Critical Analysis of Maleficent

Maleficent(2014) directed by Robert Stromberg and written by Linda Woolverton is a spectacular and exciting dark fantasy movie. A vengeful fairy is driven to curse an infant princess, only to discover that the child may be the one person who can restore peace to their troubled land. Angelina Jolie delivers an amazing performance and makes a fantastic Disney villain.  Angelina's performance in the film has been repeatedly singled out for praise by critics. Linda Woolverton's screenplay went through at least 15 versions as the film progressed in the production. 

Genre
Maleficent is a action, adventure, fantasy and romance movie, having combined genres makes this film a hybrid genre. This makes the film appeal to a wider range of people while making it more entertaining and unpredictable as so many genres are mixed together. Using these specific genres work well as they all have completely different audience groups such as action is aimed for men, romance is aimed for women and fantasy is usually aimed at a wide range depending on the storyline.


The typical codes and conventions of an action, adventure film
The characters in action, adventure genre tend to be believable even though the film itself can be unrealistic also the main character is usually the hero with a power or talent. Almost always there will be a team of innocent characters who get caught up in the action and end up having to help the hero. Lastly some humorous dialogue would be used to diffuse situations.
The typical codes and conventions of a fantasy film
Fantasy is used to describe the specific genre that uses magic and other supernatural elements. Theses films tend to revolve around mystical creatures such as vampires, werewolves and fairies. The trailers are very secretive and careful so they don't give away the storyline. There are always dramatic and uneasy music throughout this film genre.
The audience expectations 
From a action, adventure film the audience would expect a lot of fast pace editing with fighting scenes also a bad guy most of the time and very tense scenes when the audience doesn't know what's going to happen. The continuous themes the audience would expect are: weapons, smoking, violence, powers, music and stunts. The expectations of a fantasy would be monsters or powerful creatures, a lot of fighting and editing and mostly CGI. The continuous themes would be good vs. Evil, violence, music and fast pace editing.

Content
Mise-en-scene and cinematography
Maleficent is based on a Disney story about sleeping beauty. In this film it has a lot of high contrast lighting which shows harsh shafts of light and dramatic streaks of blackness. It also uses some high key lighting showing brightness and a few shadows. There are a few low angle shots, this angle shows the importance of the character and they are given a sense of power and respect.

Throughout the film there are a lot of long shots which are considered a loose frame and tends to suggest freedom as the shots show space around them.

Most shots are shallow showing only one plane in focus, isolating the characters from what is going on in the rest of the scene.



Also most scenes show full front shots which shows the character facing the camera. This is the position with the most intimacy and the character is looking in our direction to invite us. The scenes are quite alien settings with mystical creatures and all the green screen and CGI can be quite false at times in the movie.

Critical Analysis of True romance

True Romance

True Romance(1993) directed by Tony Scott and written by Quentin Tarantino is an extremely entertaining and funny movie full of action. The cast is full of big stars which works because each of their roles really fit into the story and it's not just persuading the audience to watch it. Tarantino gave Tony Scott a choice in which film he wanted to direct and Tarantino would direct the other. He gave him the scripts for True Romance and Reservoir Dogs and he read them quite quickly and told him he liked the idea of True Romance. Although the script for true romance was originally non-linear, Tony Scott changed it to make it linear.  

Genre

Genres can become too predictable and unimaginative which doesn't come across exciting and fun for the audience. Stale genres can be revived by being less predictable and more imaginative for example True romance was a great success by showing the audience love doesn't just come from a perfect wealthy life but a true romance can come from being in the middle of life and death. A hybrid genre is a combination of two or more genres that the writer attempts to merge them together. True Romance is a hybrid genre, it includes the genres action, romance, drama and crime. As audiences want some familiarity and difference the writes are able to use locations and characters that are easily recognisable to the audience. Then again the audience also want plot twists, variations and hybrid developments to keep the audience interested. recently film makers are mixing elements of several genres to appeal to a wider audience range.
 The typical codes and conventions of a romance film
They are usually aimed at the female audience because it's known that females are more emotional in a relationship than men. There also tends to be a hero which is men most of the time, likewise there are hints throughout the films suggesting that they may be a good ''love match'' and that there will be a happy ending. Some of the time the storyline will actually link to the audiences emotions. 
The typical codes and conventions of an action film 
These are often hybridised with adventure, romance or Sci Fi and include fast paced editing. They usually have a predictable chain of events and use a lot of dramatic non diegetic sound throughout the film. The binary oppositions are always very clear and sometimes have humorous dialogue. The continuous themes and styles are gangsters, strong women, drugs/alcohol/smoking, violence/blood, music, long shots, famous actors and stunts.
The audience expectations

For a romance film the audience would expect a cute couple and maybe a wedding for them towards the end. Sometimes they might expect another character that gets in the way of the two main ones. The continuous themes they would expect are: Roses, friends, parents, children and sometimes famous actors. Whereas for an action film the audience would expect gangsters, drugs, alcohol, smoking, violence, blood, fast music, stunts and most of the time famous actors. The audiences expectations of True Romance would be a very strong romance with serious dramatic moments and a happy ending. They wouldn't expect the film to include drugs, fighting and gangsters.

Content

Mise-en-scene and Cinematography
True Romance is a modern classic movie set in the middle of a drug culture environment. Settings and locations are very important in film making and are not just backgrounds. Sets can sometimes be built from scratch or can take a lot of time to find a setting that already exists. The typical setting and props you can find in a crime film are: streets, alley ways, city, knives, guns and bats. The lighting in True Romance helps the audience feel what kind of  people the characters are especially in one scene which is known as the Sicilian scene.

Lighting and colour can be used to highlight important characters or objects within the frame and make the character look mysterious by shading sections of the face and body. In this particular scene the light shines down on Dennis Hopper showing his full facial features while another light shines at the back of Christopher Walken to darken his face giving the audience the feel that he is the villain. Although there are other characters in the scene, our eyes continue to focus on the two that are shown in light, not only because of the lighting key but also because of the staging and positioning of the characters. This scene is set in the rule of thirds for are eyes to shift from one character to the other without any distraction. Positioning within a frame can draw our attention to an important character or object. A film maker can use positioning to indicate relationships between people. In ant film colour carries certain connotations which may add meaning to a scene by giving it a look or feel.


Narrative

Structure
From Todorov's theory the equilibrium in this film is at the start when Clarence (Christian Slater) meets Alabama (Patricia Arquette) and finds out she is a call girl but falls in love with her anyway. The recognition is later on when Clarence decides to pick up some of Alabama's clothes but instead kills the pimp and accidentally takes a suitcase full of drugs. The repair, when the two travel to see Clarence's friend Dick to ask him to help them get rid of the drugs by selling it and when there is a massive shooting and Alabama thinks Clarence has died but they both escape. Finally the last scene shows them happy with their own family, the re-equilibrium.
Character types
True Romance shows the 8 character types from Propp's theory. Vincenzo would be the villain as he struggles with the hero which would be Clarence as he reacts to the donor, Elvis who speaks to him and tells him what he should do. Elvis would also be the dispatcher as he sends Clarence in directions to help him. Vincenzo would also be the false hero as he claims and thinks he is the hero. The helper would be Clarence's friend dick as he aids Clarence and tries to help him get out of trouble. Finally Alabama would be the princess and they are in love and eventually get married.

Semiotics

Semiotics

Romeo & Juliet Sign and signified

Bekk Thomas 

The capulets black clothing - Their black clothes show us that they are the bad guys and suggests death, violence and danger.

The bright coloured clothing - These show the good guys and the difference between the two gangs. This also shows innocence and care free.

The religious crosses - This shows the regions side and someone's status in this scene. Also shows his confidence and his beliefs.

Tybalt refuses handshake - When he refuses Romeos handshake it shows us that he rejects Romeo as he is a Montague and he believes he needs to hate them.

The weather change when the storm begins - This is foreshadowing the tragedy. Showing the change in mood and the pain.

'Tis a scratch' - This shows him stood on stage 'acting' trying to believe the cut isn't bad.

The use of guns - The guns convey violence, crime, death, gangs and care free.

Spitting - This is shown as an insult or dislike towards the Montagues. Also an act of rivalry.

The theatre ruins - Informs us the capulets want to put on a show which suggests they want attention and they think there better.

The cat hiss - Tybalt's cat hiss to the child shows an insult towards everyone there; power over the Montagues and comes across scary for the people on the beach.

Blood - All the blood shows danger, pain, violence and hate.

Increasing music and Drumroll - Building up to the tragedy.

The Dark Knight

The dark knight
153 minutes

Binary opposition-Good vs Evil

Todorov 5 stages:
1.Batman is in Gotham City.
2.The joker kills false batman.
3.More people are in danger of the Joker.
4.Batman goes after the Joker.
5.Batman gets the Joker arrested.

Propp 8 Character types:
Villain-The joker
Hero-Batman
Dispatcher-James Gordon
False hero-Harvey Dent
Donor-Lucius
Helper-Alfred/Lucius
Princess-Rachel
Father-James Gordon

Scene 1- The bank robbery - 4 minutes
This scene starts with an establishing shot, slowly zooming in to the big building the robbers are in. There is a lot of fast exciting music like something interesting is about to happen. All of the robbers are masked so the viewers can't tell straight away what's happening. There is a panning shot of them as they run into the bank. Also quite a lot of close ups of the masked men. Ending with a bus crashing through the bank.

Beginning   Middle.                                End
The bank robbery,                       -Joker tells people              -Rachel and
   killing each other.                        Batman is unhindered        Dent disappear
Batman includes Harvey             by jurisdiction.                     -batman saves
   Dent in his plan.                          -Joker offers to kill               Harvey by
Batman likes Dents girl.              Batman for money.                mistake.
                                                    -Joker kills people

Positive and negative stereotypes

Positive and negative stereotypes

Blonde-Negative                                                                         

House bunny-Blonde girl is shown

as very pretty but stupid. Always

talking about boys

.

Blonde-Positive

Lucy-Blonde girl is shown as

powerful and very smart.

Old-Negative

Up-Old man is shown as grumpy,

moody and hates kids.

Old-positive

Last Vegas-Shows old men

having a laugh going out

together.

Teenagers-Negative

Project x-Shows parties, drugs

and alcohol.

Teenagers-Positive

High school musical-Shows

teenagers dedicated to education

and long term relationships.

Chav-Negative

Kidulthood-Shows chavs fighting,

drugs and murder.

Chav-Positive

Attack the block-Shows chavs

saving people from an alien

invasion.

Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino

Bekk Thomas

Tarantino is an american film director, screenwriter, cinematographer, producer, and actor. 

He grew up an obsessed film fan and worked in a video rental store while training to act.

His career began in the late 1980s, when he wrote and directed My best friends birthday, the screenplay formed the basis for True romance. He then began his career as an independent filmmaker with the release of Reservoir dogs. Its popularity was boosted by the release in 1994 of his second film, Pulp fiction. That became a major success and judged the greatest film of the past 25 years.

Films directed:

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Django (2012)

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Reservoir dogs (1992)

Kill Bill volume 1 (2003)

Kill Bill volume 2 (2004)

Kill Bill volume 3 (2014)

Death Proof (2007)

Continuous themes:

Murder/Death

Violence/Blood

Alcohol/Smoking/Drugs

Action(sudden)

Close ups on lips

Product Placement

Bathroom Scene

Continuous styles:

Non Linear Narrative

Long Shots

Famous Actors

Stunts

Product Placement:

G.O. juice

Red apple cigarettes

Big Kahuna Burger

Fruit Brute Cereal

Teriyaki Donut

Jack Rabbit slim's

My opinion on Tarantino's films are very positive. All his films have been a big success and have become very popular around the world. In my opinion Django and Pulp Fiction are the best I've seen of his films and he should carry on with the themes and styles he continuously uses in his films for a further success in a film.

The orphanage film review

The Orphanage

The film The orphanage (2006) directed by J.A. Bayona and written by Sergio G. Sanchez also staring Belen Rueda, Fornando Cayo and Roger Princep is about a women who brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage for handicapped children. Her son then soon starts to communicate with an invisible new friend.

Firstly there are some best bits from this film, when the mother helps her son with a treasure hunt she thinks he planned for them to do. This part is very interesting and has a perfect setting for such horror movie with dark rooms and secrets hidden within. Another interesting part is also when the mother finds a pile of shells at the front door and as she knows for certain it wasn't her son she carries on to believe her son is playing a game with his pretend friend. However there are some bad parts in this film such as the ending, although it is a happy ending it could have been better. It was quite a confusing ending and a little bit annoying how everything turned out but overall the ending wasn't the worst ending I've ever seen.

I think the starting was like any other horror film, boring and pointless. It took some time to get the story going and some parts were confusing and could have been thought out a bit more. In my opinion i don't really enjoy a happy start and a happy ending i would like to know for sure there is not going to be a sequal in a horror. Happy endings can easily turn into a 2nd movie.

In this dark horror there were some good filming. The place chosen to shoot this film was well thought out as there was a beach, caves, cliffs and forests the usual setting for a successful horror movie. There was also some interesting sounds in this movie. There was a lot of scary music that gets louder and faster to create tension for the viewers. There were familiar sounds from other horrors such as creaky floor boards and doors which creates a scary, dangerous atmosphere. There were a lot of sounds of children crying which created interest and weakness for the audience.

Lastly i think the diologue was quite entertaining. The quote "Do you want to keep playing?" was very effective when watching the movie as it was repeated a few times. Also the quote "we are together now" was a kind of end summery for the film telling us they are happy now they are all together.