http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR6uz_VTCUo

Course Summary

Overall, my entire experience in film analysis has been a great one. I’ve been exposed to many different monumental films from all over the entire spectrum of film genres. My knowledge, understanding, culturalization and analyzation of film have grown in both width and depth. Like all things though, this course did have its high points and it’s low points.

Looking back through the entire course, it’s hard to pick a favorite movie. If I had to choose, it would probably be Run Lola Run. I really enjoyed viewing and then dissecting Memento because of how intricate it was. With Memento, the more one watched it and the more one studied it, the deeper it became. For instance, after reexamining the film, one often realizes that the film was not made just to simply entertain, teach, or tell a story; it was also made to give the audience the same experience as Leonard Shelby. It was made to have the audience question reality and his or her memory. I though this was a really interesting concept that was well woth exploring.

In contrast with Memento, my least favorite movie was man with a movie camera. I can understand how this film was significant in the way that it acted as an encyclopedia for cinematographers and editors at the time, however I felt that, as a movie, it was very boring and didn’t create any piece of artistic work worth valuing. Personally, if I really wanted to find out about all the early film editing tricks, I would rather read a how to book. This film wasn’t a work of art, rather simply a catalogue of artistic techniques. This film would be the equivalent of a painting made to demonstrate all the different styles of brushstrokes and ways to apply paint to a canvas. Man with a movie camera was simply not interesting in any artistic way. Out of the films, those were the two that marked the high and low points of this class, however the readings were also an important aspect of this class.

Out of all the readings, I enjoyed Auteur Theory the most. This is because it introduced a very interesting theory on how to divide film makers into three different categories. I found this theory to be very logical, well explained, and therefore ultimately true. I liked it a lot because I could agree with it, however I think it was universally a good read because of how understandable it was.

On the other end of the spectrum, my least favorite reading was The Voice in Cinema. I found this reading to be extremely confusing. Half of the time she was speaking, I simply couldn’t understand what she was saying because her vocabulary and diction was unnecessarily sophisticated. Once I later found out what her theory was that she was trying explain, I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Are you serious?” Ultimately, she was trying to explain that our imaginations create the rest of the scene that is unseeable beyond the screen because of sounds and framing. If I could sum up here theory in one sentence, there is no reason for her to write an entire paper about it and, on top of it, use an overly sophisticated writing style. Honestly, it’s kind of pretentious when considering how simple her idea was, yet how complex she had to make it sound. I just didn’t enjoy her paper in the least bit of ways.

This Film Is Not Yet Rated, But It Has Been Reviewed

The film This Film Is Not Yet Rated is a great documentary because it’s extremely informative, yet at the same time it is not boring.

This Film Is Not Yet Rated uses many narrating tactics to keep the film interesting. For instance, one big tactic is the overall development of the problem. The main purpose of this film is to expose the corruption in the MPAA and how this corruption effects film makers. So to give a full understanding of the problem at hand, the film chronologically shows how the problem began, developed, and then became what it is to this day. For example, the film begins by informing it’s audience of the creation of the MPAA. The film even shows interviews of Jack Valenti the founder of the MPAA. Then the film shows how the MPAA eventually grew to have a strangle hold on the film industry. By showing the problem this documentary is confronting from start to finish, it establishes trust between the audience and film.By giving showing the entire story of this problem, the audience is likely to believe what the film is saying, and therefore stay interested in what the film has to say.

In addition, the film presents a somewhat exhilarating plot. For instance, while the audience is fed facts about the MPAA and showed interviews of people who’ve interacted with the MPAA , the film shows how a director and a couple of private investigators fight to uncover corruption within the MPAA. During this fight, both the director and private investigators do some heavy spying on the MPAA. This can be found be found interesting because it is exhilarating to watch. Since it’s exhilarating to watch, the audience stays intrigued with what the film has to say.

The film This Film Is Not Yet Rated, is a very intriguing and attention keeping documentary due to the style of narrating chosen by the director.

Reality? Or Just Another Performance?

The film Singing In The Rain is interesting not only because it’s meta-musical, but also because it comments on the illusions of film making.

During the “make em laugh” scene in Singing In The Rain, Cosmo and Don walk past the sets of several films. While walking past these sets, the audience is shown a set with crowd of people sitting on bleachers cheering on a team while having white flakes fall from over top of them. Upon seeing this, the viewer can typically imagine that those people are sports fans cheering on their favorite team during a snow. The viewer can even imagine what it would look like to see the set from the camera’s point of view. This is actually what allows the viewer to understand what’s happening on the set. Once seeing the set from an outsiders perspective and understanding what is being shown, the viewer is reminded that what he is seeing on the screen is simply an illusion bounded by the four walls of the screen. More simply put, the diegetic world beyond the screen in which the film takes place only exists in the viewer’s mind. This realization is the films comment on film making. By exposing the non existent diegetic world beyond the screen which the viewer thinks exists, the film makes a comment saying, “Not only are films fake, but what you’re currently watching is fake too.” Even Doane explains that the viewer pieces together an outside diegetic world because of the images shown within the frame. Therefore, when the viewer is reminded that he is simply creating the outside diegetic world, the film becomes less on an illusion. What the viewer supposed to conclude with this reminder is unanswerable, however it is still an interesting thought. The thought that you’re watching a stage within a stage; it definitely makes a person question the reality of what they see, and or watch.

Lola On Repeat

After getting past the overbearing amount German electronica music, the film Run Lola Run is actually a very artistically sound movie. With the use of several motifs, Run Lola Run is a very interesting film that seems to become a little more rewarding every time one watches it again.

Run Lola Run can be slightly confusing at first, however with the use of motifs in this movie, makes sense on a conscious and subconscious level. On a conscious level, this movie use’s a motif of high energy and adrenalin, which the viewer is typically aware of, to add to the suspense and action of the movie. During almost the entire movie, there is fast pace German electronica music playing. This music naturally invokes a feeling of high energy, so the viewer can almost share feelings with Lola who is running through the entire movie. This makes the movie become easier to understand. On a subconscious level, the film uses a motif of gambling, which the audience typically doesn't notice, to emphasize how she is playing a game of chance every time she relives trying to save Manni. For example, when Lola is thinking of all her options of how get Manni’s money, she pictures each person in her head with an alternating background of black and red. These are the same colors used on a roulette wheel. Although this connection is a little bit of a stretch, it is reinforced through the entire film with reoccurring colors of red in black. Even if the viewer does not recognize this consciously, subconsciously the viewer is primed with the theme of gambling which helps this movie make sense. The viewer is guided by these conscious and subconscious motifs to help understand the movie.

With the use of motifs, this movie becomes much more understandable. Since this movie is layered with many hidden themes and ideas, it is extremely enjoyable to watch again and again. Run Lola Run finds the perfect balance of letting it’s audience close to what its trying to say, without actually giving it away. Once looking past the obnoxious amount of german electronica, Run Lola Run becomes a very artistically sound movie.

Enjoy:p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTiAS7cdsYc&feature=related

“M” Movie review

The movie “M” tells the story of a group of citizens that band together to hunt down a psychotic child murderer who is terrorizing the town. While on this hunt, the towns people face moral issues of life and insanity. The movie “M” is a powerful movie which can be appreciated for it’s excellent use of camera angles. The cinematographer uses strong camera angles to communicate emotion to the audience.

About half way through the movie the group of citizens funnel the child murderer in a building. Once the murderer is confined to the precinct of the building, the towns people begin to search the building looking for the murderer. Eventually the murderer is cornered into a closed door hall way. Once realizing he is trapped, he turns off the lights and then hides in the smallest cupboard that he can fit into. During this scene, the camera is placed at the opposite end of the hall and on the floor, so the audience can see the closed door to the hall and the murderer climbing into his hiding spot. Because the audience sees this, it’s likely that the audience feels suspense. Many people in the audience breathe very quietly because they think they’re in the scene and they don’t want to be caught. Also, the audience is likely to feel fear or anxiety because of the approaching civilians. The civilians are only mere people, but when shown storming the hallways in the dark and flipping on lights frantically, the civilians are then almost transformed into hunters. This very thought out camera angle suddenly turns a mildly paced search scene into an event where the audience is being held in fear and suspense.

Thanks to the cinematographers well thought out camera angles, the movie 

“M” is able to invoke powerful emotions in the audience. The camera angles in this movie help turn the movie into an exhilarating roller coaster ride that almost all audiences can enjoy.

Caligari still lives

When someone is told to name a very scary film, the movie title "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" is not likely to cross their lips. "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" may not be considered scary to most people, though it is definitely significant in the manner that it contributed many ideas to the current film world. "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" demonstrates ideas of cutting edge cinematography for it's era. This film brings revolutionary ideas of suspense and horror to cinema that are still found in current films.

"The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" introduced a new and very innovative idea to the world cinematography. This idea is the close up shot. The close up shot is a camera angle used in almost every current film when trying to create drama or emphasize an emotion. The logic behind it is that the closer the viewer is to the face of the actor, the more emotion that can be expressed to the viewer. This is an idea that can be applied to all genres of films, though this idea fits perfectly into horror and suspense films because the more emotion that can be expressed, the more fear or paranoia that can be invoked within the audience. "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" uses the close up shot to introduce the sleepwalking monster. In this scene, the sleepwalker is shown emerging from his deathly sleep by opening his eyes very slowly. The only thing the viewer can see is the head of the somnambulist, but this is good, because now the viewer is exposed to every detail on the monsters face: his eyes, his mouth, and even the dark make up around his eyes. When seeing all of these details, suspense is built within the viewer. As well, the grueling pace at which the somnambulist opens his eyes adds to the suspense too. This close up shot would come to be a very common and effective tool used in future films, especially horror films.

In contrast, other people such as Kracauer believe that the film is conventional  because of it's cliché challenge of authority, and that it's not as revolutionary as some critics claim. Kracauer does make a good point because the film does depict the man declared as insane to be very sane, though I feel that just because an idea is repeated that does not mean the idea is valueless or ineffective. The story can be viewed as cliché, though the way it was expressed through cinematography made it revolutionary when compared to past films.

In a word, "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" is revolutionary because it's ideas of cinematography have stood the test of time. The film's actors may be muted, but the ideas embraced in the film still speak loudly to this day.