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!