Most Important Concept Learned

I think the most important concept I learned through this class was in the Technology unit. Everything about technology is so important and relevant to our current lives. A lot of people in today's society are addicted to technology, whether they realize it or not. Technology is everywhere, we use it 24/7, it filters information we receive, it's how we communicate, and it even tracks us. In general, there are so many pros and cons to technology. It infantilizes us, it is emancipatory, oppressive, facilitates intellectual growth, divides & brings people together, and makes popular culture better and worse. Technology can impact our lives both positively and negatively which I think is a very important lesson to know for life. It was also very interesting to learn about technology as it relates to popular culture because I've grown up using technology and applying it to different aspects of popular culture helps me learn its significance. An important takeaway that I will always keep in mind in the future is: technology is both a blessing and a burden.

The Most Important Concept

To me the most important concept learned was the popular culture is all around us. We see and consume popular culture in our every day lives even if we do not notice it. Before coming into this class I did not even know what popular culture was. I would watch tv, listen to music, and go to sporting events not knowing that I was consuming what is called popular culture. After the first week of class I started to notice all of the types of popular culture that is around me including music, television, movies, and sports. I really took this concept beyond the classroom and into my every day life which I do not do with other classes. Learning about types of popular culture has given me and insight to things that I have not noticed before but learning about popular culture as a whole has had the biggest impact on me personally. I will take this concept with me for the rest of my life and notice that every form of popular culture has a deeper meaning than just providing simple entertainment.

War of the Worlds - The Tripod

War of the Worlds

A lightning storm starts over New Jersey, lightning bolts are hurled from the sky. As the storm subsides and all electronics stop working, a hole is discovered in the middle of the road. The ground begins to quake, the gawkers scramble, buildings split, cars tremble, windows shatter, and a church ruptures. There's a distinct lack of music; emphasizing the sound effects creates a more suspenseful atmosphere. A vehicle is thrown from the now giant hole. An enormous tripod comes flying out, crashing down on a car the protagonist is hiding behind. Then a gigantic machine rises from the Earth. People run in fear, the dramatic music starts playing as the tripod robot stands up.

Then silence while the robot remains motionless. The robot sounds a frightening horn, two arms appear, and a charging sound effect initiates. Suspenseful music starts again. Lasers shoot from the arms and vaporize all who are unfortunate enough to cross its path. It's an intense few minutes that demonstrates man's dependence on technology and the vulnerability of life itself. We are but ants to these Goliath alien vehicles, ironically, what ends up destroying the superior lifeforms are the microscopic ones we never see.

Movie Clips on the ending of The Shawshank Redemption

        Movie Clips on The Shawshank Redemption

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7MMTmVZcVs

I chose the ending scene of the Shawshank redemption. It’s just like other classic ending scenes that told us the story of what happened after the movie and comes with a happy ending. We can hear the sound of the nature—pleasant sounds which implied Red’s feeling of walking free and anticipation to his new life. Then it comes with the content of the letter and some happy and warm music played. The light is bright and warm and the shots comes from the field to the place he lived and then the station, and the bus. When the shot comes to the place he lived, it focused on the words on the wall” Brooke is here So was Red” which reminds us the fate of Brooke who failed to adjust himself to the new life. And when Red is on his trip to freedom, the cam focused on him and he put his hand outside the window. Then the bus climbed in a hill. Every detail on that scene give us a feeling of being free and the pleasure of it. The whole clip has a warm color to fit in the theme. And the asides repeated the famous quote ”Get busy living or get busy dying”( which has a new different feeling and meaning from the first time it was said by Andy) and talked about hope. Then the scene moved above from blue of the water like it was hoped. We saw Andy was on that promised ship and they meet each other. The whole clip shared a very casual and delightful feeling which was created by the warm color, the brightness of the light, the casual music and the inspiring aside dialogue. The scene give us plenty of the possibilities to imagine Andy and Red’s happy future life as well as reminds us Brooke’s failure and one of the most important dialogue of the movie: ”Get busy living or get busy dying.”

 

Clueless: Opening Scene

In this video clip it is the typical teenage girl. The camera goes from her and her friends having fun to  just her going shopping and living the glamorous life. The music is not totally girly, but it is music that talks about being a teenager and having fun. This scene is all about a girl and how she is living life and having fun with her friends. At the end of the scene when she is using the computer to pick out her outfit for the day she is selling her outfit that she does pick out. The audience would mostly consist of teenage girls and they would find themselves wishing they lived a life like that, including the shopping, hanging out with friends, boys, and having everything you could ever want in your closet.

Screening Culture: Poetic Justice

I am looking forward to learning from your blog posts! To get us started, here is a clip from the film Poetic Justice. It provides a great opportunity to discuss the use of

• sound (diegetic and non-diegetic) 
• dialogue
• music
• color
• lighting
• montage shots
• counter-shots
• slow face to black

 :https://youtu.be/1gpLa0aXAtU

Miracle Scene

   

In this scene of Miracle Coach Brooks teaches the team the importance of teamwork and working together as one unit. the aesthetics especially the transition from light to dark shows the mental and physical exhaustion that the players are experiencing. The camera pans in completely on Coach Brooks and all you can hear is the sound of the whistle and the heavy panting and breathing of the players. Finally the camera moves to Mike Eruzione, who would eventually be named captain of the team. He is asked who he plays for and finally all the previous divisons whether they be personal or geographic disappear and he says that he plays for the United States of America

The Newsroom "Why America isn't the greatest"

Stepping away from the movie scene, there is a particular TV show scene that really stood out to me. It comes from the TV show "The Newsroom" which is an american political drama . The scene "Why America isn't the greatest country anymore" questions the values of americans. it starts off in a lecture hall filled with college students. A girl ask a couple professors on the stage Why America is the best country in the world. One by one they say it is because of freedom, diversity, etc. When the main character gets asked, he explodes and says it isn't. This scene is so powerful because it test the values of the youth. The majority of people see us as the greatest even though we don't account for all the problems in our society. We ignore the negatives and take in the positives. The main character talks about these points and everyone is shocked from his speech.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMqcLUqYqrs

Rushmore: Revenge Scene

In Wes Anderson's Rushmore, two characters Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) and Mr. Blume (Bill Murray) are two characters pitted against each other after being friends earlier in the film. This scene is especially interesting because of the humor used and the juxtaposition of the shots on the screen and the music used.

In this scene, Anderson showcases the two characters and the spiteful attempts at revenge each of them use to get back at each other. While utilizing humor, the scene is dependent on the diegetic music for it to work correctly. In the scene, the main sound used is The Who's song "A Quick One, While He's Away". The songs main chorus states "you are forgiven" while it's clear the two characters are clearly mad at each other.

This scene is a pivotal part of the film and utilizing the juxtaposition of the two characters helps progress the plot.

Dance Scene from Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook is one of my favorite movies and this is one of the most pivotal scenes of the movie. Before this scene, Pat and Tiffany get into a major argument that we think is going to end the movie and cancel the dance. Then we see the competition they're up against in the background of the drama and it solidifies the fact that this couple doesn't really have a chance. When it comes to Pat and Tiffany' s dance number, Pat is stressed and Tiffany is drinking. The way they film the scene starts out by focusing only on the facial expressions and following only the couple as they move about the dance floor. Pat and Tiffany just staring at each other as the music starts to play. This gives us the audience the chance to see the lack of hope in Pat's family's eyes and the look of determination in Pat's and makes us root for this couple even more than before. With this way of shooting, you can tell that Tiffany starts to try once she sees Pat trying. The music doesn't quite fit the scene at first , then by the end of the number the intimate music fits the mood and you can see that the two feel the same way about each other. All this is done without words. The audience finds themselves rooting for this team with only some music, choreography and facial expressions.

Opening Scene: Legally Blonde

The aesthetics of the opening scene of Legally Blonde operate to inform the viewer of just what type of movie this is going to be and what the protagonist is like--all without words. Right away, the viewer sees a girl brushing her perfect blonde hair to the tune of a light and whimsical pop song. The credits begin to pop up on the screen--written in hot pink cursive lettering. This viewer instantly knows that this is going to be a light and airy chick flick. The aesthetics of the scene also inform us about who the character of Elle Woods is--throughout the scene, the camera slowly pans around her bedroom and sorority house, focusing on her nail polish, sorority paddle, hair dye, Prada shopping bag, girls exercising, someone shaving their legs, Elle doing her makeup, and her glittery pink shoes. From these camera shots, we can infer that Elle is someone who is glamorous and beautiful, cares a lot about her appearance, and is an upper class sorority girl--completely without any spoken words. 

Scattering Donny's Ashes

One of the final scenes in the film The Big Lebowski comes when the dude and Walter go to a California mountaintop to scatter the ashes of their departed friend Donny into the Pacific Ocean. The scene is meant to have a twisted humor to it, which the aesthetic dimensions tries to highlight. This starts with the first shot of the scene which tries to set a tranquil scene, where the only noises are the ocean waves and nearby seagulls with a shot of a California coast. While you think this is a serious scene where you think Walter will show emotion and compassion, you can see more and more of the vessel in which their dear friend Donny's remains are contained in; a used Folgers can. The timing comes when Walter turns to being more like the character he was for most of the film. To add to the dark humor of the scene, as Donny's ashes are released, the camera pans to the dude, whom immediately is hit with a face full of poor Donny's ashes. In a way, it gives the film a calm ending, without being too sad, and still light hearted. 

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dakx97gRCx0


The music and narration of this clip from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button add a dramatic effect to the scene. It makes it more emotional and more impactful on the viewer. It focuses on the importance of little things by zooming in on them (the alarm clock, the boutique, the shoelace, etc.). This scene emphasizes the impact of small events and how they can lead up to and contribute to a bigger life event. There is a hidden lesson in this clip and it is that life is out of our control. The writers of this scene/movie want the viewers to learn this when watching this scene and they want them to actually get something meaningful out of it. The aspect of color is also very important in this short clip. For the most part everything is gray colored except for Daisy (the main character with the red hair), she is wearing bright yellow. This puts the focus of the scene on her and makes her stand out more to the viewers. The writers of this film do this on purpose to center the attention on Daisy because of the fact she is about to be hit by a taxi. It also starts off the scene by zooming in on Brad Pitt's shoes then his whole body. Simply from his body language, his tone, and his outfit the viewers can immediately understand that he is sad and that something bad has likely happened.

Inglorious Bastards, Bar scene

Inglorious Bastards, Bar scene




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dpLBM4rBPM

The reason I choose this scene is because first I am a huge Quentin Tarantino fan. In my opinion he is one of the best film writers/directors out there. The way the aesthetic dimensions were created in this scene is great in my opinion. Tarantino puts wide view and a up close shot in one shot so people can get the full effect of what is going on. When Lt. Hicox was asked how many shots of scotch the table wanted and he put up three fingers, pointer, middle, ring finger. When he did this Major Hellstrom then realized he was an imposter because the way real Germans hold up three fingers is thumb, pointer, middle finger. At this point the tension escalates in the bar and a standoff begins. The way Tarantino showed this was phenomenal. instead of panning in and out he got it all in one shot showing everyones expressions around the table which made it that much better when tensions rose.

'Big Kahuna Burger' / 'Ezekiel 25:17' from Pulp Fiction

'Big Kahuna Burger' : https://youtu.be/Mnb_3ibUp38

I chose this scene because it is one of my favorite scenes in the film Pulp Fiction. The characters played by Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta are hired guns and they go about their business in a very relaxed, casual and nonchalant manner. The setting is in a very average looking apartment that is untidy, and unorganized. The other characters are having breakfast when Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta come to their door. For breakfast the men in the apartment are having hamburgers, which is quite unusual. I think the aesthetics of the setting and background in the scene are secondary to those of the facial expressions of the characters. Samuel L. Jackson is confident and beaming throughout most of the scene and the faces of the men in the apartment tell you as the viewer just how dire the situation actually is. When Samuel L. Jackson gets down to business after chugging Brad's Sprite, his tone changes dramatically.

'Ezekiel 25:17' : https://youtu.be/x2WK_eWihdU

The scene 'Ezekiel 25:17' which follows the 'Big Kahuna Burger' scene, concludes the interaction between the hired guns and the men in the apartment. I figured I would include that scene too for anyone who has not seen the film. 'Ezekiel 25:17' has the same basic visual aesthetics as 'Big Kahuna Burger', no music, only voices. The filmmaker used a fabricated bible verse in 'Ezekiel 25:17' that became one of the most famous scenes in the movie, and one of the most famous movie monologues of all time. The simple setting, absence of music and loud preaching-like vocals from Samuel L. Jackson allow the viewer to experience the scene (both scenes) for themselves and interpret the scene without any music or visual interference.