The Expendables – Week 4

One film in particular I can think of that has 3 actors that has done really well in the movie industry would be the film “The Expendables”.
The first actor would be “Jason Statham”. He is a renown actor famous for his fast paste action fighting skills, along with his many weapons of choice. But most of all he’s one of the best action stars out there along with most of the greats where he made his name from acting along side with them when they were pulled together in the film ‘The Expendables”. In the film you don’t really see him use a gun like in his other roles in other films instead you see him use a knife the whole time which goes to show that he is adverts in his many choices of weapons and you never know what he’ll bring to the party.
The second would be “Jet Li”, known for his kung fu fighting style and being able to think fast on his feet using his surroundings to his advantage. In the film he feels like he has to do more cause he is the smallest out of all the stars in the film but when it comes down to it he is one of the most deadliest out there.
And last but not least would be “Sylvester Stallone”, not only did he do the impossible by bringing a lot of big name action actors together in one action packed movie but he also helped write, produced, and acted in it. Making it a huge blockbuster hit when it first released back in 2010. But like in “Stallone’s” other films he again takes up the big guns to do some damage like he did in all his roles back in the day of “Rambo”.
The actor that I would chose would be “Jason Statham”. In the other films that he acts in his roles are very much all the same kind. The movies he is in are action pack and he always has his fighting scenes. For example in the movie “Transporter” he is seen driving at high speeds as well as fighting in many scenes through out the movie. Other movies that he has been in like “Crank” and “Death Race” have all been high paced action movies.

References:

Stallone, S and Callaham, D. (2010). The Expendables-Knife Fight And Guns [Video Clip], The Expendables. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCAqPX0LkNE

Besson, L. and Yuen, C. (2002). Transporter BMW Race scene [Video Clip]. The Transporter. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xewS5I4Eho

Jaws and the ways in which the sound is used

The three basic categories of sound are dialogue, sound effects, and music. The dialogue is considered the conversations between the characters. The sound effects are sounds that are made artificially for use which are not part of the music or the speech of the characters. The music is basically the music that is used within the film to set mood/tone of the scenes and enhancing the story of it.

When I think about horror movies and ones that has music to really fit it well would be the movie “Jaws”. When looking at the movie there ways in which the dialogue, sound effects, and the music is used to help set the mood and create the fear. In parts of the movie the dialogue would be when the characters are in fear about the shark. They are seen screaming as well as trying to get out of the water as fast as they can. You can hear the panic in their voice as they are screaming as well as telling others to get out of the water. The way in which I think the music is very fitting it the type of music they use when the shark is approaching. I know that when I hear this music even without have a visual image I picture the shark scene and I know exactly what movie it goes to. The music that they play is to set the mood to be suspenseful and terrifying. As far as the sound effects go there are noises that they created at different times for the shark to bring it more to life. When people are entering the water it seems like enhanced sounds of the water splashing. When they are on the boat and Jaws is attacking you can hear creaking sounds from the boat as well as glass breaking. The sounds that are used through out the film are more realistic and what you would expect to hear from things that are going on. There are many sounds throughout the movie that would help it to be seen as being in the horror genre. You can hear the panic and fear in the voices all through the movie. The music of the shark coming is looked at as something bad is about to happen which is typical in the horror genre.

Resources:

Spielberg, Steven (1975). Jaws Official Trailer #1 from Jaws the movie [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1fu_sA7XhE

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Week 2 Blog: Saw

Movie: Saw

Writer: Leigh Whannell, James Wan

Director: James Wan

Major Actors: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover

Year of Release: 2004

Theme of movie: The basics of the movie were people that were kidnapped and taken to set locations to be tortured in a way. The people were seen as not appreciating life and who have done wrong. The man who controlled the whole thing was seen as a psychopath. He claimed he set up these traps to make others have more of an appreciation for life and want to live. The people were kidnapped by someone that was masked that would appear out of nowhere it seemed. They were drugged and taken to a location to basically have their test for survival. They are given their tasks they have to complete on recording in order to pass in order to survive. The people were pretty much forced to do things could hurt themselves/others in order for them to survive the so called game. This movie defiantly will keep you on edge and does have the twists to it. The way the lighting is done in the movie defiantly plays a huge role for making it a good movie.

This film uses a lot of low-key lighting. The low-key lighting is so set the theme for this type of horror genre. The lighting is mostly dark to help with the suspense. In most horror films they use the low-key lighting to help with the shadows and create dark areas. It helps to set the mood for scary things to happen. This technique helped to contribute to the film in creating atmospheres that were suspenseful and how the characters could be surprised by a figure seeming to appear from no where. The type of lighting that was used was very well suited to fit the genre of the film. If the scenes would have been better lit and not the way it was made the film would not have been the same. It would have completely changed the movie and would not have created a suspenseful/scary feeling.

Reference:
Saw (2004). Saw movie trailer [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKPy5RWuqNA

Week 1 Blog: Shawshank Redemption

Writer: Steven King

Director: Frank Darabont

Major Actors: Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman

Year of Release: 1994

Story: Shawshank Redemption filmed in 1994 is the story about Andy Dufresen, a banker that get sentence to shawshank for the murder of his wife.

Plot: it starts out with Andy in a court room being sentenced to life in the shawsank correctional facility. When he arrives there, the inmates are all gathered around taking bets to see which one will crack first on wanting to go home. It later goes on to telling the life and story of Andy’s morals and dilemma as he spends many years in prison. As you’ll see he deals with a troubling group of guys that calls themselves the sisters. Andy spends months fighting them off till he gets a lucky break one afternoon when they have a drawing to see who all would be picked to tar the roof. It just so happens that Andy’s name was picked along with a lot of other guys and that soon they become good friends of his. While tarring the roof Andy over hears one of the guards taking about how the government is going to take all of his taxes and not be able to calm anything in a refund. When Andy states he could help with the matter, the guard grabs him and tried to throw him off the roof till Andy states he could help him keep everything he has earned tax free. As the story goes Andy finds out from one of the new inmates that someone else was the cause of murdering his wife and is truly innocent. And when he tries to tell the warden everything he gives Andy 2 months in the hole. When Andy gets out after 2 months, he begins to work up a plan to escape and try to live life as a free man once more.

The movie goes in a non-linearly format because the movie does do a flashback. The flashback is for seeing who the actual killer was and how Andy was being framed for the murder. The choice of this format is so that the audience to see who is actually responsible for the murder and to gain more insight into the murder. It was used in a way to see how Andy was framed by the actually murderer. It gave the audience a better understanding since it was not actually shown at the starting of the movie.

If the movie had been told in more of a chronological order the audience would not have been kept in suspense about who the actual murderer was and the events of Andy being framed.

Resources:
Shawshank Redemption. (1994). The Shawshank Redemption – Trailer – (1994) – HQ. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/6hB3S9bIaco.
Images: Fanpop website – Sawshank Redemption. Retrieved from http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/the-shawshank-redemption/images/30536272/title/andy-photo.