World War Z Hollywood Production Context

In this blog post I will be discussing the production contexts in World War Z. I will also be discussing the genre, stars involved in this film, how the narrative, dialog, characters and locations relate to the production context.

There are two genre categories that World War Z can fit into which is zombie/horror and action, this is called a hybrid because this film links to two genres. This film can fit into the horror genre because of the jumpy scenes, intense music, and the gory scenes. There were many jumpy scenes in this film but the one I noticed was when the zombie appeared in front of the camera when Jerry and his family was running to the top of the roof to get in the helicopter to be saved by the military which was working for his boss. I found this scene quite jumpy because I didn't expect the zombie to appear right in front of the camera. In this film a lot of intense music was used especially in the same scene I have just spoken about. This is because they had a lot of built up tension music as the family was running up the stairs to get to the top of the roof away from the zombies. By using this music it is building up the tension between the film and the audience because the viewers expect something is going to happen such as; Jerry dies and his family survives. There were also many gory scenes in this film such as zombies being shot in the head and the blood goes everywhere.

This film can also fit in the action genre because they have many gunshots and explosions, these are some of the main codes and conventions in action films. There are many gunshots in this film as the characters are trying to get away from the zombies. There are not many gunshots at the beginning of this film because no one knew what was happening. The gun shots start to happen a lot in this film when Jerry goes to Jerusalem, this is because the zombies climb over the walls the people built to stop the zombies getting into their country but they did. Many gunshot were used to kill the zombies from the military. There were also many explosions in this film and this was to kill as many zombies as possible at once. For example; in Philadelphia there were many explosions as the zombie apocalypse first happened. The main scene which has a lot of explosions in is when the zombies climb over the walls in Jerusalem. As you see this scene you can tell that World War Z could be classed as an action film as well as an horror. In this scene there were loads of explosions and military helicopters flying about to try and stop the zombies getting any further. The helicopters also crashed to the ground which made a bigger explosion. In a lot of action films they have a lot of car, train, helicopter and plane crashes.

The production context of World War Z is known as a Hollywood production because they have used many locations around the world, it's a high budgeted film and they have used all 7 spheres of characters. These are the locations they filmed World War Z; Philadelphia, New York, Wales, Israel and South Korea. By shooting in many locations a film can instantly be known as a Hollywood production because Hollywood films are higher budgeted compared to Bollywood and British films. You can tell World War Z is a high budgeted film because they have a huge star 'Brad Pitt, many extras, loads of locations and special effects. By having a higher budgeted film makes the production more successful because the audiences tends to enjoy the film a lot more due to the film looking realistic.

There were many stars included World War Z such as; Brad Pitt and Peter Capaldi. By having well known stars in a production is a very good way to make a lot more money/profit on a film. This is because fans of the stars will automatically go and watch the film as their 'idol' is playing a main character, and this increases publicity, cinema, DVD and box office sales. By having a bigger star in a production instantly tells the audience that the film is a high budgeted production. Brad Pitt had a huge impact over this film as his major roles were; producer, and playing 'Gerry' the main character in this film.

The narrative of World War Z is very in depth and relates to the production context because Gerry's aim is to find a cure for the zombie apocalypse. This film is very in depth because they are following the main character Gerry around to the different countries such as; Philadelphia, New York, Israel, Wales and South Korea to find clues on how they can cure this infection. For example; towards the end of the film, when Gerry's plane crashes in the middle of nowhere in England, Wales. He finally makes it to the WHO doctor in Wales, which leads him to find a vaccination which makes the zombies avoid alive humans which haven't already turned into a zombie. There is no cure to this infection but Gerry has bought alot of time to find an actual cure. By having this vaccination makes you invisible to the zombies. World War Z relates to the production context because most Hollywood action films are based on world disasters and there is always a hero to save everyone from the disaster.

The dialog in World War Z is very formal for an ages rating of 15, as there are no bad language in this film because the age rating 15 normally have very light swear words but not over the top. The dialog fits in with the production context because in alot of Hollywood films they don't use much bad language.

The types of characters also fits within this production context because Hollywood films always uses Vladimir Propps theory of the 7 spheres of characters. These include; hero, villain, helper, false hero, dispatcher, princess and the donor. The hero in World War Z is Gerry Lane because he is sent on a mission to find clues and information on how to cure the infection. Gerry can also be known as a hero as he saves Segen life as she was bitten by a zombie and he amputated her arm quickly to save her life. The dispatcher chose Gerry Lane to go on this mission as he is an ex- UN investigator, because he has previous history and experience investigation. The villain is easily recognisable in this film which is the zombies because they're trying to end the human race and stopping the hero from trying to find a cure. For example; they're putting the hero 'Gerry' in many situations such as; him getting on the last plane out of Jerusalem. The zombies are trying to stop him from getting on that plane as they have got over the wall in Jerusalem and biting the humans which turns them into zombies. You don't find out who the helper is in this film until the hero 'Gerry' travels to Jerusalem. The helper is Segen which is in the military which helps Gerry to get on the last plane out of the country safely. She also protects him from the villains and helps him finds a cure for the infection as she gets on the plane with him. The false hero in this film is Andrew Fassbach because he was a scientist which was trying to find a cure for this infection but once he arrived in South Korea with Gerry, he coward way back to the plane but slipped as he was getting back on the plane and accidently shot himself. He was warned by Gerry to keep his hand off the trigger because accidents happen. The dispatcher is Thierry Umuntoni which is very high up in the UN investigation unit. He is known as the dispatcher because he sent Gerry on a mission to find clues to a cure for this outbreak. He was also Gerry's boss when he was working in the UN investigation unit. The princess is Gerry's wife Karin Lane, because she is very needy towards her husband Gerry and doesn't want him to go on this mission as she wants him to be safe. For example; when Gerry told Karin that he has to go on this mission to help the world she didn't want him to go because she wanted him to be safe and nothing bad happen to him. The donor would be known as the W.H.O doctor in Wales because he provides crucial information on a cure for the infection. You don't see the donor character until Gerry arrives with his helper in Wales. The donor also provides Gerry a vaccination to by time. This vaccination will stop the zombies killing the humans as it makes the humans invisible to the zombies.

The use of technology used in World War Z did relate to the production context as it was noticeable that it was a Hollywood film. This is because they used many up to date technologies such as; split screens which was used in the beginning scene, the use of security camera's which were used in the scene when Gerry is in the W.H.O lap when the doctors are watching what he is doing as he gets the medicine/vaccination as the infection had spread in a specific unit and many aerial shots of the different locations. By having a bigger budget the producers can achieve more in the production stage, this film had a budget of 190 million pounds which gave them the opportunity to use more extras, better media make up and special effects. For example; they used thousands of extras in World War Z to play the zombies especially in the scene in Jerusalem when all the zombies got over the wall. They would also need a lot of media makeup and costumes for the extras to make them look like a zombie visually.

 

 

Silence Of The Lambs

In this blog post I will be discussing some of the semiotics they have used, how the genre is communicated and the feminism and queer theory within the film Silence Of The Lambs.

Firstly, the genre is communicated instantly as a horror film. This can be communicated just from watching the opening scene of Silence Of The Lambs. In the opening scene it could represent a chase scene because the main character Clarice known as 'Starling' is running through a wooded area and sounding out of breathe but carries on running. This could be signified someone is chasing her as she doesn't stop running even though she is out of breath and keeps looking back time to time. The lighting while she is running through the wooded area is all dark, dull and foggy which automatically categorises this films genre as a horror. This is because you wouldn't have someone running through the woods when the lighting is all dark in a comedy film. Also all the credits overlaying the opening scene are all in bold black letters with a white outline. They may have used these colours because they can signify that something bad might happen because of the chase scene in the opening scene. As the scene goes on you find out that she is running on a training course because she is in training for the F.B.I. The audience finds this out when her trainer runs into the scene and tells Starling the boss wants to speak to her. You can also tell this from the F.B.I logo on her jumper which you see once her trainer arrives.

There are many semiotics used throughout this film but I am going to discuss a couple of them which mainly stood out while I was watching the film. The first semiotic that I noticed was the deaths head moth which was found in a women's throat when Starling was looking for clues from the women's death. When she found this moth and look at it in more detail a close up shot was used of the moth. While she was looking at it she found a skull on the back of the moths head. Once the audience sees that their is a skull on the back of the moths head they instantly know it represents death and this can be known as a connotation semiotic. The second semiotic I am going to discuss is the scene when Hannibal gets transferred to another prison and has a muzzle mask over his face stopping him from attacking or trying to biting any of the police officers as he was sent to prison after murdering people and eating his victims. He makes a weird and disturbing noise when he is talking about eating people. This can be known as an iconic scene because the muzzle mask he is wearing is a recognisable scene because it makes the character look a lot scarier. Another example of this scene being iconic is when Starling is trying to get information about 'Buffalo Bill' off of Hannibal. When she is asking about him, he makes that weird noise as she is mentioning his past about eating people. This noise is recognisable because he makes it every time someone asks him about his past in previous scenes.

The feminism film theory is used in this film as the main female character Clarice Starling is portrayed as an object. This is because everyone treats her unfairly and not equally. For example; when Starling and her boss went to investigate a body, the police officer said I will talk to the man in charge in the next room. This results in her being portrayed as a pretty face and won't know anything but the only character that treats her with respect is Hannibal. Her boss only gave her the job to visit Hannibal because he knew he would listen to a pretty face. All the other males in this film see Clarice as a sexual object, because they all stop what they are doing and stare at her when she walks past. For example; when Clarice went to the bug nerds to look at the deaths head moth in better detail and the bug nerd asked her out on a date. Clarice Starling is known as a strong female character which will succeed and won't fail where as most females are stereotyped as a weak, pretty faced and can't do nothing. For example; when Clairce gets information from Hannibal about Buffaloo Bill, she goes to an a banded lockup to investigate it on her own. Baring in mind it is quite late in the evening but stills goes alone. When she can't open the lockup door and the male character there doesn't help her, Clarice decides to get her car jack from her car and opens the door herself. This shows that she isn't afraid of anything and is a strong character because she is doing jobs that males are stereotyped to do. When she is investigating the lockup she finds a humans head cut off in a jar. As she sees this head she acts really calm which also shows her characters strongest where as most girls in films are stereotyped to scream at things like that.

The queer theory is also used in this film because there are two stereotyped characters used in this film which are; the drag queen and butch lesbian. Firstly the stereotype of the butch lesbian can be known as Clarice Starling because she doesn't wear all girly clothing, instead she wears baggy trousers and her hair is always up and messy. She only wears smart clothing such as a skirt, blouse, blazer and heels, hair done nicely and makeup on is when she helps investigate murders with her boss and interviews Hannibal. She probably dresses like this to look professional and she's not someone to mess around with. Clarice also can be stereotyped as a butch lesbian because she has a deeper voice compared to other women in this film, as they have more feminine voices. The other stereotyped character in this film is the drag queen which is known as Buffalo Bill because he dresses up as a women. This is proven in the scene when he is dancing around his room, wearing a wig, makeup, and wearing a silk dressing gown. After this scene the audience finds out why he kidnaps women that are size 14 and then kills them because he wants to use their skin to make him look like a women.

The most memorable scene to me in Silence Of The Lambs is when Hannibal escapes the caged area in the hotel while he is being transferred to another hospital/prison. This is because he killed two police officers and swaps clothing with one of them to get out of the hotel without being noticed. He then moves that body and drops it on top of the lift in his clothing making out that he killed himself and they won't try finding him. As he does this he cuts the police officers skin on his face and wears it on his face to disguise himself. I remember this scene quite well because he hung the other police officer by is arms on the cell/cage which represents him on a crucifixion cross.

 

Queer Theory In Mean Girls

In this blog post I will be discussing the Queer Theory in the first 20minutes of the film 'Mean Girls'.

In the first 20minutes of Mean Girls the different characters are introduced to the audience. As each character was introduced, the audience automatically stereotyped them because of the way they look, their voice tone and how they act. The two characters that were stereotyped were the gay best friend and the butch lesbian which are known as Janice and Damien.

The character Damien was first introduced when Cady started her first day at high school, and asks her about her hair colour. This is very unusual for a male character to ask about a girls hair colour. As he asked Cady about her hair colour the audience automatically stereotypes his character as a homosexual. He can also be stereotyped as a homosexual because he wears bright clothing and uses girly hand gestures when he is speaking. As the film went on his stereotype as a homosexual is proven more to the audience for example; Damien uses the girls bathroom at school instead of the males bathroom. Another example is when Cady asks Janice and Damien if they have any clothing which is pink and Damien instantly replies 'yes'. The other stereotyped character in Mean girls is the butch lesbian which is known as Janice best friends with Damien. Janice is known as this stereotype because she wears all dark clothing and all of her body is covered up with clothing. She is different to the other girls in the school because they are dressed in pink and showing more of their body by wearing less clothing. Also when Cady asks her and Damien if they have any pink clothing, Janice instantly replies ''No''. She can also be stereotyped as a butch lesbian because of the way she talks to other people in the school as she has a deeper voice compared to the other girls and the language she used to other students is not ladylike.

These stereotypes are seen differently to other characters because all the other girls in the school are wearing less clothing compared to Janice such as short shirts and low cut tops and they were all dressed in feminine colours such as bright colours, mainly pink. The other girls also had more feminine and high pitched voices compared to Janice as she had a deeper voice. All the other male characters in this film were talking about girls and football. They were also wearing darker clothing whereas Damien wears brighter clothing and talks about clothes and different hair colours. This is proven in the first 20 minutes of mean Girls because he comments on Cady's hair colour and lends a pink top to her.

The issues I think these stereotyped characters have in this film is that they're on the outside of the other groups in the school and no one wanted to socialise with them because they are known as the outsiders. Another issue is the representation of the stereotyped characters because it may offend the audience watching this film because some men that are homosexual don't act all girly and not all lesbians cover all their body with clothing and wear dark clothing.