Mis-en-scene homework

"The Fighter" - 2010

IMDb Synopsis - In Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1993 former boxer Dicky Eklund, who once fought Sugar Ray Leonard, believes the TV crew are filming his come-back. In fact it is a documentary on 40 year old Eklund's descent into drug addiction. Younger half-brother Micky Ward is now the family's great white hope for a boxing world title but Dicky and mother Alice seem to think they have a stake in Micky. His girlfriend and father believe he should ditch them for a professional trainer and manager but when the crucial fights start to come Micky's way it's Dicky's advice that helps get him to the top, uniting all of them as Micky becomes world champion. This film is similar to our final film as it is a "Sport Drama" and includes elements and conventions of that genre as does our film, such as training scene montages. Setting

One of the most important and crucial settings would be the main character, Mickey Ward's hometown of Lowell, Massachusettes. This is the generic "small town suburb" that would make the film relatable to many other people who live in towns like these. Films usually set their stories in places that are iconic that everyone knows such as big cities, or small towns.

The boxing ring where his fights take place is another important setting as without this, the film would fall apart. "The Fighter" revolves around the struggle that Micky Ward has in the ring, and therefore this is an important setting in depicting his struggle. Costume

Clothing is important in distinguishing the sport aspect of this film as the typical boxing wear is shown in the picture above. The characters generally wear simple clothing throughout the film, refelcting regional identity or social class maybe, as they may not be well off financially due to the place where they live and the social class they are. Actors

Mark Wahlberg plays the protagonist, Micky Ward, and this is a typical role that he is likely to take because he is normally involved in movies where he fights with people, so the role of a boxer is suited for his acting skills. They have chosen him for this role as it may draw in the same type of audience he is usally associated with, and he also looks the part; stereotypical white American male.

Amy Adams plays Micky's girlfriend and barmaid, Charlene Fleming, and at the time she was a fairly unknown actress who took on diverse roles each time, whether it was a princess in "Enchanted" or a pilot in "Night at the Museum 2". This is suited to her however, as she plays and looks the part.

Christian Bale plays Micky's half-brother and former boxing champion turned crack addict, Dicky Eklund. This is a typical Bale role as he always plays someone with a problem or something completely different to what he actually is in real life. Lighting

The only source of light in this scene is from the row of lights facing towards the boxing ring; meaning that the boxing ring is the focal point of attention as the audience is shrouded in darkness and you can just hear them rather than see them.

The picture above is minimal lighting, used to reflect the characters emotions as he is bent down with his hands on his head, quite obviously disressed and upset. The only light in the scene is casting a shadow on him, making him a sillhoutte, which could connotate that maybe we cannot see or understand what he is feeling in that moment of the film. Body Language/Facial Expressions

Editing Process

This is a screen shot of the rough edit of our film, we still have to collect more shots which will be achieved this week. The rough edit has enabled my group to recognise what footage needs to be improved upon, how the clips we have edits together and also helped us come up with new ideas that will make our film better. It is now important to decide upon the music that will be the soundtrack of our film as this will shape how the film is edited together.

Production Company Logo and Name Influences

There are many iconic and memorable production company logos that our film may choose to take influence from, such as the ones featured in the youtube video above. The simplicity is eye catching and audiences can easily remember the image as there is no complicated detail to it.

Voiceover Script For 'Dave Starr' Intro.

Script: My name is David Starr. I live in south east London in a small house owned by my parents. I’m 18 years old, and tomorrow is the most important day in my life in terms of my boxing career. This fight could make or break me, i'm facing the toughest guy in London and I know my family are depending on me to win this match or we face financial ruin. Life is rough right now but boxing and my family are going to pull me through this. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This might need to be adjusted depending on how long it is in actual speaking time as it needs to match the length of the clips.

Self Assessment

Planning and Research is up to date, I keep posting my storyboard as we update it and any new ideas sparked by research(like the voice over), is also noted down. I have looked at several similar products, hoping for inspiration from them. A target audience has been established (Males over 25), however many other people, especially the youth can relate to this film as the main characters(opening scene) are both in their teens. This point is highlighted with the results that out questionnaire gave us (16-19 year old, male audience). I have organised the costumes which will be used. Dave, will be wearing shorts/jogging bottoms and a white t-shirt. Oscar on the other hand, will wear a 'gangbanger' outfit as he has to look intimidating in the eyes of the audiance. Our female character will wear something casual, this charcater's costume is rather irrelevant, it just can't stand oiut too much. I put a great deal of effort in order to keep my work neat, it is intrinsically rewarding when taking a look back at your work and seeing how organised it is. Time management is one of the things which me and my group might be a bit behind on. Because of the time of year and the area that we live in, it is rare that all of us are available to record at the same time. Overall, I believe that I am currently working at a high level 2/low 3. I believe so due to the fact that my work could, and will be improved, so right now it doesn't quiet cut level 4 or even a high 3. However I also believe that it is above satisfactory and doesn't deserve to be graded as Level 1 or a low 2.

Prop Ideas

Today at Media intervention an interesting idea had been brought up. If we could get our hands on some sugar glass, it would make for a fantastic prop for the climatic scene in our film. Instead of our protagonist being stabbed, he could be hit in the head by a sugarglass bottle which then puts him into a 20 year long coma.

Voiceover idea

Today in lesson we came up with the idea to include a voiceover in the opening scene. It would add a sense of personalism to our film because it gives the audiance an insight into the character's life. Our inspiratnion came from the film 'American Psycho', where the voiceover describes the daily routine of the main character.