Super 8 Multi-platform Investigation

Print Media:

 Magazine Review

Movie posters and Cinema billboards

 The Gaurdian Newspaper Review








E-Media: 

Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCRQQCKS7go

Official movie website: http://www.super8-movie.com/#/video

Paramount Pictures: http://www.paramount.com/


Broadcast:

TV Spot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1CzuaFQ87M

Teaser trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_HMtIpmI6A

Cast Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-1DqrgGZiM

                 Lighting:

Still image 

 The still image I have chosen is from the movie Wrong Turn and shows one of the cannibals. In this image low-key lighting is used to create a dark tone as it is a horror movie as well as a chiaroscuro effect. Also to create a dramaic effect, under lighting and side lighting is used as half of the face is hidden in shadow but the other half is shown clearly so the features of the cannibal are seen allowing us to experience a shock and a sense of mystery as if they revealed all it wouldn't have much of an effect on the audience that a horror movie should have.

Film Extract

http://www.youtube.com/movieclipsFILMNM?src_vid=F2hiFbuQ-Qw&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_000015#p/c/C9A2296DCB094500

In this extract from 8 Mile, there's a lot of back lighting making the character hidden and mysterious as well as  underlighting with a low angle shot making Eminem the dominant charcter and top lighting which focus on the expressions of the character(s) with eye-level shot used to shows the charcters as we would see them real life matching with the expressions. Also the light from the fire which is orange/red shows a warm effect which could connote tension and anger as seen through their action of burning down the house.    

Super 8 Review

SUPER 8:

Director: J.J.Abrams

Producer: Steven Spielsberg

Genre: Sci-fi Thriller

Rating: 12A

Cast:

Joe Lamb - Joel Courtney

Deputy Jackson Lamb - Kyle Chandler

Alice Dainard - Elle Fanning

Charles Kaznyk - Riley Grifitths

Louis Dainard - Ron Eldard

Preston - Zach Mills

Cary - Ryan Lee

Martin - Gabriel Basso

Super 8 was directed by J.J.Abrams who has also directed other movies such as Mission Impossible III and Star Trek. The movie is also a homage to Spielberg films and we see this through the use of chiuldren and extra-terrestrial effects.

The main actors of this movie, listed above, are mostly young children to come across to the target audience, however they are not well recognised as they have only stared mainly in US shows that are not aired in the uk. The main character is a boy named Joe Lamb who is suffering from the loss of his mother.  

It is a movie in which a group of teenage friends come together trying make a movie in which movie obsessed Charles Kazynk wants to enter into a competition. Whilst filming scenes they witness a devastating train crash caused when a car being driven on the train tracks meets the train head-on resulting in a number of odd events. Some of these events include the US Airforce retrieving weird looking cubes which we later find out are the key to setting free a monster that had been trapped on Earth. These events helped Joe into building a better relationship with his father as well as getting close to Alice who he had a crush on.  The quality of the acting I believed could have a little been better as at times it didnt seem convincing. 

The genre of this movie is hybrid of sci-fi and thriller. This is because of the suspense that is created through low key lightings etc. It does fit my expectations for this type of film because you never know what to expect next as they dont tell the story all in one go so you have to watch it to the end in order to know everything. Oblique angles were used to show the strangeness of the genre i.e. when the camera was still recording on the platform after the crash.

I did not notice a soundtrack, maybe due to eagerly concentrating on the movie that I blocked out all other senses because of the gripping story. To me the movie created its own atmosphere and that was enough. 

The target audience would be children and young teenagers who enjoy those particular genre's or genrally story lines of tense atmosphere. This is because it wouldn't intreset others, whereas the effects could scare young children at the same time because it could be too gruesome for them. Overall i give Super 8; 7/10.