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
The Language You Cry In” directed by Angel Serrano and Alvaro Toepko, produced a documentary that finds the meaningful links between African Americans and their ancestral past. It goes back to the hundreds of years and thousands of miles from the Gullah people to the present day in Georgia back to 18th century Sierra Leone. The film demonstrates how the African Americans continued to have memory links of their ancestors when they were enslaved and segregated. It begins with a story of memory, and how the family was reunited with one of their own through a song that was able to remember those who sang it in the past.
The film Jindabyne, is a story about death, marriage, and race in an Australian town in New South Wales called Jindabyne. In the film, four men go fishing, and one of them discovers the dead body of a young indigenous girl. Instead of reporting what they found to the police immediately, they decide to stay and continue fishing. They decide that there is nothing they could do for her, so they tie her legs to a tree and continue with their fishing, reporting the death only when they return home. After they are done with their weekend of fishing and report the incident, conflict starts, as the men are criticized for not respecting the dead. Through the story of the town’s reaction to the four fishermen’s response to the dead girl, the movie shows Australia to be fragmented and divided over white-indigenous relations.
Damien Echols is found guilty and sentenced to death for the crime of killing three eight-year old boys; for eighteen years he spends his life on Death Row before he is released. Before being placed on Death Row at Varner Super Max Security Unit in Grady, Arkansas and Tucker Max Security Unit, Echols also spent time in Crittenden County Jail for misdemeanor charges he received as minor. While on Death Row Damien explains that it was the guards that he had to watch out for and not the other prisoners. The visits from spiritual advisors as well as the media caused Echols to receive hatred from the guards. They destroyed everything in is cell, planted a knife in his bunk, sent to solitary confinement for no reason, beat up by a team of five guards,
The films Bas Arto Leary and Caoineadh Airt Ui Laoire were based on the lament written by Eibhlin(Eileen in the movie) Dubh Ni Chonaill about the murder of her husband in the 1700. Caoineadh Airt Ui Laoire shows the viewer how a brave hero like Airt Ui Laoire could lose his life for resisting British imperialism in Ireland. Moreover, in Bas Arto Leary, Ui Laoire (Oleary) was killed for refusing to sell his horse and having an affair with his wife’s friend (Brid). Although there are some similarities in how both films tell the story of the lament, each film has a unique way of interpreting the story.
Hocus Pocus is a 1993 film directed by Kenny Ortega. It is a very enjoyable movie with a good cast. The movie genre is comedy, horror, and fantasy. The film is based on a story about Garris and David Kirchner. And it is starring Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker. The story follows the villainous trio of witches, who are inadvertently resurrected by a teenage male virgin. It takes place in Salem, Massachusetts.
The movie Shock Doctrine revolves around the concept of the same name. The film begins by discussing psychological research on the effects of shock therapy. It is evident that a person under extreme stress and anxiety commonly experienced during a crisis functions and performs inadequately. It is noted that the studies are conducted by a man by the name of Milton Friedman, from the University of Chicago; the studies took place in the past, and some of the subjects are still recovering in the aftermath. From this research, interrogation techniques were learned and the concept of the shock doctrine was formed. Essentially through causing a crisis, the population of a country can be shocked into complying with accepting laws that favors the United States and capitalism. This theory coexists with Friedman’s belief in that government regulation is bad, and through a crisis a country would better itself with deregulation. The video uses Chile as an example and shows how America allowed a crisis to occur in Chile, through coups, interrogations and subterfuge. In the end a new government is formed that allows capitalism. Unfortunately afterwards violence and riots occur, as the rich gain most of the wealth and poverty rises. In addition to Chile, Argentina, Russia and even Iraq underwent the shock doctrine. Almost in every account, poverty rises and violence ends up erupting. The movie ends by showing how the US was in the process of the shock doctrine, and still is but the population has taken notice. Protests such as Occupy Wall Street are some of the initiatives necessary to bring awareness to the problems of class inequalities in order to prevent capitalism from benefitting the rich and increasing the wealth gap among the classes.
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
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
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.
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.
Released September 29, 1950, Sunset Boulevard is a film noir of a forgotten silent film star, Norma Desmond, that dreams of a comeback and an unsuccessful screenwriter, Joe Gillis, working together. Ultimately an uncomfortable relationship evolves between Norma and Joe that Joe does not want a part of. Sunset Boulevard starts off with an establishing shot from a high angle shot with a narrative leading to a crime scene from a long shot (a dead body is found floating in a pool), this narrative throughout the film establishes a formalist film.
A League of Their Own (Marshall, 1992) explicitly characterizes an American era when a woman’s place was in the home. Even our modern perspective implicitly follows suit. Although women have gained rights and freedoms since the 1930’s, sexism remains prevalent in America. This film offers an illustration when men went to war and big business men utilized women as temporary replacements in factories, sports, and so on. Here, course concepts, such as gender socialization, gender expressions, role stereotypes, emotion expressions, and language, correspond to the film’s characters and themes.
He makes the bold choice to use 3D effects and the use of computer graphic icons increases dramatically. His transitions – characteristics of close-ups in the film is one of the most powerful shots that one can create with 3D. An example of a powerful extreme close-up in the film is when the narrator Nick Carraway observes that Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) could see that Daisy (his wife) was speaking to Gatsby that they once were ‘lovers’. Luhrmann then uses an extreme close-up on Tom to make the realisation seem all the more intense and making it 3D to increase his emotion. “He sees himself as royalty, and you understand that Tom’s perception of his entire life has changed in that moment.” – Nick Carraway. Luhrmann’s use of shots in this film enhances the emotions of the characters and his use of 3D is more modern and exciting which all reflects on his love for postmodernism. Luhrmann has definitely taken it up a whole new
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.
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence is a Steven Spielberg science fiction drama film, which conveys the story of a younger generation robot, David, who yearns for his human mother’s love. David’s character stimulates the mind-body question. What is the connection between our “minds” and our bodies?