Mini blog post #4... How interesting silent films are

Silent films are not very interesting to me although they are well put together. I think silent films aren't very interesting to me because of my generation and how technologically advanced the movies are nowa days.  An example would be avatar... How can Charlie Chaplin compare to explosions, special effects and things flying at you in a surround sound theatre, it can't.
On the other hand I think silent films like Charlie Chaplin and The Great Train Robbery were very well written for their time. I think if I was growing up in the silent film era I would have loved them, just like I love movies in this day and age.  The movies just weren't interesting to me and I think I can speak for the wrest of the class when I say they weren't intresesting.  Not only were they soundless, they didn't have much of a plot to them.  I think if they had a bit more of a plot they would be more interesting, but no sound and no plot equals a pretty boring movie.  The music that they play in the films isn't even exciting, which is also another factor that makes these films so boring.
In conclusion I think silent films could be a lot better than what they were but for their time they weren't THAT bad.

I thought Winnebago man was O.K. Mini blog post #3

My opinion on Winnebago man is on the fence.  At first I was almost like the creator of the documentary, I was very interested in Jack Rebney.. He first appeared as an angry old man who got extremely angry very easily but when you get to know the circumstances I can see why somebody would be that angry too. It was very hot, (Especially in those tiny little motor homes), there were little flies flying all around him adding to the irritation of not remembering his lines.




The documentary had a lot of potential when we first started it, I was very interested in it and had to know what happened to Jack Rebney, I was so interested I ended up going home and finding it on the internet to watch because I thought we wouldn't finish it in class.  But I have to say the ending was kind of disappointing, about half way I didn't really see where the movie was going and really it didn't go anywhere.  I thought there would be a twist or something to it but really there was nothing to it.  It ended with Jack going to the show, the crowd liking him, him finding out the crowd likes him and him being happy with being a youtube sensation.

Movie Genre blog Action

The genre I have chose is 'Action', I chose this genre because that is one of my favourite styles of movies to watch.  Here are three trailers that are examples of the action genre, I think they represent the action genre very well because they are all different styles of action and show good variety.












The thing I love about action movies is it can be based around so many different things, as you can see in the above trailers it goes from hundreds of years ago with the Spartans, to guns and explosions with the Terminator, to robots, light sabers and space ships in Star Wars.  As opposed to other genres like romantic comedy, where you can already tell the whole movie from the first 5 minutes.

The action genre usually includes things like high energy, physical stunts and chases, rescues, battles, escapes, destructive crises, non-stop moving.  The action genre usually includes a hero, or 'good guy(s)' taking on the villain or villains.

The action genre actually began in the silent film era, the first 'action' movie was more or less 'The Great Train Robbery' which was made in 1903. The movie is about a group of bandits that try to do a hold up on a train later to find out a determined posse is on their tails. This movie has all the elements a action movie requires, some what fast pace music, a group of 'good guys' and a group of 'bad guys' dueling it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc7wWOmEGGY.-(Link to The Great Train Robbery)
 Action films then expanded in the 80s and 90s with the growth of special effects techniques.  The action genre also developed decently fast to the response of the audience wanting faster paced plots, greater violence and stimulation.
In my opinion the one actor that sticks out in my mind that revolutionized action films is Sylvester Stallone.  With the Rocky movies and the Rambo movies he really changed how people look at action movies.  In the Rambo series he took violence to a whole new level and really gave the action seekers what they were looking for.

The elements that create this theme are special effects, big guns, big explosions, a villain, a hero, stunts, and a problem EG: Save the family, save the world, prevent crime, win the girl etc. Without these elements the action film is no longer an action film.

Mini blog post #2 Memento is a good movie

I thought the movie Memento was an excellent movie.  It was very well constructed and had an interesting twist, every film needs a good twist in it and this one sure did. It was a mind bending thriller type movie, the introduction was intriguing and confusing but at the same time put out enough for the audience to connect with the movie.

The director did a fantastic job at showing the movie in reverse, the end is the beginning and the beginning is the end. The movie didn't really make much sense to me until the very end, you couldn't predict the ending at all and that is what people look for in movies... Or at least that is what I look for in movies, I don't like to be able to predict the end of the movie and with this one I couldn't.

This film shows the importance of memory and how vital it is to the human mind.  Lenny remembers strictly by pictures with notes on them and tattoos.  He is very disconnected with the world and is continuously trying to connect.

If you really pay attention to the tattoos from the beginning of the movie one of them reads "Ive done it" that pretty much says it all.  If he really was to pay attention to his tattoos he wouldn't have a reason to live, his reason to live is to kill his wife's murderer and if he really paid any attention to his tattoos he would think he had already done that.

Mini blog post # 1 My opinion on Back to the Future

My first overall opinion on back to the future was good, I was enjoying it and thought it was a well constructed film. This was however, the first half we watched in class.  The second half of the film wasn't as good as I had expected and what everyone had cracked it up to be.  This was my first time watching the movie and everyone in our class had cracked it up to be this epic film, when really I found it just average.


I found it kind of dumb in the second half because it seems like they just tried to wrap it all up fast and didn't have a very good final conclusion, even though I know they were trying to leave the ending open for a sequel. They ended it with Marty, Marty's girlfriend and 'Doc' flying away in the Delorean, if you ask me, very lame ending... Even if it is leaving it open for a sequel. I also found the way they taped up the letter to Doc and Doc later found it in his coat kind of dumb because the whole point of being so careful in 1955 was to not mess up the future and it made sense to me when Doc first ripped up the letter.  Later on I find out Doc keeps the letter... It kind of ruins the whole movie, like Marty had to be so careful not to ruin the future by not talking to anyone other than his dad and his mom.  Doc also stated "I can't read it, it will ruin the future!" he says it himself and then does it.... Pretty selfish!

The last thing I didn't like about it was how the parents and Biff didn't recognize Marty.  Marty played such a big role in all of their lives and none of them realize who Marty is.  It's not like Marty changed at all he was still the same age and had all the exact same physical features. I also don't know why Marty's Dad would hire Biff to wax his car, like Biff bullied him all throughout highschool.  If I was Marty's Dad I would not hire someone who bullied me like Biff did.

Copyright Laws- Ridiculous or Reasonable?

This film was made to show the general public how ridiculous copy right laws are and how we should have more freedom with the downloading laws.  An example of this would be the single mother who was originally charged something like 200, 000 dollars for 24 songs and the total cost ended up being 9000 dollars per song when Itunes lists a song at 1 dollar.

Here is the trailer for the documentry, the trailer gives examples of how Girltalk mixes music.  By watching the trailer you will have an idea of how the documentry is presented.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oar9glUCL0

I think this particular documentry makes a good point and is very acceptable because the facts are presented.  There is no bouncing around facts even though there is a bias opinion.  Even though there is a bias opinion presented it is still the truth and people should realize that the music industry and the lawyers are only out for money.

My thoughts on the Copyright laws have changed tremendously, this film, even though you can tell the film has a strong bias, shows that Copyright laws are out of hand and something needs to be done about it.  It is not the same to take parts of a film and put it into your own film unless it is to make fun.  Music is different, if you take a second from a song you aren't stealing their music, you are simply building off their music.  No music is truly original, it has always been based upon something.  If people are not going to let other people base their music upon other music the music industry will decrease decently fast. Take hiphop for an example; it began from old records and repeating the 'break'.  Just like Rock and Roll originated from country, blues, gospel  and jazz.

I think this film was well constructed and the arguement was constructed even better.  I did enjoy watching it even though I didn't find it too interesting, it still presented a very good point.

Blog Assignment #3 The silent Film Era

The topic on silent films is fairly hard for me because I have no interest in talking about silent films and how they have developed.  It is hard for anyone to talk about something they have no interest in. The reason I have no interest in these films is because there is no plot, it is in black and white there is no tone in the actors/actresses voices and some of the films only last a few minutes.  If I am going to watch a movie it will be one with colour, a good plot and it will be longer then 2 minutes.  Back in the day I am sure people were very interested in films and the production of them but now they are simply a piece of history.  People nowadays may think silent films are interesting because they were such a break through in the cinematography world but they aren't interested in the movie's plot or story.
Personally, I think 'Citizen Kane' wasn't very interesting and could have used a lot of work. I do not think they should consider 'Citizen Kane' one of the best movies ever made because it is not very interesting and does not hold the viewers attention through out the whole movie. Or at least it didn't hold my interest.  I think 'Citizen Kane' should be considered one of the best movies for its time not of all time.
Movies from the silent film era and the black and white era can not compete with newer movies.  I think that modern movies have reached a plateau and they will no longer be better. The 3D has even peaked with Avatar being released. The only thing they could do to improve 3D  is remove the glasses and make the movie 3D without glasses.