25th Hour

Video Quiz Answers:
1. Elegiac tone
2. Xenophobia and racism
3. True
4. He wants Monty to atone for his crime.

25th hour blog

This is an extreme long shot of Monty and his father driving, when Monty's father begins talking of eluding the cops and driving out west to start over. This shot shows the car and so much green, it is a very different atmosphere than New York City.

In this shot I have some issues, compared to the previous one, the car is pointed left, and on a map the west of the United States typically is the left, so I am having a hard time with this shot of Monty and his father still driving out west for Monty to start over when they are headed the opposite way than they were originally.

In this shot, the father and son have been traveling for a bit of time now, Monty has his injuries taken care of in some capacity, and it looks like they are even beginning to heal. This shot demonstrates the progression of time that it would take for the two men to travel out west. Apart from the other two shots, in this one, it is raining which shows a change in weather and further shows the passing of time.

This is the final goodbye that Monty and his dad would have, this is a personal opinion but this shot is a representation of what a loving a caring father would do for his son. Monty's father would be willing to risk everything he had to help his son start over. To me, it is very touching to see that kind of love demonstrated between a father and his son. The hug is the final embrace that the two have in that life-time.

Moonrise Kingdom

This screen shot is when Scout Master Ward is looking for Sam when he has not shown up for breakfast. The reason I chose this shot is because it is referencing one of the great films, "Shawshank Redemtion" when Andy Dufresne did not come out of his cell for count in the prison and the Warden went looking for him and ripped down a poster on his cell wall to reveal a hole that he had used to escape, the same way that Sam did in "Moonrise Kingdom". It is also relevant that the in "Shawshank Redemption" there is the Warden and in "Moonrise Kingdom"  there is Scout Master Ward. The other interesting connection between the two films is that in " The Shawshank Redemption" the guards accompany the Warden to look through Andy's cell, the khaki scouts do the same and follow the Scout Master to Sam's tent. The viewer can also see that the khaki scouts do not like Sam and later on in the film they try to bully him into coming back to camp with them, and they are not afraid to hurt Sam. This relates directly to "The Shawshank Redemtion" because the guards in the film have their own agenda and bully Andy as well. The angle of the shot is very low and uses the legs of the cot to sort of frame Scout Master Ward and the hole to show that the area being framed is the most important part of the shot. Another clue that emphasizes the hole is the plaid wall in his tent. The rest of the tent has nuetral brown tones and the plaid really stands out to again put direct the viewers eye to the hole. The shot is very nice because it can be broken down into smaller segments to show what is important.

I decided to analyze one of the earlier scenes from "O Brother Where Art Thou", when the gang of three come to Pete's cousins farm. One of the defining moments is when they are eating supper and it starts out with a vertical shot of the sons legs to him eating and Wash Hogwallop is discussing his hardships since the two cousins (Pete and Wash) had seen each other last. What Wash says is a very good indicator of what happens in the following scenes, he spoke of cows dieing off and neighbors killing themselves, on top of all of that his wife had left him, and "RUNOFFT". So Wash is in a poor financial and family situation, so after feeding the men and taking the chains off and giving them a place to sleep, Wash turns his own kin into the authorities. Pete was in disbelief of what he had done. Going back to the analyzing the dinner scene, the lighting and color of the picture gives a very accurate description to how Wash says they are living. He even confesses to slaughtering a horse over a week ago and how he thinks that it is starting to go bad. The books that his son has to sit on just to reach the dinner table show they are not able to buy a chair that his son could sit in comfortably without stacking books on top. For me this scene does a great job of sticking with the whole theme of a depression age and especially in the south. (referring back to how Wash spells run off phonetically. 

Apart from the specific scene at the dinner table, the rest of the film keeps true to the depression era as well as the southern aspect. For example when Everett and Delmar encounter Big Dan Teague, the bible salesman. Big Dan banks on the fact the two men being in the south especially at the time would be religious folk. Another aspect of the film that works really well is somewhat subtle but the dapper Dan pomade that Everett is so focused on seems to be a reoccurring item in the film and the product is a symbol of who Everett is, a man who is very concerned with his hair and the style that he wears it and I identify the two together. 

My Own Private Idaho

One of the scenes that I find to be "fresh" 30 minutes into the film, Mike first brought up the point that he will not need to anything to fall back on to because Scott is going to inherit his fathers money on his 21st birthday. Bob seems very eager to question when Scott's birthday actually is and attempts to embrace Scott but he avoids Bob and exits the building. And the part that is so new and fresh is when Scott tells Bob that he will be making a change once he turns 21. Scott does not want anymore of the life that he is living, and when his birthday comes he will make a change and become to person that his father wanted him to be all along. In Scott's words, "My mother and father will be surprised at the incredible change. It will impress them more the when such a fuckup like me turns good...than if I had been a good son all along...I will change when everyone expects it the least". Scott laid out his plan from the beginning and stuck with it. To me, that sort of expression of a plan only happens when an evil Dr. is talking about their plot to take over the world and it later gets dismantled. It is very unique that Scott gives bob his plan and he is able to follow it all the way. Apart from Scott giving new information about his plans, the scene now reveals that there are two main characters; Mike is the obvious main character but Scott is also a main character as well. The viewer is able to watch the two characters develop for the rest of the film.

One thing I left out, is Bob. Bob is the the center of this scene, Scott knows Bob as his "real father" and has learned many things from Bob. When the group is informally planning a robbery, Mike had mentioned Scott inheriting money, Bob was all ears. After a bit of talking, Scott is walking out of the room and Bob continues talking and following him. He keeps prying to get the information of when Scott will get his inheritance. Bob say lets not think of ourselves as thieves, but Diana's Foresters, gentlemen of the shade, minions of the moon. Bob was trying to make Scott see him as a good person, he wants Scott to trust him and follow him, just as the rest of the boys that are in the gang. But Scott has made up his mind, and you really feel the power of this scene in a later scene where Bob comes to see Scott after he has made the change and became the person that his parents wanted him to be. Bob is hoping that there is something left in Scott's heart that will let him at least address Bob. But the only thing that Bob gets is a broken heart and he ends up dying. A representation of the bond and ties that the two had together was then dead. At that moment, the viewer knows that Scott is not going back to the way it was. I really enjoyed the film, it showed me some things that I am not too familiar with and I think that is why I appreciate the film more than some other films.

The Vanishing

The first scene that I am going to analyze from the film, The Vanishing, is when Raymond/Barney test the effects of the chloroform on themselves. There are some similarities between both scenes but there is even more differences. In the 1988 film, Raymond is sitting in the dark of the cabin, there is barely enough light on him for the viewer to make him out. While in the 1993 film, Barney is lit very well and the background is dark and Barney is left with light on him. A second detail of the scene is that in the 1993 film, there is music playing while Barney is about to chloroform himself, but in the 1988 film Raymond does it in silence. The music adds to the scene and makes the Barney character seem eerie and something is off. Another difference between the two is that the the 1988 film had Raymond knocked out for 18 minutes and 54 seconds, which is different than the 1993 film where Barney was knocked out for 37 minutes and 15 seconds. I am not entirely sure if there is even a reason why the two films have different times for the effects of the chloroform, the only thing would to account for the type of transportation and the country that each film was staged in. A similarity among the differences is that the two films had Raymond/Barney practicing the conversation to get a woman into their car along without succeeding. The last and most important detail of the scene is that the two films place this scene at different points in the film. In the 1988 film, this scene is is 28 minutes into the film and the 1993 film places this scene first. That whole decision of where this scene went changed the film and I definitely prefer the 1988 storyline but I would rather have the actors from the 1993 film. The killer role is performed better by Barney because of his voice, he has a slightly creepy voice and he uses it so well, apart from that, Barney makes the viewer feel like he is psychologically unstable and capable of doing some terrible things. The Raymond character is played well but it just does not have the same effect that Barney has.

The abduction scene is a scene that both films have much of the same details such as the abductor is selling something to Saskia/Diane. Both films have the abductor asking the woman to get into the car and they hesitate, but after viewing a family photo on the dashboard they get in. The main differences are that in the 1988 film, the car is by a group of people and children; and the other film has the car parked by trees. The shots of Saskia getting abducted had people in the background, not definite figures but the sense that she was abducted in plain day in front of people is very frightening.The abduction scenes happen fairly close to each other as far as what time, each about an hour and a half in.But the storyline of the two films at that point of the abduction was in two different directions. In the 1988 film Raymond is telling the story to Rex while they are recreating what Raymond did. But in the 1993 film, the scenes jump back and forth and there is an addition of Rita, Jeff's girlfriend, her role in the 1988 film was minor and did not sway the direction of the film. But in the 1993 film, Rita was a bigger role and was able to save Jeff at the end and kill Barney. I enjoyed the 1988 abduction scene better than the 1993, I think the Saskia did a great job of showing fear and terror in her eyes while she was being abducted. Along with the children and people around, it felt more real.

I said it already but I prefer the 1988 storyline for the film and a would rather see the actors from the 1993 film with the exception of the Saskia/Diane role, I thought that Saskia did a better job as far as getting abducted and her acting in the beginning of the film with Rex. 

Annie Hall

 I consider Woody Allen's comedy style to be very successful. Just to name a couple television shows that use the anti mimetic emblems are " the office", "family guy", "parks and rec". The addressing of the camera or the characters just being aware of the camera allows for Allen to use other emblems or create some humorous situation. Because the emblems give Allen the ability to alter what reality is and what is not, Allen is able create some comedic sequences. 

When Alvy addresses an older woman walking on the sidewalk and continues on mimicking 1960's film directors by asking random people on the street questions. He was using this to then make fun of the people he was talking to. such as the happy couple that neither had anything interesting or meaningful about themselves.
Apart from the anti mimetic emblems, I think as far as "Annie Hall" goes, Allen plays Alvy and I think that a reason why he is so successful with the comedy is because he is the director and actor. Because the audience knows that he is both, they can make the connections like from the previous paragraph. Allen's comedy is witty and that is why I find it very successful as well. I like physical comedy, but it can  get old when it is the only type of comedy, so the fact that Allen uses wit in his comedy is refreshing from the other physical stunts.

2. Scottie's obsession with recreating madeleine is very very disturbing, the lack of self worth on Judy's part is ridiculous, while Scottie's desire to make the woman that he loved is equally as disturbing. Judy is in love with Scottie but she shows no respect for herself by doing exactly what Scottie wants her to do. To make the situation even worse is that Judy knows that she has done Scottie wrong by conning him. Scottie on the other hand is too aggressive and it is very intimidating towards Judy, she has no say in the situations when Scottie is picking out the clothes for her to wear or when he is making her go up the stairs with him at the Spanish mission. The demands that Scottie has are borderline insane and it shows that he does not love Judy, he loves the thought of her being Madeleine. This is not a love story, it is as far from a love story as it can get, this movie depicts a man that fell in love and did everything he could do to bring back the memory that he had of her. And once Scottie has figured out what has been done, he leads Judy to her death; Scottie did not physically kill Judy, but he set the stage for it and the guilt that Judy had from conning Scottie overtook her and she jumped when a dark figure came through the door, almost as if death had come to collect the ghost that had emerged from the jade light.