Representation of Jack in Lost essay comments

• When writing a representation essay i need to avoid retelling the narrative over and over again, as that gains me no marks.
• Be more specific and detailed about the evidence i use from the text/film.
• Link all my evidence to how Jack is represented, some of my evidence didn't even show a representation of Jack.
• Consider mentioning stereotypes within the action genre of Lost.

Kings Speech case study

The King's Speech is a British film about King George VI who has a stammer. He ends up becoming King after his brother abdicated from the throne. He is considered to be unfit to be King but with the help of a very strange speech therapist, Lionel Logue, George ends up finding his voice and leads Britain through the World War 2.

Britishness

What makes a film British?

From the government: “Most people would define a ‘British’ film with reference to obvious cultural elements such as: a setting in the UK or a focus on British people abroad; a predominantly British cast; a storyline about some aspect of British life — past, present or future — or notably by, or based on a work by, a British author.”

But recently less British films are made in Britain or have British actors in it such as Slumdog Millionaire which is classed as a British film. But what classes this film as a British film is that the director and writer of the film are both British, so the film was created by British people, which can class films as British weather they are filmed in Britain and have British actors or not.

Box Office in the UK

The film it’s self on the opening weekend made a huge £3,523,102 in the UK on 7th January 2011 which made double the amount Slum dog Millionaire made on its opening weekend, £1.83m. The Kings Speech over all made a huge gross of $138,795,342, which is brilliant being as the film started with a small budget of $15,000,00.

Films Reception

IMDb give the Kings speech a rating of 8.1/10 and it got a mega score of 88/100 while Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an advert rating of 8.6/10 and 94% of the audience liked the film. With good reviews such as ‘The King's Speech features a fantastic, awards courting performance by Firth and is also brilliantly written, resulting in a surprisingly tense and very entertaining watch.’ (Rotten tomatoes) and ‘It's refreshing to see a historical drama avoid grand gestures and sweeping melodrama in favor of smaller more intimate stories.’ (Rotten tomatoes). ‘There was abundant humor without the film ever becoming a comedy, drama without dreariness, and many deeply moving moments. I can't praise this film enough. It boosted my appreciation of the human capacity to become our best selves, and rise to meet even the most daunting challenges’ (IMDb) and ‘The story line is all about his stuttering, but underneath all that are suppressed memories from childhood, growing up in the shadow of an elder brother, perpetual negative reinforcement from a domineering father, etc. It's a psychoanalytical look at a well-known royal family, and while I can't vouch for its absolute veracity, it gives a rare glimpse into the lives of people we wouldn't otherwise observe at this level of intimacy’ (IMDb).

Phillip French from the guardian who praises the film says that ‘the film is a major achievement, with Firth presenting us with a great profile in courage, a portrait of that recurrent figure, the stammerer as hero’ and that ‘It is the work of a highly talented group of artists who might be regarded as British realists’. But he also criticizes that ‘the film is not without its odd faults, the truly annoying one being the representation of Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall) as a supporter of George during the abdication’.

The film cant come without criticism, some reviews mention that the film contains a number of errors about the historical accuracy. The font used in the text in the BBC broadcasting room not being a font that was even available till the 50’s and also that some women were spotted wearing seamless stockings which were not available until later in life. Overall the film was criticized but the positives out way the negatives.

Web 2.0 and Exchange

The film itself had its own Facebook that advertised the film, posting posters and trailers as well as director comments and actors comments to attract a wider audience that are available on social networking sites. The film had a number of YouTube clips posted about it like people giving reviews and expectations of the film, for example a Youtube clip by beyond the trailer got 70,102 views. There were reviews and comments on the film in newspapers such as in the guardian by Phillip French and in the telegraph by Sukhdev Sandhu.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GBS1QUOMMU&feature=related

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/8244121/The-Kings-Speech-review.html

The film has an appeal, not only to a British audience because it shows a story where the royal family are seen in private and show personal troubles, but also to an international audience - members of the old British colonies in particular - because it shows a story where a "commoner" from the colonies develops a friendship with the King. This draws in a large audience from American who love their connection to the British monarchy and the idea that someone like them from a colony country could develop a friendship with a member of the royal family. Also gives Americans more information on the royals and that they are more normal and easy to connect with then you think, shows them in a different more common light.

The film’s origins

David Seidler the writer read about George VI's life after overcoming a stuttering condition he endured during his youth. He started writing about the relationship between the monarch and his therapist as early as the 1980s, but at the request of the King's widow, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, postponed work until her death in 2002. He later rewrote his screenplay for the stage to focus on the essential relationship between the two protagonists. Nine weeks before filming began, Logue's notebooks were discovered and quotations from them were incorporated into the script. Therefore this film originated from a true, real life story about an event that happened within the royal family.

The Finance

The UK Film council contributed towards the financial backing for the film alongside Prescience films and UK Film finance company that showed an immediate interest in the films making. Harvey Weinstein in the USA also became a huge investor of the film and together these companies have made $12 million of the budget.

Production companies

The production companies of the film were Weinstein Company, The UK Film Council, Momentum Pictures, See-Saw Films as well as other companies. See-Saw, a British/Australian company, financed and produced the film but by getting deals with key distribution partners such as The Weinstein Company (USA) Momentum Pictures (UK) Transmission (Australia) and Alliance Film (Canada). This is a good example of a film that can receive a huge global success and without the help of huge Hollywood studios.

Distribution and marketing issues

The trailers used for the UK and US differ, as the UK trailer shows more of Colin Firths character and his personal journey, overcoming his stammer and becoming King. But the US trailer shows more of Geoffrey Rush’s character and how he plays a huge part in helping George overcome his struggle with speech. In the US trailer Helen Bonham Carter’s character refers to her husband as the King rather than the Duke of York which is what she calls him in the UK trailer, which makes the US trailer want to seem more British to attract the American audience that love the British Royals so much. The UK trailer as well uses a well-known British quote from Shakespeare "some men are born great, others have greatness thrust upon them" this adds to the sense of Britishness in the UK trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq2IT299EKo UK Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzI4D6dyp_o US Trailer

The various posters and trailers all play an important part in the marketing of the film. The posters were placed everywhere, on the sides of buses, billboards, bus stops etc. The idea of the posters is to grab people's attention, having them everywhere means people can't avoid them, which makes them want to watch the trailer and find out more about the film. The trailer then aims draw the audience in completely and to get them to see it.

Major issues facing British film makers

“It's clear that British cinema has been weathering the global recession well” said UK Film Council chief executive John Woodward. He said the sectors of production, distribution and exhibition were "firing on all cylinders". But he said the marketplace for financing smaller, independently-produced British films has become more difficult. This was partly as a result of the overall economic slowdown and partly down to "the increasingly tough transition from the analogue to the digital age". However, it has been a record of couple of years at the UK box office overall from 2009-2012, with takings of £944m and the highest admissions since 2002 (173.5 million) thanks to films like Kings Speech, Slum dog millionaire and Avatar.

Tom Hooper mentions that the use of big name stars is a large part of the appeal to films and that also is very expensive. So although the digital revolution has change and given the British film industry opportunities film makers are still restricted by costs of marketing and distribution, and also the ability to make a film with wide appeal with blockbuster stars.

Dredd Film Presentation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z-N0A14Lz8

Seven Areas of Representation, Gender.

Gender definition:

Stereotypes associated with gender, males and females:


Gender is the state of being male or female (typically used with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones).

Men:

Aggressive

controled by sex
Sexual Predators
Non emotional

Messy

Athletic

Math and Science Oriented

CEO

Money Maker

Women:  

Submissive
Sexual Objects
Sexual

Emotional

Quiet

Neat/Clean

Clumsy

Artsy

Housewife

Child rearing 

A common stereotype which is commonly associated to families within our society is that men are the part of the relationship who are known to go to work and earn the money to support the family. Then the women are expected to stay at home, look after the children, do the washing/cleaning and have the tea ready for when the husband arrives home from work. 

Another stereotype of gender is that the females are thought of sexual objects to males and that males are thought to be sexual predators and evolve around having sex.

Examples of stereotypes in media:

This is a music video from the song shes so lovely by scouting for girls. In this video a very attractive women enters the bowling allay. She wearing red high heels, tight clothing and smiles cheekily at all the men as well as biting her lip her gestures are very sexy which shows women as sexual objects and submissive over the looks from men. The body language and flirting she does makes females come across as sexual because of the looks and gestures. All the men are mouth dropping, stopping what they are doing, being distracted or acting silly because this women has come in. They all drop what they are doing to watch her which shows men as sexual predators and that their controlled by sex. One man gets up and pushes another man because he looked at his girlfriend, this shows men as aggressive over anything and little things. 

                                        
This is a clip from the program Rome. Because this clip is set in Rome and old times this proves that this representation of females staying at home and males going out and working is a old stereotype that isnt   In this clip at the start it shows a clear stereotype that women stay at home cook and clean and care for the children. But it also shows that men are non emotional as he shows no caring for the women as she cries which also shows that women are very emotional which is another stereotype. It also shows that men are the ones in the world of gender that go out and do the work as the men in this video are out fighting and working. At the end the man takes advantage of the women and treats her as a sexual object only and this shows men as sexual predators and women sexual objects to males.

Issues and problems that occur:
-Women become annoyed that men have the stereotype of holding the power in relationships and every day life. They believe and hope that women are not always at home cleaning and cooking they can get jobs and be the ones to bring in the money for the family also that man can't walk all over them and expect women to want sex and women feel they need to be respected more.
-Men on the other not believe they are aggressive that they can be caring and loving to others also that these stereotypes make males seem desperate which they are not always sexual predators.

Representation of jack in the first plane crash epsiode of lost.

The scene when jack saves a women from dying he notices her when attending to the pregnant women who he then leaves to help the dying women. When he first arrives at her side he completely takes control despite the fact that a life guard is already trying to help. Despite jack knowing this man is a life guard he tells him straight what he is doing wrong and takes control himself to save this women that makes jack seem very powerful and control as well as medically knowing what to do to bring someone back to life. In this scene there are a couple of mid shots that show not only jack, the life guard and the dying women but also everything going on the background. The plane in pieces and people running around frantically is shown to show that despite everything going on jack isn’t distracted and is dedicated to save this woman.  There was also a high shot looking down on jack resuscitating the women to emphasis what he’s doing and that he knows what he’s doing to help save this women which gives the impression he must be a doctor. There were diegetic sounds going one of people screaming and the power of the plane going which was over the top of the dialogue the life guard and jack were having and when jack was talking to himself. Having these noises in the background again show jacks dedication to saving this woman and that he isn’t easily distracted.

As soon as jack arrives at the crash he comes across as heroic and controlling, as he’s continuously helping people and telling others what to do. He finds a man crushed by a part of the plane and tries himself to lift the plane but sounds for others to come over and help save this man. When he calls people over to help and they listen this shows his power he has over people to tell them what to do. A close is used on his face when he tries to lift to piece of plane off the man to enhance his facial expressions as he’s trying his hardest to move this off a man, which shows his strength and again his dedication. Another close up was used on jacks face when he shouts for some others to help his emphasises his serious expressions and the control over others to help. Again there was diegetic sounds of the plane’s engine and screams of others but these noises doesn’t distract him and he’s still capable of shouting for others over these sounds, showing power and heroic status to be heard. He uses his tie that he’s wearing to help with the man’s wound, this shows his costume, as he’s wearing a tie and smart professional clothing, which gives impressions with what he’s doing helping a man’s wound that he could be a very important doctor.

When jack comes out from the jungle thee camera does a close up shot on his face to highlight his confusion. Then the camera pans round to show the beach to give a paradise impression on the island, this pan breaks the 180 degrees rule of panning round for 180 degrees. Doing this with the pan makes the audience look and feel disorientated as the camera pans round too far showing jack’s confusion and make the audience feel confused. Then the pan edits back to a close up on jacks face showing his facial expression of confusion and shock of being on an island. While the camera pans across the beach sounds of the plane crash start being heard. Sounds of screams and engine sounds slowly are edited into the scene, even on the close up of jack the sounds are amplified and he then runs off towards the sounds. This shows jack as confused and disorientated by the surroundings he is in and despite the paradise look of the island he still sticks to hearing the screams and worries despite the look of paradise.

The Male Gaze, image notes

• hands on waist to attract attention to the waist area
• legs open, suggestive and sexual
• oiled up suggesting sex and sweat
• strong powerful poses
• eyes closed and head up suggests orgasms and sex
• wearing heels and stockings to look sexy and hot
• underwear black and see through, sexy
• looking away and down at the camera, shows power
• advert for women and interests men more
• image used for pleasure, selling and attracting attention

• arm up and gripping onto something to enhance arm muscles
• pulling his pants gives a suggestive sexual impression
• oiled up again to show sex and sweat
• looking straight at camera (breaking 4t wall)
• features of body, muscles, abs, facial bones enhance with use of direct lighting and oil
• tattoo on private area is sexy and suggestive
•  body toned and tanned but showing tan lines enhancing pant line and private parts

Why Dred failed at the box office

Why did Dredd failed at the box office essay.docx

Dredd Movie Presentation Script

Chloe:
The film was directed by Pete Travis who has directed films such as Vantage Point, Omagh and Endgame. DNA Films (who has done films such as 28 Days Later and the History Boys) produced the film with IM Global (who has done films such as Safe, Insidious and many upcoming films).  Dredd was distributed by Entertainment Film Distributers and Lionsgate. The film got the green light on 20th December 2008.

The cast includes Karl Urban (who plays Dredd) fromm Star Trek and The Bourne Supremacy,  Olivia Thirlby (Anderson) who has been in Juno and No Strings Attached and finally Lena Headley (Ma-ma) who has been in 300 and the Game of Thrones series.

The film received positive reviews from critics. The film had an average rating of 6.5 on the review website Rotten Tomato’s. IGN awarded the film eight out of ten and said, "Dredd is a character study, primarily, one fuelled by violence and action, and we can't think of a better way to re-introduce this character to cinema audiences.” The Guardian's Phelim O'Neill scored the film 4 stars out of 5 and praised Urban's performance, saying, "The essence of Dredd is that he is almost an anti-character—he doesn't change or learn—and Urban nails it in an ego-free performance".

The script for Dredd was written by Alex Garland who began writing in 2006. Garlands draft mainly revolved around one of Dredd’s main enemies called Judge Death. When developing the Judge Dredd character, Garland tried to closely follow what he was like in the comic-books, so he would only have small personality changes over a lengthy period of time.

Will:
A viral advertising site called “Dredd Report” was launched in august 2012. The site consisted of a video showing the use of Slo-Mo and links to news about the film. A tie-in comic book was published on the 5th of September and it is a prequel to the film's narrative and follows Ma-Ma's life as a prostitute. Posters for the film were released shortly after. Reports say that Lionsgate contributed $25 million to advertising and print costs.

Dredd won an Empire Award for best 3D and was nominated for best British film and best science fiction/fantasy film. They also won a Golden Trailer Award for Best Thriller TV Spot for the trailer.

The problem was that the 3D and 2D showings at cinema's were that there wasnt enough showings of them in the UK, so therefore people couldnt find places to watch the film at certain times or even find any showings of the film, as there was report in a review of the film that in some cinemas the film was only showed once so often. I think that Dredd did not have good success because they narrowed down the target audience too much and the sci-fi feel to it would not appeal to a lot of people. I also think that people may have thought that it was too simple and straight forward because the plot was easy to predict.

Jack:
The film was shot digitally and primarily in 3D using RED MX and Phantom Flex high-speed cameras. Some 2D elements were converted to 3D in post-production. Mega-City One’s high rise towers were created in Cape Town Film Studios.

Paul Leonard-Morgan used electronic music and 80’-style synthesisers and modern sounds to create various combinations of music. He said, "I was looking to create a timeless score which couldn't be placed in any particular era. So it's ended up being a cross between a modern dance track and evocative soundscapes." For scenes showing the effect of the Slo-Mo narcotic, he composed new music with real instruments and then slowed the songs down by thousands of percent. The film also includes songs from artists such as Vitalic, Matt Berry and Bobby Womack.

Chloe: I throughly enjoyed watching the whole film of Dredd. It was full of action and excitement with a very grown up yet thrilling persecutive to the cartoon comic judge Dredd. The film had a very gripping and understandable storyline that grow on me as it went through the film, but at the start i wasn't too sure how it would end or how it would all come together as it took a while for it to really get into the story line and become full of action. The only fault was that it ended too quickly and quietly, needed more fight and excitement at the ending of killing 'mama' she died to easily and quickly, despite that all in all was a thrilling and brilliant film to watch full of action and excitement despite its low budget and high loss, i enjoyed the film and will be watching it again.

Will: Although the film and its helmeted main character are straightforward and simple, it actually works better because it is easier to understand and is more realistic. The day-in-the-life style plotis a good way to introduce Judge Dredd and Mega City One and the film mostly avoids doing anything really annoying or irrelivant. I also liked the fact that Judge Dredd is not given a back story and is instead portrayed as the mysterious man with no name and that he never removes his helmet (just like the comics. I also appreciated that this version of Dredd is more hardcore and extremely violent whereas the 1995 version of Dredd was very feeble and comic.

Jack: Sci-Fi movies are not usually in my favor, meaning I don’t really like them. But action films; action films are my biggest interest when it comes to relaxing and watching a good movie. Dredd is a sci-fi and action genre film which means I could love it or hate it. As it happens I loved Dredd, the idea of the slow-mo drug in the film really gives the chance for the producer and directors to show slow, detailed scenes which you don’t get to see in some other films. These scenes are the parts such as gun shots and the detail when it hits the bad guys and you see everything that happens like the skin exploding and blood flying around. This brought a realistic feeling to the film not like in most films where it generally looks like fake killing and blood.

Dredd 2012 Research

Dredd 2012 is about when future America is an irradiated waste land. On its East Coast, running from Boston to Washington DC, lies Mega City One - a vast, violent metropolis where criminals rule the chaotic streets. The only force of order lies with the urban cops called "Judges" who possess the combined powers of judge, jury and instant executioner. Known and feared throughout the city, Dredd is the ultimate Judge, challenged with ridding the city of its latest scourge - a dangerous drug epidemic that has users of "Slo-Mo" experiencing reality at a fraction of its normal speed. During a routine day on the job, Dredd is assigned to train and evaluate Cassandra Anderson, a rookie with powerful psychic abilities thanks to a genetic mutation. A heinous crime calls them to a neighborhood where fellow Judges rarely dare to venture - a 200 storey vertical slum controlled by prostitute turned drug lord Ma-Ma and her ruthless clan. When they capture one of the clan's inner circle, Ma-Ma overtakes the compound's ...

The film Dredd was directed by Pete Travis who also directed films Vantage Point (2008), Omagh (2004) and Endgame (2009). The main characters that played parts in Dredd were Karl Urban who played Dredd and has also played in films Star Trek (2009), Star Trek into darkness (2013) and The Bourne Supermacy (2004). Olivia  Thirlby who played Dredds side kick and has started in films Juno (2007), No strings attached (2011) and The darkest house (2011). Also Lena Headey plays Mama the bad buy in Dredd but has also stared in films 300 (2006), The Purge (2013) and Game of Thrones (2011).

The estimated budget of Dredd was $35,000,000 and made a gross of $13,401,683 on October 26th 2012. The critical reception of Dredd got a megascore of 59/100 and had a rating of 7.0/100 which was rated by 125,460 people. Normally in a case like this having such a high rating and score you would think that the costings would double and make a strong profit but in this case it got a could reception but made a money loss which is very rare. 

The marketing of the film begin in  August 2012 when the viral advertising site "Dredd Report" was launched. The site featured a video condemning the use of Slo-Mo, and links to news about the film. A tie-in comic book was published; its plot serves as a prequel to the film's narrative and follows Ma-Ma's life as a prostitute, controlled by her pimp Lester Grimes. The comic was written by Judge Dredd Megazine editor Matt Smith, drawn by 2000 AD artist Henry Flint and was released on 5 September 2012. An exclusive film poster featuring artwork by Jock was released by Mondo to promote the film's appearance at the 2012 Fantastic Fest in September 2012. 

Dredd's marketing campaign won a Golden Trailer Award for Best Thriller TV Spot for the trailer "Big Addicted", and received nominations for a number of things such as Best Action TV Spot, Most Original TV Spot, Best Graphics in a TV Spot, Best Music TV Spot, and Best Action Poster and Most Original Poster for the Dredd motion poster.

Alex Garland wrote the script of Dredd and began writing Dredd in 2006 during post-production of Sunshine and completed his first draft during filming of 28 Weeks Later. Garland decided that the story needed to be more focused and grounded. He instead considered adapting some of the notable Judge Dredd storylines, including "Democracy" (1986) and "Origins" (2006), but he decided to avoid these lengthy tales in favour of a shorter, day-in-the-life story about Dredd and his function as a cop in the dystopian environment of Mega-City One.

Dredd was distrubuted by Entertainment Film, Distributors and Lionsgate and the studios that accupanied making the film were DNA Films, IM Global and Reliance Entertainment.
The green light was given to the producers Alex Garland, Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich on Decemer 20th 2008 that Rebellion and 2000 AD have announced that a new Judge Dredd movie is in development. Together with DNA Films, the movie production company behind such films as Danny Boyle's Sunshine and 28 Weeks Later, Judge Dredd will go into production in 2009. Jason Kingsley, CEO and Creative Director said, "We can't give away too many details at this point, but we're looking forward to working with DNA Films to bring Judge Dredd back to the big screen."
Dredd the film made a loss and therefore didnt not succeed in the film buiness. This was for many reasons such as the marketing. Lionsgate was only on the hook for the cost of prints and marketing for Dredd, so they may not have had the financial incentive to push the film hard enough. And what marketing I saw didn't really convey the "Batman-analogue in a dark future city" concept clearly enough. The R rating. The over-the-top violence in Dredd was one of the best parts of the film, but the comic has always seemed to be aimed at the smart 13-year-old. You could easily imagine a PG-13 Judge Dredd movie that would convey the violence and lunacy without quite so much overt gore — and that would have made more money as a result. Also another problem was that the 3D and 2D showings at cinema's were that there wasnt enough showings of them in the UK, so therefore people couldnt find places to watch the film at certain times or even find any showings of the film, as there was report in a review of the film that in some cinemas the film was only showed once so often.

The film was shot digitally and primarily in 3D using RED MIX, SI2K and Phantom Flex high-speed cameras. Multiple camera rigs were used. Some 2D elements were converted to 3D in post production. For scenes conveying the time and space altering effects of Slo-Mo, Mantle aimed to create images that would be beautiful but disorienting. Dredd also required ten days of filming and eight different sets inside and outside the studio which were blended together with visual effects. Slo-Mo scenes also feature a rainbow color scheme and sparkle highlights to create an unreal and otherworldly effect. The filmmakers experimented with blood bags, prosthetics, shooting real bullets, and compressed air to see the effect of direct body hits in slow motion. In the finished film, compressed air was used to create impact ripples on flesh.

I throughly enjoyed watching the whole film of Dredd. It was full of action and excitement with a very grown up yet thrilling persecutive to the cartoon comic judge Dredd. The film had a very gripping and understandable storyline that grow on me as it went through the film, but at the start i wasn't too sure how it would end or how it would all come together as it took a while for it to really get into the story line and become full of action. The only fault was that it ended too quickly and quietly, needed more fight and excitement at the ending of killing 'mama' she died to easily and quickly, despite that all in all was a thrilling and brilliant film to watch full of action and excitement despite its low budget and high loss, i enjoyed the film and will be watching it again.