READY PLAYER ONE | Teen Ink

READY PLAYER ONE

December 21, 2018
By Anonymous

Ready player one was released on March 29,2018. The director is Steven Spielberg. This movie was based on the book, ready player one, by Ernest Clime. The screenplay was by Zak Penn and Ernest Clime. Th main actors of the film are Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelssohn, T.J. Miller, and Simon Pegg. The studio producing the film is the Warner Brothers. Editor son the movie is Michael Kahn and Sarah Broshar. 

 


 The main conflicts in this film are hero vs villain, hero vs system, hero vs technology, and hero vs foreign land.  In ready player one, Wade Watts is the hero facing against the main villain Nolan Sorrento. This is basic good vs bad relationship throughout the movie. Hero vs System is also another main conflict in the movie because the hero has to go against a large corporation (IOI (innovative online industries ))that basically controls the government and that goes against him to achieve his quest throughout the film. Hero vs technology is another conflict in the film. Technology plays a big part in the film because the film is basically being placed in an online dimension. This gives the villain technological advantages throughout the film even if the technological advance is not fair. For example, the technology of the online dimension allows IOI to re-spawn their players twenty-four seven because technology allows them to do so while others, like Wade, cannot due to there own disadvantages. Hero vs foreign land is one of the main conflicts in this film. In the film, the players just face their quest by having to go to an online dimension where they have to face unknown territories. The characters never know what they have to face, which makes it a foreign land unlike their own home, planet earth. 

 


 There are numerous archetypes present in the movie ready player one. These archetypes are hero vs villain, buddy friendship, breaking away, and Madea. All these archetypes truly made the film spontaneous. Hero vs villain is a very basic archetype. A very simple antagonist versus protagonist. Makes ready player one have a good and evil side in the story.  Buddy friendship is another archetype seen in this film. The main character has a friendly relationship with his online friend, Helen. This friendship in the movie shows them working together and showing the loving friendship throughout the movie by having them fighting and having warming and lovable moments throughout the movie. Another archetype that plays an important role in this film is known as breaking away. Wade watts faces a coming of age in the film in two points in the film. First in the beginning when he has to live with his aunt and her boyfriend because his parents have passed away, which basically leaves him to fend for himself. He has forcefully broken away from his parents which caused him to come of age. The second point in this film that explains the breaking away archetype is when IOI places bombs on his home to kill his aunt and her boyfriend, even though the bombs were meant for him. This also forces him to break away and come of age because all the family has now passed away. Many people may not notice this last archetype but it plays a big role still. Madea is found throughout the movie ready player one. Two of the main characters must face revenge over IOI which drives them to solve their problem. Madea is usually a females revenge and can also be a male which is why it fits so perfectly into the plot ( Samantha and Wade have revenge against IOI).

 


 Ready player one has a mixed style. It uses the styles realist, modernist, and postmodernist together. Postmodernist is seen throughout the movie by the film using many references and a lot of irony. For example, they use Chucky the horror film character as a weapon in the film and use the movie the shining as a funny reference to find one of the hidden keys. The audience must know the original to underhand the quotations and references this film provides. It pokes fun at references and uses some for very important parts of the movie such as king kong, the shining, and the iron giant at the end. The film is also realist because the film has many relatable characters, for example, Samantha cook who doesn’t want wade to see her true identity because she’s ashamed of her looks, which relates to their younger audience.  The film also disguises the filmmaking process. While I watch the film, I completely forget that it was being recorded the whole time. They also refuse to break the fourth wall the whole film. The film also mixes in a little bit of modernist into the film by having flashbacks and jump-cuts, for example, when they showed flashbacks of James Hailday . 

 


 This film’s genre is science fiction. throughout the movie, there are tropes that explain why this movie is a science fiction film. Most science fiction films have bizarre technology, futuristic settings, and out of this world characters. Ready player one has all those tropes. By having the OASIS and IOI as big technology corporations and one of them being able to create a whole new world, and the other having a world-class operation that specializes in advanced technology, they definitely fit into the criteria of advanced technology. The movie is set in 2045, so the film has to show a futuristic theme, which they did amazingly by showing how their world is contaminated but the’re is an advanced and innovated online world. Science fiction has many characters that are usually irregular, in ready player one, characters can change their look into anything that they want. For example, they can turn into a ten feet giant or even a crazy looking monster. Ready player one has interesting tropes that enable the film’s genre to be identified as science fiction genre. 

Ready player one uses a series of editing techniques throughout the film. CGI, jump cuts, and flashbacks The film is seventy-five percent computer generated images throughout the film. The CGI allows for more creativity throughout the film and brings things to life. They create a new world that has amazing features and different characters with divergent characters throughout the film. The CGI also enables the film to have very action-packed scenes because they are able to do more astounding scenes without having to rely on real-life humans. There is also a lot of cuts throughout the movie where they use trick photography to trick the audience to forget that they’re watching a film. They cut into action shots to give the film a better flow. It results in a much smoother transition and a more tense action scene. They add in the flashbacks in to display an important characters lifestyle so the main characters can find a solution to their problem. 

 


Special shooting techniques in ready player one include the Spielberg face, the long take, and unrestricted & restricted narratives. Since ready player one was directed by Steven Spielberg it was no surprise that the shooting technique, the Spielberg's face, was included. The technique was used throughout the film countless times. It displayed the emotion of shock and sadness in the characters. The long take was also used. It was used in very tense scenes to create suspense for the audience. It was also used in action-packed scenes to show a full outcome.  Unrestricted and restricted narratives create suspense in the film. Some scenes show the perspective of the main character while others were the audience can see more than the main characters. By having the audience see more than the characters this creates suspense in the film. But id the audience only sees what the characters see this allows for jump scares and surprise throughout the film. 

 


 Ready player one has a very dark, futuristic, and light art direction. At the beginning of the film its very dark and gloomy, the only times in the film where the film is lighter and bright is when something superior happens. The film has a futuristic direction throughout the scenes. The set design in the present day earth in the movie seems very dirty, compressed, and depressing. The online virtual world is very captivating and bright. The setting reflects on the film on how the virtual world is better than the regular world. It shows how the characters feel like they can show their true selves in the virtual reality that they live in. The real earth that they live on is a constant reminder of their problems in the real world. The acting style in my perspective is a little over exaggerated. The actors seem don’t seems to ease into there roles, they seem to be overdoing the acting at times. 

The films major theme in my eyes, is that not everything is what it seems. Throughout the film, the characters seem to think that they know what James Hailday wanted and how to find the keys, but they had to look for a different perspective to find clues. The main point of this film is to look past the normal things and be able to look deeper into unexpected things. The OASIS is an example of that not everything is that it seems because everyone is under an avatar and no one reveals their true self. The scene that sums up the films main idea is when Wade reaches the final key by finding the easter egg in the game instead of trying to win the game like everyone else. It also proves my point on what the film's theme is, not everything is what it seems. 

 


 The culture during the release of the film has a very similar perspective on the world. People in the year 2018 have become ingested into technology and have forgotten to take care of their own planet. People have been overtaken by technology in their lives. People use technology as an escape in their lives. Companies have started to merge into each other creating a monopoly. Women are advocating their more masculine side. Ready player one takes all of the historical context into the film. The virtual reality and the real-life world being dirty and depressing and people relying on the internet to fulfill their lives.

 


 Ready play one is a film that is very diverse. It has many different conflicts and archetypes that shape the film into its many different ideas. People can relate to this film because of their relatable characters which shows the films realist style. The quotations and references throughout the film give the film a very post-modernist style. They use a large variety of editing techniques and shooting techniques to keep their audience interested and on the edge of their seats. The film has a very gloomy setting that gradually moves into a more bright and happy setting. Ready player one’s theme was portrayed amazingly and was an amazing movie.



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