Thursday, 20 October 2011

Kill bill analysis
The introduction to the film is a sound bridge with the diegetic sound of Uma Thurman panting. Quentin Tarantino did this on purpose to create over whelming suspense within the audience. The first image you see is of high angle shot close up on Uma Thurman’s face, this was done to help establish the shot and show the emotion of the character and I think it was achieved beautifully. Quentin Tarantino made the scene black and white to create a sense of mystery but also did it to show his respect for the directors of the 1940’s noir films which her grew up watching. The diegetic sound of ‘Bill’ walking toward Uma Thurman helps build suspense as the footstep grow louder and louder. The low angled following shot on bills feet works well to help build up suspense. Throughout the intro you never see bills face, this was done to create an enigma about bill where the audience will be creating a character with their imagination. When there is a high angle close up on Uma and Bill is cleaning her face with a napkin. Quentin Tarantino helps build a character base around Bill by showing subtle signs of his arrogance, and example is his name on a napkin. This also helps tell the audience who Bill is without showing his face and destroying the enigma. When the gun is fired it breaks the tension perfectly and keeps the audience wanting to see more.

Friday, 30 September 2011

Winters Bone

This films is a terrific thriller which creates a vibe to the audience of suspense and realism. The Film is directed by  Debra Granik. The film was released to cinema in the united states on the 17th September 2010, the film is estimated to have a budget of around $2 million dollars and a gross of around $6 million.
 The audience is carried through the film by the only professional actress in the film Jennifer Lawrence. Who plays the character Ree With an absent father and a withdrawn and depressed mother, The film portrays the life of the young adult as hard and confusing with the large majority of the burden of raising her younger siblings by herself. The film continues with the increase and insight in what Ree and the neighborhood have to encounter daily, with a large amount of drugs use and dealing that corresponds to that part of society within America. Ree wanders through lonesome Missouri.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy...

Here is a trailor for 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'
This is also a poster advertising the movie to the public.

Thursday, 22 September 2011

Q U E S T I O N N A I R E

My name is Charlie Soffe.
Results:
My main hobby is the guitar, I am in love with it, the way you can portray emotions and feelings through sound. My favourite style of guitar is the acoustic and its natural feel, one of my main influences is Ben Howard, who I had the pleasure to see live and talk to after the gig at latitude on my birthday which was amazing! I also play in a local band called The Crates, we play small gigs now and then but don’t really know how to manage our own band fully yet. Skateboarding has been a passion of mine for many years, influential people from old bowl skaters like Tony Alva to new school skaters like Andrew Reynolds.
Print media:
NME is a very interesting weekly magazine which is packed with interviews and new bands. NME is a good way of up and coming bands to get noticed by a wide audience. I prefer to read news on print to the web because print is portable and easily accessible at any local shop. Big company’s like apple are creating IPods and web tablets to make the internet more accessible on the move. I dislike this idea because it will be the downfall of the print media.
Radio media:
I listen to NME for new music because it is aimed at my general age group and also it plays a lot of the new indie pop genre. I also tune into radio 2 because it plays some golden oldies from the likes of cream to Aretha Franklin.
Music industries:
I listen to a wide variety of music; I like the ways one genre can influence another. One of the main styles of music I listen to is acoustic, but I enjoy the indie-pop scene and a bit of trip-pop. Im in a band called the crates and I play lead guitar and vocals. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVUuP_afXww
 (This is one of our old songs which we put onto YouTube.)
Some of our main influences are the arctic monkeys and the kooks, but as I have progressed as a guitar player I have explored many artists like Ben Howard and his chilling voice and Foals and The XX with their sexy bass. I mostly use print media like NME of local record shops to discover new bands, but I then listen to their material on websites like YouTube and Spotify.
Video games:
I dislike new video games; I find that they are very repetitive and overly violent. Many people play video games like Grand Theft Auto which is a “Gangster” game, where the main objective is to kill others, this sends out a very negative message to children playing the game because they could potentially harm someone just because they were influenced by a game. Also a game called Call Of Duty falsely advertises war and tries to make it fun for a gaming market which I think is wrong.
New technologies:
With all good there is evil, for example scientists made a world-wide break through splitting an atom, now the atom bomb is owned by nearly every powerful country in the world. But sometimes new technology is good, when apple was created it revolutionised the way people communicated and listen to music with Nano technology making everything smaller and faster. The internet revolutionised the way humans can share information, one-hundred years ago if there was riots in Lydia people in Britain would be oblivious.  One-hundred years on and within a day a news story is global. The computer has made it easier to view films and interact with others, but also the internet has allowed people to illegally download films and music with a click of a button. Websites like 4oD have made it much easier for people to access television programs and films which they may have missed.
Television:
My favourite television channel is Channel 4 because it has a wide variety of show from light hearted comedy like Friends to chilling sci-fi dramas like dead set. My favourite television genre is horror, this is because I love the way in which the music and camera angles are used to build tension.
Most memorable programs:
Dead set ~ Simpsons ~ Misfits
Feature films:
My favourite film genre is horror/ thriller, I love the way in which subtle camera angles and music can set a scene instantly and get your blood racing before you even see the alleged ‘baddy’.
My favourite movie of all time has to be pulp fiction; this is because it is just so beautifully put together. The story line is very flimsy but Quentin Tarantino works wonders and enables the movies awkward story line to flow easily to the viewer. Another of my favourite films is Ace Ventura: pet detective, this is because of the actor Jim Carrey. Jim Carrey is an extremely talented actor and in this movie he really showed the world his true potential. Another great I think is Scott Pilgrim vs. the world, many people shun this movie because it’s a random movie. But I think the director Edgar Wright did an amazing job taking print comic to the screen. The camera angles used to quickly cut scene to scene are fantastic, and also the way in which the comic book style is still fixated in the movie.


 

I prefer to watch films at a cinema because the is an ambience at a cinema which you don’t get at home, I think it is the feeling of seeing something brilliant with so many people. I love to go see comedy’s   with a large audience because the whole cinema erupts with laughter.
One media documentary which offended me was one of the most hated family’s in America. Louis Theroux travels to America to meet the Phelps. The documentary follows the family as the picket dead war troops funerals, and target gay communities and Jews. What offended me the most was that they were Christians, where in the bible it teaches to ‘love thy neighbour’ they are going against Gods wishes and targeting the weak.
A movie that has made me view things differently is Avatar, behind all of the special effects and explosions there is an important message. The message is of human greed, in the film some of the human soldiers find a mine filled with precious stone worth millions of dollars. They then go on a mission to destroy the Navi’s homeland for their own personal gain. The director  James Cameron made the Navi’ able to communicate so the audience could understand there full meffect of human destruction and the effects it has on the Navi’s emotions. The movie made me think more about the ways I treat others around me.
If I were to construct a media text it would be on the effects new technology is having on the young population. New technologies is causing some children to live a second life in there games and forget reality, also continuous gaming can cause obesity, eye problems and social awkwardness.
I chose media studies because I enjoy it. I also like the way a form of media can portray a message and change people’s view on things.