The film The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) is a biography on the life of Christopher Gardner, and is also a drama. This film can be classified as a drama due to its use of the themes of losing everything and trying to find one's place in the world. The classification of the drama genre is commenced when there is tension between Chris Gardner (Will Smith) and his wife and his wife leaves him, and after that his life continued to go downhill until he catches a break by being offered and internship. This turning point defines the film as a drama and allows for further development of the concept that one can still accomplish great things if they just persevere.
This film connects to the film Seven Pounds, another film by director Gabriele Muccino in which Will Smith stars. These films connect in that both of the main characters suffer tremendous loss, and choose to keep fighting to do good in the world rather than just giving up because the odds are against them. In addition, both characters experience a loss of a loved one, and the characters have to deal with the fact that it is their fault.
This film was made by Gabriele Muccino and written by Steve Conrad. This movie was based off real life events and Christopher Gardner's memoir The Pursuit of Happyness. The main purpose of the movie is to inform others about the troubles of life, and that everyone can achieve the American Dream. Also, this film helped to capture the emergence of the homeless, especially in San Francisco.
We can learn from the director by looking at the themes and also the family he depicts. He depicts a struggling American family going through a difficult economic time, as the country was having economic trouble as well. The rift that the burden caused stopped them from being able to be happy. Additionally, in the except, he depicts the strength of human character when it seems like nothing is going in Chris's favor, he still tries his hardest to remain strong. It is harder to find directorial preferences in this novel due to the fact that it is based on a true story and also based off of a book. A thematic connection is the loss of a loved one, as seen in Seven Pounds, where Smith also starred while Muccino was the director. While this film feels the blame because he couldn't make ends meet, in the latter movie the main character has to deal with the fact that the death of the love of his life was his own fault, along with the death of 6 other strangers. Similar stylistic choices include a lot of transitional shots with music playing and the actor usually in a pensive mood.
The most prominent theme in the novel is definitely perseverance because it can be seen in almost every part of the movie. It plays its largest role in the excerpt I chose because my excerpt depicts Chris when he is at his lowest point, he has a little over $21 left in his bank account and has lost the only friend he had that is shown to us. In addition, he is growing increasingly irritable as he yells at his son and is unsure what to say when his son says he wants to go home.
This film is aimed at anyone that has ever gone through a rough patch in their lives, especially single fathers. Muccino wants the audience to recognize the difficulties of life and that if one continues to try and persevere, the American Dream is never out of reach.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454921/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pursuit_of_Happyness
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0814314/synopsis
Monday, January 30, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Ideologies in Film
1. Ideologies in film refer to the value or message that a media tries to tries to convey to its audience. Ideologies can fall under one of two distinct categories, implicit or explicit. Explicit is an ideology that is stated out loud by a character or member of the production staff declares, while implicit is an implied ideology that requires the audience to make inferences and draw conclusions from the film.
2. Will Smith: usually plays either the action hero or the person that changes either his own life or those around him. For the action hero, he starred in the "Men in Black" series, "I am Legend" and "Hancock," while for the drama, he starred in "The Pursuit of Happiness" and "Seven Pounds." He typically plays a character that is down on luck and looking for a fresh start. In his next film, he would most likely play an action hero that is trying to figure out what to do after a troubling time in his life or unsure what to do with his life after having to leave a former job.
3. Tony Stark: He grew up with a relatively easy childhood as a proven genius and was given anything he wanted. This continued until his adulthood even after the death of his father. He continued to party almost all night every night and this caused him to be easily targeted. His first opposition was his capture in a desert that pushed him far out of his comfort zone. Even though he is considered a superhero, he is appealing because he doesn't have any type of superpower just an above average intelligence, and an advanced knowledge of machinery. The viewer is manipulated into seeing stark as vulnerable, especially when the machine he needs to keep him alive starts to fail. We see Tony upset and throwing his things into a disarray to show his humanity and allow him to be more easily connected to be the viewers. Next, the camera tended to look down on Tony at this moment to continue to amplify his lack of perfection and make him seem more as an everyday person that can be happy, sad and get upset. Depending upon how the character is portrayed, the audience will be more or less able to connect. This is a lot more important in a movie series like "Iron Man" because the continuity of the series depends on the reception of the audience to the movie. Simply put, the easier the audience connects with the character, the more they enjoy the movie and improves the likeliness another movie will be made because it is seen as another chance to make a large sum of money. Without this positive reception that is greatly dependent upon the appeal of the character, the series will be halted.
4. As time passes, films change to adapt to the current feelings of the world or of the country that it is in. For example, movies are now changing so that women are now main characters, and also characters that are not white are becoming main characters and playing roles more prevalent than a beggar or equivalent character type. For example, anytime before the mid 1960's, no filmmaker would dare to use a black character in a heroic role. Now, we have actors like Will Smith or Morgan Freeman that play in movie blockbusters. Before, no one would would've imagined an African American as an action hero or as a voice of God, such as Smith played in Men in Black and Freeman played in Evan Almighty and Bruce Almighty respectively.
5. Naturally, what we see and what we watch affects us and helps to shape our ideologies about the world. While the main purpose of a film is to entertain, they can also be used as propaganda to indoctrinate the viewer into thinking a certain way or desiring a certain result. This subconscious 'rooting' is due to the effect that the filmmaker desired. This can be due to either the camera work or editing.
6. Suspension of Belief means that the viewer will either temporarily stop thinking about something in a specific way or ignore some facet of reality for the duration of the film. An example of this is in the movie Men in Black, as thinking the government knows of and associates with aliens and has a special task force that hunts down these aliens and labels them as criminals.
7. Since the owner or company is the funder of the movie, they have enormous input in what is put into and what is implied in the movie. Additionally, if the funder's don't like what is going on they have the authority to tell the director to change it or they can just get someone else to do it instead.
4. As time passes, films change to adapt to the current feelings of the world or of the country that it is in. For example, movies are now changing so that women are now main characters, and also characters that are not white are becoming main characters and playing roles more prevalent than a beggar or equivalent character type. For example, anytime before the mid 1960's, no filmmaker would dare to use a black character in a heroic role. Now, we have actors like Will Smith or Morgan Freeman that play in movie blockbusters. Before, no one would would've imagined an African American as an action hero or as a voice of God, such as Smith played in Men in Black and Freeman played in Evan Almighty and Bruce Almighty respectively.
5. Naturally, what we see and what we watch affects us and helps to shape our ideologies about the world. While the main purpose of a film is to entertain, they can also be used as propaganda to indoctrinate the viewer into thinking a certain way or desiring a certain result. This subconscious 'rooting' is due to the effect that the filmmaker desired. This can be due to either the camera work or editing.
6. Suspension of Belief means that the viewer will either temporarily stop thinking about something in a specific way or ignore some facet of reality for the duration of the film. An example of this is in the movie Men in Black, as thinking the government knows of and associates with aliens and has a special task force that hunts down these aliens and labels them as criminals.
7. Since the owner or company is the funder of the movie, they have enormous input in what is put into and what is implied in the movie. Additionally, if the funder's don't like what is going on they have the authority to tell the director to change it or they can just get someone else to do it instead.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Genre Study Chart
Genre name | Film Title, Poster, Link | Narrative Conventions | Typical pieces |
Action/ Adventure |  The Dark Knight, Harry Potter Series, Avatar | A villain type character takes something away from the protagonist causing the protagonist to seek revenge. | Male protagonist, conflict that leads to violence, lighting darker when entering lair of antagonist, set in exotic locations or famous cities, usually something taken away from protagonist and fights to get back. |
Animated Films |  Wall-E, Up, Toy Story Series | Can fall under any genre, typically likeable characters that try to perform a duty others don’t think they can achieve. Rely on the likeability, cuteness, and some moments of humor. Usually teach lessons of conquering fear, friendship, or courage despite the odds. | Protagonist can be anything doesn’t even have to be human, small conflict presented that leads to a desire to get back something or go back to moment from past, setting can be anywhere, typically either stop motion, clay-mation, or computer designed animation, cute family style dialogue |
Comedy |  | Plot only present to tie together film, relies more on clever dialogue and slapstick to cause humor, can teach a lesson to the viewer. | No connections in plot, more outrageous the story or desired destination the better, witty dialogue with puns, satire, and sarcasm, usually male protagonist, dress changes based on type of comedy and how outrageous the story is |
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Writing About Film
1. There are five types of film analyses that can be performed. The first is formal analysis, requires that the viewer be able to use the parts of the film to know how these parts affect the film in its entirety. The second is film history, which states that all films reflect, influence and have history, offer up a critique or reflection of the values and culture of the time period the film was set, made or released, and that films contribute to and influence historical events that are happening at the time, or influence the perception of a past event. The third type is ideological papers, which states that all films support, suggest or idealize a belief or set of beliefs, and tries to force these beliefs upon the viewers of the film. The fourth type is cultural studies/ national cinema, which is that film's represent the culture and nation in which the film was created, and might not like films made in other countries that do not follow the norms that the audience developed. The fifth and final type is discussion of the auteur, which is based on the assumption that one person retains authorship and control.
2. To annotate a shot sequence or scene, one must first set aside a certain scene, and label the shots, preferably using abbreviations for convenience. The benefit of annotation is that you can keep track of the complex camera moves, and help to better understand why the film has a certain effect on the audience and how the director created the film.
3. When the author states to "Think Beyond the Frame," the author is implying that you must not simply look at the film and wonder, but instead ponder and analyze the how's and why's of the films production and its effect on the audience.
2. To annotate a shot sequence or scene, one must first set aside a certain scene, and label the shots, preferably using abbreviations for convenience. The benefit of annotation is that you can keep track of the complex camera moves, and help to better understand why the film has a certain effect on the audience and how the director created the film.
3. When the author states to "Think Beyond the Frame," the author is implying that you must not simply look at the film and wonder, but instead ponder and analyze the how's and why's of the films production and its effect on the audience.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)