Distant Voices, Still Lives

The movie wasn't exactly how i picture it would be in my head. I did find it interesting though, even though some of the parts just plain confused me. it was interesting how they didn't do it in chronological order. it keep me on my feet and awake in a sense, like usually in movies you know whats going to happen so your focus is less on the movie but with it flashing back and forward, it definitely keeps you on your toes. it also makes you feel like if you miss one part then you get lost in total but i like movies like that a lot more. the movie remind me of that show "LOST" on ABC. how they have you all over the place and doesn't stay in one order. Comparing it to La Jetee, i like this movie a lot more. La Jetee was more dull to my taste compare to this one. it was very slow and i guess i like more action going on and with it switching scenes every couple of minutes, definitely caught my attention.

Distant Voices, Still Lives

The only other movie that i have seen that was not shot in chronological order was Pulp Fiction. At first i did not enjoy trying to piece together bits and parts just to try and make sense of a particular event; but as i continued to watch the movie, it all began to make sense little by little. Obviously the father is characterized as a heartless human being, this is made obvious when he beats his daugther with a broom stick after she does back breaking chores just to be able to go to a dance. Even though i feel as if the father is heartless, I felt as if the father was dependant on his family, and always needs to be with them until his death (as shown when he signs himself out of the hospital only to go die in his families presence).
I found fades from scene to scene throughout the movie to be interesting as well. While the father was alive, the movie always used fades to black. I felt this was showing how the rest of the family felt with the father around (dark, lifeless) but when the father passes away, the next half of the movie fades to white. I felt the fades to white helped to show that a sort of burden was lifted from the family, also because new life (with a newborn baby as an addition to the family).

As for the singalongs, i agree with Jason; they do help create mood throughout the movie. As an example, while friends and family are enjoying beer and spirits at the local pub, everyone seemed to join in singing more upbeat and positive songs.
Overall i seemed to find an apprectiation for this film. I enjoyed it.

PROFESSOR ESTEVEZ HERE

Just wanted to give you all a head's up! Don't miss things on the main class blog as we'll be working on this in class this week. Over there you'll find a "sneak preview" of the first paper assignment as well as an important post on the student logs. Don't miss the clip round of bits from "DV/SL" and the previous post of background for the film. And don't forget to scroll down to find the post on Narrative Form and Content: this is the illustrated with "POV shot" comics.

Distant Voices, Still Lives

As I was reading the screenplay for Distant Voices, Still Lives, I found it very hard to follow the story line, especially Distant Voices. I've read screenplays before so the directions the director was giving weren't hard to follow it was the story line. It was hard to follow because I would start reading it and then the year would change and go back and sometimes I had to go back and reread the year because I got confused. First the father is in the hospital and then he's yelling at his daughter. I really had to read very carefully to be able to follow it.
While watching the movie I found it a little easier to follow the time line, not only because I had a feel for it already from reading, but I think actually seeing it as opposed to reading helped me understand it better. It was still hard to follow at times, especially since I have never really seen a movie without a liner narrative. The use of music in the film was very helpful and very interesting. The one song that stands out to me is when one of the daughters (i can't remember which) ask the mother why she married her father, they play the song Taking a Chance on Love, and the next thing you see is the father horribly beating the mother. I thought the song choice was interesting because it doesn't fit with what you're seeing. But to me I also felt it was a way for him to say that she took a big chance on him and look where it got her. I also liked the song that Eileen sings ( I'm not sure of the name) about getting revenge for breaking her heart. I thought that song was for her friend Jingles and how she hoped Jingles would speak up for herself to her bastard of a husband. One of the things I found interesting as well, was how after all of the horrible things her father did to Eileen, and her saying if she had a gun she would shoot him, she still cries for him at her wedding. I just don't she how she could forgive everything he did to her. Also I have to say that Uncle Ted was very creepy, but it did make me laugh.
I was able to look back at the inner cell video, and as a science person I've seen a lot of videos about cells and stuff, but this one was the most interesting. Like you said in class, after a while it didn't seem like a biology movie, it seemed more like a science fiction movie and all the organelles inside the cell did start looking like aliens or something.
The paper sounds cool and I think/hope it will really help me to see some of the things that I usually miss or just don't pay attention to.

Distant Voices, Still Lives

The movie Distant Voices, Still live was very interesting, the way the movie was filmed was unique he divided the whole movie apart with different scenes. And each scene had its own plot. This movie was like a musical, and singing was a form of communicating in this film because whenever the family was together they would sing a lot to bring joy and happiness I guess...

Distant Voices, Still Lives

I know in class I didn't say much, but I felt it would bring the opportunity to use this blogger thing. So, I honestly found Distant...Lives very interesting. There were a few aspects a liked about this film. The first was the story line, the other two aspects I found very interesting was the way the movie was filmed (I might of looked way to deep) and the meaning behind alot of the scenes. The way the scenes faded into each other really gave me the illusion of how memories come into your mind and then fade way (which was probably obvious). Every time we looked outside that hallway through that door, time changed, once again like memories. Sometimes the characters would look directly at us, like we were looking through someones eyes and we were relieving the memories. At one point we'd see the father hitting the kids or yelling and then we'd get the father sick laying in the bed and the family standing around him. The family had blank faces and I felt as if the family didn't know how to feel just as we didn't know how to feel towards the father after seeing him doing the horrible stuff he did. Songs that the characters sang were completely based on the mood (example when the bombing happened they made the girl sing, to try to comfort themselves in a time of fear). Eileen was clearly the strongest out of the siblings, I thought we saw the father having the biggest effect on her. She always said she'd tell a guy off or not let a guy push her friends around, she also told her dad she'd kill him showing know feelings towards him. She became stronger because of the father. Although we went over this in class, when I mean some scenes had meaning well there was the the white light after a scene ended, clearly standing out for peace after the fathers death. I also believe that "fire" had a big role too. Whenever we saw Fire we got an uneasy vibe. At one point the mothers face faded into the fire place, I felt that stood for the pain she had. Fire was mostly used when the dad was around. In class we spoke about that uncle walking in and shining the candle to his face. That gave me an uneasy feeling ( he was also related to the father). There was also another scene that was almost identical. When the kids were at the grandmas house ( I think also related to father) she shined a candle to her face and mentioned that if the kids looked in the mirror they'd see the devil ( I thought that line there had a lot of meaning). Now I might be looking way to deep but thats the interpretation I got. Great film, looking forward for more.

La Jetee (Last Minute)

Although most of my feelings seem to be redundant on this board I'll try anyway. As a whole this film was nothing spectacular, but in its method of telling was both unique and dedicated to detail. Each image used needed to convey the same amount of information and emotion as a moving shot does. This left little room for frivolous shots to make the cut. The other part that is interesting is the very different approach to the main character. Although the main character is never directly characterized in any way (that I see,) you begin to feel from his perspective. I find that this exploits our desire to relate to the protagonist in a very effective way. We see the men looming over us, and we feel the wonder that this woman represents. She is the very embodiement of moving life to us. All in all, this was an interesting take on film-making, but nothing i feel the need to reexamine.

Distant Voices , Still Lives

After finish reading Distant Voices, Still Lives it left me with some unanswered questions. How did this whole chain of memmories start and how come they spilit it up in two parts? i also am confused on how exactly the movie was made because it is split in two. It made me feel like i was reading somewhat of a soap opera. In some scenes i did get confused on exactly what memmory they was talking about since it jump back and forth very quickly and at some parts i wasnt able to connect the memmories, but in all i like the script. I like how you kind of have to act it out in your head and it lets us choose how we want the actors to look like. It makes me curious on how the movie is going to be and if the imagine that i have in my head for the characters is the same as they protray in the movie. Also i was wondering if the story on the last page, The Long Day closes is a "part 3" of the other stories?

La jetee

Almost forgot about the blog.. La jette was a very interesting little film. I was amazed by the fact of how i was able to get lost in a film of transitioning slides of still photographs. Chris Marker really captured the essence of his film. The start of the movie being as well the end was very interesting and articulate. I got a feel for the way the man in the film is being faded in and out of reality through the way Marker created his film. Through the stills reality and the present seems to not exist at all and found myself searching for it just as the man in the film had started to do. I briefly read the script prior to viewing the film and i can say my expectations where greatly exceeded.

la jette

la jette was INTERESTING IN THE FACT THAT ONE WAS ANOTHER WHO WAS ANOTHER





the NASSUA student

la jette

I was very satisfied with the film La Jette. at first i was kind of lost. It took me a minute to fallow along with the story, after i started to catch on and take in what was goining on it the film became ,clear to me. I really like the way that this picture was filmed. with the narrator explaining the story to an album of still frames. Each frame seamed to say allot on their own. The pictures said allot on their own and told the story even with out the narrator speaking. the story was very interesting in the way that it started at the end and then made its way back to that point, and that the main character was actually in two forms in the first scene. Not only was he the little boy in the start of the film, he was also the man who had lost his life.

At first I was very confused. I had no clue as to what was going on until we got deeper into the movie. The movie was kind of like a slideshow with narration and I had never seen a movie like that before watching La Jetee. The way that emotions were so effortlessly expressed in the photo's said a thousand words. Just as when you look at a picture of a group of people, you can see the varied emotions. Some of the differences I noticed compared to other movies was that the main character had no name, and that the film was made entirely of photos and no movement at all. One thing that was a little irritating was the monotone voice of the narrator. The one thing I really did enjoy was the idea of time travel. It was very science fiction. The theory in La Jetee was that the only way a peron could travel back in time to get away from their present disaster, was to think of a strong memory they had. I thought that this was a brilliant scheme that I had never seen portrayed in any other movie. Over all, I enjoyed watching this movie. It was very creative and unique.

my thoughts about la jette

When i started to watch La Jette i did not even know what to expect. At first i was confused. As i continued to watch the movie, everything started to fall into place and was easier for me to understand. I enjoyed how the pictures showed emotions of pain, happiness, and anger to help show how the main character was feeling. I also thought it was interesting how the only motion in the film was when the women began to wake up and blink at the camera; it was interesting to think about how a memory that makes you happy, could possibly make you time travel (thats what the scientists theories were). Overall I enjoyed la jette because it was different from anyother film i have ever watched.

The film La Jette was so different from anything I have ever seen before. At first I was very confused to what was actually going on but after a few minutes in I caught on. I liked how the film was to the point each still had an important part in the film. In most movies there is so much that isn’t necessary and even more film that isn’t even used I just like how so much was told with just stills and that some were reused. I wouldn’t have thought a movie made of only stills could show so much emotion or even be interesting but La Jette was a pleasant surprise.

I know this is just a tad late, but after watching La Jetee, I feel that unlike other movies (or our typical movies) La Jetee shows us the importance of one picture, and what a picture can reveal. I watched a few movies this week with my friends, and i found that it takes a lot longer for typical movie to convey the mood of the scene. In La Jetee, the mood was captured by the picture (facial expressions and the narration). I personally enjoyed La Jetee, I thought it was very well thought out and has a lot of meaning behind it. I would like to see another movie that is similar to this movie so i could compare them.

Sound & Genre

After watching the videos on sound and genre, I'm so interested how the whole perspective of the movie trailers have changed completely due to sound, and narration. It was very cool to see how The Shining, was portrayed to be a light hearted movie about a son and a father. I've never thought about anything like this, and now thinking of it can be done to practically any movie.

As for La Jetee, I thought that was one of the most unusual movies I have ever watched. After the first five minutes I honestly lost all interest until I heard the whispering. There was something about that whispering that caught my attention. I was quick to try and make out what they were saying, and soon realized it was only gibberish in another language. I did however find the use of stills to be very interesting. I couldnt visualize how a movie would work, using still images. It was actually not as bad as I thought. Half way into the movie I forgot all about the still images due to all of the different techniques that were used. I still dont understand the movie completely. Looking forward to next class :)

I had some trouble with my connection last week, I kept getting knocked off. It seems to be working at this current moment. The film that was showed last class was somewhat interesting. This was my first experience watching still shots and this film kept my interest.

sounds and genres

I never really though sound would make such a difference in a movie. Its really interesting how you can put a different song and the whole movie gives you a different feel, like in the West Side Story video but now its a zombie- version. I've seen that movie so many times and I never though that you could make that movie actually give you the feeling of a horror movie. When you watch the regular movie, you wouldn't think any of the scenes were scary but the way the modify it really changes it up. Just watching the trailer of The Shinning gives you the creeps but when you add the "happy" music, its pretty funny how you look at it. The music and sound for a movie is basically the foundation it seems to me.

Professor you were right, I suprisingly did enjoy la Jetee. It was so interesting! While you were explaining that it was made up of all still shots I didnt see how it could be possible. This movie was the perfect example of how a "picture is worth a thousand words." Actions, movements, and facial expressions are more powerful than what we give them credit for. I did like that the only movement in the film was subtle and if you think about it what is more simple and unthinkable than breathing? The music really stood out, and sort of told us how to feel about the scenes. I also liked that the movie was about this mans past and his fondest memory because i think it's something we can all relate to, minus seeing your own death :)

Oh and i also really liked the trailers with the different sound tracks. Every detail really does count, and if you change one thing everything changes. I never thought Mary Poppins could become a horror film!

When we watched La Jetee last week I found the movie to be interesting for several reason. First I have never seen a movie that was made up of still shots before and I think this movie will always stand out to me because of that. Also because the characters them self didn't talk, you you really had to watch everything so closely to understand their emotions. When we talked about the distant voices that you couldn't make out, I found that it was a little uncomfortable because you were trying so hard to make out what they were saying or even what language they were speaking and you just couldn't. I think they did a really good job with that because I think it was to show you how uncomfortable it was for the main character they were experimenting on. I also liked the part where the woman was sleeping and it went from the stills to real time. Overall I have never seen a movie like this and I found it very interesting.

I also watched the re-cut movie trailers, and found the one for the shining very funny. I have seen all three movies and they way the music and the narration changed the genre of the movie was incredible. But I don't think Mary Poppins or West Side Story will ever be the same for me lol.

I watched the Marry Poppins video and it was really funny and scary! It's crazy how with music a video can be seen so different. Instead of being happy and cheerful, the video was scary and Marry Poppins looks evil!

HERES JOHNNNY

Wow i just watched the link of the video for the Harvard undergrad library. Its actually amazing what the music did. The graphics of that video were amazing and left me with my jaw hanging, I kind of wished i knew what was going on, but it still looked pretty cool. The "cinematic feel" that Prof. Estevez mentioned in the main class page is also mentioned in La Jette. This flim either captured your attention because of the sporadic changes of the pictures and music, or can bore you to death with the monotone voice of the narrator. The music and cinematics worked hand in hand to throw me into a state of daze in La Jette and sometimes found myself lost in my own thinking of things and had to get back into the film. I'm glad you mentioned that we're going to watch it again so we can get a different feel for the film the second time around.
In response to the genre bending of those films such as the Shining, Marry Poppins and the West Side Story, I found myself laughing throughout all of those previews. Its amazing how music can alter the mood of which the film puts you in. I also think the way the story/plot of the film is told by the narrator can be different. In this link below, comedian Pablo Francisco narrates through an incredibly ridiculous movie preview.(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn3Xp2jkTZQ)
The voice of the narrator automatically puts me in a sense of alertness and anxious to see some sort of action.
Stay Warm everyone and enjoy the break...

HI

I think it works now kind of took me a while but i got the hang of it.

Absence

So, the sickness that everyone seemed to have finally got me too :( I thought I was doing a good job of holding my breath near coughers and Purelling my hands after every door handle but... I was wrong. Very disappointed about having to miss our first film. However, I did read up on some information about La Jetee. I'm a little nervous about the fact that it's a series of still shots. That seems like it could be a little boring. I found links to the full movie online, so that's my plan for tomorrow since we're still snowed in and I'm stuck in bed anyways. I'll re-comment on my own comment once I have an opinion to share. Hopefully I'll pick up on some things that were discussed in class on my own. We'll see!

Le Jetee

The film we saw today was quite interesting, it just comes to show how far we have gone in the film industry today. But besides that the way the movie was portrayed through images and just a monotone voice in the background, makes you have to focus more on the meaning of each image and that each image could be worth a thousand words. What stood out to me the most was when the man expressed a face of anger but you couldn't hear him scream you could only visualize it and see him clenching , its the pain of wanting to get somehwhere but not being able to get there because something keeps holding you back.

It finally worked! sorry im super late professor!

got it!

wasnt quite sure on some stuff, but got it nonetheless. see ya later

ehh hope im not tooo late

hey just figured this out. ill see u guys tonite.. hope it dosent start snowing to early

Oops

I actually read the email on my phone and i said i was going to do it once i got home on Wednesday night, and i fully forgot till this morning when i woke up. See you in class tonight.

hope i got it

hey i was just able to figure this out tonight, sorry its so late. Im excited for this class, i have heard good things about it. see you next class!

hey watsup jsut gettin this whole thing started , seems pretty easy and oh ya i think proffessor estavez is awesome

Finally

It was a little difficult to figure this out. I didn't get the email till today because my email hasn't been working. So getting the invite helped out alot. It was driving me nuts because I couldnt figure out how to post. I almost created my own blog like was mentioned in class. Well better late than never I guess. Sorry.

heyy!!!!!

I think I am doing this right. I hope I am. Im excited for this semester , its my last one at NCC !!! Can someone just write back to me so I know I post this right!!! Thank you all.. See you in class on tuesday

I'm in! It took me a little bit to figure out where the make a new post button is, but as you can see I figured it out. I'm excited for the rest of this semester this class looks like it's going to be enjoyable.

?

Hopefully I'm clicking what I'm supposed to be clicking. If so, looking forward to this class. I've had Prof. Estevez before and I only have good things to say about her :)

I hope I did this right! The class seems like its going to be very enjoyable. Looking forward to the rest of the semester.

Gabriella

Hmm....I hope this is the right box im supposed to be writing in, this class sounds like its going to be very interesting!! Looking foward :)

Let's try this out...

Well I'm in also (presumably.) Although I have figured out how post this, I am still working on the relevance of the fish pond.

Well im in, seems like an enjoyable class.

ok, i hope i did this right, and if i did awesome.

Can't wait for next Tuesday!!!

Frankie

I think I did this right .. can anyone please let me know if I'm doing this correctly? Thank You looking foward to the class.