Man on Wire Review

Background:
1) Provide a brief background of the film.
Point of view:
2) From what point of view is the documentary speaking? What perspective is it offering on the event?
Conventions: (Elements that are common to movies and how they are used)
3) Does the film use voiceover, reenactments, archival footage, interviews?
4) Does it rely on one convention more than another?
5) Why does it use the conventions it does?
Structure:
6) How is the documentary structured? Does it follow chronological order? Does it use a different order?


1. This man wants to pursue his hobby of walking on tightropes at great heights. This documentary describes his journey of transforming this hobby into a career and the difficulties he came across while doing this daring act.
2. The documentary is taken from the point of view of the performer and often gets the insights of both him and his accomplices as they are going through the story. It gives the viewer a sort of idea about what they were thinking while they worked.
3. The film combines actual footage from the past with interviews and some reenactments and some current footage and voiceovers.
4. I feel like the interviews and voiceovers are a bit more prominent than the other conventions but all are used pretty often.
5. The voiceovers and interviews allow the people to go through what they were thinking at the time without interfering with the act as it was going on in the past.
6. The documentary goes back and forth in time by starting with the beginning of changing his hobby into a career and then goes into the walking across the wire between the world trade centers followed by how they broke into the twin towers and how they set it up.

Silent Film

The Spinal Tap Movie Review

1) Provide a description of the film. Discuss the plot and characters and how they influenced the film. Was the plot line or character development more important? Why?
2) Think critically about how the film was shot, directed, use of lighting, etc. What do you think was effective in the making of the film? What took away or could have been done differently to enhance the film?
3) What is you overall opinion of the film? Would you recommend it? Why/why not?


The Spinal Tap was a mocumentary about an EU rock band who goes around touring the U.S. Two members in the band were childhood friends and there is a rift that grows between them which causes the band some difficulties. The plot line was more important than the character development because the characters only added a little bit of humor but the story line was what drove the movie forward. This film was shot very similarly to how Russell, Alex and I want to shoot our mocumentary by using interviews and footage of the people practicing or performing. The characters acted very serious but them taking everything seriously made the movie more funny. The film could have had a little better quality but it is not the fault of the creators of the movie because it is fairly dated. The film was pretty good, especially for a mocumentary. The comedy that takes place throughout the movie definitely kept me interested in what was going on and I would recommend this movie to anyone who appreciates mocumentaries and is fine with semi-crude humor.

Saving Private Ryan Movie Review

1) Provide a description of the film. Discuss the plot and characters and how they influenced the film. Was the plot line or character development more important? Why?
2) Think critically about how the film was shot, directed, use of lighting, etc. What do you think was effective in the making of the film? What took away or could have been done differently to enhance the film?
3) What is you overall opinion of the film? Would you recommend it? Why/why not?


1. This film was about a group of soldiers in WWII who are sent to go retrieve Private Ryan because the mother of Ryan has already lost her other sons in the war and she wants at least one son. The plot was more important to the film because the development of the plot was what the entire film was emphasized around.
2. The film was shot in several scenes that were destroyed or falling apart and it gave the movie an overall since of despair. Most of the movie is dark except for one scene where they go to bury a lost soldier and the sun is setting in the background. The film didn't necessarily have as many visually unattractive scenes, but it added to the sadness of the film.
3. The movie was very well made and it clearly created the feeling of sadness. The way the movie ended with one of the main characters dying also contributed to a mixed emotion at the end of both joy for private Ryan and sadness for Captain John H. Miller. I recommend this film if you are looking for a movie that gives a realistic take on World War II or just a good war movie in general.

Silent Film Questions

1) Describe one of Chaplin's films.
2) What do you notice about the style or directing of the film?
3) How do you think these traits relate to the silent film era?
4) What similar characteristics are you seeing in the silent films we have seen so far (Lumiere Brothers, Melies, Chaplin, Keaton)?


1. In the film called "Making a Living", it shows "The Tramp" trying to get money in numerous ways such as begging and getting into the newspaper. He continues to run into this man who he does not get along with and is constantly fighting with him.
2. The film has some funny elements in it and the character is a very likable person. The camera is always still because they had to crank it in order for it to actually record and film. There is also light-hearted music for the sound.
3. I think that these traits give a film the feeling of a silent film and should be used in my silent film.
4. They all have music in the background and they are all in black and white. They are all sped up and are made to seem that the people are moving fast and choppy.

Meiles Film Questions

1) What did you notice/learn about Melies' style?
2) Were there consistent elements in his films? What were they?
3) Did you enjoy his films? Which ones? Why?
4) What will you take away with you from watching these films?

1. Melies uses many magical concepts and uses many start and stop scenes.

2. He consistently used magic to make the films very impressive for the time.

3. The films were interesting, and for the time it was amazing that he was able to these effects with the limited technology he had at his disposal.

4. These films gave me the idea of using more magic effects or other kinds of tricks in my movie-making.

Boredom Video

1. My film shows some activities that a person might do when he/she is bored.
2. Boredom
3. I did a decent job of representing the mood because the events are easily relatable.
4. I did not do anything special for the sound but the quietness and dullness of the sound helps portray the feeling of boredom.
5. I could have spent less time on walking around.
6. I think that some of the scenes have some comical elements.

Iron Man Movie Review

        Over the weekend, I saw Iron Man for another time and decided that it was an interesting film to write a review on. This movie is about a man named Tony Stark who is the CEO of a weapons manufacturing company that dominates in the advancement of weaponization. Tony is captured by a group of terrorists and is forced to create a "Jericho missile" which is one of the most recent and potent creations of Stark Industry. He secretly builds a suit of armor that he uses to break out of the terrorist encampment and make it back to his house. He then begins to develop the iron man suit and enhance its original design. News of the suit reaches one of his associates Obadiah Stane who wishes to take over the company. It turns out that Obadiah was the person who hired the terrorists to capture and kill Tony Stark and goes on to create a copy  of his original suit and battles Tony in his Iron Man suit at the very end. Tony comes away victorious and announces to the media that he is Iron Man.
        The plot line provides a very unique sequence of events but is only slightly more important than the character development. The character of Tony Stark and the life he leads are very interesting and provide almost as much importance as the story line. The story being about high-tech weapons and electronics added to make it a memorable film. The variety of far shots and close shots caused the film to feel more real and made the viewer feel immersed in the movie. The one scene where Pepper Potts and some others go to arrest Obadiah presents the feeling of being scared by providing a dark atmosphere that allows Obadiah to scare the audience by appearing out of the darkness. Overall, I feel that the film was incredibly well created and there is nothing to large that took away from the experience.

"Tokyo/Glow" Review

1. This short film showing the streets of tokyo and takes the sped up world and combines it with a glowing man who is slowed down into regular speed. There is no real plot line but it just shows the rushing lights combined with this man walking around Tokyo.
2. Since there was no real plot line, the character of the glowing man was more significant because of how different he was compared to the others surrounding him as he made his way through the city.
3. The two speeds of the movie, the normal-paced man and the sped up city, gave the short film an interesting way of viewing a film.

"Mr. Stache" Review

1. This short film was about a man who decided to grow a mustache and the result of him growing it. The film is narrated by a woman's voice. The movie ends with the man meeting a woman who grew her own mustache and ended up having a child.
2. The plot was more memorable in this short film because the characters didn't actually talk in their own voices and the plot was very laughable and not serious.
3. I took away that when a movie is narrated by one person it is actually pretty enjoyable and more clear.

"Meltdown" Review

1. The film was about a group of foods that work together and find a way to stop the refrigerator from being too cold. A couple of the foods are "lost" along the way but eventually the spaghetti is able to turn up the temperature and gets rid of the ice.

2. The characters were more memorable because of the ridiculousness of having food talking and taking action. 

3. The film was pretty odd to me and it was too strange for my liking. The short film had humorous points but was not able to be taken seriously because of the characters or the plot line.

"Miracle Fish" Questions

"Miracle Fish", written, directed, and edited by Luke Doolan, and produced by Drew Bailey, was a short film that took place at a school with many young children. This boy gets dropped off at school on his birthday and is harassed by a couple of bullies. His parents gave him a small fish that is supposed to tell the kind of feelings that the holder has. When the child holds the fish, it reads that he is supposed to be compassionate. He becomes upset after the bullies mock him for being poor and he runs away and wishes to be alone. He tries to tell the nurse that he wants to go into the sick bay but he is unable to get her attention so he goes in there by himself and goes to sleep. When he wakes up, the school is empty and he is able to do whatever he feels like. He later encounters a shooter who has cleared out the school and tries to help him out by showing compassion toward him and his situation. He gives the man the miracle fish and it stays still, indicating that he is dead. A red dot of a sniper shows up on the shooters body and then dramatically takes him out. The overall mood changes from being sad to being happy for being alone to ending very dramatically. The dialogue in the movie sets the mood and gives some background to the story. The cinematography adds to a little bit of suspense in the short film. The best scene was the end where the shooter is dramatically killed and completely catches the viewers unaware. The film was pretty good, but once again it was not quite my style. It was very well created and does a good job in catching the viewers unaware and spooks them.

"The Door" Questions

The movie "The Door", directed by Juanita Wilson and produced by James Flynn, is a short film based around the historical event of Chernobyl. The movie focuses on one family in particular that is comprised of a mother, father, and daughter. The film starts out with the father breaking into their old abandoned apartment in order to steal a door. He encounters a close call and is almost caught by an authoritative figure taking the door from the deserted compound. He takes the door to his new dwelling place and continues to go through his day by day routine. He shortly figures out that his daughter has been affected by the radiation from the Chernobyl disaster. The motion picture ends when with the daughter dying and a group of individuals, including the family, carrying her body on the door. The overall mood of the film was primarily sad and depressing. There is very little dialogue which allows the viewers to interpret it more openly. The way the movie is shot makes it more sorrowful and bleak. The best scene in the short film was the beginning where the father is "stealing" the door from his own apartment. The film was alright but it wasn't exactly my style because it was too sad and depressing, other than that I thought it was well made and conveys a very clear sad emotion.

What I hope to learn and what I am interested in

In Film Studies, I hope to gain a basic understanding about editing and get some experience using editing software. I am pretty impartial when it comes to which kinds of films I make because I am more interested in the editing side of the class. If I had to choose a type of film that I am more interested in making it would be films with background music synchronized to the picture.

Top Three Films

1) My top three films would most likely be Caddyshack, Angels in the Outfield, and Happy Gilmore.

2) a. I enjoyed Caddyshack because of its great humorous value and its whimsical plot line. The topic of golf has always been a comical one because I have grown up my entire life thinking of it as more of a game than an actual sport.
b. Angels in the Outfield was a movie that I watched many times while I was growing up. The concept of the worst team in baseball coming back to win the world series was something that really interested me. It had a good mixture of serious scenes combined with laughable ones.
c. Happy Gilmore was another hilarious movie that made fun of golf. The scenes where the golf ball makes ridiculous bounces and somehow manages to end up in the hole really amused me. Happy's more aggressive swing in golf made me enjoy the movie as well simply because of how unorthodox it was compared to an ordinary golf swing.