La La Land (2016)

Plot: Sebastian and Mia are drawn together by music and dance, which they both love. But as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart. In the end, Mia marries to another man, however she still loves Sebastian.

Camera Shots and Angles: There are so many different scenes to describe, herefore most of the scenes are long shots. Close up and mid shots are used to described objects, that very important for the scene and the movie itself, more clearly

Mise-en-Scene: There are a lot of scenes where the setting is a movie set. I loved how the directed inherted the set feeling. It made the movie more realistic, even though the movie is a musical. The lighting of the movie is using brightm however when their is a intent scene the lighting changes.

What I like: I really liked how the director made the movie, it was creative. There has been so many scenes where the director combines music, and scenes so well. Click here to see my favorite scene. Also,the most famous scene of the movie, where Mia and Sabestian dance during the sunset, is so classic and unique.

The Help (2011)

Plot: In the 1960s Mississippi, Skeeter come back from college with dreams of being a writer. She turns her small town on its ear by choosing to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent white families. Only Aibileen, the housekeeper of Skeeter’s best friend, will talk at first. But as the pair continue the collaboration, more women decide to come forward, and skeeter finishes the book. Everybody in the town enjoys reading the book and becomes a best-selling.

Camera Shots: There are a lot of close ups in this movie, because most of the time the ladies (Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny) are always having a coversion, whether the black ladies were telling the story or in general. Also, the story has a lot of settings in the movie. So wide shots, long shots, and full shots are used mainly in the movie. There is a scene where Minny avenges her former boss, because of the way she has treated Minny. In the beginning of the scene, Minny is set in high angle while the boss (Hilly) is in low angle. This is used to see the relationship between them and why they are together. Obviously, it states that Hilly is the boss of Minny and she has more power that Minny. However, in the end the angles are the opposite because Minny has more power due to the revenge.

Mise-en-Scene: The story is based on central 1960s, there for the props are used old-fashioned. The story of the movie is based on racism. The director used bright lighting for scenes where the actors were mostly white. While there was dark scene where the actors were mostly black.

What I Like: I really liked the story, because it was creative and organized. The actors played their role, especially Emma Store who is Skeeter in the movie. She had a southern accent which made the store more effective.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000)

Plot: In 19th century China, a warrior gives his sword, Green Destiny to the person he loves to give it for safe keeping, but it is stolen and the chase is on to find it.

Camera Shots: The director used a lot of long shots and extreme long shots, that showed the settings. There are many settings in the movie. Without of the long shots, the movie wouldn’t be as effective it is.

Mise-en-Scene: The movie is based on 19th century China. So the director used many props and techniques to make the movie more effective. There was a lot of settings in the movie, but all was in China. And a lot of the scene didn’t look like was in a set, therefore it was effective.

What I like: This movie was in Chinese, which made it a bit confusing and the hard to understand. However, the way the movie was made was different then movies made in Hollywood. There are so many differences. Like the movie was about ninjas, however the directer uses the ninjas was extraordinary.

Class Presentations: Short Films

During February/March, we were able to create our own film from the techniques we learned in class. On April 5, we presented our short films. The all of the movies were creative. There were many movies with the theme of ghosts or horror. One of my favorite movies was of one of my classmate who imitated a episode of TLC’s My Strange Addiction. He made his own My Strange Addiction to Sand and it was hilarious. One of the best short films I have every seen.

MOONLIGHT (2017)

Moonlight Analysis

Movie from Curaçao IFFR 2017 (Extra Credit)

My Short Film: “February 29” (2017)

February 29

HUGO (2011)

Plot: Hugo, a little boy lost his father by a fire, lives lonely in the train station in Paris. Since his dad was a mechanic he was taught about a lot of clocks. Helping around the cities clocks, he hid his identity of being a orphan. Accompanied by the goddaughter of an bitter toy merchant, Hugo begins on a quest to solve the mystery of the automaton and find a place he can call home.

Camera Angles and Shots: There were many mid shots and  close ups. I really liked the clock scene where in the end they showed the full landscape of Paris with a pan. That was one of my favorite scenes I has ever saw.

Mise-en-Scene: The costumes related to the setting of the story. Hugo wore a french hat, and all characters wore coats to show the weather of France. Also the set of the trains station was amazing. It was one of the most detailed sets I have ever seen. I wonder how big the studio is.

What I Like: I really liked the actors. Also I loved how the story connected with every actor in the movie.

 

The Artist (2011)

Plot: The story takes place in the 1920s. The actor George Valentin is really famous and has many fans. When he starting working on his biggest film, he falls in love with his new coming co star, Peppy Miller, but George is married. So he doesn’t want to cheat with his wife. As Peppy Miller becomes more famous because the movie she did with George, George’s fades away.

Camera Shots and Angles: I found that the movie had a lot of wide shots. It did give the movie a broad ending, but I thing it was better because the movie was adapted from 1920s.

Mise-en-Scene: The costume were normal from the point of view of 1920s. And the setting was based on United States in 1920s, and I think it was a good set.

What I liked: I really liked several scenes. There was scene where George wanted to kill him self  by putting a gun in his mouth and since it was a silent film there was note card as “BANG!”.  So it gave the intensity between the audience and the actors. I got scared because I thought the man shot himself. But the bang was from an accident outside.

Analysis on Short Stories (YOUTUBE)

The Most Beautiful Thing: The most interesting part was the communication between both main characters. I really liked how the girl and boy had big difference they comprised to connect with each other. The angle and shots were appropriate for each scene. For example, in the beginning there was a scene where the guy was in the classroom and he was alone. The director showed some other students with a mid shot with other classmates features (hand, face) and him all alone. It was smart way to describe the characteristic of an actor. I don’t think there was something to change. Only the beginning was slow and the director can eliminate some scenes.

Text Me: I liked the idea of the confidence the man had to ask a girl out, even he had less money. (shown in the beginning of the film.) The topics the director used to describe how the love came between them was unstable and it made the movie unrealistic. It wasn’t realistic. I would have changed the whole script after the girl rejected him. I think the director had a lot of ideas but in the end it didn’t work out. This made the movie, very boring.

The Translator: I really liked the movie, yet I still had the correct feeling what was going to happen in the end. It was a cliche, however they added more dialogue that made the movie a bit interesting. I don’t think this was good example of a comedy movie. It might have any funny dialogues, but it didn’t symbolize the genre.

Airplane (1980)

Plot: Ex-fighter pilot and taxi driver Ted Striker (Robert Hays)  doesn’t want to get in airplane after he crashes. As a result, he is unable to hold a responsible job. His wartime girlfriend, Elaine Dickinson (Julie Hagerty), now a flight attendant, leaves him. Therefore, he enter a flight where Elaine is attending. 

 Rating(8/10): The movie is hilarious. The story and comedy blend amazingly well. I feel the actors acted well, depending on their role. One thing that i didn’t like was that there were few fiction editing happening and it didn’t look well.

Mise-en-Scene: The setting was a small plane. It really looked like they shot in a plane. I like the crops, and how they used a “autopilot”. It gave more entertainment to the audience. It made the comedy amazing.

Shots and Angles: Since the setting is a plane, there was long shots. And they couldn’t have crane shots, since the plane is quite. The shots are direct face shots and angles like close-up.