Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Hotel Rwanda

1. The genocides in Hotel Rwanda were between two groups lived in the same city but had different views on the other group. Even though the two groups are at war with each other we have to realize that not all people of one group are bad. Even though Paul was a Tutsi there were a few Hutu people that helped him to supply food for a price, but they did help him. I think that we have to look at all the people as individuals and not as a group because thats just pushed the hatred more and could lead to violence. Just because some people are born under one 'sign' doesnt mean that they dont want to live in peace with a different group.

2. A big event that has affected us would be the war in Iraq. The media protrays it as the whole country is evil but im sure that not everyone there wants to be living there at all. I would say that the most emotional and vivid one would be the news clips where it shows hostages over there. They are fighting for our country when they are caputred and then abused and killed over there. After the movie it makes one think about the strugles going on in their country also but its tough to feel sorry for them after what happened during 9/11 and other events.

3. I think that the director has to keep it close to the truth because if he goes to far off the truth people will just disregard the movie and not accept it for whats it worth. Im sure a few parts had to be changed to make it work with the story line in the movie but Im guessing he kept it close to the truth.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Artistic or Visual Design

For this project I watched 3:10 to Yuma.

1. I think that the set was important to the everall effect of the film becuase you cant go out and shoot this type of film in the cities. They needed to creat a look and feel of what things would be like in the 'western days' and I feel like they accomplished it.



2. This goes right along with number ones answer. You have to shoot the movie on a set where the audiance is actually going to belive that this is what it looked like in the time peroid. You have to have a town along a railroad because that helped the town to survive so this set was very believable.



3. Everyone in this movie had dirty clothes so that tells me that they had rough lifes and probably didnt get to change/bathe often. The antagonists had darker shaded or black clothes representing the evil while the good characters wore lighter colors such as light tan and white to promote the good in them.



4. Id have to say the lighting for the movie was a mixture of the two. In some scenes it was harsh and direct. For example when one character is getting called out by everyone the light seems to shine more directly on the emphasinzing the pressure ment towards them.



5. I think the director is trying to tell us the point of focus is pressured to one or two people rather then having a whole group or people being seen in a part that one two people are having a serious conversation

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Indiana Jones is a definitly a movie that set the bar much higher for movie that were coming out after it. It did something previous movies didnt do. It was a non-stop action with comedy added in. I feel that other movies with a main action hero, like James Bond, imitated the style of movie by adding more explosives but still throwing in a funny line or two. When we saw the list of movie heros I didnt think Indiana Jones should have been number 2 but after seeing the movie it was pretty easy to understand why. Jones was constantly saving the girl, facing his fear of snakes, and always to do what was best for the artifacts he uncovered.

Last week I said that Good Will Hunting had a bad ending but Raiders of the Lost Ark had a cheesy ending. I couldnt stand the part when Bellog opened the Ark and all the 'ghosts' came out and melted everyones face. Then not only did the faces melt but instead of having the research it all it showed was them putting the ark in a crate and storing it in a big warehouse. Im about 99.9% sure that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg could have came up with a better ending then that.

The first arcitle I read was the review by Roger Ebert. After reading it you really learn Steven Spielberg feeling toward the Nazi's and how he portrayed it in the movie. He also makes it seem that Indiana is the ultimate man, when he deals with spiders, snakes, booby traps, and a big rock. I really liked how he finally described Jones as "dry, fearless, and as indestructible as a cartoon coyote." He made it sound like Raiders of the Lost Ark is a must see the way he emphazied all the action.

The second atrile I read was "Real Archaeologists Wear Whips." This article was quick and to the point. It talks about Jones as being the smart, fearless guy whos just out there for the museum. I liked how it said hes out there going through all the action and danger but he never, ever loses his hat.

The last article I read was "Masquerader of the Lost Ark." This was a real intersting article. Vendyl Jones really think that he is the inspiration for the Indiana Jones movies. I enjoyed how Vendyl said that the got Indiana from taking the "V" and the "L" out of his name to leave "endy." Vendyl even goes as far as to say that the movies dont hold a candle to his adventures. He goes into saying he has major finds including a two thousand year of juglet of oil mentioned in the copper scrolls. I think this guy might be slightly nuts when he started talking about the "greatest hoax of mankind" the conspiracy of Christianity over Judaism and that the New Testament is a fraud. He talked a lot about how Lucas and Spielberg stole the story from Filmore, a writer for Vendyl, after he took it to hollywood. Im pretty sure if this guy did everything he said he did that all the people in his crews and his friends who knew what he was doing would have made it more public. Vendyl even talks about how he isnt had because this is helping to get more knowledge out about this stuff. All in all the article was pretty interesting. If what the guy says is true hes found some important things. It was worth the read I think.

Overall this is a good movie. It was really a trail blazer for later action movie. One of my favorite parts would have to have been at the beginning when Jones is running from the tribe and they are throwing spears and darts at him and he dives into the water and swims to the plane so jus twhen you think the action is settling down he finds a snake in his seat and we realize his hatred for them. The worst part in the movie is still the entire ending. The only movie with we've watched that had an ending that has an ending where we find out how all the loose ends tie up on is 'On the Waterfront.'