Blog Assignment 5- option 1

Since the 1970s a new genre of films has come about. This genre is one largest genre of the time, and is what most films tailor to today. That is the blockbuster. The blockbuster is essentially a film that relies on heavy marketing, usually with the pushing of well-known stars in the cast. There are good and bad blockbuster films but the usually hold many things in common. Among these being the All-star cast. Though film plots can be good and bad.  One example of this is The Expendables vs. Ocean's Eleven. The Expendables boasts an all star cast of , Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, David Zayas, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. All well known action stars. Ocean's Eleven had an all star cast comprised of George Clooney, Bernie Mac, Brad Pitt, Elliott Gould, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Shaobo Qin, Carl Reiner, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, and Julia Roberts. For the most part well recognized film icons. Both have an all star cast, and both were heavily advertised. The differences in them however are huge. The Expendables might as well be one giant explosion with hardly any plot. Ocean's Eleven has a quite a bit more depth, they collect the group, plan the heist, carry out the heist, and don't reveal all the details of it to you until the very end of the movie. These films also usually include action, but not always. Many of them revolve around groups of stars commonly associated with each other such as the "brat pack" that starred in a number of John Hughes films. The Brat pack consisted of Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Anthony Micheal Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy, among others.This blockbuster idea, as well as the large implementation of all-star casts is also becoming more common in foreign films. Each country has their highly recognized actors, and this makes the use of these actors very common. Simon Pegg is one such example. Having a career as a TV actor, he eventually broke in to large movies with his role in Shaun of the Dead. Since then he has been featured in both UK and US films involving all star casts. Stephen Chow is also an example of a participant in blockbuster movies. With titles such as Kung fu Hustle, and Shaolin Soccer, he has become known worldwide. This is also becoming common in Bollywood, with such films as Slum Dog Millionaire. Some of these films while not action packed, have received large acclaim. These films have developed into a very large market. The films are commonly marketed by iconic actors, and claim to be able to "blow your mind" with effects, and or story. Such films as Batman Begins, and its sequel, as well as Transformers, are all part of this developed blockbuster genre. This has been a good and a bad thing for Hollywood. the search for money has led to a large amount films that lack plot, on the other hand many of these bad movies have earned many people alot of money. This has led to a large influx of good films as well. By promoting big name actors, who are, for the most part, talented.,you get good movies. Though much of that is subject to preferred film styles/genres. There is no denying that the blockbuster genre has altered the face of films. It has led to good and bad films, though regardless it is spanning the world film industry.

Blog Assignment 4 Option 3 - Star Wars

What is one of the single most recognized films of our time. If you said Star Wars, you would be right. The first Star Wars was released in 1977. It starred Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, James Earl Jones, Alec Guiness, Peter Cushing, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, and David Prowse. This film falls into the "New Hollywood" film style. In fact, this film could only have been done during this "New" age. This film, under the direction of George Lucas used some of the biggest special effects available. The technical specs of the filming materials is here. Special effects were a big focus in the film.

"Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) spent most of the production period in chaos, attempting to create special effects that had never been created before. They blew half their budget on four shots which George Lucas rejected. Ultimately, around $5,000,000 of the $8,000,000 budget was spent by ILM."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076759/trivia?tr0742646

Not only were special effects important to Lucas, but sound was as well.  In the third film: Return of the Jedi,  THX sound was used, which was developed by Tomlinson Holman, at Lucasfilms. This sound went on to revolutionize audio in many films and theaters.

Star Wars is classified as a space opera, which is a sub-genre of science-fiction. This idea was also fairly new as well. Instead of having a sci-fi movie be "B" movie or something lacking depth, it was an epic detailing a boy defeating an empire. This style had really only been done previously in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The plot idea was not new, but the way it was presented was. Character development was a huge portion of this movie, from the introduction of Obi-Wan Kenobi, to the Mos Eisley Cantina, you get a feeling for who the characters are, And the type of universe they reside in. Like any film, Lucas drew on elements of history and culture to make the ideas for his films. The jedi, closely resemble the samurai of Japanese culture, in the idea of honor, and in appearance.

This film, along with other films of the 70s and 80s, was different from older film styles in its use of sequels as well. Not many films before this made a large continuing plot between films, before the 70s. Its epic spanned across 3 films (6 if you count the prequel garbage).


Star Wars also used a large variety of camera techniques that were developing as well. The scene in which they are heading to Mos Eisley in the speeder comes to mind, with its long range view of the speeder, and the blurry background. The films also used a mix of distance shots.

The Star Wars franchise, has become such an icon that it is one of the single largest franchises today. From video games, to action figures, to countless other pieces of memorabelia. Even those who haven't seen the movies can identify the icons of them. That is why it is a classic of New Hollywood.

At the Star Wars Cantina