This movie is the final chapter of Harry Potter's fight against the evil villain, Lord Voldemort. This movie starts off at a safe house hidden away from the world, to plan their next attack. Harry along with his two most faithful friends, Ron and Hermione, need to destroy all seven of the evil objects (Horcruxes) to defeat Voldemort. There are only 4 of these Horcruxes left to find and destroy to defeat Voldemort, but he is closing in quickly and there is not much time left. Harry goes through many obstacles such as, riding an angered dragon to escape, and facing Voldemort's army of wizards and other dark creatures. He starts to find all of these hidden items and begins to realize that he is one of the Horcruxes and must sacrifice himself for the good of the rest of the world. Harry lets Voldemort kill him, but little did the villain know that Harry had a special item called the resurrection stone to bring himself back to life. As Harry awoke from the dead he battled Voldemort, while another one of his friends, Neville, destroyed the last Horcrux which was Voldemort's snake. After this long battle, Harry and the forces of good triumphed over evil. A couple large themes in this movie are hope and good vs. evil.
The special effects in this movie were done very well. The special effects are necessary to create all the magical spells that take place. There was a great amount of CGI in this movie that was also done well, for instance, the trolls, giant spiders, and animated warrior statues that were fighting in the main battle. The score that is played throughout the movie always matched the action that was in the movie and intensified each part. Also the beginning sequence of the every Harry Potter has the same song/rhythm played every time which helps keep the continuity between the movies. The soundscape needed to be on point for this type of movie to create all the sounds of a battle and spells, and i think it succeeded. The director did a good job of executing the camera shots to build tension or create an emotional moment. As Harry is about to sacrifice himself and finds the resurrection stone the camera dollys in slowly on harry to create that emotional moment of confronting death. Also, most of the movie was shot in a dark setting which matched up very well with the feel of the film.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
This movie, The Hobbit: An unexpected journey, is a classic example of the theme Hero's Journey. It begins with the Hobbit and main character, Bilbo Baggins, and he lives an ordinary life where nothing special ever happens. He meets a wizard named Gandalf the Gray who helps start him on his journey to save a Dwarven City. Bilbo is introduced to 13 dwarves that he will eventually travel with to save their land. After much doubt and convincing by Gandalf, Bilbo budges and decides to leave his safe home and is thrown out into the dangerous world. Throughout the journey Bilbo's wit and perseverance is tested constantly by all the obstacles he faces including trolls, goblins and a creature named Gollum. He meets an emaciated creature named Gollum and finds a ring that he has dropped. After outwitting Gollum and taking the ring for himself he escapes from the insane creature, not knowing the true power of what he has come across. He goes on to face the final foe of this movie along with his dwarf group. They are losing the battle when suddenly they are able to escape with Gandalf's eagles to fight another day.
The way the camera work was done I thought was beautiful. All of the vast landscapes in New Zealand are very appealing to the eye and works perfectly for this middle earth movie. Peter Jackson picked the best place to shoot the scenes for this movie. Peter Jackson received some criticism for shooting the film at 48 fps, but I think it made the picture clear and I like how it made the movie feel more realistic. I think more directors should start to film using digital cinema with the 48fps rather than the 24fps. The sound effects for The Hobbit brought the entire film together from the sound of a falling sword, to mountain giants fighting. The camera work laid out by the director works so well with all of the wide shots of the landscapes. The combination of camera work, soundscape, and score all work together in harmony throughout the movie.
The way the camera work was done I thought was beautiful. All of the vast landscapes in New Zealand are very appealing to the eye and works perfectly for this middle earth movie. Peter Jackson picked the best place to shoot the scenes for this movie. Peter Jackson received some criticism for shooting the film at 48 fps, but I think it made the picture clear and I like how it made the movie feel more realistic. I think more directors should start to film using digital cinema with the 48fps rather than the 24fps. The sound effects for The Hobbit brought the entire film together from the sound of a falling sword, to mountain giants fighting. The camera work laid out by the director works so well with all of the wide shots of the landscapes. The combination of camera work, soundscape, and score all work together in harmony throughout the movie.
Jaws
Jaws is a movie of a shark terrorizing the tourist town of Amity Island during Summer Break. The main character, Brody, the Chief of Police in the town of Amity and is in charge of insuring the safety of the residents and tourists. There are reports of deaths caused by a shark at the Amity beach. This causes Brody to try to shut down the beach, but the mayor is against him the whole way because he is only concerned about money that tourism will bring in. After a little boy is killed by the shark the mayor finally budges and allows Brody to shut down the beach and begin a search for the killer shark. After struggling with his fear for the water, Brody decides to go on the quest along with a captain and marine biologist to hunt the shark. After many trials of hunting this beast they eventually track down the shark and Brody blows up the shark using a rifle and an oxygen tank. Major themes in this movie are to overcome your fears and Man vs. Nature. Man is challenged by nature each step of the way and even takes the captain's life via the shark.
The camera work I saw all seemed to be done very well. There were some interesting aspects of the camera work like the dolly zoom used on Brody in the beach chair. That use of the camera intensified the scene for me and also made me think that something was wrong when it was paired with the actor's expression. The score for Jaws is done very well and blends with the visuals. The theme song/tone that was made when you see the shark coming is now famous because it was perfect for those scenes. The director, Spielberg, did a great job especially since it was his first big budget release and it was such a success. Even though it wasn't planned by him to have the shark not be seen until towards the end, he did a great job with the editor to build the suspense. He did a great job of using the camera during the filming of Jaws like the under water shots with all the people's legs swimming around. Just by using those shots so much tension is built.
The camera work I saw all seemed to be done very well. There were some interesting aspects of the camera work like the dolly zoom used on Brody in the beach chair. That use of the camera intensified the scene for me and also made me think that something was wrong when it was paired with the actor's expression. The score for Jaws is done very well and blends with the visuals. The theme song/tone that was made when you see the shark coming is now famous because it was perfect for those scenes. The director, Spielberg, did a great job especially since it was his first big budget release and it was such a success. Even though it wasn't planned by him to have the shark not be seen until towards the end, he did a great job with the editor to build the suspense. He did a great job of using the camera during the filming of Jaws like the under water shots with all the people's legs swimming around. Just by using those shots so much tension is built.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Children of Men
This movie, Children of Men, is a dark depiction of what life would be like if all women went infertile and could no longer have children. The film is set in the future in London, England, and shows a very different version of how the city is now. Most of the population all over the world lives a very low quality life and there is chaos in every major city. The main character, Theo, goes through life altering trials that lead him to the only woman on Earth that is pregnant. The mother is an illegal refugee that is in danger of being deported or killed. He then devotes himself to the protection of the mother and her baby to assure the future of their lives. A dominant theme I saw in this movie was hope for a better future. This is what drove Theo to help the mother and child, and keep going through all the obstacles.
The most memorable piece of camera work in this movie is the oner scene in which the car drives into an ambush mob, then reverses while being chased by two armed motorcyclists. The scene was free flowing and tension-building at the same time. All angles were used to show the panic of the passengers and was an effective way of shooting the scene. The director did a great job executing this scene with the rigged up car device that allowed for the oner to be successful. The director did many things well such as creating a realistic environment for both audio and video aspects. For most of the movie I felt fully engulfed by the realistic sounds, for example, the gun shots and chaos while Theo was in the refugee camp, or the sound of the refugees yelling while Theo was walking on his way home from work. The only moment I felt removed from the movie was when there was an effect added into the movie which looked like blood on the lens of the camera. This effect made me feel like I was no longer in the world of that film, but instead watching a video game being played. Other than that one fault, I felt that the aesthetics of this film were done very well.
The most memorable piece of camera work in this movie is the oner scene in which the car drives into an ambush mob, then reverses while being chased by two armed motorcyclists. The scene was free flowing and tension-building at the same time. All angles were used to show the panic of the passengers and was an effective way of shooting the scene. The director did a great job executing this scene with the rigged up car device that allowed for the oner to be successful. The director did many things well such as creating a realistic environment for both audio and video aspects. For most of the movie I felt fully engulfed by the realistic sounds, for example, the gun shots and chaos while Theo was in the refugee camp, or the sound of the refugees yelling while Theo was walking on his way home from work. The only moment I felt removed from the movie was when there was an effect added into the movie which looked like blood on the lens of the camera. This effect made me feel like I was no longer in the world of that film, but instead watching a video game being played. Other than that one fault, I felt that the aesthetics of this film were done very well.
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