Goodfellas (1990) Screenshots

Detail how the two screenshots that you have been given create meaning through the use of cinematography.

Henry looking through the blinds

This is a close up shot, low key lighting and Henry's face is in the shadows. He's looking across to the Gangsta's home base and his eyes appear to be longing to be over there. It's also a rather personal shot of Henry, which links up with the fact that he's narrating throughout the film. The venisian blinds also look a lot like prison bars which could represent something that he could become, and how in many ways in this shot his started with a lack of identity but by longing to be a gangsta, in prison is where his idenity lies. 

Pauly close up

This shows a close up of Pauly, the gangsta leader. It also uses quite dark lighting and hard lighting to accentuate his features to make him look tougher and more intimidating. Pauly's eyes look quite angry and dark, he's almost glaring at the people around him. The gates behind him also look like prison gates and represent confinement but they're behind him which could represent how his prison days are behind him, but he still persists in continuing his gangsta life. His facial expression is quite closed which represents the typical gangsta attitude of not saying anything to anyone and being very closed of opinions.

Mise-en-scene - Figure Expression

Wanted (2008)

Detail how figure expression are used to create meaning and understanding in a film.

The protagonist, Wesley, at the beginning is depicted as a very anxious and nervous character. With medication to settle his constant panic attacks, his body language is also a clear indicator of his neurosis. Wesley is often slouched and looking down at the floor, this shows that he has problems with maintaining eye contact and interacting with other people. He's also has very closed body language to replicate his feel of being trapped in his own body. His facial expression is often quite blank and inexpressive which could show how due to his anxiety, he's very overconscientious of his own life to pay attention to situations around him.

When Wesley meets Fox, the first action scene of the film takes place and it's then that the viewer sees Wesley pure state of panic to loud noises and his surroundings, something that dramatically changes towards the end of the film. Wesley has his head in his hand, trying to protect himself whilst being flung around the supermarket. His body language is still extremely closed and he's in a pure state of panic. But it's after that moment that Wesley realizes, he doesn't want to be trapped in the nervous prison of his body anymore, he wants to change.

Towards the end of the film and after his training from the Fraternity, Wesley's figure expression completely changes. His posture has instantly improved and he looks very confident, probably because he's now more comfortable with what he's become. He also looks far more awake and responsive to his surroundings, whereas before he seemed almost semi-comatosed. His general walk and his movements became very precise and accurate; meaning that he's found where he belongs. He no longer appears as the slumped, lazy and terrified person he was before. He's now a alert and awake person that is responsive to everything around him; and he's enjoying it, he's not longer a prisoner, he's been liberated.

Thelma & Lousie (1991) Film Response

After only knowing a little bit about the film after watching a Simpsons parody, this was my first time watching the actual film Thelma and Louise... And I really enjoyed it.

The film highlights the quite interesting issue that's probably popular with fugitives that once they set out on the path to destruction, they cannot stop. The film has a somewhat shocking factor of two woman taking the leading role and being the violent ones, and i think that's the idea of the film, to show their power as woman; and to also get their payback on men. Towards the end of the film they blame the men in their lives for what they'd become and how the second they got a taste of freedom, they couldn't stop.

I think the film was extremely interesting from the point of view of the roles Thelma and Louise play in eachothers lives and how the dramatically changes. Although this film has been slated and ridiculed in the past, there are few films that have tackled the issue that this film has, woman can be set on a road to destruction, and it does happen in reality.

The ending, like most films of this kind, was a mixture of feelings. Every viewer grows to like Thelma and Louise and desperately wants them to get to Mexico and for them to succeed, but eventually, reality will always catch up with them. Many people thought that the ending was a cop-out, but i disagree, i thought it was very clever. It showed that reality does catch up and luck does run out, it showed to the point that they were pushed by men and their lack in trust towards men, that;s why they couldn't trust the police officer and more importantly, it showed Thelma and Louise's togetherness and how it couldn't of been taken away, and wasn't going to be separated by anyone... particularly any man.

Mise-en-scene - Props

Skyfall (2012)

Detail how props are used to create meaning and understanding in a film.

The most noticeable theme in Skyfall is about the constant change and battle of analog verses digital, new verses old and particularly how the notorious James Bond was becoming exceedingly dated. Although a obvious prop in the James Bond series is usual the gun, I think that in Skyfall there's a far more important prop... The Aston Martin DB5.


Throughout the entire film, James Bond is constantly ridiculed for his out-dated methods and his reluctance to give in to the digital ear. This is apparent because of his binary opposition, Silva, is a man of technology and when give the repeated options to learn Silva's knowledge in cyber-terrorism, Bond refuses every time. After a crucial scene where Silva's laptop starts to be decrypted but the laptop then floods the MI6's database with viruses, Bond is forced to take control and do things his way, the old-fashioned way. Thus the relevance of the DB5 occurs, it represents the past, and how the analog way can sometimes be the best option. It shows James Bond's reluctance to conform and become high-tech because class and tradition will always be important to him; and this belief is one of the only things that separates him from Silva. The Aston Martin DB5 represents the old him, and also his return - the second the viewer saw the car in the film, you knew... Bond was back.

The Great Dictator (1940) The Final Speech.

I wanted to add this onto here for the reason that I've noticed with film studies, there's a lot of situations and themes in films that seem dated and not important anymore. But there is one film that has never gone out of fashion, nor has the message ever not been important... The Great Dictator (1940). A fantastic film filled with controversy and a clear message to unite, with a constant use of excellent writing/word play and sublime acting... And also features one of the greatest speeches of all time. A speech that highlights the simple issue that things within society don't change, politics has always been hypocritical, and probably always will be. However, if people do unite, a simple love, beauty and kindness can be found.

The Speech.
"I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone - if possible - Jew, Gentile - black man - white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost....

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men - cries out for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.

To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. .....

Soldiers! don’t give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you - enslave you - who regiment your lives - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel! Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!

In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: “the Kingdom of God is within man” - not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people have the power - the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.

Then - in the name of democracy - let us use that power - let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world - a decent world that will give men a chance to work - that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfil that promise. They never will!

Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people! Now let us fight to fulfil that promise! Let us fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers! in the name of democracy, let us all unite!"

Mise-en-scene - Costume and Make up

V For Vendetta (2005)

Detail how costume & make-up is used in creating meaning and understanding in a film.

V for Vendetta tells the story of a masked catalysis who's life had been dedicated to get revenge for how the government and establishment made him, and his costume perfectly summarizes his intentions. V wears a Guy Fawkes mask, firstly to hide his true identity, but also secondly to follow the classic story of Guy Fawkes, a man who intended to blow up the houses of Parliament and was caught and charged with treason on the 5th of November. As V is a man looking for revenge on the government, a Guy Fawkes mask mask seems only logical. 

V also wears a large black hat and an all black, armour-looking suit. As all of his costume is black it gives a clear indication that V has lost the colour from his life, and as because of the previous government experiment that made him the way he is, it could show the factor that he's no longer human, he's just a masked shade. The black costume is also a very good disguise as he's able to hide in the shadows, thus the black hat so a shadow is always on his face, even though he's masked, he's still trying to hide his identity further; this is possibly due to a lost identity, once again because of his lack of humanity. V's appearance is also extremely neat and tiny, displaying that he's a very efficient character. The knifes he carries are also an indicator of his efficiency, as he states in a famous scene in the film, although knives are slower then guns, knifes don't need to be reloaded and are there for more efficient and effective. 

Lastly, V is rather famous for his large thick cloak, personifying himself as somewhat super-hero like and becomes a symbolical freedom fighter for the anti-government revolution that takes place in the final scenes. V's all black costume plus the Guy Fawkes mask has been so famous and recognizable that it's still used in real-life protests, and ones that aren't even necessarily linked to the government. V's costume provides the perfect symbolism of revenge, revolutions and anti-conformist change; which is exactly V's character summed up. He was a precises, masked, cloaked, mysterious character, who lived in the shadows with a missing identity and aimed for one thing, revenge.