Production, marketing and revenue for UK and U.S. Based films

Mad max- US block buster 

Release date for the U.S.: 15 May 2015

Release date for the UK : 14 May 2015 

Produced by Kennedy Miller Mitchell and ratpac dune entertainment 

Pre production began in 1997' early attempts to shoot the film in 2001 and 2003 but were stopped because of the September 11 attacks and the Iraq war 

Original director 

In its opening week it earned $45 million 

Production budget was 150 million 

Max-Tom hardy 

Charlie theron- imperator furiosa 

Nux- Nicholas hoult

Immortan Joe- Hugh keaysbryne (was in original) 

Mad Max's advertising consisted of the generic, movie posters, interviews and trailers, also using the slogan "what a lovely day" to help advertise. However a compilation of graphic novels entitled "mad max:fury road" were released a year before the film was released, describing the prologue 

Tom hardy is traditionally know for action roles, locke, kray twins 

A video game was made to accompany the film, the game came out a few months after the films launch which created a boost in sales of the film 

Interviews and trailers were released leading up to the launch, including a joint interview with the director and Tom hardy, four posters were created, three of which was a shot of max, furiosa and immortal Joe, with the final being a shot of the war rigs in the sand 

Production cost, 50,000

Opening week. 0.3 million 

Troll hunter U.S. release date 10 June 2011

UK release 15 June 2011 

Director:  André Øvredal 

Produce :John_M._Jacobsen

Filming took place in the forests and mountains of Western Norway, and actress Johanna Mørck called it an exhausting experience.^[5] According to director André Øvredal, the team tried to maintain maximum secrecy around the project. They kept both the title and cast secret until shortly before the première, dropping cryptic teasers to create a viral effect. Producers John M. Jacobsen and Sveinung Golimo, whose production company were also responsible for the highly successful 2008 film Max Manus, reported great international attention around the film. Already before the première, several American companies had expressed interest in doing a remake. For the film's final scene, a clip of former Norwegian Prime minister Jens Stoltenbergspeaking about an oil field outside Norway called the Troll Field was edited to create the appearance of him admitting the existence of trolls. 

• Otto Jespersen as Hans the trollhunter
• Hans Morten Hansen as Finn
• Tomas Alf Larsen as Kalle
• Johanna Mørck as Johanna.      

Trollhunter is an interesting analysis for advisesment 

The grand Budapest hotel 

The Grand Budapest Hotel grossed $59,100,318 in North America and $115,500,000 in other territories for a worldwide total of $174,600,318 against a budget of $26.7 million.^[96]

How does the lighting and mise en scene in the elevator scene of drive create tension?

Drive is a film by director Nicholas winding refn, who is most know for his work direction drive and only god forgives. Drive is about a career criminal who attempts to start a normal life, but is eventually dragged back into a life of crime. The elevator scene can be seen as the culmination of the drivers anger and pain about his situation finally being released.

The scene opens with Irene and the driving standing on either side of the elevator, the hall they are standing in is stained and dirty, the wallpaper is pealing of the walls and the light fixtures are dim and flickering, this can be seen as foreshadowing for the events that are about to take place, a dirty room for the setting of a brutal and dirty crime. If we look at the actors positions we can see that Irene is standing on the right side and the driver on the left, this can be literally interpretated as Irene being on the right side, the pure and in corrupted side, and the driver being on the left, symbolising that he's not pure enough to be on the right side.the drivers jacket is also very important to the scene, his jacket is plain white with a scorpion embroided on the back, the scorpion, apart from looking intimidating and blunt has a story about it which was one of the inspirations for the story. The insparation for the jacket comes from a old Japanese folk tail about the frog and a scorpion, the tale is about a scorpion who wants passage across a river stream, he asks a frog if he may ride in his back to the opposite bank. At first he is turned down as the frog says "no because you'll sting me" the scorpion replies "if I sting you then we'd both drown" half way across the stream the scorpion stings the frog and they drown. Right before the two sink to the bottom of the lake, the scorpion says "I stung you, as it is my nature to sting, and you can't stop nature" this can be seen as a representation of the driver trying to escape a life of crime, only be to dragged back in to it, as it is his nature to do so. 

The elevator doors open and standing directly centre shot, we see the hitman. Take notice of the lighting in this shot, we have to dim, cracked lights on the outside of the elevator illuminating Irene and the driver in an almost supernatural glow, but inside the elevator the light is intense and bright, with the hitman appearing warped by the light, again Almost supernatural. We can say that the light is this bright to lure the driver to his fate, like an animal being lured into a trap. The two enter the elevator and again stand against the wall starring at the floor. The elevator doors close slowly, almost stopping at one point before closing fully to heighten the atmosphere of decay and damage which inevitably leads to the building of tension. 

If we look at the hitmans clothing we can tell that his suit is lavish and expensive, it's colourful and clean made out of expensive materials, this contrasted against his scarred, broken and scratched face shows us that he hasn't bought this suit with clean, earnt money. This contrast creates tension as we are aware of the danger this man is radiating, and we feel tense as we are scared for the driver, but more so for Irene who isn't used to this life of crime the driver is so integrated in. The lighting in this scene is bright and sharp, scrolling down the sides of the elevator vertically, which means that everything in the elevator is illuminated, showing us every detail in all of the actors, this lighting could be a metaphor that in this moment, nothing is hidden, all of the characters actions and emotions and fears will be shown to us, the viewer. 

The hitman and the driver look at eachother, the light from either side of the elevator illuminates only half of there face, possibly resembling the two's mysteriouness. The driver reaches behind him and pushes Irene to the side, as he does this the lights dim to an eerie glow, the hitman is now barley visible. The light reflects of Irene's blonde hair and glares in the drivers eyes, which shows us that the driver is literally blinded by his love for Irene, and now realises the danger he has put her in. A light directly above them shines brightly, as the light is directly above them it hides there faces in shadows, creating a silhouette of the two, Irene and the driver embrace eachother, the scenes fram rate drops resulting in the kiss looking as though it is in slow motion, which only adds to the tension of the scene, as we all know that the hitman set to kill the driver is literally centermetres away. As the two break the kiss the scene returns to its original frame rate, the light in returns to normal, if not a little darker then before. Which could be showing us that right now in this second, the driver has lost all chance of ever having a normal life, with the intense light not seconds earlier representing the closest he has or ever will get to a normal life. 

What follows is the films most violent and brutal act committed by the driver, that man pulls out a gun and aims at the driver, the driver heads butts him, pushes him to the floor, and begins to stamp on his head until he stops moving, the driver throughout the film is always seen as being presentable, his clothes and hair are always clean and tidy, he is well mannered and polite, if a little silent. However during this shot, his hair falls limp across his face, his face becomes sweaty and red, and the collar on his jacket goes crooked. All of this gives us the impression that he has finally lost control, the lighting during this beat down becomes lighter and lighter, eventually reflecting of the blood on the drivers jacket and face. The driver looks up and at Irene, she is horrified and is visibly shaking, her shirt, similar to the drivers jacket has now become crooked, this could be to show that this event has left her traumatised and broken, a binary opposition to the drivers almost cool, calm atmosphere. The elevator doors slide open, again stopping around halfway before fully opening to reveal the car park. The car park is empty, with only two huge neon white lights on the walls of the car park. The result makes the area look eerie and unsettling, almost dangerous. Irene backs away into the car park, terrified and scared, she looks at the driver with terror, and the driver looks at Irene with almost acceptance and content. The doors slide shut, and we get a cut to the drivers face, sweaty and covered with blood, he sinks to the floor as a defeated and broken man. 

If we look at the colour scheme for this scene, we can notice a common trend in the way colour is used. Irene and the driver (the two "heroes") are dressed in whites and lighter colours, very monotone and basic, which could be a representing of how they are both trying to blend into the crowd, with neither one of them wanting any part in the colour full, violent world of crime. And if we were to look at the hitman, his suit is consisted of neon and violent colours such as pinks and tinted whites. Again showing the stark contrast against Irene and the driver. The city of LA (which drive is set in) is also drenched in colour, especially neon blues and reds, which is very similar to the neon drenched city of Shanghai in Nicholas winding refn's film only God forgives. 

In conclusion the scene uses a combination of bright, out of place lighting and a dark, basic colour palette contrasted against a brighter more violent colour palette to create tension.

 M

Drive and only God forgives

M

Only God Forgives is a Crime/thriller. The film is about a Thai boxing manager named Julian, who is essentially a drug dealer that seeks out the killer of his brother, who was killed by a retired police Lieutenant by the name of Chang. 

The film combines genre's in interesting ways, as this film is essentially a crime thriller with eastern religious overtones. It features conventions associated with western films (silent characters, justice, redemption) and has a slow, eerie pace that creates an atmosphere of surrealism. 

The cast features Ryan gosling, who was played the lead role in the directors earlier film drive. However he is very underplayed and the film is essentially about his spiritual journey to regain his redemption at the hands of The police lieutenant, Chang is played by Vithaya Pansringarm, who brings both an over whelming sense of power to the role. The films features a heavy cast of unknown Easten actors, since the film is set in Bangkok. This choice of setting combined with the gives a sense of mystery, as we are experiencing a culture we are both unfamiliar with, and interested by, which helps identify with the few Westen characters who feel the same way. We can also make a connection to this film and western films, with the convention of a lone stranger entering town, and of East versus west.
The setting feels very authentic and realistic, as the film was shot on location in Bangkok. The setting feels worn down almost decreped, intimidating,, atmospheric and dangerous. The film focuses more on the seedy side of Bangkok most notably the red light district and the the drugs and violence that accompanies it, which paints its setting as a very grim, dystopian reality. The signs and colours all drenched in neon is almost surreal, the colours engulf  the screen in a Reds and blues, an artistic choice that makes the Bangkok nightlife setting look like crude, corrupt and dangerous. This light contrasts the more subtle and elegant points in the film.

The reason why the colours are so blunt and powerful is because of there hidden symbolic meaning, or possibly it's underling meanings of the film. Chang is God, before filming the director told the actor playing Chang "you are God" and he is unleashing his justice on the streets of Bangkok. Whether or not he is God, or is a man who thinks he is god, is left unexplained. Although Nicholas Winding Refn as said in interview that the film is about a man who fights God. This doesn't rule out the fact that he at least symbolically represents God and is portrayed in a quiet,controlled, powerful and highly respected manner. His fellow police officers can be seen as his angels, who are with him almost all the time and follow him regardless of his actions, whether that be slicing a man in two, or amputating a grieving furthers arm. Whenever we see Chang at his accomadation, the lighting and visuals become more peaceful and natural, sometimes contrasting the glow of the city behind him with the natural garden setting he is located in. His house is surrounded by rice fields and flowers, which gives off the illusion of a paradise, and that Chang (God) for all his violent characteristics is still a man of peace and unity. 

The editing in this film is very similar to that of kubricks shining, with it occasionally leaving reality . Julian has visions through out the film, where the scene will seamlessly go into what he is imagining or experiencing, with visual cues to let us know it is a vision (for example his shirt changes to a different colour in his vision, and then back to its original colour to let us know we are back in reality). The visions are directed with a quality reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick, with lots of long shots peering down hallways and creating a sense of surreal dread.
In a effort to evoke the feel of a western, many scenes have long drawn out sequences (similar to the final confrontation in the good the bad the ugly) before an important revelation or moment as a way of building tension. For example the brawl with Chang is done in the same was as a traditional stand off or dual from a western, with long shots and an emphasis on eyes and hands,showing the pairs opposite each other. The films also uses its imagery as a way of foreshadowing later scenes. Early in the movie Julian is positioned in front of statue, and the statue appears to be staring over him in the background. 

Drive is by the same director as only god forgives, and both share similar themes as each other, both revolve around crime and what normality, both feature an anti-hero who are seeking redemption, family and love. And both end with the protagonists having nothing. 

Drive opens with the driver (played by Ryan gosling) staring out onto the sprawling neon drenched city of Los Angeles, talking into the phone to his client. We understand that the driver is meticulous, his route and car already planned out, colour co ordinated maps on the tables, and him speaking in mono-tone. What follows from here is one of the most suspenseful car chases in recent years, we can notice that through this entire sequence the camera never leaves the car, which only adds to the viciousness and tension of the chase. From her we zoom out to see the light drenched city of l.A, it's imtimadating and violent, very similar to only God forgives red light district. 

The editing in drive is immaculate, it's quick and subtle, with the cuts hardly ever appearing apparant. In both chase scenes, the scene appears to be a single shot. This was done to create fluidity in the chase, with the action appearing to be one continuous take. If we look away from the more violent gritty scenes, and to the more personal, dialogue driven scenes we can see a totally different style of editing being used. During scenes where the only action is that of conversations, the camera tends to linger on a persons face before cutting to the next persons. This is apparant in nino's pizza shop, where the camera focuses on the gangsters faces longer than there lines actually last, this was done to give emphasis to the emotions and relationships between characters. 

If we look at the mise en scene for drive, we can tell that great detail has been placed in the costume. For example, the driver scorpion jacket has symbolic detail. The insparation for the jacket comes from a old Japanese folk tail about the frog and a scorpion, the tale is about a scorpion who wants passage across a river stream, he asks a frog if he may ride in his back to the opposite bank. At first he is turned down as the frog says "no because you'll sting me" the scorpion replies "if I sting you then we'd both drown" half way across the stream the scorpion stings the frog and they drown. Right before the two sink to the bottom of the lake, the scorpion says "I stung you, as it is my nature to sting, and you can't stop nature". This story can be seen as a representation of the driver, no matter how hard he can trie to fit into a normal world, he'll always be the one who ruins it for himself. 



the shining scene analysis

Stanley kubricks film, the shining has now become one of the most analysised pieces of cinema to date, with Kubrick having a meaning for every shot, Line of dialogue, piece of furniture and every source of light. From here I'll be talking about the mise en scene and meanings behind one particular scene. The bathroom scene in room 237.

The bathroom scene in the shining is one of the most well known scenes in the film. With it symbolising not only the houses use of psychological torture, but also jacks mental decline. 

Wendy finds Jack  in the Colorado Lounge and tells him that Danny told her that some "crazy woman" in one of the rooms tried to strangle Danny. Jack asks her which room, intending to investigate..Jack by this time is seriously unstable, and the hotel has nearly possessed him entirely. The next scene we see is Halloran laying on his bed in Miami, watching tv...At first nothing seems amiss.But soon, he enters what can only be called a trance, his eyes open wide with an expression of sheer terror, and he starts trembling. We again hear the dreaded music and also, this time, a strange heartbeat on the soundtrack. As Halloran is "shining", we also see that Danny is in the same state, drooling and trembling, in a trance. Then, the camera cuts to the open door of room 237, and the camera leads us inside, the music and heartbeat sound very consistent. The room appears fairly unremarkable, with a garish 1970s decor, and a living room, and to the left, up a stair, a bedroom, We see at the back of the bedroom a door slightly ajar, the camera continues moving us closer to this door. The heartbeat and dreadful music continue,We see a hand come from behind the camera, pushing the door open, revealing a large bathroom, in green and yellow. Then, we see that in fact Jack has entered room 237 to investigate what Wendy had told him about Danny seeing a woman in there.Jack looks to the back of the bathroom, and there is clearly someone or something behind the shower curtain in the tub. Jack initially looks scared, but then a hand draws the curtain back, revealing an attractive, nude, blonde woman. Jack appears to relax, and smiles a devilish smile.. But we know instinctively that this is very wrong and that something evil is in this room. The woman slowly stands up, and steps out of the bathtub, walking to center of the bathroom. She then pauses, as if to beckon Jack closer, Jack walks to her, and she caresses him. During all this, the dreadful music and heartbeat (which began when we saw Halloran enter his trance) continues. The woman in room 237 embraces Jack and they kiss. But then, we see a closeup of Jack's face as he sees an adjacent mirror, and a terrible sight appears. What was a beautiful young woman is now a rotten, ugly old hag, who begins laughing at Jack, and Jack, appalled, backs out of the room, as she follows him out, laughing all the while...As she does this, the camera pans to the bath, and we see another rotten, toothless old woman rise out of the tub, even as the other figure chases Jack out .Then, the camera cuts to Danny briefly, still in a trance, trembling, and salivating, perhaps recalling his experience in room 237 earlier. Jack makes it out of the room, closing the door and locking the door, we still hear the woman cackling from inside.

This in my opinion, we can't take it too literally....A popular theory is that the woman in room 237 was the ghost of the former caretaker, Grady, who had murdered his wife and daughters at the hotel during the winter of 1970. However, I think Kubrick means for the answer to be more complex than this. I think the woman in room 237 is actually the physical manifestation of the evil presence which lives inside the Overlook Hotel. If we look at the heartbeat on the soundtrack. we never hear it early in the film, only about halfway through, after the Torrances have already been at the hotel for some time, and the hotel has had time to tap into their minds.The moment when Jack enters room 237 is truly when the evil presence in the hotel is awakened. The "woman" in the tub was simply a manifestation to lure or appeal to Jack. Danny might have seen something different when he entered room 237 .In short, the hotel's presence is able to adopt whatever physical form it needs to to achieve its aim, which is to possess and to cause more death, which would therefore add to it's strength. After Jack has entered room 237 and had his encounter there, the old "hag" who we see in there is basically laughing and taunting him, showing that Jack has basically surrendered to the hotel and that now the hotel is in charge, as it were. I think this is why Halloran was so worried about room 237 when he was talking to Danny early in the film, because Halloran sensed that room 237 was in fact the place in the hotel where the evil lived. Once Jack entered room 237, and kissed the "woman" in there, the hotel basically was in charge, and that is why we hear the heartbeat on the soundtrack for basically the rest of the film. The heartbeat is I believe Kubrick's way of showing that the hotel has "awakened" as it were, and is now breathing and has a beating heat, thanks to Jack, Jack's entry into room 237 and his embrace of the evil in there acted like a "cpr" to jumpstart the hotel's evil presence from it's sleep. These are my interpretations of this particular aspect of the film. So to sum up, I feel Kubrick intended room 237 to be far more than just a scary room, but actually the key to the entire film and the things that the Overlook Hotel causes to  happen. Yet another sign of the man's brilliance as a director.

Joe runs, film studies horror scene

For our scene we wanted to recreate a scenario that was reminiscent of chase scenes in slasher horror films. We wanted to create tension and fear in the viewer, which we eventually did by our camera techniques, non diagetic sounds and attention to location and mise em scene. To portray the coldness of these slasher films we had to think about the colour palette within the scene, bright bloc colours would have clashed with the overall theme we were going for, so we settled for using dark, Almost bland colours for the clothing. If we look at the setting of the church and graveyard, we can tell that this  is a common convention of horror films, with graves always symbolising death, terror and usually foreshadowing what'll happen in the later sections of the scene. we used a wide angled pan during the opening shot, this was used to not only create some form of establishing shot but to also to portray the severity and magnitude of the situation, which is shown in the width of the shot.following this we used a stationery shot with camera looking up, this was to show that the the person running away from the entity chasing him was in fact the protagonist of the scene.

 Directly after this shot we use a 360 handheld pan of the protagonists face. This was used to portray the fear that the protagonist was dealing with, illustrating that that the entity could be anywhere around him. By focussing on the protagonist, everything behind him is blurred and out of focus, this was used to show that everything around him ceased to be real to him, with only himself and the entity following him mattering. 

Jurassic worlds success

Jurassic worlds success

Jurassic world is the direct sequel to Steven spielbergs original "Jurassic park" with the film completely neglecting "Jurassic park 2 and 3". The film was estimated to make millions In its opening release, but no one could predict the box office monster that it came to be. Resulting in the film becoming one of the best seeking movies of all time. If we were to look at the film from a critical point of view, whilst still an expertly executed film, it doesn't quite live up to the standards of similar films that have aquired similar recognition. There are many reasons for this however, including the original films fan base and the nostalgia around the franchise and the marketing that led up to the release. 

One major contributor of the success of Jurassic world is the fact that the original film aquired such a dedicated and loyal fan base. Following "Jurassic park" the sequels which followed were universally panned, saying that they didn't have the same suspense and characterisation that the original did. The fan base has been dying for a sequel that captures and improves upon the original movie (which Jurassic world promised) this mixed with the star power of Chris Pratt and similar stars would not only attract a younger fan base who haven't grown up with the original, and long term die hard fans of the franchise. We can also look at the time that the film was released, summer has become a time of huge, multi ,million dollar blockbusters such as the avengers and interstellar, by releasing Jurassic world in this time period we already know that the director, and the marketers are confident in the fact that it can compete with these films. 

The marketing for Jurassic world was also a crucial reason why the film did so well. Trailers leading up to the film showed a film that was almost eerily reminiscent of the predator, with the monster stalking and chasing down its pray. This combined with shots of the park packed with visitors and tourists, creates an atmosphere of tension and intensity, which the film some what recreates. 

Movie of the summer

fight club

fight club is based on chuck palahniuks original novel of the same name. at the launch the book was met with mixed reviews with critics worldwide agreeing in unison that fight club was lacking in story and charm. much like the book it is based on, the movie adaptation received similar criticism.
fight club is about violence, testosterone and rebellion but also about self acceptance, love and what it means to be an individual. a movie of this nature is special in its own way, it wasn't searching for critical acclaim, or to spawn sequels or even to make a gargantuan amount of money. the sole reason that this movie was made was to make a statment. this can be seen in brad pitts, helen bonan carter and edward nortons performances along with tiny edited frames added in post production.

if we look at the opening credits, the majority of viewers glance over the warnings shown. We except privacy warnings and a still image of text regarding the unlicensed selling of dvd's or movie reeks. However, fight club does something so unexpected and so subtle in this opening section that it had never to my knowledge been recreated. I am talking of course of one of the most infamous cases of 4th wall breaking in all of cinema history, the message from Tyler . It is very difficult to discuss the message  without spoiling the majority of the film, but put simply, it reinforces some of the more shocking and powerful revelations in the movie. The particularly interesting thing about this message is that it is only shown on the screen for one or two frames making it near impossible to read on the first showing. This (for me personally) led to one of the only times I had to physically interact with a movie to fully understand it, namely pausing the movie to read the message.

It is almost impossible to discuss the story of fight club without spoiling the entirety of the film. But what I can say is that every location, scene, and line of dialogue serves a purpose. for instance, in a particular scene a devastating explosion blasts out protagonists personal effects out of his apartment and onto the street bellow. if you pay attention to where certain pieces of furniture land you can begin to see a pattern emerging. for example a ying and yang style table sets on fire as it tumbles to the ground, this can be interpreted as his balance in life finally beginning to crack and break,  further interpretation could be his mental instability finally catching up to him. we also watch as his fridge tumbles out of his apartment and shatters on the side walk, showing no food but only condiments and sauces. which shows us that he has no substance in his life, no meat, only luxuries like expensive furniture and fancy clothes, much like condiments on a meal.
fight club on reflection is a very pretentious film with one frame long sections being inter spliced with the full movie reel. however, at no point in its 110 minute run time do you feel bored or confused. every scene in the movie is expertly directed with beautful cinematography.
fight club has became one of my most loved films, this is one of the only movies that has generally stayed with me weeks and months after i originally saw it. its messages about life, love and violence have far more of an impact then any of the mainstream, big budget action sequeals of this summer.
fight club is without a doubt a master class in cinema 

The Horror Genre

the horror genre

the horror genre in recent years has become a stale place place in recent cinema history, full of over used techniques and cliche scripted events. its easy to overlook genuinely interesting and unique horror films as the genre as a whole has had such negative media. from here ill be talking about horror films both critically aclaimed and internationally panned and how certain techniques for mise en scene, lighting, sounds and camera usage have now become staples for the genre.

stanley kubricks "the shining" has become a symbol of classic horror films. right from the opening shot we know that this film will be an eerie, psychological horror from its use of birds eye views of the snowy and desolate mountains in which the film is set, most likely to have been suspended from a helicopter and with a wide lens. this accompanied with the use of total silence creates a foreboding atmosphere, which foreshadows certain scenes in the play later on. Kubrick was a master of suspense, steering away from jump scares and loud obnoxious musical scores, he preferred slow building tension, highlighted in dialogue and eerie camera angles.

another film that features a unique approach to the horror genre was mid 2015's "unfriended", the entire movie is set within a skype call, with there being no footage of anything other then the computer screen. this movie isn't necessarily scary, but rather another psychological horror. what makes this movie particularly unnerving is the fact that everything in the film is identical to our lives, especially our computer usage. cluttered desktops, spotify tabs and applications litter the screen behind the Skype call. we relate to the characters in the movie as we can easily put ourselves in there shoes as this is how we live our lives, on the computer.
another horror movie cliché is the found footage movie. a type of film that can be shot on a tiny budget. these movies will usually feature very shaky uneven camera techniques, zero non diegetic sound and natural lighting. a particuraly good example of this is 2007's grave encounters, where a group of amateur film makers film strange going ons inside an abandoned estate. whats interesting about the mise en scene in this film is that throughout every shot, items and furniture will move around, sometimes subtlety and sometimes dramatically. this adds to the tension of the movie, where everything changes, and nothing stays the same

The Quick And The Dead

The Quick And The Dead

being a western film, the quick and the dead features may specific techniques in the mise en scene, editing, sound and camera directions that are used solely for the western genre, from the very first shot (straight after the opening credits) we know that the film will be set in a hostile, vicious world as the director uses a sweeping pan with a wide angle to capture the sun baked sand of the desert. by using this specific type of shot the audience will not only get a basic understanding of where the film will be set, but also that the film will feature dark, grimy coflicts.



directly following this scene is a track right, along a path of tools and clothes that a treasure hunter has discarded, the shot has obviously been filmed with a handheld camera, with there being dips in shot due to the dips and cracks on the uneven floor, by using a handheld camera a much more detailed view of the path and treasure hunter can be shown, if a dolly or a stationary camera the visual would still be of high definition, but a handheld camera is able to get a lot closer to a subject, with the dips camera resulting in a much more realistic feel to the scenario



every colour in this shot is tinted orange and covered in sand and dust, this use of colour makes me(as the viewer) belive that this is an accurate representation of how colour would be in this time era.the wood is worn and stained much like the treasure hunters face and clothes. when focus shifts to the treasure hunter, rather then cutting to the shot, it zooms in on the subjects face slowly, this results in the scene looking like a continuous shot rather then a choppily cut stereotypical western, the colour orange is often referred to as a determined colour, which could potentially represent the treasure hunters emotions during this specific shot, a further interpretation for this choice in colour would be that the colour orange (to the human eye) is a colour that resembles heat, which could  again be a
representation of the setting of the desert, and its obvious heat.


what follows this is an interesting shot, that is very rarely used in cinema. an extreams close up, point of view shot following the gun barrels fire path. the closest thing this type of shot can be linked to is video games, specifically more violent, brutal video games, which only serves to show the movies violent nature. this shot was probably filmed using a small stationary camera tied to the barrel of the gun, most likely a go-pro or other variant. by using this extreme close up of the gun, we can see every imperfection, blemish and scratch, which helps to add realsim to the scene.