Urban stories - power, poverty and conflict - How far should the films you have studied for this topic be seen in relation to their particular time and place?

There was a Mid-Autumn parade in Chinatown on that day, accompanying the dragon and lion dancing, Marann started to give us illustration about Chinatown. Because It is hard to get a parking lot in Chinatown, and the people who live in Chinatown celebrated Mid-Autumn Day, so I decided to take BART to go there. Before I met our tour guide, I went across to Union Square and passed a tunnel. The one side of the tunnel is to connect the western world, like Union Square, and the another side of the tunnel is to connect to the orient world, Chinatown. Finally I walked to inside Portsmouth Square Park, park level, and then I saw our tour guide, Manuel Maranan who took us to Chinatown. That’s a very big park, and it’s close to Hilton hotel, there was a China’s nation flag, also there was a Taiwan’s flag. Many Chinese visitors

What were Edwin S. Porter's significant contributions to the development of early narrative film? In what sense did Porter build upon the innovations of contemporaneous filmmakers, and for what purposes?

Mazierska discusses the overarching theme “trapped in presence” in Wong Kar Wei’s movie as postmodern implication that correlates to Wong’s addicted uses of montage and symbolism in narration and editing (p8, Mazierska). As he considers, Wong’s works share the similarity with several postmodern authors. “The notion of alternative temporalities is central to the narrative organization to postmodern novels, such as those of Italo Calvino and Alain Robber-Grillet.”(p17, Mazierska and Rascaroli). James Udden also argues in “the Stubborn Persistence of Local In Wong Kar-wai” that Wong’s popularity is credited to his typically post-modern philosophy of denying his Hong Kong identity and embracing it at the same time (finnayson, p143). In some more relevant cases, Flannery Wilson discusses Wong’s overlapping narration between presence and future in 2046 as the manifestation of Deleuze’s theory of “crystal of time,” vaguely alluding to the notion that virtual and the real intermingles in 2046 (p164, Finnayson). Brunette also postulates that the sense of resisting the advancement of time correlates to what the Fredric Jameson terms as “longing for the present. (Teo, p358) ” Although it is evident that every production of Wong concerns the subject of love, few theorists have been found so far who posit Wong’s interpretation of love in a post-modernistic framework. The one who got closest to this

A reflection is a recreation and counterpart of an image; something that is identical in an opposite way. As the narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, stares into the walls of her isolated room, she begins to find a woman hidden among the patterns. She becomes invested in what these patterns mean and slowly starts to mimic the movements of the woman in the yellow wallpaper that surrounds her. The narrator’s so-called “nervousness” advances into insanity throughout the story as she becomes lost in this imaginary reflection she sees in her room. Gilman uses a progression of personification while describing the yellow wallpaper to show that the narrator is seeing a reflection of her own mental state, and attempting to

In what should have been the prime of his youth, Sungju Lee’s soul and happiness was carved out and replaced with a desperation for survival. Constantly cross between the consuming emptiness of abandonment and the flickering hope that their families are still out there, Lee and his ragtag crew of forgotten boys fight their way until the dying light of each day. As his beliefs crumble around him, Lee climbs his way out from the ashes to open his eyes to the truth,in a bittersweet coming of age story. Lee’s extremely personal and detailed recount of his youth in Every Falling Star make it a truly heart wrenching story full of emotion and depth with descriptive imagery while retaining simplicity and the intimacy of a friend telling a story.

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,

In Amy Tan’s “A Pair of Tickets,” setting unfolds an important aspect of the story by positioning a ‘where’ and ‘when.’ Throughout the story, June May struggles with her internal conflict of resisting her Chinese culture. However, she begins to release this resistance as she ventures through China. The setting perpetuates the theme through the usage of transportation, the significance of the color gray amongst colors, and June May’s transition into a Chinese-American. As reflected by the setting and external places visited in “A Pair of Tickets,” June May’s interior state becomes more Chinese as she explores her native country.

To see what they see, and compare our own thoughts with the evolution of the characters and the story. The dexterity of the images, and the impact that each scene has in portraying this theme, guide the viewer throughout the film with little use of dialogue and action. Our central character “Jeff,” is struggling with his casted imprisonment, his need for adventure is apparent as he watches outside his window. Conflicted with his girlfriend and conflicted with his theories, his character becomes more palpable, we begin to realize what is going on not only on the outside of him, but the inside of him as well. The aspects of the outside courtyard and the visual isolation of each apartment, help depict the humanity of each individual and sympathy for even the darkest characters. Hitchcock uses his camera, just as our protagonist does, to focus with him. The camera angles are depicted in a way to which we react with the character, rather than at the character, and eventually expose the minor elements of the story that bring to fruition the suspense of the movie and the thrills of discovery.

Another effective technique demonstrated by Niccol is the first person narration by the central character, Vincent. This is important for the development in the movie, as Vincent is the protagonist we are encouraged to empathise with. Therefore, the use of bias narration and perspective is effective in supporting the ideas presented in the film.

One thing I noticed throughout the film was the use of reflections. The movie starts off with a montage of images of Xanadu, Charles Kane’s personal estate. One of the shots includes a beautiful reflection of the building in the water. When Kane dies and drops the snow globe, you see the nurse’s reflection in the glass as she walks into the room. After Kane convinces the men from the Chronicle to come work for him at the Inquirer, he throws a party; we can see him dancing in a reflection of a window. When Kane is in Xanadu, he walks through

(INTRO): The most crucial and pivotal part of a storyline is the ending. Oftentimes, a movie and a book based on the same storyline will differ in a multitude of ways. Consequently, the entire interpretation of a story is based on the ending. This concept is expressed in the intricate and intriguing plots of the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates and the movie Smooth Talk. (THESIS): The ending of the short story is more effective than the ending of the movie because it leaves more to the imagination with its graphic scenes that emphasize Connie’s complex relationship with her mother and show a transformation in Connie’s personality.

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

Some scholars criticise Cidade de Deus / City of God (2002) on the grounds that the film represents violence and poverty as a ‘spectacle’ and fails to relate these issues to the wider socio-political context of contemporary Brazil. Is this criticism justified?

Ang Lee’s Crouching tiger Hidden Dragon is probably one of the most successful foreign films to ever be screened in America. Being the number one film of the year in 2000. On the other hand it was reportedly considered a flop in China. While it was influenced by American film styles, it still kept true to many aspects of its Chinese film heritage. With very apparent love story, it lacked the Extreme amount of Kung Fu fight scenes eastern audiences have come to enjoy. This is a stunning love story between a monk and widow. While it does have its share of over the top fight scenes, when you start to dig deeper the films many social implications become apparent. With ties to subjects such as religion, martial arts, philosophy, love, and even gender issues. This film is a representation of the modern era and how long practiced traditions are being challenged. Each character and plot line allows a glimpse into the Social and Traditional understanding of a culture.

Comparing the Narrative and Formal Devices of ChungKing Express and A Bout de Souffle Wong Kar Wai’s movie ‘ChungKing Express’ bears many similarities to Godard’s ‘A Bout de Souffle’. To start with, Wai employs a number of cinematic techniques, obviously derived from the French New Wave, such as for example the jump-cut which is evidently taken from Godard’s film. His use of the Godard-ian jump cut seamlessly blends temporally-exclusive scenes together, making the passage of time unnoticeable. Other Godard-ian touches include the many shots of clocks, which remind the viewer that despite the protagonist’s fixation on the past, time continues to move on and that moments in the present are