Media Essay

Media Essay

Movie: ‘The Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift’

Director: Justin Lin

‘The Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift' was produced in 2006. It is a Japanese-American illegal street racing action fildirected by Justin Lin. The movie is the third version of the Fast and the Furious film. Alabama the teenager Sean Boswell becomes a major competitor in the world of drift racing after moving in with his father in Tokyo to avoid a jail sentence in America.

These few minutes in the film has created a great impact towards film language. The sound within this part of the movie has created a large impact. It first starts off with the background music or sound track which is non-Diegetic. (Non-Diegetic refers to everything outside the world of the text).  It then carries on with speech which is now involved. This type of sound is Diegetic. (Diegetic refers to the world of the text. It is sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source implied to be present in the action). We then go on to hear a larger sound track and also, an introduction to some of the car noises. The Car noises are Diegetic in order to add more dramatic affect onto the car. It kind of shows how much power and energy the car has stored. Also, in a way, the soundtrack also links the mood of the film. I notice this because at 0:35 seconds into it, I notice the people staring at each other with a smile after looking at the potential of the car. Then a new soundtrack comes in which sounds like a song whereby people are ready to work which happens as it goes along. I notice another sound which is the drifting. The drifting is a Diegetic sound which creates impact on the way the car breaks and glides.

The place and editing within this part of the movie is extremely effective. The film first starts in a garage or mechanics. It looks like the people inside are waiting for news or an arrival. I can tell this because, it first starts with two characters on their phones, and another character walking around anxiously before a message has come through. The film then leads onto outside, (maybe outside the garage), whereby a discovery of a car has come through and left with a smile on their face. The smile on their face indicates a sign of happiness and joy because they thought all the car had been taken away, but there was that one car left. The place then changes to two main places. This was mainly the garage and outside where the car had been tested. This creates a great impact toward this clip in the movie for several reasons. One reason is that it shows the progression of the car they are building. Another reason is that it is showing some of stages the car has to go through in order for it to be how they want. And another reason it shows the input and success to what they have created.

The ‘Mise-en-scene’ of the film is extremely effective. Mise-en-scene which means in French, "placing on stage” is an expression used to describe the design aspects of a theatre or film production which essentially means "visual theme" or "telling a story". Both in visually artful ways through storyboarding, cinematography and stage design and in poetically artful ways through direction. From 0:37 to 0:42seconds, there is a background affect which creates depth and detail of the car they are looking at. As they are outside, the main light source which is used is back light which is the natural source of light. This shows that the scene took place during the day.

The cinematography of the film is very important. The first thing I notice is a long pan shot which almost reaches 360 degrees. This is extremely affective because with the pan shot, it shows all the characters within it. Another thing I notice about the pan shot was that it also started moving forward as it was turning. Then it started to follow the main character which leads it from first being a pan shot to slightly a tracking shot. The effectiveness of this pan shot is that is viewed the important characters within the garage. When all the characters go outside, the camera starts off close before it starts to move out. This then leaves the concentration on the car. As the movie progresses, a mid shot are in action around 0:29 to 0:34 seconds. The affect this brings onto the film is as if what they have seen is not a good sight. But when the camera changes to an ‘Over Shoulder’ angle, it shows that they are happy with what they have found. This also creates a great affect towards the film because; it shows what impact the different camera angles have on the mood of the film. When the character starts driving the car, the camera is kind of used as a tracking shot. This was extremely affective because it creates an affect whereby it feels like we are in the car and we are experiencing the drifting.

A-Team (2010)

• Director: Joe Carnahan
• Writers: Joe Carnahan, Brian Bloom and Skip Wood

A-Team is about a group of Iraq War veterans who are looking to clear their name with the U.S. military. Also they suspect the four men of committing a crime for which they were later framed. 

Cinematography Within Films

Cinematography

• It is from the Greek word 'Kinema' which means 'Movement'. 
• It mainly is to do with the camera and lighting departments. Also the person operating the camera is the cinematographer. They would work closely with the director, gaffer and grips.

Lighting

Key light is the brightest light on the subject.

Filler light softens the harsh key light and eliminates harsh shadows.

Back light counters the key light, helping to add depth of field and makes the subject look more 'rounded'. It is also when the light source is behind the subject creating silhouettes. 

Under light which is the main source of light and come from below the subject. This is mainly used in horror films.

Top lighting is when the main source of light comes from above the subject, highlighting features to create a glamorous and flattering look in a star. 

Low key lighting is using only the key and back lights. It creates a sharp contrast of light and dark which creates framing deep shadows.

High key lighting means more filler lights are used in order to create a brighter day and light effects. 

Denotation is what you see. It refers to the literal meaning of a word, which is the dictionary definition.

Connotation is what you think of. It refers to the associations that are connected to a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to that word.

Graphic match is when one image 'cross-fades' into another.

Directing Within A Film

Plot, Narrative or Story?

A story will have a beginning, middle and end. On film, these can unfold in a different order.

A story is a series of events deliberately arranged so as to reveal their dramatic, thematic, and emotional significance (Linear/Non-linear narrative).

Directing

The art of good directing, or good story telling is the ability to plot a story in the most compelling way for an audience.

Different Sounds

Diegetic/Non-Diegetic

• Diegetic sound refers to the world of the text. This could be dialogue, sound effects, music with a source within the text and more.
• Non-Diegetic sound refers to everything outside the world of the text. This could be voice overs, sound tracks, captions, titles and more.

On/Off Screen

• On-screen sound is when the audience can see the source of sound.
• Off-screen sound is when the audience can not see the source of sound. This enables the extension of the Diegetic world.

Parallel/Contrapuntal

• Parallel sound matches the action.
• Contrapuntal sound does not correspond with the action.

Sound Bridge

• Sound bridge helps create a smooth transition between one stage to another.
• The sound 'Bridges'-the two scenes.

Different Camera Shots

The Birds Final Attack Sequence with Full Symphonic Score

"The Birds" (1963)

The movie is about a wealthy San Francisco socialite accompanies a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town called Bodega Bay. The town slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people within the town in increasing numbers and with increasing viciousness.

• The movie is 119 minutes long.
• Director: Alfred Hitchcock
• Writers: Daphne Du Maurier & Evan Hunter

What makes this movie a thriller?

1. The external threat is from nature.
2. Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing frequent action.
3. The resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains.
4. Device such as suspense, red herrings and more are used.

During the movie, did you know the scene where Tippi Hedren is ravaged by the birds for real life during the film. 

“Rita Riggs (the wardrobe supervisor) had put bands around my body, about an inch thick, and they tied the birds very loosely to me with the elastic around their little ankles and finally, on the last day, one of them jumped from my shoulder and really cut me, way too close to my eye. And I just got the birds off and just sat in the middle of the set crying, because I was totally exhausted.”




How was it done?

• The movie featured 370 effects shots.
• The final shot consisted of 32.

The End

• The film does not finish with the usual 'The End'. 

Psycho

The movie is about a a young woman who steals $40,000 from her employer's client. She subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor for too long under the domination of his mother.

• The movie is 109 minutes long.
• Director: Alfred Hitchcock
• Writers: Joesph Stefano & Robert Bloch

The Shower Scene!

The murder of Janet Leigh's character in the shower is the film's pivotal scene and one of the best-known scenes in all of cinema history. As such, it spawned numerous myths and legends. It was shot from December 17th to December 23rd 1959, and features 77 different camera angles. The scene runs 3 minutes and includes 50 cuts. Most of the shots are extreme close-ups, except for medium shots in the shower directly before and directly after the murder. The combination of the close shots with their short duration makes the sequence feel more subjective than it would have been if the images were presented alone or in a wider angle, an example of the technique Hitchcock described as "transferring the menace from the screen into the mind of the audience".

North by NorthWest

The movie North by NorthWest directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is a hapless New York advertising mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies, and is pressured across the country while he looks for a way to survive.

• The movie is 136 minutes long.
• Director: Alfred Hitchcock
• Writers: Ernest Lehman

Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent actions. Some of these features may include; Cliff hangers towards the end, the action in the auction, when Cary Grant is drunk and driving the car and a few more.   

"Resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains" 

• This is true when Cary Grant tries to track Mr. Kaplan who didn't exist, during the auction and a few more scenes. 

"Devices such as suspense, red herrings and cliff hangers are used extensively"

• Red herring takes place by the blonde lady, also when the girl/miss leads the man, finding Mr. Kaplan and a few more. 

Mac Guffin

• A MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin or maguffin) is a plot device in the form of some goal. It is a desired object, or other motivator that the protagonist is willing to do and sacrifice almost anything to pursue. This is often with little or no narrative explanation as to why it is considered so desirable. A MacGuffin, therefore, functions merely as a plot element that catches the viewers' attention or drives the plot of a work of fiction.

Is this a successful thriller?

From what I have watched, I think that this film is a successful thriller. Reasons being is that it contains all elments of what should be contained in a thriller. For example; a cliff hanger ending.