Favorite Movie Scenes

-

Write a brief reflection on famous shots from films that have stayed with you. 

Name the film, year, and director. 

Then, describe the shot. 

What is it doing? 

Why does it work? 

How might it have been rendered differently? 

How would you shoot it? 

 

1. Luke Battles Darth Vader





 

Name the film, year, and director: The Empire Strikes Back, 1980, Director Irvin Kershner

 

Describe the shot: it’s a medium-range shot showing Luke and Darth crossing swords 

 

What is it doing? It is one of the climax scenes in the movie, good versus evil

 

Why does it work? It works because of the lighting and framing. The characters are silhouetted, there’s smoke/fog, and the lightsabers pop out.

 

How might it have been rendered differently? These days, too many movies would just show the characters in full light (explicitly) versus the implicit way this shot was framed.

 

How would you shoot it? I think it would be hard to improve one of the best shots of all time. One small improvement might be to dampen the floor lighting just a bit to bring more emphasis to the light of the lightsabers.

 

2. Falling with Style






Name the film, year, and director: Toy Story, 1995, John Lasseter

 

Describe the shot: it’s a medium shot from below, with the two main characters (Buzz & Woody) “flying” through the air. 

 

What is it doing? It’s one of the best animated scenes of all time, where the friendship between Buzz and Woody is cemented.

 

Why does it work? It works because of the lighting and framing. The view from below makes the “toys” seem larger than life and elevates the meaning of the scene. There are no distractions behind them, making “the sky the limit”

 

How might it have been rendered differently? It could have been a much noisier shot, which would have distracted from the importance of the scene.

 

How would you shoot it? I think this one is also pretty much perfect. What’s changed is the quality of animation over the past 20 years, and these days the animated characters would be even more life-like with more texture and clarity.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Aerosmith and the Muppets

-
Image
Aerosmith and the Muppets   It's hard to imagine two franchises that are more different than Aerosmith and the Muppets. But both were in related news this week. The Wrap reported that the Muppet*Vision 3D attraction would be closing to make room for a future Monsters Inc. roller coaster (1). They also reported the Rock 'n' Roller coaster attraction would be re-themed as a Muppets ride. So let's break this down into three distinct pieces of news, with a media marketing chaser. First, back in September I wrote about all the announcements at D23 . It turns out, Disney almost announced that Monsters Inc. would force the closure of the Muppets show at D23, but changed their minds last minute (2). They were worried that the announcement would get booed! So instead they showed artwork that didn't really specify where the new Monsters Inc. ride would go. Second, why are fans so upset about a show closing? Gizmodo reports how it was one of the very last projects the Jim Hens...
Read more

Why do People Choose to Visit Walt Disney World?

-
Image
Why do People Choose to Visit Walt Disney World? Introduction I applied to Walt Disney World’s College Internship Program, was accepted, and begin the program in May 2024. As described on the program website (Disney Careers), participants can live in Disney-owned dorm-style apartments, work as a “cast member” [employee] in one of twenty different roles, and also participate in different classroom activities. The program started in 1981 and is now one of the longest-running internships in the country. My first role was custodial at the Yacht & Beach Club resort. Within the first month, I transferred to attractions, where I have worked at the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at the Magic Kingdom ever since. By the time my program concludes in January, I will have taken over 50 hours of classroom learning and worked approximately 1,000 hours. I have posted 15 weekly articles about my experience at jsfriedland.blogspot.com, and this capstone paper will summarize my thoughts about why peo...
Read more

ABC Holiday Specials Filming

-
Image
ABC Holiday Specials Filming Earlier today I had the opportunity to go behind-the-scenes for the filming of ABC's Holiday Specials. As detailed by allears.net ABC has been filming their upcoming holiday specials this week at their different theme parks (1). I was able to participate in the filming this morning at the Magic Kingdom. As the article describes, this was the first year where Main Street was actually closed off to regular guests during filming of the holiday parade; only cast members were allowed for that portion. As an Interactive Media major, I was paying close attention to the filming process, not just the parade. For example, I noted that the production crew always had 4-5 cameras filming the action from different points-of-view. Several bloggers got some photos of the film crew setting up (2). Some others posted photos of the two hosts who were in the park, Julianna Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro (3). Lastly, Disney Tourist Blog shows a few photos of the cameras capturin...
Read more