Film Literature final

 In the films American Beauty, Almost Famous and The Royal Tennenbaums they all included many unique characters and featured interesting examples of narcissism and catharsis. Narcissism is when someone thinks that the whole world revolves around them and they should always get what they want. Catharsis is when someone releases repressed or strong emotions about someone or something. In each of these films the directors use a variety of different examples to convey Narcissism and Catharsis,

In the movie American Beauty there are many examples of narcissism and catharsis. A character that is narcissistic is Jane's friend Angela, who is the object of Lester's unhealthy crush. In the scene where Lester first see's Angela he becomes fascinated with her. At the end of the scene we see Jane and Angela talking about, Jane is freaked out, but Angela feels flattered that Lester likes her.

  In this scene, we see Angela naked in the bathtub with red rose petals covering her body, and Lester inching closer to her. The filmmaker used the technique of color for the rose petals to convey sex or love. Another technique is how this scene is in low key and high key. Angela is in high key with the light shining on her body to convey that she is the center of attention, where as Lester is in the low key lighting watching her, but not fully committed. The character Angela is feeling in in control. Lester is feeling powerless around her. The character that showed the most catharsis was Ricky's father Colonel Fitt's. Colonel Fitts has just kissed Lester, mistakenly thinking that he was homosexual. Once he realizes that Lester isn't homosexual, he abruptly leaves.

 During this scene we see that Fitts is venerable looking during this entire scene when they are both in Lester's garage. One of the two techniques that the director used was a close up on Fitts face to convey his facial expression towards Lester. Another interesting technique that the director used was dominant contrast. Dominant contrast shows how the rain is stuck to his clothes, almost shining on his skin. The filmmaker made it look like that Fitts was feeling almost scared. American Beauty had many strong and powerful examples of narcissism and catharsis shown throughout the film.

In the movie Almost Famous the director uses many examples of narcissism and catharsis to embellish the film.  A narcissistic character in this movie is Russell Hammond, who is a rising rock star. An example is when Russell gets upset with his band mates and he storms off with William coaxing him to get back to the band. In the end Russell ends on the roof of  where the party is taking place and making a speech, while on drugs and alcohol.

 In this scene the filmmaker uses the technique of crosscutting to depict the scene as Russell is looking down on the crowd with his arms spread out on either side of him looking like Jesus did when he was crucified on the cross. Another example would point of view. The audience  is shown Russell standing on the roof  so that he is the center of attention. The filmmakers technique made it seem that Russel was in his own little world, just concerned about himself at that point. The character that showed the biggest example of catharsis was William Miller. In this scene William confesses his love for Penny.

 

 In this scene the filmmaker use the technique tight framing to show the intimacy between William and Penny when the kiss. Another technique would be proxemic pattern with how their bodies are arranged in a loving embrace for one another. The last and final technique that the filmmaker used to tie this whole thing together would be the back lighting. The back lighting made it seem that there were halos around both of their heads symbolizing purity between both of them. The filmmaker used these techniques to convey romance and love towards them. William showed us how much he cared for Penny. Penny on the other hand won't remember a thing, because of all the drugs that she has in her. It is irony for them that William will remember all of it and Penny will not remember any of it. Almost Famous used strong examples of both narcissism and catharsis.

In the movie The Royal Tennenbaums there are a variety of different examples of narcissism and catharsis. Royal Tennenbaum is a exact match for a narcissistic character. He tricked his family that he was dying when he really wasn't just to spend time with his kids and his ex wife.

 In this scene we see Royal and his wife Ethel framed in a very small space, almost intimate, but not really. Another technique used was wide angle frame shot to convey all the extra space that is around them as they are having this intimate conversation. The last technique was long take, In this scene Ethel is out of shot, but the camera keeps rolling without without stopping. Even after Royal lies about dying and Ethel leaves again he stays in the same place reeling here back in like a yo yo. Chas Tennebaum is a great example of catharsis. When Chas has his dog run over, Royal goes and buys him a new one to make up for lost father son time that they missed out on because Chas had shit his father out of his life. Chas experiences strong and forgiving motions towards his father after that gesture that he did.

In this scene there are two techniques that the filmmaker used. The first technique was zooming. When Royal approaches his son with the dog the camera zooms in letting the audience know that things between them are more intimate than when Royal first arrived at the house. The second example would be panning down. When Chas goes to pet the dog that Royal gave him, again we see the intimacy between those two now. During the whole scene where they are just petting the dog there is all this chaos around them from the car crash, but they forget all about that when Royal gives Chas the new dog. The Royal Tennebaums examples of catharsis and narcissism make it more powerful in some aspects. Without those two characters there wouldn't be as much power and emotion in the movie.

In conclusion by using narcissism and catharsis in American Beauty, Almost Famous and The Royal Tennenbaums  the filmmakers put together scenes explaining emotions that would not have worked if we didn't have these two elements to help us. 

Use of sound in "American Beauty"

In the movie "American Beauty" the sound explains the movie more than words. Sound speaks what the characters cannot. In the scene where Rickey is showing Jane is the showing her the video he took of the plastic back blowing in the wind, there is soft piano music playing the entire time symbolizing anger and freedom. The plastic bag is Lester trying to break free of his fake life he lives, but also feels compelled to stay at the same time to try and makes things right in the end, he just doesn't know it yet.

Another example of great sound work in the movie is spoken narrative. Lester was narrating all the way up to his death and then the movie ended with him talking about death. During the most intense parts there would Lester talking about something that didn't make sense to the viewers, but in the end after he had died, there was beauty and sadness about what he said earlier in the movie. In "American Beauty " the sound strengthened the movie, which made it more powerful than words would have. 

How the Use of Classic Rock Songs Help Tell the Story in "Almost Famous"

The movie "Almost Famous" takes place in the world of rock and roll during the early 70s and director Cameron Crowe uses a number of classic rock songs to help communicate the feelings of the characters and the film's plot points. In the scene where William runs after Penny and finds her drunk and overdosing on drugs, he feels this overwhelming sensation to help and protect her. He ends up telling her that he loves her and kisses her. The song "My Cherie Amour" by Stevie Wonder plays in the back round as Penny is getting her stomach pumped from the drugs that she took. The song is about a boy who is watching this girl that he likes very much. The contrast to this scene is William watching Penny throw up all the drugs she took because she was upset with Russell.

In another example the song "America" by Simon and Garfunkel plays as we watch his sister leave the house to go away with her boyfriend to become and stewardess in San Francisco.  The song "America" is about young adults leaving the house for the first time trying to find themselves. Before she leaves she pulls William in close and says"Check under your bed, it will set you free". William watches his sister leave. Once she is gone he goes into his room and he looks under his bed and finds all the albums of rock and roll artist that his sister has given him. He starts tracing the covers with his fingers very intrigued about the artist. This is when he learns to love rock and roll music.

In conclusion the director used the popular rock and roll songs of the 70's to help convey the emotions of the characters that were going on during the movie.

Movement and Editing

 When a person goes through a major life-changing experience, they usually have very strong emotions. In Snatch, Amelie, Across the Universe,Vanilla Sky,and Donnie Darko, the filmmakers use various techniques of movement and editing  to help convey  the powerful emotions of the main characters who are all experiencing life changing events.

In the climactic fight scene that takes part near the end of the movie Snatch, Mickey is in a grueling bare knuckle fight against Horace who is much bigger than Mickey. Mickey begins the fight with the expectation that he will let Horace win because that was the deal that Mickey agreed to, but when he is getting badly beaten he is overcome by a strong desire to beat Horace, partly out of revenge for his mothers death and partly out of self pride.  When Mickey takes a very brutal punch from Horace, the filmmaker uses the technique of slow motion to show Mickey falling backwards and sinking into his subconscious, which is then represented by Mickey being underwater fighting his way back. Because the motion is slowed down, there is more emphasis on Mickey's powerful survival instincts kicking in.

 

In the movie Amelie the title character is an unusual person who has many difficulties and  goes  through strange events through the course of the film. She means well but has social issues that sometimes cause problems for her in a variety of ways. However towards the end of the film she finally finds love with Nino, an offbeat young man who is a kindred spirit.  Towards the end of the film, we see Amelie and Nino zooming down the city streets on his scooter.The filmmaker uses the technique of fast motion to convey their joyfulness and excitement of being together. As they speed along everything around them is a blur.

     

In Across the Universe Jude and Lucy are two young people living in New York in the late 1960's. They get caught up in the many social and cultural changes of the time. At a hippie gathering they fall more in love with each other. The filmmaker uses the technique of lyrical movement combined with musical background to show the strong emotion of love between Jude and Lucy. We see their bodies entwined around each other as they move in a slow flowing motion that looks as though they are under water. 

    

 

Towards the end of the film Vanilla Sky the main character David is becoming unfrozen. As he is experiencing this, we see him standing on the edge of a building about to jump off. As he is falling, the filmmaker uses the technique of flashback to show rapid images of his past. Literally his life is flashing before his eyes as he is falling from the building. David is feeling a mixture of sadness, relief and happiness. He is feeling sad because he won't be able to live his life with Sofia anymore, his relief is that he doesn't have to worry about the stress of work or his love life and happiness because he knows he will be with Sofia soon. The technique of flashback gives intensity to these emotions.

    

The movie Donnie Darko was about a disturbed young man who commits a number of violent acts, frightening and upsetting the people in his life, yet in the end he redeems himself by sacrificing his  life to save theirs. After he dies, we see the reactions of these people that he knew. The filmmaker uses the techniques of cross cutting and left to right movement in a sequence  that moves slowly from person to person as each shows a response to his death. This techniques accentuates the sad and regretful emotions of the people in this scene. 

In conclusion the editing and movement techniques used in Snatch, Amelie, Across the Universe, Vanilla Sky and Donnie Darko helped emphasize the strong emotions experienced by the main characters at key turning points in their lives.    

Vanilla Sky editing

In the movie "Vanilla Sky" editing is a specialty of this film. Cameron Crowe shines in this movie as a director. In "Vanilla Sky" Crowe uses in the first sequence of the film is called false awaking. In the opening scene Tom Cruise freaks out about how he is all alone in Times square and starts to runaway from his car and down the streets having flash forwards of what will happen. Russel Crowe showed the audience in this particular scene of how Tom Cruise feels trapped in his normal life.
http://vimeo.com/26226057 

For another example in which editing is used there are parts in the film where David is in the prison and he is talking to the doc and he keeps having flashbacks of what happened before he was in here but doesn't want to tell the doc about them because he doesn't know what is real or not. David is reliving the past up to the point where is put into the container and unfrozen. In the end David chooses to restart his life without Sofia and says he will meet her in another life.

Snatch and Amelie

In the movie "Snatch" this movie explores the dark side of life, where as "Amelie" explores the light side of light. Right off the bat "Snatch" starts dark and violent. The movie is based on things being taken away from people. The people in this film have no regard for human life in this film. As the film progress the story intertwines all the characters. Throughout the movie all the characters are against each other. In the scene where the last fight is happening and Mickey is floating in the water, it's really his subconscious. There are a lot of fast paced shots in the last fight, the fast paced shots are how Mickey is feeling and seeing things during the fight. In the beginning though, Turkish didn't think a gypsy, like Mickey, would ever beat anyone. In the end Mickey comes out on top. Even though everyone thought that he would lose.









Where as Amelie shows the light side of life, rather than the dark. Amelie who is the main character finds a box and decides to find the owners. Throughout each sequence of events she finds comfort in helping people. Before she became a guardian angel, she was just another face in the crowd. She never felt like she was doing anything productive with her life. As soon as she became in control of other people, her mind set changed dramatically. Women were not really considered the most important character of the films. So to have a female protagonist in this film was interesting to see. Amelie was trying to fill the void in her life with helping other people find their missing parts they had lost or had not noticed, where as she didn't until the very end, when her neighbor told her not to be a coward and go for it. In Amelie, the old guy who painted was the narrator, which was dramatic and sereal in some ways since he didn't leave his apartment throughout the film.

Use of mise en scene techniques in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"

One of the key themes explored in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is the tension between who we are and who we would like to be. The filmmaker Ben Stiller uses a number of interesting mise en scene techniques to show the dullness and loneliness surrounding Walter in the early part of the story as well as the contrast with the type of life he would like to have.

Towards the beginning of the film, we are introduced to Walter, who lives a dull and lonely life. In several shots the director Ben Stiller combines the techniques of an overhead camera angle and the closed form showing a confined space to convey powerlessness and a sense of being trapped. The use of muted colors adds to the sense of how dull his life is.

In another early scene we see Walter walking down the hallway of his apartment building with his back to the camera.  In this scene the filmmaker uses the technique of dominant contrast to draw the viewer's eyes to the lonely small figure of Walter walking down the hall. The majority of the shot is occupied by the broad blank wall, symbolizing how walled in his life is. The color that we are seeing is all shades of gray, which further adds to the impression his life is drab and cold.

 

The filmmaker uses techniques of superimposition of images and iconocgraphical shot, to show the difference between who Walter is and who he is dreaming about being. In one early scene, Walter is in his office hallway where he has a socially awkward "missed encounter" with Cheryl, an attractive co worker. As soon as things with Cheryl go south, Walter enters his fantasy zone and imagines himself as rugged mountain climber introducing himself to Cheryl. In his fantasy they are flirting. Ben Stiller uses the technique of superimposition of images to show the real Walter watching the fantasy Walter being successful with women. In another shot we see Walter running past a series of Life magazine covers showing many famous people. At the end of the scene Walter runs past a cover image of himself as an astronaut. This iconocgraphical choice shows both the real Walter and the fantasy of the man he would like to be in the same scene.



In conclusion, the  mise en scene techniques that the filmmaker Ben Stiller used in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" helped us understand how Walter felt trapped in a boring and lonely life, as well as how he envisioned his life and how it might become. Through the course of the movie Walter discovers how to become as brave as he was in his fantasies, and finds the purpose of life.

Use of vanishing perspective in key scenes from Mystic River

In the movie Mystic River, Clint Eastwood used a technique of  vanishing perspective in key scenes to convey the emotional vulnerability of  key characters that are in the center of the frame each scene. 

The opening scene has it's best use for vanishing perspective. In the part of the movie where Dave is looking back out the window and you can see Jimmy and Shawn staring back him as he gets smaller and smaller. The camera follows the car from the rear showing the road going on endlessly. Dave in this scene is seen vulnerable because of his pleading eyes and the fact that the car is going so slow, which indicates he is slowly losing his childhood innocence. Dave as an adult for shadows his death. Before Kathy is killed we see Dave at the var watching Katy dance with her friends. later that night he comes home teary eyed and covered in someone else's blood. As the movie progresses he seems to relive what happened to him all over again affecting his judgement. At the end when Jimmy stabs Dave, after Dave falsely admitted that he had killed Kathy. As Dave is lying there bleeding all his sins and worries are bleeding out with him. 


In this scene of the movie Jimmy s seen wandering down the same street that Dave was taken from. The way the camera is angled tells the viewers that he too is on a never ending road. As Jimmy grows up, he becomes this tough guy who will show people what he is made of. when Jimmy was a little kid though he acted all in control and ready for anything. As soon as Dave was kidnapped he protected himself like he should have protected Dave all those years ago. At the end of the movie you can see Jimmy standing in the street where both Dave and him were robbed of their childhood. Shawn finds out in the end that Jimmy killed Dave. They are both sitting on the curb where they used to play hockey and out talking about Dave. When Shawn ask's if Jimmy has seen Dave, he replies that he hasn't seen Dave in years. What he really means though is that he hasn't seen the real Dave.

In conclusion, Jimmy and Dave shared one common thing throughout this entire movie. They both had a secret that eventually came out in the end. As Dave is dying he is releasing all the memories that had haunted him all these years. Jimmy is releasing all of his guilt and killing of Dave.   

The Royal Tenenbaums

  

In the movie "The Royal Tenenbaums" it describes family relationships and how certain people work out their problems. In this movie there are many examples of how the director shows the meaning behind the scene that the actors are doing. For example when Chaz and Royal are fighting the closet, they are fighting in the dark until Royal turns on the light, piratically exposing all the feelings both of them have felt over the years. After Chaz storms off, Royal finds all the games that the kids used to play. In the back round while the camera is on Royal you can see the game risk, which in case means that he is risking everything to visit his family, even if it means lying to his family. It is very powerful how all the characters act against each other sometimes. In the scene where they are all at the dinner table and the kids and talking it over about if Royal should stay with them and Richie tells them that he is already staying there and Chaz freaks out. In the end of the movie though Chaz is the one that was with his father as he died. Which is interesting  since Chaz is the one that pushed him away the most.




For some reason in this movie, it appeared that every scene in the movie was filled with problems more than comedy. In all truth it was refreshing to see a dark film with just the right amount of comedy that doesn't make you think that this film is a joke or this film is too dark. During the film when all the secrets were being released from all the kids and the family, each character had a back round story that came to light. At the end of the movie when everyone was gathered around Royals grave, it read on the gravestone that he saved his family from a sinking battle ship. In truth he did. If he hadn't made up the lie that he had cancer none of them would have gotten together and expressed how they truly felt about each other. The funeral scene was magical and sad at the same time which is hard to achieve if you don't have the set of mind of the character.