Moonlight is a cinematic masterpiece and an Oscar award winning film, directed by Barry Jenkins in 2016. In this film the viewer follows the protagonist named Chiron during three key parts in his life as he struggles to fit in and find love as a normal black male. Jenkins used many different film making techniques to convey meaning as well as emotion in this film. From the way that the camera moves differently depending on that is happening in the scene to the sounds of nature in some very important parts in the movie. Everything in this movie plays a part in telling the whole story. The glue that holds all of this together is the music choices. The music coveys meaning, emotion, and perception to the viewers and is the key factor in understanding the whole story in Moonlight. …show more content…
The first being titled “Little,” after Chiron’s childhood nickname. At this time, Chiron is a child roughly eight to ten years old and is struggling to figure himself out. The second part is titled “Chiron,” and takes place in his teenage years. In this time in the film Chiron is a teenager and has a better understanding of who he is but does not fit in amongst his peers. The third and final chapter of the film is titled “Black.” In this time in the movie Chiron is a hardened drug dealer and is not only accepted because of his hardened persona but he is feared by his peers. The music in this movie helps the viewer improve their understanding of Chiron and the situations he faces. One of the techniques Jenkins uses with regard to his music choices in the film is called chopped and screwed music. This form of music is developed by slowing down the song and highlighting certain parts by repeating them a couple times. It helps the listener concentrate on the meaning behind the words and not the song, as a whole. This kind of music is very popular in the south, especially among the African American
In the book Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago, LeAlan Johns and Lloyd Newman, as two kids grow up in ghetto, document their life from 1993 to 1996 to show the rest of the America the reality of living in a poor black neighborhood. Through vast interviews, diaries and monologues, Johns and Newman provide a new perspective on the ongoing issues in the ignorant black community; they encourage the black residents to express their point of views on gang, drug, crime, and they also address their hope. Since this book is story with long time span and fragmental writing styles, it is impossible to finish the soundtrack for chapters in detail within eight songs. Therefore, if I am going to be the music composer of the movie based on this book, I would choose eight songs for the following eight themes.
The auteur theory is a view on filmmaking that consists of three equally important premises: technical competence, interior meaning, and personal signature of the director. Auteur is a French word for author. The auteur theory was developed by Andrew Sarris, a well-known American film critic. Technical competence of the Auteur deals with how the director films the movie in their own style. Personal signature includes recurring themes that are present within the director’s line of work with characteristics of style, which serve as a signature. The third and ultimate premise of the Auteur theory is the interior meaning which is basically the main theme behind the film.
After reading the directions and topic for this paper, I was extremely eager to get started. Adolescence is a stage of life that is very critical for a person. Speaking from my own experience, I know that the teenage years are a difficult part of life and during these years, one experiences a rollercoaster of different emotions, obstacles, and decision-making. Aside from the topic of Adolescence, I was glad that I could choose which movie I wanted to watch, and that was an easy decision. I decided to watch Sixteen Candles. The last time I watched this movie was when I received the DVD as a gift, which was when I turned sixteen. Watching the movie then, I obviously did not realize that most of the problems and events that occurred in the movie
Twilight of a Woman’s Soul is a film directed by Evgini Bauer in 1913 and is about a rich young and beautiful woman named Vera and her dark secret. In the scene that this paper analyzes the main character Vera is explaining to her husband-to-be, Prince Sergei, how she killed a man that raped her a few years in the past. In the middle of the scene, there is a flashback to when Vera is raped by Maximus, a poor person someone she is trying to help. Both the argument and the flashback are shot with one camera angle in one room but they remain some of the most powerful parts in the entire movie. The director uses of various forms of montage, camera angles, and mise-en-scène to add to the level of of complexity of this seemingly basic scene. The overall message of this scene is no matter how much you think
Selma is a very iconic historical movie which is based on the 1965 demonstration for voting rights through a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama led by the distinguished civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. The film was directed by Ava DuVernay, written by Paul Webb and stirred by David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Carmen Ejogo and Andre Holland. The author of the movie wanted to show the real history of the struggle for the equal voting rights of the black people in the US. The film movie was produced on 25th December 2014 and has a running time of 128 minutes. While addressing a congregation of more than 700 people, Ava DuVernay, the director of the film outlined that they intended to emphasize on the achievements of the women and
“Do you have the slightest idea what a moral or ethical principle is?” Deontology, or the adherence of one’s actions to a certain moral or ethical principle of operation, stands as an intruiging philosophy by itself. The opening sentence of this essay clearly possesses relevance to deontology. However, the quote does not originate from any philosopher, but instead from Jack Torrance of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. The film, from a superficial point of view, stands as an atmospheric horror film. However, instead of providing audiences with just a technically proficient film, Kubrick weaves the grounds for a foreboding subtext throughout his film. This essay examines The Shining by examining Robert Tonkin’s distinction between religion and
Incredible script, the beautiful score and the location where the film was shot, all aspects supported and lifted the movie. You feel connected to Chiron even if you had a happy childhood and you’re fine with your sexuality. The combination of artistry and emotional directness in this film is overwhelming. Moonlight is moving and mysterious and it keeps the audience on its toes and finds a way to convert into happiness. Moonlight is a film about masculinity, the wounds and crises of which are the same for all sexualities, but conditioned by the background weather of race and
He begins to explore his sexual identity with his childhood friend Kevin. During part II there is a scene where Kevin and Chiron smoke on the beach and exchange sexual acts. Moments later in the movie Chiron tries to sit with Kevin at lunch but his bully, Terrell, takes his seat. Chiron walks away and Terrell and Kevin discuss a game they used to play called “Knocked Down, Stay Down,” the two share memories of the game and express how impressive Kevin was at it. The next day Terrel orders Kevin to play the game and the victim is Chiron. While I watched Chiron get literally beat into the ground I tried to imagine how Chiron must have felt after he placed trust into Kevin's hands not even two minutes ago on the screen and Kevin betrayed
Analysis of the Trailer of The Shawshank Redemption The Shawshank Redemption is a powerful, moving, meaningful movie which is all about hope and full of emotion. It’s based on a novel written by Stephen King. Andy (Tom Robbins) is a banker who is sent to jail but him being guilty is very questionable; his crime being the murder of his wife and her lover. However, Andy makes the best of the situation and awes his fellow criminals by his peculiar and withdrawn character and soon befriends Red the prison fixer.
Barry Jenkin’s Moonlight is a coming-to-age film that depicts on a young man’s battle with his sexuality ad masculinity. The film takes a journey through various chapters of his life, ranging from his child hood to who he becomes as an adult. Moonlight is a very lucrative film in terms of symbolism and foreshadowing. The film is dripping in ironies and obvious tones related to symbols. There is depth in each character, and within each of their grasp is their identity and how their relationship with the main character shaped him in ways positive and negative.
Music can decipher a narrative event by indicating a perspective. To unify a set of diverse images and provide rhythmic and formal continuity and momentum, a film’s structure is more often than not, directly articulated by a musical structure. Music can assist the dialogue and visuals of film and often is inaudible (e.g. music is meant to be heard unconsciously, not consciously). Music has been used by directors to reinforce or strengthen certain weak scenes in film and then on the other hand when music is not needed to reinforce a scene
In the movie ‘The Soloist,’ Nathaniel experienced mostly positive symptoms. Ronald Comer, ‘Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology, defines positive symptoms as “pathological excesses,” or bizarre additions, to a person’s behavior, thoughts, and emotions, and negative symptoms as a deficit of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Nathaniel Ayers displayed signs of an abundance of excessive thoughts, emotions, and behavior. One example was when he initially met Steve Lopez; Nathaniel was extremely verbose and illustrated symptoms of disorganized and rapid speech patterns. He later expressed deep emotions towards Steve, by revealing to him that he loved him. Nathaniel held the delusion that Steve Lopez was god and this belief dominated his life. There was a scene in the movie where Steve Lopez had received a donated cello for Nathaniel; he told Nathaniel that he would only be allowed to play it if he went to the LAMP community center. Against his own desire, Nathaniel complied and went to the community center in hopes of playing it again. Auditory hallucinations are said to be common in people with
His music flows from one scene to the next was incredible. When huge scenes start, the music erupts to add texture to the story as a whole. During the suspenseful buildups the music was relaxed, and once when the then boom right into action. Ultimately, the music adds much needed anticipation for the next scene whether if it is an escalated fight or important dialogue between characters. Without the music the movie would be just a movie missing a key component and a viewer could not feel the suspense buildups or other impacts in the
Growing up in a poor and predominantly black neighborhood, he had mostly to deal with the effects of racism rather than its perpetrators. For Chiron, there was scarce a place or time to escape the systems and expectations thrust upon black men in the United States. At home was his mother, a functioning crack addict who really did love him, wanted to love him the way a mother should, but her functioning seldom went beyond economic necessities. Even when she would say loving things to her son they were tainted by the yelling she had just done, or her desperation for validation from her only child (until later in the film when she had overcome her addiction and they met peace). There was no learning and growing at home for Chiron, only alienation and the occasional soul cleansing bath. Even when one day he’s taken in by a concerned, caring man in the neighborhood, he soon learns his new mentor perpetuates his mother’s addiction by selling her drugs. However, vital to Chiron’s development, this man takes him to the beach and teaches him how to swim. Throughout the movie the sound of swishing waves is employed to moments when Chiron feels most
Personality is a branch of scientific discipline that studies temperament and its variation among people. It is a dynamic and a set of characteristics possessed by their atmosphere, cognitions, emotions, motivations and behaviours in various things. Personality conjointly refers to the pattern of thoughts, feelings, social adjustments and behaviour consistently exhibited over time that powerfully influences one’s exceptions, self-perceptions, values and attitudes. It also predicts human reactions to different folks, problems and stress.