Goodfellas

Drama is such a key thing in a movie. There are so many things that helps keep this important in a movie. The set where the movie takes place is important, the location in which it takes place, and what the characters are wearing. I feel this movie did a great job when it came to making sure the characters where affected in what they were acting and saying.

In this specific part of the movie, it really shows who these characters are. They were in jail, but yet not behind bars. This is because they are “wise guys”. You can tell they are not suffering too much because of what they are wearing. They look like they are wearing comfortable clothing, and they are enjoying their time. Like they say in the movie, “They own the joint”. Since the characters believe this you can tell it is true because of what they say to each other. In this Prison they have a kitchen, table and normal house fixtures. You know that this means they really are being treated differently, and shows the audience what time this movie takes place and what is going to happen in the rest of the movie. These men will stop at nothing to get what they want.

Another important aspect of this part in the movie is the music. It really helps to set the mood. It shows that the characters’ are relaxed and really do not seem to be worried that they are in jail.

This clip of the movie shows how powerful music can be to a movie.

The music really starts how of all the characters really enjoying themselves while they are drinking. You can tell by the characters face how happy and loving life they are just by their face. Music plays almost the entire time during the segment. However, you can tell the mood changes drastically. I do believe they could have played a better song while they were killing the guy. They chose the song for a reason, and as a said they continued to play it during the entire scene. You knew something was going to happen because of this. The characters are also important during this scene. They are almost always wearing nice clothes such as tuxes throughout the entire movie. This is important because it establishes who the characters want to be. They want to be remembered and know in the town. The characters define this movie and what is going to happen. Every little movie that was decided for this movie helped make it that much better.

The Bridge on the River Kwai

This movie takes place around World War II. The British prisoners of war are commanded to build a bridge that will help accommodate the Burman-Siam railway. In the beginning of the movie, the British prisoners commander is Colonel Nicholson. He would rather be tortured rather then be part in building the bridge, and work for the Japanese commandeer Saito. This is such an important part of the movie. He is tortured by not given much food if any, kept in a little shed like thing outside in the heat, and not able to talk to anyone. At first they want to sabotage when building the bridge, but they think they should make the bridge a symbol of British morale. Saito is a very arrogant man. He has first wants to kill Colonel Nicholson and his men because they will not help with his bridge. However, he is stopped and this is when he just tortures the Colonel. One thing that Saito does not know is that someone is after destroying his bridge. You would not guess, but it is an Allie. Warden and the American, Shears lead them.

This is an important part of the movie. This is when the men are first walking into the camp. Colonel Nicholson is hit by Saito because he does not like what he is saying about what they are suppose to be doing at this camp. I find this one of the most important things in the movie. They are trying to make is officers do manual labor and Colonel Nicholson does not want them too. They will not follow is command because he is not their leader. I find this so important. Saito end up taking drastic measures and wants to kill them; however, he is stopped.

After time as gone on, the Colonel and Saito sit down to discuss how the bridge will be done because the prisoners are not going fast enough or even listening very well not being under the Colonel’s command.

Saito really wants Colonel’s commanding officers to help build the bridge. This is not want Colonel Nicholson wants. He believes they should not have to do manual labor. Saito says if the bridge is not done on time he will have to kill himself.

These to parts in the film I find important. This is because they really show how they communicate with each other, and are trying to tell the other what to do. The words are done very carefully for this movie to be able to seem like they are offending one another when they really are not in real life. You can see how important the ideology is to this movie just by these to clips. I also think this movie is important because of the theme. Some people might be offended if they were to watch this movie or they might try and relate it more to what is actually happening in the world. This is just a movie and it can give some perspective on what is happening in our world, but there is no way it is exactly what is happening.

Psycho

This movie starts off with a woman named Marion Crane who finds the love of her life.  She is not happy with her job and life.  The love of her life, Sam, however, has to pay alimony therefore he does not have that much money.  Sam owns a store in California.   When she leaves work Friday she is responsible to put $40,000 into the bank for work.  Marion sees a way out of the life she does not enjoy.  She leaves town with the money, and heads towards Sam’s store.  She takes a nap one night on the side of the road.  A police officer wakes her up.  He then follows her into town and watches her switch vehicles.  The owner who switched her cars and the officer both knew something was wrong with her.  The next night it is raining while she is driving.  Marion decides to pull into The Bates Motel to stay.  The manager of the hotel is named Norman.  He gets Marion settled into her room.

The moment is very important during this clip.  Marion is just taking a shower thinking nothing is wrong.  However, that is not the case when someone walks in and stabs her.  Norman tells everyone his mother is still alive and not well.  The moment of the killer had to make it seem real and that there was not going to be much of a struggle.  It happened quickly.  They also made sure that when editing this part you were unable to see the face of the killer.  They never show what Norman’s mother looks like either.  This is important because if we knew what she looked like we could make identification and know that she is for sure the killer.

Another clip from this film that helps show how important the editing and movement of the character is.

This is Marion’s sister that is trying to find out what happens to her sister. She goes into the house wanting to talk to Norman’s mother.  The first movement that is important in this film is when Norman hurries and runs upstairs even though he should be going to make sure she is not with his mother downstairs.  This movement in the film makes you wonder.  Then after Marion’s sister discovers Norman’s mother is dead; Norman comes in a women’s costume with a knife ready to kill. The had to make sure in the begging that everything was edited just right so the surprise was not revealed sooner.

The ideology of this movie is hard I believe.  Scary movies are more for entertainment I believe.  However, I can see the ideology being never take anything that does not belong to you.  Revenge will always come and find you in some way.  Some ways are sooner rather then later.  The theme during these clips is to ensure that something you do not think will happen happens.  By this I mean, you do not expect Norman’s mother to be dead.  You are always seeing someone sit by a window.  This helps to ensure the theme of the movie that Norman is pretending to be his mother.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

 

 

Indiana Jones movies are adventurous.  They keep me entertained and also wonder what is going to happen next.  He is such an adventurous ours man.  In this specific movie they are trying to find Ark of the Covenenant.  However, Indiana Jones is not the only one looking for it.  Adolf Hitler is also looking for it.  There are two great pictures that I found for this movie.  They both do a great job at representing the miss en scene and photography. 

For the first picture, Indiana Jones is trying to get a piece of gold that Adolf Hitler is also after.  Mise en scene means, “placing on stage” in the French language.  There are four elements to show this is present: staging of the action, physical setting and decor, manner in which these materials are framed, and manner in which they are photographed (powerpoint notes Mr. Medjesky).  In this picture the staging of the action is great.  Indiana Jones is ready to escape after taking the gold.  They also build it up as to nothing was going to happen to him when he takes it, or that it might not even be there because it was already taken.  The physical setting and decor for this scene is done well.  The cave looks all gross and nasty inside.  It looks to be a real cave even if it is not.  I believe they look to be on an island just like the movie is taking place.  The specific of this frame is how close Jones is to the camera.  The distance in this shot of him and the background I believe is good.  It gets in close to see that his facial expressions are.  The overall photographed in this picture is a quarter turn of the actor.  This will help give the photography a high degree of identification.  This is just one shot that makes this movie good. 

Another great part in this film is these two.  Just by looking at them you can tell they are in love.  The photography in this shot is profile.  This is when an actor is facing off camera and engaged in their own thoughts or even someone else.  This perfectly describes this shot. Both actors are looking at each other trying to figure out what the other one is thinking. For the mise en scene of the shot, the staging of the action is important here because the place is on fire and he is trying to help her escape from the bad men.  They made the action look real, and wanting to watch the movie.  I am not sure if the fire is real or animated, but to me it looks pretty real and I can see how this could have actually happened.  The frame of this picture is the same as before.  They are close to the actors with a little background.  I believe this is a good shot because again you can see what they are both thinking.  These are all important aspects of each shot of a movie.  I believe this film was good and interesting I recommend it on your summer watch list! 

 

The Gold Rush

The Gold Rush is a classic silent film.  When you first think of a movie being silent you think that it is just pictures and no talking.  However, a silent film is when the characters are not taking, but there is a narrator explaining what is going on.  This is a different type of movie.  Most of them are shorter then regular films.  This helps to follow along with the story.

This film is about a lone prospector trying to find gold in Alaska.  During this time though he falls in love with a girl named Georgia.  He is trying to win her heart over.  He not only gets the girl in the end, but also finds his gold.  There are four main reasons I think this movie is such a classic in our world.  They include: allusion, story structure, narration and point of view, and allegory. An allusion is when you are trying to reference something in the film without actually saying what you mean.  In silent films it is hard to see how the characters are feeling.  In this case their movements and actions have to be good so the audience can understand what is truly happening in the story.  The allusion in this story is for the lone prospector to try and get Georgia to fall in love with him while he is looking for the gold.

The story structure is done well in this movie.  I actually found this movie entertaining.  A man trying to help him find the gold almost eats the lone prospector.  The story structure just flows with the characters and makes sense.  I believe this is such an important part of the film.  If this did not flow or make sense the audience will be lost.  I believe in this film the audience can follow along with the story structure and make sense of what is going on.  The story structure is not too easy to follow so you do not predict what will happen.  I mean you assume the lone prospector will find the gold, but you do not know if he will get the girl too.  I thought he was going to loose her and never see her again. The narration of the movie is good.  As a said before the entire movie is narrated because the characters do not talk.  They are always making sure we understand what is going on.  This is one of my favorite parts of the film.  They are both so hungry they are eating a shoe.  I find this hilarious and entertaining.  There is no narration during this part; however, the point of view that they are going to eat whatever they can get is important.  They will do anything to survive.  

 

Allegory is an important concept in any film.  This is when there is a hidden meaning behind the story.  In this case I believe it is a moral concept.  

He is trying to impress the girls in this part of the movie.  He really is just dreaming this part because the girls never show up to his house for New Years Eve.  I believe the moral of the story is to never give up though. He is always trying to impress Georgia and win her over.  He also is getting shoes to stay alive.  In life, when you may be down and things are not going your way it is important to keep your head up and always think positive.  This is a different film, but entertaining.

High Noon vs. The Searchers

Western Films are a great way to show some relatable facts about our history. Two of the most popular films are High Noon and The Searchers.  High Noon takes place during the Korean War.  This great American film shows the revenge men can have on one another because of a job.  The Searchers takes place during the American Civil War.  The father in this film, lost is loved one because she was murdered by the Indians and then they also took his niece.  He went out for revenge and to get her back.  Even though these are two different wars the story line is still similar but different.  They are similar because they are both out for revenge, but for different reasons.

High Noon was filmed in 1952.  This movie starts out by Will Kane getting married, and then suppose to go away.  However, something stands in his way from going off with his beautiful bride.  Frank Miller was put into prison and suppose to be hung.  He was set free.  Now he is coming for revenge after Will.  He three men wait for him at the train stop.  He train is to arrive at noon.

His new bride wants nothing to do with this and wants to leave town. Will stays to face Miller. Will is now trying to get together deputies to help him.  However, it seems that he will be facing Miller alone.  The shooting begins….

His wife however did not leave after all.  Her beliefs are that she wants nothing to do with shooting because of her past family experience.  However,  she does not stay with these beliefs because she ends up helping to save her husbands life.  She shoots one of the men that are after Kane.  Then Miller is the only one left with Kane.  Who wins?????  And the winner is….Kane!!

 

The Searchers takes place just a few years later in 1956.  Ethan is coming back from the Civil War.  He plans to come home to the love of his life and family.  This is not the case.  She is murdered and his niece, Debbie, is no where to be found.  He then goes on the search for her with his nephew Martin.  He finds Chief Scar years later which is who kidnapped Debbie.  Ethan now wants nothing to do with his niece because how much hatred he has for the Indians.  The question now is will Debbie come home alive or be killed?

The war for revenge begins.  His nephew helps him realize how important family is, and that no matter what you always need them by your side.  I find this true in real life as well.  Revenge is granted though because Scar is dead.  Ethan does realize he wants his niece home with him.  He saves her and brings her back home.

In the end, revenge in both films is found to have turned out in the good way.  The good guys are still alive.  Is revenge always this lucky? I do not think so, but it shows their are obstacles in life that you have to overcome.  I recommend both of these great western films.  I never thought I would enjoy this type of movie, but the ideology in them is amazing.  I look forward to other movies about revenge and life lessons.