Production notes for the soloist

-Films rated a PG-13 ' for thematic elements, some drug use, and language.'
-Director Wright thought the extras were the heart of the film

Let the right one in

'Let the right one in' is a swedish horror movie about a friendship between two twelve year old kids, Oskar is a normal twelve year old who is bullied and due to this his few friends. He then meets Eli who is also twelve but she's been that age for many years because she is a vampire.

Vladmir Propps theorys of the characters having roles are used in the movie, the main character Oskar is the 'hero' who is seeking revenge on the boys who are making his life a misery. Eli is the 'helper' she protects Oskar and gives him the confidence to stick up for himself against the bullies. The villians in the movie are Conny and his gang of friends who follow Oskar about calling him names and inflicting harm on him. There is a false hero in the film who is a class mate of Oskar, he tricks him into coming too the swimming pool as though he's helping him but when he comes Oskar finds himself with nowhere to run from the group of bullies he are intending on murdering him.

Todorovs theory that all stories begin with an equilibrium, this is then disrupted and then restored is relevant in the movie as Oskar starts off getting bullied and has a lack of self esteem before he meets Eli. She comes along and makes him stand up for giving him the confidence to face his fears, he starts going to after school weight lifting classes and one to one swimming lessions. After fighting back at Conny by whipping him round the face and causing him to go to hospital Todorovs theory that the equilibrium is restored as he is left for death unable to breath underwater until Eli saves him from the group.

Claude Levi Strauss theory that there are narrative structures that contain binary opposites is proves to be right as we see many opposites. Good vs Evil is the opposite that sticks out the most we see this in both Oskar and Eli, Oskar is kind to Eli he lends her his rubicks cube before he really knows her and as there friendship grows he becomes kind and caring but he also has a side to him that wants to hit back at the group he are picking on him and he carries a knife round with him at all times. Eli is a vampire who has been murdering people in the village to stay alive but you see a different side of her when she meets Oskar, she's protective and friendly. Eli makes Oskar stand up for himself against bullies and when he's in danger at the end of the movie shes there to save his life.

The director uses mise en scene very casually in the film due to the movie being set in the middle of winter in the 70s. Everything is dull from the houses to the school changing rooms that are a faided white colour, There's alot of snow on the streets and in the forest with most the scenes set at night. There is only a few streets used in the film with a cafe, school and hospital.

Overall i think the film is good it follows all the techniques described by Propp, Todorov and Levi-Strauss but with a twist. The film has the characters described by Levi Strauss but different to the usual theory this makes the film different to all the others and makes it one of a kind, i think this is what draws people to the film.

The Soloist

Box Office

Budget:$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:$9,716,458 (USA) (26 April 2009) (2024 Screens)

Gross:$31,670,931 (USA) (5 July 2009)

Production Companies

Universal Pictures
Studio Canal
Participant Media
Krasnoff Foster Production
Working Title Films

The Soloist (cast and crew)

DIRECTOR
Joe Wright:-

Most commonly known for directing films such pride and prejudice, nature boy and atonement in 2006, Wright was named one of variety’s “10 directors to watch”.

Robert Downey Jr:-

In 1992 Robert Downey Jr played Charles Chaplin in Sir Richard Attenborough's film Chaplin. For his astonishing performance, he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He then had spells in and out of prison due too his drug addiction. After getting over his drug problem he starred in iron man 1,Iron man 2 and Sherlock holmes Robert Downey Jr earned nineteen and half million dollars from those three films alone.

Jamie Foxx:-

Jamie foxx started his career as a stand up comedian , often doing imitations of former president Ronald Reagan. He then moved on to acting where he became only the second male in history to receive two acting Oscar nominations in the same year for two different movies. The first male to do so was Al Pacino. His main acting role were in the movies Ali, Ray and Miami vice.

Eva Mendes

Eva is in a very sexual pose. Legs open, sweaty/oiled hair and body and a very strong stance linking the advert with sex. she has a look of disbelief on one picture and an orgasm face on the other which shows this use of sex again.

The male gaze

chocolate box
invitational
super smiler
romantic or sexual

(Marjorie Ferguson)

seductive
carefree
practical
comic
catalogue

(Trevor Millum)



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-smile:-
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/smile:-
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.

An advert for aero

How is he objectified?
-Nearly naked (dressed in towel)
-Oiled/wet/sweaty
-Lots of definition
-Manly
-Older womens taste
-Talks in a 'husky' way

Why?
-Chocolate is an aphrodisiac
-Like a prop
-Appealing to women as they statistically eat more chocolate
-Looks like hes just got out of the shower

An advert for specsavers

How are the women objectified?
-Seen as a group chasing a male
-Stereotypical towards women
-All wearing bikinis
-No fat women/perfect/decent
-Running towards the male
-'look at me'

Why are they oibjectified?
-Sell products
-Like a prop
-Typical male advert
-Appeals to men
-Women want the look
-Keeps audience watching

This is England and Hot fuzz comparison

This is England is a film directed by Shane Meadows and produced by warp films, warp is a british film company which is the ‘ smaller sister company’ to warp music. The film is set in nottingham and is about the skinhead culture of the 80’s. Hot fuzz directed by Edgar Wright and produced by ‘working title’ who are owned by Universal films is about a policemen played by Simon Pegg who takes his job too serious and is transferred to  countryside. It’s set in the modern era and is based in sandford, gloucestshire.

Both meadows and wright used their own experiences to write and direct their movies. Meadows based This is England on his childhood and early adult life claiming as a young boy he was bullied until gaining acceptance from a group of skinheads. He was given a ‘ben shearmen  which was too big’ and a pair of Dr Martens showing he was working class and proud of it. Meadows says was ‘suddenly part of this gang’ feared by others making him feel protected for the first time in his life.  This is where he came up with the character Shaun who has to deal with all the same experiences growing up as Shane Meadows had too. In the film like in Shanes life the gang get’s infiltrated by a leader with racist views. Wright used different experiences, he claims ‘he makes films for himself’,meaning he makes films he’d watch and the comedy he would enjoy making himself the target audience. He made Hot fuzz fit into the comedy and satire genres meaning the movie makes jokes at an existing film in this case Wright focuses on Bad Boys ii. This is not the first time he has used this technique before going back to when he made Shaun of the dead which is making fun of the horror movie Dawn of the dead.

The cast of Hot fuzz is made up of we’ll known British actors, Simon Pegg (Run Fatboy Run and Shaun of the dead) and Nick Frost (The boat that rocked and Shaun of the dead) are the two main actors playing Nicholas Angel and PC Danny Butterman. They are ‘stock actors’ meaning they have worked together successfully before as lead actors on other movies. The cast also consists of we’ll known actors such as Martin Freeman, Bill Nighly and Robert Popper. This is England consists of relatively unknown actors. Thomas Turgoose (Eden Lake and This is England 86) was chosen by Meadows to play his first role as Shaun. Stephen Graham (Public enemy and The damned united) is the most well know actor on set, he plays combo a racist skinhead. Jo Hartley, Andrew Shim, Vicky McClure and Joseph Gilgun make up the cast.

There was a significant  difference in the budgeting between these two movies. This is England had a budget of £1 million and Hot fuzz had a much higher budget of £8 million meaning hit fuzz could afford to spend much more money than This is England on advertisement. Hot fuzz could afford to make there own montages as they could afford a wide range of filming equipment whereas This is England didn’t have the funds for all the equipment so Shane Meadows opens the movie with a montage using clips from the news to show what England was like in the 80’s. The reason the budget was so much higher for Hot fuzz than for This is England because of the effects needed needed such as explosions, stunts and scenes aided by technology.

Both directors use stereotypes in there films. Edgar Wright uses the stereotype that London police are over dedicated to there jobs and somethings always going on around them. He also uses the stereotype that countryside police are lazy and nothings ever going on around them. In This is England Shane Meadows uses the stereotype of skinheads being rough, hard and feared as well as there looks of having a shaven head, skinny jeans and Dr Martens.

Humor is used by both Meadows and Wright but in very different ways. In hot fuzz the stereotypes are taken too the extreme as Nicholas Angel is so serious about the law that it makes the audience laugh. Where as in This is England Meadows makes you feel part of the gang as they have banter with each other, using casual racism ‘milky’ and constant swearing from Shaun.

In Hot fuzz Edgar Wright uses lots of fast paced camera work, quick changes of angles too make boring scenes look interesting. He also uses this too imitate cop action films like bad boys ii. camera work is vital in the montage, the many different shots in quick succession. In this is England they didn’t have the technology that Edgar Wright had but they still had a mixture of long and short shots as well as the use of hand held cameras for some of the shots.

Iconography is used more in This is England than in hot fuzz, In hot fuzz the metropolitan police station is used to show Nicholas Angel was part of the metropolitan police force which is based in London also you can tell he is leaving London when he is on the underground then at the London train station but after this there is no more use of iconography. In This is England there is much more use of iconography, Meadows opens the movie with a montage all about england and we know it’s england because all the flags being waved, the soldiers serving in the falklands, Diana and then in the first few scenes Shaun enters a corner shop. Also when Shaun and Combo go too national front meeting too see other skinheads views on what’s going wrong with the nation.

Shameless-Sexuality and regional stereotypes

At the start of episode one we are shown different sexualities we have 'lip' a young lad in his mid teens who is 'straight' and proud of it, telling his brother ian about his latest pull. Ian is 'gay' and ashamed of it, when confronted by his disgusted brother who has just found out he backs off too his bed and cried under the cover.

Regional identity is another stereotype used by writter Paul Abbott in this episode. In the club gobby northeners Fiona and Veronica meet slick southern boy Steve in a club and quickly end up at Fionas small flat in the middle of manchester and is soon to meet her drunken, unemployed father who is brought in by the police after a night out down the pub.

Rushmore-Is Max Fischer a typical teenager?

From the first few scenes of the movie Rushmore we instantly notice Max Fischer played by Jason Schwartzman is not your typical teenager. The movie starts off with Max dreaming about his peers turning to him to solve a maths question which is not something a steriotypical teen thinks about. Max then stands up, on his own in a full church too clap a speach at the expense of his fellow class mates which a typical teenager would not do due to embarrassment or fear. He then confronts the man who gave the speech and introduces himself and tells him 'your speech was excellent' following on by shaking his hand showing high confidents levels showing once again he is not a normal teenager. The clip then goes to a montage of Max and all his clubs, instantly you notice he is the founder or leader of nearly every single club he takes part in and also you notice the amount of clubs he is in. Your average teenager does not take part in anywhere near the amount of activities Max takes part in usually due to being lazy or imbarressment of not being able to compete as well as others but not max he is at the front telling everyone else what to do as if he enjoys the attention.

Contents

Magazine

American Beauty notes2

The family are creatures of habit
Carolyn plays the same music everyday. We know this is it is questioned by her daughter who is bored by her mothers old taste in music but she is instantly put into her place by her mother. We get the idea that Lester has a routine every morning from the way he wakes up takes a deep breath then puts his slippers, has a shower then makes his way to work with his wife and daughter.

The family used to be close
There's pictures of Lesters daughter from times before smiling and laughing which is followed by a family picture where Lesters has one hand on his wife's shoulder and his other round his daughter showing how close they were. We also get told by Lester when he's talking to his daughter in the kitchen how they used to be close when he says "what happened we used to be pals?".


The Mise on scene suggests a dullness of life
Lester has a poor posture when sitting at the dinner table this could be because of boredom, being or lazy or a tiring day at work. Suggests a dullness again relating back too Lesters boring life.


Camerawork
Whilst eating the meal we get a feeling of dullness this is done by the boring conversations along with the slow camerawork. At the start of the meal they start in the next room on slowly zooming in on the table then stopping on Lester and Carolyn's faces. Then this mystery man appears and the use of a handheld camera is used to show this mysterious but weird guy watching over Lester and his daughter talking. The camerawork is jumpy and the can tell the difference in quality as he continuous to film Lester. 

Music
As with the camera work the music is dull as carolyn has picked her classical music to listen to a choice questioned by her daughter. It then cuts off whilst they talk which is followed by a slow mysterious sound is used to introduce the boy.

American Beauty notes

Trapped:From the moment we are introduced to Lester Burnham we are given an image of a man who is trapped. The first thing we see is him waking up too an empty bed showing his wife is already up and getting ready for the day ahead. He then gets in the shower and is shown behind the shower door, then watching his wife talking to the neighbours behind the window giving us this idea of him being trapped again. He is then rushed to the car where he sits in the back barely see able at first behind his wife and daughters seats.

His wife is in control: His wife seems to rule the household, she is the first one up as in the opening seen Lester has woken up too an empty bed showing she has somewhere more important to be. She is first dressed and out doing the gardening as Lester gazes out the window at her making conversation with the neighbours about her much he loves her roses. She drives the car to work and is the first one ready to go as she complains at how late Lester is making her.

Music: The music is slow, boring and repetitive like Lesters life. Changing a bit every know and then but only slightly this also mirrors Lesters life. The music is a motif which is used throughout the film.

Colours: The colours at the start are dull and boring when we are first introduced to Lester but when his appears the colours get brighter we see the red roses, blue window shutters and the orange door. When he gets too work he has a plain white shirt and black tie but his employee has a navy suit with a blue shirt and eye catching tie.

The Man

My first impressions of the man was homeless or low income this could have been from the the dull colours he was wearing which look worn in or the state of his clothes for example the patches at the top of his trousers. After a more in depth look at the man i noticed none of his clothes are worn in or a bad fit also the patches on his trousers look to be hand sown on. Also the trousers are casually rolled up more of a fashion statement then a poor fit, i also noticed his shoes are in reasonably good condition. He also has on a stylish well fitted shirt with a thick cardigan over the top only buttoned once showing it's being worn for fashion reasons not because of the weather. HIs beard is trimmed not just been left and his hair is covered by his hat.

Skins Episode 1

Tony

-Arrogant
-Cocky
-Sneaky
-Protective over his little sister effy
-Jack the lad mentality
-Thinks he can pull any woman
-Eccentric, bed sheets
-Takes pride in looks and clothing
-Wind up

This is England

This is England - a film set in the 80's directed by shane meadows and produced by warp films.

Warp Films

-Was set up in 1999

-Employing 14 full-time staff

-Produced movies such as Dead mans shoes, This is england and This is England 86

-Joint company with warp records

Shane Meadows

-Born in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, UK on 26th December 1972

-He dropped out of school before his O-Levels

-In 1994 Meadows got his first taste of media industry when he volunteered his services for free in a deal that would allow him to borrow a camcorders 

-Using the camcorder Meadows put together a series of short films and after good reviews from friends he decided to arrange an event for local short film makers

-The event became popular and eventually became an international video festival called 'flip side'

-'Where's the money, Ronnie? was Meadows first short film too catch the attention of the media industry which lead to Meadows being given his first shot on a channel 4 series called 'Battered Britain' 

-From the money he made from the series he used to fund a film called 'smalltime'

-After smalltime many producing roles followed such as twenty four seven, Dead mans shoes, This is England, Somers town and many more

HOT FUZZ STORYBOARD

The Cast

The two main actors in hot fuzz are Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Pegg plays Nicholas Angel an all action police man who is forced from his much loved London because of his high arrest rate which is making his peers look bad to a quite town in the middle of nowhere called sandford. It's in sandford where he comes across PC Danny Butterman played by Nick Frost, he's a young police officer who takes an instant intrest in Nicholas Angel as he is exactly like the characters from the action movies he loves. The cast also consists of actors such as Martin freeman, Bill Nighy and Rober Popper.

Location

The movie starts in London briefly where he is getting infiormed about being transfered. Then it shows his journey to his new destination by using the underground and after that the movie is based in sandford, gloucestershire. They use different locations in sandford such as the police station, the pub, local supermarket and many more.

Stereotypes

The main steroetype shown in this film is the difference between life in the city and life in the countryside. In the city everything is fast and precise as is shown with the character of Nicholas Angel but in the country side it's the opposite, it's slower with no sense of authority which is shown by the character of Danny Butterman.

Directors

The movie was written by Edgar Wright and was co produced by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg.

Humour

It's a comical movie so humour was a big part of the film. Sarcasm and repition is used alot in the movie aswell as jokes using existing perceptions of the british police.

Camera work and editing

Close ups were used alot too show character reactions, mostly used on the main actors. Fast paced editing and montages were used too make boring clips more watchable.