City Lights
Movie: 1931, black and white, 87 min.
· Director: Charlie Chaplin
· Actors: Charlie Chaplin, Virgina Cherill
The film City Lights is a 1931 American silent romantic silent comedy starring Charlie Chaplin. It is about a broke and homeless man who falls in love with a blind woman. The girl mistakes him for a millionaire and he promises to restore her sight even though he does not have the money for the operation. The tramp proves his love to her throughout the film by doing whatever he can to raise the money for it.
Why is Chaplin’s character always so bright and white?
The Tramp is always portrayed as such a bright and happy character. His bright powdered face adds to the emotions that he shows. In about all of his films, The Tramp is always seen as the good guy. Many people see white as good and black as evil. The Tramp always seems to conquer something in his films either by winning the girl over or just doing something ridiculous. In City Lights, The Tramp wants to do whatever he can to make the blind girl like him. He is always a gentleman and in high spirits and this is what Chaplin wanted his audience to see. He wanted the viewers to ultimately see The Tramp as a good man. Even though he hardly ever gets the girl, The Tramp keeps his head high always.
Why are so many of the angles in City Lights at eye-level?
The angles are at eye-level because Chaplin wants the viewer to be part of the film. During the boxing scene, I noticed that the camera was put at one angle and it was shot as if we were watching the fight like we were there in real life to see it. I do not think that cameras back in the 1930s were light and mobile enough to set up angles like bird’s eye view and hard low angle shots. Chaplin does a great job with capturing an entire scene without even moving the camera and can do this without the audience even noticing. Also, Charlie Chaplin does many shots from his point of view allowing his audience to see what he sees.
Movie: 1989, color, 120 min.
Why does Radio Raheem only play "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy on his boombox?
Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) is a very symbolic character in Do the Right Thing. Throughout the film, Radio Raheem is always seen carrying around a stereo blasting the same song over and over at the highest volume. The song that he plays is called "Fight the Power" by Public Enemy and was very popular back in the day when this film was first shot and hip-hop culture was it its height. Radio Raheem does this to tell the people of the Brooklyn streets to fight the power and stand up for what you believe in that you should not be pushed around by anyone. One very significant scene with him playing his stereo is when he goes to a Puerto Rican neighborhood. As Radio Raheem is standing there blasting the famous song from his stereo, the Puerto Ricans tell him that that music is trash and that their music is better. Radio Raheem does not respond to this and just keeps on playing his music because he wants to get his message out to everyone. When one character asks Radio Raheem why he only plays that one song he says that he doesn't like anything else. Whenever he walks into Sal's Pizzeria, Sal yells at Radio Raheem and tells him to turn down the music. At the end of the film, Radio Raheem and Buggin' Out go into Sal's to tell him to put some pictures of blacks on the wall and a fight breaks out because Sal destroys Radio Raheem's stereo because he refused to turn off the music. The police soon show up and they choke Radio Raheem which kills him in the matter of seconds. All of the citizens watching this become enraged at the police because Radio Raheem took the song's advice and fought the power, in this case being Sal for the Wall of Fame, and was then killed just for playing his music too loud.
How did each actor's wardrobe reflect their character in this film?
In Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee takes on the challenge of having the entire film take place over the time span of one day. By doing this, he has to show each character's personality and his or her purpose in the film by using only one outfit per character because it takes place over only one day. The main character, Mookie (Spike Lee), is seen wearing a Jackie Robinson Dodger throughout most of the movie with an 80s hairstyle. He wants to show the laid back personality of this character and also his pride in black culture. Sal, owner of Sal's pizzeria is seen wearing a apron with greased, slicked back hair throughout the entire movie that tells the audience that he is the epitome of a classic Italian pizza shop owner. His Italian accent adds to this and his Italian pride is seen throughout the film when he says that only famous Italians can go up on his wall. Da Mayor (Ossie Davis) is seen as the drunk of this film. Da Mayor gives off the impression that he drinks a lot because he is seen a lot of the film walking around with a beer can as he sways back and forth and slurs his words. You can also tell by his clothing that he does not really care about his appearance and what people think of him. One of the most controversial characters in this film is Buggin Out. He is first seen in Sal's Pizzeria where he harasses Sal about the pizza. Buggin Out has a wild, crazy hairstyle and also wears glasses and bright clothes. He is a very strong believer with the fact that African-Americans should be appreciated and this eventually leads to him being arrested along with Radio Raheem being killed.
Psycho
Movie: 1960, black and white, 109 min.
- Director: Spike Lee
- Actors: Spike Lee, Danny Aiello
The film Do the Right Thing takes place on one of the hottest days of summer in a racially divided neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. This film takes place throughout an entire day in Brooklyn. Mookie (Spike Lee) works at a pizzeria called Sal’s that is run by an American Italian who goes by the name of Sal (Danny Aiello). Sal hangs nothing but famous pictures of Italians on his Wall of Fame, and the blacks revolt in the end and demand that Sal puts pictures up of some “brothas.”
The film Psycho is a 1960 psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Phoenix officeworker Marion Crane is fed up with the way life has treated her. She has to meet her lover Sam in lunch breaks and they cannot get married because Sam has to give most of his money away in alimony. One Friday Marion is trusted to bank $40,000 by her employer. Seeing the opportunity to take the money and start a new life, Marion leaves town and heads towards Sam's California store. Tired after the long drive and caught in a storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into The Bates Motel. The motel is managed by a quiet young man called Norman who seems to be dominated by his mother.
Why does Hitchcock constantly shoot the motel owner from different angles while he is talking with Marian during the dinner?
During a dinner with the motel owner, Norman Bates, has a long, revealing talk with Marian. Hitchcock begins the conversation with eye-level shots on both of them, as it is a normal friendly conversation. When the conversation shifts to his mother, Norman gets very defensive and emotional. As Marian suggests institutionalizing his mother, Norman gets angry, leaning forward in his seat. Hitchcock switches to a lower angle shot to show his dominance in the conversation. But just as soon as they switch topics he goes back to leaning in his seat and it shows the eye-level. In every instance where Norman gets angry, normally with mention to his mother, the camera switches to the low angle of him leaning forward in his seat. And when Norman reveals his anger and he realizes it he shrinks back in his seat and Hitchcock uses a high angle. It shows his vulnerability in the topics about his mother and how he isn’t very comfortable with it. Throughout the conversation, the shots of Marian are consistently eye level, showing her level-headedness in the conversation. It reveals Norman to be emotionally unstable and possibly dangerous, foreshadowing the damage he does later.
Why does Hitchcock constantly shoot the motel owner from different angles while he is talking with Marian during the dinner?
During a dinner with the motel owner, Norman Bates, has a long, revealing talk with Marian. Hitchcock begins the conversation with eye-level shots on both of them, as it is a normal friendly conversation. When the conversation shifts to his mother, Norman gets very defensive and emotional. As Marian suggests institutionalizing his mother, Norman gets angry, leaning forward in his seat. Hitchcock switches to a lower angle shot to show his dominance in the conversation. But just as soon as they switch topics he goes back to leaning in his seat and it shows the eye-level. In every instance where Norman gets angry, normally with mention to his mother, the camera switches to the low angle of him leaning forward in his seat. And when Norman reveals his anger and he realizes it he shrinks back in his seat and Hitchcock uses a high angle. It shows his vulnerability in the topics about his mother and how he isn’t very comfortable with it. Throughout the conversation, the shots of Marian are consistently eye level, showing her level-headedness in the conversation. It reveals Norman to be emotionally unstable and possibly dangerous, foreshadowing the damage he does later.
- Director: Joel and Ethan Coen
- Actors: William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi
The film Fargo is a 1996 American dark comedy crime film produced, written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It takes place in the 1980s in Minnesota. Automobile salesman (William H. Macy) has suffered extreme financial trouble and desperately needs money to pay off his debts. Macy's character has a very wealthy father-in-law but he is too proud to ask him directly for the money so he then hires two criminals to kidnap his wife and make her father give the criminals money for the ransom. Macy then plans on splitting the ransom with the criminals without his wife or father-in-law knowing that he did this. A good amount of this film takes place as the audience follows a pregnant police woman (Frances McDormand) with her investigation of all the crimes that have taken place. Not everything works out in Macy's way and he eventually digs himself a deeper hole than what he started with.
Why do you think that the Coen brothers chose to follow the pregnant police woman throughout the film?
Throughout the film, a lot of the attention and a main portion of the film has to do with the life of Marge Olmstead-Gunderson as she investigates the murders and kidnapping. She is first seen in this film with her husband at her house after the three murders have taken place off the highway. She seems very surprised by this because it was a very unusual thing that happened and she had not seen anything like that before. The Coen brothers do an excellent job of using this policewoman as a way to move the story along. Every time the audience follows her in this film we find out something new about these characters and the it is a very creative way to show what is happening throughout the film. The Coen brothers use this policewoman to show a different point of view throughout the story. Pretty much every character in this film besides the policewoman embodies a character of greed and selfishness along with other poor attributes and I think that the Coen brothers wanted to show a character who comes across as polite, likable, and intelligent. She is used as a way to move the story along and to help wrap up everything that happened in a creative way.
Why do the Coen brothers begin this film with the opening text even though it is said to not be true?
Fargo opens with a text that says "THIS IS A TRUE STORY. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred." I looked up if this was true and even the directors said that this was not. I think they did this to see how far they could push the boundaries of fiction. The Coen brothers most likely thought that many audiences would most likely fall for this, just like myself. I think the real reason they did this was to prove to the viewers that something like this could happen. They didn't want the viewers to just sit back and say to themselves that this is purely fictitious and a waste of time because no one would actually follow through with a plan this insane. By saying that this is a true story, it suspended my disbelief and I watched this film with more emotion because I was thinking to myself that this is actually a true story.
Taxi Driver
Movie: 1976, color, 113 min.
- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Actors: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster
The film Taxi Driver is a 1976 American drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. This film takes place in post-Vietnam New York City as we watch New York City cab driver Travis Bickle constantly, almost obsessively, reflects on the ugly corruption of life around him, and becomes increasingly disturbed over his own loneliness and alienation. In nearly every phase of his life, Bickle remains a complete outsider, failing to make emotional contact with anyone. Unable to sleep night after night, Travis haunts the local pornography emporiums to find diversion, and begins desperately thinking about an escape from his depressing existence.
How does Scorsese use color to show emotion between the characters and the settings?
Taxi Driver begins with the point of view from inside a taxi cab in New York City and we see many bright and colorful images as we are seen being taken through the city at night. This shows the upbeat life of New York City and also the dangers that come with it. When we first see Betsy, she is wearing white which shows safety, purity, and cleanliness as she is walking on the streets. The next time we see her is when she is volunteering for the campaign of Palantine for president and she is wearing a blue outfit. She is very calm and cool in this scene as she talks to her colleagues. When she goes on her date with Travis, she wears a red outfit. She doesn't seem to be her calm self here and she has more of an intense emotion. Red represents erotic feelings and danger as she is not so sure of how Travis will be. Betsy's outfits change throughout the film and Scorsese does an excellent job of using color to reflect Betsy's mood among other settings.
How come Scorsese always uses that same piece of Jazz music throughout the entire film?
Throughout the film Taxi Driver, the same piece of Jazz music is repeatedly played at crucial parts in this film. The sound piece is a very slow, emotional piece that is played at very important times. We first hear this piece at the opening of this film as our point of view is from inside a taxi driving through New York City. Scorsese uses Jazz because it was very popular in New York at one time and he also wants to show the loneliness and isolationism that Travis Bickle feels. Travis is a character who seems like no one understands him or knows what he is suffering from. He keeps to himself a lot of the time and he doesn't seem to be a very social person unless he is around Betsy. As we see Travis change and transition, this musical piece still reminds us that Travis is a lonely man and is suffering from post-war trauma among other things. This film concludes with this piece of Jazz but its not the same exact piece that we've seen before. As the camera shows all the blood and dead bodies in the building in the end, this piece adds to the emotion that the audience feels as we watch this.
Rocky
Movie: 1976, color, 119 min.
- Director: John G. Avildsen
- Actors: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire
The film Rocky is a 1976 sports drama film. Rocky Balboa is a struggling boxer trying to make the big time. Working in a meat factory in Philadelphia for a pittance, he also earns extra cash as a debt collector. When heavyweight champion Apollo Creed visits Philadelphia, his managers want to set up an exhibition match between Creed and a struggling boxer, touting the fight as a chance for a "nobody" to become a "somebody". The match is supposed to be easily won by Creed, but someone forgot to tell Rocky, who sees this as his only shot at the big time.
Forrest Gump
Movie: 1994, color, 142 min.
- Director: Robert Zemeckis
- Actors: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright
The film Forrest Gump is a 1994 American comedy-drama directed by Robert Zemeckis. Forrest Gump is a simple man with little brain activity but good intentions. He struggles through childhood with his best and only friend Jenny. His 'mama' teaches him the ways of life and leaves him to choose his destiny. Forrest joins the army for service in Vietnam, finding new friends called Dan and Bubba, he wins medals, starts a table tennis craze, creates a famous shrimp fishing fleet, inspires people to jog, create the smiley, write bumper stickers and songs, donating to people and meeting the president several times. However this is all irrelevant to Forrest who can only think of his childhood sweetheart Jenny. Who has messed up her life. Although in the end all he wants to prove is that anyone can love anyone.
Birth of a Nation
Movie: 1915, black and white, 190 min.
- Director: D.W. Griffith
- Actors: Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh
The film The Birth of a Nation is a 1915 American silent film directed by D.W. Griffith. This film takes place in during the Civil War era. The film tells the story of the Civil War and its aftermath, as seen through the eyes of two families. The Stonemans hail from the North, the Camerons from the South. When war breaks out, the Stonemans cast their lot with the Union, while the Camerons are loyal to Dixie. After the war, Ben Cameron, distressed that his beloved south is now under the rule of blacks and carpetbaggers, organizes several like-minded Southerners into a secret vigilante group called the Ku Klux Klan.
In what ways is Birth of a Nation ironic?
One major theme of this film is that it exploits the prejudices and racism seen throughout the civil war and post civil war. This film favors the Northerners with their attempts to abolish slavery and shows the viewers how blacks were treated back in these days. The ironic part about all of this is that the black characters were actually played by white actors but covered in black make-up. It is very obvious what they did and it is strange that the production crew is just adding to the racism by casting white actors.
How is Birth of a Nation different from films today?
This film is very different from modern films today. In Birth of a Nation
In what ways is Birth of a Nation ironic?
One major theme of this film is that it exploits the prejudices and racism seen throughout the civil war and post civil war. This film favors the Northerners with their attempts to abolish slavery and shows the viewers how blacks were treated back in these days. The ironic part about all of this is that the black characters were actually played by white actors but covered in black make-up. It is very obvious what they did and it is strange that the production crew is just adding to the racism by casting white actors.
How is Birth of a Nation different from films today?
This film is very different from modern films today. In Birth of a Nation
Crash
Movie: 2004, color, 112 min.
- Director: Paul Haggis
- Actors: Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock
The film Crash is a 2004 American drama film directed by Paul Haggis. Several stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles involving a collection of inter-related characters, a police detective with a drugged out mother and a thieving younger brother, two car thieves who are constantly theorizing on society and race, the white district attorney and his irritated and pampered wife, a racist white veteran cop (caring for a sick father at home) who disgusts his more idealistic younger partner, a successful Hollywood director and his wife who must deal with the racist cop, a Persian-immigrant father who buys a gun to protect his shop, a Hispanic locksmith and his young daughter who is afraid of bullets, and more.
In this film, race and ethnicity play a very crucial factor in the lives of each of the chararcters. The wardrobe can help show the differences in each of them. The rich lawyer and his wife and both very well dressed and pampered. The wife wears a lot of makeup and it is easy to tell that her life is easy. The two carjackers wear dark bulky clothing representative of their ethnicity. But the other black couple wear very classy clothing, showing that they too are well off. But the white cop still disrespects them in spite of their clothes. The cop is just a pure racist and solely judges people based on their race. The Mexican locksmith wears very plain clothing and always has his tool with him. The subject of stereotypes is also very prevalent in the film. It also reveals that although people may dress stereotypically, such as the locksmith, the Persian shop owner, and the carjackers, they do not always act stereotypically. As the film moves on the wardrobe is not as much of a deciding factor as in the beginning.
How does Haggis transition between stories?
Crash has a numerous amount of different story lines. For this to work, there must be a way to transition between the different story lines seamlessly. This is especially important because the stories will become connected. Haggis shows these transitions almost without the audience realizing. He will, for example, show a closeup of a car driving and when the car leaves the screen, a new scene with new characters has started. He uses the same technique with people walking and doors opening and closing. This form of transition helps the audience realize that the characters and storylines will soon become one.
How is wardrobe used to show the various ethnicities of the characters?
In this film, race and ethnicity play a very crucial factor in the lives of each of the chararcters. The wardrobe can help show the differences in each of them. The rich lawyer and his wife and both very well dressed and pampered. The wife wears a lot of makeup and it is easy to tell that her life is easy. The two carjackers wear dark bulky clothing representative of their ethnicity. But the other black couple wear very classy clothing, showing that they too are well off. But the white cop still disrespects them in spite of their clothes. The cop is just a pure racist and solely judges people based on their race. The Mexican locksmith wears very plain clothing and always has his tool with him. The subject of stereotypes is also very prevalent in the film. It also reveals that although people may dress stereotypically, such as the locksmith, the Persian shop owner, and the carjackers, they do not always act stereotypically. As the film moves on the wardrobe is not as much of a deciding factor as in the beginning.
A Clockwork Orange
Movie: 1971, color, 136 min.
- Director: Stanley Kubrick
- Actors: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee
The film A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 darkly satirical science fiction film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. teenage miscreant Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) wanders aimlessly about a bleak, futuristic urban landscape, drinking drugged milk and listening to Beethoven with his fellow "droogs." But he also spends his time stealing, raping and beating innocent people in immoral orgies of violence, all in an attempt to get his nightly kicks.
How did Kubrick's use of music play a significant role throughout this film?
Throughout A Clockwork Orange, Alex (Malcolm McDowell) expresses his personality and his ways through classical music especially Beethoven's. In one instance, during the scene in which Alex and his fellow "droogs" break into an elderly couple's house and then they tie up the wife and make her husband watch as they take turns raping the women. During this entire scene, Alex wickedly sings outloud "Singing in the Rain" to a tied up husband on the floor as he proceeds to strip the man's wife of her clothing. This adds to the tension because "Singing in the Rain" is such a pleasant, and happy song but Alex makes it into some type of taunt. Also, throughout this film there are times where Alex says and shows his love for Beethoven's music. He usually makes references to Beethoven but I found this part of the film the most ironic because when Alex is tied up while watching the clips of Nazi Germany, his favorite piece of Beethoven is being played in the background and this gives him a very nauseous feeling whenever he hears it. Even though this is his favorite song, he cannot listen to it without feeling sick.
How did Kubrick use color and patterns especially in backgrounds to give this film more emotion?
Everything in A Clockwork Orange seems so futuristic especially inside the rooms of the houses. As Alex walks through his own home we see all these bright colors and strange patterns as each room is completely different from the next. By doing all this, Kubrick gave this film a much more futuristic feeling even though there wasn't really any relevance to the story line by doing this. Everything is put into an urban future landscape perspective. This entire film puts you into a completely different perspective because everything is so fast paced and random and it seems like the plot jumps from one thing to the next. I think that Kubrick added to the randomness of the plot by making the backgrounds and scenery seem very different between each room which adds to the crazy mood of this film.
Works Cited: http://www.imdb.com, http://www.filmsite.org
