Hurt Locker!

Opening Remark: This movie has opened my eyes to war, and the life style the people within it have. Before this movie I didn't know much about war, besides the fact that I had relatives serving for our country, I didn't know the hardships that each individual goes through. This movie highlights what each persons in the army has to deal with, though it may be hard they chose this job because they want to help serve our country proudly. Hurt Locker is about EOD specialist who are serving in Iraq, and how their lives are effected by the burdens, the endless emotions, and the intense action everyday.

Context
A. Place the film:
i. Director’s Work: 
The Hurk Locker was directed by Katherine Bigelow and in 2010 she won two of the biggest awards; she became the first woman in Oscar history to win the Best Director award and first woman to win the Director's Guild of America Award.
ii. Time when Made (historical, socio-cultural): 
The movie is set during the war between Iraq and the United States. The Unites States invaded Iraq in 2003 because of possible weapons leading to mass destruction.
iii. Relation to other films: 
This movie connects to many other soldiers who go through hardships of war. The decisions made in war are a lot more dangerous then choices within a typical family home.
iv. Thematic Threads: 
The theme throughout this movie is there are few things that you find enjoyable, but when you do find that one thing, the passion becomes an obsession and the person cannot bear to live without it.War is a drug.

Setting, Acting, Costume
A. Visual Style: 
The style is dangerous due to the explosives and guns used throughout the movie. It is very eye catching and vivid because the shots are so clear and there is a variety of shots that give us the feel as if we are there.  
B. Actors: 
The main actors were James, Sanborn, and Eldridge; they came off to be strong, independent, and self-concerned men. Throughout the movie we slowly come to realize that they are more then just arrogant men they have emotional baggage and personal issues within there life's outside the war, as well as within it. Eldridge is scared, he is scared to go out and fight because he doesn't want to die. He feels the emotional connection to Thompson's death. James isn't scared he love the excitement of war the feeling you get while defusing a bomb he loves the rush. The one thing he loves in life is war, his family is not as important. Like he said to his son in the movie "As you get older... some of the things you love might not seem so special anymore...by the time you get to my age, maybe it's only one or two things. With me, I think it's one.
C. Production Design: 
The props like bombs, guns, and equipment used for the movie set a sense of realism. Without the props the movie would not make sense. Hurt Locker is about war, the main and most important props are ones that connect to war. The location is Jordan, which is right by the Iraqi border.


Cinematography and Lighting:
A. Style- realistic/formalistic:
The style of the film is realistic because it is portraying an important subject that is happening right now within our world. Men and women are fighting for our country as I write this now; and this film is trying to show us the real life issues. Events show the everyday struggles of each individual and Kathrine thought this subject needed to be shown and praised.
B. Angles, Framing, Lens Choice:
The shots throughout this movie were outstanding. There was a variety of shots like, close ups, long shots, extreme long shot, extreme closeup, over the shoulder, and etc.This just shows that there was a lot of shots used to capture the feeling of each individual. The shot I remember most was the first bomb explosion. The camera work and angles were amazing. The cinematographer got the rust on the cars, the rocks on the ground, Thompson's body flying, and the bomb itself. That was one of the best shots throughout the movie because it really made the audience feel the emotion of the characters; the scared feeling of the loss of their friend.
C. Camera and actor blocking: 
This is something the cinematographer did to make the view of the movie seem realistic as if I, the audience, was there within the movie.
D. Dominant Imagery/Icons/Color: The colors in the movie stay consistent and plain. The main colors are white, black, khaki, and brown to give the desert feel to the audience. The dominant imagery in the film was the bombs and how they represent the fighting within the world. The icons are the soldiers, they are the heroes that deserve a great amount of gratitude and praise.
E. Camera Distance/ Proxemics, Territorial Design, Open vs. Closed forms:

The camera is close to the action to capture the suspense. The camera is distant from the actions when the bombs, guns and other weapons are going off because it wants to be able to capture and see every detail of that shot. The film is made up of open forms.
F. Light Design-Key and Contrast:
The lighting used is the sunlight. Most of the scenes were natural lighting so there was no need for extra light. Some scenes were perfect because the light of fires or signs helped to light the shot up but also give it a realistic and dramatic feel.


Editing:
A. Style:
The style throughout the movie changing according to the scene. In some scenes the music is fast pace so the shots are quick to change and go from extreme close up to extreme long shot. In other scenes the music is a little less dramatic and just takes us through as if it all flows together.
B. Manipulations of time and speed: 
The main shot that was obviously slowed down was the first shot when the first explosion happened. The whole shot was slowed down to see all the little details within the shot. The shots shows the rocks slowly rising from the ground, and shows the car being hit by the pressure, every detail is shown throughout these few shots.
C. Length of cuts and pacing: 
The lengths of shots and cuts are all determined by the emotion of the scene. Though the pacing is usually slow in some scenes the cuts are fast pace due to the dramatic feel.
D. Narrative techniques such as flashbacks/forwards, parallel action:
Most of the shots weren't flashbacks or flash forewords until the end in the last five minutes of the film where James is talking to his son and he says "As you get older... some of the things you love might not seem so special anymore...by the time you get to my age, maybe it's only one or two things. With me, I think it's one." He doesn't feel that he belongs with his family he likes the rush of the war, that is where he truly belongs.
E. Montage or Visual Metaphor: 
When James is in the United States with his family they are at a supper market looking for food. When James is left in font of the isle of cereal with the decision of choosing one, he is left with a tough decision. This is a metaphor because it shows how he can't make a small choices in life but he can make big decisions in war.


Score:
A. Style: 
Though there wasn't much music the little there was it is fast paced everything seems to be fast paced because war is usually fast.There wasn't anymore score and you could hear a lot of details throughout the movie like the breathing or heart beat of each character. It made the movie more realistic and a comforting movie that made us look and pay attention instead of listening.
B. Repeated Motifs: 
The gun noise is repeated to give the sense that the soldiers are tough and leaders due to their guns.
C. Foley or FX: 
The guns and explosions are most likely recreated because it is unlikely that those noises would be happening on set.
D. Synchronous/Nonsynchronous:
An example of synchronous includes the sand and rocks rising from the ground during the explosions. The audience hears the crackling of the rocks and dirt, which emphasizes the devastation the bomb created.

Script:

A. Narrative Structure/ Style:
There is no narrative just dialogue. I feel this is perfect for the film because instead of feeling like it is a movie I feel as if the audience is part of the war too.
B. Character Driven vs Plot Driven:
I believe the film is character driven because their emotions and actions is what gets the through each day. Though the directors and writer tells them what to feel and what to be determined to do, I feel the director wants us to think it is character driven because it gives the characters a sense of realism.
C. Nature of Dialogue:
The dialogue is open and informal because they use inappropriate words but I feel that adds to their character so it is appropriate for some scenes in the movie. 
D. Use of humor, subtext or irony:
The humor helps the men deal with the emotions they are feeling they hide like many others in the world and cover their emotions with other emotions like humor. I feel the title "Hurt Locker" has a deep meaning it relates to the box of stuff each man has when they die. It also relates to the pain and suffering the hide, they each have something that hurts them and they each have there own "hurt lockers" with unexpressed feelings inside.

E. Thematic message/Archetypes/ Myth:
Young men don't realize the hardships of war until they experience it themselves. It is a life changing experience. Though men go into war feeling they are going to make a change, they are the small person within the big change. They don't understand the horrible memories they will never forget.  

Genre:
A. Features determining Genre:
The Hurt Locker is a war/action film.
B. How film meets genre:
It shows the intense actions of when the people are killed, bombs set off, and battles that are fought everyday of these man's lives.


Closing Remarks: This movie helps people in society realize the hardships that the soldiers go through and what they sacrifice for our country. War is a big issue among our society, and within this war there are real people, real stories waiting to be heard. Hurt Locker captures and helps people understand what is really happening with this war, it helps us understand the people, and the scars left on soldiers inside and out. Kathrine Bigelow is an amazing director that helped open peoples eyes to a subject that is not just a movie but real life. A subject that deals with different people within society. It's overall message: "war is a drug."

Short Documentary

The story I chose was on MTV and it was a story about two girls who find their face very ugly they hate their face and have B.D.D, Body Dysmorphic Disorder. They cant stand the look of their face and try plastic surgery to help fix it but in the end they are still unsatisfied with their look. One girl, Pam is 26 and has hated her face since she was young. She buys clothes to distract people from looking at her face and she also wears a dot in the middle of her forehead to "distract people from looking at her ugly face." The other girl, Mandie who is also 26 is not satisfied with her face and is holding her back from getting married. She wants to wait to get married until after she gets her plastic surgery. Both girls have not had a stable job due to this disorder. Mandie wishes to get into modeling when she feels she is beautiful. Both girls are hurting their loved ones because all they are concerned about is looking beautiful. The people around them get annoyed when they consistently talk about how ugly they are and when they fish for comments. Some see it as a way to get attention, though it is a disorder. 

Narrative/Theme: The theme is to show that looks are not everything though to some people believe it is the only thing in life that is important. These girls find that their face holds them back and until they get plastic surgery to make them pretty they will not be happy. The narrative is the two girls describing how they feel and why they hate their face. Most of the dialogue is heart breaking to hear because they act like the only thing in life is looking the very best. Pam feels that if she gets a nose job it will fix everything that is wrong with her face. She finally gets a nose job and is the "happiest she's ever been" but then two months later goes back to her old ways. She talks about how the surgery did nothing for her and her face is still ugly. Mandie gets a boob job, and botox in her face. She was never happy with her face even after her surgery and she comes to except that and tries to live her life.  A lot of the show is the dialogue between the girls and their family's or loved ones. I personally felt sad by there disorder, and I think that is what the intent was; to feel compassion for the individuals. 

Camera Work: The camera work was mainly close ups or long shots. Occasionally there was over the shoulder or other shots to add to the documentary. A lot of the shots were free handed, it added to the documentary feel to make it seem as if we are there with the person.The camera work was still very professional at times. I think some shots could have been placed differently to give the story a more sympathetic feel because closer shots make the audience feel their emotions more.

 Editing and Sound Design: The sound was usually the background of people within the shot or background music that helped add to the feel of the documentary. The editing was good, it crossed between each girl which brought the audience closer to each by hearing each story evenly. The shot was never held to long, it was always cut and brought attention to the screen. I connected to each girl because of the camera work and editing.

In the end I feel both girls did not get very far in trying to overcome their disorder. Pam didn't go to therapy but instead started a family in hope of overcoming her disorder and focusing on being a mother and a regular person in society. Mandie finally set her wedding date and also got a job as a model with an agency. Though she hasn't gotten any gigs yet she is very happy that she is finally able to get out and work. Both Pam and Mandie still don't feel beautiful and wish to be pretty but they are trying to understand that it is a disorder and that they have to overcome it because surgery will no help their needs.

Film Critique: Two of a Kind

A. Rationale: For our film I worked with Plenny and Jennifer and we went with Jen's idea of a girl who’s lonely and is searching for Mr. Right; when a new guy moves in next door she thinks she has found "the one". She soon finds the guy is not entirely who he comes off to be. She messes up in front of the guy which makes her seem less confident. We chose Jen's idea because we felt it connected to Amelie the most. It has a mysterious character who adds to the tone of the film. Our goal was to have a romantic comedy film and was intended for our class to see how it relates to Amelie.

Genre Connections/ Director Influences/ Influences and Narrative/Story: Are intended genre was to have a romantic comedy, though not very many scenes portray that. The dream sequence was some what comedic and I think the actors did a clear job of showing that the bizarre dream was a connection her inexperienced love life. The actress is somewhat of a nerd and does things that make her seem clumsy and uncoordinated. This is suppose to be the comedic part of our movie to see that love is not just appearance. The actor finds something deeper then her dorky attire. 

Directing/Acting/Character: I feel mine and Jens position within the group was thinking of the ideas of our film; location, actors, and the outline of the story. Plenny did an outstanding job as our cinematographer and getting the right shots and if not then placing the actors where it most worked, though I helped Plenny put a lot towards our film, she led the footage. Our actors did the best they could in the time we had them. Some problems were with the guys voice some ares he didn't speak clear nor loud enough.the actress did a good job of capturing most of what we wanted. Though they both did an amazing job in helping us I think we should have found actors that were more flexible with their time and that had a better sense of what my group wanting them to portray. The first day, as well as many others, the actors did not arrive on time and that was valuable time that could have been used towards our film. The weather had a huge impact on our footage, because the first day we shot we got a lot of footage but then we were unable to use it due to the weather. We had to reschedule those shots which took time away from our overall time for filming. In the end most of the shots worked out, but I feel it could have been better if we fixed those certain areas of acting, weather, and overall timing of our film.

Edit/FX, Techniques and Concepts: Though I had a lot of editing time, more than most, I don't think my film came out the way I intended it to be.  The editing part of the project is always harder then filming for me because I cant incorporate the image in my head to an actual video. I felt some shots didn't mix well with others because it left the audience puzzled and left wondering "how did they get there?" We could have fixed those if we took a little more time while filming to look over our outline and think while editing will this go smoothly.

Sound FX/Score: Our main concept was to bring reality to our actors emotions and actions. To connect the audience with our actors and the way they feel. I feel the boom mic helped a lot because we captured sounds to help tell our story better. In some areas, like the fish store, we couldn't hear due to the machine in the background. In that situation I feel it was up to the actors to help savage our film and speak clear and loud enough even though the machine was in the background. My background music didn't fit the story as well as I would have like. The deadline for the project was coming up, and I was already behind most people,  I tried to get the best music in the time I had.

Cinematography: My group tried to get a variety of shots to make our movie seem more dynamic. We would go from long shot to extreme close up. I think we did a pretty good job of getting the shots in a good position so the audience can feel the actors emotions. I feel that in the end that the cinematography was the best of our overall feature in our film. I feel half our shots were good and the other half could have been fixed, but overall i think they worked out. Our shots at the parked worked good. Plenny and myself filmed that scene and though the sun was covering the actors faces we made it worked by blocking the sun with a jacket which gave the actors a nice tone instead of having harsh shadows. 

Production Design/ Mis En Scene: The locations we used were, my house, a local park, and Jen's family fish store. I felt the park worked perfectly with the day dream sequence because that day was a sunny day and the timing of it was perfectly lighting. Though we couldn't control the people there, we worked our way around the people. I think the use of props was appropriate, we used food,wine glasses, a flower and a blanket to add to the romantic picnic at the park feeling. The locations fit the film because it it a realistic setting, the store could have been a more teen friendly store like, Starbucks or Jamba Juice but then we would need permission. With the fish store it is owned by Jen's family so it worked out. We did a pretty good job with staying consistent, if we needed to shoot another day we would use the same area of that same location. Our lighting of those areas were consistent as well. 

My "objective" analysis of the film as a whole: Overall I was content with our project, though I would go back and change a lot within our filming, editing and as well as actors, I think it worked out. our idea was a good straight forward concept. Each film we do we learn more and put of mistakes towards the next to make that one better, so in all I think my next film will be better. I will try and get actors that have more time on their hands, get better footage so I am not stuck when it comes to editing, and I will make sure my story flows.

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Documentary Pre-Pro Dance

   
Purpose: The intent of this page is to realize how life is inspirational and unique with what you make it. Dancing is a perfect way to express yourself as well as keep you fit. The documentary will show the girls love for dance and how she one day would like to become professional. A girls dream might someday turn into reality with practice and dedication. The main purpose is to show how dancing is a way to be expressive and meaningful to some people. Rachel, the girl we will be interviewing, loves to dance and she eventually she wants to be a professional dancer. 

Contacts: The people i need to talk to are Rachel Cosakis, the interviewee, and the dance academy she performs at, Tiffany's Dance Academy. 

Interview Questions:
How long have you been dancing?
How long have you been attending Tiffany's Dance Academy?
How did you get started with dancing?
why did you join Tiffany's Dance Academy?
How often are your performances?
How many hours are put into dancing?
Is dancing something you would like to join when you are older?
What inspires you to dance?
What is your favorite dance?

General Flow: In the begging i was thinking we walk into the dance studio and see Rachel dancing. We would cut to the interview of her and have b-roll as she talks about the people and dances that inspire her. Then we could cut to a shot of the whole class and slowly have them fade and leave Rachel standing alone dancing. The end will end with a dance that Rachel performed.

Shot List:  Usage of the interview shots: close ups, reflection shots, extreme close ups and the medium waist shots. The B-roll would be the the footage from the dance studio and Rachel dancing in her performance with the other dancers in the dance academy.