The 400 Blows

Set in France in the 1950's, The 400 Blows follows the life of the young boy Antoine Doinel who is in poverty and lives in a small flat with his mother and father. The film shows how much touble Antoine gets into from just being himelf and how much he struggles to be a good person in his mother and fathers eyes who always see him as imature and doesn't know how to act normal. They complain about him getting in the way and how they have tried everything with him and they just want to give up and send him to an ophanage so they don't have to deal with him anymore Than when he steals a type wrter the parents have just had enough and send him off to insituation where he is mixed amoung boys who are also in simillar situation to him.

I thought the plot of the film was alright but as in resloving the problems of the story and making suspense and want to know more I would say it wasn't there. I think the film couldv'e been alot better if maybe the director stood back and thought about to make it to the audeince that they want to know what happens next. I thought the concept of the film and the basic idea was really good and couldv'e amounted to something. A young boy living in paris with a home life and doesn't fit in anyway it a really good idea but I think he almost had to many problems and there wasn't enough time to reslove them all.

Having said that the plot of the film was really bad I really thought the editing and the cinematography of the film was amazing. Considering it was made in 1959 the camera work was amazing and the editing was really good. A scene that stood out to me about power was when the boys were in the class room and the camera was pointing from behind the room as if we were someone in the class. And what I was focused on was how everytime he turned his back we saw the boys act naughty and every time it was poor Antoine that got the blame every time for something he didn't do, and it made me feel as though he never had a voice and that he was always being told right and wrong and that he had no power or control over his life and that is was always someone telling him how to act and that he was getting told off for doing things he wasn't actually doing.

Overall I don't think this film was best, but I do think that the cinematography, editing, mise-en-scene and the film concept was very good.

An Analysis of Conflict in “la Haine”

La Haine is set in the Paris suburbs in the late 90’s. In Paris then and now there are riots in the summer time, but what the riots are for can change every time. Most of the time politics can be involved or maybe even hatred against the police. La Haine follows the story of 3 young men in 24 hours and what kind of trouble they get into being part of the Paris suburbs and the riots. The director Mathieu Kassovitz uses a number of cinematography techniques and camera shot to make the fast passed film that is La Haine.

The film shows conflict first of all with the colour. Originally shot in colour but then changed into black and white in post production. This has an added effect on how the audience view the film. Conflict is shown here that the world has moved on and is all moving forward but the estate where the live in Paris is forever going to be stuck as it is always the same and always fighting. We can see here that conflict has been caused here but the little suburb not taking the time to move forward but focusing on the arguments and other issues.

Another part of the film where conflict is shown is how the film starts at the beginning. Real footage is being used of the riots in Paris and this adds to the story of the film. Immediately audiences can recognise things they have been watching on TV for years and what they now about the riots, but have never actually been right up in front of the action. But I think before the narrative begins this is very effective. The film of the riots is in black and white so might make the viewer think maybe when the actual film starts it might go back to colour, but stays the same as its almost part of the film. But I think conflict is shown here as that nothing ever changes and that is always going to be the same with riots and fighting with the country and the police.

In conclusin the flim has shown conflict in alot of ascpects of the Paris Riots. Using the characters and the way the film has been made, it is obvious that Kassovitz has shown how hard it must be to live in that time.

My Small Project Summary

My Question for my Short Project is:

Has Frank Darabont lost his technique in making King Films over time?

The Sources I shall be using is the Internet, the DVD of the film and I have found 2 books in City College libary all about the shawnshank redemption and the green mile. I shall use these as my research techiniques about the question.

"La Haine"

"La Haine" (Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz) is set in suburbs of Paris, France in the last 90's and follows 3 friends in a single say. The film follows the riots about the police and how the three young men are involved. A good friend of theirs is taken into hospital and throughtout the day they talk about how they want to get revenge on the "Pigs". Vinz, one of the friends, finds a gun that the police had dropped and plans to kill a "pig" if there friend dies.

I really enojoyed watching La Haine and even though it is not really a film I wuold normally see I was impressed with it. I really like the cinematography and the editing of the film and the whole round effect the way the film was shown.

Frank Darabont

For my film project I would like to do it about the Director Frank Darabont, but at the moment it is impossible to find out any informationa about him. Here are a few questions I have got in mind;

· How does Frank Darabont show claustrophobia in prison?

2 films directed by Frank Darabont are The Shawnshank Redemtion and The Green Mile, both are about life in prsion on the the 1940's and another set in the 1930's and both are in the IMDB Top 250 films list. Both films show how prison life is completley diffrent from how we live on the outside world and both convey diffrently how claustraphobic it can be. The shawnshank uses Red (Morgan Freeman) as the narrator of the film, he talks about how "Prison life is about routine and how man has to keep his mind occupied". While the Green Mile does a similar thing but this time, instead of being in prison for life the green mile is about death row, and the mean are coming to the end of their lives and have limited means of entertaimnet. There is a mouse in the prison block that the guards try and catch, Eduard Delacoix becomes friends and shows a relationship with an animal that can't talk back and shows how someone has to have their mind occupied to take their thoughts of what there are there for

• Has Darabont lost his technique in making King Films over time?

Frank Darabont has in total directed 4 Stephen King books, The Woman in the Room (1983), The Shawshank Redepmtion (1994), The Green Mile (1999) and The Mist (2007). None of these films are prequals or sequals but are all seprate books. TWITR was Darabon'ts first ever film he directed and developed his relatinoship with king from there. The Shwshank Redepmtion is arguably the best film of all time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF2uVMkdC2s- Interview

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2008/jul/06/film.horror- Guradian Review!

Film Ideas For Project

Top 3 Ideas for A2 Project:

1. Disney and Pixar: Where do their ideas come from for the films they make?
2. Tom Hanks: Research into his biography and look for something to study.
3. Frank Darabont: The Woman in the Room, The Shawnshank Redemption, The Green Mile and The Mist; Why did Darabont decide to do 4 films by the same author which are not sequals but seperate books.

The Stephen King books have all been adapted.

http://www.ambidextrouspics.com/html/frank_darabont.html

Hidden - Michael Haneke

The film begins with a static shot of a house. There is no sound in the shot just looking at the singe house. The opening credits appear and are almost being typed like a type writter onto the screen. The audience is compelled to read the credits as there is nothing else going on in the screen. About 20 seconds in there is a person walking down the street, which now gives and indication to the audience that it is a camera shot and not just a picture. Soon enough there is some dialouge but you can't see the people who are saying it. The audience start to get an idea of what is happening and starting to build up a idea of the purpose of the shot.

My opnion on the film is very good. I really like the suspence the director has made and like the situation the he has created. At the momment I feel confused on what is going on and how the film is going to develop next. I want to continue watching the film.