The two film elements that I picked were establishing shot and montage. Both web site were basically straight forward definitions of what the words meant. It help clarify the meanings of the different elements.
The resource I found for the movie was a good web site. It had trivia and quote from the actors. It also talked about the awards that the movie had one. It also gives you a quick over view about the movie and the actors in it. It also had a neat part called goofs and that told you about mishaps in the movie. For instance It take place in Texas but it was filmed in Nebraska and I guess there is a building in the movie that is not in Texas. This web site was a good resource.
The resource I found about the reading is kind of a strange one. I wanted to find a web site about Jack Nicholson because that is one of the actors talked about in the book. I found this web site that one of his fans made. It made me laugh because of the twinkling back ground and the song playing. It had a lot of pictures of Jack through out his career. It also had links to check out some of the different movies he did. You can also write to the guy or girl who made the web page. It was an ok web page I mostly found it humorous.
The movie I chose to view was Terms of Endearment. The book says that the star of the movie is Jack Nicholson but I think it is Shirley Maclaine. I really like this movie. The movie has a lot of emotion to it. It’s about two women Aroa and her daughter Emma and their lifes through the years. You follow their lives with all it ups and downs especially at the end it’s the saddest part. I wont say what happens just incase someone wants to see it. Jack Nicholson plays Aroa’s main love interest. He’s a retired astronaut that likes women a lot. Shirley and Jack have a very interesting relationship in the movie it kind of sweet. I like movies like this it has a real life journey feel to it. This movie won five Academy Awards including best picture. If you haven’t seen it you should.
I enjoyed reading this chapter because it talks about a switch in powers. Up to now the film studios have had all the power in telling which actors to do what film. This chapter was interesting because it tells you about actors picking their own film and saying no to others. It’s also interesting to see the movies that different actors have been in. There are a few movies I had never heard about. Over all the reading and viewing was a good one.
When I went to chose a director I started with what type of movies I wanted to watch and I decided on comedies. I went thought my movie collection and realized that I don’t really pay attention to who directs what movies unless it’s a “big named” director (Lucas, Spielberg, etc.). I found a director by the name of Harold Ramis. I became very interested in him as a director when I found out that he played Egon Spangler in Ghostbusters. I read a little about him and became more intrigued when I found out that he had directed some classic comedic movies. The three movies I picked were National LAMPOON’S Vacation, Caddyshack, and Analyze This. I chose the first two movies because I consider them to be classics. Both Caddyshack and National LAMPOON’S Vacation are hilarious. I chose Analyze This because it is one of his newer film and I wanted to see his directing difference thought out the years.
All of the reading and replies were good. I found the film elements very interesting. The classmates all had good sources. I also liked this module because everyone pretty much chose different movies to watch. Some of the movies that the people had watched I had never seen, but after reading their blogs I may rent them. I replied to DeniseB, Robb, and Nora.
I found one web site that satisfies three and even more of the film elements. I picked three to write about all of them are from Shot length and camera depth. The first was Longshot it shows all or most of a large subject example a person. The second medium shots in this type of a shot the actor and setting occupy equal areas in the frame. The third element I picked was close-up which is when the picture shows a small part of the scene example a actors face. This web site had answers to so many of the film elements like shot angles, camera techniques and movements. For example it had Point of view shot, two-shot, angle of shot, zoom, surveying pan, tracking and tilt and that just to name a few. This was a very good web site and it had so much information. The web page also gives you pictures to help explain some of the camera angles and shot. It’s a picture of a creepy doll but you get the idea.
I decided to pick one male director and one female director for the movies I was going to watch. I decided on George Lucas and Barbra Streisand as the directors. The two Lucas films I watched were “American Graffiti” and “THX 1138″ and the two Streisand films I watched were “Yentl” and “The Prince of Tides”.
I’ll start with Lucas’s films first. “THX 1138″ was a very weird movie. I didn’t like it at all. When I first started watching it I was like what in the world is going on. It didn’t make any sense to me and the talking was very hard to understand at one point I put on the subtitles so I could understand what was being said. Half way through the movie I decided that I couldn’t watch it any more because I wasn’t understanding it. I decided to watch it with the commentary on and this help in understanding the movie. The movie was still really bad but at least I could hear what the director was thinking while he made the movie. The things I didn’t like about the movie were the weird sexual video and the machine or the weird “Jesus” (I think that who its suppose to be) screen telling you to buy more and be happy basically the whole movie was weird. The movie was just to much for me. The movie didn’t make sense with the “shell dwellers” and the prison you go to if you don’t take your drugs or the fact that “Love” was a foreign concept. This movie was Lucas’s first theatrical film and it wasn’t a good try. His second movie “American Graffiti” I liked a lot better. It was more down to earth and it had this fun aspect to it. It was also interesting to see all the familiar faces but very young. For instance Harrison Ford, Ron Howard, and Richard Dreyfus. This movie was set back in the fifty’s when kids would cruise the streets in their cars with friend and go to drive in burger joints. The music in the movie was great it really made the movie. I found my self singing the songs. This movie was a lot better than the other one. It was very interesting that these two movies were so different yet each of them were by the same director.
The first Streisand’s film I watched was “Yentl”. I really liked this movie. It obviously has this old feel to it. I liked this movie because Streisand does so much in it. She acts, writes, directs, and sings through out the movie. It defiantly has some weird turns in it besides her pretending to be a man to study the Talmud. For instance when she has to marry Hadass another women and when she falls in love with he roommate and study partner Avigdor. This was the first time I had ever seen this movie but I think Barbra did a great job. She also sings wonderfully in the movie. “The Prince of Tides” was a very sad movie until the end when Tom gets his life back and his sister starts to get well. This movie was OK. It seemed like it got of track a little bit with their love story but in the end its their love that saves them both especially Tom. I think that these two movies were very emotional and delt a lot with feelings and relationships.
I’m glad that I chose a female and male director because you defiantly see a difference in the way they make their films. After watching each film I really only liked two of them “American Graffiti” and “Yentl” one form a males point of view and the other from a women’s.
I found a web page that is called New York Film Academy. It deals with going to film school. It is a very good web site if you are interested in working in the film industry. It has School program listings, news and events. You can apply online and request a brochure. Some of the programs available are screen writers, acting, 3D animation and one year film making programs. There is also a way to view other students films on the web page. I was having trouble in this part but other people may get it to work. The thing I really liked about this web page is that it gives you tuition amounts for what program you want to go into. For instance a one year film making program costs 13,750 dollars a semester and it is two semesters long. This web sit was a good find.
Here are some of the resources that I found about the movies I viewed. The first movie I viewed was THX 1138 by George Lucas. The website I found about this movie was very informative. It has footage of the actors getting their heads shaved for the movies, where your able to rent the movie. It also gives you a good over view of the movie. For instance THX 1138 was based on a movie that Lucas had did in film school. The movies original title was Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB. What I really liked about this web page is that it tells you what the movie is about because watching the movie you kind of get confused. There is also a section about how this movie has ties into other Lucas’s movies. For instance The “Shell Dwellers” are the basses for the “Jawas” in Starwars and the licence plate on Milner’s deuce coupe in American Graffiti was THX 138. Over all the web site was good.
The second movie I viewed was American Graffiti. The web page I found for this movie was based on where the film was shot. It talked about the film being shot in California and that it is about Lucas’s own adolescent years cruising the strip in Modesto, on highway 99. Modesto was not the place used to film the movies but Petaluma and Sanrafael were. They used these two towns because the had hardly changed. There is also the place Mel’s dinner which is in the movie and it was a real place but is no longer around.
The third movie I viewed was Prince of Tides by Barbra Streisand. The web site I found about this movie was more dedicated to Barbra and her career as a singer/actor/director/writer. It talked a lot about her career and the parts she had in movies. It post the lyric to her songs and it has a section about the Prince of Tides and what the movie was about. It also has a list of all of Barbra’s movies from Funny Girl the first movie she made to Mirror has Two Faces. I enjoyed this website it was entertaining.
The last movie I watched was Yentl. The web site I found for this page was all about the movie Yentl. Barbra wanted to direct/star/produce/write Yentl for her deceased father. Her father died when she was 15 months old. Barbra pretty much did every thing in this movie she did everything above and sang all the songs. The website has an introduction page that introduces the movie to you why it was made and what it is about. It has an area where you can watch the trailer. There is also a directors interview where she talks about the movie in her own words. It has a slide show full of pictures from the movie. I really liked this web site.
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/4456/thx1138.html
http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/a/amgraff.html
