MYST #3 Obsessed (2009)

For another one of my MYST projects, I decided to watch the movie Obsessed (2009) directed by Steve Shill. The director Steve Shill I know from the television series ER that was on television form 1994 to 2009. My parents always watched this show and when I was old enough, I started to watch it too. This was my favorite television show and I would watch it religiously. Steve Shill is also a director of the popular television series, Law and Order.

This movie is about a family with a husband, Derek (Idris Elba), and wife, Sharon (Beyoncé Knowles), and their little baby. They just moved into a new house and are very excited to get started with their new lives. When Derek goes to work there is a new temporary worker, Lisa (Ali Larter) who begins to start drama. The plot thickens as Lisa spreads rumors and starts to be “obsessed” with Derek.

While watching Obsessed, I noticed a few things that stuck out to me.  The camera angles were one thing that I noticed repeatedly. There were many different camera angles in this movie. One that I noticed that was used a lot was the camera angles that are straight on and from the shoulders up. This was used a lot when the characters were talking to each other.  Another shot I noticed was the close up angles. These angles were used when the scenes were suspenseful and creepy.

The lighting of this movie was not anything special. Most of the lighting was natural light. A lot of the scenes took place using natural sunlight to light up the rooms. There was one scene that took place at night that I thought was different. Since it was a night scene, most of the screen was dark. But to have light in this scene to see what was happening, a blue tinted light was used. It looked fake to me because it was so blue, but I think they just needed to have some light in the scene so the audience was able to see what was happening.

There was one scene that I saw composition in. When Derek and Sharon were talking in Derek’s office, Lisa walks in on their conversation. Derek is sitting on the left side of the screen and Sharon is sitting on the right side in the foreground. There is an empty space between them in the background until Lisa walks in the door and she stands right between them. I thought that was cool how they planned that out to have it look like Lisa was splitting them down the middle.

Overall, I thought this movie was so creepy. Lisa goes beyond what is normal and it is scary. I really liked Beyoncé in this movie. This was the first movie that I had seen her in. I would give this movie 3 stars out of 5. It was action packed but really creepy the things Lisa did to try and be with Derek.

Film Group Project

Our movie starts out with a murder in an apartment building in London. At this time, the main characters (Bela Lugosi and MaeClarke) who are newlyweds have just moved into their new apartment on floor 13 upon recommendation of a friend (Eric Blore). After Mae Clarke is very suspicious of her husband being the killer, the actual killer, Eric Blore strikes again and kills yet another innocent person.

The director of this film is James Whale. James Whale is an English film director who is best remembered for his horror movies. His most famous movies are Frankenstein (1931) and The Old Dark House (1932). In 1931, James Whale signed a five year contract with Universal Studio.

This film we created is a suspense and horror film. We decided to choose a horror film for this time period because this was around the time of the Great Depression. Many people who went to the movies at this time went because it “provided an effective escape to audiences tiring of their Great Depression” stress (Horror Film History).  The audience wanted to see things that would take their minds off the reality of their lives.

The studio we have picked is Universal Studio. We chose Universal because in 1935 it was known for their work on horror films. Universal “made its name with horror pictures of this time” (Horror Film History).  This studio is not one of the “big guys” rather, it was part of the Little Three including Columbia and United Artists. Therefore, this is a smaller scale movie on a smaller budget.

We picked our cast very carefully. The main actor is Bela Lugosi. Bela Lugosi has had previously smaller roles in films of this time even though he was signed with Universal. We decided to take a chance and give him a big part. The main actress is Mae Clarke. Mae Clarke is a very famous actress of this time. We chose her to be in our film because we want to focus on her discovery of who her husband really is and who he might be. The supporting actor of this movie is Eric Blore.  Eric Blore was a “nobody”. We chose him to be the bad guy in our film because we don’t want the audience to think he is the bad guy. Everything in the film will lead to the audience thinking that Bella Lugosi is the bad guy, but in the end, it’s the guy who no one will suspect who is the actual killer.

The Hayes code played a part in what we could and could not put in our film. The Hayes Code has many specific rules that include no murder or profanity. Since we made a horror film, we had to take into consideration both of these rules. We can and did not show any brutal murders. Most of the “killing” scenes need to be inferred. Since we did not show anything murderous, we did not give anyone any ideas on how to kill. There is no bad profanity in our film either. This makes it more accepted for everyone.

If I had to do this film project on my own, I would change a few things. One thing I would change is the supporting actor. Right now we have Eric Blore as our supporting actor because he was not well known at all and we think the audience will not suspect him as the killer. I think we should cast a female as the supporting actress because I have a feeling that a female would be even less suspicious in this type of film.

MYST #2 Zoolander (2001)

Zoolander (2001) has many popular actors. Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, and Will Ferrell were the few that I knew as soon as I saw them. Ben Stiller not only stars in this movie but he also directed it. For some reason I could not stop thinking about how Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson played together in Night at the Museum (2006) directed by Shawn Levy. This movie was completely different than Night at the Museum, but the two actors together brought back memories of the other film. This movie was a little on the stupid side in my opinion, but it was funny at certain parts. Over all, I would give this movie 2 stars.

Most of this film had the same kind of shots and angles. The most used shot was definitely the medium shot. Most of the movie was shot from the waist up. Of course there were some other shots, but this was the one most used. Other shots and angles I noticed were full body, close ups, shoulder up shots, low angle shots (looking up at character) and shots walking with the characters. Whenever I see the shots walking with the characters, I look for the track in the background that the camera rolls on (like the video we saw in class). I also noticed that the lighting was always very strong. There was not very many times when there were low light scenes. Most scenes looked as if they had natural light and they were filmed outside. Finally, I noticed some composition in this film. In one scene in particular, Owen Wilson is on the right side of the screen in the foreground and Ben Stiller is in the background on the left side. The screen is very balanced, but I thought it was cool how I actually noticed composition in a film.

All in all, I thought Zoolander (2001) was a weird movie. Ben Stiller talked in such a strange way, that I felt like I was becoming less intelligent listening to him talk. Even though there were a few parts where I laughed, it was because there was a stupid joke or someone did something stupid. I think this movie is for people who enjoy dumb comedy films such as Blades of Glory (2007) or Balls of Fury (2007). 

Formal Film Study: Steven Spielberg

      For my first Formal Film Study, I decided to study the great director, Steven Spielberg. Steven Spielberg is very famous in the film industry and is well known for all of his work. There were three films of Spielberg’s that I decided to watch for my project. I watched the movies The Color Purple (1985), Catch Me If You Can (2002), and Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).  These movies were very different from one another, but in my opinion, were all good films.

     There were some shots and angles that were used in all three of the movies. All three movies had some kind of close up shot at some point in the movie. Usually there were close ups when it was an important part of the movie. For example, in The Color Purple when the main character, Celie, finds out her sister has been writing letters to her for years, the camera zooms onto her face. I think this is done so the viewer can see all the emotion and hopefully feel what the character in the movie was feeling. In Catch Me If You Can, when the main character Frank is told there has been a death in his family, the camera moves in close to his eyes. He begins to cry and there is a lot of emotion displayed in just his eyes. Finally, in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, just before there was an extremely suspenseful part, there is a close up of Indiana Jones. Close ups are used in the three films to show emotion.

     Between these three films, the only one that really used special effects was Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. This was an action and adventure movie, so special effects were needed to make the movie stand out. The special effects in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark were pretty good. Since it is a little older than the other action films that I have seen today, I thought they were pretty good for the time. Even though it has only been about 30 years since this movie came out, there are so many new technological advances that are used in films today. Towards the end of the movie, when the huge ghost came out, I thought that looked really fake. You could totally tell that it was not real. Other than that the special effects were good for the movie. Also, I thought this movie was very violent for a PG rated movie.

     The sound of these films was very important. The music in the background honestly made the films what they were. In The Color Purple, there were a lot of different kinds of music in the background. This music worked with the time period and made it seem like a more realistic time period. In the film Catch Me If You Can, the background music was older. There was classical and jazz music playing. I do not know the exact reasoning behind this, but it really worked for this movie. Finally in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark the sound is very powerful. The music tells what is happening and it gets louder with suspense. If there were no words, you could tell what parts were suspenseful. You could also tell which guys were the “good guys” and which guys were the “bad guys”. Finally, it has the famous Indiana Jones music that is known everywhere.

     One thing that I liked about all of these movies is how realistic the characters were. I think it is really important in movies that the viewer can relate or feel exactly what the main character feels. In these movies I connected with the main character. In The Color Purple, the characters Celie and Nettie are sisters who get separated. I have a sister and I would be lost without her. I could not even imagine what the girls had to go through. Their emotions seemed so real. In Catch Me If You Can, Frank rips people off like no other. He lies his way through his life and becomes successful until he gets caught. I just thought it was amazing how he could come up with lies in the moment when he needed to and het got away with them.  Then in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones is prepared for anything and everything.  There is not one time when he cannot do something because he isn’t prepared.

     All in all, in these three movies there were a few things that really stuck out. The soundtrack was really important to these films. They played a huge role, almost as if a separate character. The shots and angles also were important because they showed emotion and set the scene. Finally, I could relate to all the main characters in the movies. I really liked this because I could enjoy the movies more if I could personally relate to the characters in the movie.

MYST POST #1: Taken Back: Finding Haley (2012)

      Taken Back: Finding Haley (2012) is a Lifetime Movie Network (LMN) movie. This movie was about a mother, Karen (Moira Kelly), who is completely obsessed about finding her lost daughter. Even though I thought this movie was really overdramatic and creepy, it was an ok movie. There were parts in the movie where I was actually laughing because I was like, “Is she really doing this right now?” . Other than that, this was supposed to be based on a real story, so the director, Mark Jean, couldn’t change the story line too much. 

       This was on over the weekend and I didn’t have much to do so I decided to watch it. Because this was a LMN movie, I was not expecting too much. In the past, I have seen many Lifetime movies. Most of the Lifetime movies I have seen have not had the greatest actors and actresses such as in, Girl, Positive and The Good Guy. This movie though, I thought had tolerable actors and actresses. The main actress, Moira Kelly, I thought did a pretty good job playing her part. She was very into the role and when she was crying it seemed like she actually meant it.

      The cinematic aspects of this film were pretty good in my opinion. There were many different kinds of shots and angles presented in this film. At one very dramatic time there was an extreme close up. I thought this made the scene so much more dramatic. The lighting and sound I thought also played a huge role in this film. When the scene was sad and the main character was crying, the light was dark behind her, but her eyes looked as if they were highlighted.  The background music was important as well. When the scene was happy and positive, the background music was fast and carnival like showing everything was fine… until, all of a sudden it stops and something is wrong in the movie. I thought that was really cool.

     I think people who really like Lifetime movies would like this movie because it is dramatic and full of Lifetime suspense. If you have nothing better to do, this is one of those movies that you would watch. It is nothing special, but it was watchable.  I would give it 2.5 stars.  

Review of the Reviews

     The Help is one of my favorite and one of the best movies that I have seen in the past few years. Getting the choice to pick any movie that I have ever seen to do for this project, I decided on The Help. I found one positive review and one negative review for this movie. Now it is my turn to be the critic on two reviews. 

     The positive review is from the New Orleans Times. The author, Mike Scott, is very organized in what he has to say about the The Help. He starts off the review with an overview of the film and what it is about. Then, he goes into talking about the main and supporting characters and their role in the film. The tone of this review seems to be very positive because he does not have many bad things to say. The author mainly focuses on the plot and stars of the movie. He also brought up the fact that this is a movie based off a book and a historical time period. He thinks that the history part of the movie is "soft" compared to what really happened. 

     The negative review is from Slant Magazine. This author, Andrew Schenker, I believe jumps around a little in his review. He starts off talking about something that happens during the middle of the movie, then starts talking about the historical part of the movie. Since this is a negative review, the tone feels heavy and more serious. He uses some different words that I have never heard I believe so he can get his point across that he didn't like the movie. This author focuses mainly on the historical information in the movie, but says that the movie was not all bad because it had good acting. 

  

   One point that I agreed with from the New Orleans Times is that in the film it, "open their own eyes and think a little bit more in-depth about what they've heretofore dismissed as "the color situation"  (New Orleans). In this case, the author is talking about the characters in the film but I think that this movie opened my eyes to what happen in the past. It showed how people were treated in the 1960's.  One thing I agreed with from the negative review is that, "The Help is almost always more successful relating black experience than either white brutality or magnanimity" (Slant). I think this is saying that the movie did a better job displaying what happened to the African Americans during this time, rather than what was going on with the whites. 

   If I had never seen this film and I had to choose which review was more convincing, I would believe the positive review from the New Orleans Times. I really liked how Mike Scott gave a summary of the movie without giving too much away. I also really liked how he talked about the historical references that this movie showed. This movie was not just a movie for enjoyment, but a movie that was able to demonstrate to us what the world was like at one time. 

   If I was to write a review on The Help, I would definitely make it a positive review. One thing that I would include about the movie would be the great actresses who played the characters. I think the director, Tate Taylor, did a really great job picking which actresses played which part. I thought they were chosen very well. Another thing I would include in my review would be that I enjoyed how it had a historical side to the film. Seeing how our world was not too long ago is very interesting and this is what I would write my review about.