As Electronic Media majors, it is important for us to learn from these productions and to apply the knowledge from our other classes when critiquing creations like this film. Often in college we ask ourselves why we're taking so many liberal arts classes, or classes that we do not think apply to our major. I know that has been the hype around campus lately. I have heard, "I don't know why we have to take this class!!" in regards to countless classes from countless amounts of students throughout the semester. We may not be able to see the point in taking "Breadth of Knowledge" courses as Freshman, but someday we will conclude that everything we learned helped to improve our professions as Electronic Media specialists and producers. This film is one way that we were able to apply lots of our new knowledge to different areas of the creation. For example, several of us are in the 20th Century Movies class here at UC which helped us to be able to critique the cinematography in an educated way. Also, some of us are taking a History of Theatre class which actually helped critique the acting and scenery of the movie with educated points to back up our criticism. Using other examples, a Spanish class could have helped us understand the culture of the Texan/Mexican border in the film and a psychology class could have helped us critique the attitudes and behavior of each actor, especially the criminals to tell reasons why the character might be acting certain ways (perhaps because of their childhood, superstitions, etc.). Our educated observations would not have been the same if we did this project at the beginning of the year. With this said, I am anxious to see just how all the other BOK classes we take throughout college impact future projects and jobs to which we will be assigned. With each hour of each random class we take, whether we realize it or not, we are becoming better Electronic Media producers and enthusiasts.
-Carley Vanatsky
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Cinematography
Cinematography
Shannon St. George
80th academy award winning movie, No Country for Old Men, was the film we decided to use for our content critique team. When evaluating the cinematography I decided to look up some of the various awards the film received for that category.
Shannon St. George
80th academy award winning movie, No Country for Old Men, was the film we decided to use for our content critique team. When evaluating the cinematography I decided to look up some of the various awards the film received for that category.
- 2008 American Society of Cinematographers Award: nominated
- 2008 BAFTA Film Award: won
- Boston Society of Films Critics Award: 2nd
- 2008 British Society of Cinematographers: won
- Central Ohio Film Critics Award: 2nd
- Chicago Films Critics Award: nominated
- San Diego Films Critics Society: won
After watching this feature film, I now know first hand why this film one so many awards. Not only did it have an excellent script, an edge of the seat plot, and talented actors, it also had outstanding cinematography. The cinematographer for this movie is Roger Deakins. The beginning of this thriller starts out with beautiful scenes of West Texas. It really captures the scenery of the deserts and wind mills. It portrays the landscape of Texas with wide long shots, and bright blue skies.
One thing that I noticed while watching the film is the cuts of the shots. Normally in a thriller they use many fast cuts to intensify the action. That is not the case in No Country for Old Men. In my opinion they film in kind of a slow manner, but it keeps you at the edge of your seat. I noticed it most in the scenes with the murderer. They drag the action out until the very last second. They also like to play a lot with shadows. They use that extra element to emphasize and heighten the suspense. I noticed it mostly when they had scenes with the murderer. One example is the scene where the main character, Llewlyn, finds the tracking device in the brief case. He then realizes that Anton is standing outside his door. They convey that with the lighting under the door frame. They also play with the the full body shadow of Ed Bell when he is on his search at the motel for Anton. Also I noticed few times that mirrors played a role in the film. That asset is a tool that the audience can use to figure out a bit of information without the camera actually showing them. Overall I thought this film was very well done and I would recommend anyone to who hasn't seen it to watch it!
Here is a scene analysis of the filming of a random clip from No Country for Old Men.
It starts with a close up shot of wrapper,
Then close up shot of the man,
Close up shot of the murderer,
Medium Reaction shot of the man,
Medium shot of murderer while he flips the coin
Close up of murderer setting coin on table
then they continue between over the shoulder and reaction shots of both the man and murderer while they have a conversation about the coin flip
Cast for Reference
In regards to the "Acting Evaluation", here is the full cast list to reference while reading my evaluation. The descriptions were listed by their characters' names, not their names in "real life".
Thank you to http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477348/ for the graphics.
-Carley Vanatsky
Acting Evaluation
Although I am in no way an expert on drama and acting, watching this movie made me realize just how acting can make or break a film. Out of all of the scenes, I only encountered 2 characters whose acting was less than excellent. When these characters showed up, although their lines were few, they still had the ability to ruin a scene that could have been more emotionally effective.
I will start with the bad. The first bit of poor acting I witnessed was from Carla Jean's mother. First of all, one could tell that the actress was much younger than her character was supposed to be and she was taking on all the cliches of an elderly annoyed woman. The voice she used was not a believable old woman's voice. She was trying to be weak and shaky but her body made it obvious that she was still in good health. The second scene of mediocre acting was after Anton Chigurh walked away from the car accident and the two teenage boys came up to him while he was sitting on the curb with a broken arm. The two were successful at looking grossed out, but the way they spoke seemed like they were simply told to act young and ignorant, so the viewer automatically is brought back to the perspective of, "Oh...I'm watching a movie", instead of staying inside of the movie because all the actors make their characters so believable.
Besides these two scenes, the acting was overall an overwhelming success. I have never been a fan of movies involving violent murders or chases, but this film is one of my new favorites because the characters were developed so well. There was only narration at the beginning and end of the movie, so it was up to the actors to develop their characters emotionally throughout every scene. Below, according to each character, I have listed the remarkable attributes that came to my attention throughout No Country for Old Men.
Anton Chigurh: His smiles are the most prominent part of his acting. He did not speak English before the making of this film, so considering that, his facial expressions are even more impressive. The first scene he is remembered for is when he is choking and slicing the neck of the old sheriff, all the while smiling and showing struggling eyes to kill him. His eyebrow movements show his moods of curiosity or being anxious and evil. With each additional scene, he does a better job of appearing more and more tired. He is a master at appearing paranoid to show the character's superstition as he shoots a crow and truly believes in the fate of coin-flipping. When he is shot, his eyes show that he is ashamed that he let himself get vulnerable. He continues this shameful posture and appearance as he hesitantly bathes and cleans his wounds. His chin is angled up when talking and listening. He eyes are wide when he waits in the dark.
Llewelyn Moss: His face always shows a keen focus on whatever is before him. His steps are slow and lazy to show his calm and relaxed nature even as he finds the murder scene of a drug deal gone wrong. At the same time, he appears apathetic with no changes of surprised eyes or cringes as he finds the dead bodies or the man who is still alive but almost dead. He does a good job of looking surprised and suddenly aware when he realizes that people could be following him to motels which shows that the character is new to the game. His fear is shown by heavy breathing when running which turns into slow motions when hiding. His eyes grow wide when he is anticipating an attack. He drags his feet at times when he should be running. His exhaustion is shown by these slow movements and by his stuttering when talking to the teenage boys he encounters.
Gas Station Cashier: He exemplifies fear by acting confused and helpless when talking to Anton. His eyes are squinted and he stutters a bit when telling Anton that he has to close up the shop.
Ed Tom Bell (Sheriff): He is able to tell and witness a bad story and not be phased by it. He rarely looks the other characters in the eyes, which could either be something the director told him to avoid or it is possibly a sign of nervousness from the actor himself if he is not totally confident in his lines or how to act. His face does show concern when he goes looking for Llewelyn himself and hears gunshots and sees the girl dead in the pool with many others injured and dead.
Sheriff's trainee/shadow: He always stands up straight in order to appear like he is trying to be confident around Ed Tom Bell. He tries to not show any emotion toward the violent scene just like the Sheriff. He gazes down at the ground when he hears something scary and bites his lip.
Carla Jean: Appears sad and does not look her husband in the eyes or show an immense interest in his arrival at home. She acts as if he typically does not tell her where she's been, so she sits slouched over and hopeless, even though the couple's interaction of sitting shoulder to shoulder shows that they truly do care for each other deeply. After Anton had been gone and she is with her mother, she talks to him on the phone gently with her bottom lip dropped when she listens to the hard truth. She does a good job of looking innocent but curious. When she is scared for Llewelyn, she shakes her fist at her side when talking to him on the phone. Her high-pitched crying when she discovers that Llewelyn had been killed conveys that they really did love each other but she also shows that she knew it was going to happen all along by not showing true sadness up until that point. Once she becomes a widow, she looks more shy, tired, and her eyes have less hope in them. She makes her mouth quiver to show this sadness. When she denies the coin toss for Anton, she is sure to shake her head to prove that it really is the wrong thing to do.
Carson: He moves his head forward when trying to make a point and talks a big game with a straight posture to convey confidence. He spends much of his time shaking his head back and forth when he is with Anton in order to convey disbelief and fear while appearing confident for his future murderer.
-Carley Vanatsky
I will start with the bad. The first bit of poor acting I witnessed was from Carla Jean's mother. First of all, one could tell that the actress was much younger than her character was supposed to be and she was taking on all the cliches of an elderly annoyed woman. The voice she used was not a believable old woman's voice. She was trying to be weak and shaky but her body made it obvious that she was still in good health. The second scene of mediocre acting was after Anton Chigurh walked away from the car accident and the two teenage boys came up to him while he was sitting on the curb with a broken arm. The two were successful at looking grossed out, but the way they spoke seemed like they were simply told to act young and ignorant, so the viewer automatically is brought back to the perspective of, "Oh...I'm watching a movie", instead of staying inside of the movie because all the actors make their characters so believable.
Besides these two scenes, the acting was overall an overwhelming success. I have never been a fan of movies involving violent murders or chases, but this film is one of my new favorites because the characters were developed so well. There was only narration at the beginning and end of the movie, so it was up to the actors to develop their characters emotionally throughout every scene. Below, according to each character, I have listed the remarkable attributes that came to my attention throughout No Country for Old Men.
Anton Chigurh: His smiles are the most prominent part of his acting. He did not speak English before the making of this film, so considering that, his facial expressions are even more impressive. The first scene he is remembered for is when he is choking and slicing the neck of the old sheriff, all the while smiling and showing struggling eyes to kill him. His eyebrow movements show his moods of curiosity or being anxious and evil. With each additional scene, he does a better job of appearing more and more tired. He is a master at appearing paranoid to show the character's superstition as he shoots a crow and truly believes in the fate of coin-flipping. When he is shot, his eyes show that he is ashamed that he let himself get vulnerable. He continues this shameful posture and appearance as he hesitantly bathes and cleans his wounds. His chin is angled up when talking and listening. He eyes are wide when he waits in the dark.
Llewelyn Moss: His face always shows a keen focus on whatever is before him. His steps are slow and lazy to show his calm and relaxed nature even as he finds the murder scene of a drug deal gone wrong. At the same time, he appears apathetic with no changes of surprised eyes or cringes as he finds the dead bodies or the man who is still alive but almost dead. He does a good job of looking surprised and suddenly aware when he realizes that people could be following him to motels which shows that the character is new to the game. His fear is shown by heavy breathing when running which turns into slow motions when hiding. His eyes grow wide when he is anticipating an attack. He drags his feet at times when he should be running. His exhaustion is shown by these slow movements and by his stuttering when talking to the teenage boys he encounters.
Gas Station Cashier: He exemplifies fear by acting confused and helpless when talking to Anton. His eyes are squinted and he stutters a bit when telling Anton that he has to close up the shop.
Ed Tom Bell (Sheriff): He is able to tell and witness a bad story and not be phased by it. He rarely looks the other characters in the eyes, which could either be something the director told him to avoid or it is possibly a sign of nervousness from the actor himself if he is not totally confident in his lines or how to act. His face does show concern when he goes looking for Llewelyn himself and hears gunshots and sees the girl dead in the pool with many others injured and dead.
Sheriff's trainee/shadow: He always stands up straight in order to appear like he is trying to be confident around Ed Tom Bell. He tries to not show any emotion toward the violent scene just like the Sheriff. He gazes down at the ground when he hears something scary and bites his lip.
Carla Jean: Appears sad and does not look her husband in the eyes or show an immense interest in his arrival at home. She acts as if he typically does not tell her where she's been, so she sits slouched over and hopeless, even though the couple's interaction of sitting shoulder to shoulder shows that they truly do care for each other deeply. After Anton had been gone and she is with her mother, she talks to him on the phone gently with her bottom lip dropped when she listens to the hard truth. She does a good job of looking innocent but curious. When she is scared for Llewelyn, she shakes her fist at her side when talking to him on the phone. Her high-pitched crying when she discovers that Llewelyn had been killed conveys that they really did love each other but she also shows that she knew it was going to happen all along by not showing true sadness up until that point. Once she becomes a widow, she looks more shy, tired, and her eyes have less hope in them. She makes her mouth quiver to show this sadness. When she denies the coin toss for Anton, she is sure to shake her head to prove that it really is the wrong thing to do.
Carson: He moves his head forward when trying to make a point and talks a big game with a straight posture to convey confidence. He spends much of his time shaking his head back and forth when he is with Anton in order to convey disbelief and fear while appearing confident for his future murderer.
-Carley Vanatsky
Music by: Brian Webner
In our group we decided to critique a
movie based on four main elements. As a
lover of music in film I volunteered to critique the music and scoring for No
Country For Old Men. Unfortunately there
was no music in the film. Only a five
second clip of a mariachi band playing in Mexico, though it had no connection
to the plot line at all. When I say
there was no music in the film, I mean absolutely none. The movie was full of high suspense moments
that a “normal” film would have climatic orchestration, or popular music synced
with the scene.
I have heard it said that the original
Star Wars would not have been nearly as successful if not for the amazing score
written by John Williams. Its true, the
movie is complimented amazingly by the music.
I though about this before I even started to watch the movie, what would
a film look like with out any music.
Well I got my answer; it would look like No Country For Old Men.
About fifteen minutes into the movie
I said to myself, is this entire movie going to be without music?
To review a movie on its music when
it had no music in nearly impossible, but what would the movie have looked like
with music in it? I feel it could have been much more exciting. It is a killer movie, a mystery movie, a
suspense movie, and how much better could it have been with some dramatic
music. In the eyes of the academy awards
the movie could not have been any better since it won film of the year in 2007.
However I think it’s symbolic that it
had no music at all. The main character is heartless and some say he is
brainless. His only idea is to kill and
save himself. As they say in The Dark
Knight (a movie with tremendous orchestration by the way,) “Some men just want
to watch the world burn.”
There is no sound track to this movie
because the killer has no sound track.
He doesn’t need a theme song like Michael Myers, because he is a
different kind of killer. There is no
tune in his head and no song can relate to that.
Like I said, it’s hard to analyze
nothing, it was hard to understand the motives in the film, but I strangely
learned something from the film, and am glad there was no music involved.
Brian Webner
Monday, December 3, 2012
Plot
No Country for Old Men is a "American Thriller" which was originally a novel written by Cormac McCarthy. The movie is set in the mid-to-late 1900's in Texas, following the main character, Llewelyn Moss. The increasing violence in the region causes Moss to come across a "drug deal gone wrong". In this scene you see the aftermath of the drug deal where there is many dead men and dogs.
One man, however, is still alive and begs him for water, but he does not have any. In addition, Moss finds a satchel filled with $2 million dollars in cash. With mixed emotions, Moss goes back home where he stores the satchel under his trailer. He wakes early in the morning and returns to the place where the drug deal was to bring the desperate man some water. Upon arriving, Moss is cashed away by men in a truck and dogs. He is forced to leave his truck and continue home by foot. When he gets home, he tells his wife, Carla Jean, that she is to leave the county and stay with her mother.
A hit man, Anton Chigurh, is hired to find the cash that was left at the drug deal scene. You learn that Anton is a very dangerous man by his ability to escape jail time by strangling a cop, and killing a man for his car. In addition to Anton's dangerous persona, he also carriers a receiver that is linked to a tracking device concealed in the satchel of money Moss possesses.
After getting his wife to leave the region, Moss finds a hiding spot in a motel, but still is not aware of the tracking device in the satchel. Anton finds the motel and bursts into a room filled with Mexicans that are also looking for the money, and kills them all. Moss knows that Anton is near so he quickly leaves the motel and hits the road.
After getting away from Anton, Moss buys a room in a boarder hotel, where he finally finds the tracking device. However, Anton has already found the hotel he was in, and a fire-fight between them breaks out. Both are wounded, and Moss is able to get away across the boarder, but later collapses then is taken to a near hospital.
He wakes up in a hospital bed greeted by Carson Wells, an operative whom offers Moss protective in exchange for the money. However, Carson Wells offers little help because he is found and killed by Anton. Anton receives a call from Moss, and Anton tells Moss that if he gives him the money, his wife will go untouched, but Moss is defiant and says he will go after him instead.
Moss arranges to meet with his wife in El Paso to give her the money and send her away from harm. Prior to meeting with her husband, Carla Jean meets with a sheriff, Ed Tom Bell, who is aware of the danger Anton possesses and that he is tracking her husband. Carla Jean accepts his help and tells him where he is and what is going on. Bell goes to the motel that Moss is staying at, but is to late and finds Moss shot dead and a group of mexicans fleeing the scene.
Bell is overwhelmed with the amount of violence and retires. With Moss dead and the sheriff retired, Carla is left unprotected and Anton finds her and wants the money. She explains that she does not know where the money is, and he replies with the deal he made with Moss. However, he offers her a chance to live with a coin flip. He leaves the room where Carla lie dead.
After leaving the scene, Anton is in a car accident where he is injured badly, but is able to get away before the cops show up. The movie ends with a scene where Ed Tom Bell is telling two dreams to his wife, both involving his deceased father.
Script: http://www.youknow-forkids.com/nocountryforoldmen.txt
One man, however, is still alive and begs him for water, but he does not have any. In addition, Moss finds a satchel filled with $2 million dollars in cash. With mixed emotions, Moss goes back home where he stores the satchel under his trailer. He wakes early in the morning and returns to the place where the drug deal was to bring the desperate man some water. Upon arriving, Moss is cashed away by men in a truck and dogs. He is forced to leave his truck and continue home by foot. When he gets home, he tells his wife, Carla Jean, that she is to leave the county and stay with her mother.
A hit man, Anton Chigurh, is hired to find the cash that was left at the drug deal scene. You learn that Anton is a very dangerous man by his ability to escape jail time by strangling a cop, and killing a man for his car. In addition to Anton's dangerous persona, he also carriers a receiver that is linked to a tracking device concealed in the satchel of money Moss possesses.
After getting his wife to leave the region, Moss finds a hiding spot in a motel, but still is not aware of the tracking device in the satchel. Anton finds the motel and bursts into a room filled with Mexicans that are also looking for the money, and kills them all. Moss knows that Anton is near so he quickly leaves the motel and hits the road.
After getting away from Anton, Moss buys a room in a boarder hotel, where he finally finds the tracking device. However, Anton has already found the hotel he was in, and a fire-fight between them breaks out. Both are wounded, and Moss is able to get away across the boarder, but later collapses then is taken to a near hospital.
He wakes up in a hospital bed greeted by Carson Wells, an operative whom offers Moss protective in exchange for the money. However, Carson Wells offers little help because he is found and killed by Anton. Anton receives a call from Moss, and Anton tells Moss that if he gives him the money, his wife will go untouched, but Moss is defiant and says he will go after him instead.
Moss arranges to meet with his wife in El Paso to give her the money and send her away from harm. Prior to meeting with her husband, Carla Jean meets with a sheriff, Ed Tom Bell, who is aware of the danger Anton possesses and that he is tracking her husband. Carla Jean accepts his help and tells him where he is and what is going on. Bell goes to the motel that Moss is staying at, but is to late and finds Moss shot dead and a group of mexicans fleeing the scene.
Bell is overwhelmed with the amount of violence and retires. With Moss dead and the sheriff retired, Carla is left unprotected and Anton finds her and wants the money. She explains that she does not know where the money is, and he replies with the deal he made with Moss. However, he offers her a chance to live with a coin flip. He leaves the room where Carla lie dead.
After leaving the scene, Anton is in a car accident where he is injured badly, but is able to get away before the cops show up. The movie ends with a scene where Ed Tom Bell is telling two dreams to his wife, both involving his deceased father.
Script: http://www.youknow-forkids.com/nocountryforoldmen.txt
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