Trainspotting

The iconic opening scene of Trainspotting throws the audience in at the deep end, choosing to start the movie with Renton and Spud being chased through the streets of Edinburgh. The camera is mostly handheld, giving the movie a more personal feeling to the film as it is almost as if we are running alongside Renton and Spud. Throughout the scene it switches quickly between close ups of Renton as he runs, and wide angle shots to show the general public’s reaction to them being chased through the streets by the police. When Renton is hit by the car and laughs at the driver before getting knocked down, it is sort of a comedic moment based on the established atmosphere. It’s the movie’s way of telling us that the ride is starting and it's going to be a fun one. Furthermore, when he is hit by the car it switches to a POV shot from the driver and its very effective as it shows Renton in a slightly different light, from his facial expression it almost shows him to be a bit crazy as he’s just been hit by a car yet he laughs and smiles about it. It’s almost like Renton is breaking the fourth wall and is smiling and laughing at the audience. 

Renton’s infamous “choose life” monologue plays non diegetically over the sound of Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life. It is a very energetic and lively song setting up the audience for a fun, upbeat movie despite the dark subject matter we know the movie will contain. With that, we have Renton's arrogant, rebellious "choose life" monologue about rejecting societal norms and values, instead taking the path of a heroin addict just because it’s different and more exciting than conventional life.

We then get a shot of the group of ‘friends’ all together, this is also the first time we really see Renton with anyone else where he seems relatively happy which brings up themes of friendship. From the two shots of the opposing team compared with the group, we can see that, unlike the opposing team, Rentons group are not wearing uniforms, again highlighting that they don’t want to be and are not a part of the society that they live in. We can clearly see that Begbie enjoys hurting people when he knocks down a man from the opposing team and smiles. This is supported throughout the movie where Begbie often gets unnecessarily and extremely violent. We can see that Spud is wearing ridiculously short shorts and a superman shirt, which introduces him as a comical character not to be taken too seriously. It could also represent how he is like the child of the group, and we can start to see some roles forming within the group. 

During the football scene, Tommy, who steers clear of the drugs that Renton and Spud are taking, is chased into a corner by three of the opposing players and left trapped and looking rather panicked. As this happens, Renton’s monologue says “choose rotting away at the end of it all,” foreshadowing Tommy later contracting an AIDS related form of Toxoplasmosis and being left to slowly decompose for days on end before a neighbour called the police in complaint of the smell coming from the flat. 

Narrative Equilibrium and Genre Conventions in Shaun Of The Dead

NARRATIVE EQUILIBRIUM

The Equilibrium of this narrative is the setting of Shaun, living his normal, standard life. Visiting his local pub on the regular. He has to face ongoing issues with his girlfriend, as she is growing tired of the same, repetitive motion in their relationship. Shaun tries to amend the situation but fails miserably consistently.

The Significant Event of this narrative is where Britain  goes through a zombie apocalypse. Shaun doesn't realize at the start, he instead keeps on going through his daily routine. He eventually realizes, after a collision with a pair of zombies in his back garden, that he really is in a zombie apocalypse.

The Disruption of this narrative causes Shaun into trying to rescue his girlfriend, who he has had ongoing issues with as stated before. He also tries to save his mother and, reluctantly, his stepdad in this process. The measures that Shaun goes into leads to a succession of obstacles that he must overcome to get safety, which he thinks is the Winchester Pub.

The Climax of this narrative is the fact that the people in Shaun's crew that are seeking help slowly, slowly become infected. This leads to a series of dramatic endings to family members & friends. Shaun then eventually manages to rescue himself & his girlfriend in the end.

The New Equilibrium of this narrative is  Shaun & his girlfriend running into help from a previous acquaintance he ran into whilst searching for a safe zone. This rescue helps him & his girlfriend get through the apocalypse & eventually manages to live his life again, in different circumstances that are still being amended. He is back with Liz, and he also choose to keep his best friend Ed, still infected, in the shed in the back garden because he couldn't bear to leave him.

GENRE CONVENTIONS

Throughout Shaun Of The Dead, multiple genre conventions cross over to help the protagonist in his goals; win back Liz and survive the apocalypse. As soon as the genre shifts from a romantic comedy to a zombie movie, Shaun starts to succeed where he once failed. 

The Winchester is set up as the main cause for breakup in the prologue. Liz is sick of the same thing day in day out, and Shaun fails to act on his promise of change (Rom Genre). The Winchester then becomes vital to their survival (Zombie genre), although it turns out to be the cause of most of the problems within both genres.

London, the main setting of the movie, viewers are unsure what else lies beyond London as we don't really receive anything else besides from news reports at the start of the outbreak, possible refuge for survivors. 

In Liz's flat was where scene of the breakup between Liz and Shaun took place. Before the breakup, Shaun attempted to climb the wall up to her Window and ultimately failed to make it up there. Shaun climbs the wall in an attempt to see if she is okay during the Zombie outbreak and to get her to safety (Zombie genre) and he successfully managed to get in to her flat.
Shaun's house is a key starting point for the Zombie horror genre of the film, Shaun first realizes he's in the middle of a zombie apocalypse whereas before he was completely oblivious to it all, the girl in his back garden is a key scene of that. Even though he was flicking through TV channels which were showing news reports of the outbreak, and the fact he walked his same route to the corner shop to get his usual drink which led to him interacting with multiple zombies along the way, it took a zombie to show up in his back garden for him to even realize anything was wrong.

The Opening Of The Film starts off with the romantic comedy and the zombie genre is just in the background. Set in a prologue style which is different to Dawn Of The Dead as you are not thrown straight into the zombie apocalypse but instead you are thrown into a relationship crisis. The audience are given information about the hero and heroine's relationship yet they do not hear how the zombie apocalypse starts. Both genres have a linear structure. Scenes from the romantic comedy genre are repeated in the zombie horror genre but with a zombified twist. ‘Shaun Of The Dead’ references many social and emotional themes that are covered as the film progresses. One of the main themes that we see is relationship. This is a key theme as it starts off the beginning of the film by Shaun and Liz’s relationship falling apart but over time throughout the film it starts to heal and piece itself back together again. Another key theme of ‘Shaun Of The Dead’ is friendship. Both Shaun and Liz’s friendship circles are holding the two apart in their relationship, as Shaun wants to please Pete, Ed and Liz while Liz wants to please Dianne, David and Shaun. The final key theme that is covered in ‘Shaun Of The Dead’ is Shaun’s family issues that are dealt with throughout the film when his step-dad becomes a zombie. Shaun’s issue with his step-dad is shown through the quote: “He’s not my dad, he’s my step-dad.”

The movie uses lots of varying props, such as cricket bats, garden shovels, typical British household items become weapons. Pool cues are used to hit the zombie bartender on the head. The gun that is taken from the shelf above the bar despite no one having any real experience with shooting one. The work pin badge often seen when Shaun is putting it on for work is now being seen when he takes it off during the zombie apocalypse lets the viewers know that he isn't going to work and this is not a Romantic Comedy film any more. The zombies and survivors have torn and blood stained clothes. Pete has a business suit to show his job status. Ed wears sloppy clothes as he is a slob and doesn't work. Shaun wears clothes that are somewhere in between Pete's and Ed's clothes. Within the movie most of the zombie related scenes in the pub have darker lighting to build up a tense atmosphere which relates to the scene. For example at the climax of the apocalypse there is a lot more threat, danger and the mood is a lot darker which makes it a proper zombie film.  the camera focuses a lot on the hero and heroine's faces to show their emotional expressions, the scenes also have a lot of close-ups as it focuses as Shaun and Liz touch and look into each other's eyes a lot more as the movie progresses. Unrealistic use of sound used for drama and comedy. Sound of whistling kettle to add tension to the family arguments between Shaun and his mum. The use of the Queen song adds to the comedy effect of the scene where the characters where they are all hitting the zombified bartender with the pool cues.

A Cinematography Review of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the 12th movie in the chronological timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU as its more commonly abbreviated. The movie tells the story of Captain America (AKA Steve Rodgers) being used as S.H.E.I.L.D's attack dog - something he didn't sign up for - to take care of Director Fury's dirty work. Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo (commonly referred to as the Russo Brothers), this was their first time directing a movie within the MCU and had a lot of pressure to deliver the next chapter of the fan favourite Captain America's story, and they definitely delivered.

From a cinematographic point of view, the scene in which The Winter Soldier's identity is finally revealed to the audience is an absolute masterpiece. The camera tracks Natasha (AKA Black Widow) as she sprints through the street, telling civilians to get clear of the area and out of the danger zone. She is hit with a bullet and collapses, ducking behind a car and scanning the area around her. It then cuts to a first person perspective, with the camera moving frantically over the crashed cars and rubble as she tries to spot The Winter Soldier, panicked and wounded. The camera then switches to a mid shot of Natasha, still searching for her attacker, when suddenly he jumps on to the bonnet of another car behind her and aims his rifle at her. As his boots connect with the metal, a sharp musical sting plays.

Two close ups within the Winter Soldier's reveal scene

As the music swells it cuts to a shot of Steve (AKA Captain America) sprinting in to assist his ally in the fight. It then cuts to a shot of The Winter Soldier's masked face, and although the mask only allows the viewer to see his eyes, you can still see the fear in his expression. As the two super-soldiers battle it out, the orchestral theme song in the background matches the tempo of the fight perfectly. The camera follows The Winter Soldier's fist as it moves through the air to collide with Steve's shield, and from there the camera changes frequently as the fight between the two men goes on. At about halfway through the fight, a high note can be heard that gets increasingly higher and louder as the blows being traded get more and more vicious and desperate. Steve grabs The Winter Soldier's face and he gets flipped over Steve's head, dislodging the mask and falling to the floor. He rolls, stands up, and the camera changes to a close up of the back of his head. As he turns, The Winter Soldier's identity is revealed. The camera then shifts to a mid close up of Steve's face, showing the confusion and grief across his face as he realizes the person who had been trying to kill him this whole was his childhood best friend. In that moment, Steve can only utter a single word. He says Bucky's name, but Bucky doesn't even know his own name. A close up of Bucky's face as he asks "Who the hell is Bucky?" shows the audience he has no idea who he is and makes the viewer feel sorry for what he has become.  The camera angle then changes to show Sam Wilson (AKA Falcon) swooping down and kicking Bucky to the floor before he has a chance to attack either Steve or Natasha. The scene then ends with Bucky aiming his gun at Steve, before panicking as an RPG is fired at him and running away, using a car as cover.

Lots of various shot types are used within this short two minute scene

Another example of the excellent cinematography is the final scene of the movie. After a long and hard battle, Steve completed his mission of stopping Hydra's plan to kill thousands of people by hacking into the helicarriers and redirecting the targeting system so they instead shoot each other, destroying themselves. Bucky had been ordered to stop Steve and failed. As the helicarrier begins to fall apart, steel beams had landed on Bucky, and he was unable to lift them off of him. Instead of Steve abandoning him and leaving him to die, he decides to save Bucky and try to get through to him. A two-shot of the men show Steve grunting in pain as he lifts the beams off of Bucky's body, waiting for him to wriggle free of the debris. Once Bucky is free, a lot of close ups and mid shots are used as Steve tries to snap Bucky out of Hydra's control, with Bucky refusing to see sense and punching Steve every time he says something. In a rather moving and emotional turn of events, Steve drops the shield and tells Bucky "I'm not going to fight you. You're my friend." the close up shot of the shield falling to the floor hundreds of feet below them signals that he refuses to hurt the person in front of him, and is actually the only time Captain America has ever given up in a fight. Bucky still refuses to see sense however, and the camera changes to a two shot of the men standing opposite each other, then Bucky charging at Steve, lifting him off his feet and slamming him to the floor. He growls at Steve, "You're my mission." and begins pounding him with his metal fist over and over whilst repeating that phrase over and over between punches. As he goes for the final blow, the camera angle changes four times within around ten seconds. The first is of a close up of the damage Bucky has caused to Steve's face as he tells Bucky to finish his mission, and the second is of Bucky's confused yet angry face as he listens to Steve talking. The third is of Steve's pain filled expression as he says the same thing Bucky used to when they were kids. He mutters "I'm with you till the end of the line..." and that snaps Bucky out of his enraged state. The camera angle changes once again to a shot over the shoulder of Steve, with Bucky straddling and pinning down Steve, fist raised and ready to punch him again, but with a look of horror as he realizes his mistake. It almost looks as if Bucky is going to start crying. In the background behind them, more rubble is falling and the floor they were fighting on is damaged. A full shot shows Steve as he falls into the lake below, then switches to a second full shot of Bucky hanging onto a metal support beam as he watches Steve fall. All the while, a sad violin piece plays in the background as Steve falls from the helicarrier, plunging into the water below in a similar fashion to the way Bucky did in the previous Captain America film.

Music is used throughout this movie, enhancing and adding to the viewing experience. Most of the time in MCU movies, the music is created by using orchestral instruments... however, = The Winter Soldier's theme is a collection of sounds from his past. The Winter Soldier's true identity, as the audience find out at the end of this scene, is James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes; Steve's childhood best friend. He somehow survived the fall from the train and was kidnapped and tortured by Hydra, erasing all of his memories and turning him into an unstoppable killing machine. Some other sounds that were used within this piece of music, such as screaming, motorbike engines, and whirring machinery. All of these sounds are linked to The Winter Soldier's past. The sound that starts off The Winter Soldier's theme song is the scream Bucky cried out in the first Captain America movie, slowed down and distorted with auto tune to create an eerie sound. Back in the 1940s, Steve and his team "The Howling Commandos" (of which he was one of) could often be found driving on his motorcycle, and still occasionally drives one today. Bucky's prosthetic arm is made up of robotic components that connect to the nerves in whats left of his arm, and often makes peculiar whirring noises when he moves it. These noises feature in the piece at several points.