Tom's Film Blog

Arriving At The Beach - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKAeB5k7sJg The performance of Robert Duvall playing Kilgore conveys the image and role of stereotypical masculine dominace heroism. For example, in the scene where Napalm hits and the soldiers drop, Kilgore stands still and above the other soldiers. More specifically, his body language shows him with his hands on his hips looking into the distance. This displays the idea of power and bravery and also makes Kilgore conform to the stereotype of masculine action heroes. Furthermore the fact that he is standing above teh other soldiers could be symbolic of how he is superior to his soldiers in rank or maybe as an individual. This highlights Kilgores arrogance, egotism and deludeness as he could've of been killed, but he doesn't believe he will. It is almost as if he believes he is omnipotent, furthermore conveying ideas of dominace and deludedness. The miss-en-scene of the scene also highlights masculine stereotypes and how ...

The director makes an impact on the audience through the portrayal of Girl as throughout the short film it is given a realistic yet comedic tone, which emphasises shock when it suddenly changes. This can be seen through the technique of fast editing and cyclical camera shots. This creates makes the story of the film seem constant and makes it more jarring and noticeable when it changes. The consistency of the shots matches the tone of the film and changes as soon as the shot does. The fast paced feel of it allows the audience to perhaps miss some of the foreshadowings of the twist. For example how she says she's good at hiding things, which could be alluding to how she has hidden babies before. Another way the director makes an impact on the audience is by creating empathy for Girl. For example, Girl is wearing a puffer jacket and big hoop earrings,  conveying the idea she is a chav. This furthermore displayed when she is shown to be a loud and confident person. Because of this the...

Themes: Evil, Power, Colonialism, Chaos vs Order, Corruption  The opening of Apocalypse Now conveys the idea that our lead protagonist is a tortured man through different elements of film making. For example the editing of the man's face fading in out of the fire combined with the fire in the background could be symbolic of how the conflict he was involved with was traumatic and hell like. It could also represent how he is a more antagonistic lead, which represents a change seen introduced by New Hollywood movies. The close up shot on his face almost makes it look like his face is on fire, almost as if he is being consumed by his past sins. The fading effect of the editing added with the slow rock music gives the scene a hallucinogenic feel, which may be referencing how many Vietnam soldiers took drugs to cope with effects of war.  Furthermore, the sound of the opening creates a feeling of dread. For example, the first lyrics of the song heard are "this is the end" giv...

"New Hollywood" was introduced in the late 60s and early 70s after most viewers were fatigued by the classical style of film making. This change most likely happened because of European cinema, particularly the French new wave. Hollywood absorbed tactics from European and retook dominance because European cinema was starting to die out. Whilst Classical Cinema only had flat, well rounded, clearly motivated characters, New Hollywood started to use characters who were confused and who were perhaps not as clearly motivated. Also European movies were less censored and featured more gore or explicit imagery. This change saw the introduction of the "blockbuster" which were high budget and high stakes movie. Some of the most well known of these films include Jaws and Star Wars. Some of the pioneering directors of this change includes Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Martin Scorsese. The so called "ringleader" of this new wave of cinema was Francis Ford Coppola....