Name: Mark A. Bell
Professor Padawer
Course: Film 103 The Great Directors
Date: 5/15/2015
Billy wilder
Introduction: Born Samuel Wilder on June 22 1906 in Austria. Wilder started working as a sports reporter in Austria before moving to Berlin. His love of detail in his writings is shown in his films. In 1929, Wilder was hired as a scriptwriter for the film Menschen Am Sonntag and was still writing in Germany until Hitler’s rise to power. In 1933, Wilder then moved to Paris. While living there he wrote and co-directed Mauvaise Graine. After the sale of another script, Wilder was able to move to Hollywood, and begin working at Paramount pictures. Wilder then began writing with Charles
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This Hollywood classic starred Gloria Swanson as a washed up silent screen actress with a younger paramour played by William Holden. His character could be compared to that Of Barbara Stanwyck in Double indemnity because of the age difference between him and Gloria Swanson. The themes are easily showcased with the older person and younger paramour being dissatisfied with the relationship and finding some relief in the hope of a relationship with a person more their age. The winter, summer affairs in these two movies are handled differently, but each with death as the conclusion and the solution to very complicated relationships. What is also easily seen are the film noir lighting and scene structures, often smoky with just the two main characters in them. This adds to the dynamic of the relationships and the importance of them to the totality of the story. The staircase scene at the end is very dramatic with Gloria Swanson looking straight into the camera where her insanity is clearly evident. The others standing still in the scene adds to the sense that life has passed her by without her knowing but she still lives in a world that allows her to block out what has just happened with the murder of William Holden. The makeup and wardrobe suggests that she has prepared for her final shot, but she is actually pretty much disheveled in her appearance, again adding to the insanity. Hedda Nussbaum is doing the commentary of her descent down the stairs which is well done, making the definite connection of her descent from stardom to
Anyone can teach others from leading by example. Showing others what you can accomplish establishes confidence in others to try out their own dreams, wishes, and goals. A great example of leading by example is Gus, Clark, and Richie in the movie The Benchwarmers. These men meet Nelson, a stereotypical nerd that is bullied by baseball jocks every day just because he wants to play with them. This little boy inspires the men to show others that everyone should have the same opportunity to play baseball, no matter the skill level.
The Bolshevik Revolution was a defining turning point in Russian history. This overall revolution consisted of two individual revolutions in 1917 which resulted in the overthrow of the Tsarist government and the formation of a socialist society led by Vladimir Lenin’s radical Bolsheviks. For a moment with such enormous weight like the Bolshevik Revolution, there will be various interpretations on the true results of that moment and the meaning and value of these results. The film Man with a Movie Camera deals with the results of the Bolshevik Revolution and the early Soviet Society it birthed as it utilizes footage of one day in this early Soviet Union, thus making it worthy of examination. In the film Man With a Movie Camera, Vertov impressively
The film stays in line with classic noir in many ways. The usage of dark sets and high contrast lighting, which creates heavy shadows on the actors faces, makes the movie feel like it all happens at night and in dark alley ways. The story focuses on the inhumane parts of human nature. Each of the main characters experiences some kind of tragedy. For Vargas his tragedy was in dealing with Quinlin who has set out to frame him and his wife. For Quinlin his entire life represented a man consumed with darkness who lives his life with a “Touch of Evil.” Menzies was a hopeful man who looked up to Quinlin but was let down. For the viewer, film noir represents truth, even if it is not a truth that all people would like to hear.
Within the German Democratic Republic, there was a secret police force known as the Stasi, which was responsible for state surveillance, attempting to permeate every facet of life. Agents within and informants tied to the Stasi were both feared and hated, as there was no true semblance of privacy for most citizens. Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, the movie The Lives of Others follows one particular Stasi agent as he carries out his mission to spy on a well-known writer and his lover. As the film progresses, the audience is able to see the moral transformation of Stasi Captain Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler primarily through the director 's use of the script, colors and lighting, and music.
In the documentary “Fed Up,” sugar is responsible for Americas rising obesity rate, which is happening even with the great stress that is set on exercise and portion control for those who are overweight. Fed Up is a film directed by Stephanie Soechtig, with Executive Producers Katie Couric and Laurie David. The filmmaker’s intent is mainly to inform people of the dangers of too much sugar, but it also talks about the fat’s in our diets and the food corporation shadiness. The filmmaker wants to educate the country on the effects of a poor diet and to open eyes to the obesity catastrophe in the United States. The main debate used is that sugar is the direct matter of obesity. Overall, I don’t believe the filmmaker’s debate was successful.
To start, Thornton Niven Wilder was born on April 17th, 1897 in Madison, Wisconsin. He lived in Madison for nine years before moving to China. Thornton traveled all over the world as a child because his father, Amos Wilder, was the U.S. Consul-General. Thornton had a love of writing and teaching at a young age. Amos was the main reason for Thornton's interests, as he was a journalist himself. In 1912 Thornton returned to the U.S. to peruse a collage education. He studied at Yale, and then joined the Coast Artillery Corp. After his tour of duty, he returned to Yale to receive his degree. Thornton went on to New Jersey where he taught at the Lawrenceville School while earning his master at Princeton. He then went on to teach at the University of Chicago for six years and the
Though complex and brilliantly written for its time, the plot of Alfred Hitchcock’s film, Vertigo, is only half of the genius behind it. Alfred Hitchcock’s unique presence as an auteur is truly what sets his films apart. There is symmetry to his shots that give the film an artistic feel, as if each frame were a painting. Many times, within this symmetry, Hitchcock places the characters in the center of the frame; or if not centered, then balanced by whatever else is adding density to the shot. For example, as Madeline sits and looks at the painting in the museum, there is a balance within the frame. To counter-act her position to the right of the painting, Hitchcock puts a chair and another painting on the left side, which is visually pleasing to the eye of the audience. The use of red and green not only adds a visual effect as well, but later serves as a clue that Madeline is not actually dead, when the women who looks like her is wearing a green dress.
The movie exhibited the time in which it was made. The fifties were a time of glamour, prosperity, and entertainment; people coveted the highest standard of living. The movie presented these similarities in the grandeur of the wardrobe and jewelry that the characters wore. Smoking and drinking was a customary practice in the fifties and in the movie. Men were not the only ones drinking, for women indulged in these habits
The film has several scene’s that a modern audience would find very shocking, however for an audience watching the film back in 1957 this sort of language would have been more common place i.e. the sequence between Annie and Sarah Jane when Annie comes to say farewell. The tension in this scene builds from the moment Annie enters the scene, it comes to a climax as they both express their love for each other and then in enters her co-worker. The blocking of the frame puts up a wall between Annie and Sarah Jane yet again as she inches away from her mother to not be recognised as being her
I chose to analyze Despicable Me, an animated film geared towards a younger audience, because I was interested in examining underlying theories and messages that this film would be relaying to its viewers. Often times, when watching animated films, children are not aware of these messages, as they are absorbed by the characters, special effects, and humor. But as we have learned throughout this semester, our brains are subconsciously primed by the various surroundings we are exposed to. Since we also studied the impacts of entertainment, such as television and video games, on children, I wanted to see how a popular children’s film might also affect them.
Enough is a 2002 thriller directed by Michael Apted and written by Nicholas Kazan. This film is very similar to the Stephen King’s 1995 film adaptation of Dolores Claiborne directed by Taylor Hackford. The protagonists in both these films find themselves trapped in abusive relationships and turn to drastic means to protect themselves and their daughters. In the film Enough, Slim runs away with her daughter from her abusive husband to protect her life whereas, Dolores, in Dolores Claiborne is trapped in her little small town with her husband who is abusive to her and is now sexually abusing their daughter. These women find themselves in these abusive relationships and become empowered to take control of their lives. The writers skillfully use literary elements in these films to convey this message.
Dear Zachary is a heart-wrenching documentary made by filmmaker Kurt Kuenne. Originally intended as a tribute for the deceased Andrew Bagby’s unborn son, Zachary, the purpose changes drastically when Shirley Turner, Andrew’s ex-girlfriend and killer (and Zachary’s mother), kills Zachary in a tragic murder-suicide. Believing that Shirley Turner should never have had custody of Zachary and that poorly made bail laws led to Zachary’s death, Kuenne alters his documentary to have a more argumentative message. Kurt Kuenne’s argument in his documentary Dear Zachary is that bail laws for those charged with a serious crime need to be reformed in order to protect people – especially any children – who may fall under the custody of the accused criminal.
The parallel between Alicia’s dependence on Devlin and Alex’s on his mother is prominent in the final scene. The scene takes place on the grand staircase of Alex’s mansion. Influenced by German Expressionism, stairs serve an integral role in this and subsequent films. Alicia, propped up by Devlin, and Alex, shadowed by his over-bearing mother, all descend the grand staircase in the mansion under the eyes of the Nazi party. Outside of the house, Alicia and Devlin make their escape to freedom while Alex reluctantly returns up the stairs to his fate with the Nazis. Ending the film on the stairs attests to Hitchcock’s style.
In the film “Babel” directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Chieko Wataya (Rinko Kikuchi), Susan Jones (Cate Blancett) and Richard Jones (Brad Pitt) are all compromised by circumstance. Chieko is impaired by being born a deaf-mute and her mother’s suicide. Susan is viewed as a stereotypical tourist who excludes herself from her surroundings. When Susan is shot, she is forced out of her secluded world. The gunshot not only effects Susan, but also her husband, Richard – bringing their worlds together. In Fernado Meirelle’s film, “The Constant Gardener”, both Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) and Dr Brand (Petre Postlethwaite) are oblivious to the conditions separate to their spheres. Tessa Quayle’s (Rachel Weisz) death shakes Justin from his complacency; whereas for Dr Brand, it was the death of his patients that opened his eyes.
of Mexico-born, 15-year-old Inocente Izucar, an artist living in San Diego, California that uses with brilliant colors and unique pieces art from her demanding reality rise and pursue their dreams from a career as a painter.