Christian- Fenwick, Phillpott, On The Run

Christian- Fenwick, Blade Runner

Blade Runner is a movie that has a large following of devotees that enjoy, not only the si-fi aspects of the film, but also the philosophical concepts of what it means to be human. As W.A. Senior says in his article Blade Runner and CyberPunk Versions of Humanity "the Frankensteinian theme of man creating himself and experimenting with new forms provides both the conflict and the philosophical dialectic that run through the film and through cyberpunk fiction and lead to their mutual central questions: what does it mean to be human? what are the boundaries of humanity? how human or humane are humans? when android/replicants and humans meet, how can one tell them apart? howhuman are replicants, androids, or genetically designed wo/men? "(Senior 1).

This is the backbone of the movie that allows the audience to flesh the film about due to its ambiguity. As a viewer, you do not know, but begin to question wither or not Deckard, a reluctantly reinstated Blade Runner, is human at all. The film leaves hints both ways, but it is almost impossible to tell who is "real". This makes the hunt for the other - in this case a group of replicants that have returned to earth- more interesting because it creates a comparison between the two lifestyles of the groups and it begins to questions the social construct of humanity and the exoticisation of another group. Replicants were not allowed on Earth in this film, even though Earth in the film was not a desirable place to be, but it was a form of elitism that was important to the humans because it separated them and made them fell more important and powerful.

Christian- Fenwick, Casablanca

Casablanca, a film from the Golden age of American Cinema, is not only iconic star power and its amazing cinematography, but also it is one of the most mentioned films for its story line and the intention that is implicit within the plot and dialogue. The character of Rick states the intention of the film clearly in his monologue to Ilsa before she gets onto the play. He has been a cynical, self-serving man during the entirety of the movie, but his love for Ilsa softens him. The audience thinks that he is going to abscond with her to Lisbon, but in the end he is self sacrificing. He says that he believes that the love of two people is not as important as the lives of hundreds. He may not believe that in actuality, but he knows that this is the right and unselfish thing to do. This sends the viewers to messages, that love is important but that country and sacrifice are more important in times of need.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3odtrWWc2A

Christian- Fenwick, My Avatar

My avatar would be something like this because it is both beautiful, simple, and complex in one image. I believe it is hard for someone to be wholly defined by a single thing, nor should they have a single thing represent them because it turns them into a representation of themselves rather than their true self. This image, represents old souls, a connection with one's self, nature, and the rest of the world. That is what I aspire to do and incorporate into my life. I obviously want to be successful and be happy, but I also want to find ways to improve the lives of others and to create a life that is multi-dimensional and complex without being to chaotic or overly simplistic.

Christian- Fenwick, Closer

Natalie Portman was the strongest actor in Closer. It was a tough decision between her and Clive Owen, but I think she had more of an arc as a character and more emotional turmoil which made the character a challenge to play, more so than Clive Owen's (though it is worthy of mentioning that he has played both male parts to much acclaim).

Alice, Natalie Portman's character, opens and closes the film. I will be analyzing the first shot from the final scene.

Dominant: Alice is the in the center of the frame and so she is the first thing that the viewer looks at. Also, in a scene before that she tells Dan is going to disappear.
Lighting Key:The lighting is natural lighting. The shot is outside in a city (New York) and so it is a natural city lighting.
Shot and camera proxemics:The shot is distant. It is as if we are looking at her from far away and she stands out in the crowd.
Angle: The angle is straight on as if we, as the viewers, were at eye level.
Lens/Filter/Stock:A standard lens is used with no apparent filter.
Subsidiary Contrasts: The rest of the crowd is the subsidiary contrasts. She is walking through this crowd, but is standing out in it. They allow the focus on her to be more intense.
Density:There is a high degree of density. The shot is full of levels of people. There is a crowd in the foreground and in the background. With the colors of the peoples' clothing in the crowd, it allows for an interesting visual.
Composition: Alice is in the dead center of the shot splitting the frame as well. The shot mirrors the opening scene.
Form: The form is open. It creates the feeling of being in a city and on a crowded street, but without it being uncomfortable.
Framing:The frame is loose. The viewer is allowed to see a wider shot with lots of people and images within it.
Depth:The Image is divided into the foreground, middle-ground, and background. The middle-ground is the focus of the shot because Alice is in it. The other two act as scenery.
Character Placement: Alice is dead center and the other people are spread around her but allowing her to be the center of the frame.
Staging Positions: Alice is straight forward in the shot, directly at the camera. This is a dominant and powerful position. She is not hiding anything.
Character Proxemics: The other characters (the people in the crowd) are blurred out and are around her, but she has no apparent relationship with any of them. She is walking through them.

Christian- Fenwick, Beowolf

The 2007 version of Beowolf, directed by Robert Zemeckis, was a film that did not even look like a film. It looked like a long video game without any actual involvement on the viewers part in the game. The writers and Robert Zemeckis tried to modernize this classical epic poem, but it seemed to fall flat. It was a coattail movie to the film "300". The writers and director changed the story line of the film which then changes the meaning behind the piece. it became a piece bout Oedipus complexes acted out, rather than one that focused on the importance of language as the vehicle behind what distinguishes us as humans. Also, the movie seemed to be about what a computer can generate rather than what good acting, cinematography , lighting, etc can generate. The film depended entirely too much on the special effects to save the movie and they by no stretch of the imagination were able to do that.

The frame from the fight scene that Beowolf has with Grendel.

Dominat : The dominant in the scene is obviously Beowolf due to the fact that he is the only character in the frame.

Lighting key: The lighting key has two levels. Half of Beowolf's face is on shadow and the other half of the face is in a brighter and clearer light.

Shot and Camera Proxemics: The shot is pretty close up. It is all about his face. The camera proxemics is personal.

Angle: It is a straight on angle as if the viewer was looking directly at him.

Color Vaules: There is a light blue filter on frame which was probably carried over form the fight scene. Otherwise the film has realistic color values for a fire lit mead hall door looking out into the dark night.

Lens/filter/stock:There is a light blue filter used.

Subsidiary Contrasts: The mead hall, which was the site of the battle, is the subsidiary contrast as well as the wall of the mead hall.

Density:Due to the shadowy lighting and the hyper intense colors (from the video game like style) there is a lot of density, but not as much as there would have been in a real life shot. There is texture in the shot from his hair, the walls, and the blood spattered on his face.

Composition: The frame has a basic composition completely centering around Beowolf, which forces the audience to solely focus on him and what he is saying.

Form: The form is closed because all of the frame is forces you to focus on his face.

Framing: The framing is tight. All the audience can really see is his face.

Depth: The image is composed of three levels . The primary level is the wall of the mead hall. It is the most in the foreground. Then there is Beowolf in the middle and in the background is the rest of the hall (it is out of focus).

Character Placement: There is only one character in the frame, but the implied character in the frame that Beowolf is talking to has close proxemics to Beowolf.

Staging Positions: The way that Beowolf is positioned in relation to his other is straight on. This is an aggressive and powerful position that implies a fight or a battle of wills.

Character Proxemics: The character proxemics are personal because Beowolf's face is so close to the screen which we as an audience assume is being viewed through the eyes of the other character.

Christian- Fenwick, Wolfman

The two versions of the Wolfman were different in many respects: the acting styles, the story at points and the technology. Modern audiences have been thrilled by films such as Avatar with its amazing graphics, but simple and expected story. They have been tantalized by the sights and monsters produced by movies such as District 9. These element of CGI and cinematographic artistry were added to the remake, but not as successfully as the cast, crew and producers may have hoped. The older 1941 original version forced the audience to buy into the story of the film by stimulating their imaginations in the transformation. Nothing is scarier to a person than what they thin up themselves. While the graphics and the film of the original version seemed stilted and unrealistic to a modern day audience, it was astronomic at the time and absolutely thrilling to watch. With the 2010 version of Wolfman, I felt like the use of all the technology allowed for a movie in which the audience was entirely separated from the film and was not intellectually involved at any level with the film. The CGI and make allowed for the viewer to sit back and have someone create and imagine for them. It made the movie less thrilling because there was no personal thought put into the viewing of the film.

Christian- Fenwick Mise en Scene "Blow- Up"

Dominant: The brunette actress is the dominant in the scene because she is wearing the brightest color and is almost in the center of the frame. She is not an important character in the over all film, the man she is looking at (the photographer and the subsidiary contrast) is the most important in the film. The brunette is looking at him, drawing the viewers eye to him as he attacks her.
Lighting: The light is bright and High. The people stand out against the white background and look at little too saturated.
Camera Proxemics: The frame has personal camera proxemics. The entire film is based around the idea of being apathetic to the aesthetics of beauty by being surrounded by it too much so the way the entire film is shot is as if someone is constantly taking pictures of the action of the film. Each frame is specifically composed to look like a photograph and there are almost no intimate proxemics in the entire film. This frame happens to be personal, but in the film that is as close proxemics to the camera as it gets.
Character Proxemics: The characters are in a triangle. The brunette and the man have personal proxemics because he is trying to seduce and shock her. The blond and the other two characters have a social proxemics.
How does the frame support the message of the frame and the scene : The frame looks like a photograph. It could easily be something that is in a photobook, this fits into the aesthetics of the rest of the film. The colors and the lighting help add to the photographic effects, The fact that the main character is not dominant in the scene lends to the idea that he is constantly thinking and surrounded by beauty by is uncaring. He is not really looking at the women.