Works Cited
Barsam, Richard. Looking at Movies:
Fourth Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2013. Print.
Alfred Hitchcock (Director and
Producer). (1958). Vertigo [Motion
Picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.
Friday, March 18, 2016
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Serenity
The feature length film I watched was
Serenity (2005) directed by Joss Whedon. I have previously watched the show,
Firefly, which is set before the film. Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. It
is a very original film, and not a remake or a copy of another movie just from
another angle. The movie is set 500 years in the future where humans had to
leave earth and went to a new solar system and terraformed many planets. The
central planets are controlled by the Alliance, a totalitarian regime, who
wants everything under their control, and the main protagonists on the
transport and cargo ship are rebels who are against the Alliance.
The setting is generally futuristic and
also western at the same time. This genre, science-fiction Western really makes
this movie unique. Within our culture right now, space, and futuristic movies
are becoming more and more apparent. We all are interested in the future and
what we don't know. This movies is culturally relevant to this because it lends
an idea of what our future could look like. I really like how this film took a
different angle to the future though, unlike Star Wars, Star Trek (LOVE!), and
other space movies, they took a different approach to the setting and
environment of the world of which they are in. The film's settings are mostly
of dark, and dirty areas, which you don't see in any other movie. They show the
depressing nature of most people by having planets that look like they are from
a western, and are just abandoned dessert. Summer Glau (River) is amazing in
this movie, and really sells her character. She is mysterious and intriguing
and grabs the viewer right away. In the film, she walks around barefoot or in
boots, and in the midst of battle the camera focuses on her feet and as she walks with ease, almost mysteriously. She fights in fluid motions, like a
dance, and uses almost every bone in her body, showing the audience that the
Alliance turned her into a “weapon."
In the scene above, it starts off by
hearing all the voices of the people in club at once, and zoning in on River.
This technique makes you hear what River is hearing from her point of view to
let you into her state of mind. As she walks down the stairs, you notice she
starts to slow down and stare at the television. At this moment the camera
slowly zooms in, the television is obviously not as close but again lends to
the point of view of River as she is focusing on it. A quick cut goes back on
to River as you see her intrigue as it slowly zooms in, Summer Glau also shows
this by cocking her head to the side just a little bit. The camera cuts back to
the television of the cartoon program continues and the camera zooms in more.
This time, the camera cuts back to River quicker, and goes to an extreme close
up of her, and continues to zoom, during this time there is a fade in of
flashbacks of Rivers past that cuts to different moments very quickly. This
again shows what is going on in River's head and you get a sense of what she is
feeling, because it makes the viewer anxious. After the flashbacks, the camera
does an abruptly quick shot back to River's face, however this time, the
lighting has a bluish tint and her face looks like it is almost glowing as if
she is having an out of body experience. The camera then zooms on to her mouth
and the shots slow down and she whispers, “Miranda”, a common pattern that is
repeated in this movie.
After this the lighting still has the
slowing bluish tint and she starts to fight everyone in the bar, her motions
are fluid and steady showing the ease of what she is doing, the sounds also
echo in the background which again lends to her point of view, that she is not
in reality at the moment. Almost everyone can understand these ques of the
lighting and sounds, it's like when you are zoning out and you aren’t really
there in the moment. I think it is really cool that they were able to portray
this. I the middle of her fighting, the lighting abruptly changes back to
normal and you hear screaming which you did not here before. The change makes
the viewer snap back into reality. The fighting continues and the music gets
increasingly louder showing the intensity of the scene. As the scene progresses
one of her fellow crew mates tries to stop her but she hurts him as well, which
shows how she is not in her right mind because she seems to barely recognize
him. You see the camera cut to the captain struggling to get his gun out of the
storage case, and the camera quickly cuts between him trying to get his gun and
her fighting. This creates anxiety in the viewers, and just makes us want to
say, “HURRY! HURRY!” As the cuts get quicker, the captain grabs his gun and
they aim it on each other at the same time, and River’s brother comes out of
nowhere and says, “Eta Kooram Nah Smech”. This one sentence makes River
instantly pass out, and the scene ends.
Works Cited
Docthewho.
"Serenity." Photograph. Docthewho: Let's Talk. Wordpress, 1 Oct,
2015. Web. 21 Jan 2016.
PixorShens. “Serenity
– River Tam fight scene.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 3 Sep 2008. Web.
21 January 2016.
Barsam, Richard.
Looking at Movies: Fourth Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
2013. Print.
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