Task Six

Choose a director and watch as many films directed by them as you can.

Steven Spielberg; Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park, Jaws and ET

Do they tend to direct a specific genre of film?
Steven Spielberg, doesn’t have one specific genre. He has movies that are non- fiction like Jurassic Park and he also had made sci-fi films then his films began expressing issues such as the Holocaust, the slave trade, war, and terrorism. So he doesn’t stick with just one genre of film, he is very experienced in lots of genres. Spielberg won the Academy Award for Best Director for Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998).

Are the storylines/ themes of the films similar?
Steven Spielberg has made movies like Schindler’s list this is very specific to the Holocaust and shows the effect the Holocaust had on everyone and that one man’s actions can help save people’s lives. Also he has made Jurassic Park which is completely different it’s a non-fiction and is about a childhood dream coming true and everything goes wrong. The storylines for most of the films are very different and have very different storylines e.g. Jaws and Schindler’s List they both focus very different subjects.

Is lighting/colour used in a similar way in your director’s films?
The lighting and colour is different in most of films, this is to help portray an image and for dramatic effect. In Schindler’s List they don’t use any colour it’s a black and white film, apart from a young girl who is in a red coat. The colour red shows that the little girl is being effected by the war without even knowing what’s going on, showing the deeper side of colour and how that’s effective. Jaws and Jurassic Park use similar lighting when the film grows more dramatic the lighting becomes duller and darker creating more drama and suspense. 

Are the films edited in similar ways?
The sci-fi films and the horror films are edited in the same way, they have very fast pact scenes and that is followed by a cut into another part of the film. By using the fast cutting editing it helps the film create drama showing that during the film there is much distress and drama going. They also use a lot of Action editing showing that there is more action making it more interesting, like in Jaws when the shark starts attacking everything is so manic and water splashing everywhere the cuts are short and sharp. They use dissolve out when a character dies this way it’s slowing the film down letting the drama disappear and the attention be focused on that character before rushing straight back into the drama.
 
Does the director tend to use the same actors?
No he doesn’t use the same characters, in every film he uses different characters. I think this is a better than using the same characters because the audience will connect with that character, also by using different actors they will take on the roll differently. Tim Burton always uses Jonny Depp, but he is quite a versatile actor and if you don’t have an actor like that then it’s always better to use an actor that will perform its best.
 
 Which production company distributes your director’s films? What other sort of films do they distribute? Are there links?
Steven Spielberg’s main films like E.T, Jurassic Park and Jaws are produced by Universal Pictures they all achieved box office records, each becoming the highest-grossing film at the time. Universal Pictures doesn’t really produce on genre of films, they produce different types e.g. Fast and Furious, The Mummy, American Pie and Les Miserables. The links could be that he uses Universal Pictures because he knows that they will help make his movies popular and also they are very well known and recognized.