London to Brighton

Directed by Paul Andrew Williams, 2006.

• Locations/settings: working class apartments. Fields and countryside, as well as Brighton Beach contrast to the city shots and give a sense of freedom, refugee. Establishing shots in each sequence. Duncan's house is white, washed-out and almost clinical, making an impression of purity, although we know that Duncan isn't pure at all. Joanne's red lipstick and hoodie contrast with the whiteness and suggest something bad is going to happen.
• Narrative structure: woman's point-of-view. Throughout the film we get flashbacks and the story is pieced together. Almost till the end it's unclear what exactly has happened.
• Characterisation: Kelly's character is developed into a mother-like figure. Joanne is the one who changes lives, as she helps Kelly to see some hope and makes the tough guy Stuart realise they have something in common. As Duncan dies, Stuart is free from his control(shown with the ability to smoke again). Male gender is dominate.
• Ideology: hierarchy, the pyramids of life. Society is divided in three classes, where the upper class is in control of the other two. Entrapement is portrayed throughout the film and women are trying to escape. Working class enforced community - a sense that there is no way out. Exploitation - female prostitution. Violence towards women.
• Genre features: diegetic sounds. "Moonlight Sonata" when filming Duncan's house - the most important moment of the film. Most of the film is dark, but when Kelly and Joanne go to the Brighton beach, it becomes lighter. The film is more cinematic than "Bullet Boy" and "Sweet Sixteen", as it no longer reminds so much of a documentary. Wide screen is used to create powerful close-ups. Similar to "Bullet Boy" and "Sweet Sixteen" as there's a desperation to escape. All the films explore different parts of working class lives - prostitution, guncrime, violence, drugs.
  

Notes on "Bullet Boy"

• Directed by Saul Dibb, 2004.

Locations/settings: the film is set in London's outer part where the lower class lives. The flat creates a sense of being safe, almost like a haven, but it is very small, even claustrophobic and contrasting with the exterior. The scene of police breaking in and vandalising the flat takes away the safety.

Narrative structure: a spectatorship is created throughout the film, as the viewers are involved and witness everything through their own eyes. The events take place in few days time after Ricky comes out of the prison. Fast action.

Characterisation: the little boy, Curtis is a witnesser and the bullet boy. Ricky, his big brother, is an influencer. Mother is a strong female figure, making decisions, but her boyfriend is the saver or at least he tries to be one. Throughout the film, each of the characters is going through changes - at first, Ricky tries to escape his own life, but then gives up, Curtis, on the other hand, becomes more mature and grows up too quickly. His brother's actions make him realise what he wants to do with his own life. The male figures are depending on women. There are strong connections between the characters, for example, even though Ricky wants to leave, he decides to help Wisdom and gets in trouble himself.

Ideology: mostly back people are portrayed. White characters are complete opposites and almost authoritative figures. A strong belief in god is brought in by Mother's boyfriend. His mission is to introduce god to everyone. The preach scene is the first time when the Mother is seen in a religious place, showing her changes. The film tells about the lower class. Their lives are like never-ending circles from which nobody can escape.

Genre features: similar as "Sweet Sixteen" the film tells about the lower class. Both films portray young male characters trying to escape their lives. Mostly diegetic sounds can be heard to create a sense of realism. However, a sad piece of music is used to signify changes in the mood. Lots of contrasts can be seen, for example, when parallel action takes place - the dinner party hosted by Ricky's mother and the party at a night club. The film also links with "Sweet Sixteen" because it seems like male characters are the ones who tend to get in trouble. In both films, one of the character is in prison and a welcome-back party is hosted when they come out.

Contemporary Film Culture

Nowadays, film culture can be seen as not only cinema-going, but also online viewing and home cinema. This has raised questions whether cinema is dead, since viewing film at home is much cheaper, but I believe the cinematic experience cannot be created anywhere else.

Cinema-going.

An article from British Film Institute about cinema-going in Britain and how it has changed since 1900's:
http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/ultimatefilm/cinemagoing.html

Cinema-going has taken an important part in the film history, but it seems to be a bit forgotten. However, I think the attractions are sufficiently strong to attract audiences. First of all, cinema has always been a place that provides the best sound and image quality. Second, throughout years, cinema-going has been considered as a part of night-out. In the past, going to the cinema was considered to be the same as going to a theatre or opera. People dressed up and prepared to socialise with others who have come to the film. Nowadays, cinemas provide bars and restaurants, which means even more space and opportunities to meet with other people and discuss the film.

Online viewing.

Online viewing is one of the latest things that has come in the film culture. Since the internet has developed, the opportunity to watch films online has grown. There are now many websites to choose from, all providing different kinds of films in the best quality.

A website containing links to online filmviewing sites:
http://www.ovguide.com/movies.html


For a long time, parts of films have been available on the YouTube, but they have now decided to show full-length films from Metro-Goldwin-Mayer's archives.

The BBC artice:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7720918.stm

Home cinema.

Home cinema has developed a lot in the last years. People can now watch HD television and create their own cinema at home, using the latest sound and image providing gadgets. Screen sizes have grown a lot and tapes have now been changed to much smaller and more useful CD's.

An article from The Guardian about concerns of the days of cinema-going being numbered:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2006/jan/27/johnpatterson

Film Exhibition

An article about film exhibition:
http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Criticism-Ideology/Exhibition.html



To be continued...

Star Images

Images are often another way of promoting the star. The industry uploads images of stars attending different kinds of events, for example, film awards. Stars are also promoted positively through images of charity-like events which they are attending, paparazzi follows every step of the stars, making their lives a reality show - all these things gain popularity of actors and films they are seen in. Fans can also upload their images of the stars in fan based websites, sharing their stories.
Some websites with film star images:
http://www.allmoviestar.com/
http://www.mtv.com/movies/photo/
http://www.imdb.com/

Angelina Jolie.

She is undoubtedly one of the most famous actresses. Her life has been captured through massive amounts of images. She is best known for her stormy relationships and the help she gives to refugees around the world.

The UN Refugee Agency.

A warm welcome for UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie at Kakuma camp in Kenya. © UNHCR/M.Furrer - October 2002.

In 2001 Angelina Jolie was named Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), since then she has traveled to different countries in need of help.

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie talks to returnee women in Nangarhar province during her first visit to Afghanistan. © Getty Images/Marco Di Lauro

The Children.

Angelina Jolie with her adopted children Maddox, Zahara, Pax and her own daughter Shiloh at the time when she was pregnant with twins.

Due to her frequent visits to the third world countries, Jolie has seen many children living in awful conditions, so she decided to arrange adoptions. This has caused controversaries and discussions whether she can take care of so many children.

The Relationships.

On March 28, 1996, Jolie married British actor Johny Lee Miller, her co-star in the film Hackers. She attended her wedding in black leather pants and a white shirt, upon which she had written the groom's name in her blood. Jolie and Miller separated the following year and subsequently divorced on February 3, 1999.

She then married American actor Billy Bob Thornton, whom she had met on the set of Pushing Tin(1999), on May 5, 2000. As a result of their frequent public declarations of passion and gestures of love—most famously wearing one another's blood in vials around their necks—their relationship became a favorite topic of the entertainment media. Jolie and Thornton divorced on May 27, 2003.

In early 2005, Jolie was involved in a well-publicized Hollywood scandal when she was accused of being the reason for the divorce of actors Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. The allegation was that she and Pitt had started an affair during filming of Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). She denied this on several occasions, but admitted that they "fell in love" on the set.

Film Reviews

Film reviews, consisting of an analysis and a rating, are produced both by critics and fans. Critic reviews can be found in newspapers, magazines and online. Mainly new releases are reviewed and the critics usually see the film once and only have a day or two to formulate their opinions. Critics have an important impact on the films, especially on certain genres. The plot summary and description of a film that makes up the majority of any film review can have an important impact on whether people decide to see a film. For prestige films with a limited release, such as independent dramas, the influence of reviews is extremely important. Poor reviews will often doom a film to obscurity and financial loss.

Online reviews.

There are some film review websites, for example:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/film+tone/reviews

http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/

http://www.channel4.com/film/

http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/ - all of these provide both critic and viewer comments and ratings.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

At first it seemed to me that this film is loved by critics, since it received 13 Academy Awards and 11 BAFTA nominations, however, the truth was different. From the 11 BAFTA nominations, it won just three: Best Makeup&Hair, Best Production Design and Best Visual Effects. I believe these were not the kind of wons everyone were hoping for, since "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" was also nominated for categories such as Best Film, Best Director - David Fincher, Best Leading Actor - Brad Pitt, Best Cinematography - Claudio Miranda and Best Editing, basically, the kind of nominations film makers are working/hoping for. The critics reviews were sometimes completely opposite, for example, The Guardian gave it just one star, whereas Empire voted it the highest 5 stars.

Article from The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/feb/06/benjamin-button-brad-pitt-cate-blanchett

Article from Empire http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?FID=10606

The funniest thing about these two is that they both are complete opposites, not only because of the 1 and 5 star rating, but because The Guardian says: "Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett star in 166 minutes of twee tedium about a life lived backwards" whereas Empire: "Aptly for a film so concerned with time, Button is 13 minutes shy of three hours and just flies by. If this is Fincher selling out, can he sell out more often please?"

Film marketing

Film marketing is used by most film studios. They invest in expensive marketing campaigns to maximize target audience attendance of the released film early in the release cycle. Film marketing techniques are:

Television and radio

• Trailers
• On-set posters and action figures
• Talk shows
• Entertainment programs, news programs
• Behind-the-scenes documentary shows
• Advance trailers, longer previews, behind-the-scenes footage on rentals or DVDs

Internet

• Studio-sponsored per-film websites
• Viral marketing - free distribution of trailers on film-oriented websites

In print

• Paid advertisements in newspapers, magazines and inserts in books
• Cross-promotion of original book or novelization, including special printings or new cover jackets
• Comic special editions or special episodes.

Advertising of “The Dark Knight”

The advertising of The Dark Knight started in May 2007 when 42 Entertainment began a viral marketing campaign using films tagline “Why So Serious?” They launched a website featuring a fictional political campaign of Harvey Dent. Throughout the pre-release period, fans were asked to complete tasks. On October 31, 2007, the film's website morphed into another scavenger hunt with hidden messages, instructing fans to uncover clues at certain locations in major cities throughout the United States, and to take photographs of their discoveries. The clues combined to reveal a new photograph of the Joker and an audio clip of him from the film saying "And tonight, you're gonna break your one rule." Completing the scavenger hunt also led to another website called Rory's Death Kiss (referencing the false working title of Rory's First Kiss), where fans could submit photographs of themselves costumed as the Joker. Those who sent photos were mailed a copy of a fictional newspaper called The Gotham Times, whose electronic version led to the discovery of numerous other websites.

WhySoSerious.com directed fans to find letters composing the Joker’s message "The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules," to send in photographs of these letters, and then featured their photos in a collage.

The Dark Knight's opening sequence, (showing a bank raid by the Joker) and closing montage of other scenes from the film, was screened with selected IMAX screenings of I Am Legend, which was released on December 14, 2007. A theatrical teaser was also released with non-IMAX showings of I Am Legend, and also on the official website. The sequence was released on the Blu-Ray edition of Batman Begins on July 8, 2008. Also on July 8, 2008, the studio released Batman: Gotham Knight, a direct-to-DVD animated film, set between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight and featuring six original stories, directed by Bruce Timm, co-creator and producer of Batman: The Animated Series.


When seeing this poster, there’s no doubt that it is another Batman film. The Bat symbol is used cleverly and even without the writing, everyone would know what the film is about. The poster also features Batman himself, looking arrogant but protective. The letters are quite small, however the star names appear bigger than the name of the director. Most attention is drawn on the release date – July 18 to build up tension. I believe the poster portrays a scene that hasn’t been featured in the film.


After the death of Heath Ledger, the marketing campaign began to focus on the Joker, revising some of its websites dedicated to promoting the film and posting a memorial tribute to Ledger on the film's official website and overlaying a black memorial ribbon on the photo collage in WhySoSerious.com. This poster shows a man who has turned his back towards the camera, however, everyone knows that it is the Joker since he is holding a knife and a play card. The scene behind him reminds of Gotham, where all the action takes place. There are no names on the poster, except for the studio names and distributor. The title has been kept small, but everyone knows it since it features the bat symbol.

Cult Films

Top 50 Cult Films :

http://www.filmsite.org/cultfilmsew.html

Gives a short information or commentary about every film.

Cult Film Site:

http://www.cultfilmz.com/

Information about any cult film, it's possible to do a research through the database, biographies and filmographies of different directors associated with cult films, several categories to make the research easier.

Amazon.com Cult Film site:

http://www.amazon.com/Cult-Movies-DVD/b/ref=amb_link_1753712_9?ie=UTF8&node=466674&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-5&pf_rd_r=194XSWFGHF5A3PGT5F52&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=465100811&pf_rd_i=404276

List of DVD's available to buy from Amazon.com.

Directors with Cult status:

http://www.filmsite.org/cultfilms2.html

Information about directors associated with Cult films.