Raiders of the Lost Ark

Genre: Action Adventure

Summary:

In the spring of 1936 an exploration party penetrates thick jungle on the South American continent. When the group’s leader stops to examine map fragments, another of the group pulls a gun. The leader, hearing the click as the turncoat cocks the pistol’s hammer, pulls out a bullwhip and disarms the man, sending him fleeing back through the jungle. The man who expertly wields the bullwhip is Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones, Jr., an archaeologist with a reputation for heavy-handed field work that takes him around the globe in search of ancient treasures.

Indy and his remaining companion, Sapito, enter a dank and oppressively vast cave, where a competitor of his, Forrestal, disappeared. Inside the cave are several traps rigged by the ancient people who hid a small, valuable statue there — one of the traps is found to have impaled Forrestal. Jones finds the antechamber where the statue sits atop a pedestal and is protected by an elaborate system of pressure-sensitive stones that release deadly darts from the surrounding walls. Jones avoids the booby-trapped stones and makes it to the idol. He very deftly replaces the idol with a bag of sand, judging the weight of the treasure by sight. However, the weight is not precise, the pedestal sinks and the chamber begins to collapse. Jones runs, narrowly avoiding the darts. When he arrives at a bottomless pit he & Sapito had crossed earlier using Jones’ bullwhip, Sapito crosses safely but refuses to give Jones his whip unless he gives him the idol. Indy throws him the idol but Sapito drops the whip and runs off. Jones manages to jump across and pull himself up and escape under the stone door that closes. He finds Sapito dead, killed by the same trap that killed Forrestal. Jones retrieves the idol and must once again flee while a large boulder rushes toward him. He leaps out of the cave’s entrance just as the boulder hits, sealing it.

Seemingly safe, Indy is cornered by the Hovitos, the local tribe, who are led by Dr. Rene Belloq, an arrogant French archaeologist who is a longtime rival and enemy of Indy’s. Indy hands Belloq his pistol and the idol. When Belloq raises the idol and the Hovitos bow, Indy flees and is rescued by Jock, flying a seaplane, though Indy, an admitted ophidiophobe, isn’t pleased to find Jock’s pet snake Reggie in the cockpit with him.

Back stateside, Indy teaches an archaeology class and is still upset over the loss of the statue, which he surmises Belloq is taking to Marrakesh to sell on the black market. Indy has found pieces he feels will pay for a trip to Marrakesh to find Belloq, but Indy’s friend Marcus Brody dashes that hope by informing him that two Army Intelligence officers want to talk to him about Abner Ravenwood, his former teacher, who was his friend until Indy broke up with his daughter, Marion.

The Army officers are concerned because they’ve intercepted a German cable concerning a mammoth archaeological dig in the Egyptian desert not far from Cairo. When they read the cable, Indy and Marcus realize the Nazis have discovered Tanis, an ancient city long since buried in a gigantic sandstorm in 980 B.C. and the possible burial site of the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was built by ancient Hebrews to hold the stone tablets on which Moses inscribed the Ten Commandments. Indy quickly explains to them the need for an object mentioned in the communique, the headpiece to the Staff of Ra, which will reveal the location of the Ark at the Nazi excavation. The Army men are impressed by Indy’s and Marcus’ knowledge of the Ark but Indy tells them the man most qualified is Ravenwood, who has been living somewhere in Asia for several years. When Indy shows the agents a picture of the Ark, it depicts it using unimaginable destructive power. Marcus also says very gravely that any army that carries the Ark into battle is invincible.

Indy flies to Nepal (followed by a Nazi agent, Toht to speak to Marion Ravenwood, who runs a restaurant and bar (and who can outdrink anyone) because he needs the headpiece to the Staff of Ra. Marion, still bitter over their breakup, nonetheless accepts when Indy offers her $3,000 and the promise of more when they return stateside. She is cryptic about the headpiece, and after Indy leaves she reveals that she’d been wearing the headpiece on a chain around her neck. She looks it over thoughtfully and places it on a small wooden sculpture on the table.

Toht and several Sherpa heavies enter the bar and hold Marion hostage, with Toht ready to torture her for the headpiece. Indy returns and a firefight erupts during which the fireplace is dislodged and the building begins burning down. Toht finds the headpiece but when he grabs it he’s badly burned — leaving an image of one side of the headpiece branded on his hand. He jumps out a window, trying to cool his hand in the snow. Outside the burning tavern, Marion tells Indy that she’s his partner in the venture until he can pay her.

The two fly to Egypt to see Indy’s pal, Sallah , one of the country’s most successful excavators, who is working on the Nazi site and who reveals that the Nazis are aided by a French archaeologist (Belloq). Thought the dig has uncovered much of Tanis, Indy knows that they’ll never find the Ark’s location without the headpiece. Sallah says he knows a man who can read the ancient inscriptions that give the precise measurements of the staff.

Later, while shopping at a Cairo bazaar, Indy and Marion are attacked by sword-wielding Arabs working for Nazi agents. Indy fights them off but in the confusion Marion is trapped in a large basket and taken by two of the terrorists. The effort to track her down is held up by a man brandishing a sword in intimidating fashion. The swordsman is casually shot down in short order by a thoroughly unimpressed Indy. Soon Indy spots a basket carried to a truck filled with explosives and is fired on by a submachine-gun-wielding assailant. His Nazi commander orders the Arabs to take off, but Indy shoots them and the truck crashes, exploding and destroying the basket.

Disconsolate over losing Marion, Indy drowns his sorrows in alcohol at a nearby tavern but is met by more Nazi agents who escort him to a table where he finds Belloq, who gleefully talks about finding the Ark. Indy, no longer caring whether he lives or dies, reaches for his sidearm as Arabs inside pull rifles — only to see Sallah’s large brood of children rush in, surround Indy and escort him out.

Sallah takes Indy to see the shaman who is reading the headpiece’s inscriptions after both men have learned that Belloq and his Wehrmacht aide, Colonel Dietrich, have obtained a copy of the headpiece. (Neither man is aware that it is a duplicate traced from Toht’s burned hand.) The shaman reveals two critical facts: first, that the headpiece gives the precise height of the Staff of Ra, and second, that the staff the Nazis used was too long — so their excavation is over a mile away from the Ark’s actual burial site, which is known as the Well of Souls.

Infiltrating the mammoth site, Indy is lowered into an underground map room containing a precisely detailed miniature of the city. Using the Ra headpiece, he identifies the precise location of the Well of Souls. Sneaking further around the gigantic camp, Indy is shocked to find Marion, alive but bound and gagged. Indy starts to free her, but when she reveals that the Nazis keep asking about him and what he knows, he realizes he can’t cut her loose without revealing his presence to the Nazis.

Late that afternoon Indy and Sallah sneak a digging party of their own to the actual location of the Well of Souls. Late into the night they finally reveal the roof of the chamber, and to Indy’s horror it is filled with dangerous snakes. Indy clears an area of snakes with burning torches, then lowers himself into the chamber and burns many of the snakes alive with flaming gasoline. Sallah follows and the two eventually find the gigantic stone chest containing the Ark. They remove it and place it into a crate. Just after Sallah hoists himself out, the rope is dropped into the hole and Belloq appears with Dietrich. Belloq brags about again stealing Indy’s find and how he’ll seal him in the chamber to die. Before the roof is closed up, Toht throws Marion into the chamber, over Belloq’s protests.

While Marion and Indy fight off the snakes, Indy notices a wall with holes that snakes are crawling through. He climbs a mammoth statue and with all his might breaks it from its foundation and it crashes through the wall. The two find an opening to the surface, and discover the airfield at the excavation camp, where a Nazi flying wing is waiting to fly the Ark out. The two sneak up to the plane, but Indy is attacked by a mechanic and a prolonged fight ensues that is joined by a burly German soldier who pummels Indy before being punched backward and shredded to bits by the plane’s propeller. Marion seizes one of the plane’s machine guns and opens fire on Nazi soldiers, in the process setting a fuel dump aflame. The fire destroys the area and the plane explodes, but Indy and Marion escape.

Dietrich orders his men to transport the Ark by truck to Cairo. When Sallah finds Indy and Marion, he is overjoyed they’re alive and tells them of Dietrich’s plan. Indy takes a horse and pursues the convoy, seizing the truck containing the Ark and surviving a brutal chase and fight with Nazi soldiers to drive the Ark to safety. In the melee, Indy forces Dietrich and Belloq’s car off the road, delaying their pursuit.

He and Marion board a tramp steamer that will take them to a safer location, but a Nazi submarine captures the ship. The ship’s captain tells Belloq and Dietrich to take the Ark and leave Marion behind for their own amusement, Dietrich takes Marion aboard the sub with the Ark anyway. Indy suddenly appears as the sub leaves and boards it while the ship’s crew cheer him on. The sub crosses the Mediterranean Sea and arrives at a small island in the Aegean that houses a German naval yard. Indy sees Marion being escorted off the sub and knocks out a sentry, stealing his uniform. Belloq, Dietrich, Toht and Marion all march inland. When they enter a canyon, Indy holds them all at bay with a German rocket launcher, threatening to destroy the Ark. Belloq calls Indy’s bluff, knowing Indy wants to know what the Ark contains as much as anyone. Indy finds he can’t carry out his threat, and is seized.

At an elaborate ceremony atop the mountain, Indy and Marion, tied to a pole, can only watch as the Ark is opened, but it contains nothing but sand, the remains of the stone tablets. No sooner is it opened, however, than its spirits suddenly appear. Indy, remembering an ancient code that requires people to close their eyes and not look at the now-freed spirits, yells for Marion to do the same. The two withstand the mayhem that ensues as the energy of the Ark surges forth and its spirits attack the now-terrified Nazis, killing the entire contingent. Toht and Dietrich’s faces melt as they scream in horror. Belloq himself explodes. The energy mass surges high into the night sky, carrying every corpse toward the heavens, before returning to the Ark and resealing it, leaving Indy and Marion drained but freed.

Weeks later Indy and Marcus feud with the Army officers over the whereabouts of the Ark, Indy angry that the Army has no idea what it has in the Ark — though it appears they in fact do understand what they have.

However, the Ark is sealed in a wooden crate, stamped with a government serial number and simply wheeled into a large warehouse containing thousands of similar-looking crates.

Date of Release: June 15, 1981

Director: Steven Spielberg

Screenplay: Lawerence Kasdan

Music Composition: John Williams

Cast:

Harrison Ford

Karen Allen

Paul Freeman

John Rhys-Davies

Ronald Lacey

Denholm Elliott

Budget: 20 million USD

Box Office: 389.9 million USD

Mise-en-scène is generated by the construction of shots and the ways that they lead to visual coherence, across the edits from shot to shot. It includes all the elements in front of the camera that compose a shot: lighting; use of black and white or color; placement of characters in the scene; design of elements within the shot (part of the process of production design); placement of camera vis-àvis characters in the set; movement of camera and/or actors; composition of the shot as a whole—how it is framed and what is in the frame. Even music may be considered part of mise-en-scène. While not seen, at its best music enhances the visual and narrative construction of the shot.

Cinematic mise-en-scène refers to how directors, working in concert with their cinematographers and production designers, articulate—indeed, create—the spatial elements and coordinates in the shot and succeed in composing well-defined, coherent, fictional worlds. Composition and the articulation of space within a film carry as much narrative power and meaning as its characters’ dialogue. Mise-en-scène is thus part of a film’s narrative, but it can tell a larger story, indicating things about the events and characters that go beyond any words they utter.

Mise-en-scène can also be an evaluative term. Critics may claim a film does or does not possess mise-en-scène. For example, if a film depends entirely on dialogue to tell its story, if its visual structure is made up primarily of a static camera held at eye level on characters who are speaking in any given scene, if its lighting is bright, even, and shadowless, it lacks mise-en-scène. On a more subjective level, if a viewer’s eyes drift away from the screen because there isn’t much of interest to look at, the film lacks mise-en-scène. Such a film may succeed on other levels, but not visually; it is constructed not in the camera but in the editing room, where the process is much cheaper because actors are absent. Films with good dialogue, well-constructed narrative, and scant mise-enscène can still be quite effective. But these are rare—as rare as well-written films.

Journalistic reviewers may care little about mise-en-scène. They are rarely concerned with the look of films and focus mostly on whether or not the story or characters seem “real.” They may term visually centered works “arty” or say they have interesting “camera angles.” Filmgoers may simply want to be entertained and not care about how a film is constructed. But dedicated filmmakers and filmgoers, like talented novelists and readers, want complete, self-contained, detailed cinematic worlds that are at the time open to the viewers’ own worlds and experiences. Such people will find satisfaction in the visual complexity of mise-en-scène.

This includes lighting, wardrobe, camera placement, camera angle, props, blocking, lenses, even film stock—literally everything—I mean it. The mise-en-scène definition could also be “the look and feel” of the movie.

Ex. The opening scene from Punch Drunk Love is used to analyze the following: Depth of Field

Codes

Codes are systems of signs, which create meaning. These may include both technical codes or symbolic codes.

–  Technical Codes – This is all the ways in which equipment is used to tell the story in a media text (e.g. – camera work or editing).

–  Symbolic Codes – This shows what is beneath the surface of what we see. For example, a characters action can show you how they are feeling and their emotions.

Conventions

Conventions are the widely recognised way of doing something which is to do with content, form and style. There are two types of conventions which consists of:

– Technical Conventions – A convention in a technical area.
– Genre Conventions – this is where conventions are associated with a particular genre.


Difference between Codes and Conventions

The difference between codes and conventions, is that codes might be individual to the media text you are analyzing for example, a music video may use a tracing shot that is significant however completely irrelevant in another video. Whereas, conventions are something they all share within a genre.

The music video by Duran Duran shows many examples of codes and conventions described in the section.

This major genre type includes films that have tremendous impact, continuous high energy, lots of physical stunts and activity, possibly extended chase scenes, races, rescues, battles, martial arts, mountains and mountaineering, destructive disasters (floods, explosions, natural disasters, fires, etc.), fights, escapes, non-stop motion, spectacular rhythm and pacing, and adventurous heroes – all designed for pure audience escapism with the action sequences at the core of the film.

Action films and adventure films have tremendous cross-over potential as film genres, and road films often overlap with action films. (See the adventure film genre listings for examples of these action/adventure pictures.) Both types of films come in a variety of forms or genre-hybrids: sci-fi or space, thrillers, crime-drama, war, horror, westerns, etc. Oftentimes, action films are great box-office hits, but lack critical appeal because of their two-dimensional heroes or villains.

The main action centers around a male action hero or protagonist – portrayed by these most prominent actors: Bruce Lee, Steven Seagal, Sylvester Stallone, Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Bruce Lee, Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Chuck Norris, and Jean Claude Van Damme. Women in action-films usually play the roles of accomplices or romantic interests of the hero, although modern action films have featured strong female characters to broaden demographic appeal.

They almost always have a resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, life-threatening circumstances, or an evil villain, and/or trapped or chasing each other in various modes of transportation (bus, auto, ship, train, plane, horseback, on foot, etc.), with victory or resolution attained by the end after strenuous physical feats and violence (fist fights, gunplay). Action films have traditionally been aimed at male audiences, ages 13 to the mid-30s in both American and world-wide markets.

• Characters/villain/hero: Main protagonist, always the hero controls the action. The villain, often a rich millionaire or ex- military, usually has an accent that sounds menacing(E.g. Silva in Skyfall), sometime hides their identify and usually have a female companion.

• Costumes: Actors wear quiet expensive clothing, battle clothing.
• Storyline: Hero fighting against the evil trying to stop them .
• Editing: There is quiet a lot of editing involved including adding in sound affects, adding cgi for explosions etc. Action movies have a variety of clips including long clips without and vise verser.
• Sound affects/ music: High drum beat/ intense music, explosions, gun shots, running,screaming, car engines.
• Use of colour/ Lighting: Lighting is mostly scene lighting such as daylight, searchlights, and street lamps. Often dark colours like brown and black are worn to make the characters more suspicious but the main protagonist and heroes are often wearing white to make them stand out from the others.

• Setting: These movies usually take place in cities, built up urban areas. specific locations can be something like skyscrapers to underground tunnels, flats, warehouses, roads, police stations, cars, casinos, the sky and banks.

• Camera shots: There tends to be very fast paced shots in actions films. including close ups to show emotion. Establishing shots are important to show where the action is taking place, usually these shots are done from helicopters. Tracking shots are also very common when there are chase scenes to capture it and to make you feel apart of it.
• Themes: Good vs bad, family issues, revenge, death, car chases, gun fights.

Quintin Tarantino is a personal favorite of mine, especially with films like ‘Reservoir Dogs’ and ‘Inglourious Basterds’ under his belt. His films have won him countless awards, an ever-growing fandom, and generate millions of dollars at release. Not only are the movies a pleasure to see, but relating with the director is a major reason. Quintin Tarantino made Reservoir Dogs with a very miniscule budget, yet it made him into one of Hollywoods most exclusive film directors. His films tend to be very gory, with violence being a key factor in the plot. The examples provided will describe each and every film in the mood board in great detail.

Films

Reservoir Dogs

Synopsis:

The film begins with a group of men seated around a diner table, discussing the meaning of the meaning of Madonna’s hit song “Like a Virgin” and the merits of tipping. These men are known to the audience only as Mr. Brown, Mr. Blue, Mr. Pink, Mr. Blond, Mr. Orange, and Mr. White, along with their boss and his son. After the conversation dies down, they depart for their planned heist.

After the opening credits, we open on the interior of a car being driven by a frantic Mr. White. Mr. Orange is in the back, gut shot, thrashing, screaming, and bleeding everywhere. He’s clearly in critical condition, and believe he will die without legitimate medical attention, but since they have just come from a bungled diamond heist, all Mr. White can do is try and convince Orange that he will be fine.

They soon make it to a safe house, and a frantic Mr. Pink arrives soon after, panicking about the heist and the possibility of a rat in their midst. Both are angry with Mr. Blond, who went crazy when the alarm at the diamond depository was pulled and began shooting up the place, attracting a large group of cops to the crime scene. Pink claims he has hidden the diamonds in a safe location, and White begs him to get a doctor for Orange before he bleeds out.

We then see a flashback to Mr. White, who is an old friend of the heist’s mastermind, Joe. Back at the safe house, Pink and White get into a furious argument about White telling Orange his real name, since they cannot be sure he isn’t the rat. They fight until the arrival of Mr. Blond, who seems unfazed by the chaos. Pink and White give him a chilly reception, but Blond tells them that he has a surprise for them in the trunk of his car. The surprise turns out to be a police officer who Blond has kidnapped, and then proceeds to tie up in the safe house.

Mr. Blond now gets his own flashback. We see him meet with Joe and Joe’s son Nice Guy Eddie, who have known him a long time and see him as a son and a brother respectively. He did years in prison and upon getting out, Joe and Eddie have a job for him. Back at the safe house, Mr. Blond begins torturing the police officer, cutting off his ear and pouring gasoline over him in order to set him on fire. But as he lights the match, Mr. Orange shoots him several times in the back, revealing that he is the rat.

Mr. Orange then gets his flashback. We see him meeting with a superior in a diner, who tells him that he must go undercover inside Joe’s next operation. He is given a story to memorize and we see him practice it over and over. The story must have worked, because he is hired on for the heist.

In the present, Eddie, Mr. White, and Mr. Pink return to the safe house to find Mr. Blond dead. Orange tells them that Blond was planning to torch the cop, shoot the others, and escape with the diamonds. But Eddie doesn’t believe for a second that Blond would betray him and his dad, and after Joe finally arrive on the scene, he claims that Orange is the rat. White refuses to believe it, they all pull guns and the standoff lasts until they all fire, leaving Eddie and Joe dead and White mortally wounded. Orange then reveals that he is a cop, and a devastated White shoots him before being himself killed by the Cops. The sole survivor, Mr. Pink, escapes with the loot.

Pulp Fiction

Synopsis:

A couple of robbers known as Pumpkin (man) and Honey Bunny (woman) start to rob a restaurant. Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield are a couple of hitmen who go to an apartment to recover a mysterious briefcase that belongs to their boss Marsellus Wallace, Jules and Vincent kill everybody in the room except Marvin. Butch Coolidge is a boxer about to retire, Marsellus has paid him to throw the fight. Vincent takes Marsellus’ wife out at Marsellus’ request, her name is Mia. Vincent and Mia have dinner and win a dance contest, then Mia overdoses on heroin and Vincent takes her to his drug dealer friend Lance to save her, she gets saved eventually and they both promise not to tell Marsellus what happened.

A flashback shows young Butch receiving a visit from his dad’s friend Captain Koons telling him how Butch’s dad died in the Vietnam POW camp and he tells Butch the story of the gold watch that belonged to his great grandfather, then his grandfather and then his dad and now to the next generation being Butch…Captain Koons even had to hide the watch in his ass so it couldn’t be detected. Back to the actual time, Butch doesn’t throw the fight but he kills the other boxer and escapes with the money, he meets his girlfriend Fabienne who forgot to bring Butch’s gold watch from the old apartment so now Butch has to go get it. He goes to his old apartment and finds the watch, but also finds Vincent Vega so he shoots Vincent with a weapon he found in his kitchen. Butch leaves and drives off and finds Marsellus Wallace, the man he stole all the money from, he rolls over Marsellus and hits the car and himself badly.

Marsellus starts to chase him and they get into a fight in a pawn shop where they get knocked unconscious by the owner Maynard. They appear then in the basement tied to chairs. Maynard calls his buddy Zed and they bring out The Gimp, a man all dressed in leather, they take Marsellus to the backroom and leave The Gimp with Butch…Butch manages to set free and knocks out The Gimp, he feels sorry for Marsellus so he grabs a samurai sword from the pawn shop and goes to the back room to find Marsellus being anally raped by Zed. Butch slices Maynard and Zed gets surprised, then Marsellus shoots Zed right in the crotch…Marsellus forgives Butch so Butch goes back to his girlfriend and drive away on Zed’s motorcycle.

We now go back in time to see Jules and Vincent in the apartment they first went, after they shot all the guys except Marvin, another guy comes from the bathroom and unloads his gun on Jules and Vincent but he hits nothing, Vincent and Jules shoot him to death and Jules believes they just witnessed a miracle, Vincent doesn’t. They take Marvin and drive to Marsellus but they start discussing about the so-called miracle in the car and Vincent accidentally blows Marvin’s brains out in the backseat. They storage the car in Jimmie’s garage and call The Wolf, an old professional to help them.

The car gets cleaned so Vincent and Jules go to a coffee shop for some breakfast which happens to be the same coffee shop where Pumpkin and Honey Bunny are. Jules tells Vincent he quits the crime so Vincent gets upset and goes to the bathroom, right there Pumpkin and Honey Bunny start to rob the restaurant causing panic among the customers, Pumpkin points the gun at Jules and tells him to open the briefcase he has, he opens it and a mysterious glow amazes Pumpkin, in his distraction Jules pulls his gun against Pumpkin’s neck and makes him sit and relax, Honey Bunny points the gun at Jules and then Vincent, who just came out of the bathroom, points the gun at Honey Bunny. Jules gives a biblical speech and lets Pumpkin and Honey Bunny go. Vincent and Jules pack their guns and leave the coffee shop.

Jackie Brown

Synopsis:

When flight attendant Jackie Brown is busted smuggling money for her arms dealer boss, Ordell Robbie, agent Ray Nicolette and detective Mark Dargus want her help to bring down Robbie. Facing jail time for her silence or death for her cooperation, Brown decides instead to double-cross both parties and make off with the smuggled money. Meanwhile, she enlists the help of bondsman Max Cherry, a man who loves her.

Kill Bill

Synopsis:
Beatrix Kiddo arrives at the location of the second member of her Death List Five, Vernita Green. The two engage in a hand-to-hand fight, destroying Vernita’s living room. The fight is stopped due to the arrival of Vernita’s daughter, Nikkia Bell, who is introduced to Beatrix and is told to go to her room. The two former assassins take a coffee break, during which Vernita apologizes for her doings in the past, and asks for mercy. When Beatrix refuses to forgive, Vernita attempts to shoot her with a hidden gun in a Kaboom cereal box, only for Beatrix to dodge the bullet and throw a knife which kills Vernita. Nikkia witnesses her mother’s death, and is told by Beatrix that if one day Nikkia will want to avenge her mother’s death, she will be waiting. Beatrix then leaves in a yellow pick-up truck.

Death Proof:

Synopsis:

Stuntman Mike is a professional body double who likes to take unsuspecting women for deadly drives in his free time. He has doctored his car for maximum impact; when Mike purposely causes wrecks, the bodies pile up while he walks away with barely a scratch. The insane Mike may be in over his head, though, when he targets a tough group of female friends, including real-life stuntwoman Zoe Bell, who plays herself.

Inglourious Bastards

Synopsis:

begins in German-occupied France, where Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa. Shosanna narrowly escapes and flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema. Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine organizes a group of Jewish soldiers to engage in targeted acts of retribution. Known to their enemy as “The Basterds,” Raine’s squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark on a mission to take down the leaders of The Third Reich.

Django

Synopsis

In 1858, two white slavers named Ace and Dicky Speck march a group of African American slaves through the Texas heat. At night, they are approached by a stranger on a horse and carriage, a German dentist named Dr. King Schultz. After asking a slave named Django whether he can identify “the Brittle brothers” from the Carrucan plantation, which angers the Speck brothers, Schultz kills Dicky and wounds Ace. He buys Django for $125, and tells the other slaves they can do what they want with Ace.

The next day, Schultz and Django ride into Daughtrey, Texas, where Django’s status as a freeman raises suspicion. Talking over beers in the saloon, Schultz reveals to Django that he is a bounty hunter and needs Django’s help in identifying the Brittle brothers, in exchange for which Django can have a share of the bounty and his freedom. When the town sheriff calls them outside to face arrest, Schultz kills the sheriff with a quick-draw. When the marshal arrives, Schultz explains that the sheriff, named Bill Sharp, was actually a wanted criminal, and that the town owes him $200.

Around a campfire that night, Django tells Schultz he and his wife Broomhilda, who speaks German, were branded and separated after trying to escape together from the Carrucan plantation. At Schultz’s office in Chattanooga, Schultz tells Django he is to pose as Schultz’s valet. They find the Brittle brothers at a plantation in Gatlinburg belonging to John “Big Daddy” Bennett. A female slave points out the Brittle brothers, and Django kills two of them on sight. Schultz rides up and kills the third, and explains to Bennett his line of work as a bounty hunter. Later that night, Schultz and Django lure Bennett and his racist mob to his empty carriage, booby-trapped with an explosive, and Django executes Bennett.

Schultz tells Django the German legend of Siegfried and Broomhilda, and vows to help him find his wife. They continue bounty hunting together, with Schultz giving Django his first handbill for killing a man named Smitty Bacall, through the winter months. In the Spring, they head to Mississippi, where Schultz learns that Broomhilda was sold to Calvin Candie, the owner of a plantation nicknamed “Candyland.” Knowing Calvin to be a fan of “Mandingo fighting”—a bloodsport where slaves fight to the death—Schultz and Django plan to pose as Mandingo fighting purveyors in order to gain entry.

At Candyland, they are greeted by Candie’s lawyer, Leonide Moguy. Upstairs, two slaves fight to the death as Candie and others look on. Candie interrogates the men about their interest in Mandingo fighting, and is won over by Schultz’s offer of $12,000 to purchase a fighter. The next day, Candie and his associates (who remain skeptical of Django) tour Django and Schultz around the plantation grounds. Candie orders a runaway slave named D’Artagnan to be mauled to death by dogs. Back at the house, a house servant named Stephen reveals Broomhilda is being kept in a hot cellar as a punishment for running away. Candie orders her release when Schultz asks to see and speak German with her.

Candie’s sister, Lara Lee, presents Broomhilda to Schultz upstairs. Speaking in German, Schultz tells Broomhilda about their “mutual friend,” and she faints when she sees Django emerge. At dinner, Stephen intuits that Django and Broomhilda know each other, and tells Candie that the two of them are scheming behind his back, along with Schultz. After attempting to intimidate them with the skull of a deceased slave, Candie threatens to kill Broomhilda with a hammer unless they pay $12,000. Schultz agrees, and Candie releases her.

After dinner, Moguy draws up the bill of sale, and Schultz, Django, and Broomhilda are about to leave when Candie demands to shake hands with Schultz. After Schultz refuses and Candie insists, Schultz kills him with the same quick-draw he used to kill Bill Sharp. Moguy kills Schultz, Django kills Moguy, and a chaotic shootout ensues. Stephen coaxes Django out by holding Broomhilda at gunpoint, and Django finally gives up. The next morning, Django wakes up in a shed, having been tied and hung upside down, and is about to be castrated when Stephen intervenes, preferring to sell Django to the Lequint Dickey Mining Company.

On his way to the mining camp, Django convinces his Australian transporters that a large bounty for Smitty Bacall awaits back at Candyland. When they release Django, he quickly executes them, steals their dynamite, and heads back to Candyland, where he retrieves Broomhilda’s bill of sale from Schultz’s corpse, and finally frees her. That night, Django waits in hiding upstairs for Stephen, Lara Lee, and the rest of the party to return from Candie’s funeral, and kills them all, freeing the other house servants. On his way out, Django lights a fuse that detonates the dynamite, destroying Candyland. He and Broomhilda ride off together into the night.

The Hateful 8

Synopsis:

Years after the American Civil War, bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren is transporting three dead bounties to the town of Red Rock, Wyoming. He hitches a ride on a stagecoach driven by O.B. Jackson. Aboard is bounty hunter John Ruth, and handcuffed to him is fugitive Daisy Domergue, whom Ruth is escorting to Red Rock to collect her bounty and watch her hang. Ruth and Warren are previous acquaintances who bonded over Warren’s personal letter from Abraham Lincoln. Former Lost-Causer militiaman Chris Mannix, who is traveling to Red Rock as the town’s new sheriff, persuades Ruth and Warren to let him on the stagecoach. Warren and Ruth form an alliance to protect each other’s bounties. In snow-capped post-Civil War Wyoming, the rugged bounty hunter, John “The Hangman” Ruth, defies an imminent blizzard, bent on delivering his shackled prisoner, Daisy Domergue, to Red Rock to stand trial for murder. With the snowstorm rapidly approaching, John and his new undesirable travel companions–the fellow bounty hunter, Major Marquis Warren, and Red Rock’s soon-to-be-appointed sheriff, Chris Mannix–will have no other choice but to seek shelter in Minnie’s Haberdashery. But, there, another unwelcome encounter awaits, as four more suspicious strangers are added to this already volatile motley crew. Engulfed in this unforgiving white hell, the hateful eight must endure each other until the storm weakens; however, who is friend, and who is foe?

This mood board shows films in a genre called the action genre. This mostly consist of action related scenes, and mixes them in a story driven plot. Movies like ‘Rush Hour’ and ‘Expendables 2’ mix comedic sequences with action scene to drive a story in a sub genre entitled the Action Comedy genre. Movies like ‘The Terminator’ and ‘G.I. Joe’ take their stories in a more serious setting, in which the movie is solely driven by action and special effects. No matter the structure or the story, the movie must consist mainly of action to be considered in the action genre. The story usually revolves around a hero that has a goal, but is facing incredible odds to obtain it. 

Example movies:

‘G.I. JOE’

Synopsis:

The film opens in France, in 1641. The Scotsman Klan McCullen has been accused of selling weaponry to both the Scots and French. Rather than being executed for treason, the jury brands his face with a white-hot mask in order to humiliate him. In the near future, weapons expert James McCullen has created a nanotechnology-based weapon capable of destroying an entire city. His company MARS sells four warheads to NATO, and the U.S. Army is tasked with delivering the warheads. Duke and Ripcord are delivering the warheads when they are ambushed by the Baroness , who Duke recognized to be his ex-fiancee Ana Lewis. Duke and Ripcord are rescued by Scarlett , Snake Eyes and Heavy Duty . They take the warheads to The Pit, G.I. Joe’s command center in North Africa, and upon arriving rendezvous with General Hawk , the head of the G.I. Joe Team. Hawk takes command of the war-heads and excuses Duke and Ripcord, only to be convinced to have them join his group after Duke reveals that he knows the Baroness.

McCullen is revealed to be using the same nanotechnology to build an army of soldiers with the aid of the Doctor , planning on using the warheads to bring panic and bring about a new world order. Using a tracking device, McCullen locates the G.I. Joe base and sends Storm Shadow and the Baroness to retrieve the warheads with assistance from Zartan , inflicting casualties on several G.I. Joe soldiers. After a fight, Storm Shadow and the Baroness retrieve the warheads and take them to Baron DeCobray, the Baroness’s husband, for him to weaponize and use them to destroy the Eiffel Tower to serve as a showing of the warhead’s destructive power. Making their way to Paris, the Joes pursue them through the streets but are unsuccessful in stopping them from launching the missile. Duke manages to hit the kill switch, but in doing so he is captured and taken to McCullen’s base under the Arctic.

G.I. Joe locates the secret base and fly there as McCullen loads three missiles with nano-mite warheads. After Snake Eyes takes out one, Ripcord pursues the remaining missiles in a prototype Night Raven jet while Scarlett and her group infiltrate the base. While Scarlett and Snake Eyes attempt to shut down the Arctic base, with Heavy Duty leading an attack on Cobra’s forces, Duke learns that the Doctor is Rex Lewis, Ana’s brother believed to have been killed on a mission led by Duke four years ago. He was trapped in a bunker with Doctor Mindbender, disfigured in the blast which everyone presumed had killed him. The Baroness tries to free Duke but the Doctor reveals he has implanted her with nano-mites which has put her under his control for the past four years, admitting his amazement that she is resisting the programming. Attempting to kill Duke, McCullen ends up being facially burned as he flees with Rex to an escape vessel. Duke and the Baroness pursue him while the Joes fall back when Rex activated the base’s self destruct sequence.

Rex then heals McCullen’s burned face with nano-mites, encasing it in silver as he christens McCullen “Destro” and assumes the identity of Cobra Commander before they are captured by G.I. Joe soon after. On board the supercarrier USS Flagg, Baroness is placed in protective custody until they can remove the nano-mites from her body. Meanwhile, Zartan, having been earlier operated on by Rex, infiltrates the White House during the missile crisis and assumes the identity of the President of the United States.

Rush Hour

Synopsis:

It had been only two months since a giant shipment of stolen artifacts had been confiscated from a mastermind terrorist and the Chinese Consul had moved away from his Hong Kong home to live in the United States. It had been only two months since he left good friend Detective Inspector Lee to battle crime in the newly-Chinese city. And it has been less than a day since his eleven-year-old daughter was kidnapped.

The FBI is putting every available man on the case but the Consul demands one of his own is assigned to find his daughter; Detective Inspector Lee. Unwilling to cooperate, however, the FBI brings in arrogant LAPD detective James Carter to watch over Lee and keep him out of the way. Carter, frustrated with the pointless assignment, soon learns that keeping track of Lee is hardert han he first thought and he also acknowledges that the seemingly peaceful man is determined to bring back the girl alive.

Expendables 2:

Synopsis

Barney Ross is approached by CIA man Church, who wants him and his guns for hire to go to the former Soviet Union to retrieve something that was on a plane that crashed. Church doesn’t tell him what he is getting. And Church sends a woman, Maggie with him to make sure he gets it. They find the plane and get the thing but some men take one of Barney’s people hostage and the leader tells him to give him what they got or he’ll kill his hostage. They give it to him but he kills his hostage anyway. Barney asks Maggie what was so important about that thing. She says that it showed the location of a Russian plutonium storage mine. Barney decides to track the man down and deal with him. They track them down and discover that the man they seek is Vilain who leads a group known as The Sangs and that they have taken all the men from the surrounding villages to work the mine. 

Resident Evil Afterlife:

Synopsis:

After destroying the Umbrella Corporation’s Headquarter in Tokyo, Alice heads to Arcadia, in Alaska, seeking for survivors and following the broadcasted message that offers security, safety, shelter, food and no epidemics. However, the place has no one but Claire Redfield that wears a strange device on her chest and has no recollections. Alice withdraws the electronic device and flies with Claire to Los Angeles, where she sees a group of survivors on the roof of a prison asking for help and under siege of the undead. They land on the roof and they learn with their leader Luther West that Arcadia is actually a ship anchored nearby the harbor that has stopped broadcasting the message a couple of days before. Alice and Claire team up with the survivors and they decide to move to the vessel since the crowd of zombies is menacing their fortress. But first they release Claire’s brother Chris Redfield that is imprisoned in a cell. But in their journey to Arcadia, they have to fight against the legion of undead and also against a treacherous survivor.

The Terminator:

Synopsis:

Sent back from a dystopian 2029–where the cold machines have conquered the entire world–to 1984 Los Angeles, the indestructible cyborg-assassin known as the “Terminator” commences his deadly mission to kill humankind’s most important woman: the unsuspecting, Sarah Connor. However, from the same war-torn post-apocalyptic future comes a battle-scarred defender–Kyle Reese, a brave soldier of the human Resistance Army–bent on stopping the cybernetic killer from eliminating the world’s last hope. But, the Terminator has no feelings, he doesn’t sleep, and above all, he won’t stop until he carries out his grim task. Does our future lie in our past?

Shoot ‘Em Up

Synopsis:

Late at night, in an unnamed U.S. city, a solitary man sits at a bus stop. A pregnant woman runs by, pursued by a man with a gun. With reluctance, the man at the bus stop rescues her and assists with the baby’s delivery, while additional pursuers fire at them, including the gang’s particularly nasty leader, an intuitive man named Hertz. Our hero, known only as Smith, determines to save the child and find out why Hertz wants the baby dead. At a local bordello, he tries to employ a lactating hooker to watch the child, but things quickly escalate, and this makeshift family is soon on the run. Heavy metal music calms the baby. Why? A laboratory, gun factory, and presidential campaign all figure in Smith’s quest for the child’s safe deliverance.

Description:

The story surrounds a group of drug dealers concluding a deal to sell cocaine in the general area. The audience is then introduced to the thief, who finds the supply of cocaine and proceeds to steal it. The drug dealers catch the thief and begin chasing him through the streets. A high speed pursuit commences, leading are protagonist and his bandits toward a desert like setting. The cocaine is recovered, and as the two men walk off screen, the audience hears sirens coming from afar, (concluding that the cops were after them this whole time) which leads the protagonist and his partner to throw the cocaine away. The camera then cuts to a scene where the cocaine falls from the sky, This is a reference to the name cocaine rain.

Making this movie:

As director, My group had full freedom to insert creative ideas to the films premise. Adding new plot twists, making the story flow, and fleshing the characters out was mostly done through improvisation. The only structure our group was the basic idea of what we wanted to make, and an outline of what the characters would act like. With that information, we set out on scouting a location to make the primary scenes. We settled on an abandoned house on Mashta Island, it had the ascetic look of a millionaires house, with a nice back drop of the city of Miami. We began filming the car chase through crandon road, and made are way down to Virginia key. Virginia key served as the perfect secluded scene to which the climax of the movie is over. Our conclusion of the movie had to be dark to make the audience feeling tension between the characters and the scenery around them.

Script:

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Shot list:

Storyboard:

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This Preliminary task was entitled KnifeAndGun, which is based on the weapons used by the characters in the film. Our group consisted of members Santiago Philips, Kenneth Amador, And Myself included. The film was made in less than one day, and the editing took one night to complete. The story is based on crime and spoof films of the 1990s and 2000s. Films such as Spy Hard and Scary movie added inspiration to the scripts idea. The story board provided in depth insight of what exactly we wanted to see on screen. Kenneth wrote part of the script and acted, I wrote the other half and acted, and Santiago acted in the movie and wrote the storyboard.

My name is Alejandro, I am a junior at Mast Academy, and this blog is the documentation of my assessment of the 2019-2020 media studies course. I joined this class as an answer to my dear affection to the idea of film making. Films like “Gone with the Wind“, “Raiders of the Lost Ark“, and “Pulp Fiction” have deeply influenced my creativity in the realm of movies. By taking this course I believe I can improve my performance in film making and push myself to develop my first feature film. My first feature film will be entitled “The Next Best Thing” which is set to have a December 2020 release date. In my previous film “Knife and Gun“, the story is set in the city of New York, in which a recent killing has been reported. A basic, yet tangible story that audiences can connect with and thoroughly understand. My role as director and as actor made the film a bit of a challenge. The direction of the film is very important, especially since I was the only one that visioned the film, which made things complex when guiding my actors and cameramen. Coordination was maintained through the direction of my skills and views of what I wanted to see in the silver screen. I’ll currently be working on the introduction of the feature, and brainstorming new ideas for the movie. To obtain the skills required to make such a film, My group and I will need to work on multiple short films ranging between 2 mins. to 10 mins. early on in the year.

Creative Critical Reflection Compulsory Questions

1. How does your products use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
2. How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?
3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
4. How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?