Auters

 
Quentin Tarantino





Quentin Jerome Tarantino born March 27th, 1963in the US is a very successful film producer.
Some of his best work include Kill Bill1. Kill Bill 2, Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Basterds and Django unchained. Like every human we all have genres and traits that we preference and try to incorporate in ever piece of work.
Some of these that I have picked up on are listed below:
Genres: Action, Drama, Thriller. Majority of his films are of this genre as they are quite alluring and captivating to the viewer
I have also noticed that in many of his films such as Kill bill (1 and 2) and Inglorious Basterds is that he likes to use flash backs as additions to the narrative. These are good as it helps the plot move faster and gives back story and sense to his viewers.
In addition it is common that he will pick a film set in previous decades. I feel this is because he bases his film son past events to give it contexts and helps viewers refer to the situation. An addition of historical context allows the produce to give alternate perspectives on events such as Inglorious Basterds. This was a film about WW2 however originally it was filmed from a Jewish perspective.
This is similar to Django unchained as it is a film about slavery un America however, we see a black protagonist in a white run society.

Quentin Tarantino went to "James Best Acting School" Howver he didn't stay there very long because after two years he left and landed a job. He was an employee of Video Archives, a now-defunct video rental store in Manhattan Beach, he and fellow movie enthusiasts (including Roger Avary) discussed cinema and customer video recommendations at length. He paid close attention to the types of films people liked to rent and has cited that experience as inspiration for his directorial career. 


Quentin Tarantino has won 122 awards and has received 103 nominations. These awards include 2 Oscars for best writing and original screenplay for both Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained, 2 Golden Globes for best screenplay again for both Pulp and Django, and 2 BAFTA awards for best original screenplay (Pulp and Django). 



Spike Lee








Shelton Jackson Lee was born March 20th 1957 in New York City. We can see from many of his films such as Miracle St' Anna and Malcolm X that spike is very passionate about black empowerment. He feels that in the past black soldiers, politicians didn't get the recognition they deserve due to racial intolerance and therefor now is documenting these events on film to provide the credit they deserve.


Lee enrolled in Morehouse College, a historically black college, where he made his first student film, Last Hustle in Brooklyn. At Clark Atlanta University he took a course on film and graduated with a BA in Mass Communication from Morehouse. He did graduate work at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in Film & Television. In comparison to Tarantino, Spike Lee is much more qualified this comparison gives an insight into how some people reach success. Some through 0propper training and some through recognition however what ever way they got there they both and now very successful producers.

Awards Won:
Time Warner Innovator Award (American Black Film Festival)
Ossie Davis Award (Atlanta Film Festival)
Special Award (BAFTA Awards)
Honourable Mention (Berlin International Film Festival)
Best Director (Black Movie Awards)
Best Film (Black Reel Awards)
Best Director (Black Reel Awards)
Best Television Documentary (Black Reel Awards)
Best Drama (Student Academy Awards)

Award Nominations:
Academy Awards (2 Nominations)
American Black Film Festival (3 Nominations)
Berlin International Film Festival (4 Nominations)
Black Reel Awards (20 Nominations)

Miracle at St Anna and Inglorious Bastards comparison

Miracle at St Anna and Inglorious Bastards comparison

Miracle at St’ Anna (2008) was directed by Spike Lee. It follows  the story of four black American soldiers during WW2 from the British perspective. It displays the friendships between characters and how their environment affects their emotions. Inglorious Bastards (2009), was directed by Quentin Tarantino is similarly set during World War 2, however, this is taken from a French Jewish viewpoint and displays the emotions towards the Hitler and the Nazis  in a negative way. Evidently these films are set in the same time frame but display different opinions on the war; however both want Hitler and the Nazis to perish.

Miracle at St’ Anna provided a cliff hanger beginning. In the first scene we witness an unidentified character being shot in broad daylight this automatically opens up questions. Who shot him? Why did they? What did they do? This for me was a very successfully beginning because automatically your attention is caught and you receive an understanding of the situation.  Alternatively Inglorious Basterds begins with a family being interrogated until a hibernating Jewish family is discovered and shot ( all but the eldest daughter). This already answer your questions and in a way the film could have ended right there in that first scene there was an introduction, climax, and cliff hanger ending. There for the following scene was like a new start to the film.

Inglorious Bastards follows a linear narrative, linear narratives follow a straight line; starting at the beginning, moving to the middle and proceeding to the end of the story, however there was a part of the film that jumps from 1941 to 1944. Miracle at St’  Anna on the other hand follows a nonlinear narrative because it is usually set during the war which in context of the film is the past and is shown in flashbacks. I feel that Miracle at St’ Anna was harder to follow as it was very disjointed, by doing this my interest slipped at times as the film wasn’t able to grasp my full attention.

In conclusion I preferred inglorious bastards. My reasoning behind this is the story line was a lot easier to follow I fully understood the plot which engaged me until the very end of the film. I also feel that Quentin Tarantino’s imaginative take on the war allowed us to have an insight into a Jewish woman’s perspective. Throughout the film we are aware of her position in society at this time which added suspense onto her getting rediscovered by the Nazis.

reflective analysis

Robyn Matthews Reflective Analysis

For my AS film studies production coarse work I planned and created a sequence for a comedic thriller. I decided the target audience would be between 11 and 21 year olds. This is because younger audiences may be disturbed by the dramatic ending however as their isn’t any grief I felt 11 was a suitable minimum audience age. I used certain micro features such as cinematography and sound to employ a understandable clear narrative with different dynamic qualities.

My film is a collection of shots exploring the peculiar habits of my cat. In the opening sequence of my film You see a DVD being posted through the letter box. I then cut from a mid shot into a close up where you see the film is entitled Biscuit the movie this Is then placed into the DVD player. I feel using a close up of the case was a key shot in the story of my film. The viewers attention is then drawn to the title giving them an insight into the movie to keep them engaged and focused. This was an easy sequence in the film as the planning I had done allowed to be organised and know what I was shooting.

I then progress into the next sequence, which is an inception of footage. It is from the viewpoint of my cat walking through the garden towards the cat flap. I don’t like the shot I used for this because it was taking from eyesight level of a human where as it should have been a worm shot as my cats viewpoint is much lower. I feel after reviewing my film that this may confuse the audience from who the perspective the film is from. Therefor when planning for films in the future I am gong to make sure I write the purpose of the shots and specifically how to shoot it to prevent mistakes.

One of the micro features I focused on was sound.  I muted all my video clips and added additional music tracks as the complement. In the beginning I used a slow upbeat song for the introduction and the affect of a broken record and crickets to go into the following scene with classical music. This contrast in sound influenced the viewers emotions and thoughts towards the film. As the music in this section is happy and smoothing they feel relaxed and can appreciate the shots. However in the latter half of my film I used music with a large amount of suspense to build the tension and arouse the audiences fear. This suspense  I feel kept them focused on the plot and make them want to continue to watch to discover the upcoming events. It also added to the narrative and gave a plot to my film. An improvement I would make would be to add a storyline earlier on in my film. This is because as it is I feel that the beginning sequences are meaning less and irrelevant to an extent. In future film I will add a voiceover to create a deeper understanding of the characters to the audience and put context to the footage.

The setting I chose for my film was in my house. This was suitable and relevant as this is the environment suitable for a domestic pet. This gave a relatable context to the audience as they all have a homely environment that they can associate with. This allows them to emphasise with the characters and create an emotional attachment to them. They subconsciously develop a relationship with the cat similar to one they have for their own person pets or even family members.

One specific shot I feel went well was the two lines of action editing. I altered between a medium shot of the “murderer” picking up a large amount of washing and a medium shot of my cat walking up the stairs. These are placed between one another showing that both events are happening the same time. This adds suspense as it foreshadows the forth-coming events. This is a key sequence of shots in my film as it is the centre of the plot where the film has reached its climax. The audience is aware that all the next shots will be a result of this key sequence so their attention is held. 

Whist filming I found it difficult to use a variety of shots in an innovative way. As my character was small it was difficult to get a successful close up of him. Perhaps I should have done a few close ups of objects in my house to highlight the location and the cats association with the family such as a picture framed of the cat.

Grand Budapest Hotel review

Robyn Matthews                                             The Great Budapest Hotel Review

 

The Great Budapest Hotel directed by Wes Anderson in 2014 is a comedic drama. Starring Ralph Fiennes as ‘Mr Gustav’ and his lobby boy assistant Zero played by ‘Tony Revelori’. They embark on an adventure of success as they unravel the mystery behind the Great Budapest Hotel, we also get an insight of how the two characters friendship grew and how their lives entwined with one another. There is much violence and humour, this film also explores themes of power and success but all in all love comes through and saves people more than money.

I feel that this was an excellent film as it cleverly revealed a sequence of scenarios that came to the final conclusion. They did not give too much away at the beginning which gave the viewer a wondering engagement with the film.  It was full of surprises and gags which plucked a reaction from the audience. One scene in the film I found particular comedic was when a man was knocking on the giant gates and the guards head just popped around a regular sized door adjacent to it. The film is full of thoughtful comedic values but at the same time the producers didn’t go excessive and make it seem repetitive.

I did however feel that the slow beginning and revealing of the plot made the film drag and appear long than it was. At moments the audience attention was lost due to boredom and confusion. I do feel however that these scenes didn’t last too long and the audience was quickly drawn back in.

 

What else was interesting was the episodic stricter of the film. We are shown at the beginning a girl walking towards a graveyard. We then travel back in time where the hotel owner is discussing his story with one of his customers. We are then entering the first phase of the story. It is in first person as it is being told which is unique it’s a inception of fables.

I would definitely recommend this film to other. However I would say it is more suitable for older audiences in their twenty’s and older. The reasoning behind this is that you need to be motivated and interested in the film to continuously watch it and I don’t feel younger people will have the attention span and motivation to watch it towards the end. The reasoning behind this is that it is quite mentally stretching and you need that understanding and thought track of events in your head to piece it all together.