Influential Practitioners

Quentin Tarantino has a catalogue of celebrated films that he has directed, produced, written and acted in, behind him. Tarantino has over the years created some instantly recognisable trademarks in his filmmaking, and has inspired others to take interest in his style of writing and directing. He has worked through many different genres including Arts house crime in Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs; war genre in Inglourious Basterds; action horror grindhouse with Death Proof; and action thriller with Kill Bill.

Kill Bill was one of the main influences for my teaser trailer and storyline idea. In Kill Bill there is a mixture of homages to different genres including: Hong Kong Martial Arts, Japanese chanbara , Italian spaghetti western, girls with guns, rape and revenge. In my film, I took some of these genres and hoped to make the trailer portray this. I used the idea of revenge, and the idea of ‘girls with guns’ i.e. making my character a strong female, who would go on her rampage of revenge and find her ex-husband and kill him in order to get back her ‘possession’. The audience are never clear in the trailer or in any of the forms of advertisement what the possession that she is searching for is. Nor are they aware what it is throughout the film until the final scenes in the storyline.

Another Practitioner I used for inspiration in my trailer was the Theatre practitioner and playwright Bertolt Brecht. I found his words inspirational to use in the trailer and the quote I used and coloured the text in red “Behind the pretty words lies a bloody reality” was very fitting to the film. I wanted to give an incentive for my audience to think about the subject of the film. I also wanted to create a contrast between the two Arts of Theatre and Film.  

These two practitioners have something in common between their works: Both of their uses of realism. Or lack of it. Tarantino creates ‘What if’ storylines to his films, where it is partly fantasy. Some parts of reality are left out in order to create a good story. For example in Kill Bill, the law enforcements are not mentioned or even thought about as the bride travels around the world killing those involved to avenge the ‘death’ of her child. In Brechtian theatre, it was not the storylines that weren’t realistic as such, but the methods of acting were never made to look like real life, Brecht believed that an audience should always be aware that they are watching a show or piece of theatre, and that the people onstage were, indeed, just actors.

Premiere Magazine: James Bond Analysis

This issue of Premiere magazine focuses on the new Bond actor, Daniel Craig, in the time before his first film in the role came out. The main image is of actor Daniel Craig, looking suave in a tailored black suit with a bow tie. He is looking out to the audience, however is not actually looking straight at the camera in the image, more past it, so it looks to the readers like he is staring past them. The main feature of this image is the shadow cast my Craig on the white background – which has been edited to show the character of James Bond with a gun in his hand. The use of the orange coloured text brings out the key words in the description, so that they audience can make out the subject – they can take the information that Daniel Craig is the new James Bond and that the next film will be Casino Royale. The yellow text is the less important information. However, this theme is the switched for the captions for the other articles, with the yellow text telling the readers the names of the people in the articles, and the orange text being the information of these articles. The other less important details and information is presented in a black and grey theme.

Empire Magazine: Harry Potter Analysis

This is the cover for an edition of Empire magazine. Its main focus and top story is the latest Harry Potter film. The background colour of the magazine is blue – which is used greatly in the colour palette for the Harry Potter films – as they always have a cold blue feeling about them. The main image on the cover is of ‘Harry Potter’ who is wearing a smart suit, however has cuts and scars on his face, showing action and battles. He is holding the well-known wand, which is pointing out toward the reader. The character is also looking straight off the front cover, out to the audience, which captures your attention. The wand looks like it is breaking through glass to almost get out of the magazine, and shards of glass are shattering across the page. Reflected in some of these shards of glass are the faces of other well-known characters from the films. Each of their faces are circling around the main image and Harry Potter to make him the main focus, and they are also much smaller images. Each of the other characters also look cut and hurt, showing their fights, and how they are also part of the action. The yellow text against the blue background makes it stand out to the reader and it jumps out at the audience. The white text also grabs your attention and most of the information is in the white coloured text. The grey text is the information that isn’t hugely necessary but gives more info. The yellow text in the grey text is the key words or highlighted factors. The title ‘Empire’ being red stands out as no other text or images on the page are red. The red colouring of ‘Empire’ is also recognisable for an audience as it is a logo and is usually always red. With the actual title of the main film (Deathly Hallows part 1) being smaller than most of the other text, it shows that majority of the audience and readers will also know what the title of the film is just from the image and the large caption of ‘Potter 7’.

Film Classifications and the BBFC

Film classifications are decided and rated by the BBFC (The British Board of Film Classifications). The BBFC are an independent, non-governmental body that has been classifying cinema films since 1912. When the Video Recordings Act was passed in 1984, the BBFC began to classify videos and DVDs. The BBFC classifies films under the categories as follows:

‘U’ or Universal is described as suitable for all. Categorically, a U is aimed at any audience of 4 years and over. A Universal rated film may contain mildly scary scenes, mild threats or menace, mild sexual behaviour (i.e. kissing), and very sensitively dealt with themes.
Examples of films with a ‘U’ rating would be: The ‘Shrek’ Series, Monsters Inc, Casablanca and Mary Poppins.

‘PG’ or Parental Guidance is for general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. A ‘PG’ film should not upset or cause disturbance to a child aged eight or older. Parents should make the conscious decision as to whether younger or more sensitive children are able to view certain films. In a ‘PG’ film Drug references or Discrimination must be clearly disapproved of or not referred to at all. Sex, Violence and bad language must be very mild and must not be detailed. Themes of a more serious nature should show that such behaviour or actions are not condoned or acceptable.












‘12A’/’12’ are films that are suitable for ages 12 and over. The same criteria are used to rate these films – the only difference being that the ‘12A’ category only exists for cinema films. Anyone younger than 12 years of age cannot view a ‘12A’ film unless accompanied by a responsible adult. ‘12’ and ‘12A’ rated films should not glamorise the misuse of drugs and infrequent moderate physical and psychological threat may be used, as well as dangerous behaviour should not be dwelled on in detail which could be imitated. Moderate language is allowed, however stronger language must remain infrequent. The treatment of themes, sex and violence must be content which is suitable for young teenagers to view.
Certificate ‘12’ films are: The Bourne Ultimatum, The King’s speech, Sherlock Holmes and The Holiday.

‘15’ rated films restrict anyone under the age of 15 viewing one of these rated films in the cinema or purchasing these video works. Discrimination regards that the work as a whole should not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour. Drug taking may be shown but drug misuse must not be glamorised or sanctioned as a whole. Also the use of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances, are unlikely to be authorised under this rating. Strong threats are permitted in 15 rated films; however they cannot be sadistic or sexualised. Dangerous behaviour must not be shown in great detail which could be copied. Strong Language of frequent use is permitted, however, the strongest less-used terms must be infrequent and justified by the context. Sexual activity and nudity may be shown without strong detail. No themes are prohibited, as long as they are suitable for the age restraint.
‘15’ rated films are: The Shawshank Redemption, Gran Torino, Slumdog Millionaire and Hot Fuzz.

‘18’ certificated films are not to be viewed in the cinema or purchased by anyone under the age of 18. Very little is limited at certificate ‘18’ apart from pornographic material, which is warned against with another certificate.
‘18’ films are: Pulp Fiction, Goodfellas, In Bruges, Fight Club and Kill Bill.

Total Film Magazine: Inception Analysis.

This is a magazine cover for Total Film. The theme of this edition is based around the film Inception. This magazine is dated Summer 2010, when Inception was first released. This theme is used in the colour scheme and certain texts. Titled: “The mind-blowing issue”; this has relevance and is referring to Inception, which is a film that is set “In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion”. This film was also said to be one that got people thinking. Therefore the magazine has picked up on the mind element of this film and toyed with that idea in its themes. This is also portrayed in the tagline for Inception “Inside the ultimate head trip”. The colour scheme for the film Inception is seen to be blue, and this colour scheme is used on the front of the magazine with the image and the design of the ‘Total Film’ logo. The logo is made to look like an electronic device or the inside of a computer – which relates to the technology element of the film. The red text theme is used to highlight or make certain parts of the text bold and more noticeable. In order to capture the audience’s attention, certain text is in red and is then followed up with the information in white. The use of bold white text also makes some titles more noticeable, followed by normal white text to create a softened effect. There are also metallic silver texts which link to Inception and electronic/modern/technology. The magazine also has the conventional features, like the barcode, price, date of the issue and the website of the magazine. The cover also draws an audience in with the use of a star. In this case; Leonardo Di Caprio is the star, who can not only be regarded as a star but also perhaps as ‘eye candy’. The character appears to be holding a gun, and is wearing a black suit, with insinuates the use of the action genre in this particular film; perhaps making certain audience’s/readers want to know more information and read the article and the magazine.

Chicago Poster Analysis

Chicago, The film adaptation of the Broadway stage show Chicago the Musical was released in 2002. This poster uses made different devices to draw an audience in. The first device would be the use of stars. The poster has prominently featured the lead cast; Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger and Richard Gere. They are all looking toward the camera that took the photograph of them, making it look like they are looking out of the poster to the audience. Making a personal connection. The poster is predominantly black, to make the red ‘Chicago’s stand out. The black colouring has connotations to be “mysterious, sexy and sophisticated.” Black can also be the colour of mourning and rebellion. It also portrays murder and elements of good and evil. The two girls are also portraying the contrast of good and evil in black and white dresses. Both colours can represent good and evil in different instances. Each character has an element of red in their costumes, the girls with red lipstick and nails, and Billy Flynn with a red handkerchief. The red lipstick and nails are a trait found in the stage version of Chicago which have been transferred to film. The red gives connotation of being sexy, evil, blood (which is highly prominent in this film) beauty, courage and death. At the feet of the characters is the skyline and view of the buildings in Chicago, Illinois. The portrays the characters being larger than life and overruling the city. The two girls are holding guns behind their backs, showing a mischievous and sly side to both of them, as well as giving away character traits and elements included in the film. The tagline – written in red under the characters feet – is “If you can’t be famous, be infamous.” Which makes the audience think that the characters wish for fame, but become infamous in the process, or are obsessed with the notion of fame. The title; ‘Chicago’ is written in black outlined red, apart from the 2^nd C, which is lit up bright red, and then enlarged behind the characters in like a red neon stage lighting. This is a prominent and memorable logo for the film.  

Casino Royale Poster Analysis

Casino Royale came out in 2006; and was an instant hit as the new James Bond series comeback. The background to this poster is a metallic like grey colour; that gives off the impression of seriousness and formality. This is then backed up with the evidence of Daniel Craig who portrays James Bond in a smart black suit, but with the bow tie undone – showing a sense of slight informality. He is also holding a gun, which shows the use of violence and weaponry in this film, which will interest a lot of the male gender audience as this is usually a point of interest in a film for this audience. There are then three separate images portrayed on the right hand side. The first, Is of a chase between two boats and a helicopter, if studied closely, one may be able to recognise the canals of Venice and surrounding buildings in this image. This Image gives an impression of action being featured in the film, and gives an idea as to what type of action. The second image is of the two leading cast members, Daniel Craig and Eva Green, also in the water, emphasising its presence featured in this film. This also shows the element of romance being featured in the film and again, opens doors for a wider audience to enjoy the film. The third and final image is much larger and shows an Aston Martin car driving past a large exploding building, showing more action scenes and the use of fast cars to excite an audience. These images are presented in a certain manner that looks like a gun barrel, a trait of the James Bond franchise, which defines it and makes it recognisable. The title is in a white text, centred and near the bottom of the poster. The text has a slight shadow to it, which is swept to the left to give the impression of movement and speed. The title is placed in such a way that the two ‘O’s are one above the other, with the ‘7’ placed strategically underneath to create the OO7 trademark for the James Bond films. The ‘7’ also features the well-known logo of the gun.