Billy Elliot - Billys struggle against gender roles discussed.

Essay "Billy Elliot" Billy´s struggle against gender role restrictions for the opportunity to dance ballet is compared in the film with Jackie´s fight as a striker against his company. This happens on two narrative levels. To be more precise, the desperate fight of the miners that Billy´s father supports at the beginning, as well as he can, is displayed by the useless efforts to prevent Billy from developing into a good ballet dancer and becoming sophisticated. The industrial progress taking place in the depressed area and the cultural advance in Billy´s family cannot be prevented -neither by his father nor by anyone else as the end concluding scenes of the film shows. A scene demonstrating this parallel quite vividly is the (also) parallel sequence where Billy in a lesson works hard to improve his dancing on the one hand and the police defeat the striking workers in their own neighborhood on the other. Taking a look at Billy´s part in the film, I would even say that Billy does not only achieve a cultural education for himself, but he is the one who who makes culture and new working class values accessible to his family. For instance he does not only start to learn ballet, but he also shows an interest in the content described in famous stories such as "Swan Lake". He is the one who thinks differently. No one else in his family would have the courage to behave like

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What are the codes and conventions of the Western?

What are the codes and conventions of the Western? In this essay I shall examine the various codes and conventions which are present in the Western film. I shall examine three films. These are The Searchers, a film which includes as its hero John Wayne playing the part of Ethan, A Fistfull of Dollars, in which Clint Eastwood plays the part of the hero with no name, and Stagecoach, in which John Wayne is also present, acting the part of The Ringo Kidd. I shall examine the first sections of all three films, as to perform a detailed analysis of all of the three films is a task beyond the scope of this essay. Beforehand, however, I shall describe some common aspects of cinematography. . . A high camera angle is used to make the audience appreciate the significance of a character in the Western. This camera angle is used to make the person look ordinary or common, inferior to another character, or small in relation to another character in the script. A low camera angle is used to stress the importance of the dominant character. The person's status within the film is very easily measured by how large they appear to be to the viewer at one particular time. If the camera follows one character in a film for example, this could provide a link between scenes in the mind(s) of the viewer. If the camera stays in a static position, and the person walks away for example, this could

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An Analysis of How Hitchcock Uses Various Techniques to Create Suspense.

An Analysis of How Hitchcock Uses Various Techniques to Create Suspense Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born August 13, 1899 in the East London area of Leytonstone. At the age of 19, he was hired at Henley Telegraph Company. Hitchcock began to study art at the company in the evenings and eventually got a job at the advertising department at the Henley Telegraph Company. This interest in art and media lead him to make his life changing decision of becoming a director. Before he had died he had directed and written more than a dozen spine chilling movies Hitchcock believed that the suspense he generated would get the viewer onto the edge of their seat. He used camera angles, camera shots, soundtrack, mise-en-scene and lighting, to create this everlasting suspense. Hitchcock kept the suspense building, so that the viewers would scream for the action to stop. He used this technique in many of his films and became known as "the Master of Suspense." His use of suspense in films can be compared to a rollercoaster ride, as the car goes along the track the suspense builds up and you sweat with anticipation as you wonder what is beyond the bend. In this essay, the techniques used by Hitchcock to build suspense, will be compared. (The films that are going to be discussed are Psycho (1960), starring (1954), starring Janet Leigh as Marion, John Gavin as Sam, Anthony Perkins as Norman

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Examine the tension between life 'in the city' and life 'in nature' as depicted in Ingmar Bergman's film Summer with Monika.

Examine the tension between life 'in the city' and life 'in nature' as depicted in Ingmar Bergman's film Summer with Monika. Set in 1950s Sweden, 'Summer with Monika' is a film which, through various technological and plot related methods brings up the contemporary issue of conflict between urban living and a more traditional life style. Bergman employs multiple cinematic techniques as well as paralleling the urban versus rural tension through the artificial and strained relationship of the two protagonists and 'lover'; Monika and Harry. Although their relationship ends with the inarguable fact that their opposites have prevailed and affections diminished, the way Bergman represents the two settings as initially of having stark differences, but then occasionally making suggestions of their harmonious similarities, leaves the audience feeling a little conclusive about the relationship between the two environments. The opening sequence is perhaps one of the most important to analyse in terms of the city is represented. The first montage introduces the audience to the city's boundaries; softly focused establishing shots looking out from the harbour create a calming impression of the environment for the audience. The lack of non-diagetic music and the slow fading dissolves between shots also add to the feeling of serene naturalness of the less built up world. The last dissolve

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How does the usage of cinematography and editing in Michael Haneke's "Code Unknown" reinforce the lack of communication between characters?

FS1505 22 March 2011 Essay Emmi Makiharju How does the usage of cinematography and editing in Code Unknown reinforce the lack of communication between characters? Code Unknown: Incomplete Tales of Several Journeys is the most technical film of Austrian director Michael Haneke. Haneke is known for his minimalist approach both in technical and artistic terms. His editing is always meticulous and the cinematography and narratives are eccentric to say the least. Code Unknown follows the lives of four characters and their families who manage to somehow create havoc to each others existence. The film is composed of 46 scenes of which most are tracking shots, the longest lasting approximately nine minutes, without cuts. The scenes are abruptly cut, separated by a black screen that creates a mosaic reality, which is also visible in the narrative of the film. (Horton 2001) Haneke's films scrutinize the modern world, and Code Unknown especially explores communication and its importance in society and alienation that the contemporary world creates. The most visible form of cinematography in the film Code Unknown is the long take. Nearly all scenes are made with few or no cuts. The long take is an alternative to a series of shots, and is a strong creative resource. A long take, in this case, evokes emotions in the viewer without forcing it. In a series of short takes, the

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Nick Parks stated that his animated film "Chicken Run" was based on the classic war film "The Great Escape". In what ways are the two films similar?

Nick Parks stated that his animated film "Chicken Run" was based on the classic war film "The Great Escape". In what ways are the two films similar? "The Great Escape" is a war/ action film with spectacular stunts and special effects directed by John Sturges. It stars many famous actors: Steve McQueen, James Garnett and Richard Attenborough. It was made in 1963 and set in the 1940's in a German prisoner of war camp, where 250 men need to escape from to distract the enemy from fight the war. Around 12 RAF officers set out to tunnel their way out. "Chicken Run" (2000) is a children's comedy about chickens needing to escape from Mr. Tweedy's farm or else they will be put into pies. They need to learn how to fly in order to escape the dreaded pie-making machine. Chicken Run was directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park who have also co-directed Wallace and Gromit, another children's classic. The film stars Mel Gibson, Tony Haygarth and Miranda Richardson. Both films are very similar on general plot, they are both about "people" trying to escape wrongful imprisonment but keep getting caught whenever they attempt to escape. However, the plots differ extremely when you look at them in more detail. Chicken run is about chickens trying to escape a chicken farm because they would get eaten if they didn't. Great escape is about soldiers trying to escape from a camp because it is their

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The Filmmaking of Quentin Tarantino

The Filmmaking of Quentin Tarantino Quentin Tarantino is perhaps the most distinctive and volatile talent to emerge in American film in the last 15years. Unlike the previous generation of American filmmakers, Tarantino learned his craft from his days as a video clerk, rather than as a film school student. Consequently, he developed an audacious fusion of pop culture and independent art house cinema; his films are distinguished as much by their clever, twisting dialogue as their outbursts of extreme violence. Tarantino is one of the very few filmmakers in the contemporary film industry who can be seen as an auteur. Being an auteur means that you're ascribed overall responsibility for the creation of a film and its personal vision, identifiable style, thematic aspects and techniques, that you are the 'true' authors of film (rather than the screenwriters) because you exercise such control over all facets of film making and impart a distinctive, personal style to your films. Tarantino's personal style incorporates a lot of well thought out violence, swearing, repetitive casting, and many other filming techniques, all of which earn him the elusive title of auteur. Violence plays a key role in Tarantino's films and in particular his first three: Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown and Pulp Fiction which I will be mainly focusing on today. Violence is prevalent in "reservoir Dogs",

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An essay explaining how two filmsdiffer in film-techniques - 'Of Mice and Men' and 'Goldeneye'.

An essay explaining how two films differ in film-techniques The two films Of Mice and Men and Goldeneye are very different in plot, but in structure they share many similarities. Many filming techniques are apparent in the opening scenes of both films; the establishment of the hero, the use of soundtrack, colour imagery, camera angles and sympathetic background. In Goldeneye the hero is James Bond (Also Known As 007). We first meet him running along the top of a very high dam. It was very dramatic because after running, he clipped himself onto a railing and dived off the top of the dam, falling for about 20seconds on screen onto the USSR chemical plant, which came up as a subtitle. We didn't see his proper face until about three minutes into the film. This told us that 007 was very daring, adventurous and was in some way connected with the USSR. Later on in the opening scenes, we discover, he is planning to blow up the Chemical Plant "For England" along with his sidekick 006. He is also quite a humorous character. In Of Mice and Men the hero is George. We first meet him in a sitting position, thinking hard about something. We can also tell he is on a train, as the sound represents that. Bars are in front of George, who is sitting in his own shadow, with light flashing on him. Each time the light does this, we see more and more of him. This then dramatically changes in

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Exploring the concept of genre - The Others.

Jenna Wright DJA3 Exploring the concept of genre - The Others. 'Stated simply, genre movies are those commercial feature films that, through repetition and variation, tell familiar stories with familiar characters in familiar situations. They also encourage expectations and experiences similar to those of familiar films we have already seen' (Barry Keith Grant, 1995) That is the fundamental theorem of the majority of genre studies. The audience's expectations are met within genre films due to familiar elements being fused together, enhanced and manipulated to create something new and different. Despite 'genre' being the correct term for classifying a certain film it is primarily used by film critics, historians and theorists, generally audiences don't tend to refer to this word, instead they are just aware that they are drawn to specific types of films. It is useful to group films into categories of genre, which is defined as a style of art or literature, as there are so many released into the UK every year. This then allows there to be contrasts and comparisons extracted from films that are within the same group. Or, on the other hand, it is made possible to analyse a film when compared to different groups, this has a fair few benefits, one being that attempting to decide the criteria for grouping films encourages us to study them closely. When referring to 'The

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Japanese Anime and Manga

Japanese Anime and Manga The word Manga was coined by the famous woodblock print artist Hokusai. He combined two Chinese characters--the first meaning "in spite of oneself" or "lax" ( ) and the second meaning "picture" ( ) to describe the comical doodles he drew. Although the form can be traced back to ninth-century Buddhist scrolls, it was not until early medieval Japan that artists combined pictures and text to tell stories or describe events. Even then, their works differ from what is currently considered manga in one crucial respect: whereas modern-day manga are produced for mass consumption, these picture scrolls were singular works of art produced for an elite audience. The earliest Manga to take the form of books rather than scrolls were a product of the wealth of Japan's merchant class during the Edo period - bound in silk, they often took the form of slim volumes of drawings accompanied by explanatory text, with the stage an especially popular theme. Usually drawn in black-and-white, the books sometimes had dashes of color using natural dyes. Another popular subject was daily life: many early examples of pastoral scenes survive. Astro Boy/Tetsuwan Atom Manga's transition into the televised on cinematic form, anime occurred during the fifties. Although an animated short, Momotaro (based on the legend of Peach Boy) had been released as early as 1918, it was not

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