How does Morgan Freeman’s performances across multiple roles enhance his appeal for his audience?
During his illustrative career Morgan Freeman is one of the worlds most beloved actors, why most people consider Morgan Freeman as one of the best actors in the world is unlike some actor who have become type-casted into a specific genre, that is not the case with Morgan Freeman as he has appeared in many genres from action, comedy, drama, adventure and thrillers. But Morgan Freeman has won only 1 Oscar for his role in Million Dollar Baby, 1 Golden Globe for his role in Driving Miss Daisy and others, also was nominated for tons of awards. But anyone who knows who Morgan Freeman is know him for his role as Ellis Boyd ‘Red’ Reddingin The Shawshank Redemption. It is due to the soft style that Morgan Freeman plays his characters with his soothing voice.
For this project I will be looking into the career of Morgan Freeman I will be looking to do a star study analysis and looking towards his career, looking at 3 of his biggest roles across different genres. I will be looking at his star persona and character changes across his performance and to see how his performances changes, also the repetition and differences in the films he has appeared in, which will result in looking at the consistency if his performance within the films. I will be looking in to semiotics and rhetoric analysis around Morgan Freeman. As a part of my primary sources will be getting interview and focus groups and show clips from the 3 films I selected of Morgan Freeman to see what they think of his work and which of his films are their favourite. For secondary sources I will look at sources of what other people online have to say about Morgan Freeman and also looking at his films and the reviews of the 3 films I select and options from critics about Morgan Freeman in the films I choice to look at.
Bibliography (Books to look at)
- Kathleen Tracy (2010). Morgan Freeman: A Biography. Lost Angeles: JR Books Limited. 1-190.
- Laurence Goldstein, Ira Konigsberg (1996). The Movies: Texts, Receptions, Exposures. Michigan: University of Michigan Press. 188-193.
- Frederic P. Miller, Agnes F. Vandome, John McBrewster (2010). Morgan Freeman: Actor, Film Director, Narrator, Academy Award, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption, Million Dollar Baby, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Box Office, Unforgiven, Seven (film). Los Angeles: Alphascript Publishing. 1-172.
- Jenny Reese (2011). Off the Record Guide to the Film Career of Morgan Freeman. California: BiblioBazaar. 1-306
- Emily Smith (2012). The Morgan Freeman Handbook – Everything You Need to Know about Morgan Freeman. USA: Emereo Pty Limited. 1-372.
Sean Heeley 