Acting Styles in This Is the End

Analyzing acting styles in “This is The End” is a fun assignment because in this film, the actors played themselves. This insanely funny, “R” rated comedy is a story of six friends trapped in James Franco’s house. The night started out as a party and concluded with the beginning of the end of the world. Nothing tests friendships more than surviving an apocalypse.
Three of the stars who made this movie as wild as it was include Seth Rogen, who also directed it, Jonah Hill, and Craig Robinson. I consider all three of them personality actors. In every movie I’ve seen them in, they seem to play the same kind of character. Seth always seems to play a role of an immature man who enjoys recreational marijuana use. He seems to always lack motivation and ambition, yet people like him because he’s an overall nice enough guy. In “Knocked Up” he was clearly not ready to be a parent, but it was so hard to hate him because his character seems to mean well and eventually makes an effort to prove himself to the mother of his child.
Jonah Hill is the same overweight, timid, easily forgettable kind of man that seems to be taken advantage of in every film I’ve seen him in. In “This is The End,” Jay hated him and yelled at him for what seemed to be no reason at all. In “Get Him to the Greek,” he played a lowly intern who was repeatedly overlooked and ignored by other characters in the movie.
Craig Robinson is a massive black guy that always seems to get pulled into drama because of the antics of his friends. He plays roles like club bouncers, enforcers, etc. Same guy in every film…
Leaving these actors in their comfort zone of basically acting like themselves will most likely continue to be a successful move for them and the directors who use them in films. It works. Although it may hint at their inability to grow and mature in their field and perform in a different role, there’s really nothing wrong with sticking to roles they’ve already established themselves in. If it works, it works. I’ll keep watching!

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

This Is the End. (2013). Retrieved May 15, 2014, from IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1245492/?ref_=nv_sr_1

See the trailer here:

Functions of Sound in “The Lion King”

Disney’s “The Lion King” is the first animated film that comes to mind when I think about sound in a movie. Each basic category of sound played an important role in winning over audiences and critics of this award winning film.

The dialogue used in “The Lion King” left a lasting impression on the world. I still hear many catch phrases from this 1994 hit used today. I know of a few people who find the phrase “Hakuna Matata” so meaningful in their lives, they had it tattooed somewhere on themselves. “The Circle of Life” is another catch phrase people constantly refer to. Without even thinking, most of us exactly what they mean. I recall in my high school years, mean girls would call another girl “Mufasa” when picking on her frizzy hair since it resembled a lion’s mane. Such creative bullies…

The sound effects in this motion picture were powerful, but this is to be expected of any movie that carries the Disney name. The sounds of the wild were realistic. Every time I heard Mufasa’s voice after his death, it was if thunder was speaking. Seriously, if thunder had a voice, it would sound exactly like James Earl Jones. Other examples of excellent sound effects include the waterfalls, the noises from the insects, the roar of the lions, and the sound of that rattle like thing Rafiki always carried around—what was that anyway?

I’m almost 100% certain every Disney movie ever created also released a matching soundtrack. I’m 30 years old now and I can still belt out the songs from the “Lion King” and I was only 11 years old when I watched it the first time. The music used in this film guided my emotions as I watched. I felt excited and anxious when all the animals came together to sing “I Just Can’t Wait to be King.” “I knew love was in the air when “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” played while Simba and Nala rolled around playfully.

“The Lion King” was a perfect balance of all three categories of sound. Removing any one of these key elements would have robbed this film of something amazing. Not nearly as many people would have cried. I, for one, was kind of embarrassed to find myself in tears over a cartoon and I blame the emotions this movie drew out of me that could have only been accomplished through the use of the powerful dialogue, sound effects, and music.

View the movie trailer here:

http://www.afi.com/10top10/moviedetail.aspx?id=2&thumb=1

Lighting Techniques in Scary Movie 2

Scary Movie 2
Writers: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans. Buddy Johnson Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer, Alyson Fouse, Greg Grabianski, Dave Polsky, Michael Snowden, Craig Wayans
Director: Keenan Ivory Wayans
Major Actors: Anna Faris, Marlon Wayans, Christopher Masterson, Shawn Wayans, Regina Hall
Release Year: 2001
“Scary Movie 2” parodies several great movies, including “The Haunting,” “The Exorcist,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Poltergeist,” and “Save the Last Dance” to name a few. This movie is an ideal example of a cross genre film as it mixes horror and comedy. The use of lighting in this motion picture was especially important because it helped transition viewers from scary moments to light-hearted, funny scenes. The movie begins with a dark, eerie shot of the Hell House. The low-key lighting technique used here was easy to identify because of the overall dark look of the area and deep shadows (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011). The only light source seemed to be coming from the moon above.
The next scene takes place inside of the mansion. A bright, well lit room created by a high-key lighting design created a joyful place for the group of partiers to sing by the piano. This mood switched from chipper to humorous once the group started singing a rap song about butt shaking.
After watching the first couple of scenes, it grew easy to predict the switch from horror to comedy and back to horror again. The scene where the father went to use the bathroom was obviously going to be funny, because the cinematographer relied on high-key lighting again, which is typical for comedies and happy scenes (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011).
This was immediately followed by the gross, scary exorcism scene. The room is dark, but once focus is shifted to the possessed child, the lighting becomes harsh and unflattering, emphasizing the frightful demon inside of her. Not too long after we’re exposed to such a terrifying image, the room brightens, indicating some inbound comedy. The epic vomit scene is next. The one in which the child pukes on one father, who returns the favor, followed by more throwing up and eventually the joining in of the bodily fluids of the other father. The strategic swapping back and forth between high and low key lighting techniques was the only way to fly with this movie. If typical three-point lighting was used in the exorcism scene, the child may have been less scary with flattering light on her face.
Now that we know the director’s and cinematographer’s plan of how they want to take us from funny to scary and back to funny, we can sit back, grab our beer and popcorn (those are normal movie snacks right?) and enjoy the spooky and hilarious ride.

See the Scary Movie 2 Trailer here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AYB14LE/ref=atv_feed_catalog?tag=imdb-amazonvideo-20

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Scary Movie 2. (2001). Retrieved May 1, 2014, from IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0257106/

A Few Good Men (1992)

A Few Good Men

Writer: Aaron Sorkin

Director: Rob Reiner

Major Actors: Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Jack Nicholson

Release Year: 1992

Summary: A young Navy lawyer, Lieutenant (Lt.) Daniel Kafee serves as the defense attorney for two marines accused of murder. The two men allegedly assaulted a fellow marine who died after suffering respiratory complications from having a rag shoved in his mouth. The marines claim they were simply following an order to administer a “Code Red,” an unofficial, unauthorized method of peer punishment. This order was believed to have come from Colonel Jessup. The purpose of this particular Code Red order was to discipline a young marine, Private Santiago, who made repeated requests to transfer out of his duty location, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Rank and position carry a great deal of weight in the military which poses a challenge for such an inexperienced defense team.

Analysis: This film was presented non-linear order. Bouncing around in time allowed the audience to see the world through the eyes of the marine’s defense team. We learned the true version of the events leading up to Private Santiago’s death and pieced together the facts right along with Lt Kaffee and Lt Cdr Galloway. Allowing a limited point of view added a mysterious feature to “A Few Good Men.”
The characters were predictable, defining a clear good guy and bad guy from the start. Kaffee and Galloway, both young and good looking were the protagonists seeking a fair trial for the marines they were hired to defend. Col Jessup, made a perfect antagonist as an old, grumpy, impatient, out of touch, stubborn marine with an inflated sense of entitlement due to his high rank and position. Before viewers get to see him, the picture of an untouchable, powerful man is presented.
This film addresses a few universal truths, helping audiences to relate. Young marines, or any young military member for that matter, understand the importance of following orders from those appointed over them. It’s instilled in all junior members of all military branches in the beginning of their career. We can all assume the two marines on trial are not actually cold-blooded killers, just misguided, simple kids following an order. They didn’t mean to kill Santiago, just rough him up a bit. We can all relate to a need to feel like you’re doing the right thing or exposing the truth. This was the mission of Kaffee and Galloway which made it easy to get behind them. I’m sure some can even level with Col Jessup’s decision to order a “Code Red.” The marines or any organization, military or civilian, cannot function with lower level employees complaining constantly and thinking they can get what they want by writing letters and threatening to reveal something meant to be kept private.
There was no other effective way to present this film. If another way was used, for example, allowing the audience to view the story objectively would have made it hard to pick a side to support. Knowing all of the events at once would have drastically shortened the film, leaving no room for mystery and suspense.

A Few Good Men. (1992). Retrieved Apr 24, 2014, from IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104257/?ref_=ttmd_md_nm

Reiner, R. (Director). (1992). A Few Good Men [Motion Picture].