2. FILMS
Below you will find not only the three primary texts that I shall be focusing but also other
content that I feel will benefit my product throughout all stages of production.
The first film is X-Men 2 (2003, Bryan Singer) A comic book adaptation following the
story of various protagonists called mutants as each has a unique power due to an
advancement/ mutation in their genetic structure. I chose this film as it was a very big
blockbuster movie from the marvel franchise (meaning great equipment and CGI) as it
features a character that I will look at more specifically than the others (Nightcrawler)
however how the franchise represents the powers throughout all of the films will be a
very big influence.
Singer, Bryan, 2003. X-Men 2, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
IMDB Link
The second primary text that I selected is Jumper (2008, Doug Liman) Another
adaptation from the acclaimed novel ‘Jumper’. When David Rice gains control of his
teleporting ability he claims not to harm anyone with his powers. This is all about a
teenager and his struggle with an overwhelming ability with lots of potential. This is the
larger influence to my product out of all of the films I studied as I like the potential for
creative interpretation in terms of micro elements. Since this is the most recent of the
films I studied I will be able to compare how the teleporting concept has changed
visually and how it is portrayed.
Liman, Doug, 2008. Jumper, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
IMDB Link
3. The third and final primary text that I am going to be looking at Star Trek: The
Motion picture (1979, Robert Wise) A cinematic feature length film for the popular
television show Star Trek. A cult science fiction film that focuses on space crafts and
travel features the advancement in technology that allows the user to teleport to
various places using the device on the space craft. I chose this film as it part of the
most notable science fiction franchise along with Star Wars, that features
teleportation using a device as an alternative to a power. Also the way that they
executed the teleportation is very different to the more recent films as they didn’t
use CGI instead they relied on Mise en scene, cinematography and editing (also tin
foil and lighting).
Wise, Robert, 1979. Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Paramount Pictures.
IMDB Link
Alongside these films I shall also look at other films such as Chronicle (2012, Josh
Trank), and X-Men: First Class (2011, Mathew Vaughn) as these films may not
display directly the concept of teleportation but they do however display
supernatural powers very creatively through micro elements and are great
influences to refer to when developing my product.
Although these aren’t movies, but instead television programmes they still relate to
my topic and visually show what I wanted to develop. The show that I am
mentioning is The Tomorrow People, the advancement of humans who gain the
ability of telekinesis, telepathy and more importantly teleportation. This alongside
Jumper are the most direct sources displaying and relating to my subject. There are
two variations of this show the original show from 1973-1979 created by Roger
Damon Price and the recent reboot from 2013-2014 created by Phil Klemmer.
Trank, Josh, 2012. Chronicle, Twentieth Century Fox.
Vaughn, Matthew, 2011. X-Men First Class, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
4. BOOKS
The benefit of looking at books for research is that not only are they a form of
entertainment but they are also a product of research and knowledge meaning these
books will hep my understanding of the science- fiction genre and how to present and
connote the themes it is known for.
The first book is Screening Space: The American Science Fiction Film a book that looks
at science fiction as a genre as well as the topics featured within the genre. From
looking at definitions, Iconography, characters, visual functions and many more I feel as
though this will be a great source of information and benefit my product immensely
IMDB Link
The next book that I am going to focus on is Science Fiction Cinema: Between Fantasy
and Reality. I chose this book as from looking at films featuring teleportation it is hard to
define the difference between the genre fantasy and science fiction as fantasy seems
appropriate if the subject has a supernatural power and not a technological piece of
equipment to give him power. To help me understand the difference and portrayal of my
plot I feel as though this book will be great advice.
IMDB Link
5. Another book I looked at was Robert Edgar Hunt’s Basics Film-Making Directing Fiction
slate 3 take 1. I chose this book due to the impact it can have towards my creative
product and how to effectively direct my product. The book looks at all aspects of
production form post, pre and general production
The final book that I looked at was John Sanders The film genre book, although this
book looks at specific movies within the chosen genres it can still be useful to identify
the themes within the films thus establishing the theme within SF and why the films are
so iconic. The book looked at the films over the years within science fiction 1920’s to
2000’s.
