Think About the Themes

After watching four Hollywood film trailers that were all clearly following the theme of war, fighting or military, it is very clear that these films would affect American society's view on war in a more exciting way both socially and politically. All four of these films were targeted at a young, male audience, possibly around the age of 18- the same age you are eligible to enlist in the army. Politically, I think Hollywood war films such as these would increase military enlistments because the target audience is typically a young adult male, who, after viewing these films would view soldiers as heros based on their personalities in the films. For example, a young male viewing Top Gun, might be inspired by Tom Cruise's handsome and clearly popular character, that they might even be compelled to enlist to be more like a character in the film. Or more so, that character's personality. Socially, I think Hollywood war films would increase American morale about wars and enlistment. These films view war in a great heroic way, and a way to truly serve your country. This brings an overall positive attitude towards war, possibly allowing America as a nation become stronger after viewing films such as these.

Value and Ideological Control

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

OFRB Rating:

The OFRB rating says adult accompaniment, which in today's rating system would mean 14A.

Agree or Disagree?

I agree with the OFRB rating of The Shawshank Redemption. 

Language:

The Shawshank Redmeption uses coarse language as well as some racial or sexist slurs. However, this use of language is not used often enough to be more than a 14A rating.

Violence: 
The use of violence in the film is in fact evident, however it is not shown in a graphic context. Violence is implied when prisoners are sent to have 'extra discipline' but it is never shown in a way that portrays blood letting or tissue damage.

Nudity: 
Nudity is never shown.

Sexual Activity:
Sexual activity is shown very briefly at the very beginning of the film but is never shown after that.

Horror:
No gory/horrific moments.

Psychological Impact:
There are many scenes in the film that would have a huge psychological impact on younger or even older audiences. Since the film is about a prison and what actually occurs inside of it, it is very troubling and sometimes hard to watch depending on how it affects you. Substances are referenced often, and many insane/ mentally troubled people are shown. Suicides and deaths are also shown in this film.

Overall, the rating of 14A for the film The Shawshank Redemption is appropriate. Although the film does not show much violence, and does not show any horror, nudity or sexual activity, the film needs a 14A rating because of its mature theme. Many scenes from this film use derogatory language that could definitely be offensive and it also has many scenes that could have a psychological impact on many viewers.  

How We Negotiate the Meaning of Music in Film

Gustav Holst wrote a symphony based on what he believes would be the feeling of each planet of our known solar system. The song he wrote for Jupiter brings the feeling of a triumphant adventure and that exceptional things must be lurking along the horizon. Jupiter starts off with a violin score that is fast paced and has an exciting sound to it. It then continues on to a variety of french horns playing a quick and miraculous melody. When listening to the beginning of this song, I pictured a ship coming into view on a great expansion of the sea sailing towards land at last. This part of the song would be great for a movie like Pirates of the Carribean. As the song continues it starts to slow down and carry more of a deep feeling and gives the impression that something might be going wrong, or something intense is approaching. This part of the song would be excellent for a film like Indiana Jones, because it has that sense of intense adventure. The song finishes off with more flutes and woodwind instruments as opposed to just the triumphant brass. These new instruments bring a feeling of wonder and have almost a fantasy feel. As a listener, I thought this part of the song would be perfect for a film like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, just for when the children are first entering the factory. Overall Gustav Holst's Jupiter gave the feeling of adventure whether it was full of wonder, intensity or triumph. 

FILM CONSTRUCTS REALITY

A film that I have seen that did a particularly good job of constructing a believable reality was Paranormal Activity. This was a film that was set up to give the illusion of home made videos of a  young couple Micah and Katie and their children moving into a new house. As the story progresses the couple becomes increasingly disturbed by some sort of 'spirit' or 'demon' that is present in their household. Micah becomes especially keen on catching this 'demon' and begins to set up the camera at night time to see what goes on when they are sleeping. This film is very realistic to the viewers because the camera they set up is always shaking, set up at awkward angles, and even gives off a blue colour to show that it is night time. The camera also shows the date in the corner, just as a regular home video would. Overall, the film's structure is very effective because each night a new disturbance occurs in the household, until the very end when the climax of the film happens and the demon actually interacts with the couple. The climax was built up very realistically because the home videos simply increased the amount of disturbances every night.

The trailer of this movie even comes off as very realistic because it brings in a 'real live audience' and shows their reactions to the film. This 'real' audience were most likely hired actors that were hired to lead the audience to believe they are just normal people viewing a scary movie for the first time.

A film that did not do a good job of constructing a reality was Mean Girls. Mean Girls follows a story of a new girl arriving to a new high school, and how she is affected by a group called the 'Plastics.' This elite group of high school girls do incredibly mean things to other girls in the school like starting terrible rumors and even creating a 'Burn Book' that says a bad thing about every single girl in the school and reasons as to why they hate her. This movie gives the impression that high school is a terrible place full of very mean girls that are all in competition to be better than one another, when this is seriously not the case. The above scene also gives the impression that all high schools are separated into specific cliques. While there are bullies and cliques at high school, the majority of the population is fairly nice, and people will most likely just hang out with who they enjoy being around rather than who they should 'fit in' with. The whole story is completely exaggerated and definitely has the ability to give teenage girls going into high school a false impression of what it will actually be like.

Midterm Summative Blog

Super Troopers Vs. Highway Patrol Officers

The 2001 film Super Troopers is a prime example of how movies can easily distort an audience's view of the reality of the actions that certain groups of people take in their lives, and the way they carry out their chosen career paths. Super Troopers is a movie about the highway patrol officers that monitor the highways and borders of Vermont. These officers are extremely irresponsible  and put pulling a good prank before actually doing their jobs correctly. In the above video, the two officers have pulled a man over for speeding, and one of the officers has bet the other officer that he can not say 'meow' ten times to the man. The officer takes this challenge and, indeed does say meow ten times. While this scene was very funny for the audience, it was also very unrealistic and gives off the idea that cops may do whatever they wish, seeing as they are authority figures who people often fear or get nervous in the presence of. A real highway patrol officer's duties include traffic control, highway maintenance, accident investigation, law enforcement, and many other important duties. However, in Super Troopers the officers are often either lounging around at the station, or patrolling the highways looking for vulnerable people to pull pranks on. After watching this film, audiences could definitely be under the impression that a highway patrol officer has a very simple job that does not require much effort, when in reality they have many important jobs to do and if they are not done correctly, highways could become a very dangerous place for both the drivers and passengers of vehicles. At the end of the film, two of the officers also disguise themselves as college students in order to make a drug bust at a college party, only to reveal later that they are actually cops. The idea being displayed in this scene is that officers can perform impersonations in order to catch people in the act of crime. This however, is not true and could lead to the distortion of what people believe to be their human rights. This matter could be very serious, and anyone who is not properly educated in what their rights are prior to watching this film could be led to believe the wrong thing, and in result could end up in a serious predicament later on in life. 

All Film Is A Construction

1) -Hollywood film makers may seek out sources such as novels or stories to turn into films. If the film maker wants to turn a novel into a film, he/she must offer a substantial amount of money to the author so they a) are convinced to turn their written work into a film, and b) will not take offers from any other film makers.

2) -Once the rights have been confirmed for the film maker to turn the source into a movie, they must hire a screenwriter to convert the novel into a script. Since screenwriters are often a part of a union, they already have a set wage that they must be paid. This wage can not be negotiated and if one screenwriter fails to write the script in a way that satisfies the film maker, the film maker will need to hire another one. The film maker can also write the script him/herself, if they choose to do so.

3) -After the script is written, a director, cinematographer, casting director, assisting producers, editor, musical directors and assistants to the above professionals must be hired. The film maker must provide salaries for all of these people.

4) -Once the casting director is hired, they will either set up auditions for actors to try out for certain parts in the film, or they will call an actor or actresses' agent that they think would be suitable for the part. Either way, auditions must take place and are very expensive to hold.

5) -If union crew members and really popular/talented actors or actresses are hired, they will account for a large portion of the film's expenses.

6) -Once the actors and actresses are chosen the director has the choice of filming in a studio or on location. If they choose to film on location, travel expenses will need to be paid for as well as stopping the flow of traffic or shutting down any local shops in order to film in certain areas. If they choose to film in a studio, craftsmen will need to be hired to create a believable set. Both choices will be costly.

7) -As the film crew starts the filming of the movie, many things such as food, stunts assistants, insurance policies, extras, etc. will all need to be paid for.

8) -Once the filming is done, the actual movie is far from being finished. The editor, special affects professionals, musical directors, and sound professionals all still need to be paid and devote their time to the completion of the film. These expenses could include getting the rights to songs for a soundtrack or bringing the actors back on set to re-record voices for certain clips.

9) -Now that the film has been completely finished, the film makers need to schedule press conferences with the actors/actresses, produce movie posters and trailers, and many other things in order to promote their film.

10) -If the film is successful, the film maker will be able to completely pay off the production tab as well as earning a considerable amount of money for themselves. Less successful films may never make enough to pay off the production tab. 

Sound City: Music Is or Is Not As Good As It Used To Be

The Suburbs- Arcade Fire

In today's society, when people think of music they often think of the hip hop and pop culture that surrounds us and represents values of violence, sexism or stereotyping in their lyrics. While songs like Rihanna's S&M or 50 Cent's Candy Shop are very inappropriate and clearly display profanity, there are numerous artists that today still display fantastic music, and are not abusing the technology they are provided with, but instead taking advantage of it for the benefit of their listeners. The band Arcade Fire perfectly displays this in their song The Suburbs. The Suburbs is a song written by the Canadian band that talks about the expansion of Suburbia in North America and how, in the long run, it could affect our social and economic lives as a whole.  Legendary artists in the past have addressed this issue such as Joni Mitchell in her song Paved Paradise, and Bob Dylan in his song, The Times They are a Changing. Arcade Fire uses deep lyrics such as, "So you can understand, why I want a daughter while I'm still young, I want to hold her hand and show her some beauty before all the damage is done." to represent the issue of suburbia and how it could affect the next generations to come. On the technology side of the argument, Arcade Fire effectively shows how music videos can be used to display the issues presented in their songs. In this specific video, Arcade Fire uses an excerpt from a French Indie film to play along with their music. The short excerpt from the film displays children being affected by growing up in suburban areas, and shows how it can negatively affect the way they grow up both physically and emotionally. Since Arcade Fire uses this film, people who are fans of the popular band may also want to view the film after having watched the music video. Arcade Fire has drawn attention to a less popular artist, and in doing so, will increase their popularity and help them 'make it' in the industry. The Suburbs is perfect proof of how the music industry is not depleting in today's society, and in certain genres of music, it may even be evolving for the better.