Rickert, Blade Runner

The film Blade Runner deals with the out casted android in a futuristic dystopian society. The android outcasts are called replicantes. The replicates were engineered to serve as soldiers in the off world colonies. Their life span last 4 years because of this short lifespan, they are unable to have the same emotional feelings as humans. In the film, four replicants escape to Earth, and Harrison Ford is contracted to “retire” them. This destruction is the method of removal and treatment of these outsiders (replicants). The society urgency to remove these outsiders stems from different factors. There is an apparent fear of the replicants, mainly because they are different. The humans fear their intelligence, for the replicants intelligence may supersede the humans own intelligence. The replicant Rachel however, seems to have developed emotions that other replicants have not been able to. In the article, Bladerunner and carpunk versions of Humanity, “Deckard thinks to himself that "Replicants weren't supposed to have feelings, but neither were bladerunners." Yet it is clear that both do and develop powerful emotions through contact with others. And "in science fiction the ultimate sign of the human" is the expression of "emotions and feelings" (Bruno 61). This explores the ideal of the replicants actually being humans because the presence of emotions, although they did not originate in the same manner as real humans. This debate of replicants as actually humans echoes current discussion of the morality of abortion and stem cell research. The human fear of “outsiders” is followed by the immediate destruction and removal of these “outsiders”. The movie blade runner mirrors the innate human fear of the creation of technology that could possibly one day be more intelligent and stronger than humans.

Rickert, Casablanca

The film Casablanca, is clearly a love story between the two characters Ilsa and Rick. Although, World War II is noted throughout the film, the main focus is between the conflict of Ilsa and Rick. The continual focus of their relationship takes the audiences focus off World War II. Since the moment that Ilsa is brought into the film the love story is the focus of the film. The war is also utilized in the film and can be seen as a tool to engage the audience by creating a more dynamic plot. Instead of the one dimensional love story plot with conflict of Rick and Ilsa, the war brings out another side of conflict. Casablanca is a classic and amazing film that utilizes simple techniques such as interweaving of the plot to create a true master piece of cinema. I really enjoyed this film and the techniques that the director incorporated. I usually do not find older classic movie to be very interesting at all. Casablanca definitely changed my perception on classic films and I hope to find some more that spark my interest. I actually felt compassion for these characters in Casablanca, and genuinely cared that they had a positive outcome.

Rickert, Avatar- Joan Benoit

An avatar is a representation and a desired image of oneself. Avatars vary in physical appearance, representation, and overall meaning to individuals. Joan Benoit is the adequate individual to be my avatar. Benoit is an American marathon runner and is the first ever women’s Olympic marathon champion. She has had a tremendous running career including very painful injuries and surgeries. She won the Boston Marathon in 1979 with a 2:35:15 time, and once again in 1983 she won, taking two minutes off the world’s best time. She also won the first women’s Olympic marathon in 1984 despite having surgery on her knee 17 days before trials. Although she is retired from running now she opened a running clinic, coaches’ women cross country, and serves as a motivational speaker. She has founded multiple races that have attracted top runners from all over the world. I am an avid runner myself, and I understand the difficultly of this sport. Running is an extremely demanding activity that requires intense emotional and physical endurance. Running is also more than just a mere task; it is a way of life that few outsiders can comprehend. Benoit being the first women to win the Olympic marathon inspires me to preserver for my goal to place in a marathon race. She was a pioneer in her time of long distance running and accomplished a task that no women had achieved before. Benoit continued involvement in running and the establishment of benefit runs, running clubs, and coaching embodies the ideal of the ultimate dedicated runner. Benoit’s perseverance, dedication, and overall physical endurance represent all that I hope to be in my life. I pride myself on my dedication and endurance in running and other aspects in my life such as my education. Therefore, Joan Benoit is my avatar because she is a representation of my ideals and all I aim to embody.

Rickert, Beowulf Scene

The 2007 film Beowulf is classified as a film that is entirely Computer Generated Imagery (CGI). Though some people may celebrate the advent of this groundbreaking technology, I personally believe that it fails. Entirely computer generated imagery fails because it makes the film become less realistic. One scene is particular that needs some improvements is the fighting scene with Grendel and Beowulf in the dining hall.This scene needs further editing and enhancing in several ways. The director uses strobe light affect that is supposed to add to the franticness of the scene. Though the strobe light adds to the confusion of the fight, many audience members may be annoyed and visually overwhelmed such as I was with the lighting. Another characteristic of the scene that needs improving is the characters that play humans. The animated characters are hard to believe because they lack believable human qualities such as the fact that they fly through the air or land on a chandelier. The humans’ being able to achieve such feats makes me doubt the movie as a whole. The purposeful slow down of the certain shots in this scene also makes the film feel like an action movie instead of an old folk tale. Beowulf is believed to be the oldest written story that exist today, therefore the over animation of the film detracts from the primordial nature of the tale. Also, the liquid that seeps out of Grendel’s head when the stabs him with a sword, seems very poorly animated and I instantly almost laughed because it seemed extremely out of place. The failure of the director to pay attention to these little details can cost him the trust of his audience. The director, in my opinion got carried away with the CGI and did not focus on the validity and overall purpose of the story Beowulf. Although the advent of CGI is impressive in many ways, directors’ should be wary of creating fully CGI films. The 2007 of Beowulf would have been a lot more successful and respect in my opinion if the director had incorporated CGI and actual humans.

Rickert Wolfman Blog

The advancement of technology has played a prominent role in the 2010 Wolfman film. Advancement of technology is specifically understood within the scene of transformation from man to wolfman. In the 1945 version of Wolfman the transformation of Chaney’s full body is not shown in his transformation into Wolfman. Instead the audience is shown a succession of shots edited together of Chaney’s legs growing thick hair and turning into the feet of the wolfman. The audience then realizes that Chaney has turned into a wolfman without fully showing the full transformation. This transformation is a stark contrast to the latest 2010 version of the film Wolfman. In this newer version the audience has full view of Del Toro’s transformation this is possible because of the CGI. The audience views his hands forming into claws, human feet into larger animal like feet, and face becoming that of the wolfman. The audience can experience an almost life like transformation of Del Toro where in Chaney’s transformation the audience must implement more imagination. Chaney’s transformation can be understood as more intense build up of the horror of the wolfman for the audience. This is mainly because the audience does not see the wolfman till more than half way through the movie. Therefore there is an air of uncertainty of the appearance of the wolfman, allow the audience to formulate their own idea of the monster.
Both films incorporate the greatest forms of technology and cinematic effects to successfully communicate the transformation of the wolfman. There is no real answer to the more effective style of cinematic effects whether it be CGI or absence of main character to build suspense. Both films will live on to delight the imaginations and minds of the audience for years to come.

Rickert Demonstration Blog: The Constant Gardener

The Film that I chose to analyze for my mis-en-scene analysis was the Constant Gardner. The scene I chose is a personal encounter of Tessa and Justin as shown in the above picture.

Dominant: In this shot of the Constant Gardener Tessa and Justin are both dominant within the shot. However, Tessa consequently attracts more of the focus of the audience. The audience’s eyes are drawn to her because unlike Justin, we can almost completely see her face. Tessa placement on the left which is natural for the audience because people read left to right.
Lighting Key: The lighting in the shot of Tessa and Justin is natural assumed to be coming from the sun. The lighting originates from in front of the characters as if the sun was above the audience. The position of the sun is determined from the shadowing on the face of the characters, therefore making the lighting immensely natural.

Character and Camera Proxemics: The shot of Tessa and Justin are considered to be an intimate shot because they are immensely close to each other. The shot does not focus on anything else in the background, the only clear focus in the two characters. Intimate distances in shots serve to demonstrate the emotions between the two characters, their love, trust, and comfort with each other. This shot successfully communicates these emotions between Justin and Tessa. Tessa’s gaze into Justin eyes also demonstrates an indication of her love for Justin.

--This frame of Tessa and Justin enforce the overall theme of love between them in the movie. Through the use of intimate angles the audience is emerged into the scene and experience this personal moment amongst these two lovers. If Justin and Tessa were placed at social or public distance, these emotions could have not been as successfully communicated to the audience. Public and Social distance fail to pick up on the minuscule details of the lovers expressions, because the camera cannot zoom in on both of them. The dominance of the characters in the shot also aids the audience in focus entirely on the two characters, thus cutting out any distractions of the background. The dominance of the characters further builds upon the love these two feel for each other. Later in the film Justin will be fueled by his undying love for Tessa, to help him attain the truth behind her murder and continue her legacy. If the director had failed to adequately portray the love that the characters shared the audience could not fully appreciate the motivation of Justin’s relentless pursuit of justice for Tessa.

Here is the trailer for the Constant Gardener