Thursday, September 20, 2007

Philadelphia: Photography


In the clip of Philadelphia, I only saw 2 examples of philadelphia, one was pan, whenn the camera turns slightly to the board members after going from Andy. the 2nd was wide angle lens, when the camera looks at them it kind of makes the table look a lot farther than it really is.

photo courtesy of: gezondeliefe.com

Monday, September 17, 2007

Journal 1: Critique the Critic

The review I am critiquing was written by James Berardinelli from ReelViews to the newly released film Superbad directed by Greg Motolla. The following review can be found here. Superbad is a story about three socially inadequate seniors nearing graduation, who are given the chance to become the big kids on campus by providing the alcohol for a party and in turn achieving their main goal, losing their virginity.

I recently had the chance to see and enjoy Superbad in theatres and had a certain expectation but when I saw the movie my expectation was blown away giving me an entirely new experience I never thought I would get from a movie like this.

"Through all of the mayhem, however, director Mottola never loses sight of his
characters, and that's a key point to remember. While we laugh both with and at the protagonists, we also care about them."

The movie is obviously driven by its crude and embracive humor but there is also an underlying force that keeps you focused and intent on the film, which is, the characters. You put yourselves with the main characters and become enamored with the development of the characters emotional structure and how it develops over the course of the movie and how radically your perception of them change.

"The movie, produced by Judd Apatow, written by Seth Rogan & Evan Goldberg, and directed by Greg Mottola, pushes the genre's envelope a little farther than anything before it has done."

Mr. Berardinelli makes ita point that it has character development and a good comedy plotline, but truly the reason to see this movie is for the comedy, pure and simple. Whether it's Seth's drawings as a child, Evan's awkwardness, or Fogells antics with his newfound friends there is something here, guaranteed, to get you laughing and chances are you won't stop.

"Teen comedies have always found it more interesting to focus on social outsiders than members of the in-crowd, and Superbad is not an exception."

James discusses the focus of teen comedies is usually on the social outsiders because of their quirks and tendencies usually end up more comedic, and Superbad is definitely not an exception, just with some tweaks. I personally agreed with this excerpt the most because it is almost a stereotype of all high school comedies to have a focus on the outcasts due because the awkwardness is a great topic and can almost guarantee laughs if used correctly.

The critic is greatly underestimated due to the fact of controlling a percentage of the populous to see a film due to their opinion, and some abuse that and just focus on the bad and never appreciate the good in a film and James Berardinelli seems like one of those people who appreciate movies by the effort put in and the overall outcome. This review discusses some of the creative aspects of the movie but doesn't go too in depth, but again this is a high school comedy it can be funny but no one goes to see movies like Superbad to discover the symbolism in the actions of characters, they go to enjoy themselves and laugh. I believe James wrote this review this way to show that there is some depth to this movie but overall to see it for the level of comedy that rarely comes around. He wants you to see the movie and to leave genuinely entertained, which in my opinion could be one of the easiest things you can do.

Review by: James Berardinelli

Critique by: Sam Mueller

Photo Courtesy of FirstShowing.net

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

The Video Blog

My computer is a little out of date but I can still add videos, I just can't watch them. So I'm going to have to describe the way how the movie is produced and hope that good examples come up.

This movie is about a man named Leonard who has short term memory so we almost automatically know more than the main character from the beginning which is called Unrestricted Narration: when we know more than the characters.

The other element is The classic hollywood cinema aspect. But 3 of them have a much bigger role in this film than the others so I will focus on those.
1. Power to make change, Leonard has the power to find his wifes murderer.
3. Conflict to stop change, Leonard cannot form new memories, not remembering what he has to do which he considers his only reason for living every time he loses focus is an almost impossibility.
5. Finality (a sense of closure), His whole goal throughout the movie, to avenge his late wife.

Monday, September 10, 2007

My favorite film

Memento is my favorite film because it is not your typical crime vengance thriller. It is a story about a man who is looking for the murderer of his past wife, unfourtunately he had an accident and is now unable to create new memories forcing himself to find ways of leaving himslef clues and messages to find the killer. The story itself is probably my favorite but the most amazing part is how the movie is made, playing future and past events in and out of order forcing you to focus on the characters and the story and how things play out. A very good movie that we will be watching in class which I hope all of you are as excited as I am for.











photo courtesy of:
mymovies.com