Slan-The Social Network

Social Network had all the goods to be a entertaining film. One, it told a story and two it possessed dramatic comedy. In order for any film to be a success it must tell a story. The story of the Social Network is the brieft history of Facebook. It gives viewers the beginning of the multibillion dollar site and the turmoil that came after its creation.

The acting in the Social Network was fitting to this film. You have the right age group of actors and each one was able to fulfill their roles well. Justin Timberlake, Sean Parker, played the role well. He made the conflicts in the film rise to another level. The rising action started when his characted was introduced. He portrayed the ass hole very well. Andrew Garfield, Eduardo Saverin, did some great acting. He applied the right emotions and gave the audience the victim feeling. The key actor that made the film real excellent was Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg. I have never read much or hear much about the Facebook founder but Jesses showed me enough. If the real Zuckerberg is anything like he was portrayed, well I hope the billions he has makes him happy. Jesse's performance was stellar and no one could of pulled it off like he did. He made you love him and hate him in an all-in-one package. They make the story that a lot of people didn't know about feel like it wasn't a movie.

The way the film was set up with flashbacks and present scenes was great. The cuts were performed well and the whole film flowed smoothly. Also, the conflict was very entertaining and interesting. The story really filled in missing pieces behind Facebook.

The dramatic comedy in the film was evident in the films humor. Facebook has evolutionized the world and to learn its genesis was entertaining. This film had the right amount of seriousness and comedy to make it a great story.

Now, one of the most distinctive points of the movie was the lighting. All of the flasback scenes lighting were dark. The flashbacks probaly were dark to give the film a ominous feeling. All the flashbacks were revealing the story of Facebook and were part of the lawsuit litagations he was facing. When you shifted to the present the light became bright. The lawsuit litagations were all bright. I guess they appeared this way to signify importance and do be distinctive from the dark flashbacks. The lighting illustrated the distinction between the present and the flashbacks. Only one flashback that was bright was the Facebook headquarters when they hit one million memebers. The lighting was bright in this scene because it was a important day in Facebook history.

Overall, the film was entertaining and it was informational as well.

Kehoe-Social Network

The Social Network is a docudrama about Internet entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg and the creation of his website, facebook. Although the film’s focus is the creation of the facebook website, the film is also a critique of the Internet as a whole, especially in terms of anonymity and privacy on the web. The film comments on this theme in many ways though most directly and effectively through its story structure. There are many points in the film where accusations are made against a character, such as when Zuckerberg’s lawyer brings up the charges of animal cruelty that Saverin was accused of while still at Harvard. Saverin’s lawyers immediately begin to question Saverin about the incident, and if he thinks that Zuckerberg planted the story in the Harvard newspaper in order to push Saverin out of the business more easily.
The next scene flashes back to the time of the incident, when the newspaper article was released. Here, Saverin immediately begins accusing the Winklevoss twins of planting the story in an attempt to damage the websites reputation. These scenes highlight the fact that on the Internet, anyone can write anything about anyone and be totally anonymous. No one ever finds out the source of the article or how much of the article is factually accurate, but it does not matter, Severin was accused of animal cruelty and, whether true or false, damaged his reputation. By switching back and forth between present and past the audience can contrast the two scenes and how this anonymity creates paranoia. Sean Parker, the creator of napster, personifies this paranoia; Parker is so paranoid that he warns Zuckerberg that his competition will start bugging his phone and spying on his everyday activities.
The use of lighting in the film is effective in communicating mood. Through out the film, the lighting is often dim and gloomy. This technique communicates the mood and environment of someone sitting alone in a dark room lit only by the glow of a computer screen.

Hales- Beowulf

Every layer of Beowulf exhibits extremely poor use of digital enhancement as well as makes some atrocious faux pas in the realm of filmmaking in general. I believe this scene is an appropriate showcase of everything that is wrong with this film. I understand that motion-capture technology was used in the making of Beowulf and I am sure the filmmakers initially had good reason for this: maybe to save money on actors’ time, attempt to create visual representations on screen out of what was taken from the text, or to make the film seem larger than life. Also, someone in class noted that Beowulf might have been riding the wave of the film 300 and its box office success. But whatever the reasoning was behind it, the digital enhancement fell flat. The actors appear to be made out of clay and the costumes look like they are from Shrek. In the scene above, Ray Winstone’s character is mannequin-esque even, his eyes have no depth and his body appears completely sculpted (in the literal sense.) And of course, let’s not forget what Ray Winstone actually looks like… a far cry from this strapping young depiction of Beowulf. Also, it would be just plain wrong not to mention Winstone’s “bulge” rivaling that of David Bowie in Labyrinth, and certainly surpassing his own in Sexy Beast. Angelina Jolie’s character doesn’t look genuine in any way either. Her heels (or hooves?) in the foreground of the shot are seamless with her legs. The metallic skin color makes her appear to be a robot or futuristic space lady rather than an ancient heathen monster. Also, for some reason, her hand is natural skin tone, not gold. But the worst part of this scene is the lighting. I understand that the mead cup/horn/dragon is supposed to be a beacon of sorts in the story and needs to glow or illuminate. But the lighting on the horn along with the unnatural balance of it shining on his sword is simply hideous. Nor do the shadows in the scene match that of where the light would naturally have them hit. As if this film wasn’t enough of an eyesore in the first place, they had to offend their audience with fake lighting. This is the type of scene that makes a viewer feel ripped off (even if they did stream it for free!)

Slan- Beowulf Wants to Die Scene

The scene where Beowulf is basically trying to commit public suicide is the scene I believe had the most emotions. I heard a lot of people say their faces did not move, but in the close-up when Beowulf is repeatedly saying "Kill Me" you can see real emotions from the digital creation. As I look at it, I feel like I am watching a real actor. Ray Winstone must have watched that scene over and over to give the powerful voice he puts into that scene. No doubt he fits Beowulf perfect. This film might be all digital but with the combination of great voiceover, you may be able to feel like you watching a film real people. The fact that this film is digital creation of an old tale gives it that once upon a time feel. When you watch movies that make 3D images with real people it sucks. I've seen very few movies where the dragon looked real. You could tell it was computer generated. I've even seen another version Beowulf different from the one staring Gerald Butler and the digital one we had to watch in class. In that film, Grendel was a digitally created beast with claws and 100% fake. Our technology has gotten to the point where we can make it look like a real person or monster is in the film but some just dont have the budget. This version of Beowulf was perfect in my eyes. Their use of digital creations kept the film feeling realistic.

Mis-En-Scene Analysis:

Lighting: The scene starts off with Beowulf on a cliff watching the battle between his army and the Frisians. It is the first scene we see of him after becoming king. As he is on the cliff the lighting is bright but no comparison to sunshine. Then he moves down towards the beach where his men have captured a Frisian Raider who wants to fight Beowulf. As he rides up to the raider the light is bright. Beowulf tells his men to kill the raider then he starts to trot off. The raider tells Beowulf to come kill him himself. As Beowulf dismounts, you notice in the background this dark cloud of smoke or dust cloud. The lighting gets real gloomy. As Beowulf and the raider speak the camera goes back in forth. Behind Beowulf is the dust cloud and behind the raider is the sea. The sea is brighter than the dust cloud even though the sky is dark and gloomy. As Beowulf gives his kill me speech, the camera closes up on his face and it gets brighter. This type of lighting makes this scene appears to be a battle of good and darkness. With the lighting shifting it gives that feel of a struggle. As it closes up on Beowulf, behind his head is the half bright and half dark. It kind of says he is torn between the two.

Camera Proximics: In this scene, it starts off social then moves to intimate. As Beowulf approaches the raider, who has an axe and is ready to take his life, the camera begins to get close up on Beowulf's face. While Beowulf gives his speech the camera proximity changes with each point of his speech. The closer he gets to the raider the closer the camera gets to Beowulf. It gives you that near death and desperate feeling. Each step is a closer walk towards death.

Dominant: The dominant in this scene is Beowulf. He has this bright red shirt on under his armor. It draws and keeps you focusing on him. Despite the cloud of dust behind him the red shirt appeals to the eyesight.