Hi,
This week we watched three opening sequences from Se7en, Arlington Road and True Blood.
The only one of these I haven't seen is Se7en, so I can look at it from a different perspective that the other two sequences. The opening sequence of Se7en made me think it was about something creepy. The extreme close ups of writing, words and pictures freaked me out! The names of the actors as well were scribbly and wonky and that was kinda scary too. It made me think it was about someone reclusive and obsessed...I just don't know what aforementioned person is obsessed about!! I went to JB HI-FI last night and saw it there so I read the back. It's about a serial killer!!! I'm actually gonna go rent it I'm curious to see what it's like.
Arlington Road is such a good movie. It creeped me out to no end when I was younger, and I haven't seen it for a while. I think the opening sequence is an accurate representation of what is coming in the film. It shows distorted, negative images of suburban life. Just putting the shots into negative makes it seem so scary, as if all these comfortable images are not what they seem. What lies beneath the surface?
True Blood is a good show, but it totally wasn't what I was expecting. Mind-reading, friendly vampires, miserable town. I thought it was just going to be like Twilight. It's actually way darker, and sexier, and scarier, and cooler! The opening sequence freaks me out a bit, it makes me think of the southern states of America... the bayou and Louisiana. I don't know if that's actually where True Blood is set, but Louisiana is the state I think of when I think south. It has lots of opposites, like the Christians dancing in church and the stripper. Like Josh said, it's about the circle of life. Birth, death and rebirth.
After watching the opening sequences this week I'm inspired to watch more of True Blood and to rewatch Arlington Road!
The end.
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Monday, 28 March 2011
Week 4, Part 2 - A Serious Man, The Fighter, Memento
Hi,
This week in the tutorial we watched a few minutes of three films: A Serious Man, The Fighter and Memento.
A Serious Man started off in the olden days, then jumped forward to the sixties. The scenes were set out with very little movement, and this is similar to films of the 1960's. It is interesting because it is set in the 60's, so every aspect of the film aimed to reflect that era.
Fighter began like a documentary, however the quality of the camera in the documentary is quite similar to the quality of the camera for the rest of the film. I think this is so we feel like we are actually there, experiencing it all with the characters.
Memento is an example of a simple story told in a complicated way. Different scenes are shot either in black and white or colour. The black and white is shown in order of how things happened in the story, and the colour scenes show the same story in reverse. It's so confusing and I really want to watch the whole movie to see if it becomes clearer the more you watch it.
This week Josh wanted us to watch 2 or 3 movies of a particular genre. I chose horror, partly because I love it and party because this week I've already watched two horror movies. The ones I've picked are Teeth, Devil and The Omen (2006 version). It is arguable whether Teeth is actually a horror movie, seeing as we were seeing the film from the killers perspective... however there are a lot of gory and painful murders which are common in modern horror films. I picked The Omen remake because horror in the 1970's is very different to horror today.
Teeth is about a girl with something known as 'vagina dentata' which bites off anything that goes into her box without her wanting it to. Devil is about strangers who get stuck in an elevator together and slowly get killed off by the devil who is among them. The Omen is about the original devil child. It seems like the devil is a recurring theme in horror films!
In horror films the colour red is a recurring theme. In the film Devil, all characters are wearing something red be it a handbag or a tie. In the security room the walls also seem to be bleeding in a way (though this could be just the bad quality of my TV making me think that). In The Omen, the evil nanny feeds Damian red fruit, and red petals fall around Katherine Thorn (Damian's mother) as she falls three stories onto tiles. Teeth is an exception, so I'll throw in the 1979 version of The Amityville Horror just to support my argument (there is a room all painted red that the family dog refuses to go near). I suppose red is a common theme because it's the same colour as blood.
In The Omen and Teeth, the film ends with a shot of Damian and Dawn's faces both with evil in their eyes. Damian because he has successfully killed his parents and is looking forward to doing it all again with his new ones. Dawn because she has finally come to terms with her..gift... and is going to use it as a weapon.
The Devil and The Omen both have scenes where characters look directly into the camera. In The Omen this is the aforementioned scene where the film ends with Damian looking evil. In the Devil this is a recurring element, it's as if we are looking into each characters eyes and trying to figure out which one is the devil. It also helps us feel like we are in the elevator with the characters.
Often in horror films, there is a resolution however right at the end there is something to tell the audience that it is not over yet. This is seen in The Omen with the above scene I've mentioned twice already, and in Teeth when Dawn smiles seductively at the creep who locked her in his car. This is also seen in other horror movies like House of Wax and Piranha 3D (not the best horror films, but I'm just making a point).
One thing that Americans seem to looooooooooove in their horror films is to put the setting of the film right on top of an ancient Indian burial ground. The Amityville Horror, Pet Cematary, The Shining (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IndianBurialGround). The list goes on!
Those are the main recurring themes I've picked up in horror films.
The end.
Week 4 - Rubber
Hi,
This week in the lecture I was ten minutes late so thank goodness it was about stuff we learnt last year. Shot sizes, head room, the rule of thirds and the 180 degrees rule.
I never thought about those rules while watching movies, and really I still don't, however the first three seem quite obvious when framing a shot (this could possibly be due to the fact that I did photography in high school). The 180 degree rule however makes so much sense, yet I never even thought about it. If I made a film before I knew this rule I probably would have broken it without noticing, only realizing how silly it looks in post-production.
In the lecture we watched some of the film Rubber, which is interesting because it's not a new concept however it is done in a totally different way. The idea of a psychokinetic person going on a killing spree (à la Carrie) is not an original topic for a film. This movie makes this mass murderer a tire. The film, therefore, is totally different to any other film in the genre of super-mentally-powerful-murder-horror. Yes, that's a genre. No, I didn't make it up (I did). I personally got bored watch the movie but laughed when things exploded, and I really liked the opening scene with the police officer talking about how movies are really about nothing. It was filmed nicely I think, and it was cleverly made. The tire really did seem to have a mind of it's own!
The end.
I never thought about those rules while watching movies, and really I still don't, however the first three seem quite obvious when framing a shot (this could possibly be due to the fact that I did photography in high school). The 180 degree rule however makes so much sense, yet I never even thought about it. If I made a film before I knew this rule I probably would have broken it without noticing, only realizing how silly it looks in post-production.
In the lecture we watched some of the film Rubber, which is interesting because it's not a new concept however it is done in a totally different way. The idea of a psychokinetic person going on a killing spree (à la Carrie) is not an original topic for a film. This movie makes this mass murderer a tire. The film, therefore, is totally different to any other film in the genre of super-mentally-powerful-murder-horror. Yes, that's a genre. No, I didn't make it up (I did). I personally got bored watch the movie but laughed when things exploded, and I really liked the opening scene with the police officer talking about how movies are really about nothing. It was filmed nicely I think, and it was cleverly made. The tire really did seem to have a mind of it's own!
The end.
Thursday, 24 March 2011
Week 3, Part 2 - Repo! The Genetic Opera
I know this film has nothing at all to do with the short films we watched in class, but I watched it last night so I thought it would be a good one to analyse this week.
This week was all about going from A to B, and Repo! isn't a film like that (in the same sense as the first two BMW films we watched anyway). It's about a sick girl named Shiloh and her journey to be cured from an illness she's had all her life. It's a dark future where there have been hundreds of thousands of organ failures. GeneCo, an organ transplant company, loans out organs to people in need however if a recipient misses a payment a RepoMan will come and collect the loaned organ.
As it is an opera and was originally a stage production the characters are quite melodramatic and don't have the same realism you might see in some other films. That doesn't mean the film makers didn't know their characters extremely well however, and they are consistent and most of them do not grow or change at all. As it is a stage production the characters are quite simple so keeping up some level of consistently isn't that difficult. Luigi, eldest son to GeneCo's founder, is violent. That's it. Amber Sweet, daughter of GeneCo's founder, is addicted to plastic surgery. That's it. Many of the other characters are just as simple, especially the antagonists.
It has a solid structure and is consistent. To describe the past of various characters a comic book montage is shown on screen. This comic book style is used at various points throughout the movie so it doesn't feel odd when it happens again, actually it would be strange if it only happened once (like the scene where Hugo Stiglitz is introduced in Inglourious Basterds).
The film makers did write what they know in a way. They obviously don't know the future, and I don't think they know much about organ transplants and organ repossessions, however they do know opera and they do know horror. Darren Lynn Bousman directed the film, having also directed Saw 2, 3 and 4.
That's all I can think about for this movie, the end.
This week was all about going from A to B, and Repo! isn't a film like that (in the same sense as the first two BMW films we watched anyway). It's about a sick girl named Shiloh and her journey to be cured from an illness she's had all her life. It's a dark future where there have been hundreds of thousands of organ failures. GeneCo, an organ transplant company, loans out organs to people in need however if a recipient misses a payment a RepoMan will come and collect the loaned organ.
As it is an opera and was originally a stage production the characters are quite melodramatic and don't have the same realism you might see in some other films. That doesn't mean the film makers didn't know their characters extremely well however, and they are consistent and most of them do not grow or change at all. As it is a stage production the characters are quite simple so keeping up some level of consistently isn't that difficult. Luigi, eldest son to GeneCo's founder, is violent. That's it. Amber Sweet, daughter of GeneCo's founder, is addicted to plastic surgery. That's it. Many of the other characters are just as simple, especially the antagonists.
It has a solid structure and is consistent. To describe the past of various characters a comic book montage is shown on screen. This comic book style is used at various points throughout the movie so it doesn't feel odd when it happens again, actually it would be strange if it only happened once (like the scene where Hugo Stiglitz is introduced in Inglourious Basterds).
The film makers did write what they know in a way. They obviously don't know the future, and I don't think they know much about organ transplants and organ repossessions, however they do know opera and they do know horror. Darren Lynn Bousman directed the film, having also directed Saw 2, 3 and 4.
That's all I can think about for this movie, the end.
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Week 3 - Short films
Hi,
This week in the lecture Josh taught us about the three most important things to remember when writing our scripts and making our films:
- Write what you know
- Know your character
- Have a solid structure
The first two short films we watched this week were for BMW and made by a variety of successful directors. The running theme in all the short films was a car chase, getting from A to B. I'm not sure if the filmmaker of Powder Keg has much experience in this situation, but the second film starring Madonna was made by her then-husband so I imagine he is writing exactly what he knows.
Film 1 - Powder Keg (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285930/)
Stellan Skarsgard, Clive Owen
As is common with short films there is one obstacle, one confrontation and one resolution. The film jumps right into the action, with the audience witnessing the exact same thing as the central character (a war photographer played by Stellan Skarsgard). As the movie is short, the conversations and monologues in the film teach us about the characters and show the audience what the character has learnt about himself. The opening dialogue is in Spanish so the audience knows roughly where the film is set (though it is one of the most common languages in the world and I had and still have difficulty figuring out what country it is in. IMDB tells me it's Neuvo Colon. Okay that doesn't help.) At the end of the film the audience finds out that Skarsgard's character won the Pulitzer Prize (presumably post-homously). Although the audience, and the stars appear to be quite proud of him the film maker manages to convey to the audience that life isn't about career success and material things but about the choices you make along the way.
I thought it was really moving and really sad, and now I'm going to go google the Braille that was on the dog tag.
Film 2 - Star (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286151/)
Madonna, Clive Owen
This is one of those films where the lead character isn't decent, and you really want something bad to happen to them. Madonna's character is described by Clive Owen, and then her behaviour backs up his description. As it is a really short film this saves time so they can jump right into the action.
The film is resolved when Madonna gets to the venue of her concert, not before she is thrown all through the car and falls onto the red carpet and pees herself in front of the paparazzi.
The audience is satisfied as this evil character is taken down a notch. I liked Powder Keg better, I'm not a fan of Madonna and Powder Keg was a lot more powerful I believe. Star did seem a lot more like an ad though, so I think Guy Ritchie took the brief a bit more literally when directing it.
Film 3 - The Last Three Minutes
This was my favourite of the films we watched this week. It showed a man's life through his dying eyes, and it was extremely touching. It begins with a young energetic man leaving a building, then cuts to the janitor who suddenly has a heart attack. He drops a crystal (this reminded me so much of Citizen Kane) and holds it up to his eyes. It travels back in time. His wife leaving him, him and his wife in bed, him and his wife on the beach, him in war with a friend dying, him playing baseball as a child and various memories as an infant and baby. The flash back ends with his father giving him the crystal just after birth.
It cuts back to modern times as the old man dies.
Films like this always make me sad. It is showing us that life is so fast and over so quickly but we manage to fit so much into our lives. I'm not sure if the film maker intended me to feel this way, but it showed me that everyone has a story. I always wonder about old people and people working in solitary jobs (like a janitor) and I wonder where they come from and how they go to where they are.
Overall I really enjoyed the three short films this week and like Josh's lectures I remember the awesome beginning, the awesome end and not much about the boring bit in the middle.
The end.
This week in the lecture Josh taught us about the three most important things to remember when writing our scripts and making our films:
- Write what you know
- Know your character
- Have a solid structure
The first two short films we watched this week were for BMW and made by a variety of successful directors. The running theme in all the short films was a car chase, getting from A to B. I'm not sure if the filmmaker of Powder Keg has much experience in this situation, but the second film starring Madonna was made by her then-husband so I imagine he is writing exactly what he knows.
Film 1 - Powder Keg (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285930/)
Stellan Skarsgard, Clive Owen
As is common with short films there is one obstacle, one confrontation and one resolution. The film jumps right into the action, with the audience witnessing the exact same thing as the central character (a war photographer played by Stellan Skarsgard). As the movie is short, the conversations and monologues in the film teach us about the characters and show the audience what the character has learnt about himself. The opening dialogue is in Spanish so the audience knows roughly where the film is set (though it is one of the most common languages in the world and I had and still have difficulty figuring out what country it is in. IMDB tells me it's Neuvo Colon. Okay that doesn't help.) At the end of the film the audience finds out that Skarsgard's character won the Pulitzer Prize (presumably post-homously). Although the audience, and the stars appear to be quite proud of him the film maker manages to convey to the audience that life isn't about career success and material things but about the choices you make along the way.
I thought it was really moving and really sad, and now I'm going to go google the Braille that was on the dog tag.
Film 2 - Star (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286151/)
Madonna, Clive Owen
This is one of those films where the lead character isn't decent, and you really want something bad to happen to them. Madonna's character is described by Clive Owen, and then her behaviour backs up his description. As it is a really short film this saves time so they can jump right into the action.
The film is resolved when Madonna gets to the venue of her concert, not before she is thrown all through the car and falls onto the red carpet and pees herself in front of the paparazzi.
The audience is satisfied as this evil character is taken down a notch. I liked Powder Keg better, I'm not a fan of Madonna and Powder Keg was a lot more powerful I believe. Star did seem a lot more like an ad though, so I think Guy Ritchie took the brief a bit more literally when directing it.
Film 3 - The Last Three Minutes
This was my favourite of the films we watched this week. It showed a man's life through his dying eyes, and it was extremely touching. It begins with a young energetic man leaving a building, then cuts to the janitor who suddenly has a heart attack. He drops a crystal (this reminded me so much of Citizen Kane) and holds it up to his eyes. It travels back in time. His wife leaving him, him and his wife in bed, him and his wife on the beach, him in war with a friend dying, him playing baseball as a child and various memories as an infant and baby. The flash back ends with his father giving him the crystal just after birth.
It cuts back to modern times as the old man dies.
Films like this always make me sad. It is showing us that life is so fast and over so quickly but we manage to fit so much into our lives. I'm not sure if the film maker intended me to feel this way, but it showed me that everyone has a story. I always wonder about old people and people working in solitary jobs (like a janitor) and I wonder where they come from and how they go to where they are.
Overall I really enjoyed the three short films this week and like Josh's lectures I remember the awesome beginning, the awesome end and not much about the boring bit in the middle.
The end.
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Week 2, Part 2 - The Challenge
Hi,
Another movie I watched this week is The Challenge, starring the Olsen Twins. Very different to Three Kings. As with most Mary Kate and Ashley films, the two main characters are very different but they used their respective differences to their advantage.
Both lead characters have their good and bad points, and are stereotypes pushed to the limit. As usual, Ashley Olsen's character is up tight and dresses like a librarian, while Mary Kate's character is relaxed and almost hippy-like. Although they aren't really believable, they are still sympathetic and you want them to do well.
The urgent and difficult problem in the film is to win a college scholarship, on a TV show called 'The Challenge'. It becomes more difficult as the twins characters are estranged and do not get on well at all. The good thing about having a TV show as the premise for the film is they don't need to show the audience how the characters behave, they can tell them. The film has moments where it is exactly what would be seen on TV if it was a real television show, and this includes when they describe all the lead characters competing for a scholarship.
At first it doesn't seem like the twins are trying very hard at all to win the show as they're letting their differences divide their team.This leads to humiliating moments for the twins, and success for the stereotypically nasty and self-absorbed other team. More challenges pop up when Mary-Kate's character and a boy from the rival team are caught kissing. Towards the end of the movie the shows creator uses the twins greatest fears to make the final episode that much more exciting, but they use their newfound friendship to support eachother and win the scholarship. Surprise! I know as you were reading this you were sitting on the edge of you're seat wondering if a Mary-Kate and Ashley film would have a happy ending (hint: they all do). They learnt about themselves and how being different isn't always bad. Other peoples views are important too. Such good morals!
In the resolution the evil team doesn't seem as evil as before, the romances are solidified and all the past love interests from various Mary-Kate and Ashley films cameo. This was their last direct to video movie, and it was a cute way of ending it.
It's a silly movie, and it's similair to all the other Mary-Kate and Ashely movies, but I'm a sucker for them so I enjoyed it.
The end.
Another movie I watched this week is The Challenge, starring the Olsen Twins. Very different to Three Kings. As with most Mary Kate and Ashley films, the two main characters are very different but they used their respective differences to their advantage.
Both lead characters have their good and bad points, and are stereotypes pushed to the limit. As usual, Ashley Olsen's character is up tight and dresses like a librarian, while Mary Kate's character is relaxed and almost hippy-like. Although they aren't really believable, they are still sympathetic and you want them to do well.
The urgent and difficult problem in the film is to win a college scholarship, on a TV show called 'The Challenge'. It becomes more difficult as the twins characters are estranged and do not get on well at all. The good thing about having a TV show as the premise for the film is they don't need to show the audience how the characters behave, they can tell them. The film has moments where it is exactly what would be seen on TV if it was a real television show, and this includes when they describe all the lead characters competing for a scholarship.
At first it doesn't seem like the twins are trying very hard at all to win the show as they're letting their differences divide their team.This leads to humiliating moments for the twins, and success for the stereotypically nasty and self-absorbed other team. More challenges pop up when Mary-Kate's character and a boy from the rival team are caught kissing. Towards the end of the movie the shows creator uses the twins greatest fears to make the final episode that much more exciting, but they use their newfound friendship to support eachother and win the scholarship. Surprise! I know as you were reading this you were sitting on the edge of you're seat wondering if a Mary-Kate and Ashley film would have a happy ending (hint: they all do). They learnt about themselves and how being different isn't always bad. Other peoples views are important too. Such good morals!
In the resolution the evil team doesn't seem as evil as before, the romances are solidified and all the past love interests from various Mary-Kate and Ashley films cameo. This was their last direct to video movie, and it was a cute way of ending it.
It's a silly movie, and it's similair to all the other Mary-Kate and Ashely movies, but I'm a sucker for them so I enjoyed it.
The end.
Friday, 11 March 2011
Week 2 - Three Kings
Hi,
In this weeks tutorial we watched Three Kings (1999) starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube. In the lecture this week we focused on the themes and plots in films, and so I'll do this for Three Kings as well.
There are five essential elements of plot:
- Believable/sympathetic character
- Urgent and difficult problem
- Attempts to overcome aforementioned problem
- The last chance/final stand
- The resolution
In this film Mark Wahlberg plays the sympathetic character Troy Barlow, with a wife and baby waiting for him at home. George Clooney's character is Archie Gates, and he is older and disillusioned with the war (I think there's one of those characters in every war movie). Luckily Gates is special forces, if anyone has a question he knows the answer!
At first it seems the urgent problem is the treasure hunt and stealing the gold, however this leads into the protagonists trying to save some prisoners from Iraqi soldiers. Barlow is then kidnapped, and Gates and the other protagonists decide to rescue him as well as aid the rebel prisoners in reaching the border.
It doesn't seem like there are multiple attempts to overcome one problem, it's just every time they solve a problem, a few more pop up.
During the last stand the protagonists storm the bunker where Barlow is held, rescue him and save the prisoners (however Conrad Vig played by Spike Jonze is killed). Barlow is shot and injured but Gates uses his knowledge to save him.
I didn't see the end of the movie, but Wikipedia tells me that Gates and Ice Cube's character Chief Elgin are now advisors on war films, and Troy is the owner of a carpet store. The gold was returned to its rightful owners however there was some missing.
According to Syd Field's 'Screen Play Structure', the first act should be the set up and last about thirty minutes. Very quickly into the movie most of the 'W' questions were answered. At first it seems as if the 'What' is answsered quickly too, however as the film progresses the goals and problems change and so does the 'What'. It's hard for me to quess which were the pinches and mid-points of the film, however the Iraqi woman being shot is one thing that stood out for me, as is when Barlow is kidnapped, and again when he is rescued. The resolution of the film was pretty straight forward, but unfortunately I didn't see the end so I can only guess!
The end.
In this weeks tutorial we watched Three Kings (1999) starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube. In the lecture this week we focused on the themes and plots in films, and so I'll do this for Three Kings as well.
There are five essential elements of plot:
- Believable/sympathetic character
- Urgent and difficult problem
- Attempts to overcome aforementioned problem
- The last chance/final stand
- The resolution
In this film Mark Wahlberg plays the sympathetic character Troy Barlow, with a wife and baby waiting for him at home. George Clooney's character is Archie Gates, and he is older and disillusioned with the war (I think there's one of those characters in every war movie). Luckily Gates is special forces, if anyone has a question he knows the answer!
At first it seems the urgent problem is the treasure hunt and stealing the gold, however this leads into the protagonists trying to save some prisoners from Iraqi soldiers. Barlow is then kidnapped, and Gates and the other protagonists decide to rescue him as well as aid the rebel prisoners in reaching the border.
It doesn't seem like there are multiple attempts to overcome one problem, it's just every time they solve a problem, a few more pop up.
During the last stand the protagonists storm the bunker where Barlow is held, rescue him and save the prisoners (however Conrad Vig played by Spike Jonze is killed). Barlow is shot and injured but Gates uses his knowledge to save him.
I didn't see the end of the movie, but Wikipedia tells me that Gates and Ice Cube's character Chief Elgin are now advisors on war films, and Troy is the owner of a carpet store. The gold was returned to its rightful owners however there was some missing.
According to Syd Field's 'Screen Play Structure', the first act should be the set up and last about thirty minutes. Very quickly into the movie most of the 'W' questions were answered. At first it seems as if the 'What' is answsered quickly too, however as the film progresses the goals and problems change and so does the 'What'. It's hard for me to quess which were the pinches and mid-points of the film, however the Iraqi woman being shot is one thing that stood out for me, as is when Barlow is kidnapped, and again when he is rescued. The resolution of the film was pretty straight forward, but unfortunately I didn't see the end so I can only guess!
The end.
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Week 1 - About me
Hi,
I'm Emily and I'm studying a BA and doing a double major in Film and History. I like films because they make you laugh, cry, angry, sad, happy, excited and every other possible feeling. And it's all fake. I want to learn about all the different aspects of filmmaking and how they elicit such strong emotions from us. Plus I'm obsessed with celebrities and seeing them play different characters.
I don't have any favourite movies but my favourite book and musical is Les Mis, so when they make that into a musical film it'll be my favourite. Unless Lea Michele is in it.
The End.
I'm Emily and I'm studying a BA and doing a double major in Film and History. I like films because they make you laugh, cry, angry, sad, happy, excited and every other possible feeling. And it's all fake. I want to learn about all the different aspects of filmmaking and how they elicit such strong emotions from us. Plus I'm obsessed with celebrities and seeing them play different characters.
I don't have any favourite movies but my favourite book and musical is Les Mis, so when they make that into a musical film it'll be my favourite. Unless Lea Michele is in it.
The End.
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