English Coursework - Titanic Essay Example for Free

English Coursework Titanic Essay Many people across the world watch films. It is so popular because it puts a story on the screen and into life so that people can see it. People watch films for the entertainment value, or are simply too lazy to read and enjoy the magic of a book. The advantages of watching a film at the cinema rather than on video is the bigger screen, and the surround sound, also the atmosphere. This all adds up and creates a bigger impact than a video. People make films to tell a story or get a message across, such as Pearl Harbour, which tells us the story of a real historical event through the eyes of a fictional love story, very much like Titanic. Or Shrek, which puts a message across through the tale. Some films are just made purely for entertainment value, or to make money, such as the Harry Potter films, that were built up from a very popular book franchise. In film they use different camera shots for different reasons, such as:- Close Up with this shot, you can see the emotion on the face of the character; they use it to show the emotion more clearly. Long Shot The use this type of camera angle to show a large shot of the set or in the case of Titanic the boat. Point of view shot These are used to show you what the character can see, a good example of this in Titanic is when Rose is stood on the end of the boat looking out to sea, Medium Shot These show the characters body and face, and are used a lot. Zoom in/out These can be used to show a long shot of the set and then zoom in to show the emotion on the characters face instead of switching from Long shot to Close-up. Panning This can be used to show a large area, or a when a character is walking. An example of this on Titanic is when they go from the back of the boat to the front. They also use Sound Effect to make what is happening sound more real, such as an explosion or band. They also use backing tracks, which can be used to emphasise the emotion a character is feeling. For example, if it was sad, they might use a love song. They use costume to show you what time something was set it, or the class of the people, particularly shown in Titanic, as Jack is very poor and Rose is rich. The characters who wear the costumes are also very important. They have to look the part and sound the part, not just be able to read the lines. They have to act the way a person of that time would. For my GCSE coursework, I will be writing a Media essay on Titanic, which was directed by James Caremon. It was made in 1997, and was the most expensive film made at the time. It won many awards, and is one of the great love stories told, based on a real historical event. The Titanic was quoted as being Titanic, wasnt just another ship, it was bigger, faster, and more luxurious than any other ship before her. She had two sister ships, The Olympic and The Britannic, all of which were owned by White Star Line, a series of very luxurious ships. It was built in Harland and Wolff Shipyard, and was 882 ft 6 inches, by 92 ft 6 inches. It had 2212 people onboard, 20 lifeboats, which only had room for 1178 people. This was because they thought that the ship was un-sinkable, and didnt think they needed more. It only had 705 survivors after it sank. The Titanic was under the control or Captain E.J Smith, a much respected Captain. Some people would not travel if the boat was not under his control. It set sail on April 10th 1912 from Cherbourg France, to Queensland Ireland, and then continued out to sea. Titanic sank at 2.20am, on April 15th. The Titanic sank because it hit an ice berg, which pierced its hull and flooded it, making it sink. Captain Smith had ignored the iceberg warnings. This was The Titanics maiden voyage. Disaster is defined as sudden or great misfortune, this means something that happens, which usually kills a lot of people, this could also be linked to tragedy, which is defined as sad event; dramatic, literature word dealing with serious, sad topic, which I think means when something bad happens, which brings sorrow, not necessarily to just one person. I think that the amount of people does alter the seriousness of a disaster because it makes it harder to cope with. A Man-Made disaster is something that man has inflicted upon itself, such as when the Twin Towers got destroyed, many people died. I think that a man-made disaster is sometimes worse that a natural one, because you cant stop a natural disaster, but to inflict one, is just wrong. I think that James Camerons depiction of Titanic is very accurate to the real event. Although he told us the story through the eyes of a romantic tale, all the facts are very accurate. The times, the date, the crew, even the people who were on board, such as John Jacob Astor who was the richest person on the ship, is in the film. All of the crew bare a striking resemblance to the real people and are names the same, particularly in the case of Captain Smith. The Real Captain E.J Smith Captain E.J Smith in the film The numbers of people that died and the ways that they died are very accurate, many people froze in the water, and other chose to go down with the ship. Also the musicians, who are in the film, go down playing, which was noted by the survivors. I think that we are told the real historical every through a love story because it gets us more involved, we can relate to the characters and it opens out emotions more when the tragedy happens. I think that the opening of a film is important because it draws the person in. In Shrek it is funny, which makes the person want to watch more, and also shows you that it is a comedy film. The titles tend to show you what type of film a film is. It also shows you what time period it is set in, and what genre it is. They usually have the theme song for the film on in the background. In the case of Titanic there is the slow adaption of the theme song playing, and the real shot filmed of the real Titanic. I think this shows you that it will be a sad film, but the pace of the music. It then switches into the film and does a panning shot of the film, to show you how big and magnificent it is. Also the reaction of the people towards it, which shows you that it is even magnificent for them, even though it is set in their time period. Setting is important, because it shows is where and when the film is set. A good example of this in Titanic, is the way the different groups of people are treated at the beginning. The rich are aloud to stroll onto the boat, with their luggage being taken care of, bringing dog and other pets. Whereas the poor have to go through lice inspections just to get on, but the rich can bring animals. This shows you how people were treated and in what time period it is set, and is typical of Edwardian England. Rose is first introduced to us twice, ages 101 and when she was younger going onboard Titanic. When she is older, I think she seems like a very normal nice old woman, mid-class and has a caring family. Whereas the younger Rose seems like a bit of a snob by the way she reacts to the Titanic when she first sees it. She is obviously very rich, and leads an upper-class life. We can tell that she is a nice person, even though she wears a snob mask at the beginning of the film, later on we find out the true her. She is shown as someone who is not afraid to ask questions, unlike many women of that time. She asks about the lifeboats and their capacities. When we first meet Jack, he is gambling in a bar. We can tell that he is poor and doesnt have much to his name. We can tell that he is very cunning by the way he plays cards and wins. He is shown as a very nice person who cares deeply for Rose. He doesnt seem to care about the class rules, which shows he is a true romantic because he is willing to defy those rules for love. He cares very much about Rose and her safety, even over his own. This is shown at the end, when he lets her sit on the floating table, while he stays in the water, knowing that he will freeze to death. Cal is Roses fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ and is introduced getting out of his very expensive car and getting his man servant to do favours for him. This shows us that he is very rich and has some power. He is shown as quite a snob, and only wants Rose as a trophy on his arm. He is selfish and hits her if she does wrong. He doesnt agree with Roses friendship with Jack, which later turns into love. Molly Brown is shown as quite a loud mouth and is not liked very much by some of the rich people because she was not brought up with money, she is what they called new money her husband struck rich recently, and they did not like this. She is shown as a very nice woman because she helps out Jack when he is going to the dinner with them. Roses Mother is shown as a snob; all she seems to care about is the way that her family is seen and how much money they have. She wants Rose to marry Cal just so she can have money again. She doesnt seem to care much about Rose or her feelings, but in the end we find out how distraught she is about Rose not getting in the lifeboat when she has the chance and shows her true feelings. Mr. Andrews in the man responsible for making the Titanic, he is so sure that it will not sick, and doesnt put enough life boats onboard. He is shown as a very kind man, who cares very much for Rose. He helps her to safety when the ship is sinking, but does not get on a lifeboat himself. I think this is because distraught about his ship sinking and by the fact that there werent enough life boats, which he decided, and now people would die because of the decision. Mr. Ismay, was the designer of Titanic, he just wanted the fame by having her in the news, he pushed the engines too hard by making them go faster and faster when they didnt need to. If the Titanic wasnt going so fast she might have been able to turn in time and not crash. Ismay is shown as a coward in the film, he is expected to go down with the ship, but instead he jumps on a lifeboat when no one is looking. The Captain is shown as a very important and respected man. Although it was Ismay who suggested going faster, is was the Captain that made it so. I think that he is depicted as quite a noble man because he goes down with the ship. Rose and Jack first properly meet at the back of the ship when Rose is about to commit suicide. He shows his caring by telling her that hell jump in after her even if it means his own death. This becomes one of the themes of the film You Jump, I Jump! Jack first sees Rose as she is looking over the railing of the upper-class deck, it is love at first site and he knows that he has to be with her. I think that this is significant, because although he doesnt know her he still wants to be with her, even thought he knows there is a vast class difference. I think the setting is significant in the places where the rich and poor are kept. The rich have expensive, luxurious rooms and a fancy dinning area, whereas the poor are kept in bunkers and have a large hall where the dance and socialise. The places where the poor are kept do not look expensive and are very dirty, and infested with rats. As the ship is sinking, it uses many shots, Long shot and close up. It uses long shots to show the ship from afar, there is not music and it is all dark. This shows the isolation of the ship and that it is very unlikely someone will arrive in time to save them. The close up shows the ships breaking apart and falling, it has very dramatic music in the background, and lots of screaming. The characters are all running around franticly and all the glamour of the ship seems to of faded. The atmosphere is created by the screams of the people, watching the ship fall apart. The emotion is created, by watching what is happening to these people, freezing to death, crying for help, desperately trying to get on a life boat. So desperate that they cut one down whilst drowning. My favourite parts of the film are where the ship sinks, and when Jack and Rose are stood on the edge of the ship. There is soft romantic music in the back ground, the main theme song, and there are close ups of their faces, showing the love on them, panning shot around them, stood on the edge, and point of view shots, where you see what Rose does on the edge of the ship. I think this sequence is important in the film because it shows that Rose doesnt care about class boundaries either, she returns to him, and still loves him, even thought he is of a low class. Also it is the last time Titanic sees daylight. I think that A Night to Remember, another depiction of the historical event, made is 1958, and directed by Roy Baker, is similar to that of Titanic. The most fundamental difference centres on exactly what question each film is answering. A Night to Remember answers the question How did the tragedy happen? whereas Titanic answers What was it like to live through it? A Night to Remember shows us The Californian, the ship that failed to answer to Titanics distress call, whereas we arent shown that in Titanic. The shots are not that different, they use the same type, but the point of view is very different, Titanic uses a 1st person narrative, whereas A Night to Remember uses the 3rd person narrative. The treatment of the passenger is similar, but I think that the people in the life boats were treated differently on Titanic than A Night to Remember. I think that the way they are treated in Titanic is more like they would be. I think that James Cameron decided to have Rose die at the end of the film because it lets her return to Jack, and that his love for her is still strong, she has finally let go of what happened. She does this by dropping the Heart of the Ocean in the ocean. I think that it shows Rose with all her pictures with her because it shows how far she has come in life, the impact that Jack had on her. It shows her riding on a Horse like a man would do at that time and various other things she wouldnt have done if she continued as she was before meeting Jack, like fly a plane. If she hadnt met Jack, she wouldnt have done any of these things. I think that the theme tune is significant, because it is titled My Heart Will Go On, I think this is saying that Roses love for Jack will continue even though he is dead, which is shown when she returns to him at the end. He is still waiting for her, and he still loves her. Even though their physical love has ended, their mental love will go o forever. I think that the film Titanic was made to retell the tragic events that happened, to make our generation live it all over again, get involved in it, be sad about it. By telling us the story, we can tell what it would have been like for someone who went through that, and we can emphasise with them more, and if a film can make someone do that, I think that it make them a better person for it. I think that the events that happened on April 14th 1912 are some of the most horrific and saddest I have ever heard of, and I think that this is a great film and it will truly be loved for generations to come.