Film Analysis: Modern City Of Verona Beach

{The curtains open to a scene with the backdrop of a train station platform. The background music starts the minute the curtains open and plays under the dialogue. Raul drives the taxi with full speed and reaches the next train station. Ashley and Raul run towards the platform}

The first shot we see of this sequence is a low angle which shows, quite simply, the sheer enormity of the building Max is about to enter. The shot slowly pans down as the foreboding notes of the score

After this, the shot pans along the road, and turns into a shot of police cars storming down the street. The fact that the street name, which serves as an embodiment of Norma and all associated with her, is so low to the ground emphasizes that the images of grandeur often associated with Hollywood are a facade, and that the true Hollywood is dark and grim, like a dirty street curb. The street pictured is dirty and unkempt, with weeds peeking out the cracks and piles of loose garbage and leaves strewn all over. This image serves as a stark contrast to the typical impressions people have of Hollywood, and reinforces that the true Hollywood is not the one seen so often on the big screen. Rather than opening with a scene showing off Hollywood’s magnificence, Wilder exposes to the audience what the “real” Hollywood is: a degenerate place full of misery and squalor. Moreover, opening scenes tend to set the tone of the movie, and leave lasting impressions the audience that carry through the entirety of watching. By showcasing the dark side of Hollywood before anything else, Wilder asserts that it is this dark, twisted version of the city that truly defines its inhabitants. In addition to pan shots, Wilder also incorporates music in the opening scene, which further adds to the dark image being relayed about Hollywood. The score is borderline cacophony, trademarked by sharp bursts of drums and trumpet that build suspense and

The movie I choose was Teen Beach Movie. The four main characters are Brady (Ross Lynch), MacKenzie (Mia Mitchell), Lela (Grace Phipps) and Tanner (Garrett Clayton) who is the funniest character in the movie. Brady and McKenzie were surfing, and then a storm appeared out of nowhere. A massive wave magically transported them to inside a classic 1960s beach party, on the set of a movie musical called Wet Side Story where surfers and bikers are rivals. They all find romance when they help put the movie back on track.

He starts off with a medium shot of the individual in the center of the screen; they start rapidly listing off racial slurs and stereotypes and the camera zooms in which emphasizes how violent it is. By the end of the rampage, the shot is an extreme close-up of the character’s face and you can feel the anger and hatred they have for that particular race. The climactic buildup at the end of the film was full of canted angles, shadowy lighting, dozens of fast shot/reverse shots that in full only lasted less than two minutes. The scene at the end of the movie, the hierarchy of confrontations and tensions between the characters, is a canted low angle shot of Radio Raheem and Buggin’ Out after they stormed into Sal’s Pizza Shop makes them appear more powerful and intimidating than Sal. All the shots of Sal are a counterclockwise tilt high angle, causing him to look inferior. The quick cuts back and forth between the two gives the film a sense of the tensions and anger. It is not until Sal rises up to the plate and smashes the radio, that he is being filmed at a leveled angle to show that he is not inferior anymore, but at the same

The relentless and dangerous feud between the Montagues and Capulets is elaborated in Romeo + Juliet through the contrast in tone, speed and style of music when these two different parties are introduced. The Montagues are introduced with is light and airy music, however, the music is altered to a heavy western style when the Capulets enter the scene. The musical elements create anticipation among the audience as they foreshadow the imminent fight. Furthermore, the distinctive difference in race between the Latino Capulet boys and Anglo-Saxon Montague boys represents and symbolises the conflict between the two houses. Reinforcing the ongoing war between the Montagues and Capulets, Baz Luhrmann has applied corresponding camera shots of the two contrasting family crests which are opposite primary colours. Therefore, Luhrmann makes reference to the conflict theme exploited in Shakespeare’s work. (link)

The long take begins with an alarm clock waking up a couple, sleeping out on their balcony. As the camera moves from window to window around the courtyard, we see a few brief snippets of characters’ lives. And finally, the audience sees inside the apartment that has been its point of view all along. Mise-en-scene, framing, and cinematography

The camera follows the elders of the block, Da’ Mayor and Mother Sister, as they talk in her bedroom. For a rare moment in the film Da’ Mayor’s and Mother Sister’s eyes are at exactly the same level, showing that as different as the two may have seemed, they are very much the same. Then the camera slowly pulls out as the two stand and sluggishly walk down a hallway toward a window. Now, where a director would typically have to cut and setup a new shot, Lee pulls the camera straight out of the window as Mother Sister and Da’ Mayor survey the block. The audience would expect to see next exactly what Da’ Mayor and Mother Sister are looking at, but instead Lee quickly pans over in the opposite direction to reveal Mookie standing in the street bellow. By doing this Lee makes a connection that both the elders and Mookie are, in the words of Mother Sister, “still standing.” The shot is not particularly tight but still has a cramped feel due to the clutter of things in the background, the heavy shadowing, and the red tint on the lighting. The red lighting gives sense of volatility to the shot, which is contrasted by the slow camera and character movements. These slow movements are analogous to the block as, regardless of how slowly, it too will go on and life will continue. This shot is in the tradition of mise en scene advocates like Bazin in that,

Luhrmann used settings in both studios and on location to create a sense of place, mood and emotional state of mind. One example of this is in the opening scene when they are fighting in the gas station. The title of the gas station being ‘Phoenix Gas Station’ is ironic as the gas station goes up in flames and Phoenixes go up in flames to rebirth. Luhrmann uses the setting of the gas station to attract a young audience and to make the setting modern as young people can relate to gas stations far more than they can relate to the original setting of a marketplace as gas stations are a common thing found in a modern city environment. Another example of how Luhrmann has used setting to create a sense of mood and setting is in the opening sequence where fast camera shots are used to zoom in on a figure of Jesus between two skyscrapers. These skyscrapers are labelled ‘Capulet’ and ‘Montague’ to show how the original concept of two rivalling families has been modernised by Luhrmann and these two families are rivalling businesses instead. The figure of Jesus between them symbolises how their hatred for each other is stronger than the power of God and nothing will stop them from fighting until the death. Setting is one of the many visual aspects Luhrmann used to modernise his interpretation of Romeo and

After these scenes, the prologue is spoken, while the camera pans across the landscape of the imaginary Verona city. The narrator's voice is soothing and evocative, which again makes the audience feel at peace. Following the reading of the prologue, the camera quickly goes down to the market scene. Here, the atmosphere changes. The contrast here is noticeable, as it goes from a peaceful landscape scene, to the hustle and bustle of the market.

In Luhrmann’s movie, there are two rival gangs known as the Montague and the Capulet. The movie is set in Verona Beach which is like a modern version of Verona. Romeo, son of the head Montague, falls in love with Juliet which is

shot of husband walking on the street along shops, one which has "rokers" written on window on the left of screen. He walks towards the shop, pauses to stare at it and then walks in (4 seconds). Cut to.

“On the Waterfront” was photographed in such a captivating way. Boris Kaufman had a vision ahead of his time. Many scenes in the movie are understood, not just through the script, but from the cinematography as well. Three scenes in particular catch my eye. It is the artistic style and flare of conveying the same idea in multiple mediums. The first scene is when Terry and Edie are on the rooftop at Joey’s pigeon coup. This scene portrays the moment in which I believe was the catalyst for Terry that lead him to be truthful to Evie and stand up to Friendly. The second scene that I will speak about is when “Kayo” Dugan is killed. When the preacher is giving his speech to all the longshoremen. That speech was a testament of one man speaking out for what he knew was right. The third scene that I will choose for this essay is where Terry walks to Friendly’s dock office. After the fight, Terry’s march to work puts you on the edge of your seat. Each scene has depth that few movies achieve.

     Charles leaves the room, and intentionally walks toward and past the two men as a challenge. They ignore him, but chase after their suspect (filmed from high above) in a desolate, abandoned lot, quickly losing his track and appearing astonished by his abrupt disappearance. The camera turns up and to the left, discovering the cigar-smoking character in profile on a rooftop. From a cinematography point of view this is the most Film Noir portion of the film. In a dark and dirty setting it introduces us to the good guys and the bad guy, culminating in a chase scene.

Paradise Now is a 2-hour film released in 2005, it depicts a perspective alternative in a highly controversial topic of suicide bombers or also known as a ‘martyr’. The movie takes place in Palestine during the Israeli occupation and illustrates the mundane life and frustration felt by the main characters Said and Khaled due to the oppression experienced during the conflict. A key feature that is also portrayed is the reasoning, and almost justification of an attack on that level. However, the perpatrators can be seen showing feelings of hesitance and even inquisitiveness in relation to the afterlife that they are promised and whether violent resistance is the last option. This paper, will discuss how “Paradise Now” provoked my views and