Thursday, October 29, 2015

Special Effects

 
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This link includes a scene that involves special effects from the film Divergent. This clip is really interesting because not only does it show the scene, but it also shows the making of the scene. I chose this clip because a) Divergent is one of my favorite movies and b) I think it's really interesting to see how special effects work behind the scenes.

Tsotsi: Sound and Music

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In the film Tsotsi, there was a lot of different music, some at appropriate times and some at inappropriate times. One example of inappropriate music was during a scene near the beginning of the film. It was storming out and Tsotsi was running away from a fight. The music that was played in the background was upbeat party music. In my opinion, this just didn't reflect the mood of the scene. Usually during a storm, music is usually more dark and eery. I also associate upbeat music with fun and happy scenes and fleeing a fight isn't the happiest scene. An example of appropriate music was at the opening of the film. The music was upbeat as Tsotsi and his friends were 'heading out' for the night. At this point, as the viewer, I was unaware what their definition of a 'night out' meant and I found this upbeat music to be appropriate. Another instance of appropriate music was towards the end of the film when Tsotsi and the 'mother figure' woman were reflecting on events that had happened. The music was not upbeat; it was a slower type of music that seemed to match their reflections.
 
 
As a side note, I chose this picture because I thought it was a really good representation of the film. For the most part, we saw the film through Tsotsi's eyes . We were able to understand his behavior through flashbacks of his life.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

The Whale Rider: Transitions



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This link includes a short clip from the trailer for The Whale Rider. While watching this, I noticed that there were a lot of fade-in and fade-out transitions. The fade-out is shown when the screen goes dark. When a new image comes from this darkness, a fade-in is shown.

The Whale Rider: A Historical Approach

 
A huge influence in the film The Whale Rider, was from the Maori. Some of the traditions of the Maori were reflected in this film. For example, the way that the characters dressed (at times) portrayed how the Maori dress. One of the traditions such as finding a male leader, was also shown in this film. A big part of the film showed how much the whales meant to the Maori people. The history and legend of the Maori stems from Paikea, who traveled to New Zealand on the back of a whale. In this film, you could see how devastated the people were that the whales were washed up on shore and how important it was to them to save these whales. It's also quite interesting to see Paikea, the character in the film, ride on the back of the whale to save its life. This made the film and the Maori come full-circle. Understanding the history of the Maori and the tale of Paikea really helps you understand this film a lot better.