Task 2

1. Task 2: Analytical filmreview of the force awakens
General overview:
Director:J.J.Abrams
Studio:Disneystudios,LucasFilm
Year: December14, 2015 (LosAngeles) December18,2015 (UnitedStates)
Country:UnitedStates
Budget: $306 million(gross)
$258.6 million(net)
DomesticTotal Gross: $936,662,225
Purpose:whywas the filmmade?Profit?Educate?Entertain? Whataudiencesdoesitappeal to?
How can youtell?Whatscenesdemonstrate this?Starwarsfans
There are several reasonswhyThe Force Awakenswasmade.Mostpeople didn’texpectanew star
wars as ‘the returnof the Jedi’wasthe conclusionof the original trilogysonoone wantedmore
films.People were satisfiedwiththe endandmovedon,notthinkingaboutmore sequels.Therefore,
JJ Abramsmighthave made a newstar wars to continue the storyandmake money. Phantom
Menace earned$28 milliononjustopeningday,$100 millioninjustfivedays,andbecame the
quickestfilmtogross$200 and $300 million therefore we know thatstarwars can make a ton of
moneyandthat a 7th
star wars couldtoo.The filmmighthave alsobeenmade asa way to sell lotsof
toysto youngeraudiences!Fromthe PrequelTrilogytheymade alotof moneyoutside the box-
office withbrandingandtoy-sellingandso theycouldmake a lotmore moneysellingtoys,clothing
and furniture of the newcharactersand robots. Lastly,a new star warscouldbe made to entertain!
Fans of the oldstar warswouldrushto the cinemasto see the brandnew star wars filmandbecause
of the newyoungfemale characterandfirsteverblackstormtrooper,thiswill attracta younger
audience whomightnothave everseenstarwarsbefore whowantto watch ittoo! Especiallyas
theyscreenitin REAL D 3D and IMAX3D, whichmakesitmore exitingandentertainingtoa younger
audience. The factthat inthe traileryoucan see that the maincharacter is youngand female,and
verydominantandadventurousissomethingwe haven’tseeninstarwarsbefore therefore would
create more of urge to see the newfilmtofindoutwho thisnew character isand whatshe is like.
Genre:whatsci-fi codesandconventionscanyouidentify?Whatdothese C&Cssuggestaboutthe
audience?Whatscenesshowthis? Fantasy
Star wars isa Science Fiction,Adventure andFantasyfilm. The Force Awakensisa2015 space action-
adventure filmandthe trailerestablishesthisgenrethroughthe presence of explosions,spaceships
and futuristicweaponry.The maincharactersare both engagedinactionandweaponswhichwe see
inthe trailer,therefore we canclearlyestablishthatthiswill be aninclusive andprogressive space
action-adventure film,keepingwiththe excitingconventionsof the genre. The title helpsemphasis
whyStar Wars is a part of the sci fi genre due to the words"the force",thisisbecause the force is
the mythical powerusedbythe "Jedi".The adventure genre isshownbythe use of spaceshipsin
space,travellingintothe unknown.The use of spaceshiphelpsthe audience know thatthey're
watchinga sci fi filmasmost sci fi filmsusuallyinvolvespaceshipsandtravellingthroughspace at
the speedof light. Nothingismore adventurousthenclimbingupandflyingspaceshipstosee what's
on the nextplanet,andStar Wars has alwaysgotspaceshipsinvolved. Starwarsinvolves
adventurous rescues, Clones,cyborgs,robots,battlesandexplosionswhichgetseveryone exited. It
isa bigfantasyas it includes ancientworldsfullof monsters,magic,aliensandagroupof people
tryingto defeatthe evil. Throughoutthe filmwe see scenesof goodvsthe evil battlingwiththe use
of ships,explosionsandlight sabres whichshowsfantasy.

2. Form: What filmtechnologywasusedinproduction&exhibition (cinema)?Shoton35mm filmstock
withone scene shoton 65mm IMAX stock (secondaryaudience notprimary).Whatappealsto
audience?
Star Wars ‘The Force Awakens’ wasshotona 35mm filmstock.Howeverascene of Jaku dessertwas
shoton a 65mm IMAX stock as IMAXqualityisbetter,therefore widelongextreme shotswouldlook
amazingthisway.The IMAXqualitywill attracta youngeraudience astheywouldlove tosee all the
fastaction and explosionsinhighqualitydefinitioninthe cinemaratherthanat home onthe
television. Lookingatthe trailerof ‘The Force Awakens’itismostlywide shotusedtoshow off the
settingandthe battle betweenthe spaceshipsandthenclose upstoshow the charactersemotion.
All of the prequelsof starwars were shoton a digital camera,sothe fact that technologyhas
changeda lot since the prequelsandwhenThe Force Awakenswasmade theychose toshotinfilm
was unexpected.Thisfilmwasshotonfilmwhichwasa bigthing,howeverJJAbramslikesfilmand
chose to do itthisway. Filmisa chemical reactiontolightandcolourtherefore the contrastis
completelydifferenttodigital,whichall the prequelswere filmedin.Ithinkthatitis ironicbeingin
filmasthe filmwouldhave tobe transferredtodigital to thengetitprojected.Also how Christopher
Nolanonlyshotone scene onIMAX, however,thisisbecause IMAXisveryexpensive.Butthisone
scene will lookextraordinaryandwillappeal toalot of people.
Style:Why has JJ Abramsgone fora nostalgic80’s style?Where dowe see this?Whodoesitappeal
to?
JJ Abramhas gone fora nostalgic80s style whichmayappeal toan olderaudience asthere is
nostalgicfilming.InThe Force Awakensthere are alsohigh qualityspecialeffects whichcreate more
of a fantasy and lookveryrealistic.Thesespecialeffectswoulddraw attentiontoa younger
audience asthey wouldlove the highqualityfilming.
Content & Meaning: NOWCHOOSE A SCENE OR THE TRAILER TO ANALYSE.How have the following
beenmanipulatedtocreate anemotional responseinthe audience?Are theyusedtomake the
audience raise questionsorchallengeestablishedideas?Mise-enscene,Cinematography,Sound,
Editing,Structure/narrative/SFX (Marxism, hegemony,finandrayrelationship)
In the Force AwakensTrailerwe're introducedto
newcharacters,piecesof hardware and familiar
locations.The firstshotwe see iswhatlooksas if
it isan alienorcreature,but infact it is
somebodywhoisveryimportantinthe film,
whichcouldbe whytheyare the firstsubjectof
the trailer.Thismaycreate the feelingthatthey
couldbe the maincharacter.The fact that we
don’tknowwhotheyare or what itis showsus
that theycouldbe any genderorspeciesandthe fact that we don’t know keeps usinthe unknown
and exitedtowatchmore.We thensee thissame personswingingfromropesandclimbingup
spaceshipsinwhatitlookslike tobe an abandonedwarehouse.Thisisasci-fi conventionandtellsus
that theycouldbe somewhere like space or ina differentplanetfarfaraway.This settingisshown
to us as a wide shotwhichisto showus the character and theirsurroundingssowe geta feel of who
thispersonmaybe andwhere we are.

3. Our nextscene isan establishingshotof a
dessertwhich isa vastsci-fi convention.The
dessertlooksemptywhichwe see astwo
characters leave adusttrail behindthemasthey
walkintothe distance.Manystar warsfansmay
speculate thatthisis Tatooine,whenactuallyit
isan all new planetcalled Jaku.We cansee a
small sphere shaped robotwhichwe have never
seenbefore,thisisalsoasci-fi convention. This
robot isa clear descendantof R2-D2.Like R2, he talksexclusivelyinbleepsandwhistles. Asthe
trailercontinueswe see whatlooksasif itisan oldrusty smashed piece of aspaceshipand inthe far
backgroundinthe sky a faintoutline of aflyingspaceship. We canheara voice “whoare you” and
the response “I’mnoone”.The response wasRey
whowe thensee inthissandy village playingwith
herbackpack. The fact that we have nowseenher
three timestellsusthatshe maythinkshe is no
one and that she isnot worthanything,butthat
she isa veryimportantcharacterin thisfilm.At
thispointthere isa sparse musical score as we can
onlyhere a piano.Thissoundreflectsthatthis
dessertisemptyandthat these twocharactersare
alone.
Nextthe logoLucas filmLtdappearsand
before thispointthere wasnorecognisable
theme tunesorcharacters forpeople toknow
thisisa Star Wars trailer.However,once this
logoappearspeople wouldassociateitwith
Star Wars. There isa soundeffect‘BOOM’at
the same time thislogoappears,thiswould
draw attentiontothe logo.The fact that the
logoisin a shinysilvercolourtellsusthat
Lucas Filmisgood quality andworthwatching.
Thisshot isshownina previoustrailer,itisof the first
order.The storm troopersare listeningtoaspeech,at this
pointwe knowthisis a Star Wars trailer.Thisisa wide shot
whichshowsthe audience howmanybaddiesthere are and
makesitobvioustothe factthat theyare still incharge.
Theylook like Nazis astheyare stood infrontof a red flag,
thissuggeststhattheyare planningsomethingevil.
Thisquicklychangestoa shotof Finnwho hastakenhis
storm trooperhelmetoff,thissuggeststhathe ishaving
secondthoughts.There isdialogue which says, ‘I wasraised
to do one thing,but I’ve got nothingtofightfor’. Thistells
me that he hasbeena storm trooperforhiswhole life and
was prettymuchborn one howeverhe doesn’twanttobe
inthe firstorderand hasa change of heart. Finnlooks

4. scaredand is nowalone thathe hasdecidedtoturn againstthe firstorder.Hissuggeststhat he may
meetnewpeople andbecome the goodguy. Duringthisdialogueof Finn, we cansee andhear an
iconicshipand spaceshipsoundswhichiswhatmakes StarWars Star Wars.
Next, we see awide shotof Finnin a dessertlookingovertoJakuu.Inthistrailerwe have seena
similarshotbutof Rey,thiscouldmean
that theymayhave a connectioninthis
film.We can see that Finnhas takenoff his
white suitwhichmeanshe isnownota
storm trooperanymore.Thiswide shot
turns intoa close of Finns face ina mid-
shotwhere he isalso lookingoveratthe
same directionasto what Rey wasearlier
on inthe trailer.
AfterseeingFinninthe dessert, the trailer
fadesto blackand we geta 3rd
character introduction. We can see somebodystoodinablack
costume andthere isa redstreakrunningacross the screen.Blackand redmay relate todangerand
the ‘bad guy’,italsooutlineshimasan ominous opposingfigure.We alsogetachange in musicas
nowthe keyon the pianocreatesa ‘dark’feeling.The
change in musicis almostlike the darthfadertheme
tune.We here thisperson saysin an artificial metallic
voice ‘nothingwill stand inourway,Iwill finishwhat
youstarted’at thispointthe camera movesfromthe
back of the persontowardshimwhichcreatesa sense
of importance tothischaracter.We now see a close of
thischaracter staringat us and theyare wearingamask
whichhas dentsandcracks in.This makesthe audience questionwhyishismasklike this,hashe
takena beating?The nextshotisan iconicmask fromStar Wars whichis darthvadors burntmask.
Viewerswho haven’tseenStarWarsbefore mayquestionwhyisthis characterstartingat thisburnt
maskand lookingatit withso muchrespect?
Next, we see thisguyinthe blackmask torturinga
new character we haven’tseenyet.This character
doesnotlookveryhappy,infacthe looksterrified.
There wasa single shitof kylo Renwhenhe was
causingthis character painand distress.Itlooksas
if kyloRenis tryingto getsomethingoutof this
chartersmind. Suddenly,thisshotdissolvesfrom
the character screamingwithspecsof bloodon
hisface to a redand orange explosion,which
createsa visual representation of whatishappeninginside of this character’shead.There isa
destruction of nature.
The nextshotis of the millenniumfalconship,the coloursusedare blue whichmeanswe are now
lookingatsomethinggood.The musicalsochangesintoa happier,‘save the day’sortof theme tune.
We see a mid-shotof ReyandFinnwhichtellsusthat theymay be the main two characters.She is

5. stoodin frontof Finnwhichcouldsuggestthatthis
filmisabouther andthat Finnissupportingher.We
here Rey say, ‘there were storiesaboutwhat
happened’andwe thensee a mid-close of Hansolo
and hearthe words ‘itstrue’whichtellsusthat Han
solowasthere,inthe old films.Throughoutthis part
of the trailerthe backgroundis mostly blueswhich
tellsthe audience thattheyare the good guys. Next,
we see an iconicuse of special effectswhichisahypodrive lightspeedwhere stars streampast
whichcreatesa blue tunnel.
Next, we getthisfirstbitof textshowninthe
trailerwhichreads‘THISCHRISTMAS’.This is
the release time of the filmwhichwill getthe
audience exited.Thisiswhere the
anticipation,hype andwaitingbegins.
Afterthiswe geta bigintroductionof
characters andlots of snippetsshowing
people dressedinblackanda red lightsabre.
Thisis a longmidshotof the bad guys.Thissectionof the trailerisall veryquick.We see iconicships,
sci-fi conventionsandthe iconicuse of the xwing.However,thisisveryclose tothe groundwhichin
unusual asit isnormallyupin the sky. We thensee battlesandall the badguys standingout as they
are inwhite upagainstblack.In the middle of all the actionthere isa quietscene of Finnwiththe
god guys,thispart is crucial as itis the firsttime we see Finnagainstthe stormtroopers.Afterthisis
cuts back to battle sceneswhere we see the goodshipsfightingagainstthe badandexplosionsin
the sky andland. All thisactionis perfectly timedtothe musicandgetsthe audience exited.We see
Reyand Finntogether,whichshowstheyare
workingtogether,theyare inthe sandydessert
fromthe start whichshowstheymusthave met
here. Thisthencuts to a scene of a building
where Rey finand Han soloare withrobots,one
whichwe have alreadyseenandone whichwe
haven’t.Thisisa sci-fi convention.
Afterthis why thengetmore shots of the
baddies.We see ahoodedfigure withametal
handtouchingR2DR. R2D2 ispopular culture as everyone
knowsthat he is a part of Star Wars anda sci-fi convention.
Next, we see the badguyskillingeveryoneonaplanet.
There isfire and we see the red-lightsabre againwhichthen
cuts to Reylookingveryscaredandfrightened,thistellsthe
audience thatshe maybe insome trouble. We thensee Han
solo,Chewbaccaandfinsurrenderingwhichmeansthatthey
may alsobe in some trouble,itlooksasif theyhave been
captured.Theyare all lookingatsomethingandstartto
lowertheirhands.ThisleadstoPOand R2D2 in a ship
comingto the rescue.Afterthisitgetsbusyas we see lotsof
shipsandlasersgoingon.We see the millenniumfalcon

6. flyingthroughsomethingandcatchingonfire.We
alsosee Rey holdingagun whichshowsusthat she
isa strongfemale characterandisn’tscared to
battle.
we thensee leiaand Han solohuggingwhichfansof
Star Wars will love aswe can see that theyare back
together.,leialooksverysadanemotional butthe
questioniswhy?This quickly leadsof tofinwitha
blue lightsabre fightingkyloRenwiththe red lightsabre.Thisisthe firstlightsabre battlewe see in
the trailerwhichisexitingforviewers.Finnwasa
stormtroopersohas presumablyneveruseda
lightsabre beforeandkylo Renhadtakenhis
maskoff which couldmeansomething.Within
these lastfewsnippetstherehave beenlotsof
codesand conventionswhichwouldappealto
newerfanswholike fastpace,action, dramaad
explosions. The lightsabre battle wasinthe dark
to make the lightsabre shows upmore,we can
alsohere the soundaffectsto assmore of an effect.
Afterthe bigbuild, upof all the action
snippetseverythingcutstoa black screen
and silence.‘StarWarsthe force awakens’
popsup on the screen andthenwe get
the release date andthat itis intwo
differenttechnology’s,REALD 3D and
IMAX 3D whichwill appealstoyounger
audience.We alsoget the Legal
information,the copyrightforIMAXand
that the Ticketsare nowavailable.Thisis
tellingeverybodytobookthe ticketsnow.