Case Study 2

Case Study Two:

1)Institution

Name of thriller film: Terminator 2 Judgement day

Director: James Cameron

Production Company: Tristar pictures

Release Date: July 3 1991

Country Made: United States of America

Box Office Returns: The film grossed $204.8 million in America alone and was the highest grossing film for that time period, it also beat the ratings for its first film which only made $38 million for its US run. This gave the film a 434% increase which was a record for the sequel.

2)Audience

The intended target audience for the selected film was the consumers who watched the first film first so they wanted to keep some of the ideas the same thus keeping the ideas and some characters/actors the same. It was then aimed at people who hadn't watched the film so that anyone could watch it and understand it without having to have seen the first film produced. That said you would have a better understanding if you saw the first film before watching the second edition.

Age wise it was intended for teenagers and above due to the age limit and the fact that they wanted to include some horror type scenes and they wanted to show death a lot in order to prove how dangerous the machines are. This meant that they could increase the action dramatically without having to miss out any type of gore as the age was fairly high, although they didn't want it to become a horror so they kept too much gore at a minimum.

A user from IMDM said this about the film. "This story is a special one where humans are our own worst enemy. Arnold's line where he says its in your nature to destroy yourselves is something that sends chills down my spine because its true. I loved the relationship between Arnold and Eddie Furlong, interesting to see a terminator take the place perfectly of a father and you see the pain in Eddies eyes of never wanting to let go of the terminator. Like Sarah Connor said the terminator wouldn't stop, it would never leave him. It would never hurt him or shout at him or get drunk and hit him or say it was too busy to spend tine with him. And it would die to protect him meant a lot to me. It is an excellent film and one that will always stand out against cinematic history.

3)Technology

For this film technology was a great help, especially for the scenes that needed CGI such as showing the robot changing to a human and the big explosions. It wasn't used too much as it was still quite new however the film did need the computer sequences for some scenes in the film that couldn't be shoot through a camera straight away and those that couldn't be made from dolls or models etc. The biggest part of technology shown in the film would be the structure of the robots and the arm that it shown half way through the film, this had to be created but it looks real and thus could be classed as a piece of technology due to technology actually building it in the first place.

4)Codes/Forms and Conventions Of The Thriller Genre

The camera angles and movements for this film are quite complex as it is a blockbuster film which could on the millions to make so there aren't going to be too many simple shots. That said they do seem to use the dolly a lot especially for car chases and such, they also show the most well known shots which are a high and low shot. High shot which makes the person seem more powerful or strong and a low shot which makes the character seem timid or weak. This is probably to create tension and to give the film different aspects so that the audience don't get bored of watching it.

Lighting is changed throughout the film but in certain points it is quite dark to show that the character is trapped or confined whereas in others it is quite bright which shows that there is still hope or that the character will find a way out of the mess. These are just two examples and trust me there are many many more throughout the film. Most of them are used to show the change in time, location and characters. This is used in order to give the audience hints about what a character is like or what is happening to them.

Non digetic sound and Digetic sound are both widely used in this production from screaming and explosions to the soundtrack during a chase or fight. These both create tension and tries to give the right atmosphere to the scene so that the audience will hopefully react in a similar way to what the characters do.

The locations in the film are quite isolated which could show that the characters think that they are isolated or the fact that they are isolated, for example the terminator is the only good robot in the film so he is defiantly isolated from all of the other characters in that way. The locations vary from a desert to the city which gives off an opposite feel to the desert which gives off a feel and could mean that they are surrounded or blocked up/trapped. They are used to give the film a sense of location and familiarity to the film while setting the scene as well.

There are various character types in the film but the main ones that the film focuses on are the terminator played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sarah Connor played by Linda Hamilton, John Connor played by Edward Furlong and the evil terminator known as T-1000 who is played by Robert Patrick. There personality's are quite different due to their ages, past and their species. The good terminator is strong and blunt as he is a robot meaning he has no feelings to think of, not even pain whereas Sarah Connor is also a fighter yet is only one because she wants to protect her son from the machines showing that she expresses love. The characters are used to show the difference between the robots who have no feeling to humans and the film tries to make you connect to the humans in the film. This makes the idea of the film seem real as you don't judge it to being fake you just accept that the film is real. The most common prop in the whole film is the weapons which are usually guns, the good terminator and Sarah Connor use these quite a lot in order to kill the T-1000 or just to get away from it. They are used to show the strength of both characters and to show that they are in real dangerous situations.

The genre of the film is a mix between three which is thriller/action/science fiction, these all show exactly what the film is about as it covers all of the elements of the film. The action associates with the guns and explosions while the science fiction associates with the idea of robots and time travel, the thriller is the plot line of the film.

The narrative structure of the film is linear however there are dreams of the future and a lot of talk about the future as the robot comes from that time period and explains what could happen if evil wins or gets a certain amount of power. This makes the audience think about the characters and hope that they win because as i pointed out before they accept the idea of the film as real so if the machines win and take control over the world then they would associate their world with being destroyed. A lot of films do this and even soaps now include this to their story lines because these makes some consumers shout out at the screen showing that they are involved in the film and enjoy it.

5)representation

The female character Sarah Connor is represented at the start as being mentally ill because she keeps going on about the fact that machines will take over the world and only her son can stop them. This is a typical scene of a person who knows that the world is going to be destroyed yet no one believes them until something happens, in this case when the evil machine tries to find and kill Sarah.

The other character which is stereotyped is the young boy John Connor who is in the film a kind of criminal, he is living with step parents and is shown to break into a cash point to steal money by using a device that he built which gave him and a friend some money. Again this is a typical troubled youth type of character who then finds out that he is destined to save the world, he initially tries to fight this but later on accepts it when he sees how much his mother believes in it and how much she fights to save him so that he can save the human race.

The robot seems to be what most people would think of because its strong, doesn't think much and if it does speak that its just quick, short sentences. That said the audience does connect to the terminator which gives him a sense of character. However the audience also connects to the bad character who hardly ever speaks as he shows his words through his expressions. It is the typical bad character who is stronger than the original terminator yet it defeated by the forces of good.

The culture ideology however is the value of Sarah Connor at the start of the film as she is seen as being low down in the food chain and not as important as everyone else. This shows the discrimination towards women and towards mentally disabled people as she is seen as one and is ignored and treated how a human shouldn't be treated e.g. by being strapped down and injected.