media assignment - George Gillard (FILM)

Media assignment - George Gillard

Feminist theory

Divergent

Divergent is a feminist film and the film is about a young girl called Tris who has to choose what faction she goes to but she is a Divergent. Tris and her family are part of the Abnegation and it comes to the point where they get tested for what faction they should choose and Tris comes up as all off them meaning that she is Divergent. Divergents are hunted and killed as they are not seen as normal or safe. She is told to leave quickly by the person who tested her and to say that she was sick and this shows that it is a big deal. At the choosing the next day she chooses to leave her faction and move to Dauntless where she train so become a defender of the city. She firstly has problems fitting in as she is small and week but she never gives up and tries her hardest and proves herself to everyone and makes the cut to officially become a member of Dauntless. She gets found out that she is a Divergent and she and Four who is the man she falls in love with who is also Divergent fight back against the government. The film is is a feminist film because the protagonist and antagonist are both female. The protagonist is the main character and this means that the film is revolving around a female, and the antagonist is also a female and she is an important part of the film so two most important characters who show good and evil are both female. Also, feminism is shown when Tris chooses to join Dauntless as stereotypically men would join this faction because they are trained fighters and they are strong and fearless. The director of this film is Neil Burger who has released other mystery films such as ‘Limitless’.

Casting

Neil Burger brought actors/actresses along to the film such as Shailene Woodley (Tris Prior), Theo James (Tobias Eaton / Four), Miles Teller (Peter) and Kate Winslet (Jeanine Matthews). These are big names in the film industry and they were chosen because they fit the style of the characters and this is because they are usually found in serious, action and romantic films and some of them are seen and good and other are seen as bad and this is why they fit their characters. Shailene Woodley fits well into the character of Tris because she is seen in lots of love/feminist films so this film fits her really well because it is a feminist film but she falls in love.

Techniques

Examples of techniques used are the effects such as when Tris is taking the test, she sees lots of copies of herself around, it’s almost like a mirror. And then when she tackles the dog she grabs it and falls through the floor into another situation. This is an example of a special effect technique. Camera angles are used in many different ways such as extreme close up to she the emotion in her face, tracking and zooming in to show importance/dramatic effect to what is happening or what is about to happen.

Genre

The genres set in this film are action, adventure, mystery and si-fi. We know that these are the genres set in the film because there is a lot of fighting throughout the film and we also see adventure because Tris is on a journey to succeed and to make it as part of Dauntless but when she sees that they are all being controlled and used as soldiers to kill innocent people, she going on a mission to prevent it and to do what it right. Mystery is seen because Tris is a Divergent and Divergents are seen as dangerous and they need to be killed. We don’t know what is going to happen to Tris and she goes through many difficult situations where she could be killed or put at risk of losing her place in Dauntless. Also the relationship between her and Four, we don’t know what is going to happen between them until later in the film but we can sense something so it creates that sense of a mystery. Lastly we have si-fi. We know there is si-fi in this film because it is very futuristic and there is a lot of advanced technology that we don’t even see today. For example, the computers that they use, the weapons and the use of factions.

Auteur theory

The Wolf of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street is a film about a man called Jordan Belfort and his multi million dollar broker business. The film covers auteur theory and we know this because Leonardo DiCaprio who plays the role of Jordan Belfort talks to the audience almost like a narrator but he is not hidden away, he talks to the audience as he goes throughout the film and the film happens to be a true story about the life of the real Jordan Belfort. Jordan starts off the film by showing up to Wall St for his first day at his new brokership. He gets sat down by a loud angry man and is told to get on the phone ASAP but then the main guy from the company comes over and talks to Jordan and praises him on presenting a stock in this interview and invites him for lunch. At this lunch he tells Jordan everything that he needs to know about the job and he then goes on to become a fully licensed broker. It was all going good until the market dropped and they went out of business. Jordan then discovery penny stocks (pink sheets) from a new small brockership and he blows them away and decides to set up his own business. This was the start of Stratton Oakmont and the money and drug crazed life of Jordan Belfort.

He abuses his money on drugs and woman and starts to run the business illegally and he gets in a lot of trouble for it from the FBI and in the end he has to officially give names and details about people who were involved and he gets his prison sentence decreased but still has to spend 3 years behind bars. Throughout the film we see Jordan using many different drugs but he his favorite is Cocaine and Ludes which he abuses the use of and becomes almost addicted to them. Ludes are what really brought his business down as he took some really strong ones and Donnie leeks lots of important/confidential information over the phone while the line was tapped by the FBI.

Casting

Martin Scorsese used Hollywood A List actors for this film such as Leonardo DiCaprio (Jordan Belfort), Margot Robbie (Naomi Lapaglia) and Jonah Hill (Donnie Azoff) and together these names would already be a huge anchor to the film as their fans would be attracted to the film as some of their favorite actors/actresses are part of it. These A listers have been chosen for the roles that they play because their character fits the role. We know this because for example Leonardo DiCaprio fits the role of Jordan because he is usually seen in serious and direct movies where he would be seen as a ladies man and would sometimes talk directly to the audience. Margot Robbie fits the role of Naomi because she is seen as an attractive/seductive woman who can get any man she wants. She is also seen to be the main female role in the films that she appears in. Jonah Hill fits the role of Dinnie because he is a funny actor who is usually seen in comedy/actions films for his character that makes people laugh. He is always seen to be the one to mess up or do something wrong in a film and that is shown well in this film. Also, he is seen to be a bit weird and to be slightly wrong in the head in some of the films that he plays but always comes through right by the end which again is shown in this film.

Techniques

The techniques used in this film are things like camera shots and angles, special effects and music. The use of camera shots and angles are seen when he talks directly to the audience and when he does this the shot is usually tracking when he is walking but it would really be mid - long shots used. We also see a lot of close up - extreme close up shots when he is taking drugs and this increases the intensity of the scene and makes it more dramatic. The special effects that we see are also when he takes drugs, we see that the steady cam is used in close up but the background is very messy and almost not human. Also when he is crawling on the floor at the country club we see him looking down the stairs which is POV but the stairs suddenly seem to extend and they look bigger than they actually are which again reminds us that he is on drugs and they mess with your head so this is a good example of special effects. The music is used to enhance the mood of the scene, so in the more intimate and romantic scenes, more classical and calm music is used and when things are kicking off or the drugs are in place, the music will be faster and and more violent maybe.

Genre

There are only really 2 main genres of this film and they are romance and biography. We know that these are the the genres because there is a lot of romance involved and this is because Jordan is married at the beginning and then he finds Naomi and falls in love with her and he then ends up getting a divorce and marrying Naomi and we see a lot of intimate moments between them throughout the film. Then we have the genre of biography and this is because the film is about the life of Jordan Belfort and it is mostly real and he had this film made to show how he turned his life around from being a multi millionaire who had all the drugs and money he wanted to then being thrown behind bars for 3 years and deciding to become an inspirational talker and became completely sober. The film was made to make people aware so that they don’t follow the mistakes that he made.