The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (1992)

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (1992)

Plot 

The hand that rocks the cradle is a film about a widow seeking revenge after her husband commits suicide after being humiliated. She finds the woman who humiliated him and works out a plot to come into their lives and destroy it slowly.

Genres 

The hand that rocks the cradle is a drama/thriller exploring side

( Richard kellys donnie darko, 2001)

( Richard kellys donnie darko, 2001)

First of all i looked at the title and thought about if 'Darko' is a real name or if it is a metaphor to someone having a dark side. 

-the scene is about love and romance. (forbidden love?) 

-the scene made me think either she is not supposed to be in love with him or he is going to a war 

-so she is sad to let him go as she knows he may die. 

-the fact that she is dressing him shows that maybe she works for him however the way she is touching him shows that there is more to it 

-she felt comfortable with him

-sound was romantic and soft peaceful

-they kept no eye contact until the end which made me feel uncomfortable 

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Blade Runner ( Love Scene)

Blade Runner ( Love Scene)

• dark lighting to make the guy look more mysterious 
• the message is lust and passion 
• the music is used to make it sound more romantic 
• characters thoughts - having lust for someone else 
• the scene makes you attatched but then makes you take a step back because of the confusing moment when the girl run away 
• the girl is scared to give herself up to the guy hence why she runs away however she has no self control over him which is why she goes back to him
• the guy knows that he has full power of the girl 
• the way the guy played with the girls hair and pulled it out which made her go from a younger looking innocent girlt to a beautiful woman

After watching it the second time 

• the music plays an important part in this scene as it goes from romantic jazz to more scary which makes the audience confused and portray the guy as a villian. This is then changed by introducing romantic jazz music back which gives the audience different emotions towards the scene. 
• the red nail vanish is the only colour in the film which adds on to the romantic feel 
• the woman in the begining has 1940-s infuenced hair and make up
• she is either someone from the past or the future e.g. black and white pictures, her waist is really tiny. 
• you can tell that she is avaliable from her hair or her waist. 
• the man is very dominating and confident
• watching it the second time after the first of knowing that he has a scary side to him i looked for more aspects about him which would make him seem more evil and i realised that by the music that was played when he was acting.
• The girl in the beginning has her hair down to look more innocent but the guy takes it all down towards the end to make her look more sexual 

Looking at films ( Week 1 )

Working on films 

Some aspects which we take notes of whilst looking at films are 

-hair and make up for film

-characterisation

-designing for tv and film 

-genres

- movie titles

-political views

- lighting 

-sound

-costumes

-era

To be able to understand films you need to be able to interpret ways the movie manipulates formal elements such as lighting as well as looking at the message the film is giving to the audience for example its political views. You should also consider and understand your own beliefs as the greater your awareness of your own beliefs easier it will be to recognise and interpret a movies meaning as without doing this you may be blind to a films political and cultural views. 

Before analysing a scene about a film consider.

: what is the film about ?

: characters thoughts and emotions 

: how does the scene make you feel?

• Affter looking at the characters and how they feel look at cinematic invisibilaty, 
  remember that a great deal of movies machinery is deisgned to make you forget that you are experiencing highly manipulated and manipulative artifical reality. watching it more than once can help. 
  watching it once you are being introduced to the caracters to make you feel a certain way, watching it more than once can make you distance yourself and notice things which you never did before. 

interpretations. 

how your expectations shaped your reactions to this movie? 

had you watched it or heard of it before?

did your previous experience of the director or star inform your prior understanding of what to expect from this particular film. 

did the movie fulfull dissapoint or confound your expectations. 

THE MOVIE TITLE 

before/after you see a film think about the direct meanings as well as implications of its title. is it specific or a methaphor to something. 

American Beauty (1999)

American Beauty (1999)


American Beauty is a comedy/drama about a middle aged man who is in an unhappy marriage and is fed up with his routine of a life with a woman who never sleeps with him and with a job that he has been trying to get something out of his whole life. He decides to quit his job and do what is not allowed which leads into a 'hysterical and eventually tragically uplifting film which leaves him killed.    

I really like this film as it has a strong drama side to it which leaves the audience trapped in, relating to the characters but at the same time it makes you take a step back by adding elements of comedy wether it is in the costumes the script or the storyline. 

 Red is the main motif of the film as the colour red is incorporated in the film many times in almost every scene. 

This works well with the films as the colour red in the American culture symbolises love, life and death. Love is shared by the teenager who falls in love for the first time. the life which the middle aged father is tired of and wants to improve and the tragic death of him dying. The motif red is shown through the teenager daughters best friend which is a very good idea as the father fancies her teenager daughters friend and every time he sees her he becomes closer to sleeping with her which is dangerous. 

The films shows the feeling emotions of the main characters by showing their stories, however as soon as it gets sad and emotional the director takes a step back by adding a sense of comedy to the script.

Angela Hayes 

The reason why i chose 'Mena Suvari' who plays Angela Hayes in the film is becase she has a relatively small part in the film, however she is very important as the motif 'red' is shown through her. I really like the way in which this is done as eveytime she is around the audience feels on edge as they know that she can get the Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) who plays the father in the film, into a lot of trouble, therefore everyone she is on the screen bright red roses surround her to show her importance. 
She is a teenager who keeps an apperecance up of a cool girl who doesn't care about anything and doesn't need anyone, but as the film progresses we get to see her true feeling of lonliness and the need of someone to comfort her which is why she gets attached to her friends dad in the film. 
The colour red which was shown through Angela Hayes was made more and more extreme every time she was in a scene which helped the audience understand that something was about to happen which helped move the plot along. 

The use of make up in american beauty 

Hair and make up is an important part in American Beauty as it shows what the world perceives as 'beautiful'. 

Carolyn Burnham and Angela Hayes are very similar to each other as they are both obsessed with their appearance and want the world to see them as beautiful and successful.  They both mask their unhappiness behind their flawless make up hair and dress sense, however towards the end of the film they both cannot keep up with hiding behind all of the hair and make up therefore their true feelings and emotions start to show. 



Angela Hayes is the ideal american beauty with her barbie like features of a slim blonde teenager therefore the make up used on her is more on the natural side to enhance her beauty. However towards the end of the film Angela's emotions get the best of her which is shown through her make up. Mascara running down her face, frizzy hair and simple clothes. 

On the other hand the hair and make up for Jane is the complete opposite. She starts of as this gothic teenager which is shown by the use of dark eyeshadow and lipsticks to show that she is an outsider. This changes when she gets a boyfriend and becomes more confident and towards the end of the film the ideal beauty which was focused on Angela Hayes changes to Jane.