Tuesday 10 December 2013

Fish Tank

Clip 4

In this scene Mia dances for Connor in her front room. the majority of this scene is filmed to show how he watches her dance through a scopophilic way through the unnerving slow paced editing. This use of slow editing makes the scene challenging to watch because the camera shot lingers on Mia as she dances for unsettlingly long amount of time to give a sense of intimacy. Furthermore the scene is shot in low key lighting and the only light source is the street lights out side, this use of lighting helps convey the seediness of the scenario and adheres to how social realist films often contain controversial themes, such as paedophilia. This is also later shown by how the camera remains fixed on the two characters rather than looking away like in more mainstream texts, this makes it even more uncon=mfortable to watch for the audience.
In the mise en scene of the living room we can see that one of the walls in the room is decorated with a tropical beach wall paper which conveys that the family wish to escape the area they live in. this is a common convention of the social realist genre.
As she dances Mia is shown as a silhouette, which connotes that she is an object of Connors desire. This is reinforced when the shot cuts to show his point of view. Furthermore women are often shown in social realist films to exist for the men rather than independent. Also it shows how naive Mia is which is also a social realist convention of women.

Thursday 5 December 2013

Sci Fi Conventions in The Hunger Games

Sci Fi Conventions in The Hunger Games

In the sequence we analysed there was an obvious theme of a dominating higher power that control the people of District 12. This use of establishment is a common theme within the Sci Fi genre. The purpose of showing the higher power in this way is to convey a statement of rebellion through the use of polysemic narrative that reflects modern day issues in a futuristic text.

One typical Sci Fi convention used in the hunger Games is the use if fast paced editing, we can see this used throughout the film but however it is prominent in the train scene where even though there is not much pace in the narrative the editing is constant and quick. 

Tuesday 3 December 2013

Neo Noir in Drive

Drive Neo Noir Conventions

Narrative
Ryan Goslings character in Drive is working to help protect Irene and her son through acts of violence. this show him to be an anti Hero and shows how he has a fatal flaw. He has no desire for money or his own will being, his main focus is to protect irene and her son.

Characters
Driver - A flawed Anti Hero who acts on the behalf of a woman, this is typical of noir conventions.
Irene - A diluted Post Modern Femme Fatale who inactively get Ryan Goslings character to help her. She DOES NOT use her sexuality to manipulate him unlike in classic Noir.
Corrupt Characters - Gangsters this isn't typical of noir 

Mise en scene
Neon signs - Red Exit sign conveys danger and that they should leave. 
Dark low key lighting half and half lighting on the face venetian blinds. All these are common techniques used in classic noir to show the duality of the protagonists by showing their faces in half light and half dark. We see this used when the driver commits a dark act for a good reason which high lights him as an anti hero.

Themes
Paranoia and mistrust run through out the film which reflects the mood of classic Noirs set in the cold war period. We see this in the scene with Blanche where The Driver Slaps her and Questions her.

The Graphic Violence is a post modern twist but still helps convey the bleakness of standard Noir.