Days of Heaven

Cinematography

How mobile is the camera? Does it move toward the characters within a scene, or does it remain relatively static, allowing the actors to move instead within a steady frame?

Compared to the many movies I’ve seen in the past, I think this movie has relatively slow mobile camera frames. It may be because of the technology back then or to show the beautiful broad scenery that generates throughout the entire movie. Other then the scenes where they were running or walking, the scenes were all pretty steady just following the characters but it wasn’t too jumpy like some movies can be.

How does the camera treat the different characters? Does the camera view the character from below (low-angle shot) or from above (high-angle shot)?

There were many different angle shots of the camera. I think that the camera shots were mostly from straight a head. For example when the characters were talking or walking. There was never a problem with the camera being too high or too low, the camera always focused on the characters, looking at them like I would if I were actually to be standing in front of them. There were some scenes where it seemed like the camera may have been placed closely on the ground. Not necessarily looking up at the characters themselves, but showing their feet movements, showing someone walking over or down a hill and etc. There were also other scenes when the camera would slowly make its way higher and higher, for example when the wagons and horses were about to travel down a hill. The frame of the camera slowly starts to rise to show where the horse carriages are headed and to show the beautiful scenery of where the movie was filmed. 

What purpose does the camera angle serve? For example, what cue might a camera angle offer you about how the director wants you to view a particular character?

In my opinion, particularly in this movie, there are lots of scenes where it’s just looking at the character straight ahead. It makes it seem like you’re actually talking or standing with the person. It seems as though the audience can look right in to the characters eyes and make their own choice on rather or not this character is good or bad. You’re basically seeing everything in that character’s view and I think that’s what the director was trying to show. This angle type is so simple yet the audience can see so much emotion and just pay attention to the monologue of that certain scene.

There are also many long shot camera angles in the movie. With the beautiful setting of this movie, who wouldn’t want to show every little detail of the scenery!

What do the camera angles tell you about the relationships between characters?

I think that depending on the spacing of the people during a movie says a lot about the relationships between the characters. If there’s a large distance between two people of a scene and the camera, there could be a sense of awkwardness or tension that the audience may see or feel. But if the characters are very up close and personal as well as the camera, it could show comfort and intimacy.

They are far apart showing that they may be having some sort of disagreement or awkward tension between the two characters.

They are close together not only because of the low temperature but it shows that they're comfortable with each other and close.

Do the angles from which characters are shot change over the course of a scene, or a sequence, or the film as a whole? How does such a change influence your view of a character?

I don’t think there are that many changes in angles over the course of the movie. There are some scenes where they may show one character head on and then to a camera angle couple feet further away but that’s about it. As for the main character, Bill, they shoot him in lots of angles looking from straight ahead. This may be to show his entire emotions, to fill up time slots, etc. But that part of the angle shot doesn’t really change only for a couple scenes where he’s running or fighting and etc.

How frequently are close-ups used? Why? What is the effect of the close-up?

 Close ups are used a lot in this movie, like I’ve mentioned before. It shows all the emotions of the character and its almost as if your actually talking to the character themselves. You cant tell that its an actor that’s reading a script, it may be because of the amazing acting but I think it also has a lot to do with how the camera is portraying the person. The audience members are able to judge for themselves rather or not a certain character is good, bad or evil.

This video shows the different angles and lighting that was used in the movie to portray certain scenes in the way the director wanted the audience to see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4SmYoVj9Po

Mise en Scène

What does the location (in time and space) tell you about the type of plot you might expect?

The movie is set in Texas, hundreds of years ago. When I first saw the setting and the clothes that the characters were wearing, I knew it had something to do with people of poverty doing harsh labors on a farm. Back in the day that’s what everybody did to survive. If you didn’t have money you had to work for people to had money under harsh conditions with no money. And that’s what this movie is basically about. 2 people who are sick of living a harsh and cruel life and decide to scam a rich man. The spaces provided are very dark and empty at times which make me expect something bad, but other times there are such beautiful scenes shown that who knows what may occur.

What do the costumes tell you about the characters?

As for the main characters of the movie, Bill and Abby, they are farmers who during that time were not very wealthy. So the clothes basically showed that they were very poor. Bill was dressed in clothes that looked simple and comfortable for working out on the farm. Not too many layers but enough to keep warm while it was cold, and to stay cool when it was hot. Same goes for Abby, before her marriage, she wore long sleeved dresses that looked very uncomfortable and cheap but affordable for her and kept her warm and cool during certain seasons. With the long sleeves it kept her from getting sun burnt or getting cuts and sores from the hay and bugs. Her marriage is when everything changed. She was seen in nicer more expensive clothing that wasn’t to work in but to show off her rank in wealth. Her husband also wore well-made suits and attire and with them together they just looked like loyalty. Back then and even a little bit now, clothes say a lot about a person’s ranking.

This is basically what they wore on a daily basis during the movie.

Music & Sound

What cues does the music give you about what to expect?

During the climax scene of the movie where Bill is seen by the police and is on the run, it starts off very slow. There are few instruments and it seems too quiet to the point where you know something bad is about to happen. Suddenly more instruments come in with an instrumental heartbeat sound, which make the viewer know that something bad is about to happen. When the men in horses see Bill, he starts to run and that’s when the overwhelming, random, eerie kind of music is put in place. It makes you feel scared and puts you on the edge of your seat. Who knew music could do so much!

This video shows the eerie music that occurs during the chase scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voaU-deOtWs

What kind of mood does the soundtrack create?

Depending on the scene and what the kind of mood that is trying to be set the soundtrack is very versatile. When a scene shows intimacy between two people, the soundtrack is very soothing and soft. It sets the mood of romance and a comfortable feeling between the two characters. If there was a chase or fight scene going on, the soundtrack would be much more rough and loud. This makes the viewer know something bad is about to happen and shows the enthusiasm and harshness about what’s about to occur in the next scene.

Editing

How does the director choose to tell her/his story? Does s/he cut quickly from shot to shot, or let shots run longer and compose them into more leisurely sequences?

In the beginning of the movie the director lets the shots run longer making the scene much more soothing and relaxing for the audience. There are no sudden cuts that happen that gets the viewer excited and put on the edge of your seat. It’s slow, almost like you want to fall asleep (not in a bad way). During the intense scene it does cut fast. From the antagonist to the protagonist to the scenery. But that shows the intenseness of that scene. The director uses fast and slow shots to his advantage while editing this film.

What purpose do point-of-view shots serve? How do point-of-view shots affect our experience as spectators?

As spectators we can see what the character is really about. We can look in their eyes almost as though its real life and listen to what they have to say. We can see their hand gestures, body movement, and facial expressions. All these little things put together make for great evidence for the viewer to judge for himself or herself, which characters that they love and trust. As a spectator you begin to know everything about the characters as though you’ve known them their whole life. There’s no need for long introductions.

Identification

What techniques does the director deploy to guarantee that identification?

As soon as the movie starts, the director starts off by showing Bill kill someone. That right away makes the audience think that this guy is a terrible bad guy. Who kills someone? What is he all about? It makes the viewer wanting to know what really happened and why he did it. It makes the viewer want to see more but also sets the personality of Bill as maybe the “bad guy”. Later on during the movie they show Abby working very hard and being yelled at by a grumpy old much wealthier man. This may show that she’s kind of a push over and feels like she cant say much. These little scenes of the movie can make a viewer feel so strongly about a certain character.

Is this experience of identification thought provoking (i.e. one that makes us think critically about sexism or racism) or does it simply reinforce the status quo?

I think it just reinforces the status quo. No matter how much people try and talk to people about sexism and racism, there always will be people out there that act a certain way and feel a certain way for people. Depending on, how they grew up, what they’ve been taught everyone has different opinions. And while we think certain opinions are right or wrong the sexist and racist people out there don’t feel that way. Some people may see the movie and think about it, but doesn’t change who they are and what their opinions may be.

Closure

Does the film reach a satisfying end?

I personally think it does. There was lots of action, surprise, sorrow everything that’s needed for a perfect ending. Even though there were murders and fights that happened at the end that I personally don’t really love in a movie, it ended in a way that’s kind of different from other movies.

Does the film reach an ending you have anticipated/wanted?

I think the surprise, twist and turns started to occur not necessarily in the end of the movie but around the middle. Once I found out the farmer was going to live, everything was all a surprise for me from there. When Bill left Abby and returned after so long and the killing, murder and such. It wasn’t really what I anticipated but I love movies with surprises. I was pleased with the shocking bits of the ending. I think overall this movie is great not only the ending but the script, plot, scenery, lighting, angles and acting. This is a movie that probably will be treasured for many years to come. 

Reality Check

Dove Evolution Commercial

This commerical above was presented to us from the creators of Dove. Dove produces body, hair and facial products for cleaning like shampoo and soap. This commercial shows the reality of photoshop and the ads that we see everywhere from magazines to billboards. Wherever we go there will always be advertisements. Without advertisements people wouldn't be able to buy and sell certain products. Advertisers do their best to try and make the product look as great as possible so that consumers would want to buy it. But small little touch ups and tweeks are not what its all about. The girls we see on giant bill boards on the side of buildings and magazines are always gorgeous. When someone sees this beautiful portrait of whoever it may be, they obviously want to be just like them. So right away the consumer will see this ad and say i want whatever he/she has. But the media has done it in such a way where girls will do whatever it takes to be what is considered "beautiful". Kids are told starting from such a young age that you need to have a certain kind of body, certain kind of face and certain kind of hair to be considered as "pretty". But whats great about this commercial is it shows what the media really does to get the final product of one of those beautiful girls we see in magazines. With products like make up, and technology like photoshop, advertisers can turn anyone and anything into what people belive is beautiful. This ad shows the process of what people really go through in order to get the final product.

After this commercial being aired and making for such contraversy, Dove released another commercial that shows what a child really sees in the media and how it can affect him/her.

Beauty Pressure

How girls and boys are pressured to look a certain way really does affect a boy/girls' life in long term. We see all the time on tv, people who do intense surgeries, buy expensive products, and develop health problems to obtain the face and body that they want. The media has affected not only how we grow up but any generations of children and adults to come. There needs to be an end to this, and thats what this commercial is trying to do. That there is not just one kind of beautiful.

The Meaning of the Truman Show

My reflection on "The Truman Show"

Having watched this movie many times before the feeling that I get when I watch the Truman show never changes. This movie starring the hilarious Jim Carrey, is a movie filled with humour, sadness, anger, joy, redemption and everything in between. Its a movie that many people can relate to and will be a classic for many years to come. Even though nobody probably has ever experienced living a made up life broad casted all over the world for millions to see, there's more meaning to this movie then that. You or I may have experienced the same kinds of emotions and  hardships that the main character, Truman, goes through during the movie. Not only that but we may feel as humans living in a society filled with lots of influences by the media, we may sometimes feel the same way Truman does as trapped in a world that someone has created for us or made up. There are specific ways in which Truman reacts to the changes in media, culture, advancement in technology etc that everyone in the world watching the show can relate to. I think that this is a spectacular movie that portrays the different aspects in a way that a person may feel in our society today. I personally could watch this movie over and over on repeat if I could. I think its an amazing movie that has been a favorite of mine for years and will definitely will stay a movie classic for years to come.

The Truman Show Trailer

Summary of the article "The meaning of the Truman show" By Ken Sanes

 

The article "The meaning of the Truman show" shows the ways in which media depicts us, media, etc, portrayed in the movie. The writer explains how the media is changing and controlling people's lives. What the director of the movie is really trying to say. The movie shows that like the director in "The Truman Show" who planned Trumans every move before hand is exactly what the media is trying to do to its viewers. "The lifelikeness and seamlessness of media fabrications and the fact that they are entertaining, help induce this attitude in us." Like in this quote mentioned in the article, while watching these movies, tv shows and the news created by the modern media our attitudes change depending on what they tell us whats good or bad, right or wrong.

The writer also mentions what he thinks the director of this film was trying to portray when creating the screenplay. "As he makes his escape, and the producer of the show blocks him at every turn, that is the creators of the movie telling us that we too have to take a journey -- of mind -- and distance ourselves from this media landscape, if we want to secure our freedom." The writer belives that the director was trying to send a message to the people, saying that we need to part ourselves fromt he media. Truman represents us, the viewers, and the producers of "the truman show" in the movie represents the media. Even though the producers were trying so hard to get Truman to stay where they wanted him to, in the end he did what he thought was right even if it meant standing up to his fears and running away from the world which was created for him. Thats a great example of a metaphor shown in the film of what the media is trying to do to the viewers and what the viewers should be doing, creating some sort of distance from the made up world the media has created.

But while saying such great, postive things about the movie, the writer makes a very valid statement. " So the movie uses the manipulations of media in order to manipulate us into seeing through the manipulations of media." Even though this movie shows great metaphors about how badly the media can affect the people through manipulating them, this movie is basically doing the exact same thing. Manipulating the viewers to see the manipulations of the media. In the end, the problem just always seems to go back to the media and the way they portray certain things.

The final element depicted in the movie is the audience. Without the audience, the media in which people create wouldnt be possible. We created the media ourselves. As hard as we may try to get rid of it all together, theres something about it in which we always go running back to. "And both the audience and Truman portray our willingness to experience an easier and more exciting substitute for life, which is what fuels the media machine."

In conclusion, the people who are really responsible for the faults of media is us, the viewers. Without the viewers who keep going back each week to watch the same programs that we know are lies, are the reasons why media is portrayed the way it is. Viewers love the fighting, hating, loving, discriminating, stereotyping and mostly believing in what people have to say.

Do you agree with the writer's opinion? Justify your answer with valid reasons.

Yes I do agree with the writer's opinion. He has great points and validations that support what he has to say. It's true, people will believe anything that the news puts out there. No matter how big or small. Its controlling our lives and thats not where our world should be headed. With the media today, people can make us think whatever they please. We're like Truman, puppets who are told what to say and how to think. But I also think its not just the medias fault its the people's too. "And both the audience and Truman portray our willingness to experience an easier and more exciting substitute for life, which is what fuels the media machine." We as humans want to hear the things we want to hear. We have our own opinions and thoughts about certain things in life. Thats why people fight and get into arguments. To protect and honor their beliefs. If our lives consisted of waking up, going to school, doing homework, going to bed, that wouldn't make us happy. We need the little push, the fun, the fights. As much as people may hate to see people fight on tv, some people love that idea. And watching Truman live this perfect, planned life makes the audience watch more and wish they lived life the same way he does. There's some sort of hope there for people. So I can vouch for both sides of the fence. It's everyones fault, the way the media turned out to be. But should this stop? What will happen then?

How long has Truman been led to believe that he has been living a "Real Life"?

Truman was led to belive his whole life that he’s been living what he thinks to be a “real life”. Everything seemed real. From his parents and friends to his marriage has all been made up and planned for a tv show hes been working on his whole life. He doesn’t know otherwise. He thinks that his parents and friends are real people that love him dearly. And someone who you care for and trust with your life tells you something you would believe it. When his parents told him not to go some where or do something, of course he listend he thinks they’re his real life parents. I think that he had some suspicions after who he belives to be “laurnen” the love of his life, told him everything was made up. But at the same time he probably thought she was kind of crazy. If right now in this moment in life, someone came up to me and told me I was on a tv show and everything was made up, I would think that they were crazy too. There were no reasons for him to think anything was fake. Until the producers started to make mistakes that helped Truman realize what was really going on.

What film genre is The Truman Show?

If I was a movie critic and I were to pick what kind of genre this movie would be placed in I would say Drama. But I also think there were parts in this movie where I beilved it to be a thriller or comedy. The beginning of this movie started off kind of humorous. Jim Carrey who is known for doing all sorts of comedies was making a few jokes and did some pretty comedic actions. But once the movie got around 30 minutes in, it started to get kind of twisted and weird. I was very confused and didn’t really understand what was going on. Which can lead me to belive it was one of those psychological thriller movies. Towards the end when he’s running away from the producers, and they’re trying to get rid of him with the storms and police men and etc, it looked almost like an action film. If I were to walk into the movie right then and there I would think that there would be more fighting then that. But once the movie was over and I figured out what the moral of the story really was and what was really going on, it was 100% a drama.

The difinition of a drama is any situation or series of events having vivid, emotional, conflicting, or striking interest or results: the drama of a murder trial.

This movie definitely represents what drama is all about. It has the emotional scenes where Truman is confused about what is going on in his life. He started to understand what is really happening but at the same time doesn’t want to believe it and is scared to. There are the major conflicts in the story and the twists and turns of events that lead up to that. After he fights through his emotional battles and realizes he has to get out, there are lots of physical obstacles he has to fight. Things like the the cops, the ocean (which hes been scared of his whole life after his “father” died in the middle of the ocean) and so much more. In the end he gets his way and theres a striking result that makes viewers say wow. Through out the whole movie, the viewers are not only emotionally attatched to the character but keeps people watching and shocked with the movie’s crazy twists and turns of events. This movie definitely fits the criteria of a emotion filled drama.

Does this movie act as a metaphor for our own lives. Justify your answer with valid reasons.

Yes it does create a metaphor for our own lives. Not only did the writer of the article “the meaning of the Truman show” Ken Sanes mention that in his article. But I believe without a doubt this movie has many metaphors where the viewer can depict what the real metaphor is in the movie. There are many metaphors found in this movie, but the two major ones that I found are: 1) Truman had to get over his fears to be on his own and 2) how much the media affected Truman to make him think and believe he was living a normal life.

The producers of the show “ the Truman show” in the movie, created lots of barriers and obstacles to keep him in the confined area created for him. They got him afraid of water, gave him a perfect life, made his mother sick to make him be afraid of leaving his “home” and figure out for himself what is really going on. Even though there were so many physical obstacles that were created for Truman to stay in the confined dome, his emotional wants and needs easily took over. He wanted to find “Lauren” who he belives to be the love of his life and starts to rethink hard about what she had told him the last time they were together. And once the misatakes started to come about by the producers, it started to make perfect sense for him. I think that’s what our lives is all about. Even with the many physical obstacles were are put in front of, at the end of the day our emotional wants and needs are going to take over those obstacles. We will do the things that we want and will do everything it takes to get there.

The second metaphor I found is the media aspect. The producers of the show created news, tv shows, radio stations, magazines to make him believe things the way they wanted him to. technology isnt perfect, they used technology to try and fix the mistakes that were made by technology. They had made up newspapers, magazines articles and etc to make him believ the things that they wanted him to believe. When the show made the mistake of a light falling, they put it on the news for Truman to see and to try and fix the mistake that was created. Like Truman in our society today we believe almost everything that is said in the media. We want to believe certain stories are true. The media affects us alot on the way we think and is basically taking over our lives. These metaphors show the progression of our world today. Is this good? Is this bad? You be the judge. But do you really want to live in a world like Turman? Boxed in, never really know what's really going onin our world?