Young men from ethnic minorities are the main social group represented in both films. In City of God, we follow Rocket as a young boy but we also see a group of younger kids when Rocket is grown up called “The Runts”, who indulge themselves in crime due to the poverty surrounding them. In Tsotsi, the main characters are also teenagers which shows the audience that living in poverty and being surrounded by conflict ultimately influences young children to get involved in crime at a young age because the only people in that environment who have money and own a tiny percent of wealth are drug dealers and criminals. In a scene in City of God, Lil Ze, confronts “The Runts” and hands a gun to one of the children and orders him to kill one of the others after he had already shot them both in the foot. This shows the audience that the young characeters are getting involved in crime and getting hurt. The scene in City of God shocks the western audience as a man handing a gun to a child seems so abnormal and reinforces the conflict and disorientation of decency in the favelas and environment of Rio De Janerio.

Discuss messages and issues related to ‘poverty’ and ‘conflict’ in Tsotsi and City of God. Make particular reference to:

-Mis- en- scene (costumes, location, décor, props)

- Themes, binory opositions

- Characters

-Beginnings

- Endings

- Symobolism

Use the trailers in particular to springboard your ideas off.

You may occasionally refer to camera, editing and sound micro-elements if you feel it is relevant.

Photography essay

Is modern photography overruling classic?

In this essay i will be talking about how modern photography involving photoshop skills and slick camera viewpoints could be replacing traditional classic black and white images shot on 35mm film. 

As time goes on we are given the access to more and more new technology especially involving cameras and post production. Softwares such as photoshop can allow us to edit images in any way we want. We can transform an image into anything we want by adding, increasing, enhancing any feature or filter to attract the image to the viewers eyes. New digital cameras allow us to capture the image in an innovative way as we can control the shutter speed/ apature and white balance. Although all of these features are exciting and new, 35mm film is the birth and cornerstone of photography as probably the greatest and most historic photographs ever taken were on film.

The Auteur theory is simply the theory that the film director is the primary force of the whole motion picture. The Auteur, mainly the writer or director, uses their own original and personal styles to project their vision on to the big screen, so that when the audience view it, they can instantly refer to the movie to that filmmaker due to the originality.
The Auteur theory was originated in France in the 1950s by Francois Truffant and believed that the director overcame the writing, the audio, the visuals and was actually the author of the film.  Hitchcock is a critically acalaimed director and is why some people refer to him as an Auteur. Hitchcock uses unique styles in his films which make the viewer instantly recognise the director as they've unconsciously remembered a certain trademark or style in which they've seen in another Hitchcock movie. For example, the obvious theme of suspense that Hitchcock loves and re-uses in his films can be easily recognised and referred back to him as he started the suspense frenzy in films, and is what he most notorious for.

Vertigo (1958), directed by Alfred Hitchcock is a twisted, unpleasant, revealing, exciting, bumpy ride through themes such as confession, guilt, suspense and murder up and down the streets of San Francisco. The film revolves around Scottie (Jimmy Stewart), a retired San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigating the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her. Scottie's vertigo is acknowledged from the begining of the movie as the opening scene of the police chase is ended in a tragic death of the policeman himself. Scottie is then tormented by the view of the policeman falling from the height shown by the 'Hitchcock shot' of zooming in and out. Ironically, Hitchcock decided to set the movie in San Francisco which is famous for its steep and downhill roads. Having a character suffering from acrophobia in a setting such as this, is Hitchcock's infamous strategy to really bring out the characters in people. For example Kim Novak didn't want to wear grey dresses and Hitchcock insisted she did.

The theme of the male gaze is fluid throughout the film but starts with the opening sequence as Bernard Hermann's condescending soundtrack leads us from the mouth of Kim Novak in a close up to into her eye. The shot fades to a furious red which can symbolise danger, passion and obsession which are all valid themes in the film. As we enter her eye we get a spiral as the credits roll. The spiral reinforces the idea of the male gaze as we are entering the woman's eyes without maybe permission as her performance in the close up seems uneasy and scared. The spiral can also refer to Scottie's suffer from acrophobia as it gives a sense of vertigo and illusion of losing balance and spiralling out of control. The male gaze is also seen when we the audience are watching Scottie watching Judy try on different dresses trying to re-enact the perfect 'madeline' or maybe the 'perfect woman', as the film shows us Scotties real obsession is self conflicted as he isn't trying to make Judy into Madeline but actually his own impression of what the perfect woman looks like.

Colours appear frequently throughout the film, but one colour which really stands out is the colour green. Green can mean a numerous amount of things and if it was Hitchcock's intention to consistently use the colour green is simply an argument and will be never known. For example, at ernies restaurant, when Scottie first sees Madeline she is wearing a green stole that stands out vividly from the warm red of the room. Her appearance is quite unpleasant and gives this impression of a ghost. The colour green may have been used to symbolise ghosts and spirits. This is also seen in the scene at scotties apartment as the hotel sign is shining a green neon light on Judy as she walks out the bathroom looking like Madeline. The green light illuminates on Judy as if she's resurrected from death as Madeline which reinforces the idea that the colour green connotes ghosts and resurrection.

Corrupted authority or doubled faced people was very important to Hitchcock and is shown in many of his films such as Rope, Psycho and Vertigo. The reason for this may be because he was locked up in a jail cell at a very young age just to be taught a lesson. This may have been a conflict that had raised but also a motive for making movies. In Vertigo the theme of doubled faced is obviously seen as Kim Novak plays two different characters but the same person. This is also another fact that adds to the conflict to Scottie as the confusion pushes him even more into his spiral. This is what could make Hitchcock an auteur as he uses personal experience in his work to give it the unique style that every film wants.