Re: Film Timeline and Film Techniques

On the film timeline, we are studying the year 1959. The next unit will be focusing on films made in the 1960's. Different film techniques that deal with the International Cinema unit are jump cuts and tracking shots. Jump cuts were introduced in the film Breathless and tracking shots were used in the films The 400 Blows and Children of Heaven.

Re: Film Festival Reflection

Cost of a Soul! Oh, how the chills begin! Well those who saw "Cost of a Soul", really say that it's been one great movie, from one great independent film director. Those who aren't recognizable with the film "Cost of a soul" would be in the category of Film Noir/Crime/Modern-Gangster movie. The movie was overall great, I really did get the movie from start to finish, and it wouldn't be great without all the people just being they're BAD-ASS self. Yes, even the little girl, she was the best! "Cost of a Soul" can connect to a lot of the films we studied, but mostly about all of the film techniques, and the actors actually as well. There was a-lot of Invisible Editing, the editing would be natural, you wouldn't really know if they are just depicting a shot or just making it feel normal and just go with the flow of the characters. There was a bit of Method Acting coming from the main character, he really hit the spot for just acting as he would in the movie and then become as a normal person in modern life. There was also a part that the "old lady" stuck up to me, on how she really isn't a true actor after all, she actually went through the times with her family relatives that have been close to her in real life, and that reminded me a bit of Italian Neo-Realism in a way. I would give a bit of improvements, and a bit of work in the field of film. The suitcase would be just a bit to cheezy, we would actually get the same reaction with the suitcase in "Pup Fiction". Now don't get me started the Suitcase really means a lot, but the fact of the whole suitcase just tips the scale of "TOO MUCH!". For the actors, well there wasn't really that much of an improvement, they all made great progress with the type of film. Overall, this film was great! It really got me at the edge of my seat in some scenes, and I LOVED IT! I give the movie 4 ½ "ANGRY SHOOTING GRANNY'S" out of 5!

Re: Iranian Cinema

Iranian Cinema was well known inspired by its choice of actors, also the history in where they film their sets. They can film in some very antique and or you can say "historical" cities or landmarks of the country. Mainly it was influenced by its history and probably it's remarkable short films (e.g. Taste of Cherry, The Apple, Gabbeh). Some of the films in Iran had great plots. In brief, Iranian history and film making goes pretty well, like how Italian Neo-Realism came to play, with great history and enough actors and stories to hop on board.

Re: San Jose Film Festival

Full Length Films

1. Third World (Tercer Mundo)

2. The Pit

3. God is D_ad

4. Paulista (¿Quanto Dura o Amor?)

5. The Real Revolutionaries

Short Films

1. Abuelo

2. Attack from the Robots from Nebula - 5

3 The Desire ( El Deseo )

4. A Bike Ride

5. The Six Dollar Fifty Man

Re: Cinema in Iran

Rite now, everybody knows that Iran is in a bad shape, with all of the wars, and the plans of Al-Queda and the Taliban's of the middle east. I too know that they mostly have alot, and alot of fields, but I personally did know they had cinema, but in reality I thought they weren't that popular.

Five things that I learned was that they have a life like an average person does. They have the same kind of food as we do. They are mostly poor. Some of the people are very friendly, and how they face life without that much technology unlike the United States.

Re: Dogme vs. Italian Neorealism

Dogme:

1. All filming must be done on location. All props &sets can not be brought on location. If a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found.
2. Sound can not be produced, it must be real.
3. You must use a hand held camera, and it cannot stand still.
4. Only natural light. Only, if necessary, use ONE lamp connected to the camera.
5. Optical work and filters are forbidden.
6. The film must not contain superficial action
7. Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden (that is to say that the film takes place here and now).
8. Must not have a genre.
9. The final picture must be transferred to the Academy 35mm film, with an aspect ratio of 4:3, that is, not widescreen.
10. The director must not be credited.

This is very different from neorealism because not only is it reality, but it is also very strict and has lost of qualities of a low budget film would have

Re: Satire

The funniest shows that have satire that I have seen would be Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken, and some Family Guy. Some great Satire shows would be Mad TV, The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, and of course the genius of Lewis Blacks' Root of all Evil.

Satire seems to be like a way to talk about a subject and just exaggerate on just the random options of what would happen. It usually revolves around the subject of Parody, Incongruity, and Exaggeration.