Case Study 2

Research plan for ‘13 hours‘ (2016) case study.

Chronological:

• Genre
• Similar productions

 

Social:

• Comparison of true accounts
• Current war

 

Political:

• Governments contribution to the Benghazi attack
• Governments experience with war

 

Chronological

‘13 hours‘ is a Drama/Thriller that is based on the true story that follows a group of six former soldiers who where hired as security in Benghazi.

A Wikipedia article read “Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety.”  (Thriller (genre), 2016). This is a correct statement for the film 13 hours as you go through the film with strong connections to the characters knowing that they are playing real men in a story that actually happened. The film is split up into sections of intense action, calm bonding moments between the characters and waiting anxiously for the next conflict. This adds a sense of realism to the film and a level of emotion that wouldn’t have been the same if it was just pure action or a completely different genre to begin with.

A film that follows similar attributes of 13 hours is ‘Lone Survivor’ (2013) it’s about a group of four Navy SEALs who are greatly outnumbered by a small Taliban force and fight along side a friendly local village to defeat them. This is also a true story and the characters played in the film are real people. They both follow the same pattern where there is bonding between all the characters to establish a connection and then there intense action. There was only one survivor of ‘Operation Red wings‘ which is the mission that the film is based on, ‘Marcus Luttrell’. He worked closely with the director ‘Peter Berg’ to get as close to the real story as possible.

In conclusion, there are a lot of films that are categorized as Thrillers which follow the exact same rules. However I think the fact that both examples are telling a true story is the reason they are so similar, as the soldiers who actually experienced the event have to follow a same set of rules under military guidelines which has an effect on story telling. Due to this I believe military thrillers that are based on a true story should have there own genre.

 

Social

The film 13 hours is a true story and tries to portray exactly what happened. Erwin Stoff the producer of 13 hours said this, “Any time you are doing a real story or a true story, there is that temptation to say, ‘Well, it would be better if this would happen or that would happen.” He goes on to explain that ‘there is not a thing in this movie that is not verifiable by two or more sources.” This adds real power to what is shown on screen, knowing that every part actually occurred and the 6 men had to endure everything they’re shown going through.

The events of 13 hours took place in the year 2012 in Benghazi, Libya. The attacks were carried out by an Islamic terrorist group called Ansar al-Sharia (AAS) there motives are to drive out all US and Western influences from Libya.

Overall, this film was made with the full intention of telling the exact story of what happened that night in Libya. The makers of this film wanted it to be a educational experience as well as a enjoyable one and the even brought the real men in to achieve this.

 

Political

There is a lot of talk about how there just wasn’t enough security at the US diplomatic compound to protect themselves from the attacking Islamic group, which led to the group of 6 CIA contractors from a nearby compound called The Annex to rush to the rescue. The person getting the blame for the lack of security staff is the former US Secretary of state, ‘Hillary Clinton’. Hillary also took responsibility for the security at the compound, she stated “I’m in charge of the State Department’s 60,000-plus people all over the world, 275 posts,” (Surrey, 2016).

America’s experience with World War 2 was expensive, it cost the government around $340 billion dollars but most of the money was coming from us civilians who purchased war bonds and lending the United States government half of it.
Although the cost was extensive, it also aloud the farms to sell more produce. ‘American farms multiplied their output of wheat, corn and other foods.’ (The United States during WWII: The home front – video & lesson transcript, 2003)

A lot of the politics involved with the Benghazi attack bury the actual events of what happened that night, which was the main reason the men that were actually there wanted to help. They wanted to tell their story exactly how they experienced it without politics blurring the details.

In conclusion politics wasn’t very helpful and was one of the biggest reasons for the lack of security and overall the failure to defend the US Compound.

 

 

Bibliography

HistoryvsHollywood (2016) Lone survivor true story vs movie – real Marcus Luttrell, Mike Murphy. Available at: http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/lone-survivor.php(Accessed: 7 November 2016).

Johnson, T. (2016) How ‘13 hours’ tries to get at the truth of Benghazi. Available at: http://variety.com/2016/film/news/benghazi-13-hours-hollywood-truth-michael-bay-1201680420/ (Accessed: 8 November 2016).

NCTC (no date) National counterterrorism center. Available at: https://www.nctc.gov/site/groups/ansar_al_sharia.html (Accessed: 8 November 2016).

Surrey, M. (2016) Hillary Clinton’s role in Benghazi: What you need to know. Available at: https://www.yahoo.com/news/hillary-clinton-role-benghazi-know-195600379.html?ref=gs (Accessed: 8 November 2016).

The United States during WWII: The home front – video & lesson transcript (2003) Available at: http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-united-states-during-wwii-the-home-front.html (Accessed: 13 November 2016).

Thriller (genre) (2016) in Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre) (Accessed: 4 November 2016).  

 

Dexter target audience

The target audience of Dexter is 18 – 50 plus due to the topic of the show. There are also x rated scenes that are not advised to be watched by children. people of elderly ages would most likely not enjoy it either, but it is more aimed at people with similar interests in crime thrillers and dark comedies such as American psycho and Hannibal.

Formative Feedback: Weeks 1-4: Units 9 and Units 10

Recreating scenes using Depth of field

 

 

These are both examples of shallow depth of fields, which is where the subject closes to the camera is the thing in focus. I used an f-stop of f/5.6 and 48 mm. I could have achieved a better similarity by my subjects face in better focus to really bring it out from the background.

This is examples of shots that use a mid depth of field, which is where the background and foreground are out of focus and the subject is in focus in the middle of the shot. I used a f-stop of f/29 and a focal length of 33 mm. The background isn’t as out of focus as it should be however is still slightly out of focus for it to look similar.

These are examples of deep depth of field which is where everything is in focus. I used an f-stop of f/5.6 and a focal length of 25 mm. This could have come out better if i had more time to adjust to the exact settings.

 

We had a group of four people who all needed to get their own set of three images so we were a little pressed for time which meant the pictures above didn’t have as much time to perfect them as they should have. Although they were rushed, they looked good and there were a good amount of similarities when I put them side by side.
I was also limited to the amount of props and locations I had so there were going to be some obvious differences but overall the effect was the same.

Case Study 1

I am going to be looking into the social, political and chronological elements of the television program Dexter (2006-2013)

Research plan

Social:

• The Crime rate in Miami.
• Discrimination in the precinct.
• The danger of weapon access in the America.
• Expectations of middle class citizens.

Political:

• Economy in Miami during the time of production.
• Gang activity in Miami.

Chronological:

• American Psycho

 

Social

Crime is a big concern in Miami, It has over half the crime rate than the U.S. average for violent and property crimes. Specifically  Murders, which is a big part in Dexter (2006).

Dexter (2006) is heavily revolved around murder. This could have been the main reason the show takes place there. The fact that Dexter is based in Miami make everything seem more realistic and it makes more sense that there is so many criminals to keep the series going for eight seasons. Although Dexter’s (2006) main focus is murder, they can add a range of criminal activities into the show as the crime rate is so high and it differs from bad to worse.
According to the Daily Mail, Miami is the worst place to live due to the crime rate, income and poverty levels. This could have also been a reason for Miami being the location choice as it adds effect due to the genre of the show.

 

There were many laws that made discrimination illegal which were placed in the 1960’s, if you thought you had been a victim of discrimination you have the right to sue your employer.
In Dexter there are a range of races and sexes employed in the police force. There isn’t any discrimination as through out the series they all have equal responsibility and some even rise to executive roles with in the precinct.
This could interest people as there is a wide range of different cultures within the same environment who of which with situations differently.

 

Access to weapons in America is really easy. There are many situations when children have accidental shot family or friends with the family rifle that lives on the living room wall. You can purchase all kinds of weapons in wall-mart which is the American equivalent of ASDA.  All you need to buy a gun is to fill out a questionnaire about personal details and a background check. This could have influenced Dexter to take place in American as anyone being able to gain access to weapons and firearms will increase the crime rate, and as Dexter is heavily revolved around crime it was the best location to pick.

 

In Dexter the main character tries really hard to blend in and make himself as little of a suspect as possible. He does this by being normal, he lives with his girlfriend and has kids. He lives the stereotypical middle class life.
By being a blood splatter analyst in the Miami police force he has already set a standard of living for him and his family, he would be one of the last people you would expect to be any sort of criminal as he is on the side of the law.
The fact that Miami has such a huge crime rate and is inhabited by many different gangs also make Dexter less of a suspect as he follows all of the stereotypes.

Political

Economy in Miami isn’t great, it is in the top ten most poor countries in America. There is many slum areas in Miami and the average Miami family earns less than £30,000. This may explain the amount of crime in the city.

The average unemployment rate in Miami is higher than the average of the United States. This isn’t represented in Dexter but could be linked back to amount of crime there is as it is the last result of money income for many people.

‘Miami-Dade Has the 7th Largest Gang Population in America’ (Munzenrieder, 2016). Gang activity and specifically Hispanic gangs play a big part in Dexter as a lot of his targets are criminals from gangs. In Miami gangs are a big problem as there is ‘230 documented gangs with 1,700 members‘ (Gangs said to be terrorizing Miami-Dade, 2011). They take part in drug trafficking and turf wars in which they shoot and kill rival gangs, this is what brings them to Dexter’s attention. The amount of gang activity in Miami could have been another reason for it to be set in Miami because of the amount of opportunity for Dexter.

 

Chronological

Dexter was very much influenced by American Psycho (2000) which came out six years before Dexter and follows similar aspects of it. The main characters both live a double life and are serial killers by night however they have different morals.
Dexter was taught by his adopted father to use his urges for good by only killing criminals or wrong doers. However Patrick Bateman, main protagonist of American Psycho kills innocent ‘Many of Bateman’s murder victims are homeless people.’ (Patrick Bateman, no date)

Although the characters are very different people, Bateman is mentally insane and will kill without any hesitation or any particular target. But Dexter will spend weeks, maybe months researching and following a target to make sure they have broken the law in some way or another and to be positive there is a good reason for them to be killed. This sets the barrier between good and evil and throughout Dexter it is difficult to decide which side of the barrier he is on, as he admittedly enjoys what he is doing but goes through so much to make sure he has the right man. However for Bateman it is clear that he is pure evil, only killing for the rush and the excitement, enjoying every single moment.

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

Advameg (2016) Crime in Miami, Florida (FL): Murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, thefts, auto thefts, arson, law enforcement employees, police officers, crime map. Available at: http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Miami-Florida.html (Accessed: 12 October 2016).

Reporter, D. (2016) Welcome to Miami, the WORST city in America, study claims. Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3666775/Welcome-Miami-WORST-city-America-Study-claims-Florida-s-party-hotspot-worse-crime-income-poverty-levels-US.html (Accessed: 12 October 2016).

Baron (2016) Discrimination in the workplace | baron & Herskowitz law firm. Available at: http://www.bhfloridalaw.com/workplace-discrimination/ (Accessed: 12 October 2016).

Smith, A. (2015) This is how easy it is to buy guns in America. Available at: http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/19/news/guns-background-checks/ (Accessed: 12 October 2016).

*, N. (2015) These are the 10 most ghetto cities in Florida. Available at: https://www.roadsnacks.net/these-are-the-10-most-ghetto-cities-in-florida/ (Accessed: 17 October 2016).

American Psycho (2000) Directed by Mary Harron .

Six feet under (2001) Directed by Laffz 00 .

Patrick Bateman (no date) Available at: http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Patrick_Bateman (Accessed: 22 October 2016).

Munzenrieder, K. (2016) Miami-Dade has the 7th largest gang population in America. Available at: http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/miami-dade-has-the-7th-largest-gang-population-in-america-6558798 (Accessed: 22 October 2016).

Characteristics and Context of Broad Church

Broad church is British TV program about the murder of a little boy in a small seaside town. Broad church was in production through out the years of 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Social

There were was research done saying that was a huge lack of woman in executive roles. In Broad church there is two main characters in equal positions, a male and female. They could have done this so that it is aimed at both audiences and also to be relevant to a popular topic during the time.

Political

In 2011 there was 5 nights of ongoing riots over a death of a man who was shot by police officers. This could of been used by Broad church to show how much of an impact a murder can have on people and what type of reactions or consequence it may have.

Genre

The genre is a crime thriller, this is expected to follow a main character or pair of characters as they take on a case and try to discover the truth. Most crime thrillers only let the audience know as much as the characters know themselves so you can follow the case and find clues with them.

The music follows genre rules as well. The music during the opening starts of slow and builds up to create suspense and the feeling something is coming. There is shots of the police station and this is slightly longer than the rest of the shots as the show is revolved around the police and a murder case. It then hits the audience with the powerful shot of the child standing on the cliff side. Then everything proceeds to be normal with a few hints to the previous opening. That whole opening has set up the genre perfectly and tells the audience exactly what to expect.

Target Audience

There isn’t a age targeted audience apart from children as it involves upsetting content, but it is more aimed at people with similar interest for crime thrillers. It is aimed for people who live in a small town who could relate to knowing nearly everyone and having such a tight community. It is aimed for both genders as there is a male and a female main character and the story isn’t focused on one in particular there is also all the followers of David Tennant.

Characters

David Tennent’s character Detective Inspector Alec Hardy comes of as scruffy however seems professional. When we first meet him he is asked a question about the case he is working on and he shrugs, this could mean he has no motive and doesn’t really care.