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Studying film aspects
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About Mike Leigh
Like many of the films watched in class there seems to be an ongoing theme in Mike Leigh’s films of the tragedy that is the life of those living in Britain. Fortunately, Leigh chooses to instead use these tragedies to instead promote the optimism or “high hopes” if you will of the people stuck in such unfortunate circumstances that are displayed onscreen. His films seek to bring light where there is darkness and truth where there are lies.
In the film Secrets and Lies, we are introduce into a family that seems to have quite a few problems that are on the surface and far more that are well hidden to the world as well as those they call family. Instead of pulling together and expressing their feelings and problems they instead decide to draw in on themselves and keep the secrets hidden. It seems to me to be a out of sight, out of mind kind of mentality that for some odd reason they believe will help them deal with their problem. At the birthday party when things finally come to a head and Maurice finally says his peace and gets the secrets and the lies that they have all kept for so long out in the open the burden of his message is what is going to happen after this is unleashed upon their family. Maurice faced an unknown future when he decided to face up to his family’s problems. He was the only character in the entire film that actually knew everything that was being kept from the rest of the family. With this knowledge comes a burden of what to do with this knowledge. With the emergence of Hortense and the discovery of her true identity Maurice must come to grips with the truth of his family and must make them understand that they must tell each other the truth behind their demeanor. Maurice’s speech could have had very bad consequences. He could have lost his niece, whom he views as the daughter he and his wife will never have. He also could have lost Cynthia’s trust in making her tell the truth of matters. Lastly, Maurice’s own marriage was on the brink due to his wife’s inability to have children and she was driving him away because of it. One small turn of events could have forever veered this from the brink of tragedy right over the edge and this would have been yet another family lost to the unforgiving world in which they live.
It is no easy task to create a work - through writing or film - that has an impact on society. In writing, one must discuss and analyze a relevant topic that will have an impact on the readers. One must also present stunning sensory images through words in order to create a complete understanding for the reader. In filmmaking it is not much different, but there must be striking visual imagery in combination with a fitting musical score in order to give the viewer of the film the full experience. There must also be historical accuracy, both in writing and film. In either case, it can take years to create such a captivating piece of work. David Guterson's novel Snow Falling on Cedars and its cinematic counterpart of the same name combine all of the aspects of good writing and filmmaking to create an emotionally provocative and historically accurate masterpiece.
Everyone struggles with admitting the truth. No matter how people are raised they still seem to fall into a situation where they feel lying is their only way out. Lying is the truth being hidden, therefore, withholding information is equivalent to lying. The truth may seem hidden but it will always reveal itself. In Frank Peretti’s novel, The Prophet, consequences such distrust, vices, and misunderstanding follow all the characters that lack truth.
The understatement “unemployed starts cheerfully with a letter…and nothing else” indicates that the young man has no money causing the reader to visualize the empty pocket. The denotation “travels for a night and day without a bite to eat” allows you understand his desperation due to his poverty. Furthermore, we are able to imagine the frustration and hopelessness he feel “finds that the station is eighty or a hundred mile away”. The uses of or indicates that this desperate walk of seeking employment is endless; no one knows when it ends. However Lawson sheds a light upon this “explain…publican and a coach-driver. God bless the publicans and the coach-driver” allowing you to see that mateship will help the young man. Lawson motivates his audience about an egalitarian Australia society “God forgive our social system”, since they are one a journey with him where they see the poverty and hardships of other. Lawson’s description “native industry…three tiles, a chimney pot…length of piping on the slab” cause the reader to visualize how they can do a lot with very little that they have, making them feel sympathetic”. The metaphoric phrase “animated mummy of a swagman” allows you to see that the sun has beaten this man and caused him to look like death, revelling the poverty of the man. Lawson makes the reader imagine that death is constant in the bush
“Thursday”, a 1991 short film by Leighton Pierce, is described by the filmmaker as “something to do with the sensory pleasure of momentary solitude in a domestic setting” (Pierce). Through viewing the piece, it can be observed by the viewer that Pierce desired to capture this essence through the mere use of two naturally generated elements; visuals and sounds. These elements are primarily created by the “domestic setting”, which is Pierce’s own household. Through “Thursday”, Pierce uses a combination of sounds and visuals to emphasize the otherwise unnoticed “sensory pleasure of momentary solitude in a domestic setting”.
The film Last Year in Marienbad (Resnais 1961) plays with fragmentation and chance to create a confusing narrative. Initially (and for a significant portion of the film) the story comes across as completely random and incoherent but as the film goes on patterns begin to arise. Chance and randomness become themes that unite the fragments. The whole organization of the film and the way the past is presented through the present is done using random chance. The way the disjointed clips seem to come together by chance to create a story shows how there can be order and purpose in the random. The film is further broken up by disturbances that are all chance events. Interruptions that would normally be random occurrences such as a glass breaking, gunshots or laughter come to form a sense of coherence and pace. In a work where randomness could potentially create more confusion, Last Year in Marienbad uses the element of chance and lack of a clear linear narrative to leave more room for the viewer’s own interpretation. A part of consuming art is promoting new ways of thinking. This film could easily come across as boring and pretentious to some but to others could be a thought-provoking puzzle or mystery to be solved. Randomness and discontinuity in art often make for the most stimulating conversations and analyses. Postmodern works often leave us asking, “why?” when there is no immediate meaning, the audience wants to find a
Neill, Alex. “Empathy and (Film) Fiction.” Philosophy of film and motion pictures : an anthology. Ed. Noel Carrol and Jinhee Choi. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. 247-259. Print.
Anthony Burgess’s experiences in life are a basis for the novel. Anthony claims the most traumatic scene in the novel, when F. Alexander’s wife was raped and died because of it, was supposedly inspired by the event that happened during the London 1944 wartime blackout. During the blackout his w...
In the short story “ A Dead Woman’s Secret by Guy de Maupassant, the basic theme is devoted to family and private relationships. The main characters in the story are Marguerite (the daughter), the judge (the son), the priest, and the deceased mother. Marguerite is a nun and she is very religious. The dead woman’s son, the Judge, handled the law as a weapon with which he smote the weak ones without pity. The story begins by telling the reader that the woman had died quietly, without pain. The author is very descriptive when explaining the woman’s appearance - “Now she was resting in her bed, lying on her back, her eyes closed, her features calm, her long white hair carefully arranged as though she had done it up ten minutes before dying. The whole pale countenance of the dead woman was so collected, so calm, so resigned that one could feel what a sweet soul had lived in that body, what a quiet existence this old soul had led, how easy and pure the death of this parent had been” (1). The children had been kneeling by their mother’s bed for awhile just admiring her. The priest had stopped by to help the children pass by the next hours of great sadness, but the children decided that they wanted to be alone as they spend the last few hours with their mother. Within in the story, the author discusses the relationship between the children’s father and their mother. The father was said to make the mother most unhappy. Great
Short filmmakers use a multitude of different techniques to force their viewing audience to look closer at what the film is portraying. Nicholas Clifford’s film ‘We’ve All Been There’ and Matt Bird’s film ‘A Desperate Deed’ make the viewing audience reflect on and review their views on the lower class of people. In both films the main focus is on a small couple or family living in rural Australia that are under terrible financial stress and judgements, by the climax of the short the reality of their lives are brought to the audience’s attention by cinematic techniques carefully chosen by the director.
Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow Up deals with the issue of identity in postmodern society. We follow Thomas, a photographer around London in the 1960s, and we see the film through Thomas’s perspective. Appearance and reality may begin to conflict when the viewer suspects that Thomas’s motive is to apply meaning to his life and identity. Exploring the complex nature of this film’s reality requires examining the significance of images, their context to reality, and the value and meanings prescribed to them. With reference to reality within Blow Up, Antonioni states“Reality has a quality of freedom about it that is hard to explain. This film, perhaps, is like Zen; the moment you explain it, you betray it. I mean, a film you can explain in words, isn't a real film.” (Antonioni, 1996. 149)
In “The Blind Side” Michael meets Leigh Anne, someone who takes him in at a time when he is homeless. She provides him with food, clothes, and roof to live under, as well as giving him a better education. Leigh Anne changes Michael’s life for the better, but most importantly she makes him feel loved and appreciated. In similarity, the” Freedom Writers,” Mrs. Erin earns her students’ respect by showing them love. She changes her students’, perspective about getting a school education, while at the same time she shows them a personal interest, and hope for a better future.
This essay examines the film “Cry Freedom”, set in the late 1970s, which was directed by Sir Richard Attenborough in 1987. The film was based on the true story written by Donald Wood, also one of the main characters in the film. The analysis will focus on the way the movie critically evaluates the political ideology that dominates the apartheid in South Africa. The essay will discuss the character’s and film's attitude towards the white people and black people and how certain characters respond to, and are shaped by, the historic and economic events of that time. It will also analyse the way Attenborough wanted to position his audience and how successful he was in doing so.
De Poorter, E., Troubleyn, E., Moerman, I., & Demeester, P. (2011). IDRA: A flexible system architecture for next generation wireless sensor networks. Wireless Networks, 17(6), 1423-1440. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11276-011-0356-5
As I continue to get older, I feel as though my thoughts and opinions are becoming less of my own. As sensationalism as well as dichotomic views seems to grow in media influence, and individuals begin to move in more radical directions, I’ve felt that there is less room for nuance and open discussion. Without giving into too much detail, Stuart is a representation of these feelings as he faces both external influences (The Doctor), and internal influences (Mary). Regardless of the validity of these opinions, this film is, at its core, a cathartic expression of my feelings and anxieties.
In the film Hitchcock showed an American family’s unexpected encounter with the darkest side of European power struggles and a horrid personal misfortune that ensues. In the narrative space of the film we find the tongue-tied exasperations of Ben McKenna, Jo Conway’s frustrations both as a mother who lost her child and a Broadway performer who has lost her career and the kidnapped child Hank’s wide-eyed astonishment at the nefarious spectacles opening around him-all this brilliantly formalizes Hitchcock’s own encounter both with America and with the possibilities of cinema. (Pomerance 17). The ending of the film is based on a true life occurrence and the incident took place around 1910 known as Sidney Street siege (Truffaut 90). In the last