The Avengers

VISUAL EFFECTS
Visual effects plays a huge role in action packed movies such as The Avengers.
The visual effects were mainly shot using a green screen with the help of Evil Eye Pictures which contributed 200 visual effect shots for the Marvel movie. Working in close collaboration with Academy Award-winning Visual Effects Supervisor Janek Sirrs, Evil Eye Pictures was tasked with creating intricate environments throughout the film, including numerous set extensions, matte paintings, digital doubles and countless CG elements.
The highly action packed, visual effected scenes the movies has become a sensation super hero movie. It creates the movie as a whole, without them the movie will not feel or look as realistic. The range of shots offers a wide range of planning and challenges for the experts in visual effects both mentally and psychically (to create the green screen scenes. In The Avengers during the last fight they are on a main road in New York however the road was actually build in a 100ft green screen location and the rest was added in). Hollywood is very known for is craze of visual effects and each year the effect develop and become more jaw dropping, saying this means each Hollywood movie attempts to have better effects with more crazy stunts. These demands are clearly necessary when creating a Hollywood movie and without the aspect of Visual effects a Hollywood movie just isn't a Hollywood movie.
It is very common for a big Hollywood movie company such as "Paramount Pictures" to rely on highly budgets movie which are full of visual effects to engage the viewers. Many action movies follow with many effects.


RIGHTS TO A MOVIE
Most Hollywood movies use already written story's which they just buy rights to use.
As "The Avengers" was a concept which goes way back to comics Paramount had to reach an agreement with Marvel Studios to use the story from the comic and transfer it into a movie. By this time this was not the first time Paramount had to ask for rights as they had already previously create movies for well known comic such as "Captain America", "Iron Man", ect, and each of these movies were huge hits and made an impact to the cinema and also the Hollywood image.
Hollywood is known for there high budgets on movies and "The Avengers" was no exception. As Marvel Studios is a well known comic company and have a huge fan base means that the rights to use such a comic like "The Avengers" which have many fans could cost millions just to use the concept, this is because Marvel Studios has such a huge reputation with there astonishing comic and that if such a legendary movie is transformed into a movie and the movie does not satisfy the fans the company will lose fans and respect meaning less people would admire the comics or Marvel itself, giving rights to a Paramount could damage their reputation if the outcome of the movie is bad. Also as Marvel have so many fans they would watch the movie of their favorite movie which sort of gives Paramount certified views.
It is sort of compulsory for Hollywood to create movies which already have a released book, for example "Life of Pi" was a well known book worldwide and then a Hollywood brought the rights to use the book craze story and create a film and by doing this it ensures views from the fans.


A-LIST ACTORS
Well known actors are expected in any Hollywood movie, however in "The Avengers" many A-list actors are used.
Actors who have a fan base are usually casted compared to upcoming/unknown actors as they drag along viewers. However "The Avengers" really outdoes itself with the amount of A-list actors who have a role in this movie. As "The Avengers" is a part of a                                           . There was other movies before "The Avengers" which was about individual characters which was usually played by a high profitable actor. Then each movie linked in together such as "Iron Man 2" right at the end of the movie included a scene with an axe which fell from this sky, this then leads on to the next movie "Thor". "The Avengers" is the movie which ties the knot, most fans would have seen every other movie from Marvel before watching "The Avengers" as they didn't want to miss any story line which could connect to "The Avengers". So each movie had well known actors which attracted there individual fan base and "The Avengers" included all of the actors which also includes all there fans.
By including well known actors fans begin to get excited to see the movie, even if they hate the movie and its story line they will force themselves to watch the movie just to see there favorite star act in that movie. This is very typical for Hollywood to do, by casting actors who bring views means that the movie will do well on the opening weekend (The Avengers made $207,438,708, however it made $623,279,547 by the end of  28th September 2012). Saying this proves that by having a good start up gross means people will realize that the movie has made a good start in the beginning weekend and that it must be worth the watch and also go view the movie.

RANGE OF LOCATION
Location is a crucial aspect to any hardcore action packed movie such as "The Avengers".
For a movie like "The Avengers" locations are vital for epic scenes such as the New York Park Avenue scene, however saying this many of the shots were also mixed with green screens. Also the movie itself explores many different locations around the world and to portray such locations is to just film there, there is also no problem about costs as Hollywood always have high budgets.
The wide variety of locations offers a challenge as the production team have to move equipment personnel and financially support the project as mentioned. This is what is needed to feed the crave which the audience have, specially from a high budgeted movie such as "The Avengers".
Location is key to telling the story specially for Hollywood movies which rely on large audiences to draw the viewers to the film for example "The Hobbit" used various spectacular locations such as New Zealand, North  & South Island, ect to ensure a global audience.

LONG PRODUCTION TIMERS

Movies such as "The Avengers" which consists of crazy action packed scenes, however these scenes are as simple as they look, some could take days.

Production timers could take so long due to prepare stunts and reruns of the same scene, a scene could be perfect shot in one, however most film crews would take the shot more then once just to make sure they have the shot they desire as some of the locations which they shoot at cost a tone of money to rent out and if they missed the shot it would add more time in the making of the movie and also make the movie release at a later date due to the shots not being right.

As Hollywood create the best of the best movies, if they will use a bad shot, it could ruin that production companies reputation and reduce views. This is why they have to perfect each shot as everything counts, the movie is their reputation. This illustrates Hollywood as the one focus point Hollywood has is their image, they need to be the best of the best and if their not the movie will not be successful.
Movies such as "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" was very successful due to its high cost however this movie took a long time to create due to the crazy costume and sets however once the movie was released in cinema the views boomed!

Skyfall James Bond $1bn MARK!

Skyfall crosses the $1bn mark at the worldwide box office

It’s only the 14th film to do so

Dec 31st 2012By Josh Winning

James Bond’s latest big screen outing has earned itself a prestigious place amongst some of the highest-grossing films ever made.

Not content with simply setting records in the UK (where it became the highest grossing film ever with a current total of £100m), Skyfall has now made a total of $1bn at the worldwide box office.

Which isn’t bad for a film that looked like it might never happen, thanks to the MGM financial crisis.

In November 2012, Skyfall passed $500m at the worldwide box office, which now looks like mere coppers when compared with its current impressive haul.

The upshot of that massive monetary grab is that Skyfall now sits amongst esteemed company as one of just 14 films to pass the $1bn mark – others include Avengers Assemble, Avatar, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 and The Dark Knight Rises.

Bond, we’re raising a martini in your honour.

Seven Pounds Movie

Seven Pounds (2008)  123 min  -  Drama  -   16 January 2009 (UK) 7.5 Your rating:   -/10  Ratings: 7.5/10 from 140,210 users   Metascore: 36/100 Reviews: 544 user | 195 critic | 33 from Metacritic.com An aerospace engineer with a fateful secret embarks on an extraordinary journey of redemption by forever changing the lives of seven strangers. Director:  Gabriele Muccino Writer:  Grant Nieporte Stars:  Will Smith, Rosario Dawson and Woody Harrelson |See full cast and crew TRAILER Reviews from random reviewers (mostly USA based)

http://community.nytimes.com/rate-review/movies.nytimes.com/movie/446848/Seven-Pounds/overview

Radio Script - Binary Opposites

     We were told to write a script and record it using a recorder. We focused on the binary opposites of class. We see the characters juxtaposing in speech and formality  In the script we focused on two main characters, one was a ghetto boy named Johnny and the other was a posh girl called Janani. The ghetto character's dialogue consists of slang and fast paced language where as the girl speaks in RP which is very Standard English. Just by the way she speaks we are able to tell that she is of a higher class then Johnny the ghetto kid. Also the ghetto kid speaks in a colloquial and uneducated fashion which contradicts their current location which is school, a school is suppose to be an area of educating. He also talks in a much louder tone where as the girl is very calm and clear tone.

The boy uses various lexis and idiolects that come from his background and this shows through his speech. Slang is constant with the boys colloquial language which rarely follows a full sentence due to his unsure and unfamiliar language of formal English. The boy seems to continually ask questions which are answered by the girl which shows the power he has over her. On the other hand the dialogue which the girl uses is the complete opposite compared to the boy. She thinks before speaking and she uses more sophisticated and complex sentences  Overall this illustrates the educated background and upbringing she has, she always answers the boys questions but never asks. Lastly she refers to asking mother, this illustrates that she will also run through her plans with her mother and also by calling her Mother instead of Mum reinforces her posh side.

     The tone used in there voices illustrates a different in social grade and class. The boy was bubbly and loud. He has a deeper accent and volume compared to the girl. He uses slang which then makes his voice high pitched and annoying, it also shows he has picked up a different tone of voice due to the people he associates with, the bad slang could also illustrate the rudeness of the boy this is due to us not understanding most of the words he is saying. He commonly uses abbreviations which lower his class compared to the girl. However the tone of voice which is used by the girl is very clear. Her social grade and class is higher than the boy just by the use of her long, elongated words which are spoken in a well-mannered, clear and posh tone which then tells us that she is higher up from him as she takes her time to speak and everything she says is clearly spoken.

     From the description given of the scenery you can tell that the school is a run downed, public school which holds students from various background and cultures, there is a wide mix from good but mainly bad students would attend. In the scene the boy answers his phone during a lesson, the fact that he answers his phone in the middle of a conversation illustrates his bad manors and rudeness. He begins to try and skip her plans with her family to come to a party which is happening during the week. When the phone rings the girl warns him to put it away however his attitude is different and he does not seem to care and answered it casually.

Radio Script

Scene begins with two twelve year old kids discussing their weekend plans. There is music playing in the background (Tupac). Ambulance/ police sirens going on in the background. The school is rough and very disorderly, all the teachers have given up and are casually smoking. The tables are thrown about, the chairs are all over the place, there are shards of glass on the floor.

Characters – Posh kid – Janani    Ghetto kid – Johnny

Ghetto kid – Yo……Yo Janani, you done the essay?

Posh girl – Yes Johnny I finished it about a half hour ago.

Ghetto kid – Oh .…… .Okay……GEEK!

                                       (Phone rings)

Posh girl – Johnny! Put that away!

Ghetto kid  - Whatevaaaaaa………I just got a text from my boy Abdi…..y’know from Northolt!?

Posh Girl – Yes I vaguely recall that thug

Ghetto kid – Yeah him he’s having a mad PARTAAAAAAAAAY! You coming?

Posh – No…. I didn’t receive an invite.  ( Janani has a hurt look on her face)

Ghetto kid – U WOT! You can be my plus one! We’re gonna drink so much, IT’S GONNA BE LIVE!

         ( Janani has an aghast look)

Posh – Johnny?! You..don’t drink?! Do you?! You can’t! You’re underage!

Johnny – I turn 13 next week next week inni BMT!!!!

Posh – What is BMT? Bacon lettuce and tomato?!

Johnny – No…… big man ting!!!!

Posh – oh okay…….

Johnny – So you coming then?

Posh – I’ll have to ask mother about it because we have dinner plans.

Johnny – BUN THOSE DINNER PLANS!

Posh Girl – Uncle Albert and Auntie Jane will be ever so devastated!

Johnny – FOR REAL?! BEG YOU SHUT UP!

            Scene ends with a gun shot

Johnny – Oh I think that was the bell.

Hotel B - Ethnicity

Binary opposites are portrayed through the use of camera, editing, sound and mise-en-scene. I will be picking and choosing two different scenes to illustrate the binary opposites of ethnicity. Claud Levi invented the theory, he believed that there are direct opposites in every character in every movie/show e.g. good vs evil.

There is a clip in "Hotel B" were the immigration team went looking round the hotel they instantly found a suspect. Once we aware of the situation the cameras begins it's magic with a close-up we begin to feel as it we as an audience are in his position and to reinforce this idea  shot- reverse-shot is used once the black male notices the immigration team. Also a fast zoom is used to reinforce the shock of the suspect and yet again we are able to see his facial expression at an even closer and more discomforting look. With these shots we are able to acquire information about the immigrate, he works as a cleaner, who appears to b e 20-25 and is a working social class. With the shallow focus I am able to pick out certain parts as my eyes only focus on him as he is the only thing that is in focus. Also in this scene the shots are put together with straight and fast speed (action match). This gives us a real feel of the scene and we begin to get excited and instantly become more engaged and interested in the show. A major part of analysing which is usually missed out is sound, it starts the mood board. There is both diagetic and non-diegetic sounds, for example when the man notices the team he gasps in terror and shock, this is a diegetic sound and because of this we are able to tell how worried and shocked he is in that moment in time. However there is also non diegetic sound as music is also playing in the background. It has a serious melody to it, once the action and the fast motion editing begins the sound gradually gets louder. The soundtrack was picked deliberately to fit the theme of the scene. This also informs vs about the type of hotel it really is, serious and tone. Lastly the mise-en-scene is vital for example the clothes he is wearing illustrates that he is working class,  the colour of the clothes maroon jump suit. The overall lighting in this shot is very well lit and there are no shadows, this can link in with the positioning of the black male, for example he is in the corridor which is unsafe and is easily seen thus why they used the high key lighting.

Comparing this I will be talking about the scene which is at the start of the "Hotel B" clip, this is where the police come from the back of the hotel to barricade people from leaving....


Did not finish in time, need to write faster.
GRADE - C

Hustle - Gender - Mock Exam

I will be disusing both genders from a clip of the show "Hustle". I will talk about the female who plays a leading role in this scene and I will compare her with the con man.

We as an audience are instantly introduced by three characters and we are able to categorical them in a matter of seconds, with the use of social grades, styles and not forgetting to mention dialogue. The shop keeps speaks very sarcastically to the first women due to her limited amount of spending money, whereas when he spoke to the blond high class women he spoke as if he was lower then her and that she was more important then him. Once approaching the women we are able to judge her personality by her costume and style. The stereotypical blond is completely thrown off as she speaks with a very classic English which links in with the tight suit which demonstrates her business and professional side. However her red nails conotates danger and illustrates that she is dangerous even if she doesn't necessarily portray it. Once she is assisted by the male he informs her about a very expensive branded dress which she then try's on, the camera quickly cuts to the scene and focuses on her silver high heels. She beings saying "Yes, Oh yes!" which sound very sexual and as we have limited view we are unable to see what's happening. he camera slowly rises as she continue sly says the phrase, we then come to understand and see that actually she is looking at the dress in the mirror and she is saying the phrase because she feels the dress is perfect. There is a constant glamorous melody through out the whole scene so far which illustrate the classic and elegant side to the shop, it creates a rich feel to the atmosphere. We are able to instantly tell that because she has money the assistant will be extra nice specially compared to the first customer who he treated with sarcasm. The camera then swoops to the new scene which is near the till, whilst the man folds the expensive dress with extreme care, as if it was a new born. Whilst she rumbles through her purse. Half way through her ring which was given to her is missing and she has to complete change of personality, she beings throwing her belonging around as if they are nothing, whereas for some it's as if she is throwing her riches and damaging physically but also metaphorically as her image is getting destroyed as she throws her belongings around. The audience are able to see this with the use of a mid shot. The camera plays a huge part in the next scene as it begins following her around the shop whilst she searches her ring, quick cuts and fast shots also play a major role as it gives the audience a sense that she is worried but at the same time she is rushing . The sound has a drastic change from smothe melody to fast pace jazz. Whilst looking for the ring she begins disorganising the shop and destroying its classic image and feel to a very scruffy and ill looked after shop in a matter of seconds. She is then reassured and begins to await a call for her missing ring from the assistant, whilst she leaves the male comforters hers with his words "You can trust me". She hands him her business card which brings her business side back to the scene and back from her wild and rough behaviour. She then offers a £5000 reward for whoever finds the missing ring, this illustrates the type of person she is and that the ring means so much to her that she is willing to pay a high price for the finder and thus illustrates to us that she doesn't care about how much money she has to give to find that ring. She then leaves with last dialogue "I'm sure I am" which refers to the trust of the shop assistant. She smirks and leaves in a rush. The close-up used once the woman was talking evolves into a mid shot of her leaving and walking down the stairs. The audience now begin to feel as if we are apart as she speaks directly to the camera and no one else.

Later on a male walks in and stands next to the assistance who is on all fours. This implies that the shop assistant is like a dog and he is use to being commanded and lead. Then a close up is used on the male customers shoes which are very 1920s style which links with the style of music of "Jazz". This then links back to when Jazz themed music was actually played in the scene of her looking for her ring, this gives the audience a clue and feel that he actually plays a role in the missing ring even though there is no evidence to prove it. However he pretends to find the ring on the floor but had it in his hand all along, the audience then become confused and enigmas array. A shallow focus was used on the hand to give all focus on the hand and nothing else. He then explains that he has found a ring and the assistance kindly asks for the ring.  he changes his personality just so he can obtain the ring and get the reward, but what he doesn't know is that the man is in on the whole scheme and in fact he is attempting to scam him with the help of the woman. The roles are then reversed and the shop keeper begins to get up, he is taller then the customer and is dressed to a smarter standard, he is wearing glasses which also give him an intelligent side and this is backed up with his use of language and unfamiliar words. On the other hand the other guy is wearing a suit but no tie and a necklace to give him that casual look.