Being Noisy isn't always the best solution and other movies that fit this movie

As I read the story along with Yasminda this story is very interesting. This movie does remind me of other movies such as Disturbia with Shia LeBeouf or even Sliver with Sharon Stone. we get a glimpse of our main character and what he is thinking and what is his next move. With the film I feel like even though it is a translation of the literature there is so much a director or a writer could do to make it an adaptation  of the literature. However I'm enjoying the film as much as the story. In my view I feel like certain books need to be performed in order for people to understand what the story/ message  is really about.

It Had to be Murder

"It Had To Be Murder" was fairly interesting. Although it was somewhat confusing at times, I don't to discredit it by saying it was not written well. Similar to Mr. Kane, the protagonist has more to him than what's on the surface. People tend to be obsessed with watching other people.  For example "reality tv" has taken over television these days.  This seems to be all in his head but I'm not sure what to believe.  This reminds me of an episode of Law and Order.  Did he really kill her for the insurance money?  Did any of this really happen?  These are the questions I kept asking myself as I read this.  I don't want to say that this isn't a true literary work because in my opinion, literature can be many things.  Literature is generally used to inform people of things but I feel like this author made me really think while I was reading this so I'm not going to say that this isn't literature.

Slumdog Millionaire: Canted angles (aka: Oblique angles)

According to Wikipedia, "The Dutch  angle, also known as the Dutch tilt, canted angle, oblique angle or German angle, is a type of camera shot where the camera is set at an angle on its roll axis so that the shot is composed with vertical lines at an angle to the side of the frame, or so that the horizon line of the shot is not parallel with the bottom of the camera frame" ( "Dutch Angle" Wikipedia ) 

As these shots from Slumdog Millionaire show us, this produces an effect of distortion and disorientation.  

In the story, the protagonist Jeff observes his neighborhoods’ life from the window. And he found that a devoted husband, Thorwald always waits on his ill wife, but Jeff doubts why the husband can keep his wife shut up in that hot apartment and never calls a doctor. One day, Jeff found that Thorwald’s behavior is weird. Thorwald lies in the living room but never falls in asleep. His glowing cigarette is a reminder of his wakefulness. Jeff realizes that Thorwald’s ill wife is dead and Torwald is the murder. So Jeff asks his Boyne to find out the evidence, but after perfunctory check, there is no evidence to show Thorwald killed his wife. Jeff doesn’t believe it and he finds another way to prove Thorwald as a killer. The whole story doesn’t tell us texplicitly why Jeff insists that Thorhald should be the murder. Jeff thinks Thorwald is a murder, and murder it is. Readers don’t have the opportunity to share Jeff’s journey of discovering. We don’t watch with him. We’re just told the fact and conclusion by Jeff’s view. Besides, our overlook and view towards Jeff’s neighbors is manly gaining from Jeff’s thought and view. Jeff seems to dominate the view of the other characters in the story except himself. And we don’t even know what Jeff’s injury is until the last page and we never learn more than his name. It looks like Jeff is a mysterious person throughout the story and his mystery is not revealed at the end of story.

I think the short study "It had to be murder" was very suspenseful because it had you thinking what was going to happen next. Since the main character is in a wheelchair he is limited on what he can do and what he can look at. This makes him linger out the window and looking at the daily lives of his neighbors. He becomes intrigued with the lives of a married couple. Days go on and the wife later disappears and Jeff starts to wonder why. Jeff starts to think that the husband is the murderer with no facts. Is the husband really a murderer or are these just thoughts in his head.

It Had To Be Murder

The short story "It Had To Be Murder" was an interesting read. I think it was written well--it was very suspenseful throughout due to the mood Woolrich set and the descriptions. The protagonist was a well-written character. We get the sense that there is more to him than meets the eye, but we get enough information about him from the story and can make a few inferences from his emotional connections with some of the people he watches. Due to his apparent expertise in this area and his amazing descriptions, everything he knows we know, which lends us to trust him somewhat, even to the point where we're willing to dismiss him people-watching in the first place.  I believe that the inferences he made from watching the man was logical--had I been in the same situation I might have done the same. However, I can see how this could all be in his head. People watch others and make up stories about their lives, which is what Jefferies was doing at the end of the story. He was trying to figure out why he killed his wife. I don't agree with the conclusion he made about the mistress and him killing her for the insurance money. In the beginning, he noticed that the wife had been sick for a while. I think that Lars Thornwald killed her because she had been suffering from her sickness for a long time. He had a mistress because, in situations where spouses have an incurable disease or a disease that prevents them from doing ordinary things, it's a normal circumstance. It's not excusable, but understandable in a sense.
I don't believe that this story was literature. Literature means that there is something important about the work, something that can influence people's lives or change the world in some way. Jane Austen's works gives an insight to how life was during her time and how people were during her day. Langston Hughes poems brings us to into the Harlem Renaissance and being black in America. This story is an interesting and fun read and Woolrich is definitely talented, but I would not consider it to be literature.

Cornell Woolwrich's It Had To Be Murder

I think the story “It Had to be Murder” is very suspenseful throughout it because you never know what’s going to happen next. This man was temporally cripple and was only able to access two spots of his room. He could go from his bed to the window and back so the only thing he could do was to stare out the window. He began to watch this guy in another apartment by looking through his window. I personally think he was wrong for looking through the man’s window because the guy was in his house. Watching someone in the streets or walking around outside I think is one thing but when there in there house I feel like your invading on their privacy. Why should someone feel scared to walk around there house thinking oh someone’s watching me through my windows? From him watching this man through his window he assumes this man has committed a murder. This story reminds me of this movie called Disturbia where this boy is on house arrest and he can’t leave his house so he watches the guy next door through his binoculars and witnesses a murder. 

"It Had to be Murder"

"It Had to be Murder" is a great suspense story, its almost as if the reader goes on the investigation with the main character Jeff. The author made Jeff use logical thinking in order to try to put the pieces of the murder puzzle together. Though most of it was assumptions, he grows pretty convincing throughout the story as he goes on with his "1, 2.3", scenarios. It was almost as if you were right there with him, as his suspension grew, so did yours. I felt that there was a stream of consciousness because most of what he says he is thinking about in his own head. He is alone most of the time, only visited every once in awhile by Sam and Boyne. This is a perfect movie to adapt to film because these are the classic movies that made cinema so wonderful. Who doesn't love a good crime/mystery movie?

Woolrich's story is a chilling and suspenseful tale of one mans witness of a murder committed by a man in a neighboring apartment. The story follows through Hal's first person perspective of the events and gives readers an inside look on his thoughts, actions, and drawn conclusions. The story works as a piece of literature as it features a plot, protagonist, antagonist, and a central problem that must be solved.

I think this story is perfect for a movie adaptation because it is the classic murder mystery that a film noir would be a based on. It creates drama, and suspense, and adapting it to film would heighten its darker elements with the usage of lighting, and camera angles/movements as well as giving the characters even more life through portrayal from actors. 

Camera Movement Tutorial: How To Create Emotion

This video talks about the camera movements and the emotions that it causes. It doesn't talk about the camera angles but it still help.

A Closer Look At Cinematography

Just sharing this video on filmmaking and cinematography because it explains a lot of things we've looked at in our ENG 345 class as well as in the book Literature into Film: Theory and Practical Approaches. The video is almost a half an hour but they cover opening credits, shot types, angles, lenses, movement, conversation, color, lighting, and other advanced techniques that are useful when making films or understanding the approach of it. Although they add in many things we did not cover in class I feel that's totally okay because it gave me more knowledge on cinematography and how to describes shots when doing a decoupage.

More on Citizen Kane...

The above video is the original trailer for Citizen Kane, 1941. Unlike the movie trailers of today, this trailer gives much of the story away through dialogue and not visual montage in an effort to pull in the viewers. Working as writer, actor and commentator, Orson Wells invites the viewers to a personal experience through film and introduces the actors in the film. The trailer also works as a tool in presenting the debate of "Who is Charles Foster Kane?" By stating the many complex characteristics of Kane in this trailer, anyone viewing will be interested to know more about such a paradoxical man. In my own opinion, this trailer successfully sums up who Charles Foster Kane is. He is a underdeveloped man that is emotionally stuck in his adolescence due to the choices that his parents made. The overall film message exudes a psychologically meaning on the importance of upbringing. The choices and things experienced during childhood will directly show up in adult life, no matter what.

-Ci

Opening of Orson Welles' 1958 film - "Touch of Evil"

Considered one of the most impressive openings in film noir,

Welles' 1958 crime thriller Touch of Evil
displays how his integration of camera work and narrative
matured over eighteen years of his film career:

Feedback For: The Making of Citizen Kane by, Robert L. Carringer

I must admit, I have been so intrigued by all that we have been learning about the evolution and master craft of film.  Learning the key words then observing them produced onto a film, ignite such inspiration for writing. As a viewing participant in film/movies, especially one of the 21st century, I am more aware that it is easy to overlook all of the key cinematic elements that bring many of the movies I love together.

Now knowing the prestigious  importance of Citizen Kane to film & film art, along with a more advanced film vocabulary, It was compelling to view it through a mature lens.

In the 'The Making of Citizen Kane', Carringer notes that although Orson Wells was a true maverick in regards to his vision for the film Citizen Cane, it was only with the aide of the cinematographers that allowed Wells to so maidenly push film forward in history. Carringer begins his excerpt detailing the initial way Wells and Gregg Toland began working with one another. The element of reality depicted in the excerpt is what stuck out the most. These two guys made this major film that would eventually be known as the most riveting example of film and cinematography and they were not even on traditional Hollywood schedule, the script wasn't even complete when Toland began working, and Wells underhandedly began filming without true permission from the studio. Freakin' genius!

Carringer reveals many of the behind the scene exclusives for filming Citizen Kane. Using a few of the key scenes from Citizen Kane he introduces new vocabulary for tools that work together for making a scene powerful.

" High contrast lighting is used in the nightclub background to enhance the sense of depth", writes Carringer. Many of the techniques used by Toland are what pushed Citizen Kane forward. Caringer also notes other examples of Tolands work in the 1930's.

The Long Voyage Home, which was mentioned by Carringer was filmed by Toland and another key player in the film game, John Ford. Carringer notes that both Ford and Toland were known for 'breaking the rules', which landed them a nice comfy spot as cinematography historians.

Here's a clip from John Ford's The Long Voyage Home that is said to be a good example of the use of lighting and camera placement for plot progression.

-Ci :)

Point of View

https://youtu.be/dYZm7jB9YA4



I couldn't upload this video for whatever reason. But I picked this because it give a very real account of someones everyday habits and invites you into their life. The scenes change to show the different things that the person is doing, eating breakfast, getting dress, taking the dog for a walk. Something we can all relate to.

"Nuovo Cinema Paradiso" Final Scene

On the exam we took I'm still trying to understand the concept of emotional montage. Last night I had the leisure of watching a very old school movie Cinema Paradiso it was a movie I watch in my film class back in high school and this was a specific scene that I remember. The love montage of all love films that help the main character understand love and wanting to be with his true love. The reason why I choose this film was to show a montage in a film in a film. The Montage help brings out the emotion to show the excitement on movie goers who love romantic films that love is shown through the eyes of the viewer but it also means you

Matilda: camera angles/pov

Because of our conversations on angle and point of view, I thought this was a great example from a film that we all grew up with. You see a lot of angles being used. When the Principal is above the girl you can truly feel the intensity and see her looking up scared. You also see the principal looking down on the girl and that conveys the emotion of her having a higher power from the angle we see.



Another great part about this scene is that you see close up shots of all of the school kids emotions from their facial expressions. Aside from the entertainment aspect, this short clip shows several camera techniques that I picked up on from viewing this weekend and thought I'd share!

CITIZEN KANE Z-axis scene example

Citizen Kane - Susan Alexander at the El Rancho

Citizen Kane Ending

Citizen Kane "RoseBud" Scene

Citizen Kane - How to Run a Newspaper

Citizen Kane-boyhood

The Happier Post -or- The Hobbit Book Summarized

This video is obviously stop-motion capture of real legos, and has "shots" or actually scenes that mimic both jump cutting and Montage to tell The Hobbit in a much shorter and realistic time frame adhering more to the book than the trilogy. The Youtube channel is called Brotherhood Workshop, and he and his crew actually get paid to do this awesome mode of filming.

Regeneration

This is movie Regeneration is my favorite World War I era film. It is a very intense and graphic film, but the ending (this clip) shows only one small bit of gruesome after-war dead. My interest is in the last 5-6 minutes where there is a jump cut that helps continue the emotional storyline to the conclusion most war films and especially WWI films share: futility and it's sad "necessary" effects on the world the act of war leaves behind. The film is also known as Behind the Lines, and is a book I haven't read.






A happier post to follow...

Question unpertaining to the lessons so far

This question is for everyone on the blog:

What movie/TV show/film attracted or interested you to taking film seriously and appreciatively?

In other words what was the first movie that marveled you into wanting to know more about the film industry and how film is made?

My spark had to be when I watched the "Appendices" or the Special Extra features of The Lord of  the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. The depth of material, information and teamwork that went into making these landmarks in film astound and amazed me. To give you an idea of the total time of the extras in the Appendices, both the trilogies actual run time (about 20 hours) is about 10 times shorter than the extra disc which are all about the film-making process and even this is in a sense a summary.

Watching this (which took two weeks of semi-all-nighters) made me really begin to appreciate the 6-10 minutes the credit reels tend to take these days.

Also a very helpful website for movie lovers is IMDb standing for International Movie Database

Here is the link: http://www.imdb.com/

The website is basically a catalog for every film that is known to exist, besides personal videos, of course.

And here is a clip inside the filming of The Hobbit which can also be found on The Hobbit Blog:
http://www.thehobbitblog.com

This one is my personal favorite.

I thought that this was a good example of jump cut editing. We see the character go through a very dramatic appearance change as he cuts off his head and facial hair after each jump cut. You can really see the depressed state that this actor is carrying out through his character. The racing to the emergency room, the concerned girlfriend. It creates a nostalgic feeling of how he longs for the past and how things like this become unreal like a dream. 

Continuity and Montage editing all in one scene!

I thought this scene from Inception was a great example of continuity AND montage editing.  The scene takes you back and forth between thoughts and dreams (montage) as well as multiple scenes in the same room (continuity) all while maintaining the same narrative.  There are quite a few people who do not like this movie and considers it rather confusing but I enjoy it.