Blog 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vVrR3BJIUo&feature=related

In The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, the theme of the movie is very dependent on who is watching the movie and what they interpret from it. When I watch it, I reason that the theme is that the pressure put on manhood and idolizing those we call heroes to the point where we are obsessed can result in disastrous consequences. This scene exemlephines the theme because it is the scene in which Robert Ford assassinates Jesse James. The act itself may be considered a heroic action. Jesse James, who was a murderer and a thief, was finally assassinated. Most would say the killer should be awarded for such a heroic action. This was not the case however. Robert Ford was the guest of Jesse James in his own house and he was shot in the back of the head, one of the most cowardly ways to kill. The theme may seem active at first, but as you watch the movie, you realize theres more to it than a hero killing a villain because the villain didn't turn out to be as amazing as the hero thought he was.

I personally think this is a tremendous scene. In this scene, you can see just how terrified Robert Ford is. Furthermore, one could argue that Jesse James knows he is about accept is fate and that he is actually hoping that Robert Ford will end it all for him. Regardless, the director uses lines, shapes, space, rhythm and movement to set up this beautiful scene. When Jesse's daughter is sitting in the front lawn, the shot puts her between two fences. Your eyes automatically follow the fence to her. Again when the camera sees Jesse standing in the window, the lines of the panel contrast against him. When Robert's brother stands in the door frame, the lines on the door do tend to point at him. The shapes of the characters are also very noticeable. Jesse James is very rectangular and muscular. Robert Ford is very lengthy and short. The theme of squares is also very common in the shot. There are square window panels and square door cut outs. The director plays with space quite a bit in the shot. He has each figure move around so much that he staggers every person. The space is mostly ambiguous with some fixed space sometimes. The rhythm of the shot is very slow, almost like an actual execution scene. It seems like as Jesse walks from room of the house to the other, his face looks like he walked the gallows to the noose. Their rhythm is probably one of the most telling aspects though. How calmly Jesse moves in comparison to how shaky Robert Ford moves shows the audience that one is in control while the other is not. Because of the contrast in their movement you can see which one is the stronger man by who deals with things stronger. Affinity is shown when you look at their clothes and how they dress. The reaction to when Jesse looks into the picture and sees Robert Ford about to shoot him can yield either objective or subjective results. Objectively Jesse James sees Robert's face pointed a gun at his back. Subjectively it is up to us what we think went through his head. Did he want to die? Did he not want to react immediately when he thought they were going to shoot him.

Blog 7

I decided to use two of my favorite animated movies, Spirited Away and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Both of these are oriented for children and adults. Spirited Away is an anime movie about a girl whose parents were turned into hogs and she must work with monsters to win them back from an evil witch. It has many deep messages about finding oneself and the power of imagination. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Quazimodo falls in love with a gypsy and learns to follow his heart and for him to think for himself. The screenshots I used from both movies show the antagonists and how the animators portrayed them. Both pictures represent the antagonists in darker colors with wrinkly faces against a warm background. Both antagonists are older and are ornately decorated. One thing I found very interesting was the hair of the Witch and the hat on top of Frollo's head. They all seem to share a very triangular shape. Contrasting the two images, one can see the shape of their heads. Frollo's head is very long and triangularly. He has a pointed chin and a long neck. The witch's face is very round. Her eyes are gigantic in comparison to his. She has a double chin and her neck is not even visible. The color of the two characters are somewhat similar. The witch is wearing a blue dress with brightly colored jewelry and a warmly pale face with purple eyeliner. Her hair is a warm white in the frame as well. In comparison, Frollo's clothes are purple, brown, black and red. His face is also warmly pale but his hair is grey. The Spirited Away's frame seems to be a bit darker because of the lack of light. Furthermore this provides interesting shadows on the Witch's face. Half of Frollo's face is in shadow and his sneer helps makes him seem more disgusted. The shadows and the colors of the witch symbolize that she may seem to have this loving grandma like figure to her but she is actually evil as represented by the shadows and the contrasting colors of her rings. Similarly the dark and malevolent colors of Frollo symbolize how evil he truly is with his intentions.

Blog 6

Link to original video

A Fistful of Dollars was one of Sergio Leon's first movies. It was part of the "The man with no name trilogy" starring Clint Eastwood. Unlike most westerns before, this movie was different because Leone changed the space from the tradition flat space to a more ambitious space. Some of the elements he used were 180 degree rule, the rule of thirds and the 30 Rule. The first shot placed the figure on the right side of the rule of thirds with the head in the upper right intersect. Furthermore, the figure walking was located in the lower left side. The 180 rule was obeyed because there was no change in camera between the two subjects. The 30 rule did not change either because the camera did not move. The cut to the next scene obeyed the 30 rule because it jumped to the subject which was much greater than 30% zoom. The camera switched sides than the previous shot but because a new character was introduced the previous one was cut out a new line was drawn and therefore the 180 rule was not broken. The rule of the thirds was obeyed because Clint Eastwood was placed in the left side of the frame while the camera dollied with him as he walked in front of the undertaker. The next shot cut to four men behind a fence watching Eastwood walking off screen. The four men were not placed in the rule of thirds intersect. Since the cut was to a different object the 30 rule does not apply. The 180 degree rule does remain faithful to the side it was formerly on. We then cut back to Eastwood walking in front of the bar. Again he is placed in the rule of thirds and the 180 rule is faithful. The 30 rule does not apply because its a different shot than the previous. The next shot looks at a different view of the first shot from the point at where Eastwood originally walked. The subject is placed in the rule of thirds with the lines of the building highlighting him. This does not break the 180 rule because other shots have occurred between the original establishing shot and this shot. Furthermore the 30 Rule does not apply because its a shot of a new object.

Blog 5

Song 1

Song 2

For more than half a century, Ennio Morricone has composed hollywood soundtracks. Some of his greatest and most famous songs are theme songs to such famous Westerns as The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, A Fistful of Dollars, One Upon a Time in the West and My Name is Nobody. His Western music has a specific type of style that usually highlights one specific instrument. This instrument is usually very high and drives the song's melody. Supporting the main instrument is usually a guitar. This running guitar usually highlights the groove and is mostly upbeat and supported by drums that resemble a "running horse". The two songs I picked were "The Man With Harmonica" and "The Theme from A Fistful of Dollars". These songs were both similar in aspects and very different. Like most of Ennio Morricone's songs, both feature a single instrument in the beginning with a high frequency. In "The Man With the Harmonica", a Harmonica leads the beginning. In "A Fistful Dollars", a whistle caries the melody. The rhythm in the first song was very mourning and slow while the second tended to be adventurous and wild. The first song was more intense while the second was more relaxed and laid back. The speed of "Harmonica" was slow and sluggish while the second was faster and more upbeat.