Ben Ellis Film

In the film timbuktu there are a couple of main representations of women which I will be discussing. The first being as weak and they are objectified, but then there is the contradictory representation which is the strong empowering women. Many of the women in the film have shown to be willingly breaking the rules and not just conforming which is very empowering. An example of this is when one of the militants threaten a women to put on her gloves but she says she cant do her job and they must take her hands if it offends them. This shows the great deal of power some of the women in the film have as after she has done this they back off and leave her alone. Another great example of rebellion by women in the film is the bit in which la chanteuse actively blocks the military .vehicle. This sequence highlights the power of some of these women. Another representation of women which is also shown is that some of them are helpless and despite the fact that they want to rebel they are ...

This week my weekly film analysis will be on the recently released Deadpool 2. I will be discussing the themes and tones it explores. One of the main themes which the film explored is that of love and loss. At the start of the film Wade Wilson has to experience the loss of a loved one and as a result the film has to explore his battle between acceptance or denial over the loss. The film deals with this by having a very cleaver visual effect which shows Deadpool in the same room as Vanessa but unable to pass into her side of the room. This shows the distance he feels between her and him after the loss. This ‘afterlife’ is played with throughout the film and also acts as a moral compass for Wade guiding him through decisions such as whether to look after firestorm. When he finally ‘dies’ he is reunited with Vanessa and is able to cross the room. This shows his acceptance and also shows his character arc coming to the end. One of the big tropes of the Deadpool films is the fourth...

Joseph Campanella, best known for Mannix, died today at age 93. Joseph Campanella had over 200 film credits spanning over 6 decades. Despite the fact he is most notably related to TV he was one of the first actors to embark in both forms of media. He was in over 40 films and credit for way more. Despite being an unknown actor by todays standards he was one of the unsung heroes in the early 40's movie scene.

Context : The film is set in the Stone Age period where there is basic community set up. This means there is a market and a small amount of people living in caves next to each other. Our character ugh lives with his ‘wife’ and small child. He is the main provider of the family as he hunts and sells some of his produce but keeps some for himself. Beginning: So the film starts off with a usual day for ugh. He goes hunting early in the morning and catches some bores. He has to hunt more as him and his family are a recessive species of human and are pressured by the more dominant  species to catch more. He has one other friend in the group called guh. They are both recessive and have to hunt more to provide for the group. Middle: On a hunting trip ugh and guh are cornered by an animal they’ve never seen before. They are forced to run away and hide but the creature still stalks them and tries to hunt them down. The middle of the film would explore the effects on the children and ...

Species: Human (maybe not homo sapian though) Gender: Male Name:ugh Age: 36 Motivation: survival, family Family/Background: The story is set in a jurassic time period so its uncertain if his family is rich or poor but he is the main hunter in the small family and not too much is known about his extended family eg mum and dad, but we do know about his closer family such as wife(we assume but i doubt there was marriage in prehistoric times), son and daughter are similar ages but the daughter is slightly older and bigger but we assume they are about 9-10 Appearance: He is scruffy and only clothed in animal hide and other strained fabrics. He is clearly dirty but he does clean himself up in the film Reside: a cave (geographically unknown but set in primal times) Pastimes: Hunting, cave painting, relaxing in the forrest Job: hunting Ability: He is extremely skilled in hunting and laying traps Weakness: he is too soft for the stone age Goal: to teach his son to hunt. to become...

Species: Human Gender : Male Age: 18 Motivation: his own ego Family/Background: Extremely wealthy but with working class roots, English. Appearance: Skinny, pasty, blonde hair (clearly dyed), beard (small), always wear extremely expensive clothes eg suits Reside: New York apartment Pastimes: Drugs, driving, 80s music, gambling, general rich person activities. Job: unemployed as hes rich af already Ability: Autistic- therefore intellegant but highly agitative. Weakness: Anger and agitation GOAL - To become better than everyone else - to surpass his Dad in his extravagant life style - Feel complete Antagonist - His own ego - The croatian Mafia - The Croatian mob boss (Real name Slaven Bilic, street name Badger)

The isle of dogs is a 2018 stop motion comedy drama which was directed by Wes anderson. It is set in Japan, 20 years into the future where dog fever is at epidemic proportions and is threatening to cross the specious barrier. The mayor of the town outlaws all dogs to trash island. Our story takes place when a 'young pilot' flies to the island to try and find his lost dog Spots. The first thing i would like to talk about with this film is the fact its stop motion. This style of animation is uncommon in Hollywood films as its long and tedious but allows the team to focus on every little detail and that is clearly shown in the film. The dogs are ragged and the fur on them looks greasy and dirty, this tells the audience that the dogs have been here for a long time and that this place truly is filthy. The animators also deliberately missed out frames in order to give the animation that ragged feel which gives the effect of creepiness. The cinematography in this film is beau...

We need to talk about Kevin is a 2011 psychological thriller, directed by Lynne Ramsey. It follows the story of Eva and her son Kevin. We follow Eva struggling to come to terms with her son and the horrors he has committed. Cinematography and foreshadowing are used in unisons within the opening shots of the film. The first shot shows a curtain being blown in the wind. Colour is also used effectively in this shot as its mainly black and dark blue which indicates sadness and also a sense of mystery. The symbolism of an open curtain also represents freedom and escape which themes are definitely explored through the movie. The following scene is a extreme wide birds eye shot of a spanish festival where the main colour seems to be red. This is deeply symbolic of blood and horror which will follow in the film. Also it ties in with the sense of freedom from the last scene as in this scene Eva is free and not tied down at all like she will be later on in the film. The film mainly dea...

Fish tank is a 2009 british drama written and directed by Andrea Arnold. The film follows Mia who is a 15 year old girl who lives with her mum and sister. One of the main things i wanted to talk about regarding Fish Tank was the cinematography. The biggest part of cinematography in the film relates mainly to the title. The title of the film 'fish tank' implies entrapment and this is shown through the cinematography by showing tight cramped shots which implies this sense of wanting to escape and traps. This is also shown through the colours used in the shots, usually they're bleak or washed out colours. This implies the bleakness and depressing situation she's in. Fish tank is clearly supposed to be socially realistic and it explores this themes through a few key ways in the film. The set design tends to be gritty and realistic of a council estate. The kitchen always seems to be extremely messy and dirty which implies there isn't much unity within the famil...

'The Journey': An Iraqi film in Iraqi cinemas after 27 years This is probably one of the smaller film stories due to the recent award ceremonies and campaigns speaking out about people in the film industry. The journey follows the psychopathic mind of a suicide bomber. The film had appeared in 15v film festivals prior to its screening in Baghdad, but its in country in cinema screenings which is the most important. The film is the first Iraqi film in other 25 years to be shown in Iraqi cinemas. The Iraqi  Independent Film Center , run by a group of young filmmakers, simultaneously  launched a movement   dubbed the “1 million viewers campaign."The film tells the story of a female suicide bomber about to blow herself up in Baghdad's only train station on Dec. 30, 2006, the day former President Saddam Hussein was hanged. As she considers her situation, she is reluctant to press the button and finds herself in a state of inner conflict. Through her psychological ...

The Shape Of Water is a 2017 American fantasy drama directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by Vanessa Taylor. Set in Baltimore in 1962, the plot follows a mute custodian at a high security government lab who falls in love with a amphibian creature. The shape of water deals with themes of voice, greed and power. Being set in the midst of military conflict with russia, The shape of water deals with the theme of war and also blame in the sense that everyone is being suspected of working for the russians and no one is safe from the scrutiny. One of the most significant parts of the film is that the main protagonist, Elisa, is mute and cant speak. This is a great metaphor for women not having much power at the time and not having a 'voice'. This is made clear of at one point in the film where the general is questioning them and half way through stops himself and says ' Why am i asking the piss cleaners' and proceeds to talk about how little they would know about t...

I really like this scene from apocalypse now as it depicts a very important conversation in the movie, also I think it’d be good to recreate as the lighting is very interesting in how the colonel is obscured. Also at this point in the film this is one of the first times we meet the colonel.

Mark Renton Mark renton is a scottish heroin addict and the main protagonist of the film. He narrates the film and we tend to root for him throughout the film. He is a typical heroin addict who always says hell get off of it but never does. He is the character who delivers some of the most iconic lines in the movie. Half way through the movie he gets off with an underage girl, diane, and moves to central london. Quotes :  Straight away he clocked us for what we were. Small time wasters with an accidental big deal It's SHITE being Scottish! We're the lowest of the low. The scum of the fucking Earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization. Some hate the English. I don't. They're just wankers. We, on the other hand, are COLONIZED by wankers. Can't even find a decent culture to be colonized BY. We're ruled by effete assholes. It's a SHITE state of affairs to be in, Tommy, and ALL the fresh air in th...

The lobster is a 2015 absurdist dystopian black comedy film written and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. The film is set in a dystopian society where single people are forced to go to a hotel and find a relationship within 45 days or else they will be turned into an animal of their choosing. We follow Colin Farrels character of David, he has been recently divorced and is forced to in role in the hotel. Each person has a defining characteristic and has to find someone with the same one. David is short sighted. The film has a soundtrack that constantly repeats itself throughout the movie. Its one particular song, if you can even call it that, which repeats through some scenes. As a result when the sound is heard its very jarring. When its heard it makes the audience uneasy but also informs them when a major part of the plot has been uncovered. As the scene is a dystopian black comedy, its self explanatory that the colours are bleak and dull. But what the lobster does differently is r...

I will be comparing and contrasting the two films, ' Captain Fantastic' and 'Winter's Bone'. Winter's bone is a 2010 Indie film, written and directed by Debra Granik, set in Ozark Mountain. It follows Ree Dolly a teenage girl who has to provide for her brothers and sisters as her father has gone missing and her mother has mental problems. Captain fantastic follows a father and his six kids who have rejected society and decided too live in the woods. It follows the family after their mum dies and they travel to her funeral. One of the main themes that hit me when watching these two films was the rural settings. They both start with beautiful establishing shots of wildlife. This establishes the rural setting for both the films. Although captain fantastic does follow them outside of the forrest both films have settings that are rural to modern America. The main difference between the two films is the colour. Winter's bone, being set in Missouri which ...

Anton chugar is a heartless killing machine and in the movie is represented as an emotionless, relentless scary character. In two scenes in the movie he decides someones fait, whether or not he'll kill them, with a coin toss. Firstly i will be discussing the first coin toss scene which takes place in a gas station.  The first shot you see for this scene is an establishing shot for the gas station. This tells the audience how rural we are and how far Anton has travelled since we last saw him. This then quickly transitions into a mid shot establishing the inside of the shop and the shop owner. The shop is crowded and there seems to be some sort of rope hanging above the shop owner. These look like nooses and creates tension as it makes the audience wonder what will happen in the rest of the scene, whether he will live or die. Most of the following shots are over the shoulder shots and don't tend to alter much. This could perhaps represent the stability of the situation, in the ...

Casablanca and Do the right thing are two films with almost completely different narratives and settings, but yet deal with similar films and are filmed in a similar style. Do the right thing is a 1989 American comedy drama, written and directed by Spike Lee. The film tells the story of an average day in Brooklyn. Casablanca is a 1942 romantic drama which follows Rick, a bar owner, and the life of someone living in Casablanca.  These films sound very different narratively in the sense that they are set in different time periods and different settings, but they both deal with similar themes. They both deal with themes of sacrifice and love and hate. Casablanca and do the right thing both deal with the theme of Love and Hate. In do the right thing there are always changing dynamics of love and hate. In the start of do the right thing there is a woman aggressively dancing to fight the power, this is then contrasted with the fact that the next scene is about a very ...

Anton Chigurh  In the balance of the movie Anton is on the side of evil. He seems to be emotionless and relentless. He is also portrayed as very weird and abnormal. He doesn't seem to have any human emotions and tends to only be focused on the task at hand. His deadpan dialogue unnerves the audience and almost creates an unnatural immortal atmosphere. Also his choice of weapon emphasises these points of immortality and inhuman behaviour. He seems to have no remorse throughout the movie. An example of this is at the start of the film where the first thing we see of him is murdering a cop. Llewellyn Moss     Llewellyn is a Vietnam vet who used to be an iron welder. In the balance of good and evil in the film he seems to be sitting somewhere in the middle. He isn't pure good because he willingly shoots to kill Anton, but isn't pure evil because he never kills anyone. His actions are heavily motivated by his own greed as he chooses to save his money and...

The three spike lee films ill be looking at in this essay is ' Do The Right Thing', 'Malcom X' and ' Inside man'. 1) Malcom X Malcolm X is a 1992 film, directed by spike lee, exploring the life of the infamous black activist Malcolm X. Malcolm X follows the life of African American activist Malcolm X. Rising from a troubled childhood, in which his father, a preacher, is murdered by the Black Legion and his mother is institutionalized for insanity, Malcolm gets a job as a Pullman Porter, calling himself Detroit Red. After getting involved with a Harlem gangster named West Indian Archie with whom he has a falling out, Malcolm flees to Boston and decides to become a burglar. He and his best friend, Shorty (played by Spike Lee) are arrested by the police and Malcolm is sentenced to a ten-year prison term. In prison, a fellow inmate, Baines, introduces him to the teachings of Islam. One of the main tropes of spike lee films is controversy. All of his...