Mediterranea and Rust and Bone Comparison

Mediterranea is a 2015 Drama film written and directed by Jonas Carpignano. It follows two men and their dangerous journey travelling from Africa to Italy for a better life. It focuses on the hostility they go through as refugees travelling from country to country and the life and death situations they are faced with.  

Rust and Bone is a 2012 French Drama and Romance film written and directed by Jacques Audiard. Alain leaves Belgium for Antibes to live with his sister and her husband after he is put in charge of his young, helpless son. Alain soon bond’s with killer whale trainer Stephanie, but their bond strengthens after Stephanie suffers from a tragic accident.

In both the films the protagonists share a similar goal. To make their families happy. In Mediterranea Ayiva wants to please his daughter and give her the things she needs and wants. All he strives to do by travelling to Italy is to earn. Alain has the same goal. Although this goal is not obvious during the start of the film by the end this goal is obvious and Alain shows his true feelings towards his son, which is that he ends up healthy and happy.

One theme that is shown in both is escapism. In Mediterranea the film focuses predominantly on escapism as the protagonists Ayiva and Abas are ‘escaping’ Africa in search of a better life for their families. By working in Europe they not only want to escape the harsh reality of poor living in Africa but they also want their families to escape the struggles of living in Africa by sending gifts and money back from Europe in order to give their families the lives they deserve. In Rust and Bone both protagonists are also attempting to escape something in their lives. Alain tries to escape his feelings by competing in bare knuckle fights but he also tries to escape his son. Alain isn’t portrayed as the most caring father and is constantly trying to find excuses to get away from his son, but we eventually see his fatherly nature shine through when he must save his son. The other protagonist Stephanie on the other hand is trying to escape something very different. After a traumatic event, Stephanie loses her legs from below the knees. She tries to escape the feeling of worthlessness. Stephanie wants to continue her life as normal but at times is shown to start to give up.  She also escapes judgement of seeing someone disabled, she does this by being brave and doing things such as being carried into the sea to swim.

Our themes for A2 film are power, poverty and conflict all of which are used in the films which makes them both useful and potential case studies. Mediterranea has a strong theme of power. The power is shown through race. The black people who have come to Italy are the minority and the white people are the majority. In one dramatic and traumatising scene Abas gets beaten up, nearly killed by a group of white men. They have ultimate power in this scene, to be able to determine whether someone lives and dies is an example of too much power being given to someone.

Poverty is also used in this film and is evident from the very start, to have to move countries in order to give something to your family is an obvious sign of high poverty. This is still going on in the world today, people move countries in search of a better life due to the poverty and desperation that is evolving. Poverty is also used in Rust and Bone, which we can see from just looking at their living arrangement. Alain and his son now live in a small house with Alain’s sister and her husband and outside in their back garden is where they keep their animals is tiny penned cages in horrible conditions. Also Alain takes part in bare knuckle fighting to make money which can be devastating for his health.

Overall both films were evident of our main themes and included other themes also. I enjoyed them both as they both told very different stories but followed their struggles to show how life is very difficult for people. They also represent different mediums. For example Rust and Bone represents disability and Mediterranea represents race. 

Presentation

Some parts of the writing have been cut off or covered up as slideshare has condensed the presentation. Also the music and the videos are not playing on slideshare so I will be presenting this on the original Powerpoint presentation.

Presentation Script

Audio: On Screen – Slide 1: Theme music from Dracula 1931 (Item 1) - 27 seconds

Speaker: Good morning everyone, today I’ll be discussing:

On Screen - Slide 1: Has the vampire sub-genre evolved genres from Horror to Romance?

On Screen - Slide 2: This presentation will focus on:

·         How vampires have been romanticised

·         The evolution of the vampire genre

·         Comparing the image of the vampire

On Screen – Slide 3 – Item 12 *Bullet points with descriptions of vampires in 1734 and present day*

Speaker: In the past two-hundred years, vampires have transformed from your worst nightmare into the charming hero of our dreams. “Flashback to 1734, Oxford English Dictionary’s first record of the word vampire: they were generally and, depending on geographical location, inconsistently thought to be red-faced, fat on blood, furry of foot, and may or may not have possessed more than one nostril.” Moving forward to the present day: they’re cold, pale skin, perfectly defined faces and delicate fangs. (Item 12)

Speaker: There has been a range of Vampire films for years many following the classic Vampire impression and others creating a sense of a whole new genre. One of the first and most well-known vampire films was the original Dracula directed by Tod Browning. (Item 1)

On Screen - Slide 4 - Item 8 *Dracula (1931) poster appears*

Speaker: Dracula is a 1931 film based off Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel. Stoker's ideas of vampires generated a future for vampire movies – female vampires who are portrayed as predators sucking the blood of their male victims, a charismatic and sinister Count whose only interest is the blood of his victims, and Van Helsing the vampire hunter with Wolfs bane and a crucifix to ward off the "Prince of Darkness" and with a wooden stake to drive through Dracula's heart. (Item 15)

On Screen – Slide 5 *Play Dracula (1931) trailer* (1 Minute 48 Seconds)

Speaker: This film was classed as part of the Horror genre. The characters were afraid to be out after sundown especially on ‘the night of evil’. Although the film was predominantly horror it did incorporate some Romantic elements. However the type of Romance was different, Dracula hypnotizes his victims in order to seduce them so he can feed from their blood. (Item 1)

On Screen - Slide 6 *Picture of the 1931 Dracula on screen*

On Screen – Slide 6 *Quote from 1931 Dracula script*

Speaker: Dracula was also portrayed very differently with his pale face, long black cloak, protruding thangs and a desire to feast on human blood. (Item 5) A Quote from Dracula 1931 script “They take the form of Wolves and bats. They leave their coffins at night and they feed off the blood of the living.” As the vampire films progressed the classic vampire started to change in looks and in their desires.

On Screen - Slide 7 – Item 9 *The Lost Boys Poster*

On Screen – Slide 8 - *Quote from The Lost Boys script and picture from a scene*

Speaker: The Lost Boys is a 1987 film directed by Joel Schumacher. (Item 2) This film is still incorporated very much in the Horror genre but certainly features more Romance than Dracula. The portrayal of vampires defiantly looks more so part of the horror genre. In The Lost Boys script the vampires were described as “Cool kids in distinctive dress. Compelling; not threatening.” before they change. The vampires after they change look a lot more threatening with sharp fangs and glowing yellow eyes and the attacks on humans being a lot more frequent.

On Screen – Slide 9 *Quote from The Lost Boys*

On Screen – Slide 9 *Play The Lost Boys trailer* (1 Minute 22 Seconds)

Speaker: The dusty cloaks and coffins were replaced with studded leather jackets, gelled hair and motorcycles. They live in a communal crypt, but that crypt is decorated with a massive portrait of Jim Morrison. These boys may be vampires, but they're also rock stars who live by the mantra: "Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It's fun to be a vampire." (Item 14)

On Screen – Slide 10 – Item 6 *Quote from The Lost Boys actor*

Speaker: Edward Herrmann who plays the town’s video store owner and head vampire, Max in the Lost Boys said “Joel (Schumacher) was very hip. He portrayed the Lost Boys as a combination of James Dean and Jack the Ripper. There’s both a romantic and a rebellious side to them.” (Item 6) Although Romance is not a specific genre used in this film the elements are again used with a part of the main narrative being spurred by a romantic goal.

On Screen – Slide 11 - *Picture of Twilight scene*

Speaker: Twilight (2008) directed by Catherine Hardwicke was originally a book written by Stephanie Meyer. (Item 3) Twilight could be considered a turning point for vampire films with the Horror genre being practically invisible throughout the duration of the film. Where the other two films focus on the characters being scary and threatening Twilight focuses on the characters being Mysterious but romantic. The family of vampires in the film are a ‘new breed’ of vampires. They are seen as the ‘good vampires’. They overcome their thirst for human flesh by instead feasting on animal blood.

On Screen – Slide 12 – Item 7 *Play Forest Scene from Twilight* (57 Seconds)

On Screen – Slide 13 - *Quote from Twilight script*

Speaker: In the script of Twilight the vampires are described in a way that romanticizes them. The main family the Cullen’s are described as “Two guys, two girls, all chalky pale, purplish shadows under their eyes… and all devastatingly beautiful.”

On Screen – Slide 14 - *Quote from Twilight Script*

Speaker: Edward is then described as he walks into the scene “Edward, 17, lanky, with untidy bronze coloured hair. He seems inwardly turned, mysterious. More boyish then the others. But the most striking of all.” These quotes both describe the vampires to be beautiful with an innocent persona.

Speaker: “Horror films have never been particularly complicated. Their aim is simple: to provoke a physical response from the audience. To make them scream, shriek, shudder, wince, or even cry with terror. There's a visceral quality at the centre of horror, an instinctive emotional response that remains an ode to our dark hearts.” (Item 10)

On Screen – Slide 15 – Item 11 *Stephen King quote on slide*

Speaker: Stephen King is a well-known author of many genres, Horror and supernatural fiction being just two of them. When talking to The Guardian Stephen King says:

Speaker: "Here's what vampires shouldn't be: pallid detectives who drink Bloody Marys and work only at night; lovelorn southern gentlemen; anorexic teenage girls; boy-toys with big dewy eyes, what should they be? Killers, honey. Stone killers who never get enough of that tasty Type-A. Bad boys and girls. Hunters… Those vamps got hijacked by a lot of soft-focus romance." (Item 11)

Speaker: And unlike many other vampire films, the "victim" in Twilight; human teen Bella is not scared of Edward’s icy touch and his family of beautiful vampires. In fact, she wants to be a vampire. “The chase is reversed: the human pursues the vampire, and the vampire resists.” (Item 5)

On Screen – Slide 16 - *Conclusion*

Speaker: Although the protagonists in Twilight are vampires it is not a horror story. Instead of focusing on their negative characteristics they concentrate on their love story and the protection of the mortals and so are not represented as classic horror monsters. (Item 13) However The Lost Boys depicts both the horror and romance genre. It updates the image of the vampire to appeal to a modern day audience whilst still incorporating Horror elements.

Speaker: Though Stoker’s Dracula will be remembered as the immortal that started the vampire craze, the image has drastically changed based on what society demands. The image has become a kinder, gentler creature because people in general are fascinated with the idea of dazzling beauty, eternal youth and immortality. This image, however appealing, will eventually change again because society’s wants will always change. (Item 4)

All 4 short films: A Moment Of Horror

On All 4 for Halloween they featured 6 short films that all followed the Horror Genre. I decided to watch these for inspiration and ideas for my short film, they would be especially helpful because I am planning to make a Thriller or a Horror for my coursework this year. 

The films featured were:

 Night Feed by Christian James

A young mum is woken in the middle of the night by her hungry, crying baby. In the dark and half conscious, she autopilots her way through the nightly routine... but tonight, something else is waiting.

Bath Time by Rose Glass
Every night before she goes to bed, Evy listens to a self-help tape that aims to tackle her crippling anxiety disorder. But while having a bath, her anxieties take on a horribly physical form…

The Doorkeeper by Weronika Tofilska
A janitor walks through a long, dark corridor at night, closing a number of doors on his way. But the job is not as easy as it seems, since someone - or something - is intent on keeping them open.

Behind You by Lee Lennox
A little girl’s favourite bed-time read is a creepy 19th century spectral illusions book, which hides a nasty surprise for the girl’s babysitter.

What the Dog Saw by Andrew Brand
All Linda wants to do is sleep but her dog Max won't stop barking. If only she knew what the dog saw…

Killing Time by Michelle Fox                                                                                     A rebellious intern wastes time at work on her mobile phone and discovers a vengeful boss is a force to be reckoned with.

I really enjoyed watching all of these films but I particularly enjoyed Behind you by Lee Lennox because the whole film from start to finish was incredibly tense and frightening when it needed to be. Of all the short films I've seen from the film festival to others I've seen online this was most defiantly my favourite. But all the films that were shown were intriguing to watch with completely different narratives. I liked how some of the narratives were implicitly shown such as Bath Time by Rose Glass and The Doorkeeper by Weronika Tofilska. In some of the films the shots used proved useful and I have thought about using them in my film.

Weekly Film 5 (Jurassic World)

Jurassic World is a 2015 Action - adventure sci-fi film.  It is the fourth installment of the Jurassic Park series. It was directed and co-written by Colin Trevorrow, produced by Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley, and stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. The production companies were Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, also responsible for the rest of the franchise, and Thomas Tull's Legendary Pictures. The film had a budget of £97m and made £1b in the box office. 

22 years after the original Jurassic Park failed, the new park (also known as Jurassic World) is open for business. After years of studying genetics the scientists on the park genetically engineer a new breed of dinosaur. When everything goes horribly wrong, will our heroes make it off the island?

The film has themes of rampage, camouflage, science, paranoia and bravery. All of which feature in the previous films. There are many different links to the past films that many people including myself recognized. They used these elements deliberately so they could make more money because anyone who's seen the other films is likely to see it. I enjoyed the film I thought the came up with some interesting things to include that are different from the old films such as a genetic hybrid dinosaur. However I did not feel as tense and I had in scenes with past movies and i wasn't as interested in the characters, more character development as they had in the previous films would have been good. This really shows how they were focusing so much more of the special effects. 

Weekly Film 4 (Dawn Of The Dead)

Dawn Of The Dead is a 2004 film in the Action, Horror and Sci-fi genre. It was directed by Zack Synder and was written by James Gunn. It's cast includes Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Webber, Mekhi Phifer, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly and Lindy Booth. It features the themes of survival, masculinity, brutality, gore and cannabalism all of which by just reading the title you can tell with be featured a lot throughout the whole film. 

Ana, a young nurse finishes her day-shift at the hospital to return home to her beloved husband. The next day, after her husband is killed by her neighbour next door, he suddenly comes back to life. She discovers the chaos happening in her neighbourhood and escapes from her home. Soon after coming to her senses , she encounters a cop and other survivors, they decide to find safety in a mall. Soon more survivors come, and they learn that if they want to stay alive, they should stick together as the world is overrun by an army of undead. Can they survive the horror in this horrific global chaos? When there is no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth.'

The film was a remake of the original 1978 version. The 2004 version had a budget of £17.1m and made £67.5m in the box office. I thoroughly enjoyed this film because it was based around the supernatural and I feel the narrative was very good. The characters are trapped in a shopping mall which I think was a very creative idea because it gives the characters less choices and chances to escape which is useful to build the characters. 

Weekly Film 3 (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)

The Hobbit is a film series consisting of three high fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson. They are based on the 1937 novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. The films feature an ensemble cast that also includes James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace and Luke Evans, with several actors reprising their roles from The Lord of the Rings, including Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis. The Hobbit had a budget of £129m and made £649m in the box office. 

Bilbo Baggins is swept into a quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever ... Gollum.

I enjoyed this film because it was so mystical, I enjoy Fantasy films on a whole and I find them rather intriguing and I love to be able to enter this unbelievable world but I honestly never though I'd enjoy The Hobbit. I knew that The Hobbit was linked to Lord Of The Rings and because the Lord of The Rings never particularly appealed to me I didn't think the Hobbit would either. However after enjoying this film very much i will be sure to watch the rest of the trilogy and perhaps even watch Lord Of The Rings. 

Weekly film 2 (Apocalypto)

Apocalypto is a 2006 American Adventure film directed and produced by Mel Gibson. The film features a cast of Maya and Native American actors consisting of Rudy Youngblood, Raoul Trujillo, Mayra Sérbulo, Dalia Hernández, Ian Uriel, Gerardo Taracena, Rodolfo Palacios, Bernardo Ruiz Juarez, Ammel Rodrigo Mendoza, Ricardo Diaz Mendoza, and Israel Contreras. The entire dialogue is in Yucatec Maya language in order to give a sense of authenticity. 

In the Maya civilization, a peaceful tribe is brutally attacked by warriors seeking slaves and human beings for sacrifice for their gods. Jaguar Paw hides his pregnant wife and his son in a deep hole nearby their tribe and is captured while fighting with his people. An eclipse spares his life from the sacrifice and later he has to fight to survive and save his beloved family.

The film features many different themes such as combat, hunting, mass murder, warfare. These themes are shown throughout the film often shown from different points of view with different characters triggering the themes. The budget for this film was £25.8m and it made £78m in the box office. This film was a very long film and at first does not seem like much is going to happen but it soon gets exciting and rather intriguing, I was constantly tensely waiting to see how the protagonist was going to escape. I would recommend this film.

Weekly Film 1 (A Perfect Getaway)

A Perfect Getaway is a 2009 film written and directed by David Twohy. It was produced by Robbie Brenner, Mark Canton, Ryan Kavanaugh and Tucker Tooley with production company Rogue. The film features a range of well known actors: Milla Jovovich, Steve Zahn, Timothy Olyphant, Kiele Sanchez, Marley Shelton and Chris Hemsworth. This film is in the Adventure, Mystery and Thriller genre due to a range of themes that are included that link to one or all of the genres.

These themes include death, manipulation, deceit, power, and control. Some of these themes are unknown to the viewer until the end when the plot twist is revealed. Deceit and Manipulation are very important themes in this film because when the true story is revealed we realise this is what the majority of the protagonists' relationship is built on. The film had a budget of £9.2m and made £15.1m in the box office.

A Perfect Getaway is about newlyweds, Cliff and Cydney who head to Hawaii for their honeymoon. Along the way they encounter two different couples Kale and Cleo two disgruntled hitch hikers and Nick and Gina two wild but well-meaning people who help guide them.
Cliff and Cydney soon learn of a grisly murder that occurred nearby and realize that they're being followed by chance acquaintances that suspiciously fit the description of the killers.

Annotated Catologue

Has the Vampire sub-genre changed genres from Horror to Romance?

[1] Dracula (1931)

This was the first vampire film made based off of Bram Stoker’s novel. This will show me how the very first vampires were portrayed, such as what they looked like, how they acted and it will let me compare how their primary goals have changed throughout the years. I can also look at the genre change was it part of the horror genre?

[2] The Lost Boys (1987)

This film is between the dates of the other two chosen films so it’ll be interesting to see which genre this film leads more towards. It’ll help me understand if it’s only in the recent 21^st century that the vampire sub-genre has become a romance or if the romance side has been building up.

[3] Twilight (2008)

My main aim when looking at this film is not only to look at how they are portrayed but also to look at how the genre of the film has changed. How far has this film come away from the horror genre and joined the romance genre? I will compare this directly to the other chosen films so I can see the difference in the films clearly.

 [4] http://www.teenink.com/reviews/all/article/173946/Dracula-vs-The-Modern-Vampire/

This link uses quotes when talking about two vampire books and films ‘Dracula’ and ‘Twilight’ which is useful because the quotes feature things such as the descriptions of the vampires to show us directly how they have changed from the past to modern day. It compares the different characters from the films and how they are portrayed to the audience.

[5] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7766915.stm

This link also compares the way vampires are shown between the two films Twilight and Dracula being the most well-known vampire movies from the past and modern day. They speak of the personality of a typical vampire used to be and what it is now and how the movies have been romanticized drastically. It also mentions how people of the modern day have changed to fit the vampire look.

[6] http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/11/18/vampire.movie.history/index.html?eref=ew

This page features useful information on different vampire movies when they were made and what’s included in the content of the movie to highlight how some follow the horror genre and some follow with the romance genre. It lets us know how the vampire/supernatural sub genre is changing and why it may go back to what it was like before rather than constantly romanticizing it.

 

[7] http://www.ukessays.com/essays/media/portrayal-of-vampires-in-contemporary-media-media-essay.php

This page features many different case studies based on vampires from both films and television shows and how each case study features the vampires. They mention the ‘classical concept of vampires’ how they were first portrayed and ‘the modern representation’ of vampires and how they’ve changed throughout the years. They have written about the history of vampires; where vampires were first brought to the public.

[8] http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/11/why-do-vampires-attract-so-many-readers.html

This page tells me something very different to the rest. It informs me of the attraction viewers have towards vampires. This is useful because it tells me what it is about vampires that people are attracted too so from this perhaps I can make a conclusion of if the change of genre from horror to romance really alters the viewings of vampire movies.

[9] http://www.dartmouth.edu/~elektra/thesis.html

This page is very useful when looking at vampires in any way as it gives you a lot of information on the many sides of vampires. It writes about how the vampire genre fits in to American culture and how the genre has changed to fit audiences. It also mentions the historical connection with this genre.

 

[10] http://www.umich.edu/~vampires/vampireinpopculture.swf

This page is very good to inform about the history and how the myth of vampires started even before they were named as vampires. It speaks about Tv, film, art and books to show how vampires are all portrayed in these different forms of media. It also includes small clips to show the viewer the point that they earlier explained.

[11] http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2010/sep/30/stephen-king-vampires-scary

Stephen King talks about what vampire should and shouldn’t be like. It’ll be useful to just use his quotes because they’re quotes from someone who obviously knows a lot about the horror genre. I can see what King thinks of other vampire books e.g. Twilight – Stephanie Meyer compared to what he thinks of what he’s written and how his is the true vampire genre.

[12] http://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/zyp72hv

Although not all about vampires, the timeline helps me to understand when and why the genre started to change, including the authors who started the vampire genre and those who began to change it allowing others to follow in their footsteps. Also additional links on this page lead me to other web sites and videos allowing me to learn more about a particular subject.

[13] https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=IFHoicjI2d8C&pg=PA261&lpg=PA261&dq=has+the+vampire+genre+changed+from+horror+to+romance&source=bl&ots=cif-zsWqix&sig=5Udza-hJYQ88D43bqtYAh6XfKJk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBTgKahUKEwinuqO94u_IAhUBVhQKHckBCvw#v=onepage&q=has%20the%20vampire%20genre%20changed%20from%20horror%20to%20romance&f=false

This link will be very useful for my presentation script, this is from a book and talks about a variety of different things when it comes to vampires. A lot of it surrounds Twilight which is good because Twilight is one of my chosen films. It talks of the success of Twilight and the changes they made also the traditional vampires are mentioned. It discusses themes used and ‘vampirism’.

[14] http://fantasy-faction.com/2011/vampires-origins-evolution-and-role-in-fantasy-fiction

This page directly discusses the origins and evolution of vampire films and the appeal of both the male and female vampire. It discusses the response of the traditional vampire when it was first created which further helps me understand why the genre may be leaning towards Romance. This features a lot of case studies and explains how they’re all different.

[15] http://www.filmsite.org/horrorfilms.html

The description of the Horror genre is written in here with themes. It goes on to write about the earliest of horror films which include the supernatural/vampires which fell into the horror category. It like many other mentions Stoker’s classic Dracula and features many other films and then writes about the ‘revisionist’ vampire films.

Rejected

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=562VyVnHVG4

The people in the video explain their opinion on the vampire genre and whether they preferred it as horror or romance. I rejected this video after watching it because it is all their opinions and the people are unknown so it would be pointless to feature their thoughts in my presentation script.

[2] https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110113014716AAQcESt

Although a lengthy interesting response, the source is unreliable because it is from yahoo answers so it is an unknown person writing it and also it is solely their opinion which doesn't help me out because I can’t quote an unknown source.

[3] http://www.vampires.com/when-were-vampires-ever-scary/

This writes about something different to the rest but doesn’t fully link into my question because it does technically talk about the horror genre implicitly but doesn’t mention the change in genres instead simply asks if vampire movies were ever scary I does however challenge the typical things people say about the new vampire films.