Regulations review - 'Good As Gone'

This is a short film about a former gang member 'Red' who after being released from prison, wants to turn his back on his criminal life. As soon as he is released, his former gang members have already planned an illegal activity for Red only to find out Red no longer wants to be involved. This angers the leader of the gang and his goes out of his way to persuade Red to come back to them. After Red's reluctance, he runs away.

This film certainly satisfies conventional elements of a drama film because it has a lot of suspense and silence which builds up the tension arising from the gang members and Red.It is similar to the film we are making in the sense that our film involves a gang who are rioters and they too are criminal activists during these riots.

Regulations review - The First Grader

                                                                   

                                                                         
                                             
                                                                           


                                                                           
                                                            http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi4027358489/
                                                                             

This film is based on a true story and it centres around an 84 year old Kenyan ex Mau Mau freedom fighter who fights for his right to go to school for the first time to get the education he could never afford. This created strong opposition from parents and teachers.

The film First Grader is definitely a drama film which captures the audience's mind, and it definitely conforms to various conventions of a drama film. It has many moments of silence and suspense. it is presented in a non chronological sequence, it had various violent wartime flashbacks, for example when Maruge is shown being tortured as he is hung upside down and whipped or pierced in the ear with a sharpened pencil or when he if forced to watch his wife and baby get killed. There is definitely the antagonist and protagonists where Marugee is the protagonist where he wants the right to free education and believes 'everybody' includes him and the other Kenyan parents and teachers are the antagonists who find it absurd that an 84 year old man wants to learn to read along with six year old children. I also think that, with regards to what the violent flashback shows, the British people are the antagonists in the sense that they oppose the views of the Kenyan people, they don't care what they think or want, and Maruge, along with the other innocent Kenyan civilians are victims.

The elements of this drama film that most interested me is different emotions expressed. The director Justin Chadwick had disturbing moments in the film, for example when Maruge's wife gets shot in head and his baby too. It has moments where we feel very sympathetic and almost hurt for Maruge when he imagines his wife next to him singing to him. But the film also have a lot of happy moments and most importantly perhaps proud moments that show us how Maruge is proud of who he is, this I thought was shown when he went to the government meeting and showed the marks on his back declaring how if it wasn't for him or the other who suffered Kenya would not be where they are now. But in my opinion, the most amazing aspect of the film has to be the message that it leaves with us. We see how Maruge has suffered from the very start of his life and how he is still to this very day is struggling to overcome his violent and unforgettable past life. We perceive him as an advocate of the disadvantaged people who have suffered considerably in their life. The fact that he  fights for the right to education and freedom, that he never gives up is a lesson to all.

This film is rated PG 13 for some disturbing violent content and brief nudity. However, I think due to the very disturbing violence in some scenes it should be rated 15. For me, some scenes were very upsetting and difficult to watch and personally I don't think people of younger age than 15 can put up with the violent scenes. However, for educational purposes it is obvious why it was rated PG 13 because of the Historical context.

This would affect how we would regulate the guidelines for our film, however our film is not so upsetting as seen in the First Grader and in my opinion I think out film could be a PG film. This is because it has no swearing in it, or any violents scenes, there are only scenes of pushing around. There is a scene of a house getting caught on fire but because it has no actual fire coming out if it or, because we don't see anyone actually dying or suffering in it it'd be suitable to watch.




Sources - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790663/
               http://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/first-grader

Film review (BBC short films) - The Other Man.

The film is a about a man who finds out his wife was raped five years ago. After this news, he struggles to come to terms with the rape of his wife and it leads to suspicions that she wasn't reallly raped but had cheated on him.

The film overall was quite good, the tone of voice used by the actors was of an upset and dim tone which reflected the hurt and pain felt in this film. The 'other man's' facial and bodily expressions were impressive in showing his shock of hearing the news, his anger and confusion. There were a lot of moments of silence which heightened the tension felt between the actors.

However, the actress (wife) did not seem very convincing or realistic in acting that she was raped in the first part of the film. When she told the husband over the phone, I felt there was no reality or emotion in what she was saying, she was very straight about it. there should have been more emotions expressed.
Furthermore, although the moments of silence was a good thing in enhancing the tension, there was alomost too many long moments of silence than necessary which made the film lose it's appeal.

With regards to the conventions of the film, without doubt it has many of the conventions of a drama film. For example, there is numerous moments of silence which builds up the tension between the characters.

But overall, a fairly good film.

Source - http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/

Roles in the film industry

Roles in the Film industry

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Technology in Slumdog Millionaire

                                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbu3GmiWF68

This video feature Danny Boyle and Darren Aronfsky. Danny Boyle discusses how he used Silicon imaging cameras in Slumdog Millionaire  to produce superb images in tight spaces with fast motion so it would 'snatch' information.

Danny Boyle didn't want to use the large 35mm cameras in the tight slums of India. He wanted to use a smaller more flexible digital camera to enable them to shoot quickly with minimal disturbance. They then found the innovative IT- Centric Silicon Imaging S1-2K Digital Cinema camera which delivered over 11 stops of dynamic range, flexible connectivity and film-like digital content which made it easy to be inter-cut with traditional film footage.





I think the Silicon imaging camera used in Danny Boyle's film was excellent because it had the advantages of efficiency, flexibility and adaptability with regards to filming in the very bust and small spaces of India. Without it, Danny Boyle would not have been able to capture great motion pictures. The type of Silicon cameras is an example of how, yet again, the continuous development of technology helps to create excellent quality of films.


Sources - http://www.siliconimaging.com/DigitalCinema/
                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbu3GmiWF68