Stanford Theatre Field Trip

Movies that interest me: 1.Gun Crazy, 2.Gunga Din, 3.Green for Danger
Im interested to go on any day.
My parents cannot drive.

Eisenstien and Hitchcock

Some film techniques that Eisenstein used in the Odessa steps sequence were close-ups, tracking shots, and use of music to buildup suspense are just a few. After watching the shower scene in Psycho some film techniques to compare and contrast were the use of music and the close-ups, also the slow motion of the scene developing showing everything coming to fruition builds up anticipation. What makes the scene memorable is everything I just mentioned and at certain points it moved fast and then slow.

The Master of Suspense

I believe that Hitchcock is the master of suspense because the link to this blog shows filmmakers who are average and depressed how to make a great suspenseful movie, that by itself says allot that you can learn lessons from him, he is on high pedestal. Some techniques he uses are frame for emotion, camera is not a camera, point of view editing, montage gives you control, and keep the story simple are just a few. Yes I have noticed some of these techniques in rear window like keeping the story simple I believe.

The Showdown

Some film techniques that Sergio Leone used in the final shootout among Blondie, Tuco and Angel Eyes were high angle shots, jumpcuts, pan shots and allot of close ups of there faces and to and from each other. The music was same throughout the film very epic and suspenseful and it showed very slowly what one or the other person was about to do reaching for there gun. Camera movement was fast and suspenseful. He reinvents the typical western device by adding all these new techniques and incorporating them in the film. 

Evolution of the Western

The western has changed over time by there being a wide more style of it for instance Brokeback Mountain in years past the western genre would have never made a film about two gay cowboys, as with time things change and expand more but I believe that for the most part they are the same. I think that this reflects changes in the U.S. or the world a little, just showing how people can open up to bigger and more ideas not just one basis for the western genre.

Reinventing the Western

The characteristics of the westerns are from the 1960s and 1970s they often have more pessimistic view, glorifying a rebellious anti-hero and highlighting the cynicism, brutality and inequality of the American West. "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence" is a western by the plot and the actors in the film, I think another add is it takes place in the west and I believe it is a spaghetti western. I think that "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly differs from "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence by definitely the theme song which is cool and funny its a classic and I think its a little more gritty, it also tells the back story of the civil war which is nice, allot of explosions.

Film Festival Reflection

My thoughts on the film "Cost of a Soul" are that the film is really great and just to see the film was an experience. I think the film can go big and should be shown in the theatres, I was surprised that this was a small time film it didn't feel like it. I don't think I can compare this film to any that we have studied in class. I think that I wouldn't make any improvements to the film it is good as it is, although I didn't like the suitcase I didn't think it was necessary.

San Jose Film Festival

Five Films:
1.7 Days
2.Buried Prayers
3.Cooking History
4.Cost of a Soul
5.The Ferrari Dino Girl

Five Short Films:
1.The Tijuana Project
2.Attack of the Robots from Nebula 5
3.
4.
5.

Cinema in Iran

There is not alot I know about Iran, I think that they were in a war with Iraq but that's it. Five new things I learned about Iran were

1.Tirane is the capital of the city
2.Murals depicting the U.S. and Israel as evil empires
3.Fridays people go to services in mosques
4.
5.

Dogme 95 vs. Italian Neorealism

The rules to Dogme 95 are:

1. Filming must be done on location.Props and sets must not be brought in.If a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found.
2. The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa.Music must not be used unless it occurs within the scene being filmed, i.e., diegetic.
3. The camera must be a hand-held camera.Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted.The film must not take place where the camera is standing; filming must take place where the action takes place.
4. The film must be in colour.Special lighting is not acceptable (if there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera).
5. Optical work and filters are forbidden.
6. The film must not contain superficial action (murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.)
7. Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden (that is to say that the film takes place here and now).
8. Genre movies are not acceptable.
9. The final picture must be transferred to the Academy 35mm film, with an aspect ratio of 4:3, that is, not widescreen. Originally, the requirement was that the film had to be filmed on Academy 35mm film, but the rule was relaxed to allow low-budget productions.
10. The director must not be credited.

A contrast of Dogme 95 to Italian neorealism is that it is different in the way that Italian neorealism reality and show's how life is like while Dogme 95 does not give credit to the director and Italian neorealism does.

Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando's acting could be seen as similar and different to today's acting. Brando uses alot of body action in his acting to express his acting which is method acting like the scene where he picks up the white glove and it comes natural to him to act on it and pick it up which was not in the script.

Italian Neo-Realism

The origin of Italian Neo-Realism goes a long way toward understanding Italian neo-realism. By the outbreak of World War II, the country had been under Benito Mussolini's hefty thumb since 1924. In the regime's 1930s heydays, swank productions set in big hotels, tony nightclubs and ocean liners made up the "white telephone" movies, the shorthand term for their decadent Deco interiors. The protagonists always found a resolution to their insipid dilemmas, the prevailing Italian style as unchallenging as blowing bubbles. There were also plenty of American imports, equally unreflective of Italian realities. Describing this time, Federico Fellini said, "For my generation, born in the 20s, movies were essentially American. American movies were more effective, more seductive. They really showed a paradise on earth, a paradise in a country they called America."
Whether they were being shown the glories of their Roman past, their fascist future or of l'America, a country unreal outside the movie-house, what Italians rarely saw were images that reflected their lives. As early as 1935, anti-Fascist journalist Leo Longanesi urged directors to "go into the streets, into the barracks, into the train stations; only in this way can an Italian cinema be born."
Some American influences were The Player from the Italian neo-realism film Bicycle Thieves.

International Cinema vs. Hollywood Cinema

Hollywood movies:Birth of a Nation, Modern Times, His Girl Friday, Double Indemnity, Casablanca, Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, Citizen Kane, Angels with Dirty Faces, On the Waterfront and It's a Wonderful Life.

International movies:Arrival at a Train Station, Trip to the Moon, The Last Laugh, Battleship Potemkin, Cabinet of Dr. Calagari, Metropolis and Bicycle Thieves.

I really can't think of anything that both types of movies have in common but there are a few things that they do not have in common for instances I think that Hollywood cinema has always had line that they don't cross and keep everything to a minimal while the international cinema could push it a little more and do certain things and not look twice. I also believe that international movies first came out and Hollywood movies got alot of ideas from them as far as alot of things go. In Hollywood the movies usually and the same and the good guy always wins and I think that International could do the opposite and it would be ok and the heroes are different.

Method Acting

Method acting, or as it is sometimes simply known, the Method, is a technique used by actors. Method acting is thought to have revolutionized acting as we known it today. It is the antithesis of the wooden actor and uses techniques such as sense and memory to achieve realism in acting. Actors who use the Method rely on using their own emotions from their past in order to bring new depth to a part. Method acting is thought of as an American form of acting, but it was a Russian theatre director named Konstantin Stanislavski who wrote books on the subject in the 1930s. Around the same time, one of Stanislavski’s students, Richard Boleslawsky, opened an acting school in New York. Boleslawsky began teaching Stanislavski’s basic principles of acting.