not only as being dominant but also as being deviant. This shot is also used in 'Inglorious Basterds' but from the forest floor instead of a car boot.

3) The Actors:

The largest effect on how people perceive a film is the actors playing each part. The way an actor looks and acts can change the script entirely, for example if Bill Murray was born with a less glum looking face but the same acting abilities, then groundhog say would of been seen in a less humorous way. 

All great films have had great actors flourish from them, this is because these certain actors are good at the role they played, for example Hugh Grant is not inept because he knows that his best suiting role is as a british romantic. If he were to try and star in another awful Hulk film, yes it would be funny, but he would not pull off the role successfully.

I have decided that I shall base my thriller upon some of if not all of these three rules... I shall also jazz up the name of the rules so that I may add another small glimpse of hope to the world of potential media success. The Three Filming Forms, seems like a fitting name and now I shall decide how to utilise each 'Form' within my 2 minutes of thriller filming.

1) Dialogue normally slowly builds over time, and if there is one thing we are not given it is time. To have a two minute scene of dialogue would show that we understood about the 180 degree rule, but it would show no real talent with a camera, merely scripting.

2) If we have already ruled out the idea of complex and well written dialogue then we shall add more effect upon the actors and camera angles.

3) If we are to use camera angles then we must show skill without danger, I will most likely wrack my brains for several days before concluding that in fact my mind is a barrel of hope and that I understand millions of never before shot scenes.

4) With good scenes a plot must be amazing, or at least as amazing as a plot can be within 2 minutes.

5) Actors, if we are intending on using actors that fit the roles then we would most likely need a stern looking man with a strong jawbone etc... I personally believe that this is to mainstream and that if anything we should have someone who doesn't fit the role and then adapt them so that the stereotype we are fighting is what makes this character not only fit the role well but also work better than the stern man.

6) The stereotype shall be that of a young female doing what a male character would usually do within thriller films.

7) Finally we need to link both the character and camera with the idea of suspense and tension, this is because the Three Filming Forms (I really wanted to say it again) are created to fit any film, not just thrillers, in order to create a thriller we must add in thriller features as well.

8) With the previous 7 steps followed to some level of success we should have the basic structure to our Three Filming Forms Thriller... 

Kill Bill Vol 1 Intro

 Bill Vol 1

This is the introduction to a thriller by Quinten Tarantino, from these few minutes we, as an audience, are instantly gripped. The film starts with a black screen, over the diegetic sound of pained breathing. We are left for only 2 seconds with this, before an extreme close up of a blood covered woman hits the screen in black and white. These 3 seconds have already been used wonderfully to not only add suspense but to also create an image of classic thrillers. This close up is left for another 8 seconds before any other sense of action is added, this if anything is to add suspense within scene. The only time we see the camera move in the entire introduction, this shot is very low and only covers the feet, this not only means that we cannot see the face of the actor but also that the man is the dominance within the room. The best feature within any of Quinten Tarantino's films is dialogue, and Kill Bill is no exception, the first 5 words are an instant hit. "Do you find me sadistic?" are the first words of the film, and in a way should be the last. The entire film is just the story of how people are sadistic and how they are. I believe that this is one of the best structural devices used within the entire film. The second best feature of any Tarantino film is the camera angles and shots used. In this scene we see the dominant man leaning over the deviant woman and wiping blood from her face with a handkerchief labeled Bill. These two devices work hand in hand to create an entire plot within 20 seconds, The Title is Kill Bill, and the man within the shot is named Bill, this means that we already know the that this woman plans to kill this man and that he has greatly pained her in a somewhat sickening manner. To end this short introduction we see the woman crying as bill shoots her in the head. This is very sudden and adds tension upon our tower of suspense, we are left wondering whether or not this is a flash back or whether or not the end is in fact the beginning as "do you find me sadistic?" once implied. 

How has Working Title adapted to changes in the film industry?

Everything within the film industry changes over time, and Working title is no different. Since 1984, when working title was founded, there have been many changes throughout the entire film industry. We saw the creation of HD, 3D and 4D films, which all helped recreate the idea of a children's film. In the film industry Working title may appear, in comparison to most other film production companies, to have not changed since it was originally started. In fact, it has changed just as much as others over the past 27 years.
Working Title is known most commonly for its many rom-coms, which became very popular in america due to the repetitive idealistic British and American relationship, which appeared in almost every rom-com they made. For example: Notting Hill, is the story of a British man falling in love with a famous American actress. This is very popular in the united states because they lap up the idea of British romance and also the imagery of rich famous Americans (which appears in most of Working Titles rom-coms) pleases the audience, because they enjoy seeing other people portray their positive sides.
Working Title uses the same actors in many different film genres to link one audience to a different aspect of their films. The use of Rowan Atkinson in both 'Johnny English' and 'Four weddings and a funeral', is very effective, because it makes the audience of one film want to watch the other. The two films are completely unrelated, but the fact that an actor influences whether or not to watch a film, shows us how Working Title effectively use this sales technique.
Working Title use DVD sales in many different ways in order to gain the target audiences attention. When shopping recently, I noticed that there was several working title films, being sold in a bundle, the films involved were, Love actually, Bridget Jones' diary and four weddings and a funeral. There was only three bundles left on the shelf, which shows us that Working Title has been creating many films that all follow one genre. This is an interesting technique because it means that their audience never falters.
Tinker Tailor Solider Spy is the main film that shows Working Titles adaption within the Film Industry, it is the first film too have a completely new spin on the Working Title audience, the film is a thriller based upon the book by John Le Carre. The film was not as much of a success on the classic Working Title audience as their other films were. This is due to the fact that Working Title has never taken this angle before. The thriller of the mind, was so far from being what Working Title usually produce that Universal refused to finance it at all. Studio Canal took the risk instead and helped finance the first ever Working Title Thriller.
In my opinion the film was a success, it showed a new side to Working Title and it proved that they were in fact adapting to the film industry. The Film gave Working Title a completely different audience and was very highly reviewed even though it was such a jump from classic Working Title films.
The leap from Rom-coms to thrillers did however give Working Title one advantage. It gained the audiences of European countries and helped show small independent film companies how they can adapt to the film industry as well.

Johnny English

The second trailer from Working Title is the incredibly well known Johnny English. Armed with Rowan Atkinson and millions of juvenile jokes 'Johnny English' hit off immediately. But looking back at the trailer several years on, I realised that I must of been insane to go to the cinema and watch this. The trailer not only has the cheesiest voice over ever, it also brings attention to the worst aspects of the film. The only part that I can see within the two minute trailer that sells the movie to me, is the fact that we get an image of Rowan Atkinson for almost every single second. I feel slightly conned of a childhood when I peer into the depths of Johnny English, and realise that it became so successful only because it targeted an audience of children and their kind parents. Now, I am not going to just insult a trailer because I have seen the full film, I also think that there are many good points. For one, the over use of Rowan Atkinson's face is a clever technique that means the audience can predict that if they liked other films staring him, they will also like this one. Another sales technique I noticed was the positioning of the cheesy voice over. At one point in the trailer we see Johnny English covered in excrement whilst the cheesy voice says, "From the producers of Mr. Bean". This is effective on the audience because Mr. Bean normally came hand in hand with looking filthy in supposedly funny situations. Throughout the trailer the over use of well known actors and bad jokes gives the audience the slight giddy feeling where they are so stunned by the trailers random sequence of events that they suddenly find themselves in the cinema watching the full film in 3D with premiere seats and large popcorn. To conclude, The trailer for Johnny English contrasts well with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, because they both target different audiences and use sales techniques that were more common when the film was made.

Tinker Tailor Solider Spy

Is a highly well thought of Thriller of the mind from Working Title. The trailer seen above shows very little of the film itself, but it does portray a very strong image of what the film is about. Some trailers, like that of the 2010 film 'Monsters', do not show the film for what it truly is. This leads to many people sitting in the cinema waiting for the Smurfs to bring Dobby back to life.

In this trailer however, several very strong techniques are used. Firstly, the intense and jumpy music has been fitted to each segment of the trailer so that it flows effectively. I must admit to watching the trailer through several times just to intake nostalgia after watching the film in the cinema. This was mainly down to the fact that the trailer was so effective on the audience. Secondly I realised that text had been subtly used throughout the video at several points to add dramatic effect. This works well because it brings up many questions that the audience eventually ask themselves, whilst watching the film. The third interesting effect I noticed was the gaps between each snippet of film. The longest time within the trailer that the scene does not change was for 3 seconds. This added a very jumpy effect to the film which fitted well with the music, the change between scenes does not only keep the audiences attention, but it also entices them into watching the film to find out more. To conclude, this trailer is not only incredibly effective on the audience it also manages to do what very few trailers ever manage to do, which is to portray the idea that the film is a thriller in under 2 minutes. 

Camera shots

Here is the very fashionable 'over the shoulder' shot.
Apart from allowing the audience to see from a 3rd point of view it also adds an affect of seeing the shot from first person.
Apart from mentioning the strange man walking along in the front, which we could of panned in on to add effect there is very little that the photo can explain about the 'over the shoulder' shot.

Here is the extravagant low angle shot. In my opinion, shooting from low to high is quite depressing because it not only makes the audience feel small and insignificant, it also physically does not show detail on enough objects or people to be very useful.
The only time I would personally use this shot is either when somebody is walking down a slope of some kind, or just generally falling down some stairs.

Here is the infamous High angle, well known for its affects of adding dominance. When shooting down from a high angle, the audience feels like they are in power, and normally that they know more than the character themselves. For example, if a high angle shot was used to track a man walking down a street, you would feel that you knew more, because the man being watched had no idea you were watching his every move.
I can see how high angle shots are useful and prefer them to the tediously dull low angle shots.

Birds eye view
In my own opinion I do not believe that this is a perfect birds eye view photo. Not only is it because i slightly slipped whilst taking it, but also because the main object in the photo (Lyndsey) is not in the centre and therefore we get slightly more of her left than her right. This really doesn't matter when it comes down to the photo itself, but being picky about this kind of thing just makes me feel better when I make mistakes.

And last but not least, my favourite of all, the worm angle. I would like to nickname this angle "The audience at my mercy" but i feel that it would be a waste of my time getting everyone to call it that swell. I say this because the angle itself shows that the persona is very vulnerable because they are so low down. This would be a very useful shot in any thriller or horror because, with a corridor like this, a character could proceed towards the camera before walking over it, this would not only induce fear upon all children watching the age certificate 18 film but would also make a very mysterious and effective scene.


There are a few shots that are not included like 'Close up', 'Extreme close up', and 'tilt', these photos were sadly lost but I believed that anybody who is reading the blog would understand easily what these camera angles are.
If we were to practice camera filming angles I would like to use the dolly technique. where the camera is wheeled on a dolly through the scene, this can be by tacking or by moving backwards through a scene as the character moves upon the camera.

I would also like to mention that the titles to each post have brackets including information because I originally used them in my first post to take some of my anger out on 3D films, which have in many ways ruined the beauty of old fashioned 2D films. Since the original post had brackets I decided that it would be morally wrong of me not to assign brackets to every other post.

The Life Aquatic

I recently watched another Wes Anderson film and because I own a media blog I thought I might as well write about it.
The film is based around Bill Murray playing a character called Steve Zissou. Steve makes some form of documentary out at sea. The point of why they make movies is never really mentioned and is therefore quite vague.
Throughout the film Steve Zissou hunts down a large shark that killed his friend called 'The Jaguar Shark'.
A young reporter joins the Zissou team (Which is made up of several people dressed in red hats and blue suits) so she can document Zissou's life.
Owen Wilson plays Ned, who is Steve's potential son, but it is never specified whether or not he really is Zissou's own child.
As with most of Wes Anderson's films the constant small quirky details add a lot of humour and effect. The film follows the 180 degree rule by creating the entire set in one piece. This means that when a character moves through the boat, the camera can follow them walking up stairs and through doors, in one continuos shot. This is amazing to watch and every time a scene like this takes place it becomes very effective on the audience.
At one scene in the film Ned and Zissou are talking and Steve mentions that if Ned was in fact his real son he would of called him Kingsley. Zissou then keeps mentioning to Ned about the idea of changing his name to Kingsley Zissou. A little while later in the film a small card is pushed under Neds door, we then see a point of view camera shot as Ned looks at the card. It is informing Ned that he has had his name changed to 'Kingsley (Ned) Zissou'. Not only is the build up executed brilliantly, it also a classic style of Wes Anderson, to add up small detail to create a quirky joke. This is shown in almost all of his films. For example, in the film Rushmore (1998) the main character, Max, has two small badges, one for perfect attendance and the other for punctuality. After moving schools he awkwardly allows a friend to choose a badge. The way in which the scene is executed makes the situation more realistic and entertaining.
Throughout the film Zissou seems to be very different from Ned's memories of watching him in earlier life, as time goes on Zissou slowly changes from being a slightly arrogant and jealous, to becoming true, pure and happy. This is shown at the end of the film (after Ned has died in a helicopter crash) when Zissou gives Ned's team zissou ring to a small boy. The credits then roll and the Zissou team walk nostalgically onto their boat (which is partially destroyed from a pirate attack and because it is quite tacky and old anyway).
So many scenes in the film involve small and funny detail, but it is hard to describe them to an audience who may not have watched the film. For me to easily explain why this film was amazing it would take every human in the world to first watch it with me, and then for them to all listen to me perform a presentation on it.
I have posted a link to the film below and hope that out of the zero people who read this blog, that at least one of you decides to watch it.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362270/

Film Consumption and its a effects (Also available in 3D)

But it doesn’t stop there, as time goes on everybody’s televisions seemed to become squashed into a large tablet on a stand. Then of course they sprouted extra channels and a high definition mode for those lucky few who have previously blinded themselves at the cinema watching 3D films to finish off the job.  Now the commonly used ways of film consumption have already been stated, but let us not forget the many other ways for humanity to diverge upon a film. There is of course ‘Apples’ large contribution to the film industry, not only does I-Tunes sell an over powering amount of films but the iPhone and iPod touch have now become the best way to watch films on the go. I once owned an iPod touch and after wasting £50 on iTunes cards and films I came to the conclusion that it was a massive waste of my money and time. But for many months I was happily sitting staring at a tiny 3” screen, there is obviously a very good marketing technique for portable film devices because my addictive personality soon became under threat by the large expanse of films that I could watch all day long. Luckily enough I sold my iPod so as to not fall prey to film marketing. For the first time in my life I realised that technology had affected the love I had for watching films to the extent of making me spend excessive amounts of money on films that would soon be on television anyway. To conclude, the technology for watching films is of course always improving, so I really wouldn’t be surprised if in a few years I was watching a film in 5D with a fan blasting the smells and whether conditions of the film at me. It may seem like a strange idea to us now but looking back thirty years people would not of expected us to be watching films in 3D*.

New technology is the most interesting part of modern society; without technology adapting constantly we would not be able to progress. Films and the ways we watch films change together, one affects the other and they both change together. When 3D films first entered our lives the majority of people jumped to the occasion and blinded themselves with blue and red glasses. Because of the sudden excitement surrounding 3D films, directors decided to start making films based entirely around the 3D aspect of viewing. I remember watching “Spy Kids” in 3D when I was younger and not caring at all about the plot, only the 3D effects managed to keep me entertained.

This just shows how easily and audience is entertained, we all suck in whatever new technology there is in a search for more enjoyment. But what happens when 3D has become so mainstream that it no longer has any influence on customers? Probably just another even more ludicrous attempt to grab the public’s attention, like 4D, or films where the audience votes for the outcome (this would most likely work because an audience normally only wants to see what they like). As time moves on so does film technology and its attempts at marketing itself. Since 2009 the sales for 3D films have repetitively increased, this is probably due to the fact that not all films have yet to be consumed by the 3D world. However, not all films are 3D obviously, the majority of people in fact have been sitting at home and watching films on there own televisions. Since 2003 the amount of money that has been spent on T.V and DVD has gone up by over 80 million. As a large amount of the population enjoy staying at home with the lights dimmed and the curtains closed it is obvious why showing films on television is such a successful idea, even online films have shot up in the last 3 years to an astonishing amount. The fact that television is doing so well is all down to the technology of course.  With the computers and laptops that are available today who wouldn’t stay at home watching films and avoiding work? The large expanse of online streaming websites means that people can download a video for free (and slightly illegally) and watch it a few minutes later. The other reason that home cinema entertainment has become so loved is down to the fact that we literally can have home cinemas. When we turn our 28” plasma 3D screen T.V there is no need to leave the house for a few days.

Over the years televisions have had there own stylish evolution. Starting off as a partially wooden box with 3 channels and quickly gaining mass to allow the whole family to all enjoy BBC news together.

The ways in which technology have effected film consumption are that it has made people more aware of films and it has aloud larger amounts of people to access films cheaply and in many different environments. One day films may die off because the nostalgia that comes with watching a film you enjoyed has been corrupted by new technologies and extravagant business plans. But at this current date technology is merely allowing people to watch films in easier or more interesting situations, and in my eyes there is nothing wrong with that.

*Thirty years ago they may not of thought that we would be watching films in 3D but they did think that we would be driving around in hover cars...

Robin Lubach

My opinion on blogging so far

I do not dislike the idea of blogging at all, I rather like the idea that our coursework is on the internet, and not under my bed in a disorganised pile. But I do however dislike several aspects of this blog. Not only does it make adding pictures a life time chore it also manages to combine paragraphs when posting. On three occasions already, I have had to repost, because my work has suddenly become a mangled mess of letters, pictures and numbers. I suppose, given time I will find it easier to use and work with, and I am sure that every student who has used a blog has disliked in some way. But that doesn't make blogging any easier right now, the majority of the time I try and post I feel like an infant trying to control the Hubble-Telescope by tapping buttons in the hope that the end product looks pleasing.
I do however have some Non-Negative points for blogging, which I suppose makes this post more acceptable to read. Firstly, after hours of attempting to move a photo 10 pixels to the right and unscrambling 4000 letters, the end product can look very appealing, and is much easier to read than 4000 letters of varying size in a font normally refereed to as 'Robin's awful handwriting'. Another good point is that in society today it is quite hard to escape technology and the internet, so wherever I find myself at 2am I can usually update my blog with some attempt at brilliant literature. The third and final reason why Blogging can be and normally is quite good is the fact that it is much less time consuming than writing by hand or printing of work and waiting 3 weeks to hand it to the teacher in person.
Overall I do find that the blog is quite enjoyable to use, and although actually posting information is painfully tedious I suppose it can be seen as an obstacle that I must over come before failing in other aspects of online media consumption and production.

Introduction

Robin Lubach:

English Literature: A

English language: B

Maths: B

Philosophy and Ethics: B

Maths with statistics: C

Graphics: C

Sociology: C

Science: C

Additional Science: C

Drama: D (after failing the first section of coursework it slowly became harder and harder to drag my grade back up, after spending half my life at drama clubs and acting I found that coursework had infact killed everything I enjoyed about Acting)

I.C.T: F

Hobbies: Fencing and Watching as many films as humanly possible are my only real hobbies, one involves a large amount of physical strain and the other involves slightly blinding myself at 2am.

Print Media: I normally do not read the newspaper, I don't think I have ever touched an edition of the sun, I don't want to open it up and find that I actually enjoy it, after seeing the cover from afar I have decided that a much less biased source of information would probably be best for me. If I ever want to find anything out I just look up BBC news online. Most of the time I open a magazine is when I am still in the shop and looking for the recent film releases.

Radio Media: Radio, I doubt if radio left my life I would be effected at all. What I have picked up from radio over the years is one fact, It never stops airing, I don't have a favourite radio channel because I'm not ready for that kind of commitment, I know that in later life it will probably become a very good source of mass media and I will be very glad to own one in my car.

Music industry: Most children know a large amount of music because it is always surrounding them, my childhood sadly was not full of the musical industry, I was always quite surprised to find that I was so musically illiterate, in recent years I have started to listen to a few bands, and because of this I know longer feel like a dunce when someones iTunes library is turned up to full volume nearby. 

I do not belong to a Band but I have tried to learn an instrument from time to time, sadly every attempt at becoming a musical prodigy has ended with a quick trip to cash converters to see how much I can get for selling a clarinet, guitar ect.

The main way to access music is either by renting a cd from the forum or by rifling through internet sites until I find a cheap or free album. 

I know a large amount of people say that illegal downloading from the internet is morally wrong but from time to time it is the only way, I myself have never actually downloaded anything from the internet, but if I ever was put in a situation were it was an option I wouldn't stop to think "oh no, this is wrong, I'll just wait until I can pay 25p for this track". Many people claim that illegally downloading a bands music is disrespecting the band, but I think it is merely a way to cheaply listen to the music that they enjoy.

Belonging to a certain genre means you respect them, some people respect bands that dress in leather and because of this they intake a large amount of the culture and style, they then sew themselves there own leather suit to tell the word "yeah, I'm a fan of that band, you know the one, its called 'leather, pain, death and leather", I don't disagree with this at all, it allows people to become part of something and to give their lives a tiny bit more purpose, I myself don't follow a musical trend, but in a small way I wish I did.

Video Games: I know of a large amount of games and I know that they are quite highly thought of, but I do not play any of them, I don't play any games set in 1944 shooting nazis, and I don't like to hunt aliens in the future, In my opinion the best games will always be the originals, my favourite game by far would be Pacman, nothing will ever beat a sandwich in one hand and a joystick for Pacman in the other.

New technology: It will always be the most interesting part of any persons life, it is always improving in ways we would of never expected, even tribal villages deep in an unknown forest thrive on improving a spear into a bow and arrow. Every year we wait to see what the next iPod will do and look like and in a way I believe that technological improvement is probably the best thing that can happen to society. It can allow people who are giving up on life to blog about the puppy they lost as a child. It Allows everyone to meet people that feel the same way they do and it allows us to obtain large amounts of information from around the world, without technology and mass media, we would probably still be invading each other countries in a way to understand them and not googling it for 25 minutes as a bit of light reading. Bloggers and YouTubers have helped fill peoples lives for years and in a way bloggers are as influential as schools to some certain groups of people.

Television: It is always hard to decide what my favourite television channel is, normally I would say that Film4 is the best, because it is an easy way to watch films, but I recently realised that the best films are usually on ITV4 or E4 at midnight, for example 'The day of the Jackal" was on ITV4 last week. It was a very good thriller and it gave me a lot of ideas for how to successfully make a thriller of my own. Film4 barely ever shows a good thriller and is normally hurling top box office films from 2003 at you ever night.

From my childhood, very few TV shows stuck out at me. I don't watch much TV these days because the idea of tuning in every week to watch the next section of a characters life just seems so tedious. Pokemon is my fondest childhood television memory. To be able sit down with my brother and just receive an amazing image of a perfect world, was unforgettable. Of course the whole idea of Pokemon is animal cruelty, but that never influenced me in a way that made me want to kick my cat down a flight of stairs. 'The Moomins' is probably the only other television show that I think of as having a positive impact on my life, I don't know why I enjoyed it but it probably has something to do with the constant imagery of freedom.

Feature Films: My favourite genre is thriller but not because of the idea of the suspense. It is the aspect of a thriller that confuses me in such a way that only at the end of the film can a conclusion be made, that I like. This is because it usually means that the film stays with me for the next few days as I add everything up and makes sure that the film didn't have any loop holes.

Three Films that have stuck with me:

1) 'Triangle', quite a recent film, it wasn't particularly good, but its always stuck with me as a film to re-watch. The story is about a few people lost at sea who climb onto a boat and slowly get killed off. When all but one of them have been mysteriously killed, time jumps backwards and the crew lost at sea once again climb on board, as time goes on the only original survivor realises that in fact she killed the crew, and an eternal loop is created.

2) 'Groundhog Day' is probably one of the greatest films I have ever watched. Bill Murray plays a weather man who must constantly repeat the same day in a dull town blocked off by snow. At first he merely wrecks the town a few times, but in the end he realises that he just wants to make a fellow weather presenter love him. His constant attempts at connecting with her lead to him becoming so depressed that he kills himself repetitively. At the end of the film he does a good deed for everybody in town and creates the perfect day, the next morning he wakes up to find out that he is no longer living the same day and his life can continue. It is not just the story that is effective, it is Murry's reaction to every situation and how these change as things become more tedious.

3) 'Rushmore', it would be hard for me to not have a Wes Anderson film in my top three, once again a film where Bill Murray's droll facial expressions create most of the humour. A student and his adult friend both fall in love with a first school teacher and a small petty war is created so as to ruin the other friends life. after the student builds an aquarium on the school baseball pitch he is expelled and he must learn to let go of the teacher and school that he loved so much.

Film Consumption:
The best way of consuming films is by watching them alone on a computer, but I suppose Cinemas are very good for getting an all round experience. The Hollywood Cinema in Anglia Square would have to be my favourite due to the fact that it is so awful and cheap that nobody goes there but myself. The idea of sitting in the same room as loud irritable teenagers who throw popcorn and laugh at juvenile jokes normally means that the cinema is a last resort. I prefer to either be alone or with one other person when going to the cinema, when in large groups of people at the cinema I do not get to enjoy the film because I am having to pretend to find these tediously unfunny jokes hilarious as well. 

Media producer: I have never made a film before. I have of course spent a large amount of time acting and starring in films made by my brother but I have never actually made one. It has always been my dream however to either make a film or review somebody else's, This is the main reason I chose media studies, Not only do I constantly notice story lines that nobody has yet stumbled upon I am also pretty sure that there are genres that some people have not even discovered yet.

Conclusion: No film has ever offended me at all. The point of a film is the same point as that of book, to teach people about a possible situation and give them a better understanding on certain things. Films normally do not make me want to change who I am, they obviously have changed me subconsciously throughout my life because I have always been watching films and intaking the ideas they show. 

If I was ever to direct my own film it would hopefully be based on a philosophical idea. The idea of discovery and making the audience think through a situation that they are watching always has been an idea I wish to try.