Heidi Wilhite’s HUM210 uniblog

I am learning a great deal about the film industry.  I just thought that this class was basically going to be about watching movies, then writing a review.  I am not only doing that but also learning the behind the scences info on the movie making process.  I only received one response from Nora, but am enjoying all of the feedback that I’ve been given.  I look forward to the next module!

The contemporary actor I chose was Jack Nicholson and I watched Anger Management (2003).  Adam Sandler stars as Dave Buznik who’s behavior on a plane is mistaken as aggressive.  He’s wrongly accused of a crime and ordered by Judge Daniels (Lynne Thigpen) to attend an anger management program taught by Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson).  Dr. Rydell is a crazy psycho with his own serious anger management problems.  The class is filled with a unique mix of individuals and escalates Dave’s anger instead of managing it. When Dave ends up back in front of Judge Daniels to be sentenced to jail time, Dr.Rydell bails his out by offering to move in with Dave in order to help him stay out of trouble.  Without Nicholson this film certainly wouldn’t have done as well as it did.  He has great chemistry with Sandler which proves to be an effective combination.  Nicholson is funny by just simply giving a look, a knowing smile or a devious raising of the eyebrows.  The only drawbacks to this film were that there were way too many cameos and times when the movie is very funny and occasions when the jokes are flat and familiar.  If you haven’t seen it yet and want a good laugh you should definitely rent it!

It was interesting to read how much power actors really have in regard to film production. Because of the situation Paramount faced in the 1950’s stars began to form their own production companies.  Their pay plans changed from salaries to box-office profits.  To this day there are still major stars with their own production companies.  In order to open up more doors for themselves, actors needed to demonstrate a wide range of acting ability. In movies now days, stars are showing more skin or doing pretty much whatever is asked in order to make top dollars.  Times have definitely changed throughout the film market.

The two film elements I chose to research were Match Cut and Montage.

Match Cut - A cut from one movie or television camera or shot to another, with the action appearing to continue seamlessly.

This website breaks down and shows how Match Cut is used in the film industry.

www.nightforday.com/2004/10/match-cut_11.html

Montage - A style of moviemaking that makes extensive use of cuts, camera movements and changes of camera position, particularly to set up new meanings not conveyed by the filmed action itself.

The following website gives step by step directions on how to create a montage.

www.infinite-fire.net/tutorials/photoshop/montage

This website gives the biography of Jack Nicholson.  It also lists awards in which he has received and milestones.

http://www.hollywood.com/celebs/fulldetail/id/196395

During my reading I stumbled upon information on Robert Altman.  Although I had heard his name before in the past I couldn’t remember what he was famous for.  This website highlights his career paths and gives his background information.

www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/05/altman.html

The director whom I will be focusing on for the course paper is Steven Speilberg.  I chose to write about him because I enjoy all of his films.  The three films that I will be analyzing are: The Terminal (2004), Catch Me If You Can (2002), and Munich (2005).  The reason I chose these particular films is because they are all based on true stories.  The only one I haven’t viewed yet is Munich.  I look forward to watching it and comparing it to the other two.

I really enjoyed this module.  It was nice to be able to pick the movies I wanted to view.  I learned a great deal about directors.  I appreciate all of the feedback I received from my replies. 

The three film elements that I chose were: Three Point Lighting System, Crane Shot & Steadicam.

The resource I found for Three Point Lighting System is: http://www.mediacollege.com/lighting/three-point/

The resource I found for Crane Shot is: http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/htmfiles/cinematography.htm

The resource I found for Steadicam is: http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/S/htmlS/steadicam/steadicam.htm

I hope these will be beneficial to you all.

This resource is on the movie The Terminal (2004).  You can watch the trailer, look at the cast overview or read the plot outline.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362227/

I decided to find a resource on Nancy Meyers.  I found the following in which you can locate movies she has written, produced and directed.  Hopefully this will be useful information to all of you.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0583600/