Evaluation Task:
Research Tasks:
Deconstruction of a film poster: The Butterfly Effect (2004)
The first and most notable thing in every film poster is the colour scheme. The background colour is black, signifying the dark themes of the psychological thriller film (which includes child abuse). This is accompanied by the transparent blue graphics, to create intricate details; blue is often associated with depressive moods, which the film’s sad themes definitely deal with. However, the bright sections of white (dead center, and inside each “brain”) offer a contrasting ideology of hope rather than nihilism, which ultimately attracts audiences to an ever-appealing idea of an optimistic message.
The use of skull symbols are often a cliched representation of death, which although is featured, is not a key theme in this movie. By using an xray image rather than tangible bones, it therefore suggests something quite literally “inside” the mind, heightened by the use of a white brain lump highlighted, and fully represents the psychological nature of the film.
The skulls are overlaid the faint outline of a butterfly’s wings, referencing the title. By doing this, it creates a successfully intriguing and enigmatic poster, linking the theme of death/the psyche to the idea of Chaos Theory (which only some of the target audience may be aware of).
Interestingly, the butterfly is used to create a perfect, mirrored symmetry in the poster. This is reflected in the tagline (“it will all end in the beginning”), and introduces the themes of time travel and Groundhog Day-esque repetition, yet in a darker, more ominous, generically conventional way.
The text on the image (only the tagline, star’s name and title) is white to stand out on the dark background, using a conventionally messy and intricate font as a signifier for the content of the film.
It is obvious therefore, that the main aim of this poster is to draw attention to the star, Ashton Kutcher, whose name acts as a masthead, adorned in capitals comparable to the presentation of the title. He is the only “real” image on the entire poster, placed in between the two skull graphics and central on the line of symmetry. However, his “face” is not used in the conventional way to market a film by its actors. It is a long shot, reduced in size to show his entire body, with his face in shadow. This represents that although it is a character based film, it is very much focused on the struggles of the protagonist. This is emphasised by the “ghostly” outlines which extend around him. However, the reasons for this are not due to the content of the film, but rather what the film represents for the actor. It is his attempt to "make it" as a serious actor (after a series of comedy films and TV shows).
However, this poster is very ambiguous in nature. It offers no critical commendations, ideas of setting, character, or obvious references to themes or possible narrative arcs. However, despite this, it still manages to create an effective poster, drawing audiences in with generically conventional images and the actor, while still keeping it ambiguous enough to conceive intrigue and discussion among film-goers as to the content.
Institutional research: Momentum Pictures
Momentum Pictures is one of the leading independent movie distributors in the UK. It has been responsible for many of the releases which inspired us in some way, including ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’, ‘Lost in Translation’ and ‘Control’, and recent award winners ‘The Fighter’ and ‘The King’s Speech’.
Based in London, it produces about 20 films each year. From this selection, it aims to vary between big budget CGI-fests (like ‘Limitless’) to smaller, more intricate character based films (like biopic ‘Milk’), and from hard-hitting horror flicks (like ‘Let the Right One In’) to off-beat comedies (like ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats’ or ‘Lesbian Vampire Killers’). They use money generated from the mainstream, American-influenced films to fund the smaller projects, with many of their films being released direct to DVD, without a cinema distribution.
Arguably, the success of Momentum is due to its diversity. It is able to cater for all audiences, and balance the budget just right to make massive profits from their massive blockbusters, while still funding more complex, less mainstream films.
I think their achievements are best symbolised by ‘The King’s Speech’ (released just two months ago). A historical drama based on a true story about British sovereignty, it was never expected to be extremely successful. However, after being made for just £8million, the film grossed £200million, with almost universal critical acclaim, winning enough awards to have an entire Wikipedia page dedicated just to chronicling them (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accolades_received_by_The_King%27s_Speech).
Of course, to compare our film with those associated with Momentum is a serious overstatement. However, I believe that it is companies like this that keep independent British cinema alive, which is definitely something that our film would be part of.
Opening sequence analysis of a similar film: Dog Day Afternoon (1975) [0:00 – 5:42]
This film deals directly with Stockholm Syndrome in its more traditional manifestation; with hostages at a bank robbery. Although it is not a direct influence on how we created our film, it was very interesting depiction of SS, and how that can be represented on screen. Of course, being a drama (starring Al Pacino of all people), it is not applicable generically to our film, and therefore the two sequences cannot be compared in such a way.
The sequence begins with a black screen over which a disclaimer for the truthfulness of the film is displayed. This helps create an immediate sense of verisimilitude for the film, and fully prepares the audience to be immersed in the diegesis, as well as introducing the audience to the setting.
Al Pacino then walks in with a suspicious gun-shaped box, a convention of mafia-esque crime films. The close ups and his on-screen prevalence identify him as the star actor of the movie, intended to bring in audiences. The tension builds and builds as another accomplice enters the bank, and a dramatic tracking shot takes the audience back down to where the first robber is sat with the banker, and finally breaks as he pulls his gun on him.
The opening sequence itself is constructed with a montage editing style, using discontinuous style to associate all the images shown to help define what the following film will be about. The opening shot is of a boat leaving a harbour, which zooms out to show one of New York’s widely recognised landmarks (the piers). This tranquil and serene moment is then juxtaposed with a close-up of a dog on a dirty street, to challenge the tourist based preconceptions of Brooklyn with the harsh reality. This represents the key theme of crime explored in the film, and such juxtapositions occur several times throughout (such as the rooftop swimming pool and picturesque skyline with construction workers, and the graphic match of a man watering his garden with a man cleaning the street (both men with hoses), I won’t list them all, but the contrasting images are almost continuous for the first two and a half minutes).
Hidden in the montage is an establishing shot of the main location for the film. It is only when the shot is returned to at the end of the montage (and the star’s name appears, as well as the title, followed by the rest of the credits) that the audience can recognise its significance. This is done to signify that the event is an ordinary part of NY life, and makes it feel like less of a contrived, false idea. By having the credits begin showing here, rather than at the beginning, it acts as a marker to represent when the narrative event has started, and the location/theme establishment has finished.
The soundtrack for the opening montage is an Elton John song, with clear country-inspired rock influences. This Americana genre heightens the political context of the time – this film was released amid great anti-war propaganda and feelings of American patriotism, and this political message is explored later in the film using one of the characters (and emphasised in the opening sequence by repeated appearances of the American Flag). As the characters are introduced onto the screen, the soundtrack morphs into the diegetic sound (played by the car’s radio) and in doing so, draws the audience in with it.
The dialogue between the characters is muted below the level of the song/ambient noise, creating intrigue and narrative enigma. By doing this, the director is able to create the relationships between characters without revealing the plot (is its denouement is a shock to the audience). For example, while one character goes off for the short walk, the camera stays at a distance to represent his insignificance to the narrative, instead showing a medium close up of the two robbers in the car. The editing pace (now in a continuous style) is very slow, which together with the muted dialogue, helps to build up tension. As the camera tracks the robber into the bank, it is at a slightly low angle, to show his power, while his red suit conforms to the traditional associations with blood and violence.
The interior of the bank is then shown by an over the shoulder shot from the boss, representing it as his domain through which the nervous robber enters. The shot is unassuming and still maintains the tension by revealing neither the plot nor the face of the banker.