x.. Analysis of 4 film stills ..x

This film still is from the movie 'Batman and robin'. This is a MS of both 'good' characters in the movie. They are both in 'disguises' since they are wearing odd or unusual clothing seen from those worn on a daily basis and we can obvious tell that they are disguises since they are both wearing masks. The setting is most likely to be in the city ( of Gothom for who would now since they would be familiar with the comic book ) and we can see this since there are many tall building in the background and cars parked up on the side of the roads. The lighting seems to be fairly light to focus on the characters and since the scene seems to be shot in the day time. The actors seem to be running and we can see this from the position on their arms and body language. This camera shot is good for action or adventure films because then the audience can see the whole setting which is better considering the genre. Genre films such as these need more MS and LS rather than BCS and CS because the audience need to see completely whats going on so they can see all the action taking place rather than focusing on facial expressions.

This still image was taken from the movie 'House of wax'. The actor is a famous celebrity (paris hilton) which probably helped add to the promotion and selling of the movie. We can not see the setting since the shot is a BC shot that is focused on her facial expression which we can obviously tell that she is scared and sad due to the cringing of her eye brows and tears from her eyes along with her hand covering her mouth probably to minimize the sound of her breathing from some-one else (the evil character) to hear. The only setting we can see is the piece of wall on her left which seems to be damaged, broken and not in its best condition. This shows us that shes not in a safe environment and overall connotes the genre of the film being a horror. This type of shot is good for genred films such as horrors or thrillers because it needs to emphasise the characters facial expressions and body language more because it allows the audience to identify with them so they feel that 'scared' aspect which is the hole purpose of these genred films (to scare the audience) and it BCS and CS are more useful compared to LS and MD because the hole purpose of a horror film is to keep the audience in suspense and guessing and LS and MD show the whole surrounding of a scene so if the audience can see everything thats taking place than the 'scary' aspect of a horror film is gone.

This still image was taken from the movie 'Titanic'. It is a CS on both the main characters faces purposely to show their facial expressions. The films genre is a romantic drama and CS are good for this type of genre becuase the facial expression of the charcters need to be confused on so the audience can see or 'feel' how they are feeling and begin to indentify with them. You cant see the setting in this shot; the whole focus is on the characters expressions which show happiness due to the smiles on their face. Also the lighting connotes happiness because its an orangy high key light that focuses on thier faces which are close together so this gives off a sort of warmth and loved feeling. The male actor seems to be looking at the female character which also gives off this 'loved' feeling because hes focusing on her ratehr than anything else which connotes his love for her since he only seems to be interested in her. His smile seems to be generated from hers in this shot and the CS allows us to see this.

This still image was taken from the movie 'Girl next door'. The genre is a hybrid of thriller/drama. The setting seems to be very badly broken and eroded since the tiles have cracks all over them and are a modly colour. The costume of the character in the image automatically connotes some sort of trouble and shows captivity due to the clothe wrapped around her mouth to prevent her from screaming and the position of her arms show the audience that she is tied up. Also her clothing seems to be torn up and ragady which can connote a very long captivity or a rough one for that matter. Her position on the bed and her body language shows the audience that she has been through alot already and is tired. Her cuts and grazes on her leg also connote this. The lighting is dark and low key but there the actor seems to be in a lighter light compared to the background shes in, which was most probably done to emphasise her circumances and have the focus on her and the damage that is done to her along with her situation. The shot is a MS which is realy good for this genre and this image because straight away it shows the audience so much already and runs a number of emotions through them such as fear, worry, curiosity, etc. This shot is overall better compared to BCS or LS because a BS would show too little so the interest of the audience wouldnt be as much as it is compared to right now in a MS and a LS would give away too much so the audience would expect what would happen next, so a MS was the best camera angle and effect to be used.

x.. Cinematography analysis ..x

Casablanca (1942) + Batman returns (1992)

cinematography is the discipline of making light and camera choices when recording phototgraphic images for the cinema

The main key difference between the cinematography of a film of the 1940s and a film of the 1990s is, firstly and obviously, the fact that the films in the 1990s were in colour whereas the films in the 1940s were in blank and white

Casablanca's cinematography was created very cleverely in a way in which the camre angles and lighting helps emphasise the actors facial expressions and surroundings in a way where the director has already pre-planned specifically, how that moment of the film should come across to the audiene and how they should be exactly feeling identifying with the film.
An example of this is the main female actress in the film Ingrid bergman. The camera shots in which focused on her were mostly viewed and taken from the left side of her face since it was considered to be her 'better angle'. The lighting on her was usualy soft to make her seem more precious and feminine and more as a damsel with catch lights (catch lights are lights that are used to specifically highlight a charcters eye which gives the character a more softer and innocent look) to give her eyes a sparkle/glistening effect in which the whole purpose of this was to make her face, in BCU shots or CU shots, seem more tender for the audience to identify with her more in a sypmathetic way. An example of this is shown at 0.59 of the trailer.
Also in some parts of the film there are lines of shadows across the characters and in various places of the background and they are formed in such a way in which they resemble bars that are similar of a prison that which therefore connotes being confined or restricted or even imprisoned in the surroundings or environment that the characters are in. An example of this is the scene right in the opening of the trailer; on the floor there is a shadow of crossing bars and to add to this connotation the charcters in the scene are wearing uniform and holding guns connoting the whole idea of being imprisoned once again.
Dark lighting and expressionist lighting (this is when the lighting is giving an emotional effect) is used variously throughout the film. They are particularily seen towards the end of the film. This style and use of cinematography is classical elements in which would be expected in such a film of the 1940s.

Batman returns cinematography, first of all in colour and was used/created in such a way where the lighting an camera angles is always or mostly focused on the whole picture of the setting.

The surroundings/environment/setting of the scene is always showin in LS and is always shown in either low key lighting or very dark lighting. The only moment in the trailer in which there is some form of bright light is the explosion (0.25) and this is to give the film a constant thriller effect the whole time.It also connotes the seriousness of the film sonce there is no major aspect of bright light so the darkness shows a sense of stern-ness and focus.

The actors are also shown in a dark light the majority of the time. The 'bad' characters always seem to have a backlight effect in which they are in a MS and theres a low key light that is behind them which gives them a sort of eary glow which shows the audience that they are the 'bad' characters in the film and show a sense of mystery and lurking towards the audience. Examples of this are scene in the trailer at 0.31 to 0.38 which is where we first see one of the 'evil' characters of the film and another example is 0.45 and 1.05 of when we see the second 'evil' character cat woman.

Batman (the hero of the film) also always seems to be seen in a low key lighting. There is no significant part of the trailer in which he is shown in high key lighting or even a bright light and this is to again show the seriousness of the film throught the whole of the trailer. There is only one moment throughout the whole trailer in which we even see batmans real identity and at this point he is also featured in a low key blue light that gives an ora or glow around him with the batman symbol behind him and the camera is looking up at him from a low angle shot which connotes the sense of a Hero effect since we are looking up at him so he seems to be more superior for that specific moment only (1.20)

.. Comparison for mis-en-scene for 3 different genres ..

.. Costumes ..

there is no costume in the 'butterfly effect' which is a drama genre film or the 'boogeyman' which is a horror type of film because it adds to the effect of both the genres in the film by showing very little and only focusing on the main aspects to show the audience the obvious genre of the film for example the butterfly effect shows its a drama film by discarding the costumes and emphasising the facial expressions of the characters and the boogeyman has shown the genre by discarding the costumes and emphasising the effect of the darkness and the creepy dis-figured hand. The image of 'chuck and larry' is a comedy film and the costumes show this because of the play of black and white suits which is usually worn by a groom (black) and his bride (white) but in the image above it shows both males in suits where one has worn the male tradion colour in a wedding of black and the other has worn white. This shows it is a comedy film because of the play on the tradition of marriage colours and clothing.

.. Lighting ..

the lighting in the butterfly effect and the boogeyman is very similar because they both have low key lighting and the parts in the image that are highlighted by the use of the lighting are things to emphasise the genre for example the butterly effect image highlights the facial expressions of the actors only and the boogeyman image highlights the dis-figured hand and the rest of both the images surroundings are darkened off, Whereas the image of chuck and larry is in high-key lighting. The whole background is white which is the total opposite of the other two images.

.. Actors ..

the actors in the the butterfly effect are two famous actors and so are the actors in chuck and larry. But there are no actors featured in the image of the boogeyman and no famous names around the image to show the audience there are any famous actors. the actors in the butterfly effect are a man and woman which show the audience that the film is obvioulsy going to be based around them since they seem to be the central characters and thier facial expressions are so serious because neither of them are smiling which connote the fact that it is a drama film. the film chuck and larry both feature actors that are best known for the comedic acts which instantly show the audience that the film is going to be a comedy and also the fact that a male is holding another male the way a groom would a bide just after marriage also shows the audience the film is going to be a comedy film. Futhermore the facial expressions on the actors show the audience that the fillm is going to be a comedy because adam sandler has a sarcastic expression on his face and kevin james shows a cheeky, happy and cheerful facial expression on his face.

.. Make - UP ..

in all three movies the make up used seems to be very minimum. The butterfly effect seems to have a natural look on both actors since it is a close up shot on both thier faces and both seem to be wearing no make up or given a natural look. We can not see much in the image of the boogeyman and what we can see is just a dis-figured hand so the audience can tell that there is alot of fake make-up used to create a horrific looking person (thus the name boogeyMAN) and also in chuck and larry, since both are male actors, they arent expected to be wearing any make-up so in which they arent wearing any.

.. Props ..

there are no props used in the butterfly effect however in the boogeyman and chuck and larry there are. The props used in the boogeyman is just a door of a closet or room which connotes the idea of a boogeyman ( which is a scary man who either lives in ur closet or under your bed, hes a fictional charcter made to scare children in the dark ) and the image of chuck and larry use props such as confettii and the top of a wedding cake that they seem to be standing on linking in with the effect of the typography showing the audience that it is a comedy film and hinting to us that the plot is going to be about two males getting married.

.. Setting ..

there is no setting in the butterfly effect. The boogeyman seems to be set in most probably a house since all taht is shown is a door and the chuck and larry image doesnt seem to have a particular setting since the background is all white but they seem to be standing on top of a wedding cake which adds to the connotation of a comedy since two males seem to be getting married.

.. Still Image Analysis of Mis-en-Scene ..

.. Costume ..

the costume in the still image shows the audience that the film is almost fairy tale / fantasy like and suggests the genre of the movie. The type of clothing seems olden aged and in colours such as green, white or brown which shows the 'olden' age and also makes the image seem historical even. Also some of the characters shown are wearing cloaks which is a typicall aspect to expect in fantasy adventure films and films that are NOT set in the present day (cloaks were used in the olden times because coats were not invented).

.. Lighting ..

the lighting in the still image is kind of low. There seems to be a back light behind the charcters shown in the image which highlights them and makes them stand out that much more in the image along with being the centre image. The effect of the lighting shows us that the characters being highlighted are the 'good' characters to expect in the film because the lighting seems to make them have a sort of glow or halo around them which connotes good against evil.

.. Actors ..

the actors shown in the image are shown as the main charcters to expect in the film because they have been positioned in the centre of the image. Also the importance of the characters seem to be justified by the size of their picture for example we can obviously tell that the central character in the poster is the main actor in the film because his middle shot picture is in the centre of the image and is the largest picture compared to all the other pictures in the image. There are some famous main characters that have been featured in this film such as orlando bloom, Ian McKellen and Viggo Mortensen but most of the central characters are new such as Elijah Wood and Sean Astin. This gives the film a mixture of new and present actors which will suggest to the audience that it is a big budget film due to the famous actors already being featured in the film so their fans will be attracted to watch this film and also the new actors in the film are going to intregue new audiences.

.. Make-Up ..

there is very little make-up worn in the image. All the charcters seem to have a natural look, even the women. This is because due to the time and date the producer was trying to set the film in, make-up wasnt even invented or worn so therefore the actors in the image have not worn any. This helps connect to the genre of the film because its supposed to be set in the olden ages and the lack of use of make-up helps build to this.

.. Props ..

the props used in the image add to the genre so it is become more clearer to the audience what type of film this image connotes and what to expect. The props are swords, daggers, bows and arrows and axes. The props are mainly weapons and mainly olden weapons that arent used in the present day. They lack updated technology such as guns or bullets etc. Also horses are shown in the image which again proves the fact that the image is based on a film that is going to be based on an older age due to the use of horses instead of cars. This makes it obvious to the audience that it is a image of a film based in the olden times which adds to the effect of the genre that is trying to be portrayed.

.. Setting ..

the image doesnt realy seem to be set in a setting or area. You can faintly see some tall trees in the background that could connote a forest of some-sort but then again it could just be the use of the lighting that can be misinterpretted.

.. Target audience ..

the target audience this image seems to be aiming at is quite a big range. It could be aimed at family audiences due to the fanatasy - adventure genre that seems to be portrayed. It could be aimed also at a young audience due to the genre portrayed, mainly for the young male audience due to the use of the props which suggest violence which would attract more of the male audience. It could also be suggested for an older age range because of the use of older characters and famous characters in the image and because of the time the image seems to be set in would be more apppealing to a older audience perhaps compared to a younger audience, but once again, most probably more for the male audience due to the use of the props which connote the expected violence to be seen in the film.

.. Genre ..

the genre of the film seems to be a hybrid of a fantasy adventure and action type of film. This is because of the use of the props and the way the characters have been portrayed in the film. The characters seem to be almost fantasy like and un-real due to the use of the lighting which gives them that odd fantasy type of glow and also the use of the props show that adventure / action to be expected in the film.

A British Independant Film and Television Production Comany

.. Revolver Entertainment ..

This british independant fiml and television production company was first established in 1997 the 14th largest fil distributer and the 20th home entertainment distributer.


2008 was revolers most successful year because 15 movie theatre releases and more than 50 home entertainment titles. It has a number of platforms it operates in such as distribution, production, journalism, marketing, creating and advertising. Due to their professionalism and unique ideas with producing high quality films has led to nomitations for awards in such ceremonies such as the Oscars and BAFTA. They have also helped put proceeds towards a number of charity events by producing a film and sending off all the revenue made towards the charity helping the world as well as biulding up their name and reputation for example they put all their profits from a comedy film they distributed towards people whom were affected by the Tsuanmi disaster. Examples of some of their most recognizable releases are take to the dark side, my brotehr is an only child and tell no one.


They are attacking the new media age by their origionality and creative ways of distribution for example they are now realing a 3D movie along with thier first eco-friendly film so in future helping them open up new ground to them within their industry and expanding themselves in other aspects of the media industry whilst increasing the number and range of audiences' as they go along. Also for the first time ever, they are going to release a new film called ' mum and dad ' in cinemas and DVD, simultaneously. Along with this, they are teaming up with ' Image entertainment ' to help gain more retail success and develope thier business in other regions such as America.

Institution Case Study

..Pathe..

The people who own the movie production KiDULTHOOD is Pathe. The director of the film is menhaj huda and it was written by noel clarke who also plays the character 'sam' in kidulthood and also in the sequel adulthood. The movie spent a budget of 800,000 pounds being filmed in actual locations relevant to the films plot for example the london underground.

Pathe are one of the top film producers in europe which distribute films mainly in the UK, France and Switzerland but also now disrtibute to places such as japan, australia, madrid, moscow new york and rome having built thier own movie theatres in each of these places. It also owns 300 movie theatres along with its own cable and satellite tevevision network ( 17% share in BSkyB and 20% share in canal Satellite which is a Television Provider In France. ). They have had 550 films distributed but only 10 were successful that were released in the UK and these were KiDULTHOOD, Adulthood, chiken run, ditry sanchez, godsend, 5 children and it, be kind rewind, christmas carol and killing me softly. Pathe also have their own print called ' liberation ' which is a daily newspaper.


Pathe are mainly funded nowadays by the revenue they get by their films but before they used to get most of their money from the shares thet owned in BSkyB and canel satellite. The smartest choice in company had made was too distribute films whereas to just own shares in a small part of the film making business which has now helped them create more profit then they once used to and expanded their business widely to a number of different locations and has still helped them keep one of the top positions of being a film producer in europe.

The way its responding to the new media age is by producing more and more films and trying to distribute them in a wider range of areas to expand themselves more and keep themselves in one if the top positions as europes film distributers. They are trying to find products that are unique and real and would stay in the interest of consumers today keeping a sense of realism and comedy and combining it with todats new pieces technology and effects.

xX.. NATASHA's ESSAY .. xX

...There Are Many Reasons Why *Concrete Angel* Attracts Me Personally, Furthermore There Are Many Features That Make *Concrete Angel* A Great Shrort Film. The Main Attraction In This Short Film Is The Abusive Behaviour Potrayed Against The Main Character By His Step Brother. The Topic And Crime Stories Behind Abusive And Domestic Violence In Households Nowadays Are Not Shown Or Reported, This Short Film Therfore Shows The Dangers That Invlove Poeple Suffering From Abusive Behaviour, And Also Shows How Scary And Popular Abusive Behaviour Is In Modern Society Today...
- natashas introduction to her essay


There are many reasons why concrete angel attracts a good number of audience including myself. It is a good production for a short film because it has used many effects and techniques to lure in its audience. The main attraction/theme that seems to stand out in this trailer is the abusive behaviour portrayed by the main character's step brother and this is because it relates to a real-life circumstance or situation and nowadays doemstic violence isnt being made aware of enough for the public and this trailer shows the dangers in some household environments and due to its realness and realisticness this can attract a particular type of audience and is also a good way to send a message across that domestic violence is something to be aware of so it also informs the public of certain behaviours or experiences some people go through in modern society today.


Xx.. Kiran ..xX

As soon as the trailer starts, the lighting is low key, it stays like this throughout the whole of the trailer, this is because ir is relevent to the genre, the film is a horror film, the darkness creates an intense atmosphear which is necassery, because it informs the viewer that the film is going to be scary. Also, it helps to create shadows, and make the film look more mysterious, which makes you want to watch the film.

As soon as the trailer starts, the lighting is low ket and it stays like this throughout the whole of the trailer. This is becayse it is relevant to the genre. The filkm is a horror film and so the darkness shown in itshows an intense atmsphere which is neccessary because it infroms the audience that the film is going to be scary and a thriller. Also, it helps to create shadows which makes the film look more mysterious that then lures the audience in to watch the film


Xx .. Jaleesa .. xX

Within the trailer we see that a variety of shots have been used which allows us as the audience to see the actors’ facial expressions and to give us an insight into what some of the shots used may symbolise. Near the end of the trailer there is a close up of Ward sitting by a fire which may symbolise danger in some sort of way letting us know how angry and at this point how dangerous he is. Other close up’s are seen at 0:53 when Ward puts on his hood and walks away from the setting which in some way shows that he is now ready to get his revenge on those who ruined his life. The low angle shot seen at about 0:43 shows the actor is superior to us and that
we should probably be scared of him.
- jaleesa's intoduction

Within the trailer we see a range of shots which have been used and allows the audience to see the actors facial expressions and body language to give us a greater look into what these types of shots symbolize and show. Neat the end of the trauler these is a close up of the actor sitting by a fire which may symbolize danger letting us know the emotion of the actor at this moment which is anger so its forshadowing the future. Other close up's are seen at 0.53 when the actor puts on his hood and walks away from the setting which shows so this shows hes off into his new path to start taking his revenge. The low angle of the shot seen at 0.43 shows the actor is superior to us and gives the audience a sense of authority over them and power because the shot makes us look 'up' at the actor.