section a exam response.
'Visuals effects are a main attraction for audiences'. How far do you agree with this statement?


All in all i generally disagree with this statement. Firstly i can use the film 'drive' as an example, the film was a huge success in 2011, making just over $75 million in the box office (having only spent $15 million in the films budget); the film never really employed many visual effects, past the scenes of violence and car chases, however the strong point for the film wasn't the grotesque scenes of violence, but the art-house style of filming that includes the likes of a particular styles of filming. In the case of drive, director Nicholas Refn opted for a neo-noir stylisation which is an uncommon genre for modern films at this time, i feel that the the main attraction for this low budget indie film in a scene full of big budget comic book films was that it brought something new to the table, something that allot of films nowadays don't do; normally it would be reboots of franchises long passed, or sequels to already existing franchises.
The fact that there is also a major film star, starring as the lead role of an indie film could also add to the attraction of the film, actor Ryan Gosling was and still is a popular actor for roles that would typically include a pretty-boy, teenage heartthrob type of role. Ryan Goslings popularity as well as acting ability in terms of accommodating darker roles in films such as 'Fracture" and 'Stay' would be a main attraction for audiences i feel.

On the other hand, we have the film 'john Carter' as an example of a film that accommodated a large budget and heavily relied on visual effects to become a successful film. However the film was a massive bust, having only just broke even with the colossal $263 million budget with $284 in box office sales. The film garnered many negative reviews with only a handful of positives and a rating of 51% on the site Rotten Tomatoes with it being said that there are many other films that do ust what John Carter did but better, and 'nothing really worked'; which is a clear indication that a film with a huge budget involved with special effects doesn't necessarily give birth to a masterpiece.

In my personal opinion visual effects is something that should be considered when going to watch a film, after all there have been so many fantastic films that do boast a plethora of visual effect. Just released recently was directors Wes Anderson's comedy film 'The Grand Budapest Hotel', whereby visual effects are used in a way to explore deeply emotional ideas. The film is a success having gained $174 million having only spent $30 million, in addition to many positive reviews that in short confirm that the film is incredibly pretty, and that it serves a general purpose in terms of the films narrative whereby it explores thoughtful themes as well as creating a generally charming setting for a generally comedic film. As well as a financial success it was also a critical success, having garnered a rating of 92% on Rotten tomatoes; a rating of 88 out of 100 on Metacritic and a raking among the majority as the best film of 2014. What this proves to me is that visual effects generally don't attract audiences, however there are films that i will go and see because of their distinguishable stylisation and their signature special effects, to be specific i will generally go and see any number of films directed by Neill Blomkamp because i am a fan of the style of visual effects that his film possess, and i know based on experience that most of his films do contain a message and a good narrative; in addition i will almost always take notice of films directed by Wes Anderson because they are renown for its visual style, quirky personality and good narrative.

aims and context for our film

- a complete short horror-thriller story
-target audience is 15 year old teens and up, for both male and female who are familiar with the horror genre
-applied use of editing techniques (parallel editing) learned in FM1 and a range of different styles of shorts, that were also learnt in FM1