Torran Rodgers, BA (Hons) Computer Animation Arts, UCA Rochester

  Film Review Submission Post https://torranrodgerscaa.blogspot.com/2020/11/a-bugs-life-heros-journey-review.html https://torranrodgerscaa.blogspot.com/2020/11/film-review-lion-king.html https://torranrodgerscaa.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-martian-3-act-structure.html https://torranrodgerscaa.blogspot.com/2021/01/megamind-non-linear-narrative.html https://torranrodgerscaa.blogspot.com/2021/01/guardians-of-galaxy-opposing-characters.html https://torranrodgerscaa.blogspot.com/2021/01/forbidden-planet-b-list-movies.html https://torranrodgerscaa.blogspot.com/2021/01/mad-max-fury-road-exploitation-cinima.html

  Film Review: Mad Max Fury Road Mad Max Fury Road follows quit a few of the exploitation genres that are popular in exploitation cinema, I will hopefully go through them all and explain how they are shown in the movie. Carsploitation The movie has lots of scene with car chases and weirdly modded vehicles traveling in a convoy. This is a popular type of exploitation cinema appealing to people who are big fans of car and bike culture. Sexploitation The movie focuses around a group of women who are lightly dressed at the start of the movie, who are the wives of one of the rulers in the dystopian society. They are shown as a representation of ethereal beauty dressed in white, however in the narrative they are shown as child-birthing slave. In the majority of Pulp sexploitation movies the female storylines and  motivations are often questionable however in mad max fury road they are seeking freedom from there husband, and not following his orders like in other Sexploitation cinema...

  Film Revie: Attack of the Crab Monsters  attack of the crab monsters has a lot of the stereotypical call signs of a B Movie, however these don't necessarily make the movie hard to watch or not-enjoyable. Use of Stock footage Many shots in Attack of the Crab Monsters are basic shots of the sky, sea and sea life. Weather or not these where stock footage I'm unsure however they could very easily have been if they where not Low Budget Special effects The effects for the crab seem low budget mainly what we see the crab attack one of the cast, you can see little detail or texture on the physical crab arm. Also when shots of miniatures are shown you can see the little detail and care that was taken while making and filming the miniatures for the movie. Limited locations/sets The entire film is seemly filmed along the same stretch of beach front while all indoors scenes take place within the same few buildings, this shows the limited locations B movies can be seen by as well as how ...

  Film Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Within Guardians of the Galaxy there are 2 characters that appear in complete opposition of each other these are Peter Quill and Ronan they don't appear in many scenes together however there characters are completely opposite of each other. Peter is -  - Light-hearted - Positive - Compassionate - Easy going - Dressed in colourful cloths - Reasonable - Acts for he good of people around him - Peter needs people in his life after not having a family growing up Ronan is - - Aggressive - Negative - Un-Emotional - Serious - Dressed in Black - Vengeful - Acts for his own interest - Roman need revenge of the people who he sees are putting restrictions on his species These seem really opposite characters however in the film they aren't dependant on each other as bother of the characters really interact and more of the movie is based around a McGuffin that both the characters are looking to obtain.

  Film Review: Megamind Megamind uses many non-linear narrative devices while telling its story these include Flashbacks, Forth wall Breaks and stream of consciousness. Forth wall break The movie starts with Megamind monologing to the audience about the situation he is in as he's falling to what is assumed to be his death. his monolog is to the audience breaking the 4th wall. Flashback after his monolog he start to describe how he got to earth and the events that transpired to get to this point. meaning most of the movie is actually a flash back. Even within this flashback we are told about past events of another person having yet another flashback of another character.  Stream of consciousness For large segments of the movie the character is speaking in the format of his stream of consciousness. This is one of the storytelling devices of non-linear storytelling. This is most prevent when we catch up to the start of the movie and where with his consciousness as he comes up wit...

  Film Review: The Martian Finding how the Martian sits into the broader idea of a 3 Act structure was fairly easy, as its laid out narratively in 3 very clear acts. However deciding what part of the movies where what in terms of inciting incident, mid point and Climax where harder Distinctions. Exposition The First scenes of the movie are full of exposition showing the cast on mars taking samples and carrying out other various scientific experiments. The Title along with the design of the set shows this to be astronauts on mars and sets up the location for most of the movie going forward. Inciting Incident This would be where the rest of the astronauts leave our main character Mark Watney on mars after presuming him dead in a storm. He instead doesn't die and manages to make it to the relative safety of the space habitat where he stops himself from bleeding to death. Before the audience is told about marks plans on how to stay alive fighting the main problem he faces in the whole ...

  Film Review: Lion King Hero: Simba is the hero of our story and fits the archetype of a hero so well when thinking about the hero's journey. Shadow: Scar is the shadow in the lion king sowing ill will and deception in the start of the movie to set up the events of the film. Herald:  Rafiki calls Simba to action and shows him a way to get in contact with his father. He helps the hero find there way and shows Simba the path when he's lost. The Threshold Guardian: I think the threshold guardians are the hyenas in the lion king. i think this is because they are present and the threat when Simba and Nala go into the darklands, crossing the threshold into defiance against Mufasa. Trickster: Timon as he plan's to use Simba for safety as he is a lion and can scare off other predators.  Mentor/father: Mufasa if Simba's father and mentor, a father figure who is teaching him to be king even after his death at the start of the movie. Allies: Timon, Pumba and Nala are the main all...

  A Bug's Life: The Hero's Journey Review After learning about the hero's journey, I have re-watched a bugs life in an attempt to break it down into the frame work of the hero's journey. The Ordinary world: The ordinary world is the ant colony being oppressed by the grass hopper's. The way of life where they are threatened and bullied into collecting food for the grass hoppers while also collecting food for themselves. The call to adventure: Flik see's a world where the ants can harvest food fast enough that they can feed the grass hoppers while also collecting enough food for themselves. This is in an attempt to relieve the stress that the ants feel when collecting food. The call to adventure is often linked to the themes of the movie. However the main theme is ridding the ants of the grass hoppers instead of this call to just sate the grass hoppers. Refusal of the call: Flik gives up on these ideas and agrees to act like everyone else and collect food in the s...

Film Review:- King Kong The movie King Kong (1933 – Merian Cooper, Ernest Schoedsack) had a great social, creative and cultural impact upon release, become what is considered the first Block Buster movie of the golden age in cinema. However, in recent years the movie has come under scrutiny for its portrayal and semiotics of black people in society. Its release lines up with many social changes and scenes in the movie point to idea and fears of the people making the movie. Because of these facts I will elaborate on in the coming essay I explain how a technical masterpiece became problematic in the eyes of modern society.   There is a lot social context that makes King Kong’s release problematic, due to the relatively recent abolishment of slavery, large amounts of black people where moving away from the countryside plantations into the city. This made many city dwellers afraid of a change in their lives making. This can be seen in figure1 a front cover of The New Yorker in ...

Film Review :- Metropolis  Metripolis is a movie made in 1927 by Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou. It was made in Germany after the first world war, during a time of hyperinflation and economical chaos. It takes alot of influence from modern art of the time, this being mainly expressionism. The circumstances in Germany after the first world war pushed many artists to create pieces inspired by depression and Grimm emotion, focusing of feeling then realism.  The film is about and based in the city of metropolis where out protagonist Freder Fredersen, goes into the depths of metropolis to find a woman and sees the condition of work before committing to helps resolve the problems the workers face. The movie has many missing scenes and is considered a lost film. The version i saw used many different versions of the movie and edited them all to look the way it would have been first presented in the theatres. Metropolis Poster Metropolis is " Generally considered the firs...

Film Review :- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari The cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a silent film release om 1919, directed by Robert Wiene, influenced by the German expressionism movement  as well as other modern ideas of the time. The movie is about the story one man tells another on a bench, the story is about how the Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist named Cesare to kill people. The movie is set in a physiological fantasy scape, In sets that use visual tricks and great design to aid the story. While watching the movie I noticed how a lot of the sets where very similar to play theatre sets, many using painted backgrounds with wooden constructed sets in-front of it, with lots of steps and ladders into the set as well as paths in and out of the screen sides. Its sets change and warp throughout the movie helping to tell the narrative, that  " lay down a template for today's scary movies, noirs and psychological thrillers."  (Peter Bradshaw: The Guardian) This being how the story...