Screening Notes

“Full Metal Jacket”

·         All the men’s faces are serious when their heads are being shaved.

·         Movie moves in slow motion.

·         The first part of the movie is very silent.

·         Vulgar language is an overview of marine life is like.

·         Joker’s thoughts are digestive to the movie.

·         The militaristic drums playing are fit for this type of film and are non-digestive.

·           Close up of the two soldiers in the first part of the film makes the other soldiers seem distant, they are the focus of the shot.

·         The camera focuses on something distant and then zooms out, for example, the scene at the shooting range.

·         The film makes historical references- Uncle Sam.

·         Pyle is the main character in the first story and constantly being the target for bullying.

·         When soldiers went to hit Pyle with soap Joker was hesitant to do it. This draws the audience to feel guilt.

·         Kubrick uses the technique of fading to move from one scene to another.

·         After Pyle’s beating the camera focuses on his facial expressions till the end of part one.

·         The red flag is in the majority of the scenes in the first part of the movie.

·         In the second part of the movie the lighting darkens to give the dim feel of war.

·         There is a shadow of the helicopter on the trees to give the movie a sense of realism.

·         The soldier in the helicopter about to throw up lets the audience know that something is wrong and that the actions of some soldiers do not speak for all.

·         Soldiers sign up to be in the marines but most are made to do things they do not want to do (involuntary).

·         The interviews of the soldiers gives the audiences an inside look on war and how the soldiers feel. The camera switches to where some shots it’s in the frame and in others we are looking from the camera mans point of view.

·         The setting for the Vietnam War is mostly broken down buildings and a lot of red coloring unlike the first part of the movie where everything was white.

·         Shot-reverse-shot is used in the sniper scene.

·         When the end of the sniper’s gun is in the frame we are viewing from the sniper’s point of view.

·         At the end of the movie the soldiers are singing Mickey Mouse bringing some type of relief to the previous scene.

·         The movie has an open ending.


"Psycho"

·   Lead Janet Lee

·        Movie state exact date and time.

·         Movie is in black and white.

·         Actors move in jerking motions.

·         Janet changes facing away from her boyfriend.

·         Having a bottle at the desk is looked down upon.

·         The boss has air conditioning but the women do not.

·         Janet makes pauses when taking the money and packing.

·         Suspenseful music after she drives off from her boss catching her.

·         The police officer stands across the dealer lot then eventually comes into the lot.

·         When Janet is driving the voices of her boss, car salesman, etc. are heard and talk about how strange everything is and them coming to the conclusion that she took the money.

·         She smiles when the man she stole the money from talks about it.

·         Where is the guy she was seeing?

·         Who is the person in the window behind the hotel?

·         Clerk does not want to say the word bathroom.

·         Suspenseful music always starts up when she is alone.

·         The mother and man’s voice can be heard arguing about Janet.

·         Wraps the money in the newspaper.

·         The clerk does not want to come in her room to eat.

·         Clerk talks about running away and how he cannot leave his mother.

·         Camera focuses in on his eyes when Janet mentions the mad house as some place to put his mother.

·         He looks in on her through a peephole.

·          Janet dies…..unanswered questions.

·         Tells detective mother saw right through her.

·         Skips first cabin making thing suspicious.

·         The way the detective walks up and falls down the stairs is unreal like.

·         There is a fraud when this whole time we thought the mother was killing but it was actually the son.

"Memento"

·         The movie opens with a shot from main character’s point of view.

·         Rewinds the scene.

·         We know Teddy’s fate from the beginning of the movie.

·         We find out in the beginning of the movie that he has a memory problem.

·         Lenny takes pictures to remember things and writes a note on each one.

·         The camera focuses in on his wedding ring to emphasize its significance.

·         Last thing he remembers is his wife.

·         We find out that he lost his memory when he went to save his wife from rappers.

·         He takes notes for everything.

·         The movie shows part of the story and works its way back.

·         Tattoo on his chest lets us know why he is after a Johnny G.

·         Lenny is always having flashbacks about his wife.

·         We wonder what is down in the basement when Teddy mentions it right before he dies.

·         Lenny repeats remember Sammy Jenkins and later tells his story to the mystery man on the phone.

·         Lenny’s previous job was to see if people were lying for an insurance company.   

·         Memories are distorted, only facts tell the truth.

·         His phone conversations are in black and white.

·         We question what he scratched out on Natalie’s picture.

·         He doesn’t remember anyone he kills.

·         Teddy always wants to ride in Lenny’s car.

·         Things are unclear because we see the effect before the cause.

·         Not the typical film. Many questions are raised and not answered till later and the following scenes.

·         We are unsure of what is going on because there is no plot or exposition given in the beginning of the film.

·         We have no idea who all these people are in Lenny’s life and how they got there.

Shark in the Head

·         The main character is unable to decipher the real from the unreal.

·         His apartment is blank as well as the setting. Everything seems washed out.

·         Construction noise is made into a beat and it is hard to tell if it diegetic  or non-diegetic.

·         There is an immense use of shapes, textures, shadowing, and dim lighting.

·         Sounds are emphasized by a quiet background.

·         Camera follows his eye movements.

·         Everyone has a black umbrella but the women in the red dress with no umbrella. Visual contrast and even an accent.

·         There are lots of close-ups.

·          The clothes of the characters are grey colors.

·         We he puts the pictures on the table we think they are his but in all actuality they are some women’s.

·         Does not seem like there is anything moving the story forward.

·         We hear him breathing a lot or his cigarette burning even if we are far from him.

·         A scene opens where everyone is standing still then start moving at the same time.

·         Uses the color red for an accent for a lot of things. For example, the red pills bringing the pictures to life or the coloring of the roosters.

·         The pills play a significant role whether he should take them or not.

·         The camera moves at an oblique angle in the Christmas trash scene.

·         Focuses on the heater object he gave the woman rather than her facial expression.

·         Uses slow motion.

·         Gives the effect of water over the camera and the sound.

·         Camera does a lot of shots from his point of view.

·          There is usually no bright colors in the scene until the main character imaginatively adds it.

·         Neighbors do not pay him any attention.

·         There is a use of reflections and a 180 degree movement of the camera around the main character.

·         The camera cuts back and forth  as the man comes closer to the window.

·         Water is a reoccurring theme.

·         The dark faces give a Germanistic feel.

·         Always looks out the window until he has a scary vision then covers the window with a curtain.

·         You can tell the location is a set.

·         Does not change location throughout the entire movie.

·         Camera zooms in his head to reveal his thoughts.

·         Fames move slower in some parts.

·         He has schizophrenia and is going to a home.

·         The light dims at the end as if it were a play.

Gosford Park

·         Camera shows the space all around the characters.

·         There are people working in the background in the kitchen.

·         There are many long hallways in the house making the house seem more complex.

·         Camera focuses on the substances on the window sill which later ties in with the plot.

·         The scenes are saturated with colors.

·         There is a realistic feel to the sets (Poetic Realism).

·         The rooms are filled with many things.

·         The many rooms give the illusion of space.

·         Cuts to different scenes and multiple plots are going on at once. This makes the house seem bigger.

·         Foreground, middle ground, and background are all in focus at once.

·         Camera focuses in on a woman in the foreground then can change focus to the man behind her.

·         We are able to see different thing going on through all the windows in the kitchen area.

·         There is a use lines when the pillars of the staircase cast a shadow on the wall and the Scottish maid comes down the steps.

·         When the killer is walking through the back doors we see the shadow of his gloves being put on on the ground. This adds suspense and mystery.

·         The camera follows the characters as they walk.

·         We find out that the Scottish butler is really an actor from California. The audience was given a clue of this lie when he picked up the man’s clothes unwillingly and went shooting with him.

·         The head maid looks at one of the butler’s pictures in a funny way which reveals to the audience that she is his mother.

·         No one seems to care about his death and everyone leaves ordinarily.

·         The Scottish maid uncovers the real killers and brings closure to the plot.

A Single Man

·         The man floating in the water seems like a fetus during pregnancy.

·          His life is very organized – The letters on the floor are lined up and his clothes in the drawer are neatly folded and new.

·         When he says he feels like he cannot breathe his emotional pain becomes physical pain and he grabs his chest.

·         This could have also been a mini stroke (if those are possible?).

·         The lighting is brighter and saturated when they flashback to his life with his lover and then turns gloomy when he is not there.

·         After he gets the phone call about the death of his lover, the silent moment in the rain his expressions and movements say it all (his pain).

·         His hard time hanging up the phone shows what state mind he is after this news and how much pain he is in.

·         The camera does a downward look on his hands and the gun.

·         The moment where he is in his car and things move in slow motion is symbolic of how he feels about his life. Time is moving slowly without the love of his life- the hands on the clock move in slow motion.

·         There are visual lines of people when he arrives to work and he walks against them creating some kind of contrast.

·         When he interacts with people, the camera zooms in the colors becomes saturated then dims back.

·         The camera shoots the floor in the bank that reflects and the young girl that walks up and then rotates upward revealing her.

·         There are a lot of close-ups on people’s eyes.

·         The moments he enjoys brightens.

·         Shot-reverse-shot over the shoulder in the bar with his student.

·         He chooses not to kill himself because he learns to appreciate moments in life.

·         But in the end he dies from a heart attack and the clock stops ticking when he dies.

·         The light dims when his life is over.

·         There is a lot of tension in the movie.

Capturing The Friedmans

·         Direct address to audience.

·         Has people talk then cuts to home video clips.

·         The interviewee’s voice talks over the home videos.

·         Goes to all the home videos of all the children that the mother mentions.

·         The subject talked about is linked to images of it.

·         The interviews are connected to one another.

·         Uses video diary.

·         Zooms out from the house.

·         Blurred then focuses on the door number.

·         Shows documents from court.

·         Everyone tells their own story of the father’s arresting.

·         Uses time lapse photography.

·         Slow motion is used when the kids are by the pool in the home video.

·         Moves in chronological order.

·         Does flashbacks to video clips and pictures.

·         An interviewee was interviewed with there face hidden in the dark- lighting.

·         Long shot of the city.

·           Close-ups were used for the interviewees.

·         Used a radio story from one of the father’s students.

·         Makes a camera sound when showing pictures.

·         Shows the house in the shot and we can hear a threatening voicemail on the answering machine.

·         Shows recording of the family arguments.

·         Rack focus at the prison.

·         Uses music to set a mood.

·         Waits until the end to show the brother’s lover speak.

·         The documentary does not really choose a side.

The Hurt Locker

·         Starts off with the camera view point of the remote control car.

·         Camera moves everywhere fast to show urgency.

·         Point of view shot as if it’s from the “others” point of view.

·         Slows down the movement when the bomb goes off in the opening scene.

·         The camera moves back and forth rapidly when they discover the man with a cell phone.

·         Camera is constantly shooting at different angles.

·         Does a lot of quick short zooms in and out.

·           Hearing the cab man breathe adds suspense

·         The music is playing a big part in the movie’s mood, also adding suspense at times.

·         The camera hardly stays still.

·         The camera moves rapidly to all the different things going on in a scene whenever high action happens.

·         Movie is mostly made up of unsaturated colors.

·         Uses a long shot when driving in the desert.

·         Camera pans over to building windows and porches as if someone should be there

·         Point of view shot from the gun men inside the building in the middle of the desert.

·         Uses extreme close-upon the shooters eye.

Breathless

·         The amount of distance Michel is covering is shown by jump cutting to all the cars he is passing on the road.

·         The camera moves like a person at times in the car. Maybe that’s the reason why he talks to himself.

·         Fades in the next scene when he runs away.

·         The camera is slanted when the two are walking in the street.

·         A hand held camera is used.

·         Michel does a lot of walking and the camera just follows.

·         When they are driving, the camera jump cuts all the places they are passing.

·         Camera shoots from angles (from the top of buildings) and multiple other angles.

·         Desaturated colors.

·         They wear a lot of stripe clothing.

·         In Patricia’s room it jump cuts to them kiss and we are unaware of what has happened prior to that.

·         The man talking about abortion and her looking at her stomach in the store window are clues hinting that she is pregnant.

·         Michel says people are such liars but he is a big liar.

·          He is obsessed with having sex with Patricia.

·         The camera takes shot from a helicopter to capture the top of buildings and the landscape.

·         Uses iris-out after they are done buying her dress.

·         Does a long take when he has been shot.

·         Close up of their faces when he dies.

·         I did not like this movie because I felt like it was to drawn out and repetitive. I don’t like how throughout the whole movie he is trying to escape the cops but at the very end he does not get in his friend’s car. Especially now that he has finally got a hold of him and he has brought him the money. Personally, I found the movie was to not be interesting. The story should have had more substance but instead it had very little going on.

·         In my opinion, the key moment in the film was when Patricia called the inspector to tell him Michel’s location.

Atonement

·         Lighting is very bright, natural lighting

·         Soft music

·         The buzzing of the bee is very distinct and is the link to the next scene

·         Robbie is significant because the camera emphasizes the way she looks at him before she goes outside.

·         When we are looking from Briony’s perspective we are unsure why Cecilia took her clothes off to jump in the water but then it plays back to the beginning from Cecilia’s perspective.

·         Seems like there sexual attraction between Lola and Paul  because of their body language

·         Briony accuses Robbie of raping Lola and is sent to prison but chooses to go into the army instead.

·         Flashbacks show Robbie saving Briony from drowning and she jumped in because she had a crush which might be why she made up the lie.

·         Long take on the beach as if the camera were a person walking through all of this chaos.

·         When the movie switches to Robbie being in war the colors are dull and desaturated unlike the beginning when everything was bright and full of color.

·         The sound of the typewriter is used as a motif and is used connect different scenes.

·         When the lights on the subway are flickering it’s like the sound of the typewriter

·         Uses classical music to make things more dramatic and sad

·         The clothes are those of the 1930’s in France.

·         The color becomes saturated whenever Robbie and Cicilia are together

·         The movie is from Briony’s perspective

·         Uses flashbacks and flash forwards, everything is connected by something from scene to scene.

·         Windows is a reoccurring theme and in the beginning Briony is looking through the window and she can’t hear what is going on, just see

·         Irony of timing

·         There is a lot of use of mirrors, for instance, in the beginning Cicilia and Robbie are shown in the comfort of their rooms surrounded by mirrors

·         There are lots of hallways.

“Rear Window”

·         His leg is broken so he sits at his window all day.

·         Conversations are not distinct in the opening scene.

·         Everything is fast pace in the beginning then slows down later on.

·         He watches all his neighbors’ lives through their windows.

·         Believes there is an intelligent way to approach marriage.

·         Lisa is materialistic and dresses fancy all the time.

·         Marriage seems to be a big deal in this film.

·         Lisa is in love with Jeff.

·         You can hear the kids playing out by the street and cars passing by.

·         So many things go on in the matter of one day.

·         His neighbor Lars seems suspicious because he carries a silver suitcase back and forth from his apartment at 3 am.

·         He didn’t go to work the next day.

·         As the story continues the audience becomes more involved.

·         No one really believes Jeff at first until they see evidence for themselves.

·         Lisa doesn’t believe it until she sees a big brown trunk in Lars’ room.

·         Lars makes long distance phone calls.

·         Lars kills the dog b/c he digs where the dead body is.

·         Lisa sneaks into his apartment and find the wedding ring which makes Jeff fonder of her b/c of her courageous act.

·         The movie is most suspenseful when Lars finds out that Jeff is the one behind all the spying and he goes over there to kill him.