Moonlight (2016)

    Recently in my Film 100 class, we were tasked with watching the film Moonlight (2016), by director Berry Jenkins. To me, the movie was powerful and inspiring in the ways that it tackled identity. A couple hidden ways in which the movie discussed identity is what I will be discussing during this weeks blog post. Although, the first thing that I will be discussing is the overall plot of the movie. So, as always, if you do not want any spoilers I'd suggest not reading ahead until you've seen the film.

    The film, Moonlight, revolves around the story of a kid, Chiron, told through three different stages within his life. As a kid, he was referred to as "Little". He was bullied constantly for being gay, but he had one friend named Kevin. His mentor was a drug dealer named Juan, who represented a father figure he never had. He also struggled at home with his struggling mother, as he preferred staying with Juan and his girlfriend. During the middle of the film, Chiron was a teenager. He stayed with Juan's girlfriend, since Juan had died. Also, Chiron's mother became even worse with drugs. Furthermore, he was still targeted, but a crucial moment occured when Chiron and Kevin, while still friends, kissed and did other adult stuff while on the beach. That is the moment he discovered his true identity, which he burried deep down after Kevin joined in with bullying Chiron. Upset, Chiron hit one of his bullies with a chair and was sent to prison. The last part of the film featured Chiron, now referred to as "Black", as an adult. He got acquainted with the drug dealing buisness and was known to be cold. Yet, after forgiving his mother and reuniting with Kevin, he found himself again.

Courtesy of A24

    One thing that immediately stood out to me was the use of colors within the film. Most importantly were the colors blue, black, and red. Blue represented discovering and showing your true identity, while black represented the opposite. Within the film was an important saying Juan recalls, "in the moonlight, black boys look blue". From my point of view, the message of this saying is that moonlight reveals one's true identity. I believe so because during the scene in which Chiron and Kevin were having a "moment" on the beach, the moon was out and shining light down onto the two of them. It is in that scene that Chiron was fully expressing himself and being completely vulnerable with Kevin. Furthermore, the time at which Chiron was the least like himself was when he was given the nickname, "Black". At that time, he was an adult who participated in drug dealing and criminal activities. Reunited with Kevin, adult Chiron confessed that he had not been touched by anyone in the way that Kevin had touched him while they were on the beach together. Thus, explaining how disconnected Chiron felt from himself and his true desires. As for the color red, I believe it represented love. Throughout the film, two places where red was the most prevelant was "Little's" shirt and a background color when Chiron's mother screamed at him before disappearing into a room to do drugs. I believe red represented purity and love. As a child, "Little" had an open heart, despite being shy. The world had not hurt him completely yet. Also, before Chiron's mom would go take the drugs, she was still able to provide love to him. Yet, the moment she stepped into the room and closed the door, her love for Chiron would fade. 

Courtesy of A24

    Another thing I noticed was the use of names. As a kid, Chiron was nicknamed "Little", most likely due to how weak and he felt around his peers. Furthermore, he was often belittled for being gay, which made him feel small and alone. As a teenager, he was trying to discover who he really is. Therefore, he did not have a nickname as he attempted to embrace his identity and sexuality with Kevin. Unfortunately, life had other plans as Chiron was forced to grow up hiding himself. Turning into a cold hearted drug dealer, he shunned his inner feelings and burried them deep down. As I meantioned above, the disconnect between his inner personality and the person he tried to be mostly likely is why the director chose to give him the name "Black". Yet, he didn't burry his true intentions enough as at the end of the film, we as the audience see a young Chiron staring back at us, representing how he found himself again.

Courtesy of A24

Representation in Cinema

    In our Film 100 class, the assignment we are currently tasked with is learning about representation in cinema. Our main question is why representation in film matters? So, for this blog post I plan on answering that question, starting with my own opinion. 

    I think representation in film matters because it adds new perspectives, viewpoints, cultures, and dilemmas. If whole bunch of people who share similar values, ideas, and morals made a whole bunch of movies, they would become too similar over time. Yet, when directors or actors who are a part of a different ethnicity, gender, or race than I am bring in their own values, ideas, and/or experiences, the film becomes eye-opening. Futhermore, everyone's voices deserve to be heard. It is always nice to feel like you are noticed, seen, or understood within a movie or tv show. Either that character you can relate with draws you deeper into the movie, or the plot itself becomes understandable and powerful. Diversity adds new ideas, widens the audience, and explores difficult topics that make a film so much more. 

    According to the online book, Moving Pictures, what you see in a movie shapes who you are and confirms that you belong. Media as a whole has that affect on people. No one likes feeling left out, or different. Being different makes people want to change themselves to fit in, when in reality they didn't even need to. When someone can relate with a person that is displayed to society, they will be more confident in their identity. Yet, misrepresentation does not count, or one person acting as a different ethnicity or race. If an actor is not the same ethnicity or race as their character is, it shows. Then the ethnicity or race does not become represented properly, which in some cases may feel the same or even worse compared to if it was not represented at all. Back in the day when white actors used to paint themselves black to appear like a black person, although common for the time, nowadays it appears to be absolutely disrecpectful. 

    Although, there are even stereotypes that exist today that try to be more socially acceptable than those in the past. But, the problem stems from the presence of roles more so than the roles themselves. For example, even with black actors gaining more representation in movies, roles are now being written for black actors specifically. This is a problem because it allows directors to put those characters into specific stereotypes, which changes the way people see not only that character but the race, or in some cases ethnicity, they represent. The best way to add more diversity into media and film, is to assign actors to characters without having a particular ethnicity or race in mind for them. Also, the diversity within directors needs to increase as well so more people are given the opportunity to share their ideas and values with the world. 

Image courtesy of Universal

Jaws (1975)

    This past week, in my Film 100 class we watched the popular shark attack movie Jaws. This movie changed the way people viewed not only sharks, but film making as a whole. Being my first time watching this movie, it also changed the way I viewed sharks as well. I've grown up loving the ocean, so it is with a heavy heart that I admit I am now afraid to go in any body of water with sharks. Not because of the special effects within the movie, but because of the story itself along with the main actors. So, due to my new fear, I plan on spending this week mostly discussing the impact this movie has had on me as a viewer. But first, I'm going to go into a bit about the story itself. So, if you do not want spoilers I'd suggest not reading further until you've seen the movie.

    The film revolved mainly around three men: an officer named Brody, a scientist named Hooper, and a sailor named Quint. To me, Jaws was about more than just three men trying to protect a town that was experiencing shark attacks. It's about the internal and external struggles of a man, Officer Brody, conquering his fears of the ocean, getting his family used to a new home, and butting heads with their mayor who put money before the safety of his people. That last theme regarding the corruption of polititions really stuck with me though. Murray Hamilton, who did an anazing job of playing the role of the mayor, came off as being a character who is really easy to hate. What I disliked the most about his character and his actions was that despite the mayor being responsible for not warning people about the shark attacks he is not targeted with hate afterwards. Instead, the fault falls onto Officer Brody for sticking to what the mayor orders him to do. I felt that was wrong, and I believe the mayor should recieve some kind of punishment in the movie other than a loss of money. I wonder if there are other viewers who might agree with my point of view?

    Another aspect of the movie I was impressed with was the camera angles. I felt that what the film lacked in terms of quality and realism, it made up for in acting and angles. Close-ups were used often to show the severity of specific scenes as well as the fear those characters expressed. Wide shots were used during the beach scenes to capture the setting and the curiosity of who the next shark victim would be. Yet, my favorite shots where when the camera drew in closer to each victim before attacking since it put the perspective from that of the shark. The anticipation was exciting up until the actual attack. 

Image courtesy of Universal Studios

    Speaking of attack scenes, I'd like to make my last paragraph to explain what tramatized me the most, which was Quint's death scene. Quint was aware of the damage produced by sharks, as he had been involved in tragedy that befalled the USS Indianapolis. Having had their ship destroyed, hundreds of men who were involved were left floating in the water to be picked off by hungry sharks. Having survived, he still remembers the horrors, along with seeing one of his friends riped in half. So, it is quite ironic that he suffered the same fate during this film. Another piece of irony was that despite having the most experience with sharks, he was the one of the three who ended up dying. What got to me the most though were his screams, as I couldn't bare to watch the gore. So, I can't go into camera angles. From what little I could tell, the movie was keen on showing audiences the danger sharks provide by adding close-ups to highlight the fear and pain Quint was experiencing. Also, this also increased the suspense around Brody's will to survive.

Image courtesy of Universal Studios

Swiss Army Man Review (Part 2)

    In my film 100 class we finished watching the second half of the film Swiss Army Man (2016), directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. My overall takeaway of the film is that the ending did not seem right to me. To be fair, none of the film seemed right to me, as my reactions in my previous blog post regarding the first half of the movie carry into the second half and remain. In other words, if I were one of the audience members at the premiere of this movie, I would've walked out before the movie finished. For those who like or appreciate the movie, I am sorry, as I could not get over the uncomfortablility of all that this movie is. Although, there was one aspect I appreciated about the movie other than the Cinematography, as my thoughts led me to connect closely with Hank's emotions. From what I could take away from the movie, Hank learned how to fully embrace and accept himself for who he is through Manny. In the beginning of the film, he felt isolated, alone, and calling out for help only to recieve no replies. My current thoughts on myself are similar, not to the degree of insanity as Hank had fallen into, but I feel trapped within the limits of society. I touched on my feelings during my last blog, so I'm not going to go into detail and repeat myself. Instead, I suggest reading my previous blog, "Swiss Army Man Review (Part 1)" if you have not already. Anyways, being able to relate to Hank, even in a small way, connects me to his character and to one of possibly many overall themes of this movie. Yet, that's not all.

Image courtesy of IMDb

    As I mentioned briefly in the paragraph above, the cinematography in this film is something I appreciate. The Daniels' did a good job with close-up shots during heartfelt moments of connection, and wide shots during moments of isolation. Something interesting I noticed was that most of the film seems to have a blue hue, which gives me dream like or imagination vibes. Yet, in the moments at which Hank feels the most connected to himself or a situation, the film is tinted orange. The contrast of blue versus orange could also sybolize feelings of sadness or depression contrasting with the few moments in which Hank felt happy. For example, the party scene in the movie, in which Hank and Manny felt so close that they almost kissed, contained orange tints and hues during and after. That scene also showcased Hank at his happiest moment. Furthermore, in terms of costume designs, Hank wore warm colors throughout the movie while his counterpart, Manny, wore cool colors. I believe this was purposeful to show how different the characters are from one another as Manny is open about all the aspects of being human that Manny was taught to find disgusting. I wonder if Manny's cool color pallette is purposefully related to his ending as he chooses to ride away in the water. Water is blue, which represents sadness. Furthermore, Hank being all alone on the island surrounded by water represents isolation. So Manny's open character but sad appearance are opposites as Manny was Hank's reflection of everything that made him feel alone, embarrassed, and depressed. Yet, that speculation only applies following the suspicion that what happens in the movie isn't real, and nor is Manny.

Image courtesy of IMDb

    That is the path my brain wishes to go down, instead of constantly contemplating what it was I did just watch. I remember seeing the movie Everything Everywhere All At Once, dirrected by the Daniels', and loving it. The Daniels' seem to like tackling complicated issues, as in Everything Everywhere All At Once, they tackled the misunderstood bond between a mother and her daughter along with their family struggles. While in Swiss Army Man, they tackled self-worth and acceptance. I could see how the two movies are quite similar, as both also contained large amounts of absolute chaos. If only I could get over the more vulnerable aspects of Swiss Army Man, so I can look back at the movie and appreciate it the same as I appreciated Everything Everywhere All At Once. 

Swiss Army Man Review (Part 1)

    In my Film 100 class this week we started watching the film Swiss Army Man. Even though we have only made it into fifty minutes of the film thus far, I believe there is already a lot for me to discuss. In the beginning we are introduced to Hank, a guy who appears to be stranded on an island and attempting to commit suicide. There are multiple notes in the water, suggesting that he has been reaching out for help but none have reached help. As he is tightening the rope and planning on kicking out the bucket from underneath him, he spots a body laying in the sand. Struggling to undo the rope, the bucket falls from underneath him. Luckily, the rope breaks, allowing him to rush over to the body only to realise it is dead. Utilizing the belt on the dead body, he tries to reinforce his rope until he notices the dead body propelling itself away through the water using farts. Catching up to the dead body in the water, Hank uses the dead body to get to a larger body of land as he rides it like a jetski. 

Image courtesy of IMDb

    Honestly, even just thinking of the beginning scene makes me quite uncomfortable if I take the film at face value. I give the directors credit and respect for being so creative, but I cannot bring myself to enjoy what I saw. I've grown up to be quite conservative in terms of my nature. I am not sure if this is due to me being a woman, but throughout my life I have struggled with the expectations of being conversative and well mannered. All the aspects of being human, such as bodily functions, have to be concealed to the point where they don't seem to exist. I believe there is a saying regarding women not farting, as society holds women to such standards. I'm not sure society holds men to the exact degree, but I am not a man so I do not know what it is like from that perspective. All that I know is that society has convinced my mind to feel disgust towards any actions that revolve around human nature: farting, going to the bathroom, wierd bodily noises, burping, etc. Of course my thoughts do not discourage me from being myself while at home. Only while I am out in public do I feel nervous by the thought of someone knowing that I farted or overhearing my stomach growling because I am hungry. Honestly, I am ashamed that I felt this way while watching the scene because I realise how close-minded and twisted my thoughts have become towards the human nature. I wish I could just laugh along at the scene instead of turning away, but overcoming or changing one's ideals is difficult. Perhaps over time this is something I can try to work on. 

Image courtesy of IMDb

    Anyways, back to the rest of the second half of the movie. To me, I'm going to skim over most of it for now as it makes no sense to me. In a shortened summary, Hank made it to land and started dragging the corpse around out of guilt as the corpse had brought him to land. He finds a cave and they both rest there until the corpse, named Manny, wakes up. Then Hank begins to teach Manny about the real world, as Manny has forgotten who he once was. They build an entire setting, including a bus, to stimulate the best parts of the world Hank remembers. One scene that really stood out to me, not in a good way, was when Manny's body filled up with water from a rain storm and shot water out of his mouth like a fountain. Thirsty, Hank drinks from Manny's mouth. This scene is worse in my opinion than Hank riding Manny like a jet ski. I did end up throwing up an hour after watching these scenes, and since then thinking about this particular scene still makes me nauseous. Contemplating this, a mother bird feeding her babies is no different, and I am alright with that thought. Perhaps it is the portayal of Manny as a corpse that bothers me the most, as my brain considers what would be if this actually happened. Hank would probably be introducted to multiple - I feel like saying illnesses but I am not truly sure. Nor do I want to look up the effects of being in contact with a dead body. I wish I could say for certain why I feel so disgusted by dead bodies, but I do. Perhaps it is just a typical belief, or my true reason as yet to be understood. Regardless, I am intrigued by what I have watched thus far, and I am curious how this wild movie is going to end. Therefore, I am going to choose to take the plot for what it is and go with it to prevent analysis from distracting me from the rest of the movie.

Making A Short Film

    For this week I wanted to discuss what went into making a short film, along with the role I played in the process. I was in a group with five others for our short film project in our Introduction to Film class. For our short few minute film, we chose to focus on the horror genre. Surprisingly, many other groups went down similar routes with their short films too. Having just watched Get Out and Rear Window, perhaps many groups felt inspired by that genre along with my group. 

    The first task my group completed in terms of making a short film was deciding upon a story. Originally, we had planned on making a short film about a murderous cult, as in our opinions that makes up a good horror story. Cults are pretty scary, and so is murder. Once we had our plan, next came assigning roles. I wanted to be an actor in this film project, but as the group just started assigning roles it was clear that the role of a camera person was not popular. So, I and one other took on that part. Plus, my camera has high quality videoing so it was chosen as the camera we used for filming. As for our setting, one person within our group lived in an actually haunted house. We planned on either filming at their house or in one of the campus dorm buildings Yet, as the deadline of our project grew closer, we had to change all of our plans. When it comes to citematography and making a film, you have to be open to unexpected changes. In some cases, those changes help to improve a film.

    One member of our group ended up getting sick, so planning a time outside of class to work on this project became almost impossible. As each role was filled, all of us needed to be present during the shooting of the scenes. Eventually, an opportunity came about during a free class period. Having only one week to complete this project, we decided to take the time we had and roll with it. Utilizing one of the empty conference rooms in the building, we decided upon a new plot. While trying to think of something scary in a short amount of time, one of my group members came up with the idea for a haunted room. So, we created multiple shots all focused in that space. The director and I, as the main camera person, slighly improvised as we went. I am especially proud of one particular scene in which I zoomed in on the window in the room and panned the camera down slowly as someone off camera moved the blinds down. After watched the finalized version of our film, that particular scene stood out to me. Now, I know that it stood out due to its similarities with the opening scene of Rear Window. Yet, I did not realise it in the moment because I had the blinds closing, while in Rear Window they were opening.  

   

    Watching everyone's films was such a wonderful experience. It felt as though I was at a premiere, or what I assume a movie premiere is like. I've never actually been to a movie premiere before, nor have I watched any videos on it either. Yet, a community of film makerssharing their work with one another is enjoyable and eye-opening as you get a bit of insight into their ideas, perspectives, and other aspects from the content in their film. Also, the moment when your film shows up and you get to watch your project come to life for you and others is a proud moment. Sure, we are college students who do not know much about film, so it was not a masterpiece by any means. Regardless, I am still proud of what my group put together and I am happy to have been through such an experience. 

Chapters 7 & 8

    In our Film 100 book, Moving Pictures: An Introduction to Cinema, the topics discussed are sound and acting. Sound was discussed in Chapter 7 while acting was discussed in Chapter 8. Both accompany the process of cinematography and help to either make or break a film regardless of the quality of the shots and script. For example, one would be uncomfortable hearing happy or funny music playing during a horror movie. Another uncomfortable aspect that sometimes occurs is when one can tell an actor is clearly acting. Both can spoil a good movie plot and ruin a film's experience. Reading these chapters made me realize there is more to these aspects than I know. 

    In Chapter 7, one fact that surprised me was that in most cases film is made seperately from sound. This is also refered to as dual-system recording. Upon learning this I figured that bonuses to this may include increased control over the volume and the lack of background noises. Furthermore, I never knew that "slates" help with matching sound with film if they have been recorded seperately. When the slate is "slapped" down, this noise helps the editor to line up a scene with its specific sound track. Another aspect of sound I'd like to discuss is   "room tone". Room tone is when the actors pause at the end of the scene for at least 60 seconds to allow the boom operator to pick up any background noise. This moment is used to fill any dead space for the editor as they take out, add, and edit scenes. Part of me figured that there was a way for editors or boom operators to cut out bcakground sounds, but if they were the scene would seem less real. When it comes to sound, similar to acting, it has to be believable and realistic. Another way sound is kept realistic is through the use of digetic and non-digetic sounds. There is typically more creativity in non-digetic sounds that play outside of the character's world, as that type of sound does not directly influence the plot of the film. A ball bouncing in a film, in most cases, is paired with a digetic sound that is realistic to what the ball would actually sound like as it hits whatever surface it is shown or implied to be hitting. Although there is many more aspects of sound discussed in the chapter, these are just some important specifics regarding sound that I wanted to discuss.

    In Chapter 8, the main message of the chapter seems to be that good acting is when an actor is not acting. In other words, the actor has to become their character in the given movie to transport audiences into that film's world. When transported, audiences can truly dive into the director's vision and take in all aspects of the film. Although, considering this made me question actors such as Tom Hanks, who are classified as being "good actors" but do not truly become their characters. I've seen multiple Tom Hanks movies, but in ever single one it feels like I am just watching the actor himself in different plots. Although part of me wonders if that thought process is due to the recognizability of the actor himself as he is quite popular and most of his characters have similar personalities. To elaberate on my currect idea, I've noticed that a lot of movie stars tend to stick with characters that have similar personalities. Is it just me to realises this or is this purposeful? Perhaps it depends on the genre, or these actors are assigned to similar roles so they can become masters in those genres or personality types. Anyways, another aspect of acting that interested me was the difference between theater acting and acting in front of a camera. Actors in a theater performance are directly infront of their audiences, but there is still quite the gap between the audience and the stage. Therefore, theater actors have to be more expressive and project their voices in order to be seen and heard. As for acting in front of a camera, a camera helps to bring audiences even closer to the actor. So, to be seen and heard an actor must focus on making their expressions less exaggerated and their voices have to be understandable and clear. Even though there is so much more to this chapter than what I discussed, my purose of this sentence is to only discuss what fascinated me the most. 

Image of Tom Hanks' characters courtesy of Design World