The Gay Shoe Clerk is a 1903 short film, directed by Edwin S. Porter. With only about a minute and 15 seconds in length, this piece begins to develop an early language of cinema. Specifically, a cut is used to pin the viewer on a particular aspect of the scene, and yet maintains a sense of continuity. Narrative wise, a shoe clerk fits a shoe on a woman, and she begins to be flirtatious toward him, he begins to kiss her, only for another woman to beat him.
It is crucial to note that this film is comprised of only three shots:
Shot #1: (0:00-0:42) It begins with a straight-on full shot of a shoe clerk in a shoe store. Only one wall of this shoe store is visible, the one placed right in front of the camera, running parallel to the frame. This wall has drawers that start from the floor and go up three feet, and then above that are cabinets of shoe boxes. There isn't much space between the camera and this wall of shoes, it appears it may only be 10 feet, with the shoe clerk being close to the wall. The camera remains static throughout. The acting is very clear, but not exaggerated. With his back toward the camera, the clerk is looking through the shoe boxes, and from the screen right emerge two women, who the shoe clerk then welcomes in, as he seats one of them to be fitted. With the clerk in the middle of the screen, the two women are seated on opposite sides of the clerk. The woman on the right who is to be fitted is wearing all black, almost looking like a silhouette. The
The “Sunny Randall” series follows main character Sunny Randall, who is a female detective. She was created by Parker so that Helen Hunt would play her in a movie, but it never happened. He kept the series going because his publisher asked him to. Both Randall and Spenser (another Boston detective that was created by Parker) have things in common, but also things that make them unique. There are six novels to the series.
In the 1991 film Black Robe, which is set during the 1630s Beaver War in North America, the French make attempts to search for and continue to convert a Huron Indian tribe to Christianity. To complete this mission, the founder of the French settlement in Quebec, Samuel Champlain, sends a Jesuit priest, Father LaForgue, off to find the Indian tribe, and a man named Daniel and a family of Indians, who are a part of the Algonquin tribe, accompany Father LaForgue on this journey.
Everything in the frame is in focus, which in a cinema viewing is a lot to take in, especially considering the films aspect ratio of 1.85:1. However, the audiences’ eyes are cleverly guided around the frame by almost unnaturally loud sounds, some of which are accentuated in post-production by Tati. The sounds against the floors create a reverbing echo, highlighting the absurd impracticality of the building. A man and a woman sit in the bottom left hand corner of the frame in what appears to be a waiting area. They are dressed identically in their monotonous grey colours, as if they are enslaved to the colours surrounding them. During the shot’s beginning, the audience is drawn to the nuns and their rhythmic footsteps as they enter the frame. Then, through a combination of actor gestures and dialogue, this gaze shifts to the two characters anchored in the foreground of the image. The rattling of a table being wheeled out by a man in white into the frame moves our eyes, as well as the couples own attention, to
“Tonight I gotta cut loose, footloose, kick off my sunday shoes. Jack, get back, come on before we crack.” (Footloose, Kenny Loggins) For this essay, I chose to watch Footloose made in 1984 and directed by Herbert Ross and Footloose made in 2011 directed by Craig Brewer. Both movies centered around the town of Bomont, a secluded town with out of the ordinary beliefs. In this town, dancing and partying of any sort was strictly against the law and teenagers were seemingly miserable. There was little to no self expression and even listening to provocative music or any music too loud, could get you a ticket with a hefty fine. The reason behind the strict rules is that several years back, five teens from Bomont High School died in a car wreck after they were drinking and dancing too much. Each of these movies have some things in common, but have more differences than anything. Some of the main differences are the opening credits of each movie, how and who Ren arrives to Bomont at the beginning of the movie, the “chicken” races between Ren and Jeff, and the book burning in town square.
“Pain is weakness leaving the body.” Some kids play sports to have fun whereas others play sports to become elite athletes. The youth playing in the Texas Youth Football Association have no choice but to play and train like elite athletes. The film, Friday Night Tykes, illustrates how the youth are pushed passed their limits to become successful football players and successful teams.
The best fictional movie of World War II is “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” directed by Mark Herman. The movie is based on the novel written by John Boyne and the story is told from a German child’s view during the Holocaust. The general message the director and writer so vividly portrayed is that of a child’s innocence and young friendship. “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” has a good storyline, great choice in actors, and overall it was thought-provoking and effective in showing a different view of World War II, despite a few discrepancies in authenticity, the movie is a must see.
Imagine the world is invaded by aliens. Some of them eat humans, some live among humans, and others live outside of our world. You don’t know it, but many of the people who have shaped our lives and our culture aren’t even human themselves. This is the world of the 1997 film Men in Black, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Men in Black is a sci-fi comedy about a group of enforcement agents defending and regulating aliens from invading Earth. But if you take their costume off, Men In Black can be seen as far more than a comedy about space aliens. Under the lens of postcolonial criticism, the film reveals itself to be a veiled, political commentary on immigration. A lens is a way for us to look at a piece of literature in a whole new depiction that we may not have thought of the first time we had read or watched a piece of literature. Through the postcolonial lens, I can see the movie as a biased contrast between the immigrants and the immigration police. Interpreting the movie through this lens allows me to see that the Men in Black are the immigration police, and are considered to be the protagonists of the film. On the other hand, the aliens, or immigrants when looking through the lens, are the antagonists of the movie; The Men in Black protect the US from bad aliens, giving immigration police the positive reinforcement of the brutal evictions immigrants received in the 90s.
During the end of the 3rd Century, the Playwright Plautus wrote many of the first Roman comedies. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical comedy film adaptation of Plautus's comedies.Set in ancient Rome, many aspects of Roman theatre, including stock characters, were included in the film’s production. While the film is based off of multiple comedies, Plautus's Pseudolus character Calidorus is nearly identical to the film’s Hero. During the time Pseudolus was written, the Crisis of the Third Century led to up to 25% of Roman population being comprised of slaves(Southern). Of the many stock characters Platus included in his comedies, Calidorus/Hero, the son of Pseudolus’s owner and the stock character adulescens, best
Italian Neorealism was a movement of art, which strived to illustrate the normal lives of the ordinary, working class people in post war Rome, usually with the use of non-professional actors. As one of the best Italian Neorealist film, Bicycle Thieves showed an absolute depiction of the war’s impact on daily life and exposed a world in which sufferings, unkindness and corruption jeopardized the rationality of human beings and action of men (Schoonover). By utilizing a depressing and gloomy cinematography, De Sica implies the somber lives of the poor and their crisis in losing their self-identity and moral conscience as a result of parochial society that make a fetish of personal belongings as a mode of social acceptance. By examining the cinematography, ‘mise-en-scene’ and events in the film, the daily struggles of the working class in post war Rome can be seen through the crisis of masculinity, class struggle, ethical dilemma and a profoundly patriarchal society.
Thesis: For the ability to join this 30% of those lucky people, I would fulfill my dream job of working in fashion public relations.
Born into Brothels, shares the chaotic lifestyle of eight children and their mothers from the Brothels of Calcutta, in the perspective of the director, Zana Briski, and the deprived children. Using the basic techniques of photography, Briski teaches the children to document their lives through photos, which are then used as a baseline for the documentary. Born into Brothels revolves around Briski’s attempt to gain awareness and education for a small group of children whose lives are filled with tragedy. Being identified as a ‘white-privileged’ female from the United States of America, Briski carries a completely distinct perspective of the life in the ‘red light’ district, than the children themselves. She sympathizes with their situation
“Working Girl,” depicts important battles that women are still fighting today, it brings light to the ridiculous judgments and barriers that women had to smash to establish themselves in the business field. The film was written by Kevin Wade and released in 1988, the story is based in New York City from the inspiration of New York commuters and the noticing that many young women were wearing white tennis shoes on their way to work, carrying high heels to change into once arriving to work. Tess McGill, an undervalued and mistreated sectary to the ultimate feministic triumph, Kathrine Parker who steals Tess McGill’s idea for a radio deal for their company, are the main characters. While Kathrine Parker is on a skiing trip and breaks her
The untouchables is a movie based on the true events that occurred when the eighteenth amendment was passed. The eighteenth amendment established the prohibition of production, transport, and sale of alcohol. The Federal Agent Eliot Ness wants to stop Al Capone, who is the top of organized crime. It was a hard job for Eliot Ness because Al Capone with his money bought many policemen, politicians, and other important people, therefore Eliot Ness could trust anyone. Eliot Ness had to choose no more than twelve men to form his squad. The Untouchables were formed by Eliot Ness, and another nine men he picked, they were called the Untouchables because they never accepted any bribes. Al Capone One of Al Capone’s men offered Eliot Ness $2,000 to stop interfering with the organization and an additional $2,000 if he continued to cooperate. Eliot Ness’s plan was to make an impact in the income of the gangsters, so they couldn’t pay for protection. (Biography.com)
A film that raises so many questions regarding prostitution, and drugs, Pretty Woman is a romantic comedy that was released March 23rd, 1990. Although this film was and is loved by so many, it also sparked discussions of issues in society at the time the movie came out. Pretty Woman came out as the problem of drugs, especially cocaine, was on the rise. This film also highlighted the issue of prostitution around the United States, along with the growing drug addiction, that often accompanies it. The movie Pretty Woman highlights the issues of drug addiction and prostitution causing waves in the public.
Brokeback Mountain is a short story written by Annie Proulx in 1997, which portrayed two Wyoming ranchers, Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar, engaged in a homosexual relationship that started in the 60’s and lasted through the 80’s. This short story gave people a different look into the cowboy society and how the rugged men of the frontier possibly sought out love and affection.