Griffin, Bienvenu "Run Margot Run"

See our added comments below to discover our successes/failures in making this short film and more!

Bienvenu, Minority Report and the Idea of the "Other"

Films that take place in the future are always intriguing to people (including myself). This is mostly because they give a visual representation of what our world and our lives might be like some 20, 40, even 60 years from now. In Steven Spielberg’s film Minority Report (2002), he addresses specifically the way crime, imprisonment and security could be like in the future. In this film, the invention of Pre-crime and the use of the precogs’ predictions allow this special department of security to stop criminals from committing murders before it even happens. Once caught, they are put into a vegetable state and forced to watch their predicted crime over and over again.

In our blog prompt, it is suggested that “the other” in this film are the convicted criminals caught by the Pre-crime department. After thinking this over, I found that this may not be entirely true. Everyone is this future world is being watched, not just the criminals. Everyone is being eye scanned in every step they take. This allows them to be tracked at any given moment. When John Anderton is trying to run from Pre-crime cops it is virtually impossible for him to get away because of these eye scans. In this film I think EVERYONE is the other, not just the criminals. Nobody has privacy and everyone is a suspect is a sense. In Antonio Sanchez-Escalonilla’s article, The Popular Genres of Action and Fantasy in the Wake of 9/11 Attacks, Steven Spielberg speaks out about the idea of giving up certain freedoms to insure that our country is safe. He explains that this is in fact what the film is about.

The article connects the plots and themes of certain movies to the aftermath and emotions following the 9/11 attacks. In years following the attacks, airport security amongst other things have been heightened to an extreme. This entailed privacy issues that effected everyone, not just suspected terrorists. Just as in Minority Report, everyone was being questioned, everyone was given less privacy and everyone became “the other.” After reading this article I realized more and more that this film wasn’t about the criminals being the other, it is about anyone and everyone being the other.

Bienvenu, Movement in George of the Jungle

Besides being widely entertaining, the animated introduction to George of the Jungle serves a significant purpose for the film as a whole. First, it pays homage to the original George of the Jungle cartoon. Second, it sets us up for the comedic piece we are about to watch by using specific elements such as movement.

In film, movement is often used as a metaphor. In other words, film uses movement to symbolize certain things. For example, the way a character moves on the screen tells us about their personality and the use of lyrical movements convey emotions and feelings. In the animation, all of baby George’s movements have a certain bounce and pep to them. This shows us how playful and lovable he is. These implied personality traits are proved again and again throughout the movie as Ursula falls in love with him and the audience helplessly follows suit. As for lyrical movement, this is seen throughout the entire introduction as well. All the animals are having fun swinging from vines and dancing. This symbolizes the “family” feeling George shares with the other creatures in the jungle. These lyrical movements also set us up for comedy because elephants don’t really swing from vines. The movements merely symbolize the comedic and fun-loving spirit of the creatures in the jungle.

Another thing to take into account when discussing movement in film is speed. One of the ways film conveys speed is by having characters move across the frame (right to left or left to right) rather than toward or away from the camera. By traveling from one side of the frame to another, the character has the opportunity to whiz past us! This is shown when baby George is quickly swinging across the screen from vine to vine. As he jumps and does flips along the way he becomes but a blur. This again emphasizes on the speed of his movements. The use of speed and movement in this animated introduction convey a happy energy to its audience.

*As a graphic design major, I also loved the way that the type had a personality of its own! The type is playful and interacts with the other characters. This again emphasizes on the happy feeling the movie provokes.

Bienvenu, MY Avatar

In our last class we discussed an avatar as being “another version of the self,” “a virtual representation in a simulation” and/or “an embodiment of a concept.” There was however one specific explanation of an avatar that struck me most; an avatar is an image of yourself you want to project to others. When I started thinking about what I wanted my avatar to be I realized I would first have to figure out how I wanted people to see me.

One of the main things I want people to know about me is how creative I am. As a graphic design major I thrive on the creative visuals backed by complex concepts I create. Another thing I would want people to know by looking at my avatar is that I am a strong and unique female. Lastly, I would want people to know how intricate and crazy my thought process is. My head is always running with ideas, questions, and answers. One of my favorite things to do in design is to show my process and how I got from the beginning to the end.

For my avatar I chose a picture I drew in class of a nude model. The drawing is not of me but it still shows my artistic skill and my love for creativity through it’s use of color and figure drawing. The drawing also shows that I am a strong and unique female because this is not a perfect woman drawn but she is still beautiful and unique. Lastly, the wandering thread in the background shows the ever going journey that my brain is taking me on. This is the same journey I want my avatar to convey.

Bienvenu: Beowulf: Authenticity of Grendel

When Beowulf first came out in theaters I remember thinking to myself, “Why would they make an action movie completely out of CGI?” Though most action films are heavily based on the use of CGI, their biggest flaws and critiques come from unrealistic special effects and mediocre replications of what we see in our everyday lives. So why take the risk of creating an entire movie out of CGI?

Our discussion in class left me with some closure as to why making a movie in CGI might be a good idea for filmmakers. Money is saved on production (wardrobe, location, etc.), scenes can be adjusted entirely on computer rather than having to re-shoot, it opens doors to a wider range of actors and difficult shots can be taken that a regular camera might not be able to capture. Above all of these arguments stood out the idea of using CGI to “dispend reality.” When given the task of creating an unknown world (due to time period or actual existence), CGI has endless possibilities as well as capabilities. In other words, CGI can take us places we have never been. Since in most cases these places aren't real, we need not worry about comparing them to actual locations. For the most part, Beowulf did an OK job of showing us one of these unknown worlds. For this reason, it's hard to isolate a particular scene that could be enhanced by special effects. Also, the entire movie is in special effects, why would there need to be more?

At this point, my attention is turned to finding a scene where the special effects could have been BETTER, not a scene where there needed to be MORE special effects. Throughout the entire movie the major flaw is uncomfortably obvious. THE PEOPLE. The faces of the characters are for the most part true to their actors but they don’t look real! Save for a few shots, the people look fake in the face, in the way they walk and in the way Grendel throws them about. Needless to say, the creators of Beowulf have not mastered the “rag doll effect” we see done so well in video games. All of these dazzling flaws are showcased in the beginning of the movie when Grendel attacks the meat hall. They can be further discussed with a mise en scene analysis of the screen shot I have provided in which King Hrothgar confronts Grendel.

The LIGHTING KEY of this scene is obviously dark, but it is so much more than that. There are constant flashes of bright blue and white light which add to the chaos and terror of the scene as a whole. The light shines on Grendel's back but shows us the front side of Hrothgar. Even though Grendel is huge and towering over the king, the lights and the whiteness of his cloak make Hrothgar standout, making him the DOMINANT. We are drawn to him and as we see him looking up we find Grendel drooling in agony as the SUBSIDARY CONTRAST. The king says, "fight me!" demanding the attention of Grendel as well as the audience. The CHARACTER PLACEMENT shows Hrothgar located more in the center of the shot while Grendel is off to the left. The ANGLE of the shot is at Hrothgar’s eye level, not at Grendel's. All of these elements of mis en scene tell us that this is about Hrothgar and his challenging of the beast. This is where CGI fails. While looking at Hrothgar we can’t help but think how fake he looks, which belittles his role as Grendel’s challenger in this scene. We know what humans look like, and this is not spot on. On the other hand, we don’t know what Grendel is supposed to look like and we don’t even know what he is. So, in this scene and in the entirety of the movie Grendel is terrifyingly real to us because we have nothing to compare him to.

As I mentioned before, one reason why filmmakers use CGI is because it can create things unknown to us. In this example, Grendel is the mystery that has been created for us. Hrothgar, a human, looks fake and therefore seems unreal and insignificant to us. Therefore, even though this scene is about Hrothgar, the lack of authenticity in CGI humans and the authenticity of CGI Grendel suddenly make this shot about him! How can you not be drawn to the way the light shines on Grendel’s disgusting and festering flesh? We are literally mesmerized by how grotesque he is. This is why making an entire movie in CGI is risky because even though you have a certain message in mind, you can only portray it as well as your CGI looks.

Bienvenu, Wolfman Comparison

In the years following the original film in 1941, many advancements in film technology were used in to expand the abilities of film makers. Make up and basic video effects were used to convey specific images fairly well, however with the advances in film such as CGI and better film editing it allowed film makers to express themselves further. In Wolfman 1941 the transformation sequences are far less "scary" than the transformations in the 2010 version. However, the Wolfman's overall apperance is fairly similar. In the original film, the portrayal of the transformation is simple compared to today's graphic standards. The effects were limited to still scenes where the legs and feet slowly transformed by becoming hairier in a stop-motion-like effect. The Wolfman takes off his clothes in a state of confusion as he "magically" had more hair on his arms and pretended to have more hair on his face. Graphically these scenes portray a mildly scary emotion in our modern state of ever increasing need for realism. The 2010 film uses the advances of technology to enhance the emotions expected for the viewers. In comparison to the still scenes of the old one, the 2010 Wolfman shows the transformation sequence in a life like experience. No still scenes of the legs growing hair slowly, the 2010 film shows the feet exploding through his shoes and the heels actually transforming into the toe walking demon in a highly realistic manner. The 2010 Wolfman bursts through his clothes with intense emotion whereas the 1941 Wolfman simply undresses himself. The 2010 film also portrays the facial transformation with great virility as the wolf pushes his face through and brings itself forth. The 1941 film merely shows this facial transformation only once as a form of closure and silence to the fear that the Wolfman is intended to portray. Overall the use of greater technology in the 2010 film expresses the transformation sequences as intense and frightening for our visually desensitized minds and is fair complement for our modern time.

Bienvenu, Mise en Scene: The Human Centipede

The Human Centipede is a Dutch horror film directed by Tom Six. The film is about a deranged surgeon who abducts three tourists and surgically attaches them to each other (anus to mouth).

It is instantly clear that the doctor is seriously disturbed and his issues with control become more and more apparent throughout the movie. He kidnaps the people, chains them to beds, and ultimately controls their every move. Besides that he is a "neat-freak."

The mise en scene of this one frame exemplifies the power he has throughout the film. The dominant is obviously the doctor. His bleach white lab coat and the light shining through the trees behind him make him stand out. The second character in the shot (one of the victims) is in a dark corner on the left and is out of focus which again puts the focus on the doctor. The victim's closeness to the camera creates personal camera proxemics. I would also say that the characters are at a personal character proxemics it's as if they are just close enough for something bad to happen. Lastly, there is the lighting of the frame. For the most part it is low key lighting, but still has something light to it. Perhaps it's the freedom shining through the trees that is lighting up the frame. Freedom that can only be obtained by getting passed crazy.

The aspects of mise en scene make his dominance so clear. The camera is looking up at him which signifies that he is authoritative or possibly dangerous. In this film and in this frame, both are true. She is off in the blurry distance while he stands there, aviators on and gun in hand, ready to go. The director and other creators of this movie made these choices in order to show the doctor's control. Even if one didn't know anything about mise en scene or even anything about the movie all they would have to do is look at this frame. If I had to give this frame a caption it would probably be:
"Where do you think you're going?"

*If you haven't seen The Human Centipede or trailer, here it is. Don't say I didn't warn you...