Film extract analysis

Clip from the Titanic 

 

 

The setting seems very grand and posh as we see the actor Leonardo Dicaprio who is the protagonist   dining in class. The costumes are formal as he is wearing a black tuxedo and his hair is swept back, the other actors around the table in the scene are also wearing fancy dresses. Props used such as food and wine represent people with a high status as in the scene the waiter pours the wine for the actors. From the way Leonardo eats we can tell he is not use to the lavish lifestyle as he spoke whilst he was eating. The facial expressions of Leonardo who plays ‘Jack’ in the movie are made obvious to the viewer as the close up showed him smiling and hinting out what he was saying in the scene to the woman across the table known as ‘Rose’ in the movie. Jack and Rose kept giving each other eye contact in the scene which connotes that they may have a connection towards each other and are maybe keeping a secret because only Rose got the hints as to what Jack was saying. There was key lighting throughout the scene which could indicate importance. 



Advert analysis.

The denotation of the advert is the perfume and the woman who is the face of the perfume. The connotation is to wear the perfume as celebrities do. The colours of the advert are mainly gold and brown which are very warm colours which represent wealth and create a cosy atmosphere. The image is a long shot of the woman showing her walking as if she is on a runway of a catwalk, her pose connotes she is confident and is embracing the limelight whilst she is wearing the perfume. There is an image of the perfume at the bottom right of the image which seems like it’s on the floor and looks as if the woman is walking towards it. The only text on the advert is the name of the perfume which is J’adore by Dior which connotes the importance of the name as there is no explanation to what ‘J’adore’ is, so people must be aware of what it is as it is well known. The subject matter is the actress as she is in the centre of the image and so is the perfume bottle as it looks as if it is highlighted. The setting seems like a grand place as the background is all gold. The lighting is quite bright, in the background behind the women there is a glow around her which connotes she is angelic and shows power.  

The dominant reading of the advert is that the perfume is of great quality, is also something celebrities would use and it is as good as gold, persuading average people to buy it.  The oppositional reading is that only wealthy people and if you’re at celebrity status can buy it. The negotiated reading is in between the other two readings and is not taken in any way.

 

Advert analysis

 

 

 

The denotation is that there is a picture of 50 cent and a picture of his prison document. The connotation is that he has overcome what he has been through and he is proud of who he is. The colours are very dark and mostly black and the lighting is very low key which creates and connotes a serious mood. The composition of the page is set out in two halves which represent two different sides of 50 cent, a picture of himself and a picture of his past. The images take up the whole advert as they are close up shots. The angle at which the picture was taken is a straight angle. The subject matter of the image is 50 cent and the picture of his fingerprints, so the attention is on both subjects. The dominant reading of this advertisement is be proud of who you are and live how you want to.  The oppositional meaning is being proud of whom you are even if you’re a bad person or have a criminal record and reebok is worn by ‘cool’ people.  The negotiated meaning is somewhere in between the other two readings being neutral.

 

 

Mise-en-scene of a distinctive still image

 

The character is spider-man who is identified by wearing the iconic costume. This is an adaptation as spider-man was a comic before it became a film. The lighting is quite bright in the background which is the sunshine; this connotes happiness which then relates to spider-man as he is the hero. The actor is in his spider-man role as this is being shown through the way he is posing. The only prop being used is the costume which shows iconography. The background shows a city which connotes with people having a busy lifestyle which then brings us back to spider-man himself as he is busy being the hero and ‘saving the day’. 

Film Poster Analysis

                                                 

The film we know is a part of the batman trilogy as he is a very well-known superhero. The name ‘the dark knight rises’ tells us that the dark knight being batman has become more powerful and has risen. The tagline being ‘A fire has risen’ could suggest that something bad has happened and batman wants to put a stop to it as he is the superhero. Enigma-code is also in the tagline because the suspense of ‘the fire’ being risen draws the audience in.

The iconography being the fire in the background makes the shape of a bat, which is batman’s iconic symbol.  Batman is in the centre of the poster which makes him the focus of the image and the fire in the background also makes him stand out. The colours used are dark which connotes that there is evil and can also represent batman himself as he wears all black and bats come out in the dark. He is also looking down at us which connotes he is powerful and has control. The view point is made to seem like we are looking up at very tall buildings and batman himself.

It would seem like it would be all monochrome because the colour black is used a lot. The genre of the film would be action/drama as it looks like a serious action packed film. I would say the target audience would be teenage boys who are 15 and upwards.

There is also a credit block at the bottom of the poster which then leads your attention to the date the movie comes out in cinema. There is also a small tagline there which says ‘the legend ends’ which connotes there is a secret that will be revealed in the movie which draws in the audience.

 

 

Key Words

Mise en scene: Costume, lighting, actors, props and settings.

Anchorage: The ability of a piece of accompanying text or sound to focus the message of an image so that it is interpreted in the way that was intended.

Iconography: The study of iconic symbols.

Tagline: a short secondary phrase attached to the title of a film that expands on its nature and helps to capture audience attention.

Binary Opposition: a pair of direct opposites such as good and evil, black and white or male and female.

Hero: in a narrative, the main character that represents ‘good’, who has to defeat the forces of ‘evil’ represented by the villain.

Villain: in a narrative, the character that represents ‘bad’, whom the hero (representing ‘good’) has to defeat.

Femme Fatale: The women who seduces and then betrays the man.

Typography: The appearance of printed characters on a page.

Hybrid: a combination of cultural forms (styles of music, genres of film etc.) resulting in a new form, or one that is popular with the audiences of both the original forms.

Connotes: Associates, implies or suggests.

Enigmacode: A theory that suggests a text (whether it be television, film or poster etc.) portrays a mystery to draw an audience in.

Monochrome: using or displaying only shades of one colour or black and white.

Adaptation: A change e.g. from a comic to a film.

 

Trailer analysis

Iron Man 3 Trailer

Iron man 3 is one of the highest grossing films which was released in the year 2013. At the beginning of the trailer there are close up shots of iron man taking his mask off, this shows the viewer who they want to see which is the famous Robert Downey Junior. Long shots are used when the action scenes are shown as this gives the viewer a clear view of what is going on. The camera angles vary on how the audience is made to feel. At 1:00 minute people are shown falling off an aeroplane, the camera angle is facing up at them which shows they were quite high in the air and seems as if they were falling onto ‘us’; the camera acts as our eyes as if we were looking up. This kind of shot is also shown at 1:25 minutes. 

The trailer is quite fast paced throughout; small snippets are shown which builds up the anxiety about what will happen. The soundtrack starts off low in the background and gradually gets louder which builds up the hype for the action bits. Parts of the music are covered by dialogue, the dialogue (actors’ lines in the movie) sums up what will happen in the film. As the speech and the music are heard at the same time this intrigues the audience and builds up the urge to watch the movie. The sound effects in the trailer also give a big impact as they emphasise and give more of an effect to what is happening. For example when iron man shoots off into the air there is a sound effect of a powerful blast off. Towards the end of the trailer the music gets louder which builds up the tension and then is at its loudest which then suddenly stops and there is no noise for about two seconds, after this the title of the movie then appears with a loud epic sort of sound. This shows that there is a lot to see in the film so watch ‘Iron Man 3’.  

The Mise en scene is what creates the effects of the movie. The trailer shows various settings of the film such as the snowy place in the first part of the trailer and then a nice, hot area where iron man’s home is located. When the villain is shown, the lighting and mood is set to be dark and horrible. The villain wears a dark, dull coloured costume and is wearing a lot of rings which shows his mysterious side and shows he may be powerful as he wears jewellery. Only glimpses are shown of the villain which makes the viewer want to watch the movie to find out who the villain is. The lighting in the trailer varied as different parts of the movie were shown which shows there is a lot that will happen in the movie which will draw the audience in.  The prop such as the iron man costume is the main feature in the film therefore is shown throughout the trailer because that is what the audience want to see.

Iron Man comes under the action/adventure genre. To reach out to the target audiences there have been a lot of merchandise being sold such as toys and games for teenagers and young children. However adults are also drawn in as Iron Man use to be a comic, so there has been an adaptation throughout the years.