Media Studies | Ben Land

Steven SpielbergSteven Allan Spielberg was born on December 18th 1946. He is currently married to his wife Kate Capshaw and lives in Los Angeles, California.

Spielberg is best known for his classics like E.T and Jurassic park but even at the age of 69 he is still directing and producing very popular films like Bridge of Spies and is currently filming Indiana Jones 5. Until recently Spielberg would just focus on films but as the ever-growing popularity of TV series’ increase he has started to direct well known series such as Halo (currently being filmed) and Falling Sky’s (which now has 4 seasons). He specialises in many genres but focuses more on the genre of thriller. He has directed and written thrillers such as the famous Jaws, cape fear and minority report.

Steven’s career has been hugely successful, he is well known for a wide selection of movies in a wide set of genres. For example he is well known for his family classic E.T as well as his action movie Saving Private Ryan. Some of his best thriller work consists of Jaws and Bridge of Spies. He is also well known for Indiana Jones and Jurassic park which are more action adventure. He has won awards such as the Academy Award for Best Director in 1999 for Saving Private Ryan and most recently the David di Donatello for Best Foreign Film in 2016 in Bridge of Spies. Spielberg is still alive and has had a massive influence on the film industry. He has contributed with revolutionary techniques and ideas like Jurassic Park which was an early SiFi adventure film that is seen as an archetype of modern Hollywood film making. To add to this he started the concept of ‘blockbuster’ movies as he created very successful movies that spanned over many years, for example Indiana Jones.

Media Studies | Ben Land

Jaws

Basic details:

Jaws was directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown. It was based on the book ‘Jaws’ by Peter Benchley and was accompanied by a fantastic soundtrack written by one of Spielberg’s common collaborations John Williams. It was released in 1975 with a budget of $9 million where, despite its age, it made $470.7 million due to fantastic editing and visual effects, for example the giant puppet shark. This film is still very popular even and even though a CGI version was released the original is still preferred. Despite the fact the shark was only on screen for a total of 4 minutes it is ranked as one of the scariest and most suspenseful films of all time… it still holds this rank today.

Plot:

A young blond is swimming late at night and is viciously pulled under and killed; her remains are found on the shore and the beaches are closed for fear of another shark attack. The beaches are then shortly reopened due to the theory that it was a boating accident until ‘surprisingly’ there is another shark attack. The shark then starts to eat more people until local shark hunter Quint offers his services as a shark hunter. He proceeds to hunt Jaws with three colleagues until he is eaten alive and his friend Brody kills the shark by throwing an air tank in its mouth and then shooting it.

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Review:

“Here it comes, looming back out of the water: a restored print of Steven Spielberg's serial-killer masterpiece from 1975; a film that apart from everything else, invented the "forensic-autopsy-running-commentary" scene, delivered by a scientist trying not to puke. It was adapted from Peter Benchley's filthier bestseller: a killer shark with the cunning of a U-boat commander is eating swimmers, and threatening to destroy the precarious prosperity of a US beach resort over the 4 July weekend. As a picture of pre-bicentennial angst, Jaws stands alongside Robert Altman's Nashville. Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw are the three glorious hombres of 70s Hollywood tracking down the shark, whose presence is signalled by John Williams's orchestral theme, the creepiest since Herrmann's Psycho. All have something to prove: Dreyfuss is oceanographer Hooper, a superbly natural, utterly real performance, who has to show he's man enough to take down the big fish. Scheider's police chief has to redeem himself after participating in that contemporary political phenomenon, a cover-up: he withheld information about the shark to protect tourism. And Shaw's grizzled seadog Quint is haunted by a chilling wartime memory. Don't listen to the cynics who claim

the shark looks iffy now. This is a suspense classic that leaves teeth-marks.”

-TheGuardian

To conclude the Guardians reivew, Jaws is a fantastic film and although it is old it still successfully shocks people as to how amazingly put together it is.

The genre:

Jaws fits the thriller Genre because it uses all of the generic conventions that a thriller movie needs. For example in the film there is lots of suspense due to techniques like the red herring. To add to this it uses visual effects such as dark lighting and open waters in order to play off people’s fears so that the effect of the film lasts even when it is over. This is proven as a survey went round three months after the film and 40% of Americans were too scared to take their family to the beach due to the effect Jaws had on them.

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Close study:

Camera work

There is an extreme low angle shot whilst Chrissie is swimming in the sea. The camera is at the bottom of the sea looking up at her; the shot is used to give the audience an idea about how deep the water is. Although there isn’t much on the screen the faint outline of Chrissie and the slight glimmer of light is all the audience need to get a feel for the depth of the water. This completely highlights the fear of deep water and completely overwhelms the audience. This is because in most thriller movies the audience sit there thinking ‘I know how to get out of that situation’ but the lack of objects and things to hold on to and the deep water show the audience there is no hope. This also gives us the impression that someone or something is behind the camera looking up at her.

There is also an effective zoomed low angle shot followed by a slight pan. This camera is still underneath Chrissie and still shows the extreme depth in water but as it zooms in on her it gives the audience the impression that something is moving closer. This again plays on the audience’s mind as they remember the many times they’ve been swimming thinking something is lurking in the depths. In this however something is lurking in the depths and we begin to realise this when the camera starts to follow Chrissie as we notice the danger is getting closer and closer.

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Editing techniques

Jaws is unlike most movies in terms of editing techniques because in the opening there really isn’t many to choose from. In the opening there is only medium length cuts. This is noticeable in the opening scene during the shark attack. Usually the editing would be fast paced but in Jaws it is not. This allows us to see the background and see that Chrissie is alone and has no hope. To add to that it builds tension as we don’t know what will happen.

Sound

The theme tune for jaws is very simplistic (two notes) yet one of the most famous movie tunes ever. This is because although it is pretty much the only song heard in the film it is very clever as it adds an extreme amount of suspense and drama. Once the tune starts playing the audience instantly know someone will die whilst the victim is completely clueless thus adding dramatic irony.

Mise en Scene

The use if props in this extract is successful. In particular the use of the boi that Chrissie grabs on to. This is successful because it gives the audience hope that she might survive as she is able to swim to it. Other than the boi the use of props is minimal in order to show the audience that Chrissie has nothing to defend herself with.

Media Studies | Ben Land

Minority Report

Basic detail:

Minority Report was directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the bool Minority Report by Philip K. Dick. Its music was, again, by John Williams who provides to the soundtrack to almost all of Spielberg’s films. The film budget was $102 million and it made $258.4 million in the box office which for a Spielberg film is not actually that much. Despite this it is a well-regarded thriller due to its immense action and plot.

Plot:

An organisation called PreCrime stops murders before they happen and decreases the murder rate to zero. They are able to do this because of three mutated beings, Precogs, which predict future murders. The murderers are then found and sent to jail where they live in their own happy virtual reality. The main character, Anderton is believed to murder someone in 36 hours and therefore goes on the run to try and find out why and who he is supposed to murder. It turns out he was set up by the head of PreCrime so he exposes him and PreCrime is shut down.

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Review:

“The best scene in Minority Report involves a major character gruesomely trading one set of eyeballs for another. It is a deliciously dark joke upon which to rest the action, for Minority Report is a movie concerned with new ways of seeing. As such, it gives fresh impetus to a growing suspicion about the world's most successful director: Steven Spielberg himself has traded eyeballs.

From the murderous visions of the pre-cognitive trio, to the retina scans personalising your shopping experience in Orwellian fashion, Minority Report is saturated with metaphors for seeing. But look closer, and each new metaphor also functions as a commentary on the hazards of movie direction itself.

Watching Cruise's cop, Anderton, conduct the Pre-Cog output, sorting through complex future images with expert waves of gloved hands, is how you would like to believe Steven Spielberg directs - musically, masterfully. But Spielberg, long removed from brash youth, understands that ultimately all such confidence is misplaced.

A little later, Anderton's own skill betrays him when he zeroes in on his own face perpetrating a future murder. Images in Minority Report are unreliable, subject to interference and editing. The gritty cinematography, once again provided by Janusz Kaminski, has the flavour of faded family photos and recurring dreams. You cannot quite trust it, yet the locations seem horribly familiar.

Do not, then, be hoodwinked by the film's atavistic 'Everybody Runs' tagline; clearly the marketing people at Fox would like the Jurassic Park audience to believe this is a breathless action spectacle. It's not.

Minority Report is a hybrid film noir, pitched in moral twilight and steeped in shadow. There may be no blue in the bleached sky, but this is not a standard-issue dystopian future. Nor is it a satirical cartoon in the Paul Verhoeven tradition. Indeed, Spielberg, that most apolitical of directors, could be the first visionary to fashion a near-future that feels distinctly ours - organic, market-driven and teeming with as much danger as promise.

The film noir structure is adhered to until the bitter end, even if the luxurious running time lacks the adamantine precision of the films Spielberg would most like to imitate: The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep. The denouement, during which the detective unmasks the villain, is classic noir. The action, let it be noted, ran out an hour ago.

Hugely ambitious and wildly successful in parts, only a tricky third act trips up a master director clearly enjoying himself in virgin territory. Nonetheless this stands as the best future noir since Blade Runner.”

-Empire

Media Studies | Ben Land

To conclude Empires review the film is very original and despite the fact it was hugely ambitious it was very good and successful especially as it was what is thought to be an accurate representation of our future in terms of the mass marketing and bleached skys.

Genre:

Minority report fits the genre of thriller because it uses conventions like “whodunit” and things like red herrings in order to confuse us but still build on our suspicions. It also used techniques such as plot twists, for example the head of PreCrime actually committed at least two murders.

Close Study:

Camera

Close up on Anderton loading his gun. This allows the audience to see that the job is dangerous and the team are willing to use force in order to stop the murder. It adds excitement to the film and makes the audience look forward to an action film.

Wide angle shot when the team are getting ready to fly out to the scene. This allows us to see all the technology and helps us know that this is set in the future. It also allows us to notice a member of the team crossing himslef which lets us know that although it is the future religion still plays a part in their live.

Editing

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The shots have been edited so that the sky is white and over exposed. This has been done as it makes the sky look fake and artificial showing the audience that the world is very different to how we know it. To add to that it makes us feel claustrophobic as it feels like we are still inside something even when the character is outside due to the lack of sunlight.

Sound

In the opening scene there is a very good use of non-diegetic sound. The sound of a roundabout squeaking can be heard just as Andterton works out that someone is standing in front of a roundabout in an image. This is very clever as it helps the audience work it out at the same time as the protagonist making them feel like they have achieved something thus making them enjoy the film.

Mise en Scene

Media Studies | Ben Land

A very good use of ‘props’ is the gun that Anderton can be seen carrying. It is a foreshadow as it is that same gun that is used to set him up in a future event. To add to this it shows imminent danger and worries the audience that he might have to use it. Another effect it has on the audience is that it lets them know what kind of person he is. The other crew can not be seen loading a gun but he is loading one showing possible paranoia as he constantly wants the protection of it. This links to the idea that he is actually paranoid as it is established later in the film that his child was abducted which has left him on edge ever since.