For my video essay, I had to think about movie scenes which were especially powerful to me. Instead of doing multiple scenes, we were to pick just one. I came up with the scene from the Hunger Games where Rue dies. It is an incredibly powerful scene. I used Audacity to record my commentary on the scene, then I used Windows Movie Maker to edit the video and the audio together.

Here’s the completed video with commentary:

I reviewed many articles about film analysis and the details on how films are created. As such, for this assignment we were to choose a scene in a film and analyze it and reflect on how certain aspects of the scene related to the new information we learned through our readings. The movie I chose a scene from to analyze is titled “Tombstone”. I chose this movie for multiple reasons, I feel it contains very good imagery/scenery that emits certain emotions to the viewers, it is centered around the western theme, and takes place in the same town as my audio group’s radio show we completed last week! The specific scene I chose from this movie to analyze, which can be seen below, was when Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) confronts a town citizen.  I chose this scene because I feel it embodies multiple concepts I learned through the resources provided about analyzing movies. As such, in my opinion this scene most definitely contains Ebert’s idea of “intrinsic weighting”. When he discussed his idea of “intristic weighting” he stated that “certain areas of available visual space have tendencies to stir emotions or aesthetic reactions”. This is apparently based on the location of the actor/actress within the image. Interestingly enough, I found his concept to be quite true. For example, in the scene I chose, the character sitting at the poker table is on the left side of the shot and seems in the wrong because he is sitting in Wyatt’s chair. However, as the scene continues to play the poker man is shifted to the right side of the screen, becoming not necessarily more positive as Ebert states but, more innocent and blameless. While, Wyatt transitions to fill the left side of the screen providing negative emotions to the viewers that he (Wyatt) is being nasty and overpowering the other character.

Another key aspect I feel this scene depicts very well is one of Tony Zhou’s ideas from his series “Every Frame is a Painting”. This specific idea he titles “Shot/Reverse Shot” and his video can be seen here. This concept can be seen in the beginning of this scene because the camera is set between the two characters and flips back and forth between them so each have their own camera shot when they speak. Due to this technique used within this scene, I feel it is in part used to make sure the viewers are aware of who is speaking and places more emphasis on the emotions and what the character is saying. I feel that this technique within the scene I chose not only achieves the above, but also seems to build the tensions between the two characters because the camera starts slow then gets slightly faster shifting back and forth between the characters until they both are in the screen shot. Also, in the opening of scene I chose, another one of Tony Zhou’s concepts is used. It is called the “Praise of Chairs” and this concept is about how important an object that is usually overlooked can be within a scene. For example, in the beginning of the scene I chose, Wyatt tells the other character that he is sitting in his chair and due to this, their scuffle with each other begins to build, exhibiting how important a chair can be within a movie scene. Tony Zhou relates the idea that a chair/ a particular character’s chair can express what type of person the character is. At first, I found this idea silly but when I noticed the chair within this scene that Wyatt states is “his” chair, it seems to be relatively high class, very strong, and well made, which would be fitting for a character like Wyatt who in the film was known as a very successful lawman (on the higher class end of society) and strong, both mentally and physically. Overall, I feel I have learned a great deal about analyzing movies by reviewing the provided resources and now have a better understanding of the details and thinking behind the creation of films.

I used Windows Movie Maker to trim and edit the scene. As such, first I had to download Windows Movie Maker onto my computer then import the movie, then I was able to cut and pick the scene I wanted to use for this assignment. I saved the clip but, it saved as a .wlmp file and would not load onto my blog or youtube. I struggled with this for quite a while, but eventually figured out how to save it as a .wav file. Once in a .wav format I was able to upload it to youtube and embed it here.

A major part of this week’s assignment was to create a video essay for a movie that was included on a list that the professors provided. Considering that I have always wanted to watch an Alfred Hitchcock film, I chose “Notorious”. Preceding the viewing, we were required to read Roger Ebert’s “How to Read a … Continue reading “Notorious” B.I.G. (Movie)