Paper Prompts

I read through each prompt then thought about the prompt that caught my attention, which was the opening prompt that stated, “critically compare the openings of Modern Times/Hugo/Dancer in the Dark”. This prompt caught my attention because after watching each film in class one of the most important aspects of these films that were discussed was the opening of each film. These class discussions and the answers each of my classmates came up which made me connect the beginning of the films to the essence of the films, made me then look at films in a different aspect. Usually when I watch a film I’m not concerned about the things I notice in the beginning of the film. I usually think the middle plot of the film is what grasp the film viewer’s attention and allows you to understand the essence of the film. With that being said the way in which I view films are beyond different from when I first entered this class. I notice everything from the speed the director moves the camera, the aspects the camera zoom in and focus on for a period of time, as well as the background and foregrounds. Although, this prompt was the one that caught my attention I do have a question as to can I also compare the beginning of the films to the end of the films? Because as I realized from watching these films the beginning of the films connects to how the films end.

Dancer in the Dark Movie Review

“Dancer in the Dark” was one of the most horrible films I’ve ever seen. Don’t get me wrong the plot was interesting a single mom living with her son wanting the best for her son just as another other mother would’ve. But, where was her son father? How come he was never mentioned? What made Selma so sure that her genes were strong enough to make her son go as blind as her? The singing throughout the film was also a concern of mines not only was it foolish it just confused me. For example Selma begin singing after she killed Bill and she runs up to his wife and sings, “I killed you’re husband” as if this was some sort of joke. As stated in Edbert’s review, “Maybe it seems silly, anyway but you can admire his nerve”. Actually, I didn’t admire his “nerve” because at that point in the film it was nothing to be silly about. This point of the film was to be taken serious because Bill stole Selma’s money then lied to his wife because he didn’t want to tell her the truth then asks Selma to kill him behind his wife back. Unfortunately there was no humor in that scene what so ever. With that being said I also noticed the quality of the film, which wasn’t so great. The movements of the camera and the cuts in each shot made the film seem almost unreal or as if someone was filming the entire movie on there cell phone. I couldn’t understand why every time Selma would be begin to sing there would be this orange tangy coloring to the film. Was this because this is what made her happy? Brighter colors happier mood? I have no idea but every time I saw the shift in color it was predictable that the next scene would be singing. “Most of the film is shot in fairly drab digital video, but the musical videos have brighter colors”(Ebert). Moreover, the singing throughout this film is what really ruined everything for me, because it seemed like every aspect of her life that was supposed to be taken serious at that point was almost like a joke. When she killed Bill, when she was in the courtroom, when she went to jail, and when she was about to get hung. Each of these scenes was serious moments in Selma’s life and I didn’t understand the connection of the songs being sung or even the dances. At the end of the film I wasn’t sure if I should boo or cheer myself, I was in total shock at first then as I walked a few steps outside of the classroom I allowed everything to sink in and I said, “That movie was horrible”.  Then after class on Thursday when one of my classmates said they actually enjoyed the film I was completely puzzled and eager to hear about the aspects of the film that he enjoyed. Ironically, more students in my class disliked the film more than they actually like the film mixed reviews are clearly normal. “After the screening, the auditorium filled with booing and cheering--so equal in measure that people started booing or cheering at each other”(Ebert).

Nightmare Sequence

The significance of this scene in Hugo is the idea of machines being apart of Hugo's life. In the beginning of the film Hugo is in a machine (clock) the movie continues Hugo and his dad is trying to fix a machine (bot). Once Hugo's father dies fixing the machine meant everything to Hugo he almost feels like its his duty to fix the bot himself because it would've made a part of him feel connected to his father. Therefore, in the middle of the movie what more to show then more machines. Hugo eat, sleep, dreams, machines. His whole life is surrounded by machines. The nightmare was to allow the audience to understand that fixing the machine was important to Hugo, once he saw the key that matches the bot he dove right into the train station tracks with no hesitation. The one missing piece he was looking for was there right before his eyes. The train running away wasn't of important the train moved so Hugo wouldn't die, so what? If Hugo would've died right then and there the movie would've ended in confusion. What about the little girl what about Pa George? Part two of the nightmare when Hugo turned into a machine signified that Hugo thought about the bot so much that he turned into one, thats how much fixing the bot was on his mind.

Hugo Opening & Closing

The film Hugo begins with the parts of a clock ticking. Just as the beginning of a paper that has a thesis which tells you what the topic the writer is going to speak upon so does the beginning of Hugo. Scorsese utilized motion camera in order to zoom in and out on the most important aspects of the film. The parts of the clock ticking allows the viewer of the film to know clocks and part of the clock is going to play an important role of the film. Then the camera zooms out of the parts of the ticking clock and moves throughout the city of Pairs and to the train station. Speeding through the people moving in the train station and upwards towards the clock in the train station and behind the clock there is the face of a little boy behind the number four with a sad look on his face. At the end of the film Scorsese mimics the same camera motion he shows the outside of the house then other parts of the house. Before the film completely ends Scorsese zooms in on the auto bot which is what he wants the viewers to focus in on. The auto bot plays an important role in the essence of the film. The auto bot is all Hugo had to remember his father after he dies. The bot is a symbol for memory as well as mystery that Hugo finally figures out which makes his life complete once he put the pieces to the puzzle together.  It ends zoomed on the auto bot face to show the film viewer's that without the auto bot it would've never been a film plot.

Red Balloon Pt2

In class today Dr.Devine replayed "Red Balloon" for the class in order to notice and focus on the important aspects of Red Balloon. Red Ballon is a film that has many different small details that allows the audience to put in prospective the essence of the film. After watching the film for a second time today in class I noticed that a lot of the details my classmates noticed didn't matter. For example its the winter time there are leaves on the floor. So what? That doesn't justify the essence of the film. I noticed in the beginning of the film the camera was titled upwards which allowed me to notice the essence of the film could possibly be about things going up and down (the balloon). Then I also noticed once the boy got the red balloon he exposed the balloon to many differnet things people, the train, etc. I also noticed the red balloon wasn't allowed at the little boys home. The house keeper took the red balloon and threw it outside the window. I also noticed the balloon brought a lot of light and coloring to the film because throughout the film nothing stood out things were grey and dull.  The red balloon was the most vibrant color. I think the vibrant coloring of the balloon shows from the start of the film that the protagonist of the film is the red balloon. Then comes the little boy that creates this bond and relationship of happiness due to the red balloon.