Villacreces, Falanga, Cooper, Malveaux: Distractions (One Minute Film)

Distractions students have in the library while studying for finals.

Villacreces, The Outcast in Minority Report

The movie Minority Report by the director Steven Spielberg the outcast is the future criminal. John Anderson is the Chief of the Department of Pre-Crime in Washington DC and a troubled human being because of the loss of his son and the divorce with his wife. Just before the department was going to the launched nation wide, the “precogs” foresee that Anderson was going to kill a man with the name of Leo Crow. This makes Anderson run away, and become an outcast from society.

At the end of the movie, we see the flaw of the pre-crime program. If a human being foresees that he will commit a crime in the near future, you could be able to change the future. This is what Anderson tries to through out the movie, because he did not want to be “haloed”. According to Terry Murray in his article “Our Post-Moral Future”, he explains how science has been able to read the brain in order to know what the intentions of people are, to know if they are going to commit a crime. He argues that using this, as a pre-crime tool is unmoral for people because humans may think awful things in their brains, but might never be able to commit such things. This relates to the movie. Because you think about It, it does not mean you will go through with it.

If you would be able to know that you would commit a crime, would you do what ever it takes to change the future? This thought and phrase is what makes Anderson an outcast in the movie. He does everything possible to change his future. He outsmarts technology by having eye replacement, so he is not found around the city. He kidnaps one of the precogs, Agatha, to prove that the precog’s visions were flawed. He does what ever it took for him to be saved, and also showed this question to his boss, when he was about to kill Anderson. If you would be able to change your future, save a life, save your own life you would be able to do so.

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Villacreces, Casablanca

The movie Casablanca by the director Michael Curtis was released in 1942, two years after the attack on Perl Harbor during World War II. The movie takes place in Casablanca, and a secondary story line in Paris. The movie presents Political Expediency , which means that the director presents a political message in the plot without choosing a side. It means that the director presents a sense of neutrality, instead of alienating himself to a side.

In the movie, a character that stays neutral throughout the movie is Rick. Rick is the owner of a bar in Casablanca. People that are from high class and members of the military go to this bar. The bar is one of the major setting in the movie, and through scenes in this bar we understand what businesses are going on. Rick had a strict "no drinks with customers", which makes him not get involved or not pick sides and stay neutral. This all changes one Ilsa comes back to Rick's life. He gets involved.

In this scene, we see the plane in which Laslo and Ilsa are on, Rick and Captain Renault. This scene represents how Rick let Ilsa leave with Laslo, while he stays in Casablanca in danger of being arrested because he just killed Major Strasser. It represents that Rick stopped being neutral in the war, and chose the side in which Laslo was because he loved Ilsa and wanted her to be safe instead of in danger in Casablanca.

Mise en Scene:

• Dominant: the dominant in this scene is Rick and Captain Renault looking and the plane that is taking off. This represents how they are still in Casablanca during the war and they cannot leave like everyone else is.
  
• The subsidiary contrast: is the plane taking off, you see this object just after you see Rick and Renault staring at the sky.
  
• Angle: The angle of the camera is looking up, as if what Renault and Rick wanted to be in that plane and leave Casablaca. Also it represents how Rick is seeing Ilsa leave with another man even though he loves her. The angle represents what Rick and Renault want but cannot have by not being in that plane.
• Form: the form is open. It represents how the plane is leaving with not problems. It represents that Ilsa and Laslo can leave with no issues, that everything was take care by Rick.
• Character placement: Both Captain Renault and Rick are place in the bottom of the frame while the plane is on top.

Casablanca is a great movie. It is a beautiful representation of a love story during a rough time in history. Rick and Ilsa cannot be together due to the issues around them. It also represents how love can conquer anything and makes people do crazy things. Rick came out of his bubble of comfort and neutrality for Ilsa. I would recommend anyone to watch this movie. It is a movie that was released in the perfect time during World War II.

Villacreces: Social Network

The movie Social Network by the director David Fincher portrays the story behind the website that is part of almost everyone's life, Facebook. The story is presented in a different and creative way. The movie is basically how facebook started since Mark Zuckerberg and his roommates stated the site in the Harvard dorms, to the huge lawsuits the company goes through. How Fincher presents this story is the following. As the testimonies of how the idea of the facebook started to its developments, there is a flashback showing exactly what happened. The whole movie goes back and forth between testimonies and the past. This is interesting for the audience because it presents the different perspectives between the characters like the Winklevoss twins and Eduardo.

What is interesting about the narration and the perspective of the movie is that it doesn't presents Mark Zuckerberg's perspective or why he chooses to do what he does through out the movie. We just see the decisions he makes and how it affects the secondary characters and their feelings. We see what the Winklevoss' do, and what they feel and what they want to proof. We also see what Eduardo feels for being exiled format he company and just seen as a source of money for the company.

Another interesting feature of the film is the change in atmospheres and lighting through out the movie. The film starts in Harvard University. The lighting is gloomy and it seems you are in a place full of history and it takes place around the 1960's or 1950's. The reason why the setting looks like this is to present that Harvard is a place of history, learning and no party scene. This image of Harvard contrasts with California, Stanford, New York and the Facebook office. These other places have a more bright setting, people are having fun and living their own lives. The change in the atmosphere and lighting are clear and show a turning point in the movie.

Social Network is a good movie that presents the story of what happened in Facebook history. It presents an insight of the conflict that almost no one knows, and people now know what is behind the website that almost everyone is addicted to.

Villacreces: Movement in George of the Jungle

The first time I watched George of the Jungle I was 7 years old. As a 7 year old I thought the movie was funny, but watching after 13 years I now realize that the movie mocks the idea of a jungle man entering a civilized world.

The scene that I chose to analyze movement from is the scene in which George is running around with horses and the the ladies looking at him. The main idea of this scene is that Jane falls in love with George during this scene. She realizes that once the other ladies in her same social status accept George as a "hottie" she is allowed to see him that way as well. She does not feel ashamed of being attracted to George as much. Although the ladies accept George as a "man", the men in this scene do not pay attention to George. One of the men say "what is it with women and horses",not mentioning George at all. This proves that the men do not see George as an equal or as competition. They see George as less than a man because he is form the jungle, he is not civilized and he is not part of their world. All this information is portrayed in this 2 minute scene. This scene does not present a literal idea, it presents the essence of the idea that the audience can notice while watching this scene.

While looking at this scene you notice that the frame is loose. You see George moving around freely with the horses. He is himself with the horses and not and not all tied up in a suit pretending to be someone he is not.

In this scene you have two different frames, George and the other one is Jane looking a George Because Jane is falling in love with George, the frame of George is in slow motion, she sees George as the perfect man for her. The use of slow motion defines this moment.

This scene is just two minutes long and presents that the self realization of Jane, and the free spirit of George.

Villacreces: Time Traveler Avatar

It's always been a dream of mine to be able to travel through time. In my fictional world, my avatar would be being a time traveller super star film director. My movies and videos are different, original and awesome due to the fact that I travel through time to get real and awesome footage for them. For example the time that I had to film a movie about a rock and roll band in the 80's. I was able to film them, film real fans and film the environment that the band lived in. The movie won best picture of the year because the footage looked real and there was not a big budget I had to create this movie. Being a time traveler has its advantages. I can go back in time to change what I say or what my friends do. The reason why I can travel though time is due to my time turner (yes like the one Hermione has in Harry Potter).

My carrier has been really successful because I have been able to use my powers in a good way, and not in a wrong way. But I often enjoy going back and enjoying beaches and places before they were ruined my people and hotels.

Villacreces: Beowulf vs Sea Monsters

The movie Beowulf (2007) by the director Robert Zemeckis uses the technique of " motion capture". This technique basically record movement and transforms it to a digital model. The reason why this technique was employed was because, Beowulf is an action movie, and the movement and actions performed by the characters in the movie are impossible to make with live actors. With this in mind, the creators of this movie were able to portray the characters such as Beowulf, Grendel, Grendel's mother, and other characters in the movie. The portrayal of the characters is ok, but the rest of the aspects of the movie have some flaws, that to not make justice these. 

For example, the scene in which Beowulf describes his battle against the Sea Monsters. In this scene the image of Beowulf is good, his physical appearance looks like the rest of the movie, but the portrayal of the water is not very good. Water shines, water has different movement and there is not an uniform movement as it is portrayed in this scene. The animatos did not give water a real appearance as they do to the monster and to Beowulf. If you do mise scene, you notice that the lighting of the scene is dull and does not focus on beowulf, the monster or the water, it is just plain and dull. The dominant of the scene is the monster and Beowulf flying towards him. The form of this scene is closed, the fact that there is monster makes the scene stylish and with details, which makes it not real and made up. Also how the movie is made with computer animation makes it closed. There is a social camera proxemix and a wide shot, you can see the monsters the character and the setting at the same time. The character proxemix is persona, because is Beowulf against the monster, its their moment before one of the makes the first move. 

In my opinion the movie does a good portrayal of the characters of the movie, because even though the movie is computer animated you still have the essence of the actors that portray each one of them. You know it is them. The rest of the aspects of the movie such as the battle seen and background are not employed well. 

Villacreces, Wolfman Transformation and the Evolution of Filmmaking

VS.

Wolfman (2010)           Wolfman (1941)

It's been 69 years since director George Waggner made the first Wolfman movie. Technology and filmmaking have evolved ever since.  Because of this reason director Joe Johnston remade the movie. There are certainly a lot of differences between both movies, but what strikes the viewers the most is the  transformation from man to werewolf. 

In the 1941 version, you see  Larry Talbot struggling with fear, shame, and uncomfortability towards himself. He hides from people and does not know what is going on. As he removes his clothing, the frame present a change in his feet and nails, when in a different scene you see the changes in his face. the filmmakers were able to present this change by good editing. They changed his appearance frame by frame. 

On the other hand in the 2010 version of Wolfman, Lawrence Talbot has a  different reaction to the change. He fells angry, it seems as if the anger of the wolf is causing this change. You see a sense of unconfortability, but no fear. In the scene in which the doctors are examining what changes the full moon could make him have, he is angry and seeks revenge. The visual effects in the scene are made thanks to CGI. It is all computer animated. The advantage of computer animation is that you are able to see all the changes in his body, starting from his feet  to his eyes. There is detail, and the transformation is more real.

Both portray the transformation of the Wolfman using the technology that each time frame had in their power. The 1941 version could not presented more perfectly that they did. But the 2010 version has too much computer animation, which makes it look a little bit fake. 

The evolution of technology is allowing the filmmakers to do anything, including making a man go from human to werewolf. 

Villacreces, Across the Universe: mise en scene

The latest movie that I've watched is Julie Taymor's Across the Universe, based on the songs by The Beatles. The frame that I picked portrays one of the actors enrolling to the army to the war at Vietnam. 

The dominant image in this frame is the hand that is coming out of the poster. You can notice this hand trying to reach the face of this character. The subsidiary of the frame, after you notice the hand are the words "I WANT YOU", which complements the hand approaching the character. You cannot see the face of the character in this frame because of the idea of recruitment for war. The arm,y did not care who they were recruiting, they were just taking people away from their home and directly to the war. Also you can notice that the character is defenseless compared to the hand that is approaching his face. 

On the other hand, you can also notice that the poster and the hand are more powerful than this character because the camera looks up to it, as well as the character. It is also an intimate camera proximix, because it is the connection between the hand, poster and the person in this frame. 

The lighting in this scene focusses more on the poster and less on the person, this is similar to the dominant and subsidiary argument. The poster is more important because it presents power, authority and movement. While the person is just defenseless and cannot do anything to avoid the poster. 

The frame is tight because the scene is tense and you see that the character has not escape from the poster or the hand or the words "I WANT YOU". The form is closed, it is a made up scene, it it had elements that are not part of reality. 

This frame portrays emotions, power, subordination . The way this frame was shot presents what the feelings of the characters are feeling and what the viewer can perceive.