Unit 22 Single Camera - Marina - 11 Sep 2017

The feature film that I have chosen to analyse for this unit will be Central Intelligence, the television serial I am going to analyse is Luke Cage and the television series that I am going to analyse is NCIS: Los Angeles.

Factual Information

Central Intelligence

The director of the film Central Intelligence was Rawson Marshall Thurber. The film was released in the United States on the 17th of June 2016 and was released in the United Kingdom on the 29th of June 2016. The main cast of the film includes Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Amy Ryan, Aaron Paul and Jason Bateman. The actors that were cast in the film are some of the big names in Hollywood and their fame and popularity will help the film reach a wider audience. The film had a budget of $50m and although it had mixed reviews, it made a box office of $217m. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has 69% rating and average rating of 5.7/10.

Luke Cage

The TV serial, Luke cage was directed by Manuel Billeter and the serial was produced by Marvel Television and ABC Studios. All episodes of the first season of Luke Cage were released on the streaming platform Netflix on the 30th of September 2016. The serial was filmed in the city of New York and was set out to create a realistic interpretation of Harlem's atmosphere. The main cast in the show are Mike Colter, Simone Missick, Alfre Woodard, Rosario Dawson, Theo Rossi and Mahershala Ali. The actors involved in the show are not really big names like ones in Hollywood films but the TV serial was still very successful and because of this, it was renewed for a second season set to be released in 2018. Season one of Luke cage received a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an average rating of 8.2/10.

NCIS: Los Angeles 

The TV series NCIS: Los Angeles was created by Shane Brennan and was directed by Tony Wharmby, Terrence O'Hara, Dennis Smith and many other directors. The series was released on CBS on the 22nd of September 2009. The main cast of NCIS: LA includes Daniella Ruah, Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J. Including LL Cool J in the cast allowed the series to reach a wider audience and become more popular because he is also a successful rapper and would attract his fans to go and watch this TV series. The TV series became very successful and it has since been renewed for a ninth season set to release on the 1st of October 2017.

Format and genre

Central Intelligence

The genre of Central Intelligence is both action and comedy. These genres are shown in the film through the use of weapons, fight scenes and car chases. The comedic genre is shown through the two main actors especially the comedian Kevin Hart. The two are always telling jokes and find ways to make the audience laugh.

Luke Cage

The genres used in the TV serial Luke Cage is superhero, action and drama. Luke Cage the main character, is a superhero who tries to take down the villains Cottonmouth and Black Mariah. He wants Harlem to get back to normal and there multiple scenes of action with Luke Cage fighting people whilst they are shooting at him.

NCIS: Los Angeles

The TV series, NCIS: LA has a main genre of crime with the sub genres of action and drama. They are undercover agents who solve crimes and there are lots of action packed scenes with weapons, combat, car changes and interrogations.

Narrative elements 

Central Intelligence

The story of Central Intelligence is about two friends from high school that meet up in the future to save America. One of them, Bob Stone (Dwayne Johnson) is a CIA agent and brings Calvin Joyner (Kevin Hart) with him to help him stop terrorists from selling satellite codes. The film began filming on the 6th of May 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia and also throughout Massachusetts. The Central Intelligence follows a linear pattern. This is shown by how the same story is told throughout the whole film and is then solved at the end of it. This is supported by the fact that the film has a clear beginning, middle and end and is simple for viewers to understand whats happening and be able to follow it. The narrative that was used in the film is realist as their is no one that has superhuman powers and the film is set in the modern day.

Luke Cage

The story of Luke Cage is about him trying to stop a crime family based in Harlem. Luke Cage wants to stop Cottonmouth and Black Mariah from committing crimes in his city and wants to restore it back to how it was. The serial was filmed in New York City, specifically creating the environment of Harlem. Luke Cage follows a liner narrative and pattern because it has an ongoing story of Luke Cage stopping crime in his city trying to restore the peace. The serial has a non realistic narrative because Luke Cage has superhuman powers and is fighting crime by himself without approval from the police. At the end of the first season it shows Luke Cage stop Cottonmouth and then Luke Cage ends up in jail because of his past.

NCIS: Los Angeles

NCIS: LA is an example of a TV series meaning that it has a main story obtained and solved in each episode. In this TV series, the team are faced with different crimes in each episode and they have to work together to solve them. The team in NCIS: LA mainly operate undercover so the majority of the episodes show the characters undercover acting as things such as janitors. The TV series in filmed and located in the American city of Los Angeles in an NCIS office in a hidden location. The story includes flashbacks of one of the main characters past (G Callen) about he was shot and the sereis also shows him trying to find out who he is as he was an orphan. At the end of each episode the cases are solved and closed but Callen's past is still left to be solved.

Characters

Central Intelligence 

The two heroes in the cast are CIA agent Bob Stone (Dwayne Johnson) and his friend Calvin Joyner (Kevin Hart). The villain in the story is Phil (Aaron Paul) who tries to get satellite codes. The purpose of Bob Stone's character in the movie is to stop the villain from selling the satellite codes. Bob meets his high school friend Calvin Joyner and now that hes involved he has to help Bob Stone with his mission, The purpose of the villain in the film is to sell the satellite codes before being stopped by Bob Stone.

Luke Cage

The hero in the cast of the serial is Luke Cage (Mike Colter) who occasionally receives help from a police officer called Misty Knight (Simone Missick). Th purpose of Luke Cages character is to stop crime in the area of Harlem which he refers to as his city,  The main villains in Luke Cage are Cottonmouth (Mahershala Ali) and Black Mariah (Alfre Woodard). The purpose of the villains in the story is to make as much money as possible through crimes such as weapons dealings and drugs. The villains try to this without being caught by either Luke Cage or the police.

NCIS: Los Angeles 

The main NCIS agents in the TV series are G Callen (Chris O'Donnell), Sam Hanna (LL Cool J), Kenzie Blye (Daniela Ruah) and Marty Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen). The purpose of the agents is to solve the crimes that they are assigned to and to bring criminals to justice. In each episode of NCIS: LA there are different villains and each of them have different purposes.

Themes 

Central Intelligence

I would say that the theme of the film Central Intelligence is friendship and freedom. The theme of friendship is highlighted during the film because Bob Stone finds Calvin Joyner on Facebook and they meet again after several years. They then work together to stop terrorists from selling satellite codes with highlights the theme of good vs evil.

Luke Cage

The main theme throughout the TV serial Luke Cage is good vs evil. Luke Cage is the main hero in the show and he fights crime by himself. HE doesn't want recognition for what he is doing and he just wants Harlem to be free of crime.

NCIS: Los Angeles

I would say that there is no theme in this TV series as there is a new storyline every episode with different things happening and different characters involved.

Interesting scenes or camera shots

Central Intelligence 

The feature film Central Intelligence includes multiple different camera shots throughout the film. Whenever Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Harts characters are on screen together, there is never a shot of one being higher or superior to the other. This use of camera highlights their friendship and equality. There also multiple interesting scenes of flashbacks of Dwayne Johnson's character to tell the audience about his past.

Luke Cage

The TV serial Luke Cage uses lots of high angle and low angle shots when Luke Cage is up against criminals. I think that these shots are effective and were used because it highlights Luke Cage's superiority to them and informs the audience that he is control of these situations.

NCIS: Los Angeles


In the TV series NCIS: LA i think that the use of movement from the camera are good shots and effective. These shots are usually used when their are car chases as the camera often pans quickly between the vehicles and also zooms out. I think that these shots are effective because they highlight the intensity and adrenaline factor of these scenes. In the show there are also interesting flashbacks of agent G Callen's past because he is a very closed character who the audience and himself so not know about his origin and what the 'G' stands for.