Cardon, Sanders, Villavicencio, Labbe: Whip My Hair Around Loyola

Cardon - Casablanca

The producers of major motion pictures work diligently to make sure that their film doesn’t alienate certain groups of people, because it could greatly effect the turn out in audience size. Finding common ground for everyone in the audience to agree on is important in regards to the overall success of the film. In the early stages of the film, Isla and Laszlo enter Rick’s café. Laszlo is unaware of the relationship his wife, Isla, and Rick had during the time of his absence. In the scene pictured, four of the main characters are present: Rick, Isla, Laszlo, and Captain Renault. A viewer could take this particular scene and use it’s elements as foreshadowing of what is to come. Isla is sitting down at the table looking at Rick with a certain smirk on her face. Captain Renault clearly realizes that there is something between the two, without having any prior knowledge to their previous relationship. Laszlo is placed further back to the right. He has a look of concern on his face as he looks at Rick. Both Rick and Isla are staring at one another as if no one else were around. The lighting is very low key with dramatic shadows. This use of light not only sets the mood of the nightclub, but it also adds to the mystery of the situation at hand. The frame is most definitely social. All four characters are in the frame, which captures their meeting.

Cardon - The Social Network

The Social Network has finally come along and given our generation a decent movie to define our time. Jesse Eisenberg who plays Mark Zuckerberg has been in other impressive movies such as Zombieland, Adventureland, The Squid & the Whale, and The Emperor’s Club. Then we have Justin Timberlake portraying the little shit who is Sean Parker. Like he said in the movie, he did change the music industry without a doubt. Andrew Garfield plays Eduardo Saverin, Mark’s best friend and the economic backer for the beginnings of facebook. Not to sound corny but there is something my mom always tells me to remember and that is, money & power aren’t evil themselves but the love of money & power is evil. That is exactly what got in Zuckerberg’s way. He became power hungry, but the more power he gained the lower his approval rating became. The movie appropriately depicts the impact that these young men have had on social networking throughout the past five years. Not only is facebook widely used amongst teens and college students, but parents have also begun to sign up. They are reconnecting with high school friends, college, friends, and old neighborhood friends. Sadly our generation hasn’t offered many other significant contributions to the world, but facebook is definitely an enormous stepping-stone. The quote that defines Zuckerberg’s actions is from his “girlfriend” Erica, "You are going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd. And I want you to know from the bottom of my heart that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole."

Cardon - Personal Avatar

If I had to choose an avatar for myself I would have to go with Annie Hall (1977). Many consider her ditsy compared to Alvy’s neurotic disposition, but I find her to be refreshing. She is unconcerned with what others think, and most importantly she is sincere. Annie finds joy and wonder in life’s simplest things. She is definitely quirky, but that only adds to her air of intrigue. Another important aspect of her character was the manner in which she dressed. She didn’t feel the need to expose a lot of skin or leg; instead she chose a very androgynous look. She doesn’t appear manly at all, but in a sense sort of innocent almost in a make believe way. Annie’s wardrobe in the movie was actually Diane Keaton’s. The costume designer on set disapproved of Keaton’s attire, but Woody Allen defends her by saying, “Leave her. She's a genius. Let's just leave her alone, let her wear what she wants.” That was a very smart move on Allen’s part, because Keaton’s individual style sparked a huge craze in women’s fashion during the late 70s. Not many people realize that Diane Keaton’s real name is Diane Hall. Her nickname in real like is Annie, which explains the title of the movie. Another admirable quality of Annie's is her consistent optimism regardless of the situation. Her optimism and Alvy's humorous negativity is what adds to such great comedic relief throughout the movie.