Global Animated Film Review: Israel- Waltz with Bashir

Fig 1: Waltz with Bashir Theatrical Poster

Waltz with Bashir is a 2008 Israeli animated documentary film, written and directed by Ari Folman. The film is from a personal experience of Folman who is trying to recover his lost memories of when he was a 19 year old soldier in 1983 during the Lebanon War. It features many other ex-soldiers who worked with Folman and gives their accounts of what happened in the war. The film was nominated for multiple awards included the Golden Globes and BAFTAS for Best Animation and Best Foreign Language Film, Waltz with Bashir also has a predominately positive rating from film critics and was in the top ten films of 2008 in multiple film critics lists including Ella Taylor in L.A. Weekly and Lisa Schwarzbaum from Entertainment weekly. The film is permanently banned in Lebanon due to the film depicting a time in the countries history that was brutally violent and devastating, however there has been protests to allow the film to have limited screenings across the country.

Fig: Dogs in Folman's dreams

Detailing the events of the Lebanon War, war veteran and the director of the film, Ari Folman, experiences recurring nightmares of dogs chasing him. He reaches out to his friend from the war and the two make the connection that there might be a connection between the nightmares Folman experiences to an early part of the Lebanon War. However due to the fact that Folman cannot recollect that period of his life, he goes out of his way to meet other war veterans to understand the effects that unfolded during the war. Throughout the film, he dreams of the Sabra and Shatila Massacre and through the help of numerous accounts of the events from the other veterans, and the Journalist, Ron Ben-Yishai, Ari is able to recover the lost memories of the gruesome events that took place in 1982.

Fig 2: War is the norm

The film took four years to make and is strange for a documentary as it is almost completely animated. Despite its appearance the film was made with 3D assets and Adobe Flash using cutouts, where each image was broken up into a number of pieces to allow for movement, instead of rotoscoping, where the animation is drawn over a live action piece of footage. The art style for the film was directed by David Polensky with the animation being directed by Yoni Goodman and features scenes drawn by various artists. The use parodied 1980's music to tell the events in Lebanon reflects the decade and tells the viewers of what happened without having to go through in detail exposition by having a familiar catchy tune. Despite the majority of the film being rendered in this animation style, the ending of the film shows real life footage of the aftermath of the massacre and Folman finally remembers the events leading up to the travesty that took place in 1982. This change from animation to live action lays down the fact that these events actually happened and aren't fictional in shocking detail.

Fig 3: Surreal moment of a Giant Woman climbing aboard ship

Overall the film details the events of the Sabre and Shatila Massacre, giving context to the Lebanon War and the lead up to the massacre. It does this through a compelling journey follow Folman trying to remember what happened. There is no sugarcoating, the film gives grim details of war and its effects on the soldiers who go to fight for their country. The veterans featured all have their fair share of psychological issues because of what happened in the war. The use of animation allowed for surreal moments and illustrate events in the Lebanon war through parody songs and exaggeration.

Fig 4: Folman's recurring dream of walking up shore to Lebanon

Animation in Israel in the year 1961, with the film Joseph and the Dreamer directed by Yoram Gross, but it is not a prominent method of film making in the country. Early Israeli productions were stop-motion animations with plasticine models, while more modern 2D animations use various 2D methods using flash and and some 3d animations are used too, as present in Waltz with Bashir. While Waltz with Bashir is probably the most well known animated film to come from Israel due to its plot revolving the countries recent history in such a thought provoking manner, the country also produced other films, both collaborating with other countries like France and Australia. One example, $9.99, an Australian film written and directed by Taiti Rosenthal with its screenplay by Etgar Keret, both Israelis.


Bibliography

Fig 1: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9f/Waltz_with_Bashir_Poster.jpg

Fig 2: https://i1.wp.com/whiggles.landofwhimsy.com/hdcaptures/bashir1.jpg

Fig 3:https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/ae/50/84/ae5084cb4cb81ceb4cb1227734babe8c.jpg

Fig 4: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8dsKOfzIaIimFglzLJP5nSGALsiHXZugtRqepz8R_HsYUIPL5lsj82Qxon48X05gwcgInEkTCBbNqzjJsLlsN2MSBDOYxQ0ufLjJOxZ2xTdXCP4h____hqsI5s8x4sGSwei0n1F_z1Q/s1600/Waltz+with+Bashir+(4).jpg

Global Animated Film Review: India- Sita sings the Blues

Fig 1: Sita sings the Blues Poster

Sita sings the Blues is a 2008 animated film, made almost completely by American artist Nina Paley and goes over the Indian story of Ramayana. The film suffered from copyright issues with the use of Annette Hanshaw's music that wasn't seen by Paley until it was too late and had to fork up a fine of $50,000. Due to this set back Paley was unable to make money on her film due to the fact that she couldn't distribute it through DVDs after the initial 4,999 copies. Sita sings the Blues was then available to download for free, with Nina Paley only asking for donations for her work. The film also suffered backlash from the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti back in 2009 due to the groups believe that the reimagining of Ramayana was offensive and demanded that the film be banned for good. However despite these issues the film was critically acclaimed with critics and has won numerous awards.

Fig 2: One of the Three main art styles used, in this case depicting Nina's Story

The film uses multiple different animation styles and is split into 3 different parts that rotate throughout the film. One part depicts the story of Ramayana, it is performed as a musical and uses the music of Annette Hanshaw to depict the journey of Sita. This part also features two art styles for its narrative and musical sections, the narrative is in a traditional Indian art style while the musical sections are in Vector Graphics. The part also parallels with a true story of Paley herself, drawn in a more sketchy style, it depicts her and her partner and their falling out of love similar to what Sita goes through with Rama. The third part is a interlude of sorts between the other two explaining the story in the style of Indian shadow puppets with the three characters discussing the story in a lighthearted way.

The use of the different styles of animation help in identifying what part is being watched and what to expect when each animation style is present. The format of the film is portrayed in Bollywood format with 2 acts and an intermission section of 5 minutes inbetween to hone back to the fact that Bollywood movies are often very long often around 3 to 4 hours in length. The use of songs through out also alludes to the Bollywood format Nina Paley wanted to achieve along with the common tropes of love and marriage.

Fig 3: Another of the Three Art Styles, this one is the musical number animation that was achieved through vector graphics 

The plot revolves around a loose telling of the story of the Ramayana, an Ancient Indian Epic Poem, going through the devine prince of The Kosala Kingdom, Rama, following from his banishment from his kingdom with his wife Sita and their struggles in the wilderness and also in their relationship. This is paralleled by another story playing alongside of the creator, Nina Paley, whose partner gets an animation job in India which eventually ends up with Nina moving to India too. However the relationship broke down after Nina had to go back to America, much in the same way that Rama left Sita.

The two plots weave around each other nicely due to the similarities in what happens to both Nina and Sita, with the downfall of each woman's relationships. The third part featuring the shadow puppets who explain the story in a chatty way is both humourous and educational. The animation in each part is impressive but especially in the opening and end scenes that uses the vector graphics from the musical numbers, it sets the tone for the film in a phenomenal way.

Fig 4: The Shadow Puppet Style used for exposition to explain the story of Ramayana

The shadow puppet segment in the expository sections of the film reference the old ways of Indian animation before the country's independence. Dadasaheb Phalke, India's first animator and known as the father of animation in India used shadow puppets and stop motion to achieve his animations in the 1910s. The interest in animation has boomed in India in recent years, from 1956 where Clair Weeks, a Disney Studios Animator helped in the training and the making of the first animation studios in the country. However despite is recent success in its animated films, India still as some ways to go before hitting international waters, from providing a way to allow animation to be more accessible to animators through technology but also in giving support for the production in animated films.


Biblography:

Fig 1: http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/SitaEPressKit/SitaPosterAgniA2.png
Fig 2: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1QkYOqI3jSM/maxresdefault.jpg
Fig 3: https://silverinahaystack.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/sita-sings-the-blues.png
Fig 4: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Jsq4ueHvHX8/maxresdefault.jpg

http://www.maacindia.com/blog/index.php/evolution-of-indian-animation/

Global Animated Film Review: Japan- Spirited Away

Fig 1: Theatrical Poster for 2001's Spirited Away

Spirited Away is a 2001 Japanese Fantasy Anime film directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The film is the eleventh film to be created by the studio, following after such films like My Neighbour Totoro (1988), Kiki's Delivery Service(1989) and Princess Mononoke (1997).
It was a worldwide success, being critically acclaimed and winning an academy award for best animated film in 2003. It is among the eight Studio Ghibli films to be world widely successful with Spirited Away being the highest grossing of them.

Fig 2: A Frighten Chihiro who doesn't want to follow her parents through the corridor to the Spirit World

The plot revolves Chihiro, a 10 year old girl who was moving into a new town with her parents who finds herself in the spirit world after her dad attempts to take a shortcut through the woods. While in the spirit realm, her parents eat some food and transform grotesquely into pigs, so in an attempt to save them from being eaten Chihiro decides to become an employee at the bath house as the boss of the house, Yubaba the Witch controls the entire area and is the only one able to break the curse, given up her name as payment. In the bathhouse she mets a series of characters, Kamaji who works the boiler room, Lin a worker in the bathhouse, No Face a faceless spirit that Chihiro shows kindness too, letting him into the bathhouse were he then suffers from the greed of the place turning him monstrous and Haku, Yubaba's assistant who recognises Chihiro from his past and is willing to help her through out her adventure starting with giving her the idea of getting a job at the bathhouse.
While the film is downright stunning, the environments from the bathhouse to the train stops across the river, the second act to the story feels rushed, like there was too much build up in the first half that the later part of the story couldn't provide what the film needed so it fell a little. However all of the characters in the film were enjoyable, seeing Chihiro's growth in both her maturity and her confidence was nice to witness as well has her impact on the people she's around leads to Spirited Away being an interesting character piece.

Fig 3: Yubaba's Bathhouse

The film plays out a bit like Alice in Wonderland, with a young girl going to a world of magic by accident, meeting the strange residences of the world, growing up and maturing as she goes. Chihiro starts the film as a sullen girl who's left everything behind her to go to a new town with her parents. Initially she doesn't want anything to do with the spiritual world the family finds themselves in, wanting to go to the new house instead of engorging herself on the plentiful food like her parents. Through the meeting of Haku and the other residences, Chihiro matures, she learns to act less childish and takes on the responsibility to save her parents from Yubaba and to stop No Face from destroying the bathhouse. This is comparable to Alice's story from the Lewis Carroll story who falls into a world of fantasy and through her trials she is able to come back to her world and mature along the way. In this instance Spirited Away is also a Coming of Age story for Chihiro.

Fig 4: A monterous No Face offering Chihiro his Gold

Greed is another major theme of the film, it what the bathhouse represents, its income and wealthy guests blend itself to money hungry residents from the frog, Aogearu, to Yababa herself and she inspect her jewels in the highest floor of the establishment. This greed is a big part of the No-Face storyline where the spirits lust for money and acceptance is challenged by Chihiro who refuses to accept any of the gold he conjures up, this leads to the consumption of some of the bath house employees and for No-Face to go into fit of anger. Environmental issues is also brought up in the film mainly through the destruction and pollution of rivers, Chihiros first big client, after she gets a job and loses her name to Yababa, is a polluted mess of a spirit which is then revealed to be a river spirit that was full of its rivers pollution. As a gift to for cleaning it the spirit gives Chihiro some medicine which she then uses to cure No- Face to make him spit back up the people he's eaten and Haku who wounds up majorly injured from a fight with Yababa's twin sister Zeniba.

Fig 5: Chihiro coming back to the bathhouse on Haku's back

While being one of the most influential and successful animated film from Japan, the countries animation history is long standing and fruitful, with the oldest surviving piece of animation from Japan dating back to 1917 with Namakura Gatana (Blunt Sword). Animation during this early period from the 1910's through to the 1930's generally revolved around Japanese folklore and animation was also used during wartime to spread about Anti-American propaganda a notable example being Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei made in 1945 as it was the countries first full feature film. The more modern style of animation from Japan, one that is commonly recognised as anime came along in the 1960s with Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy being the first animated television show, it has been a major influence on the genre, alongside other animations like Cyborg 009, Kimba the White Lion as well as the longest running anime Sanae-san (1969) which is still on air today and has over 7000 episodes under its belt awarding it a Guinness World Record. From then on anime has become a staple of Japanese media, moving from films to television and the increase of animation studios. Anime is now a so varied and popular that new shows are put into set seasons and can run for 12 to 24 episodes plus. With the subculture of Otaku, merchandising is now an important part of conjuring up a profit for animes. As a whole Japanese animation is now well known around the world, thanks to its iconic and diverse appearance and its uniqueness in relation to its country of origin's culture.

Fig 6: Chihiro off to find her parents back in the Human World

Biblography:

Image 1: http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/studio-ghibli/images/4/4a/Spirited_Away_(Amerikansk_DVD).jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140116135457

Image 2: https://i.imgur.com/C8wEyG6.png

Image 3: http://www.jeromebietrix.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Ref_Chihiro03.jpg

Image 4: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTM0YzcyZTQtNTViMy00NmQ5LWI3NzUtMjBiZjM4NjVkMmQ3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMDU5NDcxNw@@._V1_.jpg

Image 5: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/83/62/bb/8362bb0146411aaaad39b18999c4ee56.jpg

Image 6: https://filmfork-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/content/spirited-away-3.jpg

Global Animated Film Review: Australia- Mary & Max

Fig 1: Film Poster for Mary & Max

Mary & Max is a 2009 Australian stop-motion animated film created by director Adam Elliot, an academy award winner know for his short animated productions such as Uncle (1999) and Harvey Krumpet (2001). Based on a true story, the film focuses on the relationship two titular characters, Mary, a young girl from Australia and Max, a middle aged man from New York have as pen pals over the course of their life. The film goes over numerous themes, such as childhood neglect, loneliness, mental illness,  Autism, depression and suicide. But the use of humour throughout grounds it so that the film isn't so negative, but instead grounded in a more realistic viewpoint.

Fig 2: Mary Daisy Dinkle

The film starts in 1976, when Mary Daisy Dinkle, a 6 year old Australian, who suffered from bullying due to her appearance leading her to have her pet rooster Ethel as her only friend. Curious about America from seeing a New York phone book, she decides to write a letter to one of them, tearing off part of a phone box while her alcoholic mother was caught stealing in the post office. Her letter makes it halfway around the Earth to Max Horowitz, an morbidly obese New-Yorker of Jewish decent who has trouble understanding the world and the people in it which lead him to living a lonely life of dealing with his array of pets.
 Despite Max's anxieties over forming bonds with people, the two hit it off, becoming pen pals for many years. Over the years the two bonded, Mary grew up, got married and was successful in University, while Max grew fatter, was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome and won the lottery. For her final dissertation, Mary decided to write a book about Max's condition, hoping to find a way to cure it, however this infuriated Max, who felt that his Aspergers was a part of him and proud of that fact.

Fig 3: Max Harowitz

The two fell out of contact with one another, which led Mary down a path similar to her Mother, drinking sherry and falling into such a depression, that almost lead her to commit suicide if it wasn't for her agoraphobic neighbour Len who gave her Max's apology gift, his entire collection of the Noblets, TV characters from a show they both loved. Max had an enlightening experience with a homeless man dropping a cigarette butt that no human is perfect, and wanted to apologise for his brashness towards Mary, and the two rekindle their friendship. One year later, Mary, now with a child of her own, makes a trip over to New York to see Max only to come across his body staring at the ceiling in his apartment, he died the morning she arrived. Mourning the lost of her long time friend, Mary holds onto his hand and looks to the ceiling, which were covered in all the letters that she sent to him.

Fig 4: Two worlds colliding

The use of colour in this film is notable as Mary and her surroundings and the other people in Australia are coloured with a sepia tone, reminiscent of the dry sandiness of the outback while Max and New York is in a black and white tone, even when object of people and in the others world they still retain their colours, Max's apology gift and when Mary arrives in New York for example. This difference in tones can connote the difference of the two worlds Mary and Max live in. The intrusions of objects from one world to the other through out relate to the connection the two main characters are inflicting on each other from the letters they write to one another.
The humour in Mary & Max is notably Australian, black comedy is prevalent throughout the film and is one of the way to deal with the serious topics imbedded in the plot. Australian humour is similar to British Humour in that sense, its self-mocking and can be rather dark, but its relatable and played for laughs.

Adam Elliot calls his works Clayographies, biographies made with clay stop-motion animation, as shown but not only Mary & Max but also in his short films, Harvey Krumpet is a film going through the entire life of a Polish man with Tourettes Syndrome for example. Mary & Max goes into the lives of 6 year old Australian Mary Daisy Dinkle who writes a letter to New Yorker Max Harowitz, from there the two kick of a friendship lasting many years that has its ups and downs. Elliot's motivation for making his films stem from wanting to see stories he wanted to see. The bittersweet nature of his stories is a trait throughout his films and his use of stop motion is one of tactile preference to produce his films, which can take up to five years to make.

While Adam Elliot's is one of Australia's leading figures for animation in recent years the country itself has a very long history with animation, starting with Harry Julius, a new-paper cartoonist who would make topical animated new reels in a series called "Cartoons of the Moment" back in 1910. Felix the Cat, created by Australian Pat Sullivan was very popular during the times of the silent film of the 1920s but was slowly drowned out by the noise of characters like Mickey Mouse. Despite the market for animation being dominated by the American Animation Studios, Australian produced animations do receive World wide success, like the animated series King Arthur and the Square Knights of the Round Table (1972) produced by Airs international Studios, Yoram Gross' mix-media film Dot and the Kangaroo (1977) through to digital works like Happy Feet (2006) by George Miller.


Biblography:
http://www.skwigly.co.uk/adam-elliot-interview/
http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/animation-in-australia

Images:
Image 1: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/8c/0d/4c/8c0d4ca07f615fc163e6a29e6bcd0d7c.jpg
Image 2: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjYxZjgxNWMtY2RjZS00NTQ1LThiOTEtZGMzNmY4ZGYwZTk2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjQ2NDA2ODM@._V1_.jpg
Image 3: https://blog.animationstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Figure-3.png
Image 4: https://punctumdigest.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/marymaxstill.jpg

Maya Tutorial: Head Model Progress so far

Fig 1: Model Before sorting out the Mouth and Eye

Fig 2: Model After sorting out the Mouth and Eye

With the Head Model it has been a long process due to getting the vertices right where I want them and making them accurate to the orthographic drawings provided. Now onto the eye it seems as though it'll take me a little while still before I can see this finished unfortunately.

B-Movie: I Married a Monster from Outer Space 1958

Fig 1:Theatrical Poster for "I Married a Monster from Outer Space"

I Married a Monster from Outer Space is a 1958 Sci-fi film, filmed in black and white and directed by Gene Fowler Jr. and published by Paramount Pictures.The plot centres around Marge and Bill, who at the beginning of the film are engaged to be married the following day. However on his way home from the pub, Bill almost runs over a body and upon getting out of the car is taken over by an alien entity that enters his body through black smoke. The impostor then takes his place, marrying Marge and living his life for over a year. Throughout this, Marge realises that there is something wrong about her husband, but that doubt comes into fruition due to his reactions to the puppy she bought for him on their anniversary, of which Bill was a massive dog lover, and how the impostor strangles the pup to death when it doesn't stop barking at him. When another one of the aliens rocks up in the body of one of Bill's friends, saying that he needs to report back to the Mothership, Marge follows him, discovering that her husband is actually an alien.

Fig 2: The Two Main Characters Marge and Bill

Being a B movie, I Married a Monster from Outer Space's budget seemed to be rather lackluster, the designs of the aliens, who were men in costumes not puppets or animatronics, while looking quite good have a certain cheapness to them, obvious eye holes hided by mesh and the fact that they wear trousers leads to a very bizarre and comical quality to them. The story is an elaborate one with male aliens taking over human male bodies for the sole reason to have sex with the females of the species comes across as a very basic plot device to give the exploit sexual themes.

However the acting, while sometimes silly in the dialogue and delivery, is generally quite good for the type of film it is, praise is especially due to Tom Tyron who plays Bill who can give a very good delivery of an alien trying to pass off as the human he's impersonating and fooling those around him, though he can be seen as 'wooden' at some points.

Fig 3: The facial splicing effect that overlays the alien face over the actors

The visual effects leave much to be desired, the smoke effects and the facial splicing onto the actors looks cheap and off. There were good ideas of how the director wanted the special effects to look but its sad that the end result with how the effects looked and the actors reactions to scenes like the smoke climbing up their bodies in such a jerky and bizarre way that there was a clear disconnect over the direction for the acting and the special effects for the smoke.

The script itself can be quite confusing and amateurish at times, the scene where Marge talks to a friend of hers who just got engaged and the friend laments on nearly having to become a business women instead of a house wife is written in such a way that the dialogue doesn't sound natural. Same with the line in the bar with two of Bill's friends where one of them is drunk and says to the bartender that he is a home wrecker, while the acting is mediocre the dialogue really hams up what the character is saying but because the writing for that dialogue isn't that good it becomes comical for being bad then being actually funny. Also the plot of the film, which is one of the more common plot line for a sci-fi B-movie isn't really that imaginative, the characters had potential to be better but because the writing could be such a joke at times, it doesn't give the actors time to shine for most of the scenes.

Fig 4: Alien emerging from the ship

The ending is so over the top that it can only be seen to be believed, it is so convoluted and full of plot holes, the most glaring one being why would Marge's doctor believe her without seeing evidence first. As well as the fact that apparently dogs just know to attack the aliens, which why it was a set up plot point earlier on with the puppy's weariness over alien Bill, it just happens with no build up leading to the climax feeling very rushed. The Alien Bill over acts his death to such a degree that its laughable and Marge's reaction to that scene is a mess as she goes from distressed to neutral too slightly pleased that Bill is alive. Overall it seems as tho the main focus that the director put towards the movie was in its first and second acts, the ending seemed rushed and just one giant cop out.

Fig 5: The ship explodes as the Aliens call off their invasion of Earth

In conclusion, I Married a Monster from Outer Space, is a charming little sci-fi film that ha some redeeming qualities for how limited it's budget was. While some aspects were interesting, such as the plot, while being somewhat generic, is stable and understandable despite its rushed ending, as well as the acting, although it really does depend on the scenes as it can bounce between being quite good or terrible. While the special effect looked cheap and some off the animations, the smoke and the way the aliens died in a bizarre frame by frame manner, is rather charming despite its silliness and as a little bit of potential if more work was done on it.


Bibliography:
Image 1: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/87/62/96/876296b3844f01d97b5bbc1be5af06a0.jpg

Image 2: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUX02nrqrgtXO2dRfvS_YiY0ENXeZwFwqv6CXrO14oZnE-oKUFzjtK3c4WotMgticbWUzwdy-3PBvtY5PMRJczzegbNTkK2HygRKap9pTyKzAVCCcZiaM825qjh5iWXvqQXVEVgz8BmiHK/s1600/marriedhoneymoon.jpg

Image 3: http://shebloggedbynight.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/imam2.jpg

Image 4: http://basementrejects.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/i-married-a-monster-from-outer-space-alien-ufo.jpg

Exploitation in Cinema: Mad Max: Fury Road

Fig 1: Theatrical Poster for "Mad Max: Fury Road"

Mad Max Fury Road is Fourth Film in the Mad Max series, directed by Australian director George Miller the 2015. The film focuses around the barren wasteland in the dessert where a cult lead by Immortan Joe, deprives his citizens ,who live below his massive citadel in the cliff side, of water and rules over them with fear and with them in his debt to survive the rough environment they live in. Wanderer, Mad Max, is caught by the Immortan's War Boys and is used as a human blood bank thanks to his universal blood type and is connect to the War Boy Nux. During this time one of the Immortan's lieutenants, Imperator Furiosa, is sent to find gasoline, however, Joe is unaware that she had smuggled his five wives on board her War Rig until it was too late. Furious he sends his War Boys after her, the thrill of the pursuit and the potential to become a legend by dying in battle leads the ill Nux to join in, along with the reluctant Max. The clash between the two ends with the War Rig driving into a sandstorm that leave only Max and Nux in radius of Furiosa and the five Wives. Despite there differences the two men join the six women on their quest to escape the clutches of Immortan Joe and end for a life in the "Green Place".

Fig 2: One of many action scenes present in the film

Mad Max Fury Road, is a film full of action, to the point where its obvious when an action scene is taking or about to be taken place due to the fast cuts and choppy style of filming that Miller went for in those scenes. The overt use of action, as well as the abundance of violence and body horror in the varied male characters, drowns out a relatively simplistic plot that goes back on itself from the 1st act to the 3rd act as the characters leave the Citadel in the beginning only to realise that they can't go anywhere but back to the place where they started. Because of this the consistent wave after wave of action with the sparseness of dialogue scenes blend Mad Max: Fury Road into a modern day equivalent of exploitation in cinema seen back in the 1970s and 1980s. Such equivalents are to be made from the Ozploitation cinema, Australian films that were overt in their violent, horrific or erotic nature, one such example is of the earlier Mad Max films where there was no health and safety guidelines leading to dangerous scenes of violence produced for film.

Fig 3: Four of the five wives of Immortan Joe and Furiosa

Female sexuality could also be considered as a form of exploitation in the film as at the beginning of the film the five wives are property of Immortan Joe, used for breeding to birth a perfect son to rule after him. However due to the liberation of the women by Furiosa, a formidable female warrior who is able to hold her own in fights. The female characters in Mad Max: Fury Road aren't just used for sexual reasons, they learn throughout the movie to grow and adapt to the risks of a world outside the Citadel. Gaining new skills, they are able to hold themselves in fights with the men pursuing them with the death of the wives leader, the favourite of Joe and heavily pregnant Splendid.

Fig 4: Furiosa using Max as a rest for her rifle, one of the most pinnacle scenes of female empowerment over men that can be seen as a recurring theme through the film

The dynamic of Furiosa and Max also evidence at the fact that female sexuality isn't exploited in Mad Max: Fury Road, as while Max's name is in the title the film centres around Furiosa and her need to escape the Citadel, of Immortan Joe to go to her childhood home of "The Green Place" a fruitful land lead by strong-willed women. In combat she is also the more offensive and strategic of the two, an example being when she leaned her gun on Max's back in the pitch black of the wetlands. Max on the other hand is much more frantic with how he deals with combat, he just wants to survive, while Furiosa is more of a warrior.

Fig 5: Max's silently exit as the remaining wives and Furiosa are now under control of the Citadel

Mad Max: Fury Road is a film that loves action, and uses the themes of female empowerment and survival to give the characters impact where it counts. The fact that the group is so outnumbered, makes the audiences want for their survival more apparent, and the lack-luster environment they are in, a barren desert gives way for excellent car chases and combat using vehicles. Its quick paced and filled with adrenaline and the overwhelmingly large female cast for a high-octane action film brings the exploitation action films of the 1970s-1980s and switches it up to fit with the modern era.

Bibliography:
Image 1: http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/428175-madness-these-are-more-mad-max-fury-road-posters#/slide/1

Image 2: https://i0.wp.com/stylishhdwallpapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Mad-Max-Fury-Road-Movie-Scene-HD-Wallpaper.jpg

Image 3: http://cinergetica.com.mx/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mad-max-fury-road-image-charlize-theron-abbey-lee-courtney-eaton-zoe-kravitz-riley-keough-645x418.jpg

Image 4: http://www.petertrumbore.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/tumblr_nowclzo8fi1qe5f96o2_r2_1280.jpg

Image 5: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tx2bfoKLMng/maxresdefault.jpg

Narrative and Character: Captain America: the Winter Soldier (2014)

Image 1: Threatrical Poster of Captain America the Winter Solider 2014

Captain America: The Winter Soldier was made in 2014 and directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. It is ninth movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, following Steve Rodgers' story following the events that unfolded from Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), and The Avengers (2012) he is thrown into conflict about the organisation, SHIELD, and the new threat of the Winter Soldier.

Steve Rodgers relationship with Winter Soldier had already been established in the first film, Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), when he was known as James Bucky Barnes. The two were childhood friends on opposite ends of the scale both in personality and physicality. Steve was an sickly awkward boy who had a strong sense of justice while Bucky was an able-bodied ladies man. This changed when Steve received the serum to enhance his body to human perfection and led his friend along with the rest of his troops to fight HYDRA and Red Skull. The results of this mission led to Bucky's supposed death on a train in the German Mountain side and Captain America being frozen in ice only to be freed by the organisation SHIELD in modern day.
At the start of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Steve is the leader of a troop infiltrating a tanker, he leads the operation, being the front of the troop and going in first. By contrast later on in the film in the chase scene with Nick Fury and HYDRA officers which introduces the Winter Soldier for the first time. Instead of being front and centre, he is used as a last resort to completely stop Fury in his tracks. While Captain America is assertive and definitely leader material, the Winter Soldier, while being a silent and foreboding figure is more docile and willing to follow instructions over doing things by himself.

Fig 2: The first meeting of Captain America and the Winter Soldier

Captain America world view in this film is shown by his willingness to leave SHIELD, and to gain a sense of independence and freedom from the organisation that is beginning to show signs of corruption, after the death of Nick Fury. All the while the Winter Soldier is stuck following orders set by HYDRA but his sense of free will starts to be regained over the course of the movie. The two organisations in the film also have duality in their world views, with SHIELD that openly wanted to protect and defend the innocent from the super humans, aliens and other forces that could harmful civilians, while HYDRA, is a hidden organisation dealing in terrorist activities and secret assassination missions, not caring for the lives of the innocent that could be harmed along the way. The combination of their opposing personalities and the organisations they work for also is reflected in their fight styles, Steve is defensive, using his iconic shield to defect blows from enemies. While the Winter Soldier is more offensive, using guns and knives to attack to kill like the assassin he was trained to be.

Fig 3: Fight Scene with Steve and the Winter Soldier

Throughout the film, after discovering that the Winter Soldier is Bucky, Steve goes out of his way to get him out of his mind controlled state. He wants his old friend back, while Bucky is stuck in this turmoil of following HYDRA's orders or letting himself listen to Steve and regain his own individuality that he had before his capture. However due to Bucky's unwillingness to co-operate it isn't until the climax where he fully has a grasp of who he is. Steve by contrast is too willing to co-operate with people which leads to his distrust of Natalia and Nick Fury due to them going behind his back in the tanker mission and of SHIELD itself for the helicarriers and of the hidden agendas of HYDRA and how they infiltrated SHIELD's ranks.

Fig 4: The final fight scene between Captain America and The Winter Soldier as Steve tries to get through to Bucky who he is.

By the end of the film and because of Bucky recusing Steve from the wreckage of the fallen helicarrier, Steve has lost his loyalty to the organisation who revived him from the ice, his only hope now is to grasp at a chance to join up with the people from or related to his past. While Bucky is trying to figure himself out now that he abandoned HYDRA and figure out a new path for himself in the modern day


Biblography:

Image 1: http://www.heyuguys.com/images/2014/01/Captain-America-The-Winter-Soldier-UK-Poster.jpg

Image 2: http://www.joblo.com/newsimages1/wintersoldierscreen.jpg

Image 3:http://media.comicbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/cap-vs-winter-soldier.png

Image 4: http://cdn5.thr.com/sites/default/files/2014/02/capt_a.jpg

Narrative Structure: Green Room

Fig 1: Theatrical Poster for Green Room (2016) 

Green Room is a 2016 horror film directed by Jeremy Saulnier, starring Anton Yelchin, Patrick Stewart and Imogen Poots. The film starts with a failing punk band who try their luck at one last gig at a popular punk venue. However things aren't as they seem when the band stumble upon a murder of a memeber of the next band to play in the dressing room and discover that the people running the venue are willing to kill them to keep the murder a secret. Without any chance of escaping alive the two bands locks themselves inside the dressing room, but they won't be safe for long.

In the first act of the film, we are given Exposition to the members of the Ain't Rights, the bassist Pat and his friends Sam, Reece and Tiger. The audience is able to see that their careers as punk musicians isn't going to well and because of one last lucky break they are able to play at one last venue out in the Oregon woods that is run by the Neo-Nazi Leader of the skinheads, Darcy Banker.

Fig 2: the Ain't Rights playing in the Neo-Nazi venue

The Inciting Incident occurs when Pat stumbles upon Emily who died from a very recent stabbing and Amber, Emily's best friend who begs him to call the police. This evokes the skinheads in the club to hold the band at gun point inside the green room and for them to be killed under Darcy's orders. The group try to negotiate to leave the room but are left with no other option then to take the bouncer Big Justin hostage and eventually murder him when their requests aren't met. Pat feels useless in the group dynamic as he is the most weak-willed and cowardly, giving up the gun that they had as soon as danger arose.

Fig 3: "This will be over soon gentlemen"

The Obstacles the group faces in the second act are how will they escape, and will they escape the club alive starting with the group trying to find a way to escape the room, only to find that the hidden room underneath is a heroin lab that is locked from the outside. Instead they decided to face the skinheads head on despite their lack of guns relying on improvising with things they found inside the room.

Running out the room into the club, the First Culmination arises when the group are attacked by an attack dog, killing Tiger, but Pat and Amber are able to get the dog to run away using the feedback from the microphones on the stage. Reece tries to jump out a window only to be stabbed to death by a skinhead waiting on the outside.

Fig 4: Tiger's Death

Deciding that retreating back to the room is their best plan, in the Mid Point of the film, the remaining three rush back to the Green Room only to be met by Emily's boyfriend Daniel, who helped the Ain't Rights with organising the show. Willing to leave his life with Darcy and the skinheads, Daniel agrees to help the remaining three escape only to be killed himself by the club's bartender. The three remaining kill the man and take his shotgun, only for Darcy's men to kill Sam and injure Amber. With just two remaining, Pat and Amber return again to the Green Room.

Fig 5: The Three attempt to escape but Darcy and his gang were waiting for them

In the room, Pat and Amber have a chance to talk, Pat reminises on a paintballing match he and his bandmates had, where the band was up against marines and how they resorted to an all out attack on them to win against the more psychically able men they were facing. This helps Pat calm down and make up a strategy to get out of the room.

In the Climax of the film, Darcy sends in two more of his neo-nazi skinheads, leaving the site with the bodies of the casualties of the film. The two survivors use the heroin lab in the bunker under the room to flank the two skinheads, killing them. As the two take the guns and ammo from the two dead skinheads, one of Darcy's right hand men, Gabe, surrenders to the two as he didn't realise how dangerous Darcy's is and calls the police. The two remaining decide not to kill him and let him go as they finally leave the club to go search for Darcy.

Fig 6: Pat waiting for the attackers in the bunker 

Leading straight into the Third Act of the film, Pat and Amber wander in the woods surrounding the club they see Darcy's and his group dumping the bodies of the Ain't Rights, staging it as a group suicide in their van. The two shoot down the hetchmen before closing in on Darcy who tries to flee. Pat and Amber shoot him down however, and just as he turns around to pull a gun on them, Pat shoots him in the head, cause Darcy to miss his target and shoot the van.

Fig 7: Darcy, shot in the head, still fires his gun

As the trauma of the night finally dawns on them, the two survivors are seen sitting down just by the van and the dead bodies of the Ain't Rights, Darcy's hetchmen and Darcy himself. One of the attack dogs plod past them as the two pick up their guns and try to shoot the dog, realising that they are out of ammo and give up, letting the dog lay down on the lap of its master. Back to sitting in the grass, Pat brings up his Desert Island Band, calling back to a previous scene in the film, only for Amber to retort with the films final line "Tell someone who gives a shit"

Fig 8: The remaining two survivors of the night, Pat and Amber

The ending of the Green Room is left partial, all the bad guys in the film are now dead, but so are the rest of the Ain't Rights and a seen that hinted at in the dning fo the film suggests that the rest of Ambers band is off on an off batch of heroin that might of lead to overdosing. The Green Room also fits into the three act structure with some ease and the film as an over arcing plotline of trying to leave the room.

Film Poster: http://cdn2-www.comingsoon.net/assets/uploads/gallery/green-room/gr_web.jpg

Character Archetypes: Ella Enchanted

Fig 1: Ella Enchanted Theatrical Poster

Ella Enchanted is 2004 Fantasy/Romantic-Comedy movie directed by Tommy O'Haver starring Anne Hathaway as Ella of Frell and Hugh Dancy as Prince Charmont. Based loosely on the book that retells the fairytale of Cinderella, Ella Enchanted is about a girl who is put under a curse as a baby to be obedient and follow any instruction given to her. She now attends high school and is a strong minded woman and the obedience gift is a big hinderance on her as an activist. Her dad re-married when her mother died, giving her two step-sisters who are in love with Prince Charmont, the heir to the throne. Ella is in search of the fairy Lucinda, who gave her the gift of obedience, to reverse the spell, she comes across various characters who join her on her journey and begins to have a change of heart toward Char.

Archetypes in film, are types of character that fall into specific and often stereotypical character tropes, such as hero, mentor, sidekick and villain. Characters can also be a combination of archetypes (anti-hero is a heroic character that has some villainous traits for example) so the range of types an archetype for a character can be is very wide and varied. In Ella Enchanted, Ella is the hero of the story, its her tale that we are following throughout the movie, she stops the corruption in the kingdom and puts an end to the cruel conditions that the elves, giants and ogres find themselves in because of Edgar's actions behind the scenes. Prince Char can also be classed as a hero, while he is more of Ella's love interest, he does have moments of heroism, saving Ella from getting run over and its their love that stops Edgar from taking the crown in the end. Ella can be classed as the maiden too, in scenes such as her romance with Prince Char and how she's such a good-hearted person to any type of creature.

Fig 2: Heroes- Ella and Prince Char

The Herald is Lucinda the Fairy, her gift to Ella when she was a child is the catalyst for her adventure as the gift of obedience disrupts her for having a voice in the things that matter to her. As well as this, her trickster behaviour and her self-centred personality also blends itself into the Shapeshifter. Such examples of this are when Ella purposefully ties herself to a tree to stop her from going to the party to kill Char under the order of Edgar, begging for the fairy to drop the curse. Lucinda pays no attention to her pleas and unties her saying that she should feel grateful having such a gift and orders her to go to the ball.

Fig 3: The Herald and Trickster- Lucinda

Mandy the house fairy is the mentor figure to Ella, as she is also a fairy she understands the traditions and magical practises of them and helps Ella understand what the gift of obedience is when she was young. She also helps in assisting her in her quest to find Belinda by giving her the man in a book, Benny. Ella's Mother is also a mentor figure, especially in the prologue as she too helps Ella understand what the curse put upon her is. 

The main villain of Ella enchanted is Sir Edgar, the kings brother and Char's uncle, who desperately wants to be crowned king. A man that was legitimately in the Shadows until he murdered his own brother in cold blood, he is a scheming and nasty man, who is willing to use Ella's gift of obedience against her by using it to kill the prince. Dame Olga, Ella's step-mother is also a villainous character, she ruins the friendship between Ella and Areida and is a spiteful, mean and self centred woman, traits that passed down to her daughter Hattie. 

Fig 4: The Shadow- Sir Edgar

Ella's stepsisters, Hattie and Olive are the Threshold Guardians, they are the first people outside of Ella's parents and house fairy Mandy, to know of the gift she has been curse with. They, especially Hattie, use this to their advantage to keep her away from their teen idol Prince Char, bleeding into them also being the Trickster. Olive, however, is more innocent and naive, which correlates to the Child archetype as she doesn't quite understand what is happening but follows her sister anyway.

Fig 5: The Threshold Guardians Hattie (Trickster) and Olive (The Child) also featuring Mandy the Mentor

Benny, the talking book and Slannen are the allies of Ella, they join her on her quest to find Lucinda and protest against the kingdom for the poor care of non-human species. Benny gives information to Ella in the form of pictures inside his pages while Slannen is more of a snarky sidekick who wants to be taken seriously and not as a singing and dancing elf like the rest of his species. Heston the snake is another ally but for Edgar. First seen curled up around Edgar's staff, Heston spies on Prince Char for the wannabe king, relaying to him what he's found as the group journey to find Lucinda. 

Fig 6: The Hero Ella with her Allies Benny and Slannen

The Mother and Father in this movies is obviously Ella's parents, they are loving and supportive of her despite her ailment that can prove very tricky to deal with as saying something abrupt can cause har to do something out of her control. Dame Olga while also being a mother can't really fit into the archetype due to her more villainous tendencies showing that she is an uncaring individual who only cares about her self and her appearance, the complete opposite of Ella's Mother in the prologue who was more homely and caring for her daughter. 

The Hero's Journey: Guardians of the Galaxy

Fig 1: Guardians of the Galaxy Theatrical Poster

Guardians of the Galaxy (also know as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.1) is a 2014 Marvel film directed by James Gunn. The Film is the 10th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, dealing with the origin story of the new Guardians of the Galaxy comics that started back in 2008 as a way to open up the franchise to the public after the success of the Avengers movie and each solo movie of characters from that group.
Following the character Starlord, a.k.a Peter Quill, (Chris Pratt) from his initial abduction into space, and his life as a scavenger. He ends up stealing an very precious orb that is desired by the big bad Ronan (Lee Pace) as it is one of the infinity stones that can grant infinite power. Peter ends up having to group up with a bunch of misfits in the form of the assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana), the barbarian and literal minded Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) the genetically engineered racoon bounty hunter Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) and his tree-man companion Groot (Vin Diesel). The unlikely group has to take on the forces of the Sakaaran army to stop the destruction of the planet Xander and to prefer Ronin from getting his hands on the infinity stone.

The Hero's Journey is a narrative structure created by Joseph Campbell in his 1945 book, "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" and is used in most films as a good general basis for the story in films, especially around the 80s. Also known as a Monomyth, the Hero's Journey follows the trials and tribulations of the main character who goes off on an adventure, facing many challenges, befriending allies and falling in love. The character ends up growing as a person through the story, ending up a different person with a whole new skill set and personality from what they had to endure. A good example of the Monomyth is the Star Wars original trilogy with Luke Skywalker, as George Lucas used Campbell's book as a guide for the plot of the film.

Figure 2: Diagram of the Hero's Journey

In the terms of story structure Guardians of the Galaxy does fall into the Hero's Journey, not as precisely as the Star Wars original trilogy but it follows the structure quite well. Starlord, a scavenger, goes to the abandoned planet, Morag, where the civilisation there had been wiped out some time ago. Finding the orb is his Call to Adventure as unbeknown to him that that orb is an important artefact. After escaping the planet after being ambushed by Korath and landing in Xander, he tries to sell on the orb to a pawn broker there who refuses to do business correlating to the Refusal of the Call as if the sale had gone through the entire adventure wouldn't of happened. The introduction of Rocket Racoon and Groot brings about the Supernatural Aid that helps out Peter in his fight against the First Threshold, the Assassin Gamora, though Rocket and Groot are helping him for their own selfish means. Due to the fight the four are captured by NOVA corp officials and sent to the belly of the whale, the intergalactic prison of Kyln.

Upon arriving in Klyn, the group meet Drax the Destroyer, who's on his own revenge path against Ronan for the murder of his wife and daughter. Begrudgingly the group allow him to assist them in their escape from the prison as Gamora mentions that she as a buyer in Knowhere that will give her a high price for the orb. Motivated by the promise of a ridiculous amount of money Rocket comes up with a plan, utalising all of the gangs abilities even if the majority of the plan is improvised. Through the Road of Trials, this is the first time that the gang come together as one as they escape Kyln in Starlords ship as they head off to Knowhere.

Fig 3: The Guardians successfully take over Kyln

In Knowhere while taking a break from looking for the buyer, a romance starts up with Peter and Gamora as she is intrigued as to why he went through all the trouble of getting his walkman back from the guard in the prison block. This could be seen as the Meeting of the Goddess
Soon after the gang finds the person they are looking for in the form of the Collector who explains to the group, sans Drax, about what the orb is. The orb is one of the six infinity stones that can grant power to whoever holds it but can easily kill if the user isn't strong enough, despite this the power it wields can destroy planets and that is the power that is Temptation and the reason Ronan wants the stone. An example of the stones destructive power is shown as the Collectors assistant grabs the stone and triggers an explosions wiping her and some of the Collector's collection away to dust. Ronan then arrives as a response from a drunken Drax who wants to fight him. Him and his army, proceed to beat Drax and steal the infinity stone. His intrusion also splits up the Guardians, with Peter and Gamora being taking in by the Ravangers who saved the two from suffocation in space, when Nebula blew up Gamora's ship as she was trying to escape the planet with the Infinity Stone, and Rocket, Drax and Groot who are stuck on Knowledge.

The Atonement to the Father occurs when Peter rekindles his relationship with Yondu, the Alien that abducted him 26 years ago, and after regrouping with the other guys lead by the explosive crazed Rocket who would be willing to blow up the Ravangers ship for the two if he wasn't persuaded not too by Peter. On the ship, as they prepare to face off with Ronan, to steal the infinity stone from him by taking over his ship the Dark Aster, this could be seen as the Ultimate Boon as Starlord is once again stealing the orb but this time round he knows of its power, he has allies to back him up but there are more enemies to face as they are going straight into a stronghold. Before the mission starts, Peter gives the group a heart-felt speech, showing his character development of a cocky self-centred scavenger to a more mature and heroic leader. The rest of the group also have matured and opened up as the movie progressed and this moment really capture that from them; this is the Guardians Apothesis.

Fig 4: Peter's Speech

Coming back to Xander where the adventure first started, the group infiltrate Ronan's ship the Dark Aster. The Refusal of the Call starts when Gamora splits from the gang to turn off the security system to allow the others access to the main part of the ship but she is stopped by her adoptive sister Nebula. The others are fighting against Ronan's warriors as they try to get to Ronan. Disaster strikes as Drax is wounded and Rocket's ship, as he was positioned as outside support, comes crashing into the ship, leading to an explosion and the Dark Aster falling from the sky. Groot sacrifices himself to make sure that the others aren't hurt from the crash. 

Emerging from the rubble, the remaining guardians emerge to Ronan as he is about to use his hammer, equipped with the infinity stone, to destroy Xander. This is the Magic Flight, as when he is about to use the power of the stone, Starlord uses his spontaneous tendencies to distracted Ronan so that Rocket could shoot the hammer, destroying the weapon and freeing the stone, that Peter catches, taking on its destructive power. Before the stone has a chance of killing Starlord, Gamora, Drax and Rocket grab hold of his hands and shares the burden, controlling the power just enough to kill Ronan, this is the Rescue from Without.

Fig 5: The Guardians sharing the burden of the Infinity Stone

The Guardians win the fight, Xander is safe, Returning to the Threshold, Peter gives the orb to the Nova corp, who in return wipes their criminal records. The Starlord is now a master of two worlds, by the Nova corp accepting him as a hero and while doing an analysis Peter learns that his father was an alien making him half-human, something that Yondu knew and was one of the reason for his abduction and after 26 years he finally opens the present his dying mother gave him, a second mixtape, being more confident and mature, good qualities for a leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy and his freedom to live.

Fig 6: The Guardians of the Galaxy set off on a new adventure