Ex Machina Review

This film is a Fantasy/Mystery where an extremely intelligent coder named Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is invited to the estate of the CEO of Blue Book (A huge internet search engine service). The CEO’s name is Nathan and is seen to be, from the start, unusual with the way that he acts. Nathan talks about the Turing test to Caleb in which he then introduces Ava, an AI which fascinates Caleb. The body of Ava is a splitting image of a human body as well as the way she acts. Caleb is seeing whether he can think that he is talking to a human yet he knows that she is a robot and seeing if he can feel emotions and vice versa. The budget of the film was $15 million USD making it a low budget film, yet it made approximately $36.9 million USD making the film a success which is no surprise, I 100% would tell anyone to watch this film. The special effects with the budget of the film was amazingly good and it shocked me to see what they did with the money that they had. If I was asked what the budget would be after watching the film without knowing the budget I would’ve said over $150 million.

Now onto talking about the cast of the film. The film had an extremely low budget yet they did extremely well with the choice of actors and what they did with them. I found that Oscar Isaac did an amazing job with his role of being the ‘antagonist’ whereas Domhnall Gleeson did a great job too. As said in the extras, Alicia Vikander said that she had done ballet and dance in the past meaning that the way she moved around is elegant and suits the role of the ‘robot’. Onto the director and writer, well screenplay in general, did an incredible job on this film. He did mention that they did change the script a bit, yet it was for the better and he said it ‘made the film more alive’. The producers involved were Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich and the production companies are DNA films and Film4. Caleb mentions that if Nathan manages to pull off Ava passing the Turing test, he would be himself a god which he repeats over and over which comes clear near the ending of the film (Watch it to find out).

My personal opinion on this film is that it is an incredible film, even for the budget which makes it even better. I would recommend it to anyone I knew, although there is the case of nudity, I would be careful to whom I would recommend it to. If I was to give it a star rating, I would give it a 4.5/5 as it had everything that you would want from a Fantasy/Mystery, the mystery of why this CEO lives out on an estate where no one else does and what he is doing out there that is so secretive that no one on the ‘outside world’ can know about it. If you or any of your friends are interested in Fantasy films, this is a great one to watch. The fact that it also has some intellect in the film too with the Turing test.

Hotel Babylon - Ethnicity

In the 5 minute extract that we were given of Hotel Babylon (shown above), it shows us a lot about the ethnicity throughout it all. When the immigration officers came to the hotel the main officer shows us that he has authority to investigate the hotel. Due to the camera work, is shows us shots from below which makes him look powerful. This can suggest that he is the antagonist right from the start of the clip.

Camera:

The camera work is a hand held camera at some parts to have the effect of fast paced scenes. It also shows how distressed the people are about just a few immigration officers and it shows how there life is always in danger just because of their ethnicity.They follow the antagonist as he walks around the lobby at the start of the extract, as well as doing downwards shots to make him look high and powerful. Ethnicity is shown here as he is a part of the immigration and it makes him look a lot more powerful than the immigrants which is extremely ethical and is seen as a big issue. Wide shots were used to show off the hotel but also the pathways behind all the luxury are dark and not what you would expect.

Editing:

They used a lot of fast paced cuts to make the scenes a lot more fast paced and like I said before that they are distressed just because of there ethnicity made it have no flow, which is what the makers wanted. It adds a sense of intensity as well as the sound track follows on from a scene onto another. This keeps the flow of intensity throughout the whole of the part where they are hiding from immigration. Because of there is so much tension that it shows the dark side of the way that different ethnic groups are treated in this TV drama.

Sound:

The soundtrack throughout the whole extract gets extremely intense and fast paced when the immigration officers walk in and they try to hide them in the staff room.  When Ibrahim is taken away, the music stops completely as the woman runs and cries for help and the release of him. This is to allow us to hear the reactions of the people who are in the hotel. Afterwards when they go to clear out his locker or storage area, the music turns extremely upsetting and overrules the sound of the whole scene. This creates the atmosphere that this is what there life is because of there ethnicity and that this is what they have to put up with everyday.

Mise-en-scene:

The Mise-en-scene in this extract isn't meant to show off anything, it sets the mood that this scene is not a happy scene at all. The lighting is extremely darker than usual which sets the mood for the entire extract. The way this shows ethnicity is that where in the lobby its all fancy and luxurious but in the back allies and the kitchen is all dark and that's where the immigrants work. They can't work out in the lobby due to their ethnicity. It also is strange how the hotel has this side to it when people think that it's just an extremely wealthy hotel.

The Male Gaze

David Guetta - Hey Mama (Ft; Nicki Minaj, Bebe Rexha & Afrojack).




In this video, although it isn't as explicit as other music videos for The Male Gaze, but I personally thought because of this it can show even more how much The Male Gaze is used. This has nothing to do with the song, yet still there were women giving off sexual appeal throughout the whole song.

For example, at the start around 10 seconds in, the video looks all cool and futuristic, then it goes to Nicki who is in a lingerie of some sort, yet it has nothing to do with the song or story-line of the music video.

Representation of Gender in - Our Girl

We watched half of the second episode on season 2 of 'Our Girl'. In this post I will talk about the representation of gender in the 30 minutes we watched.

When you hear the word soldier, people think in their head of a male. The fact that this TV drama counters that and breaks the stereotype is a big step in TV dramas as showing a woman as a soldier, it shows that women can be as powerful and strong as men can be. Even though she is shown to be a strong soldier, throughout the start of this episode she is captured and kept as a hostage which shows the weak side, but that'll show the weak side of any soldier and nearing the end of the first half you can see how brave she becomes. When Georgie (Who I'm pretty sure is the main protagonist) is in a cell with another hostage by the name of Kicki, she encourages Kicki to never give up and fight for what she needs. This is a counter stereotype and is played out well in the TV drama to show that women can easily do what men can too.

Camera work:

There is a lot of camera work involved in the opening scenes. When the Taliban cuts off the ambulance it gives us a POV shot of Georgie or an Over-the-shoulder shot of the driver. This is used to show what she would be seeing. When the Taliban are gunning the drivers down, it shows a low angle of it to show that the man shooting looks much more powerful and shows more dominance. This can be seen as making him look more powerful than Georgie and that she has become the victim. When the antagonist comes out of the truck, it uses a shallow focus on him to show that he is indeed the antagonist. Once they find Gerogie, they start dragging her back into there truck and a tracking shot takes place when she is to keep the scene flowing instead of just a bunch of cuts.

Editing:

At this scene there is a huge amount of 'Fast-pace' editing as it cuts from scene to scene almost immediately to create a dramatic effect with a lot of tension. If it wasn't fast paced, the action scene wouldn't of been as tense as they would've liked it to be. The transitions on this scene were pretty much always cuts but the soundtrack layered over from clip to clip to make the scenes linked in some way.

Sound:

Right at the start of the scene the ambulance already creates a huge amount of tension as it cuts the sound. But they are immediately taken out of action when the Taliban starts to fire at the ambulance giving diegetic sounds of gun shots, this along with screams from both Georgie and the driver. When the antagonist comes out of the truck, music plays to create more tension and also shows the importance of this character in the series. At the end the music then overrides all the other sound and takes control.

Mise-en-scene:

The costumes that they are all wearing is military, which goes against the stereotype of a womans clothing. This gives us a thought that this whole TV drama is counter stereotyping. The scenery is in a remote place filled by desert and shanties, which tells us that it isn't in England at all. The lighting seems to be all natural lighting except when in  the ambulance where the lighting is a lot dimmer but still with some lighting.

Film Production

Film Production is the process of making a film.

The stages of film production are as followed:

Development - This is simply the process of 'finding' a story. Ideas for films come from a variety of sources, they can range from novels, real life events to computer game adaptations. Once you've got an idea you'll need someone to write a pitch for you which you take to a film producer in an attempt to get some funding to make your film. Even at this very early stage you need a very clear idea of who you're aiming the film at so you can include elements that will appeal to them.

Pre-production - Once you've got funding you establish your budget and can begin to get a film crew together., you can storyboard the script. You also need to break the script down into individual scenes and identify all the locations, props, cast members, costumes, special effects and visual effects needed.

Production - This is simply the process of 'making' the film. Provided you've done your job properly in the pre-production stage making the film should be quite straight forward. 'Film' is  very expensive and difficult to store so an increasing the number of film makers using digital cameras is a good way to save money.

Post-production - During this stage you take all of the 'film' you've shot and give it to a film editor. They will then begin putting it together. Special effects will be added, a soundtrack will be added, any missing dialogue will be re-recorded and added resulting in a 'rough cut'. This will be shown to the director and a test audience who will offer feedback. Often this causes scenes to be filmed and added/removed.

Key roles:

Writer - A screenplay writer, screenwriter for short, scriptwriter or scenarist is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media such as films, television programs, comics or video games are based. These are needed for a film as the writers are the origin of the film as they are the person with the idea.

Producer - Film producers fill a variety of roles depending upon the type of producer. Either employed by a production company or independent, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting script, coordinating writing, directing and editing, and arranging financing. Without a producer, the film wouldn't have a budget to stand by, the film wouldn't have editors who specialize in that type of editing (E.g a romantic editor wouldn't be able to do an action as well as someone who specializes in action films).

Casting Director - The casting director is the person who is responsible for assigning roles in the film. Without someone to do this, the film could have a lot of potential but never become a big hit because it doesn't have A list stars or the right A list stars. A list stars are extremely good to have on a cast as when the film is being advertised people will see that for example Will Smith is in the film so they will watch it for that reason alone.

Director - A film director is a person who directs the making of a film. Generally, a film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, and visualizes the script while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of that vision. The director is needed for the sole reason that he wants the film to look good and be as perfect as it can be.

Film Finance - Film finance is an aspect of film production that occurs during the development stage prior to pre-production, and is concerned with determining the potential value of a proposed film. They need to decide how much money that the film will cost to make as well as advertisement. And have an estimate on how much money the film will make.

Camera Operator - A camera operator, sometimes informally called a cameraman or a camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film or video camera. In film-making, the person designing the lighting is the cinematographer or director of photography, who is also informally called a "cameraman" though it is a different job.

Editor - On its most fundamental level, film editing is the art, technique, and practice of assembling shots into a coherent sequence. The job of an editor is not simply to mechanically put pieces of a film together, cut off film slates, or edit dialogue scenes. Without editors films that we see today wouldn't be as smooth and as entertaining. This is because they create transitions between scene after scene which go along with the film along with SFX.

Production Designer - In film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the physical overall look of a filmed event such as a TV program, video game, music video, or advertisement. Production designers have a key creative role in the creation of motion pictures and television. If they wasn't involved in the creation of the film it wouldn't be as creative as the other films are today.

Marketing - Film marketing can also be known as film promoting. It is the practice of advertising a film to get the film 'hyped up'. This stage usually happens alongside with film distribution. Like I said before, if the film has a well known A list star the advertisement side of the film should be much more efficient and much easier in a way.

Exhibition - This is the actual showing of the films when it has been advertised and its finally ready to be released. This can be done firstly in cinemas and then moved onto DVD's and online. How the audience can see the film pretty much, so online, in premieres and box office is a valid choice too.

TV Drama research task

The Walking Dead: This can be watched on Amazon Prime or Netflix, of course general TV too. This is about survivors of a zombie apocalypse. As the time goes on, more seasons into this drama zombies don't really become an issue, its more the other survivors. There is currently 6 seasons but season 7 is coming in October.

Arrow: Like TWD, this can be watched usually on Amazon Prime or Netflix. There are 5 seasons overall, except the 5th season is starting in October which I am indeed waiting for. Full of action scenes of parkour make it enjoyable to watch.




Breaking Bad: Can be seen on Amazon Prime or Netflix, pretty much all the TV dramas can nowadays. The schools chemistry teacher ends up getting lung cancer so he quits and becomes a drug dealer to 'cook up' money for his family.

Game of Thrones (GOT): Can be watched on Amazon Prime or normal TV if you catch it, 6 Seasons of civil wore and a race that has yet to be discovered which keeps on getting involved. 

Lost: 6 Seasons of survivors on an island full of mystery and confusion. It contains elements of the supernatural side and also science fiction, so somewhat can be educational. 

Mr Robot: One of the most popular TV Dramas at the moment as it gained a lot of attention from the younger ages. Elliot (Main protagonist) gets dragged into a group of hacktivists who have the same intentions as him in what they do on the internet.





Sherlock: This can be watched Netflix. As we all know, Sherlock is a detective TV drama which gets people on the edge of there seats. 3 seasons for people to watch whenever they feel in a detective mood.

Blind Spot: New season coming out soon, this can be watched Alibi. This is about a woman that lost her memory and wakes up full of tattoos. Trying to regain her memory as well as uncovering what the tattoos symbolize.

Daredevil: 2 seasons which can be caught up on on Netflix. This is about a blind guy in which his other senses are much more amplified. He uses these to his advantage and fights the 5 main gangs in Hells Kitchen (District in NY).

Dexter: Dexter has a jam packed 8 seasons to the series so theres a lot to watch if you are interested in it. Its about a man who is pretty much a serial killer but only kills people who deserves to die. He lives by the code that he will only kill men and women who deserve to die.

Self-Representation

My results from the UK Tribes when I to the 'What is your tribe' quiz was that I was in the 'Get paid crew'.

The definition of this tribe is: More straight-laced than their innovative DIYer cousins and likely to be working hard to set up their own business, get a good job and make money, money, money – once connected to dodgy dealings, there is now a huge amount of respect for the success orientated GPCs.