Blog #1 What if Fight Club was a silent film

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QgFWXLN-ug

The movie I chose to write about for blog one is fight club. Fight club was made in 1999 and starred Bradd Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Carter. This movie is about an office employee and a soap salesman that start a club to destroy debts owed in credit.

This movie would have been hard to do as a silent film, but still possible. The film starts out by showing Edward Norton and how he has mental issues. He goes to therapy sessions and is suffering from insomnia. He becomes addicted to the meetings until one day, a woman named Marla comes in, and he knows that she is faking her mental issues. On a business trip, he goes on a flight and meets Tyler. He becomes friends with him and the two make a club where all they do is fight. More fight clubs start all over the country and they band together to shut down the credit companies.

As a silent film, the movie would start out by showing the main character, but to show the main characters mental problems, it would have to show him holding his head most likely, and then he would be going to the classes. There would most likely be a short writing that tells the audience that the main character has mental issues. After showing the main character repeatedly going to therapy sessions, it would show the same scene, just with a girl in it. The next scene would be an image of the main character with an angry face. This scene would repeat, but each time, the look on the main characters face would begin to get angrier looking. Then, the character would go on a plane, there would be another scene with writing that says, “He is taking a business trip.” On the plane, it would show a scene where he shakes hands with another character, demonstrating the friendship. In the next scene it would show a club, and it would be called the fight club. Then after a few more scenes, it would show many more clubs started, all with the same name. It would then show the twist. I can imagine a scene where the two main characters are standing next to each other, and with a fading film transition, one would disappear. Then there would be writing that said “It was one person the whole time, imagining a second person.” The next scene would have a picture of a building, then it would show the main character again, then it would have a picture of a collapsed building that looked similar.

Some of the major changes that would be necessary are the difference in music instead of dialogue. To show the feelings, there would be many random changes in pitch, making it seem more intense. I chose something that would be difficult to make into a silent film to show the significance of the voices. If there is no sound, Tylers (Brad Pitts) personality would have never been shown correctly. It would be tough to make it have a good twist. Also, it would be tough to demonstrate mental issues in a silent film. Not only because of the sound that is needed but also, when silent films were being made, most people did not understand mental issues like they do today. http://cinemaroll.com/cinemarolling/alfred-hitchcock-presents-psycho/. Psycho was the first movie to really demonstrate mental issues. That is possibly why it could be popular. 

Changing movies with Technology Blog #5

How have new technologies influenced the way films are understood? Starting at the beginning, there was a short film. This film was made in 1894, and it was a recording of a man sneezing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wnOpDWSbyw (Link to the video) Now days, it would seem that a video like this is boring. Why is it boring? Because technology has changed so much, that we have adapted to a whole different way of viewing movies.

One of the first things that were discovered was the idea of different camera angles. As technology became cheaper, it was possible to own more than one camera. The film makers realized that they could film something from two angles at the same time. Not only could they film the same scene from two different angles with two cameras, they could have the same person act out the same thing twice, and they could film it separately. With technology, they were able to cut the two pieces of film and add them together, making two scenes look like one from two different angles.

At the beginning, movies did not have any voices, often times, they would have an orchestra that would be at the theater. They would have the music that they were supposed to play and they would play it every time the movie was shown. In Paris, in the year 1900, there was a movie that had sound playing with the movie, but it wasn’t until April of 1923, that they were able to add sound to the movie itself. Sound technology has changed movies in many ways, making films more believable as it gives the feeling that you are actually experiencing what the main character is experiencing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_film

Eventually color was added to film. It was introduced in the late 50’s but it was expensive, and it did not become standard until the early 70’s. The invention of color was huge, as it could make the movie look more realistic, and it was easier to see detail. Without the invention of color, many famous artistic movies would not have been near as popular. For instance, Star Wars could not have had the lighting effects.

Another effect that star wars had was computer technology; The light that comes of the light sabers was not actually there. It had to be added as this was a huge deal during this time. Without the computer effects, it would be normal swords, and that would not be near as interesting as a light saber. Not only did it look cooler, but it made it possible to have new ideas, such as a light cutting through a wall, which a normal sword could never do. If it wasn’t for this technology, it would never receive the ratings that it received on the critic websites.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_wars/

Now days, we have a new technology that seems to be failing. The invention of 3d is not new, but it is becoming more popular, as it is possible to own a TV that can project images. Unfortunately, producers are not using the technology to portray more realism of films but more to excite an audience with a low IQ. Most of the 3d movies that are being released today have unrealistic parts that jump out at you, and make the movie seem fake. Even though it seems that this is not working, I do believe that if producers and writers figure out that no one tries to dodge the bullets coming out of the screen, they could do well with the technology, and use it to make more realistic movies.

Home theaters are having a large impact on films. It is just one more way a movie can seem more realistic. The sound is often all around the viewer, and the picture is often very clear and detailed as it shows the artistic aspects of the film. Films are more appreciated and they will continue to be, as the film industry is only growing, partially due to the growing of technology.

Blog #4 New Hollywood Style films and filmmakers

Choose a particular artist, director or producer associated with the “New Hollywood.”  Write an analysis of his or her contributions to cinema, including a consideration of later films or artists who have been influenced by your subject.

New Hollywood film making is also known as post classical film making and even sometimes called American New Wave filmmaking. This refers to the time period starting during the mid 1960’s and going until the early 1980’s. A new generation of filmmakers came to America, and influenced the new era of films. Their whole new way of producing a video, and the marketing that would come after has made a large impact in the way studios have made movies. The movies that were made did not come from independent filmmakers. They introduced styles that set them apart from studio traditions. The new style often relates to a broader type of film influenced by the time period, known as the “Hollywood Renaissance.” These New Hollywood films often featured anti-establishment political themes, use of sexually related freedoms, it often times contained rock music, and sometimes shows the use of drugs. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:New+Hollywood&sa=X&ei=YJ7gTNm4Loi0sAP5nPWGCw&ved=0CBMQkAE

One particular artist that I chose was Arthur Penn. He along with the star Warren Beatty, were in charge of directing the movie, Bonny and Clyde, though Arthur Penn did most of the decision making. In this movie, there were many controversial new techniques. It contains a large amount of clear and easy to see violence, sex, humor, and sexual humor. At the time that this movie was released, it was very popular among one group, the teenagers. Though the biggest audience was the youth, there were still many awards that were received such as an Academy Award for best supporting actress and best cinematography. The critics did not know how to take this movie, as it portrayed so much violence and the ending was a major shock. This caused some of the critics to hate it, and some of the critics to love it.

Another example of the Hollywood style that was used in this movie is the idea of no sadness for the random characters. Even though people are constantly dying, you do not feel bad for the people that are not considered the main characters. At the time, it was a major shock to the audience and the brutality made the audience feel like if they supported certain things, that they had no morals.

According to http://dvd.ign.com/articles/859/859823p1.html, there are many movies that have been inspired by Bonny and Clyde. Some of those consist of O Brother, Where art Though, Natural Born Killers, Midnight Run, and last but not least, Thelma and Louise. This movie was made many years later, in 1991 and had two female leads. It was directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri. The film is about the women, Thelma and Louise, running from the law trying to get to Mexico. This is another example of the Hollywood filmmaking style. Even though it wasn’t really in the same era, you really only care about the main characters, as they committed crimes.

American Gangster http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765429/ is another movie that was made by the producer Ridley Scott. Ridley Scott really tends to follow the ideas of Arthur Penn, as in the movie American Gangster, the main character is Denzel Washington playing Frank Lucas, and Russell Crowe, playing the detective that is trying to catch Denzel for heroin dealing. As much as you still like Russell Crowe, you still think that Denzel Washington is not worthy of getting in much trouble, as most of the police are the main antagonists.

James Cameron (Director and Writer) Blog #3

Choose a particular international film artist, director or producer.  Write an analysis of his or her contributions to cinema, including a consideration of later films or artists who have been influenced by your subject.

The creator of Avatar, was the Director that I have chosen. James Cameron was born in Canada on August 16, 1954. He changed films in many ways, making some of the most famous movies still today, including the Terminator movies and the Titanic. As a major genius, movies even coming out proceeding avatar would not be the same if it were not for James Cameron.

3D movies were not yet popular before the release of Avatar. Every movie that was in 3D was either a short film, or something that was made a joke out of. One example is my bloody valentine. This movie was a joke as many theaters didn’t even show it in 3d. It was obvious that the directors did not know what they were doing, as rotten tomatoes even gave it a 56%. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/my_bloody_valentine_3_d/  Every scene that was supposedly scary had to have someone coming out at the crowd with a chainsaw or something flying out to the crowd to scare them.

After the release of Avatar, many movies have been in 3D and they are supposed to be serious, even though they still never compare. Resident evil was an example. In this movie, there are many scenes where something is trying to come out at you just like in my bloody valentine, but in this movie, it was only for the special effects, not to scare anyone. Unfortunately, this director has not yet realized that an audience is not always completely stupid, as it takes away the sense of realism when someone is shooting at the screen just to make it look cool. This would explain the 25% that critics gave it http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/resident_evil_afterlife/.

Avatar had the budget that it needed, showing that it’s not the technology that isn’t there, it’s that the technology is expensive, and if they are not willing to spend the 280 million that was spent on Avatar,( http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2009/12/how-much-did-avatar-really-cost.html) in this day in age, the critics will look down upon it.

Even random movies are now being made in 3D. Jackass was an example. I did enjoy this movie, but I was wishing that they did not do the 3d effects. Instead of doing their normal acts that are usually really funny, they did more things like slingshotting themselves at the camera. This just looks dumb and really wasn’t as funny. In Step up, they did a lot of dance moves that were also kind of stupid, as you could tell that they were only doing it toward the screen to make it pop out at you.

Obviously films are being influenced as a result of this movie, seeing that people noticed the profit that was made from this movie. Almost every movie tries to imitate the 3D aspect. Which many fail but I am sure many movies will be made in the near future that will show a whole new potential to films. Just like we are now analyzing how color made a huge difference back when it was new technology, 3d might one day make a difference. 

Blog #2

There have been many changes in film since the 1930’s. After three decades and by the time it reached the 1960’s movies had improved in many ways by changing or adding techniques, conventions, technologies and other elements of film.

According to one website, http://www.chacha.com/question/when-did-the-first-movie-with-talking-sound-come-out, The first production that had sound was released on October 6^th 1927. Since this time, sound has obviously changed in movies. In the early 1930’s sound was not that clear, or easy to listen to for the most part. The sound was usually very full of treble, and low on the bass aspect, as this makes the sound kind of ear piercing and because of this the dialogue was often kept to a minimum. The music was often orchestral. As time progressed, movies started to be released that had a smoother sound quality, less treble, and more bass.

Color television was another huge accomplishment when it came to the technological side of things. It was invented in the mid 1950’s according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_television. It was not popular until the 1960’s, because of the expensive price, lack of materials, and broadcasting issues, such as broadcasting companies having to figure out a way to change their bandwidth, as the color TV’s used a lot more data. (About 3 times as much)

Also, in the early films, it is easy to notice some difference when it comes to film techniques. In the early 1930’s they were just realizing that you could change the camera view in from one image to the same image from a different angle. Films that were made later, closer to the 1960’s had many different techniques. It became standard to show many scenes from one angle and show the same scene from a different angle, but even more things were brought in. For instance, one thing that you see in television now days is the camera behind someone’s face when they are talking to another person. The person closest to the camera is not the point of interest, but the one looking at the camera is. This gives the viewer a better sense of the film being more realistic.

After realizing certain issues that needed to be improved, one of the conventions of film that stands out is the ability to act. As time progressed acting became a whole different job. It started very similar to plays and dramas, but later became more realistic. For instance, Citizen Kane was one of the most popular movies of all time. One of the reasons was because Orson Welles was able to have a more realistic narrative structure, as Orson Welles was able to use a style of acting that was not as common. For example, in that movie, there is a scene in the beginning where someone dies. Throughout the movie they are trying to figure out what the term “rosebud” that he said as he was dying meant. This was much more realistic than the idea of someone dying and no one really caring like in the train movie where someone dies and spins around in a circle, then it moves on to the next scene.

Even though many of the changes of film were during the mid 1900’s, there is still a lot changing today, as we are still adding ding techniques, conventions, technologies.