Comparing the Opening Sequence of Clueless and Pleasantville Opening sequences are very important, as the filmmaker needs to attract the attention of the audience in the first few minutes. This is done in many ways – using plot development, characters, tension building and suspense. Camera angles, sound, lighting and dialogue all help to create the atmosphere that the filmmaker wants. Both ‘Clueless’ and ‘Pleasantville’ have a teenage aspect to them. ‘Clueless’ just seems like a typical American youth film – it has themes of fashion and image, growing up and maturing, and the stock, stereotypical characters you would expect to find in American high schools. ‘Pleasantville’ also appears to be an American youth film, but it also has an aspect of fantasy, because being transported in to the Pleasantville television world is abnormal and unnatural, and can only be classed as fantasy. However, it would still appeal to people who like ‘teen movies’, because it shows how the characters of David and Jennifer change over the course of the film. Both films have three essential sections to them to class them as youth films – the introduction, followed by conflict and finally the resolution of the conflict. Obviously people who like watching these types of films would be interested in watching them before seeing the opening sequences. I think that ‘Clueless’ would attract a wider audience because of the more obvious teen theme. ‘Pleasantville’ may not attract such a wide audience, even though it can appeal to audiences who like two genres – teen youth and fantasy because the title does not instantly appeal to people who like teenage fi... ... middle of paper ... ...at with ‘Pleasantville’ because it has an obvious, serious message. ‘Clueless’ was definitely more light-hearted and kept the lively pace going more, so I preferred it because of this. You feel more involved in ‘Clueless’ too, because she talks in the voiceover to the audience and it is personal, but in ‘Pleasantville’ the audience feels much more like a spectator. I still did enjoy ‘Pleasantville’ though – it was still funny and was also unpredictable, but was not as successful at attracting my attention as ‘Clueless’ even though I do like fantasy films. Mrs. Jordan’s comments: a very well written piece, which despite its length, is a pleasure to read because of its fluent style. Demonstrates highly skilful analysis and interpretation of the way filmmakers work. Makes apt and sometimes original comparisons.
In 1967, Tom Stoppard wrote his famous play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead after getting the idea while watching a production of Hamlet. Four years later, Douglas Adams got the idea for his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy while lying drunk in a field in Innsbruck, Austria. In 1978, he would use this idea to produce a BBC radio show, which would be published as a novel in 1979. How can these two works be compared in their use of satire and cynicism?
High School Musical and Hairspray are both extremely good movies. From each movie we receive differences and similarities. Although some may disagree with me, the humor, historical background, the time period, and the plot all show a tendency towards Hairspray. To better understand my reasonings I suggest watching the movies for yourself and seeing what they have to offer. After evaluating each movie a little more in depth Hairspray urges to be the better of the two because of it’s ties to history and the overall
There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better or worse as his portions”. (Emerson 364). Emerson quote “self reliance” means it up to you to succeed in life because you are the only one in control of the decisions you make. He also means being someone else because of society measures and expectations blindes the fact that you are not recognizing the ability, talent god has given you. Why would we chose to follow transcendentalism idea to overcome a disturbance in this world we call life ? The novel Into the Wild and the film Dead Poet Society both displays a character experiencing reality, pain, and inspiration.
With our cast of characters between the two films we have a stoner (Spicoli), Jocks (Charles Jefferson, Oz and Stifler), Shy (Rat, Finch and Jim) and sexually experienced (Linda, Stacy, Stifler, Nadia, Vicky, Kevin and Jessica). By looking at the characters in both films we see the overlap of the types of students that are typical in high school. It does not matter if it is a high school in California or
Pleasantville and American Beauty Everyone wants to be happy. But ask Americans what they would need, realistically, to make them content and I'll bet a majority would say a house with a white picket fence, and dog and a couple of clean-cut kids. This Father-Knows-Best, Brady-Bunch, Ozzie-and-Harriet utopia is exactly what writer Gary Ross unfolds in "Pleasantville": just an agreeable little town that nobody leaves, one which is blissfully ignorant of what may lie outside or cares to find out. Who could blame the people? There are no graffiti, no drugs, and no crime. Everyone looks about the same and has similar cultural and political values. Life is safe, secure, and predictable with dinner on the table for all the husbands, wives perfectly content to avoid the hassles of work and to stay at home, kids cheering on a basketball team that never loses a game and never even fails to sink a shot. You might not expect such a movie to be much more than a reflection of the predictability and concomitant drabness of small-town America, but "Pleasantville" is in fact a wonderfully entertaining work full of easy-to-swallow social commentary. It is a testament to the power of the movies to maneuver the audience that this one proves today's complex world--filled with AIDS, crime, drug- addiction, global warming, terrorism, broken homes, and most of all uncertainty--is to be preferred. The movie American Beauty was modeled after so many other former movies that it just seems plain. I can't see how this movie was like any other movie at all. I mean I'm sure there is a slight resemblance if you look at the comparison of this movie and Pleasantville, but no normal person would have ever looked at it that way. I personally have never seen a situ...
The two books, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Help by Kathryn Stockett both address time periods of extreme racial segregation in the South. To Kill a Mockingbird, which is set during the 1930’s in Mississippi, and The Help, which is also set in Mississippi but during the 1960’s both feature the idea that racial segregation and the unequal treatment of African Americans in the South were completely unjustified, and in both books we see similarities between African American maids working in the homes of wealthy white people.
Even after slavery had been abolished in 1865, segregation and prejudice continued until 1964 in The United States. The book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is set in small town Alabama in the 1930’s. At this time there was more prejudice than just social class, blacks were still being treated as less than humans. The movie The Help, based in 1960 jacksonville, Shows the lives of african american women working as maids. Comparing These productions show that even after 30 years racism and prejudice remain in the US. Unlike To Kill A Mockingbird however the characters in The Help publicly display their dislike towards the division of blacks and whites.
For the two movies that I decided to compare and contrast Heathers (1988) and Jawbreaker (1999). Both films are in the genre of dark comedy and the sub-genre of popular teenage girls being killed by their popular girlfriends. The typical characteristics of a genre of a dark comedy would be a tragic event occurring more than likely towards the beginning of the film, an attempt to cover up the tragic event, and then the resulting effect it has on the characters involved. Most of the time, the comedy comes from the character’s often horrible attempt to cover up what has taken place. Although this is the case, the comedy can come from other places such as in Heathers when J.D. gives Veronica the finger and she shoots it off.
Undoubtedly, most people despise and look down upon the lower class, and definitely don’t want to be part of it, for they are ignored and not allowed to be a part of things. In And Then There Were None, Mr. Rogers is the butler. He doesn’t have much say in anything important, and knows his place. This is very similar to Mr. Barrymore in The Hound of the Baskervilles. They both are butlers, and are quite intelligent, but they often do not have the chance to share their knowledge for fear of being looked down upon by the upper classes. They always do their job, no matter what has happened, and they always do whatever they need to do, whether its for themselves or others. Additionally, both men are married, and if they go down, no matter who’s
Harmony Korine is a true artist. He is the same man who wrote the nihilistic cult film “Kids” (1995) Dir. Larry Clark. He has been described as a skate punk turned screenwriter. “Spring Breakers” is an avant-garde masterpiece yet it also did really well commercially, even though the general population missed its point and remained offended. The movie’s release was accompanied by such tweets as “absolutely disgusting soft-core porn” and “worst movie ever made”. It’s hard to believe that these people watched the same film that I did. “Kids”, though an undeniable classic offended the critics of it’s generation and then later gained cult status. Spring Breakers will most likely be praised in generations to come when the connection to “Kids” and the other Brechtian art films of Harmony Korine’s are exposed and the true horror of the
Adventure is, by definition, an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity. The novels, The perks of Being a Wallflower and Into the Iild involve stories that describe great adventures. Adventure is used throughout these books because the characters experience very exciting activites. Although these experiences had different outcomes whether it be struggling or having fun. Charlie, from the book Perks of Being a Wallflower and Chris, from the book Into the Wild are both young men who are curious about the outside world and love adventuring. These characters face many conflicts throughout the book but they both are determined young adults and push through the tough times. Throughout the book Charlie and Christopher become
When deciding what movie to do for this particular paper I faced a few issues. I knew what the requirements were, but I wanted something different and something I could have fun watching and writing as well. So, after looking around and pondering movies for weeks I finally decided on a perfect choice The 60’s directed by Mark Piznarski?
The most oblivious, is the introduction of a yet to be revealed Michael Myers stalking through the house, all the while the camera, or I should say you the audience, see through masked eyes. As you glide through the house and up the stairs, the tension builds and finally we see our first victim, a young girl brushing her hair. The girl screams Michael and before you know it, she is being stabbed. The girl falls bloody and we quickly move down the stairs and out the door, only to have the mask ripped from our face. The camera cuts to the blank and emotionless face of a six year old boy, dressed in a clown outfit, as the parents stand shocked, so do we, the
The president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributers Will H. Hays asserted on how their job in the movies industry is as important as that of the clergy man or the teacher in making an impact on the child’s mind, which he described as a “clean virgin thing”, an “unmarked slate” and a “sacred thing” (Forman, 121). What the statistics of the research had shown is that 77 million people assist weekly to movies, and 1/3 of these audiences are constituted of adolescents, amongst whom 11 million are under 14 years old, who are in permanent contact with screen (Forman, 10). Among the 37% who are minor audiences, 70% and more memorize what they encounter on the screen, who will be able to remember what they see with more emphasis throughout
Barsam, R. M., Monahan, D., & Gocsik, K. M. (2012). Looking at movies: an introduction to film (4th ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co..