Boyhood

Having only seen the very beginning and very end of this film it was hard to grasp the gradual 12 year development of this movie. From the little parts that I did see, I can say that I liked the film and I think that it is a very cool concept to follow someone from adolescence to maturity. It's very risky to take a normal kid with no acting background and put him into a project like this because there is no way of knowing how he will turn out in 12 years. Some argue that they don't like how Mason is at the end but I think it makes the story more real. There is no huge plot to the movie, it just follows a boy as he grows up and his relationship with his family, just like life there are milestones but not a huge climax. No one knows what the future holds for them and they may like it or they may not but having the creators of this project not know either made it that more real.

Again I did miss a big portion of the movie but I did get to see Mason grow up a little in the beginning and graduate and go off the college at the end. I noticed that the transitions between time were very subtle and if you didn't pay attention you could almost miss them. There wasn't a pause in-between scenes that told you what grade Mason was in and how much time had passed, the editing was very smooth and it just moved from scene to scene. It was clear that Mason was getting older but there weren't extended shots on him to show this, it was very subtle and noticeable by what was going on in his life at that time. You don't notice how fast you are growing up as it is happening to you which is how they made the editing feel for this film.

One scene where I thought this editing worked well was transitioning from the beginning when Mason comes home from school and spends the evening with his sister and his mom to the next scene  when he wakes up and the two sibling are clearly older but it seems like it's just the next day. Another scene is when they get in the car and move to Texas so that the mom can get an education and then we see the kids reunite with their dad when they are in Texas but the two have grown up since they left home. I thought these transitions worked well because they weren't focused on and made a big deal but they were noticeable enough to get the point across that time was going by. One scene that I thought didn't work very well was at the very end after Mason had graduated from high school and was moving into college. I felt like Mason had changed a lot physically and mentally. There is only about a two and half month gap between the high school and college and although it is very possible that this happened, it is more likely that Mason would stay the same and then change more in college.

Some films take a different approach when expressing the passing of time by showing the aging of an object or a clock going around very fast or montages. For example, in a Twilight movie, the camera moves around Bella as they show the seasons changing through the window.

I thought this was a really interesting movie and I am looking forward to sitting down and watching the film in it's entirety. I liked the reality of the movie and I feel like everyone can relate to a character in this movie because it focuses so much on the things that everyone has to go through.

MYST POST #4: Almost Famous

Almost Famous will always be one of my favorite movies ever made. It has this sort of magic to it that leaves you feeling like you went on that same journey with William and Penny Lane. Maybe it’s my love of music or the strange connection I feel to the characters, but I love this movie more each time I see it. This film stars many well known actors such as Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Jimmy Fallon, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Kate Hudson who made her big break in this movie. Almost Famous received amazing reviews getting an 88% from Rotten Tomatoes and 90 on Metacritic, as well as a favorable review from Rolling Stone.

The film was made in 2000, but takes place in 1973 following William Miller, an uncool 15 year old kid from San Diego as he tries to find how to combine his two passions: music and writing. His love for rock music gives him an opportunity to do a piece for Rolling Stone magazine on the midlevel band Stillwater. He joins them on their tour and along the way meets people and experiences things that he had never imagined possible before.

One scene that stood out to me was the first performance from Stillwater on their tour. Before they start playing, the camera shows a long shot of the completely full stadium from the stage and as the band is announced, the lights go down and the audience goes insane. In that same shot you can see the mood of the crowd change within seconds, showing the power that the band has without anyone having to actually verbally say anything about it. Then we see the band come on stage and the camera follows behind them as they walk out, in the same place William would be walking. Then we see the guitarist tell William to stand on the edge of the stage and we see the rest of their performance from that angle and different angles from the stage. This gives us the feeling that we are having the same experience as them, not just as an audience member. I think this style really works here because most people watching this film have never experienced a concert backstage like that before, which really emphasizes the feelings that William has as he experiences something so powerful for the first time.

I really loved this movie and I think that it is a classic film that almost anyone will enjoy. I really liked Kate Hudson in this movie and I thought she did a great job. In my opinion, I think it’s her best work from the limited movies I have seen her in, but she definitely made a big splash in this one. The director Cameron Crowe, is very well known in Hollywood and also wrote the movie along with other very well known movies such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Say Anything…, and Jerry Maguire. I have seen those and though I wouldn’t say I liked them as much as I did this movie, I would definitely give them all a thumbs up and this movie five stars.

Short Term 12

Short Term 12 is a very heavy and emotional movie but has a feel good element to it and leaves you satisfied. I really enjoyed this movie and I love the actress Brie Larson and I thought she did a great job in this. My favorite part of the film though was the similar beginning and end where Mason tells a funny story about his experiences there, adding some comic relief to a heavy movie. I thought this was the perfect way to end it but the thing I noticed most when watching was the camera shots and angles, and how they played a role in adding to the movie.

The camera shots and angles in Short Term 12 were used really well and helped emphasize the movie. One scene in particular that comes to mind is when Graces is on top of Jayden’s dad’s car and beating it with a baseball bat, getting all her anger out. A Low angle shot is used here, looking up at Grace showing her power and strength in that moment. Also there is the scene right after Jayden tells the octopus story to Grace, letting her in on the problems she faces at home with her dad. This is a very emotional scene and instead of a close up shot to show the sadness on their faces, they use a long shot. It shows them sitting next to each other on the ground with Grace’s arm wrapped around Jayden and they are both looking at the ground. This shot captures all the emotions the characters are feeling through the body language they show. One scene were I thought the camera shot didn’t work as well as it could have was when Jayden and Grace were sitting in the solitary “cool down” room and they only show them from the middle up. I think it might have been more effective if they would have done a long shot and shown their entire bodies inside the empty room, still capturing their bored/annoyed facial expressions.

I think the camera shots and angles used in this movie were overall really well done and helped to create the mood. It also helped to emphasize the concepts of power and weakness by the use of low and high angle shots. The use of close ups and long shots in the film helped show the characters emotions and feelings.

This movie’s use of camera angles is similar to Star Wars when Darth Vader in scene walking down the hallway with a low angle shot to show his power. This is similar to the way the low angle shot is used in Short Term 12.

MYST POST #3: What's Eating Gilbert Grape

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is a drama/indie film staring many well-known actors such as Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Juliette Lewis, and John C. Reilly. The movie did really well with critics, receiving an 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. DiCaprio is also praised for his performance in the movie and helped to launch his uberly successful career.

The film stars Johnny Depp as Gilbert, the older brother and main care taker of his mentally impaired younger brother Arnie, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. After their father committed suicide, their mother was overcome with grief and began to eat day and night making her morbidly obese and unable to leave the house. Gilbert then had to step in as the man of the family and help take care of his mother and Arnie, along with his two younger sisters. Burdened with so much responsibility, he feels like he will never get a chance to leave his small town and be truly happy, until he meets a girl passing through town that shows him that there is so much more to life.

The cinematography was great in this movie but what stood out to me the most was the use of camera angles. In the very first scene we see Gilbert and Arnie on the side of the road waiting to see the caravan of trailers that pass through town once a year. Gilbert is shown sitting down and there is a low angle shot on Arnie that makes it seem like he is towering over Gilbert. This shows how Gilbert feels overwhelmed by taking care of him. Then we see a high angle shot on Gilbert when he is sitting down, showing that Arnie overpowers him. There are many other examples of shots like this throughout the film like when Arnie climbs the water tower and we get a high angle shot of a worried Gilbert looking up at him. The relationship between the two is expressed through camera angles.

I thought this movie was really good and it tells a great story that most people can relate with on some sort of level. Johnny Depp is one of my favorite actors but I have to agree with the rest of the world and say that Leo stole the show with this one. I haven’t seen all his movies so I can’t say it was his best performance but I’d say better than Titanic and definitely Oscar worthy. I thought this was a great film and I give it five stars.

MYST POST #2: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a great coming of age movie that shares both the good times and the bad times of high school. This movie has a great cast including Harry Potter’s own Emma Watson. Logan Lerman stars as the awkward freshman, which is perfect for this naturally shy actor. There are so many great things about this movie but I think the editing is done really well.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is about a troubled freshman named Charlie who lost his best friend to suicide in May and has to start high school with no friends. Charlie always watches life from the sidelines until he meets a quirky senior from his shop class, Patrick, and his step sister, Sam, who take him under their wing and introduce him to new things like music, love, friendship and more. He also creates a relationship with his English teacher who sparks his interest in becoming a writer. But as his new friends graduate and leave for college, he feels his life start to fall apart again.

The editing in this movie was really well done. There was one scene in particular that really stood out to me though. There are a lot of transitions in this movie from scene to scene or from little Charlie to big Charlie but there is one scene when they have them all. It starts off with little Charlie going to church and then we see high school Charlie sitting at Easter mass with his family and then they go up to get communion. As Charlie goes to put the Eucharist on his tongue, it turns into LSD and he is at New Years Eve party. I thought this was a really good use of editing and really pushes boundaries in terms of religion and how far you can go with that stuff.

I thought this movie was really well made and though it may not have been an accurate portrayal of Hinsdale Central, I think it was a great high school movie. I also liked how this movie was kind of centered around music and how they all find themselves and find common ground through their shared love of music. I also thought it was interesting how throughout the movie Charlie is writing letters to somebody but we never find out who and they are completely one sided since there is never a return address on them. Overall I’d say this was a great movie and I would give it five out of five stars.

Memento

You have to be mentally prepared to watch Memento because it is probably the most confusing movie I have ever seen and to tell you the truth I still don’t fully understand what happened. Although I can say that this film was edited very well. The movie literally starts at the very end and goes back, which you would think would give it away but there is so much going on and the way it was edited keeps you engaged the whole time. Scenes are shown backwards throughout the movie to emphasize the disability Lenny faces and to have the audience experience the confusion and mistrust he goes through on a daily basis. This is also accompanied by integrated black and white scenes where they move in chronological order but are still split up amongst the rest of the film.

The editing is done very well in Memento. For example in one scene we see Lenny burning the belongings of his wife and we don’t really understand why he is doing this. There are close ups on the items and they slowly burn in the flames. Then later in the movie we backtrack and get more information about his wife and see these items of hers before he destroyed them. We find out that he loves her and it is hard for him to let go but he feels like he needs to. The reverse editing of scenes helps to piece together the relationship that they had. Another example is the scene where Natalie walks in the door looking beaten and when Lenny asks her what happened she tells him that Dodd did it to her. Lenny then agrees to help her and find Dodd. Then scene goes back in time a few minutes earlier and Natalie walks in looking fine and then goes on to tell Lenny her plan to use him and take advantage of his memory loss to help her situation, leading Lenny to get upset and punch her but soon forgets that this happens and Natalie then walks in the door again seconds later with a busted lip. This backwards editing really makes you feel bad for Lenny and you also feel the mistrust and deceit he feels.

I didn’t think this kind of editing was super effective when it came to explaining how Lenny first met Natalie at the bar. I thought the jumpy backwards scenes didn’t explain the relationship well enough or explain the message on the coaster he found in his pocket. I get that it was Dodd’s jacket that he found the coaster in, but the order of killing him and meeting her made me so much more confused than I needed to be. I feel like this could have been explained better.

The use of backwards editing helped in this film because it connects the audience with the characters. The audience can see through the character’s eyes and feel the emotions he is feeling when the story is told in first person like this. Having the scenes backwards helps us to sympathize with the with Lenny’s memory problem because with the scenes so scattered, we have a hard time keeping up and feel lost like him. We go through the events as he would see them, gathering new information along the way about people you thought you could trust. The parallel editing in the movie also helps to tie both storylines together in the end and make sense of everything that has happened.

This movie immediately reminded me of the movie Inception. I found out after researching that Nolan also did this film as well. Which I guess is not surprising. He must enjoy playing with peoples’ minds and making them think. Both of these movies have complex plots and use similar editing styles like parallel editing. I think these are both very well made films and Nolan did a great job of putting a creative twist on these movies.

FORMAL FILM STUDY: Wes Anderson - Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Fantastic Mr. Fox

Wes Anderson is a director, well known in the film community for his idiosyncratic and distinctive style. His films have become immensely popular in the past twenty years since his debut film, Bottle Rocket. He has been nominated for multiple Academy Awards and received the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2015. Though I should warn you if you aren’t a Bill Murray fan, because he has made an appearance in every one of his films (but who doesn’t love Bill Murray?). Anderson’s way of doing things is either admired or despised by his audiences because of his uniqueness. I can remember the first time I watched one of his films, Moonrise Kingdom. I walked out of the theatre thinking “that was the stupidest movie I had ever seen.” I didn’t understand what was so great about it until I watched it for a second time and realized that it was actually a very well made film, it just has a very quirky plot like most films by this director. Wanting to discover some more of these movies I chose to explore the last three films that Wes Anderson directed: Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Unlike some directors, it is easy to distinguish Anderson’s work from others because of his distinct styles. In most of his movies he uses an anamorphic lens to create the panoramic look. Alex Buono states on his blog that it is “a normal lens with an added front element that squeezes the image 2:1, creating a tall, skinny distorted picture that is later unsqueezed in post, becoming a widescreen image.” I have also noticed among these three movies, the frequent use of tracking shots, flat space camera moves, and snap zooms. For example, in the beginning of Moonrise Kingdom tracking shots are used to show what everyone in the Bishop household is doing from room to room, ending with a snap zoom on Suzy Bishop’s face. There are also a lot of bird’s eye view shots used frequently throughout all three films. In Fantastic Mr. Fox this technique is used to see Mr. Fox making the poisonous blueberries to give to the beagles on their mission. It is also seen in The Grand Budapest Hotel giving us a look at the hotel lobby from above.

There is no overlooking the fact that Wes Anderson likes to use a limited color palette with each film he creates. These colors tend to be repeated throughout his movies and stay on the more neutral side with the exception of the pops of pastels. The Grand Budapest Hotel uses pastels a lot in contrast with the dully-colored backgrounds, making characters and objects stand out. For example, when lobby boy, Zero and his love, Agatha, are in a truck full of brightly colored boxes of pastries, the contrast in color makes them hard to miss. The biggest thing I noticed within all three films was the continuous use of symmetry in every scene. Anderson has a fascination with symmetry and almost always has the character standing directly in the middle of the frame or two or more characters evenly balanced. Most directors wouldn’t be able to pull this technique off but Anderson has not only made it work, it is his signature.

All three of these movies are fast paced witty comedies including more serious events and are centered on the themes of parental abandonment, grief, and adultery. Family is also a key aspect in all of them, seeming the more dysfunctional the better. It also caught my attention that the protagonists in the movies, with the slight exception of The Grand Budapest Hotel, are not the people you would typically root for. Mr. Fox is a criminal who broke a promise to his wife, doesn’t pay attention to his son, and steals from people, yet we still are on his side the entire movie as if he is the good guy. You don’t realize it until you actually think about it because the movie makes you ignore your instincts. When in reality you would probably be against him.

There are still so many techniques and styles I didn’t mention that make Wes Anderson unique and set him apart from the other directors. I can’t even imagine how long it would take to put together a film like one of these, with everything that has to be made perfect for every scene, especially an animated one like Fantastic Mr. Fox. I honestly thought I wasn’t going to like that movie because it is animated and the characters are wild animals, which seems to me like it would be a kids’ movie. I was proven wrong though. It was surprisingly funny and very well done much like the other two films. After researching Wes Anderson and watching his movies I definitely have a whole new respect for him and I’d say he’s up there on my list of favorite directors.