The film Good Will Hunting is an award-winning screenplay directed by Gus Van Sant. Released in 1997 the film has not only been loved by many for its dramatic, yet feel good story line but also by English teachers for its effective use of filming techniques. The techniques, which include a variety of close shots, low shots and panning shots along with the lighting, used throughout help to create a better understanding of the story line and the character’s development throughout the film. The main themes of the film, non-conformity, abandonment and love help to portray the message of living your life to the fullest to the viewers.
Good Will Hunting is a film that follows the emotional development of the protagonist, Will Hunting. Will is an
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Van Sant uses the protagonist to help show how abandonment is a message he is trying to deliver to the audience through his film. Will is a young man who has been an orphan throughout his life, scared to ever try and form a meaningful relationship with anyone he becomes close with in his life due to the fear of being hurt. Will is used by the film’s director as a type of character who the audience can relate to, a person who has been mistreated or hurt in the past and is hesitant to put themselves in the same position for the fear they have that being hurt Will happen again. A key scene where this is evident is when Skylar and Will have an argument about moving with Skylar to California. Skylar tries to tell Will that he is afraid and Will responds by saying, “I’m afraid? What am I afraid of? What the f*** am I afraid of?” It is clear to the audience that Will is trying to defend his insecurities by the angry tone he uses. The film technique used in this scene also helps to add to its strength by using a low angle shot focused on Will while he speaks, trying to show that Will is strong and powerful. The scene ends after Skylar and Will finish arguing and the camera angle used solely on Skylar is a high angle shot showing that she is weak and fragile after she had just listened to Will say, “No, I don’t love you”, which crushes her
In Good Will Hunting the main character Will Hunting is a janitor at Boston’s prestigious M.I.T. His ability to solve complex mathematical equations has earned him notoriety through out the mathematical department. Will Hunting is not a student, he is merely a bright young 20 year old kid with a troubled past. Will Hunting is exposed by Professor Gerald Lambeau when he is caught working on another mathematical equation. Professor Lambeau discovers his troubled past when he attends Will Hunting’s court hearing. Lambeau Finds out that Will Hunting has had many run-ins with the law and offers to give Will Hunting direction instead of being sent to jail. Will Hunting is ordered by the court to attend psychiatric sessions to he...
The protagonist in the motion picture Good Will Hunting is called Will, and he is described to be a high intellect person but with recluse tendencies whereby he has kept to himself mostly having only a few friends near him. The young adult is employed as a janitor in the university where can work out a difficult question presented to the students by the professor. The problem appears to be quite difficult for the students, but he does not struggle. The teacher takes an interest in the young man and stands for him in court and takes responsible for him. He takes him to therapy to treat his psychological disorder which becomes apparent with the actions and words that he utters in the film. Will is tough in the therapy sessions until he later
While it was a huge success financially and critically acclaimed as well, the movie, Good Will Hunting, offers vivid focus on a young math savant from the socioeconomic realities of Boston’s South End, an underserved section of town that is not unlike inner city environments across the country. I will review and critique the film from the perspective of sociology and the changes a marginalized youth is able to go through thanks to his hitherto unknown brilliance in math. The striking contrast between the bad Will and examples of the good Will, and the juxtaposition between the economic deprivations that Will grew up in – including being
After experiencing a traumatic car crash, Michelle, the protagonist of director Dan Trachtenberg’s film 10 Cloverfield Lane, wakes up in an underground bunker owned by a man named Howard. Howard claims to have saved her from a widespread chemical attack that has contaminated the air, with his bunker being the only place to take refuge for the next couple of years. Yet as the film progresses, Howard’s controlling and threatening demeanor eventually brings Michelle to escape, allowing her to come across the actuality of the situation outside the isolated bunker. Throughout the production, Trachtenberg arranges close frames, manipulates the camera’s focus, and chooses specific lighting to create an ominous tone that mystifies and disturbs viewers.
In “Good Will Hunting”, Gus Van Sant presents the characters’ state of mind and emotions through the use of their facial expressions and body language, allowing the responders to analyse and be part of the characters. This is evident in the scene where Shane McGuire, Will’s psychologist gets Will to repeat, “It’s not my fault”, which helped him to break through his childhood scars and enabled him to cry. Will’s facial expressions show his fear of admitting his desires to embrace his new opportunities in life, as it would be betraying his friends and class status. In the scene where Will and Skylar break up and he says hurtful things, Will is pushing her away because he doesn 't think he deserves her. The composer shows this by the use of Will and Skylar’s body language, reluctant to let their partners go but expressing the opposite physically. The utilisation of close up camera techniques is effectively used in illustrating the details of the characters’ body language and facial expressions, for the responders to analyse and gain greater understanding of the
2.As a result of the factors that impact violent behaviour, including liquor, brutal threats and a violent history there are numerous abuse and mistreatment studies regarding youth who experience domestic violence at a young age and how this brutality causes future behavioral problems. Similarly, Villani and Sharfstein research aggressive teenager inclinations that influence adulthood, and they associate behavioral disorders to violent kinds. In the movie Good Will Hunting, Will is a perfect example of how abuse is a source unmanageable rage. For example, Will makes excuses for physically assaulting a bully who beat him up in elementary. In the fight scene, Will’s companions pull him off the antagonist because Will harshly strikes the bully’s face.
Within the sociological perspective there are many concepts, however there are only a handful of concepts that explain Will Hunting’s actions and identity. Social location is the overarching reason for ones actions and identity. It predefines one’s life; actions, emotions, identity and all aspects of life. Social location is defined as “…the intersection point of specific social forces” (Berger 67). A person cannot help but to be thrown into a certain social location and this location limits human behaviour and expectations. Social forces refer to anything in society that can cause change; friends, family, legal system, etc. Within a social location, there are certain rules one must abide by “…location in society constitutes a definition of rules that have to be obeyed” (68). These rules are present in order to keep a functioning society, social control comes in when people disobey these rules and need to be put back into line. Social control is ...
An Analysis of the Movie ?Good Will Hunting? and the Main Characters Will Hunting and Sean Mcguire
(Erikson, 1980) Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development theory are in my opinion one of the best ways to look at Will Hunting’s changing personality and behaviour in the movie. Will’s avoidant and defensive personality is due to his abusive foster parents, he never received sympathy from his foster parents which made him accept the abuse as well as him becoming the abuser, as we see in the film when Will fights a former classmate that bullied him in kindergarten years ago. Another example of abuse is in the form of psychological abuse towards the marriage of Macguire and his deceased wife in which Will continually insults. Will seems to fluctuate stages throughout the movie, due to being an orphan and abuse from his foster parents he is fluctuating between the stages of basic trust vs. mistrust, and Initiative vs. guilt. Then when he meets Skylar (Minnie Driver) his development shifts to intimacy vs. isolation. (Erikson,
Good Will Hunting is a film which conveys many interlocking themes and messages to its viewers. One of these nicely woven themes is placing trust in the people we care about as well as people we have only recently become acquainted with. Another message, arguably more significant than the last is finding and pursuing the potential one has and bringing meaning into our lives in any form we choose. I believe the potential and success this film demonstrates is that success, growth, and meaning in a person’s life does not always have to come in the form of advancing in a career or social status but rather in the form of overcoming hardships and developing close reciprocating relationships.
An individual is shaped and molded by how they are treated by those that surround them. Most people value the opinions of those they care about and want to act in accord. Consequently, the choices people make are greatly influenced by the people in their lives. Sometimes, someone will become close with people who are different from each other. Such is the case in Good Will Hunting. Will Hunting (Matt Damon) struggles between the people that created him and the people that discovered him.
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...
The purpose of this report is to analyse the personality of the character, Will Hunting from the film Good Will Hunting using the psychodynamic and humanistic theories of personality. The main characters discussed in this text and their relationship to Will can be seen in appendix 1.
The “Bad Girls Club” display groups of women who are obsess with drinking and violent behavior to handle their situations, shining the light on negative stereotypes, defining a “bad girls” and the influencing young girls in today’s society. The way these girls act on TV is the way the media portray women as vulnerable and in need of male attention. By depicting women solely as physical objects, we rarely see them as powerful. Women have often seen each other as competition in many realms of their lives and so have become adept at quickly sizing up their female competition as to what makes a women’s woman (Kramer 210).The show 's has a foundation of seven women with personal, social and psychological problems, who consider their self to be
Though our society has evolved regarding the profession and need of counseling services, many people remain with the stigma that only individuals who are “crazy” require counseling. For many years, the notion of counseling was rarely linked to or associated with mental health/mental illness. However, due to personal ordeals and societal demands the level, many people suffer with mental illness. There was a point in time where seeking counseling services was taboo. As individuals and a society, we fail to reflect on or are oblivious to the disadvantage of not addressing our mental state if and when necessary. In the film “Good Will Hunting”, I will describe the resistance of the character Will Hunting in building effective and meaningful