Friday 19 February 2010

Transformers Essay...



So i was having thoughts about my essay this week and after speaking to Phil, i've decided to write about Transformers instead of Elephant, but still in the context of audience expectations affecting the pace and narrative of films. Phil suggested comparing Transformers to Rope, which is a film without any edits and people often struggle to watch the film because of this idea of 'audience expectation'. In particular, i've been looking at reviews from Rotten Tomatoes which, with its rating of 57%, suggest the pace of the film is too fast for audiences to take in or understanding, leaving them in bewilderment. There are some really good quotes that i have already from some top critics and it seems that most of the were in agreement with each other. One thing that has interested me is how Michael Bay and his crew seem to perceive the audiences' expectations. Whilst watching numerous interviews on YouTube with Bay, the actors and his crew, there seems to be a big focus on the idea of explosions, big action scenes and fast pace action scenes. It's interesting however that this seems to be the biggest downfall, i almost feel as though they have treated the audience as CGI craving idiots that have no need for narrative or understanding of the narrative. For me, this is in some ways true, which could be proved by audiences being unable to enjoy watching films like Rope, which i haven't seen yet, but based on Phil's comments, it should be interesting. In this essay, i will be able to look at the development of editing from its early days, showing the context and rise of editing, as well as the growing acknowledgement of the importance of editors. I can get this information from The Cuting Ege documentary, resources on MyUCA and additonal books or articles i can find. I will then be able to bring in a film like Rope and compare it to the modernised editing techniques used in Transformers to fulfil the audiences' 'needs' and 'expectations'. I've already got some reviews for Transformers and i will start getting some for Rope as well. I will also need to ind some essays and artciles that evidence similar arguments and comparisons to the content of own essay. Gathering as much information as possible should give me everything i need to structure my essay correctly and keep a concise point, whilst using strong evidence and content.

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