MYST Q4 #2

PITCH PERFECT

Pitch Perfect is not your typical romantic comedy. This movie is about a girl named Beca (Ana Kendrick) who is a freshman at Barden University. She is somewhat of a loner, and is extremely passionate about following her dreams as being a music producer. However, she joins an acapella group at the school, and makes some unlikely friendships. The movie is all about her underdog acapella group and their journey to the finals. Along the way she also forms a romantic friendship with Jesse (Skylar Astin) who is part of the Trebelmakers, which is the rival acapella group. This movie is extremely unique, because it entails so much music, yet isn’t a cheesy musical. They incorporate all the songs so well and use a great mix of modern songs and old classics. I feel I enjoyed this movie so much because of the music and the singing.

Along with the music, the movie is also extremely funny, and caused me to laugh out loud multiple times. However, my favorite scene in the movie had to be the scene where the girls sing “Just the Way You Are” in the streets of their school. I love this scene, because it’s the first time they all come together and work well as a team. Therefore, it’s extremely powerful and a huge turning point in the movie. Up to that point everything was going wrong for them, but after that point everything goes well. Therefore, it’s an extremely vital scene and I love the music in it.

Since the movies soul purpose was to entertain there wasn’t really any unique camera work or cinematography. The movie is shot in really bright lightning and has a lighthearted mood. I noticed, however, most of the movie is shot in a medium shot. Except when the groups are performing, because then it’s a full shot. However, the main focus is on the storyline and characters. I really enjoyed this movie and would recommend it if you are looking for a laugh and a good feeling movie. I give this movie 4.5/5 stars.

Into The Rabbit Hole 1975 film

INTO THE RABBIT HOLE

 Into the Rabbit Hole, a 1975 film, is about a man named Jason (Jack Nicholson) who had a really hard life growing up in the slums of New York. By 20 years old, and after living on his own for years, he decides he wants to make some goodmoney. At his job he doesn’t make nearly as much money as he would like, so he quits and begins drug dealing. While he’s dealing one night he crosses paths with Ron (Robert De Niro), a crooked cop who wants in on Jason’s business. They form an unlikely friendship and become business partners. Jason, who had never depended on anyone in his life, begins to not only look at Ron as a partner, but a best friend and the family he never had. The duo begins making lots of money, however when the NYPD becomes suspicious of Ron he does the unthinkable. Ron secretly covers up all his guilty tracks in the business and turns Jason in. Jason, confused and betrayed, is sentenced to a lifetime in jail due to all the crimes he has committed. This movie is a dramatic story about friendship and betrayal. It hits the 70s movie criteria with an unhappy ending. The movie ends with Jason being put into the cell and the cell door closing on him. This leaves room for the audience to be creative in choosing the ending, however we did not make it a happy one. Also, it’s a 70s movie, because the main character is an anti-hero. The entire movie we are rooting for Jason even though he is doing illegal things. We want him to succeed though we know it’s wrong. Lastly, it’s a 70s movie, because the cop is portrayed as a bad guy, because he is a crooked cop. This shows how police and other officials were criticized in the 70s. Also, due to the drug related plot and some violence, the film is rated R, and its genre is a drama.

We chose Martin Scorsese to direct our movie. We chose him, because he has had a number of experiences with crime and drama, and he has worked with Robert De Niro before. Robert De Niro and Jack Nicholson were easy choices for our leads, because both were very famous at this time. They also have had experience in crime films such as China Town and Mean Streets. We chose William Reynolds as our editor. We felt our movie should rely heavily on editing to add a dramatic effect. Also, we would like editing to jump from Jack to Robert in scenes. Lastly, we chose Warner Brothers as our studio, because it is a very powerful studio in the industry. We wanted our movie to be popular and successful, and we feel Warner Brothers can help us do that. Warner Brothers also has produced a lot of dramas and has worked with Scorsese and De Niro, which makes it a perfect fit.

I had no disagreements with my group. If I was making it on my own, however, I feel I would make is more dramatic with a better relationship between De Niro and Nicholson and then a bigger betrayal. This would add more of an emotional impact, which would make people more interested in the movie. But, I really like our movie and have no complaints/ major changes in what we decided.

Formal Film Study

BEST TEEN FILMS

Clueless, Breakfast Club & Mean Girls

     

 The style and coloring of both Mean Girls and Clueless where very bright and colorful, while Breakfast Club was slightly darker with less bright colors. One aspect that made both Clueless and Mean Girls so bright was the clothes used. Both movies had girls wearing lots of pinks with crazy and fun accessories. Therefore, this made practically every scene filled with color. The story telling of each movies were all very similar in a way that they had a narrator. Both Clueless and Mean Girls had the main character's thoughts narrating the movie. Breakfast Club had one of the several main characters narrate the beginning and ending of the movie. However, Breakfast Club didn't rely on narrating like the other two. 

All three movies had a lot of characters and story lines, which made editing very important. A lot of the time scenes would jump quickly in order to keep up with the story. Also, it would jump from character to character quickly so you could keep up with what each was saying. None of the movies had special effects, but one thing that was interesting in Breakfast Club and Clueless was the sound. Both movies had a lot of background music and songs. This made both movies more fun and exciting to watch. However, Mean girls barely had music. 

All these movies have a message of not giving into peer pressure or changing who you are to fit in. I feel this closely relates to any culture/teenager, because teens constantly change who they are to fit in. All movies had a character who pretended to be something there not that made them unhappy. I feel this is an extremely strong and important message to send teens. In the end of all movies, when the characters gave up on trying to fit in, each character was happy. This then influences our society to be yourself no matter what. This is an indirect message, however, because they never come out and say "be yourself and you'll be happy", they just show it through the story line. 

All three of these dramas also had parts where characters told their peers personal things about them. In each of these scenes the camera was in a close up of that character's face. This heighten the dramatic aspect, and made me more interested in what the character was confessing. Also, it made me connect with the character, because i could see their face so clearly. One example of this was in the Breakfast Club when they were sitting in a circle. One character was confessing why he got a detention, and it was a reason the truly bothered him. As the camera moved around him slowly you could see the pain building in his face as he began to relive the incident. I felt as if i was there with him feeling the pain. I felt this was an extremely powerful scene, and the close up shot is what allowed it to have such an impact.