MYST #2

THE CALL

The Call is the typical thriller about a killer taking their victim hostage, and the main character’s quest to save the victim. However, the movie is told threw the view of a 911 operator, giving it a unique twist. Halle Berry plays Jordan, a 911 operator who gets hundreds of alarming calls a day, yet they don’t seem to phase her. She’s a calm character that works well under pressure, which makes her perfect for this job. However, that all changes when she gets a call from a young girl who has an intruder (Michael Eklund) in her home. With Jordan’s help the girl was able to hide from the intruder and stay safe, but when the phone gets disconnected Jordan panics. Jordan calls back the number, which causes the man to hear and find the girl. This man gets away with it and proceeds to kidnap more girls such as Casey (Abigail Breslin). The movie is then about Jordan’s journey to correct her mistake and find the man and end his killing spree. 



This movie is a thriller. Therefore, it relies heavily on close ups to create suspense. Scenes that showed Jordan working as an operator always had close ups, and scenes where Casey was on the phone with Jordan was always a close up. The dim lighting also contributed to the suspense. The entire scene where the girl is taken from her room is shot in extremely dark lighting. It is night time, and there are no lights on in the house. Therefore, it is extremely hard to see which adds get suspense. The scene began with a close up of Jordan receiving the 911 call. Then the shot goes to a close up of the young girl at her house. The shot of the girl is far to the right where she is standing in front of a wall, and far to the left you can see the man trying to break through the window. The camera then follows the girl close behind as Jordan tells her to go hide. When the man breaks in the house it is dark, and you never see his face. Either it's too dark or the only show his feet or back. This also creates suspense because he is a dark and dangerous character. He then searches her room, and the whole time it's quiet, which builds suspense. While he searches her room, the camera is shot from under the bed so you can only see his feet. After he searches the room he goes downstairs, which causes us, as an audience, to relax. However, this is when the phone gets disconnected. Therefore, Jordan calls the phone back and the man hears it and goes back upstairs. Once again the shot is from under the bed and you only see his feet. Then when you think he's gone again he drags the girl out from under the bed, which is extremely similar to the movie Taken. The entire scene is much like the scene of Taken when the men break in. The only difference is the lighting in Taken is bright while the lighting in this scene is extremely dark. However, in Taken there are shots of feet under the bed and the girl ultimately gets dragged out from under the bed, which is the exact same as in The Call. The story line was also similar to Taken where the girl is taken and the main character does whatever it takes to get the girl back. I am not a fan of the movie Taken, but I did enjoy The Call. Also, I enjoyed the protagonist being a woman, and I loved how she put matters into her own hands. She worked extremely hard and put her life at risk to fix her own mistake. However, the movie was very long with drawn out scenes that could have ended sooner. Also, it was very unrealistic at times (much like Taken). However, it's an interesting story line with a thrilling ending that will no doubt keep you at the edge of your seat. I would give this movie 3/5 stars

1935 Film

THE GAMBLER

The Gambler is a movie set during the depression. It's about your average, everyday man named Harry Johnson (Clark Gable) who is fighting to earn enough money to support his wife Alice Johnson (Joan Crawford) and son Tommy Johnson (Jackie Cooper). However, this becomes difficult when Johnson gets laid off from his job. He then becomes desperate for money and begins to play poker with some dangerous men. After hustling and winning $300 he makes enemies with Greg Erhart (Robert Montgomery). In order to get his money back, Erhart kid naps Johnson's son and holds him hostage. The movie is a desperate battle of a man trying to get his son back and make his life right again. 

The movie has a strong message of the value of family. During the depression people began to lose sight of their values and morals due to all the problems going on. Therefore, it was important to make a movie that causes people to remember what's really important. In the end Johnson realizes how important his family truly is to him. He also realizes how important it is for him to set a good example for his son. Therefore, he turns his life around in order to be that great role model. 

We chose MGM to produce this movie, because they make a lot of drama movies. This movie is mostly a drama, therefore we felt it was appropriate. We also chose Clark Gable to star in it, because he is the biggest star of MGM. Also, Gable seems to be paired up with Joan Crawford a lot, that's why we chose her to be his wife. She also is a big name in MGM. Robert Montgomery worked in MGM as well, and had the "bad guy" look we were going for. Lastly, Jackie Cooper was a young star in MGM, and perfectly fit the part of a young child. 

We chose Victor Fleming to direct this movie, because he later will make big films (like The Wizard of OZ and Gone with the Wind) and is very talented. He also works with MGM and Clark Gable, so he seemed like a good fit. We chose Hugh Wynn as our editor, because our movie will rely heavily on the editing. We chose to focus on editing in order to make quick cuts that create suspense. Our movie will also be suspenseful, due to the kidnapping, and the editing with help to create that suspense. Also, we chose to have the movie in color rather than black in white.

Due to the Hayes code we refrain from having any killing, sexual activity, or profanity in our movie. Although we do plan on showing gambling, since it's a big aspect of our plot, it is not shown positively. This is because gambling is what leads Johnson's life to go down hill. It is also the cause of his son's kidnapping. Therefore, gambling is negatively shown and, therefore, makes it okay for the Hayes Code. 

I loved our movie and didn't have any disagreements with my group. There's nothing I would change. 

Formal Film Study

Annie Hall, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Flashdance are three very different movies, yet they have all impacted the fashion industry greatly. Breakfast at Tiffany’s came out in 1961 starring Audrey Hepburn who immediately became a fashion icon. Throughout the film Hepburn has an elegant and sophisticated look wearing pieces such as pearls, big sunglasses, a black gown and a large sun hat. Hepburn looks very put together throughout the entire film, which I find ironic because her character is very disorganized and scatter brained. Although her appearance is flawless her life style is anything but. However, Hepburn continues to look stunning in every scene no matter what is happening, which is what makes her such an icon and trendsetter. 

Another movie with a grave impact is Annie Hall. Although the movie greatly changed the fashion industry, it was a much different style than Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Annie Hall, played by Diane Keaton, has more of a tomboy look. Through out the movie she wears baggy khakis, oversized shirts, large fedora and her most famous outfit of a man's vest and tie. Keaton brought something knew to the screen audiences hadn't seen before which is the use of men's clothing in a women's wardrobe. This risk had a positive affect on the audience and caused women across the country to steal their man's clothes. Therefore causing Annie Hall to be one of the top movies impacting fashion trends.

The last movie that had a grave impact was Flashdance. Made in 1983, this movie foreshadows all the workout clothes the 80s are about. The movie stars Jennifer Beal’s as a girl who dreams of going to ballet school. The movie is all about dancing, which causes the appeal to be work out gear. Therefore, this movie brings leg warmers; leggings and baggy sweatshirts in style make a huge impact on societies fashion. 

The look of the films was very similar to one another. They all had bright lighting and all didn't have camera movement. The camera always stood still and never circled or became higher or lower. The position of the camera only changed with the shot in all three movies. Also, medium shots were the most popular in all three movies and dominated most of the movie. However, Flashdance had a lot of close ups along with their medium shots. I really enjoyed the close ups of Flashdance which they did when the main character would dance. It was cool too see her feet up close and how they are moving really fast. One shot that was extremely unique and interested me, however, was in Annie Hall. The main character of Annie Hall, Alvy Singer (Annie's boyfriend) was walking and talking to someone. It was an extremely long shot of a side walk and all the way at the end you could barely see the two men walking towards us. The shot didn't move at all and waited until the two men reached the camera. I felt this was very different, because it took the men a long time to walk that distance and, in the mean time, we were just starring at a screen of a sidewalk listening to them talk. It was the first time I’d seen anything like that and it definitely caught my attention. 

Although my movies were similar through the clothing they also were very similar in genre. My greatest discovery in watching these movies is that they are all romances. All three movies had a male and a female starring and through out the movie a relationship developed. Also, the man per suited the women in each of the movies and the women played "hard to get". Also, all movies involved the couple getting together then breaking up then getting together again. Therefore, you could say they were your typical romances. This surprised me because I didn't think any of the movies were romances prior to watching them. However, I didn't enjoy any of these movies, but I did enjoy the clothing used. I knew these were the top three movies that have had major impacts on the fashion industry and the public's fashion. Therefore, I was glad to finally watch them and see for myself what all the hype was about!