Film Essays Examples

Film Analysis From a Design Perspective Reading

Film Analysis from a Design Perspective: Reading Raging Bull

Elements of Design

The focus of this paper is a pivotal scene from the film Raging Bull, starring Robert DeNiro as real life middleweight boxer, Jake La Motta. Jake's emotional status is reflected in multiple aspects of the film production, such as his physique and costuming, the cinematography, the editing, and the direction. Film communicates the narrative's physical reality and psychological reality with meticulous attention and applied creativity to all of the aspects of filmmaking. The efficacy and condensation of the communicative ability of film is one of the numerous reasons why humans have loved the cinema for over a century. The paper analyzes the scene wherein Jake is locked in prison from a design perspective.

Film Analysis from a Design Perspective: Reading Raging Bull

On December 19, 1980, Raging Bull, directed by Martin Scorcese, was released to the international public. The feature film is shot in black and white, giving it a classical aesthetic and historical feel. The film, after all, is based on actual events in the life of Jake La Motta, a moderately successful middleweight boxer in the 1940s and 1950s. The film is a story of a…… [Read More]

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Film Discussion Early View of

The natural world allows us to show of more of our individual talents, whereas the urban landscape seems to only allow us to show what is needed of us in terms of industry.

Modern Times echoes these themes and images of the early representation of the modern city. However, the film is much more comedic, but with the same message. For example, the factory scene shows the same monotony. It is comedic, yet it is also representing the dehumanizing of urban workers because of the extreme technological advances (Hicks 2007). This film represents a strange sense of automation taking the life and quality out of production within modern urban environments. There is the incessant need to be faster, and Chaplin's character can't even take a short break. Yet the workplace is not an ideal environment -- the fly that keeps bothering him represents the constant torture the modern worker endures during a daily shift. Still, there is a need to continue to automate processes in order to streamline production processes. The introduction of the machine that is supposed to eliminate the lunch break represents the films parody of how technology is isolating and disenfranchising the modern worker. There is a…… [Read More]

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Film Noir Among the Various Styles of

Film Noir

Among the various styles of producing films, it has been observed the noir style is one that has come to be recognized for its uniqueness in characterization, camera work and striking dialogue. Film Noir of the 1940s and 50s were quite well-known for their feminine characters that were the protagonists, the femme fatale. This was most common with the French, later accepted in the United States. There might have also been reservations over these films probably because of the moral implications and repercussions that such 'dark films' would have in society.

Generally, film Noirs were characterized by the presence of a femme fatale who was the protagonist. The whole movie would revolve around this character because virtually every thing that took place in the movie would involve her (Doane, 1991).

The femme fatale was almost the complete opposite of what a heroine is. A heroine is somewhat a moral, law abiding women, and usually one on which the whole story or movie would be focused.

In contrast to the role a heroine used to play, a femme fatale was just as important because it was a role on which the film depended. Without her the film would not…… [Read More]

Film Theory Film and Reality

The spectator is unwittingly sutured into a colonialist perspective. But such techniques are not inevitably colonialist in their operation. One of the innovations of Pontocorvo's Battle of Algiers is to invert the imagery of encirclement and exploit the identificatory mechanisms of cinema in behalf of the colonized rather than the colonizer (Noble, 1977).

It is from within the casbah that we see and hear the French troops and helicopters. This time it is the colonized who are encircled and menaced and with whom we identify. The sequence in which three Algerian women dress in European style in order to pass the French checkpoints is particularly effective in controverting traditional patterns through the mechanisms of cinematic identification: scale (close shots individualize the three women); off-screen sound (we hear the sexist comments as if from the women's aural perspective); and especially point-of-view editing. By the time the women plant the bombs; our identification is so complete that we are not terribly disturbed by a series of close shots of the bombs' potential victims (Mast & Kawin, 2000).

3. Theorizing Technology

During Hollywood's transition to sound, technicians' duties often seem almost evenly split between working on the set and writing theoretical treatises on…… [Read More]

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Film Analysis of the Film

The film shows that human beings unlike the robots were way too dependent on habits and routines that make people unfocused causing people to not be able to make their own decisions (Barnes). Later on, when Wall-E ends up by accident bumps into one of the women, she understands that her attires have transformed into a different color and that she lastly opens her eyes and observes everything from a brand new perspective and the suddenly comes to the conclusion that she does not have to be totally reliant on technology.

Actually after watching the movie, it had a way of making an individual realize that there are times that a lot of people actually we do depend on technology than they do anything else. Most people do have things such as game consoles, computers, cell phones, and televisions, and these are just a few of the items. The researcher did learn that most people have a habit of listening d to what advertisements tell others are the utmost new matters to have and a lot of people actually go out and purchase these items rather quickly or right away.

Anthropomorphized Robots

Wall-E appears to be the only robot in…… [Read More]

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Film Campaign Nora Ephron's Julie

Their decision and ability to not only highlight the portions of the film that nest exemplify this (i.e. Streep's scenes as Julia Childs) but to also tie the rest of the film into the same perspective they were hoping to entice their viewers into adopting (i.e. The worship of Childs from afar a la Powell) accomplished exactly what was needed.

The construction of the television spots used in the marketing campaign for Julie & Julia were not effective only in legitimizing the story of Julia Childs told in the film, but also helped to draw younger viewers to the film. Amy Adams is a quickly emerging yet very well-received actress, and her story in the film modernizes what would otherwise be a historical piece. Though this historicism was the main focus of the advertising campaign, the television spots also reflect and understanding that younger audiences will not necessarily be drawn to such a movie. The voice over and the scenes of Adams as Powell in a cramped, modern apartment with her scruffy-yet-handsome young husband are all meant as enticements to the younger generations of film goers, and are effective without diminishing the sense of respectfulness, quality, and focus on the…… [Read More]

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Film Noir A Style or

Take the movie the Maltese Falcon, for example. The character played by Humphrey Bogart is not driven by an idealistic approach, but by the financial motivations that different characters will offer him throughout the movie.

At the same time, the main female character is usually the femme fatale type, dangerous, yet attractive, with whom the main male character tends to bond. This is not, however, the usual Hollywood type love story: the characters have a non-committal relationships and, like the other characters, are ready to betray one another if the situation imposes this.

In my opinion, following the definitions of genre and style and the discussion previously presented on this topic, as well as the main assumptions related to the film noir, we can argue that the film noir is a film genre rather than a film style. The main reason for this is the fact that there are several common characteristics of film noirs that group this type of movies into the respective category. It is not the particular way in which the director decides to express himself artistically or a certain particular interpretation of one of the artists that denote the film noir style. It is a whole…… [Read More]

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Film Noir the Heist Film

In the heist itself, time overlaps, and actions that have already been shown are repeated from another character's point-of-view. The audience is left to pout the pieces together so that we see a character do something and then se how it helps the next action lead to the desired conclusion.

At the racetrack, with the announcement of the start of the fifth race, the film cuts to Johnny, in the words of the voice-over narrator "beginning what might be the last day of his life." Such a voice on the soundtrack emphasizes again the uncertainty of the course of action being taken by these criminals, contributes to the suspense, but also keeps a sense of doom in the film, as if the ending were already known by Fate. From this point until the end of the robbery, the pace of the film speeds up as the camera cuts from one completed action to the next, playing out the well-thought-through plan. And shifting the point-of-view among the main characters until they are all in place for the robbery itself. The film finally focuses on Johnny, who is the only person to actually carry out the robbery and gather up the money.…… [Read More]

Film Noir the 1945 Film Mildred Pierce

Film Noir

The 1945 film "Mildred Pierce" is the epitome of film noir, complete with the femme fatale, theme of betrayal and hopelessness and use of flashbacks. While the 1954 "On the Waterfront" also uses the theme of betrayal and hopelessness, it breaks from the film noir genre, and rather than using flashbacks, it is told in present time and the use of the femme fatale is replaced by an unscrupulous union leader.

Both movies possess the theme of family dynamics. In "Mildred Pierce" there is the element of a mother-daughter relationship as well as a forbidden affair between Mildred's second husband and her spoiled daughter from her first marriage, Veda. Sexual tension and melodrama runs throughout the movie: between Mildred and her first husband Bert; between Bert and Maggie Biederhof; between Mildred and second husband, Monte Beragon; between Mildred and her business partner and long-time friend, Wally Fay; and between Veda and Monte. In 'On the Waterfront," the family dynamics is between the two brothers, Terry and Charley Malloy, however, the family dynamics also extends to the loyalty between the dock workers. As far as sexual relationships, there is only one and that is between Terry and Edie, the…… [Read More]

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Film Theory and Criticism Hitchcock

She must deliver the government plan to an end and be successful. She is determined and uses all her feminine best cards. At the beginning of their meeting she seems to be a superficial, sex interested woman, giving a slight sense of nymphomania. During her adventure with Roger Thornhill she falls in love with him. A theme frequently used in American films (take for example all James Bond films, sexy women ready anytime to jump in the hero's arms). At the end Eve and Roger seem a happily married coupled going on a honeymoon, and the viewer is given the impression of the perfect companion, a future ideal mother and wife, and Roger the devoted husband. They had there moments of doubt, when Roger thought Eve betrayed him and named her a person with no feelings, but Roger realized his mistake and they reconciled. The characters seem to have been "educated," transformed because of their experience together; they have "grown up."

The final battle with the foreign agent on Mount Rushmore is again outrageous because it can be considered unrealistic, but in spite of this, it is reckoned as a Hitchcockian masterpiece. The ending is fabulously constructed. As Roger is…… [Read More]

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Film Analysis Boesman and Lena -- a

Film Analysis: "Boesman and Lena" -- a drama of ideas, not people

The central protagonists of Athol Fugard's drama "Boesman and Lena" have what turns out to be a nearly impossible life task. Not only, the drama suggests, must they struggle to survive having lost their home and community. To become emotionally whole again, the depressed Lena and controlling Boesman must find a way to reconstruct their previous relationship as man and wife, to find some emotional comfort in a place of desolation. Gradually, as Fugard's narrative evolves, it becomes clear to the viewer that this will not be possible, that the two are too broken by the oppressive web of the apartheid system to really recreate a loving partnership. However, it also becomes clear to the viewer of the filmed version of "Boesman and Lena" that the actors who play the protagonists in this drama of the South African playwright have an even more daunting task -- these actors cannot really convey these characters as fully human entities. Rather, Boesman and Lena, despite the emotional force of the acting evidenced in Danny Glover's and Angela Bassett's portrayals manage to exist only as symbols, not as fully developed human beings…… [Read More]

Film Documentary Review Nix on

In fact, the reviewer seemed to make it clear that this film would provide insight even for people well-familiar with the comfort women story. Three survivors talk about what they endured as comfort women, and how that has continued to impact them and their lives, to this day. The reviewer describes the women using graphic detail, which is an interesting and anomalous phrase. After all, would not one expect to find descriptions of rape to be graphic and disturbing? However, the euphemistic phrasing that is employed to justify human rights violations like this one, such as calling the women "comfort women" rather than "sex slaves" softens the impact of what has been done, even years after the fact. Therefore, while it is clear that the reviewer has previously studied these events, it is equally clear that the reviewer did not ever really consider the impact that being forced into prostitution for an enemy army would have on a person.

The reviewer did criticize the director's use of artifice in the movie. For example, the movie features interviews with soldiers who used comfort women as well as with comfort women. However, the reviewer criticizes the director for changing background music when…… [Read More]

Film Birth of a Nation

The first part ends with Lincoln's assassination and with influential abolitionists wanting to punish the Southern states.

The second part of the movie presents the characters after the end of the war as they attempt to reach their goals. Austin travels south with the intention of taking care that blacks are being set free and that they receive their basic rights. Ben Cameron is disappointed that his people now have to treat blacks as equals and decided to form the Ku Klux Klan.

Flora Cameron commits suicide after being chased by Gus, a former slave that tried to convince her to marry him. Ben quickly apprehends Gus, hangs him, and leaves his body in front of Lieutenant Governor Silas Lynch's house. Lynch responds by ordering the executions of all those part of the Klan. The Camerons manage to escape Lynch's people and they take refuge in a country home.

As Austin is not in town Lynch tries to force Elsie to marry him, but she refuses and screams for help. Members of the Klan quickly arrive and save her. Also, the Klan chases all the influential black people from the town and save the Cameron family.

The movie ends with…… [Read More]

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Film Criticism of Casablanca Casablanca One of

Film Criticism of Casablanca

Casablanca, one of the most famous films of the last one hundred years, uses various film and music techniques to convey the story of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman's tragic love triangle set in World War II's North Africa. The film connects on many human levels due to its use of seamless shots including close-ups, deep focus and dissolves to name a few. The technique of mis en scene, which literally means use of stylistic items such as scenery, lighting and costumes also artistically builds the drama. The use of music also plays a huge role in setting the scene for romance in the film. It, too, can be considered a character, after all no one can forget the line "Play it again, Sam." The following paragraphs takes an in depth look at such examples in the film.

Film Criticism

Montage and overlapping of scenes opens the movie dramatically while a voice over brings the viewer an update as to the tragic events of war. The voice over quickly cuts away to action creating suspense and captivating the viewer. The background music is also cut dramatically to follow this scene. The outside action is edited in…… [Read More]

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Film & TV Terminology Terminology

In this area, meanings with their endless referrals evolve. These include meanings form discourses, as well as cultural systems of knowledge which structure beliefs, feelings, and values, i.e., ideologies. Language, in turn, produces these temporal "products."

During the next section of this thesis, the researcher relates a number of products (terminology) the film/TV industry produced, in answer to the question: What components contribute to the linguistic aspect of a sublanguage inside of the English language?

CHAPTER III

FILM and TV SUBLANGUAGE

We've come to a certain point in the history of film.

Introduction

In the writing of the script for film/TV, a sublanguage, the writer's deep collection of his/her responses to life. Under specific circumstances, individuals in a particular area of expertise alter/change/utilize a language, in this case, English, to fit their profession, in turn making it easier of those in the profession to understand. This practice of altering specific words/terms also makes it more difficult for those on the outside to understand the profession's inside jargon.

The term, to "pan" out, for example, denotes this practice. A pan in "normal" English would refer to the cooking utensil. In film terminology, however, the term "pan" refers to the camera zooming…… [Read More]

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Film History Expressions of Existential

These blows come in the form of beatings and disappointments encountered by Antoine while he is a student at a prison-like school. Truffaut paints the starkness of his reality effectively in his use of black and white hues. The boys are dressed mainly in dark formal clothes and their surroundings are also dark. This is contrasted with the brightness of the outside world in which Antoine is constantly looking for. He is left to his own devices, as the adults of the film appear to be "hypocritical, unsympathetic, unperceptive and untrustworthy" (Mast 353). This depicts a gloomy picture of Truffaut's outlook on life. His methods of camera technique, palette choice and story structure further promote this feeling. His choice of loner and misfits like Antoine who feel stifled by society also promote changing definitions in society. Truffaut wanted to put these ideas out into the public not only to express his discontent but to also call attention to such social issues.

Truffaut's earlier pieces focus on childhood as a theme. He focuses on the relationships of children with each other and adults to shed light on the fact; innocence has been lost as a result of the war. He believes…… [Read More]

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Film Prompt The Battle of

This is important, because the director was using these individuals to show how the struggle for independence was carried out by: ordinary people who wanted to make a difference. (Johnson)

Since the film was first released in 1966, sympathy has changed dramatically. What has been happening is: the views of the FLN and their leaders are seen as heroes throughout the film. As they are representing the struggles that Algerians are going through during the independence movement. In this aspect, the movie was about the people standing up to: capitalist regimes that were exploiting many countries. (Johnson)

However, as time has went by, the use of these tactics by the FLN (mainly bombings) has changed. What has been occurring is that, this has become a common form of attack that many terrorist groups are using against innocent civilians. After the events of September 11th and the feelings associated with what happened, means that a shift has occurred in how audiences will view the film. (Johnson)

As a result, they are now looking at the movie as a genre that is highlighting how terrorism has become a common tactic of many different extremists groups. This is significant, because these kinds of…… [Read More]

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Film and Television and Culture

Film And Television and Culture

One of the principal concepts that Robert Zemekis' 1994 motion picture Forrest Gump is meant to put across regards the problems that society has to deal with. Consequent to watching this film, most viewers are likely to look back and think about all of the issues in Forrest Gump's life. The fact that Tom Hanks soundly plays the character contributes to making the audience relate to him, especially considering that his emotional nature increases the overall feeling that one has while viewing the film.

Forrest Gump is a rather ordinary individual who somewhat accidentally becomes a part of a series of historic events. Having been challenged by life's hardships, he continuously strives to achieve his goals, regardless of the fact that he often comes across tough situations. His below-the-average IQ and his failure to connect with the love of his life in his early years do not prevent him from eventually marrying her and from becoming a wealthy individual.

3. Although Forrest Gump appears to be focused on the character of Forrest Gump more than it is meant to discuss historic events, one might be inclined to consider that the film is actually intended to…… [Read More]

Film Comparison Almodovar's Prisons Can Be More

Film Comparison

Almodovar's Prisons

Prisons can be more than a place where one is confined for what they have done. A prison can be a great number of things; a prison can be a psychological, social, emotional, or physical construct. Pedro Almodovar explores these four types of prisons in two of his films, Volver and Todo Sobre Mi Madre (All About My Mother). In both of these films, the characters find themselves held prisoner by what they keep as secret; the ramifications of these secrets sometimes force characters into seclusion, whether it is self-imposed or a result of social/cultural fears. Volver and Todo Sobre Mi Madre's narratives demonstrate the effects that these four types of prisons -- psychological, social, emotional, and physical -- have on the people that are forced into confinement.

"Almodovar is most interested in melodrama, approached from a variety of angles, some of them skewed" (Mast & Kawin, 2003, p. 529). A common link between Almodovar's films is that the narratives are centered around strong female characters. The auteur theory holds that "great movies are the work of a single creative mind" (Simon, 2010, p. 413). The auteur theory can imply that a director's works are recognizable…… [Read More]

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Film Family Prays Together Stays Together Tyler

Film: Family Prays Together Stays Together Tyler Perry Select a film, short story, drama worthy time analysis, Aristotle's ideas good dramatic storytelling lecture, analyze story a 750- 1

Tyler Perry's movie drama "The family that preys" represents the story of two families that eventually are forced by circumstances to work together and to get along, regardless of the discrepancies that exist in their life style, mentality, and dreams.

The story line is relatively complex in the sense that there are numerous events that take place throughout the film, from marriage, to drama, from happy moments to sad ones. From this point-of-view, the story and the plot itself resembles the complexity of everyday life, with all intricate affairs and developments that usually do take place in people's lives. An aspect however that may seem somewhat unrealistic relates to the way in which paths cross between the two families. In every day life, and especially given today's circumstances, there are not many occasions in which someone may organize and host a wedding for someone else from outside one's family as in the case of Charlotte Cartwright when she organized the wedding for her best friend's daughter Andreea. In fact, this is the…… [Read More]

Movie Critique The Pursuit of Happyness When

Movie Critique: The Pursuit of Happyness

When it comes to film making, the subject of rags to riches tales have been one of the most common subject for many filmmakers. Most film viewers have watched a number of movies that revolve around a financially broken protagonist making it big. However, in the post Y2k era, it is a common perception among many that a movie has to be high on graphics, special effects and budget in order to make its mark on the audience. Low budget rags to rich tales are seldom able to leave a significant mark over the audience and enjoy little limelight at the box office.

The 2006 Will Smith starrer, 'The Pursuit of Happyness," is clearly not just another tale of how a man starts fro dire to economical circumstances and makes it big. The Pursuit of Happyness, despite of not being a high budget movie and any other noticeabke special effects, is utterly inspirational and high on emotional appeal. The genre of the movie is of a biographical drama, that is inspired from a true story of Chris Gardener, a man who struggled from ground zero to become an owner of an established brokerage company.…… [Read More]

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Movies and Methods Volume I

Not only does Nichols provide a good context for the many paradoxes that can confront film studies with his insightful and thoughtful introduction, but he also shows how sharing approaches and methods can help to stimulate a lot of the best writing regarding film. In addition he shows many of the common problems that are seen and deals with the contradictions that appear. Like the first volume of the anthology, this second volume also provides smaller introductions so that each essay and piece of information can be more easily understood. It also allows a reader to peruse the book and find the pertinent piece of information that he or she needs at that point in time, which can be very valuable, especially for a novice to the film industry trying to find information quickly. Having the smaller introductions before each piece also help to showcase each item within the context of the larger film genre as a whole and help suggest various ways to link certain essays with other pieces of work in the anthology. These kinds of tie-ins are especially helpful to someone who is working to learn as much about the film industry as quickly as possible.

The…… [Read More]

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Film Leverage

Film Awards

The film industry produces experience goods for consumer enjoyment and consumption, and substantively relies on consumer differentiation for the economic success of movies. Moviegoers appear to differentiate films primarily on the basis of genre, starring actors, exposure to promotion, recommendations from other moviegoers and film critics, and -- for the dedicated film buffs and connoisseurs -- directors, cinematographers, and even screenwriters associated with the film production (Albert 1998, De Vany 2004, Eliashberg and Shugan 1997, Hand 2002, Krider and Weinberg 1998, Nelson et al. 2001, Ravid 1999, Smith and Smith 1986, Wallace, Steigermann and Holbrook 1993). Access to information about films is related to the resources and networks that moviegoers enjoy, and on the attention that films garner, as expressed by the media and through social networks. Information about films is accessed by moviegoers from many sources: 1) The genre of the film; 2) the rating of the film by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA); 3) the country of origin of the film; 4) variables related to star power, as measured: a) by number of actors listed in Entertainment Weekly's list of 25 Best Actor and 25 Best Actresses; and b) the number of actors and…… [Read More]

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Film Journal Comparison of Similarities

The leading lady of the film within the film is crazy, without the need for abusing any form of intoxicating substance. But the primary difference between the contemporary and the past film does not lie in any of these imperfect parallel details involved in their mutually chaotic plots, nor the minute distinctions in the minds and portrayals of stock characters. Rather, the difference lies in the way that DiCillo's style of storytelling constantly forces the audience to remain on edge, unaware if they are watching real life or the film that is being filmed -- or the director or actor's idealized dream of what the creative product should be. Thus, the later film has an added nuance about how the creative process can take over the lives of actors and directors, as well as seem absurd to individuals outside of the movie business. It also forces the viewer not simply to laugh ironically at the lives of the people before them, but to realize that both the viewer, the actors, and the people behind the set are all engaging in a kind of fantasy, whenever the process of filmmaking…… [Read More]

Film Music Critique Dziga Vertov's

Woody Allen's Annie Hall

Music is hardly used at all throughout the course of Woody Allen's classic comedy film Annie Hall. Like the great Ingmar Bergman, a director that Allen has idolized throughout the course of his career, Allen chose to leave a music score out of the film altogether.

Allen has always been known for his unconventional use of music in his films. He has never commissioned an original score for any of his movies; rather, he prefers to use established jazz and classical music recordings. But in a lot of his films, these jazz scores can be heard constantly in the background. Not so in Annie Hall.

One of the few uses of background music to be heard in Annie Hall include a boy's choir Christmas melody that features in a scene where the characters are driving through Los Angeles. In another instance, Mozart's Jupiter Symphony can be heard in another driving scene through the countryside.

The conspicuous absence of music throughout effectively forces the audience to focus more on the dialogue and action as it unravels throughout the course of the film.… [Read More]

Film Tough Guise Tough Guise

Women do play some role in the promotion of the tough guise image. Whether they would like to admit it or not, most women's idea of a man is one that is strong, macho and protective of them. The saying that, 'Nice guys finish last' has some truth to it. Many women look over the shy, quiet type of man because of the images they have seen in the media and in everyday life. This type of man has no appeal because he is seen as a pushover and the women feel that he could not protect and care for them the way a tough guy could.

The film covered several aspects of the reasoning behind the tough guise. He discussed how the image in perpetuated in young boys almost from the day they are born. He covered how the image plays out along racial and class lines. The fact that he showed several different males who seemed to be from various backgrounds giving practically the same answer to why males have to be tough gave evidence and sort of validated what the entire film was about.

Of course, something should be done to address the increase in male violence…… [Read More]

Film Troy 2004 A Mythical

There are enough similarities of story and characterization, however, that while one must take care not to see Troy as fact, or even as an essentially faithful movie version of the Homer's the Iliad, one may still learn something about the plot, characters, and setting of Homer's great poem by seeing it. Educationally speaking, perhaps one of the greatest benefits of a major motion picture like Troy is that seeing it might interest more people in reading the Iliad, for comparison, and/or in learning more about Greek legends, myths, and mythological characters in general.

The basic plot and setting of the film is this: the Mycenae Greeks (Greece and Sparta) and the Trojans, having been at war, have finally reached peace after many years. Two handsome young Trojan princes, Hector and Paris (sons of King Priam) are celebrating this fact with Menelaus, King of Sparta (Menelaus's brother Agamemnon is King of Greece). After that, the princes will set sail back to Troy. Then, however, the film cuts to a scene Paris and Helen, the beautiful young wife of King Menelaus (the "face that launched a thousand ships") in bed together. Next, Paris, more impetuous, and less thoughtful, than his careful…… [Read More]

Film Psychoanalysis of the Film

Grey with a way to accommodate the needs of their Ids and their Superegos. Their Superegos imposed the societal constraints on sexual relationships, which would drive both Lee and Mr. Grey to enter into monogamous sexual relationships. Their Ids drove Lee and Mr. Grey to seek immediate gratification of their aggressive urges through sexual behavior. By entering into a relationship with each other that allows them to fulfill both needs, Lee and Mr. Grey allow their Egos to reconcile the needs of their Ids and Superegos.

Furthermore, the Secretary addresses the issue of sexuality, and highlights the intimate relationship between sexuality and aggression. The unusual thing about the Secretary is that it demonstrates that a relationship that might be viewed as deviant was actually helpful to both members of the relationship. Prior to becoming involved with one another, Lee and Mr. Grey are both in pretty bad shape. Lee was cutting herself. Mr. Grey was obsessive-compulsive in an almost paralyzing manner. However, Mr. Grey's need to be perfect combines with Lee's need to be corrected, and the two combine to form a unit that works well for the two of them.

The Secretary also challenges the assumptions about S&M relationships.…… [Read More]

Film Critique Apollo 13 the

This lack of trust further leads to dysfunctional conflict.

Dysfunctional conflict refers to a destructive and unhealthy disagreement among people. In a team, this could lead to a removal of focus from the task at hand. This occurs in the scene, where all the members of the team allow their emotion of fear to control their behavior. Rather than seeking solutions, they appear to look for scapegoats upon whom to blame their situation. The scene ends with the potential to resolve the conflict.

The scene focuses very much upon the conflict aspect of communication breakdown, rather than clearly illustrating the positive aspects of the team involved. There appears to be no basis of trust among the team members, which leads to an escalation of dysfunctional conflict. In order to better illustrate the full range of aspects involved in the concepts, the scene might have included a sense of basic trust before the…… [Read More]

Film Being John Malkovich Sexuality

His stance is also one of superiority as he presents himself as the victim of his own vision and artistic expression. In this context, the generic pronoun "they" symbolizes Craig's detachment from the world around him as he feels superior which he believes, is what causes his isolation.

Craig's wife, Lotte, is perhaps the most radically changed as a result of traveling through the portal. She becomes convinced that she is a transsexual, and consequently, feels the only way she can be true to herself is to assume a new sexual identity, i.e. that of a man. However Lotte abandons her desire of sexual reassignment when she becomes aware that by starting a relationship with Maxine, she can in fact assume a different gender role simply by falling in love with Maxine. Maxine, on the other hand, embarks on a sexual relationship with Malkovich so she can be with Lotte. Through the masculine John Malkovich body, Lotte experiences a kind of reverse sexuality in which John Malkovich becomes the female part and Lotte functions as the male part. Rejected as a woman, Lotte instead experiences sex with Maxine through John Malkovich's body but while Maxine professes her love for Lotte,…… [Read More]

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Film Project Othello Modernized Shakespeare

My story being done,

She gave me for my pains a world of sighs:

She swore, in faith, twas strange, 'twas passing strange,

Twas pitiful, 'twas wondrous pitiful:

She wish'd she had not heard it, yet she wish'd

That heaven had made her such a man: she thank'd me,

And bade me, if I had a friend that loved her, should but teach him how to tell my story.

And that would woo her. Upon this hint I spake:

She loved me for the dangers I had pass'd,

And I loved her that she did pity them.

This only is the witchcraft I have used:

Here comes the lady; let her witness it.

Translation

Setting: The inside of the administrative building. Nighttime. Othello is wearing a suit, and is confronted by the school's president, 'Dr. B,' and several members of the administration in their pajamas.

John Othello: Look Dr. B, I know it's not easy when your little girl leaves you. Lord knows how I'd feel if I were in your shoes. Maybe I'd feel just the same way, as if I'd like to strangle the guy who took my only baby girl away. I've never been a father, or…… [Read More]

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Film Technique in Saving Private Ryan

Film Technique of 'Saving Private Ryan'

Saving Private Ryan by Steven Spielberg opens with a sequence that, to some degree, complies with "war drama" conventions. But the movie also possesses innovative elements, challenging the characteristic heroic notion of war. The director employs micro techniques like handheld camera use as well as other techniques that correspond to the documentary genre (e.g., on-location filming) for creating an intense feeling (realistic), making the war appear awfully shocking; the conveyance is a negative representation of war (Andrews).

Amplified diegetic sounds communicate the immensely ghastly reality of the D-day clash. Loud crashing waves reflect soldiers' vulnerable position as they face the brutal and violent nature of war. Loud marching-beats help portray war as an unnatural occurrence in society, as it indicates the natural order of things has suffered from Nazi indoctrination, making of a dominating and regimented man, rather than as a free and peaceful being. Hence, the war sounds echoing around soldiers expose them to the inevitable realities; the sounds of crashing waves foreshadow the deafening explosions constantly being pounded at them; the waves' sound signifies an attack by the enemy. Using the violent sound of attacking gives the battle a realistic impression, the…… [Read More]

Film Pilosophy Philosophy in Films

Humanity seems to unravel altogether in Pi: Faith in Chaos, both written and direct by Darren Aronofsky. Max is a brilliant but socially crippled young mathematician who has built a supercomputer and possibly unlocked the mathematical secrets of the universe, explaining everything from the stock market to God. The mathematical precision with which the world would operate if this is true casts a great deal of doubt on the existence of free will. At the same time, however, the film is asking questions about reality, and whether or not Max's discovery can truly be used in any practical way. Ultimately, both questions are rendered moot by Max's destruction of the mathematical portion of his brain. Though this seems to be an act of free will, it could also be the natural and inevitable next step in the algorithm of his life following his discovery of the sacred 216-digit number. Regardless, the knowledge is lost for at least another generation. In this way, the film also asks what we are capable of knowing, and what the true utility of knowledge is. The two questions are quite distinct -- one asks what is truly possible, the other what is ultimately worthwhile. Max's…… [Read More]

Film Auteur Theory in Tim

Gotham is a dark place, which manifests evil in the character of the Joker (Jack Nicholson). Bruce Wayne, Batman, is the force with which evil must reckon. Batman, however, has his own dark side, which is manifest in his costume, his gothic style mansion, and the technology he employs to combat the Joker and other criminal elements.

In this film, Burton needed only a few big name and talented actors -- Jack Nicholson (the Joker), Michael Keaton (Bruce Wayne aka Batman), Billy Dee Williams (Harvey Bent), and Kim Bassinger (Vicky Vale) to attract that audience that might otherwise have opted out of a comic book to film production. Yet the actors in this instance by virtue of their talent need minimal direction, and that allows Burton to focus on the structure of the film. The film is not structured around the actors, but the actors fill the structure of the film, the code that is Burton's own interpretation of the storyline, by bringing to life the characters within that structure. The actor is interpreting the director's coding the darkness of the scenery, the emphasis on the visual elements that suggest this is a cesspool of all that which is deteriorating…… [Read More]

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Film Gay and Lesbian Stereotypes

The homosexual community is also associated with characteristic mannerisms that, in fairness, do project homosexuality.

There is nothing necessarily prejudiced or closed minded about making assumptions that those who adopt mannerisms and clothing or hairstyle choices that generally denote a specific orientation (whether to crime or homosexuality), are likely to be associated with that orientation. In many cases, the external behavior and manner of dress helps individuals communicate information (such as their sexual orientation) about themselves to the world. But the converse is not true. Specifically, when we make assumptions about people knowing nothing else about them other than their sexual orientation, it is inappropriate. First, sexual orientation is not necessarily associated with any other behaviors; if anything, the mannerisms and style of dress generally associated with homosexuality are matters of preference, choice, and social modeling (or mimicry). Second, to the extent any other behaviors are more often evident in homosexuals, many individuals are exceptions to those generalizations. In other words, most baseball players chew tobacco, but that does not mean that all tobacco chewers play baseball or that all baseball players chew. Second, to the extent that other mannerisms and preferences are statistically linked to sexual identity biologically, their…… [Read More]

Film - Hable Con Ella

Whereas Marco's devotion to Lydia is based on his perception of guilt and responsibility for her predicament, Benigno's infatuation with Alicia seems to be a perfect example of the manner in which men can be love struck by a complete stranger even without any substantial interaction between them first. From the perspective of human sexual attraction and romantic infatuation, Benigno's infatuation is typical; what is atypical and perhaps less realistic is Benigno's continued devotion in light of Alicia's prognosis for recovery. From a much darker perspective, the apparent mental instability to which Benigno is prone may provide some explanation for his preoccupation with a virtual stranger. Ordinarily, it is not so much the manner in which men become infatuated with strangers so quickly that is sometimes a function of mental instability.

On the other hand, what very often is an indication of psychological dysfunction or obsession is the continued infatuation for a stranger even after rejection of a social overture. In that regard, the exact same male gestures are interpreted very differently.

Romantic gestures that are in context and appropriate to circumstances are generally greatly appreciated by the female object of those affections; conversely, out-of-context gestures that are inappropriate to…… [Read More]

Film the Early Years of

However, in spite of the fact that the film was promoted as a motion picture displaying real-life events, it appears that the director did not hesitate to modify a series of aspects about the environment that he shot in and the story itself. The protagonist's wife and children were not actually his and Flaherty correctly believed that audiences would be more deeply impressed if he presented the story from a more spectacular point-of-view. Even with this, one can still claim that the film is a documentary because it presents viewers with its own creation.

Many individuals took advantage of the fact that documentary films were very influential and devised propaganda strategies using motion pictures. Many individuals involved in this affair considered that fiction films no longer had a strong appeal and that society was more concerned about seeing 'cinema verite'. Many filmmakers got actively engaged in creating films discussing political topics with the purpose of influencing the masses in adopting particular attitudes in regard to the respective political concepts. In their determination to create films displaying reality, most of them failed to actually do so because of the fabricated scenes they introduced in their movies. Even with this, the general…… [Read More]

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Film Frozen River Courtney Hunt's

The relationship between the two women is strengthened as the film advances and as they discover that they have more things in common than they initially thought. The two criminal-oriented individuals find that they have serious issues with their families and that something urgently needs to be done for them to solve their problems. The bond they form is best observed to the end of the motion picture, when Ray has second thoughts about leaving Lila and instead presents herself to the authorities, willing to be penalized for her actions. In spite of the fact that some viewers might consider the film's ending to be dull in comparison to the dramatic outcome they expected, the final is actually satisfying, as Ray's punishment is somewhat equivalent to the illegalities that she committed.

The frozen river can be taken for granted, with all the risks involved in crossing it, and it can also be considered to mirror Ray and Lila's lives, as they are both in danger of "falling through the ice." Ray risks being fired and losing the chance to raise money for her dream home, while Lila risks never seeing her baby again. The frozen river in the women's lives…… [Read More]

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Film Field of Dreams Executive Review The

film Field of Dreams

Executive review: The objective of this paper is to provide an in-depth analysis of the film 'Field of Dreams' [1989], taking into consideration such intrinsic aspects of the film as the plot; characterizations; contextualization and storyline; moods and particularly evident ideological perspectives.

The plot within Field of Dreams begins to take shape when, due to instruction given unto him by a mysterious, heavenly voice one day, Ray Kinsella [Costner], a struggling Iowa farmer, begins to turn one of his cornfields [virtually the exclusive source of his income] into a baseball diamond. The characters he meets and the experiences he subsequently has, the eventual result of his accomplishment (s) and the ultimately reconciling and redeeming conclusion collectively converge to make for a movie that, in spite of having various fictional and illogical inclinations, depicts a pot that is fundamentally logical moralistic.

The film, directed by Phil Alden Robinson and released in 1989 [and with Kevin Costner [playing Ray Kinsella], Amy Madigan [playing Anni Kinsella] and Ray Liotta [playing Shoeless Joe Jackson] in lead roles] revolves around a plot that, in spite of having uncharacteristically simplistic tenets, happens to come forth in as much as a rather touching…… [Read More]

Film Analysis of Sunset Boulevard 1950

Sunset Boulevard is a classic film noir produced in 1950 and directed by Billy Wilder. The film begins with the murder of Joe Gillis, a floundering screenwriter who ends up dead in a swimming pool. "Poor dope," the voice over says. "He'd always wanted a pool. Well, in the end he got himself a pool, only the price turned out to be a little high." The voice over, delivered in classic film noir style, turns out to be none other than Gillis himself. Far from being an unreliable narrator, though, Gillis promises "the facts" and delivers. The entire film Sunset Boulevard is the retelling of "the facts" from Gillis's perspective. Wilder's choice of narration is dutifully ironic, as a failed filmmaker becomes famous. The theme of the movie is reminiscent of the Great Gatsby, with its peek at American decadence and lost dreams. Because it offers rich social commentary, Sunset Boulevard signals the changes taking place in American society at the time the film was written. American society had just crawled out of the Second World War. Hollywood was booming, and so was the economy as it was about to propel Americans into one of the most conflicted and contradictory…… [Read More]

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Film CAPOTE 2005 Directed by Bennett

The ultimate proof of the film's tendency to utilize hyperbole to portray the author as someone whose morality was questionable due to his own pursuit of success, wealth and fame lies in the quantity of interactions that Capote had with the two prisoners. There is certainly evidence in Clarke's biography that implies there was a fondness and physical attraction between the author and Smith. However, the sheer number of visits that the movie portrays is certainly erroneous. In actuality, the writer's "extended prison sojourns in the film are…fictionalized. In five years, Capote…visited his subjects no more than half a dozen times, though he did correspond with [them] weekly... He…was less interested in dealing with the defendants as people (Gibbons)."

As such, it becomes fairly obvious that the film Capote exaggerated a number of different facets of his personality and behavior in order to render the author as a consummate perfectionist who was willing to do anything to ensure the success of his next book. There are several reasons why the filmmakers took this approach, the most salient of which is to portray the writer's tale as a classic morality one in which a good person ultimately turns bad. This is…… [Read More]

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Film Interests Choose a Film Interests Isolate

Film Interests

Choose a Film Interests

Isolate a specific issue, case, problem, or scenario related to business, politics, leadership, advertising, marketing, or ethics in the film.

In the movie Wall Street, there is a focus on a number of issues to include: business, marketing and ethics. What happened is Bud Fox is an up and coming broker who will do anything to be successful. This is when he meets Gordon Gecko, who encourages Fox to become creative in the investment advice that he is providing (by obtaining inside information). The impact is that Fox quickly become corrupted by the easy money and fast life of Gecko's world. Once he realizes that Gecko is using him for his own personal benefits, is when he begins to face legal troubles (with him being arrested for insider trading). After wearing a wire and recording Gecko's involvement is when Fox goes to court. The uncertainty is showing how he was able to do the right thing in the end. Yet, Fox's future remains checkered, as he must come to grips with what happened. ("Wall Street," 2012) (Newkirk, 1998)

These different areas are illustrating how there are business challenges, as he will do anything to…… [Read More]

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Movie Secrets and Lies There

She eventually does however, and this particular episode merely shows the types of problems that families have with one another. It functions as a piece of foreshadowing since it occurs in the beginning of the film. While the aforementioned couple argues about whether or not the husband looks better with his glasses on or off, or why the wife has chosen to hide her crucifix because it is not expensive enough or gold, the viewer is merely given visual clues that the tension, arguments, and problems that have befallen this particular couple is one of the themes in the movie. The couple, therefore, functions as a microcosm of the couples and families in the film, and of the problems that plague them.

Not all of the portraits that Morris is shown taking at the beginning of the film are as argumentative as that of the aforementioned couple. However, the vast majority of them are a study in the differences between people and family members. At the 16:30 minute mark, the film depicts Morris taking a series of photographs. Nearly none of the subject depicted are congruous with their actions and their demeanors. Again, the viewer can consider this scene as…… [Read More]

Film History

movie industry in America has been controlled by some of the monolithic companies which not only provided a place for making the movies, but also made the movies themselves and then distributed it throughout the entire country. These are movie companies and their entire image revolved around the number of participants of their films. People who wanted to see the movies being made had to go to the "studios" in order to see them. They made movies in a profitable manner for the sake of the studios, but placed the entire industry under their control and dominated over it. The discussion here is about some of those famous studios inclusive of that of names like Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Culver, RKO, Paramount Studios, Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Studios, Universal Studios, Raleigh Studio, Hollywood Center Studio, Sunset Gower Studio, Ren-Mar Studios, Charlie Chaplin Studios and now, Manhattan Beach Studio. In the past there were different kinds of movies being made by different kinds of studios. A Warner's picture looked completely different from a Paramount picture, which again looked very different from a MGM picture, which was also very different from a Republic picture, and again different from an RKO…… [Read More]

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Film United 93 Directed by

It also says a lot about our society that so many people went to see the film and endorsed the film. It is not because this film is about heroes or heroism. It is because the film's ultimate message is to never forget the people who died in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It was a time when the people of the country came together in support and grief, and a time that made the country and its people just a bit closer to one another. It was an epic time in history and this film makes everyone remember, ultimately so they will never forget.

In conclusion, this is an important and emotional film. It is certainly not easy to watch, and it is easy to demonize the terrorists and fault the military because of their scrambled messages and inaction. However, the director does not demonize the terrorists or point fingers at the military. He allows the viewer to make up their own mind about what they see, and does not preach or moralize in the film. What he does do is paint a convincing and poignant picture of 40 people and a flight crew on an airplane they…… [Read More]

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Movie Proposals These Would Be the Mission

movie proposals. These would be the mission for the firm and its basic proposals, the company's "must" objectives, the company's "want" objectives and the estimated ROI for each of the for movies. This report will evaluate each of the movies as perceived by the four criteria previously mentioned and will subsequently make an overall evaluation and reason the best choice for the company.

The first movie, "My Life with Dalai Lama," perfectly complies with the main ideas of the company's mission. First of all, from a creative point-of-view, the idea to present the life of a personality through the eyes of a snake and through the eyes of other animals befriending him is new, interesting and creatively a positive aspect. Further more, to some degree it is also championing environmental concerns by presenting the role of animals in the life of a personality of 20th century history, bringing the animal regnum closer to human heart.

In terms of the "must" objectives, it covers the first two. Indeed, the project would obviously meet legal, safety and environmental standards, while at the same time compelling with the PG or lower advisory rating criterion: a life about the Dalai Lama is in no…… [Read More]

Film Is Not Yet Rated

The NC-17 rating, of course, is a compromise to avoid serious films being given the 'X' rating associated with pornography possessing no artistic value. But having any rating system at all means that filmmakers who want their films to reach a wide audience, and need a wide audience to pay back their backers may feel pressured to compromise their artistic integrity for the sake of getting a more desirable rating, because R-rated films can draw in more movie goers.

The subjective nature of film ratings even under the MPAA is evident when one considers that certain things we take for granted, like nudity, for example, were originally prohibited by the Hayes Commission. Foreign films from nations with different sexual standards, documentaries about important subjects, and other films that contain taboo topics can be effectively censored by being given a NC-17 rating, while violent, major Hollywood blockbusters with little artistic pretentions receive more desirably R-ratings, simply because they do not contain certain hot-button scenes and issues.

Two filmmaking techniques are used to convey the ideological point-of-view of "This Film is Not Yet Rated." One is the common format of many film documentaries, involving interviews with filmmakers and directors and clips from…… [Read More]

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Film W By Oliver Stone

But it did make me wake up a little to the fact that this was not a true date and fact biopic, but a Stone biopic, which looks more into the heart of darkness of the topic than most others in the genre.

While the humor was there another unexpected feeling I walked away with was fear. This is just not fear of this particular president's way with words or from his gut decision making cowboy politics. It is the fear and the reality that the president is after all is said and done a human being making, often, inhuman decisions. One tends to think of the president as on a pedestal and the scrutiny there is so much higher that any error or misstep or malapropism is multiplied a hundred fold. But in this particular president, Stone by way of implication is saying that if you are not fit for anything else than politics and government is for you. He presents Bush as a human being that is true, but his history of poor success in any job he tried and being constantly bailed out by his father, says that those who can do and those who can't can…… [Read More]

Film and Perspectives on History

The newsreels are a successful thematic device as they are used to guide the viewer through the details of the events. It was the decision more so of the studio executives to leave some things out as they only used what would drive the story of the horse. Only upon further investigation of the history does one gain a fuller knowledge. Still the filmmaker's intention of getting the story to the forefront of the American consciousness was successful and met critical review.

Malcolm X

In the film Malcolm X, Spike Lee misleads the viewer about the full nature of racism held by the Nation of Islam. The Nation of Islam characters in the movie say that whites are "blue-eyed devils," but never revealed to viewers is the doctrine about whites being eliminated in racial Armageddon. Furthermore, Lee did not limit the film's context to historical accounts; instead he chose to put in messages that push for revolution today. For example, while the movie begins with Denzel Washington, in the role of Malcolm X, speaking in which he denounces whites as "the number one murderer," the images of the 1990s; in particular, images of Rodney King being beaten are shown. This…… [Read More]

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Film Theory

Film Theory

The canonical model of the purely cinematic (Eisenstein, Kracauer, Bazin) starts disappearing in contemporary theory. Most film theorists since the 1970s (Baudry, Wollen, Mulvey, Stam/Shohat, or Jameson, etc.) Explain in different ways how the textual (content and form, the film text itself) and institutional have merged together. Choose two theorists for whom the institutional issues are integrally connected to the textual ones, and explain their insights about reading cinema.

Laura Mulvey's piece, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" is divided into three sections. The first section is the introduction, the next section is called "Pleasure in Looking: Fascination with the Human Form." The third section is called "Woman as Image, Man as Bearer of the Look," which is followed by a summary of the entire work. Mulvey makes numerous assertions in her work, but one of her primary intentions of "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" is to call serious, critical attention to the act of looking as part of the cinematic experience. She calls attention to three fundamental types of looking: the looking of the camera at the frame as it records the footage, the looking of the audience upon the screen, and the looking of the characters between…… [Read More]

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