Exploring Film Technique

    The shots presented from Harold and Maude resemble some form of metaphorical rebirth inside the cinematic narrative. The short dialogue between the two characters is followed by a presentation of dandelions and a scene of asymmetrical rows of headstones. The dandelions themself can represent a form of rebirth while the shot of the headstones coordinate to imply the end of something yet the creation of something else. This is also in combination with Cat Stevens music overlayed to assimilate this pure sense of cinematography where the underlying message of the song is in regard to the destruction and encouraged renewal of the environment.

    The short 'Bunny' clip opts to present a meaningful cinematic experience without the use of direct dialogue/narration. The initial scene depicts some sort of bird flying towards a light and quickly transitions to a bunny in a kitchen. The animated short depicts the main character but draws its primary focus towards a fly who is drawn towards any sort of artificial or natural light source in the kitchen. The bunny kills the fly and, however, it lands in the food that was being prepared. Yet the bunny still puts the food in the oven yet notices something strange when it seems to be finished. There is a new light emitting from the oven that the bunny decides to enter. Upon entering the same ethereal scene that was first displayed is circled back to. I believe this symbolizes another sort of rebirth as the bunny seemed to display a sense of being trapped in his kitchen. This was quietly depicted through the shot of the bunny reminiscing on the photograph and his anger expressed towards the fly. He felt at odds with his environment and entered something new.

    The clips from Northfork uses an impactful musical score to create depth and meaning in the viewer experience. The somber yet inspiring ensemble adds narration to the inside characters. Among this, visually the film seems to display primarily darker colors which adds to a monotone or neutral theme of the film.

    The film 'Paris Texas' presents themes of isolation and the questioning of purpose. The clips where few characters are displayed yet the background draws to a wide-open landscape of baron land outlined with a mountain range creates this feeling that the characters are alone. Among this, the scene over the highway where the doomsday preacher seems to be speaking to the passing cars who can't even hear him while the other character in the film is nearing him on the bridge. The interaction between the two seems almost nonexistent where the preacher does not direct his attention to him but rather still shouts to the unknowing vehicles passing through. This adds to this feeling of aloneness while the content the doomsday preacher is shouting adds to this element that there is no meaning to our current lives.

    The clips from Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' depicts a unique and psychedelic film experience. Although the main story and shots follows the life of a boy. Larger themes are drawn out such as materialism and being just a cog in the machine through abstract animation. There is a sense of a superior class who controls the lower working classes in this film that is presented through the way some of the animated characters hold their dialogue towards a seemingly infinite crowd. The unique transitions from animation to live action as well as the physical transition of the objects in the animated clips present this sense of change, or at least the necessity of change. In this sense the film almost suggests a revolution against a government hierarchy. 

    The clips from 'Cabeza de Vaca' uses the interaction of nature with outside influences to suggest themes of conflict and intensity of life. The way the film silences itself on the tribe that interacts with the land they live on suggests how we do not own the land or nature inhabit. This is further influenced by the way the film depicts the Spanish. The music shift of music elements suggests shifts in tone and emotion towards how nature should be treated.