Santina's Film Blog

Apocalypse Now: Opening Scene Francis Coppola’s famous film “Apocalypse Now” has a peculiar opening scene where the audience meets the main character in an innovative way; a man who had suffered the effects of the war and didn’t know where he belonged anymore. The film opens up with a still framing, showing the palm trees of Vietnam with the helicopter as a background sound that increases when it appears on camera. The non diegetic music starts playing, mixing itself with the helicopters until the big explosion where the singer starts singing. This time, the camera starts moving and shows the effects of the explosions and the remaining fire on the trees. For a moment, there is no visual clarity due to the smoke, but it soon disperses and another helicopter appears once again in camera. The main character is then shown for the first time and the audience meet Colonel Kurtz in an unusual way. He is upside down and is not centered as it would be expected. His eyes go from side to side as ...

How does the director make an impact on the audience through the character of Girl?  The short film expresses so much in spite of being simple and low budget with the use of natural lighting and using to their advantage the natural grey of England. The lack of colours and the cloudy weather makes it easier to perceive the main characters feelings indirectly without having to analyse her body language or words.  At first the girl seems to be talkative, independent and an extrovert because of the way she speaks her mind without worrying what other people may think, but as the short film goes on we understand that, in spite of being so carefree, she is hurting inside. She also demonstrates that she is passionate and a leader that people might follow even though she is thirteen years old.  From the beginning, the girl speaks directly to the camera, making an instant connection with the audience who can sympathise and/or feel identified with such a realistic character, but som...

  Writing a Twist 24 Hours. The local fuel station, open 24 hours, was deserted due to the late hours of the night. There were no clients around. It was too late for anyone to stop to get a refill and too early for our usual drivers to stop by to have their usual breakfast. Either way, there he was, half asleep behind the register at 3 a.m., waiting for his shift to end so he could go home. He was sitting in an uncomfortable position until the entrance door was opened and the small bell rang. He quickly recovered, not wanting to get another warning from his boss for sleeping at work, and was ready to assist whoever decided to pull over at the station this early. At first he thought that he might have imagined it and that there was in fact no one around as he did not see anyone, but he could have sworn he had heard the bell. “Hello?” He had asked, but received no answer. Feeling a little bit weird he glanced to the upper corner, where he saw the security camera recording in case so...

  Auteur Research: Zack Snyder Zack Snyder, apart from being a producer and a screenwriter, is the director of many recognisable films , premiered in the past fifteen years, many of which have a creative signature that indicates that it has been directed by him. Films such as “Dawn of the Dead” , “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” , “Man of Steel” , “Justice League” and “300” were produced by his wife Deborah Snyder and recorded in the studios of Warner Bros, which apparently demanded a lot of changes in his films during post-production. Snyder is considered an auteur for his directing style, the aesthetics and the use of themes of history and mythology overall. These films are mostly considered part of the action genre and Snyder uses speed-ramping in most of the fighting scenes, which gives a better visual experience to the audience when it is supported by other special effects. He also has a particular way of framing and blocking a shot with symmetrical long shots, where th...