'Kickass'

Went to the cinema at the weekend to see 'Kickass' and really enjoyed it! It is a film about a teenage boy who wants to help the world by becoming a superhero but ends up getting put in hospital a couple of times and gets in much more trouble than he expected whilst meeting some other - slightly more ruthless/violent - "superheroes" along the way. It wasn't what I expected it to be, I thought it would be thrown on the same pile as 'Superbad', 'Pineapple Express' and the like, but it was quite different in my opinion. Although some of the humour was fairly similar to that kind of film that has grown increasingly popular recently, the content was strange and not what I was expecting at all! Lots of the people that I went to see the film with said that they were quite offended by the way the 11 year old girl was portrayed in the film as she is seen swearing constantly (I can see why people were offended because she did say a word that should never be said by anyone let alone a little girl, this is shown on the clip below...), having a ridiculously extensive knowledge of weapons and even shown as an object of "lust" by the main characters' best friend. To be honest I was more offended by the fact that Nicholas Cage was in the film...
Here's a trailer for the little girl's character called Hit Girl;


There has been lots of debate about the moral issues behind the film and there are loads of different websites that have discussions about it but here is a link to one that I found quite interesting as two guys with very different opinions on the subject discuss whether or not it is right that we - as an audience - find a little girl killing everyone funny. >> click here to read the discussion <<

This man's point particularly interested me; "I don't really think this is going to spur random acts of violence, but it does have me questioning our tolerence for violence in movies, and if we should have a limit. Watching Kick-Ass made me wonder if we've passed the event horizon of mainstream depictions of graphic material. What does it say about us that we enjoy watching a little girl gleefully killing people? And does it even matter that we don't have limits? I don't
know yet."

Here is the main trailer for the film...



I really enjoyed the film and thought it was hilarious (especially when Hit Girl is running down a corridor full of bad guys killing them all whilst a very fitting song plays...) and I thought that it was questioning society about it's increasing naivety towards the influence of violence on kids rather than promoting violence, but that's just my opinion. I would definately recommend this film, and it is so interesting to see how different people react differently towards it.

'300' wolf - How they did it...

In the film '300' there is a famous scene with a quite realistic looking wolf in it and I wanted to know how they managed to create such an impressive representation of a real wolf and I found this article on the website www.popularmechanics.com.

(To see the clip of the wolf scene in '300', click here)

The New Normal

A WOLF IN DIGITAL CLOTHING

In today's movie making, the creative work that takes place on a computer can be as important as what goes on in front of the camera. In the big-screen adaptation of Frank Miller's historical graphic novel 300 (above), the future Spartan King Leonidas fends off a wolf. On set, visual-effects supervisor Chris Watts tried using a robotic wolf (top) for the scene, but it was eventually covered up by a computer-generated version of the animal (shown midrender, below).

Digital effects such as 300's virtual wolf are remarkable not because they are groundbreaking — the use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) in cinema dates back to the 2D pixel-vision of a robotic Yul Brynner in 1973's Westworld — but because this technology is now a standard part of the moviemaking toolkit. The impact of digital technology on Hollywood has been gradual but all-encompassing. Today, a movie can be shot, edited and distributed — from camera to theater and beyond — without involving a single frame of film. The transformation is at least as sweeping as the introduction of sound or color in the early 20th century, and it is changing both the business and the art form of cinema. Cinematographers, long resistant to digital image recording, are starting to embrace the use of digital cameras, shooting clean-looking footage that's easier to manipulate than film. Commonly available software allows small special effects shops such as Hybride to render entire virtual worlds and blend them seamlessly with live-action shots. Scenes that would have required elaborate sets 25 years ago can now be shot against a blue or green screen, and the setting can be filled in later — and then tweaked until the director is satisfied.

180 Degree Rule Research

The 180° rule is a basic guideline in film making that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle.
(http://www.wikipedia.org/)

'The Prestige' Camera Shots

The first shot pans across a row of birds in cages, but it isn't a very smooth shot so perhaps it was done with a hand-held camera or a steadicam. (There is no establishing shot at the start, so the audience doesn't know where they are). Then there is a close up of Michael Cain reaching into one of the cages and just as he's about to pick up the bird, the shot changes to a cutaway shot that goes straight through one of the cages looking down through the whole row of cages, adding perspective.

Then there is a midshot of first Michael Cain, then the little girl. The camera then suddenly changes to a track/dolly shot of an audience in a theatre, followed by a longshot of the magician on stage. Both these shots are then brought together by showing a wide shot of the audience, stage and magician; this keeps the audience understanding the spatial relationships between characters.

There is then a shot of Christian Bale running down some stairs and the camera tilts down on a fixed axis to emphasize his urgency. The audience then sees a close up of the blind stagehand (flashing lights and shadows on this man's face create an eerie effect) and the next shot is a reaction shot (noddy shot) of Christian Bale after seeing the man's face.

The camera then goes back to Michael Cain and the little girl using an over the shoulder shot from behind the girl.

Lastly, the audience sees a point of view shot from Christian Bale's view as he watches Hugh Jackman's character get shut into the glass cage of water. There is a low angle shot looking up at the door of the cage banging shut. This low angle shot makes the cage seem bigger and more threatening.

Genre Research

So I've just been researching Thriller on wikipedia and apparently there are lots and lots of different variations of Thriller within itself, so if we chose to do a thriller we'd have plenty of ideas to choose from. Here's a few of them;

Action thriller: In which the work often features a race against the clock, contains lots of violence, and an obvious antagonist. These films usually contain large amounts of guns, explosions, and large elaborate set pieces for the action to take place. These films often have elements of mystery films and crime films but these elements take a backseat to action. Notable examples are the James Bond films, The Transporter, and the Jason Bourne novels and films.

Psychological thriller: In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical. The Alfred Hitchcock filmsSuspicion, Shadow of a Doubt, and Strangers on a Train and David Lynch's bizarre and influential Blue Velvet are notable examples of the type, as is The Talented Mr. Ripley byPatricia Highsmith (who also wrote Strangers) and The Good Son starring Elijah Wood and Macaulay Culkin.

Drama thriller: In which the story consists of the elements of a thriller and drama film. These films are usually slower paced and involves a great deal of character development along with plot twists. Examples include The Illusionist, The Interpreter and The Prestige.

...and the list goes on! Making a thriller as a class would probably be the simplest option for us to go with, but it could also be difficult because we'll be going up against so many other openings that come under the thriller category. A Chick Flick has the potential to be good but there's a huge chance that it could end up becoming really bland.

Action would never work...although maybe if we try and do Action it could turn into Comedy...?!

I think our choices are either thriller or comedy, because the other genres seem almost impossible to work with.