1. Research
The Wolf of Wall Street
The wolf of wall street, starring Leonardo De Caprio with Jonah Hill in a
supporting roll and directed by Martin Scorsese, was released in 2013. The film
is based on the memoir of the same name and follows the rise and demise of
Jourdan Belfort, Wall Streets most infamous stock scammer. We follow as
Jordan goes through the levels of his profession, starting as a wall street stock
broker at a legitimate firm selling big price stocks to wealthy clients, before a
major stock market crash happens that sees investors taking massive losses and
Jordan losing his job at the brokerage firm. After the crash, Jordan manages to
get a job at a local penny stock firm, where the commission on sales is
significantly more than where Jordan previously worked. Using his skills in
sales and persuasion, Jordan starts earning a minor fortune by selling worthless
stocks to unsuspectingpeople and taking a large commission from it. Eventually
Jordan buys out a firm and opens Stratton Oakmont right on wall street, where
he would start a pump and dump scheme in conjunction with selling pink sheet
stocks, earning him millions. Throughout the events of the film, a watchful FBI
agent is setting up a case on Jourdan, eventually arresting him towards the end
when his activities catch up with him.
The film shows the life of a lavish millionaire playboy who gained his money
through wrongful means, yet who seems to be living a life that many people
could only ever dream of, filled with money and debauchery, only for it all to
come to an end. Throughout the film there is a consistent dark undertone, a
worry of whether or not Jordan is going to get caught out. Martin Scorsese did a
good job getting the emotions of the film to shine through as well with good use
of shot direction and distinct scenes that are sure to leave an impression on the
viewer. Although we’re shown how glamorous the life of Jordan Belfort is, we
are also shown the many tribulations and real danger that goes along with it,
making the audience questionif a lifestyle like his is really worth living.
Leonardo De Caprio does an excellent job portraying the character of Jordan
Belfort, as well as narrating the film as Jordan, bringing the character to life
through his expressions and way of talking. Jonah Hill also does a brilliant job
bringing the character of Jordans right hand man, Donny, to the big screen, even
when the character is as high as a kite and barely functional.
2. Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park, starring Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neil and Laura Dern as our main
protagonists, shows us what happened when man plays God. The film looks at a
basic concept, bringing dinosaurs back to life and then putting them in a theme
park on display for profit. Although many measures are put in place to ensure
the safety of the park and the control of the animals, things don’t always go as
they are supposed to. The son of John Hammond, the park owner portrayed by
Richard Attenborough, runs the IT for the park. He uses his position to cause a
major catastrophe by shutting down the power to the park and releasing some
of the creatures, who go on a rampage of sorts. We see our main characters
attacked by a T-rex, scrap with velociraptors and narrowly avoid death a few
times throughout the film as they first try to restore power to the park, and
then decide to leave the island the park is on all together.
Steven Spielberg did a brilliant job directing the film, which grossed a box office
revenue of over 1 billion US Dollars. The movie was made using both
animatronic figures of the dinosaurs as well as some basic CGI. I=whilst
watching the film, there is a consistent feeling that the dinosaurs are present,
although the reality is that they only appear on screen for fewer than 15
minutes in total out of the entire movie run time. Spielberg did a great job at
making the dinosaurs presence known, as well as at making the audience feel
small, as if there’s somethingmuch, much bigger. He does through the use of
camera wide camera angles when showing the larger animals, as well as well
used perspective shots to show how minute the people in the film are in
comparison to the dinosaurs and the landscape around.
The actors playing the main characters do a great job as well, with Jeff
Goldblum playing Dr. Ian Malcolm, the pessimistic scientist that sort of
predicted that something could go wrong, Sam Neil playing Alan Grant, the
animal expert brought to inspect the safety of the park who has the skills to
save the day, and Laura Dern playing Ellie Sattler, an animal expert who has
come to research the dinosaurs.
