Today's lesson was good :) We looked at The American Dream and started to look at how Hollywood portrays it. I think this is going to be an interesting topic, because I am not sure if I am for it or against it. It's a tricky one.
First we did a brainstorm of The American Dream, like words or phrases that we associate with it.
The American Dream - Justice - Achieving Fame (Andy Warhol - 15 minutes of fame) - Money - Generations - Opportunity - Marther Luther King - OBAMA - Suburban Communities - Democracy - Marriage, family - Rags to riches - one extreme to another - Pursuit of Happiness - High Profiles - cult of Celebrity - Destiny - "Jobs we hate..buying shit we don't need" - Fight Club - Freedom - Different classes - Equality - Moneyyyyyy - Not just one American, but every American
Funnily enough, the perception we receive of America is actually a country which is uncomfortable with all these ideologies of the American Dream. America comes across as this country with all the answers, the land of hope and opportunities. But it is really so perfect?
Statistics - from book Measure of America (Sarah Burd-Sharps, Kristen Lewis, Eduardo Borges Martins) - Nearly third of all female murder victims were killed by intimate partners - The majority of Americans cannot aford health insaurance
I want to get this book and read it!
There are many Hollywood films that embrace the ideologies of The American Dream, but there is also several others that are very 'anti-American Dream'.
For Pretty Woman
This film as we all know is about two completely different people from different areas with different backgrounds and how they have freedom to climb the social ladder. Hollywood often plays on this fairytale notion, such as ideologies of happy endings, princes/cess. Basically, wealth talks + opens doors.
Coming to America Again there is an ideology sold and America is represented as the land of dreams and particularly in this film not just for people who live there.
Against Fight Club
I love this clip. This clip represents this notion of what I like to call The American Cycle. We go to school, get a good education. 'Graduate' We then get a or are expected to get a good job, and for what? to buy things and to maintain a household.
This is the part that I am torn by. The American Dream is essential to all of us. To some extent I am very anti-American Dream, but on the other hand I like to think I have ambition? I don't really know, I am passionate and wish to look into this with more detail.
THEN we listed the films we remember and know that embody ideologies of The American Dream..
Filims American Beauty! (Possibly the best film ever made) Toy Story The Lion King Independence Day Truman Show Coach Carter Sister Act The Wizard of Oz & So on...
AFTER ALL THAT :) We started to watch the beginning of The Pursuit of Happyness. I have never seen it but I heard it is a bit of a tear-jerker, but of course being a Hollywood movie it is going to have a happy ending. Although I am more interested in cynical films that deconstruct, unravel and challenge the American Dream. I still gave this film a try and to be honest I can't wait to see the ending :)
In the opening I noticed a number of things. - Emphasis on the Y, Will Smith's character always picks up on this mistake as it is written on the wall. - There are no capitals featured in the title sequence, I couldn't figure out what this might represent maybe I need to carry on watching the film. - There are flickering images of one extreme to the other (rags to riches) i.e. a homeless person on the floor, then a rich black happy man.
I also noticed the different sub-genres of the American Dream such as:
Education - Will Smith asks his son "Can you spell everything your thinking of?" - Picks up on mistake 'happyness' - "Have to go to college to be a stockbroker" (Again coming back to this idea of having a good education in order to get a good, stable job)
Health - Carries around a medical device with him, he seems to risk and put his life on line a lot for this 'unnecessary luxury'.
Poverty - Needing education - Wife working double shifts - Struggle - Priorities - Needing to sell things
I found this lesson very, very interesting today. I can't wait to see the rest :) :)
I then asked my mother the following questions. She said she does not count herself as British, as she was born in Derry (Northern Ireland). I then mentioned the fact that technically she is British, as Northern Ireland is part of The British Isles. She then went on to say how she doesn't really feel that bothered about being British. She doesn't feel proud, or ashamed. She said Britain is too set in its ways to change now, and she has accepted this.
I totally agree with my mother. I dread to think what my father has to say on the matter.
Today's lesson was surprisingly interesting. We started FM2, in which we are looking at the theme Identity in British films. I don't know, I wasn't too keen on looking at British Cinema. I guess there are other British films other than This Is England. It turned out to be quite a good lesson. First we did some brainstorms, where we were asked a question and had to think of words/phrases that were relevant.
First brainstorm was to think of things we think are associated with Britain.
British Poor weather Houses of Parliament Pie and mash Fish and chips Full English The Queen The British bulldog LANDAN
You know, this was surprisingly difficult!
We were then asked two questions
How does it feel to be British? Pessimistic Angry Proud Moaning Conflicted Stereotyped Judged Intolerant Fed-up Stabbing Hoodie Culture Underdog Better than everyone else (JAKE) Racist
What do you understand about the term 'multicultural'? Sub-culture Stereotypes Diversity Racism Religion Judgemental Race Fear Embrace Division Mainstream Culture Duality of life Poverty
We discussed these things and all sorts of points were made. I find it fascinating to see other people's views and opinions. We then watched the beginning of Yasmin. It is a film about Muslim culture, and is set in parts of Keighley. It looks at before and after the 9/11 bombings. Whilst watching the opening I noticed many things and I made some notes about it as we are going to be returning to this.
Immediately I noticed the mise-en-scene. It looks like a run-down town. Barely any money is spend on the community. The first thing the camera shows us is their houses, what does that say about them? This little community is dedicated to the Muslims that live in this town. There is a nice shot of a Muslim man scrubbing off racial abuse which appears to be on his garage door, I think. This shows that they are the minority in this town and that the rest of the town are intolerable. I found it sad in a way, because you will probably find places like this in Britain.
We then cut to a Muslim woman (the main character) changing out of her culture clothing into something we wouldn't expect her to wear. She is getting changed in the middle of nowhere, randomly on grass. The first thing I thought is that she has to hide this from her family, and that she is trying to fit in. She takes off her scarf. It seems to me that she is going against her beliefs JUST to fit in.
Next we see her at work, talking to a colleague. I liked this scene. I love how she was picking up on the typical British mannerism as she says to her colleague, "I'll buy you a pint". She would never speak like that in front of her family. At this point I felt like this character was leading two different lives. Interestingly enough, the tagline for this film is 'one woman, two lives'.
When we are introduced to the rest of the family briefly in between but more so after, we can tell the director or writer is playing on the stereotypical Muslim. The accent, of course is a dead give-away and the use of the word 'bloody' is very common. Her father comes across as a very traditional religious Muslim. He disapproves of her buying a car, to me this shows how dated religion is, not just the Muslim culture. It is just my view on most religions.
The main character came across as very interesting to me. People relied on her because she seems more independent than the rest of the community. She is the representative of the divide as she is leading these two separate lives. She translates for people, when she comes home she is in the kitchen, the men in the house don't seem to be doing anything. Her relationship with her family doesn't seem very strong. She is different from them and we can tell she isn't really that religious. She is also married, but only for a VISA. Very stereotypical, isn't this a little offensive? I don't know. All I know is I am intrigued and can not wait to return to this film.
The recent announcement of the fall 2009 launch of a new premium entertainment channel with partners Viacom, Paramount Pictures and MGM. YAY!
Lionsgate also has forged partnerships with leading content creators, owners and distributors in key territories around the world, including Televisa in the U.S. and Latin America, StudioCanal in the UK, Hoyts and Sony in Australia and Eros International in India.
To some extent and in most cases marketing is the biggest influence when it comes to selling a film. How else is a film going to be heard about? I think Hollywood spends more money on marketing than it does earning money for the actual film. The amount of time and money that is spent on marketing is just crazy. It really fascinates me. I would love to pursue a career in film marketing, I find it so intriguing.
Take Saw V as an example. Everyone all over the world has heard about it. The last four films are still spoken about. I love the people who complain about them, because they still go to see them. It is really amusing. The marketing for any one of those films is just amazing. I cannot get over the amount of hype they receive, whether you like them or not! In previous posts I have looked at the marketing for Saw V briefly, i.e. posters and merchandise. Whilst I was searching on the internet I found this online article I just had to include! Basically the lastest site for Saw V allows visitors to enter their name and a friend's in order to generate a creepy message that can be dialled to any home number. The Saw makers have done it again. Brilliant! Seriously the marketing for this film is just AMAZING. First the fake movie poster and now this. I mean this have attracted all kinds of attention, good and bad.
The Big 6 - Fox - Paramount - Universal - Disney - Columbia - Warner Bros
Fox owned by Murdoch's News International
Paramount owned by Viacom, which owns Showcase Cinema, MTV, Nickelodeon and Blockbuster Video.
Universal owned by General Electric, which also own NBC.
Disney is a huge transnational coporation which owns Buena Vista and Miramax (large independent film company)
Columbia Pictures owned by Sony, and took over MGM in September 2004.
Warner Bros is part of the World's largest media company, Time Warner. It also owns AOL.
The Independent-Majors - Lionsgate Entertainment - Artisian Entertainment (Owned by Lionsgate) - Dreamworks - The Weinstein Company - Dimension Films [originally the Miramax Films division] (Part of Weinstein)
By the end of the 1920's, there were 20 Hollywood studios, and the silent films were being manufactured, assembly-line style, in Hollywood's 'entertainment factories'. Even these earliest films were organized into genres, with instantly recognisable storylines, settings, costumes and characters to fulfil audience expectations. The emphasis was on swashbucklers, historical extravaganzas and melodramas, although all kinds of films were being produced throughout the decade. The studio system was established in the 1920s, with long-term contracts for stars and increasingly rigid control of directors and stars. After the First World War America was the leading producer in the world, although the 'factory' system did limit the creativity of many directors. Production was in the hands of the major studios who had consolidated and now controlled all aspects of a film's development - vertical intregration. By 1929, the Big Five were producing more than 90% of global output. The Big Five had vast studios with elaborate sets for film production. They owned their own production and distribution facilities and distributed their films to their own theatres. The Big Five were, Warner Bros, Paramount, Twentieth Century-Fox, RKO and MGM. Universal, United Artists and Columbia were known as the 'little studios' because they did not have complete vertical integration of all stages of production and distribution. In one form or another these studios still run Hollywood today.
So today is Thursday, almost the end of the first week back. Today was our first chance to get into the editing suite and come back to our films. Callum edited as me and Jake sort of directed him. We have now gone back and are sticking to Final Cut Pro! WHEY
Fairnie took a look at our footage and made a few (amusing) suggestions :) Jake kindly wrote down a list for us of things to do, I also added abit ^_^
Things to do Establish things such as WHY does our character feel the need to work? Make film more edgy and fast Include shots of eyes inbetween reading or shakey hands to go with manic leg movement Sort out music Voiceover! - My thoughts: "I want a sausage roll", random words perhaps revelent to photography such as: contrast, framing, (a play on words because these things are revelent to film, perhaps expand this) & also other people's point of view: "Everytime I see her.." etc.
This blog contains posts on:
- Hollywood Case Study
- Short Film
- The American Dream (Focus films: Fight Club and American Beauty)
- British Cinema (Focus films: Yasmin and This Is England)
WORK TARA WORK
Written by: Jake Saunders, Tara Costello, George Woolford and Callum Jackson.
Starring: Tara Costello
Synopsis: A short film for A level students.
"Work Tara Work" - a short film based upon a girl who has the impulse to do nothing but work within her beloved sketchbook. The film pokes fun at the pressure us students have, by having an exaggerated protagonist who makes work seem fun and worthwhile.
