Smexy Paragraphs About Meth (Sexxxy Paragraphs About The Harmful Effects of Drugs)

The harmful effects of drugs are shown within the Meth Project's PSA 'Jessica.' This is seen in the way the visual production has been set up. For instance, while the narrator is talking about Jessica being raped by her meth dealer, the scene is dark, reflecting the negative emotions and events shown and talked about. It slowly transitions to a scene where we're shown a dark, empty hallway. There's are bright light at the end of the hallway, almost representing the 'light at the end of the tunnel' or, more realistically, the hope she can fight her addiction. The hallway is very tight, it makes the viewer feel small. This was done to reflect the idea of being trapped both through her drug dealer and her addiction. The director did this to visually tell us what it's like to have an addiction like this. It makes us feel trapped and numerous other saturated shots, such as an unclean bathroom with a broken mirror, make us feel the discomfort and pain of addiction. This is very similar to how the director uses lighting in the first scene to show us that Jessica is quickly submerging her self in darkness. This is shown through the clip of who we can assume is Jessica cheerleading before we are shown a clip of an empty stadium shutting its light's down in staggered clusters.

Hey! More English Stuff!

Hello from week two(?) of self-isolation! It's come to my attention that I've missed some work on my blog, especially from my English class. So... Yeah, here's some more stuff I've been doing!

First up, group work. I worked with Jess because she's cool. We haven't finished everything yet, so sorry :) 

And now some individual work. This is a step towards what creates my final essay.

And finally, this is my essay so far. You can find the film that it's on--Let It Be--in the slide show above.

Death and losing someone close to you is something many people struggle to come to terms with. Everyone deals with grief in different ways, and those who stand beside someone with a terminal illness tend to grieve before their loss. Bertie Gilbert’s ‘Let It Be’—cleverly named after the 1968 song by The Beatles—follows these ideas in a less than obvious way. Though up to interpretation, Gilbert uses motifs, camera shots, blocking, and visual contrast to show his ideas.

Camera shots are important in all films, but ‘Let It Be’ uses its shots to delve deeper into the characters and their relationships between each other. For instance, in our opening scene, we get an insert shot of Savannah Brown’s character, ‘Death.’ It’s a closeup shot, right after a shot of the ground where only dialogue and music is heard, framed so we can only see the look of focused hesitation in her expression and the blurred blob that is in the background. The shot doesn’t linger for too long, cutting to a closeup insert shot of the gun held in her hand. We do not get to see what the gun is pointed at until after these shots, almost making the first shot a point of shot too. When we are given a long shot of Death, we see the gun is pointed towards a black dog that stares up at her in blissful ignorance. She maintains the hesitance on her face throughout the shots. This helps us understand Death doesn’t like what she does, it’s given to us an introduction to her character as the manifestation of the Grim Reaper. In the same scene, we’re given another example of this. Throughout our introduction of Death, we can hear Dodie Clark’s character, ‘Martha,’ before we see her. While we’re shown the shots of the ground and Death’s face, Martha and Bertie Gilbert’s character, ‘Carl,’ are talking about something like “everyone prefers their later stuff.” When we’re shown Death’s reaction to the two’s arrival in a medium shot, we hear Martha say “excuse me” before she moves closer, resulting in an over the shoulder shot. This OTS immediately connects the two characters. Gilbert did this to show us as an audience that there is some kind of relationship or correlation between Martha and Death. This working with a visual contrast between the two characters, little visual connection between Carl and Death, and that it’s later revealed Martha herself is dying due to cancer, solidifies the idea that in the film Death is Martha’s idea of death. Death appeared to kill Martha but couldn’t bring herself to do it. She instead goes to kill their dog, ‘Ringo,’ in Martha’s position. In the beginning, Martha is almost in denial surrounding the idea of Death yet is more willing to go along with it than Carl is. Martha dresses Death up as a skeleton and seems to have more of a connection with her than anyone else; running to her when uncomfortable at the Halloween party. Over-the-shoulder shots are used similarly in the HBO series ‘Westworld’. They use the OTS shot alongside single shots to connect and disconnect Theresa and Dr Robert Ford during their meeting over lunch. This shows that their relationship is important to the story.

The Beatles are brought up religiously throughout the film, each mention having its own form of symbolism. So much so, it becomes a verbal motif. And on that note, motifs used in ‘Let It Be’ help create a deeper meaning within the short film. As previously mentioned, The Beatles are a very specific motif used a lot. For example, Ringo is the reason Martha isn’t killed in the beginning. Death doesn’t want to take Martha’s life and instead tries to take Ringo’s. And Ringo shows up at the end again, he’s there for Martha when she’s talking about accepting that death is a part of life. Right before we find out Ringo is there, Carl implies he wishes for Ringo to die first. It’s not as obvious, but this is a double meaning. He could mean he wants Ringo Starr, drummer for the Beatles, to die first out of the two remaining ex-members or that he’s rather Ringo, the dog, to die before Martha does. In a later scene, Martha mentions she likes to think they, The Beatles, never really broke up. In the scene beforehand, we find out Martha and Carl broke up. We, and Carl, don’t know why this is. Because of this line, it seems like Martha didn’t actually want to break up with Carl. Despite this hesitance, when asked to give him clarity, she says, “I just don’t feel that way about you anymore.” The last example is when Carl talks about liking their later stuff. This is because it’s more complex, more complete. We also find out Martha prefers their older stuff. Martha later explains to Death, who is in a bathtub, it’s because she likes the young, fun, unrestricted feel of their earlier stuff. It’s free from jade and politics, unlike their later songs. This tells us a lot about each of their personalities. Carl is more uptight, strict, he’s logical. Martha goes with the flow, she’s simple and has fun. The director has to have done this on purpose. It’s a simple yet effective way of showing a character through their likes. Their outfits in these scenes only help solidify the ideas we’re given about them. When paired with the way they dress, it gives the viewers a good idea of what characters we are watching. Martha wears dungarees, 80s-esque clothing. Her closet is full of bright blues, reds, and yellows. Carl’s clothing consists of band tees and jeans. He wears beige, black, white, and grey. He was even Steve Jobs for Halloween. This reminds me of the motifs used in Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, with Romeo constantly comparing Juliet to light. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ has a lot of themes of the light vs the dark, so this gives us insight within the characters. It deepens the relationship in the audience’s eyes.

The blocking throughout the film is constantly—and excellently—used to play to our emotions. For example, while Carl and Martha are talking before the Halloween party, Death is playing operation. This alone is foreshadowing for Martha’s death, but it tells us something about Death, without actually saying it. Both scenes use blocking purposefully. Either to make us feel trapped and too big for a conversation, or alone and small in an almost empty room. We first see Carl and Martha together. They are both in a small, dark hallway. It’s back-lit and confined, and the audience feels trapped in the square-like scene we’re watching. It traps us in the conversation the same way the characters feel as though they are. We then see blocking used again in a similar way but for a different effect, Death is on the couch playing operation. We get a few insert shots of her playing, but then she gives up. The camera pulls out, and she’s framed to look small. There is a lot of space around her. Space that isn’t that important when we compare it to Death, one of the main characters. Death feels small in this, she’s frustrated and it’s possible she feels like a failure because it’s impossible for her to play Operation. She doesn’t say this, but we can see how the room looks big in comparison. The director wants us to know that in this scene, Death feels, or just plain is, inferior. When these two scenes are connected and combined with eerie sound effects, it really amplifies the sense of isolation we see. We’re feeling alongside these people. Not only that, but it also strengthens and deepens the relationship between the three characters. They all feel alone in one way or another. This is a lot like an earlier scene. Death is on the same couch, but it’s the first time she’s been in this house. The scene starts with a mid-close-up shot and cuts to a full shot seconds after. The camera isn’t as drawn-out though, it’s possible she feels less isolated at this point, that something about Carl and Martha’s arguing, or the fact she sucks at operation, is threatening to her.

I previously spoke of costumes and contrast, Gilbert uses different aspects, such as colour and art direction, to show a visual contrast. For example, the main characters’ costumes. Costumes are a part of the art direction of a movie. Before, I said how we see Carl and Martha’s appearance. Martha wears overalls and bright colours. In the film itself, we see her wearing a green shirt under brown dungarees with a very colourful jacket, designed like the seat covers on public buses. On the other hand, we see Carl wearing a beige, brown jacket over a dark blue ‘bite me’ shirt. They have two completely different styles, one bright and the other monochrome. At the Halloween party, Martha is a dog, something we can see at face value. Carl goes as Steve Jobs, something that requires a little more thought. We clearly notice the huge difference here. This shows that while, yes, opposites attracted, it’s clear that something about the two doesn’t click right, at least as partners. They seem to do all right as friends, but they disagree a lot throughout the story. Their thought processes and their personalities seem to clash so much, but they obviously love each other despite it. Further than this, Carl almost resents Death. Death is this whole other thing. She wears huge eyeliner, black on black, and faux fur. She is very different when compared to Carl and Martha, both in the way they dress and how they act. The director wanted these costumes and the way they conflict with each other to show a visual way of how their personalities both clash and work together. When combined with a visual contrast between scenes, that of which brightness is used to set a mood of a scene (light when something good or happy is happening, darker when the feel of the scene is more mellow), it makes the film work well. This can be contrasted to later in the film when the costumes work together to have the opposite effect. Jack Howard’s character, ‘Mitch’, is dressed in a very similar way to Death, with his skeleton face paint and black trench coat. We see Death connect with him in their conversation early in the party scenes.

‘Let It Be’ uses a multitude of film aspects to create a fuller sense of depth to its short duration. We can see excellent uses of visual contrast, motifs and symbolism, camera shots, and blocking. I believe the strongest film aspect is the camera shots because we can tell so much about relationships and what’s important out of so little. He did this by combining camera shots with blocking, dialogue, and music. This film watches Bertie Gilbert beautifully challenge the stigma of Death.

Lit Crit Lit (I haven't been outside in days, help me)

This is the trailer for the text I am talking about :)

Who is real in the text?
I believe everyone but Death is real. Death is symbolism for everyone's idea of death itself because, yeah, she is the 'person' who goes around killing people. Obviously, everyone else is probably real because there's nothing to suggest otherwise. It's strange though, while it seems like she'd be real because she interacts with other characters. But the thing is, everyone has their own experiences with death. Real death, not Death. Everyone experiences something with death. Death is there, she stays around, to allow Martha and Carl to accept what life is and what it is when it's not.

What genre does this text belong to?

Let It Be is a drama and obviously a short film. The definition of a short film is a film that isn't long enough to create a feature-length film. This is usually under 40 minutes of screen time. Our film today is 17 minutes. As for the drama thing, a drama is a serious telling of a story that sees the characters face a conflict. The conflict on the surface is dealing with Death, the character, while underneath it's Martha's struggle confronting the fact she is dying.

Why has the author constructed the characters this way?

I think they have been created the way they were to suggest a major contrast between the characters in a way that subtlely answer some important underlying questions. I see this contrast mostly in the costuming between Death, Carl, and Martha. Martha's closet is very colourful. She wears dungarees and 80s-esque jackets. This is very different from Carl, who wears turtlenecks, band shirts, and beige. And Death only seems to wear black, black hair, black clothes, black makeup. Three very different people. It makes their relationships that much more important. It explains why Carl and Martha broke up, why they constantly disagree, why Martha didn't tell Carl that she was dying. She doesn't like to live in the past and takes what comes, she didn't know how he'd feel so she just ended the relationship.

What does the author of this text want us to know?

That it's okay to accept death as what it is. At the end of the film, Martha and Carl find themselves accepting Death and accepting death. They do this in two different ways. Carl, who previously mocked Death for saying she kills everyone, comes to realise she wasn't being ironic. Or at least comes across this way when he freaks out about the fact she's gotta kill the next Beatle soon. He really wants Ringo to die. Martha's acceptance is a little more... black and white. She has a whole monologue at the end talking about death being something we should expect. She mentions that life would be very different if we didn't have an end. What's the point of doing something today when you know, you are absolutely certain, you can do it tomorrow? Martha knows and is alright with this.

We're Nothing But Tone Deaf - And More Film Aspects

Tone - 
Tone in film, which can also be known as brightness, is made up of lighting, exposure and art direction. For example, in The Godfather, Coppola uses exposure to define the contrast of our characters. While a bright, highly exposed wedding happens outside, a dark, underexposed Mafia meeting happens inside. This shows us, as the audience, the surrounding mood of each situation.

Production Design -
Production design in a film is the design of the set between the actors and the background - the over visual design of a film. This is made up of the props, middle ground set etc. It can dictate the mood and the themes and it can reflect the state of a character.

Visual Contrast - 
Ways directors can use contrast in their films are as follows; tone, blocking, camera movement, colour and art direction/production design. In a specific "Homepod" ad, Spike Jonze uses contrast in many ways. At the beginning, we're shown a set of dark, desaturated scenes in which Jonze uses things like rain and the visual feeling of claustrophobia to show a more melancholy feel. As soon as our protagonist starts to interact with the Homepod, things start to brighten up, literally, to give the bright feeling from visuals. She is soon in a more spacious set, the tone changes entirely. It's obvious Jonze does this to show us, the viewers how the Homepod can lighten up our lives.

Film Blocking -
Directors use space, lines and shapes when deciding how to block a scene to make it... well, interesting. When blocking in film, directors tend to use three shapes. Circles. Squares. And Triangles. Simple as that. Each is used to portray different emotions or feeling. Like, circles make you feel more included, safe. While squares create a boundary, setting up a scene to make you feel trapped. Triangles are sharp, ergo; more aggressive. blocking helps contrast and subtext really come through in any given scene.

Camera Movement - 
When you see a whip pan in a film, it's not going to give you the same feeling or reaction as a slow pan. And that's exactly what a director intends when they use either of the above. A whip pan, where the camera moves from one shot to another very quickly gives a jolt of energy, a feeling similar to quickly turning your head when you hear a door open behind you. A slow pan, on the other hand, gives the audience time to take in a scene. A tilt shot is a very common way to open a film. It's often used to direct our attention to something in a scene. A zoom shot is usually used in a more comedic sense, due to its sudden nature. A dolly shot is a smooth tracking shot, giving a different experience than a pan or a tilt. Directors often combine a dolly shot with a zoom shot to create a reverse dolly zoom. This is then used to show an intense internal moment in a character. A Steadicam, while similar too, is not the same as a dolly shot. A Steadicam is stabilized on a camera operator and is moved by the operator. On the other hand, a dolly shot is moved along a set track on the floor of a set. Throwing out the idea of a stable Steadicam shot is the handheld shot. While it also allows the viewer to move through space, it builds more anxiety due to how rough or shaky it usually is. Before using any of these shots, a director should be aware of how they can combine different shots to really hook a viewer. Like if you used a bunch of dolly shots and Steadicam shots but suddenly use a handheld shot, people are already going to be on the edge of their seats. But something directors should always ask themselves 'how does this support the story?' because the cinematography isn't just there to be fancy, it's there to hold a story. Camera movements should be directing the viewer to where you want them.

Colour -
Colour in film is probably more important than you'd think. Colours are psychological, they emit emotions, even if it's subtle. Three factors go into deciding colour: Hue, Saturation, and Brightness. You can see a purposeful use of colour in the movie, the Matrix. The film can find itself being quite monochromatic with the colour green. This has an effect on the way we watch. For example, when we see green, we associate, whether consciously or not, it with coding. Or the fact that in scenes it's a very desaturated green, emitting an almost sickly feeling to the world. This reflects the overall state of the world throughout the film. Some films desaturate their image to give us a vintage photograph feel, or sometimes even a raw, gritty presence. High brightness and low brightness in specific colours is used to contrast particular scenes, similar to when it's used in tone. Bright images are more exciting or fun while darker images are more sombre and serious.

Motif - 
A motif is any visual element with a significant meaning that is also a reoccurring image in a film. They are used in films to create a bigger depth than what's at face value. This ties into the idea that a great piece of art is one you can go back and watch and find even more depth.

The Dutch Angle - 
The dutch angle, a significant tilt on the camera's x-axis, is used to create a sense of fear or visually represent that something is wrong. It was originally used by German-expressionists in the early 1900s. Before using it, directors must identify the right moment to use a dutch angle - one that identifies that something wrong or unsettled, consider the scene when storyboarding and writing shot lists, and then enhance the scene and the use of the dutch angle when filming. To enhance a dutch angle you should consider: how much you are tilting (the more you tilt, the more unsettled the scene is), where you place your camera on the y-axis (a downward angle opposed to eye level), the lens focal length (a wide-angle opposed to a regular shot), and the depth of field.

The Over The Shoulder - 
An over the shoulder shot will simply connect your characters. To contrast that, a single shot will disconnect your characters. In a scene given to us, we can see the characters connect when they are framed in an OTS, mid close-up shot, and we watch them suddenly disconnect when the focus is pulled in, isolating the characters in a single shot. After being connected again by a third party waiter, Theresa, one of our two characters, is framed in a single close-up shot. This completely isolates her.

Point of Thought - 
A point of view shot is a camera shot used to see through the eyes of a single character. However, a point of thought shot is a shot that, at first, you may think is a point of view shot but when you really look into it, it doesn't always seem to line up with the characters vision. Instead, it aligns us, the audience, with a thought. For example, in a lot of films, directors build suspense by showing us a character's reaction without showing us what the character is looking at. This is a point of thought shot. Usually, the thing that we're not able to see is somewhat mysterious or unknown to our character, which is exactly why we do not get to see what they are looking at. We get to share that emotional experience with the character and are therefore hooked further into the story.

Insert Shot - 
An insert shot is a shot that isolates a specific object within a scene. This is usually shot by some variation of a closeup or even a pov shot. They are primarily used to convey important information. Three things to pay attention to when planning an insert shot are: Composition, colour, and timing. Composition, made up of camera movement, angle and size, plays a part in how your audience feels about a scene. A close up of an empty scorecard at the beginning of a scene represents the plot of a film - it has not begun to build up just yet. Colour is important in insert scenes. Specific colours can draw the audience to certain points in the shot. You can also use contrast and other colour theory matters to aid in the telling of your story. Using timing to your advantage is quite important too. The less time you linger on an insert shot of something shocking happening, the more urgency the audience will feel alongside a character. Longer shots will allow the viewer to process what's happening.

Establishing Shot - 
An establishing shot is a wide shot that shows the landscape of a scene. It's usually used to declare the place, and sometimes time, a scene is taking place in. It establishes the scene, its location and its tone, showing a relationship between the character and the location. It's usually the most expensive shot in a film due to the fact you see everything.

What is Film Theory?
No, not the multipart show from The Film Theorists over on Youtube. Despite the fact I love MatPat and the theorist crew, I'm actually just talking about film theory. The act of pulling apart a film at the seams. To theorize a film, theorists (wow how many times am I going to have to say theory) break down the aspects in a film to analyze their depth and meaning. One would do this by breaking down the film's: editing, sound, colour, mise-en-scene, the type of film it is, lighting, shots, and angles.

What is Film Criticism?
Believe it or not, film criticism is actually different from film theory. Though I said before that film theory is the act of pulling a film apart at the seams, that statement is more accurate to film criticism. While film theory (word count - 7) is breaking down a film and it's key aspects to see how and why it works together, film criticism is literally picking the entire thing apart to find it's worth or just for the general population. Think Cinema Sins but like, with scholars.

What is the Auteur Theory?
Don't worry, I've never heard of it either. Auteur Theory is the idea that a director is the main author of their film. That each 'auteur' has their own voice that comes through within their film. This very directly stems from the fact Auteur is quite literally a French translation of the word, you guessed it, author. It falls into the idea that a director holds their camera like an author holds their pen. The main ideas of Auteur theory come from two essays from two authors. One essay, from Francois Truffaut, was written in 1954. The other, an Andrew Sarris piece, was written in 1962 America. There is one complaint surrounding these theories, and that's the fact that 'Auteur' is very much an idea focused on an individual, rather than acknowledging the work of the surrounding crew and craftsmen.