Commentary

http://youtu.be/msCc1a3JKmY

Gran Torino- Trailer Review

Gran Torino directed by Clint Eastwood

The trailer of Gran Torino used interesting scenes from the movie to help build up suspense towards the plot without giving up so much information so that the viewer can speculate on how the movie is going to end. The scenes showed Walt, the main protagonist, as a tough guy who installs peace through violence. This also introduces the Chinese gang members, the main antagonists, and the trailer shows that this gang will come up again near the end of the film to prove a final showdown match between them and Walt. Using cuts in main action points in the film leaves the viewer wanting for more.

At the beginning of the trailer you see walt as a racist old war veteren who doesn't really care for what people see him as. Using dialoge used from action scenes and important characterization scenes give a personality too Walt while also showing how he acts around other people. The protagonist in the trailer is Walt and they mostly use scenes with Walt either being the most significant character or it revolves around the presence of Walt. There is no narrator in the trailer since it is based on just Walt fighting the antagonist of the story while also forming bonds with his neighbors. The trailer does not need a narrator to fill in the blank spots in the film since it is so thoroughly filled with evidence on characterizing the characters and obviously stating the protagonist and antagonist.

The trailer mostly comes from the waist-shot to show the character's facial expressions while also showing any hand movement as this is important in the film because Walt many times goes into his coat and pulls out a fake gun made of his hands to scare off his enemies. The movie uses a lot of hand movements to either start or end an action scene.

The editing helps the plot move more thoroughly and smoothly without causing confusion of the viewer. They are able to skip scenes and place shots from the end and infuse them with the beginning and stil maintain a sense of order throughout the film. While showing Walt as a tough character, the editors are able to show the change of heart of Walt. The editors also use scenes where the antagonist is causing havoc to build  hate towards the gang.

The sound quality of the trailer uses the dialoge of Walt to build up suspense. My favorite quote from the film is when Walt says "Get off my lawn!" The sound is not to high or too low as it is able to get the point across to the viewer. There is no musical score during the film but it uses dialoge instead to make the scenes stand out.

 
                                                                                      

Treatment

Short Film Treatment

The man gets up. He walks over to the kitchen. He reaches into the cabinet and pulls out a box of cereal. He walks over to refrigerator and takes out a gallon of milk. He takes the cereal and milk to the table and puts it down. He then looks over his shoulder to check if he forgot something and notices the clock. The clock reads 10:21 flashing on and off. The man drops to the floor and then screams. He has just missed the biggest opportunity of his life. He has now lost 100 million dollars. He picks himself up and runs out the door.

A shot of his face running is shown. His face seems stressed. The next shot is shown of him running in the streets in front of a crowd of people. You now come back to him and he is rushing passed the crowd still. He stops in the middle of people looking around. He notices a bank. His face seems more relieved. He walks calmly into the building.

He walks up to the counter and says a code phrase. The teller nods his head and takes him to the back room where the vault is. The teller walks up to a keypad and punches in some numbers. A secret room appears. The two walk in. There is a man waiting for him. The screen goes dark. The man in the room’s voice comes on.

He opens his eyes and notices he is in the back of a car. He looks at the driver and back at his hands which are tied up. He struggles with his hands and rocks back and forth only to get get a butt of a gun slapped in his face. The screen goes black again.

He then wakes again. This time when he looks around he is in  dessert alone and dry blood on his face. He gets up and moves his hands around. He then looks around for anything he can use. He looks at his shirt and notices it bulging. He takes off his shirt and notices he is strapped with a timer. It reads 23:54:21 and a note is attached saying “If you want to live get to the rock”. He then realizes if he wants to save himself, he must find a way to get to his house. The screen shifts to a shot of him running.

He knows where he is. He is in the Mojave dessert. It will take 3 days to walk to his house to save his life. He only has 22 hours left. He notices a slight road where a car might travel. He sees a car drive by. He throws a rock at it, hitting it and the car comes to a screeching halt. He runs and opens the door knocking the driver on the floor. He doesn’t care. He drives away with a smile on his face. He was going to save himslef.

Run Lola Run film presos

Art of Video Preso Run Lola Run

Broadcast Critique

Art of Video Critique

by Alex Vargas 5th period

Pre-production:
Well we were looking to do a sport and we were originally going to do Volleyball but Ricky had taken it for his piece so we decided since nobody was going to take tennis we snatched it up. Since Gino is on the boy’s tennis team we knew most of the players and what they do during practice so we did not need to research it.. We also randomly chose our interviewees out by way of either eenie meenie miney mo which was pretty funny. We wanted to have a crane and have an over shot but that did not plan out.

Production: Quality:
We wanted to have the players playing in the background so it could get emphasis on the shot. We also needed to have some shots of the players showing  what they do. Our most creative shot was in the beginning when Conner got on the ground and had a tennis ball on the floor to provide a foreground while in the background we showed the players hitting the tennis balls. The shot was well lit and we aligned it perfectly so that we wouldn’t get anything put the player playing. We made sure that our lighting was good since we spent like and hour trying to find the perfect spots for the shots. We deleted any audio that came out bad so we only picked teh elite shots.

Script:
I can’t do this without laughing because I had an annoying waiter voice to just reach out and tell you what was happening. This was so funny my voice was really high pitched too since we were going for a sense of just grabbing the attention of the viewer. I think our segment was very well informative and we had also picked the elite responses too so we had very informative responses we hope. We wanted the viewers to go out and support their Capuchino Tennis team.

Editing:
Our B-rolls fit perfectly into the interview and voice overs. The shots matched up with the interview like when we were talking about technique improvement their was a still photo with a girl about to hit a tennis ball. The tittle was really well made and I had no clue how Conner even made that. Our shots moved smoothly into the next shot and teh ending part had it’s voices perfectly matched up with the action. There was absolutely no animation in our film.

Overall
What do you like best about your piece? What would you add or do differently if you had more time? What would you say is the most important lesson you can take with you after working on this project?
My favorite two shots were in the beginning shot when Conner got down on the floor and shot the girls playing Tennis in HD. I also really liked the shot where Conner spun around in a circle shooting all the girl’s doing their cheers. I think we actually had it pretty good and we could have used our time better if Conner wasn’t such a perfectionist trying to find an interview spot. I’m pretty sure some of the shots were all ready perfect, The lighting was just right and the background was just all the girls just playing Tennis, but Conner needed it better. The best thing that I learned from this if you are not a perfectionist than your film will be crap.

Character in Time

He gets on the train. Looks around only to see nothing. He sits down and face palms. He can't believe what he had done. The train starts and he can only wonder what is going to happen next. The train arrives at his destination and he gets up looking depressed. He walks towards the egde of the platform and looks down. He jumps off and hits the floor with an electric pulse radiating from the floor. He gets back on his feet undamaged and walks away from the scene.

After hours of walking around with nothing but time on his hands, he sees a lone man limping towards him yelling for help. What should he do? He wants to help him but if he does end up saving him they will come after him. He finally decides that is is his duty to help restore what he has destroyed. He lights up his hands and shocks the lone man with his hands instantly rejuvenating the man's body. The man falls to the floor saying "You! you're the one who caused this!" The sudden burst of life is instantly gone as the man's head hits the floor dead. He shouts " I am Gino! I will destroy what is preventing me to fix my mistake!" Gino has a red aura around him and an electrical current blasts from his feet. He immediately jumps into the air with surgical precision and vanishes from the scene.

 Some men in black suits come strolling to where the man lays. One shouts to the other "I think he was here."

Film Analysis on Clocked Out

Clocked Out

Clocked out is a short film about two agents who are form the future hunting down illegal time travelers. The setting is based in modern day and seems to have been modeled after Men in Black due to the suit he is wearing. The two agents end up hunting and killing three suposed time travelers.

The shots seem to have been shot with a camera on a tripod and also use security video to make this seem more realistic. The film uses good angles on most shots and the background really well to make the character stand out more.

The camera person really does an outstanding job of getting right into the action. It makes you feel like your right into the action and you feel alive.

The actors are the real star of the film, tehy show emotion and when they aren't needed to have emotions they act like federal agents. The supposed time travelers show real emotion and act like they are about to die. They are pleading for their lives, acting nervous, panting hard like they've just been frightened to death. They are professionals and now what they are doing. They just seem like this was a high budget film yet it was a no budget film. This was their biggest strength in the whole film due to the awesomeness off the acting

The costumes are also perfect. The federal agent look in the business suit sold the fact that the actors are actually chasing down the "bad guys" and have intent to kill. The other actors have a modern look wich sets the tone of the modern age.

the sound was probably the worst part of the film. In some instances you can barely hear the actor talking. Also the gun sound was a little off and didn't seem real. It sounded like an explosive paintball. They should have used a real gun and shot it at a target just so they could recored that sound. Just the sound of it sounded cliched. The sound also didn't seem to match up to me. It seemed a little off and but that could just be from my perspective.

There also is a continuity error when the first suspect is popping behind some racks of goods. The actor appears to be on the right side of the rack but then immediately after she pops up on the left talking to the agents. It was really obvious and ruins your line of vision.

below: appears to the right of the rack Above: appears to the left

Overall this film was very good and expanded my expectations on what a no budget film can do. It was well shot and the actors did a spectacular job. All besides that continuity error and th sound it was very well made.