KJ
Science Fiction - Research
Conventions of Science Fiction Films:
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Guardians of the Galaxy - 2014
Outline of Guardians of the Galaxy:
The humerous space adventurer Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) finds himself the quarry of relentless bounty hunters after he steals an orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful, yet dangerous villain. To evade Ronan, Quill is forced to be with an uneasy gang with four disparate misfits: gun-toting Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), treelike-humanoid Groot (Vin Diesel), enigmatic Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and vengeance-driven Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista). But when he discovers the orb's true power and the dangerous threat it poses, Quill must rally his gang to save the universe from its power and Ronan's thirst of using the orb to destroy Xandar.
Director: James Gunn
This is a video clip of Peter meeting the gang for the first time. The massive use of CGI and fashion creates this sense of realism, where many camera shots are longshots or desplay shots that reveal the setting of an advanced city. Click the arrow at the centre to watch!
Mis-En-Scene:
The image above shows the wide shot scenery of the Earth like planet called Xandar, where we can see an advanced aircraft flying towards the camera, thus depicting the genre of the film to be sci-fi. From observing the airshot view, we can see the heavily use of CGI being implemented to present the Capital of Xandar to be advanced, yet peacefull city from the green vegetation colours and the sky blue scenery that creates a calm, harmonic atmosphere. Although the film is part action, this matches to the conventions of Sci-Fi, where the protagonists' main goal is to save the peace loving city of Xandar, from the destruction seeker: Ronan.
The image below shows the five hero's of the story, with Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) acting as the leader of the gang from his relaxed posture and the red suit that originally symbolises royalty. Peter's valiant appearance further idolizes him as the main hero of the film, despite his past abduction and his comical personality. Few of the characters such as Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Drax (Dave Bautista) and Gamora (Zoe Saldana), are equiped with advanced weapons which matches the conventions of Sci-Fi, such as categories of scientific advancement, familiar elements of technology and the characters obtaining the "McGuffins". Groot (Vin Diesel) and Rocket (Bradely Cooper) however are modeled to be more alien-like creatures, with Groot acting as a humanoid tree and rocket as a small, humanoid raccoon. This further relates to the conventions of scientific advancement.
Editing:
There is alot of editing used from watching the "first meeting" clip of this film.
One example is the aerial (birds eye view) panning of this continuous fighting between Quill and Gamora. The use of this circular panning was to present how Quill is being overpowered by Gamora's attacks, as the camera was circling right to place Gamora on the top and Quill at the bottom. It further presents how Gamora subverts the roles of women and is presented as a hardcore fighter. It also presents Gamora's personality as being less likey to give up in her goals i.e. stealing the stone sphere from Quill.
Another example is the two cut shots combined with the zoom out editing. This film technique is used to present Gamora's personal goal: to use the stone to kill the antagonist of the film. The use of the zoom out editing could highlight that she is distance away from achieving this goal, as the camera is strongly focused on the stone sphere with the background blurred behind it. Furthermore, the use of the cut shots combined with the zoom out editing, conveys the audience to know Gamoras' focus of stealing "Quill's" stone sphere.
Sound:
One good example of continuous music is the beginnig intro of the film, where we see Quill's comical personality begins to be shown more openly. The music album "Come and get your love", was edited to match the movements of the protagonist, such as when Quill listens to the non-diegetic sound of the stop breaks of Lolly Vegas (singer), while kicking the alien-like rats away from him. The editing of where Lolly Vegas begins to sing and the film's title poping out at the same time, juxtaposes the difference to where Quill is dancing in a comical way, unaware of the dangers that he is approaching to.
Camera
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Click the images to view the written text that explains about the use of these camera shots. When on image view, click the arrows that is displayed on the left/right screen to view the next slide.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire - 2001
Outline of Atlantis - The Lost Empire:
An inexperienced, young adventurer becomes the key to unraveling an ancient mystery when he joins up with a group of daredevil explorers to find the legendary lost empire of Atlantis. A naive, yet a determined museum cartographer Milo Thatch (Michael J. Fox), dreams of completing a quest to search the city of Atlantis, that was begun by his late grandfather, a famous explorer. When a journal surfaces, an eccentric billionaire funds an expedition and the action shifts to high gear. Atlantis - The Lost Empire, was the first Sci-Fi film that Disney had released.
Directors: Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise
This is a video clip of the beginnig scene where the city of Atlantis was sunken into the sea. From watching the intro, we can see alot of fast pace cutting used to depict the sense of chaos, as the advanced city are about to be hit by a tsunami. Click the arrow at the centre to watch!
Mis-En-Scene:
Atlantis is the first sci-fi traditionally animated film disney had made in 2001. Although the film has limited depictions of sci-fi icons, there is a setting story of the protagonist going on an adventure to search for the advanced city of Atlantis to understand its technology and the crystal's origins, thus matching to the conventions of sci-fi, like the discovery of new technology. The image above displaying the ending scene of 'Atlantis', reveals the city slowly re-discovering their technology, such as the hovering vehicles flying around the city. Atlantis is also set underground with the earth soil and stone resting ontop of the Earth's mantle, which further depicts the sense of sci-fi and how the crystal (presumed to be an alien artefact) is powerful enough to maintain the structure of the city.
Milo (Michael J. Fox) and Kida (Cree Summer) are both distinctively different by fashion, race, haircolour and their life style respectively. Milo wears a suit, a batwing tie and glasses, presenting as a formal cartographer and linguist who appears to have a massive interest in descovering the city of Atlantis. Milo is fashioned to be a resident from the United States in 1914, the year where 'The Great War' began. Kida (Cree Summer) however is presented as a native to Atlantis who wears small clothing, has a blue tattoo on her right eye, has white hair and dark-tanned skin. She is the princess of her fallen country who is an independent warrior, trying to bring Atlantis to its full glory and saving her people. This strongly indicates that she subverts the roles of women, as the death of her mother has made her become a warrior-princess.
Editing:
Traditional animation was mostly editied to the cartoon characters and CGI was implemented on this gif image of the characters staring at the levitating stone figures. 'Atlantis: The Lost Empire' was the first sci-fi film to have CGI implemented in their traditional animation art. The use of CGI on the levitating stones was to present how powerful the alien artefact is and being the source of Atlantis' survival.
Sound:
Orchestra sound in the intro is very chaotic, which demonstrates the chaos and the alarming danger of the tsunami approaching the city of Atlantis. This non-diegetic sound of the orchestra also matches to the emotion of the film and the downfall of the deuteragonist's (Kida) ancient city.
Camera
This extreme longshot view is used to portray the city advancement from becoming ruined to being restored by the support of the protagonist. The hovering vehicles further demonstrated this idea of restoration.
This medium longshot is used to represent the character's surprise to the deuteragonists transformation of an alien like humanoid crystal. This shot is used to present Kida as the main focus to the audience, as her appearance is emotionless, depicting a personality change.
The longshot of the stone mask levitating to the sky, displays the amazement and shock of the minor characters, seeing the power of the alien artefact for the first time. This shot is also used to demonstrate a memorial of an important person, as shown from the characters' silence.
Click the images to view the written text that explains about the use of these camera shots. When on image view, click the arrows that is displayed on the left/right screen to view the next slide.
Battleship - 2012
Outline of Battleship:
Lt. Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch) is a weapons officer aboard the destroyer USS John Paul Jones, while his older brother, Stone (Alexander Skarsgård), is the commanding officer of the USS Sampson. Unknown to Alex, Stone or the rest of the U.S. Navy, alien invaders have arrived on Earth with plans to steal the Earth's resources. When a confrontation with the invaders knocks out the Navy's radar capability, American and Japanese forces must work together to find a way to save the planet before an upcoming alien invaders will destroy all humanity.
Director: Peter Berg
This is a video clip of the two warships battling each other until only one survives. The video also depict the theme of Humans vs Aliens. Click the arrow at the centre to watch!
Mis-En-Scene:
In the film 'Battleship', the setting takes place in modern Earth, where soldiers from the US army sailing on the sea are being attacked by invading aliens, who trapped few of the ships in a powerful forcefield. The aliens are presented as human like species, but wearing cybernetic suit to represent their technological advancement that dominates over the protagonist's (Taylor Kitsch) modern military suit. Most of the battles takes place at sea, which matches to the title of the film 'Battleship'. The film also matches to the conventions of sci-fi, where the protagonist and the minor characters (less advanced race) are fighting against the invading aliens (highly advanced race) who are planning to steal the Earth's resources.
Editing:
In the film, CGI is heavily used to create the alien characters and the ships that they are in. CGI was also used to present battle scenes, such as the death of the protagonist's brother, the continuous battle between the military and aliens at night and the final battle with the alien mothership. The use of CGI on the aliens was to represent their dangerous, yet mysterious appearance that reflects on their actions that would lead to the Earth's downfall.
Sound:
From watching the video clip of 'Battleship - Final Battle', the use of explosive sound effects was to create an intense battle, which causes the audience to feel a sense of hype and wonder if the protagonist will survive. The crosscut between the "We're going to die" dialogue and the approaching sound of bomb mines, demonstrates the protagonist's ironic belief that he will die, but has a plan on his mind that we viewers don't know untill the action began. Furthermore, the use of non-diegetic rock music was to create the continous action and the hero's path towards victory, as mentioned by the dialogue: "But not today".
Camera
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Click the images to view the written text that explains about the use of these camera shots. When on image view, click the arrows that is displayed on the left/right screen to view the next slide.