Jo You: Inception (Personal Blog #1)

Inception is one film that I have to watch more than once to understand and reaffirm my thoughts on. The reason behind this deals greatly with it's ending, so for those who haven't watched it yet and plan to, this is probably not the best thing to read. Unless you enjoy spoilers.
The ending is the best part of about this movie. I normally have mixed feelings about vague endings, but this time it was in a fairly positive sense. The reason for this is due to the fact that the entire movie builds up to the end, and throughout the entire movie you, as the viewer, are constantly pondering on what is real and what is a dream. Assuming that this is the original intention of the director, I would have to say that Inception's ending was flawless, and there was no other way it could have ended.

Granted at first, I was disappointed that there was no concrete ending – was Cobb still in his dreamworld or did he finally get out and reunite with his family? All we are left with is the spinning top on the table of his house, and then the screen turns black instantly before we are able to figure it out.

A large part of this film deals with distinguishing dreams from reality, fantasy from fact, and to a certain extent, Surrealism. Not only does the movie make you ponder if Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) returns home or not, but it also raises the question: How does he know if he is still dreaming or not?

This brings me to philosopher Descartes, who, in his studies, claimed that we will never be able to know if we are dreaming or not. Have you ever had a dream that felt so real that when you woke up, you felt disoriented from what was 'real' and what was a dream? How do you know you are not dreaming as you're reading this? 

 

We never know when we are in a dream because we are not consciously aware of it. It is impossible for us to determine a dream from reality, so for all you know, we could all be dreaming right now. Similar to The Matrix, the world we know about right now may not even be 'real'. We could all be living in the Matrix this very moment, and because of this (and Descartes' philosophy), it is impossible for us to know 100% that we live in reality, and that everything we know is right – the conclusion being that our knowledge is virtually useless because it is uncertain.

To Descartes, the solution to knowing what is real and a dream was for a person to acknowledge the fact that they are dreaming. However, this only occurs when you are awake, naturally. 

 

But Inception counters Descartes' idea because several times during the movie, Cobb and his companions are fully aware that they are dreaming. When Mal holds a gun towards Arthur, Cobb states that there is no use threatening them since “I'm in a dream, right Mal?'. He is aware that there is a possibility that he might be dreaming, and since he knows this, Descartes' idea that you need to be awake to declare yourself dreaming is nullified.

This brings the end of Inception back in as the subject. Since Cobb cannot distinguish what is real and dream, or when he is dreaming and when he isn't, it is perfectly plausible for is to think that at the end, he is still in his dream-like state. It is therefore impossible for us to determine what is a dream and what isn't for the entire movie.

What I enjoyed the most was the last scene: the spinning top. It is the answer to the movie's basic question: Is Cobb back in reality?

The question definitely seems easier than the answer. It is impossible to know the ending because Nolan decided not to show his audience whether or not the spinning top falls, however, if you watched the film again as I did, you will come to your own conclusions.

Dream and reality clash in Inception, yes, but at the end of the scene, Cobb places the spinning top on the table, but is ultimately sidetracked by his children. He walks away from it without watching it fall as he usually does in the other scenes. But as the audience, we are left wondering: Does it drop? Is he still in a dream? 

 

The spinning top, if you watch carefully, begins to topple, implying that it will eventually fall and Cobb is in reality. But do we know for sure? More importantly, the idea that the spinning top will end is powerful because it implies that even dreams come to an end – we wake up eventually. This is Nihilistic, in a sense, because everything will end eventually, but it is also simultaneously Existential because Cobb leaves his totem (the spinning top) behind to enjoy time with his children, and in a sense enjoy his time in this 'reality', which is ironic for any Existentialist to do. 

 

Just as Descartes deemed that knowledge as we know it is useless due to the fact that we cannot determine what is real and what is not, it is also useless for us to ponder on the existence of our reality because we are struggling for a lost cause – we will never be able to know for sure about anything, let alone whether we are in a dream or not. 

 

The ending of Inception can therefore be construed as rather Nihilistic, and even anti-Christian because from a Christian perspective, there is a ultimate realm where 'reality' does not end – I'm referring to heaven and hell, of course. But this idea sets us up to live our current lives in preparation for this ultimate reality, which will either result in us living with the ultimate Creator in a Utopia, or living in reality that will make us angsty due to our self-awareness and consciousness. 

 

Ultimately though, what I gathered from Inception was that Cobb no longer cared; it no longer matters if we are in a dream world or not. Enjoy where you are right now - make the most of it because in the end, it doesn’t really matter.

Jo You: Northfork (Movie Post #4)

The movie Northfork tells us about a town that is metaphorically 'dammed' because it is about to be flooded. Because of this, it's citizens need to be relocated, and it is the job of the Ford-driving men in black suits, the 'Evacuators', to do so. Each pair carry a set of angel wings as bribery to the citizens of Northfork. 
 
Meanwhile, in a parallel time period are a group of strange angels looking for the 'unknown angel', which a boy named Irwin claims to be. 
 
The film is takes place simultaneously in a surreal dream-scape and reality. Irwin, a sick young boy, meets these angels and you are left to wonder if they are his illusions or some sort of symbolism for his impending death. The fact that it takes place in this dream-like yet at the same time 'real' place serves as a good metaphor for his death, however. Because he is 'dying', he is 'going to heaven', which means that Irwin is at the halfway point between heaven and earth, which might explain why he is able to see the angels. At the same time, however, when the Evacuator stumbles across the house these angels dwell in, he gets a glimpse of their faces – What does this mean? Is this a hint that he, too, is nearing death?

Another interesting symbol in the film what the boat in which the two wives and husband lived. Based on their religious attitudes, I immediately linked their ship to the tale of Noah's Ark, seeing how the family was planning to escape via their ship, eve though it was seemingly impossible.

After watching Northfork, there are two quotes that remained with me, one of them takes place when one of the Evacuators holds a statue of Christ on the cross and tells his associate, 'Without the right words, all this is, is a man, mailed to two pieces of wood”. This quote really makes me think about what exactly he means by 'the right words'. Story-telling has always been a great part of all religion, but in the context of Northfork, the Evacuator is pointing out the fact that regardless of what you say, it will be hard to persuade anyone else's mind to better suit your beliefs. Just as the religious man in the boathouse tries to sway the minds of the Evacuators, the opposite can also be applied – you ultimately will have a hard time changing anyone's strong beliefs, but granted you use the 'right words', you may have a chance to change them. This refers to the idea that the Evacuators are trying to persuade the family in the boathouse to leave town.

The other quote that stayed with me is “You spend all your time polishing this car to make it perfect, all for a rock to ruin it”. This is very personal to me because I can relate to it from experience metaphorically. Sometimes you try your hardest to do a certain task and make everything perfect, only to realize that ultimately the perfection will be ruined, and is no longer perfect. To me, this indicates the idea that perfection never existed. Yet, what is the driving force that allows us to make this same mistake over and over again? Even though I know that perfection does not exist, our society keeps trying to perfect and improve to become 'better', struggling for 'perfection' when it is essentially unachievable.

Allie Stough - 90 Minutes in Heaven

I read this book and was really awe inspired by it. It really gave me a true concept of heaven. Before I could only know it was there by belief but now there is real evidence that proves it exists. I is reassuring to know that we truly do go to a better place when we leave this earth. Most people to about seeing the light and that is what happened to the man in the book. I have had experience of people dying with my grandmother. She was dying and she said people were telling her to come with her. I really truly do believe in a higher power along with heaven.

Allie Stough Tuesday with Morrie

Tuesdays with Morrie is a book about a professor and his student. The professor is dying. The book describes all of the struggles that the professor and the student go through. It talks about how the professor gets weaker and weaker everyday. There is one student that takes care of him and is present through the whole process of him dying from ALS. His student comes every Tuesday and takes care of him and listens to Morrie's stories. Unfortunately his student has to watch his death, but someone was there to take care of him and go through the process with.

Allie Stough The Help

"The Help" is a book about the black people who took care of the children in the home. They were almost like slaves because they were the full time nanny. They did get paid but very little. The child in the book gets very attached to "the help" because the help does everything for the little girl. "The Help" makes us imagine of how her spirit is put down so while she is on the job. She gets to the point where she is tired of hearing all the commands and decided to quite. She gets back at her master by putting her own poop in a pie. She gets fired and another nicer younger lady takes her own.

Allie Stough Desperate Housewives

I watch desperate housewives every Sunday and there was one episode that particularly stuck out to me. There was a scene of a funeral of a man who was shot. His wife was at the funeral with all of her friends and people he knew. She wasn't going to say anything because she didn't know what to say but in the end decided to say something. She talks about the time when the family was at a diner eating and the son asks the dad a question. He asks, "Where do we go when we die?" The dad says we go to heaven which is perfect. He explains to his son that this right here in the diner is heaven. How it perfect, I mean what’s it like? Buddy this is heaven. “It is?” Sure sitting with the people you love more than anything in the world, eating a double cheeseburger and fries. It’s got to be heaven. You know what else is heaven that place we fish. “Near the waterfall?” Yep, heaven. And when we watch football together and mom brings us trays of snacks. “That’s heaven too?” If heaven is supposed to be the happiest place you can be, don’t all those places sound like it to you?”

Allie Stough Groundhogs Day

The main character is a weather man. He has to go to the Ground hog's day celebration. He wakes up and is confused because he is living the same day. The third day he gets paranoid. He goes to the doctor and psychiatrist. He crashes a car and goes to jail. The fourth day he talks to the lady again and they love on each other. He steals a money bag. He takes the woman to dinner and relives the dinner over and over. She gets frustrated with him reliving his day. He decides to steal the groundhog so he doesn't have to relive his day. He drives a car down a road and it blows up. The next day he wakes up and tries to commit suicide and jumps off a building. The next day he thinks he must be God. He tries to prove to her that he is reliving this day. She goes to sleep with him to see what his morning is like. He wakes up and she isn't there. He takes piano lessons and ice sculpts. He knows thing that will take place and goes and does them. He saves a kid from falling. He saves a woman from chocking. Then he is in a dance place and is playing the piano. He does a nice sculpture of the lady and she bods on him in the bachelor game. He wakes up and she is in bed with him. His day has changed. It is finally tomorrow. He is egocentric. He first goes into his ego and then he gets depressed. He cant conquer her. He blames the groundhog.

North Fork Allie Stough

1940’s

Hydroelectric Dam

Going to Flood the valley

Going to evacuate North Fork town

People wear angel wings – help people evacuate

10 year old lives in orphanage – priest has one boy left in orphanage who is sick

water – casket comes up

person announcing the end of north fork

we are all angels – its what we do with our wings that separates us

Their son, Irwin, is ill and is staying in North Fork – they leave him at the orphanage

The boy dreams of an angel and has a feather in his hand

The angels are all given tasks to get people out of town

The boy dreams of being on as wings

The priest picks him up

The boy sees a machine made animal

The boy finds a house and goes in

They want the unknown angel and the boy wants to go 1000 miles

6 angels in diner eating soup

The priest goes to the doctor to get medicine

Buffalo – boy running with suite case

Music box

The angels get to their homes to get people out of town

One pair of angels is shot at

One pair of angels gets to an arc

Once they have 65 people evacuated they will get a lake front property.

They try to convince the people in the boat to leave

They tell the people how they die and how they died

They show them the angels

The little boy shows him scars to the people

The man doesn’t believe the wings

The boy dreams – he is given a shot

People want to adopt him but the can’t see him

The people look at his feathers

He gets in a tub and wants to go home

The man tries to get the last home

The house is split in two

The dad jumps

They see the people and freak

The people in the house get the wings

The priest prays for the boy

The dad goes in the room and says he is sorry

They all put cloths on their faces

They get the last grave out

The lady and everyone with her take the boy on a plane

The boy dies in the town with the priest

To witness the coming in and going out

There has to be people there to witness for it to be real

People witnessing a wedding

“Who will watch the home place”

Fall – death is on its way

The priests cane had a dog’s head

The dog creature leads him to death

Black ribbon – celebrating death

Dad in the booth is confessing – like a confessional – getting rid of death

The sing is the communication to the heavens

House is on stilts – no foundation

Coming to death – winter snow

The dad realizes what he needs to do to help his son and gets his dead wife

Mountains – are stable like the priest being between the people and the boy

Northfork

I think this was one of my favorite films we've seen so far. One of the reasons I loved it so much was due to all the rich imagery. It was not only beautiful and artistically created, but it was also effective in conveying its symbols to us. Some of the more significant and beautiful symbols I observed were: The outhouse with the cross on the front (the father apologizing and confessing, shows how this outhouse mirrors a Catholic confessional. Its also cool to note that an outhouse is for shedding “waste” and so is a confessional), the airplane the angels fly off in at the end (its using a plane, technology, but it reminds us of flying on the wings of angels), the coffin on top of a car driving up the mountains (what a stunning image, the coffin traveling up to the mountains, which symbolizes the final witness of “coming in and going out”) the simple things like the boat house (symbolizing Noah's arch) and the car coming to the cross roads (which looks like the Christian cross), and the priests dog head cane (linked to the wooden dog that leads the little boy to the house of death. This shows how the priest leads us to this transition.). Altogether, this is an extremely moving film, and I think it was very successful in conveying its message.

Whitney B - Midrash in Film

The Jewish practice of Midrash, which guides the reader to explore personal meanings rather than the strict verbal actualities of text relates closely to Decalogue, as this movie causes the viewer to look deeper into the scenes rather than just taking them at face value. For the Ten Commandments, the themes must be on a personal level, or integration of the values will not be present in the life of the individual. To help to engrain these principles onto ones moral tablet, the deeper meaning must be sought and understood before it can truly become a part of one’s life. Religion is not just a set of rules to be memorized and followed, but a deeper spiritual journey that integrates divine meaning into the human heart. The movie Decalogue helps to portray this journey through various film techniques.

The first film portrays the commandment of “thou shalt have no other gods before me”. This other god is represented as the computer that the father uses frequently in many scenes. The son wants to go out and skate on the ice so the father computes whether or not it is safe with the computer. He puts all his faith in what the computer says and leaves no room for what he feels or his intuition as a father. His faith in technology rules his decisions and he is blinded by its seeming perfection. At first, we see the computer as just a helpful tool, but as the father uses it more and more, we see that it his foundation in life. When his son dies because the computer calculation was inaccurate, we see the father confused and not able to comprehend that his computer, his god, had failed him. The father is then thrown into the struggle to find meaning in everything because the one thing he believed to be infallible lead to the death of his son. He feels as though his universe has lost its center, by losing his son and his belief that technology is perfect. I think we can all relate to this feeling when something unexpected happens. We all have many gods, but this film represents what happens when these gods take center stage in our lives and our faith no longer rest in the one true God, but in things we believe in with the same faith. Instead of reading this or seeing it directly played out, the viewer comes to the conclusion on their own, and sees the meaning behind the scenes of the film, taking a personal approach to finding out what exactly this commandment means in real life.

The second film works to display Midrash through the interpretation of death in various facets of life. This portrays a young man of peculiar character as he goes through his days being cruel towards others. He ends up killing a taxi driver, which people automatically see as wrong, the literal meaning of the commandment of “thou shalt not murder”. But as the story progresses, the murderer himself is put to death by the law, for punishment of taking another man’s life. In this scene, we see murder again as a savage act, but some would say it was deserved. Herein lies the complexity of how death and murder are viewed today, as well as the struggle of punishment and justice when crimes have been committed. Most would say the first murder was unjust and out of malice and anger, most definitely a sin against the commandment. But the second killing, that where murderer himself is killed, some might argue was justified, that he deserved to die for what he did. Midrash, then, allows the viewer to see both murders and approach the commandment with a personal perspective, whether it be that all murder is violent and unjust (what the film seems to portray in its dealings with both killing scenes) or that somehow, these deaths differ from one another. The film leaves the viewer with the struggle to identify meaning in what murder is. The feeling associated with the murder scenes help to guide the reader to face the challenge of finding a deeper understanding of what it means to kill. By viewing the scenes of these multiple lives, the viewer is reflecting upon the moments in their own life as well as allowing the outsider perspective to bring them a step back and look at the meaning of eternity from a viewpoint not previously taken. The meaning of murder is then extricated from the merging of personal experience and what the film portrays. Nothing is taken at face value, and a deeper meaning arises, a perfect example of Midrash through the medium of film.

Whitney B - Film Technique

Bunny

This short animated film deals with the concept of death, and its characteristics are brought to life in the form of a moth, as well as the afterlife being represented by light. At the very beginning, Bunny chases the moth away, chasing it out of the door. When the moth continues to fly around the porch light, Bunny turns it off. After more of this chasing and persisting, the moth finally gets in by pushing open a window and bumps into a picture of Bunny and her husband, knocking the frame sideways. Bunny sees this and becomes sad looking at it, a sign that her husband has died and she misses him. The moth finally ends up right in the batter of the cake Bunny is making. She mixes it up and throws it in the oven, and then falls asleep from her effort, which symbolizes the fatigue that comes with fighting death and trying to keep it away. When she wakes to the oven

The light in the film symbolizes heaven or an afterlife that death is always moving towards. The moth is death that is coming to take Bunny away. When Bunny sets the timer for the cake, it is a sort of symbol for the limited time we have to be alive, that there is always an end to the time we have in this life. The oven symbolizes transformation; it literally is a transformation of food, but as a transformation of life form as well, from the physical to the spiritual. As bunny peeks into the oven out of curiosity it shows us that the afterlife is a curious matter, that we are always seeking answers to our questions even if they are scary. Bunny’s reaction to the moth throughout the film changes just as the human’s reaction to the thought and pull of death changes as we grow older. Often times we hear older people say that they are ready whenever it is their time, that the thought of death no longer scares them or worries them. Could this accepting attitude towards death and the afterlife allows us to live longer or at least in more peace than the attitude that most young people carry, that life is fragile and death is something to shy away from? I wonder what our lives would be like if we truly accepted that death may take us at any moment and we were completely fine with going in peace.

Paris, Texas

The imagery in this film is heavy and explains many unspoken aspects of characters and themes. We see many scenes where the background is more important than what is in the forefront. When the “crazy” dude is out in the dessert we see his head between two pillars and later on we see him walking along in the grass below telephone lines with the mountains in the background. There is a road, but he is not following it, symbolizing that he is going a route that is not often taken if at all. He has his own sense of direction and logic as to how to get where he is going. His fast and purposeful walk shows that he is determined and sure about his path, not hesitating or questioning his impulse. A car stops and we see that it is his brother, whom he seems to have to reaction to as he continues to walk. The two frames of the men both have mountains behind them; one is large and wide while the other is more hill-like and very plain. These two frames represent that the two men are not coming from the same place and that their lives have different frames of reference, in which understanding is difficult to achieve mutually.

The brother tells him to get in the car, but he doesn’t want to and looks off to the power lines instead. Finally, he gets in but he sits in the back seat. This symbolizes that he is being taken somewhere, rather than going with his brother in a mutual companionship to wherever they are going.

Another interesting scene is when he is walking across the bridge over the freeway. There is a man that is ranting about the end of the world and crazy things to the cars that are passing below. The camera is following the main character, so we see the point is not getting to the ranting man, but the point is for the viewer to watch the walk, and this creates a type of tension and anxiety as we wait for him to arrive at the rambling man. Below them it is busy and hectic but they are above it, separate from the constant coming and going. The yelling man is preaching doom, but it is pointless because no one can hear him. The main character touches the man as he walks by as to bless him or give him peace, to let him know that he has been heard by someone.

Lastly, the interactions between the main character and his estranged wife present intriguing insight into their situation. When he goes to visit her for the first time he doesn’t reveal himself and asks her questions about what she does, trying to trap her and manipulate her into telling him as a stranger or a customer, rather than as a wife. He’s treating her as a problem to be solved, an object behind the glass. The husband and wife relationship is shattered because he is not treating her as his spouse or equal. The phone sitting on the table represents the line of communication when people aren’t together, when there is distance between them. In this case the phone bridges the barrier, but there is no physical distance, just emotional distance. It’s about alienation; they are cut off from each other so they can’t talk face to face. There is insulation on her side, rather than a wall, so it is an unfinished part, a fake front. This all adds to the message of the relationship as a façade. It is all an illusion and not actually real. The second time he goes to see her he ends up not facing her. The cord to the phone has a reflection that reaches her on the other side, which is a strong image that represents their line of communication. He tells the story of his life and she knows it is him. She goes up to the glass and touches it, calls his name, so he turns around and puts down the phone. His face is now covering her face through the reflection and their images diverge. He picks up the phone again, tells her to turn the light off so she can see him. Here the phrase “Can you see me?” symbolizes the need for communication and to connect with one another, to know that the other person is “seeing” you, or understanding you. The spousal relationship is changing and these scenes show how communication can be lost and regained if you put yourself out there, even though it may never be the same with that person.

Pink Floyd

The video is dark and mysterious, and reveals many types of symbolism regarding soldiers and war. Blood is shown flowing into a gutter, as if it is a waste of all the sacrifice. The planes that were flying turn into the grave markers from all dead soldiers of the war, a symbol that something that once was very much active and flying, is now buried in the ground, silent and still. The soldiers are skeletons, showing that they are the walking dead, destined to be killed before they even know what they are risking. We also see the British flag as it falls out into a cross with blood. The idea is that you lay down your life for your fellow countrymen and that patriotism often means to die for your nation. These symbols are strong and appear throughout the video, reminding us that the pride and confidence of a nation often turns into a blood battle, wasting precious life and turning war into a game where everyone loses.

Cabeza de Vaca

This film has interesting allusions to Jesus Christ. We see the main character raise a woman from the dead, hinting at the time when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. After the girl is back alive again she comes out and he stays inside the tomb, lying where she was with his arms out in the crucifixion position, another symbol of Christ. In the last scene they make it to Mexico City, where the leaders want him to help them get more Indian slaves. He is amazed at what has happened over the last eight years while he was gone. The shot has a lot of imagery with smoke and fire where the men are behind him o the left and the right side is the plain land and desert. He stands between the two. This symbolizes his position between the Indian culture he has come to understand and the civilization from where he came. There is slavery and destruction on one side and the pristine landscape on the other side. We can see that he has been transformed, and he stands between the two worlds and has to make a choice. As he is approached with this suggestion, he goes to talk to the Captain, moving completely into the destruction side of the frame. But, he is not completely on the Captain’s side; there’s a gulf between him and the Captain, and symbolically he stands between the two. The Spaniards claim they are trying to “save” the Indians, they are actually killing and enslaving them. When he speaks of “the faith” that is against this, he explains that it is a faith (Christianity) that embraces all human beings the same way and views them as equally valuable. But the Spanish empire does not operate under the true Christian faith. They think Christianity gives them the right to go out and exploit people in the name of God. “What faith are you talking about?” asks the Captain when confronted with his hypocrisy, and is met with the powerful response, “The only one.” This statement shows his transformation from the beginning to the end, he sees the bigger picture. He finally understands that the true faith is that of love for everyone, and not just for your family or your own kind. The true faith is the one that includes everyone as essential and of the greatest value.

Stephanie Colb - Exploring Film Technique

Stephanie Colb – Exploring Film Technique Blog

The rhetorical techniques used in filming can communicate clear and underlying themes. The use of imagery can have a major impact on one’s interpretation of a film. In the films, Bunny, Northfork, Paris Texas, Pink Floyd, and Cabeza de Vaca; the ways in which images, shots, backgrounds, and scenes were created helped put forth the meanings being aimed to portray. Each of these films had individual characters; however, they all had similarities as well.

In the first clip, Bunny, there were a lot of religious reflections that were displayed. The way that the film was created allowed the audience to interpret the film with a religious view. The picture frame with the bunny’s late husband held significance because a moth flying around hit the frame causing it to turn to a crooked position. After the hit, the husband was positioned higher up on the wall displaying he was the head of the house and she was struggling without him around. This moth was a reoccurring annoyance to the bunny; it was constantly surrounding her, driving her crazy. Finally, after hassling with the bug, she hit it causing it to land in her baking mix. She stirred the mix with anger making sure that it stayed in there and then putting it in the oven. After a while, the oven began to shake; the bunny opened it only to see the moth flying around surrounded by a tunnel. The moth was attempting to get the bunny to follow it into the tunnel to reach the light. The final scene has the bunny reaching the light and becoming happy. The idea of death is prevalent in this clip; the bunny’s journey of dealing with her husband’s death is shown as well as her own journey to death. Following the light reveals the religious beliefs of reaching the lights of Heaven and God; just as the bunny did.

The second film, Northfork, had a large amount of filming techniques to alter its imagery in a specific way. All of the images shown had detail and were done or placed in a way used to send a message. The showing of the buffalo helped viewers understand what was occurring at the time; buffalos have a strong presence. The use of these buffalo helped portray the strong coming of the community the film is based in. Another representation of using film technique was seen when a coffin was sitting on top of a car, rather than a normal suitcase. The background of this image added further meaning to the scene as well. The director of the film chose mountains instead of any other background; mountains tend to represent struggle or hardship. Having a car holding a coffin with a background of large, rough mountains created an image of how long term struggle can lead to harm or even death.

Next, in Paris Texas, the imagery and filming techniques were largely used to display improvements in communication and show the passing of time. In the beginning, Travis, the main character, is walking in a desert; looking lost and confused. Throughout the film uses objects such as phone lines, motels, train tracks, airports, and freeways to create a sense of time passing us by in our own personal worlds. These images were important to help the audience understand the concept of time and how things were changing; not only in their society, but in Travis’s life. Another use of filmography in a specific way was through the visions of Travis’s wife in the window. Through the different phone conversations between the two, the darkened window disallowed her to see who Travis was. Each of their phone calls created a memorable image through the use of filming technique and timing. Using these techniques helped establish a feeling of emotion between the husband and wife as well as within the audience. In my opinion, the film had a focus on imagery involving time and emotion.

Another film that was viewed, Pink Floyd, imagery and filming technique was vital to have in order to create the emotional appeal in the viewers. In the beginning, children were shown as individuals being their own people. As time passes in the film, so do the images seen and the film techniques being used. The idea of war begins to come into play along with not allowing education, which had a result of conforming the children to lifeless objects who were all the same. The fires, bags placed over children’s heads, machines, and dark setting helped successfully get the film’s message through to viewers. The transformation of children’s personalities, songs, individually, and the setting of the film itself was a clear technique used in filming.

Through all of these films, it is clear that the filming techniques and imagery used was important in helping audiences understand the underlying or the clearly presented themes. Whether the techniques were people, characters, props, backgrounds, or music; all are important in the creation of film.

Morgan Russell Bunny

Bunny was interesting in that the was no dialouge which directs the viewer's thoughts solely on the visuals. The moth begins only as an annoying pest to the main charater but as the story progresses it becomes inescapable and acts as a guardian angel helping Mrs. Bunny to pass into the next world to join Mr. Bunny. The oven acts as a portal which the moth guides Mrs. Bunny through and demonstrated the tremendom of death and the afterlife through a blinding light. Eventually Mrs. Bunny embraces passing into the next world and follows the moth entering into an unknown mysterium. It was interesting how such simple animation that seemed almost childish at first lead to a visually and emotionally moving short film.