"War films are a film genre concerned with warfare, usually about naval, air or land battles, sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, military training
or other related subjects. At times war films focus on daily military
or civilian life in wartime without depicting battles. Their stories may
be fiction, based on history, docudrama, biographical, or even alternate history fiction." - Wikipedia
Why do people watch war movies?
"A large portion of film lovers like to watch war movies. Some people
think that people love war movies because they want to see violence.
Although this is true to some extent, there are some other reasons which
attracts the people to the movies based on wars. War movie lovers would not like to watch the war movies which are
full of violence but lacking a strong story and better direction." - Mahavir Sanglikar
A survey based on why people want to watch war movies:
1. Management of the battle, planing, implementation, team work and finally achieving the goal
2. Adventure: People like to watch adventure and war movies fulfill their wish.
3. Patriotism: War movies are based on wars between nations, people like their soldiers fighting war.
4. Military Life: Military Life is attractive for many movie watchers.
5. History: War movies based on true stories give some historical facts, viewers like to watch them on screen.
6. Anti enemy sentiments: People who hate the enemy country become happy to see the enemy losing in the war.
7. War Machinery: War films exhibit war machinery like Tanks, Planes, Missiles etc, viewers like to see it.
8. War Scenes: War scenes in war films are thrilling, viewers experience them without taking part in wars.
9. Action: The most important thing the viewers like to watch.
10. Direction, Acting, Photography, Music and related things
Highest rated war movies (IMDb):
Schindler's List
Casablanca
Saving Privet Ryan
Life Is Beautiful
Apocalypse Now
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
How did the script introduce the narrative (story), setting, time period, the characters and the genre?
The script starts by telling us the year '1815' and a bit of background information, which helps us understand and picture the context - 'The French revolution is a distant memory. Napoleon has been defeated. France is ruled by a King again'. This tells us the narrative, setting and time period. Then in the script we get a description of the scene and what will be happening in the scene. This gives us the view of the setting and genre. After that, we get another description, this time of the man 'Jean Veljean' and the 'Convicts'.
How did it engage you?
It engaged me with the use of description of the scene (mis on scene). The powerful dramatic words used in the description really engage me because it helped me picture the scene. Just with text for speechalone would not be interesting to me, but with the use of description of the scene the reader then becomes more engaged.
Scripts - 2012, Avatar, Gladiator
1) How did each script introduce the narrative (story), setting, time period, the characters and the genre?
Each of them is dated. They describe to us the setting in depth which helps us picture it in our minds. Through the description provided we can also picture the narrative and time period, it also tells us the genre.
2) How did each script engage you?
I was engaged with the quality detail in each description. It really helped me picture the setting easily.
3) What did each of the scripts have in common?
All of them had the name of the film and the name of the people who wrote it. Out of the three only avatar did not have the date it was written. They all have an introduction to the scene followed by a detailed description.
4) What were the differences between the scripts?
Obviously each script had a different story, ut mostly they were all the same in the way they were set out.
The trailer starts showing the two film companies that produced the film, logo's. Then a background, extreme longshot of London fades in, while the camera slowly advances up London's skyline; this tells us the location/setting of the film.
After this, we cut to a shot where an undercover police car speeds up a road right of the river themes. This also gives us another indication of the location. With the police car, we now know that the genre of this film is definitely crime but could be action/thriller as most films that involve the police tend to be one or both of these.
The camera then cuts to another extreme longshot of the London skyline where there is a narrative voice over where a man (Ray Winstone) says: 'call me Regan'. We then get an idea of who the main character could be. Could it be this 'Regan'? as he was the first person to speak. We then get to see this 'Regan' as the camera cuts to a view of him leaning against a wall turning his head around as if he's looking for something; camera shot is medium shot. This leads the audience to wander what he he's looking for. This creates suspense.
We then cut to another shot of the undercover police car. This time it is driving towards us, this is a longshot. Instantly after this we get to find out who our second main character is (Ben Drew) as we cut to a shot of him stood just of a whiteboard pointing to the word pegasus; (Audience) what is pegasus? This shot starts at longshot and then zooms into medium shot. At the same time of this we here his voice; he says 'Owen Carter' - This is the name of our second main character.
We then cut to another shot of 'Regan' who walks up to a potential bad guy, puts him in a armlock and says 'we're the Sweeney, now get out of the way or i'll break your legs'. This leads the audience to ask why he's doing this? We wouldn't normally associate this with the police. This type of behavior links to action and shows us a bit about the genre of the film. This shot is in close up to extreme close up.
It then cuts to a view of the name of the film (The Sweeney). It takes up the whole screen so everyone can see what it is. At this point, music kicks in. The music is one of a serious tone to create tension.
We then cut to another extreme longshot view of the London skyline while advancing slowly forward, this time the view is at night. This leads us to suspect danger. Immediately after this we cut to a scene of a robbery; maybe the robbery was at night? Then we here a voice over which says-'The problem is the methods (at which point we see whose speaking, some kind of higher ache in the police dep.) the tactics you employ'. He then goes on to say 'The collateral damage left in your wake'. While he is saying this we cut to back to the robbery where members of the Sweeney are using 'unorthodox' techniques to bring in the criminals. These techniques involve beating up the robbers, something we wouldn't associate with the police. This ultimately intrigues us, the audience, more. At which point we cut back to the office where 'Regan' confronts the other man by saying 'so what, we still do the things you can only dream of'. The general shot here at the climax of the confrontation is close-up. This references to some kind of tension or conflict between these two characters that could be a constant theme throughout the film.
We then cut to a scene with all the members of the Sweeney are in a bar celebrating. They all shout 'Sweeney!'. This shows us that they are a close-knit bunch; a group of friends. The sots used in this scene are medium and longshot. Is something in the film going to disrupt this?
After this we get to see the year when this film will be released in the cinema ('in 2012') but only the year so we are compelled to carry on watching the trailer to find out more.
We then cut to a car chase. This references to the action genre. In this scene we cut from angle to angle, to angle, to give a sense of chaos.
It then cuts to a message where it says on screen, 'to catch a criminal', at which point we cut to a scene where we have 'carter' chasing after a robber with a baseball bat, another scene where we have another member of the Sweeney crouching behind and another scene where 'Regan' is onto of one of the criminals saying 'nobody takes liberties on my patch'. These shots are all made up of medium and close up. We then cut to another shot with just writing, it reads - 'act like a criminal'. This portrays the way the Sweeney operates.
On the 7th of October, my media group and other art groups from around school, from both year 12 and year 13, went on a school trip to the Warner Brothers Studios Watford; to go on the Harry Potter studio tour. We went so we could learn about how a film was put together, the different techniques used (e.g green-screen), learn how they marketed the film and to generally experience what it would be like to work in the film industry.
Firstly, when we arrived at the studios, we stood in a lobby which contained pictures of characters from the movies. We were then given a stamp passport, an ID card and a ticket to take with us through the tour. We then stood in a queue to start the tour. After the queue had receded we could enter, with our party, into a room where we were talked to about what we were going to do on that day and also the story of Harry Potter came about. After this, we went into a cinema room where we started the actual tour, with a talk from the main Harry Potter characters (Daniel Radcliff, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint). The cinema screen rolled up and we were greeted by the doors to enter the great hall; of which we entered and were toured around it, by a tour guide. We then entered a huge room which contained some of the most iconic Harry Potter memorabilia, costumes and props from the films (Wands, Doors, Chalices and Trophy's etc...). Also in this room contained rooms, which were built for the set of Harry Potter and used in the films. After touring this for around 15minuets we were taken to a classroom where we had a mini media lesson from two of the qualified teaching tour guides. During this class, we made up a basic plot for a film and discust what movie marketing was.
Movie Marketing is the practice of promotion specifically in the film industry. As with all business it is an important part of any release because of the inherent high financial risk; film studios will invest in expensive marketing campaigns to maximize revenue early in the release cycle. Marketing budgets tend to equal about half the production budget. Publicity is generally handled by the distributor and exhibitors.
After the lesson we were allowed to tour the studios by yourself or in groups for another hour. After this, we went outside into the eating area where we all had our lunches. There was more Harry Potter memorabilia outside also; this included Tom Riddles grave, The Hogwarts wooden bridge and the purple bus. After our lunches we went into the second stage of the tour where we walked down Diagon alley and saw even more props. We then entered the final stage of the tour where there was a huge model of Hogwarts. After this we were led through the wand room and into the gift shop.
My 10 highlights:
Seeing the great hall
Marvalling at the costumes on display
Having A picture on the broom stick
Taking pictures of the sets
Trying Butter Beer (vile)
Walking down Diagon alley
Seeing all the drawrings and sketches of the characters, sets, props etc...
Models of the animals and troll(s) (Aaron Williams)
Seeing the huge model of Hogwarts
Talking to the guides about Harry Potter
From this trip I have gained an insight to the world of filmography and media. I have learnt how fun but also how challenging it is to put a film/production together and all the jobs required for it. I have also gained knowledge on the use of special effects (e.g green-screen). Being able to see professional work up close will help make my work look more professional by giving me inspiration for my future coursework and an example to follow .The knowledge and experience gained on this trip will definitely help me through my media course as pretty much all the aspects of filmography are a source of media. No knowledge I gained on the trip will have a negative impact because of this.
The 'Family guy' opening sequence begins with Louis singing whilst playing the piano. It is an upbeat tune with a slow tempo, which gets faster as the intro progresses. The 'mise en scene' is the living room of their house. In terms of the camera shot it starts with a medium/close up shot (upper body). The lyrics Louis sing are "It seems today, that all we see, is violence in movies and sex on TV". This is sang in quite a relaxed manor but with the introduction of Peter you can tell that this is a comedy and a 'piss-take'. He then sings "but where are all those good old fashion values..." at which point the camera zooms out (Long shot) as the rest of the family (Meg, Stewie, Chris, Brian) are introduced to the scene, where they all sing "on which we used to rely". Then their is a change in scene to where they are situated on a stage. The music enters a faster pace and the whole family start preforming the can-can, along with can-can dancers lined up a flight of steps copying what Peter and Louis are doing at the front (long shot/extreme long-shot . Again this refers to humor and tells us about the genre of this program. It then ends by cutting away to the family guy logo in big letters and no music. From then it continues with the rest of the episode....
My favorite media text, it's target audience and how it appeals to them:
My favorite media text is Facebook. It's my favorite media text as it allows me to connect, communicate and share with my friends in an online community.
Facebooks target audience is everyone from the age of 13+, because of this it's used largely throughout the world with over 1 billion users. Facebook appeals to people by offering an online social network, which allows as I said before, for friends and family to share photos and videos, chat, share and connect.....It also offers businesses (sports clubs to restaurants) an opportunity to connect with their costumers, allowing them to offer deals, special offers and prizes. It also offers opportunities for advertising companies as they can exploit the number of people using the site to advertise their product effectively and efficiently. Best Website EVER!!!
