Online Film Analysis

Ocean's Eleven
The scene starts with six people sitting around a table playing poker, right away you can tell that Brad Pitt's character, will be a main character. The shot uses deep focus, as players are placed in the foreground and middle ground, because you can see for example, the strippers in the background of the shot. By sitting around the table, the shot is balanced according to the Rule of Thirds. The light is dim, illuminating only the from of the players and the table which helps to portray the feel and atmosphere of a casino, and the overall feel of the movie. The opening scene is followed by several scenes, of much shorter duration, shows three players, each placed in one of the planes of depth. Pitt's character is the dominant character because his commanding dialogue is making up for much of the sound, although the darker lighting on him, kind of puts him in the shadows. In the next sequence, the camera work changes, cutting between Rusty and Danny.

Silence of the Lambs
The scene starts with a long shot, showing the entire house as well as the police men that are about to go in. The barking of the dog, I thought was like a foreshadowing of everything that is about to happen. Then there are cuts back and forth between what is going on outside the house, as well as what is going on inside the house. The low-angle shot makes the girl at the bottom of the well love helpless and weak. While the high-angle shot makes the man above the well appear to be the dominant figure. When the are going back and forth between cuts, what you then find out, is that the people outside the house, are outside of a different house than the one they are supposed to be at. So the close-up on Jodi Foster's character when he opens the door, is a bit of a shock. Extreme close-up on the detective's face, when he finds out that Jodi Foster's character is at the right house alone, really displays the emotions and fear that he immediately feels.

Amadeus
The clip begins with an old man in the middle of the frame, and alternates to a youthful priest. The alternation continues as the two talk, aside from several shots that highlight the older man in the midground as he plays some of his old songs on a piano. The only source of light is through a window behind the older man. The light both illuminates him and lights up streaks of dust as it pours into the room. As he conducts a song playing in his head, the scene flashes back to a larger woman coming down a flight a stairs while singing opera. She is in a decadent outfit, and stands out in the background of the frame. As the song finishes, the scene flashes back to the older man, trying to relive in the memory of his past glory. The scene is distinguished by the discomfort and relation between the older man and his guest, whenever the camera turns to either of them, they are the sole subject in the frame.

The Mirror
The scene opens with two young, bald boys scurring out of a dimly lit room with in all-wood furniture, appears like a cabin. A reverse tracking shot backs away from the scene, while keeping the original room in the frame for a long time. The camera then pans to the window of a door, and in the deep background, the two boys who originally left the room are now seen at the front door. The only sound heard is the sound of a dog barking, and a man yelling out "Mikah". The camera slowly pans across from the house's porch, to center on a huge house fire in the background. A woman stands in the foreground watching, and a man stands in the mid ground, both in silence. The boy goes out to join the woman. The only sound in the shot is of flames burning and rain falling onto the porch.

Best Picture Nominee Assignment

SOCIAL NETWORK
1. Funny
2. Great characters
3. Interesting
TRUE GRIT
1. Hailey Steinfeld was great
2. Great setting
3. Dialogue bugged me
INCEPTION
1. Overrated
2. Interesting, but too confusing
3. Hated the ending
WINTER'S BONE
1. Got boring at times
2. Main character was incredible
3. Dark and suspensful lighting
THE KING'S SPEECH
1. Funny
2. Loved the main characters
3. Got boring a few times
TOY STORY 3
1. Classic, I love Toy Story
2. Cried at the end
3. Love the characters

1. THE SOCIAL NETWORK- I loved this movie for many reasons, but one of the main reasons I think would be the acting. I think that the characters in the film were incredible. Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerburg was perfect, you hated his character but at the same time, you couldn't help but love him. I have to admit, at first I didn't know how I felt about Justin Timberlake being a main character, but I think he played the role of Sean Parker, very well. I also loved the humor in the movie, there were so many hilarious and memorable lines. Mark's hilarious and sarcastic comments, "The Winklivii" "I'm checking your math. Yes, I got that too." There were so many great lines that really added to the movie. I also really liked the lighting in the film, it was always very dark and eerie, and it really added suspense to the film and made it more interesting. Also, I really enjoyed the music in the film, especially the song that the film opened with, I think it was a perfect way to start the film and get your attention right away. Also, the overall story of the film was of course interesting, Facebook is HUGE now, it is safe to say that near everyone in this class has one, so I thought it was interesting to learn more about how it came about, and some of the story behind it all. So overall, I loved The Social Network, the characters, the humor, the cinematic elements, etc. and that is why I ranked it as number 1.

2. THE KING'S SPEECH- I was actually very surprised by how much I liked this film, at first I didn't think I would like it at all, I thought I would be bored and really not impressed. However, I was wrong. I really enjoyed this movie, and thought it was actually quite funny. There were some really memorable scenes, like when King George IV and Lionel are in session in Lionel's office and Lionel asks the King to curse, he has a very difficult time with this and when he finally yells "Fuck!" he seems to uncomfortable that you can't help but laugh. I loved the relationship between King George IV and Lionel, it starts off as being quite rocky and tense and over time they become very close, and have a wonderful relationship. I also liked the characters in this film as well. I really enjoyed Geoffrey Rush as Lionel. Although, one thing that I just continued to notice and almost focus on was how many characters in The King's Speech were also in Harry Potter, hah it sounds so silly, but I just kept noticing it. The lighting in this film was far different from that of The Social Network, there was little contrast and the colors were a dull and muted, which I thought went very well with the story. Overall, I was very surprised with how much I enjoyed this film, but I thought it was great.

 3. TOY STORY 3- I am a little bit biased about this choice because I love Toy Story, and even though this wasn't my favorite, I still enjoyed it so much because of all the characters and what they bring to it. So the main reason that I chose to put Toy Story 3 at the number three position is because of the characters, Woddy, Buzz, Mr. Potato Head, Rex, etc. were all my favorite when I was younger, so seeing them in another film was great. Although, I wasn't necesarily a huge fan of the story and plot of the film, I still couldn't help but love it. It was a little hard to decide if this should be three or four but I thought about it and realized that I liked it a little bit better than Winter's Bone. So overall, great characters, decent story.

4. WINTER'S BONE- I found myself to really enjoy this film for different reasons, but the main one being how much I could relate to it. I have two older cousins who were both addicted to meth and both cooked it in their homes, so this movie hit home for me. Once again, I loved the characters in this film as well. Jennifer Lawrence as Ree, was absolutely incredible. The lighting in this film was also perfect with the story. It was very dark and eerie, and added to the intensity and suspense of the film. It got to be a little bit dull at times, but I still think it was better then some of the movies I have remaining. I found myself to really connect with Ree's character and really want to see her succeed in her journey. It was exactly awing, and breathtaking effects or anything, but with this kind of story you don't exactly need that. If you connect with the story and the characters, the special effects and all the jazz aren't always so necessary. So that main reason why I liked this film was because I could relate to it quite a bit, and also because of the incredible acting by Jennifer Lawrence as Ree.

5. INCEPTION- First off, I would like to say that I think this film is so overrated, it is ridiculous. I have seen this movie three times now, and I still don't understand why everyone thinks it is so amazing. The only reason I have it ranked as 5 and not 6 is because I really really don't like westerns, so I put True Grit as 6. A few scenes that I did enjoy though were when they were in the winter scene in one of their dreams, the cinematography is beautiful, also I liked the scene where Cobb (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) shows Ariadne (played by Ellen Page) the town that his wife, Mal (played by Marion Cotillard) designed together, I also loved the cinematography in that, all the huge buildings and long shots they used were so cool. I understand that Inception has really cool special effects and is pretty exciting, but the whole movie requires way too much thinking and is just too confusing.

6. TRUE GRIT- First off, I would like to say that I don't think this is a bad movie at all, I don't even really not like it, I am just really not a fan of westerns. The main character in this film Mattie played by Hailee Steinfeld, really really bugged me. I know many people say she had an outstanding performance, but I was really not a fan. I do have a soft spot for Matt Damon though, who plays LaBoeuf. Although I wasn't a huge fan of this movie, I think all of the cinematography in this film is wonderful for the story. Throughout the movie there is very little contrast, and very bright lighting used, except for at night. The scenery was beautiful, like in all westerns. I just for some reason really couldn't connect with this film very much, I found myself to be bored frequently and just not enjoying it.