Week 4 Blog

For this week’s blog I chose to watch the movie Hot Rod. This is a 2007 comedy film written by Pam Brady.

”Actors portray the characters who live out the story presented for the viewer through the plot.” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014). The main characters in this movie are Rod, who is the main character and the self-proclaimed stunt man, who is played by Andy Samberg. Rod puts a funny twist on a sad real life situation so it was easy to identify him as a “wild card”. Our book says a wildcard is an actor who is difficult toclassify as one certain type, often because he or she can play awide variety of characters equally well without becoming typecast.

The second character I would like to identify is Denise, played by Isla Fisher, is Rod’s crush and although she doesn’t come into the movie until a little ways into it, she ends up playing a big role in Rods decision making and being the more reasonable person behind his operation to get his step father a heart transplant. I identified her as a Personality Actor because she gives a realistic feel to a very hilariously unrealistic situation. Our book defines  personality actors, at some level, playing themselves (or at least that is the perception)

Third, I would like to identify the character Kevin Powell, played by Jorma Taccone. “actors are able to fit invisibly into a wide varietyof disparate characters, adapting to the needs of each scriptand director they work with, known as character actors.” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014) I believe Jorma is a character actor because he does such a great job at his role even without being the main character that it brings himself so much attention.

Andy Samberg seems to play the same role in every movie and every TV show he appears in. He does great in a comedic leading role and after all of his music videos, TV appearances and roles in movies, casting him as anything other than the wild card might turn off the audience.

References:

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc

Hot Rod (5/10) Movie CLIP-Whiskey (2007) HD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbu88CKkEzI

Hot Rod (4/10) Movie CLIP-I Like to Party (2007) HD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxb_X12HZWQ

Hot Rod (7/10) Movie CLIP – Cool Beans (2007) HD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOUrLn1FFCA

Sound

The three basic sounds that can be found in films are dialogue, sound effects and music. Dialogue is the characters talking to each other in the film. Sound effects are “effects that are imitative of sounds called for in the script of a dramatic production (as a radio show) and that enhance the production’s illusion of reality” (Merriam Webster). Music is self explanatory but in films the director uses music to sort of tell you how you should feel in the moment. The Shining uses music to give the audience a better grasp on how twisted things are getting in the hotel. As strange things happen, the film used bizarre, frightening sounds. This film is easy to comment on because it set a standard for music and sound in horror movies. “The shrieking strings and discordant bellows of Krzyzstof Penderecki and Gyorgy Ligeti’s music are common sounds in film music since.” (The Cinemologist 2013)

As seen in the clip above, the shrieking strings give the audience a suspenseful feeling. “Music has been a crucial part of the movie going experience since before the advent of recorded sound in films. So important was its use that over time directors began inserting indications for specific music to be played at specific times.” (Goodykoontz, & Jacobs. 2014). The movie is fairly silent, it’s an empty hotel, there are normal sounds of the characters walking around and such but when the music starts it’s very clear that something strange is happening. 

This film would still be great, and terrifying to many even if the key category of sound would have been different. In fact, I believe that if there would have been just natural sounds during some of the scary scenes, the movie would have been more horrifying. As I stated above, music sort of tells you how to feel, and it gives you a sense of direction in that, it tells you when something is bad or good, or it makes it easy to predict when something is going to happen. So by eliminating some of the music from this movie, it would have been scarier in some parts.

Resources:

Goodykoontz, & Jacobs. (2014). Film: From Watching To Seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint education.

Here’s Johnny! – The Shining (7/7) MOVIE CLIP (1980) HD Retrieved from YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDpipB4yehk

Lighting

Would You Rather (2012) is a dark, suspenseful horror film. Since most of the movie takes place at the dinner table and I will focus primarily on that area. The film uses flat lighting “using a soft light source placed close to the camera to minimize surface detail” (Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. 2014).to keep the tone of the film intense and it helps the viewer get a better idea of the mood in the room. “It’s lack of shadows enhances a mood the director is looking for” (Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P.2014) The reason flat lighting worked so well in this film is because it kept your eyes wandering, which helped with the mysterious theme.

Would You Rather is considered a horror film so I personally believe that if they used low key lighting the film would have had a scarier and more sinister look. “A low-key lighting design looks dark overall by comparison. It is marked by extreme use of deepshadows, with very high contrast between the brightest parts of the scene and the darkest parts, which are obscured in shadows.” (Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. 2014). In my discussion about this movie that I posted Tuesday, I said I thought this film was also a suspense-thriller and I believe that flat lighting helps this become more evident. The flat lighting keeps the focus on the whole scene.

Resources:

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacob, C. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2d ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

IFCFilmsVod (2013, Feb 08) Would You Rather- Clip. Retrieved from youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FZrO2fssOI

Good Will Hunting

Title: Good Will Hunting
Writers: Matt Damon & Ben Affleck
Director: Will Gluck
Year: 1997

Actors:Matt Damon (William “Will” Hunting), Robin WIlliams (Sean Maguire), Ben Affleck (Chuck “Chuckie” Sullivan), Stellan Skarsgård (Professor Gerald Lambeau), Minnie Driver (Skylar), Casey Affleck (Morgan O’Mally), Cole Hauser (William “Billy” McBride), (John Mighton (Tom), George Pimpon (Dr. Henry Lipkin)

Story: Good Will Hunting is a film about Will Hunting a troublemaking 20 year old from Boston who is a sort of self made genius. After assaulting a police officer he is given a second chance but on someone else’s terms. He starts to see a therapist (Robin Williams) and studies with the professor that saw his work (Stellan Skarsgard). As he continues to do these things he starts to appreciate the relationships he has with his friend (Ben Affleck) his girlfriend (Minnie Driver) and even himself.

Plot:

Will Hunting is a genius but works as a janitor at MIT. He solves a very difficult math problem he sees on a chalkboard outside of a classroom. The person who wrote the equation, Professor Lambeau, discovers Will answering these problems and tries to get in contact with him, only to find out Will hasn’t shown up to work today. Professor Lambeau finds out that Will got himself in trouble for assaulting a police officer so he attends his court hearing.

When Will shows up to court the judge shows no hesitation and sentences will to jail time. Professor Lambeau meets with Will in jail and tells him that the judge has agreed to release Will under his supervision. Professor Lambeau says that he is willing to do this under two conditions. Will has to meet with him every week to do things with math and the second condition is that Will has to meet with a therapist.

After will fails to make any progress with 5 therapists, Lambeau goes to Sean Maguire (Robin Williams) for help. Sean grew up in the same area as will and is just as stubborn and tough as him too. Sean helps will cope with his past and deal with his future.

The film was presented chronologically which helped the audience follow the story of Will with ease. This made following Wills progress intriguing and helped show how much he changed throughout the film. Because the film was presented chronologically it helped the audience get a better understanding of who Will was and how he was going to change himself for the better. If this film had been presented non-linearly, the audience would have been bored and confused with the film. The main idea of the movie is to follow Wills path to a better future and by showing it non-linearly, it would have been hard to follow, and made it less interesting to the audience.

Resources

Good Will Hunting (1997) Blu-Ray Release Movie Trailer  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaZVjZEFkRs

Good Will Hunting (3/12) Movie CLIP – The Painting (1997) HD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSfxl1KI6y8

http://screenplayhowto.com/screenplay-analysis/good-will-hunting-screenplay-analysis/