Plotz Movies # 5 Bunny

As my last movie blog, I would like to go back to the bunny short film we watched during our film technique section. The month does represent death’s coming, and once it is thrown into the oven the elder bunny’s gateway for following it was decided. The bunny climes into the oven and meets the moth, which then directs the bunny to follow it. While originally scared, she does follow. Once inside, she wings are given to her as she flys into heaven to be reunited with her lost husband. The music in the short film does an excellent job of telling the story. The beginning is very much chaotic, reflecting the mystery and fear that most connect to death. Yet, once the bunny chooses to step into the oven, accepting her passing, the music becomes light and peaceful where fear is no more. The depiction is very beautiful and mystifying. 

In class we debated wether or not the even was a dream or actually happening. While I personally would like to think it was an actual event in the story and not a dream, I would have to say that in the end all be all, it really does not matter. The passing of the bunny happened regardless, so why not make a small tale out of it?

Plotz Movies # 4 Northfork

I have to say the biggest thing that suck out to me with Northfork was the idea of a witness that was played on in and throughout the movie. The film itself while going in a forward motion of time (I think), did not always connect, so for me I feel like I did miss out on some things that were told in it. But ones need for a witness at death was very much at the forefront, and personally very compelling to me (this is probably because I am currently finishing up a group documentary about burials for another class..). A witness occurs in a couple areas, one being the priest for the boy, and the other being the mother who was buried. As the movie shows the boy has this connection to the town, and in order for the town, and him, to be remembered the priest is there to take in everything that happens (even though, in his view it is not very good). The man who buries his mother up on the top of the hill to has the same notion. He was very conflicted through out the movie about removing his mother form the ground and relocating her. The location she and her gravestone is placed in, sitting way above the lake, is one that not only tells of the women’s life but also of the towns existence.

Plotz Movies # 3 Noah

I loved seeing Noah and then being able to reflect on it as a class. Honestly, I wish I could do that with more films I see in the theaters (if/when I do). Personally I thought it was a very accurate interpretation of the biblical story for it went beyond what is said in the story and made a Story out of it. More so, the things they added made the story much more personal than it originally is. Most people overlook just how gruesome and hard of a task Noah had to take. It was defiantly hard on Noah’s hear. This film jumps onto the sheer terror of the world and mental struggle Noah went through and lets the true story fall out. Other notes, I thought the scenes of the snake in the garden shedding his green, life filling, skin and into the evil black as it was entered by Satan to be stunning. Also, as I believe was said while we were reflecting on the film, its creation scene was worth the ten bucks for the movie ticket itself.

Plotz Movies # 2 Film Technique

We watch several clips this week to draw our minds into the importance of film technique. While there were plenty of clips full of rich material, for this blog I would like to just focus on Harold & Maude. After watching this clip, I really want to try and find the film on Netflix or something. It seems like a movie I would thoroughly enjoy. Its amazing how much information a film can portray in just a few seconds of film. The shift from flowers to grave was one that captured all of life in an instant. While beautiful, they do have this sense of being lost in a vast crowd around them. We’re surrounded by everything you really can’t stand out as your own self, yet as we disused this is because we have collectively chosen to blend in. This idea to me is irry and just makes me want to not be like the person beside me. I know I haven't seen it all, but I think the film aims to bring that sort of idea alive - a almost rebellion of assimilation. The smirk on the camera shot undoubtedly points to this notion, as wells provides the viewer with a very good laugh.

Plotz Movies # 1 Decalouge

The Decalouge presented the ten commandments in a way I could never imagine. They made what is an old story in the bible where one only remembers the words into something actual in life. Placing it in the present (I know its not literally in the present but it is close enough for me to call it that) made one understand just how important the commandments are. Both commandments we watch successfully presented the harsh realities of disobeying the commandments without being overly gruesome, yet heart wrenching to witness. The film made me almost forget what I was watching was not reality. For there was nothing fake about the short films.

Plotz Free #5 Thick and Thin

This past Sunday I was able to go to Peninsula Community Chapel with my good friend Adam. While I have been working Elevation here on campus I had not been to an actual church in a very long time (while Elevation is a church, the one on campus is an extension site where we meet in the gains and watch the sermon on a screen, it is church but not the same as going to a local church with everyone physically present).  In PCC, the past spoke on generosity. The pastor stated he wanted to discuss what and where generosity was in our world. To do do, he focused on a philosophical idea Thick and Thin worlds. In sort explanation, a thin world is one based on facts, everything just is and there is no deep meaning towards ones action. Contrasting, a thick world is one with meaning beyond the facts. The notion of Generosity, falls inside a thick world, the world where several stories dwell.  This idea of a thick and thin world though not literally discussed has been very present within the films we have watched this semester. The movies showed a world not on facts but one very thick and full of adventure. More se, they all tended to point towards a notion of something(s) beyond our world. The movies show the audience a story in a world, the stories played out push one to seek a sort of adventure/reason inside their own life. This feeling is present mainly during what i would call the silence after a movies showing - where one takes in all they had just witnessed and is left speechless. When a movie connects with some, this silence holds a heavy weight internally, one that I would describe as very thick and fulfilling. They all give ones mind a jumpstart into thoughts relating their actions and experiences towards what was just witnessed.

Plotz Free # 4 My Thoughts on Recognizing Actors in Movies

Personally I have never been much of a movie fanatic like others. I do not know many famous actors, nor do I tend to recognize them as they reoccur.  To me, I never really cared about who was in the film, instead I’ve always just taken the person as the charter they are acting. I don’t think about how x-person acts in all their films, rather I look at the movie itself and see how the character works in the film. This is of course in general, there are some exceptions - for some people are obvious no matter who they play. Thinking about how I act when watching films, I don’t see any need to ever know who is acting as who, because I think doing so takes away form what the directors are trying to produce. When knowing who is in a movie, assumptions are made about how the movie will play out, and wether or not that move meets your expectations decides whether you liked the film or not. It become a filter for judgment when thinking about who is acting while watching a film, if one is going to do so, do it after the film. To see the story played out and search for what it is saying is much more important to me than knowing who is acting in it.