Movies: Questions and Response, Essay Example

From the movies on the above list, choose four and show how their directors/writers present significantly different ideologies. More specifically, refer to specific narratology, dialog, music and/or symbolism that supports your claim (Use four different movies representing four different ideologies).

Television has basically revolutionized the manner by which humans view real life. This has been further proven by the fact that most movies directed and created in the 1900’s have marked the history of both the human society and the entertainment industry as a whole. Some of the most remarkable movies that made it into the list of the most remarkable ones include Woodstock (1970), Young Frankenstein (1974), The Great Santini (1979) and the Apocalypse Now (1979). These movies, although coming from different genres, from comedy, to drama, to documentary and history, all depict the realities of human living based on the aspect of definition that the director specifically wants to present to his audiences. Such a condition of definition could be obviously seen from his ideal way of creating and presenting the story.

For instance, Woodstock (1970), was created by Michael Wadleigh in a a hope of defining the Woodstock Festival based on a documentary approach. Being a documentary and all, the movie was expected to present features that would show the realities of living in the community that the director wants to explore. The connective utilization of both camera shots alongside the narration used to define each change of scene is expected to create an indicative description on how the creator wants the audience to see and understand his main subjects and the theme that shadows them. To make the film more appealing to the audience other than just being a documentary, the director made the presentation extra special through involving special artist appearances on some of the clips that specifically increased both sound quality [as most of these artists are singers] and story line definition that provided a clear view on what the movie was about.

Young Frankenstein (1974) on the other hand is a comedic film directed by Mel Brooks, which is also directed towards focusing on the development of the main character. Like that of the Woodstock, the director of this film made it sure that the elements he would use for presentation would be centralized on developing how the audiences view the character he was using to create the story. If it was sound plotting that made the Woodstock more remarkable during its time, for Young Frankenstein, it is the black and white approach that the director decided to embed the movie into. The black and white effect simply created the eerie feeling that the horror of Frankenstein was supposed to send to the audience. This treatment has become very rare already during the 1970’s hence was considered an artistic choice by the director himself. The humor that was mixed into the script served as an irony that lightened the course of narration that defined Frankenstein based on the generation that the audiences are more likely interested in getting acquainted to.

The Great Santini (1979) is a more serious genre that involved the emotions distinctive stance of the characters involved when it comes to dealing with the war. At the verge of the American government’s involvement in the Vietnam War, this film discusses the stand of a marine officer who is a successful military aviator and yet was a failure when it comes to being a family man. Dramatic as the genre of the film is, the director, Lewis John Carlino, basically utilized the aspect of character enhancement to make the film more reflective of real life. The contrast of the life of the Great Santini when it comes to his success in the war and his failures in his family have been shown in the film through the subtlety against the immense excitement of the shots. The director was very specific in pointing out that this film was more about the character and not so much on the story behind him. To speak out to human nature, the director considerably manipulated the scenes to pull out the being of his main character showing what sacrifices he needed to make and he has specifically undergone to make a specific course of success during the war years.

Still about the theme of wars, the Apocalypse Now of the same year (1979) talks about the epic situations that soldiers and other members of the marine had to face during the Vietnam War. Crossing over the genre between documentary and drama, this film by Francisco Ford Coppota has created a distinct definition on how the war has affected the lives and the being of those who were indulged in it. Noted for being lengthy and troubled, the director utilized chaotic arrangement of scenes to depict the chaotic emotions that the characters felt during the war years, a theme he specifically wanted to show his audiences with. Fresh as the presentation is, this movie has garnered both awards and criticisms that acclaimed the quality of narration and presentation that the director used to bring out the worth of his characters in the film.

Overall, these four movies were all centered on the ideal desire of presenting the characters as the central elements of the movie. At this point, such a desire or goal has led the directors to manipulate the other elements of the film such as plots, setting and sound-script application to create a more specific course of regulating how the audience would understand the worth of each character manifested in the film.

Critics agree that Citizen Kane is one of the greatest movies of all time. It is also apparent that it is one of the most innovative films in history. From your reading of chapter 12 and your viewing of Citizen Kane, discuss four innovations that made Citizen Kane different from all of its predecessors. Also, select four movies from the list above that show the continued use of these same innovations (Use four different innovations and four different movies).

Citizen Kane, a drama film of 1974 has been largely acclaimed for its freshness. Director Olson Welles used all considerable approaches needed to make sure that the characters as well as the story itself stand out and become a remarkable form of film creation on the minds of his audiences. Presented with flashbacks that define the source of characterization that Kane [the main character] grew into, the director specifically made it easier for the audience to depict the differences between the life of the main character based on his history and his present. To show both vigor and slowing down of the movements of the character as he ages, the director carefully utilized camera motion differences. To note the specific vigor of Kane during his young, camera focus and motion was rather fast, and to show the slowing down of years, the shots have also become stabilized as the movie itself ends. Considered by movie critics as a breakthrough in film making in the 1970’s, there were four distinctive film innovations that the director adapted in the creation of the movie, one is that of the camera motion, another is the use of multiple themes, there is also the effective use of flashbacks and finally the trick on the utilization of the fragmentation of acts.

From this point, with Citizen Kane setting a patterned course of presenting a movie in different perspectives, its predecessors in the 1980’s followed these particular innovations in the process by which characters and story settings were presented to the audiences. The Elephant Man of 1980 by David Lynch for instance was handled with the distinct condition of enhancing the character through making him as realistic as possible to that of the real person that he is portraying, Joseph Merrick. Branded 91% fresh by its critics, the film continuously garnered awards and recognition up until the mid 1980’s and early 1990’s when it was already used for film development studies. Another remarkable movie is that of the Witness (1985) which was directed by Peter Weir. Mostly defining the aspects of courtroom drama, this film focuses on how the character survives the criticisms he has garnered from accusations he received from the society he lived in. To point out the theme being presented by the director, flashbacks were used effectively and were then well received by the audiences. The Blade Runner (1982) created by Ridley Scott was a sci-fi movie that utilized fragmented acts to further impose on the scientific definition of the film. Set in a futuristic approach, the film gained attention from the audience based on its uncanny presentation of a war that mostly defined the main character and how he handled the challenges that he had been subjected into. The movie by director Woody Allen entitled The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) on the other end is a comedy-drama that is well defined by its relative use of color and sound balance to make distinctive representation of the main characters, their being and their worth alongside with the story that they are trying to portray. Camera motion was a particular distinctive approach that the director used to show the change in the status of living that the characters had to deal with as they transfer from reality to a created world that made them realize their dreams and vice versa.

References:

Basten, Fred E. (1980). Glorious Technicolor: The Movies’ Magic Rainbow. Cranbury, NJ: AS Barnes & Company.

Cook, Pam (2007). The Cinema Book, Third Edition. London: British Film Institute.

Casetti, Francesco (1999). Theories of Cinema, 1945-1995. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.