A2 Preliminary Evaluation

Pre-Production Evaluation ( 259 words )

The storyboarding process involved recording the shot lengths, types, angles and action, as well as making quick sketches to help visualize exactly what the shot looked like. Taking the position of director, I figured the original storyboard I made and that everyone else had done too was pretty mediocre, so I did a new one that involved actual shots from the music video we were mimicking, as well as camera positions and action diagrams (arrows, labels, etcetera.), plus all of the original information from the first storyboard.

Overall, it did a much better job than the original storyboard and allowed us to set up each of the shots much faster. Planning out the shots before even approaching the camera seemed to be a much more efficient process than just doing it on the go during shooting, and the final video was much more accurate as well.

The prop lists and locations list allowed us to list the needed props as well as what shots would be done at which location – this allowed us to appropriately prepare for the shoot by having the needed equipment at hand, as well as make the shooting faster due to the non-linear nature of the filming (we shot all inside shots first, then all outside shots, rather than alternating between the two by filming in the order the shots are in the timeline).

During this shoot, I've mainly learned that detailed planning can be beneficial to the final video a lot more than I thought it would be - both for time and quality.

Production Evaluation ( 402 words )

The actual process of filming went rather well. It took less than 10 minutes in order to set the place up (mainly just rearranging the tables and pre-loading the necessary videos), and then we decided on who would be sitting where and what shots to shoot first.

During the inside shots (which we did first), we did go over the time limit slightly due to problems mainly to do with the actors and finding appropriate compromises with the shots (the dimensions and layout of the room were, of course, different from the video, which meant we had to make adjustments to what the shots would be like). In order to quicken the process of the inside shots (after spending god knows how long on trying to get Harry to enunciate the phrase “oh yeah yeah” properly) I took control of the later shots away from the Jack and Jacob so that we could cut out the time it took to explain to the shots to them. Another problem we came across was the guitars – the music department, it turned out, would only lend out one at a time, so Harry and Pat had to go collect theirs over break. Jack resumed control once we started filming the outside shots nearby the library.

Outside we came across several problems with the filming which, again, involved the actors. The dancers used in the background seemed to stop at random points (here’s looking at you, Sanrita), damaging certain shots as well as disrupting the pace of the editing. The people in the band, mainly Tom, had problems with multi-tasking, apparently, as he didn’t seem to want to sing and play the guitar at the same time after jumping, as did the others multiple times – this created shots that were otherwise fine, but left the band not actually singing, which didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

In terms of continuity, I’d say we did fine, besides the shades being open and closed in certain shots inside, affecting the lighting. The problems we did come across can be addressed in other film projects by improving communication between the actors and the director (me), so I’m not getting mad at them for not doing things I simply forgot to tell them to do. I'd say that my skills of communicating what I want from the actors have improved due to the problems we've faced over the production.

Post-Production Evaluation ( 229 words )

From the beginning of the editing process, we came across the problem of having no-one show up to the class, which meant we had to use just a couple of people in each group. Due to problems we had with the program iMovies and the fact it won’t save blank projects for some reason, we had to spend a while loading in the footage, which was then disorganized. We spent the majority of the lesson organizing the footage before we could do anything about it, which I guess saved time in the long run but would have saved a lot more time if it hadn’t been a problem to begin with.

The editing itself went fairly okay – the final edit that our group did was as close to the original video that we could get considering the method we used to check it (running between two rooms and remembering the shot cuts and action), and we still managed to get it done by the end of the lesson anyway. I’d say that we’ve learnt how to properly use the program for editing videos during this, including the use of independent sound files and the modification of clip volume. Being familiar with other programs for editing due to not having a Mac, it was interesting to get to use it for a more extensive video than last year’s preliminary piece.

A2 Preliminary 'What I Go To School For' by Busted

A2 Preliminary Lipsyncing 'What I Go To School For'

Primeval Representation of Gender

Representation of Class Sherlock (2010)

Camera Shots

Close ups of Sherlock often either have just him in the shot or him blurred out of focus with the other characters – there is a clear barrier between him and the others, and the single focus on him shows a sort of self-importance that is often stereotypical of being upper class (though, generally, the new Sherlock is middle class, bordering upper).

Editing

Fast paced shots help to portray the speed of Sherlock’s deduction, mainly during his explanation of why he thinks Jim is gay. The shots are also blurred to show the focus of the characters as well as the boundaries between them – Sherlock is blurred when others are in close shots with him, probably to represent the ambiguity in people’s opinion of him (a common question raised is whether Sherlock actually cares for people or if he’s a sociopath who does things simply to entertain himself).

Sound

Sherlock is much more vocal about his thoughts than the others – the woman is in denial about her boyfriend being gay, the boyfriend is clearly in denial about himself being gay, and Watson is quiet for the majority of the scene with one of the first things he says being put down by Sherlock.

His accent is also more refined than the other characters – the others are clearly much more casual, where as Sherlock’s speech has a sort of elegance to it that you’d expect from the more upper-boundary of the middle class in society. The accent also helps to portray intelligence, a key focus of the series with Sherlock being, essentially, the most intelligent character in the show (not counting his brother).

Mise en Scene

Sherlock is sitting down – the other characters end up “looking down on him” figuratively by the end of the scene

Sherlock is wearing a suit, as opposed to the work clothes of the woman, the coat of Watson and the t-shirt of Jim.

Sherlock is the central point of the characters – they all face him, and the focus of the conversations are aimed at him as well (the introduction of Jim, the controversy behind Sherlock’s deduction and the counter points by Watson are, obviously, all focused around Sherlock).

Sherlock’s general speech is also very, very different from the others, not just in terms of his accent or formality, but in the way he shows his understanding of the others – ironically, for the most intelligent character in the show, he shows very little understanding of how the others think, another stereotype of the upper-middle class like politicians, who are very detached from the population in terms of understanding what they want.

Kick-Ass Seven Areas of Representation

Tim Bevan

Tim Bevan is the co-founder of Working Title Films, a British film production company, along with Sarah Radclyffe back in the 1980s. Bevan has himself been producer or executive producer on over 40 films, including such films as Bridget Jones’ Diary, Shaun of the Dead and Love Actually.

In 1999, Working Title Films signed a deal with Universal Studios that allows Bevan and Eric Fellner (a partner of Bevan) the ability to commission projects with budgets of up to $35 without actually having to consult their paymasters.

Bevan is also the co-producer of the West End musical Billy Elliot.

The Soloist Marketing

During the time that it was advertised on the show, during the spring, the audience was mainly older women, rather than movie-lovers and the like, and due to this, movie-lovers didn’t watch to find out about new films – there are very few, interesting films aimed at older women.

The recession also caused many studios to become more wary with buying advertisements and the like, especially considering that it cost almost 2 million to begin with (but was lowered to 1.4 because of this). Restrictions on what they can show also prevented a lot of studios from buying slots (no sequels/prequels, only new films) – this could also prevent people from watching to find new films, due to series that people are already interested in can’t have any spin-offs, sequels, etcetera. Shown.

Overall, the advertising was generally very bad – the audience of the trailer seemed to be middle aged women, but that isn’t exactly the audience that they were aiming for (they were aiming for young adults, I think).

The Soloist Production Notes

The film itself was based on a true story, and starred Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr., Catherine Keener, Tom Hollander and Lisa Gay Hamilton.

The executive producers of the film were Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Jeff Skoll, and Patricia Whiteher.

The director of photography was Seamus McGarvey BSC.

The film is “about the secret yet transcendant dreams that exist even at the American margins”, not just the story of a homeless man who fell from greatness. It’s also about the “often perilous task of trying to change a friend’s life”.

A lot of producers approached Steve Lopez to produce the film, but only Gary Foster and Russ Krasnoff gained his trust (and then took him to see Nathaniel Ayers at LAMP). They were moved greatly by his articles, and were motivated to create a true, respectable adaptation of it.

Suzannah Grant, the screenwriter, was also inspired by the articles after being sent them, and aimed to hone in “on the different kinds of transformation each of the two men undergoes”, whilst taking some liberties to further emphasize certain characteristics, such as giving Steve Lopez an ex-wife in order to further portray a sense of isolation in his character.

After Grant saw Jamie Foxx act as Nathaniel, she said that he “embodied the experience of being Nathaniel without ever being an imitation” – yet despite the greatness of his and Robert Downey Jr.’s acting, she still wished to keep from any “fairy tale sentimentality”, in order to pay homage to the humanity of the characters.

Joe Wright, after being approached and beginning work on the film, saw it as a way of bringing Hollywood and British realism together, and despite not knowing much about America himself he thought it may benefit from an outsider’s point of view. He flew to LA to talk with the scriptwriters, and then visited Skid Row, which inspired him to bring its inhabitants humanity to the screen.

Cellist Ben Hong had to develop a system in order to teach Jamie Foxx how to appropriately mime over the music he was playing, which involved calling out the numbers to him to let him know what strings he would have to press down at certain points.

Spooks Representation of Ethnicity

The Soloist The Making Of...

Who was/were the producers of ‘The Soloist’?

The producers of ‘The Soloist’ were Gary Foster and Russ Krasnoff.

What did Steve Lopez question about the film from the start?

Steve Lopez was unsure on how you could “make a movie if you didn’t have an ending”, as (being based on a non-fictional series of articles by him) the real relationship it’s based on didn’t have an “ending” either – Nathaniel remains schizophrenic and Steve Lopez remains his friend. Films tend to need endings in order to make people feel satisfied after watching it – audience satisfaction tends to have higher priority over realism.

When did the producers meet Nathaniel?

The producers met Nathaniel in 2005 after having lunch with Lopez, who then took them to meet him.

Where were the real-life locations in the film?

The real-life locations used within the film were the Disney Concert Hall, the LAMP centre, and Skid Row (or, more accurately, Anderson Street – Wright chose to use the real homeless around the area as extras, both for realism and moral concern, and moving them from their home to work somewhere else would have been cruel to them).

Suzannah Grant’s aim when screenwriting was…?

Grant’s aim when screenwriting was to “humanize” the homeless and allow the audience to connect to them, as people nowadays just walk past them and don’t take much notice – she aimed to make people realize that they were people too, with families, backgrounds, etcetera.

Why was Joe Wright apprehensive about making the film?

Joe Wright was a tad apprehensive about making the film due to it being based in America, and, being a British director, he didn’t know much about the place himself – however, he decided to do it because he thought it’d be better made from an outsider’s point of view. He said that the “more time he spent there, the less he understood”.

What does Robert Downey Jr. say about the role of Nathaniel?

Downey said that the role of Nathaniel had a high degree of difficulty, due to having to correctly portray a schizophrenic without being over the top or dulling it – done wrong it could ruin an actor’s career. He said that it’s a hard thing to get into the head and persona of someone that you just don’t understand, and that he respects Jamie Foxx for being able to do it properly.

Why did Joe Wright want authentic locations and people in the film?

Wright wanted to use authentic people and locations in the film for two reasons – for realisms sake, in terms of the portrayal of certain areas, and for a personal moral concern about the inhabitants. He said that by getting the homeless to be in his film, he was helping them, as well as adding to the realism, and it would give them a sense of “self-worth”.

How long did the set designers have on location to build the set?

The set designers had 4 weeks on location in order to build the set, and spent a huge amount of time prior to this in the workshop, creating scale models and the like, so that they knew exactly what to do once they got there.

What process did the actors go through to ensure that the acting was authentic?

Foxx stated that he had to submerse himself into the role of Nathaniel in order to correctly portray him, which involved meeting with the real Nathaniel Ayers and observing him. They also got to know each other, in order to build a sense of trust between them – this, according to the people at LAMP, gave the homeless a “sense of self worth”.

What comments are made about the ending by Suzannah Grant and Russ Krasnoff?

Grant chose to leave the ending as it was in order to keep it honest, realistic, and respectful to those suffering from schizophrenia (throwing a cure at it wouldn’t have highlighted the severity of the condition at all) – it isn’t “a fairy tale”.

Joe Wright also added that he doesn’t like to assume what the audience will be feeling at the end of the film, which is a dangerous thought process – it leaves the possibility that an audience will be left unsatisfied by the ending (as I was – it seemed very anticlimactic).

Let The Right One In

The Business Understanding Film Making

The Soloist Notes

Cinema Verdict

On this page, they point out several things to do with the film that may have affected the draw to the film. For example, it points out the use of a high-profile cast, mainly Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx, and that the film is based on a true story. While, more often than not, the "truth" aspect of a story can draw people in, it doesn't seem to have done that in this case - probably due to the recession going on at the time, and the preference of people to go see films for escapism rather than empathy.

It also points out that the story being told by the trailers wasn't representative of the actual story, which could have potentially detracted from the overall attraction that the film had, having not had it's interest plot being correctly pitched to the audience.

Another point that may have detracted from it's attraction was the fact that Jamie Foxx could be seen to blatantly overacting for an award nomination, at least according to this source. In others they speak of how the cast seem to be emotionally connected in a realistic way, so I don't know if this is true (having not seen it myself).

Wikipedia (because everyone loves Wikipedia)

The film was written by Susannah Grant, who based the script on a true story, and she's written a couple of successful in the past - such as Charlotte's Web and Erin Brockovich - but isn't particularly well-known, especially for this type of film, which could have had the opposite effect than what they wanted. Rather than a good director attracting an audience, it seems to have had no effect on the type of person that came to see it - or it may have done, and fans of Charlotte's Web may not have liked this kind of film at all.

The film also had a director in the same vein as the writer - having a couple of well-known projects done previously, but their name not being terribly famous. At least to my mind, Pride and Prejudice  and Atonement are the only ones that seem to be very memorable.

Rolling Stones

In this review, it says that the movie got sidetracked by social activism, which may have damaged the immersion of the audience, and that the film isn't about big moments, but rather smaller moments - despite the seemingly calming effect this may have, not many people like films with no crescendos, so this may have detracted somewhat from the film's reviews.

Summary

• High profile cast may have helped attract an audience, though probably not the one they wanted, because these actors aren't really known for this kind of genre
• The film is based on a true story, which, in a time of recession, may have detracted from it's attraction
• The trailers were misleading, so it may have attracted the wrong audience, rather than the one it had wanted to get.
• Jamie Foxx in particular overacted, which again may have damaged the thoughts people had about the films direction
• The script was written by someone not particularly well-known or amazing, which may have detracted from the quality / attraction of the film
• The film was directed by Joe Wright, again, not too well-known, and with not many great past projects, so that may have detracted somewhat from the quality of the film.
• The script gets sidetracked with social activism, which may break immersion at some point or another, forcing the audience to realize they're watching a film
• The film doesn't have great moments, but little ones - this may detract from how interesting the overall experience is for the audience, rather than having the effect they intended.

Film BudgetsPresentation for Ms. Elger

General Class Notes

• The attachment of famous actors, directors, etcetera. will generally raise the popularity of the film upon release, and will draw people to watch it.
• It's very difficult to judge the price of film production before the film is actually made or even written - it'd make more sense to make the film first, and hope that you can raise the money afterwards.
• The level between cheap and attractive should be monitored - for example, cheap, yet relatively well known actors, such as Johnny Vegas, will help to attract a specific audience yet also keep within the budget.
• The use of great directors and the like (judged based on past projects) can help to make sure that the film is a success.
• The advertising for a film, more often than not, costs more than the film itself (it's around £175,000 for a 30 second advert).
• The budget to be spent on props is usually between 1 to 10% of the overall budget.
• Synergy marketing is the joining of two products in advertising for the mutual benefit of both companies - such as the Pampers advert with Toy Story characters.
• When talking about rights, self copyrighting should be taken into account, in order to protect the franchise later on.

Disability Gregory House

Name	Gregory House (played by Hugh Laurie)
Profession	Chief of Diagnostic Medicine
Disability(/ies)	Leg infarction (an area of tissue death on his leg)
Other Problems	Addicted to Vicodin, a painkiller
Personality	He’s portrayed as a misanthrope (someone who doesn’t like people), cynic, narcissist (essentially elitism, and being selfish), and a curmudgeon (an ill-tempered person whose very stubborn).

House’s disability is a leg infarction, which causes him a lot of pain (hence the use of Vicodin to counter it) and makes him walk with a cane so that he can balance right.

His disability seems to conform to 5 of the 10 stereotypes of disabled people in media – he’s seen as an object of curiosity (in that his boss is constantly trying to find ways to fix it, to the point where at the end of one of the series she forces a surgery on him without his consent to do so), sinister/evil (he’s sometimes driven to violent means in order to get the outcome he wants, such as during a hallucination where he cuts open and kills a patient in order to break himself out of it), laughable (he often makes jokes of it, such as when he annoys a patient to the point of violence and then says “You wouldn’t hit a cripple”), his own worst enemy and a burden (the pain in his leg is implied after the surgery to be imaginary, stemming from his drug addiction which came from the pain to begin with, and he’s looked down upon because of it – he even almost gets sent to jail for it).

Though in some ways the portrayal disability could be seen as very hyperbolic, the show does deal with it in several accurate ways that can come from disability – mainly House’s addiction to painkillers, which a lot of people going through pain can have happen to them (for example, the actor Matthew Perry was in a car crash and subsequently became addicted to the painkillers he got from them).

Shakespeare’s view that when disabilities are used as plot devices distance the audience from the characters and they become only seen through said impairment seems to have been flipped around with this character – the characters that House comes across view him through his impairment, but the audience can relate to him as a character, despite his many differences. Despite the fact that he’s a medical genius, and is always correct when diagnosing patients (other than one time, but he sorts that out at some point during season two, I believe), the other characters doubt his intelligence and often mistake it for arrogance or a stubbornness for Vicodin.

A prime example of this would be when his boss, Lisa Cuddy, refuses to believe House when he tells her that a catatonic patient can be revived by simply injecting him with a certain chemical. She then gives in to temptation later on and tries it, and it works perfectly, yet she refuses to let House know for fears of it increasing his arrogance, instead letting him feel that he should be more careful when diagnosing patients, if only for lawsuits’ sake.

Overall, I’d say that the way House’s disability is both realistic and fair – despite being intelligently greater than most of the other characters, and being of a higher rank, he is often looked down on because of his disability and his drug addiction. He’s also often pitied, despite his complete disregard for the way his patients actually feel, and even gets shot at one point by someone that he’s a douche to.

Male Gaze Durex Advertisement

The Durex advert attempted to combine sexualization with classiness, a combination that you don't see very often. The focus of the cameras is on the women's faces as they orgasm, which attempts to de-sluttify itself through the use of classic music dubbing over any of the sounds. For an advert based on a product that promotes safe sex, the sex side of it is really only implied - the facial expressions, the feet and the grabbing. The actual act of sex isn't shown, which is probably for the best, because it'd probably get banned at some point.

Preliminary Movie Work

Evaluation
What went wrong during the production?
We came across several problems during the filming of the short film, some of which only arose after we'd gotten to the editing stage. For one, we couldn't actually film the door itself opening, due to it being rather dark outside, and the shadow over the outside door handle being too dark to film. Also, at one point, Tom's head with the camera appears in the reflection of the door.
What problems did we fix, and how?
To fix the door handle problem, we came back on a lighter day and reshot it and the scene of the guy looking through the door - however, this created another problem of there being inconsistent clothing between scenes, a problem that we didn't have time to fix (as it would have probably required re-shooting the whole thing).
What could we have done better?
We could have made sure to keep the same clothing between scenes by making sure to bring the specific clothes on the days of filming, and we could have avoided getting Tom's head in the reflection by adjusting the lighting of the room, or even just having him move out of the way whilst we were shooting. In the future, lighting and clothing will be things we'll need to take into consideration when shooting, to avoid these problems from happening again.
We also need to censor what we say, apparently, because we had the whole scene revolving around a single line, but it was too "saucy" for the teachers so we had to remove it, which made the entire thing seem way too random.

Representation Facial Expressions

Facial Expressions

Marjorie Ferguson (1980) 

Chocolate Box

A half or full smile, with the lips together or slightly parted, teeth hardly visible at all and either full or three-quarter face to camera. The projected mood of this kind of expression is blandly pleasing, warm bath warmth, where uniformity of features in their smooth perfection is devoid of uniqueness or of individuality.

Invitational


An emphasis on the eyes, with the mouth shut or only a hint of a smile, and with the head either to one side or looking back to the camera. The project mood of this kind of expression is suggestive of mischief or mystery, the hint of contact potential rather than sexual promise, the cover equivalent of advertising's soft sell.

Super-Smiler


A full face, with a wide open toothy smile, the head being thrust forward or the chin being thrown back, hard often blown by the wind. The projected mood of this kind of expression is aggressive, 'look at me' demanding, the hard sell , 'big come on' approach.

Romantic / Sexual

A fourth and more general classification devised to include male and female 'two-somes', or the dreamy, heavy lidded, unsmiling big-heads, or the overtly sexual or sensual. The project mood of this kind of expression is "possibly available" and "definitely available".

Trevor Millum (1975)

Carefree

A carefree look, that can be linked to sports because it seems as if they are active and/or healthy.

Practical

A practical look will include a model who seems to be concentrating on something, so their eyes will be focused and their mouth will be closed but not tightly.

Seductive

A seductive look requires the model to have their eyes slightly closed, with small expressions (but large enough to still show), and should also look somewhat confident.

Comic

A comic look has the model being stupid/comical/funny, and it will often be exaggerated in order to make the audience's view of it as comical as possible.

Catalogue

A catalogue look requires the model to have a neutral expression, such as a dummy (artificial/wax-like). The features may be in any position, but it's more common to have the eyes wide open and with a smile, but the look should remain vacant and empty still - personality has been removed.

Sites used for reference:

• http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze11.html
• http://www.slideshare.net/nickemo/male-gaze-based-on-mulveys-fergusons-shroeders-and-millums-theories-of-the-male-gaze

Representation The Gaze

Eva Mendes

She has a fairly sexual posture, as seen by the messy/wet hair (linking to the glossy skin as well), along with her "orgasm face" (not my words). These points are emphasized as well by the fact that her lips are parted, as well as her legs being open, a posture often linked to sex. From a "feminist" perspective, the hands on hips could be a sign of empowerment, and the fact that she's looking purposefully away from the camera could be a sign of "disappointment". The length of her legs has also been emphasized somewhat, probably because longer legs are seen as an attractive trait in women (their emphasis is seen by the fact that she's on her tiptoes, whilst wearing high heels).

Fredrik Ljungberg

The way that Fredrik has been directed in this advertisement shows both feminine and masculine qualities, which I'll assume were to attract both audiences. On the masculine side, you have the toned muscles, and possibly hints of aggression (left hand being a fist), which fits somewhat with the red background. On the feminine side, the pouting lips and apparently manicured right hand could be to appeal to the female audience, which again links to the red background (red being a colour related to the idea of lust). This also fits with the forced sexual portrayal of the model in order to attract the audience, as shown in the Eva Mendes advertisement above, though in this one I think it's more to make guys want to be the type of man within the ad, and for women to want the man within the ad (which would in turn make guys want to be like him, in order to attract women).

Shameless Representation of sexuality and identity

Paul Development Diaries

Why did they film the blogs?

In the first vlog, “What Is Paul? ASK!”, you can see that they’ve set up the blogs in order to let the community interact more with the cast – in normal film sets, questions can be left unanswered, and the community are just there to be an audience, but by letting them send in their questions and taking the time to answer them personally, they’re connecting more with the audience and giving people more of an incentive to watch the film (as they’ve created a relationship between the audience and the cast).

They also allow the user to see behind the scenes of the film, showing the actual creation of the film rather than just showing people the end result. This, again, helps to build a relationship between the audience and the crew, as they feel that they’re with them during the film creation, and not just seeing them act on screen.

There are also random videos as well, with the actors improvising / acting themselves, that again allow the audience to connect more with the crew as they see their normal sides, rather than just the acting that they’re paid to do.

How does this promote the film?

This helps promote the film in several ways. The most obvious way is that they give more depth to the film in general by allowing them to see how it was made – most films just allow you to see one layer, the actual film, but by doing behind-the-scenes videos, they’re showing everything that has gone into making the film and thus helping to portray the true value of the film.

Another reason is that through the videos, the audience have become more connected with the crew, and so have an incentive to see more of them by watching the film – this is a similar effect to soap operas, that have long storylines that keep people coming back for more as questions remain unanswered, and they create a sort of relationship with the characters involved.

How will it support the advertising when the film is out?

When the film comes out, the main use of these videos will probably be as extra features on a DVD, as is common with development diaries and the like. Another way that it could possibly support the advertising is by making the crew well known – the more people there are that’ve viewed the vlogs, the more people there are that will be familiar with the crew. This means that when advertisements say “Starring...” so and so, the higher the chance that someone will go “oh hey, I know them, it’s bound to be good”, and then will feel like going to see the film.

Hot Fuzz + This is England Compare how they appeal to a British audience

Rushmore Is Max Fisher a stereotypical teenager?

Is Max Fischer a stereotypical teenager?

Various elements within the montage video portray Max Fischer as different from the average teenager, the most obvious of which is his choice of clothing - in the majority of the scenes, he has chosen to wear his full school uniform (blazer, trousers, etcetera.) rather than the preferred clothing of those around him, even in the Fencing club where he wears the majority of the fencing outfit, yet retains his school uniforms trousers.

This choice of clothing could potentially be due to many factors in the character’s life, one of which is poverty, which is again suggested towards the latter end of the montage where he is seen training for the J.V. decathlon by running across a bridge over a highway, rather than the more traditional setting of an actual track.

His entire demeanour seems to be very formal in comparison with the rest of his school, from his hairstyle to his clothing to his very posture, and even though this kind of formality comes with the stereotype of submissive and shy teenagers, he seems to show a great amount of confidence at various points, which is also seen by the fact that he is one, if the not the, “top dog” in each of the clubs, such as being President of the French club, Vice-President of the Stamp and Coin club, etcetera. This formality could potentially point to some form of OCD within his character, which is further emphasized by the Lacrosse part of the montage, where rather than watching the team play he instead chooses to arrange the equipment along the floor, despite being the team’s manager.

At several points there seems to also be a conflict in decisions within his character, mainly the contrasting choices of doing activities in groups and doing activities alone – he also seems to do most of these clubs with students who are noticeably younger than himself. These things point to a main interest of control/power in his character – he seems just as happy doing individual activities than group activities, and companied with his position in the various clubs and the company of people who are probably less powerful and intelligent than himself (though this could be argued, seeing as he was earlier described as being one of the “worst students” at Rushmore, and that despite being older than the rest of the Kung Fu club he is still only a yellow belt). Control over a situation seems to be what he desires, rather than control over others, and in the “Model United Nations” part of the montage he resembles Russia, one of the world’s superpowers.

This desire for control/power, along with his great amount of confidence and formality, may link to some form of arrogance in Max, which is suggested at the beginning of the montage by the image of bee’s on front of the “Rushmore Yankee” (the yearbook, probably). This image links into two main popular sayings: “busy bee” and “the bee’s knees”. The “busy bee” phrase links into the amount of time his character spends actually doing stuff, being a part of a lot of clubs (this also links to the choice of song: “Making Time” by The Creation). The “bee’s knees”, however, is a phrase used often to state something is important, or great, etcetera., which links into his character’s arrogance.

These things set Max Fischer apart from the stereotypical teenagers, and after analyzing the montage and linking it to the fact that he’s “one of the worst students” and potentially poor, we’re left with another question:

How has he managed to get into, or stay in, Rushmore?

Magazine Evaluation

Brief

For the preliminary task with Ms Elger, we were asked to create a new school magazine’s cover and contents page within Photoshop, featuring a mid-shot photo of a student within the background, along with some appropriately laid out text and a masthead.

Mock Up Images / Flat Plan

Mock Cover

From the start, I wanted to have a semi-posh feel to the cover, in order to add both comedic effect and class (no pun intended). All the cover lines were also related to in-school activities and events, so it becomes relevant to the students, and news that may effect them is also placed in it in order to lure people into buying it - by giving news of upcoming events in the school, you give them a reason to keep buying it (keeping up to date with the times).

Mock Contents Page

In order to attract the younger audience (the students), I gave the contents page a sort of "comic" feeling to it, to keep the tone informal whilst relevant (the panels would be filled with pictures related to the school. The contents list is also easy to read through, being clearly labelled and having relatively large text.

Skills Development – What did we learn?

I learnt how a magazine cover should be laid out – how it’s colour schemes, use of font, choice of cover lines and overall style can contribute towards targeting a specific audience, as well as what makes a good contents page.

That, and people always look better with top hats.

Hot Fuzz + This is England How do they relate to a British audience?

Skins Tony Stonem

What do we learn about Tony in the opening scene(s)?

Systematic Nature

In the opening scene, we see Tony open his eyes at the sound of distant church bells, and the camera zooms out from his face and reveals his bed. The bed sheet itself has two headless bodies on, and Tony sleeps between them, looking like a 'floating head' - this could be the directors way of portraying Tony as detached from normal feelings and the like, as you see later on in the series when he decides to cheat on his girlfriend and win her back just to get create excitement. The bed is also extremely neat, and, coupled with the fact that he's awake before his alarm actually goes off, it's suggested that he may suffer from insomnia (being unable to sleep, either at all or for extended periods of time).

His bedroom as a whole is extremely neat, and his clothes are folded and packed neatly into drawers - this hint at a possible case of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in him. He also goes through a rather specific series of workouts when the alarm goes out, suggesting he does it repeatedly each morning, with a specific routine to go through - this is again suggested by his watch alarm going off (apparently set by him) that tells him when his sister has come back, and he goes through a routine to distract his father so she can let herself in. This is apparently a part of the routine, as his father states that it happens "every morning".

Confidence

The neatness of his clothes and the systematic workout he goes through in the morning, accompanied by the unashamed flirting with the (then naked) woman across the street, shows Tony's confidence, taking pride in both his appearance and his effect on people. This may also add to the self-centred / detached nature of his character - he doesn't seem to get ashamed or regret things (until later on when he becomes rejected by his friends after cheating on Michelle), and just does things to keep himself entertained and feeling good about himself.

Attention Seeking?

Both the flirting with the woman across the street and the focus on keeping himself completely neat and, in some ways, 'superior' suggest a possibility of 'ADHD' (which may also be hinted at later in the series, when he does a lot just to get his friend's attentions after they abandon him). It's also suggested by the fact that his character stands out against the background of his house, which is mostly comprised of neutral colours.

Pretentious?

The book Tony reads whilst in the bathroom is called 'Nausea' by Jean-Paul Sartre - a book on existentialism. There are two main views on what him reading this book actually means - that he is either mature for his age (as at the time the show is set, Tony would be around 16), or that he is reading it simply to look intelligent (showing him to be pretentious, as well as adding to his pride in his looks).

However, the book's plot itself could relate to his character:

"The novel concerns a dejected historian in a town similar to Le Havre, who becomes convinced that inanimate objects and situations encroach on his ability to define himself, on his intellectual and spiritual freedom, evoking in the protagonist a sense of nausea."

The character of Tony believes people to be simply objects in his life, able to be manipulated and the like for his own personal gains (in order for him to "define himself, on his intellectual and spiritual freedom", if you will), whereas later on he finds them to be obstacles in his pursuit of excitement as they refuse to be manipulated by him (Michelle doesn't go back to him, Sid doesn't do what he says, etcetera.).

American Beauty Family Notes (Dinner Scene)

What do we learn about the family?

Mise-en-scène

Jane's Portrayal

When the camera cuts to the short of the family at the table, Jane can be seen to be sitting directly behind the roses as well as being surrounded by candles. This could be presenting the idea of innocence in her character, or possibly that she is the 'rose' of the family. This also links back to one of the first scenes of the film, where Carolyn can be seen to take care of the roses in the garden - this could be the directors way of suggesting that Jane is in fact the only reason that Lester and Carolyn are together, as they clearly don't seem to love each other anymore.

The Family's Portrayal

There are mainly muted colours in this scene, again, which I think is the director's way of displaying the dullness of the family themselves. The separation and formality of the table scene seems to suggest that there's also not very much of a connection between them (even if they do want to connect to one another, as in the case of Lester and Jane). The parents are also directly opposite of each other - which may not seem to abnormal, but it again adds to the formality of the situation and also suggests the two to be 'direct opposites'. Lester's submissive nature is also shown by his slumped posture in the chair (as well as his retreat to the kitchen when confronted by his wife).

Camera Work

Jane's Portrayal

The scene starts with the camera focusing on several small tables - on these tables are multiple pictures of a smiling Jane, accompanied by roses. The camera then cuts to a wide shot of the dinner table (above), and directly in between the parents sits Jane. These shots seem to be the director's way of portraying Jane, again, as 'innocent', as well as being directly in the middle of the conflict between the parents - perhaps the only reason the parents are staying together.

The Family's Portrayal

The slow zooming of the camera suggests that we, the audience, are "spying" on them, or to put it more accurately, seeing into their real lives (rather than the fake one they portray to others, as seen by the personality difference in Carolyn whilst speaking to the neighbours at the beginning of the film). This is furthered at the end of the scene when you see through the camera of Ricky, who is spying on Lester and Jane in the kitchen, and it zooms in slowly in the same way.

You also see various close ups of picture frames, besides Jane's pictures, that show the family in a seemingly happier time - one of these shows the family in a more stereotypical family hierarchy, with the father standing above the mother, adding to the feeling of regret within the character of Lester. It also shows the rag that Lester throws on the side after cleaning his hands land directly next to an old picture of the family again being happy, showing possible 

Music

The diegetic sound within the scene - referred to as "elevator music" by Jane - is 'Bali Ha'i' from South Pacific, an old song from 1949. From the dialogue, you can tell that the mother is the one who chose the song and that she's an old-fashioned person for doing so. It also shows her to be dominant, as the other characters don't really have a say in the choice of music, despite them all having to listen to it. Jane also complains that they "always" listen to it, furthering the suggestion of earlier scenes that their lives have become repetitive. It could also suggest that Carolyn too looks back on the past with regret or longing, as does the character of Lester.