Villavicencio--Beowulf

     Before viewing the film, I must admit a strong opposition towards digitally enhanced films such as Beowulf. In past experience, (and later proved by this film), I’ve found it near impossible to connect with the characters, understand their emotions, or feel anyway engaged in their story.
Although countless scenes throughout Beowulf are in dire need of some editing (such those with supernatural characters or gruesome battles), I found one scene that perfectly exemplifies why films made entirely by CGI fail so miserably.
     Around the 70th minute, a man is seconds from his murder when he requests Beowulf himself to take his life. Sensing mockery, Beowulf decides to explain “man with no name” exactly why his energy would be wasted on physically killing him himself. Throughout this short scene, Beowulfs emotions (are supposed to) change from self-content, to offense, to pride, to pity and almost (if possible) sympathy. Unfortunately, his facial expressions hardly portray much more than on emotion (most likely arrogance.) The “nameless” man’s emotions should have moved from terror, to confusion, to extreme fear, and finally intense relief. Instead, however, his cartoon-like shuddering and lack of true emotion from his face to body language are more significantly more distracting than convincing.
     Although maybe not a key scene, this conversation exemplifies why digitally enhancing human characters is a unfavorable choice. The only true way I can suggest to improve the scene would be to use real people.
Fairly successful CGI movies could be Spider Man, The Mummy, and King Kong, however they merged real people with their supernatural co-stars rather than transforming everything. Given the obvious knowledge that supernatural characters are not real, the CGI doesn’t take away from the film as it does when real people are forced into animation.

Villavicencio- Wolf Man vs. Wolfman

Written by Curt Siodmak and directed by George Waggner, the 1941 film “The Wolf Man” tells the story of a cursed man who regrettably transforms into a murderous werewolf at the arrival of a full moon.

Unlike many classic remakes, Director Joe Johnston’s 2010 version, “The Wolfman,” manages to preserve the original film’s plot rather accurately. Despite obvious differences such as character details and running time, “The Wolfman” remains relatively true to the initial story.

One of the most notable, and obvious differences, however, could be the transformation from human to monster. Although both films provide decent depictions (given the technology available at the time), I believe the original version to be more innovative as a whole.

To begin with, “The Wolf Man” stalls transformation until about 40 minutes into the film. This approach allows not only for a better understanding of character relationships, but also for the building of suspense. When Lon Chaney finally transforms into the wolf man, one can only see the changes in small portions, such as the shot featuring solely the man’s feet as they grow long, thick strands of hair. (Curious as to how this was accomplished, I found that a slow process of photograph overlapping featuring different stages of makeup was used to illustrate a smooth change.)

In the 2010 film, CGI effects allowed for an excessively gruesome transformation, as the characters fingers and toes vividly break and mutate into animal limbs, cheekbones protrude violently from each side of the face, and carnivorous pointy teeth grow into place. The changes of each body part are significantly more details compared to the older film; yet, I believe the technique falls comparatively short to other films of this time.

Overall, the way in which the 1940 film managed to create a slow, mysterious change from man to monster is more impressive given the great time, effort, and manual work required for its success.

Wolfman 2010 Trailer

Villavicencio-Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” tells the story of the miserable Joel Barish (Jim Carey) who recently discovered his ex-girlfriend, Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet), has forever erased him from her memory. The movie weaves in and out of the couple’s memories as Joel realizes undergoing the same memory-erasing procedure is a disastrous mistake.

In the scene shown, Joel is attempting to hide deep in his memories, (this being one form his childhood,) in order to prevent the doctors from erasing any more memories of Clementine. Clementine is seen in the foreground, looking at a much smaller and hypothetically younger Joel.

The dominant in the scene would most likely be Clementine, despite her being slightly out of focus and facing away from the camera. She is the largest and most striking part of the still. Clementine would also be the dominant because she is appropriately proportioned to the objects around her whereas Joel is (purposely) small and in the background. (Joel would then be the subsidiary).

The character proxemics would be personal because they are not extremely close to each other but are within a couple feet. (Although he looks as if he 5 or 10 feet away from Clementine, Joel is meant to be just under the tablecloth Clementine is lifting)

The camera proxemics would also be personal. We are not part of the scene but the shot is taken at the same level as Clementine allowing the audience more insight. Even though we are able to see all of Clementine’s body, if she were to be standing it would only be half of it. This indicates the camera is close enough to the characters that it would only show half of their bodies if they were standing up (…and not shrunken to a child’s stature).

The lighting key would be natural light. There doesn't seem to be too much contrast. If anything, the scene may look slightly dim (no bright lights) to give a vintage feel (possibly due to a filter though.)

This frame illuminates the larger scene, which shows Joel struggling to hide in the deepest of his memories to hold on to those of Clementine. Joel’s position under a large table demonstrates his desperate attempts to hide. This also hints to his vulnerability in both the situation he is really in (laying unconscious on a bed while doctors search for memories and destroy them) as well as his vulnerability in his relationship with Clementine. Clementine’s adult size may allude to her dominant role in their relationship.