The Shining Scene Analysis

In the first scene I have picked for my analysis happens towards the start of the movie. Danny is seen playing by himself in the bathroom and is talking to himself in the mirror. As this is happening, his mother, Wendy, is in the other room talking to her husband, Jack. It suggests that she is distracted and unaware of how Danny is acting at this current time. He continues to talk in the mirror. As the scene progresses, it’s as if there’s two different people, not just Danny himself. Then it cuts to random shots of twin girls and blood gushing from a door. It gives off a sense that Danny is creating it himself in his head or that it’s foreshadowing key events that will happen in the future.

At the start of the scene where we see Danny playing in the bathroom, non-diegetic music is used at this point to build up the tension within the scene. This makes the audience seem worried and slightly confused of the situation that’s happening. It gives us a better idea that Danny is very important in the future events of them film from this point in time. Non-diegetic music is used again when the random shots of what happens to be seen as the future are on screen. This gives us an unnerving feeling within ourselves as we watch it. The music during this part is the most tense during the scene, giving us the idea that it’s the most important aspect the audience need to look out for. On the other hand, the diegetic sound with in this scene is mainly build up on Wendy’s, Jack’s and Danny’s dialogue and nothing too significant.

The lighting for this scene has kept high-key throughout. Most horrors are usually low-key throughout the film with added high-key lighted areas. As this scene is towards the start, high key lighting is used to show that everything is alright at this moment in time and that the characters are safe, for now.

The colour red was a significant colour during this scene. This includes; the blood gushing out of the red doors and the red accents on Danny’s shirt. This is one of the big conventions that are used within horror films. The red is used to symbolise danger, death and blood. Another key convention that was used was the tense and unnerving music. Horror films generally use this to cause tension within the audience and the audience are more likely to get scared if the music is used to build up and intensify situations.

As I have stated before, the fact that the tense music is being used as Danny talks to his self is important. It’s a possible meaning that he is involved within something that we do not know of yet. To me, I think this scene tells us that something isn’t right in the atmosphere and the family are going to get involved in that situation. The fact that Wendy is unaware of what Danny is doing in the bathroom may suggest that she’s going to be like this with other events that are slightly more important than what’s happening now.

In the second scene I chose, Danny and his mother, Wendy, go on a casual stroll through the maze that’s within the hotel grounds. Everything seems alright and calm. However, Jack is inside ‘supposedly’ doing work alone. He walks over to a model of the maze and looks over it whilst smirking. This makes us think that he is up to something and has plans that have something to do with that maze. In the following shot, there is a bird’s eye view shot of the model maze and you can see Danny and Wendy within it. It shows that they are alone and are possibly isolated.

When Danny and Wendy are exploring the maze, non-diegetic music has been added on top. This makes the maze seem mysterious and eerie to the viewer. Mazes give off the effect of isolation and confusion, hence why the mysterious music would be effective here. A range of camera angles have been used in this scene as well. The most important one is the bird’s eye view. This is because it shows the audience the large space surrounding both Danny and Wendy. This helps to show isolation and the fact that they are alone.

Isolated areas are important in this scene. The maze expresses that quite well due to the amount of space and the feeling of getting lost within it. This is a convention of the horror genre which happens to be used in an eerie and mysterious way throughout this scene. The use of the colour red has made its appearance in this scene. Both Danny and Wendy seem to be wearing red. The red symbolises danger but also love. This represents the family bond between Danny and Wendy. This convention is the most important within this scene and the rest of movie itself.

The way the maze is viewed in this sequence is a possible meaning of isolation and confusion. Mazes are seen as a way to confuse the human mind and victory when finally reaching the centre or the opposite exit. The maze in ‘The Shining’ is very large and shows a lot of space that’s empty around them. That links in with the meaning of isolation. Another possible meaning would be the fact that Jack seems intrigued by the model maze that he is standing in front of. It’s as if he is watching Danny’s and Wendy’s every move. It also suggests that Jack is making plans for future events that have something to do with the maze. This makes the maze seem significant in the story. To me, I see this scene as sign that there is something wrong with Jack and that things are starting to get a lot stranger. As it is just the family staying at the hotel, I believe it suggests that things will definitely start to go wrong as they are alone and far from contact with anyone.

No Country for Old Men

The clip starts with a point of view shot looking from inside a car on the freeway. The camera then cuts to the antagonist within the car, this shows us we are looking through his eyes, he looks down to the tracking device just out of shot then the camera cuts to a PoV shot to the tracking device.

Parallel editing shows the protagonist preparing for the arrival of the antagonist. He is shown in this low angle mid shot to be holding two metal tubes, his sleeves are rolled up and top button undone, this foreshadows ‘dirty work’. You can also see he is wearing a wedding ring this portrays his character to include the traits of a family man. 

The low key and natural lighting shows us the time of day and also hints at a form of pathetic fallacy as the gloomy overcast also foreshadows events ahead. The sound is primarily diegetic as there is very little to no non-diegetic sounds, this gives us a sense of realism. Throughout the clip there can be seen to be very little dialogue this is because the camera is telling us the story. As the antagonist drives by the motel, the bleeps from the remote in his car bleep faster. This tells us  that the thing he is looking for is within the point that it bleeps the fastest.

We are presented with many PoV shots and slow pans as our antagonist pulls into the Motel. We noted that there is a freeway directly outside of the Motel, we found that this isn’t an ideal place to kill someone due to the fact that there are many people just outside of the establishment.

'Avengers Assemble' and it's conventions...

Conventions of 'Avengers Assemble':
Genre: Comic-book

• Good v. Evil
• Super powers
• Hero has personal issue (e.g. Captain America getting used to the fact that he is not in his time period).
• The Hero always resolves the main problem of the plot

Why was 'The Lone Ranger' was considered a box-office flop?

‘The Lone Ranger’, directed by Gore Verbinski, is a western action film which is based upon the radio series which shares the same name. It was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films. The movie stars Johnny Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as John Reid aka The Lone Ranger. The film uses Tonto’s memories of their earliest encounters together to bring justice to the American West as a set base of the storyline. Although the film may seem good from its trailer, it was considered to be a box office failure. Majority of the film critics out there took this as their chance to pick it up on that, giving the film negative views and feedback. But why did it flop?

One of the main reasons why it flopped was because the audience just didn’t like this adaption of ‘The Lone Ranger’. Most of its audience still remember the original series back from when they were kids. By this we can see that they enjoyed the original quite a lot and sadly this version of the story didn’t live up to its name. This was one of the issues that film critics hit the most.

Tonto (Johnny Depp) talking to the Spirit Horse.

Just because Johnny Depp is in the movie, does not guarantee that the new motion picture will be a money-maker. The days when Johnny Depp could guarantee a film’s success in the industry seem to be over. This can be proven with some of his other films such as; Dark Shadows, The Tourist and The Rum Diary. This happens when actresses and actors become a disillusion to film audiences. This means that film audiences no longer have much interest in them therefore causes certain actors/actresses to not guarantee to make the film money. Younger generations are unaware of Johnny Depp’s big success in the film industry; this is another cause of him not being able to guarantee a film’s fate.

Another reason of why it flopped is down to the audience’s actions. Before ‘The Lone Ranger’ even came out into cinemas worldwide, there were many big movies that were destined to be big box office hits. These included; Man of Steel, Monsters University, White House Down and Despicable Me 2. This caused film lovers to empty their pockets before ‘The Lone Ranger’ even made its appearance on the big screen. This made audiences feel the need to miss this one as they thought that there wasn’t much of a need to go see it. This was because it wasn’t as big as the others. Due to this happening, the film didn’t end up being the box office attraction that Disney was hoping it would turn out to be.

Western films are shown to be a “no-go” zone. Past western movies, like Cowboys and Aliens, we’re seen like box office failures too. Same goes for Wild Wild West in 1999 and Alamo in 2004. This proves that the Western movie failures didn’t just spontaneously appear. This trend has come from the Western box office tent-pole itself. Back in the days when Clint Eastwood was the hype of film audiences, western movies were a big thing and a popular genre of that time. But as time grew on, Cowboys are no longer the hype of the film industry that they once were. This might be another cause of the failure of ‘The Lone Ranger’. As that too is a western film. It seems that ‘The Lone Ranger’ was caught up in the trend that is stuck with western tent-pole.

An example of the colour pallette used in 'The Lone Ranger'.

This may not seem like a good reason why the motion picture flopped but it is a film-goer’s habit. People who have watched ‘The Lone Ranger’ have stated that the colour palette of the film was too bland for their liking. Film audiences have become comfortable to the films where colour is used to create a sense of wonder. These include; Alice in Wonderland, Avatar and The Pirates of the Caribbean. These movies were all box office hits and they used colour in this way to express the beauty of the film. How colour is used in film is similar to how it is used in other things like advertisements. If you use a variety of different colours, it is easier to keep viewers interested in the film. The trailer for ‘The Lone Ranger’ gave off a black and white feel to it. This disinterested film-goers and they didn’t feel the need to watch it in the cinemas.

Also the trailer has some link to its failure. The trailer for ‘The Lone Ranger’ gave off a sense of adventure and humour. This intrigued many people and made the film look like it was worth a watch. But compared to the film itself, people thought that the trailer seemed better than the film itself. The trailer seemed more like a “best bits” video of the movie. The trailer to me showed off epic-ness and the thrill of adventure which majority of the film lacked. It is a shame for this to happen but it is a mistake that can’t be undone from this.

One major issue that has been picked up on is the film’s budget. The film budget of ‘The Lone Ranger’ was very expensive. The budget grew to about $250 million. Out of control budgets usually tell us that the film producers didn’t have a set vision in mind when making the film. No set vision means that however the movie ends up being, huge re-writes and re-imaginings have to take place. This affects the final product. This causes it to not have the same sort of effective story-telling it would have had if there was a set vision before they started production on the film. This makes ‘The Lone Ranger’ seem like it didn’t have much of a true storyline but they could have been referring to the original from time to time. This makes it seem a bit better as referring to the original will allow them to at least get some things right but not always.

In conclusion, ‘The Lone Ranger’ is definitely seen as a flop in the film industry due to the matter of reasons that I have explained. However, I have watched the movie myself and I thought that it was an alright film. Although it didn’t seem as good as the trailer in my opinion, it was still worth the watch. There was humour dotted around in places but in my eyes, I expected more. I also expected more action but to be honest, the amount of action shown was a decent amount. I have looked up on some reviews by film critics and some of them thought that the film was also a good watch. It is sad to see a movie with high expectations to fail in this way. I see this as a learning curve for film writers and producers to take to make sure they don’t have the same fate.

My favourite film of this summer.

‘Despicable Me 2’ is the 3D computer-animated sequel to 2010’s ‘Despicable Me’. It’s about the ex-supervillain Gru (Steve Carell) being recruited by the Anti-Villain League and teams up with Agent Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wigg). While they are looking for a supposedly dead supervillian, Gru’s iconic minions are secretly being kidnapped.  I found it hard to choose my favourite film of this summer. In the end, ‘Despicable Me 2’ stood out to me the most.

One of my favourite things of this film is the minions. Who doesn’t love them? I liked how the film was more about the minions this time around. The minions are the ones that bring the humour and the attraction to the film. Since the first film, the minions have become the face of the movie. I think they are adorable and they also give the movie character. I enjoy watching their childishness and their ways of doing things. Because of this, I am highly looking forward to their own film ‘Minions’ in 2014.

The film also shows Gru finding love for the first time. Gru happens to grow an attraction towards his partner, Lucy. Agnes sees her as mother-like figure and wants Gru to believe in his feelings for Lucy and marry her. By the end, he does. I think it’s a moving addition to the storyline and shows that Gru’s family is starting to come together properly. I like the fact that Gru sees his adopted daughters as his own; this makes it quite special in my opinion. Gru also has come a long way since ‘Despicable Me’ and has his own jam business. It shows that he has put his children first before evil plans and stopped being evil altogether.

I also like how Agnes shows belief in Gru’s attraction to Lucy. She has a big involvement when getting Lucy and Gru together. Thanks to her seeing Lucy as a huge potential mother-like figure, Gru wouldn’t be with her. Hidden under all of the comedy, is a nice and beautiful story of Gru’s family and how grows throughout the film. The comedic actions of the minions make the film seem a lot more approachable to all audiences as well as the story of Gru. The rescue mission towards the end of the film is a brilliant scene. It shows that Gru is willing to risk anything just to save Lucy and to save and cure the minions from the supposedly dead supervillain and Gru’s former assistant.

In my opinion, just because the film is animated and colourful doesn’t mean that it’s for children. The film is aimed at everyone, regardless of age. The bright colours of the film attract attention and keeps the viewer’s interested in the film. A good storyline is also a key factor and it’s definitely something the film does not lack. I think that ‘Despicable Me 2’ is an amazing film and has to be one of my biggest favourites of all time! I looked up on reviews and the film was also given positive views and opinions. If I were to rate this film, I would give it 4 stars due to amount of comedy and the storyline. I am looking forward to seeing Gru and his marvellous minions return in the nearest future.