The General
The most interesting thing that I learned form chapter one is the role of a director. I used to think that the Producers, actors and the scriptwriters were the most hardworking people to make the film possible. I thought that the directors are not required in every step of film making process, which I found was completely untrue. I used to think the person who should be credited most for the success of a film is an author. I was astonished to learn that directors or other reviewers may be considered as the author of a movie although they just modify the script to make it better.
The idea of Ancillary market really fascinated me. Releasing the movies in different forms one after another to generate maximum returns sounds just so clever. It’s so much of permutation, combination and research. The idea of Ancillary market had never struck my mind before.
I don't watch so much of movies. The last one I watched was “Avatar” some months ago. The technologies used in filming “The General” and “Avatar” cannot be compared. The film industry technology has highly advanced over this time. “Avatar” is a 3D movie where every thing that appears in the screen looks real. The story is also so advanced. I think there is no any common technology used in making “Avatar” and “The General" .
____________________________________________________________________________
His Girl Friday:
His girl Friday is one of the best old movies ever seen. I found the movie breath taking, fast paced full of superb dialogues and wonderful comedy. I found Rosalind Russell’s character the most interesting in the movie. She had played the perfect role of strong, intelligent and influential women. Cary Grant on the other hand has given his best. He’s perfectly played the role of a wily editor. Although the movie had a love story from the start to the end, it rarely appeared in the surface; it was all covered with comedy. Billy Gilbert’s role as an obedient husband was another thing that fascinated me. I loved the story line. Although this movie was released 71 years ago, it still looks young and captivating.
___________________________________________________________________________
Citizen Kane:
Citizen Kane is one of the sophisticated and classic masterpieces I have seen till date. I discovered that Citizen Kane is one of the highly rated movies. I loved the narration style in the movie. Unlike in other movies different narrators narrate different plots of this movie. I never thought that just changing the narration style could bring so much of difference in the movie. The theme of the movie is simple and true; money cannot buy everything. Although Kane had too much wealth he was deprived of the basic need that every human need “Love”. The flashback technique used to tell the story was incredible; it made the movie out stand for others.
___________________________________________________________________________
The Night of the Hunter:
Another black and white movie, I was frustrated when I begun watching the movie. But as the film started playing my frustration vanished instantly. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie from the start to the end. I found the very start of the movie really captivating. When Ms. copper said “ do you remember children how I told you about the good lord …” I felt like I am picking up a novel and starting where I had left.
“The Night of the Hunter” has a mysterious and suspenseful story. The black and white color of the film has perfectly matched the storyline. I think the mysteriousness and the suspense of this story would have less effect if the film was shot in color.
The lighting and shade effect in the movie was really fabulous. Mr. Powell is shown in dark in most of the scenes. The dark lighting upon Mr. Powell keeps us reminding that he is an evil character and what he is going to do is bad.
The sound effects were great too. The foot steps against the wood of Harper house, the random animal noises, and the splashing sound of the water has noticeably added thrill in the movie.
The theme song was great. Although the song had the same words, it seem to carry different meaning when sang by two different characters. When Mr. Powell is shown singing this song he is always in shadows or somewhere away from camera. The song sounds harsh and thrilling in Powell’s voice. When Ms. Copper sings the same song it sounds so appealing and melodious.
The movie is full of great shots. I wonder how hard each of the crew members worked to create this masterpiece.
___________________________________________________________________________
North By North West:
“North by Northwest” is one of the outstanding suspense movie I have ever seen. The movies made so many twists and turns; it made me guess what is going to happen next. Almost all the time I failed to make the right guess.
The movie has a rich cinematography. The lighting effects and the sound effects made the suspense more profound. The movie was full of impressive shots. I read the chapter before and tried to concentrate on the key things like camera angels, camera distance and cinematography in the movie. The camera angels and the camera distance were eminent; I figured some with my unskilled eye too. For example the conversation between Thornhill and Townsend was captured in medium shots. The gestures and the facial expression of Thornhill and Townsend were clearly visible. The camera did not moved. It was fixed in a distance with out moving and isolating the background. This helps the viewers to watch their conversation with out any interruption.
The movie was great. I enjoyed it.
___________________________________________________________________________
Breathless:
I am used to watching movies with subtitles as I watch lot of foreign movies and documentaries. The language in the movie did not really made me hard to understand; I enjoyed the movie form top to the bottom. The storyline was simple to understand and it resembles many Bollywood movies.
Michel is a car thief. He was driving to Paris in a stolen car. He was stopped for speeding, but Michel managed to escape form the policeman by killing him. The purpose of his visit was to collect money form his friend and to see a girl called Patricia. Michel is shown to be a confident thief. He steels car whenever he needs one with out any hardships. Although Patricia wants Michel to love her, she denies sleeping together. Michel who was a dangerous to others did not hurt Patricia even when she slaps him from time to time. The unbelievable thing in the movie was Patricia helping Michel even after she discovered he was a murderer.
This movie uses lot of jump cuts. The movies have not shown every bit of action; instead it shows what is important. After Michel kills the policeman he is shown in Paris. The movie does not show how he managed to get there.
The editing technique used in this movie is what it made outstanding. The plot includes action scenes but they are severely cut. These actions last for only couple of seconds; blink your eyes and they are gone. Unlike other movies the conversations are longer then the actions. One single conversation I noticed was longer then 20 minutes. I am wondering why I was not bored watching a movie that has a 20-minute conversation and 4 second action scenes. Brilliantly directed movie.
____________________________________________________________________
Do the Right Thing:
Do you typically read film reviews before you decide whether or not to see a film? Do you tend to agree with 'film critics' or is there a specific critic that you follow? Do you think that, as a movie-going society at large, we give weight to critical praise when deciding to see a film?
I typically do not read film reviews before deciding whether or not to watch the film. The main reason I do not read reviews is because they tend to make me bias and it consumes times. I do not watch trailer either. Almost all the time the trailers are good, but when we go to watch movie, the movies are not good. Usually i listen to my friends and families. If they say the movie is good i watch them and if they say its not good i avoid it.
I love the the movie “Do the Right Thing” as it is based on the existing social problem.The language was vulgar but it made the movie look more real. The Lighting effects and the bright colors used in the movie to make the day look hot has really worked. I felt the warmth of the heat while watching the movie. Although there are many movies based on racial injustice, this movie stands out as it has not blamed a race for the misfortune that happened. Any one can be good or bad regard less of the color of skin. Overall the movie is pretty good because of the message that it has carried.
__________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 12
Chapter 12 was great. It wrapped up almost everything that we learned this semester. I never know Edison helped in the the development of the classical Hollywood cinema. I never heard that Edison was a business man before. I learned lot of new things about The German Expressionism, French Impression and Soviet Montage. This chapter also explains how the French New Wave influenced Hollywood film Industry.
The Independent film making has developed a lot since 1960’s. Looking at the history of independent movies we can conclude that they will surely gain more notoriety in future, but the fact is that they cannot compete the major studios.
Modern viewers seem to like the fictional and animated movies. I think Hollywood film industry will come out with those kind of film more often in future. Hollywood is the largest film industry in the world. Hollywood will remain in the top always influencing other film industries all around the world.
Foreign films are not making a big break into the American film market right now, but we should not forget that Hollywood has close competitors. India is the largest producer of films in the world. After “Slum Dog Millionaire” won the Oscar, the interest of foreign audiences has increased towards Bollywood movies. Hong kong is the film making hub for Chinese speaking world. As the population of Chinese speaking population dominates other population, Hollywood film industry should take Hong Kong fim industry as one of its major threat.
This course has surely changed the way i watch movies. I used to watch movies plainly before. Now the things like camera distances, Camera angels, lighting, genres etc. plays in my mind while i am watching any movie.
The most interesting thing this semester was a movie making project. I really enjoyed it and learned great deal of things while doing that project. The bad thing about the course was, the book was too big and the course was too short. I had to work so hard not to miss assignments. The book was great, but due to limited time I did not reached its depth.
No comments:
Post a Comment