Hollywood is currently going through an age of remakes, with a large number of films being reworked and repackaged for the modern Cinema audience. Examples like The Karate Kid, The Italian Job, Clash of the Titans etc are all new versions of old films. But what is the relevance to us?
Well we can look at the differences in production bought about by time. How were films made back then, and what has changed now? I've been comparing 3:10 to Yuma, first made in 1950, remade in 2007. There are man ydiffering factors, from how Hollywood was run, to the themes and content, to marketing etc.
While both films follow the same plot, they differ in nearly every production context. Take the first scene of both films for instance. The '57 version has a song sung by a popular recording aritst, while images of a stagecoach crossing the frontier play out. Come forward to '07, the film is darkly lit, with no soundtarck and a violent attack on the ranch. From one scene you can see the difference in cinematography, sound, levels of violence and storytelling. The modern audience wants violence. As I have explored in Media Studies, the Westernised US/UK Audience is strongly decensitised to violence, and also they seem to enjoy it. It's why games like Grand Theft Auto IV and Call of Duty are big sellers and horror films like the Final Destination series, which take pleasure in violence are still going. So thats why there is a grittier, violent feel to many modern remake.
The remakes opening scene is shot in an interesting way, using candle light and natural light to light the scene. It also uses the modern favourite of Hand Held camera work. It feels grittier and more realistic. The original however has sharp cinematography and everything is purposefully shot. They both have a bold visual style which appeals to the different period audiences.
I will use my comparitive essay to further explore these ideas and find out what has really changed, espcially beyond some of the face value material I have discussed above.
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