This paper will compare directors Robert Wise and Oliver Stone, their styles, techniques, and overall message. Although both directors made films in different era’s, they both prompted the world to make a social and/or political change on some current issues of their time. Robert Wise’s production of West Side Story prompts audiences to leave racial prejudices behind, and Oliver Stone’s drama thriller Snowden prompts his audience to question their government, and decide if security is more important than freedom. Both directors use the technologies of their time to produce a compelling film that audiences would not only find entertaining but would prompt thought and self-reflection.
The American people are often encouraged to make a change
…show more content…
The first amendment in the American constitution includes the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom to peacefully protest. ‘We The People’ have rights, anyone who is or has become a citizen of America, are encouraged to seek social change, take the first step to ending corruption. Although they have the rights that enable them to do so, they are often met with hostility when it is against one’s set of values, while others may welcome the change. This applies to film director and producers Robert Wise and Oliver Stone. Both directors have been critically acclaimed for their works. Wise's films often included lessons on racial tolerance, and Stone often criticized his country and its policies.
Robert Wise is a film director, born in 1914, he began his lifelong career in filmmaking in 1933 when he moved to Hollywood. He started out working odd jobs until he got a job as an editor
Films are necessary in our time period because the human eye can articulate the message intended through sight allowing visual imagination to occur. In the book, world 2 by Max Brooks, he creates a character by the name Roy Elliot who was a former movie director. Roy Elliot manages to make a movie titled “Victory at Avalon: The Battle of the Five Colleges” and some how it goes viral. Similarly, Frank Capra’s film, “Why we Fight” expresses a sense of understanding the meaning of wars. Films do not inevitably portray truth because they display what the film director views as important and beneficial for people to know.
This point is illustrated by the heated controversy surrounding the director’s Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented to him at the 1999 Academy Awards. Kazan’s importance to the world of cinema is undisputed, but Hollywood remains divided by a single political affair that took place over half a century ago. The Academy Award was therefore protested by some and supported by others. But should Elia Kazan still be regarded with such contempt by his peers and contemporary members of the Hollywood community? Should his legacy be based on this one transgression, rather than his long history of cinematic achievement? And has Kazan already put the entire subject to rest in On the Waterfront, perhaps the best work of his entire career? I hope to answer these questions in an essay that will discuss the t...
It is no easy task to create a work - through writing or film - that has an impact on society. In writing, one must discuss and analyze a relevant topic that will have an impact on the readers. One must also present stunning sensory images through words in order to create a complete understanding for the reader. In filmmaking it is not much different, but there must be striking visual imagery in combination with a fitting musical score in order to give the viewer of the film the full experience. There must also be historical accuracy, both in writing and film. In either case, it can take years to create such a captivating piece of work. David Guterson's novel Snow Falling on Cedars and its cinematic counterpart of the same name combine all of the aspects of good writing and filmmaking to create an emotionally provocative and historically accurate masterpiece.
Nichols, John. ""Counbtering Censorship: Edgar Dale and the Film appreciation movement (critical essay)."." Cinema Jouranl. Fall 2006.
It is a concurrent agreement in the film industry that Alfred Hitchcock is nothing less than a legend when it comes to the suspense and thriller genres of film. That being said, many filmmakers unsurprisingly aspire to adopt his style in more recent films. Movie critique Andrew O’Hehir suspects that this is the case with Mark Pellington’s production, Arlington Road, which follows the story of a man taken with the idea that his neighbors are terrorists. Although Pellington’s production possesses distinctively Hitchcock-styled qualities in its editing, storyline, and themes, O’Hehir argues that it is “…ultimately just another maddeningly ill-conceived tribute placed at [Hitchcock’s] feet.” However, it cannot be determined if Pellington meant for Arlington Road to be a tribute at all. The film may have a multitude of resemblances to Hitchcock film, but its finale fundamentally distinguishes itself unique to O’Hehir’s assumption.
Among many theorists such as Brain L. Ott, the V for Vendetta movie is seen as an “allegory for life in George W. Bush’s America” (Ott 2). Because of this, Alan Moore “had his name removed from the credits” (Xenakis 135). But just because
The postmodern cinema emerged in the 80s and 90s as a powerfully creative force in Hollywood film-making, helping to form the historic convergence of technology, media culture and consumerism. Departing from the modernist cultural tradition grounded in the faith in historical progress, the norms of industrial society and the Enlightenment, the postmodern film is defined by its disjointed narratives, images of chaos, random violence, a dark view of the human state, death of the hero and the emphasis on technique over content. The postmodernist film accomplishes that by acquiring forms and styles from the traditional methods and mixing them together or decorating them. Thus, the postmodern film challenges the “modern” and the modernist cinema along with its inclinations. It also attempts to transform the mainstream conventions of characterization, narrative and suppresses the audience suspension of disbelief. The postmodern cinema often rejects modernist conventions by manipulating and maneuvering with conventions such as space, time and story-telling. Furthermore, it rejects the traditional “grand-narratives” and totalizing forms such as war, history, love and utopian visions of reality. Instead, it is heavily aimed to create constructed fictions and subjective idealisms.
One could easily dismiss movies as superficial, unnecessarily violent spectacles, although such a viewpoint is distressingly pessimistic and myopic. In a given year, several films are released which have long-lasting effects on large numbers of individuals. These pictures speak
Meneghetti, Michael. “Review: Ellis Cashmore (2009) Martin Scorsese’s America.” Film Philosophy 14.2 (2010). 161-168. Web. 6 Apr. 2014
d violence (Biography 1). While black oriented films have veered away from racism and focused more on humor and sex to attract the new younger audience, Lee has continued to focus on racial issues, keeping the door open for other directors to follow. One of the most original, innovative, and without a doubt controversial filmmakers in America, Lee admits he has been blessed with the opportunity to express the views of black people who otherwise don’t have access to power and media (IMDb 4). Lee uses this motivation coming from his passion of being able to express the views of many, along with Malcolm X himself and his philosophy that blacks need to build their own economic base, to continue contributing to Hollywood (Gale 4). There is no doubt that Spike Lee will continue to find ways to impact audiences with his controversial actions, statements and racial films.
Think about your favorite movie. When watching that movie, was there anything about the style of the movie that makes it your favorite? Have you ever thought about why that movie is just so darn good? The answer is because of the the Auteur. An Auteur is the artists behind the movie. They have and individual style and control over all elements of production, which make their movies exclusively unique. If you could put a finger on who the director of a movie is without even seeing the whole film, then the person that made the movie is most likely an auteur director. They have a unique stamp on each of their movies. This essay will be covering Martin Scorsese, you will soon find out that he is one of the best auteur directors in the film industry. This paper will include, but is not limited to two of his movies, Good Fellas, and The Wolf of Wall Street. We will also cover the details on what makes Martin Scorsese's movies unique, such as the common themes, recurring motifs, and filming practices found in their work. Then on
It is no doubt that Martin Scorsese has heavily influenced the emulating of American film making from European influences. He is a prime example of a ‘New Hollywood Cinema’ director, not only from his ethnicity and background, but from his sheer interest in this form
Ray, Pratt. Projecting Paranoia – Conspiratorial Visions in American Films. 2592 Westbrooke Circle, Lawrence, 2001. Print
Since the creation of films, their main goal was to appeal to mass audiences. However, once, the viewer looks past the appearance of films, the viewer realizes that the all-important purpose of films is to serve as a bridge connecting countries, cultures, and languages. This is because if you compare any two films that are from a foreign country or spoken in another language, there is the possibility of a connection between the two because of the fact that they have a universally understanding or interpretation. This is true for the French New Wave films; Contempt and Breathless directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and contemporary Indian films; Earth and Water directed by Deepa Mehta. All four films portray an individual’s role in society using sound and editing.
“Entertainment has to come hand in hand with a little bit of medicine, some people go to the movies to be reminded that everything’s okay. I don’t make those kinds of movies. That, to me, is a lie. Everything’s not okay.” - David Fincher. David Fincher is the director that I am choosing to homage for a number of reasons. I personally find his movies to be some of the deepest, most well made, and beautiful films in recent memory. However it is Fincher’s take on story telling and filmmaking in general that causes me to admire his films so much. This quote exemplifies that, and is something that I whole-heartedly agree with. I am and have always been extremely opinionated and open about my views on the world and I believe that artists have a responsibility to do what they can with their art to help improve the culture that they are helping to create. In this paper I will try to outline exactly how Fincher creates the masterpieces that he does and what I can take from that and apply to my films.