Alien

One of my favorite movies is the extraterrestrial horror classic Alien.  While this may seem like an odd choice, the story line and directing by Ridley Scott makes this a must see for all film buffs. Alien is a science fiction thriller that follows protagonist Ellen Ripley and the rest of the Nostromo crew as they encounter an alien species that inhabits the ship.  The alien begins to hunt the crew one by one until there is only Ripley left, but she’s not going out without a fight. 

            Very similar to Jaws, Ridley Scott used an editing technique so that we hardly ever actually see the alien and instead just see glimpses of it in the dark.  The film also has a very slow pace from the beginning and kind of builds momentum throughout the story.  Another interesting thing about the film is the way it uses sound, or lack thereof.  Dialogue isn’t even heard for the first 6 minutes.  It really gives meaning to the film’s tagline “In space no one can hear you scream”.

            I love what Ridley Scott did with this film.  He took a very simple concept and gave it a simple foundation, with hardly any audio and slow pacing.  While that ramps up a bit as the movie goes on, the film still manages to get the fear across to the audience with a perfect blend of horror and science fiction.  Not to mention, Sigourney Weaver kicks butt, as one of the greatest female heroes in cinematic history. 

Les Misérables

Based on the Victor Hugo novel by the same name, Les Misérables primarily follows the story of prisoner Jean Valjean and his journey to vindication.  Valjean is hunted for years by the merciless policeman Javert, who is committed to making Valjean pay for the bread he stole as a young man.  After being saved by a priest, Valjean has a change in heart and commits himself to a new identity that will give him the self-redemption he is looking for.  He adopts a young girl, Cosette, whose mother, Fantine, has to resort to prostitution in order to take care of Cosette’s needs.  Fantine passes away and years later Valjean and Cosette are a family living together in the midst of revolutionary France, where Cosette falls in love and Javert still searches for Valjean. 

Les Misérables reinvented the way movie musicals are made.  The biggest aspects of a musical should be the film’s audio technique and quality, which were both heavily thought-out in Les Mis.  Director Tom Hooper decided that the actors would sing their vocals live instead of recording them before shooting the movie and inserting in postproduction. 

I love this decision that Hooper made.  I think it really adds a realistic quality to the movie and sound recordings because of how well this technique was utilized. This was such a challenge because of microphone positioning and Hooper really pulls it off. It revolutionized the way a musical is made on screen by taking it back to the basics of live performing. 

(500) Days of Summer

One of my favorite movies, and definitely my favorite movie showed in class, is 500 Days of Summer.  Romantic and quirky in every way possible, 500 Days of Summer follows the story of Tom Hansen and his 500 day “relationship” with Summer Finn.  When Tom first sees Summer, he thinks it is love at first sight.  Summer doesn’t believe in love, however Tom tries to get through that thick exterior and get Summer to love him just as much as he cares about her.  As the narrator says in the opening monologue, “This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story.”

My favorite thing about 500 Days of Summer is the script.  The story moves along in a way that is very unique and it’s not in chronological order, which gives it an interesting dynamic. The script is also very realistic.  I think the problem with a lot of romantic comedies in today’s film industry is that they try to hard to be something that is the perfect relationship. 500 Days of Summer tells you straight up that this relationship is not going to end up the way that most do.

The director portrays this really well in a scene where Tom and Summer are at a party together and we see a split screen between Tom’s expectation and his reality.  The expectation side is what audiences want to see happen, what Tom wants to see happen.  However, this is not a typical romance and everyone is not going to get what they want so we see the reality of the situation.

      

JAWS

Critically acclaimed and widely loved by audiences everywhere, Jaws has become a staple movie in film classes (and for a good reason).  Jaws focuses around Amity, a New England area that becomes invaded by a shark.  The movie follows Martin Brody as he, along with friend Hooper and local fisherman Quint, try to take down the Great White and save the beaches of Amity Island.

A lot of people don’t realize that Jaws was a breakthrough in the editing world.  The editorial decisions, such as transitions and when to place cuts, really add suspense to a film that is already about a topic that people are hesitant about – sharks. Jaws also used a large number of complex animatronics. Three large animatronic sharks were created in order to instill the fear into the audience.  However, problems with water damage and the hydraulic system caused the shark footage to be used less than would be ideal in the film.  While these may sound like a bad thing, Spielberg used it to his advantage, creating a point of view from the shark and using it frequently throughout the film.

Jaws is one of the many films that has put Spielberg on the map as one of the greatest directors of all time.  He reinvented the horror movie in a way that had never been done before with quick edits and transitions that made you uneasy about what was going to happen next.  His decisions as a director are what make him so successful, even in today’s film industry.