I must say, the student film festival is probably my favorite Malone event. It's so cool to see the ways different people choose to present their art. Last night's event was full of interesting films, some good, some bad.
I had a hard time picking my favorite film when it came time to vote for the Audience award. I ended up picking "When There are No Words." I really liked that this was the only serious film of the night, yet there were comedic moments. It was really well written and directed, and I'm glad it won best film. Losing a grandparent is something we've all probably experienced, so this film brought forth emotion from a lot of people I saw. Also, it was fun to see Dr. Case in a cameo appearance:)
I also really liked "Still Roomates." What an awesome use of music! This really showed how easy it is to communicate through song. I can't help but wonder how long it took them to find the songs and choreoraph it so perfectly, though. Very cool.
"Penn Hall" was also really cool, and I'm disappointed that they didn't win anything for it. I'm a sucker for "The Office," and this was a great parody of the show. I think a lot of the laughs came from the fact that these are people we know or have seen around campus; it was something that probably only was funny to Malone students. Maybe that's why it didn't get any awards? Nonetheless, I enjoyed it.
Here's what I don't like: music videos. I really just don't see the point of including these in the film festival. They're pretentious and contrived, and I jsut don't like them. I understand that these people put a lot of time and effort into making their music videos, but I have a hard time counting them as "short films," and isn't that what the film fest is supposed to be for? Maybe it's just me...
All in all, the film fest was a great way to spend a Saturday night, and I'm really glad I went. It kind of makes me want to make a film for next year's festival. We'll see.
Anyway, this is my last Mass Media blog of the semester. It's been fun, really it has. This class has taught me so much and has probaby been my favorite class of the semester(shh...don't tell my other professors!) I think I'm a more "media literate person" now. Mission accomplished, right?
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Diegetic Music
I thought our discussion about diegetic music yesterday was going to be horribly dull, but it actually ended up making me think quite a bit. Go figure, right?
When we go to see a movie, we expect music to be there. We know that when the big emotional moment happens, the music will swell and our hearts will be warmed. We know that when the killer sneaks up behind the unexpecting teenage couple to murder them, the music is going to get so creepy that we just might have to close our eyes in anticipation. We expect this, and I think for the most part we enjoy it. I mean, music is a huuuge part of the movie experience, especially in Hollywood films. If it wasn't there, I know I for one would be disgusted and disappointed. So many films rely on music in a big way. Let's face it--the storylines of most movies these days just aren't gripping enough to give a really stellar effect without diegetic music.
What's really interesting is when filmmmakers decide to leave the music out of big scenes. We talked about this in class, and a few examples immediately popped into my mind. "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou," which I FINALLY saw over break and is unbelievably good (seriously, go rent it) features music throughout most of the movie. However, during a pivotal scene during the end, when a tragic thing happens, the music disappears. We sit in silence as we watch disjointed flashbacks occur, until suddenly we're taken back into the film to see what happened. It was incredibly jarring. Had there been music there, the effect wouldn't have been as strong. Another good example of the abscence of music(and sound altogether for that matter) comes from the movie "Jarhead," which everyone but me seems to hate. In the middle of a bombing scene, the sound disappears. We watch Jake Gyllenhaal's character stand there, unprotected and seemingly oblivious to what's going on around him as things around him explode and his fellow soldiers yell to him to get down. He watches them lazily. This shows how emotionally numb war has made him, how unattached from the real world he has become. It's a pretty intense moment. Once again, if there had been sound there, the effect would have been severely lessened. Pretty interesting.
I have one final thing to share about music in movies. Last night I saw the movie "Amazing Grace," about the slave trade in Britain. It was an OK movie, a bit cheesy and dull at times, but overall a decent film. At the end of the movie, while the credits rolled, a traditional band played "Amazing Grace," the way they would at the funeral of an important person. My friends and I got up, not thinking much about it, but no one else moved. We ended up standing in the back of the theater. No one moved until the band stopped playing. Then they all applauded. It was fascinating, something I've never seen at a movie theater before. I guess this shows how strongly certain songs effect us in such strong ways. Pretty cool.
When we go to see a movie, we expect music to be there. We know that when the big emotional moment happens, the music will swell and our hearts will be warmed. We know that when the killer sneaks up behind the unexpecting teenage couple to murder them, the music is going to get so creepy that we just might have to close our eyes in anticipation. We expect this, and I think for the most part we enjoy it. I mean, music is a huuuge part of the movie experience, especially in Hollywood films. If it wasn't there, I know I for one would be disgusted and disappointed. So many films rely on music in a big way. Let's face it--the storylines of most movies these days just aren't gripping enough to give a really stellar effect without diegetic music.
What's really interesting is when filmmmakers decide to leave the music out of big scenes. We talked about this in class, and a few examples immediately popped into my mind. "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou," which I FINALLY saw over break and is unbelievably good (seriously, go rent it) features music throughout most of the movie. However, during a pivotal scene during the end, when a tragic thing happens, the music disappears. We sit in silence as we watch disjointed flashbacks occur, until suddenly we're taken back into the film to see what happened. It was incredibly jarring. Had there been music there, the effect wouldn't have been as strong. Another good example of the abscence of music(and sound altogether for that matter) comes from the movie "Jarhead," which everyone but me seems to hate. In the middle of a bombing scene, the sound disappears. We watch Jake Gyllenhaal's character stand there, unprotected and seemingly oblivious to what's going on around him as things around him explode and his fellow soldiers yell to him to get down. He watches them lazily. This shows how emotionally numb war has made him, how unattached from the real world he has become. It's a pretty intense moment. Once again, if there had been sound there, the effect would have been severely lessened. Pretty interesting.
I have one final thing to share about music in movies. Last night I saw the movie "Amazing Grace," about the slave trade in Britain. It was an OK movie, a bit cheesy and dull at times, but overall a decent film. At the end of the movie, while the credits rolled, a traditional band played "Amazing Grace," the way they would at the funeral of an important person. My friends and I got up, not thinking much about it, but no one else moved. We ended up standing in the back of the theater. No one moved until the band stopped playing. Then they all applauded. It was fascinating, something I've never seen at a movie theater before. I guess this shows how strongly certain songs effect us in such strong ways. Pretty cool.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Film Trends
Yesterday I was reading in my World Cinema textbook about film genres. I thought the author had some pretty interesting things to say, so I thought I'd reflect about them here, since film is media and this is a media blog.
The book talked a lot about how genre popularity occurs in cycles...for example, the success of "The Godfather" caused a ton of other gangster movies to become popular after it was released. That made me think--what genres are popular today? Looking at movie previews, it seems that Hollywood is obsessed by cheesy horror/slasher movies and comic book adaptations. The romantic comedy is of course still in a cycle of popularity that doesn't seem to be even close to ending. But how many more horror movies can this country stomach? Unless horror writers learn some new plotlines, I can see this genre starting to decline in popularity sometime soon...I mean, there's only so many times we can see the same story before it gets old..right? Lets hope so. It's time for something new.
My book also talked about how film genres function in society...we talked about this in class a few times, I think. According to the book, the secret of the success of war movies and romantic comedies is the predictability--we go in knowing that the good side is going to win, that the guy is going to get the girl, and that inevitably, no matter what happens, everyone is going to live happily ever after. These kinds of movies reinforce what we believe.
But here's what I'm really interested in--the book talked a lot about musicals. They were insanely popular during the early era of American cinema, but I never really thought about why. The book talked about how, during the tumultuous times of the popularity of the movie musical, social commentary was often incorporated into the films. It even talked about one of my favorites, "Meet Me In St. Louis," expressing concern for the American homefront during WWII. Crazy! So, even as audiences were enjoying themselves and getting to forget their problems via the happy world of the Musical, they were being force fed commentary on how they should be reacting to the changing world around them. Very cool. Maybe a little creepy if you think about it too much, but still kind of cool.
Personally, I think that Hollywood should go back to making movie musicals. Things are pretty crazy in this world, and filmgoers deserve a fun way to escape. Maybe they could even through in a little social commentary while they're at it. Its definitely time for the return of the movie musical.
The book talked a lot about how genre popularity occurs in cycles...for example, the success of "The Godfather" caused a ton of other gangster movies to become popular after it was released. That made me think--what genres are popular today? Looking at movie previews, it seems that Hollywood is obsessed by cheesy horror/slasher movies and comic book adaptations. The romantic comedy is of course still in a cycle of popularity that doesn't seem to be even close to ending. But how many more horror movies can this country stomach? Unless horror writers learn some new plotlines, I can see this genre starting to decline in popularity sometime soon...I mean, there's only so many times we can see the same story before it gets old..right? Lets hope so. It's time for something new.
My book also talked about how film genres function in society...we talked about this in class a few times, I think. According to the book, the secret of the success of war movies and romantic comedies is the predictability--we go in knowing that the good side is going to win, that the guy is going to get the girl, and that inevitably, no matter what happens, everyone is going to live happily ever after. These kinds of movies reinforce what we believe.
But here's what I'm really interested in--the book talked a lot about musicals. They were insanely popular during the early era of American cinema, but I never really thought about why. The book talked about how, during the tumultuous times of the popularity of the movie musical, social commentary was often incorporated into the films. It even talked about one of my favorites, "Meet Me In St. Louis," expressing concern for the American homefront during WWII. Crazy! So, even as audiences were enjoying themselves and getting to forget their problems via the happy world of the Musical, they were being force fed commentary on how they should be reacting to the changing world around them. Very cool. Maybe a little creepy if you think about it too much, but still kind of cool.
Personally, I think that Hollywood should go back to making movie musicals. Things are pretty crazy in this world, and filmgoers deserve a fun way to escape. Maybe they could even through in a little social commentary while they're at it. Its definitely time for the return of the movie musical.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Parasocial Relationships
I'm really interested in this concept of parasocial relationships. When we filled out that survey on Monday, my score was average. I am a fan of certain celebrities and characters, but I don't go too crazy about them. I can remember a time in my life when I did, though. My first parasocial relationship was pretty amazing, and it's one I probaby shared with a million other girls. Blog readers, I present to you my first parasocial relationship, and probably one of the best friendships I had as a child: The Baby-Sitters Club.
When I was in second grade, I was a pretty normal kid. I played baseball, took ballet classes, and was a Girl Scout. I had friends to play with. I wasn't "pathologically lonely" or anything like that. But I loved to read. When I discovered this awesome series by Ann M. Martin, I knew that these girls were going to be the greatest friends I could find.
My friend Emily also read the books, and we would always pretend we were the girls. I was Mary Anne, because she was quiet and polite and liked to read. But I could relate to all of them in some way, the way you can relate to real friends. Jessi Ramsey was a dancer, just like me. Mallory Pike had glasses and wanted to be a writer. Stacey McGill was obsessed with New York City. Claudia Kishi was an artist. Dawn Schaffer cared about the environment. Kristy Thomas was the hardest to relate to, because she was a tomboy who liked sports, but I still thought she was a pretty good friend.
I took these books very seriously. When Dawn decided to leave the club and move to California with her dad, I felt like one of my best friends was moving away. When Mallory Pike was obsessed with the book "Harriet the Spy," I decided to read it. And when Kristy decided that maybe starting a baby-sitting club was the worst idea she had ever had, I thought the world would end.
Luckily the series went on for at least 20 more books after that awful experience.
I think parasocial relationships are totally normal and even healthy. As I got older, the girls in the Baby-Sitters Club and I grew apart, but I have fond memories of them, just as I have fond memories of the other friends I've lost touch with since childhood. Is that weird? You might think so, and that's totally okay with me. I think it's normal. I think we NEED to have parasocial relationships, especially when we're young. We need to be able to have "friends" that are there for no purpose other than to entertain us. It's a way to escape and get our mind off of the real world. It helps us deal with the bad things in life. The characters (or celebrities)become real to us. We care about what happens to them almost as much as we care about what happens to people in real life. Why? I honestly don't know. Maybe we'll talk about it in class on Wednesday....
When I was in second grade, I was a pretty normal kid. I played baseball, took ballet classes, and was a Girl Scout. I had friends to play with. I wasn't "pathologically lonely" or anything like that. But I loved to read. When I discovered this awesome series by Ann M. Martin, I knew that these girls were going to be the greatest friends I could find.
My friend Emily also read the books, and we would always pretend we were the girls. I was Mary Anne, because she was quiet and polite and liked to read. But I could relate to all of them in some way, the way you can relate to real friends. Jessi Ramsey was a dancer, just like me. Mallory Pike had glasses and wanted to be a writer. Stacey McGill was obsessed with New York City. Claudia Kishi was an artist. Dawn Schaffer cared about the environment. Kristy Thomas was the hardest to relate to, because she was a tomboy who liked sports, but I still thought she was a pretty good friend.
I took these books very seriously. When Dawn decided to leave the club and move to California with her dad, I felt like one of my best friends was moving away. When Mallory Pike was obsessed with the book "Harriet the Spy," I decided to read it. And when Kristy decided that maybe starting a baby-sitting club was the worst idea she had ever had, I thought the world would end.
Luckily the series went on for at least 20 more books after that awful experience.
I think parasocial relationships are totally normal and even healthy. As I got older, the girls in the Baby-Sitters Club and I grew apart, but I have fond memories of them, just as I have fond memories of the other friends I've lost touch with since childhood. Is that weird? You might think so, and that's totally okay with me. I think it's normal. I think we NEED to have parasocial relationships, especially when we're young. We need to be able to have "friends" that are there for no purpose other than to entertain us. It's a way to escape and get our mind off of the real world. It helps us deal with the bad things in life. The characters (or celebrities)become real to us. We care about what happens to them almost as much as we care about what happens to people in real life. Why? I honestly don't know. Maybe we'll talk about it in class on Wednesday....
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