Aliyah's Film blog

Analysis of Alone Time  Alone Time is a short film, released in 2014, produced  by Josh Murphy and directed by Rod Blackhurst. This film is a drama following the story of a young woman, stressed by her busy and continually crowded New York City existence who spontaneously retreats to a solitary lake deep in the Adirondacks. Even though throughout it is presented as a drama, it could also be argued that it is a thriller due to the way it ends. This film explores themes of loneliness, adaptation to adult life, love and freedom. All of these themes are explored through the protagonist, Ann. We are not really introduced to any other characters, unless they are in relation to her- which immediately lets the audience understand that this character is alone. The director also uses Mise en scene, cinematography and the character of Ann as a way of exploring these themes.  One of the themes that the director explores through this short film is that or adult life a...

The Western Main characters of a typical western film Typically, the three main characters in a western are; ·          A cowboy- Who is normally a local in the village/settlement in which is set and is familiar to the rest of the people there. Throughout the film the cowboy is usually portrayed as a hero (in many cases in classic westerns he is portrayed as the all American hero who is seen to be fighting off Native Americans). In both classic westerns and neo-westerns like No Country For Old Men the cowboy usually has a goal or journey that he has to complete/achieve. Props normally associated with a cowboy include: 1.     Cowboy hat 2.     Boots 3.     Saddle 4.     Rope ·          A sheriff- Sheriffs in western normally don’t have the best of luck. The whole village is dependent on their skills and ability and so therefore the...

Notes: Comparing Casablanca & Do The Right Thing Similarities ·          Even though the storylines of these two films are quite different, the message that the director is trying to convey to the audience could be seen as similar. ·          The main message that is presented through these films is that even if you are a neutral party in a dispute you will have to eventually choose a side and make a decision based on the side that you chose ·          One of the main themes that are explored in both films that of friendship. In Casablanca the theme of friendship is explored specifically through the characters of Rick and Victor Laszlo and in Do The Right Thing it is explored through the Mookie and quite a few of his friends such as Buggin Out and Radio Raheem ·          With both films have noticed the respe...

No Country For Old Men: Character Profiles  Llewellyn Moss Llewellyn Moss is the main character (protagonist) in No Country For Old Men. Throughout this film we see that Llewellyn is a quite average man, with clear hopes and aims for the future. From the clothes that he wears and the things people say about him as an audience we immediately gain the opinion that he is local to the area that it is set, and so therefore may be quite familiar to the other characters. During the film we see that Llewellyn's main aims are to keep the money, keep his wife happy, and ultimately safe and to keep himself safe; the latter of which he never achieves. Even though Llewellyn is not portrayed as  the typical  hero because of his somewhat questionable morality, he is the closest thing that the audience gets. The fact that his death is of scene so of creates an idea that we are not always given what he are oad in life ( the audience not getting to see his death is a symbol of this)....

Spike Lee films comparison Most of Spike Lee’s films are used as a way of either looking at social issues, or the position of different people in society; even though in some of his films it is not made as clear. Do the right thing is a film that is explicitly used as a way of exploring the racial tension in American society during the 1980s, whereas Crooklyn focuses more on the family unit. Both of these films are different to 25 th Hour, since it is not exactly clear straight away which social issue that Lee is trying to explore in it. A lot of Spike Lee’s earlier films follow the story of a young African American having to work his or her way through a struggle in a sense. After a while critics started to draw attention to the fact that most of his films were quite similar, in either the social issue they are exploring or the cinematography used. So, during the late 90s and early 2000s Lee began to work on films that were different to the films that he was used to producing and ...

Casablanca In the first few scenes of Casablanca we are introduced to all of the characters which hold relevance in the plot; all except one- Rick. Throughout the opening scenes we are partially introduced to Rick through the description of other characters, however we do not see him until scene three. In this scene cinematography, costume choice and editing are used not only as a way of introducing Rick, but also as a way of conveying the type of character he is and the decisions that he is going to make. The scene is opened with an establishing shot of Rick’s café. This is done as a way of introducing the audience to Rick before we even see him since characters in films are often characterised by the job that they do. From this shot, we are not only able to see what Rick’s job is, but also a peak into the type of establishment he is running. This shot is quite brightly lit, however there seems to be a dark shadow hanging over Rick’s café. This could be suggestive of both the fac...

Analysis of ‘House party’ The film House party follows the story of a teenage girl and a boy that seems to be her boyfriend on the way to, during and after a house party. Through this film the themes of relationships, loneliness and fear. The first shot that is used in this film is an over the shoulder shot of the main character in a car speaking to somebody. For the first 30 seconds, the focus is on her, and we don’t even see the person that she is talking to. At the 47 th second invisible editing is used- this automatically creates a sense of separation between Lacey (the main character) and the guy that is presumably her boyfriend. In addition to this when the two of them step out of the car the first thing that we as an audience notice is the fact that it was cold. Once they get out of the car the camera zooms in on Lacey. This done so that we are able to see the mist coming out of her mouth. Here the producer (Conor Evert) uses setting as a way of foreshadowing that Lacey is ...