Iron Man Final Critique

Final Critique

            It has been a long year in film class and I have decided to take apart the bits and pieces of Iron Man, directed by Jon Favreau. Iron Man is a great movie that includes all of the following elements of film: sound, movement, and editing.  I chose Iron Man because it is my favorite movie and its target audience is teens my age. 

            In Iron Man Tony Stark, the main character is captured by terrorists.  When he escapes he builds the Iron Man suit and in order to fight back against the terrorists of the world.  The basic theme of Iron Man is good versus evil.  This theme is carried throughout the film, but this film is not only about the theme but it is also about the film elements of sound, movement, and editing.

            Iron Man by Jon Favreau is one of my favorite movies to watch.  The sound in Iron Man is at parts powerful and at other times the soundtrack is lost behind all of the explosions.  The beginning of the movie starts off in Afghanistan where Tony Stark is being transported home after demonstrating his new weapon to the army.  Sound is used here to suggest a place.  Back in Black is the sound track and it is used to show that the subject is in the middle of a war zone.  The sound track is appropriate for the beginning because soldiers usually have songs that pump them up for war.  This is also shown in the movie Three Kings when the troops are in their jeep driving to go get the gold.  The sound in this scene is also very low.  The low rumbling of the motor below the music is to help the viewer feel like they are in the car also.  The sound in the beginning also helps to suggest character.  The song playing suggests that Tony Stark is full of himself. 

            Sound is also very important when it is diegetic and natural sound can be found in the scene when Tony Stark is blasted with an EMF tone that impairs his movement.  The diegetic sound is coming from the phone when it is ringing.  The natural sound is found when Tony is walking towards the white couch.  However sound is not all that is important to the movie Iron Man, movement is also portrayed.

            Movement connects the actions of one character to another in a scene.  The movement used in Iron Man is mainly literal movement.  Literal movement in a movie is when the dialogue and actions are more preserved and intact.  Iron Man used a lot of hand held shots in order to take the perspective of Tony Stark.  The shakiness of the camera in the opening scene suggested that the dirt road is bumpy.  Another hand head shot can be seen in the scene where Tony is testing the new suit.  The camera takes over Tony’s perspective and allows the audience to feel like they are Tony in the suit flying through the air.

            A pan shot is used to show how fast Tony is moving towards the city where the Arabs are being held hostage.  A pan shot is used to connect the characters when they are captured together in the containment of the hills.  The pan helps to show that Tony now has a partner, Yensen, who will help him escape.  Though the movement and of the camera is important the editing helps to cut the film smoothly together.

            Editing helps cut the movie so that all of the transitions flow.  A Montage is used to help show time passing in a movie.  A montage is used in the beginning of the movie to help show confusion.  A montage of capture and surgery sequences are cut together in order to show that the final product is Stark having an electromagnet in his chest.  Three Jump cuts are used when Tony is first escaping with his prototype suit.  When he takes out the first three guards the jump cut is used to show how fast it happened.  Jump cuts are also used when Yesen is dying.  This shows that he and Tony are now drifting apart because Yesen is going into the afterlife.

            Overall Iron Man was a well edited movie with great sound elements and literal movement.  I am proud to say it is my favorite movie.

Movement in Movies

Movement

            For the chapter on movement our class watched two movies, Hero and Three Kings.  Both were very good movies but, Hero had more lyrical movement while Three Kings was more literal movement.  Although the movies are placed in different categories of movement they had a number of shots in common.

Movement is shown in many movies and is important in connecting the actions of one character to another in the scene.  There are different types of movement which are as follows lyrical and literal movement.  Literal movement in a movie is when the dialogue and actions are more preserved and intact.  Lyrical movement over emphasizes emotions given off by the subject in the frame.  But most of the movement is shown thanks to the different spots the camera can be moved to in order to get all the different shots needed to create an exciting scene or movie.  The different shots include the pan shot, the hand held shot, and the zoom shot.

            The Pan shot is when the camera is placed stationary to where the action is happening in the frame.  Then it is moved left to right, down to up and vice versa.  The pan shot connects the movie in different ways.  For example in Three Kings the pan shot is used in the middle of a conversation instead of a cut.  This pan shot connects the characters in the scene to show that they are a group.  Another pan takes the perspective of Troy Barlow when he has his collapsed lung.  The Pan shot in that scene is also a reaction shot; a shot that takes away from the action of his collapsed lung to show the more important part of his comrade dying. Hero had a pan shot when the arrow were being fired on broken sword and Flying Snow’s city.  The pan helped to show the direction in which the arrows were aimed for.  The shot is also used in the pond battle when Broken Sword wipes the water off of Flying Snow’s face.  The Pan shows that Flying snow and Broken Sword are a group and care for each other. 

            Three Kings used a lot of hand held shots in order to take the perspectives of the American Soldiers.  The shots were used to emphasize the adrenaline that the Americans had when they were stealing the gold from the bunker.  The shakiness of the camera suggested that they were giddy with excitement.  The hand held shots were useful and helped to feel like you were really in the movie watching it from your own perspective. 

            Hero was a more lyrical movements and didn’t require hand held shots because they would have been too shaky and made the movie less dramatic.  The zoom shot was used heavily during the war scenes and also during the one on one battles. The zoom shot was mostly used as a cut when the arrows of the Qin army were raining down on the city and also down on Nameless. The zoom cut shot was used to show how many arrows were coming into play and also to emphasize the speed at which each one traveled.  It added a mix of anger to the already lyrical movie.

            Hero and Three Kings were both good movies and both have great examples of movement in them.  Hero the more lyrical movie and Three Kings the more literal movie. 

Oscar Movies

            The Oscars, a television award show to nominate and declare what the movies of the year are.  The movies are nominated thanks to critiques reviews in the United States.  Most people wait until the Oscars in order to know what movies to see.  I find out for myself which movies are the best.  My three choices include The Social Network, Toy Story 3, and Inception.  All have different plots, characters, directors, and themes.  The lighting, angles, and shots add to the interesting aspects of the movies. 

            The Social Network by David Fincher was a movie of interest directed at teens all around the world.  It portrayed the story about how facebook, one of the number one social networking sites in the world, came to be.  Although I liked the idea for the movie I thought it was poorly put together, and therefore should have never been nominated for Best Picture.  Personally I couldn’t connect with Mark Zuckerberg because he was completely self centered and rude to everyone around him.  Plus he talked really fast and never showed any signs of emotion throughout the movie.  Mark Zuckerberg was a robot in a human body.

            The plot was obvious from the start, and that never leads to the suspense or action that I look for in a movie.  However there were some scenes that had some interesting character placement.  After Mark sets up his stock agreements, his friend Eduardo was cast out of his mind like a useless rock.  Eduardo has his stock cut down to a very small amount.  The character placement where he confronts Mark about it is just amazing.  A long shot is used in order to show that everyone in the office is listening.  Mark is sitting down and plugged into the computer, showing that he is unaware of what is happening around him.  He is sitting, which suggests that he doesn’t have power over what is happening, ironic considering he is the owner and founder of facebook. Eduardo has the power in this scene as shown that he is at the top of the frame. 

            Triangular composition is suddenly thrown into play.  In the beginning Mark starts up a website called facemash.com.  While he and his buddy are at the computer Eduardo is lying down on his bed in the background.  Clearly Mark has the power in this scene considering he is the dominant vocal point of the frame.  Eduardo and Mark’s friend don’t have very much say in the matter of facemash.com and are therefore in the background.

            Overall The Social Network didn’t excite me because it wasn’t based off of the real story of how facebook came to be, the plot was obvious, and I couldn’t connect with any of the characters.  Therefore it will not win Best Picture at the Oscars.

            Toy Story 3, is the conclusion of the now trilogy of animated movies about the adventures of Woody and Buzz. Now animation itself is truly a master work of art.  The amount of skill and time it takes in order to give a character emotions and movement.  This animation work on Toy Story 3 was fascinating.  The characters had real emotions that I could connect to and were enforced with low and high key lighting. 

            The low key lighting scenes were mostly when Lots-o was with his friends.  The low key lighting helped to emphasize the Lots-o was really evil.  He usually has a lot of shadows around him or on his face to show that he is devious.  This can especially be seen when he is in the vending machine with the other toys.  This lighting is also shown when Woody, Buzz, Lots-o, and Woody’s friends are being moved towards the furnace. Lots-o’s face has a shadow cast over it suggesting that he is an evil character.

            High key lighting is used in most of the shots in the movie because Woody and Buzz are the main characters.   Whenever Woody or Buzz is in the frame they don’t have shadows on their faces or bodies.  They are always outlined by the light which shows that they are the good toys in the movie. 

            Overall Toy Story 3 concluded the trilogy nicely, but it is in no shape to win Best Picture considering that no animated movie has ever beaten out real actors.  However, Toy Story 3 will definitely win best animated picture of the year. 

            This brings me to the final movie I have seen, Inception, by Christopher Nolan.  It has an interesting concept that you can enter other people’s dreams, control them, get the info you need, and plant seeds of ideas in their heads.  The movie had great special effects, an intriguing plot, and great use of lighting.

            Inception had a lot of special effects used in the beginning of the movie when Ariadne was learning how to be an architect of the dream world.  The effects are so well done that they allow you to feel like you are actually in movie itself.  The buildings appear real which helps to grab the audience.

            The plot was not like any that I have seen before.  The concept of entering someone else’s dream was innovative to say the least.  There was a lot of action and preparing in order to conclude the plot and get the character’s their information that they needed.  I thought the plot was good because it was basic but also very complex at the same time.  Some “missions” in the movie were simple while others needed preparation and therefore the plot was a spider web of one idea, which made it intriguing.  Besides the plot a lot of lighting was used to show the good and the bad times that Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio.

            It was clear that his good time were the first levels of his dream state because high key lighting was used and everything was bright and clear.  As we go further into his mind we discover Cobb has some nightmares.  The nightmares were shown in more low key lighting in order to express the darkness that his wife was going through.  The low key light also helps to emphasize his wife’s depression. 

            The movie Inception has the best chance of winning best picture because it was intriguing, with good effect, and lighting.  It also has characters that the audience could connect with, and to top it off a plot that is easily followed. 

            All of these movies have different aspects to them that make them appealing to certain people.  I personally judge my movies based on the plot and characters.  I hope Toy Story 3 wins best picture, but I know it doesn’t have a chance.  Out of the three movies that I have seen I think Inception has the best chance of winning and I hope it wins best picture of the year.

             

Apocalypto Movie Critique

            The movie of Apocalypto, by Mel Gibson, is a tale of Jaguar Paw’s journey to the end of his tribe’s existence.  The movie had a lot of movement, which helped to keep the viewer interested.  I was personally proud to have watched Apocalypto because I think it was filmed brilliantly with lots of action sequences, and overall lived up to my standards of a good movie.  Mel Gibson uses color techniques to their fullest in order to provide the viewer with a breath taking experience.  The colors also show a transformation in one of the main characters in the movie.  I thought Mel used color the best in the movie to signify a new sequence in the movie.  Like there will be a new experience for the viewer when the colors change.

            The movie Apocalypto is an inspiring story about Jaguar Paw overcoming his inner fear and trying to save his tribe’s ways.  He only overcomes his inner fear when he is taken from his village, faces the other tribes, and dangers on his own.  He is also trying to save his family so that his tribe may live on.  The film is focused on Jaguar Paw but it is also meant to be a history source.   It helps to describe what life was life in the days of the Mayans and Aztecs.  I found the movie very informative about the rituals of the Mayans and also daily life of Jaguar Paw’s tribe. 

            While I was watching this movie I thought of what I actually knew about the Aztecs and the Mayans.  Truthfully, I don’t know that much about either of them, but Apocalypto helped me learn how brutal the Mayans could be in order to please their gods.  The movie also made me think of another movie, National Treasure.  The chase scenes of both movies paralleled each other.  The main character is living a normal life.  Then he gets captured by the enemies, Jaguar Paw by the Mayans, and Ben Gates by the Police.  Eventually both characters escape their enemies and start a new life, while protecting the family that is important to them.

            Mel Gibson uses color in many of his scenes to emphasize what is happening on screen.  Color is an essential to all film today without color the film would seem like it was made in the nineteen eighties.  When Jaguar Paw is running from the Mayans through the jungle he finds himself neck deep in mud.  From this mud he rises and takes on the meaning of his name.  When he rises out of the mud he is black not green like the background of green trees and shrubs.  I think that the pure blackness of the mud on his skin shows that he is “gaining strength like a jaguar”.  The black color in front of the green background shows that Jaguar Paw has no more fear and is not afraid of being seen by his enemies. 

The color is also helpful when Jaguar Paw decides to jump off of the waterfall in order to escape the Mayans.  At first he is covered in the ceremonial royal blue paint, but after he has jumped into the water the paint is washed off of him.  He survives the hundred or so foot drop and looks back to see what the Mayans will do next.  The royal blue paint, according to me, signified his capturing by the Mayans.  But the waterfall acted like a barrier, for a little bit, between Jaguar Paw and the Mayans.  The blue paint washing off Jaguar Paw signifies his escape from being captured by the Mayans.  It is also showing that he is out of their territory and now in his region of dominance.  

            Overall I liked the film Apocalypto and found the significance of the color intriguing.  I wouldn’t recommend buying the film.  Instead rent it at your local library, or blockbuster, and watch for the scenes with color contrasts.