Ellenie's Blog

  Hi! This past week in class we presented our short films. Everyone in the class did really well and it was fun watching how each group came up with different ideas. The group I was in did a film about the everyday life of a college student. As a college student, everyday can become repetitive and feel like you are living the same day over and over again. It can become really challenging being a college student and feeling like you are just in a little bubble being surrounded by the same people and things everyday. When coming up with the idea of what our group wanted to do we thought the easiest way to film is that each member of our group takes clips of our day to make sure everyone was involved in helping with our short film. We also were given class time to film which our group used by taking time to film in the classroom. I am glad we had this opportunity to create our own film because I have never done anything like this before and I ended up really enjoying it and was able...

Hi guys! A narrative is one of the most important features that go into filmmaking. Overtime in Hollywood narrative has been perfected in a three act structure. This is one of the most important contributions to the global story telling form in the past century. Act one usually runs around 20-30 minutes on screen and usually introduces the protagonist and clarifies the goal that they will be pursuing throughout the rest of the story. Also in most films there is usually a midpoint in the story where the protagonist has a choice to either turn back on the goal or go for the goal and never look back.  As for myself and many others if there isn't compelling characters in the different plots of the story our attention to the film will be lost. Complexing characters can be distinguished by being round and flat. A round character is often a conflicted character with a deep internal life who is usually goes through some kind of change over the course of the story. A flat character is someo...

 Hi guys welcome back to my blog! In class this past week we watch the film Army Swiss Man directed by the Daniels. Wow! This movie was so very interesting and especially different. In the movie there was a man named Hank stranded out in the woods he was planning to hang himself until he saw this corpse named Manny. Manny ended up saving Hanks life in the woods by providing him water, transportation, and someone to talk to. Hank was alone for most of his life until he ended up finding his best friend Manny, which is what I believe made the movie so special.  I looked at this movie more from the approach of Manny being a lifesaver and going out there to save others who want to end there lives. Manny helps others find their purpose and also helps people realize that all the little things we think are a big deal in the real world are really not. At the end of the movie it seemed as Manny died as Hank looked crazy carrying his body to the shore many people around were able to witn...

 A movie I just recently watched is Remember the Titans. I highly recommend watching this movie if you never have before as this is one of my favorite movies. This movie is based on a true story and it truly is so inspiring to watch. The move is based around the game of football as a high school in Alexandria, Virginia were under federal mandate to integrate. The highly successful white football coach lost her job to a black coach when the schools integrated. This caused a lot of conflict in the company but throughout the movie the football team together as one while showed the adults and everyone else in the community to depend and trust each other.  Watching this movie more recently brought to my attention and really hurt my heart that the same things that happened in 1971 are still happening in our world today. At the end of the movie it did bring some hope that hopefully one day no matter what the color of your skin is we are all the same. I feel like everyone should be re...

  Hi guys! Hope you are all having a great week! Today in my blog I am going to writing about what I have learned from the book we are reading in class about acting. As most you know acting is an important key in having a successful film. I know for myself if I am watching a film not with great acting I usually totally uninterested and find myself turning off the film. Good acting doesn't act like acting at all, which is really hard to do. Becoming a professional actors takes a lot of work and commitment. Actors have to spend a lifetime of training by perfecting their technique  and honing their bodies to be the perfect instrument of their craft.    Acting began as early as 534 BC stepping onto the stage in Athens, Greece. Actors had a challenging time with acting in front of a camera because they were used to going big with their expression so the audience in all seats could see their expressions and gestures. Over the years editors have learned ...

  Hi! In chapter of our book Moving Pictures  talks all about sound in a film. Sound is all around us everyday and helps create an understanding of the world. For must of us it is common for sound to barley register unless we are listening for something particular in the sound. Even though sometimes we ignore the sounds around us but if we truly took all sound away many of us would feel lost and disorient. I know for myself when I am driving music is playing but at times I completely tone it out but if no music was playing at all it would throw me off siting in silence. Over time recording and reproduction has increased in sophistication and technical complexity which has developed its own important contribution to cinematic language.  Music is one of the most recognizable elements in the sound of cinema. When I am listening to certain songs I often coordinate them with the movies they are in. When watching I film I always pay close attention to the songs they choose for...