patricia ohanian blog-film technique response 3/5/2020


Bunny

The short film Bunny really emphasizes the idea of light.  The moth is obviously attracted to the light.  But by analyzing the movie there is also the idea of “going in to the light”.  The rest of the short film is very dark with kind of blue and purple tones.  The blue and purple tones definitely represent sadness or melancholy towards the memories she had with her husband before he died.  The moth, the husband, is causing a disturbance by the light and she keeps going over to the light to get rid of it, she even turns the light off.  Finally, the oven represents a passage way to the other side so that she can be with her husband.  Once again, a very bright light comes out of the oven.  I think this short film is all about lighting, color tones, and symbolism.

Harold and Maude

              This movie obviously has an extremely dark overarching theme: suicide.  The way this movie is filmed it often made me feel like I was right in the middle of the room or the conversation.  I think that a lot of the camera angles or film technique used in this film were purposeful in order to represent something in the movie.  For example, I remember a camera angle being inverted or reversed, kind of like a backwards way of thinking about something.  Perhaps, the way of viewing death and suicide.

Northfork

              This movie is filled with symbolism.  The coffin on top of the car instead of luggage seemed to represent bringing the dead with us wherever we go, in my opinion.  Kind of like they are always with us on this journey.  I did not really understand the buffalo analogy to the adopted boy. To me, this movie seemed a little bit confusing because of all of the meaningful symbols and different parts they tried to add to it. 

Paris Texas

              This movie was very visually appealing to me.  I loved the landscape and the colors used.  I think the window scene with the wife working and the husband on the other side was one of the strongest scenes from any of the movies we have seen.  I think it is very powerful because neither can see what the other sees.  For example he thinks she is in some dream room while all the while she is looking at an unfinished wall.  I think it also really represents the bond that husband and wife have because she didn’t even have to see him, she knew it was him from the voice and the story.  In addition to the room scene, there were many symbols of communication: powerlines, phones.

Pink Floyd

              This movie was super artistic, and I really liked that about it.  I loved the mixed mediums as far as real people, animations, and drawings all together.  The education scene to me was interesting.  All the students are individuals when walking in line, but then they get ground up into one big vat of meat.  It symbolizes how many believe that education just forces people to all think the same way.  In addition there is an animation of the flag burning I believe at the beginning.  I think this film is very much anti-establishment. 

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