Wayne Family Murders

It’s only right that cinema’s most flashbacked scene belongs to one of pop culture’s biggest icon. The champion of justice. The Caped Crusader, The Dark Knight, He is vengeance, he is the night. He is Batman! The most flashbacked scene is the night Thomas and Martha Wayne were gunned down in Crime Alley after seeing a Zorro movie (Or The Grey Ghost, if it’s the Animated Series, which counts because it had a theatrical release within the same continuity) by Joe Chill (Or The Joker if you’re Tim Burton). Usually it is done by having an Adult Bruce Wayne have a nightmare or explain his origin to an ally like when he recruits a new Robin. He goes through those like people go through underwear.

Usually it used to show that young Bruce Wayne also died and from the ashes rose the person who would eventually become the Batman.

Up (2009 film) by Disney and Pixar

The best flashback scene is in the animated film “Up”. The story starts out with a memorable emotional character flash back that is made up of short scenes with absolutely no verbal dialogue. I remember watching this film in a movie theater and this scene literally made people cry. The scene is just full of emotion and its just so powerful. We watch Carl’s life pass by in the first five minutes that are full of happy and sad moments.

Homework #6

The flashback movie I choose was Wild at Heart this movie was created in the year of 1990. This film was about a man named Sailor Ripley serving time in jail for self-defending his. After serving his time he went back to his girlfriend; Lula Fortune. Marietta, who happens to be Lula’s mother didn’t want Sailor and Lula to be together. Marietta was so serious about keeping Lula and Sailor away from each other that Marietta hired a hit man to kill Sailor. The hit on Sailor didn’t happen because there was someone else after him as well. Sailor later returned back to jail and the love the two had grew bigger. In this movie the actress Lula Fortune was describing a flashback moment, the scene was about her cousin name Dell who was fixated about Christmas. In this flashback scene, Lula cousin Dell would fight with something within him such as bad ideas. Lula describes the time Dell would want Christmas to be year round but it couldn’t be. Dell was going through something, he use to hallucinate that there were men after him. Dell also spoke about aliens and that he felt trapped.

Reservoir Dogs “The Commode Story”

http://The Commode Story

For my Flashback scene I choose Reservoir Dogs which is  Quentin Tarrantino’s first feature film. This scene is about a guy trying to convince his crew that he’s made out to work for them, and to gain their trust he tells them a story. He starts by telling his made up story and when he gets to the peak of the story, it turns into a (fake) flashback where you are placed in the bathroom with him. This is displays classic Tarrantino, which has great script, intense scene, some humor, and nonlinear sequence.  I love this scene because it is full of suspense and filled with so much tension between him, and the cops. The part where it flashes back has been editing into black and white, which I think is helpful to differentiate the present to past.  It is hard to explain more without giving away the film or ending. I won’t give any more spoilers but if you haven’t seen this movie do your self a favor and watch it. Warning: There are some curse words.

Homework #6: The Flashback in Film

Classic example of deep focus in childhood scene from Orson Welles, Citizen Kane (1941).
Classic example of deep focus in childhood scene from Orson Welles, Citizen Kane (1941).

In Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (1941), most of the narrative structure relies of flashbacks. Viewers see Kane’s death at the start of the film and the “March of Time” newsreel provides an overview of the life and death of Charles Foster Kane. The life of Kane is communicated through the flashbacks of various sources, including his close friends and ex-wife. Orson Welles lets the audience know at the very beginning of the film what happens to Kane and tells Kane’s story through a succession of flashbacks. What other films to you know make use of the flashback device? In an earlier homework, Brygetee discussed the big-budget film, Titanic (1997) by James Cameron. You may recall that the audience learns what happens in the beginning of Titanic, and the first 20 minutes are devoted to exploring the sunken ship, ending with an older Rose who takes the audience on her flashback to that fateful voyage. Explore your textbook, the internet, or your own collection of films and share with your classmates a memorable flashback scene.

Click here to watch a flashback to Kane’s childhood as recalled in the diary of his legal guardian Thatcher in Citizen Kane (take note of the deep focus technique).

Watch Old Rose in Titanic begin her flashback.

Homework #6 is DUE by Friday October 30th (ONE DAY AFTER THE MIDTERM). Diamonds and Spades Post, Clubs and Hearts Comment, note your blog group! Email me if you forget.

Animation Films

The use of animation in movies is one of the greatest accomplishments in the entertainment industry.  It opened up many lanes for artists to jump into the movie industry. Animation also spoke and included another audience into film viewing. That audience is known as children, most of the movies made beforehand are more aimed towards adults. The special effects in Citizen Kane are top-notch. The use of the deep focus shot to focus in on the picture so it could turn into moving objects was great.  Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was the catalyst for many amazing animated movies that followed. Hercules, Aladdin, the Lion King, Nightmare Before Christmas, Toy Story, and many more. Even though Japan had animation in 1907, this was the first major animation movie that setup many more.

Homework #5: The Animated Sequence

Newspapers journalists in Citizen Kane
Newspapers journalists in Citizen Kane

Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (1941) is known for the use of many innovative techniques, especially the use of deep focus. In addition, there is a scene in which a photograph comes to life. The scene comes during Kane’s announcement that his has hired the group of star journalists from a rival newspaper to write for his own paper, The Inquirer. This sequence recalls the increasing popularity of animation in this period.

As we learned in class, Snow White and the Seven Dwarf (1937) was the first feature-length animated film. Watch a clip from Disney’s  Snow White, and post your thoughts on early animation.

Watch the photograph come to life in Citizen Kane here.

Watch a clip from Snow White  here

To complete this homework assignment, note whether you Post or Comment. For Homework #5, Clubs and Hearts will submit a Post and Diamonds and Spades will Comment (choose any of your classmates’ posts to comment on).

Homework #5 is DUE by Thursday October 22nd.‹ Clubs and Hearts Post, Diamonds and Spades Comment, note your blog group! Email me if you forget.

The Hobbit Trilogy

This trilogy of films is an example of spectacle. With one of the largest production costs of all time with 623 million for the total of the trilogy production. Other movies that were in the same category were Avengers, The Dark Knight, Pirates Of the Caribbean, Transformers, etc.  I don’t think the costs is that much when one thinks about all the people that are working in it, for example the costumes designers, the special effects, the actors. It takes a lot of work and great team to put all these things together and at the end of the day the movies have been pretty good or at least most of them.

Spectacular Film: Titanic

Titanic_poster

When I think of spectacular films, the first movie that comes to mind is “Titanic”. It is such an iconic film that is just as popular today as it was when it was initially released. With a budget of 200 million dollars, it captivated audiences from all over the world making the revenue well worth its budget. A reason why I personally thought about this was a spectacular film was because in a book I read entitled A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, although it was fiction,  it speaks about the movie as an escape from the harsh reality Kabul faced during a time of turmoil. “That summer, Titanic fever gripped Kabul. People smuggled pirated copies of the film from Pakistan- sometimes in their underwear. After curfew, everyone locked their doors, turned out the lights, turned down the volume, and reaped tears for Jack and Rose and the passengers of the doomed ship……….At the Kabul River, vendors moved into the parched riverbed. Soon, from the river’s sunbaked hollows, it was possible to buy Titanic carpets, and Titanic cloth, from bolts arranged in wheelbarrows. There was Titanic deodorant, Titanic toothpaste, Titanic perfume, Titanic pakora, even Titanic burqas. A particularly persistent beggar began calling himself “Titanic Beggar.” “Titanic City” was born.” In terms of budget, I think that millions of dollars for one film is a bit excessive, and could be used on other things that would better our society, however speaking from a movie viewer’s perspective, i think that the money aids in ways that allows for there to be a unique aspect to each film which maybe cannot be fulfilled with simply a clever plot or a famous cast.

Pirates of The Caribbean

When I think of big sets and enormous budgets I think of films that take place in different environments like  otter space, different planets mythical worlds and  exotic places.  I choose Pirates of the Caribbean for many reasons, one, cause I love those films and the stories in them! Two, because the sets are so great. They filmed everywhere around the world for this films from London, to Puerto Rico, to Dominica and other Caribbean islands, and of course Disney Studios. Every film give you a feeling of authentic islands and vast oceans, and even the crew looks real, when they show indigenous people they actually look like them! And Third, because Johnny Depp has a pirate? Come on it’s amazing and you know it! All four installments combined have had a budget of about 1 billion dollars and have grossed 3.7 billion world wide.  I have posted a video of a classic scene which depicts typical Pirates of The Caribbean aspects, real sets, sword battles, fast paced movements and Captain Jack Sparrow getting into shenanigans.