Bazim's Realism

When your dealing with the standards that Bazim puts in film, it's almost unreal to create a piece of work that comes to remotely interesting. Words like montage were not found in Bazim's dictionary due to his dedication of capturing film to the absolute realist extent. By following Bazim's standards, it reverses the Cognitive effect in that films cannot intentionally capture a viewers emotion in that it's up to the viewer to interpret what is shown on his/her own grounds. This method of realism makes the director's job ten times more difficult than it already is by eliminating editing, which is an important tool for the director to know what is being filmed. The effect that Bazim hoped to convey on audiences was to experience every day life through film, almost as the screen wasn't there. Yet, I'm pretty sure people can distinguish the difference when they hear the yawns of audiences members around them. Though Bazim encouraged deep-focus cinematography and panning, it becomes redudant if used as the basis for your entire film ( Citizen Kane even had individual shots/editing). When you talk about the typecasting side of realism, films like Open Water and The Blair Witch Project succeed in trying to convince viewers that even ordinary people can experience danger. Overall, Bazim realism is a difficult task to reach and a myth that most directors tend to avoid ( Hitchcock learned the hard-way)

Law Abiding Citizen- Contemporary Film Theory

After watching, Law Abiding Citizen by F. Gary Gray, under the cognitive film theory, the audio/visual interpretations I began to develop were diverse to say the least. This is one of those films, like Silence of the Lambs, where you rooting for the bad guy during the course of the movie. Why this reaction occurs is because of the intent of the director and how he portrayed actor Gerard Butler into a character with a bad ass persona. Viewers also felt excitement in response towards the number of explosions that occurred during this film. Desire could also be an emotion running through the viewer's head as shown from the power that Butler's character has over the justice system and how having that power is somewhat envious. When Butler's character begins to tear open a victim, limb by limb, this evokes a natural disgust reaction within the viewer and this reaction is only complemented by the desperate screams of the victim. The movie itself moves at a constant pace of suspense due to the unpredictability of Butler's character as he is put in situations where the odds are more than against him and as the viewer, you interpret this suspense with curiosity. The use of hard lighting on Gerard Butler shows the director's understanding of the psychoanalytical theory. The voyeurism behind this is the portrayal of the body and how it sends off signals of sexuality towards a female demographic. This film also has a bit of the Ideological theory in how it relates to the broken justice system that affects society in the eyes of the director. Though this film was not critically receptive, it did manage to keep the interest level high for me disregarding the performance by Jamie Fox.

The Treasure of Riverside Park

http://www.thirteen.org/sites/reel13/shorts/short-treasure-of-riverside-park/2301/

The Treasure of Riverside Park is a black-and-white short film that focuses on how ones misfortune can lead to another man 's treasure. One of the challenges of filming with absence of diegetic sound is conveying to the audience the message your trying to express. With that comes the acting in terms of how they express their emotions with no dialogue. This tests the actor's true ability as it focus more on the body language the actor uses to express what he/she is feeling. With the short time and no audio, this film does a great job of expressing a clear message to it's audience. The director also shows a diversity of classicism in the shot where the homeless man passing the wealthy man on the bench which really caught my eye. Also the use of black of white, in my mind, adds to this in that black and white are two different colors as are both the wealthy man and the homeless man. I enjoyed the simplicity of the score and how it transcends to a horror feel when the man enters with the knife. From my interpretation, I see that throughout the film, the diamond ring loses it's meaning due to the actions from the upset husband. So essentially, the diamond ring becomes a symbol of hope for the homeless man at the end indicated by the smile of his face. I think when your using a dolly, which this film does many times, your camera movement should be fluid and smooth. In this case, some of the dolly shots should have been either put on a smoother surface or not even put at all. Reason being, unless the shakiness of a shot is the intention of the director to capture realism and suspense, i.e. The Bourne Supremacy, than the camera should be still especially when the tone throughout this film was very simple. Overall, I really enjoyed the simplicity of the film, almost like seeing a French film, and that fact that it was able to express a great deal of ambiguity with removal of audio.

Roger Ebert's 3-D

This article shows the hatred of an aspect of theater projection, 3-D, by the film critic Roger Ebert. This article reads like a editorial in that it expresses one mans opinion on a particular subject with a purpose to leave the reader something to think about. Although it stresses a opinionated article with repetitive uses of "I", it does present interesting points and back these points up with hard facts. Such as the surcharge of 5-7 dollar that 3-D films charge as opposed to the standard 2-D films. From this the author brings up a correlation between the power of advertising and the surcharge which I thought was very interesting. A movie that emphasizes on 3-D in their trailer will most likely attract audiences to their film because of it's 3-D aspect to the film. To what extent does the film show instances of 3-D and how there executed is never mentioned leaving the viewer of the film disgruntled and the executive studios 5-7 dollars richer and happier. When the author brought up how the projection from 3-D films can leave the viewer experiencing nausea and headaches according to medical research, I had a personal experience. After seeing the movies Clash of the Titans and Avatar (2nd time), I left the theater not reflecting on what the movie I saw showcased, rather I reached in my medicine cabinet, pulled out the Advil, and went to bed. I also agree with Ebert on how the Oscar contenders are slowly fading away if this trend of studio executives demanding their directors to film 3-D more as opposed to quality films.

Top 5 Films that would be worse if changed to 3-D
1. The Godfather
2. Dawn of the Dead
3. Jason and the Argonauts
4. The Dark Knight
5. Balto

Locust Valley Film Festival

After watching each and every film that came out of the Film Festival, there was one film that caught my eye in terms of how they presented themselves. The Other Half by a student from Wheatley High School . The main factor that attracted me to this short film was the cinematography for one thing. It was very pristine the way that this student set up the film composition as apposed to a unbalanced mess by some other students. The Other Half was the psychological breakdown of how a surplus amount of schoolwork can ultimately decide the fate of a young student. The opening shot of the dolly in through the school hallways demonstrates the students understanding of lighting. The lighting in this shot is interesting as it appears as the camera moves forward it leaves behind a path of shadows casting on the lockers to the sides where the light is focusing on the main subject, which is the student in this case. The narrative in the background also gives a subtle explanation of the character analysis of this young student as well. The film also explores low key lighting where the subject appears to be in the light while the background is compiled with shadows. In the part where the students appears to be doing his HW in his room, the camera tilts up slowly to add to the calm tone of the audio. You could also note in the classroom scene that the camera dollys to the subject being the student almost as he's the central focus and no one else around him is important with the quick editing dissolve. The young student also does a great job in terms of acting as he using "body language" to his advantage by the clinching of the fists, throwing of the desk and grabbing of his hat. By this gesture, the audience has a better understanding as to what the character faces in terms of emotions. The scene where the student is writing near the library bookshelves shows how ambient lighting can act as an appropriate source of light for the film as well as the dolly. I admired when the director decided to film the fence in the foreground while the actor walks in the mid ground almost symbolizing the way character feels, almost locked up and has no where else to turn to. I find it interesting the director is more of a fan of pans/tilts rather than close ups in this film. The framing of the hand dripping a pool of blood couldn't have been frame much better and with the audio, Mad World, in the background almost creates a perfect environment of what this director is trying to express. Alot of people have disagreed with the way this film ended and to that i disagree. The ending where the student is laying on the his bed covered in his HW sheets reminds me of Robert Deniro in Brazil. Both examples are similar in that these HW papers cause the downfall of this character and are what drive this character to the point of disappearance. For Brazil, it was more of Deniro's despise of capitalism that the very thing he despises, receipts for example, ends up the cause for his disappearance. While both examples may cause an area for questioning each scene accomplishes it's goal in subtle symbolism. My only concern of this film however is that the plot structure is unclear to most audiences and that it could have used more work. Either than that, this film is very poetic and presents a unique style that for a student's work, it surpasses my initial expectations.

The Blind Side

I think it was interesting to see a different outlook on this film as opposed to the majority of criticism that I hear. It's interesting how loose this film is related toward the actual book by Michael Lewis, in the way the main character, Michael Ohrer, acts in the book as opposed to the modified version in the Blind Side. When movies say " based on a true story", they never really say to what extent is it based on. The Texas Chainsaw massacre claims the events that occurred in the film were based on "true events" when in actuality, it was loosely based on the killings of serial killer Ed Gein, by only a small portion. What really set off this in author in particular was how a film like this can be Academy Awarded with a story that is so flawed. I also think that his movies have it's traditional values all mixed up and drift toward the line of what's realistic and whats not. It leaves the audience with the message that with a big heart and a bigger wallet that you have the ability to change someones life. In a different perspective, the director of this film wanted to make a film that targeted a specific audience. He rather cater to a large audience of middle aged Americans than to the minority of people who actually read the book and distinguished the flaws. If you compare the two movies, Dangerous Minds, and , Lean On Me, you notice although they have similar plot structure, there execution is much different. Reason being is in my mind the thought of Morgan Freeman, someone who has has been in the perspective of those inner city kids, has a better understanding as the problems there suffering. For that, i think Morgan Freeman is a more believable character than Michelle Phieffer as a ex-marine, and that audiences can relate to Freeman's character better. As you can see the Blind Side shows it's effort in appealing to a broader audience, yet falls short to believable realism in the plot structure.

Mr.Wells Reviews a Current Film

Metropolis can be classified more than another science fiction film due to the fact that it tackles a great amount of detail which needs to be recognized. The film brings not only film elements to consider but offers movie buffs a great deal of psycho-analytical factors to explore. The H.G. Wells article tears apart Metropolis in a negative way by dissecting flaws in the film's plot as well as accurate information. The major flaw that separates the film and this article is that the article fails to notice the cinematic achievements that Metropolis accomplishes. They rather exploit the "architectural" failures that this film is unreliable with. It also presents an argument involving the worker's ideology and their connection to the "efficient" machine. I especially like how he manages to refer to this movie as "dull" when you have transformation scenes like Mary's, where the lightning is poetic and the effect look impressive for the standards of 1920. The architecture of Metropolis shows signs of Expressionism in which the shots of the futuristic city in the film resemble paintings that came out of the Expressionist era. Wells also forgot to see the intent of the director rather than basing his criticism on "invalid facts" that the film contains. Lang was powerful in showing the dark side of capitalism through shots where the machines would malfunction to the point where it would drive people to insanity. Lang shows his quirkiness through Freder as his character is portrayed comical (wardrobe and facial expressions), yet love struck over Maria to the point where he becomes one of the workers that she shows sympathy towards. Metropolis is an example of pure cinema at it's finest with innovative architecture, influences on future films ( Blade Runner, Brazil), and a certain presence that cannot be matched simply by other sci-fi films

Triumph of the Will

After watching the film, Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens) directed by Leni Riefenstahl, I saw how Hitler could be glorified as a national hero. A central theme of unity was displayed profoundly in this film with Hitler as a symbol of a leader for Germany. Throughtout the film, there was back and forth shots between the crowd of peolple and Hitler and this showed how much influence that Hitler had on the people of Germany. Low angle shots and backlighting showed the importance that Hitler had to this movie. You could also notice that Hitler is always framed either by himself or with a highranked official, this is done mostly to direct the attention to the Führer. The intent of this director was not only to show Hitler as a glorified savior but it a clear example of German nationalism at it's finest. The opening sequence of the movie shows signs of Metropolis, with the flying helicopter and the use of minatures. Riefenstahl also experiments with aerial cinematogrophy in the shots where the crowd of German is seen at a overhead. The majority of the speeches by several German leaders had to do with the untiy of the German people. I can't help but notice how this shows early signs of the Soviet Montage era where the movie is set to favor the group rather than the individual. But my observation contradicts with the fact that Hitler potrayed throughout the movie as the idol for the German people to look up to. Tracking shots show the connection between him and the people of Germany. The use of telephoto lens added a sense of realism as if you were in that crowd when Hitler was making the speech.The music is another thing to notice as throughout the movie is always upbeat and and never dull. The crisp sounds of horns and the battering of drums draw your attention on whats going on. It also has an effect of making Hitler's speeches feel more powerful to the viewer. The music is by Richard Wanger's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Most of the lighting is ambient and at times, like the night rallys, was dark, spotlight was always shined on Hitler, due to his importance. Although you miss the wrong ideals that came out of Hitler in this movie, you have to appreciate it's film elements like it's creative cinematography and dedication to the German Expressionist era.

A New Perspctive on Films: Strangers on a Train, Psycho

For this entry, I want to take you a ride to what goes on in my mind when I watch films. Personally, I'm not big on literature so movies are my escape from reality in a sense. The two movies that I can recall in my head clearly are Strangers On a Train and Psycho, both directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and fall under the genre Film Noir. Both are shot in black and white so you know that low key lighting is in effect. This lighting is so perfect for the Film Noir genre because the shadows are sharper and the natural light is sharper/bolder. The lighting could also signify something more poetic in such case if a shadow were to cast of a person making them appear larger than they already are, it shows the importance of the character. The lighting also goes hand in hand with mise-en-scene, the objects framed in a given shot. The way a light can be shined on a object shows the objects importance to the film. For example, in Psycho when the light is shined onto the newspaper in Crane's hotel room, what's inside the newspaper, the money, is the root of her paranoia and the curosity of Norman Bates. Alot of what I see in film, I question the purpose of it. You couldn't imagine the amount of questions that race throught my head when I watch ANY movie. Alot of this purpose has to do with the director's intent. The signifcance of director's intent is that it's imporant to know the purpose of a director putting something in a shot that catches your eye and understanding the poetic side of that object. This idea is the root of what mise-en-scene is all about. And with mise-en-scene, objects can be showed more than once, sometimes in a apparent pattern, and this idea of a recurring theme/object is known as a motif. Usually I notice motifs on the second viewing of the movie which are quite significant. The camerawork for these movies were very slow paced, alot of lingering shots, even when it came to moments of suspense, the pace still stayed the same. I guess Hitchcock relied on the score to do all the talking, due to it's frightening tempo that stays consistant. Alot of the audio was sweetned to acheive that level of suspsense in both thrillers. The slashing of the knife in Psycho was an obvious sound effect and the bang that came out of the tennis rackets in Strangers on A Train was louder than usual. What makes me so interested in movies is the characters that you can create. Hitchcock studied the human behavior, but mainly the fears we have in everday life. They evils we hide inside of ourselves or the very evils we try to runaway from. Me personally, I don't judge anyone else's opinions on the way they look at film. On any given day, I can have so much on my mind, but when it comes to watch a movie, my mind is blank and free. If you take a monster from a movie, many people will say "oh i've seen that before, it's not even scary". To that, I think of the makeup artists and the actors themselves who spend 9 hours in a studio just making the face of the monster, kinda like what Boris Karloff did for the orginal Frankentstein. If I see a action movie, I think of how ignorant the actor was before shooting the film, and how many hours it must have taken just to choreograph one scene of fighting. Filmakers test the viewer with imagination in their films, and it takes someone like me, who has a devotion to film, to recognize that.

Spaghetti Westerns

You could watch all of the Westerns that were made in America, but you would missed out on the other half of Westerns that were shot in European countries which brought the genre to new heights. The Western in itself is depicting the historic battles and stories that came out of American History with dynamic cowboys and symbolic shootouts. The Westren genre combines both stunning visuals/camerawork along with unique characterization of not only the hero, but the villian as well. The shot of Tuco anxiously searching for the grave with the buried treasure in the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly or the 3 way shootout at the cemetary not olny showed very interesting camera work but ancipation. This anticipation is very undermined by a general audience, but in my viewing, I felt it really brought the shootout to another level. Spaghetti westerns grew very popular in the beginning of the 20th century and from then on, people like Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone became well respected. The score of Morricone couldn't have fit more perfect for the scenes in the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Since alot of the movie was build-up and tension, the score had to be suspenseful yet setinmental, and Morricone brilliantly created that. The music was a important part of the Spaghetti Westrens just by the way it really emphasized the actor's emotion on screen. Simply put, the music made the audience more in tuned into the movie and when a movie is so poetic by doing that, you know that you've got a hit on your hands. You wo9uld think that because the Spaghetti Westerns were not filmed in the U.S. that it wouldn't capture the realism of the setting, but since areas like Spain have such an abudance of plains, mountains, and deserts, it's almost like your watching the Alamo happen all over again. These Spaghetti Westerns played a key role in the popularity of the Western genre in the U.S. so much so that actors that weren't making it in American cinema instantly moved to Europe where they became stars overnight. Though the Spaghetti Westerns began to die in the late 70's, one thing that passed on was the creativity and the innovation that came out of it. It really showed directors the importance of the placement of objects/actors in a single shot or how the music you put in can make or break your film.

Sherlock Jr. vs. Kung Fu Hustle

If you watch the works of Buster Keaton, you could see how he, as the protaganist, puts himself in a variety of traps and dangerous stunts. The purpose of these actions is to make the audience laugh but for the most part entertained. If you take that same ideas, you can ultimatley find that same quality of film in many kung-fu movies nowadays. Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu Hustle" is a type of movie that leaves you guessing what type of "genre" it falls into. This film parodies the cliches from kung fu movies dating back to Enter The Dragon by making action stars on the screen ones you wouldn't except seeing doing backflips. One thing I think that Stephen Chow and Buster Keaton share as directors is their undeniable devotion to their work. Both of them were willing to take a beating if it meant that a given scene was shot perfect. If Keaton broke his neck during Sherlock Jr., god knows what happen to Stephen Chow in 61 other jobs as an actor at a age of 42 years old. Viewers of Kung Fu Hustle should understand that this film isn't meant to be taken serious but that's the beauty of it. Here you have a film that shows you can take a traditional kung fu flick and put a comedic spin on it with slapstick humor and colorful characters. Keaton and Chow both used interesting techniques in terms of editing throughout their film (double exposure, trick camera angles, trampolines) which made there films all the more fun to watch. One thing that these directors shared was the ability for the audience to question whether the movie is a love story, a action extravaganza, or a knee-slapping comedy. For me, it doesn't matter if both of these movies had a set genre, because without all these elements of sub genres in their films, the movies wouldn't be as great. You could say that Keaton had a profound influence on Chow's films, but whatever the case, both movies blended action and comedy to it's highest point in cinema.

La Ruta Natural

Innovation in cinema comes and goes ,but in the case for La Ruta Natural, it's shown subtley. Never have I seen narrative and visuals work so well with each other. The director was definatley conveying a hidden message, and by doing it with limited dialogue made the expierence all the worth while. Every shot in the movie had purpose to it whether it be to the plot or the overall theme of the film. The quick cuts in the beginning olny show how important the editing is to this movie. Not to mention, the story is told in reverse which means the editors had to make everything that was shot in reverse in post production. The character anaylsis of Divad is interesting considering his personality is one big question mark. We seem him drawn away from family values, and enter his own fantasy world where he reminices on the glory days hence the whole plot of the story. The flashbacks of his younger years show a side of happines that I think he trying to search for in this entire movie. The lighting was dark for most parts which olny contributed to the dark, omnious tone of the movie. It funny, the son is showned in two ways as a motif throughout this film. In the beginning, his picture is burnt and it shows his casket symbolizing sadness but when it shows the married couple in their later years, the tone of the son seems to bring joy in the couple lives as they are showned happy while constructing their son's bedroom. The wardrobe was essential since it had to do with the couple being in different time periods, and to me, the costumes fit the time period where they were. It's interesting how the audio in the background stays at the same pace within the movie. It signals how dull the character life is by slowly fading in and out throughout the movie. In terms of mise-en-scene, the image of the broken flower pot showed how well the couple in their older years got along by breaking such a delicit item. Theres alot of stuff going on in this movie that it's hard to give one spefic theme to it all. This is a movie that really makes you think about the things around you that you take for granted. When movies have impacts on the minds of their audience, it seperates them from the pack. La Ruta Natural blends surrealism along with some new age techniques to provide a plot structure that is very unsual to see in movies.

Intute-Film Posters

http://www.all-film-posters.com/

To be perfectly honest, the reason I picked this topic was I was rather interested in something I didn't know too much about. Right off the bat, I had a connection to the author of this article because I too have a bedroom surrounded with posters from movies I really enjoyed. Never have I ever stopped and took a chance to admire the rarity of this posters, especially for the vintage ones. To me, I think the older posters have more value to them is because you had guys like John Alvin and Richard Amsel spending a staggering amount of detail and hours illustrating the design of the posters. The time spent on drawing the poster out painting it truly showed through it's quality in some of the older posters such as Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars: A New Hope. Now a days, the majority of the posters are done through computer graphics which requires a handful of time, but never the notion that people spent months at a time on a single poster. This same ideology can be transferred into film as well. A prime example of this is Jabba the Hut in the Star Wars series. In the original trilogy [4,5,6], you know that all of the characters such as Yoda, R2D2, and Jabba were made of puppets which took much detail to create. When you see the the prequels [1,2,3], much of the characters that you grow up watching were replaced by the wonders of CG. I'm not saying CG is bad or anything, it's just, in my opinion, the same when you compare the both examples. Switching back to the topic at hand, posters are way of showing not only the coming attraction of a film, but the reason that makes you want to go see this given film. I knew when I saw the poster for ZombieLand with Woody Harelson's face on the front, a certain drive was instilled in me that made my want to go see that movie. Well as you can see, posters have certain sentimental value to some people while other simply admire the creative sense that go into them.

Paranormal Activity

I decided to do a movie that was fresh from my mind and the more recent film i watched. Paranormal Activity, by director Oren Peli, is a film about a young couple, Micha and Katie, who document their expierences with paranormal activity occurring all around their San Diego house. The cinematogrophy in my mind was pulled off very well bringing back the handheld camera view to theatres. In my mind when Cloverfield tried to pull this off, it was ruined by seeing the actual monster. In this movie, it has you on your toes from scene to scene that you know something is going to happen but your not sure what it is or for that matter, what it looks like. The wide screen bedrooms shots were done so elegantly because as soon this shot came up, the audience knew they were in for a thrill ride. This was done by slowing increasing the hype [ex. footsteps, doors closing by themselves, mysterious sounds] from beginning to end. The editing believe it or not was also key for the progression of this movie. In order to move the stuff around the house without being seen, the blue screen effect was put into place so it would appear that for example that the chandelier would move by itself which I thought was an impressive move. The acting was another major priority in this film. By casting unknowns in this film distinguish them from well known actors , which made the audience believe these were ordinary people. For me, these two people made me believe we were simply watching the reality of a couple living in San Diego, and because of that, that's what makes the acting so believable and great at the same time. The camera movement was shaky due to the fact that the camera was either held by the woman or the man. Whenever something shocking would happen, the camera would shake due to panic of the character and this only contributed to the realistic factor that this movie had on the audience. In every horror movie, the lighting has got to be a important key factor. Throughout the whole movie, your trying to guess what this monster looks like. In only one scene, you see the shadow of the monster walk by the door which i thought gave respect to beginnings like Nosferatu. In many horror movies, you gonna have those moments where a random thing might pop out and try to scare you. With this movie, it uses that effect but with a new twist. Just when you think things are alright and nothing could possibly, something pops out leaving you frighten. The audio is a huge contributor to this and in some instances in the movie, there would be no audio at all. By hearing the footsteps and thumps all around the house, that put more suspicion in the mind of the audience. Whenever a horror movie can make you have a phobia of something [Jaws:water, Psycho:showers] and for this movie, the unknown, you know it established itself as one of the greats. This is definably one to check out if your fan of horror movies in general.

Reality and Paradox

In my opinion, the film could be broken down more through a psychoanalysis perspective rather than analyzing each of the film techniques (lighting, editing, acting etc.). Going into the initial viewing of this film, Un Chien Andalou, you had to have the right mindset to watch this film no matter how irrational it might be. For example, when the cyclist is in the corner with books on opposite ends of his hands, Brunel is referencing the discipline methods that teachers used back in the day on misbehaved students. Brunel really test the minds of the audience with his images representing his "unconscious" mind. The question I certainly had throughout this movie is could this all have been a series of dreams he had previous or maybe the images that were represented in this film had meaning to them. Surrealism tends to make the viewer second guess every detail that is being showed and I believe that the more you analyze this film, they more conclusions you can come up with whether they be intentional by Brunel or not. One thing for sure that I noticed throughout this film is the mise-en-scene that scattered all through out this film. Although I may not understand the full meaning of the work of Dali and Brunel, I know that whether it be image of a eye being slit or the way a camera has been positioned, all of this has purpose.

Un Chien Andalou

The intial viewing of this film had me with a handful of questions in my mind due to the incoherent explanation of the plot. Salvador Dali really questions the audience's sanity with the surreal visuals he expresses in this film. Whether it's a eye getting stabbed or maybe ants crawling out of a hand. I wondered though throughout the film that maybe there were some connections to Dali's life in this film. Such as the man and the woman constantly arguing may have some sort of reference towards the conflicts of love Dali experiences on a day to day basis. Although I was drawn into the creepy, surreal moments of the movie, I was more or less interested in the message Salvador Dali was trying to convey. If his paintings can say a lot without spoken word, what makes this film any different. I knew going into this movie that it was gonna be surreal so I wasn't too deprived of my sanity. This uneven storyline only questioned my mind even more as to what the purpose was to put that certain shot in. For example, the camera pans to a bed with a man on it then pans back to the lady where she suddenly moves to a certain direction out of the frame from which she enters a totally different setting of a beach where she walks with a different man. I was also curious why there was such an emphasis on hands in the films, maybe the hand was a symbol for something in Dalis life. Alls I can say is this film is needed to be seen more than once to fully understand what the director was trying to say to his audience that you might have not gotten the first time around.

The Critiscm Behind the Cabinet of Dr.Caligari

As I read the New York Times articles, The Screen, A Cubistic Shocker, and Brought Into Focus, I began to notice the cultural impact that this movie has on the rest of the world. Since the articles were dated around the 20's, the genre of horror was relatively new to the world. The articles depicted that German cinema focused on moving pictures rather than in America, were it was growing out of silent films. In German films such as Caligari, you didn't need that much subtitles due to the acting potrayed in the films which instantly grabs you in the story. The Cabinet of Dr.Calagari is an example of a film that is so terrifying, so surreal, so interesting that you can't resist being glued to the screen watching it. The film does an excellent job of expressing the thoughts and visuals that came out of the German Expressionism movement at that time. Like how the Journeymen have stated, during this time German cinema was headed towards the advancement of moving pictures as an art form and because of this, it influenced many directors in America to film in a similar style. In my experience watching the film, I was still a little spooked even by today's standards with the horror films that have been produced. This theme of a madman's devotion to his creation (Cesare) has duplicated too many times to count making this film way ahead of it's time. One thing that i liked is that you didn't know what was gonna happen next and when you did, it made the experience even more thrilling. You could notice how the focus shots where it would show one person in front followed by another person behind him followed by another person behind him all in one shot was elaborately used in Citizen Kane. I wished they shined more light on Cesare for example when he was about to kill the woman when he suddenly stops himself from doing it. To me, Cesare just wants to be accepted, monster or not. I can go on and on about how this film influenced other films but if there's one thing this film is, it's without a doubt a film you must see.

The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is an example of how delusional visuals can produce a quite chilling thriller. It uses many innovative techniques such as lightning and score to tell a story of a madman. Since it was a silent film, the actors may it their mission to describe a scene through exaggerated body language which i thought was clever and humorous at the same time. The setting isn't something you would find in Germany so this lopsided architecture for sure had an effect on the future films of Tim Burton. They way the set up the score so that it would fade in and fade out leaving the audience on the tip of their toes as to what was going to happen next was brilliant. The tempo of the audio was key in that whenever there was a moment of suspense, it would gradually increase which by today's standards is a common technique used. The character of Dr. Caligari played by Warner Krauss was great in that the guy had so much personality to him not to mention the makeup job on him was very believable and impressive. Everything from the setting to the credits were surreal which i can't say enough definitely caught the attention of directors like Terry Gilliam, who uses surreal aspects in his films. The lighting is something that has been imitated many times in which it shows how the audience knew something was coming through the shadows, but the other character didn't. Tinting was also used significantly throughout the film in which it not only showed the setting of the scene but the general atmosphere of the characters in the scene. If you look at the character of Cesare, you could see he's type of character whose life is controlled like a puppet. He performs the actions that Caligari wants him to do and to me, that makes me think of Cesare altogether. All he wants is to be loved but his appearance and the fact that he is a sleepwalker is only attributing to his loneliness. This is definably a movie you should go see without reading the reviews first because at the initial viewing, you will be shocked yet amazed at the same time as I was. It shows how a film doesn't need to have audio to be accepted to be great and shows how visuals can make people second guess the film's genius.