Author: Finn-McCue

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Great Supernatural POV

I believe that the film our group is watching is a “great” film. I believe this because the The Sixth Sense utilizes several key elements used in filmmaking throughout the duration of the film, the film is also well received by several film critics, and the film is in fact listed in the Top 100 greatest films. 

When The Sixth Sense was released it had overwhelmingly positive reviews and spent several weeks at the top of the box office charts, “Leading the pack was Touchstone’s psychological thriller ‘The Sixth Sense,’ which was a left-field winner, grossing $43.8 million. The Bruce Willis starrer was a fall release that Disney pushed into the summer sweeps and effectively promoted into a must-see pic with good word-of-mouth and positive reviews. It iced an impressive $20,313 theater average,” (Leonard Klady). This quote from Leonard Klady emphasizes the early success that The Sixth Sense had and highlights how it was highly acclaimed at the time and highlights it’s tremendous box office numbers of $43.8 million which was over $2 million ahead of the next closest film, The Blair Witch Project. The financial success and positive publicity that The Sixth Sense illustrates just how great of a film it is. 

The film was directed brilliantly and because of this it gave the film a creepy feel to it but also kept the audience engaged the whole time, “Perhaps it’s the deliberate pacing, the almost contemplative timbre to the whole thing. And the chilliness, the sheer coldness in the air! It uses stillness, implication and silence in ways that reminded me of ‘Seven,’”(Dessen Howe). Dessen Howe discusses that because of the way the film was laid out, it gave the film a “chilling” feeling that the director was seeking when making this film in order to not quite give it the feel of a horror film, but more of a psychological thriller. I think the way the director constructs the film to create tone makes the film great because it keeps the audience on edge the whole time and then the ending shocks the audience and keeps them engaged seeking an explanation for the ending. This work by the director helped contribute to the greatness of the film. 

I don’t think it matters if a film is “great” or not in order to analyze it, films can not be great and still have plenty of content to examine that make them interesting. When films are great, however, it makes them easier to analyze because we want to watch them more and we appreciate the elements that make them great more and more as we break them down each time we watch them. But a film can not be great and still have a profound message or make use of other elements that we use when analyzing a film, but it may not do a great job of bringing them all together or it may not have a thought provoking story line. 

By analyzing films critically we gain an appreciation for all the work directors, editors, and actors have to do in order to produce a film whether it is great or not. When we analyze a film for key elements we can see what was important in the filmmaking process to every party involved and we also see how each element comes together to make a finished product to be viewed. Analyzing films critically also gives us a profound understanding of what a film is really trying to accomplish with its purpose and how it does that with each contributing element. 

 

Sources:

  1. https://go-gale-com.ezproxy.lib.calpoly.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA55578607&v=2.1&u=calpolyw_csu&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w
  2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/movies/reviews/sixthsensehowe.htm?noredirect=on
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Great Film Analysis #5- The Godfather

My experience watching the Godfather was very positive. Organized crime and corruption has always interested me and that is what The Godfather is all about. The Godfather was full of action from the very start which also kept me engaged even though it was a very long film. A scene that stood out to me in particular was when Johnny Fontane and Don Vito tried to convince Jack Woltz to give Johnny a part in a movie and when Woltz refuses they cut off the head of his horse and leave it in his bed the next morning. This scene stood out to me because it didn’t seem like it would be that big of a deal for Johnny to not get the acting part, but I thought that it symbolized that the family gets what they want by any means necessary and commit extremely personal crimes, like killing pets, to send a message. 

The elements of the film that stood out the most to me were the mise en scene and the sound. For the mise en scene, I thought that the setting was realistic and the costumes also helped play a role in shaping who the characters were. The sound also helped add to the film because it was kind of ling but the music let the audience know when something important was about to happen and helped me pay attention more. 

Critical conversations of The Godfather were very positive, this makes sense because The Godfather has been nominated for and won several awards. The Godfather is also viewed by many as “one of the most influential films of all time” (History). I also didn’t know that the film was based on a book originally but critical conversations also said that the film did a great job of staying consistent with the storyline of the book and capturing most necessary details. One critic had an interesting take on The Godfather and wrote, “The Godfather presents the gangster’s perspective of the Mafia as a response to corrupt society.  Although the Corleone family is presented as immensely rich and powerful, no scenes depict prostitution, gambling, loan sharking or other forms of racketeering,” (George De Stefano). 

I would tend to agree with the critics takes on The Godfather. I was worried about how my viewing experience would differ from critics because the film was made so long ago but I was engaged the entire time and thought it was very profound and interesting. 

 

Sources

  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=2482tWkpfpQC&pg=PA94#v=twopage&q&f=false
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godfather
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Great Film Analysis #4- Pulp Fiction

I thought Pulp Fiction was a good film and I can appreciate why it was critically acclaimed, however I thought the film was very drawn out and it focused on too many unnecessary details that draw away from the story line. The movie followed the characters scene by scene and didn’t skip around at all which made it seem more realistic but it also just dragged the movie and it was somewhat monotonous at times.

A moment that stood out to me was when Vincent Vega and Mia Wallace were sitting at the diner talking. This scene seemed to drag on for a really long time and it felt like almost half of the movie was their dialogue at the diner and seemed somewhat unnecessary to spend that much time on one scene. 

One element of the film that stood out to me was the use of segmenting to help break the film down and make it easier to comprehend and prepare the viewer for what’s about to happen. The movie is very long so it’s broken down into 7 main segments- “Prelude to The Gold Watch (flashback), Prelude to Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace’s Wife, The Bonnie Situation, The Diner, The Diner ii, Prelude to The Gold Watch (present), Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace’s Wife, and The Gold Watch” (Wikipedia). This was a smart choice by the director ton split the film up into segments so that it kept the audience engaged and let them know what to look for in each segment of the film and what to pay attention to. 

I read varying critical conversations about Pulp Fiction, some describe it as an excellent film while others describe the film as “authoritative, influential, and meaningless” (Foster Hirsch). Other critics think that Pulp Fiction is a reference to postmodernism because it has several references to the 1950s and was even called a masterpiece, “Describing the film in 2005 as Tarantino’s ‘postmodern masterpiece … to date’, David Walker writes that it “is marked by its playful reverence for the 1950s … and its constantly teasing and often deferential references to other films”. He characterizes its convoluted narrative technique as ‘postmodern tricksiness’,” (Wikipedia). 

I can agree with the varying critiques of the film because I can appreciate how influential and important its references to postmodernism ast the time of its release were but I also can understand how a critic would be harsh and write that it seems “meaningless” at times because I also felt that way during the film. 

 

Sources

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_Fiction#cite_note-164
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Great Film Analysis #3- The Shining

My experience of The Shining was good but it could have been better. I thought it was interesting in the beginning when the chef knows that the boys mother calls him “Doc” and reveals that he is psychic to the boy and that he knows that the boy is psychic too. I thought maybe the director could have done a better job explaining that part of the movie. Another element I was confused about was in the end after Jack dies and it shows the poster for the Overlook Hotel in the year 1921 and in the very front is Jack. There were also a few scenes that confused me. One scene in particular that confused me was when Wendy locks Jack in the food pantry and he somehow escapes later. The movie didn’t show how he escaped and it seemed unrealistic. Other than those confusing spots of the film, I thought the director did a great job of keeping the audience engaged and keeping the tone of the film eerie and creepy throughout the whole movie. 

The elements of the film that I was most impressed with was the sound, visual effects, and editing used in the film. All of these elements usually play a critical role in most horror movies but The Shining did an excellent job of utilizing all three. 

In the very beginning of the film during the drive up to the hotel there is scary music playing which sets the tone for the whole movie and makes the audience aware that something bad is going to happen at the hotel. Then when Jack arrives and interviews at the hotel the manager tells him about the murders that had previously taken place at the hotel. Then whenever something bad is about to happen during the movie, like when Danny has a vision or when Jack is chasing around Wendy with an axe, scary music is playing and it crescendos when there is an anticipation scene. Also the lack of sound throughout other scenes in the movie adds to the loneliness and isolation of the hotel making it even more creepy. 

The visual effects during The Shining also contribute to the overall tone of the film and give it an alarming feel. A scene that stood out to me with effective visual effects was when Danny was having a vision and saw the hotel lobby flooded with blood. The color red often appears in this film, for example when Danny becomes possessed and starts saying “red rum” he writes it on the door in red lip gloss, a lot of the rooms in the hotel have red in them, and the characters are also wearing red clothes in many scenes. I think this choice was done on purpose by the director to symbolize violence, blood, and murder and was a prequel for what would take place later in the film when Jack goes crazy and murders Dick who came to rescue Danny and Wendy. 

The other element of the film that impressed me the most was the editing of scenes and the different types of editing used to have an optimal viewing experience. There are several eye line match shots in the film that create anticipation scenes and make the audience jump from their seats. One eye line match shot in particular that stood out to me was when Danny was riding his tricycle through the hotel lobby and then it switches to his face and you can see his expression go from normal to terrified and then the camera switches from Danny to the two girls asking Danny to come play with them and then it flashes to images of their chopped up bodies.  Another scene that stood out to me using analytical editing was when Jack is going crazy and then he sits down at the bar for a drink and at first it looks like no one is there but then Jack starts talking to himself, the camera zooms in on his face and then he begins talking to Lloyd the bartender and orders a drink. 

Critics have written several different opinions on The Shining. Although most critics have overwhelmingly positive reviews of the film, many critics have different interpretations of what the film symbolizes. One famous interpretation was by Bill Blakemore who suggested that the film was symbolic of the genocide of Native Americans, the reasoning being that the hotel is said to have been built over an Indian burial ground, there are several Native American artifcats depicted throughout the film, and Dick Hallorann was murdered on top of a Native American rug when he returns to rescue Danny and Wendy. 

The critiques I read somewhat matched my experience of the film but I thought it left a little more to be desired. There were a few holes in the storyline that I mentioned earlier which confused me and I thought that the director should have put more emphasis on Danny’s visions and made them seem more realistic and last longer than they actually did since they play a critical role in the film. 

 

Sources

  1. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/shining
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shining_(film)#cite_note-92
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Great Film Analysis #2- ET

My experience of the film was very positive. I thought the director, Steven Spielberg, did an excellent job of utilizing special effects throughout the film and making it an interesting science fiction film, while also making ET a heart warming story of a bond between Elliot, the main character and ET. 

The element that overwhelmingly stood out to me while watching ET was the use of special effects, especially on such a low budget. According to Box Office Mojo, ET only used $10.5 million dollars for their entire budget, while an average movie’s budget cost around $100-$150 million to make today. The use of special effects to create ET and other special effects throughout the whole film was groundbreaking at the time, especially at such a low cost. 

Another element of ET that stood out to me was the use of sound throughout the film. In the beginning of the film before the boys first meet ET and when ET is landing on Earth there is very ominous/scary music playing to create an element of fear and unknown. However once he boys befriend ET and start having more fun with him the music begins to lighten up and has a more joyful tune. Sound is actually what ET is most famous for, ET won several accolades including an Oscar for Best Sound and Best Sound Effect Editing “This musical element is the film’s most famous theme and ties to E.T.’s telekinetic ability to make Elliott and his friends fly on their bikes.  The theme creates a mood of wonder and amazement during the iconic scene when Elliot and E.T. fly past the moon,” (Davis). 

Critical conversations I read about the film raved about ET’s use of sound to set the mood and how the film achieved lofty goals on such a low budget. Critics also said that ET was a one of a kind film at the time and brought joy to their hearts. Roger Ebert even wrote, “This is not simply a good movie. It is one of those movies that brush away our cautions and win our hearts,” whcih is extremely high praise. 

I would say that the critical conversations I’ve read about ET fit what my experience of the film was as well. I was very impressed with the use of sound to add to the tone of the fil as well as the use of special effects to make the film seem more real even though it’s about an alien. 

 

Sources:

  1. https://peterdavisfilmblog.wordpress.com/2014/10/10/e-t-the-extra-terrestrial-catagories-and-functions-of-sound/ 
  2. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-et-the-extra-terrestrial-1982
  3. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=et.htm 
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Great Film Analysis #1-WallE

My experience of WallE was extremely positive. I was very impressed with the graphics and artwork in the film as well as the ability to maintain a storyline and engaging plot with minimal dialogue between the characters. Most of the time all they say is “WallE” or “Eve” since those are the only two words either character knows besides “plant”. The plant also plays a key role in the film. WallE discovers the plant early on in the film and it gives it to Eve who he falls in love with and it’s sort of like the ultimate gift. This is also symbolic because by Eve getting the plant, when she retrieves it back to the ship it’s supposed to allow everyone on board to return to Earth because it’s a sign of life on Earth, when the Earth was previously covered in trash. 

The segmentation of the film was very clear to me and made the plot easy to follow. There were three main segments: WallE making trash piles by himself, WallE meets Eve, WallE and Eve go on the ship, WallE and Eve return to Earth with everyone from the ship. 

The element of WallE that stood out to me most was the overall message of the film that it is important to take care of the environment and what the possible consequences may be if we do not. Not only does WallE depict the Earth as being covered in trash, but it also shows all the humans riding around on floating chairs and they are extremely oberse and stare at their screens all day. “Respondents argued over its depiction of futuristic humans and whether their (animated) shapes made them baby-like or obese,” (Howley). The article “Wall-E” by Ann Howey discusses briefly how it was debated whether or not it was appropriate for Wall-E to be a kids movie because of its “apocalyptic setting” but I think that it is important for young adults and children to see the impact their actions have because they will be the ones making important decisions that impact our lives in the future and films like WallE could have a lasting impact on them. 

Another element that I thought was impressive in WallE was the use of sound throughout the film. The opening scenes play cheerful jazz music as WallE goes from place to place picking up trash and stacking it. This gives the audience that WallE is very innocent and somewhat content with life. Ann Howey also discusses how the use of this jazz music highlights the differences between the past and present, “The opening sequence of the film introduces this tension between future and past. As the ‘camera’ moves through (animated) outer space, moving eventually through our solar system to a futuristic, garbage-covered Earth, the images are accompanied by the song ‘Put on Your Sunday Clothes’ from the 1960s film musical Hello Dolly! (Kelly US 1969)–the song begins, fittingly, ‘Out there …’. As Andrew Stanton remarks in his Director’s Commentary for the DVD, ‘juxtaposing sci-fi and the future with retro old stuff’ was a deliberate strategy,”(Howey).  I was also impressed that the movie was able to carry a storyline so well even without having that much dialogue between the main characters besides them saying “WallE” or “Eve”. 

The critical conversations I read about WallE briefly discuss its appropriateness for children given that it’s a Disney movie due to it’s “paramount environmental message”. But overall critics reviewed WallE in a positive light and admired its use of visual settings and symbolism as well as sound throughout the film, “when Wall-E escapes the self-destructing life-pod and meets Eve on her way to rescue him, the resulting dance-in-space has more to do with visual spectacle than scientific possibility,” (Howey). Critics also admired the relationship between humans and technology in the film, “the film humanises ‘good’ technology–robots such as Wall-E and Eve who work in the best interests of humanity,” (Howey). 

I would agree with critics that WallE does an excellent job utilizing sound and visual effects to optimize the viewing experience but I would disagree that the environmental message is too “paramount” or “apocalyptic” for young children to view. There’s nothing graphic in the film to suggest that it would be inappropriate for children, the director is simply just trying to highlight an important environmental message to viewers.

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Soviet Montage Definition

The Soviet Montage is the practice of editing certain film clips or even photos together to send a specific message.  This technique however was used for a very short amount of time.  It lasted from 1924 until 1930 and only about 30 films have been made using this technique.

This method of filming came about after the Russian revolution in 1917.  The filmers were low on supplies like film so they started experimenting with films that were used in earlier projects.

The man that was at the forefront of inventing this technique was Lev Kuleshov.  He carried out an experiment where he would show the same picture of a woman paired with various images of food or something sad.  He found that the viewers opinion of the woman’s facial features changed based off whatever picture was being shown with it.  The viewers were unaware that the photo of the woman was the same in all pairings and their perspective was simply warped by the use of the other picture.

Sergei Eisenstein was a filmmaker best known for using Soviet montage.  The reason for this is he wanted to spread propaganda that people didn’t need to be able to read in order to understand it.  He wanted to “harness the emotion of the Russian people and lead them towards a new revolutionized society.”  An example of this is his film October which was done in 1927.  Eisenstein wanted to portray how he viewed religion and culture.  He did this by connecting different religious scenes, one after another, until they began to blend together and gave off the notion that “all religion is the same”.

Sergei also used Soviet montage to distort the viewers perception of what was happening during a certain event.  In his film Battleship Potemkin in 1925 he took a scene that in reality only lasted a couple of minutes and he altered the films so that it would seem to take seven minutes instead.  Therefore changing the audience’s perception of what is actually happening and what’s just an illusion.

While the use of Soviet montage isn’t a regular thing there are newer movies that have utilized this technique.  One example of this is the movie Rocky from 1976.  There’s a montage of Rocky training for his upcoming boxing match.  The scene shows him running long distances, punching things, running up stairs, all while a song is playing about working hard and getting strong.  This editing method was used in this case to portray Rocky’s determination in his training for the big fight.  It also shows a decent amount of time passing without the viewer having to actually sit through hours of film.

All in all Soviet montage was important in its time because it led to historical revisionism in a time where a fascist leader demanded socialist realism.  It also created a form of propaganda that could be used to reach even illiterate people in a simple way.

Without Soviet montage theory, it would be more challenging for directors to get across their intended message or tone of the film. As stated earlier, Soviet montage is used in the movie Rocky while he is training for his fight but without the inspirational music playing in the background, the clips of him training would not have the same effect. Soviet montage is important to cinema because without it, directors would not be able to display on film what they may be imagining in their head without the right tone or context.

https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=hst_theses (Links to an external site.)

http://warrior-fighter.blogspot.com (Links to an external site.)

https://filmstudies.info/terminology/manuscripts/soviet-montague.html

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Film Analysis #1 Blog Post 3 Night of The Living Dead

The genre of Night of The Living Dead is horror. There is plenty of evidence of this throughout the film. The plot of the film is a bunch of adults hiding from ghouls in a house, which is a horror film concept. None of the characters are villains or anything that would suggest they’re evil but after they get attacked by the ghouls they turn into ghouls and start attacking the other characters. 

In terms of the dramatic structure, the exposition takes place when Barbara and Johnny are at the cemetery when Barabara get attacked and then she retreats to the house. During this scene we get some background knowledge on where the setting of the film will be and who is one of the main characters is. The rising action occurs when Barbara meets Ben and the other characters in the house and they are all planning on what they should do to escape the ghouls. The climax occurs when Tom and Judy hop in the truck outside and Ben follows them, then the truck catches on fire while Ben fights off the ghouls. The falling action is after everyone has either turned into a ghoul or died besides Ben the next morning and there is a search team that finds Ben. The denouement occurs when one of the members of the search team mistakes Ben for a ghoul and kills him. 

The narrative is mainly structure around Ben. Ben is the one who seems to take charge and make all the decisions. He takes on a leadership role and boards up the windows and doors, lighting the couch on fire to fend off the ghouls, and using the rifle to shoot the ghouls. I think if the narrative were different and they would have structured it around Barbara for example, then the movie would have been much different because Barbara was very quiet throughout the whole film. This supports the genre because in all movies, and especially in horror movies, one character has to be brave and take on a leadership role to overcome the adversity that they are facing in order to prevail and Ben takes on that role in Night of The Living Dead. 

The performances were suited to the genre by each actor filling their role appropriately. Ben suited the role of being the leader because he was the most vocal out of everyone and took charge of every situation and was extremely confident. All the other characters played minor roles which fits in well with the horror genre because in horror movies usually the other characters take a back seat to the leader of the group. The performances aren’t realistic, the camera turned away whenever one of the characters was about to get stabbed or eaten during the film. This isn’t a bad thing because this film was made over 50 years ago, so at the time it probably seemed realistic, but it doesn’t really take away from the plot. 

The main actor, Duane Jones, as Ben is an unknown actor. Judith O’Dea was a stage and commercial actress at the time and she played the role of Barbara. This was the first major film that Judith O’Dea acted in at the time so the audience would not have had any prior background knowledge on her work. I don’t know why the director chose to make Duane Jones take the lead role and not Judith O’Dea. It seems like it would have made sense casting the actor with more experience as the lead actor but the director possibly just wanted to have a strong males presence be the lead actor would be my guess.

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Film Analysis #1 Night of the Living Dead

There are three major segments in Night of the Living Dead. The first segment is at the cemetery when Barbara and her brother Johnny are visiting their dead father and Barbara’s Johnny jokes about there being zombies in the graveyard. Subsequently, a zombie does appear in the graveyard and attacks Barbara and then her brother while Barabara retreats to a nearby house to hide. 

The second segment is the house. At first it is just Barbara in the house and she is still in shock from what took place at the cemetery but she is soon joined by Ben. Ben kills a few zombies outside trying to get in and then begins to board up the doors and windows in the house. Shortly after, Harry and Tom join Barbara and Ben and begin to bicker about whether or not they should stay upstairs or go down to the cellar. Tom and Judy go down to the cellar while everyone else stays upstairs. While upstairs, they turn on the TV and see a message informing them that the government is aware of what’s happening. The TV anchorman states that people being stalked by zombies are supposed to report to the nearest shelter to stay safe. After seeing this message, they go outside and Ben fights off a group of zombies while Tom and Judy attempt to escape in the truck. Tom and Judy are unable to escape because the truck catches  on fire while Ben is fighting the zombies and they die. Ben and Harry go inside and begin to fight and Ben shoots Harry. Harry retreats downstairs and is transformed into a zombie and eventually Karen, Helen, and Barbara are also attacked and turn into zombies.  

The third segment is the next morning when there is a rescue attempt. Ben wakes up when he hears gunshots outside and then is shot by someone for being mistaken as a ghoul. This is where the movie ends. 

The purpose of segmenting the movie in this way is to create a gradual build up of intensity for the viewer, keeping them engaged throughout the film. The impact on the viewer is to craft a sense of intrigue, causing the viewer to wonder what’s going to happen next. is more In the end, Ben is shot and it seems like an appropriate ending to a horror film since then goal of the movie was to entertain the audience but also scare them.