Edge Of Tomorrow

 

Edge of Tomorrow is about an officer called Cage (Cruise) who is brought into combat. But is killed within 5 minutes of landing. He is then stuck in a time loop forcing him to relive the same day over again. Cage then finds Rita (Blunt) who is also stuck in a time loop and is willing to train Cage to be a better soldier. With each repeated encounter, it gets them closer to defeating the enemy.

 

Representation

In this short amount of time, we see men to be represented as the soldiers and the ones who are fighting this war against the enemy. They are represented this way because it is stereotypical and reinforcing their genders. Men are the strong, active and competitive gender therefore they should be the soldiers. The leading man is also represented as a strong, handsome and smart character and this completes the stereotypical hero role. This also links to patriarchal because at first he is not powerful but he gains power throughout and he also looks after her, which gives him immediate power.

On the other hand, there are hardly any women presented in this trailer. When we see the character of Rita, she goes against the stereotypical female gender of being weak. This could suggest that they want female viewers to see this and be interested in the film. She is represented as a strong-minded fighter who is really powerful and this is very different to the normal action genre because women are portrayed as damsels in distress. I think the reason we see her portrayed this way is to show the differences and to make this particular film stick out because the woman is in power. It links to the feminist ideology of going against women as a housewife; she’s a soldier in the army! 

The way that the army, soldiers and conflict is very different from original action films. In this media text, we see different armour on them that is the metal structure and they have also introduced aliens to the scenes. Adding aliens/creatures from out of this world is not stereotypical because normally it is people fighting other people, by adding another species it creates a new creative sub-genre of sci-fi therefore creating a science fiction action. Also by creating this mixture of genres it allows a bigger audience.

Media language and forms

Surviving means to exist in spite of danger, however they’re continuously dying in order to survive. The moral of this text is to persevere no matter how many times you’ll get knocked down because you’ll just become stronger each time. It gives a deeper meaning to the audience, giving them a life lesson.

 

Throughout this video we see either determination or fear in their facial expressions. The first real detailed expression we are shown is of Rita before the conflict. She is portrayed to be vulnerable and confused at how such a man could know something about her. Instantly we as an audience are pulled in by the knowledge and confusion. Another facial expression seen is when Cage has just landed on the beach and he suddenly sees Rita. His expression is blank, probably because he is lost I the action and/or he is surprised to see her and this always matches the audiences reactions because the thought she was so innocent.

From the beginning, he is at both sides of the camera showing that he doesn’t belong in the location or the situation. On the other hand, she is almost always dead center of the camera showing that she is in power and is also in control. The time where he is most vulnerable s where he is shown to be center and this shows that even in his situation he belongs in the situation.  Even in his state, he’s a soldier and a weapon and is strong and determined enough to be in combat with her and the other soldiers.

This film seems to have a futuristic taste and his is shown in their clothing and props. During combat they’re wearing a metal outcast of armour and to the younger audience it looks like they are part of a video game and that could be what draws them in and become the target audience. Rita’s armour has some red colour to it showing either power or death or even foreshadowing her own many deaths. The biggest iconography shown is the weapons they have, these guns represent the action genre because they cause damage and start the action most of the time. The weapons also imply that there is going to be death, not just of the aliens and other soldiers but the death of them.

At the beginning Cruises’ character starts narrating, he starts with “let me tell you a story” as if it’s going to be a book. It shows that there is a storyline to his life. As he is continuing to tell the story the background noise is low and sounds like wind, it makes him feels isolated and alone.  The reason he is shown to be alone is because he always dies and respawns by himself and he has no one to turn to for guidance. When he reaches the beach and begins to interact with the combat the music is very quiet however when the action carries on the music quickly builds up-tempo creating a lot of action and building up the tension. The music slightly becomes techno after this, relating to their armour and the futuristic setting and the words “this is not the end” is repeated three times. This particular phrase is spoken and it could relate to his time looping and how he never ends but only repeats himself.  After this there is hardly any dialogue is spoken in this trailer however what Rita says sticks out to the audience viewer because they are distinguished and what she says important phrases. The first phrase heard by her is “Come find me when you wake up” and this gives meaning because it is shouted out and will be remembered easily.  The background music sounds like pop, it is played loud but not loud enough that it’ll take your attention off the trailer itself. When quick cuts are used in a short amount of time, the music plays a beat in time with you to build it up and make it more interesting yet frightening. At the end where she says she should just reset, she picks up a gun and cocks it, the music then dies down completely and the screen fades to black creating mystery.

Narrative

This media text is only a short amount of time so the audience might not know everything they need to about the film. The trailer uses narrative snapshots to leave the audience to make guesses. Yu may not get the full effect of the narrative but you can understand that Todorov’s equilibrium is being seen and used. The equilibrium is where Cage and Rita are together without any violence; the disequilibrium is his time loop/deaths and the new equilibrium is when they are together again but it is different because this time they are weak and damaged. However, we cannot use Propp’s 8 character types because throughout we only witness two characters. This could be shown because they’re trying to hide other characters and trying to make the audience guess as to what their roles are. There are Levi-Strauss’ binary opposition shown and some are visual whereas others are conceptual. For example,

·         Life/death,

·         Past/future,

·         Human/alien

·         Man/woman

Considering the film is based on fighting, it is shown that conflict is needed to propel a storyline/narrative. There are various enigma codes added throughout the trailer such as what is going on? And what are they trying to change? Enigma codes are added to present the audience with a puzzle that will intrigue them to watch more. Looking at binary opposition creates heroes and villains. For example, humans vs. aliens show that humans are trying to save the world therefore they are the implied heroes whereas the creatures are the ones fighting back so they are the definite enemies.

The role of many features including sound, music, iconography, mise-en scene and editing is very important because they manage to push the narrative along to create a magnificent story.

Genre

This particular film is a genre of action, and the sub-genre it includes is science fiction. The generic conventions for science fiction are the aliens that are from out of this world and time travel. The generic conventions for action are the weapons used, the war, their armour and the continuous explosions. When thinking about iconography of action and science fiction, particular objects come to mind that are featured in this trailer. For example, there are explosions, guns are other weapons, death, high/low angle shots and the man is chasing the girl. The generic conventions and iconography are used to draw the attention of the primary audience. A variety of people will view the trailer and by what they are being shown, only a particular group would watch further.

The audience’s generic expectations are being fulfilled because there are strong characters fighting against the world together. The characters conform to the characteristics, however the roles are being portrayed differently so this could be playing with the audiences opinions. The audience would expect the man to save the woman because it is stereotypical but this trailer goes against that. It could go against this because different is better and to an audience it will attract more women because it goes against this particular convention.

The main male actor, Tom Cruise, has a past of action movies (Mission Impossible) because he suits a strong male lead character. Tom Cruise is also a good actor therefore he could promote the film and it could be an interest to women, meaning more of an audience and more money they will make. Similarly the direction, Doug Liman, has directed many action films (Mr. and Mrs. Smith) and these films has become a big success and because of his reputation you could expect Edge of Tomorrow to be just as good as the rest. 

The institutional source behind this text is Warner Bros Pictures.

Audiences

The target audience of Edge of Tomorrow is young male adults (12-25) because the film is portrayed as an evolved video game. This is the target audience because males are known to grow up playing video games. Their social economics group is E-C2. The audiences’ characteristics would be video game lovers because of the way the film is viewed and the fact the main characters are able to respawn when he dies, comparing it to a video game.

 

The audiences background will make them view the film differently. Depending on their gender, religion, sexuality, intelligence, location and more they will all view it differently.

 

Overall the film is not just about action but also life lessons e.g. perseverance and trying your hardest. The trailer uses a variety of shots however it is still shown to be an action genre. The fact that Tom Cruise is the leading role it might suggest the viewers will focus on his appearance rather than the movie itself.

Full Metal Jacket - Cinematography

The first scene uses closes up of the young recruits getting their hair shaved and this gives meaning because it shows them moving from an individual to part of the group and they're losing their identity.

 Throughout the training scenes, they hardly use close ups again and this makes the first scene more important and memorable. The meaning of close ups is to see the emotion on the characters faces because then it gives a reaction to the audience watching. The next close up used is on Pyles and it uses a camera movement of zoom to get closer and during this you can see the built up and frustration in his face.

 When the sergeant is getting to know the characters lots of low angle shots are used to present him as a powerful person with a lot of authority. There are also various long shots used to show the audience around the setting; this creates meaning to the narrative because it shows the location and it gives a shocking feeling to the audience because of the extreme lengths that the soldiers have to go through. When Joker makes a joke at the beginning,  the drill sergeant shouts at him and Joker is located in the left hand side of the scene which shows the he is out of place and this is important because it shows that this character does not belong here at the moment.

 Similarly in the scene where Joker moves squads, he is reporting of deaths covered in lime and afterwards the sergeant is shouting at him and again Joker is placed to the left of the screen to show he is out of place, that he doesn't belong there and to the audience this could show that he should not be in the army. In combat that always use long shots because it presents the entire setting and how it looks. Also in combat there is someone filming them after a long day and there is tracking movement following them down the line. When running in combat there is handheld eye level shots and this creates effect because it feels as if you're actually in the movie and following them into combat.

 The difference between the training scenes and the combat is that there is hardly any close ups in the training because they hardly portray emotions, the only emotions they show is their anger and anger is shown alot in combat therefore there was a lot of close ups of them. There is a difference between situations because at training they're all grouped together with similar looks and in combat they've managed to expand and become their own person again.

Shes the man - mise en scene for opening scene

The main character is shown to be a teenage girl called Viola Hastings whose name we find out later into the film. At the beginning, Viola is happily playing soccer at a beach with the company assumed to be classmates. Voila carries on the scene by competitively playing soccer with her friends showing her amazing skills to the audience. The use of the life guard ring and the football going through it shows that she has perfected her soccer skills to a good quality to be able to shoot it where possible. Furthermore it shows Viola as more of masculine girl because females are not shown to be great at sports however in this case it looks perfectly normal because other girls are involved as well.

As the opening scene progresses, Voila is on her way to soccer practise on the schools field only to realise her girls soccer team has been cut, the look on her face is blank as she breaks inside since soccer is the only thing she truly loved. A soccer ball is used in both the first scene and second scene, this could be contrasting the scenes because at first she is happy, excited and full of life however in the scene later on she uses the football to take out her stress and anger out on Justin.

Afterwards Viola is on the way to her front door, whilst walking om the path in her front garden the lightening to shown to be darker than usual and this could be pathetic fallacy showing the audience Voilas foul mood. Also her tatty hat, baggy hoody and jeans could reflect her masculinity in the film as she looks less feminine and that she is trying to hide away from the world. In the scene she is also confused for her twin brother Sebastian which reinforces the masculinity even more.

Overall the mise en scene in the opening scenes makes the main character of Viola Hastings seem really confident within herself amd her abilities of soccer however it takes a cruel turn as she ends up feeling distraught as her favourite sport is cut from her life.

Life After Beth

Life After Beth is the new Zom Rom Com featuring Dane DeHaan and Aubrey Plaza.

Synopsis: Zach (DeHaan) is dating Beth (Plaza) when she passes away from a fatal snake bite, he visits her grave where there is a hole in the floor. He eventually sees that she has mysteriously returned from the dead. Zach carries on their relationship but he realises she is not the way she used to be. (c) Imdb

Life After Beth is set to be released on the 1st October in cinemas in the UK. First thoughts were OMG Dane DeHaan and then there was so many enigma codes that need to be answered. Why are her parents hiding Beth from Zach? Why did she come back to life? What's going to happen to them as a couple? It may be darker than the previous Zom Rom Coms e.g. Warm Boddies but that does not mean that it is not full of comedy.

Counting down the days until I see this, I literally hate horrors so much but I think Dane DeHaan will be worth it. Fingers crossed.