Swiss Army Man

 

    Swiss Army Man is a very all over the place movie that somehow keeps your full attention. At the start of the movie I was very skeptical, but as we kept watching and to to know more about these characters it was hard to look away. This movie is filled with random events and they all help to develop the characters more. I did like the story about how he is stranded on an island and right before he hangs himself, someone washes up on shore. Hank carries Manny's lifeless body around with him throughout the whole movie as Manny starts to do superhuman things in attempt to make it back home. 

    My favorite scene from the movie would have to be the ending. I feel like the ending really tied the whole movie together. As you watch them both make their way out of the forest and Manny dies, you get the same feeling as Hank did it that moment. You are the only one that knows he isn't crazy and Manny was somewhat alive this whole time. Then in the ending scene, Manny proves that Hank is not crazy as he rides off into the ocean. I thought this was a really cool moment that ended off the movie very well.

    After watching this film I did find myself questioning what the point of the movie was. I really didn't catch what the purpose was and what we were suppose to get from the movie as a viewer. I just felt like I was following along the whole movie and not really getting anything out of it. It was fun to watch and had a lot of good scenes, but it still didn't explain itself well enough. Overall, it was a pretty good movie to watch in class. 

Film Making

        When starting this project our group had a few challenges figuring out where to start. We came up with some good ideas for both cinematography and editing. We use a variety of shots and angles to try and mix up the viewers point of view. Along with that we made some editing choices with cuts and music that help give some more life to the film. With our success we can also look back on some things we can work on for both cinematography and editing. 

        In terms of cinematography, I feel like we did a strong job as a group. Some techniques we used include; over the shoulder shots, pans, tight, medium and wide shots. One thing that I wish we were able to utilize better would be the use of dolly shots. Dolly Shots are when the camera moves closer or further away from the subject when shooting. This came as a struggle to our group due to the fact that we didn’t have too stable of a camera for the process. There was no tripod which makes it difficult to get a still/non shaky moving shot. Another obstacle we faced was not being able to zoom in and move out at the same time. This is a dolly zoom, which is famously used by Alfred Hitchcock in many films. I wish we were able to use this effect to add the dramatics of the shots we were filming, sadly our resources limited us to what we could do.

        Editing is more of a preference when working on projects like these. The main issues we had was the software. When I have done previous videos I have been able to utilize adobe premiere pro. This helps with being able to make precise cuts, play proper music tracks, and add special effects that look good. The software used was still efficient(adobe rush), however the sound tracks were limited, along with the precision when it comes to cutting up clips. This may have limited our ability to use the technique of cutting on action. We did use a decent amount of cutting action shots, when door handles were grabbed, walking around corners, and the fight scenes. However, the use of these types of edits have been a little limited due to the fact that the precision is not as exact as on premiere pro. Also due to some shots not exactly lining up as in some people were not in the exact spots before and after the cut, there are some matching cuts that seem a little off. If we had more time we could try and incorporate these little tweaks better

Lighting

     In reading chapter 5 of moving pictures I was able to find a deeper understanding of cinematography and how lighting plays a role in it. Lighting can speak without words. We see it all the time in movies, but don't notice it. When you're watching a movie and you see dark and gloomy lighting, you feel something mysterious and it makes you anxious. When you see bright lighting filled with colors, you are going to expect a more joyful scene.  For example you can use the movie The Batman. The whole movie is shot in a dark lighting. The lighting sets the mood for the rest of the movie. The Batman is a mysterious and gloomy movie that is filmed in darker lighting. This is also done in most scary movies. If you watch movies light The Conjuring or Insidious, you will notice that before a jump scare the lighting is very dim. This draws the audience in and give it more of an effect on the scare. 

    Film makers have two different choices they can make when doing the lighting for their movie. They could use natural lighting, like the sun or the moon. They could also use artificial lighting. This can be LED's, fluorescent lights, or many other forms of technology. Whatever source of lighting you use will expose a shot in a different way. The sun's lighting will not be the same and using LED's. This lighting can affect how much of the frame you want to be in focus and how it will look in the final image. 

    Film makers also use tricks to fool the viewer. They will do things like put a lamp next to an actor when they are using artificial lighting. This makes the viewer think that the lighting must be coming from the lamp, but it is not. This trick is called motivating the light source. Usually the lamp that is used is just a prop. It has no effect other than that. In conclusion this chapter taught me a lot about how much goes in to every scene and what we don't see as a viewer. 

Short Film Making

 

    In class we have been working on a new group project where we are making a short film. Our group had the collective idea to have some sort of action scene in the film and tried to use various shots and angles. While working on this project we were using a lot of the things we learned in class like the close ups and over the shoulder shots. Coming up with an idea for the film was a little difficult because we all had different ideas and different movies we wanted it to be like. 

    We decided that our film would be about how we don't know what we should do for our project. In turn this would be the film. So we shot scenes about discussing what the project should be and how we should shoot it. Then we broke it out into a fight scene ending with how we forgot to shoot the movie. I think the concept was great and worked put well. We all took the free period we were granted to work on it and I think that it turned out pretty good.

    This project really showed me how much we have learned in this class anyhow we can apply it. We were able to let our creativity take over and touch in to a different side of ourselves that we probably didn't know we had. This was a fun project to make and I could see myself doing it again given the opportunity. 

Snowy

 

    Snowy was a very entertaining short film. I never really watch films like these, where they are home made and don't really follow a strict script, but snowy surprised me. The way that the film was shot and the angles that they took made you feel for the turtle. I also liked how it had funny moments, but also more serious moments all revolving around a pet turtle. Snowy is very secluded and mostly taken care of by the dad. Snowy was originally meant for the son, but over the years got more and more isolated and is now the dads turtle. They go on a journey together to build a better life for the turtle and it in turn brings joy to the whole family. 

    One of the things I really like about this short film is how passionate the dad is about the turtle. He thinks of the turtle like it is a human. As a viewer you can really tell how much the dad cares about the turtle. One of the scenes I like the most is at the end when the drone shoots over the whole town and keeps flying higher. It shows how this is just one families life, out of millions of more all over the world.

    This film showed how all animals need love and to me showed how they all have emotions. the way the camera shoots snowy when he is outside makes you think that the turtle is actually happy and has feelings.  The camera angles in this scene and many other scenes can show what type of mood snowy is in. Also the use of colors and lighting can be seen to describe emotions. Overall it was a great watch and I would watch short films like this again. 

Marie Antoinette Scene Study

    Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola follows the story of a young teenager being thrown into the hectic life of a queen. She starts off living life to the fullest filled with luxurious activities and partying. Coppola packs the screen with colors and visuals making every shot have a purpose. 

    One of my favorite scenes from the movie takes place towards the end where she is standing on top of her balcony. When she walks out you can see all of the flames from the torches, pick forks in the air, and a loud roar of a crowd. As Marie slowly bends over the balcony you hear the crowds roar go down and it almost gives you a feel as if you were there. I think Coppola's use of color and sound in this scene really highlight the rise en scene of her work. You will see scenes like this repeatedly throughout the movie. The way she arranges objects and characters in the frame to fill up the screen keeps the viewers attentions at all times. 

    I liked how the story made you feel sorry for Marie. The whole time she just wanted to live her life and be the young girl that she is, but due to her position she has to act a certain way and please people. You can see this in the world today too. People trying to tell women how they should act and this movie does a great job showing that to the audience. You see her go from a free, joyful teenager to someone who is being hated and ridiculed. 

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

 

    

    The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was a more difficult film for me to watch. Although it did a really good job of telling the story and the use of music to intensify scenes, it was still difficult for me to follow at some points. Without narrative in a movie with a lot of things going on, I found myself getting lost. After researching the movie and hearing what the meaning is, I did think that it was a good movie for its time.

1. What is the essential story? The story follows two men, Francis and Alan, at a carnival. They meet a man, Cesare, who says he can see into the future. He said the future for him and his friend was that Alan would die and that did come true. This makes Cesare the suspect for the death, but in the end we see none of this was true. 

2. How does the film tell its story? The film tells its story through different shapes and angles, along with the music to amplify scenes. the music can be heard when something is going to happen.

3. What conventions of cinematic storytelling does it use? The film uses camera angles and plot twist to help tell the story.

4. Explain the final plot twist. The plot twist is that Francis, Alan, and Cesare are all in an insane asylum and the story was all an illusion.

5. How does the final plot twist comment upon cinematic storytelling? The final plot twist comments upon cinematic storytelling by tying everything together in the end of the movie. It completely changes the audiences view of the movie at the end. 

6. What do set designs sy about early film making? The set designs were everything for early film making. They used these sets to give the audience the perception of objects being further or closer than they appear.

7. What do set designs imply about stories and storytelling? Set designs are there to enhance a scene and show what type of area the character is in.