Alice in Wonderland

Yesterday I saw Alice in Wonderland and really loved it. A lot of people had been slating it and it had been getting really bad reviews so I went in thinking it could be really bad. However I thought it was brilliant, I loved Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat especially how he had been edited in and out to appear and disappear with only his smile being bold. I loved all of the voice overs such as Alan Rickman as the Blue Caterpillar and Barbara Winsor as the Doormouse. I also thought Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen were excellent. I really enjoyed it as it was so unusual and bright unlike Tim Burton's usual films.

Shutter Island

On Wednesday I went to see Shutter Island which is a psychological thriller (the same genre as our film). Theres a few editing techniques which proved really confusing and made me really think whilst watching the film. At one point a woman takes a sip from a glass of water and her drink disappears; this could be seen as bad editing however the woman drinking the water without the glass would have to had been filmed, I think the drink disappears due to Officer Teddy's drinking problem after the death of his wife.

Also in a flash back which Teddy has, an alcoholic drink his wife is holding disappears similarily which suggests the previous alcohol problem which the audience do not understand yet.

A particular part that confused me was when Teddy was in a dream and he woke up to yet again be in a dream which happened several times so that I began to not know when the film was in a dream or reality.

Unfortunately I managed to guess the big twist at the end half-way through however I didn't guess it perfectly so there was still a suprise for me. I wasn't suprised to be told that Teddy himself was a patient at Shutter Island however I was suprised to find that he was actually Andrew Laeddis (a missing patient) as Teddys full name was Edward Daniels and both names where anagrams for each other.

Overall I did enjoy the film however I was expecting it to be more of a horror because of the trailer. I did also enjoy the end once Teddy accepted that he was actually Andrew Laeddis and did kill his wife but decided to "die as a good man instead of living as a monster.

Interview with the Vampire

I recently watched 'Interview with a Vampire' which I really enjoyed as it was not similar to anything I had seen before. Particulary the way that Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise are made-up, the make-up was so effective on Tom Cruise I did not realise it was him until 20 minutes after he first appeared. I really like how the actors wore contact lenses to make their eyes very light blue (nearly white) to appear less human-like. Also they both had sharp teeth with fangs, pale skin, very long hair and nails and were well groomed which is the ideaology people have of vampires. I also liked how Kirsten Dunst was made a child vampire which is very creepy and disturbing especially the scene in which she kills people.

I like the opening scene alot as it opens San Francisco in modern age despite vampires stereotypically being thought of around in the middle ages. It opens with an aerial shot across San Francisco following into wide shots of a busy street full of people to show unawareness of a vampire looking down from them. The camera continues to a low angle shot, swooping up towards a tall building to represent the power of the vampire figure in the top window. When the camera angle changes to behind the vampire in the window it is still just his figure to create mystery and suspense aswell as horror.

Jaws Shot Analysis

This is an ideal shot-by-shot analysis of Jaws, it shows every shot in the film aswell as why they are used without constant repitition of the same points aswell as going into enough detail.

Jaws Shot By Shot - Part 1

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