Matthew Vaughn Interview

Click the image above to link yourself to an interview with Matthew Vaughn with FirstNet.

Kick Ass Box Office Figures

Click the picture above to go to Mojo and view the films box office figures.

Kick Ass - The Comic Book

Kick-Ass is a creator-owned comic book series written by Mark Millar and illustrated by John Romita, Jr. It is published by Marvel Comics under the company's Icon imprint. It is the story of Dave Lizewski, a teenager who sets out to become a real life superhero. His actions are publicized on the Internet and inspire others. He gets caught up with ruthless vigilantes Hit-Girl and Big Daddy who are on a mission to take down the gangster John Genovese.

5 X 5.

My 5 X 5;

1.5 Albums 2011-2012;

1.The English Riveria - Metronomy.
2.What Did You Expect From The Vaccines/ Come Of age - The Vaccines.
3.An Awesome Wave - Alt-J.
4.Given To The Wild - The Maccabees.
5.Colour Of The Trap - Miles Kane.

These five albums, and artists, conclude my five favourite albums too date from 2011-2012. I listen to these a lot, and find my self getting excited about any new material from either of the above artists, old or new. A lot of easy listening, with some more up beat heavier tempo beats.

2.5 Movie Characters;

1. The Joker - "I'm an agent of chaos."
2. Tyler Durdan - "You're the all singing all dancing crap of the world."
3. Darth Vader - "The emperor has been expecting you."
4.Marty Mcfly - "Are you telling me that you built a time machine... out of a DeLorean?"
5. Jules Winnefield - "English, motherfucker, do you speak it?"

These 5 characters are from some of my favourite films, and are more often than not, violent to say the least. All 5 are iconic characters in the world of film, and all played incredibly well by some of the worlds greatest actors.

3.5 Muscians;
1.Kanye West - Roses.
2.The Vaccines - Norgaard.
3.The Specials - Rat Race.
4.KiD CuDi - Pursuit Of Happiness.
5.The Black Keys - Money Maker.

A random selection of some of my most played songs on iTunes, from some of my favourite artists. Simple.

4.5 Women;
1. Mila Kunis.
2. Lana Del Ray.
3. Kate Upton.
4. Miranda Kerr.
5. Bar Refaeli.

5.5 Designers;
1.Paul Smith.
2.Brian Donelly (KAWS).
3.Tibby Wegner and Fred Perry.
4.Tinker Hatfield - Nike Footwear.
5.Pharrel Williams - Billionaire Boys Club.

Attack The Block

Attack The Block;

Attack the block was written and produced by Joe Cornish.  Explaining in a recent interview with a swedish film firm, he says he took inspiration from his favourite films from the 80's (his childhood) such as E.T, Critters and  Predator, as well as his favourite gang films The Warriors and Streets of Fire, but especially any sic-fi films that incorporate suburban reality and fantasy. He wanted to create a film about his location from his childhood years and of his local area and environment, explaining it could be a 'cool' idea.

After being mugged in his local area of Stockwell South London, he was determined to beat the stereotypes of those who committed this crime, and so led him to begin research on the types who carried out this offence. During his research he spoke to and interviewed children on the streets and in local youth clubs and used what he learnt from these kids to begin to write a film about an alien invasion, carrying out his sic-fi fantasies using the backdrop of where he grew up. His vision seemed to be to break down the barrier of peoples views on todays youth, saying that kids 'test the boundaries of the world.' so is wrong to demonise them for their mistakes. Cornish also showed a great love for his city throughout the making of the film.

Big Talk Films produced the film on a budget of around £8,000,000 with help from Film4, StudioCanal, and Film Council. The council estate seen in the film is a mix of several different council estates found across central london. The film was shot across London from March to May 2010, with 6 weeks of night shoots on the Heygate Estate in Elephant and Castle, Myatts Field Brixton Oval tube station in Kennington and the Bemerton Estate in Islington. Interior scenes were filmed at Three Mills Studios in east London. The reason the film was shot over 6 weeks at night is because the film follows the events of one night in London, and the darkness ramps us the atmosphere in the movie.

However shooting only at night could have proven a problem as it may have been difficult to maintain the same time period over the 6 week period, and the team would have to face only problems that where thrown up at them during the recording periods. Also, due to Cornish wanting to give a realistic representation of the London youths, there is a heavy theme of London's gang slang, which could have been difficult for oversea viewers to interpret, sparking a debate whether to include subtitles for certain showings of the film. Also, with the lack of a blockbuster movie budget, Cornish could not afford to use masses of hollywood style CG special effects, but instead used old school simple practical effects to deliver his aliens.

While most of the special effects shots where created using different sources of technology, the aliens where created at first using costume. However, these aliens looked harmless, so where enhanced using editing software, paying particular attention to the jaw and fur of the creatures, using lighting and 3d effects to bring the aliens to life. In order to save money on the film, shots of the aliens are few and far between, but Cornish managed to find a perfect balance of how often to include the aliens in the film. Also having a roster of completely unknown teenage actors dramatically slashed the wage bills, allowing the film to stick to its tight budget.

The soundtrack for the film was an original mix composed by Basement Jaxx and Richie Price, both heavily involved in the dance/electronica music scenes, as well as hip hop, and this is evident in the songs selected by the pair, as the influences of these two types of music are heavy throughout the film.

Working Titles Films

1. In 1983,the company 'Working Titles Films' was co-founded by producer Tim Bevan and Sarah Radcliffe.

2.The compnay was founded in 1983.

3.The company is based in Marylebone, London, but can branches can be found in Ireland and Los Angeles.

4. Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner no co-own the compnay.

5.The company hostan array of awards,but most namely 26 bafta awards, 6 oscars and 4 academy awards. Tim and Eric also won a Bafta for an outstanding contribution to the British film industry.

6. Working Title have 43 full time employees.

7. Their Philosophy has to always been to create and make films for an audience, and for European films to appeal to audiences worldwide.

8. The company have many a box office smash, including films such as Mr.Bean's Holiday, Bridget Jone's Diary, Hot fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, Love Actually and State of Play just to name a few.

9. But with success comes failure, films that Working Titles have made and become flops inlcude The Boat That Rocked, The Guru, The Shape Of Things, Thunderbirds and Fargo.

10. Richard Curtis is a british screenwriter, music producer, actor and film producer who has a history for wokring with Working titles on films such as Bridget jones and Bean.

11. The company have worked with directors sucgh as Kirk Jones (Nanny Mcphee) and Beeban Kidron (Bridget Jones: Edge Of Reason.

12. Hugh Grant has worked with and stared in several WT films, noteable the Bridget Jones films.

13. Joel David Coen and Ethan jesse Coen (The Coen Brothers) are two critically acclaimed American film makers. They write, film and produce their films together, working with Working Titles on films such as Fargo, The Big Lewbowski, O Brother and Where Art Thou?

14. Polygram, once the companies corporate backer, was merged with another company to form the Universal Music Group in 1999, then the company merged and was sold to Universal Studios in the same year, leading them to own 67% of Working Titles.

15. Shaun of the Dead - Budget $5,000,000.
Hot Fuzz - Budget Budget £8,000,000 (estimated).

16. Working Title seem to produce more british comedies than any other genre of film e.g Hot Fuzz, Johnny English, Mr.Bean, Shaun of the Dead and many more.

17. They also make a lot of RomCom films, for example the Bridget Jones series, Love Actually, and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

18. In 1999, Bevan and Fellner launched a subsidiary company named Working Title 2 Productions, commonly known as WT2. The company is an independent film production company run by Natascha Wharton, and has produced films that include Bill Elliot, Shaun of the Dead and The Calcium Kid

19. Recent Film and DVD releases, recent film news , a back catalogue of their TV and film releases.

20. Although their philosophy was to produce European films to appeal to a worldwide audience, they now produce American films too.

The Male Gaze Continued

We were also asked to study a music video and an advert of choice to apply these theories too, as seen below;

Music Video Clip:

When looking for a video to complete this task about, I found my self searching through many music videos of different genres, finding it difficult to get a video where the model or subject is directing their gaze towards the audience or camera. However I did find than more often than not, rappers, hip hop and grime artists do this more than bands etc, which I why I decided upon Frank Oceans video to his song 'Novacane' as the main subject in the video is himself, with a close up of his face.




He has eye contact with the camera for the majority of the clip, grabbing the attention of the viewer through his gaze; this also shows the relationship of power between Frank and whoever it may be watching the video, as they are watching him, and not the other way around. Woman particularly might find his looks seducing, as he seems to be holding their gaze too. He has a very 'practical' expression, he is frowning, mouth open very little, and concentrating on his 'business' performing his song to his audience. People may also think this look is very seductive, or even catalogue, as too some his expressions might be meaningless, and there fore void of any emotion.

The Male Gaze

The Male Gaze

This week in our Media Studies class we have been looking into the termonology 'The Male Gaze' a film theory first used in the 70's, a feminstic reference to the voyastic way men look at women, and how the 'gaze' represents a pschologlicaly relationship between two or more people, and how the person holding the gaze has more power over the others. Marjorie Ferguson identified four types of gaze defined below;

Chocolate Box;
The 'Chocolate box' is typically made up of a half smile or full smile, lips slightly parted or together with the teeth barely visible. This look is relitively pleasing, warm, and devoids any looks of uniqueness.

Invitational;
The main emphasis of this look is on the eyes, with a hint of a smile or the mouth completely shut. the model or subject will tilt their head too one side also, or look back at the camera. The look is suggestive of mischief or mystery, hinting at contact rather than sexual promise.

Super Smiler;
A full face with a wide, toothy smile, the subjects head thrusted forward or chin thrown back with the hair usually wind blown. This gives of an angressive 'look at me' attitude, showing confidence and demanding attention.

Romantic/Sexual;
This expression features male and female 'two-somes', describing the often dreamy and heavy/ heavy lidded, and the overtly sexual and sensual. This projects the  possibly available, and definitely available.

     






Trevor Millum: 1975

Seductive:
this looks requires the model to have their eyes slightly closed, and small, faint expressions but still enough to portray to viewers, their expressions should also be milder, be still show self-confidence.

Carefree;
Here the model is seen often smiling, to look healthy and vibrant, and are likely to be photographed in an outdoor enviroment (this look is heavily linked to sports or other outdoor activities) subject is also active.

Practical;
The model here should be concentrating, engaged in business with their mouths closed, with their eyes focused towards an object. Sometimes the model might be frowning, typically with short hair or long hair tied back.

Comic;
This expression is deliberatley ridicuolous and obviously staged, exagrrating a lot and acting the fool by pulling faces or through similar actions.

Catalogue;
A neutral, almost artificial, dummy looking expression, which is wax like. Features can be in any position- but are likely to have open eyes and smiling. However, looks remain empty which any personality removed.

Representation- The Man

We were set the simple task this week in Media to construct a representation of the photo seen above. Going on what only I could see from the picture, I took into consideration his clothing firstly, and the fact he is smoking a cigarette partially covering his face with one hand and with his beanie hat pulled down low. I noticed very quickly the patches on his trousers and the plaid shirt he is wearing, something that I personally picture when thinking of the homeless, therefore I was very quick to jump to the conclusion that this man was homeless, and was covering his face in a way to hide himself as he may have been ashamed. Along with his scuffed shoes and the cigarette this backed my presumption that he was in fact homeless. However, I could not be more wrong. 

The man seen is Doug Bihlmaier, one of the very first stylists at Ralph Lauren, and a very important member of there team. When we discussed the photo in more detail with Mr.Ford, he pointed out several reasons as to why we where wrong. Firstly, the trousers; the turn ups are very neat, almost as if they had just been pressed or ironed, and the patches are too neat and precise, clearly deliberate and thought through. Secondly, the plaid shirt. Most importantly it is his size, it fits him, something that a homeless person may not have the luxury to obtain, well fitted clothing. Smoking may just be a habit, and we later learnt the shoes he is wearing cost around $320, so not in any way cheap. 

 This just goes to show how quickly people are to judge and jump to conclusions using various personal experiences and stereotypes when viewing certain forms of media, when they couldn't be any further from the truth.