"Hello, Wrench Man."

1. Opening Remarks
The Hurt Locker is a pseudo-documentary about one soldier and his addiction to war/his affiliation of bombs.  It follows an EOD squad and exhibits soldier life in a time of war. It essentially tries to convey to the audience a certain message that connects these ordinary people to the soldiers out there fighting the war that is currently happening at the moment in Iraq, where the movie is set in.

2. This movie was written in 2004 and released in 2007. It was written by Mark Boal, a freelance writer who was a journalist in Iraq. The screenplay was based on his experiences with the war in Iraq that is still happening even now, and was created to show the people what it's like to be a EOD soldier in Iraq. Boal uses what he knows and experience to relay what he's seen out there, and how hard these war-filled lives are.  The movie was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, an experienced historical movie director. The way she manipulates the shots, angles, and even time, creates this masterpiece of war-times.

3. There's not much to say about the costumes. It's a war movie about soldiers and a Bomb
specialist, so the movie pertains to Bomb suits, soldier uniforms,
and sticking to them, to relay the realism involved in the movie. The actors are really good, and stay in character. They are able to relay the vast spectrum of emotions involved in warfare really well with their expressions, body language, and through the usage of their dialogue.

4. I found the cinematography of the film most riveting and very innovative. What brings the audience in to the realism of the film is the hand held shots. Its documentary style renders the audience to believe that everything is real, and that a cameraman is simply following the EOD soldiers in their journey at war.
Other aspects that pull the audience in are the extreme close ups and zooms, and the varying angle shots. Sometimes, to exemplify
the meaning of a soldiers words, or lack-thereof, other times to exemplify their actions.Lighting is mostly set a harsh sun tone on the characters because they are essentially in a desert where the sun hits harshly on the people because of the lack of clouds. Because of the harshness of the light, really dark shadows are created as shown in the screenshot to the left. The color schemes are mainly a muddy yellow, brown, and
earthy colors associated with war. I also found it interesting that  the director decided to shot from the perspectives of the "enemy side" as well. For example, there is a scene where enemy snipers surprise attack the EOD squad and sometimes a shot of the enemy sniper's side would cut in, like in the screen shot here, to the right, where we see the sniper take a shot at the EOD squad.

5.  An interesting scene that displays manipulation of time and speed is in the beginning when Thompson dies in the explosion.In that scene we see the explosion at least twice, Thompson being pushed off the ground due to the massive pressure of the explosion multiple times in various
angles, and the entire scene is slow-motioned. There are even some close ups of the different objects surrounding the area (such as the rust on the shell of a car, the rocks on the ground, etc) cut into the scene to show fully how the explosion effected the area, because though the audience can see the explosion, they don't truly relate to how massive the impact of a bomb is until they see how the ground shakes, the rust jumps, Thompson is pushed,
and really how significant this blast is, because it essentially kills Thompson, the squad leader that Sanborne and Eldridge (the other members of the squad) really admired. The movie overall, however, stays constant in semi-long shots of varying distances, sometimes cutting between each other really fast to epitomize the action sequences. There were also some dynamic shots when James went back home away from the war.

6.  There's not much to say about the sound. There's the regular bomb explosions, bullet shots, screams and creaks and noises for war-time fun, and the music is generally matching the mood of the shot. There were even some scenes that lacked music to exemplify the seriousness of the scene. Other than that, there's not much to say.

7. This movie is more character driven, following the internal conflict of William James, a bomb
specialist, and other characters in an EOD squad in order to
exemplify not only James' journey to self-fulfillment, but also the journey of a soldier at war in general. James portrays the guy who doesn't take shit from anyone, and can only think about one thing. Throughout the movie he shows the emotional conflict inside him when he struggles to find the balance between loving everything or just loving what he does. His ultimate decision is to love just what he does, concluding the conflict within him. Eldrige is the
most "human" of the squad, the "little brother" that doesn't stick out, but plays a meaningful role. One of his most important scenes is when he's talking to "Doc", and tells him about the turmoil of his mind, thinking that he was at fault for Thompson's death because he was fighting with himself about whether or not to shoot the guy
with the cell phone. Sanborne is sort of the tough guy, always have to be in charge and by the protocol, the guy whose there because the rules say so. He portrays himself well through his sudden outbursts and his short temper. He displays the emotional breakdown well, really epitomizing the fall of a tragic hero as he almost breaks down

James' blatant uprising

crying in his confusion when talking to James. They are all characterized through their dialogue and actions. For example, Eldridge is the quietest and complies to both Sanborne and James when in action. Sanborne is the squad leader and is the only one that stands up against the headstrong
James. James goes at his own pace and does whatever he likes. Though they each have differences between each other, in the army you must trust your comrade, so an air of familiarity and trust is in their dialogue. They even hang out with each other drunk to even further show how close they are despite being stuck with each other randomly.

8. I feel like this movie is pseudo-documentary made for the secondary purpose of propaganda. What makes it a pseudo-documentary is mainly the camera-work. The majority of the film was shot hand held, making the shot a bit shaky. This creates the effect that the camera man is simply following the soldiers, making the audience feel like nothing is staged, and that what's happening in the movie is real, when it really isn't (hence, pseudo). This movie is also a war movie, as it
follows an EOD squad in Iraq, highlighting the life of a soldier in war. The reason I feel that this movie was made for the purpose of propaganda (secondary to the purpose of conveying to the public what soldiers do and have to deal with in war) is because it highlights the aspect that the addiction of war can't be helped and is a good thing. It essentially encourages people to go to war because it's exciting and thrilling, and something that people become addicted to and can't get away from despite it's mental and physical stress. It even conveys the message that once one accepts the fact that war is something you love, that mental stress goes away and gives you happiness. In a sense, this movie is a pseudo-war documentary, but is subverted into a movie of propaganda because of the message it conveys: to encourage people to join the army.

9.Overall it was a good, inspirational movie that really showed me how life in the army is, and what these bomb specialists have to go through almost everyday.

How To Write A Movie Review By Dazzy Freaking La

Baraka (1992)

Step 1: Watch the movie.
->Check!

Step 2: Give your opinion.
->The movie is motivational, and really gives the essence of life in its entirety. I love how the cinematography displays nature and technology in relation to man and animals. In every shot there is always life in it, and it keeps the shots not only vivid but mesmerizing. I don't like how the shots stayed too long on the nature shots, but i thought it was creative how they put in people of the tribes and distant lands in the third world countries in the midst of it. The mug shots of the village people were, how do I put it? Inspiring. It was like I was really there and sitting across the room from them.  It's interesting how the Japanese actors seemed to express old ideas of insanity within the modern world through ancient ways such as kabuki art.



I also really like how the sound director combined an abundance of instruments from all the places they visited and filmed at. I find it peculiar that the movie uses no narrative or dialogue whatsoever, but in lo of the context of the movie it fits and works! it just makes it even more inspirational. I can't say much about the lighting, because you know what they say: If you don't notice it, you know you're doing a good job on lighting. And that is just what they did, utilizing the natural lights of nature was brilliant. My favorite parts of the movie would be the kecak dance, tribal funeral dancing, the jumping spinning tribe dance, and the monk amidst the bustling city.

I really liked the essence of tribal life and the clash of old and new. This movie really made me look at the different sides of life, time, and the essence of people. It really opens my eyes to the world and I like it.

Step 3: Hold Up, Wait a Minute, Put a little thought in it! Make sure you integrated the following into your review!
->Actors and Locations
->Narrative Structure
->Cinematography and lighting
->Editing Techniques and Sound Design
->Music

QUESTIONS TO THIS SPECIFIC MOVIE:
1. I think this movie is called Baraka or "Breath" / "essence" because it displays life in its essence, letting us feel the breath of our coexistence with so many diverse lifeforms across the world.
2. If, by planetary perspective, you mean the aspect of looking at the essence of life subjectively by juxtapositioning the contrasting ideas of modern life, ancient life, technological and human life, and nature life and how they relate together in the present world, then no, I do not think it is expressing a critique of the modern world. I believe that although the modern world is admittedly crazy and that many things get lost in it. But I think that the movie is showing how these worlds meet together in the present. If one were to argue that the movie presented many sides of the third world and/or non-modern parts of the world in order to exemplify the overwhelming influence the modern world has on the ancient world, relaying the idea that the modern world is diminishing the old ways with the new, crazy ways, then I would argue back with the message I thought the movie conveyed:
3. I believed the film relayed this idea of juxtaposition, where the clash of old and new actually come together to compliment each other. It shows the different parts of the world, one part ancient in its traditions, another rural in its peaceful religions, others modern to the point where old ways are relished but not popular, another part where none of that even exists and only animals live, and other where everything melds together and coexist peacefully. My school, Capuchino High School, is said to be diverse(and it is) and I feel like its a mini version of the world: diverse in its way where everyone's just doing their own thing in their own way.
4. The absence of voice and text allow one to get swallowed up into the sounds and cultures of people and animals and things. I think it allows one to fully immerse themselves into the world of Baraka, where the images are so vivid you can't peel your eyes away. If voice and texts were there, they would distract away from the images. It also gives voice to your own thoughts and keeps the story up for interpretation, even if there isn't really one.
5. I think the most important image for this question is the monk walking amidst the bustling city. it shows the huge contrast of city and culture, and it contrasts to the peacefulness of nature.
6. Wow, what a coincidence. the interpretation of the monk is above, and the cigarette factory is a bit different. It shows the rural ways of life: cheap labor for the sake of modernized living(i.e. Smoking.) A clash, but in the midst of near nature-like settings. It reminds me of the methodological ways of ants or animals doing their routines.
7. Honestly, I think it's just trying to tell us that not everything is pretty about life.
8. "BOOM" and the breathing, and I liked the wind and string instruments. The drumming was awesome. I liked it all, basically.
9. WHY NOT? It's a good movie that is open for interpretation, gives us the experience of LIFE without needing to be there. Though, it does make you want to be there to experience. Hah.

"Wit." : FILM. FREAKIN. CRITIQUE.

Rationale:

   The film I helped create with my partner revolved around a judgmental girl who realizes her mistake of judging people by their appearances when she meets the “mysterious new kid.” We wanted to do it because it we wanted to play with the idea of analyzing and the effect of someone realizing their own mistakes. What I got out of the treatment was a sort of coming of age story, where the plot-line follows the cliché of “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” I like the cliché in general, and it was an amusing idea where the titles would be utilized to relay our story, so I wanted to do it immediately.

Rationale Word Count: 114           

Commentary:

“Wit” is a coming of age story about a judgmental girl who realizes her mistake of “judging a book by its cover” when she meets the “mysterious new kid” at her school. The film itself was written by my partner, Christian Pascual. I helped contribute to the development of the idea, showing Christian a certain stylistic device used from a certain mini series in the UK that utilized titles in each episode to convey certain points like text messages or thoughts that applied synesthetically to the viewers (such as the coat of a dead body being wet, or the inside of a ring being clean, obvious but no so obvious deductions). What I mostly did in the movie was operate the camera, co-direct, edit, and managed sound on my individual edit of the short film. Christian did mostly everything else, with little or no help from me at all. He created the script/story of our short film, which incorporates all aspects perfectly: it has 3 Acts of set-up, maze, and feeling, creates an impression on the cliché of “judging a book by its cover,” keeps character, portrays them well with excellent dialogue and actions, and has a unique, if not weird, climax to the plot. The casted actors were wonderful (even if one of them could not focus very well due to the pressure of a camera), and were dedicated and helpful in many ways. Physical attributes to the written characters weren’t really prescribed, but I’d like to state that Sierra Bower, our main actress, was perfect for the job. Her acting was amazing and kept the shooting to an efficient minimum. Each character has distinct characteristics, but none are really as developed as the main character’s is, written-wise. For the actual film, all of the characters were distinct and were recognized for their peculiar characteristics (save for the main character and her two friends, who were distinct in their own particular way). Almost all of the actors had a label to them, and if they didn’t what they did or wore separated them from the rest. For example, my character was known for the label “fatty,” and nobody else, whereas one of the main characters friends, though without a label, had blue hair and was clearly separated from the other, more down to earth friend. The cast’s overall acting was phenomenal, and worked well in the short film, as all had a sort of connection with each other, essentially creating a special niche that allowed the actors to bond with each other if not only for a moment. Wardrobe and make up was mainly left to the actors to decide, but once they picked one, they had to stick with it, a pact all of them kept quite dedicatingly (granted, most of the characters were only needed for one day anyway).

Problems I had encountered would be a plenty: most essentially with sound. I operated the camera fine, though shots should have been held longer here or there, and the continuity was not held in some places, the overall cinematography was great, especially since we used a Dolly Track to help take our shots. One particular shot I liked dollied from the back of a character’s head to reveal the other characters in the back and mid ground. One of the most important problems we encountered was lighting. One of our actor’s positions was against a window, causing his face to look darker and essentially lose shape of our actor (leaving only his silhouette). This created a huge problem, and we softened the hindrance by putting a small, but powerful, LED light in front of him. Though he was still dark, it was manageable. Another thing I wish I had done was use the tripod more. The tripod was constantly left on the dolly track, leaving us to operate hand-held. This created shaky shots in what could have been level shots. The shakiness of the shots weren’t obvious, however, and I’m proud to they were good for handheld shots. To mostly solve the shaky shot problem we basically just leaned on something stable to steady ourselves. The shoots overall were quick paced, efficient, and not to mention fun. During the shoots I gave my input and second opinions about what should be done in the shots and helped the actors figure out what to say. That job went perfectly fine, as I simply just supported the main director of the film. The actors were great, and they even helped with the continuity and asked questions when they didn’t get something, a trait which I value quite a lot. Everyone involved helped solve the tiny problems we had on set, and thanks to the quick thinking of our director, everything went pretty smoothly. Each of the students in our class was required to make an edit of our short films, and when it came to my edit, one word comes to mind: Long. Dragging. Any other synonym for tediously extensive. But, alas, that is film, and that is also the fun part of it all. Editing overall went fine because I had the writer’s Two-Column Shot, which made things so much easier. I incorporated typewriter styled titles, and symbols in my edit (i.e. Play, Pause, and Rewind symbol, as well as arrows). The cutting, trimming, pasting, mending, all went pretty well though nevertheless at a slightly slow pace.

One of the most irking problems I encountered, however, was finding out the microphone attached to the camera had been plugged into the incorrect slot halfway through filming at one of the sets. We had to reshoot at the location again anyway, so we decided to retake them, no problem. But of course, we did not check properly to see if we had all of the shots that had dialogue in it, so we missed 3 lines. Obviously, we had to get voice-overs from our actors, causing discrepancies in the sound, and though it wasn’t entirely solved, I toned it down a bit but adjusting the volumes in the sound. Another problem was the folly sounds we missed in the shots, but that problem was covered up by the music. The one and only problem we had with the dialogue we had at our disposal was one of Jackie Guerrero’s lines, where the line was said too softly to hear. Though I adjusted that volume to be higher, it didn’t help much. I am not a particularly great sound director, but I manage. I found most of my soundtracks with no problems other than going through the tedious routine of listening to many tracks. I had most of my film prepped and ready with sound, but had two problems: one, all of the songs so far were copyrighted, so it could not be used for an actual IB film. Two, I couldn’t find tracks for the middle part of the short film, the climax of the story. I ended up with an unsatisfying track near the end, and I wish to fix that if I had more time to. I also encountered the small problem of transitions. I debated with myself whether cross-dissolve or any other transition should have been used or not, and in the end I only used them for the intro and end, as well as the credits. The mixture of the two created a wonderful effect, and it was only one time when the cross-dissolve transition created confusion: when a part of a previous shot was added on because of the attributes of the cross-dissolve transition. I think the only huge problem I had would be not understanding the entirety of the story, only referring to the 2-column script sometimes and not most of the time. This resulted in a more, quirky edit than my partner’s. When I had watched my partner’s edit, I realized that I could have prolonged the scene of her realization, because when I realized I hadn’t, I realized I had undermined the importance of her realization. I didn’t know how to convey that feeling, so it might not have reached the audience—a mistake I will never make again as long as I can help it.

Though the short film itself was wonderful, I believe the strong points in my film were the intro and the credits. Our edits centered mainly around the intro, where everything is introduced and the background of the story is established. Both my partner and I are proud of our respective edits of the intro, because they’re amazing, so I highly recommend it be watched (shameless self advertisement). My trademark and what is, in my opinion, the best part of editing are the credits. I usually take the scenes we never used in the actual film in the credits to accredit the actors and helpers of our short film, and my credits are pretty amazing (more shameless self-advertisement). I’m proud of my credits and I hope everyone involved with the film is satisfied with it as much as I am. In my opinion, the short film was a great success, and though some things could have been changed, we live, learn and conquer. Well, maybe that last part was out of context (but the truth of it cannot be denied, after all).

Commentary Word Count: 1,544

Amelie Spin-off: First Treatment of the YEAR!

What's up! Long time no pitch. Whose ready for the first treatment of the year?!

Well, ready or not, here it comes! Let's check out the assignment:

So now that we have analyzed Amelie, we've identified stylistic choices in the film that we are going to attempt to included in our films. Here are some possible directions for your treatment for a 3-5 minute short:
1. Romantic comedy between a protagonist and ....object, person, animal, etc.
2. A character study of a quirky character that antagonizes others only to receive poetic justice in the end?
3. A Do-Gooder that gets rewarded for their sacrifice.
4. A comedic coming of age story that follows a character through their 1st  romantic encounter.
5. A dream sequence that allows the protagonist to escape a life of drudgery.

In my case, we're going for option 3: Do-Gooder Redemption

Log-Line: A girl with a fondness of photography is sort of a lone wolf. One day, a guy takes her camera and takes pictures of her in her most candid moments, with questions written on the back of the pictures. It basically turns into a scavenger hunt for this lonely girls beloved camera, leading up to a blooming romance between her and her mysterious thief.

Setting: School, city, misc. places a teenage girl would go to.

Imagine if you will, the lens of a digital camera. snap you hear the shutter sound. Now you see the rest of the camera. snap off goes the shutter sound flash you're blinded by the flash. From the whiteness comes the wide shot: the behind-side view of a girl with her camera pointed to the sky through a window.

Now we see her face blocked by her beloved camera. She pulls it down and walks off, in to the hallways of her classroom. Misc. pictures of people around her are taken, and the last picture we see is of a boy, a secret picture while he's talking to his friends. It's freeze framed, and we see it materialize as a picture, being placed into an album in the girl's room. We then see the girl close the album in great satisfaction. We follow her as she puts the album away, where we see a potted plant on her windowsill. Seasons pass, and the camera goes back to where she put the album away, only she's taking it out this time.

A friend is over, a boy--but you can't really tell who it is. She's happy and showing him the album. She places the album on the bed and flips through the pages, where we see their hands point and turn the pages of pictures. We then see the girl, smiling, whip out a picture of a divided classroom, with various groups hanging about. We see the boy's smile, but not his face. She places the picture into the album and the camera zooms in on the picture, we're actually there, and the girl puts down her camera and takes her seat in the center--alone. The school day has ended.

We eventually see the groups go home, as the girl packs up and heads out the door. She bumps into the boy from the picture in the hallway and drops her folder of pictures, where tons of pictures of everything drop. The boy is amazed as he helps her pick them up. He tries to make friends with her but she's shy. He notices none of the pictures have her in them, so he asks why.

"Because I don't want to ruin that perfect kodak moment." (or something more inspiring)

 The boy essentially falls in love with her and her passion for photography, but she leaves quickly because she's so shy. He wants to get closer to her.

The next day, it's class time. The boy keeps looking over to the girl and is obviously wanting to talk to her. The bell rings, and everyone goes to get lunch. Just as he was about to go talk to her she disappears into the crowd. He's left at her desk, where her camera peeks out from her desk. He hatches an idea.

It's the end of lunch and the girl finds her camera missing. She hears the snap of her camera's shutter sound and looks around. Everyone is flooding into the classroom, and the noise of her camera is gone. School has ended and she looks around her desk and bag for clues to her disappearing camera. One note.

I have your camera, let's go on an adventure.

She's puzzled. The next day after school a picture of her camera on a science table is placed in her desk with the caption

Adventure Time. Are you ready? Where was this picture taken? Go there.

The girl goes to the location the picture was taken, where she discovers a picture of herself in math class. Do you like photography? The pattern repeats, and pictures of her at various locations are shown one by one with questions on the back.

When did you take your first picture? Favorite color? What's a food you can't handle? Who's your best friend? Do you wear contacts? Do you like the weather today? What's your favorite season? Do you have someone you like? When's your birthday? Something you're scared of? Are you lonely?

And the last question Why don't you ever take pictures of yourself? It leads her back to her desk where her camera sits with a post-it note on top.

Turn me on.

She turns the camera on, and see the boy form before holding a sign that says "Press Left" Pictures of the girl with other people are shown continuously until finally, a picture of the boy and girl are shown, where it looks like they are sitting back to back, like they've known each other for years, with a sign that says "Have Fun?"

We see her smile, but not her face. A tear trickles down.

The next day the boy discovers a picture on his desk. It's the picture she took of him long ago with a note on the back

Adventure Time. Are you ready? You know what to do.

The boy enters the empty auditorium, taking a few cautious steps in.

"I love photography." A voice can be heard but we don't know where it's from.

"My first picture was taken when I was 5 with a Barney Camera." step the girl is on the stage.

"My favorite color is green" snap the sound of the shutter of her camera.

"I can't handle spicy curry." Snap as she takes a step off stage into the audience.

"My best friend is Lily, this camera." snap another step

"I don't wear contacts." Snap "I loved the weather that day, because the rain calms me down." Snap "My favorite season is Spring" Snap "I do have someone I like." Snap "My birthday is August 12th, 1992" snap "I'm scared of the dark" snap "I'm sometimes lonely." snap she's right in front of him.

"I don't take pictures of myself, so you can take them." She smiles, and raises up her camera. flash

From within the whiteness we see a picture develop--the picture of boy smiling. The picture materializes and is placed into the album. The album is close, and the girl, smiling, places the album on the shelf. The camera follows her, and goes back to the potted plant as we hear the door close. The camera moves away from the potted plant and to a certain picture in a frame: the girl and the boy together smiling happily. Through the window we can see through blurred visions the girl and boy getting into a car and driving off.

 

Amelie: Possibly one of the most brilliant movies ever made!

The Assignment:

Using the textual analysis questions from class, write a blog post that identifies 4 stylistic devices the Director of Amelie uses in the production of his film. For each device, you must include:
1. A "screen shot" as evidence for each of the stylistic devices.
2. A written description of the device and how it functions in the film.
3. An interpretation of what you feel is the director's intent and effect of the device on the film as a whole.
The textual analysis questions will allow you to clarify how the devices is being used. For screen shots, you can find the film online at Youtube.

The Work:

The scene that really stuck out to me was this Blubber's suicidal attempt scene. I tell you, and excuse my french, it was so frickin funny! xD But I'm not mentioning this purely because it entertained me, I'm mentioning this because the camera work was innovative and helped that comedy move up another level!

Here's the break down. The scene follows one simple pattern: Amelie screaming, Mom Appears, Amelie screams more, Mom tries saving Blubber, Amelie still screams, Mom's attempt #2, Amelies screams some more, Mom's attempt #3, Amelie Screaming some MORE, Dad saves the day, Then cut to CU of Blubber(saved) panning out from Dad and Amelie to a CU of MOM screaming(anyone notice the rack focus?! :D). Basically, the scene cuts back to Amelie screaming over and over again in repetition to probably show the huge impact this suicidal attempt had on little Amelie.

So let's break this baby open and tear it up!

Amelie's scream cuts aren't just simply the same cut over and over again, no--not even close. The cuts are varies on various perspectives, Full frontal WS, dollying in to a CU of her face, Angled shot looking up, Angled shot looking down, and the most dynamic,

A pan from one side of Amelie, to the other!

     ----------->  

This is really unique, because it not only serves as a repetitive tool, but also utilizes the various perspectives one can use to hype up the screaming, to make things a little less boring, and a little more something new. With this technique, you don't get bored of the screaming, nor do you find it annoyingly long. With the various cuts and differing perspectives you a get a little extra surprise in every cut, with the screaming as the only thing that actually links everything together!

Let's get down to the nitty gritty and let the cinematographer show off a bit more: I'm telling you, this scene is all about perspective, perspective, perspective! This guy switches it so many times to actually create a new space, putting repetition on a new twist of surprise! You know what's going to be repeated: The attempts to save Blubber and Amelie's screaming; but you don't know how they're gonna do it, cuz it ALWAYS changes! The way he introduces the Mom and Dad into the scene also puts a twist on new things:

 

I really like how he uses dollying and panning whilst changing the perspectives to amplify the weight of the situation. 

Now, for the creme de resistance!

 

I really like this dolly out and rack focus effect, showing how the ordeal finally ended, and Amelie and her father are happy about it, then going to show the underlying effect it had on the mom: Insanity.

Pure brilliance I tell you! Brilliance!

LATENESS PART TWO: What's YOUR Dramatic Moment?!

1. The main character's name is Jay. He gets bullied and doesnt like it, but doesn't stand up for himself. He wants it to end but he doesn't stop it.
-Success: No more bullying
Failure: Even more bullying
2. The dramatic moment is short, but it's when Jay gets bullied after Gragg leaves and Karen is with him. He stands up for himself through remembering Gragg's words "stand up for yourself" He doesn't know what to do next so he runs, but he now knows he can at least stand up for himself. And he probably will.
3. All the characters fit, but some bad acting(no offense to anyone) sort of ruins things.

Task # 2 - Develop your Dramatic Moment-

1. Describe your main characters:

• what does he or she feel, need and want
• what's at stake for success or failure in their moment/ what are the consequences of success or failure and how could they reveal themselves in the story?

2. Describe their Dramatic Moment-

• detail the dramatic situation they find themselves in
• consider their actions
• what do they deny
• what do they conceal
• how do the ideas that preoccupy your characters impose themselves on the moment (subtext)
• outline each moment/action that reveals subtext

3. Does your casting, setting and production design reinforce their dramatic moment?

LATENESS PART ONE: Plots that KILL D:

1. I suppose the genre for my film would have to be Comedy. What makes it a comedy are probably the funny little parts in the movie, which are all in the perspective of a guy named Jay who gets beat up and stands up to himself thanks to his guardian angel Gragg.
-I based this story on the words "On a day like any other day, a human being fell from the sky."
-My plot is probably a Coming of Age-ish Fullfillment plot. He comes to face his bully after all.
2. It's unique because it uses a ghostlike guardian angel, and the issue it addresses is bullying. My story is about a guy named Jay. The major issue is getting Gragg, the guardian angel to go through people. He changes in that he actually stands up for himself, or on the way to anyway. I tried to but nothing in this era is ever original anymore.




Task 1- Blog Assignment- "Plot's that Kill"

1. Choose one of the plots above for your "Big Idea"and reflect on what 1 or 2 films you have seen that have used this to develop their story.

• Identify the genre used in the film
• List some of the genre conventions that operate in the film's narrative, story and character.

2. Describe a potential story that relates to the plot you've selected that you have concieved, experienced or is in the news.

• How is your idea a unique take on the plot? What major issues or ideas will your story grapple with?
• Who could your story be about?
• What major plot/theme is your story and main character influenced by or dealing with?
• How does your character change or react to the challenge in front of them and what does that say about the theme or idea you are exploring?
• How have you tried to be unique in character, conflict, setting, and theme?

A mini Treatment: My Bestie Gragg? UPDATED

"On a day like any other day, a human being fell out of the sky."

STORY:
So It's taken me more than I should be taking to even think about this idea. It's about shy high school guy whose known nothing about friends, jobs, sports, extracurricular activities, whatever fits your fancies. All he knows how to do is to study and read. Let's call him Jay for now.

Now, Jay's got no aim, but all the motivation in every little wrong place. And it takes this kid, let's call him Gragg for now, to show him something he's been missing out.

The thing is: Gragg's a ghost, but go fig eh? Gragg's the one that sort of freaks Jay out, but keeps him company and somehow manages to become friends with him. For English class, Jay is assigned to write a story that teaches something important to them. And for the first time Jay doesn't know what to write.

He starts getting stressed and lashes out at Gragg, saying something very horrible that causes Gragg to disappear. For a couple of days Jay gets more and more stressed and irritated, and starts to talk to Gragg when he isn't even there, which frustrates him even more and builds guilt up in him like nothing else. He starts remembering bits and pieces of the good memories and gets lonely thinking about what would happen if Gragg really disappeared for good.

Then he starts getting desperate and looks for Gragg like crazy. And when he finds him, he apologizes, where Gragg enlightens Jay that he has friends and has the power to make new friends if he just tried a bit more. So Jay gets sentimental, and says "let's go home." to Gragg. There, Jay successfully writes his story for English as he starts making friends with Gragg secretly by his side. Lots of quick moments of new friends and memories show, and at the end, Jay turns in his story: "My Best Friend Gragg."

The story ends with Jay sitting underneath his favorite tree reading with Gragg in the tree chilling. Jay is called over by his new friends, and Gragg smiles and disappears knowing his job is done.

Jay comes back to pick up his book to find Gragg gone and a message left by him. Jay smiles to offer some kind of gratitude and goes to hang with his new friends. Then it just sort of fades out like that. The end. That offers some kind of closure right?


NOTES:
-I suppose Gragg is nao a handicapped angel of some sort. Maybe just a ghost sent to help him.
-The object that Gragg tosses up and down will be something he's had from the beginning. Probably a baseball.
-This entire story will be narrated by Jay, where it will be interrupted with the actor's dialogue when Jay talks about the times when two people are talking.
-I need to develop the plot more in that Gragg is kind of a guardian angel pushing Jay to be friends with other people: Like instead of just showing Jay and Gragg moments, show Jay moments with new people where Gragg is pushing him and helping him.

SCENES:
Opening:
 You see JAY, sitting underneath a tree on the deserted side of the school. He's reading a book, and the camera zooms out moderately slow(but not too slow) from his face to a full body shot of him sitting.

 JAY (VO)

On a day like any other day, a human being fell from the sky.

 Show's GRAGG falling into frame near JAY. Freeze Frame: JAY freaking out, and Gragg's legs possibly blurred from the motion.

JAY (VO)
Well, to be more precise, he fell from a tree.

Freeze frame rewinds and zooms out, and freezes again. Freeze Frame: JAY reading his book calmly, and GRAGG in the process of slipping out of the tree.

JAY (VO of Title Sequence)

But that's beside the point. Hi. I'm Jay. And this is the day my life turns completely upside down. Up until now, I've only known books. School. The only thing I'm good at, is studying. I don't even have an aim--all I know is, I got straight A's and that, that can get you anywhere. Never had any friends, and probably never will. Well, I thought so anyway, until this guy came into my life. This guy, well--

-INSERT TITLE SEQUENCE HERE-

GRAGG:
Psst. Hey listen to me will you? I'm Gragg. Let's be friends eh? Hey, are you listening to me? Dude, come on. At least look at me. Heeeey duuuude. Heeeey!

JAY: -slamming the desk as he gets up-

WILL YOU SHUT UP?!

The classroom goes quiet, shot of everyone turning around including teacher. close up on teacher.

TEACHER: -slowly as they turn around-

Jay...is..there something wrong? Is someone bothering you?

Two-shot of JAY and GRAGG hanging off of Jay's desk.

JAY:
Yes, this guy won't leave me alone!

Same CU of TEACHER

TEACHER: -getting a bit angry-
Jay...enough with the pranks. I never expected something like this from someone like you!

Close up on JAY.

JAY:
What are you talking about -Teacher's name-?

Same CU of TEACHER

TEACHER: -getting angrier-
What am I talking about?! There's no-one there! Now sit down!

Same Two-shot of JAY and GRAGG, only GRAGG isn't there anymore. CU of JAY turning to look at GRAGG, CU of GRAGG smiling sheepishly.

GRAGG:
Uh..I'm..kind of a ghost...Did I forget to mention that earlier?

CU of JAY's incredulous face in response. End of Opening.


Title Sequence: BGM is something upbeat.
You see JAY walking down the halls, in a fast pace where GRAGG is trailing behind trying to catch his attention, calling out to him and trying to explain things to him.

Wide shot of window wall of the hallway, where you see some high schoolers hanging out. JAY walks through frame where the word: DIRECTED BY appears on the window as JAY walks by. After a little GRAGG is trailing along where my name will appear trailing after GRAGG.

Cut to shot of JAY entering a classroom, and on the door that closes the words "Starring: JAY's Actor's name" where some of the letters fall off when GRAGG goes through the door(negotiable haha)

Cut to shot of Teacher wiping board(POV shot from the door). Cut to shot of whiteboard where the words "Starring: GRAGG's Actor's name" are erased.

Cut to shot of JAY sitting down at his desk and looking down taking out his stuff. POV shot of a classroom desk, where JAY takes out a textbook and opens it, where the words "MY BEST FRIEND GRAGG." pop out like a pop-up book, hovering over the text.  JAY turns the page and the title disappears, and you see another pair of hands placed on the side of JAY's desk. Camera follows whose hands they belong to, finding GRAGG to be the owner. Music ends at a noticeable last note when GRAGG's face is revealed.

Cut to angled two-shot of GRAGG and JAY. End of Title Sequence.


Ending: CU of JAY reading a book again. Zoom out steadily to see JAY reading under the same tree from the beginning. As we zoom out, we see GRAGG chillin' in the tree tossing something up and down.

FRIEND: (Off screen)
Hey Jay!

JAY looks up, puts his book down and after saying a quick brb to GRAGG, gets up and walks off frame.

Waist-Shot of GRAGG tossing up the object once, then looking over to where JAY is.

Shot of Jay's back turned towards camera, where you see his new little group of friends and JAY chatting them up comfortably.

Cut back to Waist-shot of GRAGG as he returns to his first position and smiles and he tosses the object up and down once more.

ECU of object, camera following it as it is being tossed up and down a couple times.

As it comes down, on the last time, cut to Waist shot where GRAGG's mouth, part of his torso, and the hand that the object has been caught with is visible. After dialogue, Object is thrown up once more.

GRAGG -smiling-
See ya in the next world Jay..Let's just hope it's not gonna be anytime soon...

Cut to ECU of object as it is thrown up, and falls down to the floor.

Cut to long-shot of tree. GRAGG is no longer in the tree, and we see the object at the foot of the tree. JAY enters back into frame and picks book up, calling for GRAGG. Because of lack of response, JAY looks around for GRAGG and finds the object.

CU of Object on the floor, where JAY's hand comes into frame to pick it up.

CU of JAY looking at object, turning it around when he sees some handwriting on it.

CU of object as he turns it around, and we see the words "Later J. -G"

Cut to angled(upwards) waist-shot of JAY, who looks around first, then up.

Profile waist shot of JAY looking up, and smiling.

JAY: -as he sort of lifts the object to show the sky-
Later Gragg.

Long-shot of Tree again, where you see JAY still looking up.

FRIEND (Off Screen)
Come on Jay! What are you doin'?

JAY -turning-
Nothin', alright? I'm comin'!

JAY runs towards his new friends as shot zooms out steadily at a diagonal, catching JAY running away from the camera with his friends as they walk away, becoming blurry in the shot. 

Blur some more, and then fade to black. Credits roll. End of Ending.

Going Beyond the Still Image: CHAPTER 1?!

So I was assigned to another blog assignment:

Check out these student film finalists in a festival hosted by Vimeo "Going Beyond the Still Image" meaning taking video instead of just photos. Choose one film and identify with at least 3 STILLS how the imagery supports the narrative or story in terms of:
1. Characterization- who is in the movie
2. Conflict- what is the climatic moment
3. The resolution and feeling left in the film .

And so, here I am. I chose this movie called "Going Beyond the Still Image: Chapter 1: The Cabbie."

It's this very interesting movie you can watch here:


Chapter 1: The Cabbie from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

From the following stills, you can infer a lot of things using the imagery about the story and other terms I'm supposed to find for this assignment. :D




In this shot the audience established the prelude point of the story: the finding of the teddy bear. This shot also establishes that this man is a Cabbie. Hahaha. Also after this shot he takes the doll home. What he does with it, is established in the next shot, where someone the audience presumes to be his daughter appears.



Using the above image the audience establishes a relationship between the man, girl, and the bear: Father, Daughter, and mysterious gift.



The shots above and below establish a climactic point: the finding of a key in the bear. This also establishes a relationship between the girl and the actual conclusion of the story which will be discussed in the next shot. This shot creates various questions from the audience, but the most important question? "Where does the key go?"



The shot below is the conclusion, which is pretty open-ended. It implies the answer to the previous question, in which this trunk is where the key goes. It leaves the audience wanting more, becoming curious as to what happens next, will the girl find this trunk, who put the key there, why was the bear on the sidewalk, and so on and so forth. What piques the audience's interest even MORE is probably the fact that the trunk is moving like something wants to escape. Closer much needed, yes?




When I watched this I was totally like, "AARRAGHHGHHHH WHERE'S CHAPTER 2?!" :[

But that is for another day I suppose...when it actually gets made...

For now, Assignment: COMPLETED.

Italian Neo-Realism: FOUR PAGE PRIMER?!

So I'm supposed to read this four page primer about Italian Neo-Realism, where you CAN read here:

https://www.greencine.com/central/guide/italianneorealism

though honestly I don't know what would compel you to do so hahaha. It's vaguely interesting though, if you're a film nut :D

Onward with the assignment I say!

* List the key Ideology and Thematic Goals- (use quotes from article)

- Federico Fellini said "For my generation, born in the 20s, movies were essentially American. American movies were more effective, more seductive. They really showed a paradise on earth, a paradise in a country they called America."

- Anti-Fascist journalist Leo Longanesi urged directors to "go into the streets, into the barracks, into the train stations; only in this way can an Italian cinema be born."

- Calvino pointed out, "neo-realists knew too well that what counted was the music and not the libretto."

- André Bazin called it a cinema of "fact" and "reconstituted reportage,"

- Cesare Zavattini stated: "This powerful desire of the [neo-realist] cinema to see and to analyze, this hunger for reality, for truth, is a kind of concrete homage to other people, that is, to all who exist."

 - Fellini: "looking at reality with an honest eye - but any kind of reality; not just social reality, but also spiritual reality, metaphysical reality, anything man has inside him."

* Describe the historical context of the movement

- Started in the 1930's but never fully recognized until 1943, ending in 1952. Cinema fully under control of the regime, and only a few movies were allowed to show[such as Treno popolare (1933) by Rafaello Matarazzo, Jean Renoir's Toni (1935) and Alessandro Blassetti's 1860 (1934)] Linked to the Resistance movement. World War II's immediate postwar period.

* List the Cinematic Techniques

-  "Cinematically, neo-realism pushed filmmakers out of the studio and on to the streets, the camera freed-up and more vernacular, the emphasis away from fantasy and towards reality."

* Identify key contributors and give a short summary of their contributions

- Cesare Zavattini: functions as a kind of godfather of the movement

- Roberto Rossellini, Luchino Visconti, Vittorio De Sica, Giuseppe De Santis: Film-makers who contributed to the neo-realism arc.

- Guillio Andreotti: wrote the Andreotti Law (1949); personified the unhappiness some Italians expressed about the neo-realism era, which displayed their country is such a stark, horrible way.

* Identify the key films of the movement and why they were significant.

 - Roberto Rossellini's Roma: città aperta (Open City, 1946) shows most clearly neo-realism's link with the Resistance movement.

-In Paisà (Paisan, 1946), Rossellini directly engaged the effects of the American presence in Italy, complicated by the Yankee shift from enemy to ally, his overall theme being that war is an equal-opportunity brutalizer. 

- La Terra Trema (The Earth Trembles, 1948) took Luchino Visconti to Aci Trezza on Sicily. Far more documentary in style than the other neo-realist films.

- Vittorio De Sica's Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Thieves, 1948) orchestrated carefully, shooting some scenes with multiple cameras and drawing attention to its existence as fiction, not a documentary.

- Visconti's terrific Bellissima (1951), though not traditionally considered a neo-realist film, focused on people's lives in the wake of war, the sense of wanting to better oneself and the struggle to find a way out of the grind of poverty.

- Umberto D. (1951), which was De Sica's favorite film and is in many ways the masterpiece of neo-realism.

- Giuseppe De Santis's Riso amaro (Bitter Rice, 1949) was described at the time as the "last gasp of the neo-realist movement."

Reverie and the DSLR Revolution: Analysis

So, I'm supposed to watch this video that used this like, awesome camera. But I can't tell if they're hyping up the camera, or the lens--but whatever, right? The picture looks pretty damn awesome, captures great in low light, and captures clear and vivid pictures, AND has a pretty accurate focus.

So, using this video that supposedly started some revolution I was told to take three screenshots and analyze just how good this camera is. But I don't really know what he means by that so I'll just wing it. Let's go!



Okay so this picture definitely shows one about the selective focus feature. It's pretty awesome, since most camera can't do this so clearly. I think it's an interesting shot too, picture using the rearview mirror, and, by using the selective focus, the audience doesn't get distracted by the background and their eyes are drawn straight to the mirror's image. How cool is that?



Well, there's not much else to say about the pictures above and below. They display both the low light, and selective focus parts of the camera's abilites. I personally like the picture above best. It's a beautiful picture in my opinion, though most people wouldn't find it very attractive. Haha.

Editing Demos! Whooooaaaaaa

So I partnered up with Mark, and we were assigned this editing concept, see? And you see, well, see here, that see, well we hadda, well, make a video see? A video for two a' these concepts, see? And these concepts, these concepts were some fancy shmancy things see? Point of view, see? And..and the 180 degree rule see? And we, we combined them see? No? You don't see? Well, here. Now you can see it.



1. Concept/Script:
- How well does your story demonstrate your concept?

Although It demonstrates it well, it could be better, and the story is too short to actually display an acceptable amount of my concepts(for example each concept is only demonstrated once).

- What problems did you have and what might you have done better?

That would be the story-line and plot. The fight could have been prolonged, more point of view shots could have been established,  and the plot itself is way too short and does not display any point whatsoever.

2. Camera Work-
- How well did you shot your actors in their scenes?

I think the shots were fine, but problems like lighting and some camera placement could have been fixed to make it so much better.

- Describe your most creative shot.

I suppose the most creative shot would be the two shot...But that's not really creative now, is it?

3. Edit-
- What challenges did you have in the edit?

The video was too short to actually be long enough for me to do my voice-over, for one thing! It was way less than a minute, and the shots were way too short! That's when I got creative--How about pausing and rewinding? What about just prolonging the shots to make enough room for the audio? So I did. I made enough room, and added in some fonts and texts.

- What did you have to do to demonstrate your concept in the edit?

Well, I had to think outside of the box to make the project even remotely gradable. I took the very few shots and used editing tricks like reverse, sound effects, and I utilized the texts. I just used what I had and made it work. That's it.

Solitude Commentary

-REALLY LATE-

Like, A milliion years later, I do my film blog assignment. It's to do a commentary on this Trailer:


Solitude — Movie Trailer from Mike Skocko on Vimeo.

 I'm not really sure if he wants me to do the entire thing or not, so I'll do a little of everything just to be sure, since it's already late and all.

Mis En Scene
In this trailer your eyes generally get dragged all over the place, but not forcibly. You get stuck on something and then the slightest interruption gets attention. Of course, I don't mean like you get distracted by something like a pencil moving or anything. The director doesn't move the camera much, thus creating a huge effect: You get attracted to what's in the foreground, but the transitions, when the camera does move, and the background pulls your attention to the important parts. For example this scene:



The kids just arrive, and the as they get themselves settled, the camera leads the audience to the phone, which is obviously left on and has a dial tone for some reason. You can clearly see the blurred legs of the kids, but the audience gets drawn in to the phone. The director utilizes this type of shot to establish something wrong. I mean, if you had a phone that was already on, what would you think? That someone was there, that something must of happened to make them in such a rush to not hang up(be it something trivial or dire depends entirely on your disposition of course). Most importantly, it establishes tension.

One of my favorite shots is this though:



It starts from a completely black frame, where I personally got confused, but then when the door Opened and the light spilled in, the kids coming in making a fuss settling themselves I immediately thought: How Creative! Though it probably isn't the first time it's been applied in a film, it was interesting that he put this in.

The change in light from No key to a bright low key blinds the audience for a moment, then quickly adjusts their vision to the sight of kids coming in.

Though I can't really say there isn't a lot of editing, there isn't too little editing either. The director uses a good amount of cuts, with some lengthy footage every now and then. But as mentioned before, the effect created is pretty phenominal,

Take this shot for example:



The shot starts with the simple one shot of the girl crying. Clearly showing some fear, then it just intensifies when the camera moves and reveals the guy taped to the wall. Talk about sweeping the dust under the rug. The director utilizes the fact that the audience only sees what's on screen and in the frame, and manipulates that effect by revealing the other sides of the setting. It got my heart jumping, that's for sure.

The Music was fitting. Creepy, suspenseful, nerve-wracking. But most importantly, it had those small effects that people don't really notice, but influence them alot. For example in the earlier scene the music stops, when its the one shot of the girl, but nobody notices. It's just something that's not there to mingle with her sobs is all. Then the music just BOOMS when the camera moves and reveals the poor guy on the wall.

Tactfully, what gets me the most is surprisingly what ISN'T on screen. Bet this cross your mind way too many times: What got them? Amazing effect, and utilizes the audiences' fear and imagination. After all, fear varies from person to person, and what fear really is, is actually not knowing. You don't know what's in the dark, so you are afraid of it. You don't know how they're alive, so you're afraid of Zombies. You don't know if you can kill them, so you're afraid of vampires and werewolves. You can't see what's behind you. You don't know what's behind you. So you tentively get paranoid if you're alone, and it's quiet. Of course this only applies to those who actually have said respective fears.

The actors in the movie are just people, so their costumes didn't really stick out--which is a good thing in some cases--and they didn't suddenly change from one scene to another when they were supposed to be the same, so the Continuity Secretary did a good job, don't you think? The shot in the car however...the placement was awkward, and it seemed to make the actors awkward in my eyes as well.

The writing and idea itself if pretty damn interesting. It catches your eye, and is bound to make you jump here or there. Even if only for a little. It's making me paranoid just sitting here on my own couch thinking about it! Hah. But I'm just a little scaredy cat so it doesn't really matter anyway.

I suppose that is all I have to say. So...ENDPOST.

AVATAR: Epic Movie Commentary Response.

Hallohallo! This is a blog response to a really epic movie, AVATAR, watched in 3D IMAX!

1. Production: What challenges did James Cameron have in realizing his vision?
- It seems to me that the biggest challenge was the time, or era, he lived in when his idea came to him. But over coming that challenge was waiting, planning, and thinking outside the box. He waiting for years for the technology to advance, and thought up of various new ways to manipulate that technology for interesting results.

2. Creating the Virtual World: What was the process used in creating Pandora?
- From my point of view, if I were to create a world, I would have to think of the geography, the landscape(is that the same thing?), the animals that lived there, how they survived, what kind of atmosphere, what the air is like, what the plants look like, how they smell, what they do, it's limitless. You have to think of all the different aspects of every corner, every animal, every organism, of the world you're creating, in order to really create the people that live there, and really understand how they are able to live there, how they feel, what kind of experiences do they go through, all sorts of things. I imagine it was a very long process that went through all the tiny details of all the various aspects of the world.

3. Performance Capture verses Motion Capture: How has performance capture changed the filmmaking process?
-Well for one thing, the whole create your own character idea is revolutionary. These are real people, doing real things, within an imaginary image in their mind, like acting on a stage. The key difference is that that very world can be created, and shown to anyone and everyone. Giving these characters real expressions has given the very essence of life in made up characters, and that's revolutionary in itself.

4. Avatar Earnings to Boost News Corp:-
a. How much money was spent on marketing for the film?
    -A colossal $US150 Million.
b. What challenges does News Corp face in realising profits?
    -Probably sharing profits with Fox and the theatre owners. Plus, the marketing for the film was very costly.
c. In your opinion, does the massive budget spent on the film effect the authenticity of its message?
    -Probably not. I think they didn't really have to spend so much on marketing, if it was a revolutionary movie, even without the entire marketing process, people would eventually flock to it. But doing without marketing isn't what I'm saying they should have done, just not so much? I mean, to me, the whole blast of marketing just backfired and made me not want to watch the movie because of all the hype. It made me think "Wow, they are so desperate in marketing this thing, it must be bad." And personally, the trailers made me think it was another Star Wars movie, and I'm not a Star Wars fan, so....When I watched it, indeed, it was revolutionary, awesome, epic, and various other words to describe the wonderful movie. But it was also just another Pocahontas movie mixed in with some Sci-Fi and Military action.

5. Socio-Cultural Impact- Do you agree with the critic's claim that Avatar "identifies the profound spiritual bankruptcy that underlies our financial insolvency...and reminds us (to)... make new choices for the greatest good of all". Or is this film just a trite recycling of previous plots that reinforces racist stereotypes? Explain with examples from the film.
    -I agree that overall the movie relayed to us a certain message about how money and greed has corrupted the human race, thusly the betrayal of Jake against the human race itself. However, this does not mean I agree that it tells us all that. Personally, I also think it's a trite movie that recycles all sorts of plots from the past. But what movie hasn't? It doesn't change the fact that it's a revolutionary movie that changed peoples' way of thinking, and not only did it change the way filming can be done, it changed the definition of what a film is. It makes people think: Wow, what is up with all this recycling? I mean, I know we're in the green age, but...I think that using this movie as an example, other directors will try to take more risks. I mean, the people love creativity, so why not give it to them? Sure the classics are sure to win them over, but it makes the movie unimpressionable. Just another "Pocahontas Movie" or "High School Musical." In the end, the only movie you're stirring in their minds are the originals. And the originals are beyond comparison. I, personally, didn't get ANY message of racism. Just integration, as Jake begins to learn the ways of the Na'avi(is that how you spell it?). So I guess I can't say much about that.