Blog Eight

            The theme of Casablanca is seen in the closing clip with one of Hollywood’s most famous quotes, “Here’s looking at you, kid.” This final scene represents the theme that if you love someone against all odds, you let them go. At this point in the film Rick sends Ilsa on her way to safety to the man that he believes that she belongs with and will be the safest with even though he still loves her.

            The slow rhythm of the scene helps to build tension because Rick’s slow speech but dominating demeanor makes the audience hope that he will stay in Casablanca and send Ilsa on her way to safety. His dominating demeanor though represents that he will stick to his word and make sure that she leaves. Ilsa’s quick and desperate responses to what Rick is saying though shows her desperation to stay with him because of her love for him while Rick’s method of withholding his feelings through a slow rhythm also shows that he is letting her go because he loves her as well.  The space that Rick and Ilsa fill has very little in the background to distract the audience away from them. This sets Rick and Ilsa to be the point of interest in the scene and therefore the most important. This interaction of cuts between both of them helps to build a connection between the two characters so that the audience can further see the love between Rick and Ilsa. All of this helps to make the theme more active in that the writers do not clearly point out that Rick and Ilsa are in love still but that the audience can see it through the space and rhythm of the scene. When Rick says “Here’s to looking at you, kid” there is also a subtext to that line so it is not that he is looking at Ilsa at that moment and finds her to be a beautiful woman that he is in love with but he is also talking about his love for her and the good memories that they had together. That subtext can also be heard when he says “Always remember Paris.”  

            Casablanca is a beautiful piece of cinematography that shows the theme of if you love someone then you let them go better than any other film out there.

Blog Seven

            Beauty and Beast, a film noted for its beautiful art design and for being revolutionary in the world of animation, contrasted its scenes from the beginning of the film to the end by changing the color, harshness of lines, shadows, and more to show the growth Belle and Beast go through. As seen by picture number one there is not much contrast in the hues between Belle and Beast. Except for Belle’s blue dress, the room, Belle’s hair, Beast’s hair, and his clothing are all varying shades of red and brown. The scene had low saturation as well as low brightness to represent the darkness of the castle that is caused by the Beast because of his anger and darkness. The shadows in the room, specifically the one above Beast’s right shoulder also adds to the darkness caused by Beast. The dark tones and shadows are symbolic for Beast’s lack of hope of falling in love and his mean personality. This makes the mood of this scene dark and gloomy while the little bit of light on Belle’s back provides a little sense of hope because light in the dark can represent the good and hope in the world.  The parallel lines on the wall follow the direction that Beast’s body and his eyes are pointed which are down towards Belle.

            In the second image of Belle and Beast dancing, the hues dramatically contrast each other and have become richer colors of Blues and Golds to represent the grandness of royalty that Beast and Belle are beginning to feel as life begins to come back to the gloomy castle as well as them falling in love. The colors become more saturated to bring out the brightness of the room without losing the grand feel of it. Only simple shadows remain in this scene, the most noticeable being the one from the background in the left portion of the shot. The disappearance of the harsh, looming shadows brings light to room and represents the disappearance of darkness from Beast’s life and his relationship with Belle. This makes the mood of the scene lighter and shows Belle and Beast falling in love. The grand colors that replaced the once dark and easily blended colors of the previous scene represent the grandness that would come if Belle were to admit her love for Beast.

            Both scenes are beautifully crafted and are a part of what I can consider to be one of the best pieces of animation of all time.

Blog Six

Gore Verbinski, director of Pirates of the Caribbean followed the 180 Degree Rule, the Rule of Thirds, and the 30s Rules in his film. His 180 degree line went through Johnny Depp if seen overhead and the camera moved in front of him and behind him on that line with any other angle coming from the right side of the arch. He also used the Rule of Thirds in the opening shots of the scene. One of the best uses of the Rule of Thirds in this scene was when Verbinski went from an over the shoulder shot of Johnny Depp to a medium shot of him from a long angle where he fell on the left third line with the horizon and part of the ship in the right half. This framing makes him appear dominating and in control of the situation when really he is not in control because his boat is sinking. Verbinski also used the 30s rule to do smooth cuts between all of the scenes to show the action happening. He opens with a close up over the shoulder with Depp’s head on the left third line then cuts to a medium shot of Depp staring into the horizon. He then moves the camera 30 degrees to the right and downward looking up to cut to Depp looking down and realizing the boat is flooding so he prepares to jump down. Verbinski cuts to a cutaway of Depp’s feet splashing in the water as Depp is jumping down from the mast and as he bends down to pour water out of the boat Verbinski then cuts back out to a wide shot of the boat at sea.

            Verbinski well utilized all three rules to create a beautiful scene that can arguably be filled with some of the best cinematography seen in the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

Blog Five

            While John Mayer has a similar style in all of his songs, “Wheel” and “Shadow Days” have very different qualities to them as well. “Wheel is a more slow paced song with a jazzy, relaxed, and melodic rhythm while “Shadow Days” has a medium tempo with an upbeat and somewhat funky rhythm. The drums are a source of rhythm for both songs.

            In “Wheel” the instrumentation that drives the song are the guitar and drums while in “Shadow Days” it is the drums and vocals. So while the drums are key in both songs to drive it forward they both incorporate other sources of instrumentation to help push the song along. “Shadow Days” follows the traditional method of song structure, verse 1, chorus, verse 2, chorus, refrain, with the chorus repeating in the end. Mayer does incorporate a guitar solo in between the second round of the chorus and the refrain, which is signature in John Mayer’s music to have a guitar solo. In comparison, “Wheel” does not follow the traditional story structure and varies with the mood that Mayer is trying to convey with his lyrics, this helps to build an emotional architecture in the pattern of a circle, similar to a wheel. “Shadow Days” once again follows what would be considered the traditional emotional architecture in music, a build up to the turning point of the lyrics and a drop at the turning point, followed by a rebuilding of tension to the conclusion.

            The heights of both songs are similar in that the guitar provided the high frequencies while the bass percussion provided the low frequencies. While “Wheel” was deep in it’s meaning, it did not have much depth which added to the simplistic soulfulness of the song while “Shadow Days” had more depth provided by the wide instrumentation.

            The song that I enjoy more is “Wheel” because of its deep message, soulful lyrics, and pure feel to it. It was not beefed up by more instrumentation to make it more appealing as a popular song. It is a soulful piece that touches me because of its message of departure and finding your way back to those you love. It is a beautiful song filled with great musical qualities.