Sunday, October 31, 2010

On The Waterfront

I really loved seeing Marlon Brando as a young actor as opposed to when I saw him in The Godfather. He was a great actor when he was young as well and I felt that he did an amazing job in this role. On The Waterfront was overall a very good film with a good story line, a good message and a great ending.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Jurassic Park Theme song


Aside from being an amazing movie, Jurassic Park has what I believe to be one of the best musical scores. This particular song is the theme song that is heard at different parts throughout the movie. The music is very powerful and well composed. It definitely allows you to immerse yourself into the movie.

The Hidden Fortress and Battleship Potemkin

I really enjoyed this movie because it had a nice combination of action as well as plenty of comedic relief from the two peasants. I thought that the peasants were very funny and I enjoyed watching them bicker and their overall love/hate relationship. I though that the man who played the general was a very good actor and played his serious role very well. I was unsure about how the princess was portrayed however, she always seemed to be screaming when she spoke and it seemed quite odd to me. However overall it had good acting, a great storyline and a good ending!

I also thought that The Battleship Potemkin was a great silent film and great propaganda film. Although I don't normally enjoy silent films, the music really conveyed the emotions and point of view and I felt it was really powerful. This film is also a great example of using a montage technique.

On the Waterfront

Very interesting movie, good story line. Very good music by Leonard Bernstein throughout the movie!

Synchronous Sound

Synchronous sound - Sync sound (synchronized sound recording) refers to sound recorded at the time of the filming of movies, and has been widely used in U.S. movies since the birth of sound movies. The first animated film in which sync sound was used is Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie.

M

I have not got around to posting how i felt about M, yet.
This movie exceeded my expectations for being so old. i was held captivated for the majority of the film, it has mystery, suspense and flare. i really liked the beginning and how it tied into the end with the blind man remembering that whistle, creepy, love it

I enjoyed the hunt for M in that office building a lot and the public recreation of a court. this movie had a bunch of details that i picked up on and had a purpose unlike some other films we watched

^-^ cheers

Monday, October 18, 2010

Jump



Fight Club scene. The moment i am talking about is when Tyler Durden, played by Brad Pitt, flashes on screen while, Tyler Durden, also played by Edward Norton, is looking over the photocopy machine. It produces a jarring effect telling the audience that something is not quite right. It is also an example foreshadowing, and damn good acting.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

On the Waterfront

Loved Marlon Brando is this film...what an incredible actor! One of my fav movies so far this semester...loved the story line; a strong man having to fight between family and duty...

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Film Glossary #4

Synchronous Sound
Non-Synchronous Sound
Sound Editing
Sound Design
Soundtrack
Overlapping Dialogue
Sound Design
Sound Mixing
Diagetic Sound
Non-Diagetic Sound
Musical Score
Source Music
Production Sound
Camera Blimp
Sound Boom
Sound Effects
Voice-Over
Mickeymousing
Realist Musical
Formalist Musical
Musical Documentary
Music Video

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Loving the Halloween horror month

Recently watched Day of the Dead and Nightmare on Elm Street. A few classic scares in these movies really pop into mind when I think of the horror genre.

A few faves

The Shining
The Thing
30 Days of Night
Devils Rejects
Jaws
The Strangers
American Psycho
Cujo
Carrie
The Blob
Alien series
Predators series (not the vss)
Dawn of the Dead
Evil Dead
Deep Blue Sea---hahaha
Quarantine
28 days later
The Omega Man

M

I just watched this movie earlier today, thought it was pretty good. I liked the story line, the actor who played the murderer did a great job in portraying his character. The moments of complete silence throughout the movie fit this movie perfectly!

expressionism example with crane shot



CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
only watch first 3 mins
^^
This scene from "The Cell", one of my favorite movies, is pure expressionism. It about entering the mind of a schizophrenic serial killer. This is the director's attempt to express the insanity and instability of the tortured killer. There are some very nice shots incorporated in the scene. Especially the scene with the baptism, its a great crane shot. The establishing shot showing the surface of the man's brain gives good idea of what to expect in the brain. Clearly the movie had a pretty big budget, and i bet the majority of it went into the mental penetration scenes, further proof comes from the casting of Jennifer Lopez. Blarg.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Top Ten Horror (no particular order)

Nightmare on Elm Street
The Shining
Friday the 13th
Quarantine
IT
The Exorcist
Psycho
Dawn of the Dead
Jaws
28 Days Later

M

I thought that M was a great movie. The murderer was absolutely creepy, especially in the scene where he sees a little girl in a reflection and watches her with huge wide eyes. The actor did a good job portraying that character. I loved the idea of the homeless people acting as informants and holding a trial for the murderer at the end. I was shocked to see how many people were in that room. Overall, great suspense, great characters and very well made.

"M"

Its an impeccable film- the film grows more unsettling when you find out the killer in the movie can not help himself...great work!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

HORRORS!!!


Halloween is coming up! It’s time to select your favorite fright films. We are studying film genres this term and horror is one of our stopping-off points. List the movies that scare you the most. If you are a real fan, you can put down your Top Ten. Photos and clips are welcome. We might even watch a full length feature in class before the fateful night itself.

Film Glossary #3

Continuity
Jump Cut
Establishing shot
Sequence Shots
Cutting to Continuity
Classical Cutting
Thematic Montage
Abstract Cutting
Master Shot Technique
Overlapping Shot Technique
Reaction Shot
Cut Away
Cover Shots
First Cut
Final Cut
Reverse Angle Shot
Cross-cutting
Parallel Editing
Flashback
Flash Forward

Film Glossary #2

POV
High Key Lighting
Low key lighting
High contrast
Low contrast
Fill light
Back light
Color
Cool color
Warm color
Rack focus
Mise en scene
Montage
Aspect ratio
Masking
Iris
Pan
Tilt
Crane
Dolly
Zoom
Zolly
Handheld

Film Glossary #1

Realism
Classicism
Formalism
Expressionism
EXLS
LS
FS
MS
CU
EXCL
Deep Focus
Establishing Shot
Over-the-shoulder Shot
Wide-angle Lens
Telephoto Lens
Fish-eye Lens
Zoom Lens
Prime Lenses
Bird’s-eye View
High Angle
Eye-level Shot
Low Angle
Dutch Angle

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Battleship Potemkin

This is my second time watching this movie. The music is great creates a sense of rebellion, fits this movie perfectly. The movie itself conveys a strong message and shows a lot about what was going on in Russia at that period of time. I think it is a good movie and would definitely recommend watching it.

Cross-cutting

Cross-cutting - The editing technique of selecting shots, cutting back and forth between actions taking place at two or more locations. This usually implies that the events are happening simultaneously, creating a sense of parallel action.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Examples of continuity errors

Momento, flashing forward into the past

I recently watched the movie Momento. This movie utilizes flash forwards that technically are also flashbacks. The plot line is very unique because it begins at the end and works its way to the beginning. During the movie Guy Pearce plays the role of a short-term memory impaired man named "Leonard". Leonard takes pictures with his polaroid camera and makes vital notes as the day progresses, some notes so worthy of remembering that he has them tattooed all over his body. The movie flashes backward chronologically, but forward into the plot development. This was an amazing movie and I really recommend watching it.

CLOSE UP

A wonderful close up is at the beginning of pirates of the Caribbean, at worlds end. It basically shows an extream close up of Johnny Depp's nose, sniffing as the camera lens pans forward along with the nose, so close up many black heads can be seen. I remember this close up because i thought it was a cool way to start a movie, and my mom said NO WAY WOULD I LET SOMEONE FILM THAT CLOSE TO MY NOSE! his nose eventually runs into a peanut.

Crappy pixels on youtube show this under (pirates of the Caribbean, funny peanut)

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Battleship Potemkin

The soundtrack was fantastic. The lighting and images communicated a lot emotion. It really is a fantastic silent movie.