Alejandro Gonzalez Film Techniques

Throughout the term I have begun experiencing movies in a different way. The class has taken ideas of cinematography, theory, and film history and practically applied it to physically watching movies. By breaking down scenes and movies as a whole, the way I look at films in general has developed. A reflection on two of the films from this term, Casablanca (Curtiz, 1942) and North by Northwest (Hitchcock, 1959) will carry the bulk of the essay. Though, I will also be discussing how this class changed the way I saw a movie just a few weeks ago. Casablanca’s script and acting are of particular caliber, and North by Northwest unfortunately does not deliver with the dialogue and casting of lead actor Cary Grant. Though, overall, they both

Being one of the world’s most popular art forms, it was inevitable that these archetypes would find their way into film as well. In this essay I will argue that the

As viewers continue to decipher Tim Burton’s odd directing, his genius cinematic techniques become more and more relevant to the overall tone of the movies. As Tim Burton furthers his directing career he continues to surprise his audience with talent filled films through the use of low key lighting, camera tracking, and long shot frame to apply a skeptical, dark, and odd tone. In Tim Burton’s films low key lighting is utilized to present a dark or untrustworthy character. For instance, in Edward Scissorhands, Peg found Edward cowering, and hiding in the shadows of the giant abandon house alone (00:00:00-00:00:00).

This essay is based on films of the same story, told in different ways, with emphasis, themes, meaning and interpretation shaped or shaded by the situation of the storyteller; the cinematic mise-en-scene. Based on the same story, the films reveal and reflect the film-maker’s social norms and views, emerging from their different national contexts. While exploring the two films, this essay will examine elements of film language or semiotics: color saturation (or black and white), sound, setting, type of camera angles used; repetition of visual motifs (Metz, 1985). The two films explored were made in the 1960s. Neither film is American, yet both reveal influences and reflections on American cinema and American power; the Western film, adherence or detracting from Hollywood Classical cinema tropes, i.e. close-ups, shot-reverse-shot, POV, depth of field (Bazin, 1985: 128-9). The two films are Kurasawa’s Yojimbo (1961) and Leone’s Fistful of Dollars (1964), from Japan and Italy, respectively. How are they different; how similar? Why do they use the same plot,

While Hollywood seems adamant to push the pace of its films to the absolute extreme, it is refreshing to be able to sit and patiently enjoy a film that rejects this silly philosophy. With Sofia Coppola’s latest film, which earned her the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival becoming only the second woman to do so in the process, one enters an almost entire different era of filmmaking that, though superior in many ways, has become antiquated for many viewers.  Now this is not the first film adaptation of The Beguiled novel, written by Thomas Cullinan; the novel was adapted in 1971 with Clint Eastwood in the starring role, but Sofia Coppola decided to give her own spin at the novel and succeeded in extraordinary ways.

Without cinematic elements, the movies we watch would just be a narrator telling a story in a monotone voice, and that wouldn’t be worth paying the $10 to watch at the movies. Luckily we have terrific directors like Tim Burton, who know how to manipulate these cinematic elements in order to create the perfect combination and to produce the smoothest, most entertaining movies. Burton uses close ups, flashbacks, low key lighting, and zoom to show detail, give insight, establish an eerie feeling, and give new perspective in his movies Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands, and Big Fish. Whether it be a close up of a character’s face, or some newspaper clippings, directors use close ups for a variety of different reasons. Tim Burton uses close ups to show details and emotion.

The focus point of this week’s analysis is the film, Even the Rain. In this film a group of filmmakers travel to a poor town in Bolivia in order to shoot a movie about Christopher Columbus’s landing in America. They hire locals to star in the film and assist as cheap workers and laborers on the set. Outside the shooting of the movie, the main hired actor leads a resistance movement with the townspeople, many of whom are also involved in the film, against the government and a private company that is taxing the water the townspeople need to survive. This leads to protest and outbreaks of violence in the town that threatens instability.

The Way, directed by Emilio Estevez, is a compelling story where four characters walk a famous trail in Spain called the Camino de Santiago. The main character, Tom Avery, has recently discovered that his son has died his first day on this trail. After flying over from America to prove his relation to the deceased, he decides that the best way to honor his son’s memory is to walk the Camino for him, and spread his ashes along the way. The Way helps people see through the eyes of others due to the use of characterization, flashback, and metaphors.

is a wonderful novel and which I think was inspired specifically in the roraima mount a tepui located in Venezuela, an area of ​​the world of a very powerful spiritual energy, which makes change almost immediately mood of visitors, is a feeling as if a large vessel to which one addresses entering unknown leaving behind the normal urban world. So what this novel reflects and tries to describe this magical world until then in the process of discovery and research of new animal and plant species, then we have the stage to introduce all kinds of fantasies about all kinds of extinct animals long ago is both writing materials had to be a lot of work organizing everything. this novel seem countless film adaptations of it and there is one in particular

Famously known as “The Master of Suspense”, Alfred Hitchcock knew how to keep an audience on the edge of their chair, just waiting to see what happens next. Hitchcock’s career started in the silent era of films, gained increased success through talking pictures, and soared into infamy when color film became common. Hitchcock’s famous cinematography, editing, directing of his thoughtfully selected actors, and extraordinary attention to detail, are obvious reasons why there is no denying that he is one of the greatest directors the film industry has ever seen. OSU Media student, Joseph Ford, confirms why Hitchcock is his favorite directors, “Hitchcock’s lighting and shot sequences are unmatched, he was the ultimate perfectionist and, in my opinion, there is hardly a flaw in any of his films” (Ford). There are endless lists and debates about which Alfred Hitchcock film is the greatest, and each one of his movies deserves serious consideration. It could be contested that with the unique story, intriguing characters portrayed by great actors, and the extraordinary cinematography, that Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope is potentially his greatest film.

Throughout the movie, Cuaron uses numerous background techniques to capture the audiences attention off of the main character. Some things Cuaron shows in the film is written graffiti on the walls, drawings, and articles. By having Cuaron show this, it is deepening the audiences understanding of how society is like. From the start of the film the audience sees how the society seems depressing with dark colors, buildings destroyed, policemen with guns, and people being forced into a cage. Looking on one of the buses in the film, you can see an advertisement on the bus that says “Fertility is illegal.” This one of the ways Cuaron uses background to show a broader view of how society is ran. He used an advertisement in the background to show

One Big Soul: An Oral History of Terrence Malick altered the way in which I viewed cinema, because it introduced me to a director who is unlike any other. The book is biography of Terrence Malick, and includes interviews and articles from newspaper publications. Writer and editor, Paul Maher Jr. did extensive research, interviewing nearly every individual who has ever worked with the acclaimed director. The candid testimonials grant a rare view into the pre-production, on-set filming, and post-production of a Terrence Malick film. What makes the book special is that it helped me to see the potential cinema possesses. I once believed cinema could never be more than entertainment. However, the book taught me that it has the power to change public

In preparation for this discussion, I found a review of Lost in Translation (Coppola, 2003) that was written by Elvis Mitchell (2003) for the New York Times. After reading his review, I will discuss whether he likes the film, and how he supports his position. I will also discuss whether I agree with his opinion and supply supporting points.

The appearance of third cinema poses a radical and singular challenge to existing or traditional categories of film. The core thematic element of third cinema is the various form of oppression that afflicts the Third World Countries. The film investigated in this paper is TERRE EM TRANSE by Glauber Rocha. The Brazilian “Cinema Novo,” provided uproar with his polemical manifesto entitled The Aesthetics of Hunger, was an important element of this new

In conjunction to Raitt’s theories, the 2011 Latino film From Prada to Nada takes Sense and Sensibility and adapts it to an East Los Angeles setting. For the film to work in its specifically directed racial boundaries the adaptation needed to break away from the nineteenth century English country mannerisms and social standards to fit into its new twentieth century city and Latino aesthetic. Even though the film’s narrative is more or less the same as its source material it is the standards, culture, topics,