Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Our text looks at five different types of actors: Impersonators, Interpreters, Personalities, Wild Cards, and Characters. The movie I have chose to apply these acting types to is the comedy film Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

The first Actor I'd like to focus on is Russell Brand. In this film, he plays a character by the name of Aldous Snow, a recovering addict who is extremely egotistical. He is very much a personality actor. While having a big personality is a good thing, "relying on it too much is thought of as a crutch, as a substitute for skill and technique" (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011). I wouldn't necessarily say that Russell Brand is a good actor, but he is hilarious, and he always plays the same character in every film: a crazy, nonsensical, egotistical prick.



The next Actor in the film I'd like to take a look at is Jason Segel. I would consider him a Wild Card actor. He is pretty adaptable in his movie, and can go from hilarious to depressing pretty quickly. While he mostly plays roles in comedy movies, his character in this particular movie, Peter Bretter, actually portrays a kind of sweet personality. The viewer feels bad for Peter, and wants a good outcome to the film. While Jason is mostly a personality actor, I feel he is much more diverse than an actor like Russell Brand and therefor make me think of him more as a wild card.

The third person I'd like to look at is the actress Mila Kunis. She plays the character Rachel Jansen in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I feel like she most closely identifies as a Star. Because of beauty and talent, hollywood and the media love to follow her and her more intimate life. She always seems to find herself in "the girl next door" type roles.



Going back to Rusell Brand, I'd like to elaborate on him as a "Personality Actor". Taking a look at the trailer for the movie Arthur, it's easy to see how he always plays the same character. His character usually involves an extravagant amount of money, doing insane things, and being generally vulgar. Hilarious, but not necessarily "good" acting!


References: 

Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Dir. Nicholas Stoller. 2008.

 Goodykoontz B., and Jacobs C. (2011) Film From Watching to Seeing, San Diego CA, Birdgepoint Education INC.

Sound Effects and Pineapple Express

In every movie, there are three very important types of sounds that make a movie what it is.

Dialogue is the script and the words that are exchanged between characters.

Sound Effects are usually artificial sounds inserted into a scene to enhance an action that is taking place on screen. Examples are gunshots, explosions, and nature sounds.

Music really helps set the mood of a film. Certain songs and scores can really aid in giving a film a dark feel, or perhaps even a lighthearted mood.

The film I chose to exemplify these techniques is Pineapple Express. In this popular action/comedy film, a stoner and drug dealer work together to get themselves out of a sticky situation involving a drug lord working with a corrupted cop.

The dialogue in Pineapple Express is ridiculous and hilarious. The characters are awkward, the dialogue is flawed, and it makes the film perfectly funny. The next scene exemplifies the style of dialogue used in this movie. The crude language only adds to the comedic style of the film. The following scene is chaotic, with frenzied dialogue, and you just can't help but to laugh at what would otherwise be a very tense, perhaps frightening scene in any other movie.



The sound effects the scene from Red's House are a perfect example of the slapstick comedy used in some of the scenes. The first sound effect kicks off at around 00:40, with the ashtray hitting Dale in the head. From there, the scene escalates into a hilarious battle between two idiots who beat each other senseless. There are exaggerated noises of slapping, spitting, banging, falling, crashing, etc. I think that the sound effect could have been changed a little to make it a more "serious" fight, but that noises that the filmmakers chose for this scene perfectly compliment that comedic style of the film.

    The music in this film also played a vital role. The following scene is one of my favorites from the film. It's extremely simple, kind of pointless scene in the film, but the music chosen just gives it this kind of whimsical feel, and the viewer gets the idea that Dale and Saul are really just two simple guys that are in way over their heads. The scene gives them an almost child-like demeanor. Without the music chosen, however, I feel like the scene would really feel pointless and out of place.

300 - Lighting

The movie 300 uses low lighting to give the film a very dark and ominous feeling. While the movie was mostly shot in front of a green screen, the film uses a lot of high contrast to really put emphasis on the shadows. The text talks about low-key lighting in that the "design looks dark overall by comparison. It is marked by extreme use of deep shadows, with very high contrast between the brightest parts of the scene and the darkest parts, which are obscured in shadows…Low–key lighting is often used for intense dramatic scenes, horror films, mystery thrillers, and the like" (Goodykoontz & Jacobs 2011).


The trailer does a good job of selecting scenes that exemplify the film's use of light:




Overall, the choice of lighting lends to the movie's darker theme. The film is an Action movie, and the sub-genres are Fantasy and War. I do think the high-contrast levels play a huge role in the action scenes. The backgrounds are so bright they are almost white in some scenes, while the actors are so dark they are mostly black. This makes the viewer focus on the actors, and therefor the action. The low-light lends more to the dramatic and dark feel of the movie. Certainly without the use of these lighting techniques, the movie would have a completely different aura.


References:

300 Official Trailer accessed from: http://youtu.be/UrIbxk7idYA

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From watching to seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Week 1 Blog - My Neighbor Totoro

For my first post for this class, I felt like it was fitting to start with one of my all time favorite films. I'm an avid Studio Ghibli fan, and this is my favorite piece of work the studio has done. I mostly watch the films for the art, and the story line to this film is very short and simple.

My Neighbor Totoro

Image Source: Wikipedia

The original Japanese version of the movie was released in 1988. It is written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, and produced by Studio Ghibli. After gaining popularity, an English version was released by Fox. However, once Fox's license expired in 2004, Walt Disney Pictures took over the rights to the film and recorded a new English version using the voices of more prominent actors and actresses. The two main characters, sisters, are actually voiced by Dakota Fanning and her younger sister, Elle. Tim Daly voices the father. Lea Salonga (who is probably most known for providing the singing voices for Disney Characters Mulan and Jasmine). Pat Carol (the voice of Disney's Ursula) voices "Granny".

    The plot of the film, which is set in the late 50's in Japan, is actually fairly simple. Satsuki and Mei have had to move into a new house with their father. We later learn the move is in order to become closer to their mother who is in the hospital with an illness that is never revealed. The girls befriend Forest Spirits who reside in a camphor tree near their house. Totoro is the largest of the spirits, and it seems he tries to watch over the girls. The whole family goes to visit their mother in the hospital one day, and get good news that their mother is doing very well and may get to come home soon. Unfortunately, a short time later, they get an emergency telegraph asking them to call the hospital. Their mother has fallen ill again and she won't be able to make it home. Highly upset, the two sisters get into an altercation, and the older sister, Satsuki, ends up yelling at Mei and upsetting her. Mei, a very little girl not even of school age, storms off and goes missing. Satsuki discovers her sister is missing and begins searching with all of her neighbors. They fear the worst, and Satsuki gets so desperate she goes back to the camphor tree to beg for Totoro's help with the rest of the Forest Spirits. Another spirit, Catbus, comes and picks up Satsuki to take her to find Mei, who has tried to walk to the hospital all on her own. Catbus then takes the two sisters to the hospital, where they overhear that their mother was only being held in the hospital because of a minor cold. They leave with peace knowing everything is okay, and head back home.

The film is presented chronologically. There is not one instance of a flashback or really ever any mention of the past at all. We never find out anything about the family's history, like what caused the mom to get sick, or where the family moved from. We never learn where the Forest Spirits come from, or why they have chosen to befriend this family. I think this gives the viewer the best chance of focusing on what is currently going on in the story. The movie is supposed to give you a warm, anthropomorphic feeling about nature, and I think if they had complicated the storyline it would not have had this same effect. Even with character development, only enough is shown to get the viewer to identify most closely with the two girls. You get a feel for their innocence, so that you feel truly heartbroken for them when you learn their mother is in the hospital. Overall, if the anything changed in the movie, about how the plot was revealed, or how the characters were introduced, I really believe the movie would lose its "touch." I think children can watch this movie because of its simplicity, and adults can watch this movie and feel a little nostalgic about their childhood.

Below is a fan-created trailer, so you can view a few clips:



References:
"My Neighbor Totoro." Disney. Accessed from: http://movies.disney.com/my-neighbor-totoro
"My Neighbor Totoro." IMDb. Accessed from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096283/