A cathartic monologue pairs well with an unrelenting downpour, while nothing beats a genial powdering of snow for finally hanging loose and making peace with the bullet hole in your gut.1Both work as resolution, just shades apart. When a Londoner wants to project pathos onto a cityscape he adds rains, a Montréalais adds snow. Blade runner 2049 revisits the city of Ridley Scott 's 1982 Original, just paints it with a different palate. The Los Angeles 2049 is indeed a colder place. Sterile rather than putrid; with nothing left to rot this world can merely crumble and rust. The grey corporate ziggurats don’t so much loom as lie dormant, only through the cracks do we see a residual neon glow,
Throughout life we are told to express our individuality and swim against the stream of the general population to put emphasis on the characteristics that make us, in short, individuals. Cherishing what makes an individual special and different is what establishes roots in creativity and self expression, however there is a forced false sense of comradery in today’s society that takes the form of involvement with the masses; peer pressure forces many people to fall into the mold of an average character. The Academy award winning film, “The Incredibles” displays the themes of expressing one’s true self and special qualities, and in contrast repression by society to fit a basic mold. These themes are elaborated on through the development of the main characters and expressed further through the supporting roles and their dialogue and endeavors.
Movie posters are important marketing tools used to persuade potential viewers to visit the theater and purchase a ticket to see the film. Posters create a specific feeling about the upcoming film, establish a setting, introduce characters, highlight star talent, and create a perception about the genre. Successful posters inspire me to learn more about the film’s subject matter and potentially visit the box office to buy a ticket. Poor attempts at a poster will leave me confused and disoriented with the intended subject. After seeing a successful poster, viewers can use rhetorical devices to discuss how the poster is attempting to market the upcoming film. The film’s ethos, pathos, and logos all contribute to persuasion, as the poster forces a determination regarding interest in the upcoming film. I will discuss the poster for The Wolf of Wall Street and how it uses each rhetorical device as a means to establish the tone and setting for the film.
Released September 29, 1950, Sunset Boulevard is a film noir of a forgotten silent film star, Norma Desmond, that dreams of a comeback and an unsuccessful screenwriter, Joe Gillis, working together. Ultimately an uncomfortable relationship evolves between Norma and Joe that Joe does not want a part of. Sunset Boulevard starts off with an establishing shot from a high angle shot with a narrative leading to a crime scene shot in long shot (a dead body is found floating in a pool). The narrative throughout the film established a formalist film.
One of the massive aspects of movie making is the movement and angles at which the camera is held. One film that does a great job of creating this form of cinematography is Raising Arizona, directed and produced by the Coen brothers. This fast paced crime comedy does an excellent job of capturing the audience’s attention by making them feel as though they are actually a part of the action.
Madison Avenue advertising executive Roger Thornhill’s (Cary Grant) life changes drastically after he is kidnapped and mistaken for a spy named George Kaplan. After a successful escape from attempted murder by Phillip Vandamm (James Mason), Roger Thornhill begins a journey to search for George Kaplan. On his itinerary, he meets the beautiful Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint). A romantic relationship is started between the two, leaving Thornhill to believe that Even Kendall would cooperate and help him to meet Kaplan. What he does not know is that she actually works for Vandamm. More action-packed events, involving the two characters, occur, all leading to a dramatic ending sequence of events.
Mise-en-scéne is crucial to classical Hollywood as it defined an era ‘that in its primary sense and effect, shows us something; it is a means of display. ' (Martin 2014, p.XV). Billy Wilder 's Sunset Boulevard (Wilder 1950) will be analysed and explored with its techniques and styles of mise-en-scéne and how this aspect of filmmaking establishes together as a cohesive whole with the narrative themes as classical Hollywood storytelling. Features of the film 's sense of space and time, setting, motifs, characters, and character goals will be explored and how they affect the characterisation, structure, and three-act organisation.
O Brother Where Art Thou? is a film that will take you on a perilous journey with Ulysses Everett McGill and his simpleminded cohorts. This film may be set amidst the early 1930’s Great Depression era, but it still has a Homer’s Odyssey feel to it. Down in the dusty and highly racial south, Everett recruits a couple of dimwitted convicts, Pete Hogwallop and Delmar O’Donnell, to help him retrieve his lost treasure and make it back home before his wife marries another suitor. These three convicts manage to stay one step ahead of the law while finding themselves in all sorts of trouble. It was nominated for 35 other awards, one of which was for best screenwriting. Released in December of 2000, this film won 7 awards, some of which for best soundtrack and score, album of the year, as well as best cinematography.
One of the best usage of sound design as a tool of storytelling has to be in the first sequence of The Exorcist. As a horror movie, which as a genre builds itself on the vicarious experience it provides, uses more complex patterns of sound design templates to enhance the adventure of watching the movie. Throughout the first scene, Ken Nagle lays what the audience will be the experiencing through the duration of the movie with sound design; the duel between good and evil.
The two movies used to compare and talk about for this assignment, is the 12 Oscar nomination “La-La Land” and the nominee to the Festival de Cannes “It’s Only the End of the World”. The decision of using “La-La Land” for this assignment were made upon the quality of the movie and making it the must-see movie of the year and “It’s Only the End of the World”, from the Miami Film Festival, because it was a French movie and the casting crew was very interesting. During this assignment, a summary of both movies will be given followed by an analysis of the way of filmmaking techniques such as cinematography, sounds narrative structure, production design and the editing side of the movie. Making a film is not an easy task. No matter if the cast members or production are well experienced, it takes a lot of time to plan a good movie and win awards.
Vicky has recently moved from Keelung to Taipei, where she works doing PR in a nightclub. She has an overly jealous boyfriend, Hao Hao, who tracks her every movement, including her bank accounts, her telephone bills, even her smell. Her days pass by working, taking drugs and constantly fighting with him, at least when they do not have sex. However, she is tired of her situation and finds solace in Jack, a kind-hearted gangster, who also owns a bar. Gradually, she gets more and more comfortable with him while he is in serious trouble, due to his tendency to offer help to whoever needs it.
There is no denying that the film, Aftershock, directed by Feng Xiaogang is the most bankable domestic blockbusters in mainland China and wins the box office of more than six hundred million in 2010 (Coonan, 2010). It reproduces the grave earthquake took place in Tangshan, Hebei Province on July 28, 1976. Such a 7.8 magnitude earthquake turned Tangshan into ruins in only twenty-three seconds and caused 250 thousands death. The successful release of the film has caused the high attention and intense discussion among the community until nowadays. As an excellent work of contemporary Chinese realism film, it moves audiences through its setting, expression, characters and also the touching plot.
Just over ten years ago, Cloverfield was released to the public. The movie starts off as a group friends prepare for a going away party. During the party, New York City begins to start having mysterious earthquakes and power outages. The entire movie follows the group of friends as they try to get to their friend stuck in her apartment building, and then getting out of the city while trying to avoid whatever is terrorising the city. 10 years later, The Cloverfield Paradox was released. This movie is meant to be the prequel to Cloverfield and sets up how the entire incident in New York happened. Within the movie we see that a group of scientists from around the world board a spacecraft and head to space. There, they try and figure out how create a sufficient unlimited power source to save the Earth from power depletion. In order to create this power source, the scientists fire up this machine that accidentally create this portals to other dimensions, and as a result, the monster in Cloverfield is able to transport onto the Earth and wreak havoc on New York City. Although these movies are connected in their storyline, they also have many differences. These differences can be spotted by the way the movie is shot, the actors, and the conflict.
Remakes are one of Hollywood’s most trusted way to reduce financial risk. Stories that have been made throughout movie history are still being remade again and again. Films by directors in all genres are now being updated or remade to for the 21st century. Some people think these recurring stories are examples of the loss of creativity in Hollywood. Our group asked the question: Is there a formula to make a remake a financial success? When looking at this question of what makes a successful remake, our group chose to research Disney’s The Jungle Book. It has inspired countless influential T.V. shows, books and famous movies, even if its influence cannot be directly seen at first. The story has inspired stories like Tarzan, George of the Jungle,
Throughout the course of one’s life, there is a constant search for some form of happiness. We may not always realize we are on the quest for it, but it’s part of human nature.