30's Movie : Murder at Winchester Mansion

1. The film itself is set around a court case regarding the murder of Eben Winchester (played by Clark Gable). The opening scene is set in the court room featuring Ed Bigby, an attorney (played by Paul Muni) and Judge Welles (played by Clarence Brown), while the story of the murder is told in a series of flashbacks during the testimony of Eben Winchester's butler, Eugene Hamiliton (played by William Haines). The story begins with Jean Harlow's character of Viona Boka, a Dutch immigrant, meeting Eben Winchester, one of the few wealthy men left in America during the Depression. Viona gets Eben to fall in love with her, as part of her scheme to murder him and inherit his fortune.
2. The genre of our movie is a romantic drama with elements of a mystery. The dramatic mood of the movie really suits the plot of our story, which takes place in a time of despair and distress, being in the midst of the Great Depression. It shows the motivation and desperation a person can feel at this time that would drive them to murder, in order to find financial security. Our main stars, Jean Harlow and Clark Gable are known for their roles in dramas, and are well-suited to this film.

3. The studio that would work best for this film is MGM because it is a big blockbuster production. It's highly dramatic and features big budget stars like Jean Harlow and Clark Gable.
4. Our cast features: Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, William Haines, Paul Muni, and Clarence Brown. Each actor was chosen specifically for their role based on their past roles in films, their appearance and ability to portray the characters, and their professional experience. Jean Harlow and Clark Gable are the leading roles. These actors have worked well together in the past, and we knew the onscreen chemistry would come together. They have much experience in dramas and have the ability to make our film be very clean cut and professional. We chose King Vidor to direct the film because he would contribute to the prominent element of our film, which is cinematography. While trying to advance and modernize our cinematography, we decided to keep the film in black and white to keep that basic and add to the mysterious, dramatic tone of the storyline.

5. When coming up with the plot of the movie, it was really important to take the Hays Code into consideration in this big blockbuster film. We needed to make sure there wouldn't be any passionate scenes that would be considered scandalous between girl and boy. The murder itself was also a delicate subject to base the film on; we couldn't use guns or show the actual murder. So, we found a way to kill Clark Gable's character without it being violent. We also needed to remove a love triangle between her, him, and the butler because it was a clear violation of the code.
6. I was considering making the film in color because it is produced by a major company like MGM, and perhaps people would be more interested in seeing a film with the new technicolor technology. Other than that, I approved of my group's decisions and the whole process.

MYST Post #1: Donnie Darko

I'm really into movies with a weird subject matter, and *Donnie Darko* is exactly that. *Donnie Darko* is a film that really requires your attention in order to fully grasp it. There are moments of humor and moments of terror, and it's important to constantly listen to what the characters are saying and to follow what's happening in Donnie's mind in order to put the pieces together and fully understand and enjoy the film. Every detail, from each therapy session to the smaller characters, such as Donnie's teacher (Drew Barrymore) and the motivational speaker/author (Patrick Swayze), were very necessary details in order to understand the film and bring the plot together.

The film itself can be slightly difficult to follow. It jumps from moments of darkness and suspense to scenes of sunny days with a normal, relaxed feeling to it. This pattern of going from dark to light is repeated throughout the movie, starting from the opening scene: it's a dark morning and you see Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) for the first time, the music is eerie and suspenseful; but then, the title appears on the screen and the shot is cut away to a bright and sunny day where the camera's following Donnie riding his bike home. During those times of normality and brightness, Donnie's character was shot at a medium level and portrayed him as this normal guy, as if hiding the fact that the audience is aware of all the mysteries going on in his mind.

The film is definitely unique in subject matter and has a very different approach to portraying Donnie's issues with schizophrenia. In a typical movie where the main character struggles with a mental illness, they're seen as a victim. However, in this film, Donnie's schizophrenia is almost like a super power. Although his problems and Frank's (his imaginary friend in the bunny mask) existence makes him uneasy and fearful, he uses it as a strength to speak up about what he feels and believes, which allows him to separate himself from the majority of people in a superior way. Donnie's character was filmed in an interesting way in order to portray that quality. There were a lot of close ups during his serious episodes of his schizophrenia and low lighting to add to the dark and creepy affect.                  .

Overall, watching the move was an enjoyable experience. After my first time viewing it, it'd give it 3.5/5 stars; however, i want to watch a couple more times to see if there are essential details I could've missed that may be vital to getting the maximum enjoyment out of this film. I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys wacky ideas but in a mature way. This film definitely thought outside the box, but at times, it lacked a little clarity. But I will definitely watch it again in the future.

Review of Reviews: The Breakfast Club

positive: http://www.denverpost.com/movies/ci_6444463
negative:  http://variety.com/1984/film/reviews/the-breakfast-club-1200426442/


In the positive review, the critic begins by describing the movie's strength: it's raw edginess. He explains that the real, theatrical version of the film is much stronger than the edited television version because it includes every f-bomb and shows the actual usage of drugs. The critic then focuses his attention to the plot/storyline, complimenting it on its ability to portray the hidden truths of adolescents and high school students. He then closes his review by comparing the film to "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", another film by the director, John Hughes.
In the negative review, the critic uses larger and overly difficult terms to describe the plot of the movie. He uses such terminology to mock the simplistic plot of the movie. He refers to the characters as "twits"and their experiences as "sudden insight" to make the movie appear to be amateurish and underdeveloped. He concludes his review by insulting the film and its audience in saying that films like this will cause the brain to rot.

"Through one of the best ensemble performances from Hollywood youth, and through the words of writer/director John Hughes, "The Breakfast Club" speaks undeniable truths about the high school experience that ring true a generation later." (positive)
Nevermind what decade this movie was filmed in, it speaks truth about the high school experience that have been experienced years before and decades after. It isn't afraid to address that kids care about their image amongst their peers or that some will get involved with drugs or that most students struggle with social acceptance at some point. The film didn't hold back, and that's what makes it enjoyable to watch.
"Coming together as strangers, none of the group initially likes thuggish loudmouth Judd Nelson, who taunts pretty Molly Ringwald, torments dorkish Anthony Michael Hall and challenges champ athlete Emilio Estevez while the odd lady, Ally Sheedy, looks on from a different space." (negative)
This is the only sentence that remains neutral to the description of the plot in the review. I like that the critic addresses the different identities of the characters and how they initially interact with each other.

The interview that's more convincing to me was the positive one. It pointed out the controversial elements of the film in its opening paragraph and made them appear as one of the film's strengths rather than a weakness. It stayed true to the plot while still voicing its opinion and went into detail about the characters and purpose of the film itself. The negative review just focused on criticizing the film and having an insulting word choice to make a future viewer uninterested in seeing the film; it didn't use real evidence or examples to back up its opinion.

I would definitely talk about the film's main purpose/goal, which is to portray the inner lives of high school students in a true and realistic way. I would cover the identities of each of the characters to show the diversity within the group and hopefully attract more people to view it. I'd make sure to mention the R rating, the explicit language, and the drug usage because I think people find that more interesting in a film. I don't think there's anything about the film that I wouldn't mention because I think every little detail of it is necessary and important in order to create the realistic feeling that the audience can identify with.