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The technical side to cinematography
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Good Will Hunting is the graceful tale of a young gentleman’s struggle to find out where he belongs in the world, by first finding out who he himself is. In this film, Matt Damon takes on the role of a disturbed genius that has a keen understanding of the deepness of human character. The film is a voyage through the mind of Will Hunting as he is required to undergo psychotherapy as an alternative to serving jail time. With the assistance of a psychologist, played by Robin Williams, Will learns about himself and recognizes his individual worth in the world by comprehending what is most important to him in his own life. This motion picture serves as a source of superb example for film technique. Gus Van Sant’s directing ability joined with the writing skills of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, who also plays Will’s best buddy, Chuckie, is a vibrant mixture of technical features used to induce sentiment and compassion amongst the viewers of this heart-warming film. Characteristics of the color, angles, shots, camera movement, editing, and distortions are all each particularly noteworthy to the general composition of Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting. To begin, the colors used provide visual indication to inform viewers of the objective of the director and cinematographer (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011). Throughout the majority of the film, very natural colors are used. Van Sant’s use of warm tawny tones is a creative way to create a sense of humanity and forms a strong feeling of understanding for Will. Whenever Will is in a situation he feels secure and relaxed, the hues are very affectionate and welcoming. For example, when he is in Skylar’s (Minnie Driver) room at Harvard, in Sean’s (Robin Williams) office, or in his own residence, the prev... ... middle of paper ... ...a feeling of unease and repulsion toward the idea of fighting. To conclude, Van Sant does an outstanding job at directing Good Will Hunting by executing so many diverse and imaginative methods to tell a story that may otherwise get quite boring. The individuality of the elements and the way in which they are used, such as the kaleidoscope effect, is witty, and well-executed, causing the viewer to think about different parts of the film, and mainly about Will. It is especially unique because it does not just give you the answer, rather makes you decipher for yourself, just the same as Will, therefore creating a great sense of understanding for Will Hunting. References Goodykoontz, B. and Jacobs, C. (2011). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education. Van Sant, G. and Bender, L. (1997). Good Will Hunting. New York City: Miramax Films.
The film Good Will Hunting starts by giving us a glimpse into a rather bleak moment in the life of Will Hunting, a college-aged janitor at the prestigious university called MIT. He lives the typical college life in many respects, from regularly meeting his friends at the bar to getting into a relationship built upon lies – with the glaring exception that he is not a college student whatsoever. In fact, he is portrayed as an undiscovered genius…at least until getting into trouble with the law leads to a bail out that eventually turns around his life for the better.
Braff himself has a warm, easy-to-watch screen presence. He can say nothing during the lull in a conversation, while the camera remains focused on his face, and it feels right. Portman and Sarsgaard are also genuine, each wonderfully relaxed in their roles. Production design is superb: details in every scene are arranged well, and the photography, by Lawrence Sher, is - like the story and the acting – unpretentious, never distracting, tricky or cute. This film never seems to manipulate us; instead it engages us, arouses our curiosity and amusement, bids us gently to care about Andrew and Sam and even Mark, leaving us entertained in the best sense. This movie is as confident, as secure in itself, as comforting, as a well worn pair of house slippers or your favorite reading chair. A splendid film. Grade: A- (09/04)
For the second movie we had to watch, I chose The Good Lie. The Good Lie is the story of the thousands of Sudanese children who were left orphaned and displaced by a civil war in the 1980s. The Good Lie tells a story of six of these kids that made it to America who suffered atrocities, watching as rebel soldiers ravage and burn down their village and seeing their parents get murdered. In addition to these awful events, they survived extreme physical hardships, walking barefoot, escaping from gun fire for about 800 miles to safety in the Kenyan refugee camps. The movie opens with the grueling journey undertaken by these five boys and girl. They fend off dangerous wild animals, dehydration and soldiers during their trek, and one boy passes away and another is taken off by soldiers. When the remaining quartet reaches safety, they band together ever closer.
An early scene in George Roy Hill’s film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) shows illustrious bandit Butch Cassidy walking into a bank and observing a series of security upgrades (e.g. an alarm system, a safe, and several different locks). As Butch Cassidy exits the establishment, he asks the security guard, “What happened to the old bank?” The guard responds, “People kept robbing it.” Butch remarks, “Small price to pay for beauty.” Although Butch Cassidy’s disappointed assertion may have been rooted in disappointment for the loss of a heist rather than the loss of architectural merit, it leads one to question: To what extent are cultural attributes lost at the expense of new technology? I will consider this question as I examine the ways in which Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid highlights the
The film “Goodfellas,” directed by Martin Scorsese, is loosely based on the true story of mobster Henry Hill’s career with the mafia. The main characters in this movie are Henry Hill, played by Ray Liota, who was part of the mafia, James Conway who was a stickup/hit man, played by Robert De Niro, and Tommy DeVito, played by Joe Pesci, who was another gangster. At the beginning of the film a young Hill is seen admiring the gangsters who spend time across the street at one of their establishments. Hill can be heard talking about how much he admired gangsters, and that all he ever wanted to be was a gangster. Throughout the movie the audience gets a sense of what life as a gangster in the criminal underworld might have been like.
Gone with the Wind is a classic fictional love story that depicts life in the old south before, during and after the Civil war. The book was originally written in 1936 by Margret Mitchell, the movie adaptation was released in 1939, directed by Victor Fleming, and staring Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh. Ms. Mitchell grew up listening to Civil war stories from confederate veterans. It was reported that they told her everything; everything that is, except that they had lost the war, she found that out when she was 10 years old. Though the book was written 71 years after the Civil War ended, Ms. Mitchell did her research and appears to have drawn inspiration from those childhood stories that she was told. This is apparent in the detailed description of the clothing, houses, and everyday discussions and interactions of the characters throughout the book. Though not all historically correct most of what is in the book is accurate. During the time the movie was released, “damn” was considered to be vulgar and controversial and they used the term “darkies” to describe the slaves.
"There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful thananything that bleeds. Don 't wait until you break. - Laurell Hamilton" This is oftentimes the sentiment felt by soldiers who have served in active duty and have been witnesses to tragedies that leave them emotionally scarred. The Clint Eastwood directed film, American Sniper is amovie that features the real life tragedy of American soldier, Chris Kyle, who served in theUnited States military as a Navy Seal, which is an elite group (Kenny, 2014 and Treitschke,2015). His story is unique in that he himself suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD), but as he worked to recover, he valiantly served again by helping fellow soldiers withPTSD ("Chris Kyle," 2013), and was senselessly gunned
Into the Wild, a 2007 nonfiction film based on New York Times bestseller book written
Gender and the portrayal of gender roles in a film is an intriguing topic. It is interesting to uncover the way women have been idealized in our films, which mirrors the sentiments of the society of that period in time. Consequently, the thesis of this essay is a feminist approach that seeks to compare and contrast the gender roles of two films. The selected films are A few Good Men and Some Like it Hot.
For my final essay, I have chosen the movie “Fatal Attraction”, and I will focus on Alex Forrest and her mental disorder. Borderline Personality was displayed in the movie and Alex had almost every symptom of this disorder. Throughout this essay, I will be discussing Alex’s characteristics, intelligence, motivation, stress, social influences and/ or personality theories, treatment, and if the depiction of the disorder and treatment is consistent with what was discussed and read in the course.
“Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get” (Zemeckis, Forrest Gump). The Academy Award Winner for Best Picture star Tom Hanks portrays the good-hearted but everlasting challenged man that deals with vast life changing dramatic problems, Forrest Gump. The drama-filled romantic comedy was directed by Robert Zemeckis and screenplay written by Eric Roth. In the film, Zemeckis illustrates Forrest as a guy that describes several messages from life lessons on love to the responsibility of ethics. A portion of the viewers may find Forrest Gump as a trivial movie while others pose a question as such: What makes Forrest Gump such a memorable human? From the moment Forrest Gump arrived on the scene of the
Forrest Gump and the Blind Side both have strong characters, inspirational moments, and incredible hardships. The movies show two very smart people who are misunderstood by many.
With many different genres and types of filmmaking, it can result in a large variety of stories and conflicts. Nevertheless, film has always brought people together as a society. If there is one thing everyone can notice about films is the achievement in style and directing. The three directors talked about in this paper are the most successful at delivering a breathtaking style and direction to their films. Baz Luhrmann, Wes Anderson, and Martin Scorsese have produced and directed films over decades and each film as impacted not only the United States but worldwide. With the unmistakable trademarks that each director has, it is very easy to feel sucked into the world in which they are shaping around you and the story. Because of these three directors, the film world and industry has been revolutionized for many centuries to come.
"Robin Williams' Therapy Makes 'Will Hunting' Good." Review and Analysis: Good Will Hunting. N.p., Aug. 2008. Web. 16 Apr. 2014
The film “Good Will Hunting” follows the story of Will Hunting (Matt Damon) a self-taught genius who works at one of the most prestigious technology schools; MIT, as a janitor. Will is an orphan with a criminal record of Assault, grand theft auto, assaulting a police officer, etc. Will solves a complex math problem, which leads to him being discovered by professor Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard) as a genius. Professor Lambeau makes a deal with the judge when Will is incarcerated to be on parole under Lambeau’s supervision and Will is ordered to see a therapist once a week. Will Outsmarts many of the therapists, which forces Lambeau to go to his last resort, college friend and psychology teacher Sean Macguire (Robin Williams).