SSC Film Studies

How do films affect the way in which we see the real world? They represent the extreme cases of life. Such as superhero movies can be seen as reflected the brave and good people of society such as soldiers; yet the extremeness of this category is we see superheroes in a way that identifies the hero in a strong and typically super natural way. Films can be educational, such that they provide information on topics such as ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ which gives us an insight to the killing of Bin Laden; whether the film be completely true or not it creates a perception and idea of real life events in our minds. They can also represent all walks of life, for example teen comedy movies (American Pie) which give off the idea of the typical teenager life, these types of films can also be helpful for many younger kids growing up for many uncertainties they may have of being a teenager or going to college etc. In general films create a perception and teen comedies are no exception as for a 15 year old it may give them an insight to what college may be like therefore through watching it they have also created perception f real life. Movies offer a POV of the director on the topic or theme which the film is based around. Therefore films can be restricted yet our minds except what we see as its the only POV we are shown (this is apparent in ‘Fight Club’). Films tend to closely mirror society and sometimes manipulate our beliefs to believe what we are seeing is acceptable. An example of this is the film ‘The Town’. This film is based around armed robbers in Boston America. In which we end up cheering for the villain (robbers0 because the film manipulates us by only offering one side of the POV therefore we accept the robbers side of the story. Films to be used to back up my points The Town This film represents how films closely mirror society yet also represents how the audience can be manipulated to see things in a certain way. Such that the town manipulates to only see one POV (the side of the Bank robbers) therefore we are almost forced to take there sides, which is opposite to how in the case of most films you are manipulated to be on the moral side other story. Therefore this story defies this rule because by the end we are cheering for Ben Affleck to escape justice and get away from the FBI catching him. This represents how films can help us to see different perspectives of life and in this films case, see the good in the bank robbers because we see there perspective. This is apparent in all films however, because we might not know everybody else’s angle on life therefore films allows us to see it. Zero Dark Thirty This film represents how films manipulate us and alter our beliefs on certain topics; to the extent that films can be educational, whether or not what we are seeing is an exact fact or based around one. There are many theories that say that this film is not a true description of the Bin Laden killing however, the majority people do not know how it happened therefore except what we see as true because it is the only POV we have of the event. This represents how we are sometimes forced into seeing the world in a certain way because films offer us a POV in which we believe to be true if it’s the only POV we have on a certain topic. American Pie Films can represents the foundations and basics of how we live our lives. Films offer different perspectives from all walks of life and American Pie is no different as it gives off the typical American school/college teen life, yet also idealises and magnifies the events to create a better film and experience. American Pie offers more than the film itself, as for say a 15 year old it offers a perception of what college may be like therefore relates to how films can be educational. Other films to consider – Fight Club – relates to how films can be restricted therefore we only see one POV, which is normally the directors POV on the theme or topic of the film. Zero Dark Thirty: ‘kill him for me’ scene analysis In this scene we see a lot of beefed up American men, this portrays straight away the strong American people that the director wants to put across. One of the men asks how do they even know UBL (Bin Laden) is in the house; this reflects the paranoia and uncertainty around America as to what was really happening within the government and the whole UBL situation; as to whether there was a war about to break or if he was actually dead already. The scene tries to reinforce that the task of killing bin laden was really an uncertainty and there was no guarantees that all the training we see the men doing is gong to pay off. It also reinforces the secrecy of the assassination of UBL because even the men who had the task were unaware of whom they were killing until the final meeting. This therefore puts across to the American people that it was an operation to risky to expose. This scene almost tries to justify to the audience what really happened but mainly give us an idea of how the operation was carried out, in effect educating us on the killing of UBL. Interviewing student – Owen Harris What films have you seen that have educated you? Titanic, This is England, Saving private Ryan, Nelson Mandela. How did the films educate you? They provided me with an in-depth view on the topic of the film, for example I new a lot of nelson mandala however was unaware of many of Is life events; therefore through watching the film I was able to see the world in a more educated outlook. Mandela was a person who changed the way in which the world runs and many people live their lives today therefore in effect has had a slight knock on effect as to how I see the world and how it was shaped to its form today.