Oral Presentation- Part 2 - Historical and Socio-Cultural (Unstoppable)

II. Historical and Institutional Factors-

1. What are the institutional factors that may be important? As a production of a specific producer (i.e. Walt Disney), institution (Disney Studios), specific economic factors (Studio Film), or a political background? (U.S. politics 1959) : The economic factors of this film is connected to today's factors. The movie is aware of the recession, and of the insecurity and resentment among older workers, and how new comers want to take their jobs.  The political background is about just thousands of tons of iron, fuel and combustible toxic chemicals barreling like a rocket through industrial Pennsylvania. The movie is trying to show, that the boss of train wants to protect his money, so he doesn't want to give Will and Frank a chance to stop the train. Social factors are seen through this movie because Will and Frank are not having a good day. Frank forgot to call his daughter because it was her birthday, and his daughter won't speak to him. Will has personal issues with is family and on his first day of work, some guys were being mean to him. This movie has a mix of political, social, and economic factors that play a big role in this movie. Work cited : http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/movies/reviews/2010/unstoppable.html
2. What is the film's historic background? As a document of its time, as a part of history of film? This film is based on a real story(picture above). On May 16, 2001,  a runaway freight train that barreled through 66 miles of northwestern Ohio with no one aboard contained hazardous material. This material was toxic if you inhale, digest, or touches you. The train had nobody on it, and it was going as fast as 47 miles per hour. The train was a no- man train for two hours, but a railroad worker jumped on the train and pulled its breaks. The railroad train was going 10 miles per hour, when the guy jumped on the train. Work cited: http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/05/15/runaway.train.05/. Since this movie was made in 2010, the director wanted to make this true story sound more frightening, because in the movie, the train was going 40 miles per hour when Will jumped on the train.

III: Socio- Cultural Context
What is the film's socio- cultural context? 
as work from a specific country: This movie was released in the United States and released in Spain, but it was in English. 


as a work from a specific cultural: This movie is from an American culture because this movie relates to the run away train in Ohio, in 2001. The director Tony Scott, didn't make it boring he made the hazardous cargo  deeply concerning and this elevated the film to more than just another train film. Work cited: http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-lansing/unstoppable-not-just-another-train-film-review-1


as a work representing a specific part of its society: This movie is more of American society, because after a conflict and that conflict is resolved, the press would ask the heroes questions and it would be all over the news. In this film, we see this because when Will and Frank stop the train the press surrounds them. While they are trying to stop the train the film shows shots of the news. This movie is also American because, the white guy, Will gets injured and can't stop the train so Frank the black guy has to stop the train, but Frank had to jump on the train, and the jump was too far. So Will had to jump from a moving pick up truck and get on the train. So he stopped the train. Technically, Will was the hero because he stopped the train. Work cited: http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2010/11/guess_what_is_unstoppable_movi.html


as a work made for a specific audience: This audience is made for people who like train movies, and or like action movies.

the actual bridge in Ohio seen in the movie Unstoppable

as a work made for a specific reason: This movie was made to tell the story of the Ohio run away train in 2001. Scott wanted to retell this story, but it was more dramatic, than what actually happened. This was also made to inform people that hazardous materials are dangerous to humans. Scott showed this idea throughout the whole film by showing the company's concerns and the railroad workers. Scott wanted to show that this actual story is scary because the actual run away train in Ohio could of killed many people by the hazardous material. Scott executed this in the movie very well.

Sound Design- Short Film Treatment

Jenna Fontaine and Jenevieve Rantisi: Sound Design- Short Film Treatment

Let Me In...title still in progress

Log-line: A girl who is home alone becomes a victim of her own mind when she hears a strange voice beckoning her to “let go of the fear.”  

General Flow/Scipt:

The screen is black. We hear a furious tapping noise. Then there is a hand, white against a dark table and casting a shadow. We see a multitude of fast angles, but never the face of the person whom the hand belongs to. The tapping stops, and the camera lands on a girl’s face. We see a close up of the girl’s face, with wild eyes searching. We hear her thoughts: She left me for one night. Just one night...

We see a full shot of

Girl: the small, dark room she is in.

...And now I’m here. Now I’m here...

There is a dull office with a man at a desk sitting across from a woman. The man looks tired and is dressed in a suit. The woman looks distraught and her eyes are looking into space.

Girl: ...At least it’s quiet now.

The man is writing on a piece of paper. He looks up.

Detective: [bored tone] What were you doing while your daughter was at home?

After a moment, the detective coughs. We see the lady close up jerking her head to look at him.

Woman: I left her for one night...

We zoom in all the way into the girl’s eye. We still hear the tapping

Woman: ...Just one night.

We zoom out of a clock set at an evening time and track over to the same woman preparing to leave a house. There is a still soft tapping of the girl’s hand on a table in the background.

Woman: I know I don’t usually go out at night, but work’s been so hectic. I really need a break.

Girl: It’s alright, Mom. I understand.

Mom: Are you sure? I know how you feel about being home alone at night.

Girl: [whispers] It’s alright.

Mom: [sigh] Okay. Hey I’ll order you a pizza! Just cheese?

She puts some money on the banister.

Girl: [quietly] Thanks. [frantic whisper] Lock the door!

Mom: Will do. Love you!

The girl, fear in her eyes, nods in reply. We hear the mother’s footsteps going down a flight of stairs as we linger on the girl’s face. She walks over to the top of the stairs when it closes, listening. She hears the deadbolt click and smiles a bit.

She is sitting cross-legged on a couch with all three lights on. She is absorbed in the television, but her expression is neutral. She jumps at the sound of some people chatting next door. She shakes her head and returns to the TV. Then there is an unintelligible whisper. The girl sighs and turns up the volume on the TV. But the loudness of the whispering dominates the TV. She presses mute, and the whispering stops.

The girls face twists in confusion and she turns off the TV. She gets up and walks over to the next room, a dark portion of the house. The whispering continues.

Voice: [voice of girl, distorted] Come. Come. Let the fear go and be free. It’s easy.

The girl turns on the light, but the voice stops. She turns it off again and the voice starts again, repeating the previous lines. The girl steps out into the dark room and continues, looking for the source.

Girl: [franticly] Mom. Mom! Is that you? Stop it and come out.

Voice: Forget about Mom. You don’t need her. Just come. Come. Let the fear go. Let me in and be free. It’s easy.

The girl runs to her room, turns on the light, and locks the door behind her. The voice begins to overlap. She sits in the corner, eyes shut, hands over her ears, rocking back and forth.

Girl: [frantic whisper]: Shut up. Shut up! [she begins to cry] Shut up! Shut up! Shu...

There is a loud knock on the door. The girl jerks up, alert. The whispers stop. Then there is a single whisper.

Voice: Just do it! Stop the fear for once.

The girl, neutral-faced, stands up, goes into another bedroom, opens a drawer, takes out a gun (fake no worries!) and walks slowly to the door, hand trembling. She slowly turns the deadbolt, opens the door, points the gun at the pizza man,

Voice: Let me in and be free.

Pizza man: Hey, wha...

Bang bang. The girl smiles madly.

Girl: [distorted voice] See, it’s easy.

Zoom in to the girl’s wild eye.

Zoom out of her eye in the dark room again. The girl is still tapping furiously.

Voice: You thought I’d gone. [tapping stops] Wrong. You live your life in fear, so I’m taking it.

Girl: [desperate]: Leave me alone!

Girl: [distorted voice]: [chuckle] Never.

The girl smiles madly. Fade to black.

Sound Design plays and important role in the development of the conflict/character because the distorted voice is what leads the girl to go crazy and kill. The interior monologue is also meant to give a sense of intrigue. It is important to the setting because the girl is alone in the house and the dark room. The subtext is emphasized with the italicised words as well as the captions, especially with the frantic whispering that demonstrates the girl’s fear. We will have foley sound effects for the pen scratching, the deadbolt locking, some of the tapping, the TV, the distant chattering, and the (fake!) gun going off. The rhythmic match will be associated with the opening shots when we see the girl at different angles, but not her face. The sound bridge will be used a few times, such as when we hear the girl finishing her thought in the beginning when the girl says “At least it’s quiet now,” when the mom says “Just one night,” and the tapping noise during flashbacks/forwards. The most obvious leitmotif is the evil twin’s voice. We also associate her with the tapping of her hand because of her anxiety. When there is tapping, we know it’s the “good” girl, but otherwise we depend on the distorted voice to know for sure she’s not. Music will also be added to accompany the different personalities: evil or good. For example, sad music will fade in after we are shown the first shot, but during the very last shot there will be dark music. That will be added in the 2-column script (dialogue was just really important, so we put it in the general flow).

Textual Analysis: Part 1

Unstoppable

The movie I will be doing my oral on is the movie called Unstoppable. Unstoppable, directed by Tony Scott, starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine is about a runaway train carrying a cargo of toxic chemicals. Pits an engineer and his conductor in a race against time. They're chasing the runaway train in a separate locomotive and need to bring it under control before it derails on a curve and causes a toxic spill that will decimate a town. First I will be talking about the genre of this movie and the intended audience.




1. What tradition or genre is it in? This movie is an action, drama, and suspense movie, but mostly action and suspense. This is a action movie because througout the whole movie Frank and Will try to chase and stop a run away train. It is a suspense genre because the audience is always on their feet because they don't know if the actors will stop the train in time before it decimates a town. For example there is this one scene where we see a train with kids and the audiences is scared that the runaway train might crash into the train with the kids. The whole time, this movie was suspenseful.
   



Kids screaming on the train created suspense.


2. What are the features determining genre? The cinemetography determines the genre of action, because the shots have lots of different angles. As the train would move the cinemetography would be shaky. The cinemetography also determines that the genre is suspenseful, because there is different angles of shots that make the audience know what is coming next. This movie has a little drama in it because Will and Frank have family issues. The features that determine the genre of drama is when Frank and his daughter had a fight. Another feature that determines the genre of drama is the actor's emotions in the scene. For example, Will was telling Frank about his problem with his family. As sitting in the audience, the viewers feel like they are listening to him speak to them. It was very emotional.




lots of camera moveement


3. What other work might it be connected to? Run-away Train  is a 1985 film about two escaped convicts and a female train worker who are stuck on a runaway train as it barrels through snowy desolate Alaska. This connects to Unstoppable because there is also a run-away train. Both movies have two people that try to save the train from people. Both movies have emergency alert so people won't get hurt on the train track.
  



Frank on top of the train going between 50- 100 m/p/h


4. Who made this? Why? Tony Scott made this movie and he made it because he wanted to shoot the movie in a real setting. He did this to show that the train is the "beast". Scott wanted the movie to be in actual real setting. In the begining of the movie, the train was going 50 m/p/h and at the end of the movie the train was going 100 m/p/h. He wanted the actors to actually be on top of the train while it was moving. He trained the actors, so his movie would be realistic. He also wanted to have the story line in the movie as the actor were on the train. He said it was "dangerous". He wanted to make this movie more realistic because he wanted the viewers to always be off the edges of their seats.




Will with his family after stopping the train


5. What can we tell about its' creators? I can tell that the creators of this movie wanted a real life setting of the whole movie. Even when the actor was on top of the train, the train was moving in real life. The creators also wanted the audience to stay on the edge of their feet because the whole movie, you don't now what is going to come up next. The creators didn't also want real action, but they wanted to show the background or personalities of Frank and Will. Since the movie was about the train, the creators gave us the best way to learn about the actors. For example, before Will gets the train job, the audience sees that he has trouble with his wife and son. The same ting with Frank, he has a fight with his daughter. The creators wanted the audience to see the action of the train, and the emotions of the actors.




train footage


6. How does it fit within the director's other work? Does it share significant narrative or thematic concerns? Does it share particular visual or technical elements? In Unstoppable, Scott had good cinemetography. The actors faces were in exreme close ups, and the train footage is very in depth, because the audiences sees everything as they were watching it in person. In another movie he made called "The Hunger" had good cinemetography beecause he added his own style. Another movie that relates to this movie is Man on Fire" because it is an action movie based on a real story. He shares lots of narrative concerns because he made movies about trains, cars, and about pilots. He liked to have action movies. The most common actor he casts is Denzel Washington.
7. What is the film's theme? The theme of this movie is that life can run out of your hands when making the wrong choices. For example, Frank had a fight in the morning before the run-away train begins. The same thing with Will, he wanted to see his family but his wife didn't let him. These two characters made mistakes, and they didn't think about the rest of the day. They could of been killed trying to stop the train. That very same day, they had fights with their loved ones. This shows that the theme of the movie is to not make a msitake you will regret, because you don't know what is going to happen to you or that loved one.
8. What is the target audience? How does it adress its audience? This movie is PG-13. The target audience would be for teenagers from 14- 17 years old, to maybe 20-23 years old. This movie has lots of action and it is about trains. Lots of teenagers like to watch action movies. The targeted audience would be for people who like trains or run away trains. This movie addresses the audience by making the audience stay on the edge of their seat. This movie makes the audience suspenseful about the next shot.

Bibliography

• http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Best-Tony-Scott-Movies-Of-His-Career&id=5047962
• http://moviesbybowes.blogspot.com/2010/01/strange-and-brilliant-career-of-tony.html
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_1_QKYwMIc