You all had an opportunity to watch a section and see me breakdown some topics when it comes to film. You saw me break down the importance of the suspension of disbelief in Pacific Rim and Prometheus. Your task is to choose a film, or section of a film, and analyze what you see happening. It helps if you choose a film that you’re incredibly passionate about, but feel free to step out of your comfort zone and explore a film you’ve never seen before. This is your opportunity to watch something beautiful and break down what is going on. There are many many topics that you can cover and I want you to decide what to focus on. I will layout some possible topics along with some suggested films. These are just suggestions so feel free to explore beyond these suggestions.
Truly wonderful cinematographers are masters at arranging elements in a shot to convey meaning. Explore how a film uses the picture plane to make viewers feel specific emotions and move your eye around the image. Some great movies for composition:
Drive, There Will be Blood, A Fist Full of Dollars, Old Boy, Days of Heaven
Sometimes, film makers use something normal in our world to hide meaning in their art. Upon first glance we might not see it but if we look close enough, we can find a through line that supports what the characters are feeling. Some films with symbolism:
12 Angry Men, Shutter Island, Prisoners, No Country for Old Men, In the Mood for Love
Color is one of the most complex elements we can play with as image makers. Its usage is so versatile that we can essentially assign any kind of meaning we want to a sequence of images. Explore what color means in films like:
Amelie, Vertigo, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Noir, Thriller, Suspense, Horror, Heist, Whodunnit. These are all terms that belong to a family of films because they share some qualities and recurring themes. But what are those things and can we highlight them? You may need to see more than one film in order to properly identify these elements, but some examples of genre films are:
Apocalypse Now, Rear Window, Blue Velvet, Psycho, Double Indemnity, Once Upon a Time in the West, Alien
Costume is an extremely powerful tool in film making. At a glance it can make a character relatable or alien, rich or poor, stylish or quirky, or even describe a certain part of the world. Some films with absolutely amazing costume:
Bladerunner 2049, The Fall, The Great Gatsby, Black Panther, Mad Men
The assignment is simple, choose something that interests you, that you’d like to explore, and explore it. Take screen caps and write some text that highlights the things you see and observe. Make it interesting and compelling. Be prepared to share your screen caps with the class and talk us through the things you’ve seen. Feel free to use more than just the source material to support your findings, but be sure to provide proper citation to avoid plagiarism.