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.

Social Media

Social Media

Social media will F*** You Up

if you're not careful.

I know, because I have nearly got depress
by just scrolling down my page,
and compare to people i see.
Oh, they got more followers, more likes.
Oh, they are travelling the world, going beach.
and I'm at home doing nothing.
Seems like they have a better car,
better job, better house than me.

This comparing habit will drive us crazy,
and if want to live a happy peaceful life,
then we must let go the comparing mindset.
Because the comparison are false,
you're comparing yourself to an image.
Because that's their best presentation.
That sweet couple they have a lot of problem
and they ain't showing.
That girl in the magazine,
don't look like the girl in the magazine.
Because it's just special effect and filters going on.

Don't compare your behind the scene to a highlight.
As far as you go be patient to your life,
you don't need to compare people life to yours.
Don't fall into the trap where it change your mood.
Just calmly watch it,
and it slowly dissolve into thin air.

Everybody Dies

Everybody Dies

It is not death most people are afraid of.

It is when come to an end of life,

and realize that they didn't truly lives.

My grandfather once told me that,

Don't live a life that regret things 

you didn't do, 

The risk that you didn't take.

The dream that you didn't pursue.

And the last word is "If only I had.."

It's time to wake up

life is not just work and 

wait for the weekend

and pay rent.

I don't know much

but i know that every people 

has a gift.

Which we all call it Life.

And don't make yourself into a

"kinda" person

Kinda is lethal

You kinda want to create a change

You kinda wanted to get straight A

You kinda want to get in shape.

It will make you "kinda" get the result.

You must want the result with your whole heart.

You will struggle, you will fall many times.

JUST remember there is no such thing

as a SMOOTH mountain.

Because PAIN is life.

But YOU can choose what type of pain,

pain to success,

or pain to being haunted by regrets.

Confident

Confident

Confident is having a feeling or 

belief that you can do something well 

or succeed at something.

 Been thinking through this lately.

And I realized that I am lack of confident.

Back when I was young,

I use to play a lot of FPS game. I can just spend whole day 

just playing game.

Then I started to join small tournament.

I play with my team through internet.

Which I don't even know what they look like.

Our team just got third.

But after a few days later we receive a message.

Asking us whether we want to form as a team together.

At first we thought that it was just

Some fake message.

But we checked it and it was real.

We are really happy and excited about it.

But I began to become nervous.

I started to think that, 

Am I really as good as I think I am?

Am I really as good as they think I am?

What if I fail?

What if I mess up?

Am I ready for this?

In the end I rejected the offer.

The story ends there.

What Happen?

Lack of confident and fear.

Because of my lack of confident and 

make me lose the opportunity.

And I learnt a lesson that time.

Do not let the fear controls you.

Because some opportunity you only get one chance.

One chance and that’s it.

Racism

Racism

Racism is a discrimination towards other racial.

And why do we hate other races?

We hate because we were taught that way.

We were taught that to stereotype the other racial,

Indian are Drunkards.

Chinese are Arrogant. 

Malay are Lazy.

We taught that way so that,

We think that we are superior than the other race

and its time to

GET OVER IT!

Get out of the ignorant to think that you better or stronger

than the other races.

Because of the color of the skin.

Color has nothing to with Intelligent or Wisdom.

Forgive me that I didn't see the logic

or the pride in defining myself or judging other

just by the color of the skin

What we truly are

is found INSIDE.

Haters

Haters

Haters is not a problem or reaction.

If you hating on somebody, giving them the 

negative energy, and he didn't get insulted,

and end up you feel the pain.

Haters aren't going away, they are everywhere.

You can go online search videos about cute cats,

and there is like thousands of dislikes.

Only haters does that.

All we have to do is to stop reacting to them, 

and protect ourselves with compassion.

Nobody was psychologically happy could ever hate on somebody.

Even I hated on somebody too,

we all have our moments of jealousy, envy, low self-esteem

and taking insecurity on somebody else.

It's normal, we are human.

And it's not easy to ignore their hates,

and you wanted to debate and be defensive,

but it will actually corrupt you become like them.

Haters gonna hate.

Just be compassion for you did and strive for your goal.

Depression

Depression

Depression, many of us thinks that we are depressed

But we are not. 

I was once depressed on love.

I was so depressed that I feel like I have no life anymore.

That was when I was naive and close minded.

There is many ways to overcome the depression.

Well, imagine You are the sky, 

Depression, Frustration etc are the clouds.

They come and they go.

But You are always here because you are the sky

Some stay awhile, but in the end they will go.

Big problems comes, when you started to identify as depression.

Never identify with things that which comes and goes.

For me, when problems come I observe it.

Allow it to come and go without resistant.

Because I know that it was not me.

It is just a problem that everyone will face.

Problem comes and goes,

We need to learn how to overcome and face it.

In order achieve our goals.

Commitment

COMMITMENT

Commitment is one of the important traits to achieve your goal.

Because there is time that 

when I was studying what I am "Interested",

I found out that my efforts are weak and unfocused.

When this happens, I will try to keep myself motivated

"I want to be success!"

but my actions didn’t reflect this belief.

So I began to think that, what if?

When it comes to getting paid to do what I love, after I am graduated, am I interested or committed?

That's where I found that interest and commitment are very different

Interest works an hour a day on the business; 

Commitment works whenever time permits.

I started questioning myself.

Why am I holding back? What is stopping me from living the life I’ve imagined for myself?

And I found out that the reason for holding me back is

“I would take action and get started, but I just don’t know enough yet. I’m just not ready.”

And yet there is internet right in front of me

and I didn't use it wisely.

There is much more to learn.

Well, it's time to 

Get my mindset right and refine my goals

To strive for my dream.

The Past

THE PAST

The past is always an emotional thing to me.

Because I always hated my past.

The bad choices that I chose.

The mistakes I made.

How childish and naive I was.

Why can't I be more mature like the others?

I always hated that, I didn't treasure the people who 

loved and cared for me in the past.

Now I lost it.

There is nothing I can do now. But to move on.

Well, a past is a past, you can't turn back time to change it.

It's a journey to make us grow along the time

and make us who we are now.

All we need to do is move on, and learn from the mistakes

and don't do it again in the future.

Dream

Dream

I have a dream that one day I will become a

concept artist.

I always admire and love other concept artist make

tons of concept weapon or costume for the

character.

This is the first time I ever draw a concept art.

It's not really that great and nice.

But there are times, that I sit down and question myself

Am I really an artist?

Can I really become an artist?

I am not really good or talented at it.

Artist doesn't get much income. How am I gonna repay my family?

Should I really continue study Art?

Well, in our life there is always up and down.

I might fail sometimes, but it's a journey that I chose.

I love what I do

All I need is passion and contribution.

And it's just the beginning.

Dream can't come true.

If you just sit there and wait.

Get up and strive for it.

God

GOD

Many friends ask me that do you believe in God?

And I will always say that i'm neutral.

Well, it's because that nobody can prove that God is truly exist.

I mean I do believe in those like Karma and stuff.

But sometimes I always think that 

Why God help those wealthy people and

didn't help those who really need it.

People will say that you need to do it yourself

not just pray god all the time for help

Well, there are probably people out there in an island

and thinks that the airplanes flying across their island

is a God

For me, God is just like a myth to make us people

to do good deeds in order to go to heaven.

So that people will not do bad deeds.

Friendship

Friendship

Does having tons of friends makes you happy?

Does staying together in a same dorm, makes your friendship stronger?

Does it have to be when your friends called you for a drink, and you need to be there only known as "friends"?

Well, true friends understands why you can't make it and won't blame you for it. We don't need to have conversation whole day whole night to makes our friendship stronger. 

All we need is just one day of having fun together and we will be happy.

True friends will correct you to do the right thing.

But does it means we only be friends with those who are close to us or know us?

Well, for me I would be friends with anyone if i can.

Creating Friendship is way better than creating Enemies.

Treasure Your Friendships.

Don't regret it until you lose your friendship.