1) Describe your film

For my film, I tried to capture the idea of freedom, starting out with being trapped and eventually being liberated. I started out with the locked doorknobs to capture the opposite of freedom, and then went to Emma running to capture freedom.
2) What was the mood you were going for?

I was going for freedom, but started out with the idea of trapped to elevate the idea of freedom
3) Do you think you were effective in representing the mood? Why/How?

I think that I was effective in representing the mood because when I think of freedom, I think of running, open space with no boundaries (like the sky), and open doors. By capturing these sorts of images, I was able to portray the feeling of being liberated and free.
4) How did the use of sound or music influence the film?

I used the music to help influence the film because whenever I hear Sweet Disposition by the Temper Trap it makes me feel free and happy, which is what I was going for. I didn't want any other sound except for music because I wanted the focus to be on the images and ideas speak for themselves rather than having the dialogue influence the ideas.
5) Would you do anything different?

I would have probably added more scenes of freedom and tried to have the music line up better with the scenes in the film.
6) What are you most proud of?

I am most proud of the speeding of the doorknob shots before the black screen because I'm not very creative and was very happy that I thought of that.

Spirited Away Film 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?

Spirited Away, directed and written by Hayao Miyazaki is an animated film about a young Japanese girl, Chihiro, who stumbles upon a world of spirits and their bath house. Being the only human in this spirit world, she goes on a mission to rescue her parents. Along the way of fighting off evil spirits, like Yubaba and No Face, working in the bath house and for Kamajii, and eventually saving her parents, she develops friends along the way like Haku and Lin. For this particular film, I think that the plot line is what made the film more interesting, and therefore more important. The plot was super developed and had many creative twists and events that it kept the viewer engaged the entire time. Even though Chihiro’s progression as a character was important, the progression of the plot is what makes this film so successful.

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?

I think that the choice to animate this film was very smart. By creating these outrageous spirits that have the ability to do the most unbelievable things, animation helps make the whole situation more dreamlike, which matches the film. If the film was acted out with actors, it would have been a lot different because it would have had to have a lot of special effects, and probably would not have been executed as well as the animation. Also, the music enhances and sound effects helped enhance the film because it added to the suspense and action.

3) What is your overall opinion of the film? Would you recommend it? Why/why not?

I absolutely love this movie. I saw it for the first time after it came out when I was younger, and think it is just a really neat film. I’m a fan other Miyazaki’s other movies because he has such an ability for creating such intricate fantasy worlds. Just watching the movie transports the viewer into this crazy world, and it’s really fun to be able to go there. Because of this, I would recommend this movie o others because it’s a really neat and fantastic movie. There are very few movies like it that I’ve seen before, so I think it’s definitely worth watching.

Short Films part 2

Two Men
1. This film was centered around the idea of a running person. We see a man sitting by a fence, and another man runs by. The man sitting goes into all of the reasons why you should never stop a running person because you don’t know your story.
2.I think that the characters were more important because what they had to say is what drove the film. The most important aspect was the narration, which came from the characters. It was less about the fact that a man was running and more about what they thought about the guy running. Part of what made this film so interesting is that you didn’t know the plot, and the reasons behind the running, which enhanced what the message behind it.
3. From this film, I took away the idea that you never know what’s going on in another person’s head. You can never assume what kind of situation they’re in, because there are so many different possibilities that might always be left a question mark.

Tokyo Glow

1. This film follows the journey of the white glowing man on the walk sign as he travels through Tokyo to find his light up glowing woman. As he travels through Tokyo slowly, everything else around him including cars and people is sped up, until he finally finds his lady friend.

2. In this film, the plot was more important because it's more about the idea that there is a person behind the walk sign than the person himself. What made the film special was the creative idea and following him through the busy lit up city, and not so much the walking guy himself.

3. From this film, I was able to really appreciate the cinematography that went behind it, as well as such a creative concept. I really liked how how everything was sped up except for the glow man because it gave the film a really cool feel. Also, the idea for it was super creative and really unique.