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.