Through this course I have learned a lot.  I have learned that there is many elements to the film making process.  for instance lighting and sound technique.  There is also the different camera angles and special effects used in films.  I had never realized how much directors editors roles were so important.  In film actors are the prominant figures in film, but with out the other people (editor, screenwriter0 movies would not be possible.  Film has change a lot over the years we have gone from black n white film to color, no sound to sound and a lot more.  Acotrs have change over time and their roles in film.  Film has also become more open with sexuallity and language content.  Some of the accomplishments in film from 1960 to now is the rating system and actor ganing more independence over what films they will do.  Significant films through out the years were American Graffiti, all the Star Wars films, Titanic, Sex, Lies and Videotape, and mant more.  The only movie critics I remember are Siskel (deceased now) and Ebert.  Marketing for films is a huge part there are commercials, posters, traliers and the internet has be big for the advertising of films.  I have learned alot from this class.  I notice that I do see films a little different.  I see more digital effects and different film shots.  I take more notice of who is directing the film and what othr films are like the one I am seeing.  i still only watch movies for fun and don’t plan on doing anything different. 

This was a good module.  I enjoyed the reading and the viewing.  The other students had some good resources and I enjoyed reading what they had to say about the module.  I replied to Denise B, Robb, and Heidi.

The three movies I chose to watch were “National Lampoons Vacation”, “Caddyshack”, and “Analyze This”all of which are directed by Harold Ramis. Most people don’t know who Harold Ramis is by his name, but if I tell you what acting role he is most famous for you’ll know exactly who I am talking about. Harold Ramis is the intelligent Egon Spengler from “Ghostbuster” and “Ghostbuster two”. Harold Ramis was born November 21,1944 in Chicago Illinois. Married twice and a father of four, this accomplished actor, writer, and director has to date directed over ten movies all did fairly well. Besides the three movies I chose he directed “Groundhog Day”, “Multiplicity”, “Analyze That”, and the “Ice Harvest”. It’s obvious that Harold Ramis favorite genre to work in is comedy. Will Harris said in a interview with Ramis that there are very few individuals in Hollywood who have been directly connected to so many classic comedies as Harold Ramis (bullz-eye). Ramis graduated from Washington University with is Honorary Doctorate of the Arts degree (Answers.com). His first job was a mental-ward orderly. He also was a joke editor for playboy magazine. Comedy has been a large part of his life. Ramis had a long association with Canada’s Second City Comedy troupe. He also performed in the National Lampoons Radio hour show. Ramis has be important to the film industry because of his ability to make us laugh. His movies find humor in everyday situations that would normally stress the average person. .

The first movie I watched was “National Lampoons Vacation”. “National Lampoons Vacation” is a 1983 comedy film directed by Harold Ramis starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron, Randy Quaid, and Imogene Coca (Wikipedia). This wacky comedic movie is about a family trip to Wally World. This family of four is driving 2,460 miles from Chicago to L.A. for the ultimate family fun vacation. Clark Griswold is an enthusiastic husband and father who desperately wants to plan the greatest summer vacation for his wife and kids (Bullz-eye). Clark is always wanting everything to go perfect but always messes things up along the way. The movie is basically about what happens to this family on their trip all of which go array. For instance Aunt Edna dies and they tie her to the car roof, their car is damage badly, they lose their money, get lost, and then at the end Wally World is closed. Up until this point Clark is staying positive and is ready to have fun but when he sees the park is closed he loses it and makes sure that his family gets to ride the rides. This movie is very funny and a classic comedy.

The second movie I chose to see was “Caddyshack” also starring Chevy Chase. Some of the other actors in the movie are Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, and Michael O’Keefe (19^th Anniversary). This movie is also a comedy and deals with human relationships and one gopher relationship. There are Many different thing going on in this movie but they all take place at the golf club. There is a feud. going on between Ted Knight’s character Judge Smails and Rodney Dangerfield’s Character Al Czervik. Al is a crude over powering character and Smails is a snobby “Ass”. Danny Noonan is Michael O’Keefe’s character and he need to get the caddy scholarship and gets advice from Ty Webb Chevy’s character. One of the funniest things going on is Bill Murray playing a not so smart grounds keeper by the name of Carl Spackler and he is having trouble catching this smart gopher that likes to dance. This movie has a lot of the same humor that “National Lampoons Vacation” has. It’s this type of dry sarcastic laugh your butt off humor. All the actors in this movie have great chemistry together. They are some of the best comedic genius.

The third movie I chose to watch was one of Ramis’s newer movies “Analyze This”. This movie stars Billy Crystal, Robert De Niro, Lisa Kudrow and Joe Viterelli. I also really like this movie. Same type of humor and laughs as the other two and same type of personal relationships. Its about a gangster that is having panic attacks and depression. He finds a therapist Billy Crystal that he forces at gun point to help him, but they both learn a lot of each other and develop a friendship. The truest moments are when we get a peek at Dr. Sobol’s fantasies about his patients: they’re so boring and whiney, he wants to put them out of their misery (filmscouts). Crystal an De Niro are hilarious together and Ramis does a good job of showing their interactions together. Ramis has made a fleet, unself-conscious, eminently enjoyable picture, where one-liners carom merrily like stray bullets, and where there’s casual ease, like the drape of a sharpter’s trousers, in the rapport between its two stars (Zacharek).

These three films fit together because of there comedic style. In all three movies Ramis allows his actors to use improv were they feel it is necessary. In Caddyshack most of the movie is done in improv. For instance when Bill’s character is putting the explosives together to catch the gopher every thing he say was though up at the moment. In each of these movies there are significant personal relationships. There is a certain type of humor that Ramis uses in his films it’s very sarcastic and dry. I also noticed that Ramis uses actor that he has worked with in the past. Bill Murray and Ramis worked together on the National Lampoons Radio hour. Billy Crystal also worked with Ramis on SCTV which is a comedic show. Ramis also uses Chevy chase in two of the movies and Ramis and Chevy were going to be on SNL together but Ramis went to Canada to work instead. Ramis also uses a lot of every day issues and I think gives humor to them. For instance a gangster who suffers from panic attacks and depression. Ramis likes to use music also in these movie. In “National Lampoons Vacation” Clark and Ellen like to sing songs when the are driving and in “Caddyshack” the gopher has his own theme music and Tony Benet is used as a gift to Billy’s character. I think that these three movies fit into Ramis’s style very well because Ramis said that the investment that a director makes in a film is huge in terms of time and energy and commitment, so I really have to believe in something if I’m going to work on it (IGN). I think you see the effort that he puts into his films.

                               Work Cited

Meet the Stars”. Caddyshack 19^th Anniversary. 1999.  

     Warner Bros. 9 April 2006.

>http://caddyshackthemovie.warnerbros.com/cmp/meet.htmhttp://caddyshackthemovie.warnerbros.com/cmp/meet.htm Zacharek, Stephanie. “The King of Comedy”. Salon

Zacharek, Stephanie. “The King of Comedy”Entertainment. 1999. 5 April 2006.

>http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/reviews/199/03/cov-05reviewa.html 

“Harold Ramis”. Answers.com. No date. 5 April 2006.

>http://www.answers.com/topic/harold- ramis “National Lampoon’s Vacation”. Wikipedia. No date. 10 April 

“National Lampoon’s Vacation” No date. 10 April       2006.

>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National-Lampoon%27s-

Vacation“Vacation (1983)”. Bullz-eye.com. No date. 5 April 2006.

No date. 5 April 2006.>http://www.bulz-eye.com/mguide/reviews-1983/vacation.htmhttp://www.bulz-eye.com/mguide/reviews-1983/vacation.htm “Harold Ramis Interview”. ING Interviews. No date. 5 April 

“Harold Ramis Interview”. ING Interviews. No date. 5 April      2006.

>http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/670/670496p3.html  Harris, Will. “Interview with Harold Ramis”. Bullz-eye.com. 24

Harris, Will. “Interview with Harold Ramis”. 24     Feb. 2006. 10 April 2006.>http://www.bullz-

eye.com/mguide/interviews/2006/harold_ramis.htm Harris, Will. “Interview with Harold Ramis”. Bullz-eye.com. 24

Harris, Will. “Interview with Harold Ramis”. 24     Feb. 2006. 10 April 2006.

>http://www.bullzeye.com/mguide/interviews/2006/harold_ramis.htm 

The website that I resources about the viewing was the official sit of the Second Pirates of the Caribbean and its called Dead Mans Chest. I chose this site because I thought a lot of other people would chose the one we watched. This was a good website it had the trailer to watch, downloads, and behind the scene photos. The release date for this movie is July 2006 can’t wait.

http://adisney.go.com/disneypictures/pirates/index.html

The website that I resources for the reading was Universal Studios web page. I really like this web page because you can look at behind the scene making the rides. It gives you pictures and a list of attractions. I never released how many rides were dedicated to movies. It as a map and a list of blockbuster films coming out. I really enjoyed this website.

http:themeparks.universalstudios.com/hollywood/website/index.html?_source=USMN.GNAV

I really like the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl it is a really good movie. It is one of my favorite rides at Disney Land also. I think that this movie is filled with adventure, love, and suspense. I really like Johnny Depp in this movie he did a good job. When you watch the movie you can defiantly see the parts that relate to the theme ride at Disney Land.

The reading was very interesting. I really like all the movie themes rides and I see how others are attracted to them. The parks that have these rides make some big bucks off of the movies. I found it interesting that they start building the ride before the movie comes out it seems like a chance but it has worked out a lot.

The readings and replies were good this time. Some of the students blogs were interesting and informative.  I replied to Denise B, Robb O, and Heidi.  They had very interesting blogs.

For my peer review I chose Heidi’s and Kari’s paper.  They had very good papers>I enjoyed reading them a lot.

The resource I found on the reading is an article that USA Today put out. It’s about digital cinema and how it is going to become more popular. It also talks about why digital cinema is better the regular film. For instance digital last longer than film because it doesn’t dirty as fast so you always get a nice look image with the digital.

www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/kimkomando/2004-03-22-komando_x.htm

The resource I furled for the viewing was the Star Wars website for Attack of the Clones. It was pretty easy finding a website for this film. There seemed to be millions of web site for Star Wars films. This web site had an option were you can become a member and get access to a lot more stuff but it had some interesting things for non members. It had a behind the scene look at the movie, a cast and crew section, an answer/question part and you can view the trailer for the movie. I found this web site interesting.

www.starwars.com/episode-ii/

I found the reading to be interesting. I never really thought about how much movies use digital techniques. It seemed by the reading that pretty much every movie uses some form of digital enhancing. Whether it is to make the crowd look bigger or to fix a building that has been destroyed for years. I guess I’m uses to seeing the images and never really think about them being digital. There are the obvious digital effects, for instance in the movie we watched for this module.

Star Wars: Episode II-Attack of the Clones is all digital. The actors must of spent most of their time acting in front of a green screen. The movie was ok. I have never really been a huge fan of the Star Wars movies but they are some thing to see. I wonder if the actors find it hard to act to a green screen when they are suppose to be talking to a individual. For instance when Jar Jar Binks is talking to the senator. It’s also amazing at how real things look. I mean I know that it is being created by a computer but some of the things they create are very real looking.

The three movies I chose to watch were “National Lampoons

Vacation”, “Caddyshack”, and “Analyze This”all of which are

directed by Harold Ramis. Harold Ramis was born November

21,1944 in Chicago Illinois. Married twice and a father of

four, this accomplished actor, write, and director has to date

directed over ten movies all do fairly well. Besides the three

movies I chose he directed “Groundhog Day”, “Multiplicity”,

“Analyze That”, and the “Ice Harvest”. It’s obvious that

Harold Ramis favorite genre to work in is comedy. Harold

Ramis graduated from Washington University with is

Honorary Doctorate of the Arts degree (Answers.com). His

first job was a mental-ward orderly. He also was a joke

editor for playboy magazine. Comedy has been a large part

of his life. Ramis had a long association with Canada’s

Second City Comedy troupe. He also performed in the

National Lampoons Radio hour show. Most people don’t

know who Harold Ramis is by his name, but if I tell you what

acting role he is most famous for you’ll know exactly who I

am Taking about. Harold Ramis is the intelligent Egon

Spengler from Ghostbuster and Ghostbuster two. Ramis

has be important to the film industry because of his ability

to make us laugh. His movies find humor in everyday

situations that would normally stress the average person.

His movies give positive messages whether it’s helping

others or having strong family connections.

    The first movie I watched was “National Lampoons

Vacation” it’s a wacky comedic movie about a family trip to

Wally World. This family of four is driving over 2000 miles 

for the ultimate family fun vacation. Clark Griswold is played 

by Chevy Chase and he is a dad that wants everything to

perfect but always messes things up along the way. The

movie is basically about what happens to this family on their

trip all of which go array. For instance Aunt Edna dies and

they tie her to the car roof, their car is damage badly, they

lose their money, get lost, and then at the end Wally World

is closed. Up until this point Clark is staying positive and is

ready to have fun but when he sees the park is closed he

loses it and makes sure that his family can ride the rides.

  The second movie I chose to see was “Caddyshack” also

starring Chevy Chase. Some of the other actors in the

movie are Bill Murray and Rodney Dangerfield. This movie is

also a comedy and deals with human relationships and one

gopher relationship. There are Many different thing going on

in this movie but they all take place at the golf club. One of

the funniest is Bill Murray a not so smart ground keeper and

the trouble he has in catching this smart gopher that likes

to dance. Chevy chase plays the guy who has it all and his

trying to give advice to one of the caddy’s. This movie has a

lot of the same humor that “National Lampoons Vacation”

has. It’s this type of dry sarcastic laugh your butt off

humor.

  The third movie I chose to watch was one of Ramis’s newer

movies “Analyze This”. This movie stars Billy Crystal and

Robert De Niro. I also really like this movie. Same type of

humor and laughs as the other two and same type of

personal relationships. Its about a gangster that is having

panic attacks and depression. He find a therapist that he

kind of forces to help him, but they both learn a lot of each

other and develop a friendship. Crystal an De Niro are

hilarious together and Ramis does a good ob of showing

their interactions together.

    These three films fit together because of there comedic

style. In each of these movies there are significant personal

relationships. There is a certain type of humor that Ramis

uses in his films it’s very sarcastic and dry. I also noticed

that Ramis uses actor that he has worked with in the past.

Bill Murray and Ramis worked together on the National

Lampoons Radio hour. Billy Crystal also worked with Ramis

on SCTV which is a comedic show. Ramis also uses Chevy

chase in two of the movies and Ramis and Chevy were going

to be on SNL together but Ramis went to Canada to work

instead. Ramis also uses a lot of every day issues and I

think gives humor to them. For instance a gangster who

suffers from panic attacks and depression. Ramis likes to

use music also in these movie. In “National Lampoons

Vacation” Clark and Ellen like to sing songs when the are

driving and in “Caddyshack” the gopher has his own theme

music. I think that these three movies fit into Ramis’s style

very well.

Answers.com, no date: 14 April 2006

     www.answers.com/topic/harold-ramis

This was an ok module.  It wasn’t one of my favorites.  I did like the movie i watched even if others didn’t.  This week seemed to go by fast.  I did enjoy reading this chapter it had a lot of new information for me.  I replied to Kari’s, Nora M, and Diane C’s blogs.  I picked them because they had some good information and I enjoyed reading their blogs.