The Soloist Questions.

Producers - Gary Foster and Russ Krasnoff

What did Steve Lopez question about the film from the start?
He didnt know where it was going and it dint have an end. He said ' How could you make a movie if you didnt have an ending'.

When did the producers meet Nathanal?
It was after meeting for lunch at a resturant when they had met Steve Lopez. (2005)

Where were the real life locations of the film?
Disney Concert Hall, Anderson Street and East side of LA river.

What was Susannah Grant's aim when screen writing?
To show that everybody on the street is someones daughter, son, neice, nephew, brother or sister and that they all have their own heartbreaking story is you take the time to listen to them , she wanted to make people think about this.

Why was Joe Wright apprehensive about making the film?
He was weary of trying to tell a story of a place he knew nothing about (he's a british director).

What does Robert Downey Jr say about the role of Nathanial?
'High degree difficulty'. He also said that he had the technical side aswell of playing the chelo and that he had to show the mental illness. He said ' we've all seen crazy done wrong'.

Why did Joe Wright want authentic locations and people in his film?
It was a dramatic set and makes people think about the divisons in society. He wanted to use the real-life homeless people to make it authentic and hopefully relate, this meant he gave these people a job.

How long did the set designers on location have to build the set?
4 weeks (including interior)

What process did the actors go through to ensure that the acting was authentic?
They were put in the same situation they were examining and they did a three week trust exercise.

What comments are made about the ending by Susannah Grant and Krasnoff?
It was about having an honest ending thats real and not a fairytale ending.

Tim Bevan.

Tim Bevan is a film producer and was born in 1958 in New Zealand.
He co-founded 'Working Title films' in London with Sarah Radcylffe, this was in the 1980's.
When working Title films made a deal with Universal Studios it gave him power to comission projects.
He is also the co-producer of the west end musicial Billy Elliot.

The soloist marketing.

People thought this would be a perfect film for the Oscars’ mostly older female audience, it is an emotional film about a very talented musician with schizophrenia. It was released in Britain after it had already been released in America and hadn’t done well there, because we already knew this, it was destined to the same here. As soon as it was released in America it was pronounced dead at the box office. It is said that at the end of the life you don’t feel ‘ rueful but a satisfying sense of just how disappointing life can be’ which is the feel that I think they wanted us to feel, but you just felt ‘disappointed’ .

The Soloist.

Production Notes on The Soloist.

• DreamWorks Pictures + Universal Pictures, with Working Title Films.
• The production designer is Sarah Greenwood.
• Foster said  “We felt that in the right hands this could become a filmabout love, about inspiration, about the power of how people can help eachother. That’s what we wanted. We saw right away that this was a story of life-altering friendship. Nathaniel helped Steve discover more of his humanity andSteve gave Nathaniel the hope for more in his life than just sitting in a tunnel andplaying a two-stringed violin. There’s great drama, great emotion, and I was alsoinspired by the fact that it takes place in Los Angeles and explores the manyaspects of the city, from the glimmering beauty of downtown to the starkgrayness of skid row. One block separates them but it feels like they’re worldsapart.”
• It was soon after making a deal with Steve Lopez that Krasnoff and Foster bought dreamworks on board who then in return coinvinced Susannah Grant, to catch her interest they sent her a paket of Lopez's columns.
• This is a pg 13 film this is because of strong language and drug use.
• Ben Hong was the peron who hekped Jamie Foxx work on the cello and helped make it easy for him.

Let the right one in.

Let the right one in.

From watching and analysing this film we can learn a lot about the mise en scene. It is first set in a dark quiet place with just street lights and the lamps from inside to light it up a bit, there is also snow on the ground and it continues to snow. This is very basic and this would be because the film had a low budget and therefore not much to work with. The costumes in this film are very dark, pale colours and old fashioned colours. It starts to become brighter and the mood of the film seems to lighten up a little when Oskar is happy, this is because Eli is his girlfriend and he now also stands up for himself. Another thing we recognise when talking about the mise en scene is how Eli sits in the centre of the room when she is by herself, I think this focus’s the attention on her.

The use of music at the beginning on the film builds up the tension, it is a loud creepy kind of music and it makes you think what is going to happen because it sounds dramatic. Another sound I picked up on was when Oskar repeated the words ‘Squeal like a pig , so squeal’, I think this was repeated so we took notice to it and took more notice to Oskar. Later on in the film there is slow music when Oskar is being ignored by his dad, I think this is to make us feel for Oskar and to realise what is going on and this music also continues when Eli is leaving.

There is a variety of camera shots used in this film , there are long shots when the man is being gassed and again when Eli is saying ‘help me’ I think this is because we can see everything that is happened and not just focus on one person but also everything else around that is happening. There is also a longshot when Eli is being sick. There are also close ups ,I think the main ones of these are when the man pours acid over himself, this is because he thinks he is going to get caught helping out Eli who is a vampire. Another important one is when Eli and Oskar are in bed together, I think they would have used a close up on this because this is an important part and we want to know what is going to happen next. Another bit of camera work used was when they are at school the camera is at the child’s eye line, I think this is to make us relate to the characters more.

When looking at the representation of both characters we learn that they are binary opposite for example Oskar is a boy and Eli is a girl and also because Eli is a vampire and Oskar is a human. I also noticed that when the girl first meets Oskar she says that they can never be friends which is to make us wonder why. They also only had a very simple convosation . The first few times she sees him she seems to sneak up behind him like she has been watching him anyway.

Using Vladimir Propp’s theory Eli could be seen as the hero because she gets what she wants (the blood of humans) and this would then make her dad the helper because he is helping her to succeed this, from this Oskar would be considered the prince because Eli ends up with him in the end.

The soloist research.

• When a los angles journalist is looking for a new article for the paper befriends a homeless street musician who has amazing talent even with a broken instrument.
• Univerisal Studies in assosiation with Working title film.
• Robert Downey Jr
• Directed by Joe Wright.
• The estimated budget is $60,000,000.
• Nominated for 4 awards -3 Prism awards and 1 Black Reel award.
• It has had some good and bad reviews

Good.

Rolling Stone Review

The telegraph Review

Bad.

Guardian Review

The times Review

Disability (Character Profile)

The boy shown in this picture is Alan from the film 'Dear John'. In this film he is autistic. Austism is described as ' a disorder of neural development charcaterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behaviour'. I think this is portrayed right in the small clip he is shown in the film because he is shy and at first doesnt speak to John and when his dad comes over he goes a plays by himself. The character 'Savannah' also says that he only normally ever talks to his family and really close friends. Therefore i think this is a realistic image of autistic people, we can also tell this by this being a serious, quite realistic film. In the 1991 study, on of Paul Hunts identified stereotypes was 'As a burden' i think this is how Alan is shown in this film because he has to be taken care of for the rest of his life which means his dads life also revolves around him .

Let the right one in.

From watching the first part of this film i have noticed that the girl in the film is a vampire and she would be seen as the villian as well as the man who helps her. Other notes i got were :
* The creepy loud music builds up the tension at the beginning.
*Also the boy repeats the words 'Squeal like a pig, So squeal' this also builds up the tension because we want to know what he means by this.
*It is set in a dark place inside and out , with minimum light like a lamp or a street light. It also looks cold and wintery and there is snow on the ground and it is snowing.
*When the girl first meets the boy she says that they cant be friends, this makes her look mysterious and complicated, this is also shown by when she comes up to oskar she sneaks up behind him and when she leave him his rubik cube she doesnt wait to give it to him and just leave it out.
*They're is a close up of oskar when the bully at school is getting closer to him, he looks frightened but also fed up.
*It is revealed that the girl is a vampire when she is acting innocent to a passing man and then attacks him when he tries to help, this makes me think she is manipulative but also like she has experience in doing this.

Film Budget.

Media Power Point

Storyboard for Production.

Storyboard

I have chosen to analyse this video for our 'male gaze' lesson.
This video is of Dizzee Rascal and Clavin Harris's song 'Dance Wiv Me'
Using marjorie fergons ideas i have analysed that when  the girl in this is close up to the camera and opens her eyes this shows 'romantic or sexual because she is shown in slight slow motion and also 'invitational'. This is because it makes you take notice of her eyes and also her mouth is shut and the camera focus's on her mouth and her head is slightly to the side of the camera.
From knowing what Trevor millums ideas are also this looks like they have also used 'Seductive' because of the way the girl is looking at the camera.
Laura Mulvey thought of 'The male gaze'. I think this video definatly uses 'The male gaze' as it is described as 'a feminist referance to the voyeuristic way in which men look at women'. I think this is because of the way you see the men looking at women , how the women are dressed and their actions, body language and also the ideas i have mentioned above.

Definitions.

Marjorie Ferguson

Chocolate box - Half or full-smile, lips together or slightly parted, teeth barely visible, full or three-quarter face to camera.
Invitational - Emphasis on the eyes, mouth shut or with only a hint of a smile, head to one side or looking back to camera.
Super-smiler - full face, wide open toothy smile, head thrust forward or chin thrown back, hair often wind-blown.
Romantic or Sexual - a fourth and more general classification devised to include male and female ‘two-somes’; or the dreamy, heavy-lidded, unsmiling big-heads, or the overtly sensual or sexual.

Trevor Millum

Seductive - Similar to the cool/level look in many respects - the eyes are less wide, perhaps shaded, the expression is less reserved but still self-sufficient and confident; milder versions may include a slight smile.
Carefree - Nymphlike, active, healthy, gay, vibrant, outdoor girl; long unrestrained outward-flowing hair, more outward-going than the above, often smiling or grinning.
Practical - Concentrating, engaged on the business in hand, mouth closed, eyes object-directed, sometimes a slight frown; hair often short or tied back.
Comic - Deliberately ridiculous, exaggerated, acting the fool, pulling faces for the benefit of a real or imaginary audience, sometimes close to a sort of archness.
Catalogue - A neutral look as of a dummy, artificial, waxlike; features may be in any position, but most likely to be with eyes open wide and a smile, but the look remains vacant and empty; personality has been removed.

Eva Mendez

Eva Mendez Analysis

Freddy Ljungberg

Freddy Analysis

Shameless.

Shameless- Series 1 .

Sexualitly is not shown in a steriotypically way in Ian , this is because he does act any differently to the straight person and also he has a kylie poster above his bed, however one femine side of him is shown by saying 'a lot like his mam'. However Lip's sexuality was shown in quite a stereotypical way as in how he bosted about getting a blowjob and being shocked when finiding about Ian being gay.
At the begining of the sex scene with Steve and Fiona there is slow soft music playing and alot of close-ups are used.

This family are shown living on a council estate, which gives us the impression that they are rough trouble makers, we also see this when we see them at the fire and then the police turn up and when the theif takes Fiona's bag from the club, which is very loud and crowded. Alot of the characters appear to be gobby and full on. Close-ups are also used when the children are being introduced by Frank at the begining, when Lip is rushing to tidy up and when people are shouting.

Paul Blogs.

What are the paul blogs about ?
- The main actors
- Behind the scenes cast and crew
-It is documenting the production
- You find out what the film is about, however they are sure not to spoil the plot of the story
-Shows games the cast and crew play

Why would they make the blogs?
- To make a connection with the audiance
-Gives an incentive to watch the film
-They use the humour in the film in these blogs also, relates to the same audiance.
-The people who watch this are going to be fans of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost

Is Max a Stereotypical Teenager?

Max Fischer is generally not a stereotypical teenager, however there are elements of him that are. This is shown in the montage of pictures of Max either being the president, vice-president or founder of school clubs and activities. From watching this short clip we learn that Max is wearing the same outfit for most the activities he takes part in, this is his uniform which consists of beige trousers , a shirt and then his blazer. Compared to all the other children in this montage he is dressed smartly but also very differently, however by wearing this outfit all the time and taking part in these activities shows that he is maybe trying to fit in with the other children and trying to get some attention, which i think is also shown through him having different hair as well as uniform to the other children, this shows a side of him being a stereotypical teenager. We also comes across that Max is hard working and has a lot of interests and by being the founder or president he is trying to act older than the other children he is with which isn’t the behaviour of a stereotypical teenager, it seems that his social life is his hobbies therefore he doesn’t really seem like he is trying to socialise especially in the picture of him being the founder of the ‘Yankee racers’.

Hot Fuzz and This is England Comparison.

Compare how Hot Fuzz and this is England appeal to a British audience.

The directors of both films are British, Shane Meadows was the director for This is England and Edgar Wright for Hot Fuzz. Both of their films were based somehow on their own experiences.  Both were also British film companies ‘This is England’ was done by warp films which is an independent film company whereas hot fuzz was done by working title which is owned by universal, this is a mainstream film company.

Both directors used their own experiences, Edgar Wright used his own judgements based on his personality and his childhood dreams, he thinks of himself as the target audience so that he makes the film for people who would enjoy the same things as him and has the same kind of sense of humour, however Shane Meadows did also use his own experiences but more realistic than Wrights who’s was more based on his dreams. This links to the British target audience because this happened to a British person, his childhood shows the social realism of the 80’s.  The budget for the films are very different , this would be because one is an independent film and the other mainstream. This is England’s budget was £1,000,000 however Hot Fuzz had a much bigger budget of £8,000,000. The cast also aimed the films at a British audience because in both films, British actors were used, however the difference was in Hot Fuzz all of the actors were well known and in This Is England they were all unknown actors, this cast created the perfect eighties stereotype for the skinheads with the doc martins and living in a rough area, this cast would be recognised for their appearance throughout the film whereas in hot fuzz the actors were already well known and it is stereotypical because of the location and the setting , especially of the ‘Metro Police’.

Hot Fuzz was set in Glouster and also in Sandford Village, however This is England was set in Grimsby in Nottinghamshire which are all British location which again appeals to the British Audience.  The humour in the films are very different.  Shane Meadows used a lot of bullying and swearing to put across the humour in his film, also to show this the actors laughed within the film at their own jokes rather than just the audience laughing at the film, however in Hot Fuzz the audience is expected to laugh at the film rather than the characters laughing within the film because they are meant to be serious.

This is England had more of an Artistic Edge and slower pace  using the camera work than hot fuzz, this showed a more natural and realistic feel to the film which means we could relate better to it, the music also synchronises with the film more, both films had close-ups in their films this would be to make sure we understand the characters facial expressions. Hot Fuzz had a much faster pace and the events weren’t as realistic, this helps us to understand that the film is imitating other films such as bad boys 2. Iconography is very important in both films and this worked well to appeal to a British audience, in Hot Fuzz the Black Taxi represents Britain along with the underground being shown and the Metro Police. A lot more however was shown in This Is England , a montage has been used in this film at the beginning to show the setting of the film and British event that have already happened and this was a really good way to show that British people was the target audience for Shane Meadows film. In the montage images of Margret Thatcher were used along with clips from the news in the eighties of riots, also shown were skinheads wearing doc martins and British flags, this showed the social realism and meant the audience could really connect with the film and feel like it was filmed at that time which is what Shane Meadows wanted to achieve. A clip of Roland Rat was shown, which was on television in the eighties and the audience would also be able to re late to this time through showing this.

Both films appeal to British audience very well and very differently, the humour in This is England is used a lot more to do this than in Hot Fuzz I think because it is more realistic, however I also think that because the film companies are different and Hot Fuzz had a bigger budget and well known British actors this would help massively to get a British audience’s attention. The stereotypes in both films are used well, they both show the British just at different times and this is also shown through iconography.  

Preliminary magazine cover evaluation.

Task.
We were asked to produce a magazine cover and contents page for our first preliminary activity, we were told to use a mid shot for the picture.

The making of my magazine.
Firstly we drew out an idea of what we wanted our magazines and contents page to look like. We included in this a basic idea of what we wanted our picture to be and where we wanted it to go, our masthead and the cover lines.
We then went out and took our photos of our models to be on the front cover, this had to be a midshot of the person. We then had to upload this into photoshop and begin to produce our magazine cover and then to continue to do our contents page.

Skills.
The skills i learnt from doing this preliminary activity are how to use basic tools on photoshop such as layering and inserting a picture.

Hot fuzz and This is England table

Media Table - Miss Elger

What we learn about Tony.

Tony

What we learn about Tony?

• 
  
  He takes pride in his appearance , shown by the folded up clothes in his draws.
• 
  
  He keeps fit
• 
  
  He's confident and knows he looks good
• 
  
  Vain, he knows he is good looking and gets attention
• 
  
  He's clean and tidy shown by his bedroom
• 
  
  Crafty and Sneaky, he gets his sister in and climbs out the window
• 
  
  Eccentric , the bed sheets and the neatness of them
• 
  
  Arrogant, this is shown when he's standing by the window getting attention from the girl
• 
  
  Sexually Ambitious
• 
  
  He has a precise routine, work out, get dressed, letting sister in.
• 
  
  Classy and Mature , shown by the 60's posters 'Blow Up' and '8 1/2'

The Family Burnham

What do we learn about the family ?

• Repetitive
• The father and daughter use to be close
• The family photos show they use to be happy ( this also shows a traditional family)

Mise en Scene.
When the camera is facing the dinner table the father (Lester) is more slouched that the mother or daughter , also we see the red roses standing out and they are placed infront of the daughter , who also has red on her jumper, when they are sat at the table , the mother and father being far away form eachother suggests they are only really there for their daughter.

Music.
At the dinner table they are listening to 'Bali Hai' , we know this is the mothers choice of song and this shows she is old fashioned and either music she has grown up with or even what her parents would of listened to.
When Lester and his daughter talk in the kitchen the music is sad and slow but then when we see the boy filming them the music gets creepy which is also shown in the boys face aswell as anger.

Camera Work.
It starts off with a long shot of the family at the table , the camera gets very slowly closer, it makes the audiance feel like they could be spying or ease dropping on them.

Warp Films and Shane Meadows

Warp Films
It was set up in 1999 with funding from NESTA. it is based in Sheffield , England with another office in London.
Warpl Films have released four films:
This is England
My Wrongs
Dead man's shoes and
Rubber Johnny.
Shame Meadows
He was born 26th of December 1972,he is an english film director , screen writer and occasional actor.
Most of his films have been set in the Midlands area.
when he was 20 he moved to nottingham and here he made around 30 short films with the friends he had made there. Him and his friends started a film festival in the local cinema to watch them , this became popular.

Hot Fuzz Story Board

Hot Fuzz Story Board

magazine cover and contents page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSSCo3ncYag

.

Being Trapped.    

Lester Burnham in American Beauty is trapped , we learn this by loads of different things shown in the first ten minutes of the film       

• 
  
  The only time he is shown leaving the house he is going to work
• 
  
  In the shadows when he's in his bed
• 
  
   Trapped by his wifr, made to wear slippers
• 
  
  When he's in the shower , he is shown behind the door
• 
  
  When hes looking out of the window and his wife , this shows him behind the window
• 
  
  His image is reflected onto the computer with bars infront of him
• 
  
  He sits in the back of the car , like a teenager

Family Hierachy

Normally in the family , the hierachy would go ; father, mother and then child. However in this case it goes; Mother, child and then the father being last. this shows that Lester should be in charge of his family but instead he just gets controlled by his wife.

Colour

The red, white and blue in the film represnt the american flag, when Lester drops his briefcase red and blue are the colours of his folders. Also the rose that the wife holds is also red and the roses on the daughters jumper is red.

All of the other colours in the film are mainly neutral. This helps to create an atmosphere and also links to the representation of Lester being a boring perosn.

Having mainly neutral colours helps to make the red, white and blue stand out. 

Music

The music adds atmosphere by being repetitive, having awkward sounds makes an awkward atmosphere and having an uncomfortable sound makes an uncomfortable atmosphere.

The music fits in with Lester and his life , being awkward and uncomfortable at home.

+Representation.
First Impressions.

• scruffy
• trampy
• homeless
• poor
• no pride in appearnace
• smoking.

This man is actually very confident , and fashionable. We can tell this by the way he is posing and holding his cigarette.Also the patchwork onhis trousers are very neat and his turns ups look like they have been turned up and ironed neatly.This shoes are also very smart and clean. He works for Ralph Lauren andthis photo is taken outside Ralph Lauren is NewYork.

My GCSE results are ;

• maths - B
• english - B
• textiles - B
• english - C
• science - C
• science - C
• drama - C
• history - C
• business studies - D
• learning skills - pass 

The a-level courses i am tsking are maths, psycology, textiles, media studeis and general studies.
Media Interests..
films - The Holiday, Ghost, Bridget Jones, Dirty Dancing, Superbad and Nowhere boy.
tv - friends, one tree hill, eastenders, coronation street and desperate housewives.
music - rihanna, pixie lott, kids in glass houses, elvis.
magazines - elle, company , OK , heat.

I am doing media studies because i thought the subject sounded fun and interesting and it will also help me to improve my ict skills.