The hit musical "Singin' in the
Rain" may possibly be one of if not the greatest musicals of all time. With it's tale of the film world of the mid 1920's and its creative underlining love story between Don
Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Kathy Selden (Debbie
Reynolds), it provokes the interest of someone who would not generally be attracted to a musical. It is a classic masterpiece that set the standards that musical films of today will be judged by. It is a classic performance by the great Gene Kelly and displays outstanding performances by
Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor. As well as starring in this brilliant movie, Gene Kelly teams up with
Stanley Donen to make their mark in film history. In my opinion, what set the stage for the level of entertainment that this movie contains is the opening scene. The opening scene set the role of sarcasm in the movie and gave the movie an immediate sense of humor. Four individual parts of movie making come together in this film to create a dynamic opening sequence. The basic principles of sound, editing, mise en scene, and cinematography collectively give this opening sequence a memorable quality that is without match. The opening of Singin' in the Rain takes place at the opening of the new movie "The Royal Rascal" starring Don
Lockwood and Lena Lamont. There are famous people all around and their fans are loving every second of it. The fans' faces are full of joy and awe as their favorite actors and actresses enter the large building that will soon be showing the new movie. Soon, the two people that everyone in Hollywood is dying to see, appear in their stretched Rolls Royce and bring the crowd to its feet. As
Lockwood and Lamont exit their luxurious ride they are received lovingly by everyone. They walk to the front of the building and are introduced to the crowd. Then the question is posed to Mr. Lockwood, "How did it all begin?" The answering of this question is what my paper will explain. I will attempt to break down the opening scene and show how it all started. By using tools of film such as sound, editing, mise en scene, and cinematography, this paper will show how the scene was made as well. Mise en scene played an important role in this movie as with any other movie. The properties of mise en scene were fully effective in the beginning flashback scene. At the beginning of Don Lockw...
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...nd that the superimposed duo were taken from. They proceed to dance for a couple of minutes and when they are finished there is no reaction. There is a cut and we see a point-of-view shot in terms of Don and
Cosmo to see that the audience is booing. This is the last scene before they actually get to Hollywood. Singin' in the
Rain is the musical that all other musicals should be judged by. It tells a story that only others had dreamed of telling.
Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds and the great Gene
Kelly help give one of the greatest performances of all times in a musical. With the help of superb editing, sound, mise en scene, and cinematography, this film cannot be topped. The fist scene of the movie creates an atmosphere that helps the viewer know that he/she will enjoy this wonderful classic. Throughout the movie there are surprises and fun that makes this a movie that people will want to watch again and again. Gene Kelly said it best when he said, "Dignity, always dignity." That is what this movie has from beginning to end, dignity. The best thing we could possibly do is forget about our worries and just start Singin' in the Rain. Courtesy of Chew (1995) U. of Maryland
The Art of Racing in the Rain is, by far, the best book I have ever read. The story takes place in Seattle, Washington. It is told completely through a dog’s eyes. This special dog, Enzo, is adopted from a small farm in Washington when he is just a puppy. His view of life is interesting; Enzo only has gestures. He cannot communicate like humans can. Life is very humble and simple through the eyes of a dog.
Barry Levinson’s Rain Man is an uplifting and comical film, based in the 1980s, in America. Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) is a car dealer, who discovers in the shadow of his father’s death that he has an autistic brother called Raymond (Dustin Hoffman). Charlie’s vulgar attempt to seize his late father’s inheritance from his brother, entices the audience into a journey of self-discovery, culture and self-awareness.
Life can bring unexpected events that individuals might not be prepared to confront. This was the case of O’Brien in the story, “On the Rainy River” from the book The Things They Carried. As an author and character O’Brien describes his experiences about the Vietnam War. In the story, he faces the conflict of whether he should or should not go to war after being drafted. He could not imagine how tough fighting must be, without knowing how to fight, and the reason for such a war. In addition, O’Brien is terrified of the idea of leaving his family, friends and everything he loves behind. He decides to run away from his responsibility with the society. However, a feeling of shame and embarrassment makes him go to war. O’Brien considers himself a coward for doing something he does not agree with; on the other hand, thinking about the outcome of his decision makes him a brave man. Therefore, an individual that considers the consequences of his acts is nobler than a war hero.
Robert was far removed out of his comfort zone, which in turn resulted in him needing well over 4 shots to finally kill the horse. He clearly struggled with the order, but we already see that he obeyed to fulfilled it. The war has already started to show its effects on Ross and how it is changing him. He struggled to commit the action, but in the end, he did actually kill a living being; something he clearly would have never done before. Through this scene, Findley has started to draw focus onto the negative influence the war is having on Robert’s
BLACK RAIN by Masuji Ibuse The main character in the novel is in some ways like myself. Mr. Shizuma is a person that is intrigued by many things and likes to see what reaction people have from any action. Throughout the novel he feels the need to go to different parts of the city and surrounding communities in order to see the effects of the unknown bomb. Mr. Shizuma was not only interested in what happened to the people of the community but he was also interested in finding out what the weapon used was called and made out of.
... dead killed him more and more each day, much so that he would in turn move the bodies facing the wall so he wouldn’t have to look at them. Many of Robert’s actions when dealing with death throughout the war reflect on him being distraught. Being alone was his biggest fear, so being dead was even more fearful especially since he made a promise to his sister. The war killed Robert in a sense that his innocence was taken from him and he had no way of getting it back.
Based on two stories which we learnt these days: “Harrison Bergeron” and “There will come soft rains”, we can see that in the future, technology affects us a lot. Our life will mainly depend on technology, let us see how this changed us from the stories.
Thea Astley’s It’s Raining in Mango (1987) is a story of Australian history told through five generations of the Laffey family. Astley introduces several issues to the reader that were and still are part of Australian society. Through the use of narrative techniques including characterisation, narrative point of view and naming, Astley is able to position the reader to challenge such societal ideologies, and instead support the thoughts and ideas expressed by the strong and dominant characters in the text. Two issues developed in the text are race and gender.
In many cultures all over the world their religions view death in numerous different ways. The author Leslie Marmon Silko depicts this in a short story called “The Man to Send Rain Clouds”. The author herself is of mixed ancestry including Laguna Pueblo Indian, Mexican, and white enabling her to write a short complex story of a culture trying to maintain their own religion when living in a society of what religion is expected and right in others eyes(Literature for Life, 1243). The theme of “The Man to Send Rain Clouds” focuses on death, understanding everyone has different cultures, and respecting others.
Unlike Joseph Campbell, Joseph Loeb and Tom Morris describe heroism as individuals who rise above the universal and altogether concern for the self and rather focus on the needs of others, serving the greater good and being selfless. (11). What made this definition superb compared to Joseph Campbell’s it that is breaks down the stereotypical hero and gives perspective to the everyday heroes. As stated in their work, “what’s so heroic about stopping an armed robbery if your skin is bulletproof and your strength is irresistible by an ordinary, or even extraordinary, street thug? (12). Yes, superhero’s have vulnerabilities within their character, but characters of all genres display tremendous acts of heroism, often overlooked to be considered heroic.
War is a universal phenomenon, it is a violent tool people use to accomplish their interests. It is not autonomous, rather policy always determines its character. Normally it starts when diplomacy fails to reach a peaceful end. War is not an end rather than a mean to reach the end, however, it does not end, and it only rests in preparation for better conditions. It is a simple and dynamic act with difficult and unstable factors which make it unpredictable and complex. It is a resistant environment where the simplest act is difficult to perform. In this paper, I will argue why war is a universal phenomenon and what are the implications of my argument to strategists.
To conclude, the graphic novel Watchmen presents the non-fantastic representation of a superhero, implying that not all heroes are like Superman. This notion is explored within the novel by mentioning the realistic motives of the characters choosing to become superheroes, by Rorschach’s representation and through the heroic reactions of the New Yorkers to a street crime. These elements all contribute to Watchmen’s uniqueness and complexity as a superhero comic.
Strong, brave, and powerful are usually the words that come to mind when you think of a traditional war hero. In Tim O’Brien’s novel he uses war heroes that aren’t what people usually imagine when they think of a war hero. They are straight out of high school, and most of the soldiers in his novel are cowards. They are scared of going into the war and even when they have a chance to save one of their friends they just let them die. Not using traditional war heroes allowed Tim O’Brien to show that not all heroes are heroic and courageous, and that they were just normal people going into a war they didn’t understand.
The musical selections and songs that were sung told a story and narrated the almost the entire film, as is expected in...
The quote “all’s fair in love and war” means nothing is out of bounds when it comes to love and war; everything is fair game. Nicholas Sparks, Norman Rockwell, and Robert Frost do an excellent job depicting this quote in their work. Nicholas Sparks is famous for his romantic novels; many of which involve a man in the military falling in love with a woman and doing whatever it takes to be with one another. Norman Rockwell’s paintings are simple but also show the love and war. Though Robert Frost’s poem are not particularly about love and war; he does have many poems about love between two people as well as poems about war and what it takes to survive. All three people are extremely talented and I enjoy all of their work.