Race Representation & Naturalism in Do the Right Thing (1989)

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Do the Right Thing (1989); written, directed and produced by Spike Lee, is a film in which inner city racism is shed light upon, as the film, after all, is dedicated in memory to an actual event (what a surprise) that took place in New York at the time. There are various types of cinematography displayed in the film, and they are representation and naturalism. The film’s organizational structure is race representation in particular. Corrigan & White (2009) speaks about this representation in the text in the quote below.

“[...] the aesthetic sense, whereby we may speak of representation of African-Americans in the films of Spike Lee versus those of Gone with the Wind [...]” (). Unlike many other films of its time, this movie proudly and controversially represented African-American characters. Martin Lawrence’s crew was one of the groups represented in the film, which they represents the loud-mouthed, obnoxious, “hip-hop” type of the new school kids of these days; Spike Lee, who is a part of the typically unmotivated, non-ambitious, irresponsible, young black father image of these days; and the old school crew of yesteryear, which Mother-sister and the Da Mayor represent. Mother-sister is old and sits in her window all day moaning about the clowns of the neighborhood, in particular, the Da Mayor who reminds her of her ex husband ironically enough.  Da Major, who still wears suits like it was the 1950s, walks around drunk, but holds moral standards of the old days and demands respect from the kids living there, being that he is the old man. 

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The film represents the sad, disgusting history and present issues in this country: racism. Many people do not want to hear about it, but it is there, and the movie portrays it realistically, which brings us to our next element of cinematography in the film: Mise-en-Scene. Naturalism is a part of the Mise-en-Scene concept, and the term is used in the film. What’s realistic about the movie is the discrimination, violence, hatred and racism the film depicts. The course text defines Naturalism. “If mise-en-scene is about the arrangement of space and the objects in it, as we have suggested, the naturalism in the mise-en-scene means that how a place looks is the way it is supposed to look” (86).

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The Italian white guys hate the blacks, they spit disgusting racial slurs and a black man was killed in the end of the film, causing a riot. Just prior to the typically racial-charged death of a black man, there was a protest in formation. All of this is real as it has happened in this country, and it is because of these events that I am able to rightfully write about them today. African-Americans were wrongfully beaten, attacked, killed and stripped of their RIGHTS all because of the color of their skin, and even though this film is comedic, it is a darn shame and a blasphemy. Anyone who says the cops were the only "bad guys" in the film are just as blind as those who say "Racism is over, I mean look, we have a black president. Get over it."

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Yes, the heat made everyone irritable, but racism is deeply rooted in one, and no heat can make a person so disgustingly hateful; one is taught that from one's surroundings, being weak-minded. Radio Raheem walked around the city carrying a radio with Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” on repeat; if anyone has ever listened to the song they would know the song deals with Civil Rights, unjust racism, discrimination and violence in the black community. The message of the song was about rising above it all and becoming one as people, equal as so-called “citizens” of the U.S. of White Supremacists’ A. 

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Some people complained and thought what Radio Raheem did was disrespectful and thus he was warranted a racial attack for it (i.e., an “N-word” tirade from Sal). Did Raheem spreading the message warrant his death? Did that warrant Raheem’s beating prior? Can we say Rodney King, Emmett Till, Martin Luther King, Jr., Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (who interviewed Spike Lee about the film ironically), and Chicago Torture Squad in the 1970s-1990s? Raheem had every right to walk into that racism-slurred-filled restaurant and blast his message, as “I hate [insert N-word here]” was NOT any better of a tune. Oh, or was it? “Show some respect for our restaurant” my foot. Show some respect for African-Americans is more like it.

Works Cited:

Corrigan, Timothy, and Patricia White. Film Experience: an Introduction. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. Print.

Lee, Spike, perf. Do the Right Thing. Narr. Samuel L. Jackson. 1989. Universal Pictures, 1989. DVD.

Elements of Cinematography in War of the Worlds (2005)

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War of the Worlds (2005), originally done in 1953, depicts Tom Cruise as a divorced father of two who, in the middle of being invaded by Martians, attempts to get back in his children's' lives. There are many elements of cinematography in the film, such as props, plot, narration, editing and characters, etc. The prop is defined in Corrigan & White (2009) in the following quote. “The prop, (short for property) is an object that functions as a part of the set or is a tool used by the actors” (69). 

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A prop(s) in War of the Worlds (2005) in one scene, for example, would be the laundry hanging from the clothesline outside. In the scene where a storm, or lightening, attacks the city, violent winds moves the laundry wildly about, and the camera is looking at a mother standing there holding her frightened child. While the laundry would normally signify comfort and contentment, this scene shows the laundry moving frantically out of place to show discomfort, as if to show something is out of place, that something out of the ordinary is about to happen.

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Narration occurs in the beginning of the film when Morgan Freeman is introducing the film by giving insight about how people are so comfortable in their own stagnancy, and are afraid of change, closed to think outside the box and live and think differently than how they do. The course text defines Narration as follows. “Narration refers to the emotional, physical, or intellectual perspective through which the characters, events, and action of the plot appear” (235).

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In the film, the focus is on a man who, like many of the people in the film, is stuck in his own world of not taking events or people in his life as seriously as he should; or in his particular case, not taking his responsibilities as a father and former husband, to heart. Now he is living his own life with no responsibilities (no food in his refrigerator) even though he knows his kids are coming over; he does not help his daughter Rachel when she is getting her luggage from the van, and he is not as emotional or sensitive to his kids' feelings like he should be, being a father and all...

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In conclusion, in the film we also see many instances of graphic editing involved. Considering the fact that Steven Spielberg directed this movie, many circular shapes are depicted throughout the film, as it has been said that he favors them very much. Corrigan & White (2009) defines graphic editing in the quote, “[...] are such formal patterns as shapes, masses, colors, lines and lighting patterns within images” (158). 

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For example, in the beginning of the film, a microscopic, circular image of a rain drop is shown, as well as the world in its entirety. Also showing these circular images are scenes including trucks, where their wheels are shown up close; and most remembered by me particularly is the scene where Ray and his son, Robbie, are playing catch out in the front yard. In the middle of an argument, Robbie ducks on Ray's hard fast ball into his own window, creating a small circular hole that blended in nicely with Ray's cluttered kitchen and malnourished yard.

Works Cited:

 Corrigan, Timothy, and Patricia White. Film Experience: an Introduction. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. Print.

Cruise, Tom, Dakota Fanning, and Tim Robbins, perf. War of the Worlds. Dir. Steven Spielberg. 2005. Paramount Pictures, 2005. DVD.

Plot, Story and Narration in The Fountain (2006)

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Darren Aronofsky directed The Fountain (2006) after his plan of directing it the first time on a low budget failed. The film stars Hugh Jackman alongside Rachel Weisz, where they both play a couple who are opposite of each other; Jackman plays a neglectful, and busy Doctor, while Weisz plays an intellectual, and carefree writer. The story of the film is told in three ways; Jackman's character as a Doctor and his cancer-stricken wife, Jackman as a warrior and his wife as his queen, and Jackman as an insane, futuristic space traveler and the tree that he is so madly in love with..? (Jackman, Hugh) There is a difference between a story in a film and the plot. Corrigan & White explains the differences, but with the quote below, the course text emphasizes on the term “story”.

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“A story is the subject matter or raw material of a narrative, with the actions and events (usually perceived in terms of a beginning, a middle, and an end) ordered chronologically and focused on one or more characters, those who motivate the events and performs the action of the story,” (234). The moral of the story is to accept death once it has approached; you must take the time you have and spend it with them before they pass away. The story is about accepting death as it comes, but seeing the upside to it, the beauty of it, the precious time that is spent between one another in the midst of the difficult times (Jackman, Hugh).

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Plot is different from story, and while many people may confuse the two, Corrigan & White (2009) helps us understand the contrasts in the quote: “The plot orders the events and actions of the story according to particular temporal and spatial patterns, selecting actions, individuals, and events and omitting others,” (234). The plot in The Fountain (2006) I'm not entirely too sure of, as the whole movie confused me (which is not a good thing), but I will try my best to explain it anyway (Jackman, Hugh).

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So, it has already been established that the film focuses on two people: Jackman and Weisz's characters. The story centers on Jackman's dying wife, and he must learn to accept the fact that she is dying, and that he should have spent more time with her while she was alive. He learns that time is precious, and that life is something you cannot take for granted. So, yes, we know this, but it is how the story is told that defines the plot in the film, which, tells this story in three separate, confusing and slightly uninteresting scenes (Jackman, Hugh).

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The movie opens with Jackman's character as the warrior who must save Spain and go back to his Queen. After the action in that story subsides, a new story has formed, with the space traveler guy sitting in mid air with his legs crossed, and at another scene, making love to a hairy tree, which most likely is a symbol of his wife. Thankfully, this second story also subsides and goes into a less confusing, and actually tolerable one, with Jackman's character sitting in his office, with that usually irritable look on his face; yelling at his sick, dying wife (Jackman, Hugh).

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These scenes can account for third-person narration because they are not seen in first-person perspective, but from how the audience sees the events in the film. The course text explains this concept further in the quote as follows: “[...] narration may assume a more objective and detached stance vis-a-vis the plot and characters, seeing events from outside the story […],” (236). Since the film mainly centers on Izzie and her sickness, I will use examples of the third-person narration in the movie relating to that. When Izzie is standing in the museum and suddenly collapses onto the floor, the audience is left not knowing what is wrong with her, but it is clear that she is sick, and not in fact “okay” as her husband wanted to believe, who was in denial the entire time about her sickness and about her coming death (Jackman, Hugh).

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In relation to this, when Izzie is laying in the bath tub, she tells her husband that she cannot feel hot or cold sensations, alluding to the fact that something is fatally wrong with her. It might just be me, but I as a viewer during both of these occasions had no idea what was wrong with her, or what her sickness was until late in the film (like everything else that occurred in the film). Then, it was revealed she had cancer, and these are the facts of the film. These facts that are presented to us viewers accounts as the third person- narrative. Her husband wanted to believe a lie that she was not sick and that she was going to make it, but the fact of the matter was this: the girl was a long goner (Jackman, Hugh). 

Works Cited:

Corrigan, Timothy, and Patricia White. Film Experience: an Introduction. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. Print.

Jackman, Hugh, and Rachel Weisz, perf. The Fountain. Dir. Darren Aronofsky. 2006. Warner Bros. DVD.

Aspects of Editing in The Seventh Seal (1957)

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Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal (1957) is set during the medieval times in the midst of the Black Death. Told through many editing techniques, the film centers around a knight, Antonius Block (played by Max Von Sydow) who is roaming around questioning the existence of God, while simultaneously at times playing chess with Death. Some of the editing in the film includes fade-ins, fade-outs and various techniques of the sort. Corrigan & White (2009) defines fade-outs and ins in the text so that one can understand the way they look and the way they differ from each other while observing the movie. The definitions are below:

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“[...] fade-outs gradually darken and make one image disappear, while fade-ins do the opposite,” the course text explains. “Alfred Hitchcock fades to black to mark the passing of time throughout Rear Window (1954)” (145). Some examples of these fade-ins and fade-outs occur randomly throughout the film. In one scene, Antonius Block is, of course, playing checkers with Death on the beach in the beginning of the film. As they play, the camera centers onto the checker board and the picture fades out, and fades in onto the beach's oceans (Bergman, Ingmar). How this looks in the film is like this: the checker board disappears into the ocean, which appears randomly in the scene (Bergman, Ingmar) .

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It's a special kind of editing technique that plays tricks on the viewers' eyes considering they are focusing on prop currently being displayed in the scene, and seeing it disappear right before their eyes into the ocean. Another example of a fade-in, I think, is the overwhelming light that surrounds the camera in between the scenes showing Antonius and his squire, Jons, (who is played by Gunnar Björnstrand) riding on their horses along the beach (Bergman, Ingmar).

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Just as how in the book, it referenced Alfred Hitchcock's film and how Hitchcock used fade-outs and all to “mark the passage of time”, I, too, believe that the light that fills the camera in between the horse scenes also marks the passage of time (Corrigan, Timothy). Another scene where Bergman uses the same technique involving the passing on time and fades, involves the march of the Religious nuts and their punishing of each other on account of the Black Death. As they march in single files, they whip each other in agony down the road. As the people march, the row gets smaller and lesser, and the fade-outs represent this happening. After each fade-out the row is lessened and the people have already marched on and away from the camera's view (Bergman, Ingmar).

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Another scene involves Jof, (who is played by Nils Poppe) sitting outside in the sunshine when he envisions Virgin Mary outside. The picture is brighter because she is the great and pure Virgin Mary, so the scene is edited really bright to make the scene look special and pure for Mary. The Virgin Mary is playing with his baby Miquel, and as Jof looks in amazement and excitement, he goes to wipe his eyes, and after he does that, Virgin Mary fades away. The film uses the fade to emphasize the fact that she, indeed, is only a vision. In reality, she was not there all along (Bergman, Ingmar).

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In conclusion, the picture seen on the right of Antonius Block walking along the beach with huge, gray clouds following him and the ocean surrounding him looks depressing to me, even with the beauty of the photo. We all know the man is depressed to begin with, walking around moping because his God will not talk back to him, so automatically I assume the picture to be a sad one. Antonius looks lost in this photo, which, he is exactly that in the film. He is wandering about, looking for questions about God's existence and yet they remain unanswered even after the film ends (Bergman, Ingmar).

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Yes, the knight learns to appreciate some of the beauty in life as he sits on the hill with his friends eating strawberries, (Bergman, Ingmar) but what did he do after? He left them to go play another round of checkers with his buddy, “Death”. The photo reveals what I already knew of the knight: he is lost, lonely, depressed, alone and confused. In fact, the gray clouds are so huge in that photo they look like they have cornered the lost puppy.

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Works Cited:

Corrigan, Timothy, and Patricia White. Film Experience: an Introduction. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. Print.

Bergman, Ingmar, dir.The Seventh Seal. Perf. Max V. Sydow and Gunnar Björnstrand. 1957. AB Svensk Filmindustr, 1958. DVD.

Subjective point of view in the Breakfast Club (1985)

John Hughes’ the Breakfast Club (1985), a personal all-time favorite of mine, is set in 1984 at fictional Shermer high school located in Shermer, IL. The film focuses on five teenagers that belong to different social cliques. The way each teenager sees the next is told through the eyes of the camera. The camera’s way of moving, positioning and angling tells its own unique story, and what it sees depends on which character the camera is playing in that moment and how he or she is feeling. Each student has a different perception of the next one, and the events that are taking place within the detention session also affect the character’s viewpoint, as told by the camera. Corrigan & White (2009) defines “point of view” in the quote: “In cinematographic terms, point of view refers to the position from which a person, an event, or an object is seen (or filmed)” (104). (Picture above is from washingtonpost.com).

The course text lists a couple types of these points of views, one being subjective and the other objective. The subjective point of view, basically, is the point of view in which a character sees people or events from their personal perspectives, which is what I was just speaking about earlier. Corrigan & White (2009) explains this concept as follows: “[…] a subjective point of view re-creates the perspective of a character through camera placement […]” (104). Some examples of subjective point of view in the Breakfast Club (1985) includes an amusing scene where the gang is following John Bender (played by Judd Nelson) down the hall when they, instead, should be in the library bored out of their minds for their detention session (Nelson, Judd).  (Picture above is from hubpages.com)

As the gang walk, they spot their principal Richard Vernon (played by Paul Gleason) casually strolling about. We know this because the camera shows the group looking in one direction, Richard Vernon is shown walking, and so as the camera darts back on the students they are running with shock in the opposite, (except Allison who moves at her own pace) trying to make it back to the library alive. I also would like to note that while the gang runs for their lives, a memorable, energetic and fun 1980s tune is playing, which I know not by name, but it adds to the anxious, yet humorous and energetic atmosphere of the scene (Nelson, Judd). (Picture above is from theboxset.com)

 



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  Another scene where subjective point of view occurs is rooted in the emotional and irresistible love story between the handsome, athletic, and competitive jock Andrew Clark (Emilio Estevez) and the odd but beautiful Allison (Ally Sheedy). In the scene where Bender goes off to “blaze up” (AKA get high off of Marijuana) and everyone else follows, the camera shows Allison as she is admiring Andrew with his back turned from afar.  The camera goes back on Andrew getting up from his seat, and walking away and out of the library to join the other potheads. The camera goes back to Allison as her gaze (and head) follows Andrew while he is walking out, and not noticing Allison’s stares (Nelson, Judd).



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Another example of subjective point of view occurs in the scene when the gang is sitting in the library bored, fooling around. Allison is drawing a snow covered cabin with help from her hair's flakes, Andrew is pulling on his hoodie strings, Bender is, not surprisingly, playing with fire, and Claire (Molly Ringwald), who appears to be so bored she dazes off in her own world, is staring at Brian (Michael Anthony Hall) who is embarrassingly looking back.

The camera goes back and forth between Claire staring with her mouth open, to Brian looking back with an embarrassing look on his face. He is so self-conscious he places his hat on his lap to hide the erection Claire has given him due to her staring so much at him. This is funny because Ringwald and Hall started dating shortly after filming had ended; must have been some effect (Nelson, Judd). (Picture above is from chicagonow.com)

Works Cited:

Corrigan, Timothy, and Patricia White. Film Experience: an Introduction. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. Print.

Nelson, Judd, Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Anthony M. Hall, and Ally Sheedy, perf. The Breakfast Club. Dir. John Hughes. Universal Studios, 1985. Film.