In the book, Struck By Lighting by Chris Colfer, he writes that, “You don’t get to pick where you’re from, but you always have control of where you’re going.” The film adaptation of this novel of the same name, directed by Brian Dannelly, allows Carson Phillips, a Senior in High School, to tell the story of the final months of his education and the life of neglect from an unstable mother. The film begs the question, when do we stop fighting for what we want to be? Dannelly poses this question for the audience to answer, using perspective shots for the majority of the film, a variation of peeking and point of view (POV) shots, and a diversity of angles on the characters. First off, the audience is placed into the movie by using a handheld shot for the majority of the film, alongside aerial shots …show more content…
During the scenes with his mother, in the house, Carson is usually separated from her, and the two characters are seen in singular shots. The separation keeps the relationship between mother and son, completely distant. When Carson is outside with his mother, they are finally shot in the same frame, but they are seen from a long shot, showing the lack of connection between them. In contrast to this particular relationship, Carson and his best friend, Malerie are shot in medium frames, connecting the two and showing that there is someone that keeps him grounded in his crazy life. Angles also played a part in the emotional connection to each character. When Carson’s mother is told of his death, she continuously calls his phone, only receiving voice mails. With every redial, the camera slowly lifts and closes in on her. When she finally accepts that he is, in fact, gone, the view is a close up shot at a high angle. The mix of these elements gave the most detailed view into the way that each of the characters behave, live, and
Lighting was an essential device that conveyed the bright and natural light of both Australia and England, in turn highlighting her innocence and flawlessness as an upper-class woman. The strategic camera work too demonstrated qualities of her character, for example, the low shots emphasised her superiority and dominance, especially in the initial narrating of the story when instructing her employee in England. The camera shots furthermore displayed the features by multiple closeups to point out facial features and her confidence, in addition to the mid slots that illustrated her excellent posture and clean appearance. Baz Luhrmann's masterful directing conveyed Sarah Ashley’s sophistication and grace similar to that of a wealthy woman of the late 1930’s. So too he illustrated the character Drover and his lifestyle, as a classic Australian
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,
Sexual infidelity is demonstrated through Charlie’s mother Ruth, who has an affair with the local policeman. Before Laura died she had wrote a letter to Jasper informing him how on the nights he did not go up to her window her father barged into her room screaming and hitting her, “my father came to my door and he wasn’t gentle and he wasn’t kind”. She could not take the pain anymore and as Eliza recounts the story to Jasper and Charlie, slow eerie music begins to play in the background. The film shows how on the dark gloomy night Laura climbed the tree and sat there until she dropped. The director uses front on shots with a dark contrast to add to the misery of the event. Another example of sexual abuse is when Laura’s beaten body hangs from a tree limp and lifeless. Fast eerie music begins to play and a front on shot focusing on a branch with Laura’s hanging body in the background giving a sense of mystery to the viewer. At the end of the film the letter Laura wrote to Jasper shows that Laura’s death was connected to the sexual abuse from her
Interestingly, visual techniques are also effective in portraying the theme of free will versus determinism to question the responder who and what controls our lives. The tripartite storytelling structure incorporating three wholly, self-contained alternate versions of events is an unconventional filming technique reinforcing the postmodernist perception of having minimal control over life. As Lola rushes past minor characters in the film, flash forwards offer alternate glimpses of the possible outcome of their future, suggesting that fee-will alone is not a sole determination of the outcome of life. In each run, Lola’s encounter with these minor characters varies, showing that even the slightest change can become a significant impact to life. An extreme close-up
In addition to camera movements, he uses camera distances and framing to create images that make the audience feel cheerful. When he frames a shot, if it takes place outside, there is ample amount of bountiful nature within the frame. The most prominent example of this is toward the end of the film when the narrator is describing the after effects of the massive storm. It is a medium close up but the narrator is only in a small portion of the frame, the rest if a
Through the use of setting, the devastation of war is displayed with the change of scenery as they travel further within the country. When the girls and Dave are first travelling through, the setting is bright and cheerful; they are happy and excited which is shown through a medium long shot of the characters and their transport. As they travel further into the country, the scenery changes as it becomes gloomy and is destroyed. Through the tracking medium long shot, the scenery is displayed while showing the reaction of the girls faces as they lose excitement, being overtaken by sadness and concern. By the director utilising the medium long shot, it allows the audience to see the emotions on the character’s faces while gauging an understanding of the setting.
The cinematography of this film features numerous close-ups of its adolescent protagonists as well as point-of-view shots acquired predominantly from their perspective, thus making the viewers position themselves firmly on the boys’ side of
The world is far from a uniform system. Each and every individual is placed in a different situation depending on everything from location, race, beliefs, and economic status. Psychology looks at how individuals come out of these specific environments and how they transform into an adult through the trials and tribulations of their growth. In The Blind Side, director John Lee Hancock focuses on an athletically skilled African-American teen, Michael Oher, who is transformed from a homeless orphan from the projects into a highly sought after college football prospect through a positive change in family, school, and supportive surroundings.
Everyone was created for a reason. "Don't ever allow yourself to feel trapped by your choices. Take a look at yourself. You are a unique person created for a specific purpose. Your gifts matter. Your story matters. Your dreams matter. You matter." - Real Michael Oher. In the visual text 'The Blind Side' the director John Lee Hancock presented to us, how Michael Oher was a positive influence on Sean Tuohy, the football team/coach and Leigh Anne. To display this to the viewers, Hancock used the film technique of low-key lighting in the scene where Michael was sauntering solo in the crisp, drenched night, long-shot in the scene where Michael was on the field with his football team/coach and dialogue in the scene where Michael graduates to Ole Miss University. Do you believe a young teenage boy can transform someone to become a better person? Well, start believing! Hancock used these film techniques to reinforce the way Michael was a positive influence on Sean Tuohy, the football team/coach and Leigh Anne and made them exceptional people.
can affect the boys them mentally and physically.For these boys, they try to find belonging, love, and support in their friendship.this supports helps them go through their difficulties.They sometimes do things rebellious and immature because of their upbringing.For example, the parallel shot was used when Teddy convinced himself to stand in front of a moving train that was coming towards him, reason occurred that he was in distressed and unstable.His mind was fixated on doing something to escape from everything that involved is family.He strongly stood on the track and waited for the charging train to stop but it kept storming forward.Chris jumped in risking his life for Teddy that shows the loyalty and commitment in their friendship, that shows that friendship comes first.Chris pulls him off the tracks and Teddy's anger strikes towards Chris this shows how Teddy wanted an escape and he was "I don't need no babysitter" Teddy exclaim in distress "You do to" Chris Gasping for air.Chris showed a fatherly figure by grabbing teddy to safety that shows friendship comes in many different shapes for size even if it's helping your friend in a life or death situation.for example These boys have shown compassion for their friendship and connected with each other.Close upshot was used to illustrate the long and risky train track.The high angle was used to display how vulnerable, small and powerless if the train were to come.the mid/close up shot was used to show the expression of
The roles that childhood trauma has on adult social lives is tremendous. It is important for social work practitioners to closely abide by the NASW Code of Ethics when working with this population to combat resurfacing and unaddressed childhood trauma. When assisting clients social workers should pay special attention to specific values such as: dignity and worth of a person and competence. When clients seek service or they are mandated to receive service from social workers it is our job to keep the best interest of the client at hand and make them feel warmth and genuineness. It is hard for clients to touch on childhood traumatic experiences because some do not know what trauma is and when they let us in we have to ensure that we do not make
According to the Washington Post, Nicole Kushner Meyer, the sister of Jared Kushner, an advisor to the White House told the Chinese investors that they can get EB-5 U.S. visas by investing $500,000. Read more.
In the film “The Truman Show”, directed by Peter Weir, many techniques are strategically used to position the audience to respond emotionally to Truman Burbank. Techniques such as lighting, music, camera shots and angles are used in three specific scenes throughout the film co-ordinated by the shows director Christof. He uses these techniques to encourage the show’s audience to believe that what they are watching is unscripted and real.
The signs of the time are also shown through the use of specific camera shots, which humble the characters and show their frailty. Long Shots, in particular, are used to exemplify the smallness of the characters (without power) in the vastness of the world around them. In the scene in which the
African history is extremely important because it contributes to the overall understanding of world history. The historical interaction between Africa and America created a platform for national capitalization. Nigeria is one of the most populated countries in Africa and more specifically it consists of one of the highest amounts of ethnics groups. Nigeria consists of over three hundred different ethnic groups. Language, culture, and values are what differentiate ethnic groups from each other.