1) Relate what was
discussed in class or the text to the screening.
There are
many different aspects that we have discussed in class or in the text that can
connect to the screening of When Harry Met Sally. One aspect that was very relevant
during this film was the director and cinematographer’s use of colors. During
this movie, which talked a great amount on relationships, the colors each
character wore truly spoke to the audience on how they were feeling at the
time. Bill Crystal’s character, Harry, goes through a tough divorce and is
usually shown wearing dark colors like dark blues, blacks, and greys. These
colors suggest sadness or sometimes even being tranquil. However, Sally for
most part of the movie wears lighter colors. White, pink, even red were colors
Meg Ryan’s character Sally was wearing. When times got rough between the two
main characters, Sally was wearing the color black at the very end during the
wedding scene and on the New Year’s Eve scene. She was very distressed and the
coloring helped establish the characters feelings.
2) Find a related article and summarize the
content. (on the film, director, studio,
actor/actress, artistic content, etc.) You can use the library or the internet. Cite the article or copy the url to your
journal entry. Summarize in your own words the related article but do not
plagiarize any content.
This
really unique article talks about the relationship between the two subjects in
the film and how it was showed with how they were spaced. The writer Jesse Fox
explains that in the first scene when Harry and Sally are traveling to NYC they
are in the car and the amount of space between them too is huge. What is unique
about this scene that is not just about the space is what is between them
physically which is all their luggage and baggage that they are traveling with.
These two characters in the beginning are meeting with two totally different viewpoints.
When Sally drops Harry off in NYC for the first time and they go their separate
ways you notice how big of a gap is being created between them two that is even
greater now than before. Fox than adds how once the meet again 5 years later
and Harry tells Sally he is not married again she takes one step closer to him.
This is making the space between them smaller which is creating a friendship
that they have always talked about. Because this couple did not have sex till the
end of the movie, once sex is a conversation piece it always creates some space
between the two characters. Once they had developed a relationship with other
people then in another scene they are not even in the same frame as one
another. In the final scene, the
director wanted them to be shown closer than ever which is why when they
finally kiss the close up is very close.
http://www.vulture.com/2014/07/when-harry-met-sally-visual-spacing.html
3) Apply the article
to the film screened in class. How did
the article support or change the way you thought about the film, director,
content, etc.?
After reading the article and seeing the film, I have
discovered that there is a lot of medium and close up shots. This film is about
relationships. This is whether it is physical dating relationships or just
friends. A shot and the spacing of characters together really can give a great description
of people’s relationships. A lot of medium shots that we talked about in class
are really used for scenes where dialogue is used. Some medium shot dialogue
scenes are in the airplane scene, when they are crouching down in Harry’s
apartment when they are putting the rug out and when they are in the diner
eating. The director and cinematographer also favored natural lighting. This is
also called available lighting.
4) Write a critical
analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of
the screening, class discussions, text material and the article. I am less interested in whether you liked or
disliked a film, (although that can be part of this) than I am in your
understanding of its place in film history or the contributions of the
director.
The whole flow of the film was very well put together. Nothing
seemed confusing in this film because of the dialogue went really well with the
cinematography. The article really made me respect the director’s use of
spacing. Usually when watching a movie, people really see a person’s body
language and dialogue to figure out a person’s relationship with another
person. Some people do not really think to talk about a person’s spacing throughout
a film like this director did. There were
a lot of proxemtic patterns shown in the film. A great amount of intimate scenes were shown.
This is having to do with the great amount of thought put into the spacing
again. If the couples showing are having a kissing scene usually the director
would not do a long shot for this particular scene he/she would use a close up.
CHECKLIST
FOR PLAGIARISM
1) ( x ) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.
2) (x ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.
3) ( x ) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text.
4) ( x) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper.
5) ( x) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.
6) (x ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography.
7) ( x ) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality.
8) ( x ) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.
Name: Colleen McGovern Date: 2/27/2015
1) ( x ) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.
2) (x ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.
3) ( x ) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text.
4) ( x) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper.
5) ( x) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.
6) (x ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography.
7) ( x ) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality.
8) ( x ) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.
Name: Colleen McGovern Date: 2/27/2015
