Silver Screen Essays

  • Macbeth vs Scotland, PA

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    make an interesting point about how the difference between tragedy and comedy is often how the material is viewed by the audience”.(Berardinelli) Prior to Morrissette’s Scotland, PA, Roman Polanski brought his adaptation of Macbeth (1971) to the silver screen. This more traditional adaptation follows the plays blueprint. The setting remains unchanged, as well as the plot and dialogue. This movie was made soon after a horrifically traumatic events in Polanski’s life, the heinous murder of his pregnant

  • The Role of Computer Generated Imagery in the Movie (Film) Industry

    831 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although the effects were not good in the early days, the general film going public was astonished by computer generated effects and flocked to the theaters to see these cheesy attempts to use basic technology that did not transfer well to the silver screen. It was not until later films like “Jurassic Park,” “Toy Story,” and “The Lord of the Rings” until CGI became a film making powerhouse and the killer application for high budget movies. The evolution of the 1980’s saw the pioneers of the early

  • The Big Sleep - The Movie and The Book

    1320 Words  | 3 Pages

    just stay as true as possible to every detail mentioned in the book. However, staying as true as possible to plot points, character type, and the like may be the best way to a horrendous adaptation. In moving from the printed page to the silver screen, moviemakers must be aware that they are not simply reproducing a narrative&emdash;they are changing the medium by which the narrative is presented. Oddly enough, cinema lends itself easily to some of the tenets of writing well: namely, the

  • Alfred Hitchcock

    947 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alfred Hitchcock As a cinematographer, I see Alfred Hitchcock as one of the most influential people in the history of the silver screen. My synopsis of his films, however, will be through the eyes of a young man that has witnessed tragedy. I could sit and rant and rave about how Hitchcock was a great director, his films were awesome, etc., but I’ll spare you of that. I would much rather discuss the attack, but since I must write this paper about his cinema work, I’ll try and compare the two movies

  • Coppola's Adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula

    1154 Words  | 3 Pages

    find themselves most afraid of Dracula's shadow-like omnipresent nature. The fascination with Dracula has assimilated into all parts of society. Dracula can now be seen selling breakfast cereals, making appearances on Sesame Street, and on the silver screen. Countless film adaptations of Stoker's original novel have been undertaken by the some of the most skilled directors in Hollywood including, Francis Ford Coppola who completed a film adaptation of Dracula in 1993. In creating his film,

  • Slaughterhouse-Five: The Novel and the Movie

    3398 Words  | 7 Pages

    Slaughterhouse-Five: The Novel and the Movie In 1972 director George Roy Hill released his screen adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five (or The Children's Crusade; A Duty Dance With Death). The film made over 4 million dollars and was touted as an "artistic success" by Vonnegut (Film Comment, 41). In fact, in an interview with Film Comment in 1985, Vonnegut called the film a "flawless translation" of his novel, which can be considered an honest assessment

  • Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye - Pecola's Mother is to Blame

    1488 Words  | 3 Pages

    Eye. These images were reinforced in children's literature, on billboards and even on the giant theater screens. Although the effects of this propaganda rippled throughout the black community, its most devastating consequences were inflicted by Pauline Williams. Perhaps it was because she had always been a dreamer and she had to fantasize in order to escape her daily grind that the silver screen was able to captivate her. Once her education was complete, and she had been indoctrinated by the standards

  • Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

    1244 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mary Shelley's Frankenstein After reading the book Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and then seeing several adaptations done for the silver screen, there are changes that the films make to the book. The most evident change that jumps out at me is the portrayal of Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The common missing element in all of the film versions of the classic novel is the way they treat the character of Victor. The films all tend to downplay what a “monster” Victor is and instead stress how much of

  • Death To Smoochy

    699 Words  | 2 Pages

    rocket than “Death To Smoochy” villain, Rainbow Randolph Smiley (Robin Williams). However that could be just what the doctor ordered. Barney fans steer clear of this dark demented comedy. “Death To Smoochy” is like nothing ever before put on the silver screen. Childhood hero, Rainbow Randolph is busted by the Feds for trying to take bribes from parents whose kids watch his show. KidNet executives, Frank Stokes (Jon Stewart - The Daily Show) and Nora Wells (Catherine Keener) are faced with the task of

  • Race And Revolution: Lumumba, By Franz Fanon

    3724 Words  | 8 Pages

    The director’s attempt at bringing the story of Patrice Lumumba to the “silver screen” had political intentions. It had intentions of breaking post-colonial hegemonic forces that portrayed Lumumba as a nationalist dictator. In regards to race and class in Congo, I will refer to the work of Franz Fanon, in particular his book

  • The Representation of Minorities in American Cinema

    2438 Words  | 5 Pages

    the American film industry felt it necessary to depict all characters but the dominant Anglo in a negative light. "In short", Keller explains, "white Americans believed in the superiority of the white race and depicted this superiority on the silver screen. Every other race was evaluated in relationship to the attainments of the white race and with respect to its approximation to the white race whic... ... middle of paper ... ...//www.grapevinevideo.com/fairbanks.htm The Mark of Zorro. Produced

  • Film and video production

    1607 Words  | 4 Pages

    Film and Video Production: Becoming the Future of the Silver Screen Every so often a movie is released with such tense anticipation and glamorous visual art that the public is drawn to this dramatic rendition of life in the theatre. For even just two hours or so, you are put into a different lifestyle. Action, drama or comedy it may be. We are thrust into a different way of thinking. We are forced to learn the characters thoughts and feelings. The hard work and artistic skill that goes into these

  • Cunningham's The Hours: The Mind of Virginia Wolf

    1950 Words  | 4 Pages

    gave birth to a piece of art that contained some of her deepest emotions and desires. Her novel has such a prolific substance that I do not believe that the work could be redone or adapted to any other forum of art, even through the magic of the silver screen. I must compliment Michael Cunningham in his loose adaptation of the Mrs. Dalloway story and the historical revisiting of Virginia Woolf in his novel The Hours. The many adaptations that had to occur in order to capture the very substance of

  • Arnold

    2558 Words  | 6 Pages

    always competing against each other both in sports and in school. Gustav wanted Arnold to become a world-class soccer player, but at the age of thirteen Arnold dropped out of the soccer team. He was looking for a role model and found one on the silver screen, Hercules. He watched all the Hercules movies over and over. He started to collect muscle magazines and was so impressed by the strength and the muscles in the magazine that he had just one goal clear in his mind. So he started to train. Bodybuilding

  • Use of Color in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye

    1492 Words  | 3 Pages

    other people, thus he neglected Pauline. To make up for this neglect and her own insecurities, Pauline sought comfort through movies.  Here she would sit and watch the perfect "white" world of Hollywood.  Here she would find her colors on the "silver screen".  She had a longing for these colors which was going to affect her life and the lives of her family until it destroys them, especially Pecola. When Pecola was born, a major change occured in Pauline's life.  According to Susan Willis, "Adjectives

  • Why Modern Monsters Have Become Alien to Us

    2985 Words  | 6 Pages

    mermaids, trolls, and one-eyed giants of our fairy and folk tales, and finally to those 19th-century Gothic classics. Nor are these stories on the wane, for the monster tales that made Lon Chaney, Boris Karloff, and Bela Lugosi stars of the silver screen continue to draw megacrowds six and seven decades later. In 1994 Kenneth Branagh and Robert DeNiro brought us the latest reincarnation of Shelley's story of Frankenstein's tortured creature, and Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt starred in "Interview

  • Silver’s Remaking Eden and the Silver Screen

    1206 Words  | 3 Pages

    Eden and the Silver Screen In Remaking Eden, Lee M. Silver asks three central questions: Who controls life? What counts as life? And what will human life look like in the future? The question Silver does not ask is whether or not human life as we now know and define it will change. Silver sees the advance of genetic engineering as inevitable, due to consumer demand for it as a technology and the unrelenting curiosity of scientists. Power resides in science, according to Silver, and that power

  • Florence Mills a Pioneer of The Silver Screen

    656 Words  | 2 Pages

    Florence Mills a Pioneer of The Silver Screen Florence Mills never had a memorial in her own nation, but the tiny country of Grenada recently issued a stamp in her honor. It was part of a set as a tribute to pioneers of the silver screen. The stamp illustrated a poster from the Palace Theatre, the place to be for top vaudeville performances. Florence never actually made it to the big screen, but was the first black star, male or female, to headline at the Palace. Florence was born in January

  • Homies In Hollywood: Masculinity On The Silver Screen

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    Homies in Hollywood:Masculinity on the Silver Screen. How Hollywood Films Depict Masculine Affections Film, since its beginning in the early 20th century, has long been a mirror held up to society. They show us the ideals that people favoured at the time, and teach lessons of morality and belief. Masculinity has many different definitions, depending on culture and upbringing, and in the film industry, one is able to see the standards men have been held too for many years. Often ‘favourable’

  • What Is My Love For The Silver Screen Persuasive Essay

    1056 Words  | 3 Pages

    Chris Muller Dr. Ellis English 1101 7 October 2014 My Love For The Silver Screen My fondest childhood memory was when my dad introduced me to the original Star Wars trilogy. This is where my passionate love for film began. As a kid, I recall being touched and blown away by numerous movies such as: Star Wars, Toy Story, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, and Jurassic Park. I would always get excited when my parents would take my brother and me to the local theatre. I have been watching movies