25th Hour

Quiz answers:

1. Reflecting mood

2. Xenophobia and Racism

3. True

4. He wants Monty to atone for his crime

This shot is awesome. I feel like it encapsulates this character very well. We've got a very nice frame put in by the doors. The shot overall is very nicely framed, with Jacob in the bottom left of the frame, the door framing him pretty well. The right side of the frame doesn't have much in it, but it's nice anyway. I like this shot because it puts Jacob's character behind glass that kind of looks like bars, and we see him very defeated looking. He kind of seems to realize what this crush of his could do to him, how it could get him in trouble, how he could end up behind bars. And he just looks so defeated and unsure of himself, and the shot emphasizes that by making him small. 

Not a lot is going on in this shot, but I think it's really beautiful. It's Monty's left hand, with a ring on it. But it's not a wedding ring or anything like that. It's symbolizes that something has importance in his life, but it's not marriage or the relationship. The couch is important in this scene too because it's where the drugs and money were hidden. The hand is front and center, but I kind of like that for this shot, as it is a pretty extreme close up. This one shot has a lot of feel to it. The hand rubbing over the couch seems to symbolize regret. The lighting on the hand is very bright, trying to show maybe innocence, even though he's not so innocent.

This shot was very intriguing to me. The placement of everybody feels very deliberate. Monty is at the center, Jacob is immediately to his right, and there's Frank, to his left, but very far away. It does look like nice asymmetry just from a cinematography standpoint. But it's got an importance to it as well. Jacob is close to him, because he wants to be close to Monty relationally, and he really cares about him. Frank is on the outskirts. He does really care about Monty, but he's also really pissed at him and feels as though he deserves what he is getting. There is a divide growing between Frank and Monty, and it's shown her. Also, Frank is not paying attention to Monty, he's focused on girls and alcohol here. He does care for Monty, but he's also kind of ambivalent towards him.

I like this shot because it's so simple. Not a whole lot is going on, but it is very big. We see Monty Frank and Jacob leaning over the railing, watching a boat go by. Watching something normal go by, watching something leave, watching freedom float away sort of. The fog looms over the city far away, showing a definite uncertainty for Monty and his future, and for the city of New York as well and it's future. And I like that there are normal people running around in the background. It just shows that life goes on behind as they are reaching this serious point in life. 

Moonrise Kingdom

I picked this screenshot because, not only do I love the arrangement and what's going on in the shot, but I felt like it was a pretty great representation of this story and these two kids: both serious and silly.

I love this shot. Firstly, it's arranged very beautifully. We've got the boat lining basically the entire shot along the bottom. True to Anderson's style in this film, we see Sam centered in the frame. I really like the giant tree behind him, it creates a really interesting scale in the picture. He's a little guy, 12 years old. And yet he's doing this apparently really grown up thing (sort of) of running off with a woman. So he sailed across the water, he's hiding his boat, and it's just hilarious that we have this huge tree behind him putting him at such a small scale. And I love the flag off to the side. It's arranged at the edge of the frame, "framing" the shot as it were. And I think it works really well because the scouts kind of frame the film, and it's appropriate and cool to have the flag here framing this deed that' he's about to do. I also love the general set up of the shot as far as what's going on and what's used. I think the funnily painted boat is so appropriate and hilarious. Because this kid is doing such a serious thing hiding his tracks, covering his boat, and yet it's still wide open on the side, and it's so kiddy looking it's just hilarious. It's a genius design for the boat, because while this is supposed to be a serious thing, and the kid is taking it seriously, it's just so comedic. And yet rather than take away from what he is doing, it adds to it, because the whole thing is a bit of ridiculous seriousness. Brilliant.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

I want to take a look at the scene where the boy safe walking down the road, sans car, to the tune of I'll Fly Away. This montage scene does an excellent job of setting up some really cool character development, revealing some important bits about the Soggy Bottom Boys and their future just in general, how popular they're growing, how much their life is not following the fame they are achieving, and how just in general, they're on a long weary road, just traveling further down the road of life, and taking what life gives them. The scene has several tilts and pans that just show them walking along different sections of scenery, with children walking by carrying ice, the boys trying to get picked up and then realizing it's a prison car, etc. Then we see a scene of the boys stealing a pie, all caught from one shot. This was one of my favorite shots of the film. It shows Everett snagging the pie from the pie window, then running away with Pete in tow. And then Delmar reaches up and places  some money on the windowsill where the pie had been, then follows a long behind them, hooping and hollering. I loved how this scene was shot, and what it represented. It was a beautiful single shot, from inside the window facing a giant hill. We saw the pie, it getting snagged, and then appeared Everett and Pete running away. Then Delmar's hand reaches up, places the dollar, and we see him run away. Beautifully shot. But I love what the scene represented too. It did a great job of establishing some of these characters, showing how Everett still really kind of a wild do it yourself guy, just out for his own and getting back to his wife. And we see Pete, who had the conversion of sorts, but is still kind of just following Everett around. And then we see Delmar, who seems to have had more of a conversion than Pete, and seems to be a genuinely pretty good guy, who is furthering this by trying to do the right thing and pay back what they stole. It was a beautiful part of the scene. The rest of the scene goes on to show the boys continuing on their journey, eating the pie, having a good time. It shows people searching for records of the Soggy Bottom Boys and not able to get any, among other things, all showing how much fame they were getting, and then being put parallel to the boys as they were now, just wandering along with no fame to their names. The scene created an excellent parallel, showing the fame they could be getting, and the life on the road that they had now.

I think this film in and of itself does an excellent job creating some really compelling characters who all want different things, but are thrust into this seemingly one minded journey together. They all have desires that are joined into this one "search for treasure". And they're able to get along pretty well for the most part because they all see their own lights at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately. most of the boys end up finding that the light they saw at the end of the tunnel disappears a bit, because the treasure isn't really real. And even for Everett, he finds that the treasure he's seeking maybe isn't quite what he was expecting. For Everett, he ends up happy of sorts, because he's with his wife again, and he's got his kids. But at the same time, he's still a little chained up like he was at the beginning. His wife seems to be holding some things over him, and he can't quite get what he wants out of the marriage. But he's still together with her, so he's happy. The boys find out that their treasure isn't actually real, and so they can't follow their own dreams of becoming businessmen, or of getting back the family farm. But they do seem to end up happy. More established in life, with a sense of potential joy in the future, as they've all been pardoned, and get to be involved in something that seems like it will be beneficial to their lives. But nobody really gets the treasure they seek, which is awesome because it fits so poignantly with one of the opening lines where the old blind man says they will get treasure, but they won't get the treasure they seek. The Coen brothers do an excellent job of making this film about so much, and having a lot of excitement to it, but also making it about one central theme: You can't always get what you want, but when you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.

My Own Private Idaho

This film definitely deals with issues of homosexuality, but I think it also strongly deals with issues of identity. I think this is seen most prominently in Keanu Reeves character. He is the son of a rich family that is very prim and proper, but seems to reject that for most of his life. He floats through his life being gay hustler to make money, even though he really doesn't need money. He hangs out with these people, he identifies strongly with Bob and calls him his true father. And yet he really feels to me that he is kind of dissatisfied with this life. He speaks about how he's excited when he turns 21 and gets his inheritance to prove that he can be a real adult, and how his parents will be proud of him because the change is so drastic. He almost feels like he is taking on this identity that he has right now solely so that he can change his identity and have a better more drastic identity later in life. It's confusing. But It's pretty compelling too. You can see his lack of wanting to identify with Bob and his people by the way he pulls the prank with Mike to steal the money from Bob and the guys after they rob somebody. It seems as though he's doing these things because it's all he can do in his life, but he really isn't satisfied with them, and really just wants to change his circumstances. But he has to wait for the right time, almost. And when he meets Carmilla, things change. He discovers the identity he wants to have. He wants to be a prim and proper adult, he wants this girl, he doesn't want to be gay anymore. And so he changes, for his father, and for himself too. He becomes what he thinks he wants to be. There's no telling if he'll be happy or not. But he's trying.