AS MEDIA BLOG:
MAKDA MICHAEL
DIRECTORS:
Another thing that we have been asked to do was to research for 2 prominent directors that have made films of our chosen genre for our opening sequence. Our genre is sci-fi so I've chosen...
STEVEN SPIELBERG
I've chosen Steven Spielberg because he is simply a legend. He definitely knows how to make fascinating sci-fi films. From the works of Artificial Intelligence, Minority report, E.T and many other hit films, he's received multiple awards.
So how did he start his successful career?
Throughout his teenage years, Spielberg began creating amateur 8 mm "adventure" films with his friends then began shooting it in local places such as a restaurant located in his home town, Arizona. He also charged admission for his home films.
In 1958, he became a boy scout and fulfilled a requirement for the photography merit badge by making a nine-minute 8 mm film. At age thirteen, Spielberg won a prize for a 40-minute war film about a battle in east Africa. When he became sixteen, Spielberg wrote and directed his first independent film, a 140-minute science fiction adventure called Firelight.
From there, he moved to california and applied to a film school, unfortunately he didn't get accepted. So he attended the university of California and he returned to Universal Studios as an unpaid, seven-day-a-week intern and guest of the editing department. He eventually became famous.
Insight into his works/ visual style
His films deal with ordinary characters searching for or coming in contact with extraordinary beings or finding themselves in extraordinary circumstances. Circumstances include things such as father issues, streams of light being visible and the shots that're being used. This relates to our opening sequence as our protagonist is forced to do something extraordinary.
STANLEY KUBRICK
Stanley Kubrick is also a well known sci-fi director that's directed films such as A clockwork orange,2001: A space odyssey and several others. His films have been noticed by Steven Spielberg, that's why I've chosen these 2 ironic directors. They inspire eachother.
Where it all began?
Stanley officially began with photography. Being chosen as an official school photographer made him go on to sell a photographic series to a magazine and ended up getting an apprenticeship in photography.
He loved films as a teenager, He had planned to direct a short film after he'd graduated from high school. Due to the fundings, his plan backfired. Alternatively, he used his savings to manage a few short documentaries with the help of his friend. He began learning all he could about filmmaking on his own by calling film suppliers and labs.
He continued making short films,but this time he had more knowledge and experience.
He contacted people,rented a camera and did his thing. Due to his success from the short films, he quit his previous job at the magazine and visited professional filmmakers in New York. From there his career spiralled upwards.
His visual style
Stanley's use of music and camera movement/framing has been seen as unique. His films tend to be less moralistic than journalistic. He consistently bases his films around one character (usually a man) Stories focus on the man being in time, where he could be going, and what causes the man to regress, progress or become stagnated in his current form. In our opening sequence, the camera focuses on our male protagonist (biologist) to reveal the crucialsequence of events. So, the interrogation, him inventing the drug and him injecting it into the innocent.
