Power of Film

Throughout my life, I have seen many fictional films. I have seen 98 of Blockbusters Top 100 rented movies, and the two I have not seen are The Note Book and another intense chick flick. Still, after watching thousands of movies I have not wandered very far away from the Hollywood Cinema. As we discussed, Hollywood Cinema has few main characters with goals. The main characters seem to always succeed in their goal, and knowing this, I seem to be able to predict much of the movies events, and endings. I enjoy movies that make me figure out how the story will unfold. The Inside Man and The Prestige are two movies that make you think while watching them. I find myself asking how the main characters are going to succeed, because they always do. I find myself struggling to watch or enjoy movies that move away from the Hollywood conventions. When I watch a movie, I enjoy getting lost in the film. I have a tough time enjoying movies that are created for other reason or purpose.

I also enjoy films that can be learned from. Documentary films are important films that can learned from. It is important that a film maker creates a documentary that isn’t biased. No documentary will be 100 percent bias, but the film maker always chooses what to put in the film or edit out. Documentaries like When the Levees Broke and Planet Earth both do a great job of not presenting a very bias film.

In the documentary, When the Levees Broke, Spike Lee had many choices on what to edit in or out of the film. Spike Lee’s choice to leave material in the film about the levees being bombed is extremely important. It shows that the material in the film comes from every angle. We also see interviews from a wide range of people. It is important that we see multiple stories to show all aspects of the truth.

Documentaries are a good source of education. We are able to learn about history in an artful and touching ways. It is this artful touch that makes these movies so powerful.

Links

http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/whentheleveesbroke/

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5641453

Make A Difference!

Films serve many different purposes. For example, there are comedies that make us laugh, and action films to keep the action junkies entertained. The list can go on and on with many different types of films. All these film types share a similar aspect that drives the storyline to move forward. The premise witch is the theme or point that holds the story together. The premise can be serious and moving, or it can be more relaxed and harder to identify. Comedies often have a premise that is not as serious as a drama; which can have very moving or inspirational premises. One movie that I find to have a great premise is Pay if Forward.

After watching Pay it Forward, I stopped and thought to myself, wow what a great touching story. The message that this movie gave off was moving. It is one of those movies that made me stop and think. The movie was released in 2000 and stars Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment. The movie is about Osment’s character Trevor McKinney who comes up with a brilliant idea for a school project. He wants to help three people, but not by just giving them money or helping them with small things. He wants to help these people with large struggles that they can not do on their own. After helping these people the only thing he asked for in return was for them to pay if forward and return the favor to someone down the road. This was his plan to better the world one person at a time. The movie unfolds and shows the troubles and successes of his plan.

This movie has a serious premise. The theme of this movie expresses that one person can truly make a difference in this world. I feel that a movie with a serious premise can become a great movie due to the premise itself. This film had no amazing visual appealing scenes. It wasn’t action packed and didn’t have an on the edge of your seat suspense. The premise drove the storyline forward and allowed the story to unfold.

I enjoy many different types of movies, those with a serious premise and then those comedies with not as serious of a premise. When I watch movies with a touching or moving premise I find myself sharing the storyline with people that have not seen it. I like movies that have a premise that I can carry over to real life, kind of like a life lesson.

Links

http://payitforward.warnerbros.com/Pay_It_Forward/

Really Interesting!

http://www.payitforwardmovement.org/

Editing Can Make A Film

As you can see, I like The Prestige. I found that the movie to kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I kept trying to figure it out. The excitement the movie brought drove me to look into how it was created to make me so entertained. I found the editing to play a major role in the movies success.

The film does not unfold in a linear format. Instead, it jumps back and forth between two different time periods. For example, the audience will be watching a scene where The Great Danton is performing onstage and immediately the film cuts to a scene in the future where Angier is in jail for the murder of The Great Danton. The plot continues to unfold, jumping between times with no set pattern.

Editing plays a vital role in this films success. The opening scene starts at the present time, while the rest of the movie takes place in the past. The Prestige unfolds through flashbacks and jump-cuts, while revealing the details of the characters fate witnessed in the beginning scenes. By using these flashbacks and jump-cuts, it is easy for the audience to become confused, yet also intrigued as the plot unfolds. Nolan also uses many short takes and rapid cuts to intensify the moment. In the scene in which Angier’s wife dies; many cameras are used to capture multiple shots of the scene. This effect allowed the audience to see Angeir’s wife dying from many different perspectives. Rapidly cutting these images together adds extreme intensity to an already tense situation, thus adding suspense to the film. Another important scene where rapid editing enhances the film is when Cutter, (Angier’s assistant) is teaching Angier a new trick. This relatively boring scene is brought to life by short takes and rapid cuts. The film jumped back and forth several times from Angier learning his new trick, to performing it for the first time.

Parallel editing is another essential editing technique utilized by Nolan in the closing scenes of The Prestige. In these scenes, Nolan cuts back and forth between the two deaths of the main characters. Borden is being hung for the murder of Angier. However, Angier was never murdered. Instead, he framed Borden for his death which later leads to Angier’s real death. The scene takes place in the jail which symbolizes Borden’s confinement over the past several years. Angier’s real death came as a shock to the audience because Fallon, who is disguised as Borden’s friend/assistant throughout the film, is actually Borden’s twin and is revenging his brother’s death. By parallel editing, the viewer saw two things taking place at the same time, although the two scenes are set in different locations. The success of this scene is due to parallel editing, because the audience is shocked by the parallel life Borden and Fallon shared.

I hope that I did not spoil the movie for anyone who has not seen it. If you have not seen the movie I highly recommend seeing it even if you know how it ends. You will be able to put the puzzle together easier now that you have a head start!

Director Info-
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0634240/

Interesting Info-
http://www.worstpreviews.com/review.php?id=139&section=preview

The Cinematography of the Prestige

The Cinematography of the Prestige

The Prestige, released in 2006, tells the story of two illusionists, Robert Angier (The Great Danton) and Alfred Borden that strive to out perform one another. The death of Angier’s wife in the beginning of the movie causes the once friends to become enemies. The plot unfolds as each illusionist works to better their act. Director Christopher Nolan uses many filming techniques to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

The lighting in the film helps create mysterious and somewhat eerie scenes. The Prestige is predominantly shot in low key night scenes. Many of the characters have shadows on their faces and have negative space in their background. By choosing to shoot the film in low key, it adds a level of fear for the audience. If the film had been shot in a high key fashion, it would have lost the depth needed to accompany the story’s intensive plot.

Also important, is the fact that the majority of the film is shot at eye level. Seeing the film at eye level allows the audience to have a connection with the actors, causing the film to appear more realistic. There are no extreme camera angles. The way Nolan was able to capture emotion and feeling was through shot lengths. In many scenes that contained extreme conflict or emotion, the close-up was used in order for the audience to feel what the characters were feeling. In the two separate scenes where Angier and his wife died in the water tank, Nolan captured their struggle against death with a close-up. This close-up shot captured the distress and fear on the characters faces as they struggled for breath. Eventually, the audience sees Angier’s wife, and later Angier, stop fighting and become still with death. If this scene was simply captured with a medium or long shot, the audience wouldn’t have been able to make the emotional connection.

The long-shot was only used a handful of times in The Prestige. It was seen when Angier entered Tesla’s workshop for the first time. The use of the long shot in Tesla’s workshop was used as an establishing shot. It familiarized the audience with a new setting. Another important use of the long-shot was when the illusionists were performing their tricks on stage. The viewer was able to see both sides of the stage, all the props, and a full auditorium with people in their seats. The long-shot, accompanied by loose framing, allowed the viewers to feel as if they were members of the illusionist’s audience.

Tight framing gave the audience a sense of confinement and lack of control. Nolan utilizes this framing technique when Borden is in prison. In this scene, Borden is talking in between the bars to his daughter. The scene is shot with a close-up of Borden’s face surrounded and confined by the prison bars; alluding to his confinement. Tight framing is also used when Angier and his assistant, Olivia, discuss their plan for sabotaging Borden. Angier’s body is blocking the camera, giving Olivia nowhere to go and vise versa.

The choices Nolan along with the Cinematographer made in creating the Prestige allows the audience to truly enjoy this film.

More info on Film
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482571/

- http://video.movies.go.com/theprestige/

Reviews-

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/prestige/