Forest, Forest Gump

I chose to explore the main three actors from Forest Gump: Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise, and Robin Wright. Tom Hanks was cast as the protagonist Forest Gump and is a wild card type actor. Both Gary Sinise and Robin Wright are supporting actors and character type actors. C Goodykoontz character actors have the ability to fit invisibly into a wide variety of disparate characters (Goodykoontz, 2011). Sinise is in many films and has played both the good guy and the bad guy, a classic character actor.

Tom Hanks is a wild card type actor. He has played comedic roles, serious roles, and impersonation roles. Tom Hanks is a great wild card actor, has the ability to play very different characters. In Saving Private Ryan he plays a captain taking his men on a difficult mission. In Forest Gump he plays a simpleton. In Captain Phillips he impersonates the real life Captain Richard Philips. Depending on the movie, Hanks can fit into any of the traditionally defined categories, making him one of the ultimate wild card actors. The pictures below show a snap shot of the range this actor has.

References:

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego,

CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Pictures retrieved from the following:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000158/mediaindex?page=14&ref_=nmmi_mi_sm

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109830/mediaindex?page=1&ref_=ttmi_mi_sm

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162222/mediaindex?page=1&ref_=ttmi_mi_sm

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120815/mediaindex?page=1&ref_=ttmi_mi_sm

End of Watch

Sound is throughout almost every major film produced today. The three main sound categories are dialogue, sound effects, and music. Dialogue is the actors talking during the film. Dialogue is used to further develop the plot, enhance characterizations, and to establish information that the audience needs to know in order to understand what is going on (Goodykoontz, 2011). Sound effects are the noises of the action playing out on the scene. Sound effects may be the gun fire taking place in the shot, or the explosion that has happened out of frame. The intent of the sound effect is to help describe all of the action in a scene whether it is seen or not. The last element of sound is music. Music may be playing over a scene or it may just be in the background while dialogue is taking place. Music can set the pace for the scene and has the ability to invoke emotion it the audience.

                The movie that I have chosen to comment on is End of Watch. This film is shot documentary style and follows an LA police officer. Most of the scenes sound comes from the dialogue between the two partners. The dialogue is use to establish the characters creditability and show us what type of men they are. This helps the audience become invested in the characters. Sound effects are also present throughout the film. While the officers are driving around you can hear passing cars that you cannot seen, further illustrating that they are in fact out on patrol. Music did not take a major role in this film due in part to the way the film was shot. Music is played mostly during the happier times in the movie such as the wedding scene, the quinceanera, and during a road trip. There was also a scene during a house fire rescue where the score was ominously playing low as the officers where losing consciousness. The audience could feel that the situation was getting bad just by the way that the score was being played.

                End of Watch had all of the typical sounds of a crime drama. There was the ever-present dispatch radio in the back ground, squealing tires, gun fire, and of course the cop lingo. The film would have been drastically altered if key categories of the sound were removed. It there wasn’t the radio in the back ground or the squealing of the patrol vehicles tires it would have been harder for the audience to buy into the characters.

 

References:

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego,

CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

 

End of Watch. (2012, May 3).  End of Watch Official Trailer [Video file]. Retrieved from

 

The Shining

Lighting can impact a film in many ways, it can affect the way we view a scene and it can even dictate the visual theme of the movie. This is the case in the movie The Shining. The Shining is a physiological horror film that uses low-key lighting to underline its overall dark theme. Low-key lighting is often used in dramatic scenes and horror films (Gooddykoontz, 2011). The deep shadows created by the low-key lighting help create an unsettling mood for the film. Traditional three-point lighting, and even high-key lighting, were used throughout the film, but the films more intense scenes were dominated by the use of low-key lighting. Brightening the scenes would have negatively impacted the underlining dark theme of this film.

The picture shown below is an example of low-key lighting that was used in this film. The picture shows a crowded bar, but in reality the main character is alone. The dark setting is representative of the mental state that the main character is in.

 

References:

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

 

Internet Media Database, IMDb (2014). The Shining. Retrieved from

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/mediaindex?ref_=tt_pv_mi_sm

Good Will Hunting

Title: Good Will Hunting

 

Writers: Ben Affleck and Matt Damon

 

Director: Gus Van Sant

 

Year: 1997

 

Actors: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver, Stellan Skarsgård

 

Good Will Hunting is a movie about a brilliant young man conflicted with who he is. The movie takes place in Boston and follows a young man has he struggles through life. The main character is working as a janitor at MIT when he is discovered to be the mysterious genius that has solved a professor’s complex mathematical equation. Prior to the professor discovering the protagonist’s talents, he quits and furthers a path into self-destruction. The main character is eventually faced with an ultimatum that forces him into lowering his guard, thus opening him up to love and an unexpected friendship.

The film is presented chronologically and would have been hard to follow if presented non-linearly. The chronological order allows the audience to see the main character work through his internal and external conflicts. The way the story was told made it really easy to identify with certain aspects of the main characters through use of universal truths.

 

Resources:

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119217/?ref_=nv_sr_1

 

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