Wednesday, October 30, 2013

L.A. Confidential vs. Double Indemnity


This is the photo from L.A. Confidential that I will compare to a photo from Double Indemnity. The photo features two characters from the movie, Bud White and Pierce Morehouse Patchett. I think the fact that we see a low angle shot of Pierce and Bud here it represents the distribution of power. Pierce seems really big in this photo and they are at his house. he also does not stop hitting golf balls when Bud arrives. Although Bud is all the way at the top of the screen over pierce he appears very small and simple compared to the rich man that pierce is.

This shot of of walter and keys reminds of the previous shot from L.A. Confidential because Keys although smaller than walter and in a seated position seems to be in a position of power as suggested by the fact that he is sitting behind a desk and his name is on the door. the shot we see is also a low angle 2 shot. Walter although taller than Keyes and lighting Keyes cigar seems to be in a position of lesser power. he also knows that Keyes is the man that could tear his plan down if he investigated it. I think the fact that Keyes does;t seem all powerful over Walter refers to the fact that Keyes does;t actually figure out it was Walter. he is eventually told by Walter himself but Keyes never suspects his own coworker and friend so Walter Neff and Keyes are at some sort of stalemate. But ultimately these two pictures remind me of the other because they are both low angle 2 shots that represent a man in power and a man with little or no power.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

the quitter journal post II

a visual parallel in the second section is close to the beginning when his dad starts to quiz him on his hebrew there are sitting across from each other at the kitchen table and his dad scolds him for not knowing that much. then he has his bar mitzvah and at the end it is almost the exact same image and harvey is sad because his dad doesn't pay much attention to him. I written parallel is when harvey is talking about playing football and is benched because the coach "doesn't like him" and the player above him is really bad. he chooses to quit that year. Then again a year later he is mad at the coach again for playing a worse player ahead of him... He quits again.
I am choosing to write about images in this journal post. specifically the combined picture of harvey in school being complemented for his fight against Schultz. although it is two frames i think it should be read as one of harvey. in the left frame harvey is in a classroom and in the right frame he is walking in the hallway. his face is split right in the middle. on the left his face is lit up and he is squinting a little bit with a straight line for his mouth, i mean he seems not be happy or sad about what he has done. i the right frae his face is almost all black except for his eye which is wide open and looking to the right as it is in the left frame. the shot is an upper body shot including his shoulders and he is light on the left and dark on the right. I think the fact that he has no smile on his face is because he is not happy about what he has done but he has just done it because it is what he needed to do to feel the way he wants. his gaze is pointed to the right I think signaling that he plans to continue beating up kids in order to feel the way he wants as he does in the rest of the section.

the quitter journal post I

one visual contrast that I found is when Harvey is excited about his little brother so they show a picture of harvey with his brother and a couple of toys but then Harvey talks about a boxing match and it shows the two boxers and a shot of the end of the fight. at the bottom of the page it shows harvey with his brother again dissapointed that he is not a companion yet.
I am choosing to write about the frames in the book. specifically the 6 images on page 11. there are 6 frames placed evenly on the page all with equal sizes. I think the frames being all the same size represents a personal conflict inside harvey because he is arguing with himself about his mother's ways and his own ways. there is a good contrast between dark harvey with a light background and light harvey with a dark background. they are all the same size to say that each point is equal to the other and they are both equal in terms of getting from point A to point B, so to speak. this arrangement of images encourages me to red it at a slower speed and consider each image and point he makes. on the page there is a zig zag in harvey's movements. in the first frame his fists are up and again in the 4th frame and  5th frame. in 2 and 3 he is examining his fingers.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Minority Report image review


The very first thing I notice about the Picture is the bright light that shines on the characters from the main part of the mall. I think that because there aren't any people around that the phot also suggests they are off in a back room or a closed part of the mall. The man facing Agatha and Anderton seems a little scared but also humbled because he views Agatha as a higher power. In addition to Agatha being able to see the future, this is suggested by him being very short in comparison to Anderton and Agatha. The man's face is in shadow in this picture but his arm is in the light. Because John has come to this man for a helping hand, the man's hand in light may be a representation of the man's willingness to help but the fact that the man's other arm and face are in shadow suggests that his help only extends so far.