Lara Croft, Tomb Raider. (2003)
The opening scene of Lara Croft tells us a lot about what the film is going to be about and the characters. It also shows a lot of conventions of action adventure films, such as fight scenes, guns, explosions, protagonists and antagonists. Dialogue is used after a couple of minutes into the scene. This makes the audience concentrate more visually, and in this case the opening scene shows 3 people exploring, however the audience can clearly tell who the lead is.
Saving Private Ryan. (1998)
This scene in 'Saving Private Ryan' shows the audience a lot about the location, and genre of the film. Immediately we find out that it's a war film, due to the soldiers in uniform. The location confirms this, as it shows a lot of destruction, and it looks like a war bound area. Also, the young girl who cries and hits her father shows that the film is about war, as the family have old ripped clothes, and where they are (their house?) has been blown up, leaving only half of it standing, a sign of war. Although this film is completely different to 'Lara Croft, Tomb Raider' they both have similar conventions, such as guns, death, protagonists and antagonists.
Comparison of action/adventure clips.
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Out of the four clips, I think 'Oblivion' has the best location and set design because it has a very vast landscape. The location has mountains with snow, and futuristic machinery and gadgets one minute. Then the next it has wasteland, destructions and ruins from the war, for example the ruins of the ships, with no nature. In comparison, 'I-Robot' has a good location for it's genre, as it's modern and the warehouse is make-like. However, the location isn't as vast and as eye catching as the location of 'Oblivion'.
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I think that out of the four films, 'Reign of Fire' has the best costume because the characters look the part. Some wear all black, with helmets and streamline outfit s with wings to fly, giving the impression they are special operations. They are well-equipped too, the black makes them camouflage, and they look like soldiers. Other characters also wear dark colours, to stay hidden. The other films also have good costume for the genre but it doesn't stand out or is as impressive as 'Reign of Fire'.
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In my opinion, 'Reign of Fire' also has the best use of props. During the 5 minute scene we see guns and weaponry, old-fashioned radio, a harpoon, computers and also a horse, used for transport. When we see the harpoon, we know that the creature they are trying to kill is huge, as harpoons are generally used for killing large animals like whales. 'Lord of the Rings' also has a good use of props, for example, the characters use their bag of mushrooms to distract the Black Rider. Also there is the ring, which in this scene we don't know what it is but we do know that it is a significant prop, and it symbolises secrets.
In 'I-Robot', the performance is really good. During the scene we watched, Will Smith and Bridget Moynahan play a good cop, bad cop role, which is convincing. Will Smith acts ruthless, and is serious. He also does the scene with an act of urgency which makes it more realistic, as it fits with what is going on in the film. The fight choreography is also really good. The other three films also have good performance, especially 'Oblivion', Tom Cruise also has a sense of urgency as he is on a time limit, he's on a mission, and is searching for something, just as Will Smith is in I-Robot. They are also both the protagonists, and are skilful.
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World War Z. -Camera work and soundtrack.
During the three scene of 'World War Z' that we analysed, there are a wide range of camera shots and angles used. During the first scene, the first shot was an establishing shot, that slowly panned down into the car of the protagonist and his family. This shot showed the location, and the largeness of the setting. This then introduced the audience to the protagonist. The establishing shot was then followed by mostly close-ups, whilst being introduced to the family. Just before the action starts to take place, when Jerry, the protagonist, gets out of the car, there is a long high angle shot. The shot represents Jerry as weak and vulnerable in such a large location. It shows him as endangered in his surroundings, as if he's trapped. This is significant because the protagonist is usually the one who has the power and the superiority.
During the action scene (second scene we analysed), the takes are fast paced and are no more then 1 maybe 2 seconds long. There are both a mixture of close ups, ECU, and long shots. The close ups and ECU show the emotion on the characters faces, allowing the audience to feel sorry for them. Whereas long shots show the surroundings, and in this film for example, the extent of the action, as well as the danger and panic. However there are no medium shots, as during action shots there is no or not much dialogue/conversation. Medium shots are usually used when 2 people are having a conversation, and to show a bit of the background, so this shot was irrelevant in the action scene of this film.
During the action scene (second scene we analysed), the takes are fast paced and are no more then 1 maybe 2 seconds long. There are both a mixture of close ups, ECU, and long shots. The close ups and ECU show the emotion on the characters faces, allowing the audience to feel sorry for them. Whereas long shots show the surroundings, and in this film for example, the extent of the action, as well as the danger and panic. However there are no medium shots, as during action shots there is no or not much dialogue/conversation. Medium shots are usually used when 2 people are having a conversation, and to show a bit of the background, so this shot was irrelevant in the action scene of this film.
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The soundtrack in the final laboratory scene was used effectively to fit what was happening. For example, as Jerry and his two sidekicks made their way through the corridors, there was no sound, complete silence. This was effective as it built up tension for the audience, as they awaited what was going to happen. When one of the sidekicks accidentally kicked a can, causing sound, the kick sounded so loud, due to the rest of the scene being in silence, the kick then caused the zombies to react. When this happened, an eerie wind type of music began subtly. It was an ambient sound, used to create a creepy atmosphere, (digetic). The deep, slow notes of the music sounded scary, and dangerous, again building up tension for the audience. This can also caused echoes from the zombies, (non-digetic), followed by close ups of the protagonists showing their fear. There wasn't much dialogue in the laboratory scene, there were many one liners, and these were usually commands, although in a whispered voice. The one liners show stress in this scene, as the protagonists know the zombies react to sound. So even when they are whispering, they are being cautious not to be too loud to attract any attention. The sound effects (non-digetic) in this scene consist of things like creaky doors, glass breaking and the sound of when someone is hit. All of these are highly exaggerated, e.g the glass breaking sounds 10x louder than it would usually. Sound effects were used in this way to show the quietness of the scene, and how even the slightest of sounds will attract zombies.