Abstract Analyzes Jules Dassin's 1950 "Night in the City" as example of film noir mise-en-scene. Discusses the film's visual style as shown in its camera angles. Discusses its theme, characters, plot, and conflicts, as well as its sense of desperation and alienation.
From the Paper "Film Noir as a cinematic style is more dependent on nonverbal and visual effects than more conventional content oriented films. As Paul Schrader points out, film noir was "first of all a style because it worked out its conflicts visually rather than them..."
Abstract Discusses the film's unflinching depiction of the horrors of war, the sacrifices war demands, and director Steven Spielberg's showing of a different type of wartime "hero," one who questions the validity of war and the value of the sacrifice.
From the Paper "Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan covers the action of the landing of US soldiers at Omaha Beach just after the invasion of Normandy by allied forces. The initial battle scene at the movie's opening represents ..."
Abstract This paper is a description of the first scene of Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing", which presents Senor Love Daddy (Samuel L. Jackson) in his element as morning radio host. The paper describes music, mood, lighting, and acting throughout the scene.
From the Paper "Filters on the cameras produce a reddish-brown hue that continues throughout much of the film and which symbolizes the heat and anger that characterize Do the Right Thing. Love Daddy proceeds with his clever wordplay and rhyming as the camera zooms out more; he pauses briefly to reach for a sip of coffee. At this point, the scene includes the long adjustable white handle of the radio microphone to the left and Love Daddy's torso to the right. A soft focus is used throughout the scene, creating a granular effect like the haze of a hot morning."
Abstract This paper presents a film review of Joel Coen's spoof on Homer's classic, "The Odyssey". The film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" is summarized, and the characters and their roles are compared to the traditional notion of heroes and heroic actions as seen in "The Odyssey". The paper also points out the underlying social themes of the film and comments on the artistic use of music as an integral part of the film's success.
From the Paper "Based loosely on Homer's Odyssey, including a hero with the same name, O Brother Where Art Thou is a tall tale of three convicts escaping from a chain gang in the Depression-era South. The hero, Ulysses Everett McGill (played by George Clooney), in keeping with the intended spoofiness and hilarity of the film, is the anti-thesis of the traditional hero. There is hardly anything noble about him. Yet, he fancies himself as a man of reason. Staunch allies usually support all heroes and O Brother stays with that tradition. However, the film is faithful to its mission of taking a hilarious look at heroes and adventures and so, McGill's two partners, Pete (John Turturro) is an argumentative con while Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson) is a sweet numbskull. Hardly, the epitome of men out on a serious mission!"
Abstract This paper discusses how a well-constructed musical score transports us to the reality of the film and allows us to understand the world through the eyes of the characters, while never letting us abandon our own perspective. Through an analysis of the scores of the films, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Iron Monkey", it looks at the full effect of the power of an intelligent and challenging musical score. It also shows how, more than any other element of a film, the music that enters into us and that we carry away with us allows us to merge our inner reality with the subjective vision of the filmmaker.
From the Paper "The "Iron Monkey" score, on the other hand, is less effective at connecting the audience to a particular time and place but generally more effective at connecting us to the main character of the film. This is not a criticism of either film, for "Iron Monkey" is less about a particular individual and more about an era while the reverse is true of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"(which is about the couple at the center of the story but also about their effacement as well). In each case the score reflects this focus."
Abstract This paper discusses how the Vietnam War was devastating to many people for many reasons and how many individuals have expressed the torment that the victims of the Vietnam War experienced through writing, photography, and motion pictures. It examines some of these works, such as Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried", and the movie, "Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam", and shows how these personal experiences help us relate to the weight of the war, as well as understand the scope of the war's reach.
From the Paper "The image "What They Carried" also makes a powerful statement about the war. The first thing we notice is that the soldier is missing one leg and it appears that both of his arms have been broken. The image is black and white, which adds to the dramatic mood of the image. The man looks confused and tired as he stands in a metropolis (New York perhaps) under a cloudy sky. What is striking about the image is that it focuses on one soldier out of hundreds of thousands who fought in Vietnam. We can see how the soldier feels isolated and abandoned by his country. We cannot help but think of each individual life that was effected by the war and how displaced those who returned must have felt--especially those who were wounded."
Abstract This paper summarizes the main points of the film, "A Beautiful Mind", and discusses the questions it raises about the treatment modalities available for schizophrenics. The paper also looks at how the film illustrates the hallucinations experienced by the main character in the film, John Nash, and how Nash's emotional and social symptoms are portrayed in the film.
From the Paper "Ron Howard's 2001 film A Beautiful Mind caused as much controversy over its treatment of mental illness as it did over its winning the Academy Award for best picture. Based on Sylvia Nassar's book of the same name, A Beautiful Mind chronicles the life of a Nobel Prize-winning mathematician who suffered from schizophrenia, one of the most little-understood mental diseases. While the film may not have deserved the overwhelming cinematic accolades it received, it is nevertheless a touching and sensitive, as well as poignantly realistic portrayal of mental illness. A well-respected Princeton-educated mathematician at the head of his field, John Nash (played by Russell Crowe) is no ordinary man to begin with. His theories arise in his "beautiful mind" like a musician's composition would, and like many brilliant individuals, Nash would have been eccentric with or without the accompaniment of schizophrenic delusions and paranoia. However, when he begins to exhibit symptoms of his illness, Nash evolves into an even more complex character, one who is at odds with his family and the outside world. His wife Alicia (played by Jennifer Connelly) sticks with her husband throughout the ordeal but the illness takes a noticeable toll on their relationship."
Tags: alicial, serious, disease, insulin, therapy, anti-pyschotic, delusions, psychiatric, community
Abstract This paper provides a summary and review of the film, "Bowling for Columbine", which explores the problem of guns and casualties resulting from them in American society. The film is made against the backdrop of the Columbine high school shootings, and the paper shows that, through his documentary, Michael Moore searches for answers of why this kind of tragedy happens in America.
From the Paper "Towards the end of the film, Moore got in touch with two Columbine survivors. Both of them had the bullets purchased from K-Mart still in them, and one has been confined to a wheelchair ever since he was wounded. The two boys accompanied Moore to a K-Mart convention and asked the corporate executives if they would halt all sales of ammunition in their stores. After the first try resulted in little progress, the three of them returned to the convention with the entire inventory of ammunition from a local K-Mart. This time they listened. Since then, gun ammunition is no longer available at any K-Mart store in America."
Abstract This paper examines how Jack Nicholson's character, Melvin Udall, in the film, "As Good As It Gets", meets the criteria outlined in the DSM-IV for obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCD). It discusses how the character of Melvin demonstrates the high needs for order, perfection, and control seen in patients with OCD. It looks at how much of his time is dominated by getting prepared and organized and how his over-attention to what seem to most people to be minor details prevents Melvin from necessarily seeing things from a larger perspective.
From the Paper "Melvin's extreme need for order, perfection and obsessive control is evident through his varied compulsive behaviors. When Melvin enters his apartment, he closes the door and proceeds to turn each lock on his door five times. This is obviously an irrational behavior, but Melvin feels it is necessary to heed to this routine each and every time his door is opened and then closed. Also, while walking down the street as well as within buildings, Melvin avoids stepping on cracks in the sidewalk or between tiles at all costs. Melvin eats at the same restaurant, at the same table, with the same waitress every day. He also orders the exact same meal, and becomes very irate if anything in this context does not go according to his routine."
Abstract This paper examines the film, "Blue Velvet," directed by David Lynch. Specifically, it discusses mise-en-scene and cinematography in the film. It looks at how David Lynch is a master of the film noir, dark and brooding types of films that disturb, disquiet, and titillate, all at the same time, and how "Blue Velvet" is no exception. It discusses how the film is part blue porn flick, part girl-next-door love story, and part sadistic kidnapping, and how the elements all blend together to form a cohesive whole because of Lynch's masterful use of mise-en-scene staging and cinematography. "Blue Velvet," even with its happy ending, leaves the viewer wanting more, somehow and that, too, seems to be just what Lynch intended.
From the Paper "Mise-en-scene is a French term describing the "director's text" or staging of a film, and in "Blue Velvet," David Lynch's intricate and often surreal staging is an integral part of the film. He arranges space and time in the film with such dark and dreamlike qualities that the film can be nothing more than memorable and yet quite disturbing at the same time ? a true mark of Lynch's film and a tribute to his mise-en-scene. The most compelling visual motif in the film is of course the color blue. Lynch stages action around the color to keep it always in the memory of the viewers. The film opens with a sensuous scene of blue velvet fabric undulating on the screen, the theme continues from the background music to the clearly blue cigarette smoke issuing from the cigarettes of the characters, and in fact, Dorothy, the nightclub singer and sado-masochist, is known as "The Blue Lady" in her act."
Abstract This paper analyzes these two movies and explains that both these movies show us the good and bad sides of a vampire. It explains how they show us a different picture from both sides. Louis is the guilty vampire who seeks a life of redemption, while Dracula is the soulless vampire who is eventually staked to save humanity.
From the Paper "Vampires have always been fascinating fictional characters. We were introduced to vampires in Bram stoker's novel "Dracula". It was the first book to portray a nocturnal being who feeds on the blood of human beings in order to exist. This was the world's first experience with a vampire. It was also turned into a feature film. That movie set the trend for horror movies in Hollywood. A lot of movies have been made which showed vampires in different avatars. Vampires are one of the most recognizable people from horror movies. Movies such as "Dracula" and "Interview with the vampire" have plots which revolve around vampires. TV wasn?t left behind with its portrayal of vampires in the critically acclaimed "Buffy the vampire slayer". However vampires have been portrayed as different creatures on the big screen as well as small screen. There are a number of differences between the vampires in the feature film adaptation of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" and Anne Rice's Gothic "Interview with the vampire"."
Compares Steven Spielberg's version of the life story of Oskar Schindler with the version presented in the book, "Schindler's Ark", by Thomas Keneally.
Abstract This paper compares and contrasts Thomas Keneally's book, "Schindler's Ark", with Steven Spielberg's film, "Schindler's List", which Spielberg based on Keneally's book. The paper looks at the differences in how Schindler is portrayed in the novel and how he is portrayed in the film, and the details about Schindler that are included in Keneally's book, but omitted in Spielberg's film. The paper also comments on Spielberg's ability to effectively depict the horrific treatment of the Jews by the Nazis.
From the Paper "Perhaps no other movie in recent history has had such an effect on the American public and the citizens of the world than Steven Spielberg's ?Schindler's List.? Based on Thomas Keneally's book, ?Schindler's Ark,? the movie was hailed by most critics as a masterpiece of cinematography. It was also praised as being an important and crucial link to the untold stories of the survivors of Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Through the years the movie has been studied in classrooms across the world and has become the centerpiece for museums dedicated to the camps? victims and survivors. However, one could argue that, among other differences, Spielberg's movie over-dramatized Oskar Schindler, compared to the Keneally's portrayal of the man."
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the topic of Oprah Winfrey and her business interests. Specifically, it includes her role as a business leader, how she organizes and controls her employees, and her role as an entrepreneur. It looks at how Oprah Winfrey has risen from humble beginnings to become one of the most successful entertainers in America today and how behind her popular talk show is a massive business structure containing publishing, broadcasting, and production companies, to name a few. It examines how her success as a businessperson matches her success as a talk-show host and how it has made her one of the richest people in the world and one of the most generous philanthropists.
From the Paper "When she began Harpo in 1986, she had five employees. As of 2002, she employs 221 people, and a high percentage of them are women (68 percent). She has a minor turnover of between 10 and 15 percent (Sellers 3), and she seems to run a tight and successful ship, but there have been rumors that she is a difficult and demanding boss from former employees. Some of her former employees have called the workplace "chaotic" and "narcissistic," and Oprah requires her employees to sign a lifelong confidentiality agreement, something rather unheard of even in the entertainment business (Sellers 3). Despite these criticisms, most employees say the pay and benefits are "outstanding," with 6 weeks of vacation per year, generous pay and bonuses, and a spa and gym located inside the company headquarters as just some of the perks employees can expect working at Harpo (Sellers 3)."
Abstract This paper explains that Tolkien was born John Ronald Reuel Tolkien in 1892 and lived his life in England. In 1937, he published a children's book, "The Hobbit", and its sequel, his epic work "The Lord of the Rings". The author points out that Tolkien's interest and education in languages became part of his works, especially in "The Lord of the Rings", where Tolkien created languages for each of the races in the book. The paper reviews some of Tolkien's major themes, including war, the struggle between good and evil, and how power can corrupt individuals.
Table of Contents
The Life of Tolkien
Educational Background
Tolkien's Works
Tolkien's Themes
From the Paper "Tolkien's studies also included classic literature, with this appearing to have a significant impact on Tolkien's writing. The writings of earlier periods such as Beowulf and Homer's The Odyssey would have been included in Tolkien's study. Tolkien's familiarity with Beowulf is noted, with one source reporting that Tolkien "knew the work so well that he could recite it word for word when he had mislaid his text". It seems that these works were so familiar to Tolkien that they became part of him, with this then influencing his own writing. These works of classic literature are epic works that details journeys across land and battles. At the same time, these works are not just war stories, but stories that offer a whole new dimension to the struggles of people."
Abstract This paper explains that his humor and his trenchant insight into the very machinations that make us human enables Allen to portray vivid characters that, in merely a few brief scenes, spring to life. The author points out that, because of this deft and subtle manipulation of his characters, Woody Allen is able to get down all of the elements of family life so powerfully and correctly with an almost shocking reality. The paper relates that, in "Mighty Aphrodite", Allen's family is a constructed one rather than a "real" one, where the fabrication of a family through adoption plays with the idea of the movie itself as a fabrication, emphasized by including a Greek chorus.
From the Paper "Woody Allen's movie "Radio Days", made roughly a year before "Hannah and Her Sisters", is a much lighter film that is essentially free of the gravitas and existential concerns that plague the characters of many of his other movies. As such it is a sort of light comedy, a nostalgia pieces that harkens back to the early days of radio and attempts to convey some of the excitement and amusement that came with radio as a popular medium. Indeed, it also speaks to an interesting, intriguing, and short-lived era, in which people listened to radio as a group, but television had yet to appear as the dominant form. The characters in "Radio Days" are all moved by an essential passion or concern, in this case, the radio.
