Film Reviews 4/4- JAWS

Characters:
Jaws (left)
Gnasher (right)

(The text of the conversation has been added on the right of the image in the case that you cannot read the text in the image OR Click on the image to see a close up)

Jaws: Gnasher, where’s Nipper?

Gnasher: (Sob) dead! The humans captured him; they blame him for the death of the 2 humans that have happened over the last month. Apparently we are protected however if we kill a human, the authorities are allowed to kill us! The worst part is Nipper didn’t even do anything!

Jaws: GGGR! Those humans are going too far. They just perceive us as mindless killing machines and its all because of that Steven Spielberg film ‘Jaws’ (1975).

Gnasher: Don’t forget that Peter Benchley guy, he wrote a novel about us that inspired Spielberg to create that film, but what I don’t get is how did Benchley get the idea to make a novel about us killing humans?
Jaws: And in terms of the film itself, they make me look fake was so unsuccessful for me, although the ways in which Spielberg constructs the film to make me look the like the villain is effective, but I hate him, I would love to get my Jaws into him

Gnasher: Likewise, however you have to admit one thing, our theme tune is catchy! Da Da Dun, Da Da Dun, Da Da Dun, Dun, Dun…

"Shut it Gnasher!"

Film Reviews 3/4- The Big Combo (1955)

Film noir (French for ‘black film) is a film genre which is distinctive through its low key lighting, urban settings, a femme fatal character, mystery etc. the genre has an artistic aspect as the films use the contrast of light and dark ‘chiaroscuro’ effect and use the lighting and shadows to express emotions. The genre’s style is particularly used in thriller’s, detective and gangster films.

The synopsis for ‘The Big Combo’ involves Police Lt. Leonard Diamond, who is on a personal quest to bring down the sadistic gangster Mr. Brown, whilst at the same time being obsessed with the gangster’s girlfriend Susan Lowell.

A conflict of good vs. evil is once again in the narrative. The shot above shows the conclusion of the film with its use of stereotypical film noir’s lighting effect. The single shot alone can tell a lot about the film such as use of fog in the background creates mystery and suspense, which is further reinforced by the audience not being able to see the characters close up .This in turn engages the audience during the film as the fog covers up what will happen next. Also stereotypical characters of film noir can been seen in the shot as well, the femme fatal and the detective.

My view is that the film is engaging and full of suspense particularly the torture scenes. John Alton really uses the lighting to great effect and are really good at adding emphasis to a scene such as the torture scene.

Film ReviewS 2/4- Looney Tunes Cartoon (Bugs Bunny)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeY561iXxjA
  

Warner Bros. Looney Tunes is a popular animation which contains lots of comedy and is full of laughs. Unlike with other comedy shows such as BBC Mock the Week or the famous ‘Two Ronnies’, where the writers scripts are funny, intelligent and witty, not that scripts in animation are not. Animation is a very visual media and it’s what we seen (combined with other factors such as the script, the characters personality and sound effects) in the animation which contributes to creating comedy.

“What’s up doc?” Bugs Bunny (BB) is one of the most notable of all the Warner Bros. characters. Always involved in conflicts with a range of other Warner Bros. characters e.g. Elmer Fudd, Bugs uses a range of tricks to cause chaos for his opposite number at the same time making the audience laugh. This can be seen in the episode (click on link).

One example of where these factors can be seen to create comedy is when Bugs Bunny places a stick of dynamite in Rocky’s mouth as though it was a ‘cigarette’ and then imitating Rocky’s voice to get Mugsy to light up the “cigarette” (with Mugsy thinking that he’s back in Rocky’s good books again) which in consequence leads to Rocky being blown up. The use of sound effects such as the dynamite being lighted and then blown up further adds to the comedy in the animation. The formula of Mugsy messing up and Rocky punishing him afterwards further adds to the comedy after Rocky is blown up.

Film Reviews 1/4- The Dark Knight (2008)

The Record breaking Box Office hit The Dark Knight (2008) is the first ever Batman film which does not feature the name ‘Batman’ in the title. The narrative involves Batman (Christian Bale), Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Dent joining forces to rid Gotham City of all criminals and battle the criminal mastermind The Joker (Heath Ledger) who Introduces “a little anarchy, upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos”’. Overall, the storyline comes down to a typical narrative of Good V Evil (Vladimir Propp).

Sequel to ‘Batman Begins (2005)’ which restarted the Batman franchise films from the beginning, The Dark Knight has been highly successful. The Director Christopher Nolan wanted to push the boundaries and this was the case when he decided to blow up a real life hospital in the film rather than using special effects. Nolan also seems to draw inspirations from other films, for example the interrogation scene involving Batman and The Joker paying homage to ‘HEAT’ (1995). Lucis Fox (Morgan Freeman) demonstrates Batman’s gadgets to Batman as though he was ‘James Bond’.

The list of top actors in the film such as Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman further helped the films massive successful. However whilst it was a Batman film, the main attention of the film was the 5 star performance from Heath Ledger as The Joker. In addition, the sound of one note getting longer and tighter as it plays which in turn helps build tension, which is anchored to the joker, works extremely well.

Sources:
· http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/
· http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/dvdsite/
· The Dark Knight film and DVD: Bonus features
· http://cielos.wordpress.com/2008/07/02/the-influences-of-the-dark-knight-iii/