What type of Actor are you?

MGM’s classic The Wizard of Oz has been entertaining audience for over 76 years. The reason that this movie is so enduring over time is not only due to the iconic cinematography, costuming, and special effects of the time. It is also due to the actors who brought this picture to life. Each of these actors brings their talents together to make memorable characters but not all are the same, “Just as there are different types of acting, there are also different types of actors.” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014)
Character Actors:

Frank Morgan would fit into the category of a character actor playing several roles in The Wizard of Oz. A character actor is someone who can adapt invisibly into a variety of roles. (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014) This is exemplified by the several roles he played in the film such as the Professor Marvel, The Wizard, The Gatekeeper, The Carriage Drivers, and the Guard. In Hollywood, Frank Morgan was already a well known actor at MGM who had starred in such hits as “The Great Ziegfeld” and received $2,500 a week for his work in the Wizard of Oz compared to Judy Garland’s salary of $500 per week. (Dennis, 2015) While he was never classified as a star, he was a well known face in many films and on stage.

Personality Actor:

Bert Lahr who portrayed the character of Zeke the farmhand and The Cowardly Lion can be classified as a Personality actor. These types of actors usually have distinctive personalities and in some form are playing themselves on screen. (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014) Lahr was this type of actor who brought a distinctive personality and charisma to the roles he played. He was a bigger than life personality with a background in vaudeville, musical comedy, film, and television. In this scene where Dorothy, the tin man, and the scarecrow meet the lion for the first time we see the personality of the actor as he laughs asking the Tin man, “How long can you stay fresh in that can?” ( ) There is also the dynamic when Dorothy swats him on the nose as he “cries” confessing that he is indeed a coward.

The Star, someone who well known and creates a distinctive screen persona. (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014)

1946
Judy
photo@Warner Brothers

Obviously, Judy Garland is the star of The Wizard of OZ. The talent and legacy of Judy Garland has impacted Hollywood for many years. She was a talent actress and singer who became an icon for many generations. Judy Garland would be considered to be in this category based on all her screen work and the cultural phenomena she became later in life. Personally, I have been a fan of her work all my life. She was had a natural presence and innocence that many actress of her era lacked. She was extremely funny, especially when she worked with Mickey Rooney in the Andy Hardy movies. She has also been one of the great inspirations for me as a singer.

References:
Dennis, K. (2015). Archives: Story. Retrieved August 1, 2015, from http://www.filmsofthegoldenage.com/articles/2008/01/24/current_issue/morganfrank.txt
Garland, J. (n.d.). Retrieved August 1, 2015, from http://www-tc.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/files/2008/10/610_garland_about.jpg
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. This text is a Constellation™ course digital materials (CDM) title.
Lahr, B. (n.d.). Retrieved August 1, 2015, from http://image1.findagrave.com/photos/2009/224/597_125020316684.jpg
TheManThatGetsAway, (May 26, 2011) Judy Garland – I’m Always Chasing Rainbows (Ziegfeld Girl, 1941) https://youtu.be/2TzgjCmmdxc
Morgan, F.(n.d.). Retrieved August 1, 2015, from http://www.latimes.com/includes/projects/hollywood/portraits/frank_morgan.jpg
MovieClips, (May 26, 2011) The Cowardly Lion – The Wizard of Oz (6/8) Movie CLIP (1939) HD Retrieve from https://youtu.be/z2itQkiQUOE

What’s that sound??! The impact of sound on a movie scene.

In this clip from the 1989 movie Batman, Jack Nicholson’s character of “Jack” confronts the character Carl, played by Jack Palance. During the first part of the scene ominous music accompanies the low key lighting of the scene to create suspenseful atmosphere as these two characters have a conversation. The music being played helps establish the mood by starting off very low timber and then gaining intensity. There are sound effects such as the glass bottles hitting the table and the steps Jacks take bringing him closer to Carl. These sounds are most likely the work of Foley artists, which are people who create sound appropriate for the scene. (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014) As the scene progress the dialogue in the film is very clear to understand over the sound of the music which is playing. Dialogue is used to inform you that Carl has believed that Jack had been dead, while Jack’s dialogue informs you of why he is angry at this character. As Jack makes his reveal as “The Joker” the music takes a comedic turn and makes the scene more outlandish as he begins to shoot Carl. Music is used to symbolize the change in this character and who he has become. Again, there are sound effects used as gunshots. Dialogue again becomes important as a catchphrase is born, “When we cite bits of movie dialogue, we’re using a bit of shared culture to do the same thing. . . . [M]aybe something goes wrong unexpectedly . . . I can just turn to someone and say: “Houston, we have a problem.” If a movie moment is able to capture a situation or an emotion that really hits home, then a catch phrase is born.” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014)

“Jack? Jack is dead my friend. You can call me Joker. And as you can see, I’m a lot happier.” (Hollywood, 2015)
The sound establishes the theme of the scene as mysterious and then whimsical. If someone had not seen the rest of the movie and only based it on the one scene; they may think it was a crime movie or comedy. Most of the sound effects are exaggerated, such as the footsteps of Jack to be heard. The same could be applied to the glasses that are being set down on the desk. While these sounds should be natural, they seem a bit exaggerated. This sequence would have played much different if there had been no music or if the over the top music that was played during Jokers reveal would have been the overarching music played. Also, if the sound effects of the gun have been changed to a more realistic sound of a gun discharging it would have changed the viewer’s experience.

References:
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego,
CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Hollywood, D. (2015). Batman Movie Quotes. Retrieved from:
http://www.destinationhollywood.com/movies/batman/moviequotes_batman1.shtml
Movieclips. (2011, May 26). Batman (1/5) Movie CLIP –
Call Me Joker (1989) HD [Video file]. Retrieved from:

Lightening Techniques “When You’re Slapped, you’ll take it and you’ll like it”.

The term mise en scène is defined as “what we see in the scene”, however, it is the job of the cinematographer to determine how we view the scene. (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014) In the movie “The Maltese Falcon”, cinematographer, Arthur Edeson, uses low lighting in order to emphasis the theme of greed and deceit the is reflected throughout the film. This type of lighting impacts the scenes such as “When you’re slapped, you’ll take it and you’ll like it” to create drama in the dealings that is going on between Brigid, Sam Spade, and Joe Cairo. In this scene, Joe Cairo is trying to acquire the falcon from Brigid who finds out the fat man is now involved. This leads to Joe insulting Brigid who tries to slap him, he retaliates, and Sam steps in slapping Joe repeatedly. There are four sources of light, the sconces on the wall, the overhead, and the two table lamps. However, the lamps cast the most light and help to cast deep shadows around the room and the actor’s faces. This is an example of low-key lighting, “A low-key lighting design looks dark overall by comparison. It is marked by extreme use of deep shadows, with very high contrast between the brightest parts of the scene and the darkest parts, which are obscured in shadows.” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014) The use of light is interesting at 0:49 of the clip (Movieclips, 2012), Sam Spade, the lighting is direct while creating large dark shadows behind him. To me, this is interpreted that he has nothing to hide. However, the character of Brigid is cast in partial shadow while Joe Cairo is cast in heavy shadow.

The lamp is placed directly beside him that gives his face an ominous look. The benefit of this style of lighting is that it creates intrigue and drama. In this scene specifically it intensifies these elements to create interest. This type of lighting technique, low key high contrast lighting was used in many noir films of the time. The lighting is specifically used in these films to create dramatic scenes and if any other choice of light would have been made, that drama would be somewhat lost. For example, if this film had been filmed in color with bright lighting it would lose its mysterious ambiance.

References:
Film Noir. (n.d.). Retrieved July 14, 2015, from http://sites.tufts.edu/filmnoirsseker/the-maltese-falcon/
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. This text is a Constellation™ course digital materials (CDM) title.
Movieclips, (October 25, 2012) When you’re slapped, you’ll take it & like it – The Maltese Falcon. Retrieve from YouTube: https://youtu.be/0I1Vh-Ru1z0

My Name……Is Horace!

Week One Blog: ENG 225

1. Select a full-length film and identify the title, writer, director, major actors, and the year it was released.

Title of Movie: The Monster Squad

Writers: Shane Black and Fred Dekker

Director: Fred Dekker

Cast:  Andre Glower (Sean), Ryan Lambert (Rudy), Stephen Macht (Del), Mary Ellen Trainor (Emily)

Year of release: 1987

2. Summarize the story and plot of your chosen movie.

Summary:  The Monster Squad (1987) is about a group of misfit kids who find out that their favorite movie monsters are real.  Dracula has plans to take over the world and seeks out the help from the other legendary monsters.  Sean and his friends form The Monster Squad in order to combat the forces of evil and stop Dracula’s nefarious plot.  With the help of Scary German guy and a powerful amulet; Sean and his friends do battle in order to save the world by midnight.

Plot:  The movie opens with a crawl giving us some back story about Abraham Van Helsing and his group of fighters who prepared for an epic battle against Dracula 100 years ago in Transylvania. However, they blew it.  The opening scene we see a group of villagers approaching a castle with torches.  Then to the underground lair of where the prince of Darkness awakens to greet his unwanted guests.  Van Helsing prepares for battle as a young girl performs a ritual that opens a portal to limbo which sucks everyone inside.

Cut to “Present Day”, Sean and his friend Patrick are called into the principals office because they are not paying attention in class.  They have been drawing pictures of monsters during their science class and cannot pay attention because of their teachers whose head looks like a cat. After a discussion with the principal about monsters, we cut to a scene of “Fat Kid” Horace being harassed by a couple of kids who try to beat him up.  Enters Rudy, a tough older kid who comes to Horace’s rescue.  After the encounter he asks Sean if they can make Rudy part of their club.  Later we see Dracula’s arrival to town on a cargo plane, while he tries to steal the body of Frankenstein’ Monster. We also see the arrival of the other monsters who have come to help him.

Sean arrives home for dinner and is given a book from his Mother which he quickly realizes is the diary of Van Helsing, however it is written in German. Later that night his father, who is a police officer, is called out to investigate the disappearance of a Mummy from the local museum. At the same time, a man has entered the police department screaming about being a werewolf.  Sean starts to put all the clues together that monsters are real. He calls an emergency meeting of the club and officially declares them The Monster Squad because they are the only ones who know to fight monsters.  Knowing that he cannot translate Van Helsing’s diary, he asks his friend Patrick and Horace to go with him to seek out the help of “Scary German Guy”, an old man who lives in the neighborhood.  He helps translate the text and tells them about Van Helsings battle and the portal limbo.  Also, that an amulet is required to preform the ritual and can only be destroyed ever 100 years, which is the next night.  While Sean and his friends are visiting Scary German Guy, his sister Phebe meets Frankenstein’s Monster who has been sent by Dracula to get back the diary. However, Frank is not evil and ends up becoming friends with the kids.

Sean and his friends prepare for battle and seek out the amulet but are stopped by Dracula who decides to take revenge on Sean for his meddling.  Scary German Guy helps Patrick’s sister, who is supposed to be a virgin, to perform the ritual.  However, nothing happens and Sean’s sister Phebe has to recite the passage while Dracula and the other monsters cause havoc.  Finally the portal to limbo is opened, Sean fights Dracula who tries to pull him in with him.  However, Van Helsing appears to grab Dracula and pull him in with him while giving Sean a celebratory nod of thanks.

3. Discuss whether your film is presented chronologically or non-linearly. In your discussion, address the following:
A.) How did this aesthetic choice contribute to the general effect on the audience?
Chronological: The movie is told in chronological order.  We are shown the previous battle of Van Helsing and then fast forwarded 100 years to present day.  Giving us this back story and introduction to the plot helps us understand what the movie is going to be about.

B.) How are elements like character development or foreshadowing impacted by the choice of storytelling methods?  By telling a story in chronological order, it impacts us the watcher because we get to see characters and events evolve.  The would have been no other way to tell the story of this movie without chronological events.

4. If the film had followed a different presentation style, how would the general effect on the audience have been different?

Again, I do not believe this story could have been told in any other way.  This was a sweet kids movie from the 1980’s that really did not have a lot depth but was very fun.

Reference:

The Club House [production still]. (1987). Retrieved July 6, 2015, from: URL (http://www.zenestex.com/images/monstersquad.jpg
He’s Alive [production still]. (1987). Retrieved July 6, 2015, from: URL http://media.insidepulse.com/old/columnImages2007a/image42704.jpg
Lost Highway. (1987). The Monster Squad Trailer.

Retrieved from https://youtu.be/jBG29nM_uEg
The Monster Squad. (n.d.). Retrieved July 9, 2015, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093560/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt
Van Helsing [production still]. (1987). Retrieved July 6, 2015, from: URL http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BNjk1ODA2MjU2OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTg5MzU1Mg@@._V1_SX640_SY720_.jpg
We’re the Monster Squad [production still]. (1987). Retrieved July 6, 2015, from: URL (http://www.zenestex.com/images/monstersquad.jpg

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