Marie Antoinette Scene Study

 

What is there? Is the frame full? What fills it?

This short scene has a mix of medium and close-angle shots, primarily eye-level, with a few over-the-shoulder shots. The frame is relatively full in most shots. The frame consists of Marie Antoinette and her friend and cuts to Count Fersen a few times, who speaks to another woman.

What do you imagine audiences are meant to feel about this scene?

Audiences are meant to get a sense of rebellion from the Dauphine, as well as ponder the relationship between Marie Antoinette and Count Fersen. This scene introduces the character who ends up secretly being with Marie Antoinette. There is also a sense of excitement coming from this scene, as Marie Antoinette interacts with someone else as an equal and not a member of royalty.

What people, objects, wardrobe elements, props, background actors, animals, and general scene? 

We see Marie Antoinette speaking to a friend while exchanging glances back and forth with a man we learn to be Count Fersen. Everyone is wearing an elaborate mask, except Marie Antoinette (she is wearing a sheer mask only over her eyes) and Count Fersen(he is not wearing any sort of mask). Marie Antoinette has a very tall and elaborate hairstyle, There are a lot of black, gold, and bright colors inside the large ballroom. All, while "Hong Kong Garden" by Siouxsie and the Banshees is playing in the ballroom.

How is Coppola using these choices about shots to communicate a unified vision so that the scene works?

Coppola uses these shots to tell the audience a story. The back-and-forth eye-level shots of Marie Antoinette and Count Fersen glancing at each other create a sense of interest in each other. It allows the audience to know what they were thinking without any dialogue between the two of them. 

What set design, composition, lighting, character directions, and other stylistic choices are at work in the scene

One thing that adds to this scene is the fact that Count Fersen is not wearing a mask, at the masked ball. This is not something we noticed the first time around, but watching it again, it is hard not to think about why Coppola chose to have Fersen unmasked. It makes Count Fersen stick out from the crowd, perhaps that is why he caught Marie Antoinette's eye.

Swiss Army Man

 

    Swiss Army Man, where do I start with this one. The concept of this film really threw me for a loop. I did not know whether to think of this as a psychological movie in which Manny is a projection or to take it at face value. This is not a typical film that I would watch, but I am glad I sat down and did. The concept of the film is very unique, I think the Daniels did a great job being creative and original. I just found a lot of it to be pretty absurd.

    With the questionable story aside, I really thought that the acting in this film was phenomenal. Daniel Radcliffe and Paul Dano were amazing in this film and really sold this awkward and touching film. The themes explored in this film were very profound: purpose, human nature, and relationships. The Daniels explored these ideas in a very unconventional way and it worked very well. Now would I watch this film again? No, but it was a very well done film and I think it deserves the credit that it has received. 

Short Film Making Project

 

    When I found out about the short film making project, I was very excited. We wanted to be a bit different and as a group we chose to do a documentary type film. Finding a subject ofr the documentary was a pretty difficult decision, as we al had different ideas and topics that would work very well. Ultimately, someone suggested Fortnite as a documentary idea and Josh made it very apparent Fortnite was something he was passionate about. As a group, we spent a lot of time working out different things we wanted to do in the small time allotted. We eventually found out how good Josh was at the game and we knew we wanted to talk about his experience playing as well. 

    When we began filming, we had a sheet of different shots and a mini plan of the short film. We did a good job sticking to the plan and we found that there was still some time left. The short montage of Josh putting the helmet on and riding away in slow-motion was unplanned and honestly my favorite part of the project. Although it has little to do with Fortnite or the documentary, I thought it was pretty funny and tied it all together at the end. 

Watching Memento

 

    With my favorite director being Christopher Nolan, I cannot believe it took me so long to watch this film. Memento is very similar to some of Christopher Nolan's other films, where the main character is not completely reliable and the audience is left guessing. This early 2000s psychological thriller follows a man "Lenny" with short term memory loss as he tries to find his wife's murderer. But, this film goes much deeper than what meets the eye and explores some topics that are very uncomfortable to some. The film says a lot about trauma and its ability to deeply affect ones identity. 

    My favorite part of the film is the unconventional way Christopher Nolan chose to tell this story. The story is pieced together backwards. The unconventional story telling disorients the audience in a similar way that Leonard is. I have heard this film mentioned in class many times and decided to finally watch it. I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys Christopher Nolan films like Inception or Interstellar.

JAWS Study Questions

3. The film JAWS follows a new police chief who takes over in Amity. Amity, a beach town is full of fun, swimming, and tourism all summer. One night, a teen strays away from a party for a night swim and is brutally attacked by a shark. A series of attacks follow from one, dangerous Great White creating panic. The story follows the police chief's fight to save the town's reputation, battle against politics, and take down this mean shark. I think a big scene in the film is the Quint USS Indianapolis speech, where he goes on about their ship being capsized and explains why he wants to hunt sharks. It also builds suspense, as they are all out in the middle of the ocean. My favorite part of the scene has a lot to do with the camera work. 

4.  There are many innovative camera strategies at play in this blockbuster film. One often used strategy is a camera in the water showing what the shark would see. It creates suspense by letting the audience know that the shark is eyeing its prey. 

5.  A blockbuster is a movie of extremely large size or influence, and that is exactly what JAWS is. JAWS changed the world of cinema, and brought in record breaking box office numbers. It was a cultural sensation. 

Ch. 2 Refelction: What is new/review?

 

     I found Chapter 2 to be very interesting, covering new content and reinforcing the knowledge I already had. I've gotten into movies very recently, and until now, I have not given camera angles/cinematography too much thought. But seeing all the different types of shots (close-up, medium, long, low-angle, high-angle, etc) really has me thinking about all of my favorite films and how the cameras affect what I am seeing. I first thought about the close-up shot of the spinning top in Christopher Nolan's Incepetion, which I talked about in a previous blog post. With a deeper understanding of shots, I can try to understand what the director wanted to accomplish. I was also unfamiliar with non-diegetic sounds. Thinking of a non-diegetic musical score, the first thing that pops up in my head is the training montage from Rocky IV. I don't know why, but that is just ingrained in my memory. 

    Something that was reviewed is the concept of explicit vs implicit meaning. With anything such as music, art, or film, there will always be a meaning behind the explicit meaning. There isn't always a right or wrong implicit meaning, sometimes it is up to the viewer/reader to understand. I think that is very important. Overall, I thought Ch. 2 was a good read, full of interesting information.

Rear Window Review

 

     Alfred Hitchcock's suspenseful thriller, Rear Window, is far ahead of its time. The 1954 classic has made way for the genre and is still relevant today. The film follows a wheelchair-ridden, travel photographer, who spends his time recovering from a photography-related accident while snooping on the neighbors around him. I personally loved the film. I typically am not super into older films, however, this one piqued my interest. It surely did not feel like a very old film to me. Although it may have started slow, once the halfway point of the film hit, the audience gets sucked in. 

    I would recommend that everybody gives this film a chance. I thought the plot was pretty good, it is simple, but the cinematography makes this film. The film is wrapped up in an intense but seemingly extremely short scene. In the conclusion, the bad guy is caught, arrested, and confesses, all off-screen in a matter of a minute. That really caught me off guard and I am not a huge fan of that abrupt ending. But, the ending fits the films of the time. Ultimately, I rate the film a 7.5/10 for keeping me on my feet.