Paper B
Dynamic characters are built by dynamic movement in film. Whether the character is sitting down giving a lecture, or is a ballerina dancing on stage, character are born through movement. Movement in emotion, or physical, a characters action and re-actions are what draw audiences into their story. The characters in the movie Take the Lead gain power through their character transformations through dance, their movement on the dance floor directly impacts the way they carry themselves through life. In this paper I will explore three scenes, each scene will show different levels of progression in each character’s life, and I will show how the characters gain more power in their own lives the more successful they become with the movement of dance.
Take the Lead follows the story of a Ballroom dance teacher, Pierre Dulaine, and the kids he begins to teach at a inner city high school. The film opens with a character named Rock being denied access to a school dance, Rock then leaves the school and is encouraged by thugs to vandalize the principal’s car. While Rock is vandalizing the car, Pierre witness the crime, but before Pierre has a chance to question Rock, Rock runs away. The next day Pierre decides to go to the school’s Principal and let her know that he witnessed the crime, while at the school Pierre offers to teach the high school detention class how to ballroom dance, the principal agrees but does not think Pierre will last very long. This first part of the movie already shows how the students are not being giving the best school treatment, and that they are only acting out because of the environment that they are living in. After agreeing to teach the detention class, Pierre returns to the school at 3:00 pm to begin hi...
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...nte and Danjou who through dance are competing for Sasha. In this scene, for the first time, the camera angles fluxuate between low and high angles on the detention students showing that they have mastered the art form and or now respected for their skill. With these camera angles we are no longer looking down on them but up to them as they dance on a stage for an audience. In contrast we mostly on see Morgan dancing in the background and rarely is their a close up or her dance, again showing that the detention students have earned the respect of the audience.
Take the Lead is a great movie, and although it does stereotype the idea that lower class children are not interested in ballroom dance, it does a great job of showing the power or dance, and how dance is more than something people do for fun, but that people and cultures can be brought closer through dance.
My initial idea for this paper was to focus on the technical aspects of the film—the hybrid of animation and live action. I first saw this technique used in The Three Caballeros (Ferguson & Young, 1944) and was going to research this film, but the amount of literature on t...
For this project, two films were viewed. The first one is Annie, a film made in the early 80s about a girl in an orphanage. She is then brought to live in a mansion for a week with one of the richest men in this world. He doesn’t like her at first, but he learns to love the little girl, and adopt her. The second film, Cinderella man, is about a boxer who loses his job after he breaks his hand during a match. He is then left to fend for his family. He begins to slowly rise up as a boxer and fight again, much to his wife’s distaste. For this project, I will discuss the similarities and differences between the films, and the time period, setting, and characters. Annie is the first film.
The dancers did not seem defeated, but slightly emotionally disconnected. I felt like this signified the exhaustion that comes while waiting for the rain. There were several positions that were held in the first part of the dance. I also noticed that flicking motions were a motif in the dance, whether that be from their wrists or their ankles. Morgan Moore first showed this motif as she held her leg up in a tilted position and stared down at the sheet below her. She began to flick her wrists which not only reminded me of one who is flicking the rain off their fingertips, but it looked like a begging
The movie “Walkout” is about the school system in East Los Angeles in the late 1960’s. During this time Mexican Americans were treated unfairly and were seen as second class citizens. The story goes through the different aspects that Mexican American/ Chicano students had to put up with within their own schools. They wanted and deserved equal education, but were constantly shut down by the city. This movie contains the four characteristics of Mexican American Art, which is what gives this movies such a strong and meaningful message.
In society today, we are conditioned to believe certain sets of ideals. We use these ideals to interact and get along with the other people we surround ourselves with. These ideals are often the societal norms that form common ground amongst individuals. However, living life based off these basic and unchanging beliefs is not beneficial to humanity, nor does it make life any easier to live. In fact, holding on to the most accepted beliefs holds back society as a whole. Judith Halberstam, in her essay “Animating Revolt and Revolting Animation” challenges these societal norms through the analysis of animated movies and, in doing so, carves a path for a new way of thinking.
...ating with each other and these are the same values that are being passed on to this generation. The dancers in South-central Los Angeles, uses this form of art to express their feelings and it a form of communicating just like their ancestors did back in there days. At the same time, it allows them to have a much deeper connection with their roots.
Analysis of German Film "Run Lola Run" Run Lola Run, is a German film about a twenty-something woman (Lola) who has 20 minutes to find $100,000 or her love (Manni) will be killed. The search for the money is played through once with a fatal ending and one would think the movie was over, but then it is shown again as if it had happened ten seconds later and changed everything. It is then played out one last time. After the first and second sequences, there is a red hued, narrative bridge.
Through dance and movement, the storyline were expanded with the assistance of choreographer, Garth Fagan. A well-renowned choreographer for his innovative choreography primarily for Garth Fagan dance, Fagan used his unique style of choreography to the Lion King by combining a variety of Ballet, Jazz, Modern Dance, African Dance and Balinese Dance to suggest representations of nature without making a replica itself and use dance to help tell the story (Exploring the Lion King, 2010). Taymor’s idea of expanding the film by adding in choreographic elements not only will set the overall concept, it would additionally guide the visual aesthetic by allowing dance as the main element that balances musical numbers in all categories: effects, music and so on into the choreography (Bluemental et al 210:1999). Both Fagan and Taymor gave major contributions to the different styles of dance and performance techniques from around the world creating the precision and versatility that is being portrayed in the musical. In order to create the ideal staging of the hunting lionesses, flying dancers in the aerial ballet to the takeover of the hyenas at Pridelands, the collaboration between Fagan and Taymor gave suggestions of how these movements being performed with grace and poise using different dance styles and are cultural based be the forefront of the production(Taymor 148:1997). By looking at three notable dances in the musical, this chapter will analyse the presence of dance and movement being portrayed in the musical and how are these dances create the drama, still giving the idea of moving in an African Savannah. Furthermore, this will give an insight to all challenges and pitfalls both Fagan and Taymor endured during the development of the...
The theatre is full of young men and women. The gas lanterns dimly light the room and the silhouette of a figure can be seen in the shadows of the stage. As she emerges, she is like a dream: a tall, elegant body with a form fitting bodice and tutu. She is entrancing on her tiny pointe shoes as she floats across the stage. Love and passion fill the air as she moves in such a way that is almost magical. The Romantic Ballet Period introduced the aspects of theme, costume, and new technique to the dance world and its influences are still seen in contemporary works in ballet.
Throughout the years, America has pursued the performing arts in a large variety of ways. Theatre plays a dramatic and major role in the arts of our society today, and it takes great effort in all aspects. Musical Theatre, specifically, involves a concentration and strength in dance, acting, and singing. This is the base that Musical Theatre is built upon. For my Senior Project, I helped choreograph multiple scenes in a community musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie”. Choreography is a way of expressing oneself, but it has not always been thought of for that purpose. Agnes de Mille’s expressive talent has drastically affected how people see choreography today. Agnes de Mille’s influence in the world of dance has left a lasting impact in the Performing Arts Department, and her revolutionary works are still known today for their wit, lyricism, emotion, and charm.
A set of practices concerning the narrative structure compose the classical Hollywood Paradigm. These conventions create a plot centering around a character who undergoes a journey in an attempt to achieve some type of goal (). By giving the central character more time on screen, the film helps the audience to not only understand the character’s motivation but also empathize with his/her emotional state. Additionally, some antagonistic force creates conflict with the main character, preventing immediate success(). Finally, after confronting the antagonist, the main character achieves his or her goal along with growing emotionally(). This proven structure creates a linear and relatively easily followed series of events encompassing the leading character and a goal.
The purpose with this paper is to study and compare two different directors, and to compare and contrast the two different works. How are they working with their movies and how do they use mise-en-scene? By studying two different directors that uses different techniques when making movies, we are going to find out how important mise en scene really is, and how it affects the movie.
The literary devices that directors use in movies give the viewer a better understanding of the themes and a full cinematic experience that the viewer can be more engaged in. One literary device that plays an important role in relation to the theme is transitions. Each transition that was used throughout the movie had a purpose and was relevant to the main theme of fat...
Movies take us inside the skin of people quite different from ourselves and to places different from our routine surroundings. As humans, we always seek enlargement of our being and wanted to be more than ourselves. Each one of us, by nature, sees the world with a perspective and selectivity different from others. But, we want to see the world through other’s eyes; imagine with other’s imaginations; feel with other’s hearts, at a same time as with our own. Movies offer us a window onto the wider world, broadening our perspective and opening our eyes to new wonders.
Analyzing film has been around since the making of movies in the early 1900s. Here in the United States film really blossomed in the 1920’s. Production of films started on the West Coast in Hollywood. The earliest films were organized into genres or types, with storylines, settings, costumes, and characters (Dirks, 2010). Films are made to entertain, and when viewers watch the film they find themselves drawn into the characters personality and the plot. Because of film’s popularity many people use films as an agent of communication, education, and learnin...