Top Ten Movies of this Course

10. My Own Private Idaho - An interesting movie that focuses on a culture / community that is seldom shown within mainstream media, has some cool special effects the one standing out being the magazine stand.
09. Wendy and Lucy - An interesting movie that points out serious flaws within not only are class based system but also how those of higher power (police) can really affect a person because of the laws they are enforcing.
08. The Vanishing - An intriguing suspenseful movie where we actually see how the murderer prepares to get his victims, great acting.
07. Sherlock Jr. - Classic slapstick physical comedy that reminds me of the Three Stooges
06. Detour - Classic Noir film that has an ever evolving plot for our protagonist.
05. Freaks - A disturbing yet accurate outlook on humanity, especially when it comes to greed.
04. O Brother Where Art Thou? - Funny Cohen Brothers movie, where we have three convicts get into unusual situations.
03. Awara - A cultural phenomena with excellent singing, dancing; as well as the effects for the dream sequences.
02. The Good The Bad and the Ugly - A classic spaghetti western film, great acting and plot.
01. Moonrise Kingdom - Very stylish and artistic movie with a very original plot; phenomenal camera work.

End of Watch: A Question on Perspective

For this week’s blog post I am looking at these quick sequences of shots from the movie End of Watch, what is really unique about the filming technique of this movie is the constant cutaways to a first person perspective for the audience. This sequence being near the end of the film especially showcases this technique.

For the first shot we have both Taylor and Zavala running down a flight of stairs trying to escape away from the cartel that are after them.

The next shot does a cutaway to a first person perspective where the film seems to try to put the audience in the shoes of Taylor for this dire situation.

The next shot has the camera pan to the left with the hand moving towards to make sure there is no one who is after them from the left side.

We then cutaway to a third person perspective with Taylor facing opposite of the street light from the previous shot once again following the actions from his training to make sure both sides of the entrance they came out of is not surrounded.

We then cutaway once again to Taylor’s perspective where we are seeing the brush in their way with seeing a street light through a hole within the brush; having his vision blocked by that can have a strong impact morale wise.

We finally then cutaway to a first person perspective of Zavala going through the brush with Taylor not only showing his current physical condition from Zavala’s breathing but also we see how exhausted Taylor is as well as they run towards the street light.

Avant Garde? Moonrise Kingdom

For this weeks movie Moonrise Kingdom, we are treated to a very different method of camerawork where mostly every scene is shot as if its a portrait where you have to analyze the scenery, the foreground, and the background, along with other elements within the shot. I selected this shot because of how all the shadows make it appear as a painting. This is especially attributed with the roof of the building in the background being faded hence to emphasize that building is far away. The contrast of colors between blue and black makes me think of a certain style of cartoons which just use of the actions of the characters to tell the story. I'll have to say the color scheme really reminds me of some of the movie studio logos that use that same colors like Spyglass Entertainment or even Amblin Entertainment.

Wendy and Lucy: A Statement on Capitalism

For this week’s movie, Wendy and Lucy we have a very interesting film that opposes against how society acts, especially when it comes to those who suffer economically. It is a very refreshing film in where we see this coming from a single woman’s point of view and even more interesting enough to see her suffer because of it. The usual tradition for Hollywood for a movie which is focused on a female character where she is not suffering because of the world, she is usually shown being safe and secure from the world and always having all her conflicts being resolved by the end of the movie.

It is in this movie we have Wendy who has everyone initially going against her as she attempts to travel to Alaska. This can only instill a feeling of dread within the character having so much opposition being forced against her with some of these conflicts never having a positive outcome for her. This can be especially shown with the scene of her sleeping in the woods while listening to someone having a monologue of him being in the same situation. Where I believe his most powerful words he said to her which drove her to crying later is, “I’m out here, trying to be a good boy and it’s just like they don’t want to let me you know?”

Wendy's Anguish Given a Physical Form

This statement can best be translated that if someone is within this situation society won’t allow them abide by their rules; they instead force them to go against their rules so they can suffer more. It brings about the question of not only morality but also human decency. 

O' Brother Where Art Thou: Something New?

 Well you can never go wrong with a Coen Brothers movie. This is especially the case of them mixing in elements from one of my favorite Greek stories as well. This movie I will say has a few too many stories going on at once (in the case of the election, the convicts, and their pursuers) with even more stories popping up along the way. Though there was one scene in the film that really stood out to me. It occurred after John Goodman’s character tricked, beat up, and stole from two of the convicts.

The closing shot of this scene greatly resembles the ending transition of the Merrie Melody cartoons. I can only guess for this shot the Coen Brothers were going for that kind of feeling for the scene itself.  I believe this to be so because, of how outlandish the prior events were that led up to this specific point not to mention the usual formula for the Merrie Melody cartoons is to have the main character(s) to end up in either a terrible situation or leave those character(s) beaten or even so much as to have them killed by their situation (most of the time with characters ending up in hell) with no moral or resolution of the problem. 

My Own Private Idaho: The definition of Avant-garde?

This week’s movie certainly brought an interesting perspective to one of the sects of the gay culture. The director of the movie Gus Van Sant had brought about several very different styles for specific shots. This is already shown very early on in both the opening credits and ending credits of the movie with having the shots composed of solid colors with the text of the individuals who are involved within the movie.

One of the more interesting shots I saw in the movie was the display of the model magazines within this drug store. I believe this shot was interesting just from looking at nothing but static objects and then all of the sudden the model magazines that had Keeanu Reeves and River Phoenix all of the sudden started coming to life and having a conversation with each other. Only after a little while they were talking the surrounding magazines started joining in on the conversation with them. This shot left a real impression on me because of the surreal nature of just seeing nothing but 2D images on a stand and then all of the suddenly they are given depth on a two dimensional surface there’s no way you can’t help but not be impressed by this shot.

The Vanishing: Is This Horror?

This week’s movie The Vanishing brought a question to what constitutes as Horror. Defined by Caroll’s Taxonomy of Horror this movie along with Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho wouldn’t be considered as horror due to their not being any form of a supernatural creature. I can see Caroll’s point of view considering something that can’t be explained and is a threat to your wellbeing can instill the feelings of dread not only for the victim but also for the audience empathizing with the victim.

I on the other hand do still constitute this movie as being a part of the horror genre. The one scene within The Vanishing that convinced me of this being a horror movie was the first scene of Raymond performing experiments upon himself. Especially with him inducing himself to sleep with the chloroform which involved him timing how long he was unconscious the amount of chloroform he allowed into his system and calculating the distance of how much he can travel while the victim is unconscious. With someone such as Raymond able to go to these limits and having this level of intelligence can clearly make him a much more dangerous threat to other people especially since his motives are curiosity is what I believe is what makes this movie horrifying.

The Killer of Sheep: I find myself getting Lost

This week’s film Killer of Sheep is certainly different in the way it’s presented as a film which made it somewhat difficult for me to follow. Immediately as the film began we see a father scolding his older son for not defending his younger brother from a fight that he supposedly started. This scene ended with the boy getting slapped by his mother, it’s after that we don’t see any references back to this situation ever again nor are we introduced to any main characters. Its only after this we are then introduced to our main character Stan where we are informed that he is having issues sleeping at night; this is brought back up again in the film twice by his wife however for the audience we are never informed nor clued into what could be directly linked to his insomnia. 

Not really clued into the purpose or reason of Stan spreading what appears to be Rosin Paper.

I can only imagine my difficulty in following this movie originally was I’m used to structure of films where at some point within the movie it’ll inform all of the audience for most if not all central plot points within the movie. It was only during the first 15 minutes of the movie I had to change my viewpoint and mindset to stop treating this as a structured narrative but more along the lines of a documentary.

The Good The Bad and The Ugly - The Antihero

Clint Eastwood has always been known for his tough characters with his really deep gruff voice. It is with these characters ranging from his westerns to his more modern character portrayals. These characters are so endearing to the audience because these are characters of action and realism that don’t need to rely on having drama to develop their character but already have traits that are already defined like acting on their own instincts to survive. This message is backed up by even Talloc’s famous quote in The Good The Bad and The Ugly, “When you need to shoot, shoot don’t talk” this line right here perfectly describes Clint Eastwoods character he doesn't waste time with exposition he just reacts to the situation .

Always Prepared...

Another appealing factor to these characters is that they themselves are experienced so one of the factors that can be skipped over while telling their story is how they developed their skills. Another creation of this archetype of hero is the hero is willing to put whoever is in his way through physical / psychological trauma. This can be seen in The Good The and The Ugly it can also be seen in Dirty Harry with his famous “Do you feel lucky punk?” quote. This factor has even continued on into even modern films like Taken where Liam Neeson is willing to subjugate a man he’s captured to electric torture to get the information on where his daughter is.

A Good Form of Intimidation...

I personally have always loved these kind of characters just because of how real and down to earth they are the world itself isn't black and white it’s very grey.

Awara: Something Different

This week we take a look at the Hindi film Awara. This movie being made out of the glamour’s of Hollywood gives this movie along with Indian movies and Bollywood movies present a different type of aesthetic feel. The evidence to support this is seeing how much of their own culture is presented throughout this film where as in Hollywood films they usually try to either Americanize them or just have the culture be relevant to the setting of the film. We see this especially within the dream sequence for Raj where it showcases an abundant amount of Hindi deities.

More evidence of this is shown in their cultural exhibits of song and dance which is not an uncommon thing within their culture. Another major difference between this film and a film produced by Hollywood is that all characters have very expressive emotions that are over the top on purpose rather then what would be in Hollywood which is either overacting or just plain bad acting. The last difference I can recognize is with how many actual normal people there are within the city where a movie or a TV show produced by Hollywood would have every character be extremely gorgeous which is counteractive with the immersion of the audience to the movie.

Detour: A Movie of Mystery

This week we take a look at the dark noir film Detour. Regarding how women are represented within this film; I can only classify them as schemers. Let’s first take a look at the main characters love interest Sue. After a night of them performing at their usual joint they begin talking to each other about their current standing within society considering they are looking to make it big. Sue has come up with a plan for her to go to California hoping someone will recognize her talents in L.A. Though our main character tries to persuade her not to go and instead just marry him; she refuses however until they can become famous.

Our next female character Vera is once again evidence of a women searching for something way above her normal means. It appeared originally that she would be of some use to our main protagonist with her knowledge of not only Haskel Jr. but also on the arts of evading the law. However when she finds out about the fortune that is connected with Haskel Sr. it just goes to show her true nature, she’ll perform any means to have her scheme realized. It can go from the extremes of toying with our main protagonist with blackmail. 

Freaks: A Controversy of Human Nature

                I would have to say Freaks is purely a melodrama rather than a horror film. My reason for this is because when it comes to horror movies your monster is hunting a victim for no defined reason. A perfect example of a human monster like this is Michael Myers from Halloween the character is defined as someone who kills for the sake of killing. Sure it is shown initially that he started killing as a child when he saw his older sister having intercourse with her boyfriend; though throughout the film we only saw one other case of him killing under that condition (possible plot hole?). Instead the main plot has Michael stalking and trying to kill the protagonist Laurie Strode for no defined reason.

                Another example of a well defined human monster is the character the Joker from the Batman comics. This is a man that has gone way beyond the bounds of society and has only one motive in life which is to spread violence and chaos for the sake of violence and chaos. There is no clear sane motive so by society’s judgment this kind of particular character would be judged as a monster.

                In contrast with these monsters in this movie the freaks they had a defined motive revenge it doesn't matter if they are physically deformed, this is a very 'human' motive. It is not defined as much as their actions are monstrous but more along the lines of humans animalistic nature. If I could explain a small example think of a suburban area that has two rival gangs; let’s say one of the gang members is nearly killed by the opposing gang, with their sense of unity they will retaliate against said gang with violence. Or let’s take a historical perspective on this such as the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria which allowed Austria-Hungary to declare war against Serbia which led us to World War I. 
             
             It is with these reasons I consider this film more of a pure melodrama film then one that is associated with horror.

Sherlock Jr. Analysis

The type comedy that is displayed within Keaton’s Sherlock Jr. is slap-stick comedy; it is a form of a comedy that relies more on physical humor rather than comedy that has modern references that is presented within contemporary comedy. I can relate back to my early exposure to slap-stick comedy with some of the older Three Stooges segments such as their famous disputes between Moe, Larry, and Curly which would then result in physical violence between the three characters; this type of comedy does not make the audience ‘think’ it is simply there to make them laugh. Where contemporary comedy will have an audience think about modern issues or references.  Material that could be used for this type comedy now in days would be the NSA leak such as a father could say, “I like knowing my government is spending resources to look at text messages I send to my daughter asking when is she coming home from school.”

Some examples that can be used to defend Keaton’s modernity, self-reflexivity, evolution of the comedy medium, and cinematography are such as with the scene when Keaton’s character sleeps with a translucent version of himself separates from his physical body. His self-reflexivity is involved with him being able to quickly adapt to any physical situation that is presented in front of him; such as when Keaton’s Sherlock Jr. persona was driving the car after rescuing the love interest they were heading towards a lake the assembly of the car underneath slides off however when he presses both the front and back brakes where they then to use the frame of the car as a makeshift boat within the lake.

Introduction

My name is Joseph Pfaltzgraff, I am a senior majoring in computer engineering technology. I am taking this class since 20th century movie were actually the first movies I ever saw as a kid they left a big impact on my life. For example some of movies I watched consistently in my youth was Goldeneye, Robocop, the Original Star Wars series, the Karate Kids trilogy, and the Indiana Jones trilogy. As I continued to watch these movies I became more and more interested in how they were able to accomplish some of their practical effects. For instance I thought it was very clever in Raiders of the Lost Ark for the famous head melting scene they made layers of a gelatin mold over a mold of Ronald Lacey's character, Major Arnold Toht in a screaming position and having it exposed to a heat lamp thus each of the gelatin molds would melt leaving nothing but the mold within the frame of the shot. I always had an appreciation for these practical effects considering all the wonderment of these effects for movies now in days is gone with the overuse of CGI effects.