Hurt Locker- response

        Hurt Locker is an absolutely brilliant film that effectively depicts the life of the average soldier on a task force performing numerous operations. This film provides the ultimate amount of emotion, controversy, and action through its use of point of view shots (such as this one which is in the point of view of mechanical toy car that helps diffuse bomb plants), close-ups, coverage, development of characters, and in general its fascinating environment. The camera includes itself in the action, pulling the audience in it as well.

      The context of the film enhances its beauty as the intriguing environment of a war provides to form various themes and ties with other works. The setting of the film is in the middle of Iraq (although they began their filming in Kuwait and Jordan), during its war with the United States which is still present today. It examines the difficulties of an Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit in their work and the dangers they face in Iraq. The Director, Kathryn Bigelow, became the first women to win the Academy Award for Best Director for this intense film, with the help of the writer, Mark Boal. This film is closely related to the film United 93 as this film’s cinematography was impressive when showing the 11 bomb attacks that America had suffered. One thematic thread that comes in turn with this setting and historical time period is that War exposes certain fragility within each person.

The setting, acting, and costume in this film play a critical role in the intent of this film. The visual style of this film is the normal day-for-night approach. This film focuses on specific days of the film that have great significance, and these specific days are shown from the morning until the night. This day-for-night style is shown the color temperature of the sun, getting colder when the days go by through a red tinting. In this particular image, the diffuser, Sergeant William James, throws a smoke grenade behind him. The bright lighting shows that this is happening during the early afternoon, and is enforced by the smoke of the grenade because the smoke is white, if the smoke was greyer, it would show that it is later in the day for the smoke reflects from the sun. One iconographic image that recurs throughout the whole film is the suit. This, which Sergeant James is wearing, is seen to be an honor and a privilege throughout the film. It solely characterizes the person within it. This suit becomes so meaningful because those who put it on realize that they are risking their life and there is a lot at stake that is resting on their shoulders. The film begins with a man in the suit, but when the suit was put on him, it revealed certain cowardice within him as he trembled and shook as he took steps closer to the dangerous explosives; and the fact that he ends up dying shows that this suit is only made for the brave and the bold. This suit becomes an intimidating character itself. On the other hand, Sergeant James is able to put on the suit, but with much more confidence. In this clip, he throws the smoke grenade, suggesting that he doesn’t need any help to perform the task, and knows that this suit means life or death. This shows bravery and wit within his character as he realizes and understands that any day he puts on that suit he can die in a split second. Also, Sergeant Sanborn also expresses a bit of characterization when dealing with the suit. After a while, he and Sergeant James develop a closer relationship so he asks Sergeant James, “Do you think I’m ready to wear the suit?” Sanborn’s eagerness and anxiety implicates loyalty and trustworthiness within his character for he is willing to put on the suit despite its meaning. I thought the acting was absolutely phenomenal concerning the three main soldiers. The three soldiers expressed three different characters in the act of war but also showing one familiar thing, being scared to lose everything the have. The characters constantly dwell and think of their families back home as they run their missions, and cry for them in fear that they may not see them again. I think for this reason is why Sergeant James shares such a fascination for the young boy Bekham, who tries selling movies to him. Bekham most likely reminds Sergeant James of his own kids, so he has a mutual, caring relationship for him. On the other hand, the three all have quite strikingly diverse characteristics. For instance, Owen Eldridge shows excessive fear for his job as a special forces soldier, especially when the group is getting sniped from across the little desert hills. Sergeant James and Sanborn but have qualities of bravery, but express it in two very different ways. Sanborn’s bravery is very loyal and noble which is seen when he constantly changes plans to protect Sergeant James. Sergeant James has a much more reckless bravery as he puts his own men in danger to diffuse the bombs. The Production design of this film revolves around these characters as it strictly follows these three and the environment around them; their dangers, loves, relationships with one another, etc.

 

The cinematography plays a very significant role in this film. This film is extremely realistic in its approach through its use of point of view shots. These shots have ranged from the view of the toy car, to the men inside the explosives suit, to the aimers of the people looking through their gun’s sites and scopes. This affect of point of view shots draws the audience in because we see what the soldiers see which, in turn, attempts to allow the audience to fear the same fears as though within the war. This, along with constant rattling and movement of the came portray a very rushed and pressured mood within the scene, which becomes a parallel to what the soldiers see. This film also contains numerous close ups. These close ups provide much emotion. Their were many close ups on the eyes of the different soldiers, and this image removes any defensive shell that those men might have been holding and replaces it with a sense of innocence, revealing the fact that those men are no different than any human being. They too have a family at home and deal with emotional dilemmas, and also share the same fears that most humans have. The lighting plays a key role in this film because it shows the time of day and gives a sense of the heat. In this image, the great contrast of light and dark show that it is very hot and is in the middle of the day.

          One very interesting aspect of this film is the manipulation of time within each scene. The shots tend to slow down on various moments. For instance, in the beginning during the first explosion, time slows down almost completely, showing a slow rise of the bullets. I believe the intention of the editor was not only to show the fact that any second something could happen and your life could flash before you, but ironically it was mainly to show a type of elegance in war. Although war is known to be bad and cynical, there are a lot of components to it that make it an art form. From bullets to snipers to explosives, they all contain something new and interesting. This picture shows a close up on a dangerous explosive

The Genre of this film is definitely a drama. Its realism allows it to grasp the most emotion out of the situation and is definitely enhanced by the characters of this film. The plot of this film, mainly dealing with just a team doing their job as a special group doesn’t correlate with the sub plots of the film. The sub plots deal with emotion of each character and who they truly are inside, and this solely makes it a drama. This is closely exemplified when Sergeant James pursues Bekham after he dies by bombs being planted inside him. Sergeant James puts himself in a lot of danger just to find out what had happened and let the family know, and although he does this, he still is treated badly by the mother who hits him and she didn’t even bother finding out what his intentions were for being inside her household.

         There is a reason why Hurt Locker is an Oscar winning film; it grips the reader through its many interesting approaches and holds its grip through the characters. This film was both insightful and enlightening to me as it showed me what true bravery is.

Pre pro- documentary

                                                   Documentary Pre-Pro                                      Luke Gray

                                                                                                                                         Film 4

1)    The intent of this piece is to examine how sports relieve stress in certain people.

2)    In order to fulfill my piece, I must speak to people on either the basketball team, the wrestling team, and/or the soccer team.

3)    –How does _____ help you get through your day?                              

- Why do you choose _____ to help you cope with your problems?

- What problems do you experience outside of sports?

- Any particular person that helps you out with your problems?

- What would you do if that sport was taken away from you?

      4)   The beginning of this piece will consist of a collage of shots of the people I interviewed playing their sport. They will all be working hard and will transition back and forth from sport to sport. After establishing this, I will introduce the first person I interviewed. Their will be a little A-roll, but generally all B-roll. Then I will repeat this process for the remaining people that I interviewed. At the End, I will reflect back to all of the people I interviewed (Same line at the end to close piece).

     5)    Beginning portion- shots of the kids on the team doing drills (mostly longer/medium shots) and scoring one way or another.  They will keep playing until the final shot where the teams ‘break’.

Middle portion-Before I thoroughly introduce the people I interviewed, I will establish them by putting a title sequence to make it clear. The middle shots will first show the interviewee by himself focusing on the interview, but this middle portion will still ultimately be on him working hard on practices. This section may also include interviews of people who simply observe him. The end portion will bring all of the people I interviewed together and showing a similarity between them by showing a shot of them saying the same thing, and then another shot of the different teams ‘breaking’.

     6) This piece will not include a script because this piece doesn’t involve a narrative. I don’t want to have a narrative because I believe a voice that is not relevant to the piece will take away from its meaning (I learned that from Baraka). The only voices will be the voices of the interviewees and the background sound as well to capture its full intent.

documentary- "Stopping the Cycle"

 
     The documentary I watched was "Stopping the Cycle", a documentary that exposes the harsh realities of relationships that many wives suffer through the abuse of their husbands. In the annual doc-fest, this piece achieved first place among hundreds, and is well deserved. Along with its powerful messages, it shows the audiences links to find help and to take care of those types of problems. It allows the reader to carefully consider the message by displaying the physical punishment that wives have by locking up their expressions and accepting the beating their husbands give them. “Stopping the Cycle” is an immensely powerful film not only through its deep message but also through its portrayal by its narrative, camera work, and its editing and sound effects.

    
This is a powerful documentary, for its use of examples and powerful language helps engage the audience within this piece (narrative). It begins with the harmony of a new married couple, living happily together, but immediately counters these loving emotions by diving into the topic of abuse of husbands and the game they play on their wives. Along with that, this film uses a young, yet sorrowful voice over to depict the voice of a new wife that is a victim to this type of abuse; therefore, the tone matches the intent and allows the audience to sink into the film itself. The director of this film also decided to use titles, showing the common words that husbands use to threat their wives, and this text is surrounded by a cynical background. This dark images depicts the seriousness within the film, and the dominant voice over of a man (characterized as an abusive husband) creates the feeling to the audience that they should be aware and cautious about this existing problem as well.

   
Another powerful technique that this documentary used was its unique cinematography. This film used numerous close-ups, thus, providing heartfelt emotion as we see the physical pain that many wives endure such as the image of the women’s black eye. Along with that, they used very slow zooms that fluently moved towards the subject. This smooth camera work provides a certain professionalism within the piece, which personally dragged me more into the piece itself. This documentary’s camera work supports the piece’s message through its ability to capture emotion.

     
 The editing and sound design in the piece “Stopping the cycle” was unique, yet very effective. In the beginning shots of the couple getting married, you see the clips as very bright and fuzzy on the screen. By eliminating all darkness in the shot and adding dream-like characteristics, you see the “overwhelming beauty” in marriage, when in fact its not, which is shown in the next shots. This portrays the message to the reader that marriage may not be what many think it is, but that in fact it could be the beginning of the end. Along with that, when people spoke, the sound was overlapped. By overlapping one’s voice, a dramatic effect is created as it sounds quite daunting and scary. This technique enhances the film’s message by supporting the tone of the piece in a very effective manner. “Stopping the Cycle” is a well established piece that effectively grabs the readers attention through its wonderful production.

Baraka

       Baraka is an intricate film that depicts the life of various places, people, groups, and geographical locations. It scrutinizes the different traditions that a group holds as its own, comparing the different societies through their own culture and the way they maneuver through each day. This is all communicated through the interesting use of cinematography and the crucial block of dialogue. The sound helps portray and provide emotion to the different areas and places, showing a sense of isolation, culture, and most importantly, harmony. This film’s production allows it to exceed its potential to expose the lives of diverse, yet special groups.

1)    This film is given the name Baraka, meaning “breath”, because the underlying meaning of the film is to compare and show the different people and their cultures, and this corresponds with “breath” because although the cultures may be quite different, every group still takes the same breaths and are quite similar in many ways. Despite the fact that one group may use a comb for face paint, and another may use it to style themselves, regardless they both still share the same feelings, emotions, and pride as the other. Along with that, “breath” also describes the cohesiveness and conformity of each group. Each and every group move as one and do things on a daily basis and work and help each other to complete the days one step at a time. The title Baraka well-establishes the motive of this movie as it shows the similarities of each different culture.

2)    The planetary perspective of this film does express the world in moderation, yet it may be a little skewed for the different cultures use its resources in extremely different ways. The cinematography of this film displays the geographical features in this film in such a remarkable way that we are not use to that we may feel the urge to believe it is not in the same time period but in fact it is. Also, since some of the cultures are not fully industrialized, it may seem that this exhibits the past but it is in actuality the reality of today’s world.

3)    The message I get from the film Baraka, is that no matter how many privileges one society may have over another, they are all equally special and important. Despite the industrialization that some cultures have, even the ones that aren’t have beliefs and traditions that are just as important as any others. This film is about respecting one another’s culture no matter the differences, and appreciating it just as you would appreciate your own. The unique part about this film as that this strong message is provided without dialogue or commentary, just through observation which is very difficult to achieve.

4)    The absence of voice and text affected the global perspective because it suits the calm and mellow mood of this film. It allows the audience to relax with the addition of the subtle music and the smooth transitions. Without any form of commentary, the audience is not criticized on what to take from the film itself; The absence of persuasion carries out the film to the audiences benefit as they are able to shape the film the way they see it through their own eyes and not through the film maker’s. The sole presence of calm and suitable cultural music enhances the film’s approach on the audience which, in turn, the audience respects.

5)    Some images that applied to culture were when the tribe that was practically bare was dancing around a certain staff in the middle of the forest. They took turns doing a party of a dance while singing a song together around a staff that seemed to have some importance. This corresponds with nature because they surround themselves with the environment, showing a type of appreciation to nature itself. Also, I noticed that their clothes were made from a part of nature itself. This shows that this particular culture is very closer to nature and what it has to offer. On the other hand, the image of New York and its busy streets showed some contrast to nature. It showed that the societies in America were far from the usage of nature and has been swallowed by industrialization and what it has to offer.

6)     Some interpretations of the monk following the street with the cigarette factory is that the people within that society are very coherent, yet they don’t seem too happy. Among the countless amount of people in the cigarette factory, all of them seem to just get by through the day, just taking care of business. This plays a role in religion and spirituality because it shows that within that particular culture, all of the people share the same ideologies and share the same religion and spiritual beliefs.

7)    The social statement that Baraka makes of the refuse heap and the images of the poor is that some people may be miserable within their own society. Like some societies over others, some people are more privileged than others, which can crucially affect how one lives. The poor images show that people have to strive to live and bare with the society around them while others can breeze right by, perhaps because the certain culture is more suitable for them.

8)    The transitions that stood out to me was when the camera glided over the waterfall and entered into a new society. Through this smooth transition, it shows similarity between the two different societies and what they share, thus, enforcing the central themes of the film itself. Along with that, the transition over the water where the birds are flying around also help show this similarity between two different cultures. The sounds that stood out to me was the traditional singing of the certain tribe that chanted in unison. This was a very strong             sound because it pulls the audience within the culture, thus exemplifying the differences of each society and the certain types of traditions that culture has.

9)    I believe we watched this film for two reasons: to see how cinematography and sound can solely drag the audience in through its swiftness and coherency; to expose us to different cultures and to appreciate the lives we live today. I don’t think I would view the world the same without this film because its melody and conformity helped me realize how similar I am to the different worlds around me and to not take what I have for granted. This was a very strong piece that was very insightful on how to utilize camera techniques to the fullest.

 

shrt film critique- the game of love

 
In my film The Game of Love, sound became a rough patch that caused many problems in production as well as post-production. As far as microphone placement goes, we had a pretty rocky time with that; we were very inconsistent. We filmed in public places, unable to control outside sounds such as other people within the vicinity we shot in that made irritating sounds that disrupted the recording of the shot; Consequently, I was forced to avoid it in the editing process and had to replace it with music so it would flow better although I thought the film would be stronger if I preserved the natural sound of the film, but i couldn't due to those outside distractions. As far as audio levels go, they are pretty distinguishable; they are pretty consistent so nothing is overbearingly loud that it is aggravating, and in other moments it loud enough to lightly hear but doesn't take away from the film's environment. The audio is somewhat clear for it doesn't contain that much but in the end, the dialogue between the boyfriend and girlfriend is a bit sketchy when the boy friend says "you’ve been actin' hasty, find your own ride home". Other than that the audio is easy to determine and the mood of each scene is depict as well. Looped segments do go by unnoticed, solely because the editing process helped blend them. But, when importing the last two scenes footage, we hit a speed bump as the audio didn’t record for one reason or another. Also, considering that our two column script didn’t fully set us up for success and didn’t quite prepare us as needed, when we re-shot those last two scenes, our dialogue change; consequently, the dialogue we used was somewhat bad and unrealistic. With all of this being said, I personally realize that sound design and maintenance is the most difficult film process for me that I immensely struggle with. This is one aspect I look to improve over the course of the year.
       The most spectacular and personally fun component and process of the film that I thought I did a decent job on was the editing. Despite the fact that I felt our scenes had loose ends on top of dealing with the acting (meaning looking at the camera and their placement), the editing allowed those stains to be unnoticeable. The shots do flow in harmony and call for a simple, yet coherent film. I successfully avoided jump cuts and the continuity was pretty consistent as well. We were consistent with the continuity for we made uncountable match action cuts and the actors wore different clothing to portray different days. The audio has a somewhat good balance to it and the sound effects somewhat accurately match the motivation of the particular scenes. We avoided crossing the 180 degree line so the audience will definitely not be confused despite that the story and plot itself may not be quite fully developed. The shots are cut to see what is necessary and eliminates continuity problems. Shots are held longer such as when the awkward boy first sees the girl to establish the fact that he has fallen in love. Considering the fact that we had a short spectrum of time, I cut the scenes to only view what is necessary to help develop the story although I believe if I were able to get a couple more shots in the hallway scene as well as the end scene, I believe the film would be more clear and effective. One problem that I constantly had trouble with was the camera. The actor playing the awkward boy kept on looking at the camera in crucial moments in the film such as the flashback when the two are frolicking in the field. By him doing that, it somewhat distracts the audience as they wonder what he is so happy about when it should be obvious that he is happy that he is frolicking with the girl. Another example is when the two are in the hallway scene. After the awkward boy gets knocked down and the girl helps him get his books, when he is standing up he looks directly at the camera for a good two seconds. I avoided this by later getting another shot of just the girl preparing to hand him the book. Meanwhile, in this shot of the girl, the audio of when the awkward boy is getting up is held so it would flow easier. Despite some misfortunes during production, the editing helped remove some of its problems.
            After this film I have realized that picking actors is crucial to the success of a film. Our actors loosely provided the audience with emotion, but it is easily seen that they were just acting, as opposed to putting themselves within the film’s intent. In my opinion, the actors were not too emotionally involved to a point that the audience would care what happened to them. This is not only because of their personal acting though, but because the film is focused on comedy and quirkiness. As a director, I tried to make all of the gestures to be meaningful, but the acting made it seem unrealistic and meaningless as well. Although the talent energy was always fueled, it was spent in an unexpected way and although it helped our film in some ways, it also hurt our film in many ways. On the other hand, the costumes were always perfect to portray another moment in time. I was impressed with the actors because when we had to re-shoot the last two scenes, they remembered to bring the same outfit as when they previously did without me or my partner’s direction. Make up was unnecessary for our film, so that relieved us a bit. I hate to bash on the actors (and I am an actor as well), but I feel that they had the potential to make our film to be much better. Predominantly, I hold all responsibility because I realize that I should have directed them more although I tried hard to do so anyways. If it is any consolation, all of the other actors we tried getting had bailed out on us.   
    

Do-Gooder Treatment

Pitch:  

1)logline: A teenaged boy seeks revelation by saving a kid from the wrath of a brutal gang. In turn, He relives the stress of a gang members family, saves a kid from torment, underhandedly brings his family back together, and erases a huge burden that he once carried.

2)genre= drama; Tone=solemn; Time period=present; Setting= An American suburb/neighborhood

3) The protagonist is a young American boy who recently lost his brother. He is compelling because his intentions are to help the people around him and falls victim to harsh things.

4)narrative: A boy sees a kid get beaten up and thinks of his past and feels sorry for the boy. Meanwhile, a family is in deep distress as a result of having one of the gang members as a part of their family. The boy develops a sense of obligation to put a stop to the gang for a burden keeps his family as well as the gang member's family in turmoil. The boy once again encounters the gang hurting a kid and saves him, but takes a bullet consequently, ending his life. Hearing this, the mother of the boy commits suicide and the gang member is arrested. The gang member's family feels the need for each other more than ever and is closely united, as the boy's family is ince again united, in a better place.

Treatment:

3. A Do-Gooder that gets rewarded for their sacrafice.

       A quiet, conservative teenaged boy is walking home from school. He encounters a commotion on the other side of the street. A gang of kids are pummeling the kid to the ground until he is no longer conscious. While this is going on the boy remembers his past in little glimpses. Then the gang disperses and runs around the corner. The boy takes a pause. He keeps walking.

      In the kitchen, the boy washes dishes while his mom is putting the condiments away. They have a very blunt and harsh conversation. She speaks of the boy’s brother and his recent death. The boy glances at a frame of his brother, smiling in a glorious background. He retires the dishes and sorrowfully leaves the room.

      We look into the life of one of the gang members. The member just departs from his gang and walks into his house. He carelessly throws his backpack on the ground and storms through the house and his mother starts yelling at him. His sister is in her bedroom doing homework, but is disrupted by the commotion of her brother. The member walks in the room and yells across the room to her mom and cussing at her under his breath. The sister shows a very depressed face.

       A couple days later, the boy and his friends are playing basketball when the boy sees the gang conversing and doing illegal things. Once again, he remembers his past, a little more clearly. He walks away from the court frustrated.

       The boy walks home and when he heads towards his room, he stops and sees his mom crying, looking at the picture of his brother. He continues to walk towards his room.

       Meanwhile, the member’s sister hears her mother on the phone with the member (her son), yelling, telling him to come home. The sister picks up the other house phone and hears her brother screaming back at her mother, calling her “worthless” among others names. She begins to cry.

       A week passes, the boy is sent to go get some milk by his mother. On his way there, he finds the gang once again. He sees them creep up on another kid. The gang starts pushing the kid around. This time, the boy walks towards the gang. The gang starts beating the kid, when all of a sudden the boy intervenes and starts defending the kid. He allows the boy to escape but himself is still victim to the gang. The member (the one we have personally met) pulls out a gun. The boy remembers fully of his past *- He once was in a gang and one day his gang approaches his brother’s friend. They punk him around and then the boys brother steps in. One of the boy’s gang members pulls out a gone and executes the two. The boy kneels over his brother’s dead body and cries-*   He pulls the trigger. The boy dies. And the gang runs away.

       The boy’s mother gets a call from the police reporting her son’s death. She puts a gun to her head and pulls the trigger. She lays on the ground, dead.

       The member’s mom gets a call from the police reporting that her son has gone to jail. She cries. The sister walks in and hugs her mother over some touching words. The mother sneaks in a smile.

      They turn on the TV and see news on the death of the boy and his mother. The reporter refers back to the boy’s brother’s death years ago. He ends his report telling the audience that the family is once again all together, in a better place

Amelie blog post

Amelie is a French production about how a girl who aims to satisfies others as opposed to herself, and in the process of doing so, she finds compassionate love. In this particular image, Amelie is an adolescent who is smiling, portraying a sense of good will; on the other hand, the use of a strong, directional light for the background light, leaving lack of illumination to expose an underlying deviousness within her character. The cinematographer chooses to abuse the use of directional lighting to create an attached shadow with fast fall-off to hint the audience of a partial cynicism in this character which is shown when Amelie sabotages the grocier with the toothpaste and the slippers. The cherries on Amelie's ear exemplifies her unorthodox vision in the world which she continuously demonstrates as she grows up in the adult world. The style of text enhances the director's development of Amelie's character which, in turn, establishes the beginning of the plot.

In this scene, Amelie gets a knock on the door from the person that she loves, but she doesn't answer it. After she gets back to what she was previously occupied with. As she does this, she thinks about the guy and possible scenarios if she let him enter. The audience see's her thoughts through the use of a PIP(Picture in picture); A visual representation of her thoughts because it is strong and clear. At the end of the PIP the man caresses the beads on the veil, making them move, and when she snaps back into reality the veil matches the movement of the veil when he touches them, showing a direct parallel action. Considering that this draws to to the climax of the plot, this expresses Amelie's overbearing love for the man, enriching the plot with overwhelming love.

    In this scene, Amelie wants to see the man she has been looking for, so she goes to the haunted house, for she hears that this was the man's job. The motive of this scene matches the cinematography. The lighting design and the actions resemble eeriness which parallels the tone of this scene as the man is somewhat obscure to the idea that his love is in front of him. The dull lighting combines with the smoke to suggest a sense of weariness in the situation between the two, clarify his confusion. Amelie is not subject to be a victim in this haunted house for her curiosity is predominant in the situation. This scene stands out from others for it's setting is quite curious for a movie revolving around the complications of love, but in turn, its unusual staging depicts the in and outs of love.