Jacob's Film blog

Intro Film Review

jacobscottbirchenall — Thu, 28 May 2009 05:11:03 +0000

This year in Film I took this class with a genuine interest in pursuing it at a higher level. Nothinng has happened this year to stop me from wanting to do this. In film I worked as a sound technician and a director. Being a director is a good experience but it is also a lot of responsibility. It is good to take the position of leadership that comes with the director but you need to be very committed and encourage your film crew to be committed as well. Film was very enjoyable and it wasn’t “an easy A” which could be assumed by some naive people. Film is an art and it has always been one of my priorities. I look forward to venturing further into Flim and continuing my journey in higher level where I will be able to apply the skills I have learnt in Intro.

Fast Times at Ridgemont

jacobscottbirchenall — Wed, 20 May 2009 00:00:54 +0000

In this film, Fast Times at Ridgemont high, you follow the life of a few high school students living in Ridgemont. The characters experience the inadequacy of adolescence. Fast Times at ridgemont high is an enjoyable film, with no heavy theme or plot. It is an ok film but I didn’t enjoy it that much because I expected more. When I am watching a movie that has survived for over twenty five years I expect a lot. However, when Fast Times at Ridgemont High was finished I was in a state of shock because I was still waiting for the climax which never seemed to come. Don’t get me wrong because it is a good careless movie to watch with you’re friends however I wouldn’t reccommend this film for anything other than to watch with your friends. The main character Jeff Spicoli, is a “stoner” and this is a very stereotypical character, he slacks off in class, smokes marijuana and engages in other steretypically stoner activities such as hitting his head with a shoe and saying “that was my skull”. This character brings a lot of humor to the film. The acting in this film is of great quality because you feel like you are experiencing what is happening and you are sympathetic toward the characters when anything bad happens. The characterization is good as they get the balance of stereotypes and individual characters just right. This film is good at providing characters that films will later use as stock or stereotype characters. This film deals with a lot of teen issues and that is why it is known as a teen movie. In this film, sex, drugs and friends are the main themes. The film takes place in many different locations the most common of which are the school, the mall or Stacy and Brad Hamilton’s pool in their garden. In this film, a 15 year old teen Stacy Hamilton wants to have sex and find a relationship. Jeff Spicoli has an on going war with a teacher who is looking to make an example out of Jeff. Brad Hamilton gets fired from his beloved fast food job and seeks work elsewhere. Mark Ratner, who is in love with Stacy Hamilton has a fight with his best friend Mike Damone after Mike sleeps with Stacy. There is a lot happening in this film but it never leads up to a climax.

Fast Times

March Election

jacobscottbirchenall — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 05:45:21 +0000

Focus on a central character/actor. How would you describe his or her acting style in the film? Does the style seem compatible with the story? With the genre?

Reese Witherspoon acts as an overachiever named Tracy Flick. In this film she acts well and portrays the attitude and physicality of an overachieving, annoying school girl. Her acting style is compatible with the story and helps to create the comedy that is in the genre.

Examine one or two shots in which camera movements – tracks, pans, zooms, or others – are important. Why is a moving frame of a single shot used here instead a series of shots? How does that movement comment on what is happening in the shot?

In this film there are a lot of camera movements, mainly zooms however a pan shot that caught my attention occured during the scene in which Mr Mc Allister was couting the president votes. Tracy Flick already though she had won and was jumping around outside. There is a POV shot of Mr Mc Allister turning to look at her. There are a lot of zooms and when they are of Tracy they are often acompanied with jungle music. These are effectivent because it shows either a reaction shot if it is a zoom or either a POV shot or a an easy way to see a large space if it is

Look for a pattern of compositional distances int he film or sequence. Do there seem to be a large number of long shots? Close-up? Some other pattern? Describe one such pattern and explain how it reinforces one or more themes of the film.

The film would often zoom in on a certain facial reaction and have a narrative from a certain character. Usually the narrative would come from the person shown in the film. The narrative seemed to give background details that would have otherwise taken a long time to explain such as the relationship between Dave and Tracy.

To what extent do sound effects add to the film’s sense of realism? Can you locate an example which sound effects are rpimarily responsible for creating a particular impression of location, action or mood?

A certain sound effect that was very easy to remember because it was funny while at the same time showing the climax of an important scene. The jungle music I am referring to which seems to follow Tracy Flick. For example when she is angered and destroys the posters the music plays. I believe that this helps set the scene as well as adding a bit of humour that otherwise would have been lacking in the serious situations.

Favorite Films of 2008

jacobscottbirchenall — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:40:14 +0000

The Dark Knight

The dark location, harsh lighting and dramatic music help create the dark mood of The Dark Knight. The Characterization of the Joker played by the late Heath Ledger is unbelievable his character is the main reason that this is my favorite movie ever.

The protagonist of Batman in Nolan’s legendary The Dark Knight elicits sympathy/condemnation from the audience because we recognize and see the sacrifices he is having to make.In The Dark Knight Nolan explores the thin line between anarchy and order and the sickness of human nature against the dark backdrop of Gotham City.

“You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” exemplifies Harvey Dent’s attitude to the thin line between anarchy and order as well as the sickness and insecurity of human nature in The Dark Knight.

Nolan’s action thriller The Dark Knight follows the journey of The Batman who attempts to keep order and stop the Joker from releasing anarchy upon Gotham.

In his action film, Nolan uses various POV shots as well as long shots and harsh lighting to create the dark setting and the character of Joker helps to create the creepy mood of the film.

Nike Take it to the Next Level by Guy Ritchie

jacobscottbirchenall — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:24:41 +0000

This is the commercial I talked about earlier directed by Guy Ritchie. This is shot all in the point of view of a footballer. The shots in this are incredible and have inspired me.

Nike Leave Nothing Commercial

jacobscottbirchenall — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:10:40 +0000

Not an original Film by me however it is an idea that I think is really cool and one day hope to achieve and repeat if I ever make a sports film. Another Nike commercial that I enjoyed and would maybe like to steal ideas from is the soccer commercial “Take it to the Next Level” which was actually directed by Guy Richie

Seven Samurai Film Review

jacobscottbirchenall — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 06:26:45 +0000

Seven Samurai movie poster

This film takes place in Feudal Japan and revolves around a small town under attack from bandits. in an attempt to save their crops the town hires seven samurai to defend the town against the bandits. This movie is considered to be number 13 on the top 250 movies of all time on IMDB. I struggle to believe this as I didn’t have any enjoyment watching it. This movie that ran for 207 minutes or 3 and a half hours struggled to keep me entertained. I found that this movie not only failed to entertain me, it also had several transitions that seemed as though they had been done in windows movie maker. However due to this movie being made in 1954 these transitions were probably new and this movie may have been revolutionary in creating extravagant transitions. The movie has a very celar narrative structure as well as fulfilling all of the technique’s that we studied so maybe I am weird for not enjoying the film Seven Samurai.

Proposal Analysis

jacobscottbirchenall — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:59:36 +0000

In our proposal of Miguel Jimenez’s film we all contributed. Due to it being Miguel’s film he led the proposal however all of our group had our own ideas and thoughts that we brought to the proposal. I am in charge of sound and would like to apply at least one sound bridge as well as other cool things that you can do with sound. Other people have other ideas such as Aadam who would like to use a variety of shots to capture Miguel on his longboard. Josh will be in charge of the cinematography, this means that he will be in charge of choosing some of the locations we will be shooting in as well as the lighting and deciding if he wants to shoot when it is raining. The film will be about Miguels life the opening sequence will be him on a longboard throwing pictures of his childhood on the ground and zooming in while a song that is yet to be decided will be playing.†