Friday, February 24, 2012

Task 1

Step-by-step "checklist" for the process of creating a successful presentation.

- Choose one film from the list provided by the IB.
- Watch the chosen film at least twice in order to select an extract to analyze.
- Choose the extract that you consider that demonstrates the meaning and the main themes of the film.
- Watch the chosen extract and analyze it deeply.
- Take important notes while watching the extract chosen of the camara movements and the different types of shot´s and ALWAYS relate it to the meaning of the fim.
- It is really important to make a good and deep research about ths social context of the film as a whole and in a broader socialcultural context, as appropiate.
- Be sure of having neat and clar notes as a guidence in the oral presentation.
- Practice the oral presentation as many times as you need until you feel really confident.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The Third Man (1949)

Context of the film

The contextual study aims to place the film within a wider social context, examining how and why a film should be affected by the conditions of its production.


The Third Man (1949) is a visually-stylish thriller - a paranoid story of social, economic, and moral corruption in a depressed, rotting and crumbling, 20th century Vienna following World War II. The striking film-noirish, shadowy thriller was filmed expressionistically within the decadent, shattered and poisoned city that has been sector-divided along geo-political lines.
Genre
Genre:Thriller
Sub Genre:Suspense Adventure
Sub Genre:Postwar life Adventure
Thriller and Suspense Films
These are types of films known to promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension. Thriller and suspense films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations, with similar characteristics and features.
If the genre is to be defined strictly, a genuine thriller is a film that rentlessly pursues a single-minded goal - to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging at the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually arises when the main character(s) is placed in a menacing situation or mystery, or an escape or dangerous mission from which escape seems impossible. Life itself is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspecting or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation. Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces - the menace is sometimes abstract or shadowy.

  The Third Man (1949), one of the best suspense films of all time, told the story of a writer (Joseph Cotten) in post-WW II Vienna who found out that his old friend (Orson Welles), a black marketeer, was not dead after all.

Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense Thrillers





Monday, August 29, 2011

To what extent is Memento a Flippo (1998) film noir?


Memento (2000) Christopher Nolan
There are certain clear characteristics that define Memento as a Flippo (1998) film noir. Firstly, the black and white scenes, that in the movie interpose the color ones, are considered a typical film noir element. These scenes appear in the movie in the forms of flashbacks, it is part of the past of the character and it is inextricably linked with its present, that is represented in the movie with the colored scenes. These scenes divide the movie in two parts which at the end meet.  


The character played by Guy Pearce, Leonard Shelby, is a cynical, disillusioned character, that because of his condition has became an alienated character. Leonard Shelby is facing his wife's death and the last memory he has was her murderer, so he  decides to go after the killer and therefore becomes the detective of the crime. These two elements are typical of a Flippo film noir, that are often based on a crime or detective story. The male protagonist in the movie is facing therefore a moral dilemma and/or some kind of threat. 


Leonard Shelby has all of his body covered with different tattoos, that are actually his remember notes. Throughout the whole film, the spectator is covered with all kinds of notes and Polaroids pictures which make up the iconography, typical from a Film Noir.  
              



The Femme Fatale: a beautiful usually independent woman who typically leads the male protagonist astray, the antithesis of the loving, maternal, domestic female.

The character played by Carrie-Ann Moss, Natalie is Memento's Femme Fatale women. We discover this as the movie progresses, an we find out she's not a honest women. She actually confesses this to Leonard, who, because of his condition is not able to remember. 






Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Waiting For Superman

PRE-PRODUCTION

- On the first place, we should make an appropiate research to know all the information related to the topic., as well as the most affected people, who are the ones that are going to be iterviewed.
- In order to make this documentary we should have a number of arragements regarding the interviews. Such as, who are we going to interview, why is he/she being interviewed, where would that interview take place, when and fianlly a list with all of the questions related with the documentary topic.

PRODUCTION

- Through the documentary there are different interviews made to children who are the main affected by the educational system,  we also see interviews made to politicians, councilors, eduactional reformers, who are trying very hard to make a difference and finally to teachers who fight against these eduactional system in order to achieve a fair education.
- There are a number of footages thorugh out the doucmentary. We can distinguish, different speeches from politicians and important buissness men who seem concerned about education, different scenes from TV shows or movies such us The Simpsons or old movies as the one Superman and appears. On the other hand, live footage we were able to identify were, all of the interviews made to teachers, students, parents, etc, and scenes such as the lottery taking place or kids at school. 

 POST- PRODUCTION
- graphs and cartoons
- non diagetic music added
- voice-over

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Six Point Plan

1We have chosen our topic to demonstrate the insecurity there is in the roads of Argentina within the driving methods people here have. The main message we want to convey is to warn people about this serious problem the Argentina has that puts in risk many people lives. 
2.  Our target audience are people within 17 to 25 years old, because these people are the most affected by this problems since they drive late in the night where they are tired and are not conscious of the risks driving has. Besides at these ages, these groups do not have that much experience in driving. 
3. We will use a Canon 7D to film and record. We will also need a computer with final cut pro to edit the film. 
4. Our primary sources will be the people we interview to gather information, they will talk about how they suffer this problem and their opinion about it. Our secondary source would be other extra information or materials that will be donated by Belen’s dad who works in these areas. 
5. Interviewer: Mercedes Bossi, Organizer and producer: Belen Lopez, Filming: Catalina Somoza. The editing will be done by the three of us. 
As a basis of our film we will use a pilot of a new TV show about traffic issues and insecurities.