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The Thin Blue Line (1988)
The Thin Blue Line
The Thin Blue Line had both a fictional and non-fictional feel to it. Most documentaries, today, seem to follow on this same path. Well, at least the good ones do. What gave the film such a non-fictional feel to it were the on camera interviews and the actually shots of the characters written statements; the confession, the newspaper clippings, and court information. It was that hard evidence that grabbed the viewer and threw him in to the documentary. Also, I enjoyed how the characters were placed in front of the camera to help show they were conducting an interview. Even though no questions were asked to them, the audience could still get the feeling that they were being prosecuted right then and there. There were also elements to the story that gave it more of a "Hollywood" feel. This would be the reenactment of the shooting and other parts of the night. It was the overall style of how it was filmed that gave it this tone. They transitioning of different car brands, two different vehicles seemed to dissolve in to each other and the zooming in on the license plate and rear lights. Also, the over-dramatic slow motion close up of the milk shake seemed very "Hollywood". I have not viewed many documentaries outside of the ones from class, the ones I have seen are mostly sports related. I am not very familiar with the troubled conviction of old school documents. To me, The Thin Blue Line seemed to fit with the other documents that I have seen. However, I did find The Thin Blue Line to be very manipulative and deceiving. The whole time they are constantly trying to trick you about who the actual killer is. They did a great job confusing the audience in many ways; the actual story, who to cheer for, and are these cops corrupt.
The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936)
Adult Mickey Mouse Movie
The version I watched on YouTube had a small prologue in the beginning of the film. This little addition helped add to the films credibility. It provided the viewers a background about what the film is going to be about. This allows us to have a better understanding of the point that the document is trying to get across. By having this prologue, we can also see that the filmmaker knows what he is talking about. The beginning graphic does not necessary add to the films creditability, but it does help add more background knowledge for the audience. The reason why I say it does not add much creditability to the film is because it is not that hard to add a graphic to a documentary. The film seems very real, which is VERY different from most fiction films. The shots are real and do not appear to be touched up or edited to look more aesthetically pleasing. This movie is one of the rare ones that actually look like it was filmed by a camera. I did not care for the style of the music that played over the documentary. Too me, it seemed fake and a little cheesy. I just do not see where it adds to the story. Maybe in a way, and I mean maybe, it makes the story more exciting. It reminded me of what a filmmaker would add in today's age as a joke. I did enjoy the voice over narration at least that seemed to fit the style of the movie. Although I did not like the music, I can see how it would add a more melodramatic feel to the documentary. It had those old school "Mickey Mouse" sounds to it that transforms hard work into a more lively situation. The music was clearly gave the film a more over dramatic element setting to it. Whether this was on purpose or not is unclear to me. It was probably just the style of the time.
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
Spirited Away
There are plenty of strengths from movies being animated. They have free reign to show whatever they want to. Meaning, nothing is out of the limits, they can create any monster, person, or item they wish. One limitation would be the creditability of the film. Most critics will often over look animated films simply because they are animated. If Spirited Away was live action, almost all of the magic in the movie would be removed. Most of the characters shown in the movie would not be possible to use without animation. One of the key elements to Spirited Away is its strange storyline and overall theme of the movie. The uniqueness of the film is by far the main engine driving this movie. I for one have not seen a story like this before, especially not in any Pixar or Disney films. I was not expecting the story to play out in the way it did. I thought she would casually discover these monsters as she was adjusting to the new school. I did not expect her to be trapped with all of these monsters and would not be allowed to escape. I also did not expect the film to take place in a bath house. This is by far one of the reasons as to why this film separates itself from Disney and Pixar. At times the movie was pretty graphic and blood was shown. Blood is rarely shown in animated movies directed towards a younger audience. As far as approaches to animation, I could see a difference in the way the movies are made. Pixar animation seems brighter, bolder, more defined. It has been a while since I have seen an animated Disney film. I cannot find a clear cut political or environmental message in the movie. The only theme that really stood out to me was when her parents got transformed in to pigs because they were eating too much.
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
Devil in a New Dress
Devil in a Blue Dress definitely had a large LA Noir feel to it; I got this vibe because of the general outfits of the characters and the set design. The cars all seemed to be the same. So did many of the outfits the characters were wearing. Finally, they seemed to both share the types of tools; guns, gadgets, etc. Of course this character was alike to that of Jack Gittes in Chinatown. The biggest comparison being they are both detectives who get caught up in a more serious crime dilemma than what was originally expected. Also, they are both on the search for the dame in distress, who turns out to be a very provocative and compelling character. The movies are also the same in the way they are through the narration of the main character. Also, they both tend to get beat up by some hired goons! Devil in a New Dress had a mixed drama to it. It used tomes of a typical thriller we would see in today's films. There was not as much down time as there was in Chinatown. So even though this movie set in the past and had a lot of characters who fit that part, it still had a new movie feel to it Yes, I do believe the story changes because the main character is black. For this movie they tried to show a lot of the darker elements behind racism towards blacks for that time period. It did not take away from the story, but at times it did feel forced. It felt like it was an adversity that he never truly climbed away from. This is the opposite for the movie Chinatown. It mainly focused on the racism towards Asians at that time period, but was less subtly. Such as; the differences in the way they pronounce words. The films would be greatly different if they were set in the present day. I would not get that special feel if it was not taken place in the 40's. Plus I cannot picture a detective, in this day in age, doing the things Jack Gittes and Easy Rawlins. Especially going after a dame in distress.