Title Research Prison Break- Shawshank Redemption

-

 Sourced from youtube.com

Shawshank Redemption (1994)

1. How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? Which ones?

The first thing we see is the Production Studio (warner Brothers studios) before also showing castle rock Entertainment. We then see the names of the leading players of the movie (Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman) before then seeing the movie title. As it starts showing footage of the film, the names of various actors in the film pop up in the bottom and center of the screen. 

2. What connotations do the images carry? (how do you they make you feel)

The images shown make me a little nervous. We first see the outside view of a large home, which gives the feeling that either we the audience are being watched, or we are doing the watching (Through the eyes of a character). It then pans over to a car with a man inside. We can see it is an older car, assumingly 30's or 40's, telling me it is a period piece. We see the man inside from a low angle and the lighting around him is a little reddish, which gives off a sense of thriller imagery. We see him reach for the glovebox where he reveals a gun wrapped in a cloth and that definitely spooks me out. He then pulls out a bottle of what I'd guess is liquor and takes a swig before the sequence fades to black.

3. How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset? (Can you 

tell what genre the film is)

I can not tell this genre exactly, but I get a few things from it. The vibe it gives off is that of a thriller: strange drunk man outside of an innocent house, in his car, with a gun. That also reads as "He is definitely going to prison", and similarly to "The Great Escape", we know the film will be ABOUT prison, not necessarily a breakout.

4. What conventions are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience?

The low angle really grabbed my attention, as it showed the man in a position of power seemingly over the audience. The pov shot of the gun also definitely drew me in.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"The Great Escape" and its conventions

-
Image
 Being that it was shot in 1963, the quality of this film is noticeably different than the other two movies we looked at. Those are all considerably newer movies than "The Great Escape". One thing that I kept in mind while looking at this one was that this isn't a prisoner breaking out of a proper prison, rather  prisoner of war breaking out of a Nazi camp. Starting with mis-En-Scene, the costuming in this movie. The costuming was very spot on to the content. The costuming is accurate to the time and place, being a Nazi POW camp. The main supervisor/guard (Von Luger) is dressed properly in a Luftwaffe officer uniform, and the prisoners are all dressed in what they came in wearing. Being that this was a prisoner of war camp, the prisoners weren't robbed of their clothing, hair, or shoes, which the Nazis did in concentration camps. Additionally the set is very realistic. It was modeled after the true place (Stalaag III Prisoner camp), and the specific set is near identi...
Read more

Making Plans for Nigel -XTC

-
Image
 Location: I plan to film mainly in the streets of Miami/Wynwood, but am also considering adding South Beach or Lauderdale by the Sea to my list of locations I really like the big city look of the Downtown Miami areas, whereas the artsy graffiti of Wynwood also really fits the song Costuming: Understanding that the lyrics and intentions of this song primarily applied to a changing youth, I began looking at countercultural movements. That being said, my idea of costuming is a mix of the 50's beatnik look, 70's punk look, and early 2000's hipster look. This means tight pants, preferably black or light washed denim jeans, flashy patterns/animal prints, stripes, leather boots or dress shoes, maybe some painted nails and messy hair, and chain necklaces Schedule: As of 11/16, I do not have a set schedule, however I plan to take a day from 11/20-11/28 and filming everything. I do have a relative time I'd like to film, and that's anywhere from mid-day until the evening.  Pr...
Read more

A study of Comedy

-
Image
Comedy Common camera angles in your genre- The Push (Way Too Far) In: When the camera itself moves closer to a character, getting so close it hits them in the face The Pull (Way Too Far) out: The opposite of the way too far in, the camera itself moves very far back, which lets the audience know what's going on, usually provides context. It often goes too far out, which makes it comedic The "wait for it..."- when a camera stays still, often to mount tension or to build comedic effect if/when nothing happens Common Mis-en-Scene in your genre - In a comedy show, the soundtrack is generally more upbeat or bright, as opposed to the sinister tracks that are used more often in more serious television productions.  The costume designs in comedy shows can vary. Although the these shows don't often require some certain shades of colors in order to succeed, some shows use bright and vibrant colors to portray a sense of spontaneity. A great example of this would be the bright Gre...
Read more