Film Studies II - Shining (Reupload)

The Shining is a 1980 American horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick and co-written with novelist Diane Johnson. The film is based on Stephen King's 1977 novel The Shining. The Shining is about Jack Torrance, an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic, who accepts a position as the off-season caretaker of the isolated historic Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies. Wintering over with Jack is his wife Wendy Torrance and young son Danny Torrance, who possesses "the shining", an array of psychic abilities that allow Danny to see the hotel's horrific past. The hotel had a previous winter caretaker who went crazy and killed his wife, two daughters and then himself. After a winter storm leaves the Torrances snowbound, Jack's sanity deteriorates due to the influence of the supernatural forces that inhabit the hotel, placing his wife and son in danger.

The Shining is one of the most top famous horror movie, because of the approach to conspiratorial interpretations, which most of the approach are based on the mise-en-scene of the film. The typical horror film approach is more, dark gothic horror-story lighting in the film, which shows the continuing influence of German Expressionism on the horror genre. But Kubrick setting the movie to a different approach, instead of the cramped darkness and panicky quick editing of the typical horror movie. One of the important and unique aspect of the setting in film is the lighting, the hotel was generally well lit up, to give the sense of vastness and emptiness of the space which creates the conspiratorial effects that make the audience feel creepy. Take for example, the scene where Danny was peddling in the hallway the lighting was dimly lit the whole time to create a creepy atmosphere. When Danny turns into the second hallway, it gets even darker to make it creepier. The camera angles at the very beginning of the shot, the camera is far away from Danny so that the audience can see the hallway. The next shot, the camera then zooms in on Danny as he's turning around the corner. When the girls appear, the camera constantly switches back forth between them and Danny. Then showing the flashes back of the girls are dead on the floor and every time it switches back to present time, the girls are getting closer to Danny. The Lighting in the first hallway is green and barren looking. The props are shiny and dull so that the red blood stands out in the next hallway.

In summary, The Shining is a great example of the power and potential of mise-en-scene, but it is not in any way typical. Kubrick does use mise-en-scene to define setting and character, but he also uses it counter-intuitively to challenge the preconceptions of the viewing audience, and to pose philosophical questions about the nature of the universe and the role of humans within it, as well as the role of the film director in “overlooking” or directing the gaze of the viewer.

Film Studies II - Run Lola Run (Reupload)

            Run Lola Run is a 1998 German thriller film written and directed by Tom Tykwer, and starring Franka Potente as Lola and Moritz Bleibtreu as Manni. The story follows a woman who needs to obtain 100,000 Deutsche Mark in twenty minutes to save her boyfriend's life. The film's three scenarios are reminiscent of the 1981 Krzysztof Kieślowski film Blind Chance; following Kieślowski's death, Tykwer directed his planned film Heaven. Run Lola Run’s plot order differs from the basic narrative order and instead has one story retold three times with different outcomes.

            Editing is one of the most fundamental yet crucial steps in the making and overall appearance or quality of the film. Based on my analysis, in film post production can change the entire mood and feeling of the movie itself, part of this by contributed in editing which the film has used edits, dissolves, fades, wipes, etc. The filmmaker uses fast fragmented cuts to incorporate suspense, it’s added by constantly changing the shot this causes the viewer to become captivated and an unknowing of the next cut. The filmmaker bends the time-space continuum to create a unique plot style in the film, the same situation had run three times in each retelling Lola had chosen different procedures to acquire the hundred thousand dollar before noon. Speed was essential to the audience’s interest; this was represented in the short fast cuts each shot was no longer than a few seconds but when edited together provided much coverage in the scene these screenshots were no longer more than 10 seconds between each other when editing it together represents the filmmaker’s symbolic appreciation of speed while also being visually appealing.

The repeated scenes between the beginnings of the three runs, for example Lola running past her mother then out of the house, and then the animation sequence of her running down the stairs are the same, showing that Lola has restarted another run. Freeze frames are also used to shows the people that Lola encounters on the street while running. They are given as an images to the audience to show some sections of their life. In each time when Lola runs with different choices, the peoples’ life was also changed. Moreover, in the film continuity editing are used, in the first scene we have the character looking at something off screen, then straight cut to showing what he or she sees, then showing the audience reaction of the character based on the POV of the character.

In conclusion, Run Lola Run is an outstanding action/thriller genre film because of the basic application of different yet exact conventions of film editing. By using the fast-paced editing techniques is expected as the action is concurrent and the element of time matters. Keeping the audience in action by incorporating the feeling of suspense, for the audience doesn’t know what comes next. The editing was effectively used to tie together the moments when the filmmaker bent the time-space continuum.

Film Studies II - Psycho

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was an English film director and producer. He pioneered many elements of the suspense and psychological thriller genres. One of his best work is Psycho. Psycho is a 1960 American psychological horror film directed and produced by Hitchcock, and written by Joseph Stefano, starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, John Gavin, Vera Miles and Martin Balsam, and was based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. The film centers on the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane (Leigh), who ends up at a secluded motel after stealing money from her employer, and the motel's disturbed owner-manager, Norman Bates (Perkins), and its aftermath.

Hitchcock is often defined by the subjective of camera, he wants the audiences to see the world through a characters’ eyes intimately following their experience and deviously manipulate alignment with those subjects. The opening shot moves through the city of Phoenix even though there are a number of edits it acts like a continuous shot that gradually moves closer to a bedroom window, it reflects the perspective of the audience having only just entered the film. Followed up by a scene appears to be an illicit adulterous affair, and a conflict is up the relationship problem which is financial. In the next shot, the camera pans to the money then to a suitcase showing us that Marion is having a decision between delivering the money to her boss or run away with the money. Hitchcock wanted to give the audience a justification for sympathizing with Marion’s criminal act. First, the owner of the money is painted in an unfavorable light, he boastful about his money and flirting Marion in a boorish way. Making the audience to side with Marion, showing her on the run and making the audience want her to evade capture and escape with the stolen money. As Marion on the way to her destination the lights gradually gets darker, making the audience consumed by this journey but their view has become distorted (showing heavy raining).

The next scene shows that Marion was being murder. Hitchcock is punishing Marion and the audience for prior transgressions and our attachment to her is broken. The camera then links Marion’s lifeless face then towards the money wrapped in newspaper. This is how it all started and like a repeat of the opening shot the camera pans to find the new host for the audience to attach themselves to. Which is showing Norman running into the scene making the audience sympathize him, before this Hitchcock has prepared for the switch prior to the murder the conversation between Norman and Marion was the longest one-on-one conversation in the film, giving the audience time to get to know him. But for the most part he was sympathize and appears to be lonely and pathetic existence, as an audience we pity him. Making the murder was done by his mother thus making the audience sympathize Norman. Following scene introduce three more character, Lila (her sister), Sam (Her boyfriend) and Milton Arbogast the private investigator. Norman a previously who the audience were sided on, is now someone who the audience is afraid off.

In conclusion, the whole construction of the picture suggests a sort of scale of the abnormal first there is a scene of adultery, then a theft, then one crime followed by another one, and finally psychopathy each passage puts the audience on a higher note of the scale. Hitchcock’s style is to framed shots to maximize anxiety, fear, or empathy, and used innovative forms of film editing. His work often features fugitives on the run alongside "icy blonde" female characters, showing us that in real life everyone is a criminal which there is no pure good in real life. 

Film Studies II - 3 Idiots

3 Idiots (Rajkumar Hirani, 2009) is a film featuring three best friends and their lives in one of the best colleges in India, the Imperial College of Engineering. Ten years after their graduation, Farhan and Raju seek to reunite with their long lost friend, Rancho. En route to locate him, they revisit their college days as engineering students while recollecting the memories of their unconventional friend who inspired them to think differently. As the highest-grossing Bollywood film, 3 idiots captured its audience with a strong aesthetic typically found in Asian cinema, also known as the Indian cinema because India is also considered as Asia. From there, I would like to discuss about the aesthetic of Indian cinema in terms of the emotional content, themes as well as film dance, music and song.

First, I would like to discuss the dances and the musics' elements found in Indian cinema. Indian cinema often use musical to give a hint of what is happening around the main cast or use to show whats the main cast feels in that particular moment with a bunch of backup dancers as a signature which makes them unique from other country's film. For example, the musical in 3 Idiots can be found at the part where Pia, daughter of Professor Viru Sahastrabudhhe (ViruS) opens a photo album and starts imagines she singing "Zoobi Doobi" and dancing with Rancho together with a crowd of people as their backup dancers. However, in 3 Idiots, there is a sign of evolution and influence by western style in their musical, for example, the first part and the second part of the musical is in modern-traditional clothing musical with a bunch of dancers at the back while the last part is in white gown and suits with no dancers at the back with a resemble of Titanic's significant pose (Jack and Rose standing at the ship's attic's pose).

The style in filming and writing for an Indian film is different from foreign films. While the other films are following the Three Act Structure, Indian film are divided into two parts: First half and Second half. First half is the Act One while Second half is the joint of Act Two and Act Three. In 3 Idiots, First half of the film shows the introduction, background and the story happening between the trio while the Second half shows the crisis and actions taken by protagonist to solve the problems. For example, in First half, Rancho, Farhan and Raju meet each other in college and they happened to become roommates before they become best friends. Then slowly the films focus on Farhan and Raju's backgrounds and the start of their conflict between their family and studies (Born in middle class' Farhan wants to be a photographer but was strongly disapproved by his father while born in lower class' Raju study engineering to support his family's crisis). In Second half, Rancho helps Farhan and Raju to find their own dreams and study engineering for passion, not for grades and also changed the perception of Professor ViruS at the end by proving that grades are not everything after they managed to deliver the grandchild of Professor ViruS with his own machine. The last and most obvious conflict solved (grades is not everything) by Rancho is when he meet Chatur at the end and he happened to become the prospective business partner of Chatur, the famous Phunsukh Wangdu and more successful than Chatur.

In conclusion, the film is a very good and motivative film that gives a valuable lesson of the importance of passion in study over grades, and at the same time do not bored the audience with over formal speeches but rather putting lots of inspiring yet funny elements into the film. This film is definitely the best Bollywoord film I had watched so far, in terms of educating, and highly recommended to those who likes funny movies or making jokes and pranks (in good intention) to their friends to laugh over together with 3 Idiots.

Why Some People Will NEVER Change

Why Some People Will NEVER Change

I got a question today,

people don’t change?

One reason, one reason only, they don’t want to,

bad enough. 

It reminds me of a story about a man.

The man walks into his best friend house,

He notice a dog in the corner of the hallway, whimpering.

Why is your dog whimpering? He ask.

Oh, he’s just lying on a nail.

Well, why doesn’t he get up?

Oh, it’s doesn’t hurt him bad enough yet.

We all know someone like the dog.

They aren’t hurting bad enough 

To change.

We try to help them but to be honest,

Sometimes they need to go through that.

They would rather reposition themselves on the nail,

Than get up.

In other words, most people want relief 

not a cure.

And that is why most people 

won’t change.

Relationship

Relationship

Love yourself before you get into a Relationship.

What is the most important thing

to remember in a relationship?

Is it Honesty? Compassion? Trust?

No, It's YOU.

See, You have to figure it out

Who YOU are before entering a relationship.

You have live with yourself for 20, 30, 40 plus years.

All that time you still yet to figure out

How to be Patient, Happy, Alone.

How do you create an environment that another

human being can be happy in?

You can't do it, no matter how hard you try.

You will blaming your partner for

everything that goes wrong.

Instead of realizing that you feeling

of Happiness and Sadness happen to you. Because of You.

Because of how you interpret things, Its all YOU.

You have to love yourself 

before you love someone else.

I don't know about you,

but my relationship never worked out.

When i put too much force energy into 

trying to please the other person.

Being someone i wasn't i lost to who i was.

I was focus on being compatible to the other person.

instead of being the best me that i could be.

The funny thing is.

When two people are working on 

being the best version of themselves.

Cultivating their own happiness and compassion.

That's when the most compatible.

That's when the magical long term relationship happens.

So marry yourself before marrying someone else.

Technology

Technology

Average people spends 4 years 

looking down at their cellphone

It is ironic how these 

touch-screen make us....lose touch.

Technology has made us,

become more selfish and separated.

Social media or Anti Social media?

We sitting at home in front of computer

measuring self-worth by

numbers of followers and likes.

Ignored those who actually love us.

Cuz i asked a friend the other day,

and say "let's meet up face to face."

He said "alright, what time you wanna Skype?"

You can't get a modern day job 

without being able to type, or use a computer.

I imagine a world where we smile

when we are low batteries

Cuz that will mean we are one bar closer to 

Humanity.

You need not delete your social networks 

or destroy your cell phones, 

the message is simple,

 be balanced, be mindful, be present, be here.