Braveheart (1995)

 Braveheart (1995)

Braveheart is a 1995 American epic and historical war film. This film was directed and co-produced by Mel Gibson. The screen was adapted by Randall Wallace and the film also stars Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan as well as Catherine McCormack.

Mel Gibson as William Wallace

 

Sophie Marceau as Princess Isabelle

 

Patrick McGoohan as Longshanks – King Edward 1

 

Catherine McCormack as Murron

 

Plot Summary

William Wallace is a Scottish rebel leading a rebellion against Edward the Longshanks, the ruthless English king, who wants to inherit Scotland's crown for himself. When he was a young child, the father and brother of William Wallace, along with several others, lost their lives attempting to free Scotland. William Wallace begins his long journey to make Scotland free once and for all, along with the help of Robert the Bruce, once he loses another of his loved ones.

 

Cinematography

Cinematography is the art of photography and visual storytelling in a motion picture or television show. Cinematography comprises all on-screen visual elements, including lighting, framing, composition, camera motion, camera angles and other.

Below is the chosen scene to analysis the cinematography elements :

 

Scene of William Wallace Death

Undoubtedly, the scene in which Wallace is being tortured is the climax of the movie, since most of the film is performed using long shots, and the use of close-ups in the scene makes the theme even more prominent.

 The first shot of the film clip is a close-up shot with a bird’s eye view of Wallace in an enormous amount of pain.

 

                    

From Wallace, to the magistrate, and to Wallace's fellow countrymen, the next few shots pan back and forth. From a different camera angle, each shot is shown. A bird's eye view is the view of Wallace. The other view is a view of the magistrate from a low angle, as to indicate a placing of power. A medium to close-up shot is the shot of the countrymen to get all their feelings in the scene and what they are going through as they watch their friend die.

 

      

After William Wallace shouted "Freedom" in these scenes, the camera quickly takes a close-up shot of the King of England (Edward Longshanks) lying on his bed, immediately opening his eyes in amazement at what he had seen. Then the camera makes its way to all the other characters in the film, and each shot is a close-up of their own reactions and perceptions that Wallace is dead. These shots are low in density because they're just the characters' shots and there's nothing around them, just their own reactions.

                     

         

The next shot gives the magistrate gives the okay to kill Wallace. The camera pans back to Wallace, and he turns his head on the table to face the crowd. This shot is a long shot of his two countrymen looking on, and as the film starts to play in slow motion, the background music begins to fade and play softly. Wallace starts seeing his dead wife, who was killed in the film earlier. Behind the two countrymen, she starts walking and makes her way around them so Wallace can get a full view of her. The camera pans into a close-up of Wallace, and because he sees his wife, he starts to have this feeling of calmness for him.

 

 

The last final shots are close ups again. One of the shots was Wallace holding his wife's handkerchief, the other a shot of an axe going down to behead Wallace. Furthermore, there are also shots of Wallace's wife getting closer to Wallace between those shots and smiling at him, giving him peace of mind. To display the strength of the scene, there are three or four shots of each one from various camera views and angles. Wallace drops the handkerchief as the axe finally falls. The audience watches it slowly fall to the ground to signify William Wallace's death.

 

Conclusion

From a viewer perspective, I feel that the soundtrack of this film is masterpiece. The story from the beginning to the end is very epic. Every shot that takes in this film is amazing and I cannot quantify by words. This film also shows me love, friendship, trust, betrayal, and others. Overall, I like this film so much and may watch again another time.

Reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braveheart

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112573/

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/film-101-what-is-cinematography-and-what-does-a-cinematographer-do

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-cinematography/

 

 Life of Pi (2012)

Life of Pi is a 2012 American 3D live-action computer animated fantasy adventure film based on the novel of the same name by Yann Martel in 2001. Directed by Ang Lee, David Magee wrote the adapted screenplay of the film, starring Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall, Tabu and Adil Hussain.

 

Suraj Sharma as Pi Patel

 

Irrfan Khan as adult Pi Patel

 

 

Rafe Spall as Yann Martel

 

Adil Hussain as Santosh Patel

 

Tabu as Gita Patel

 

 

Plot Summary

In order to know the first-hand account of his travels, an ambitious Canadian author interviews the Indian storyteller Pi Patel. In French-occupied India, where his father owned a zoo, Pi recounts his upbringing. When Pi's family company collapsed, they went to Canada on a sea voyage to start a new life. In the middle of the ocean, one night on their Japanese cargo ship, a violent and lethal storm strikes and sinks. With some of their zoo animals, including a ferocious Bengal tiger, he survives in a lifeboat. Pi and the tiger forge an unlikely bond in a struggle to survive that gives him everyday inspiration to live. Life of Pi is a story about faith, hope, and the desire to survive.

 

 

 

Mise-en-scene

Settings

We will find five important settings in Life of Pi, including the Pondicherry Zoo, a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean, a carnivorous island, Mexico (where Pi is rescued), and Canada (where Pi makes a new life for himself). The Pacific Ocean is the most significant of both settings, since it is where most of the story takes place. In behind the scenes, the Pacific Ocean is built with a massive wave tank by Ang Lee and his crews on an actual runway at a Taiwan airport.

 

 

 Props

The main props which we can find in this film is the lifeboat. The lifeboat is the life saver of Pi as it helps him to survive on the Pacific Ocean and provided him other Important props such as the emergency supplies and food to keep him alive.

 

 

 

 Lightning

There is lightning in this film. Firstly, is the scene of Pi’s childhood memory during the school. In this shot, the lighting is dull and dreary which suggests school is not a fun and exciting place. This contrasts with the colors when he is stuck in the lifeboat, where the setting is brightly colored showing that they are two completely opposing places. This is the second scene which shows Pi’s adventure on the sea.

 

 

 

 

 Customs and Make Up

His costuming and the way the director have made him look is another attribute that allows us to understand the circumstances of Pi. We can see that his pants are faded and dirty, and he no longer wears his shirt. This costuming shows the circumstances under which Pi must survive as he has taken his top off and dirty, as his pants reveal, where it must be hot. For the make-up, we can see that Pi’s hair is grown out and he is becoming very skinny.

 

 

 

Conclusion

From a viewer’s perspective, I like the story structure very much as it is fantasy although the beginning of the story is a bit boring. However, the animation and the lighting of the film is amazing and nice. In the beginning, I thought this film was taken in real place but I only found out that this film is only taken in a place after doing some research. Overall, this movie is great to watch and it teaches me many things in life.

Film Review - Inside Man (2006, Spike Lee)

 Inside Man (2006)

Inside Man, which was directed and written by Spike Lee and Russell Gewirtz, is an American heist thriller film released in 2006. It revolves around a detailed bank heist on Wall Street over a 24-hour period. Denzel Washington as Detective Keith Frazier, Clive Owen as Dalton Russell, and Madeleine White as Jodie Foster are included.

Clive Owen as Dalton Russell

Denzel Washington as Detective Keith Frazier

Jodie Foster as Madeleine White

Christopher Plummer as Arthur Case

Plot Summary

A man informs us from a cell that he's orchestrated the ultimate bank robbery; he invites us to look. In a Manhattan bank, an effective gang enters, locks the doors, and takes hostages. They're working purposefully, without haste. Detective Frazier is tasked to bargain, but half of his mind is busy with the accusations of corruption that he faces. In a safe deposit box, the bank's president has everything to hide, so he takes Madeleine White, a high-power trader with a secret agenda, in. The robber, the cop, and the plutocrat's fixation enter into high-stakes talks with an army of police circling the bank. If they are so professional and they know they will not get one, why are the criminals calling for a plane? Why are they not in much of a hurry? When the task is fine, why is the leader of the robbers in a cell?

Time

In a temporal order, the film was arranged where there were a few flash-forward scenes. The flash-forward scenes were the times when the hostages were being interrogated by Detective Keith. For a 24-hour cycle the plot length was.

Space

The film space mainly resolves around a bank because the plot is mainly about a bank heist.

Function

Function refers to a position or role in which an element that is driven fulfills an entire structure. For instance, in this film, Dalton Russell is justified for his life, like when Dalton Russell takes hostages in the bank.

Development

The progression from the beginning through the middle and to the end is seen by creation. At the beginning, for instance, the main protagonist assumed that if the Plane was not ready in time, the antagonist would harm the hostages, but as the film progresses, the main protagonist discovers that the antagonist does not want the plane and he was only dragging time to prepare his true escape strategy.

Unity

When it was taken at the same venue, which was one of the banks in Manhattan, the unity of the place was introduced. Other than that, since the actions seen in this film are linked to the main storyline, Unity in Action was also seen. For eg, when stealing the bank, Dalton Russell takes hostages and this is connected to the story plot as it is about the heist. Finally, Harmony of sound was also added so the movie's atmosphere and feeling remain the same as the film's dramatic and exciting mood within man did not shift into other moods.

Type of Narrative Structure

With a non-linear narrative form, Inside Man was filmed. There were numerous flash-forward sequences during the film's entire narrative. These scenes were incidents that took place following the robbery.

Narrative Structure

Exposition

Speaking on tape, Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) records a rundown of the crime in which he took part. The film begins with a gang of armed criminals dressing up as painters who took possession of the bank in Manhattan and held several hostages in the bank. A investigator named Keith Frazier, meanwhile, was called in to bargain with the bank robbers. In addition, Arthur Case, the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Founder of the Bank, was aware of the robbery that was taking place at his bank. This prompted him to employ Madeline White to safeguard the contents of his bank security deposit box.

Rising Action

Before allowing the robbers to leave the building, Detective Frazier requested that the hostages be checked and Russell took him on a guided tour of the bank. After that, as he was driving Frazier out of the bank, Frazier assaulted Russell, but another robber was able to prevent Russell from being injured by Frazier. The investigator then states why Russell was intentionally attempting to enrage him and believes that Russell was not a murderer. This was somehow debunked, though, when a thorough but false killing of one of the hostages was planned by the robbers.

Climax

The squad from the Emergency Response Unit intended to rush into the bank and unconsciously knock the customers inside the bank using rubber bullets. This scheme, though, was revealed when Detective Frazier discovered that the criminals had already bugged the police with a listening system. The robbers launched smoke grenades and took off their disguises to leave the bank by mixing in with the hostages, realizing that the police had located the listening system. All was arrested and interviewed by the police, but the captives were unable to identify the criminals.

Falling Action

Detective Frazier checks the records of the bank and notices that since the establishment of the bank in 1948, the safe deposit box numbered 392 has never appeared on any records. "He returned to the bank and searched for the number 392 deposit box and found a ring and a note stating "Follow the ring.

Resolution

Detective Frazier approached Madeleine White and sent her the War Crimes Problems Office number and passed the recording of the pen to her. He goes home and discovers a diamond in his coat pocket, and then learns that the diamond had fallen into his pocket when he reached Russell on the bank.

Film Form

Conclusion

From a viewer’s perspective, I feel like the story structure is a little bit complicated as there was a l lot of plot twists. However, the story is still very interesting. In the beginning, I thought Dalton and his gang are really going to rob the bank because of the money, but I just realize that they didn’t mean to do this but only want to expose a secret. Overall, it was a good film to watch as the elements and structures of this film is well executed.

References

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454848/plotsummary