Pans Labyrint

so i watched this Spanish film in film studies (of course) exploring films that have been considered 'great' or just 'really good' either way it was nothing like i'd ever seen before despite your usual fantasy film, i had never seen anything quite like this before.

a summary of the film...
In 1944 fascist Spain, a girl, fascinated with fairy-tales, is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she's a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again.

that's what it was about but while watching this film i had to watch with a question in mind, to see how women are presented within the film, beside the blood and gory which at times i felt was a little overwhelming that i actually had to check the rating just to make sure i wasn't watching a 18! cause it was indeed a 15 but jeez when i saw that simple farmer get his face smashed in by a bottle i felt like i was watching a horror movie not a fantasy film! 

here's my answer to the question before...

I felt women were presented both positively and negatively or in other words stereotypically throughout the film.

There are three major female characters in the film, all of different ages. The youngest is Ofelia, who’s the child heroine. Then Mercedes the young woman heroine, and lastly Ofelia’s mother, who’s pregnant.

Ofelia’s mother is pregnant and is travelling to meet her new husband, suffering through journey she is nauseated and vomiting, which she blames on her symptoms on the baby being too active. When they arrive at their destination, the Captain greets them and a wheelchair is waiting for Ofelia’s mother, she doesn't appreciate having said her legs work find, the Captain is having none of this and she is forced to use the wheelchair while pregnant, also while there she is asserted as “The Captain’s wife.” This shows the lack of power she has and therefore is portrayed as weak and fragile. While pregnant is only gets weaker and weaker as the pregnancy takes a lot out of her, and the Captain seems worried at first telling the doctor to do anything to help her, then further down the line when she doesn't seem to be improving he changes his tune saying to just save his unborn son.  This shows us how little they value her life and how she is she basically only a womb in which she is to only give life to a son.  Which makes me think back to days when women were only used for childbearing and was seen for no other purpose than that, I feel that Ofelia’s mother portrayed pregnant women as weak and fragile and undermined in a world full of men, in my eyes.

Mercedes is introduced the same time as Ofelia and her mother arrived, called upon by the Captain to collect their luggage, she is a young servant woman who seems to run the household.   I feel that when she was told to collect their luggage I felt that this was unfair since the luggage is probably heavy and why out of all the men that surrounded the vehicle why couldn't one of them help? Instead they leave the servant girl to do it. I felt that was degrading of women and even a little disrespectful, but yet again it showed status of who is on top and who isn't.  Yet it could also demonstrate inner strength? The fact that she doesn't complain and lifts the luggage despite their contents shows strength and power within this servant woman.

We see a lot of Mercedes throughout the film, when she’s attending to the Captain who seems to make suggestive moves to her, like touching her arm and such. Making her look like an object, yet she also holds the role of a leader running the household and making sure everything happens smoothly. Mercedes also is living a double life while pretending to be the faithful servant woman she also helping her brother who’s is seemed as the enemy to the Captain and is who they are fighting against.  Further down the line, she is caught and before she is caught we are shown a scene where she is preparing dinner and hides a knife under her skirt this then becomes an important detail, as to when she is then caught and tied up by the Captain she retrieves the knife and frees herself this shows power and strength yet again from Mercedes. She then threatens the Captain slashing across his cheek, when the realization of the fact that she had gotten away with it for so long was indeed because she was a woman and they saw nothing but a servant when looking at her. Showing the naive-ness of the men and the intelligence of Mercedes to get away with it for so long, showing women in a positive light, with empowering roles.

I feel that Pan’s Labyrinth presents women in both stereotypical and positive situations, exploring the roles of women back then and how even through harsh times time it is not always the soldiers that save the day, sometimes the heroine can be a little girl or a humble servant.  I enjoyed the film and even though I didn't like the way women were always presented, I liked the empowering role of the Mercedes and the strength within she demonstrated.  

overall i thought the film was really good and quite interesting despite the blood and gory and language i actually didn't mind reading subtitles having watched foreign films before i didn't phase me in the least, but the storyline was interesting and i give it  4stars! cause it really wasn't that bad.

as always here's a trailer...

Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2

I've just watched breaking dawn part 2, let's just say it was mind-blowing to say the least. 

Bella is enjoying her new life and new powers, after the birth of their daughter, Renesmee. Soon, however, their family bliss is threatened again, by a new menace. Vampire Irina believes a child like Renesmee could challenge the power and existence of the Volturi. As Irina rallies the Volturi to destroy this potential threat, Bella and the Cullens - together with any allies they can assemble - are preparing to fight a crucial, ultimate battle, to protect their family.

I mean so much happened, whether you read the book or not.  The twist... oh my gosh, this twist will be soo unexpected that you'll forget to breathe. 

I mean  I saw this film with my friends two of which read the book, all the way through all I could hear was their muttering "what is going on... this didn't happen in the book! This can't be happening!"

Too be honest I thought Ashton Kutcher was about to appear on screen and say we'd all been punk'd cause man did it feel like it! 

All in all I thought the film was amazing and i really enjoyed it and wouldn't mind seeing it again (you know what i just might)  i give it 5stars!

now here's the trailer, if you haven't seen it already !

Citizen Kane

While recently watching the film Citizen Kane, rumored to be one of the best films of all time which in more ways than one it certainly could be...

Summary of the film...

A group of reporters who are trying to decipher the last word ever spoke by Charles Foster Kane, the millionaire newspaper tycoon: "Rosebud." The film begins with a news reel detailing Kane's life for the masses, and then from there, we are shown flashbacks from Kane's life. As the reporters investigate further, the viewers see a display of a fascinating man's rise to fame, and how he eventually fell off the "top of the world."

For the time this film was made, I was impressed by the cinematography used and how easily this film could be mistaken of being made in this time just by the way it was executed and perceived on screen, giving me the intense of feel of just awestruck and ground breaking this film must of been in its time when it appeared on the big screen.

The movie opens with an unforgettable image of a distant, fog-shrouded castle on a hill. It's a very gothic shot. Amazing me with such simple dissolve transitions, which make it, look eerie and ghost like even.

Within moments of the film's eerie, visually-stunning opening, Kane is dead, uttering the word "Rosebud" as he hunches over. His death, like his life, is a big news event, and the paper he owned, the New York Inquirer, is desperate to unearth the meaning of his cryptic last word. Is it a woman he bedded? A horse he bet on? A beloved pet? Some long-lost, unrequited love? The truth, which isn't revealed until the closing scene, represents one of the all-time greatest motion picture ironies, and leads us to believe that, on some level, Kane regretted not having led a simple, quiet life.

After showing Kane's death, Citizen Kane presents a ten-minute "newsreel" that details the man's accomplishments.

Then, as a reporter (William Alland) from the Inquirer digs into Kane's past to learn the meaning of Rosebud, Kane’s history is unravelled through a series of extended flashbacks that represent the sometimes-overlapping, non- chronological accounts of five eyewitnesses. All unreliable, since it’s from other their perspective not Kane’s and since Kane is dead we never get the real story only what they remember.  The people interviewed were...

   His closest friend, Jedediah Leland

    Employee, Mr. Bernstein 

   Affair, second wife, Susan Alexander

    Butler, Raymond

The use of cinematography throughout the film, with minor setbacks such as flashbacks,  a technique used quite a bit that was introduced through this movie was ‘deep focus’ which has everything in the frame even the background, in focus at the same time, as opposed to having only the people and things in the foreground in focus.  

Example of a screen that does this is when Kane’s mother gives him up, giving us the audience a clear view of the place Kane came from, and how he had no control over the matter, another example of deep focus is the scene where Kane breaks into Susan Alexander’s room after her suicide attempt. In the background, Kane and another man break into the room, with at the same time the medicine bottle and a glass with a spoon in it are in the ‘close-up’ (another technique) in the foreground. 

Then the background was lit, the foreground darkened. I liked the effect made by deep focus and the way it played on my emotions as it conveyed the scene using nothing but the effect to get the point of what just happened across.

Another technique used was ‘wipe’ where one image is “wiped” off the screen by another; I felt this was very effective in the way it transformed into another scene.  Alongside this there was use of ‘low-angle shots’ used to display a point of view facing upwards, allowing the ceilings to be shown in the background, something that wasn't done in Hollywood. This technique is used effectively in the scene where Kane meets Leland after his election loss.

My only real negative point this film was the amount of flashbacks produced and the drawn out question of ‘what or who is Rosebud?’ and with each flashback there was no correlation to what Rosebud was, dragging it on and on with no real answers to only have the flashbacks end with none of the interviewees knowing what Rosebud was. So I felt that was disheartening and quite drawn out, leaving me throughout the film with the words “another one...” spinning round and round.

As a film, Citizen Kane is a powerful dramatic tale about the uses and abuses of wealth and power. It's a classic American tragedy about a man of great passion, vision, and greed, who pushes himself until he brings ruins to himself and all around him. Of course, the production aspect that makes Citizen Kane so memorable is Greg Toland's landmark cinematography.

The movie is a visual masterpiece, made of daring angles and breathtaking images that had never been attempted before this film. Toland perfected a deep-focus technique that allowed him to photograph backgrounds with as much clarity as foregrounds (note the scene where Kane's parents discuss his future while, as seen through the window, the child plays outside in the snow). There's also an extremely effective low-angle shot late in the film where Kane trashes Susan's room.

There's no doubt that Citizen Kane was far ahead of its time. Yet, out of the conflict, Citizen Kane emerged stronger than ever.

Is Citizen Kane the best movie ever made? Many critics would argue "yes" without pause, but my enthusiasm is more restrained. While I acknowledge that Kane is a seminal masterpiece, I don't think it's the greatest motion picture of all time. Even so, there's no denying the debt that the movie industry owes to Welles and his debut feature. Motion picture archives and collections across the world would be poorer without copies of this film, which will forever be recognized as a defining example of American cinema.

North Sea Texas

After reading the article 'New-wave queer cinema' I decided to actually watch a 'gay' film, and i stumbled across a film called 'North Sea Texas' (Noordzee, Texas) directed by Bravo Defurne, language being Dutch i watched with English subtitles which didn't bother me in the slightest it didn't take away the realism of the film if anything it added to it,with little dialog with most of the main characters emotions being displayed via his facial expressions making the subtitles a minor setback, but i like watching foreign films English subbed not dubbed since i think that takes away some of its authenticity (in my eyes.)

A short insight on what the movie is about, we're following a teenage boy's (Pim) search for love find himself fixated on the boy next door.

i'm really glad i found this film by chance and watched it. i found it a very sweet gay coming of age film. i liked the fact that there was no violence in this film, no one gets hurt or bullied... it also had an nice ending!  i thought the lead character (Pim) actor acted really well, having not to say much to convey what he was thinking with a look.

Overall i really enjoyed this film, loved every moment and would love to watch more films like this. Great drama.

giving it a 5 star rating...

5 stars!
                             
                                                          Here's the trailer of the film...

 i also posted on the guardian expressing my enjoyment of the movie http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/146684/north-sea-texas/review?commentpage=1#comment-18848236

New-wave queer cinema: 'Gay experience in all its complexity'

So I've recently read the article New-wave queer cinema: 'Gay experience in all its complexity' by Ben Walters... 

I found the article quite insightful, already knowing that gay cinema existed but not to this extent or contextual background.  While reading i noticed Ben talking about gay directors and their previous films, none of which i had ever heard of, but why would i? which also made me realize just how much gay cinema has been overshadowed and in some ways stereotyped, with this article expanding more from the point with break out directors raising the bar further and producing films with story-line with more than the typical bullied, shunned from society plot. 

Starting off with an insight of Ira Sach's new film 'Keep the Lights On' and a little insight into it; apparently it follows the decade-long relationship between two men who meet on a New York phone-sex line in 1998.  Showing everything in the same fluid, elegant transparency.   

'i feel very few films convey the communal nature of urban life these days, the lack of boundaries,"  Sachs says. "Those are the gays over there' - that's not how we live any more."

i felt that this statement was a revelation on how people's views has changed and how even though some people still do stereotype homosexuals we on a community on a whole have some what developed  from our prejudice thoughts.

Following on, Ben goes on to talk about Keep the Lights On... describing the recent features of gay film characters by gay directors, deploying naturalism (which i felt meant after researching the word that in this context meant a style and theory of representation based on the accurate depiction of detail.) using examples such as - shooting handheld in found locations and using performances that smack of improvisation - to tell a story rooted in psychological specificity? (confused on this clause, i felt that it might mean the mentally and emotional state of a person / that solves the psychological part but the specificity? could be the planned out state of the mind arising or affecting it?? ) 
   Continuing on, he introduces another director Andrew Haigh and his film 'Weekend' and how he too used a similar approach with it's story of two guys hanging out after meeting in a club.  Also introducing Travis Matthews and is upcoming 'I Want Your Love ' that explores an artist's social group, describing it a powerful mode that represents a welcome shift in queer cinema - an embrace of the real. (mode? movie perhaps? that's how i took it in.)

I found that the article offered insight into how changing social contexts impact on the content of films today. Indeed achieving the goal of 'Expanding my mind.'


Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/oct/04/new-wave-gay-cinema

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

 so for my birthday me and my friend decided to see the movie 'the perks of being a wallflower' with no real idea of what the movie was about apart from the simple fact that Emma Watson was starring in it, yes a poor choice to pick a movie but i didn't feel like seeing a cartoon or horror/thriller so perks it was.

and after blindly finding our seats in the dark, watching adverts for movies we have now decided we'll also being seeing once they're out it finally started...

Turns out it's a (and was) funny and touching coming of age story based on the best-selling novel by Stephen Chbosy (which i plan on reading) a modern classic that captures the dizzying highs and crushing lows of growing up. The Perks of being a Wallflower is a moving tale of love, loss, fear and hope and the unforgettable friends that help you through life.

To say the least i was surprised. pleasantly surprised having my expectations low from the start it was shocking to have them risen at the first site of humor and emotion admitted from me, there were scenes that made the whole cinema including me giggle, chuckle and full out snicker, there were aw worthy scenes (and trust me there were a few) which also meant it had it's fair share of cringe worthy scenes which had me and my friend hiding our faces behind our hands till it was over (sorry can't handle embarrassing scenes even if it's not me on scene, i'm emphatic like that.)

All in all i truly enjoyed the movie, with it's touching story line and amazing actors/actresses that really brought the characters and their emotions to life on the big screen, made the movie watching experience that much better making me feel like my money wasn't wasted and indeed buy the movie once it hits stores on DVD.

I also recommend it to watch as a feel a good drama/romance, giving it a rating of five stars and a review/comment which can be found here http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/147832/perks-of-being-a-wallflower/review?commentpage=last#end-of-comments a shorter praising than this one here...

 5 stars!


finishing this up with the trailer...

Long take, Pleonastic and Foley Sound

First attempt at a long take...

below is my groups first attempt at a 'long take' the irony of the matter is that it is indeed a short... very short attempt at a continuous shot which should of been longer but... well there is no excuse for lack of imagination. Any-who since we did not feel this was a good enough video for the class, i feel it was good enough for my blog (so you should feel very honored) and hopefully future projects shall show progress from what we started with, this being living proof.

Without further ado enjoy....

THE beauty INSIDE Review

In film studies we watched this short film on youtube called 'THE beauty INSIDE' which is a story of a guy named Alex who wakes up every day as a different person. He is always the same person on the inside but on the outside he is somebody else. When he meets Leah and falls in love everything changes for him. He knows he will see her again but she will never see him.

While some background this movie it was actually a 'social' movie having premiered on facebook and getting the audience involved in that happened this is and was a very unique and interactive film where the viewers also able to submit videos saying certain lines and be in the film too. That i thought was clever and a good idea getting them more involved. Having viewers audition and send videos of themselves being Alex since he kept a video diary.

So having never seen this film before or even heard of it before my lesson, i'm happy... glad even that i was introduced to it, having been in partnership with Intel and Toshiba who produced this having their products used throughout the film,  which i thought was a really smart marketing scheme. (it doesn't feel like their selling their products when really in retro spec they are.)

Broken up into a series of episodes, the story follows Alex (voiced by Topher Grace) who has a unique condition; every time he wakes up his appearance changes. He could wake up a man or woman short or tall, skinny or fat, black or white (any other ethnicity), attractive or not. This got me wondering what if this was a real condition, and how did his parents deal with it? Was it recent? Born this way? (Lady Gaga) Just made a bunch of rhetorical questions stampede into my brain and a heard of nonsense answers wash them away.

Following Alex as he tries to deal with his situation and connect with women the only way he knows how through one-night stands. Which all changes when he meets the girl of his dreams 'Leah' only after meeting her does he find himself wishing he could have a normal life, a relationship. Finding it morally interesting as how he deals with this and takes it among himself to take action to get to know her by visiting her at work, seeing people connecting through more than just 'looks' is definitely a series worth watching.

I found this film a learning curve in society, showing how Alex deals with his condition and how it changes when he meets someone, and is suddenly at fault with his 'condition' after gradually being able to accept it. With that he becomes not only the protagonist but the antagonist as well having an ongoing fight with his conflict being his 'condition' having no control over who he wakes up as, yet having the elaboration of meeting Leah thinking differently about his 'relationships' and getting close someone and inviting them home, while watching that i saw the more vulnerable side to Alex, him actually wanting to open up to Leah showing a big step in his life. Having stated before he's never had any in his home before, he includes us the viewer on his journey. Coming to the climax and resolution i was indeed glad to see Leah back and how she hadn't abandoned Alex when he told her the truth that was a very emotional part of the story for me, if she hadn't accepted him i would of had cried! In giving him a chance we see the CODA take effect ending with Alex having his fairy-tale ending (getting the girl) and eventually stopped changing. (Awww)

With the moral of the story being... Buy Toshiba and Intel computing products!

No. That as the saying goes... 'It's what's on the inside that counts.' (which was pretty hard to count when no one can see your insides.') (deep.)

I enjoyed this film and would recommend it to watch as a feel good short. Giving it a rating of 6/10
(it's more than halfway pretty good)

Homework task #3

Tilt up -  Camera angle that looks up at the object instead of being on the same level. A movement which scans a scene vertically.
Tilt down -Camera angle that looks down at an object instead of being on the same level. A movement which scans a scene vertically, rotating around the axis that runs from left to right through the camera head.
Tracking - When the camera is being moved by wheels. The movement is normally quite fluid and the tracking can be either fast or slow, depending of speed.
Dolly - Sometimes called TRUCKING or TRACKING shots. The camera is placed on a moving vehicle and moves alongside the action, generally following a moving figure or object. Complicated dolly shots will involve a track being laid on set for the camera to follow, hence the name. The camera might be mounted on a car, a plane, or even a shopping trolley.... A dolly shot may be a good way of portraying movement, the journey of a character for instance, or for moving from a long shot to a close-up, gradually focusing the audience on a particular object or character.
Crane - Basically, dolly-shots-in-the-air. A crane (or jib), is a large, heavy piece of equipment, but is a useful way of moving a camera - it can move up, down, left, right, swooping in on action or moving diagonally out of it. The camera operator and camera are counter-balanced by a heavy weight, and trust their safety to a skilled crane/jib operator.
Handheld - The Steadicam (a heavy contraption which is attached a camera to an operator by a harness. Hand held cameras denote a certain kind of gritty realism, and they can make the audience feel as though they are part of a scene, rather than viewing it from a detached, frozen position.
Ariel/ Birdseye - An exciting variation of a crane shot, usually taken from a helicopter. This is often used at the beginning of a film, in order to establish setting and movement. A helicopter is like a particularly flexible sort of crane - it can go anywhere, keep up with anything, move in and out of a scene, and convey real drama and exhilaration — so long as you don't need to get too close to your actors or use location sound with the shots.
Zoom - A zoom lens contains a mechanism that changes the magnification of an image. On a still camera, this means that the photographer can get a 'close up' shot while still being some distance from the subject. A video zoom lens can change the position of the audience, either very quickly (a smash zoom) or slowly, without moving the camera an inch, thus saving a lot of time and trouble. The drawbacks to zoom use include the fact that while a dolly shot involves a steady movement similar to the focusing change in the human eye, the zoom lens tends to be jerky (unless used very slowly) and to distort an image, making objects appear closer together than they really are. Giving the impression of movement and excitement in a scene where it does not exist. 

Homework task #2

Medium shot - Is a shot intermediate between a close up and full shot.



Used to create normalcy throughout the movie making it easier to switch from long shots to medium shots with fluency.

Long shot - Is a shot from a considerable distance.


Used to get the audiences attention, creating tension or concern capturing shots for believability. Usually introduces the beginning of a scene, setting in motion the audience's perception.

Extreme long shot/ Establishing shot - Is a shot taken from an even greater distance.


Used to make the background seem more dominant and get the audience to focus more on the landscape than the characters.

Medium long shot - Is a framing at a distance making objects appear 4 or 5 feet high appear to fill most of the screen vertically.


Allows to show the audience some of the environment, but also allows the characters to interact easily.

Canted/ Dutch Tilt - Is the tilting of the camera.


To create disorientation or illusion gets the audience thinking or confused.