Film Studies Blog

How far does 'Winter's Bone' rely upon an understanding of its social context? Set in the rural Ozarks of Missouri, ‘Winter’s Bone’ stars Jennifer Lawrence as Ree, a 17-year-old girl forced with looking after her sick mother, and her two younger siblings, all while tracking down her Father who has to appear in court otherwise they’ll lose their house. The film explores many different themes and social issues such as poverty, gender and power, drug abuse, and family, both distant and close. One scene that highlights the social issue of poverty, is when Ree has an interview for army recruitment and is adamant in learning more about the money involved. The scene begins with Ree being called up for her time, and straight away it is clear that she doesn’t quite fit in. Every other person having an interview are men, and to further add to the gender divide, Ree appears beaten up slightly implying she cannot take care of herself and that she is not powerful enough to...

Evaluation for Fractured   There weren't many problems we encountered however, filming in underpass was tricky as we kept getting interrupted by people walking through, we also struggled to make it understandable, because we knew what it was about but hard for anyone else to understand so we have added a phone call at the start to add exposition. While this does give some clear reasoning for what happens in fractured, it wasn't in our first draft and so we were unable to make it the very best, however we are still pleased with it. During editing, flickering transitions weren't the easiest thing to do however it has paid off and looks very effective. We wanted to have the timings of certain things to the beat of music, such as title letters appearing in time with our chosen song, and we feel it looks very effective and is memorable. The shots we used were varying from mid shots, to close ups and out of focus shots, this way we could demonstrate our use of knowledge...

Cinematic Ideas - First shot, POV, opening eyes, looking around, heavy breathing with diegetic sounds - The POV shot can be used to show the audience the film through the eyes of one character this helps the audience become emotionally attached to the chacter and also more scared as it could seem as if they are directly in danger  - long shots could be used to establish the scene and could for example put into perspective how derelict or deserted the place is - over the shoulder shots are some of the best for building tension as they add a lot of suspense. it is usualy used around mirrors and reflections so that the audience can see what's happening as soon as the character does, this is normaly used to show a figure stood behind a victim. - Zooms could be used to add to the dramatic effect and create the element of suspense and fear as you don't know what you are going to see next. - Low angle shots could be used to show how intimidating a villain or an object could be it...

Short Film Synopsis - Fractured Simon, a 17 year old student, lacks educational ability and has found meaning in other aspects at school. Instead of being a hard worker, he mixes with students that are into drugs and violence resulting in poor attitude at home and in school, as well as disappointing his mother. A mysterious event occurs, leaving Simon injured and stumbling through an underpass when he is snatched by a group of lads. During the time he is kidnapped he experiences a wave of flashbacks from his childhood. But nothing is as its seems and the visions seem fragmented to Simon. Over the course of these visions, Simon is alone in the back of a van being taken to an unknown place, where he believes he will come face to face with the man who took him. Suddenly the anticipation is over and Simon finds himself jolted upright in bed the next day. Confused yet nervous, Simon lives out the day like he would any other day and goes on with his life, a path on which it leads him...

Trainspotting     How does the aesthetic quality of Trainspotting depict youth and drug addiction? Trainspotting was released in 1996, from director Danny Boyle and starring Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Johnny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle. The film focuses on the lives of heroin addicts and the struggles they face in Edinburgh being young in early 90s. The first clip I will be analysing from Trainspotting is the very opening scene which involves Renton and Spud (Ewan McGregor and Ewen Bremner) sprinting away from security guards as it would appear they have just stolen something from a shop and so run down a street to escape. The very first thing we see is a long, wide shot of a street in Edinburgh and then all of a sudden 2 legs disturb the scene and there is a low mid shot of Renton’s feet as he runs away, also Iggy Pop’s Lust for life begins to play, this is non diegetic sounds over the images of the 2 friends running away. Next we see a double shot of Re...