Black Mirror (Be Right Back)

So this episode is about dealing with loss and that it might be better to accept the loss of a loved one then hold on as this episode explores it with an AI that uses the deceased person's internet history to form a personality of that person.

But I don't think it does a good job of it's story as it seems to drag a bit. However I think it does do a good job however of establishing the two characters before and after the death. At the start of the piece we establish fairly quick that Ash is addicted to the internet hardly putting down the phone but when he does put it down is very witty and fast on his feet making comments. Where as Martha is the opposite being very down to the earth and based in reality focusing on what's in front of her rather then behind the screen.

When Ash dies, Martha can hardly touch her phone, but after she is introduced to the AI that is mimicking Ash she becomes addicted to it, hardly ever putting it down and even crying when she drops it and it breaks. The new Ash on the other hand is the complete opposite of who he was, not touching any devices, always asking if he's doing the right thing, and void of character compared to the alive version. I think this change in character does a good job of explain what grief and do to a person, highlighting the extent we can go to try to bring someone back from the grave and it does a good job of showing how we can't ever replace them by showing us the shell of this AI that doesn't do the little things that Ash used to do. Which going back to an earlier post shows that they managed to show a lot of body language as well as language that Ash uses in the first ten minutes to really show how dull and void of character the empty shell is.

Like I said earlier however I thought at times this piece dragged on a bit making me check how long is left, which kinda indicated that I thought at time the piece was boring or could have been wrapped up sooner.

Black Mirror (The Entire History of You)

This short was about how memories can corrupt our train of thoughts and make us focus on key details, posing the question is it better to have memories that can be rewound to see what happened or allow our memories to be embellished both pose it's positives and negatives and it's explored well by showing how much people dwell on memories as its but also how damaging it can be.

I say this because just alone the way they achieved the people looking at their memories convey that it can be a painful experience cutting to a close up of the face with a clouding mist that fogs their eyes. This often hinting towards blindness or a loss of vision which then is left up to interpretation of what happens to the character at the end with a cut to black after the chip is removed. 

The starting scenes reveals a fair bit about the main character. We start with a mid shot reflecting in the table indicating to the audience that he might not be doing so well in what he's doing at what he's doing, and this is backed up in the next few shows all being close ups of the character looking pretty worried with some of his words stuttering. Then in the taxi sequence we can see he's a pretty conscious person when it comes to reflection, quickly rushing to review the meeting and looking worried when reviewing. 

We also learn that he's a paranoid person, because when meeting at the party we get to see a pov shot focusing on his wife with another person and the next few shots we see of him are either wide shot or a mid shot of him zoning out trying to reflect. I think this piece does a good job of showing the memories being accessed as every time we get a close up expressing that character's feeling of that memory or situation.

Black Mirror (Fifteen Million Merits)

Now for a while I've been told that I should watch black mirror that is something that everyone should go to see but could give me a reason why to watch it always stating 'It's something you have to see to talk about'. So it really fell under the radar for me because I couldn't get a straight answer about what it was about.
Well I think it's easier to say that is a collection of experimental short films about topics that are plaguing our world of current.

Fifteen Million Merits tackle two key themes in my opinion being how technology is controlling and isolation our lives and how people change to accept their new found fame.
Now narratively the piece shows how people change due to fame, but more interestingly is how it conveys how technology is controlling us.

Start of the piece we see our main character awaken to a bright screen with a rooster on it, proceeding to open an advert along with him going about his daily business using a currency to do nearly anything. But more interestingly is when he arrives at his work and sets up on a bike using a wide shot to establish how many people are in the room, but because it uses such a shallow depth of field on the character to show that he is isolated from the room being locked on to the screen. This is applies to nearly all of the characters, the person next to him being obnoxiously loud with everyone around him paying no attention to him whatsoever. Followed by the elevator scene where its a high angle shot being very claustrophobic with all of the characters on shot being packed into a tight room not interacting with anyone one.
Another way they show isolation is the bedroom shots only really being two camera angles. The general one is the wide shot of the small room showing the general activities he does in the small space, and the other shot being a high angle when he closes his eyes on an advert blaring out a high pitched noise with a bright flashing red screen. Showing the audience how much it controls us.

Also there's a lot of foreshadowing in this, starting with the music and advert that plays at the start which starts a storyline when the main character meets his love interest. Followed by the adult advert that plays when he finally talks to her foreshadowing her joining the adult show later on down the line.

This piece was extremely exciting in my opinion and I can't wait to see the others.

The BFG (2016)

Another film that uses a lot of CGI, but I wanted to comment more on how well it does scale. Everything in our world looks normal, the camera is set on the streets with normal sized people and buildings showing that the BFG is huge and everything is a playground to him. Whereas in the giant's land they are normal size and Sophie is the small person. I think this is achieved by the camera placement. The camera instead of sticking to a singular character's point of view is constantly shifts between characters to show the surroundings. When looking at the BFG's point of view in the giant's land the camera is placed for either a mid shot of him or long shot of him and his surrounding making everything feel normal. Where as with Sophie in the scene, her shots are either low angle shots showing how weak she is in the situation or long shots with her and the BFG showing how small she is.

Overall the film was alright, it confused me as a audience member as it feels like it's set in two different time era's and it annoyed me how I couldn't place whether it was set in present time or a weird take on Victorian era.

Link to the Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ0Bey4YUGI

The Jungle Book (2016)

When I first saw this advertised I didn't think too much of it because I couldn't really remember the original cartoon on that was done by Disney, and in my eyes back then it wouldn't have been worth the watch. However since watching the film, I'd like to disagree on what I'd stated in the past. This is a good film which is backed up by some stunning visuals.

Take the first scene. We are introduced to our environment with a wide shot of the jungle as it slowly pans to the floor then tracking the main character Mowgli. From the fast tracking shot we instantly gather that Mowgli is in trouble. At this point I want to note how well the CGI animals look, I'm not massive fan of  lots of CGI but I have to say it's progressed a lot in reason years and I think this film highlights what a it could look like in future years. However, right now it still needs a bit more work, from the starting shot, Mowgli's run just feels out of places, like he's running in a computer system while the animals look like they are running in the rain-forest. 

This film as some amazing moments, from collecting honey on the mountain edge, the destruction of the monkey temple to the burning of the forest. I think these are some amazing shots which are memorable hopefully allowing me to remember the film unlike the cartoon one from 1967. 

Wasp (2003)

So this was shown in a craft skills lesson and I wanted to talk a little bit about it because I thought it's worth while to talk about it.

So this does a very good job of establishing the basic information very quick about the characters. In the first few shots we learn that the family is very poor and is in the poverty line but also that they are a very rough family going out and fighting in the first few minutes over something pretty petty.

We also learn that the mother puts herself in front of her children but making them wait on the curb or throwing them around and this is shown quite a lot just by little details at the start where she won't have them in shoes or dressed properly. Then later reinforced by make the kids wait outside for hours while she chats up a bloke.

It also does a good job of showing body language. We get a close up of the mum's feet as she is talking to the bloke, where at first she seems calm and relaxed and then the moment she realizes shes in her nightwear she clams up her feet indicating to the audience that she is feeling stupid at that moment and is regretting what she's doing.
We also see how the children are reacting to the situation which as children do when their bore is to gaze around at their surroundings and mess around. With the elder one staring at her mum implying that the kid knows what her mum is doing.

All of this is conveyed in such little time which works well in a short fiction film as it doesn't have much time to get that information across.

Bucketheads: A Star Wars Story

This short fan film follows a detachment of stormtroops that crashlanded on a planet where they have to escort a rebel prisoner across the forest.

For a fan film this is really nostalgic following amazing sound design that feels like it fits in the star wars genre. And the banta between the troops really gives the troopers personality which is something the main films are missing.

Now I think the film's cinematography is good, it's not amazing. The shots where the rebels are setting up to take on the troopers work amazing as it allows the audience to feel the unsteadiness and impromptu ambush that is about to take place. This is also followed by shaky camera shots to show how intense and unstable the situation gets when the fight starts.
However the one thing that I would have redone on a track and dolly would have been the tracking shots because they feel very handheld and it gives it a tone as the whole situation is very unprepared where in reality, sure the troopers have just been in the crash but they would have had a calmness about them which I feel could have been convayed in the shot better then it was.

The film's colour goes between very grey or very green which is a little bit distracting at times which isn't helped by how the lens focuses in. Every time it pulls focus to a single object or character there is a oil texture everything around it gets which can get distracting.

Overall I think the film is actually pretty good, I still think it can be improved in places, like using a couple of practical effects instead of digital, but this is understanding because it can be quite costly.

Here's the film so you can check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6GUxb0kCCA