Harsh Times is a 2006 American crime film set in South Los Angeles. The film stars Christian Bale, Freddy Rodriguez, and Eva Longoria, and was written and directed by David Ayer, who wrote the script for the Academy Award-winning film Training Day. The film was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Pictures and Bauer Martinez Entertainment. Ayer says that the film's characters are greatly based on the people he knew when he lived in South Central.
Target audience- the film was rated 18 due to the scense of violence, bad language, use of drugs and also sexual scenes which viewers may have found disturbing.
Genre-the film is an American crime thriller set in south Los Angeles and tells the story of two best friends finding it hard to resist the temptations of drug abuse, alcohol and making easy money by drug trafficing. They soon find out that their back to the way of life they once tried to leave in Los Angeles.
Type of shot- theres a shot involving all of the 3 main characters in the story, which shows that all 3 are related in some way within the film. The man in the front is wearing just a vest and he is quite muscular. You can also see from his arms that he has tattos, implying that he may have been in the army or a gang, since the location is set in Los Angeles. The medium shot is used to show the expression on the man’s face in relation to the other two characters, and we can tell that he is not in the best of moods by how the man in the back is holding the girl. The man in the back is shown looking forward to the other man with a calm expression on his face, maybe to show that everythings alright for the women that he is holding in his arms.the lady in the back is shown looking down while holding the mans body, maybe to show that she is feeling safe and comforted.these two characters are shown in a long shot, to indicate that they have something to do with the character at the front.The wall behind all of these characters has graffiti on it, showing that the area around them is a hood since they are living in Los angeles which is a place occupied by many street gangs.also the palm trees and the long telephone wires also indicated that this place is set in Los angeles, as these items are a key theme to Los Angeles.
Lighting-With the man in front, both high key and low key lighting is used to indicate that there are 2 sides to this character. This may related to the other characters, as he may have a dark side due to one of them, but then a lighter side due to the other.The same lighting is used for the other two characters, and the lighting may reflect back to the name of the film ,as ‘harsh times’ does bring out the worst in people, but the people who are near you can keep you in the right moods.as you make your way up the poster, the lighting turns from low key to high key as we get to the palm trees and the sunny sky. This may relate back to the nice atmosphere in Los Angeles and shows the audience where they live and that this is their home.
Typography-The title of the film is in a bright white colour so that is stands out from the low key lighting in the poster. The chosen colour white may reflect the innocence of the characters in the film, and that even though they may be victims to harsh times, their actions only portray that they are victims and their actions are only created from the pressure and strain their put under.The titles font is written in a pirate like font along with a pirate skull, maybe to indicate that there will be a lot of ruthless killing and action like there was back in myths in the times when pirates ruled the seas.The title and skull is shown right underneath the main character of the story, maybe implying that something to do with death will happen to him.
What can the film be about-by looking at the poster I get the impression that the film will have something to do with what is seen in Los Angeles. Things to do with drugs, guns, gangs and ruthless killings. There will definitly be something to do with the 3 main characters, and there will be a story behind all 3 characters. The title gives away most of the story, as the film will include a lot of scenes which will look like harsh times, and maybe all 3 characters experience harsh times by living in Los Angeles.
Props-there arent many props used within the poster which the actors hold. But the use of a sunny setting in Los Angeles along with the palm trees, tattos and graffiti walls shows us that gangs, drugs, guns and killings will be involved in the movie.
Mise en scene
Costumes- the two men in the poster are wearing vests to show their tattos and muscles. This is what a lot of gangsters in Los Angeles do to show what gangs they are part of, so this gives away the fact that things to do with gangs like drugs and guns will be involved.the use of vests also shows that this film is about action as strong men in a movie show that there will be a lot of action.
Actors-an award winning actor named Christian Bale, famous for his role in the Batman franchise is the main character in this movie, along with Freddy RodrÃguez who is also another famous award winning actor.Another actor who was the main female actor in the movie named Eva Longoria-Parker was voted number 9 out of 100 for the hottest girls in the Maxim magazine.therefore there would be a wide audience appeal as a wide range of famous actors are present in the movie. The actors within the movie are famous for their roles in action movies, so the genre of the movie would be given away from the actors.
Make up-the actors bodies are all air brushed so that they look perfect for the
movie.
Setting- South Los Angeles, often abbreviated as South L.A., is the official name for a large geographic and cultural portion lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central Los Angeles, and is still widely known as South Central. It borders the Westside on the northwest, and Downtown LA on the northeast. Widespread unemployment, poverty and street crime resulted in South Central. Street gangs, such as the Crips and Bloods, rose to great notoriety. They became even more powerful with money from drugs, especially the crack cocaine trade, dominated by gangs in the 1980s. By the time of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which began in South Central and spread throughout the city, South Central had become a byword for urban decay. Its bad reputation was broadcast by movies such as Colors, South Central, Menace II Society, Friday, and in particular, South Central native John Singleton's Boyz N the Hood. The rap group N.W.A.'s album Straight Outta Compton also promoted South Central's bad image.
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