Sunday, 13 April 2014

Chronicle and Attack the block textual analysis.


Chronicle vs Attack the block - Draft essay
Chronicle, a sci-fi thriller teen film directed by Josh Tank in 2012 and Attack the block, a sci-fi comedy teen film directed by Joe Cornish in 2011 are films about groups of teenage boys that find a supernatural being; in Chronicle this is a suspected glowing radiation and in Attack the block it is an alien invasion. Chronicle and Attack the block both share a sense of the main characters having a personality transformation when coming into contact with their supernatural being, having to deal with this power. Both directors represent the coming of age through a theme of right of passage although in Chronicle we see Andrew take a wrong turn at this time and received deathly consequences from the geeky shy boy we see at the beginning of the film, whereas in Attack the block, Moses turns his life around dramatically from the troublesome youth he was.
Andrew, a shy, timid boy that gets bullied at school and abused by his father at home from Chronicle comes into contact with the supernatural being later to be discussed to perhaps be radiation with his cousin Matt and very recently discovered friend, Steve. Chronicle follows stereotypical personalities in high school group of friends, Andrew is the stereotypical geek who’s appearance also matches, a small pale skinned boy with a bad, long haircut and terrible fashion sense, Matt, Andrew’s cousin is the stereotypical geek with a big build and good sense of fashion and Steve is an all round popular boy about school with lots of friends and gets good grades, Steve is also black, this makes the film producers cater to a new audience and also avoids being accused as racist because otherwise there would be noone in the film of a different ethnicity to American. At the point that they discover the radiation Steve asks Andrew to come and see what he and Matt had found and if he could record it as the viewer watches the entire film through Andrew’s perspective, this is shown from the beginning through Andrew’s camera. Through filming the film this way the director has given the viewer a bigger insight into the personalities of the 3 boys, this way you see the transformation as they grow into adults through their right of passage. When we see Andrew zoom closer to the radiation with his camera, at this point the camera is handheld and as this happens we see it change from the glow of a pure blue representing innocence to a fiery red, this foreshadows the start and end of Andrew’s character (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4fZV9oaiII – 2.19 onwards). The supernatural being gives Andrew, Matt and Steve the power of telekinesis, they keep this a secret as they don’t want anyone to interfere with what they have found because they subconsciously feel as though they need to act appropriately to how everyone thinks of them and they don’t want to be seen as trouble makers. However, the boys in Attack the Block act in the complete opposite way.

Moses, Pest, Jerome, Dennis and Biggz are all boys living on ‘The block’ where Attack the Block is set. They spend their time being intimidating, pestering and mugging anyone who walks past that doesn’t live on the same council estate targeting mainly the weak. We see an example of this at the very beginning of the film where they animalisticly circle a young nurse named Sam in the dark when she’s on her own. Moses throws her to the ground and threatens her with a knife while the rest watched as he mugged her of all her valuable possessions at this point all of the boys faces are covered, they are mainly dark silhouettes with a glimmer of their eyes in the light. They are only mugging Sam because she is alien to the block, they don’t trust anyone that walks the streets and area of the block and are willing to get rid of anyone that does. Just after they manage to force her to hand over her engagement ring, a bright light is seen in the distance and something crashes into the car beside them, as Sam escapes Moses investigates and discovers the alien and decides they need kill it. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz30vlff2kQ(2.05-4.14)). After they do kill it, they don’t hide it like Andrew, Matt and Steve as they’re expected to lie and intimidating so they carry the alien around as a trophy, this represents and fits the stereotypical urban London youth, they just want to scare everyone that they walk past or encounter when they’re being troublesome, they’re not scared of their consequences as they don’t care about anyone else. Their outfits also contribute to how they affect other people too, being dressed in a neck chief covering half their faces and wearing tracksuits is a stereotypical outfit to wear if they’re classed as being a terrorising youth in London’s society, the boys accommodate this stereotype, this shows how childlike and immature they actually are, although they act like
Conspiracy is also a theme in both Chronicle and Attack the block, both groups of boys blame the government for their supernatural finding’s showing they’re all actually quite naïve and willing to blame anyone else that has more power than themselves, they would’ve gained these views from their parents or other adults they have around them showing they’re not yet old enough to have made their own views. Chronicle mentions their supernatural finding to be a hidden mistake of the government’s and that they’ve hidden dangerous radiation underground in their town. Attack the block also mentions the government putting the alien on the block to ‘get all the little black boys like they did with the drugs and guns’. This is because in both America where Chronicle is set and England where Attack the Block is set, children both feel hard done by, by society and by the government due to how their home lives are. By the end of Attack the block you can see Moses at a turning point, no longer being a child and taking his life experiences and turning them into a useful experience to become an adult.

In Chronicle we see Andrew being beaten by his father, bullied at school and his mother dying because they can’t afford the treatment for her to get better, this all contributes to the anger that Andrew has by the end of the film, where he destroys the city and attempts to infact kill his own father. We see Andrew’s anger and violence slowly build throughout the film leading from using his telekinesis to pull slowly rip of a spiders leg’s to his huge downfall where he destroys the city, this shows Andrew never does come of age, he goes from being a mature adult to digressing to a child using his one power that he believes he has greater than that any other human and uses it to get his revenge on all the people he hates, which is the world as he feels hard done by. In Attack the block we see the boys be wrongly accused of criminal offenses and towards the end see Moses living on his own at 15 years old with and uncle that drops in now and again meaning Moses steals and intimidates to survive. We discover this through Moses telling Sam to go to his flat in order to save herself where she see’s the state of his home and then asks him who he lives with and in fact how old he is, she then feels very guilty. Moses also feels let down by the world, which he has been, he’s had to deal with being a child and also taking on the role of his own parent at the same time.

Juxtaposition is used a lot throughout both films both in a way of family, this emphasises the change that we see in Chronicle with Andrew and Attack the Block with Moses. Chronicle juxtaposes Andrew and his cousin Matt throughout the film, after they get their telekinesis they experiment using lego bricks, we see Andrew build the a tower we see later in the film out of the lego and Matt knocks it down (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oe2a0hxe1c 0.28 onwards), we then see during Andrew’s downfall Andrew destroying the real tower and Matt trying to save it(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SCzEhRZX4g).  The comparison between two family members as close in age and as different in similarities emphasises Andrew’s downfall and is very effective as most viewers can relate to being compared to a family member that is close in age.

Attack the block also uses juxtaposition in Moses and Hi-Hatz, being leaders of their own ‘gang’s’ but part of the same family sense of the block, makes the comparison of them being brothers. We see Moses as a younger version of Hi-Hatz, we expect him to grow into Hi-hatz but as the film plays out we see Moses grow into a different adult, the binary opposite of Hi-Hatz. They are both looked up to and respected by their friends, the most prominent scenes where Moses and Hi-Hatz are juxtaposed is where they each leave the blooded elevator. As they each leave the elevator they have had and will continue in a different motives, Hi-Hatz leaves after killing multiple aliens and also letting them kill his friends and is planning on killing Moses, his friends and even more aliens. Whereas, Moses leaves the elevator after saving the block, blowing up his own flat, losing friends and wiping out the aliens and is planning on just taking his expected punishment from the police as he is usually punished for what he hasn’t done and no one believes him anyway, a completely different Moses to who we had seen at the beginning, when arrested for actually doing something wrong he still fought back but throughout the story has come of age into a mature adult.




Both Andrew and Moses have a turning point that makes the opinions of those around them change dramatically. Andrew’s change is gradual, leading up from him thinking of himself as an ‘apex predator’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQdZeOxzFdY) but is fully carried out when he gains so much popularity through winning the talent show and being friends with Steve and then is shortly all taken away from him after embarrassing himself carrying out amorous activities with a girl and vomiting on her, this crashes Andrew’s world and recently discovered social life as losing your virginity is a big part of coming of age and he has managed to ruin that too, he’s still not an adult. After losing everything he’s always wanted in such a short amount of time pushes Andrew over the edge, with his new found power and belief of himself being an apex predator and stronger than everyone else shows him taking an immature childish approach to his ultimate downfall previously foreshadowed by Matt “Your head is getting huge, this is the beginning of your downfall I’m telling you. Hubris.” where he is essentially throwing a very violent tantrum using his powers. This is a gradual process by killing smaller insects slowly (www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sP4wixKzzY), beating his father (www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OWwOfql2ZA), stealing (www.youtube.com/watch?v=DILLiYa8j74)and eventually destroying the city (www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m7z7HGZY9M); this turning point means Andrew is now the complete opposite to how he began, now being the villain instead of the victim. This now darker character is shown very cleverly, through the previously explained first person filming showing the story through Andrew’s handheld, after he steals from the thugs on his street Andrew is filmed through CCTV and other civilians camera phones, like he’s a caged animal. The lighting is dimmer, Andrew is almost always shadowed or is the only thing lit up in complete darkness, both the camera and lighting make it an unsettling feel and show’s Andrew’s coming of age had most definitely taken a turn for the worst.

The same process happens in Attack the Block, except Moses uses his power and takes it into responsibility. As Sam explains that the alien’s must be after him since he killed the queen of their species, Moses realises that he needs to end all that he has started and takes his power to save ‘the block’ and potentially the rest of the world. This takes Moses’ starting character as a troubled youth, a villain almost and makes him a hero. It also shows Moses going through his right of passage to becoming an adult at the young age of 15, as we find out from Sam in this scene. He has had to beg, borrow, steal, lie and cheat his way to survival and is now taking responsibility of his actions to save what he feels is family and more, especially seeing as he has already lost friends due to the damage he has created and becomes an adult.

Both Chronicle and Attack the block have extreme life changing ends. Chronicle leaves Matt having to take everything into his own hands, Andrew is destroying the city, killing people and trying to kill his own father and he becomes the main character taking the right of passage from being a teenager still, going to parties and school living a normal life to having to save the world just like Moses. Also like Moses, has to end the life that is destroying everything around them, he has to kill Andrew (a tragic ending, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6DJhD1K85k – 1.15) in order for everyone to live and although this may be misjudged as no one other than Andrew and himself know what is going on so he has to leave the city with a quick escape so that the police and authorities don’t try to kill him too or use to him for experiments. This therefore is a tragic ending either way, Andrew a young boy at first innocent is consumed by power through his lack of it his whole life, he never became an adult, although he had a tough life and seemed to be quite mature when given the chance to get his own back on the world he let his childish motivations and insecurities take control, ruining his own life and the others around him. Matt an innocent teenage boy in the right of passage to becoming an adult has had to kill his own cousin and flee due to his actions to save himself. All of this had happened through the perception of them both from society.

Attack the block has a heroic ending, after having killed all the aliens and saving the block, having had his criminal record and recent incident with Sam the police arrested Moses straight away. He and Pest are sitting in the back of the police van waiting to be taken to the station when they hear all of the block’s residents chanting Moses’ name after Sam told the police what had happened, being a respected nurse they believed her and the film ends on a close up shot of Moses’ face smiling for the first time in the whole film. He finally feels believed in and that his risking his life that night hadn’t been wasted, he feels like a hero and you can tell his life had changed for the better. This is all through the belief of him through adults and authoritive figures opinion of him. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMGW_gVNJgQ)

Through the perception of the boys in both Chronicle and Attack the block and the right of passage that both Matt and Moses have to endure makes them turn in to complete different characters than what we see at the beginning of the films. We see Andrew killed through the consumption of power and opinions of him from society and we see Moses’ life change dramatically also through the perception of him from society. Both face binary opposition and they have to overcome taking the home life difficulties they have had to endure their entire lives in different ways, Andrew facing a tragic ending of death, Moses’ restarting his life as an adult and Matt having to start a new life on his own due to his cousins actions and constantly being compared to him. 

Tuesday, 1 April 2014

Evaluation


The aim of my script and key frames was to produce a sequel of the film Chronicle based in England about 3 girls that had found the same paranormal activity a suspected radiation, the script is also meant to explore the theme of coming of age as I explored this in my textual analysis of Chronicle and Attack the block. The script shows the personalities of all 3 girls, they each follow stereotypes, I created Kelly, the rebellious uninterested selfish character who wanted to keep her powers for herself, Rachel the girly, high maintenance character who wants to figure out the situation and Melanie, the main character of my sequel who is quiet, guarded and innocent who will later turn into the complete opposite just like Andrew did in Chronicle. The aim of the script was to show the blossoming of the girls going through a right of passage to becoming adults, taking the situation they are in and dealing with it in an adult manner. The key frames for my creative artefact was to show key points in my script that had significant meaning to support my MACRO of representation of coming of age by showing the darkness and also innocence of quiet character Melanie and to give a visual representation of the 3 girl's attitudes to the situation they're in. Teenagers are their true selves when they are in their own environment in the comfort and safety of their bedroom, you can portray their personality and inner thoughts through the dressing and lighting of the room. I needed to show Melanie to be innocent but also deep and guarded and foreshadow the future of how it will all turn out, I did this through the lighting and body language, having Melanie leaning back into the darkness while Kelly and Rachel were lit brightly. I also had glowing bright lights slightly appear on the girls faces to represent the glow of the sink hole that they had just encountered.


When writing my script and creating my 9 key frames, I wanted to show the information learnt and gained in my textual analysis by incorporating codes and conventions found in the film I analysed, Chronicle. One example of how I did this was through the use of lighting, Chronicle uses lighting to show the mood of the scene and the personalities of the characters, in my first key frame I made Rachel (the character situated centre) brightly lit as she is innocent and intelligent whereas the Kelly (to the left) is situated further back and is dimly lit, this is because she is rebellious and uninterested and also is hiding the secret that she thinks she has powers that she doesn't want to share and Melanie is placed even further behind Kelly and Rachel and is basically completely dark as she will later be the villain although now she is shy, quiet and very guarded. I also used coloured water speakers to reflect light on the 3 girls faces in multiple key frames to represent the sinkhole and radiation glow, also this way the speakers are also believable to see in the photos too, keeping with the theme of representation of coming of age. In my last key frame I recreated the iconic pose in Chronicle where Andrew is crushing the car with his powers behind him, I took this from a low angle looking up at Melanie's face and made the lighting very dark to foreshadow the danger to come. I also incorporated the codes and conventions of Chronicle into my script, I did this by keeping the number of main characters, the age of the characters and the personalities but also by adjusting them to fit the gender. 

The location report was essential when organising and taking my 9 key frames, it made me think about where my key frames would be best suited and if it would be easily accessible. I considered many different locations to take my key frames in bedrooms of people that I know in and around Dartford and Gravesend but eventually decided on my own bedroom. I decided upon this location for many reasons, the room is quite large, enough room for all 3 actresses to be in and myself taking the photos, the room contains all the aspects of typical teenage room without having to add much to create Melanie's bedroom other than small props such as fairy lights, closing curtains and blankets. Although, I did have to photoshop new wallpaper as the bedroom didn't quite represent the stereotypical quiet goth type character. It wasn't until writing the location report that I had the idea to improvise the water speakers into my key frames and to use them as part of the photos to represent the glow as the lighting wouldn't have been bright enough without them.

I believe that my script and 9 key frames were a success and completed the task for my Film Studies AS coursework. They represented my MACRO of representation found in my textual analysis very well, they show my understanding and creativity in taking what I had learnt and written about in my textual analysis and applying it into a much more creative context. Although I am very happy with how script and 9 key frames had turned out for my coursework, there is always of course room for improvement and there's a lot I would've done differently. If I were to redo my 9 key frames, I would look into more detail about the way my key frames were taken, I could've taken pictures of all 3 girls in their own bedrooms on a skype call to eachother this would then represent the personalities of each of the characters much better and would've made it a lot easier to convey the message of their coming of age. However, I'm proud of how my script and key frames compliment and support eachother and consider my portfolio a success.

Friday, 14 March 2014

Key frames atm

'Rachel' brightly lit to show her innocence in this situation, Kelly uninterested and on her phone in the dark to show her hiding the secret that she'll later reveal and Melanie looks scared and guarded and also in the dark to represent her darker side.



























Extreme Close up of Rachel's blooded nose. Blood represents death and danger. (foreshadowing)



























Rachel and Melanie close up, blacked out background. Rachel brightly lit to represent her innocence and Melanie in the darkness with a red glow in her cheeks, they're directly opposite to eachother to foreshadow the opposition and juxtaposition between the two.

All the girls brightly lit to show their discovery on the laptop, the coloured glow on their cheeks represent the glow of the sinkhole.


Blackened around the laptop and then a bright screen to grab your attention with the recognisable coloured glow in the corner to represent the sinkhole they've previously seen.

Focus is on Kelly as she reveals her secret.
Melanie looking very dark with her messy postered bedroom walls to represent that her mind is also messy and all over the place as she levitates the popcorn.

Friday, 7 March 2014

Location Report

The following pictures is the location I will use for my 9 key frames for my creative artefact. This location is ideal for my screenplay, it reflects perfectly the realisation scene for my sequel to Chronicle. This location is my bedroom, it fits my MACRO very well with being the representation of teenagers, the location represents Melanie, it lets the viewer see the real character and an insight into her personality, plus teenagers are always themselves in the company of eachother and in the privacy of their bedroom. The room is quite small so will seem like an intimate, quiet, secretive conversation between the 3 girls in the scene, Rachel McMullen (Briony Costanza), Kelly Robinson (Maisie Scarth) and Melanie Rose (Courtney Southern).

The room represents Melanie very well, Melanie being a quiet and shy person, very much in to listening to music and keeping herself to herself staying home and reading books, this room suites her guarded personality very well and gives us an insight into her character. Melanie's character will come through even more through costume and closed body language as will Kelly an outgoing and rebellious girl with a huge interest in fashion, Kelly will show her personality mainly through her attitude in dialogue and her uninterested body language. Rachel's a very feminine girl but is also very clever and interested in finding out information and learning this will be shown in the dialogue she has with the other two girls, her body language and her interest when researching the sinkholes.

The room will be illuminated through 2 pairs of fairy lights and a laptop that'll be placed in the middle of the floor and will be an essential prop in the scene. The glow of the laptop reflecting on Rachel's, Kelly's and Melanie's faces represents the glow of the sinkhole that they had found in a previous scene and also a very similar sinkhole to the one found and shown in the original Chronicle. The room will also be dressed with a pair of red curtains that will completely block out any sunlight from outside, so the room will be completely lit through fairy lights. The fairy lights give an insight into Melanie being innocent and pure against the fading white walls, but the red carpet and curtains symbolise a foreseeable death, therefore it foreshadows a possible death among the innocent. The room will also include many props including the laptop mentioned previously, a bowl of popcorn, 3 glasses of drink, notepads, pens, mobile phones and a couple of blankets.

The Location that I will be using will be my bedroom, it's located in Northfleet in Pheonix Parc estate very near to Ebbsfleet football ground.






You can get to the location in many ways, there are many buses running every 10 minutes to a bus stop that is not even a 3 minute walk to, it's able to drive to aswell and there are 2 train stations both a maximum of 10 minutes walk to.

There aren't many health and safety hazards with my location, but the location is in a housing estate but to get to the house, there is a very busy main road and you must use the crossing to cross in order for safe arrival. The bedroom is on the top floor and located not far from stairs, all people participating must make sure they're not running too fast or that there is anything on or above the stairs that is possible to slip on. The bedroom is on the 3rd floor of the house with a window, if at any point someone needs to open a window or be near the window they must make sure they're not leaning too far out of the window and not to fall out. Also, there will be glasses and a glass bowl on the floor when taking the key scenes, actors must make sure they don't kick or stand on glasses and cut their feet.


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