MY Short Film Criticism @andre43-blog - Tumblr Blog

FYOS Event #3

For my final FYOS event, I had the pleasure of going to see the Glenn Miller Orchestra. This legendary band has held a legacy for almost 70 years. Today they keep alive that big band orchestra atmosphere alive. For $5 I definately got my moneys worth. I am usually not a big fan of the orchestra situation, but I enjoyed myself very much and am very glad I went. All in all, all three Fyos events were very enjoyable and I'm glad I had the fortune of going to each of them.

FYOS Event #2

For my second Fyos seminar, I had the pleasure of attending the Terry Leadership Speaker Series in which former mayor of Atlanta, Shirley Franklin, was speaking. This was not my first time hearing mayor Franklin speak, for she spoke at my highschool my senior year, but it was nice to hear her again. Every time I see her, her work ethic and leadership ability always impresses me. Mayor Franklin would work late into the night every day of the week, even Sunday. Several of her community service and public works programs are still active today and doing wonders to clean up the city of Atlanta. Being a bussiness major, it was nice to hear from her and hear her secrets to sucsess. All in All, I picked up a lot from attending this seminar.

FYOS Event # 1

For my first FYOS event, I went to go see the University Theatre's presentation of "The 39 Steps." I was convinced by a friend to go, and I'm glad I did. I have always been a big Aflred Hitchcock fan, and this adaptation of the 1935 film was very entertaining and funny. I laughed at the fact that the entire film is performed by only 4 people on stage playing every character, and they end up making a very large farce out of it. Before it moved here, this play has had a lot of succsess on the broadway circuit, and is critically acclaimed and award winning. I am very glad I had a chance to see it in person.

The Incident

I enjoyed this film very very much. It displays the story of a simple man who lives a life very similar to most people. We can tell from the film that he has a wife/girlfriend, nice house, and things appear to be going well for him. However, his life is immediately thrown into a tailspin when a fight between him and an older man over his bicycle leads to the otehr man's death. Like most of us, the man is really unsure about how to handle the situation, and he becomes immediatley overwhelmed.He drags the old man under a bridge, where he leaves him.Against better judgement, he continues to come back to check on him daily after the fact, and at one point he even tires to bury the man, whether out of respect or fear of being caught is left uncertain. He ends up merely burying the old man in leaves and stops returning to check on the old man.

The weather and climate displayed throughout the flim definately set the tone for the rest of the plot to follow. The weather varies from raining to cloudy and the sun never comes out during the entire film. It also appears very cold and bleak outside.

Most people here have discussed the relationship between the man and his wife. They don’t really talk much on a deep level or really at all.I noticed that the wife didn’t react at all when the man mentioned he had killed another man that day. Perhaps she assumed he was merely joking, but she gives off no laugh or smile to show this. She simply moves past it and gets on with her daily routine. I found that interesting to say the least. They never really move on past small talk throughout the film and don't really display signs of a healthy couple. I just found the who situation to be kind of odd.

Overall, I thought this film was much better than several of the films we have watched this semester. It had a lot going on in it, and it told an interesting story with lots of themes and interesting ideas left open for discussion. All in all, it was very enjoyable.

Doodle Bug

The fact that Christopher Nolan directed Doodle Bug, definately makes it stand out. However, I have to say that this was not one of my favorite films. The film was very vleak and there was plenty confusing symbolism to go with it. The film goes with the whole idea what our exisitence means. The idea that human society my just be a fingerprint on the thumb of a much larer society has been discussed several times before, and this film focuses on that subject.

Once the film starts, the veiwer immediatly notices certain aspects of the man's living conditions. For example, the man lives in a run down apartment, most likely by himself. Clothes are thrown about the floor, and the man apears clearly disturbed by something. His character is relatable because we have all been in situations where something like a fly on the wall or the ticking of a clock gets into are head and becomes inescapable. The fact that the man crushes a smaller version of himself syas a lot of things. For example, the man could be frustrated with himself and his shortcomings. Why he puts the phone in a pitcher of water is a question I'm not sure I can answer. Maybe the man has lost touch with reality and the phone could be a symbol of that. All in all, this film was not one of my favorites, but it was still interesting to watch, and thought provoking.

My Top Five

Of all the short films we've watched, these are my top 5:

1. The Incident

2. The Crush

3. Zen and the Art of Landscaping

4. The Big Shave

5. Gridlock

Bean Cake

I did not enjoy this film very much. It wasn't awful, it simply didn't appeal to me very much. I know the two films we watch each week are somehow interconnected, but I had a difficult time determining how this week. The only thing I could come up with was the idea of innocence.

In both of the films we watched this week, the viewer sees to innocent relationships develop on camera. In Bean Cake, the idea of childhood innocence is seen throughout the film. It seems as if the child is being punished the entire movie for stuff he doesn't know any better about. After all, he is still a young boy, and even in the era of unified 1933 Japan, the playfulness of a child still manages to shine through.

Everything about this movie seems to display the issue of standing out in Japan. When the boy first enters the classroom, everyone is dressed the same and behaves in the same mannerisms. Even the film is in black and white to show the lack of diversity in the film. The boy, even though its not even his fault, is ostracized for looking different, and even though he responds with a legitimate answer to the teacher, he is still sent out of the room. However, through all of this, an innocent friendship between the boy and the girl in the class still manages to develop.

All in all, I didn't like this film very much. I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just saying it wasn't the right movie for me.

Post-It Love

This is probably my favorite of all the films we have watched so far this semester. I thought it was very clever and it had a happy-go-lucky feel to it. While the concept of an office romance is noting new or special, the director of this short film puts an interesting, quirky spin on it by having the couple display their affection for one another through the use of post-it notes.

In the beginning of the film, a few things struck me right away. I appreciated the use of bright colors and I liked the cheerful music. I feel as though the music, though very simple, was the perfect choice for the film, for it complimented the sweetness and innocence of the couple very well. I also like the use of symmetry at the beginning of the film as both the man and the woman used the copy machine. Their motions mimicked each other, which is probably just a sign that the couple is perfect for each other. Also, the fact that the post-it love notes were placed in specific places around the office lets the viewer know that the couple knows each other well enough to know where to place the specific post-it notes. The director also manages to slip some humor into the film. For example, as the woman leaves the supply office with a handful of post-it notes, there is a sign on the wall pointing out that the supplies in the office should be used for "work purposes only."

I thought it was kind of strange how the woman reacted to the man's final use of post-it notes. The look on her face when she first came across it showed that she was surprised, but it also looked like she was a little freaked out. It almost seemed like the man took it too far, for he clearly spent a large amount of time on it, and he even had the sense to include the woman's hair pin. If I were the woman this would creep me out a little bit. Also, maybe up to this point their romance was a secret, and by placing the post-it notes in the middle of the office, the man was letting it out to the public. However, despite the woman's initial reaction, she ends up smiling which leads the viewer to believe that everything is okay.

All in all, I really enjoyed this short film, I liked the use of color, music and cinematography. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to post or comment on my blog.

Cash Back

Ben is an art student who works in his local grocery store to pay his bills. As with all his colleagues the mind-numbing work makes time go even slower than it normally would and each of them deals with it different ways. Some cut off all contact with clocks, some mess around and try and have fun but for Ben it is different. His knack is to freeze time dead in its tracks and embrace the freedom this gives him – a freedom that his creative side and appreciation of the female form takes full advantage of. When we were first asked to watch cash back I thought the title sounded familiar, then I remembered I saw the full length version of this movie a couple years ago. When I heard it was a short film first I couldn't wait to watch it. I'm not entirely sure how the whole film fits together. The first half is a perfectly amusing bit about the realities of a menial job, one where you do the same thing over and over again and cannot escape the reality that it doesn't matter what they do. This reminded me a little of the T.S. Elliot poem "The Hollow Men" in the way that its an inescapable routine. In this regard the film is kind of depressing at the beginning but it kind of picks up quickly.

What the film becomes is Ben freezing time to mostly undress women and appreciate their bodies. It is presented as an artistic pursuit but it felt a bit odd to me to see the character of Ben undressing women without their consent and it made me wonder what the point was. The problem with it is that it doesn't have a strong point to this to back up the suggestion that it is artistic and not just weird and creepy. The end result is kind of amusing but I'm not seeing what makes this movie so well reviewed and talked about. While the artistic stuff isn't fully explained, leaving it feeling a bit weird with what it is saying/doing with the bodies of unaware young women. I felt like the full film did a much better job of displaying the artsy side of the film. If you have any question, comments, or concerns feel free to comment or post on my blog.

Sooner or Later

Like many of the films we have watched this semester, I found this one to be very confusing. The film takes place in what appears to be Nazi Germany during WWII. The focus of the film is the conversation between a Nazi officer and a Jewish prisoner. During the discussion the officer keeps mentioning a serum, but the purpose of the serum is left unclear. Once the serum kicks in, the prisoner appears to jump to an alternate time in which the officer is dead, but after a few minutes, the prisoner returns and nothing appears to have happened. Confused and worried, the prisoner remains speechless. During the officers interrogation of the prisoner, the conversation escalates and just when things look as though they are going to turn violent, the prisoner, or another version of himself, enters the room and shoots the officer dead. The newer version of the prisoner gives the older version important information on where to go and what to do next, but a lot is left unclear. Noticeably, at the end of the film, there is a significantly larger amount of cigarette ash in the ashtray then there was at the beginning, which makes one watching the film wonder if the prisoner and the officer are stuck in a constant loop unable to get out.

Theatrically, there was a lot going on in this film. The black and white aspect of the film definitely gave it that old time feel to go along with the era of WWII. Also the cinematography was very well done. The film was shot in a way to make the audience feel just as confused and out of place as the prisoner because there is no explanation of exactly what the serum does, and all of the sudden, the prisoner becomes thrust into a complex situation that appears to be way beyond his understanding.

I also noticed that the officer in the film seemed very polite and genuine to the prisoner as he talked about potential promotions and the importance of the project they were working on. It seemed like everybody was on the same page up until the point when the serum kicked in and the situation escalated.

All in all, I really enjoyed this short film. While it may have been confusing and difficult to comprehend, it was still captivating and amusing. Feel free to post or comment if you agree or disagree with anything I said.

Gridlock and The Lunch Date Reveiw

After watching both Gridlock and The Lunch Date, I realized that both films shared a focus on perceptions, and in both cases, wrong perceptions. In The Lunch Date, the woman's early perceptions are made clear through her actions at the train station. It is not surprising that the old woman may hold a few racist tendencies, for several members of the older generation often do. We see these tendencies play out as she becomes flustered after running into a black man on the way to her train. Not only is she disrespectful to him, but she also won't allow him to touch her things. As the woman wanders about the station, we can see by her facial expression that she feels uncomfortable around the homeless black man asking for money, this only further points out her insecurities. When the old woman comes back to find a random black man eating her salad, she appears both angered and frightened at the same time. In this scene, two perceptions are challenged, the black man sees the old lady as helpless, and believes she won't stop him from eating her salad, and the old woman believes the black man is nothing but a manner less homeless person looking for a free meal. However, both perceptions appear to be wrong. The old woman proves the black man wrong by standing up for herself and eating off his plate, and the black man proves the old woman wrong by acting chivalrous and getting coffee for the two of them. The black man then seals the deal by not taking her stuff and even buying her a new salad. However, despite all of this, it appears that the old woman's perception does not appear to change much, for she walks right past another homeless black man on the way to her train without paying any notice to him. Maybe she learned something from the ordeal, but it is hard to say. I liked how the film was set in black in white. it made it look older and dated, and i believe it served the theme of the film well, with the whole world being colorblind. All in all, I liked this film.

Gridlock also focuses on the idea of wrong perceptions. The man clearly thinks he is talking to his daughter on the phone, and begins to perceive that his wife is cheating on him, and from the beginning of the film, it appears that his perceptions are right, until "Uncle" Wim falls in the pool. Once the man hears that the family he is disturbing has a pool, he realizes that he has made a terrible mistake, and was completely wrong. At first, I'm sure the man was kind of relieved that it was not his own family that he ruined, but he must have been suspicious of his wife to call home in the first place, so the question still remains whether or not his actual wife is cheating on him. I liked the use of cinematography in this film. The cold snow falling on the man's car definitely sets the bleak tone of the film from the very beginning. Also, his constant swearing and use of pills display his overwhelming stress and the audience watching can almost feel it. We can all relate to him, everyone has been stuck in gridlock traffic, and it always seems to be at the worst time. I enjoyed the nice plot twist at the end, it kind of brought a comical tone to a very dark and otherwise disturbing plot. All in all, I also liked this film very much.

In conclusion, both films displayed that first impressions are not always what they may appear to be. People are wrong all the time, and, in some cases, their wrong perceptions can cost them a lot. Fell free to comment or respond to my post if you feel the need.

The Crush

The Crush, like many of the other short films we have watched in this class, was a very enjoyable film for me. I felt like the script was well written and the cinematography was very well done. To me, this film tells the story of childhood innocence. The young boy in the film does not see all the obstacles that would prevent him from marrying his teacher. To him, age is just a number, and as long as two people are perfect for each other, they can overcome any obstacle together. However, this childhood innocence can also be considered blindness, because the boy clearly cannot comprehend why him and his teacher should not be together. While the film may tell a story of childhood innocence, one of the major themes of the film is a loss of innocence. When the young boy sees the teacher with her fiance for the first time, one can see the hurt in his eyes as he experiences his first heartbreak. I think I personally can relate to the boy. We've all had moments when we thought something was one way, and then realized later that this was not the case at all. The film definitely takes a darker turn when the boy meets the fiance for the first time. From there on, the pace of the film slowly begins to quicken until it results in a climax when the gun is finally fired. In the end, the young boy ironically seems to have the most sense out of all of the characters, for he turns out to be right about the fiance. I guess sometimes it takes the innocence of a child to see through the deceptions and complexities of the adult world. All in all, I really enjoyed this movie. Feel free to comment on my post if you like.

jcannizz-blog

andre43-blog

jcannizz:

I did like “The Big Shave,” but maybe not for the best reason. I would remember it because it had that “shock” factor, but mainly I would remember it out of frustration for not truly understanding it.

I definitely think the shots and music were used to help tell the story. The opening shots were...

I agree with just about everything you had to say. Like you I was also very confused by the film and left wondering about the man's condition at the end. Maybe we'll get some clarity when we discuss it in class.

The Big Shave

I'm not going to lie, I had a very difficult time understanding "The Big Shave." However, the short film still found a way to captivate my interest. Visually, I thought the film was very well done. The simple task of shaving became much more exciting through the use of several different camera angles throughout the bathroom. It is hard to say exactly what story this film was trying to tell. I am sure there is a deeper meaning behind the whole idea of it, but right now I simply don't know it. If anybody has their own opinions on the point of the film, feel free to post them. The idea of the film is simple, a man shaves in the bathroom, an activity most men do regularly, but the film takes an interesting twist when the man ends up purposely cutting himself all over. While watching the film, several things did get my attention. First of all, I felt like the music for the film contradicted the events taking place on screen. While the man cuts himself all over, the music takes a relaxing, slow paced tone. Also, the calmness of the man as he cuts himself got my attention too. As the man mutilates his face, he stands there completely unconcerned as though he has done it several times before. Maybe the man, has simply given up on himself or given up on life, it is hard to say at this point. Finally, one of the points that stuck out the most to me was the contradiction between the white bathroom and the red blood. Visually, when the man first enters the bathroom, we see a white sink, white walls, a white floor, white towels, and a white man. Then, all of the sudden, midway through the film, we are introduced to a splash of red that almost catches us by surprise and definitely changes the pace of the film. All in all, I thought the use of color was very well done. As I watched the film, I felt like I could see the ending coming. An entire film about a man shaving correctly just doesn't seem that exciting, even for the artsy types. Therefore, I knew something had to happen, and when dealing with razors and shaving, cutting oneself is usually a pretty safe bet. All in all, even though I didn't understand it much, I did enjoy this film. The visual effects and the use of music help to drive it and make it more entertaining for the viewers. Once again, if you have any questions comments or opinions feel free to post on my opinion.

jcannizz-blog

andre43-blog

dandantheeskimoman:

jcannizz:

First off, content aside, I thought this film was really well made. The production value was very clean and simple and I thought it really added to the tone of the film. The plot is about a woman (the main character) who seems to just be going through the motions of life. However, when an…

I like this response to the film. It’s much better getting a much less cynical response like mine. Haha. But, in all seriousness, I enjoyed that you talked more about the techniques instead of focussing on the frustation of the plot. It was cool to see that there is a lot more to the short than it’s plot and storyline!

I agree with the first response, it would have been easy to get on here and do a simple plot summary, but you avoided that and focused on everything else. Well done.

I chose to post the short film the inventor, because I believe it goes along with the discussion we had in class the other day about dream jobs and doing what we love.. This man, Gabriel Pech has taken the two things he enjoys most in life, movies and inventions, and created a job that he truly enjoys. Money is not important to him, his creations are all that really matter.

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