This past weekend, I was able to catch the movie "American Sniper," the story of the former Navy Seal Chris Kyle. This movie is based on an autobiography of Chris Kyle, also known as "The Legend," for his many accolades as a deadly sniper. However, no accolade of Kyle's could ease the pain of Taya Kyle, a widow who is now left to raise two children on her own after Chris was murdered in 2013.The delivery of a tense, vivid product enhances the autobiography as it comes to the screen.
"American Sniper" benefits from mobile and intently focused cinematography created by Tom Stern. Tom Stern is noted as a cinematographer who closely works with films directed by Clint Eastwood (Wikipedia). At various points throughout the film, there are spurts of wonderful cinematography -- these were most distinguished in the fight scenes. With shots displayed from around buildings, behind objects, through rubble, Tom Stern was able to help create an immerse, "battlescape" experience. The use of handheld as well as fixed camera positions, that captured the action from many angles, gave me the sense of physically being on the tour. With its frantic and alarming style, the effective cinematography added a sense of reality.
This link will lead you to a youtube video that I found fascinating. It is the latest video from the 'Epic Rap Battles of History' youtube series. The video shows look-a-likes of 5 different famous movie directors arguing about who makes better movies. The video features Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Quentin Tarantino, Stanley Kubrick, and Michael Bay. If you are one who doesn't care too much for rap music, please still watch because I don't like rap music but I love the Epic Rap Battles of History. The series has about 50 videos and are known for having very accurate historical material within them. I have literally had history teachers tell me to watch these videos. And with it being one of the most watch youtube channels, chances are most of you have already watched it.
I love the small hidden effects in the battle. Like, in most of Spielberg's lines he mentions title of movies he has directed. "I'm 'Always' so on top of my game, I get the 'Vertigo' ", with Always and Vertigo both being movies directed my Spielberg. And notice how all of the directors make fun of Michael Bay in one form or another, so at the end Michael Bay literally drops in to try and out rap the other directors. In my opinion, it doesn't work and Michael Bay is still a joke compared to the other directors. But this is just my opinion, please watch and tell me what you think.
Warning: The video has some strong language and one or two sexual references, but nothing worse then a series produced by Netflix. So please use headphones and don't watch when small children are around. Good luck!
Ok, that was seriously hilarious! From a film studies point of view the special effect of having multiple of the same person at one time is pretty impressive and a big advancement from early film. From a personal standpoint I had never seen this before and I will probably spend the rest of the afternoon watching this channel. thanks and nice job! -Greta
You picked quite an interesting video! I've watched some of the 'Epic Rap Battles of History' series before, but I didn't know they posted one about movie directors. I definitely appreciate their witty lines like you said. Although, minor correction, that 'Vertigo' was directed by Hitchcock and not Spielberg.
But seriously! This was a great choice...had to keep my laughter down to a minimum as one of my roommates was sleeping! --Abby
First of all, I've seen this hilarious channel before and I had forgotten about it, so thank you for reminding me!
Secondly, the special effects are indeed incredible from an early 1900's point of view as Greta commented. Another thing to pay attention to is the fact that all this was done by a group of people on their spare time, using basic equipment that is available to the average consumer. This kind of quality could not have been achieved back in the day, even with the industrial filming equipment that big companies had.
Recently, like most young women in their early twenties, I have satisfied my need for melodrama romance and a guilty pleasure television by watching the new season of The Bachelor. I would like to believe that most everyone knows the premise of this show, but if not I will give a little background. Produced by ABC, The Bachelor documents a young desirable man, in this season Chris, who is looking for his perfect wife. The show matches him with 30 young women who he dates simultaneously and eliminates a couple at the end of each episode. Yes people, this is the true quality television cinematographers have been working over 100 years to achieve. In all seriousness, I find The Bachelor to be a prime example of just how complex media production has become. While also being a perfect example of the stunted social ideals still being portrayed through film and media. This show utilizes cuts in film so frequently we can easily forget that a mere hundred years ago this was a cinematic feat that brought films to a new level. Cutting from one seen to a different one in essential in elaborate storytelling, and in the case of The Bachelor in creating drama. Giving the audience the suggestion of connection between two scenes. This helps the viewers to see the implication of these events happening simultaneously, or giving new insight into the events that are taking place. The last thing I want to touch on is the prime example of misogyny exhibited by this show. In the second episode Chris goes on a group date with six women. Their date consisted of grown women tractor racing in bikinis. Women represented in an inferior position is a theme I have noticed in the early films we have viewed in class. I would hope that by 2015 the prime focus of women in television would not be as a sexual display. But The Bachelor is just one example of the progress society needs to make.
I've never seen The Bachelor myself, but I have heard of it, and I know what it's about. I totally agree with you about cuts in films; nowadays they're so commonplace that we don't even pay attention to them anymore: they're just apart of the show/movie. Another thing that we take for granted is sound; 100 years ago films were all silent, and even the first films with sound required an extraordinary amount of work and coordination. Nowadays, however, anyone with a cell-phone can make a video with sound.
I totally agree with you about the representation of women on The Bachelor. The women who participate on the show are consistently objectified and made to appear inferior. The producers of the show use cutting as a away to distort reality and blow small interactions completely out of proportion, making the name "reality television" even more ironic than it is already. Many of the women selected for the show are accomplished professionals, but their privacy, dignity, and professionalism are shattered in the eyes of the public because of the behavior that is encouraged on the show. I agree that television especially has a long way to go before men and women are represented equally by the media.
Above is the url to a short eight minute film titled “Paper Love” where it follows a young girl trying to find her place in high school. As simple and cliche as that might sound, there is a twist. The girl wears a paper bag over her head. Why? Well, as the narrative goes, it is because she suffers from some strange hereditary condition that makes her “ugly” and thus, introverted and rather lonely. And as the title suggests, this is a short love story in which we are all familiar with. To give you some background on how—of all the videos on YouTube—found this one, it is actually a film made for a high school film class. In the title, it says it is “An IB Film” where one of my friends was showing me some of her classmates short film projects for the class. This would also explain some of the minor editing flaws and somewhat amateur cinematography. However, I would like to focus on some of the simple shots and cuts that we can so easily overlook today, because it is now natural to understand close-ups and various angles of one scene. In producing film as well as learning to analyse it, we develop an appreciation for all the minor things. This film in particular, there was the shot where as the two students were leaving the locked library, the camera zoomed in on the paper plane. This noted symbolism, that there is some special association of the paper plane to the two main characters’ connection with one another. It is minor things like this that we do not notice initially in watching a film because we have already become accustomed to the usage of those type of shots. I also wanted to highlight the usage of the paper bag itself. I thought it was very clever how they were able to change the facial expression of the paper bag by simply cutting from one view to another in a way that seemed natural, not forced.
A nice story and pretty good for a high school production. The essence of the paper bag was very clever and spoke for itself when emotion needed to be shown. I like your idea about the paper plane, I didn't think about that.
Abigail, although you thought there was a "cliche element to this love story," it is a story that most people can identify with. Film evolved into an art where storytelling is a central focus. Whether books, film, or campfire tale, stories are pervasive in our culture: news stories, medical histories, workplace gossip, and family legacies frame our dreams of memory, adventure, and escape. I think we are a type of people who amuse ourselves through narratives. With filmmaking, the role of the story teller is taken over by the screenwriter, director, and editor. In film, storytelling is now created through framing, lighting, colour, texture, objects, sounds, movement, etc. To maintain an audience's attention, it is crucial to have a story that most can identify with, or find appealing. I think in the film industry, the three most important aspects to a film in the following order are: Narrative, Directing, Cinematography.
First off, I'm glad you enjoyed the rap battle video. My bad about Vertigo being directed by Hitchcock, not Spielberg, Sorry. Second, this video, for being produced by high school-ers, was great. I rather have watched this than some of the big budget films I have seen. I like how the expressions on the bags changed at some of the cut-backs and how it had some comedy, like his bag catching fire at the end of the video. Also I just enjoyed the facts that there was no over acting or under acting. You know, that feeling when your high school science class has to put on a play about molecules for a class project and no one really gives a crap. I was expecting at least one actor like that, but I didn't really see one. Much better acting then most of my high school class. Nice video, good message, glad to have watched it.
In the past couple of weeks, I have procured and watched the recently released and controversial movie, “The Interview”. This film tells the tale of two journalist, played by James Franco and Seth Rogen, instructed by the Central Intelligence Agency to kill their fan and interviewee Kim Jong-un, played by Randall Park. Along the way, they face many challenges and obstacles such as animals, lost, hate, deceit, and also friendship. As a comedy movie, this film holds firm as a standard raunchy, sexual innuendo and drug referenced filled Franco and Rogen story. What makes this movie stand out from their other type of films lies in their character development and political satire which adds an interesting dynamic to the film which heightens the comedic interactions between the characters. This film also has a large dependency on special effects, most of the country of North Korea portrayed in the movie is made with the use of CGI and other cybernetic artificial means. A stand out character in the film, is the portrayal of the supreme leader Kim Jong-un, by Randell Park. This character is extremely dynamic and intriguing as Park is able to portray a character who is both sensitive, emotional, vulnerable, and connectable as well as destructive, dangerous, irrational, and psychotic. All in all, this movie was quite enjoyable and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the humor of James Franco and Seth Rogen as well as looking for a touching story line of friendship and betrayal around the silly premise of “The Interview”.
"The Interview" definitely had its moments. Not the best Rogen film in my opinion, but it has its charm. I was actually almost sad when *SPOILER* Kim Jong-Un died, because of how fleshed-out his character was. *END SPOILER* It was pretty unexpected when North Korea's threats actually almost prevented the film from being the light of day, but as we've seen, it's just another example of international relations affecting cinema. "The Cheat," for example, had the villain's nationality change from Japanese to Burmese because of lobbying by Japanese-American groups and - probably more importantly at the time - the fact that Japan was allied with the United States in the First World War. Almost 100 years apart, American film-makers are still showing that they can be influenced by the problems of international relations, whether it's because we're allies or, in the case of North Korea.... not.
A few weeks ago, I managed to see the movie Interstellar directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Matthew McConaughey. One of the things that impressed me most about the film was the extent that it went to for the sake of scientific accuracy; for example, Christopher Nolan hired theoretical physicist Kip Thorne as a consultant for the film so that he could ensure that the CGI black hole looked like a real black hole. Another thing the movie did that I found interesting was its use of cinematographic effects to show what scientists theorize a 5-dimensional object looks like. Overall it was an amazing film that shows just how far we've come -- both scientifically and cinematically -- in the last 100 years.
Above is a clip from one of the most famous "Twilight Zone" episodes of all time, "Eye of the Beholder." If you haven't seen it, and especially if you don't understand the story, then I greatly encourage you to watch it all the way through. There aren't any explosions or side-splitting laughs, but... just watch it. On top of being one of my favorite TV episodes of all time, "Eye of the Beholder," upon re-watching it, also has excellent lighting effects. I think that to an extent back when film was in black and white it was easier to create a dark, gloomy, dismal mood. Simply watch the nearly identical remake of this episode in the early 2000s and you'll see how a lot of the atmosphere is lost, not simply because it's a remake, but because shooting something in color uses some of its style. Going from black-and-white to technoc-olor to full color was for the most part a series of innovations, but maybe not everything about this permanent transition was an improvement. Anyways, great episode.
"Eye of the Beholder" is definitely one of the better Twilight Zone episodes, and set up the reputation for great plot twists. I can't agree more the whole color transition thing. The Twilight Zone had a feel to it that was distinct and timeless. The color scheme used very little grays, with lots of bright whites and contrasting blacks. Exceptional lighting made the show fantastic, with "Eye of the Beholder" possibly the best example for this style. I'd say the episode that contests this could be "Time enough at Last". "Eye of the Beholder" had a lot of mysterious dark colors and atmosphere, while "Time enough at Last" had a lot of great bleak whites.
I recently re-watched Ridley Scott's classic 1979 sci-fi horror film "Alien". While the slow pacing of the film gives away its age (36 years), the suspense and drama are still compelling and interesting. The set of the film is quite detailed, and does a truly incredible job of setting the tone of the picture. The chains and cables that hang from the ceiling of the ship are at times indistinguishable from the tail of the title creature. This provides a significant piece of the ‘horror’ aspect of the movie. The biggest piece of horror comes, of course, from the powerful threat of the alien itself. The science fiction aspects of the movie are stunning all on their own. Advanced technologies such as humanoid android robots and hypersleep chambers make predictions for the future that were ahead of their time. Finally, perhaps the most progressive part of the film is the fact that the lone survivor of the alien attack was a woman, played by Sigourney Weaver. Her character, Ellen Ripley, is smart, resourceful, and determined. I am personally a big fan of Ridley Scott’s films and of Sigourney Weaver as an actress. I always enjoy the film whenever I watch it, and as with any good movie, I catch more and more details with each viewing. I highly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys science fiction, horror, or both. I will probably end up watching it again myself sometime soon.
One of my favorite TV shows is currently ABC’s Modern Family, which is a comedy that narrates the day to day things that one extended family faces. The show doesn’t have many special effects, but that just makes the filming techniques even more important. Some of the techniques included are odd camera angles, and unnecessary zooming and strafing of the camera. These techniques, combined with awkward pauses and ironic/sarcastic dialogue, produce humor in situations that normally wouldn’t be humorous. With regard to only those aspects of Modern Family, the show differs greatly from the films we see in class because it obviously has sound in the form of speech, whereas the early films had only added music. Without speech it is incredibly difficult to convey sarcasm, which is one of the largest factors contributing to the show’s humor. All in all, the techniques and dialogue used in the production of the show make it enjoyable to watch, and I encourage anyone who hasn’t seen it to watch it.
Here is a small clip from one of the episodes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZgmsgw1Xw8
Above is a short animated film called "The Maker". The film depicts a small clay and cloth doll trying to fabricate another version of itself. At the completion of creating a successor, the doll dies. I thought it was a very strange film, but came to terms with that it's a film that represents the passing of knowledge from one generation to the next. Once the realization dawns, the film becomes a bit sadder. The doll worked for essentially it's whole life to ensure this other doll gets created, and enjoyed little to accomplish it's own pursuits. However, there is this sense of urgency and then pride as the second doll comes to life, as it seemed as if the protagonist doll may fail. I feel as if this movie did a lot with it's limited time, no voice acting, and a stop-motion medium.
This past weekend, I was able to catch the movie "American Sniper," the story of the former Navy Seal Chris Kyle. This movie is based on an autobiography of Chris Kyle, also known as "The Legend," for his many accolades as a deadly sniper. However, no accolade of Kyle's could ease the pain of Taya Kyle, a widow who is now left to raise two children on her own after Chris was murdered in 2013.The delivery of a tense, vivid product enhances the autobiography as it comes to the screen.
ReplyDelete"American Sniper" benefits from mobile and intently focused cinematography created by Tom Stern. Tom Stern is noted as a cinematographer who closely works with films directed by Clint Eastwood (Wikipedia). At various points throughout the film, there are spurts of wonderful cinematography -- these were most distinguished in the fight scenes. With shots displayed from around buildings, behind objects, through rubble, Tom Stern was able to help create an immerse, "battlescape" experience. The use of handheld as well as fixed camera positions, that captured the action from many angles, gave me the sense of physically being on the tour. With its frantic and alarming style, the effective cinematography added a sense of reality.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Stern_%28cinematographer%29
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wYtG7aQTHA
ReplyDeleteThis link will lead you to a youtube video that I found fascinating. It is the latest video from the 'Epic Rap Battles of History' youtube series. The video shows look-a-likes of 5 different famous movie directors arguing about who makes better movies. The video features Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Quentin Tarantino, Stanley Kubrick, and Michael Bay. If you are one who doesn't care too much for rap music, please still watch because I don't like rap music but I love the Epic Rap Battles of History. The series has about 50 videos and are known for having very accurate historical material within them. I have literally had history teachers tell me to watch these videos. And with it being one of the most watch youtube channels, chances are most of you have already watched it.
I love the small hidden effects in the battle. Like, in most of Spielberg's lines he mentions title of movies he has directed. "I'm 'Always' so on top of my game, I get the 'Vertigo' ", with Always and Vertigo both being movies directed my Spielberg. And notice how all of the directors make fun of Michael Bay in one form or another, so at the end Michael Bay literally drops in to try and out rap the other directors. In my opinion, it doesn't work and Michael Bay is still a joke compared to the other directors. But this is just my opinion, please watch and tell me what you think.
Warning: The video has some strong language and one or two sexual references, but nothing worse then a series produced by Netflix. So please use headphones and don't watch when small children are around. Good luck!
Ok, that was seriously hilarious! From a film studies point of view the special effect of having multiple of the same person at one time is pretty impressive and a big advancement from early film. From a personal standpoint I had never seen this before and I will probably spend the rest of the afternoon watching this channel.
Deletethanks and nice job!
-Greta
You picked quite an interesting video! I've watched some of the 'Epic Rap Battles of History' series before, but I didn't know they posted one about movie directors. I definitely appreciate their witty lines like you said. Although, minor correction, that 'Vertigo' was directed by Hitchcock and not Spielberg.
DeleteBut seriously! This was a great choice...had to keep my laughter down to a minimum as one of my roommates was sleeping!
--Abby
First of all, I've seen this hilarious channel before and I had forgotten about it, so thank you for reminding me!
DeleteSecondly, the special effects are indeed incredible from an early 1900's point of view as Greta commented. Another thing to pay attention to is the fact that all this was done by a group of people on their spare time, using basic equipment that is available to the average consumer. This kind of quality could not have been achieved back in the day, even with the industrial filming equipment that big companies had.
Recently, like most young women in their early twenties, I have satisfied my need for melodrama romance and a guilty pleasure television by watching the new season of The Bachelor. I would like to believe that most everyone knows the premise of this show, but if not I will give a little background. Produced by ABC, The Bachelor documents a young desirable man, in this season Chris, who is looking for his perfect wife. The show matches him with 30 young women who he dates simultaneously and eliminates a couple at the end of each episode. Yes people, this is the true quality television cinematographers have been working over 100 years to achieve.
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, I find The Bachelor to be a prime example of just how complex media production has become. While also being a perfect example of the stunted social ideals still being portrayed through film and media. This show utilizes cuts in film so frequently we can easily forget that a mere hundred years ago this was a cinematic feat that brought films to a new level. Cutting from one seen to a different one in essential in elaborate storytelling, and in the case of The Bachelor in creating drama. Giving the audience the suggestion of connection between two scenes. This helps the viewers to see the implication of these events happening simultaneously, or giving new insight into the events that are taking place.
The last thing I want to touch on is the prime example of misogyny exhibited by this show. In the second episode Chris goes on a group date with six women. Their date consisted of grown women tractor racing in bikinis. Women represented in an inferior position is a theme I have noticed in the early films we have viewed in class. I would hope that by 2015 the prime focus of women in television would not be as a sexual display. But The Bachelor is just one example of the progress society needs to make.
I've never seen The Bachelor myself, but I have heard of it, and I know what it's about. I totally agree with you about cuts in films; nowadays they're so commonplace that we don't even pay attention to them anymore: they're just apart of the show/movie. Another thing that we take for granted is sound; 100 years ago films were all silent, and even the first films with sound required an extraordinary amount of work and coordination. Nowadays, however, anyone with a cell-phone can make a video with sound.
DeleteI totally agree with you about the representation of women on The Bachelor. The women who participate on the show are consistently objectified and made to appear inferior. The producers of the show use cutting as a away to distort reality and blow small interactions completely out of proportion, making the name "reality television" even more ironic than it is already. Many of the women selected for the show are accomplished professionals, but their privacy, dignity, and professionalism are shattered in the eyes of the public because of the behavior that is encouraged on the show. I agree that television especially has a long way to go before men and women are represented equally by the media.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z4uvmh4vgk
ReplyDeleteAbove is the url to a short eight minute film titled “Paper Love” where it follows a young girl trying to find her place in high school. As simple and cliche as that might sound, there is a twist. The girl wears a paper bag over her head. Why? Well, as the narrative goes, it is because she suffers from some strange hereditary condition that makes her “ugly” and thus, introverted and rather lonely. And as the title suggests, this is a short love story in which we are all familiar with. To give you some background on how—of all the videos on YouTube—found this one, it is actually a film made for a high school film class. In the title, it says it is “An IB Film” where one of my friends was showing me some of her classmates short film projects for the class. This would also explain some of the minor editing flaws and somewhat amateur cinematography. However, I would like to focus on some of the simple shots and cuts that we can so easily overlook today, because it is now natural to understand close-ups and various angles of one scene. In producing film as well as learning to analyse it, we develop an appreciation for all the minor things. This film in particular, there was the shot where as the two students were leaving the locked library, the camera zoomed in on the paper plane. This noted symbolism, that there is some special association of the paper plane to the two main characters’ connection with one another. It is minor things like this that we do not notice initially in watching a film because we have already become accustomed to the usage of those type of shots. I also wanted to highlight the usage of the paper bag itself. I thought it was very clever how they were able to change the facial expression of the paper bag by simply cutting from one view to another in a way that seemed natural, not forced.
A nice story and pretty good for a high school production. The essence of the paper bag was very clever and spoke for itself when emotion needed to be shown. I like your idea about the paper plane, I didn't think about that.
DeleteAbigail, although you thought there was a "cliche element to this love story," it is a story that most people can identify with. Film evolved into an art where storytelling is a central focus. Whether books, film, or campfire tale, stories are pervasive in our culture: news stories, medical histories, workplace gossip, and family legacies frame our dreams of memory, adventure, and escape. I think we are a type of people who amuse ourselves through narratives. With filmmaking, the role of the story teller is taken over by the screenwriter, director, and editor. In film, storytelling is now created through framing, lighting, colour, texture, objects, sounds, movement, etc. To maintain an audience's attention, it is crucial to have a story that most can identify with, or find appealing. I think in the film industry, the three most important aspects to a film in the following order are: Narrative, Directing, Cinematography.
DeleteFirst off, I'm glad you enjoyed the rap battle video. My bad about Vertigo being directed by Hitchcock, not Spielberg, Sorry. Second, this video, for being produced by high school-ers, was great. I rather have watched this than some of the big budget films I have seen. I like how the expressions on the bags changed at some of the cut-backs and how it had some comedy, like his bag catching fire at the end of the video. Also I just enjoyed the facts that there was no over acting or under acting. You know, that feeling when your high school science class has to put on a play about molecules for a class project and no one really gives a crap. I was expecting at least one actor like that, but I didn't really see one. Much better acting then most of my high school class. Nice video, good message, glad to have watched it.
DeleteIn the past couple of weeks, I have procured and watched the recently released and controversial movie, “The Interview”. This film tells the tale of two journalist, played by James Franco and Seth Rogen, instructed by the Central Intelligence Agency to kill their fan and interviewee Kim Jong-un, played by Randall Park. Along the way, they face many challenges and obstacles such as animals, lost, hate, deceit, and also friendship.
ReplyDeleteAs a comedy movie, this film holds firm as a standard raunchy, sexual innuendo and drug referenced filled Franco and Rogen story. What makes this movie stand out from their other type of films lies in their character development and political satire which adds an interesting dynamic to the film which heightens the comedic interactions between the characters. This film also has a large dependency on special effects, most of the country of North Korea portrayed in the movie is made with the use of CGI and other cybernetic artificial means. A stand out character in the film, is the portrayal of the supreme leader Kim Jong-un, by Randell Park. This character is extremely dynamic and intriguing as Park is able to portray a character who is both sensitive, emotional, vulnerable, and connectable as well as destructive, dangerous, irrational, and psychotic.
All in all, this movie was quite enjoyable and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the humor of James Franco and Seth Rogen as well as looking for a touching story line of friendship and betrayal around the silly premise of “The Interview”.
"The Interview" definitely had its moments. Not the best Rogen film in my opinion, but it has its charm. I was actually almost sad when *SPOILER* Kim Jong-Un died, because of how fleshed-out his character was. *END SPOILER*
DeleteIt was pretty unexpected when North Korea's threats actually almost prevented the film from being the light of day, but as we've seen, it's just another example of international relations affecting cinema. "The Cheat," for example, had the villain's nationality change from Japanese to Burmese because of lobbying by Japanese-American groups and - probably more importantly at the time - the fact that Japan was allied with the United States in the First World War. Almost 100 years apart, American film-makers are still showing that they can be influenced by the problems of international relations, whether it's because we're allies or, in the case of North Korea.... not.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteA few weeks ago, I managed to see the movie Interstellar directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Matthew McConaughey. One of the things that impressed me most about the film was the extent that it went to for the sake of scientific accuracy; for example, Christopher Nolan hired theoretical physicist Kip Thorne as a consultant for the film so that he could ensure that the CGI black hole looked like a real black hole. Another thing the movie did that I found interesting was its use of cinematographic effects to show what scientists theorize a 5-dimensional object looks like. Overall it was an amazing film that shows just how far we've come -- both scientifically and cinematically -- in the last 100 years.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi383559449/
ReplyDeleteAbove is a clip from one of the most famous "Twilight Zone" episodes of all time, "Eye of the Beholder." If you haven't seen it, and especially if you don't understand the story, then I greatly encourage you to watch it all the way through. There aren't any explosions or side-splitting laughs, but... just watch it.
On top of being one of my favorite TV episodes of all time, "Eye of the Beholder," upon re-watching it, also has excellent lighting effects. I think that to an extent back when film was in black and white it was easier to create a dark, gloomy, dismal mood. Simply watch the nearly identical remake of this episode in the early 2000s and you'll see how a lot of the atmosphere is lost, not simply because it's a remake, but because shooting something in color uses some of its style.
Going from black-and-white to technoc-olor to full color was for the most part a series of innovations, but maybe not everything about this permanent transition was an improvement.
Anyways, great episode.
"Eye of the Beholder" is definitely one of the better Twilight Zone episodes, and set up the reputation for great plot twists. I can't agree more the whole color transition thing. The Twilight Zone had a feel to it that was distinct and timeless. The color scheme used very little grays, with lots of bright whites and contrasting blacks. Exceptional lighting made the show fantastic, with "Eye of the Beholder" possibly the best example for this style. I'd say the episode that contests this could be "Time enough at Last". "Eye of the Beholder" had a lot of mysterious dark colors and atmosphere, while "Time enough at Last" had a lot of great bleak whites.
DeleteI recently re-watched Ridley Scott's classic 1979 sci-fi horror film "Alien". While the slow pacing of the film gives away its age (36 years), the suspense and drama are still compelling and interesting. The set of the film is quite detailed, and does a truly incredible job of setting the tone of the picture. The chains and cables that hang from the ceiling of the ship are at times indistinguishable from the tail of the title creature. This provides a significant piece of the ‘horror’ aspect of the movie. The biggest piece of horror comes, of course, from the powerful threat of the alien itself.
ReplyDeleteThe science fiction aspects of the movie are stunning all on their own. Advanced technologies such as humanoid android robots and hypersleep chambers make predictions for the future that were ahead of their time.
Finally, perhaps the most progressive part of the film is the fact that the lone survivor of the alien attack was a woman, played by Sigourney Weaver. Her character, Ellen Ripley, is smart, resourceful, and determined.
I am personally a big fan of Ridley Scott’s films and of Sigourney Weaver as an actress. I always enjoy the film whenever I watch it, and as with any good movie, I catch more and more details with each viewing. I highly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys science fiction, horror, or both. I will probably end up watching it again myself sometime soon.
One of my favorite TV shows is currently ABC’s Modern Family, which is a comedy that narrates the day to day things that one extended family faces. The show doesn’t have many special effects, but that just makes the filming techniques even more important. Some of the techniques included are odd camera angles, and unnecessary zooming and strafing of the camera. These techniques, combined with awkward pauses and ironic/sarcastic dialogue, produce humor in situations that normally wouldn’t be humorous.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to only those aspects of Modern Family, the show differs greatly from the films we see in class because it obviously has sound in the form of speech, whereas the early films had only added music. Without speech it is incredibly difficult to convey sarcasm, which is one of the largest factors contributing to the show’s humor. All in all, the techniques and dialogue used in the production of the show make it enjoyable to watch, and I encourage anyone who hasn’t seen it to watch it.
Here is a small clip from one of the episodes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZgmsgw1Xw8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDXOioU_OKM
ReplyDeleteAbove is a short animated film called "The Maker". The film depicts a small clay and cloth doll trying to fabricate another version of itself. At the completion of creating a successor, the doll dies. I thought it was a very strange film, but came to terms with that it's a film that represents the passing of knowledge from one generation to the next. Once the realization dawns, the film becomes a bit sadder. The doll worked for essentially it's whole life to ensure this other doll gets created, and enjoyed little to accomplish it's own pursuits. However, there is this sense of urgency and then pride as the second doll comes to life, as it seemed as if the protagonist doll may fail. I feel as if this movie did a lot with it's limited time, no voice acting, and a stop-motion medium.