Boyz n The Hood is a coming of age crime drama that focuses on the teenage lives of Tre and his friends Doughboy, Ricky and Chris in the early 1990s.
Having been involved in fighting at school, Tre's mum takes him to live with his dad in a South Los Angeles neighbourhood where he is reunited with his friends. We first get an idea of what this place is like when Tre's dad is involved in a shooting on his first night there; the next day Chris shows the rest of them a dead body to which they react remarkably calmly, as if seeing a dead body is the most normal thing. This immediately tells us that crime is obviously a common issue in this particular area/time period and could be foreshadowing future events.
As the boys become teenagers, they are confronted with many difficulties faced by countless teenagers and they all develop their own personalities and aspirations.
Tre finds himself in a relationship with Brandi who he has had strong feelings for since they first met and she makes him a lot more open minded about having sex, explaining her preference to wait, which he accepts.
Ricky, having come from a single parent family and becoming a young father himself, decides that he wants an education at university to become a professional American Football player so he and Tre sit their SAT exams in the hope that they will be able to go together.
Doughboy appears to have taken a different outlook on life and leads himself down the path of drugs, alcohol and crime, much to the disappointment of Ricky and Tre.
In a neighbourhood with crime around every corner, the boys are presented with new challenges throughout the film, testing their anger, desire and self-restraint to the limit.
Sunday 20 November 2016
Thursday 17 November 2016
Film Language Test: Learner Response
33 = B
WWW: A really strong response throughout with excellent insight and reference to the clip. The challenge now is to move from solid level 3 to level 4.
EBI: You need to bring in some media theory and possibly more on genre too. This is a key aspect for top level answers (narrative theory would work well for this exam)
-Some paragraphs need a little more depth... for example, you could say a lot more about Keaton's expression when he sees the killer.
-For sound, you missed SFX and for editing, eye-line matches. Areas to revise for next time!
LR:
How is editing used to create drama and tension in the opening scene?
The editing of this scene is very successful at creating drama and tension. For example, the pace of the editing is very slow and this type of editing is generally associated with the build up of tension - in this case the audience is left anticipating what is going to happen between the two characters. The shots of the killer standing on the boat and walking down the steps are particularly slow paced which shows that the majority of the tension is coming from this character and his actions which makes the audience aware that he is someone to be feared and we assume that he and Keaton are about to encounter one another, and the fact that Keaton is already injured and his identity is exposed to the audience which is quite the opposite of the killer (who we already know is up to no good), we could also assume that their confrontation probably isn't going to end well for Keaton.
As the killer approaches Keaton, Keaton looks up at him and usually, we would expect (as the audience) to see an eyeline match from Keaton to the killer but in order to create tension, the director appears to have made a conscious decision to hide the killer's identity from us which then leaves us wondering who the killer is throughout the rest of the clip. The camera continues to cut to other shots during the scene, but there is never an eyeline match from Keaton to his killer's face. This could be an example of an enigma code created by Barthes which intentionally withholds information from the audience, information that could be crucial to the narrative and its ending (that information in this scene is the killer's identity) This is a very successful way to build tension and retain the audience's attention.
Finally, towards the end of the scene, the killer drops his lit cigarette onto the spilt fuel on the floor, just as Keaton had done with his matches. However, as he drops it, slow motion is used which lengthens the build up to the final explosion for which slow motion is also used. This could add to the strong emotional impact felt by the audience about Keaton's death and also adds to the dramatic atmosphere. In terms of other aspects of film language, the emotion of the scene is heightened by the crescendo in the music which happens at the same time as the explosion and this enables the audience to feel resentment towards Keaton's killer which makes us all the more desperate to discover who he is.
WWW: A really strong response throughout with excellent insight and reference to the clip. The challenge now is to move from solid level 3 to level 4.
EBI: You need to bring in some media theory and possibly more on genre too. This is a key aspect for top level answers (narrative theory would work well for this exam)
-Some paragraphs need a little more depth... for example, you could say a lot more about Keaton's expression when he sees the killer.
-For sound, you missed SFX and for editing, eye-line matches. Areas to revise for next time!
LR:
How is editing used to create drama and tension in the opening scene?
The editing of this scene is very successful at creating drama and tension. For example, the pace of the editing is very slow and this type of editing is generally associated with the build up of tension - in this case the audience is left anticipating what is going to happen between the two characters. The shots of the killer standing on the boat and walking down the steps are particularly slow paced which shows that the majority of the tension is coming from this character and his actions which makes the audience aware that he is someone to be feared and we assume that he and Keaton are about to encounter one another, and the fact that Keaton is already injured and his identity is exposed to the audience which is quite the opposite of the killer (who we already know is up to no good), we could also assume that their confrontation probably isn't going to end well for Keaton.
As the killer approaches Keaton, Keaton looks up at him and usually, we would expect (as the audience) to see an eyeline match from Keaton to the killer but in order to create tension, the director appears to have made a conscious decision to hide the killer's identity from us which then leaves us wondering who the killer is throughout the rest of the clip. The camera continues to cut to other shots during the scene, but there is never an eyeline match from Keaton to his killer's face. This could be an example of an enigma code created by Barthes which intentionally withholds information from the audience, information that could be crucial to the narrative and its ending (that information in this scene is the killer's identity) This is a very successful way to build tension and retain the audience's attention.
Finally, towards the end of the scene, the killer drops his lit cigarette onto the spilt fuel on the floor, just as Keaton had done with his matches. However, as he drops it, slow motion is used which lengthens the build up to the final explosion for which slow motion is also used. This could add to the strong emotional impact felt by the audience about Keaton's death and also adds to the dramatic atmosphere. In terms of other aspects of film language, the emotion of the scene is heightened by the crescendo in the music which happens at the same time as the explosion and this enables the audience to feel resentment towards Keaton's killer which makes us all the more desperate to discover who he is.
Preliminary Task - Shot List
Shot:
1) Medium long shot from behind Subs as she's walking home.
2) close up shot of side of Subs' head showing she's listening to music.
3) Over the shoulder shot as she approaches the boys.
4) close up shot of wallet falling to the floor.
5) Eyeline match from Subs to the wallet.
6) Long shot of Subs picking the wallet up and asking the boys if it's theirs.
7) Medium long shot in front of Subs moving back as Subs opens the wallet whilst walking towards the camera.
8) Close up shot of money in the wallet
9) Close up shot of Subs' facial expression.
10) Medium long shot of Subs looking around and putting the wallet in her pocket.
11) Handheld medium shot from behind walking towards Subs - in same shot Maurice puts bag over Subs' head.
12) Fade/cut to black.
13) Medium shot of kidnapper leading Subs to door.
14) Close up match on action shot of kidnapper opening door.
15) Long shot of whole room as kidnapper sits Subs in chair and exits.
16) Medium shot of Subs' face as Carys removes bag. Subs panics.
17) Medium shot of Carys sitting down and calming her down.
18 - 31) Alternating over the shoulder shots between Subs and Carys during their conversation.
32) Medium long shot of the door as the knock is heard.
33) Close up shot of Subs' face with "who's that?"
34) Long shot of room showing Subs and Carys, Maurice walks past camera but only his torso is visible (hiding his identity)
35) Medium long shot from behind Maurice's head as he takes off his hood and delivers his line.
36) Close up shot of Maurice's mouth as he finishes saying his line.
1) Medium long shot from behind Subs as she's walking home.
2) close up shot of side of Subs' head showing she's listening to music.
3) Over the shoulder shot as she approaches the boys.
4) close up shot of wallet falling to the floor.
5) Eyeline match from Subs to the wallet.
6) Long shot of Subs picking the wallet up and asking the boys if it's theirs.
7) Medium long shot in front of Subs moving back as Subs opens the wallet whilst walking towards the camera.
8) Close up shot of money in the wallet
9) Close up shot of Subs' facial expression.
10) Medium long shot of Subs looking around and putting the wallet in her pocket.
11) Handheld medium shot from behind walking towards Subs - in same shot Maurice puts bag over Subs' head.
12) Fade/cut to black.
13) Medium shot of kidnapper leading Subs to door.
14) Close up match on action shot of kidnapper opening door.
15) Long shot of whole room as kidnapper sits Subs in chair and exits.
16) Medium shot of Subs' face as Carys removes bag. Subs panics.
17) Medium shot of Carys sitting down and calming her down.
18 - 31) Alternating over the shoulder shots between Subs and Carys during their conversation.
32) Medium long shot of the door as the knock is heard.
33) Close up shot of Subs' face with "who's that?"
34) Long shot of room showing Subs and Carys, Maurice walks past camera but only his torso is visible (hiding his identity)
35) Medium long shot from behind Maurice's head as he takes off his hood and delivers his line.
36) Close up shot of Maurice's mouth as he finishes saying his line.
Thursday 3 November 2016
Editing
This is the scene of the song El Tango de Roxanne from the 2001 musical Moulin Rouge. In this scene, we see three scenarios that are happening at the same time as each other and are in some way connected with each other.
The transitions of this scene are all straight cuts which could symbolise the intensity and severity of the relationship between Satine and the Duke. It also makes the scene more engaging for the audience because the cuts are so sudden, especially when the pace quickens so more is happening for the audience to pay attention to. Furthermore, because these cuts are so frequent, the audience hardly notices them so the chronology of each scenario in the song becomes easier to follow because we understand that they are happening simultaneously.
It could be argued that this scene has used continuity editing even though the transitions go from one scenario to another but when it goes back to the scene it started off with, it follows on from the first bit we saw - for example, the three scenarios in the scene are Satine and the Duke's night together in the Duke's mansion, the narcoleptic Argentinian singing and teaching the Tango de Roxanne to the Moulin Rouge dancers, and Christian singing/thinking about how the Duke is going to mistreat Satine.
The first scene shows Christian starting to walk through the Moulin Rouge; the dance then begins and we see Satine and the Duke in his mansion. We then cut back to the dance which has continued from where we last saw it and we then see Christian continue to walk through the club and from then on we continue to see the chronological events of each scenario before eventually Christian has walked out of the Moulin Rouge and ends up underneath the Duke's balcony where the Duke and Satine are now standing together. We then stop seeing the dance for a while, and then it returns when the Duke becomes aggressive with Satine and the sequence of the scenarios continues until the very end of the song.
In terms of other aspects of media language, the sound of the dancers' bodies moving e.g. their feet hitting the floor really emphasises the cuts between the scenes which helps maintain the audience's attention. Also, most of the cuts happen in time with the music which also gives the whole scene more fluidity.
The pace of this clip changes throughout depending on how the narrative progresses. At the beginning of the scene the pace is relatively quick during the tango scenes but slows down slightly each time we return to the Duke and Satine and I think the intention behind this was to build up excitement and intensity during the tango scenes and then to build up tension during the slower paced scenes involving Satine and the Duke, preparing the audience for the climatic events towards the end which a slow paced sequence could foreshadow. The pace then continues to quicken when Christian starts singing and it cuts very quickly through each scenario which could signify his feelings of panic and despair that Satine is supposed to be sleeping with the Duke tonight.
At 2:23 we return to Satine and the Duke and the pace slows down as the Duke begins talking and this change of pace sustains the tension built up between them both and makes the audience wonder what's going to happen as the scene develops. The pace remains slow until 3:07 when the singing resumes which quickens the pace again.
Then, when Christian reaches the Duke's balcony, the pace slows right down again which could highlight the hopelessness Christian and Satine feel that they can't be with each other tonight and that Satine has to spend the night with the Duke. Then, as the Duke's anger grows, we notice the pace begin to quicken again and we know that we are reaching the climax of the scene which leaves the audience fixated, eager to see the result of his rage. As the singing and dancing resumes, with as much ferocity as it left off with, the pace increases to the fastest it has been throughout the whole scene and this reflects how the intensity of each scenario has peaked e.g. the Duke is attempting to rape Satine, Christian is beside himself with despair and the tango has escalated and become much more sensual and dramatic.
There are many moments of juxtaposition in this scene. I think the most noticeable one is probably when Christian is under the balcony and there are numerous eyeline matches between him and Satine, reiterating their love for each other. Furthermore, a lot of the dancing in the tango is naturally very sensual, and these scenes are often followed by Satine and the Duke and the intention behind this could have been to signify that the relationship between Satine and the Duke is purely sexual and the intensity of some of the dancing could be a way of foreshadowing the aggression the Duke takes out on Satine.
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