Formal Film Studies #2: Animation Studios

I decided to do my formal film studies on different animation studios since one of my favorite genres is animation. The animation studies that i decided to compare was Pixar, Dreamworks, and Sony Pictures. The movies that i decided to watch from each studio was Brave, The Croods, and Hotel Transylvania. The cinematic style of each one of these movies are all very different. In the Pixar movie Brave, the editing they did on the movie was a lot complex than The Croods and Hotel Transylvania. You were able to tell because when you were watching the film the animation didnt look like cartoon animation but as if it was real life. Throughout the movie i kept on forgetting that it was an animation that i was watching. The editing in the Dreamworks movie The Croods, was not as amazing as it was in Brave but it did have some moments where editing was very important and they did a good job of showing it. In the Sony Pictures movie Hotel Transylvania, it didn’t have a lot of editing and the style of the film was more of a cartoon.  

In the industry of Hollywood, Pixar is known for having a lot of special effects and editing in their animation movies. This means that Pixar is one of the most popular animation studies out of Pixar, Dreamworks, and Sony Pictures. Some similarities that all these movies have are that they all have an over-all message at the end of each movie. In Brave the moral of the story was that you shouldn’t try to mess up your fate because you can make mistakes that you might not be able to forget. In the movie The Croods the over-all message was that family is the most important thing in life and that no matter what they will always be there for you. In Hotel Transylvania the big message was that you need to trust your kids that when they grow up that the parent needs to learn how to let go and have their kids learn from their mistakes. In the movie Brave some particular shots where I was able to tell how well the editing was in this movie was when she about to throw a bow and arrow and the camera is zoomed up close to her face and you are able to notice all the little details that in this image. This image also shows how they used particular shots to make the moment more intense. In the movie The Croods in a specific scene it showed them walking through a forest and it shows a long shot camera angle to show all the editing in the frame. It shows again how specific they were when drawing this scene. This camera angle also is significant because if they did a close up towards the family, the audience wouldn’t be able to appreciate all the specific details in this shot. In the movie Hotel Transylvania a key scene where you are able to tell that the editing isn’t as specific as it is in the Pixar and Dreamworks film is when the human boy walks into the monsters hotel and everyone thinks he is Frankenstein and the only one that knows he isn’t a monster is Dracula. It shows a close up of all the monsters facial expressions.

My most important discovery of all three of these films was that Pixar films are more dramatic and people are able to relate to their movies. I also discovered that Dreamworks films are more made for more child-based audiences. And finally I discovered that Sony Pictures films are more goofy and silly films. On rotten tomatoes I searched all the percentages that critics gave these three movies. “Brave got 78%, The Croods got 70%, and Hotel Transylvania got 45%” (Rotten Tomatoes). This shows that pixar films are more liked then all the other animation studies like Dreamworks and Sony Animations. 

1975 Create A Movie Post (Back in Town)

My movie is about a girl named Sara, Andrew and James who have a reunion at their neighborhood town home. Through out the years it has turned into an abandoned house.During their stay they realize that it is haunted and that demons are trying to kill them. Sara is the only one that isn't getting effected by these demons. This movie would work well in a 1975 audience because horror is a popular genre during these years. This movie does have a underlining message at the end of the movie because since Sara is the only one one who isn't threatened by the demons it shows that even though during this time period people didn't think much of women it showed that women are important to. The movie is directed by Robert Altman and produced by Universal Pictures. Julie Christle plays Sara, John Cazale plays Andrew, and Jon Travoltra plays James. All these actors will fit in this movie because they were all popular actors during this time period. The focus of this film will be on costumes and make-up because since it is a scary movie the demons need to look real. This movie will be rated R because it is scary and doesn't attract all age audiences. The reason why i chose to write about this story is because i love scary movies and i always wanted to make a really good scary movie so i figured why not.

MYST (Movies in Your Spare TIme) Post #3: Olympus has Fallen

Olympus has Fallen is a movie that has you out of your seat the whole time. This is by far one of my favorite action movies. This movie is about the North Koreans taking over the White House. Banner, played by Gerard Butler, is the only man who has a connection from inside the white house since he is the only one still alive. His mission is to find the president, played by Aaron Eckhart, who is suck with the person behind the whole invasion. Meanwhile the Speaker of the House, played by Morgan Freeman, is the acting president. The reason as to why i love this movie so much is because it has a lot of plot twist that i wasn't able to predict. 

My favorite scene is when Banner finds the presidents son and has to have him escape the white house without anyone finding him. The scene starts off with Banner and Connor going into a room so that Connor can climb up the air vent that leads outside of the house. While he is climbing up one of the Koreans walks into the room. If he sees Connor he will shoot him immediately. Once the guy gets closer to the air vent Banner pops out and kills him. He looks up the vent to make sure that Connor is okay and he is. It was one of those moments that made u feel relieved. 

There were a lot of cinematic elements that this movie brought with it. In one scene the Koreans are pulling off the American Flag from the top of the White House and throws it off the roof. The camera is facing upwards to show the ripped up flag falling to the ground. This is significant because it shows that they are in power.Most of the scenes are of close ups towards characters to show how nervous and scared they are. In one scene it is a close up angle of the Presidents face to show how mad he is about what is happening. 

This movie is very similar to the Movie White House Down directed by Roland Emmerich. It has the same idea of having people take over the White House. Even though in that movie it has Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx in it I do like the characters more in Olympus has Fallen. It is more suspenseful and it written our more thoroughly. I would give this movie a two thumbs up. 

Formal Film Studies: Tim Burton

I did my Formal Film Study of Tim Burton. He is a famous film director, producer, writer, and animator.I saw the movies The Nightmare Before Christmas, Alice and Wonderland, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In all these movies they have so many things in common, for example, the cinematic elements. He has a signature style that everyone would be able to recognize. Mostly all of his films are animated and if they aren't animated then the editing that they do in the movie make it seem very animated and very big like a fantasy. For example in the movie Alice and Wonderland its about how Alice goes into this fantasy world where you see things that are beyond your belief. He makes it just like a fantasy world so kids are able to imagine and relate to this movie and they want there lives to be. In the movie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is about a boy who wins a golden ticket and is taken to the chocolate factory where everything in there is made of candy. There is one scene where they go into this room and everything in that one room is candy: the grass, the trees, the river, and even the flowers. It is like an imaginary world that he is appointed to. This relates to The Nightmare Before Christmas because in this movie there are different worlds you can go to which are all the different seasons. In the movie the main character Jack goes into the Christmas world and he realizes how much more he loves Christmas then Halloween. When he goes into this new world it is like a fantasy to Jack because he never imagined anything like it. The similarity between all these films were that they all had different plots but similar ideas where the main character is exposed to a new world that they have never imagined before that could ever be real.

I think the most interesting aspect from his films are the special effects that he uses. I all three films there are so man special effects taking place all the time. For example in Alice and Wonderland all the characters are very interesting looking like the queen with the huge head, the half man half horse, and the disappearing cat. They all are characters that you will not see in real life, but because all of the special effects used they look real in his fantasy world. In the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the special effects that are in this movie are some scenes that involve kids blowing up to huge sizes and floating on a river all made up of chocolate. In the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas it doesn't have as much special effects as the other two movies just because this movie is animated. But there still are some special effects for example it isn't like any other normal animations that you usually see now a days. It looks more like clay figures on the screen. In this movie he makes the effects look more dark and halloweeny to fit the movie. In all these movies they all have very important and a lot of special effects that he uses to make the movies more imaginary and more like a fantasy.

Some messages that Tim Burton is trying to get towards his audience is that no matter how old you are you can still fantasize about the world around us and even though we cant get everything we want in life that there are still things in this world that we have that other people aren't able to have. And i think that he wants us to still be able to imagine life in a different way and in a different perspective.

In all these films he likes to use wide angle shots and big picture shots because there so many different features in all his shots. For example in The Nightmare Before Christmas there is a scene where he is walking in the grave yard and it is a long angle shot of his walking up the hill singing to himself. I think this is significant because  it shows how lonely he is in a big shot and it potrays into that scene because he is singing about how upset he is. In Alice and Wonderland he also uses long shots to get a landscape because their is so much going on in every scene, but he also likes using close ups. For example, the first time Alice meets the disapearing cat it takes a close up on the cat so you can read his emotions of meeting her and how mysterious he is. In Charlie and the Chocolate Facotry he mostly uses normal shots because there is a lot of dialoge and also large shots.

What i discovered was that through out all these three films he has a unigue style of going big with his imaginations and his animations. What i mean is that all his movies are able to take your mind to different imaginary place were you are able to fantasize about everythimg you can imagine.

 

I am able to realize that these movies are very much liked by the critics. On Rotten Tomatos, The Nightmare Before Christmas, got a 96% from the critics, Charlie and the Chololate Factory got an 82%, and finally Alice and Wonderland got 51%. For the most part you can tell that the critics very much like this director and the way he makes his movies. This also goes to show that even though most of his films are made from children, that it can attract all ages.

MIST( Movies in Your Spare Time) Post #2 The Hunger Games

Hunger Games is a movie based on a series of books by Suzanne Collins. It has action, love, and adventure, that's why i fell in love with it right away. It is about a girl named Katniss who volunteers herself to participate in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is a "game" that two kids, one boy one girl, from each district must participate in. The point of the game is to kill other kids from other districts so you can stay alive. That is where it portrays the action aspects of it. During her experience in the game she "falls in love" with a boy named Peta. The most important reason as to why i loved this movie so much was because you don't expect the ending at all and it keeps you on your toes through out the whole movie. 

My favorite scene from the movie was when the judges were ranking her, to see what level she would be, and she wasn't able to get the judges attention so she shot a bow and arrow at an apple from where they were all eating. Since she did that, that could have ruined her chances of being able to stay alive during the games. But they loved her courage and so they gave her the highest score from all the candidates. That was my favorite scene because it made me realize that sometimes people have to have the courage to stand out or else you will just blend in with everyone else. It also made me better understand her character and what kind of person she was. 

I really enjoyed all the cinematic elements that were seen in this movie. For example, the camera angles were great because it showed a love of the scenery which was important because the Hunger Games takes place in a forest. It also did close ups on certain characters to emphasize on there emotion or to something specific that they were doing. I also like the editing because there were a lot of fighting scenes and it made it look real. Another part was when they were getting chased by gigantic dogs and they didn't look like they were fake because the editing was so well done. 

I give this movie a two thumbs up because it is very similar to the book and because i feel that both boys and girls can enjoy this film. I also like the character choices because i love all the main characters. If your the type of person that doesn't like action or any fighting scenes then i don''t recommend watching it just because it is a bit graphic. But besides that the movie is over all a great film.   

1935 Movie

For our 1935 movie we created a movie called Hit or Miss. The plot of the movie revolves around the life of Sara Ruth( played by Ginger Rogers). When she was a child, her father taught her everything she needed to know about baseball. However, she grew up in a society where baseball was only limited to men. She was then forced to follow the norm and eventually becomes a journalist. After interviewing famous baseball player, Henry Andrews( played by Cary Grant), she realizes how much she misses the sport. Hit or Miss is a common romantic comedy filled with inspiring message of quality of women and ultimately the importance of following dreams. Grant and Rogers performances blend to make not only a captivating story but the perfect comedy. This movie will work well in a 1935 audience because major league baseball was very popular during that time and those are the years where people search for the American Dream and it portrays that in this movie. A message i am worried about is that people might think it is strange for a women to play baseball, but i believe that people will soon understand that both men and women can do other works or fields that are from the opposite sex. 

Hit or Miss is a sports romantic comedy and the reason why we chose this genre was because comedy was popular at that time period. Also because Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers both are usually in comedies and have acted together before so we thought they would be able to work well together. We chose 20th Century Fox to produce this movie because they both are signed with the actor and actress that we chose. Also because 20th Century Fox was known for making comedies. Our scale of this movie wouldn't be big but at the same time not small. At the time 20th Century Fox wasn't known for big scale movies but their movies were popular. Also since the actors already worked with this studio we wouldn't have to make trades with other studios for other actors or actresses. Our cast and crew would consist of Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers of course, but our supporting actor would be Chanes Cobuin who will play one of the coaches of the baseball teams who makes fun of Sara for playing baseball. The director that we chose was Howard Hawks because he was a very famous director in this time period and he was very familiar with romantic comedies. We also chose Thomas T Moulton as our sound editor because he also worked with 20th Century Fox like Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers and because he was a famous sound editor. The Hays Code doesn't really interfere with our movie besides the fact that during the love scenes we wont be able to show much and also when Coach Q(Chanes Cubuin) is rude to her he cant physically hurt her. Some choices that our group disagreed with was deciding the movie studio because we needed to decide if we wanted this to be a big or small scale movie. I don't think i would of done anything differently because i trusted in my team members that they made the right choices for this movie.

MYST(Movies in Your Spare Time) Post #1- Safe Haven

If you love romance and suspense movies, then this movie is for you. When i first saw this movie i feel in love with it right away. In the movie Julianne Hough plays a women who has ran away from her life to live in a small town in North Carolina. She falls in love with a man, who is played by Josh Duhmale, and also realizes that her life is much better now then it was before she came to North Carolina. Without trying to give anything away, i think its safe to say that by the end of the movie her past comes back into her life and haunts her. The plot was amazing in my eyes because every time i tried to predicate what would happen next, the complete opposite would happen and i think that is why i liked this movie so much because it was not predictable. Also at the end of the movie there is a plot twist which is usually what happens in Nicolas Spark movies. 

My favorite scene in the movie was when Julianne and Josh go on a canoe ride and they start to really get to know each other and they start talking about their past and how it has effected them. Also because this is the first time they both realize that they love each other. To top it off, during that scene it starts to rain which makes it even more romantic. In any romance movie there always has to be a scene where the couple kisses in the rain. 

I really like how the director, Lasse Hallstrom, filmed this movie because the camera angles were amazing. During transition scenes he showed a lot of the scenery and how beautiful the beach and place was where they were filming. He also focuses the camera on the casts face a lot to show emotion and how we are supposed to feel while that scene is playing. But my favorite part about his filming is he changes his colors when he talks about the past and the present during the movie. When it talks about what happened in the past the colors are more dull which makes it more dramatic and when its in present day the color choices he uses are very bright and i think the symbolizes that she is much happier now then she was in the past. 

 This movie reminds me of the movie "The Lucky One", also a movie by Nicolas Sparks. It also has a romantic suspense feel to it. But it is also about a guy who leaves his past behind to start a new life. It also has a plot twist at the end of it just like Safe Haven just to keep people intrigued in the film. The director also directed the movie Dear John and  Chocolat. You are able to tell by his movies in the past and Safe Haven that he usually directs romantic films. I do recommend this film to both boys and girls because it doesn't just have the aspects to just a romantic film but also drama and suspense. 

I decided to do my reviews on the new movie called Now You See Me. On Rotten Tomatoes it gave the movie a rating of 49%. The first review that I found wasn't a good review. The critic, from USA today, talked about the characters, technique/style, and the plot. He began by saying how even though they had an amazing crew they weren't able to pull off the film. He also talked about what kind of characters                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            they played in the film. He also stated that the technique in the film didn't remind him of magic but mostly just using a lot of edits and special effects. Then finally he talked about the plot and what the story-line was about. Throughout his review the tone of his voice was very steady but at some points having a little bit of attitude.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/05/31/now-you-see-me-review/2371465/?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomMovies-TopStories+%28USATODAY+-+Movies+Top+Stories%29

The other review that I found from the movie Now You See Me is also from Rotten Tomatoes. The critic, Jim Schembri, talks about how amazing the casting crew was and how it and how the movie portrayed magic in a dazzling way. He started off by talking about the summary of the movie but he didn’t really explain any of the characters or give support to how he thought that the magic was done very well. His tone throughout the review sounded excited and it made it seem as if he liked the movie more.

http://www.3aw.com.au/blogs/denis-walter-blog/new-release-reviews--august-8/20130808-2                                                          rk41.html

“Clever, original, wildly improbable, wildly enjoyable and directed with all the necessary flash and dazzle by French pop-movie maker Louis Leterrier (Transporter 1&2; Unleashed; The Incredible Hulk; Clash of the Titans), the film combines the pleasure of a really well-engineered heist movie with a twisty-turny, topsy-turvy plot full of wit, double-takes and sleight-of-camera.”(Jim Schembri). I believe that this quote explains how well put the movie was and how the magic was original. It also explains how when people would watch this that they will be surprised by the plot. “Boasting a terrific cast and a flimsy plot whose logic disappears faster than a rabbit in a hat, Now struggles to pull off its cinematic sleights of hand.”(USA today). This quote explains how even though there was an amazing cast it still wasn’t enough to make the movie good. It also explains how they didn’t believe the magic was portrayed well in the movie.

From both of the reviews that I read I would of believed more from the one by the critic from USA today. This is why because he goes into more detail as to why the plot was confusing and how the magic was tacky and mostly made my special effects. The other review he didn’t give specifics as to why he loved the movie and why the thought the characters were good for this film.

If I had to write a review about the moive Now You See Me then I would include all the characters and talk about which ones did a good job. Id also talk about the the plot and how the magic was portrayed.

 

 

1. A movie that really made an impression on me was probably My Sisters Keeper because i never thought id be able to cry so much in that movie.
2. My favorite genres are Romance, Comedy, Drama, and Action/Adventure.
3. My least favorite genres are Documentry, Historical, Biography, and Western.
4. My favorite movies are The Dark Night Rises, Now You See Me, Safe Haven, Inception, and Crazy Stupid Love.
5. 3 characteristics a movie needs to have is a surprise, a happy ending, and a relatable main character.
6.My least favorite movies any kids or animated movies.
7. 3 bad characeristics of a ad movie ae having no plot, boring, and slow.
8. I dont know much about directors.
9. Ann Hathaway, Leonardo Dicaprio, Joseph Gordin-Levit, and Johnna Hill
10. Argo, Django Unchained, and The Notebook are important movies that people should see.
11. I dont watch old film.
12. The Dark Night or The Dark Night Rises is the best movie released in the past 2 years.
13. Les Miserable, Life of Pi, and The Conjuring are movies i would like to see soon.