Viewing Hiyao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" for the third time, I was struck by a quality between generosity and love. On earlier viewings I was caught up by the boundless imagination of the story. This time I began to focus on the elements in the picture that didn't need to be there. Animation is a painstaking process, and there is a tendency to simplify its visual elements. Miyazaki, in contrast, offers complexity. His backgrounds are rich in detail, his canvas embraces space liberally, and it is all drawn with meticulous attention. We may not pay much conscious attention to the corners of the frame, but we know they are there, and they reinforce the remarkable precision of his fantasy worlds.
"Spirited Away" is surely one of the finest of
…show more content…
That is why it plays so powerfully for adult viewers. Movies made for "everybody" are actually made for nobody in particular. Movies about specific characters in a detailed world are spellbinding because they make no attempt to cater to us; they are defiantly, triumphantly, themselves. As I watched the film again, I was spellbound as much as by any film I consider great. That helps explain why "Spirited Away" grossed more than "Titanic" in Japan, and was the first foreign film in history to open in the U. S. having already made more than $200 million.
I was so fortunate to meet Miyazaki at the 2002 Toronto film festival. I told him I love the "gratuitous motion" in his films; instead of every movement being dictated by the story, sometimes people will just sit for a moment, or sigh, or gaze at a running stream, or do something extra, not to advance the story but only to give the sense of time and place and who they are.
"We have a word for that in Japanese," he said. "It's called 'ma.' Emptiness. It's there intentionally." He clapped his hands three or four times. "The time in between my clapping is 'ma.' If you just have non-stop action with no breathing space at all, it's just
The use of distinctively visual images allows an audience to perceive and distinguish the composer’s specific representation. From these distinctive visuals, the audience’s perceptions force them to respond in a particular way. In ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’, Ang Lee utilises a range of film techniques to position his audience through a combination of quiet, dramatic scenes and choreographed action sequences. In his painting, ‘Third of May, 1808’ Fransisco Goya conveys meaning exclusively with distinctively visual techniques. Both the composers are able to effectively convey their message and
Distinctive images are often filled with various qualities, and these qualities often create interest and create unique experiences. The John Misto play ‘The Shoe Horn Sonata’ and the Craig Johnson film ‘The Skeleton Twins’ both demonstrate images which are distinct and help the audience figure out the two texts. Images, along with various film and dramatic techniques attract the eye and help give a positive response and often a feel of the characters and what is occurring. Without the use of images, the two texts and many other texts would not be distinctive visually.
The way in which composers convey their ideas is dependent on their use of distinctive visuals. Amanda Lohrey’s “Vertigo”, Tim Burton’s “Edward Scissorhands” and Bruce Dawe’s “Homecoming” show how the composers use the distinctively visual concept to portray a greater understanding to the audience of the themes and ideas presented in their work.
Sociology is known as the study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society, so there is no surprise that it is so common to see the basic principles of sociology in everyday life. The 80’s film, Sixteen Candles, is a perfect example of how sociology is portrayed. Sixteen Candles is an entertaining story about sixteen year old Sam who’s family forgot about her birthday due to the distraction of her older sisters upcoming wedding. Throughout the movie, Sam wishes to be with Jake, an older student-athlete, and the audience is taken on a two day adventure which is concluded when Jake kisses Sam over a birthday cake lit with sixteen birthday candles. The movie shows many sociological elements such as deviance, race, gender
The Maltese Falcon, was not only a detective film, but a film that displayed many different aspects of the female and the male character in the movie. The film was more than a story, but a story that explored the ideas of the detective genre and the different characteristics of femininity and masculinity. It also brought forth subjects of sexual desires and the greediness of money. The characters and the visual motifs in the film contributed to the developing of the plot and assisted in creating a more detective and gender oriented film. In the film, The Maltese Falcon, the role of men and women are portrayed in different ways in the film to show the distinct functions of masculinity and femininity between the characters.
Many people may have a specific style in which they like to dress. A woman might have a signature lipstick she enjoys wearing, a man might have a distinct cologne that stands out from the rest. Movies are not too far apart in comparison. Sometimes people find films more enjoyable than others, and often do not realize they come from the same director. The Auteur theory is a that defines the director as the sole author of the entire film, adding his or her own personal style. When it comes to the world of animation, director Hayao Miyazaki is a pioneer in auteur. His specific directorial style is seen in many of his films in which he manages to make films enjoyable to adults of all ages. Kiki's Delivery Service was one of director Miyazaki's
The film, The Shining, follows a family who moved to the Colorado Rockies for the winter so the father, Jack Torrance, can take a job as a caretaker of the Overlook Hotel. Jack received this job after the previous caretaker, Charles Grady, went crazy and murdered his wife and two daughters. Jack’s son Danny has these disturbing psychic visions that revisit him many times throughout the film, including ones of the murdered Grady daughters and blood pouring out the elevators. Danny relates to the head chef of the hotel, Dick Hallorann, because they both have telepathy so they bond in a way no one else in the film does. Throughout the film there is an interest in room 237 and everyone is affected by in in some strange way; when Jack
The movie ‘Her’ is the story about Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. At the beginning of the film, Theodore is completely inept when it comes to how to make relationship with person, specifically women. However, after he gets to know Samantha, an OS program, a feeling of true love develops inside of Theodore’s mind. Then he realizes how he was fatuous in his past. Throughout the film, the director (Spike Jonze) uses five distinct color schemes to correspond Theodore’s feeling and situation.
“Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have fucked with? That's me.” (Walt Kowalski, Gran Torino, 2008) After watching the movie Gran Torino, I certainly can agree with Walt's perspective on himself. Gran Torino was produced in the year of 2008, written by Nick Schenk and directed by Clint Eastwood. In this particular movie we see the cause and effects of several social issues, how through socialization these social issues can be resolved and perspectives can be altered. Previously watching this movie I believed most individuals values were set in stone from experiences learned through the journey of life. However, I now believe that anyone can change their beliefs, forming new attitudes, setting new values
Movies are most of the time related to a human being's life. Movies apply psychology to their plots. For example, movies like the StepMom directed by Chris Columbus, and Good Will Hunting directed by Gus Van Sant show us that psychology is part of our lives in a day to day base. It could go from a divorce to a person who is scared to take a step in life. The textbook, Psychology: Core Concept, by Philip G. Zimbarbo, Ann L. Weber, and Robert L. Johnson, utilizes examples from these movies. We are going to see how these movies relate to the core principles of psychology.
In many people’s opinions, animation means funny and humor and designed for children. The content of the animation is nothing more than fairy tales, legends, fables, etc. Animation even becomes a symbol of Disney cartoon. However, if we re-examine the animation from another point of view, we will find that it has grown out of a single commercial mode constraints. Some of the animations are complicated, obscure and abstract. Variety kinds of visual images in it stimulate the audience's optic nerves. This is the salient features of experimental animation. Experimental animation belongs to the field which between film and pure art. Innovation is the soul of it. In the production process, the
The audience of this movie has a very wide range. However, I think majority of the viewers
The love story between two different teenagers that come from completely different worlds is the most remarkable. The Notebook is about two young teenagers who fell head over heels with each other. They got separated by Allie’s upper-class parents who insist that Noah isn’t right for her. But that obstacle didn’t stop these two young lovers from being together even if it took years. This beautiful tale has a special meaning to an older gentleman who regularly reads the timeless love story to his aging wife to help her remember what they went through and that the story that he’s reading to her was their love story. The story he reads follows two young
As any cliché artist would say, “I started drawing a lot when I was younger;” but not me –I can’t remember when I started to enjoy the arts. I have always been driven to create and express myself. I painted scenery to calm my nerves, draw intricate objects to focus on details, and draw dynamic poses to allow development of my eye. The mountain of used sketchbooks fills its’ own bookcase, dating back to early elementary years when I would create little stories much like a comic book. Despite my deep love for the arts, I always loved animation much more. Animation is the perfect blend of drawing and creating visual aid, while elaborately designing a storyline and plot to engage the audience –animation lets the average audience member to feel
The director is responsible for overseeing creative aspects of a film. They develop the vision for a film and carry the vision out, deciding how the film should look. The director may also be heavily involved in the writing and editing of the film, as well as managing the script into a sequence of shots, coordinating the actors in the film and supervising musical aspects. The Auteur Theory suggests that films contain certain characteristics or ‘signatures’ that reflect the director’s individual style and give a film its personal and unique stamp. Hayao Miyazaki is one such auteur whose entertaining plots, compelling characters