By Jennie Devine

The film ‘Bullet in the Head’ is a one of a kind film directed by legendary director John Woo. In most films there are happy endings, but not bullet in the head. The start of the film was when the characters are at there happiest. The excellent characters of the film were the 3 best friends which were known as ‘brothers’ were acted by Tony Leung who played Ben, Jacky Cheung who played Frank and Waise Lee who played Paul. The story of the film is set in back 1967 when the Vietnam War was taking place, and the 3 best friends flee Hong Kong to Vietnam because of the police chasing them for murder, and when they arrive in Vietnam they put the strength of there friendship to the test because of what situations they are in. The film focuses on love, war, friendship, betrayal and one of the main focuses is wealth especially gold which puts a huge strain on the friendships. This film is defiantly worth watching if you like intense and dramatic films, and the film is one of John Woo’s best performances he has ever made.

by simon compton

Film review ‘Breathless’ (À bout de souffle)


‘Breathless’ (1960) is a ground breaking piece of cinema, which along with other French new wave films, completely changed the path of cinema and helped shape the way most modern films are directed today. This is because director Jean-Luc Godard broke from the conventions of film and in particular Hollywood and created his own style of narrative, camera angles, and editing. Even though the film looks slightly dated now and in many ways old fashioned we must remember it was the first of its kind and I feel it is still very watchable compared to a lot of black and white films made before it which tend to have longs pieces of dialect and standard shots almost as if you are watching a play.

This film oozes ‘coolness,’ not in the sense that we may use the word today but the real meaning of the word. From the sharp suits and fashionable dresses, the old American convertibles, the streets of downtown Paris, and the continuous smoking of cigarettes, this film has not lost any of its attitudes from when it first hit cinema screens. The story line however seems a simple one; it is crime thriller and romance story revolving around two main characters Michel and Patricia. Michel is a small time crook who steals a car and shoots a police officer dead, now on the run he goes to Paris to get some money he is owed and to meet up with a old girl friend who he is madly in love with (Patricia), however things aren’t as simple for Michel as he thought as he cannot get hold of his friend who owes him the money and Patricia is not sure if she loves him as much as he loves her. The film is very fast paced except for a couple of scenes, however Godard still manages to hold your attention as the dialogue flows beautifully as if your where reading a crime novel and almost every line feels as if meaning and thought has gone in to it, much like a Coen brothers film. There is also some amazing cinematography in the film from noir like shots as the characters walk in silhouette down dark Parisian alleyways, to perfectly executed rule of third shots. However as I have already talked about this movie broke the conventions of cinema at the time and this is also apparent with beautiful and very interesting shots, as well as Godard’s famous use of Jump cuts which at first or too an untrained eye may look like lousy editing but which are infact a clever way that Godard keeps the film flowing as he is only keeping in the parts which are important.

My overall opinion of Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless is a positive one and I feel it is a ground breaking piece of cinema and defiantly one to see as a film fanatic or a student, not only because it is such a important piece of cinema which set up much of the modern film techniques we see today, but also because it is a beautifully spun tale which will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

Amelia Dickens AS Film Studies project

For my AS Film Studies project, my group and I decided to produce our segment of filming in the genre of a Horror/Psychological Thriller. We choose this style because it has a wide capacity for Sound Design, Cinematography, Set Design and Editing. This enabled everyone in our group to make numerous contributions. Our extract of film is set at the first climax of the film: where a new wife discovers the hanging body of her husband.
I chose the role of Sound Designer and was therefore in charge of the climactic music we used, and the digetic sounds whilst filming. I used the program Garage Band to devise a musical accompaniment to the film. We then imported this into certain moments where the music would enhance the tension. Before producing the sound I had to learn how to use Garage Band, and then the method of transferring files from one source to another on the computers. My group and I watched clips from films of a similar genre to which we were trying to achieve. This helped me with the not only the construction of the music but also where to play it, where to leave silent, and where to exacerbate the digetic sounds.
One main thing I was aiming to do was extend the narrative through my micro responsibility. From watching over Psychological Thriller films I decided to start the clip quiet, so as to juxtapose this with a loud ringing sound, indicating unexpected trouble. As the power cut out, I started the music to set the mood of horror and fear. The music continued until just before the climax where silence cut in, representing the protagonist’s speechlessness.
I spent some time looking at sound effects and first thought of using easily attainable objects to create the necessary noise. However, none of these were needed in the end, although it was interesting to see the surprising things used top make sounds in real films. Some sound effects I used including a loud telephone ring, a door slamming etc. For the door slamming there were a variety of sounds to choose from. It was a wooden door, in reality, that that our character passed through. However, after investigation into the construction of sound in films I knew that this didn’t mean we had to stick to reality. When producing the sound for a film, often unrelated sounds are used. I employed a mild version by incorporating a metal vault door slam.
After submitting our draft film the class watched it and gave comments and constructive criticism. This was extremely useful and encouraged me to extend the music and increase the volume of certain sound effects.
The impression we wanted our film to make on our audience was, for the most part a shock associated with our genre. The movie, if we had filmed it at length would be more about psychological and exstisentential issues. However, the climax that we filmed would be the most energetic, surprising scene, and for this reason we chose to film this part.
Overall, I am pleased with how our filming went and the finished product. I feel we are all more confident with our different areas of filming and have a better understanding of the annals of the professional movie industry.