Analysis of The Breakfast Club - Hallway scene.

This scene starts with the five characters seeing the principle who they are trying to avoid and they start to run, and that's when the up-beat non-diegetic !music begins to play; the music in this scene not only fits the era of the the film which is the 1980s, it also has an energetic beat which compliments what's happening and how the kids are feeling as they are running through the halls trying to avoid the principle.

      At the end of the scene when Bender is running alone to allow the others to get back to the library unnoticed, he starts to shout a song as he runs through the halls to gain the principle's attention; when he first begin to shout the sound is dietetic as you can see him shouting it but as it goes on and it cuts to the principle trying to catch him it becomes non-diegetic as you can no longer see the source of the sound.

Throughout this scene there's a mixture of mid-shots, long shots, extreme long shots; the long shots show the entire body as they're running to show their body language as they run which tends to be nervous and panicking as if they're going to be caught. The extreme long shots show the length of the corridors they're running through to make it seem like they won't make it without being caught. The mid-shots show the group as a it shows the group as a whole and is the most comfortable shot as it shows their emotions without being too close like a close up would be. The close up on their feet as they rum shows their urgency to get back as it focuses on them moving fast to prevent being noticed.

The camera movement in this scene tends to track backwards so we see them running forwards almost as if towards us to give us the idea of their speed. As well as tracking backwards the camera follows them to make it feel like we're running with them and you can feel their desperation to return. The camera cleverly tilts downwards as the five run down the stairs, again to make it feel like you can feel what they feel and what they do.

This scene has very neutral lighting so it makes it seem like a very normal setting and well known, since it's in an American high school it's a very familiar setting so the neutral lights makes it more familiar and relateable to the viewers.

Horror Films

Horror as a genre is as old as film itself. Horror films are designed to terrify and alarm it's audience while entertaining at the same time. Horror is a genre that I am very interested in but as of yet I have only watched a handful of films.

Horror films can affect an audience both physically and psychologically. They can make your heart race and your palms sweat, as well as staying in a person's mind for a long time after, affecting their fears, like not wanting to be left alone in a dark room.

Film makers use various ways to scare viewers, sometimes they use lighting or sound effects to enhance the viewer's experience. The Blair Witch Project uses an interesting approach to affect the viewer by making the camera shake and tremble as if it's actually happening to the viewer and their actually there an witnessing what is going on. Sometimes it can be music or even make up that creates the tension and effect.
Horror films can range from the everyday experiences or something viewers can relate to to like being trapped or followed, to a story which would be fairly unbelievable such as robots taking over the world.
The everyday can be more terrifying, for example, Devil is about 5 strangers who are trapped in a lift and the Devil is with them. They can only be observed on CCTV and there is no other way of communication. Each person in the lift dies and as you watch the tension mounts because you don't know who is next or how their death will come. It is shocking and gruesome at times.

My favourite horror movie to date is Mama, this is about two children who are kidnapped by their father who intends to kill them. He is killed and the girls are raised by a ghostly figure they call Mama. They have no social interaction with anyone else for 5 years before being found. The film makers use dark and dull colours and costumes to set the mood of the film; the music they use is very eerie which enhances the tension even more. The character Mama appears from a swarm of moths and thinks she is protecting the girls. This film had a massive effect on me personally as I have a huge fear of moths, they appear throughout the film, signifying that Mama is near. The film is full of tension making the audience breathless and their hearts race. Afterwards you feel alive like you have survived being around Mama, it's a bit of an adrenaline rush.

Children are often used in horror films and are often possessed by something or someone. Children are supposed to be innocent, and evil children play on our sub-conscious making us both nervous and frightened. Films such as The Unborn, which is about a teenager who is being haunted by a strange boy from one of her dreams, use the frightening affect that children have in horror films. Special effects in this film add to the drama and are some times stomach churning. Insidious also uses both special effects and children again as a way to increase the fear and tension experienced in the film.
Dead Silence is a film that uses a common fear as it's hook, is a film about a ventriloquist and her creepy dummies. A dead woman, Mary Shaw, is using her dummies to kill people in the area of where she died. The idea of a killer dummy would frighten many, especially those who are already scared of ventriloquist dummies. This is the most gruesome film I have watched. And gore is used to scare the audience even more.

In conclusion the affect horror films have on people varies depending on the person and their fears; the films rely on the phobias of those watching whether it be blood and gore, or being trapped or the dark.

Discuss how ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ managed to become a box-office success and how a film’s success is measured.

The Fault In Our Stars was a surprise success in the box office this summer grossing over $40 million in it's opening weekend. There are a number of reasons behind the film's huge success, a few of which will be discussed in this essay whilst at the same time looking at just how this success is measured.

One of, if not the major reason behind the film's success was the sheer size of the fan base that existed for the book. John Green's pre-existing popularity as an author is evident in the fact that the novel reached the number one spot on the New York Times Best Sellers list selling over 10 million copies and having been translated into 46 different languages. This alone shows the sheer size of the fan base. However the success of the film does not just rest on the size of the fan base, but also on it's dedication and passion. The so called 'nerdfighters' are an incredibly active and vocal fan base, not just in regards to The Fault In Our Stars but also in regards to Green's other works. Despite this Green himself does not understand why this particular novel has become so successful even saying so in a post on his tumblr blog (fishingboatproceeds). However the passion of this fan base is evident in the fact that a great number queued for over 30 hours for the Manhattan première.

As the fan base is predominantly an online presence social media played a huge role in the success of the film. Photo sharing site Instagram brought great attention to the film through the use of the hashtags: #thefaultinourstars and #thefaultinourstarsmovie. Over 1.6 million posts were made under these hashtags, with over 16 million people interacting with the posts. Instagram was not the only social media site that had a huge impact in garnering attention for the film, micro blogging site Twitter also played a role. The figures from Twitter are similar to those from Instagram showing that social media does indeed have a massive effect on the potential popularity of a film.

The using of social media to garner attention for the film was part of a clever marketing campaign for the film. By getting the ball rolling on social media the film became known quickly to a wider audience. The use of teaser trailers, posters and other forms of advertising also further pushed the film into the public eye. In addition to the normal avenues of marketing, the use of a special screening was set up with a Q&A with the cast and John Green, drawing more attention not only for those in attendance but also to those who only heard about the screening, keeping the film in the public consciousness.

The success of the film also relied on the fact that the demographic which it targeted was one that was often ignored by major studios. Whereas many summer releases are generally action or rom-com aimed at men/boys and women respectively, The Fault In Our Stars reaches out to the young adult demographic, which as a whole is generally under represented in cinema. Through giving young adults the representation, not only in the film itself but also as a viable demographic. This meant more people were going to watch the film in cinemas as they felt that their needs as film goers were being met.

Another reason for the film's success was the film itself. The story was something fresh, real and relatable giving the film an edge over films it was up against at the box office. The story from the novel is not glossed over or watered down for this film adaptation allowing it to keep that relatability. Not just the story but the characters are also relatable, the main reason for this as Ansel Elgart (Augustus Waters in the film) states is because the characters are defined by their personhood not their cancer. The film also deals with cancer and the effects of the disease in a tactful way without romanticising the loss and suffering that comes with it.

In the immediate follow up of film's release its success can only really be measured by the mount of money it makes in the box office, which in the case of The Fault In Our Stars is a lot and by the amount of attention and buzz it generates in the public and social media outlets, which again the case of The Fault In Our Stars is a lot. However this can only go so far as the success of a film can also be measured by the extent of its legacy but for The Fault In Our Stars the film the fact that it is a new film means it has not had the chance to establish a legacy for itself just yet thus for the full extent of The Fault In Our Stars' success to be realised only time can tell.

From the evidence for The Fault In Our Stars' success it can be concluded that it is a result of numerous reasons predominantly being the pre-existing fan base but social media, marketing and promotion all played a role in its success as did using the potential of it's intended audience and it's refreshing storyline. But as earlier mentioned the true success of The Fault In Our Stars will not be fully realised for some time yet.

Favourite Film of Summer 2014

The film I am choosing to write about is Maleficent , which has been met with mixed reviews from film critics but had great success in the box office grossing over $743 million globally. In this piece I am going to address and analyse three key elements of the film as well as offering my own opinion of it.

The story of Maleficent is what really makes it a very unique film. Whilst based on the traditional Sleeping Beauty fairy tale Maleficent is a fresh take and a new twist. Instead of focusing on Aurora by shifting the main storyline onto Maleficent and telling it from a different point of view, an entirely new level of depth and character development is given to the film. In addition to making Maleficent the central character the way in which the story is told completely changed. By making the film into a much darker , more twisted, almost Tim Burton esque style of story telling a person's entire perception of the Sleeping Beauty tale is changed also. This new darker, gothic approach to the tale is much more fitting to Maleficent's character and the mythos that surrounds her.

Much like the story telling, the cinematography in Maleficent is also incredibly dark and gothic but at the same time remain beautiful and a pleasure to watch both for it's aesthetics and the way in which it was shot. The use of darker cinematography mirrors the story and the nature of the characters creating a deep, rich and believable world. In addition to this, the way the film was shot, especially the long shots, wide shots and sweeping shots show off much of the world making for a much more immersive experience.

One of the major themes in Maleficent is that of survival. Not survival in terms of fending for yourself in the wilderness but more in terms of moving on from a traumatic experience and coming back stronger. One particular scene in the film, where Maleficent is drugged by the King and stripped of her wings whilst unconscious and against her will is symbolic of a rape. However rather than portray Maleficent as a victim (which of course she was), throughout the rest of the film Maleficent goes onto regain her sense of self, become stronger than ever before and reclaim who she is in spite of the trauma that had happened to her. This gives off a positive and hopeful message by showing that whatever traumatic experiences a person may go through they can also come back stronger than ever before.

I personally enjoyed Maleficent because it presented a classic fairy tale from a much darker angle and was not a typical fairy tale. The film also showed that even though someone is shown to be a villain, that that is only one side of the story, the side you get from Sleeping Beauty but this films gives the other side of that story. The film is also a love story but with a twist, it does not follow the tropes of a traditional romantic love story but instead focuses on a platonic, nurturing kind of love between Maleficent and Aurora.