That's right. I'm just CRAZY about Tiffany's!

"That's right. I'm just CRAZY about Tiffany's." Well lets face it, who isn't! I have to say that I think Breakfast at Tiffany's is one of my favorite films. I watched this film for the first time last Saturday night and really loved it. At least being ill does have one advantage, you get to spend all day watching films. Both enjoyable for me and hopefully at the same time helping me on my course. Apart from going out into the real world and having a life, what could be better than that?

Okay so back to Breakfast at Tiffany's, if you haven't seen this film I would recommend that you go and watch it. Seriously, go and watch it now, because I am almost certain that you would enjoy it. Although I had heard many positive things about this film and was aware of it's success, I had never actually got round to watching it. However it caught my eye the other day in the DVD library and thought that I would give it a try. I was really impressed with the film, it really does seem to carry an air of glamour and sophistication. I think this is mostly due to Audrey Hepburn who plays the character Holly Golightly, a call girl living in New York City. Audrey Hepburn somehow manages to bring sophistication to the character and despite her characters occupation, she never makes her appear cheap or tacky. I think that is one of the reasons why she was cast for the role in the first place. Breakfast at Tiffany's is not your typical romantic film, it contains darker undertones which make it a more convincing and interesting film to watch. If an actress that was more flirty and stereotypically sexy was cast as Holly, I think it would take away the unique quality the film possesses. Audrey Hepburn was not a stereotypically sexy woman, she lacks the blonde hair and curvaceous figure that was in fashion among other Hollywood stars at the time. This only makes her role even more interesting. Even her costume within the film has already made and will continue to make such a big impact on the way women dress all over the world. Hepburn's style inside and outside the film seem to blur into one, however her dress sense seems to be timeless, this leaves a very fashionable impression within the overall feel of the film.

Another thing that i really like about Breakfast at Tiffany's is the little factors that make it quirky. I think it is cute how Holly refers to her pet cat as 'Cat' rather than giving it an actual name. It seems quite childlike, but at the same time when she explains her reasons for not naming her cat it actually seems quite sad. I also think that the on screen chemistry is very believable between Holly and Paul Varjak, who is actually referred to for most of the film as 'Fred'. One particular scene that stands out for me is when Holly and Paul decide to spend the day doing things they have never done before. I found the scene where the couple steal a fox and a dog mask very charming. The moment just seems to encompass so their relationship so perfectly, bringing up feelings of romance and excitement with a silly and playful twist.

I also must mention that I really like the song 'Moon River' that is featured several times within the film. I think that it fits in so perfectly with the film and just listening to the song stirs up very similar emotions to those apparent when watching the film. I also had the mellow tune stuck in my head for the rest of the weekend, which surely is the sign of a good theme tune.

However I sort of feel that i must look at the film from both sides, and Breakfast at Tiffany's does have some negative points. Actually I can only think of one film that I really didn't like, that being the representation of Mr Yunioshi, a Japanese man who lives upstairs from Holly. This character is played by Mickey Rooney who is actually a white American. I found it to be slightly inappropriate to use a white actor to play a Japanese character, and I wondered why the director did not simply choose to use a Japanese actor. I feel that this would have made the character more convincing, and I have to say that I found several of the scenes with him to be the weakest in the film. However I think that this choice in casting was mainly due to the time period that the film was made in. Breakfast at Tiffany's was released in 1961, the shape of the American film industry looked very different back then than it does today. I feel that if the film was to be re-cast and made in 2009 a Japanese actor would be an obvious choice. Despite this I still feel that Breakfast at Tiffany's is a very well made and enjoyable film, it also happens to be one of the only film that I have watched on DVD and re-watched instantly as soon as the film finished. I would really recommend this iconic movie to anyone who hasn't seen it!

The Soloist

In my last blog I spoke about how i had seen so many films in the past week or so, and in the end I could not manage to fit them all into one blog. However since then I have seen quite a few more movies. Thus making my list of films I want to blog about extra long!

One of the best films that I have seen recently is The Soloist. I went into the film not really knowing what to expect, the only thing that I really knew about the film was the fact that Seamus McGarvey was the director of photography, and as Andy had previously mentioned that he would be coming to RSAMD in the future, we felt that it would be a good idea to go and see the film to get a stronger sense of his style of work. I have to say that I loved this film!

I felt that it contained almost if not all of the elements a film needs to be successful. One of the films strengths was its basic storyline. I felt that the film had a very strong plot and was well written. I get the impression it is normally very difficult for writers to portray a mental illness successfully, however i felt that Jamie Foxx's character was extremely well written. Foxx played the role of Nathaniel Ayers a schizophrenic musician who is homeless in L.A. I think that his strange speech pattern was shown very well within the film and was not to overdramatic. I appreciated the fact that the film did not end in the predictable way, there was no magical happy ending which I appreciated. Instead the film went for a more realistic ending, Nathaniel was not cured from his mental illness and he did not go on to be a world famous musician. Instead he began to cope with his condition and with some help from his friends had a better life than he did at the start of the movie. This film did not have a predictable Hollywood ending, but then again in some ways I dont think that the Soloist is a typical Hollywood film.

I found it very interesting to see L.A portrayed in a very different light to that of so many modern films. Instead of L.A being shown as beautiful, glossy and perfect ( which I am sure some parts of L.A are like) the film showed a different perspective to life in L.A. Until watching this film I was not aware that L.A had so much poverty and that homelessness was a big problem. It was refreshing to be able to see a different and possibly more truthful view of the city.

Like the representation of the city, I also felt that the depth of the characters was also well thought out. One factor that I felt helped to add to the range of realistic characters within the film was the use of costume. I thought that Jamie Foxx's character had a particularly interesting costume. Throughout the film his choice of clothes was very eccentric and diverse. Bold colours such as yellow were used to help him stand out from the crowed and appear different than everyone else. By choosing to wear a florescent work mans jacket, along with several other strange items of clothes, the audience were able to realize automatically that Nathaniel was not like everyone else, and that there is something unusual about him. I also found it very interesting to look into Nathaniel's world. The subtle transformation that took place in Nathaniel's apartment was very effective. The small doodle like drawings that covered one of the white walls of his living room really helped to show who the character was and how quirky he is.

However I have to say that one of my favorite scenes within the film is when Nathaniel is listening to the classical music being performed, he shuts his eyes and visualizes the music in his mind. This exposes the audience to a range of beautiful images reflecting the pace, tone and style of the music. As well as looking very pretty I think that this scene really helps the audience to understand more about Nathaniel by getting to go inside his brain, and on some level experience how he feels about music. For me I think that this was a very clever device as many audience members may not be able to comprehend the characters love of music and just how much that love effects his everyday life. This scene inspired me as I really enjoyed the visual experience. However it also made me feel slightly envious, as like most people I would love to be so deeply effected my music as an art form as Nathaniel is.

Overall I found that watching this film was a very enjoyable experience. I found it both emotive and informative and would recommend it to others to watch. I will defiantly be buying this film when it comes out on DVD.

Dramas, musicals, animations and romantic comedies. Its been a busy week

Dramas, musicals, animations and romantic comedies. It's been a busy week! Ok so i have seen so many films this week that i don't think that it is possible to fit them all into one blog, but i will give it a go. There are several reasons why i have seen so many movies recently, the first being the purchase of a cineworld unlimited card, thus resulting in most of our class going to the cinema almost every night. This makes a refreshing change from freshers week, and benefits us on the DFTV course, so everyones a winner. Another reason that i have all these films to blog about is the fact that i have finally gotten around to taking some of the DVD's out of the library at the academy. This combated with a range of movies being shown on TV this sunday, amounted to a very filmy week.

I will now focus and get on with the main point of this blog, to talk about films.

This weeks screening with Andy consisted of watching the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption. After hearing many positive reviews about this film and being told that it was "A classic that you just have to watch" I was really looking forward to getting the opportunity to finally see this film. However after watching the first 5 minutes of this film I realised that I had, despite my previous thoughts, already seen this movie on television a few years prior to this screening at the academy and really liked it.

Overall i have to say that i have to say that i really enjoyed watching the Shawshank Redemption. I felt as though the characters were well constructed and thought that the voiceover running throughout the film added a further sense of depth and emotion to the story, as well as serving it's purpose of informing the audience and moving the plot along. Alongside this i also felt that the non-diegetic sound also helped to enhance the film by tapping in to the audiences emotions.

One of the reasons why i liked this film is because it portrayed a slightly different view of life inside a prison. When watching other films set in a jail or similar location you do not get an accurate sense of how the prisoners have been institutionalised. Within the Shawshank Redemption the audience can really see how the prison has become a home for the in-mates. Within this film you can see that the prisoners have been in jail for such a long time that they literally don't know how to function in a world outside the prison. In a world where they are able to make their own decisions and be independent thinkers, when watching the film you get a real sense that many of the characters have forgotten how to be in control of their own lives, when the pressure gets to much they can be seen to either commit or contemplate suicide.

I have to say that i enjoyed watching this film. I feel that some of the messages and themes portrayed are quite realistic as it reflects what is taken away from a person when they recieve a prison sentence. Not just a persons freedom , but in the long run it can change the way a person functions and lives their life once they are released, and this change may not always be a positive one.

On a lighter note, I also got the chance to watch the remake of the movie Fame this week. Although I am not a die hard fan of musicals I went into the cinema wanting to be entertained by the singing and dancing at the very least. I realise that musicals are not particularly well known for their amazingly deep and intricate plots but whilst watching Fame I didn't feel emotionally invested in the characters and found myself not really caring if they succeeded at the academy or not. I felt that too much time passed to quickly within the film, obviously they were trying to reflect the characters journey throughout their time at the school, but I felt that as soon as i was becoming interested in what was going on with a particular character the storyline moved to a different year and different group of characters.

I also felt that there was a distinct lack of good quality songs within the film. Although I have never seen the original version of the film I was still aware of the Fame song, "Im gonna live forever. Im gonna learn how to fly-high!" etcetera etcetera. Therefore I was slightly disappointed when this song did not even appear within the film, only in the credits, instead the film was filled with unmemorable songs that left no impression on me after leaving the cinema. Im not sure if the film was lacking in quality due to the fact that they had tried too hard to modernise the movie to make it stand out from the first version, whatever the explanation I dont think that the risk payed off. I also didn't appreciate the negative representation of the one film maker within the movie. This character was represented as geeky, klutzy and a bit of an idiot. Overall not a fair and accurate representation of film students, if i do say so myself! When looking at the movie generally I think that the film served it's purpose of providing a light form of entertainment, but it was not suited to my particular taste.

Moving on, one film that I did enjoy this week was Toystory 3D. As a child Toystory was always one of my favourite films, and i remember distinctly it being the first animated film i ever watched. One thing i love about Toystory is that it taps into a child's imagination, I remember wishing that my toys would come to life and start to talk. The characters within the film have strong personalities and some of the jokes may go over a child's head, yet appeal to adults and parents watching the movie. After re-watching Toystory I was suprisingly not disappointed as I have been when re-watching so many films I enjoyed as a child. I love the world that is created within the film, its a place that is slightly comforting to me and one which even as a child I always wanted to be part of. Even when I was very little I remember pretending to be characters within the film normally Little bo peep, Jessie from Toystory two and occasionally Woody, my little brother always played the part of Buzz Lightyear. However, like Buzz my brother also believed that he could fly. The games eventually came to an end when my brother jumped off the bed and broke his elbow whilst trying to fly like Buzz. The point is that this film had an impact on many young members of the audience and influences their games and life choices, I feel that this has to be the sign of a good children's film. One of the only negatives I have to say about this film is that even though it was shown in 3D I do not think that they fully maximized it's potential throughout the film. This may be because they had to adapt a film that was not previously in 3D. However i did feel that the snow during the credits was very effective. All in all I enjoyed the film, and I hope that it is just as well recieved in 2009 as it was when i watched the film as a child.

Ok so it turns out that I have more to say about the many, many, many, films i have watched this week so i may have to put them into two blogs. I will finish off this post my talking about just one more film. You've Got Mail. Not to play up to the stereotype of a typical teenage girl but i have to say that I have always really liked romantic comedies. They are an easy watch, a form of light entertainment. They are a sociable film, not only to drag your boyfriend along to, but also to watch with your friends. Granted they are predictable, you know from the start that the guy and the girl that both pretend to hate each other, but have such strong chemistry and good looks are going to end up together. But that doesn't make the journey any less enjoyable. For me romantic comedies tap into a fantasy of how you want your life to work out. I understand that this is not always a positive thing. These romantic films leave young women with unrealistic expectations about love, men and life in general. However after watching a film within this genre, like most women I cant help feeling hopeful, that maybe my life will turn out just like Meg Ryan's character. Hey our names our the same so my theory is quite possible. Any day now I will be whisked off to New York City, be transported to my wonderful new job, live in my expensive apartment and meet the a man just like the leading guy out of every romantic film you have ever watched. Okay, so Im not actually that deluded but still, I always leave the cinema feeling happy and hopeful, which really is the reason why this genre is so popular. You've Got Mail, follows the typical formula of most rom-coms, it manages to fulfill the expectations of the audience thus making it a successful and popular film. Worth a watch if you need cheering up, or want to watch what happens when the man of Kathleen Kelly's dreams and the man who is in her reality collide together and become the man she wants to spend the rest of her life with. Aww.

We're off to see the Wizard...

We're off to see the Wizard, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. You'll find he is a whiz of a Wiz! If ever a Wiz! there was. If ever oh ever a Wiz! There was The Wizard of Oz is one because,Because, because, because, because, because. Because of the wonderful things he does. These were the song words running constantly through my head for the entire evening after watching the 1939 American musical, 'The Wizard of Oz'.

Like most people i had very fond memories of watching this film on television with my family at Christmas. As a child i was mesmerized by the catchy songs, bright colours and captivating characters that this film contained. I remember very strongly my whole family, grandparents and all sitting down together and enjoying this movie. I feel that one of the factors that makes The Wizard of Oz so special is the fact that it can be enjoyed and appreciated by almost every generation, from the very young, to the elderly. This can be explained by the fact that almost everyone from the 1940's onwards has grown up with this film, either by watching it at the cinema n 1939, or on television since 1956. For many people, this film incapsulates their childhood, they associate it with cheerful and happy memories spent watching this family film at Christmas time, and so many people still enjoy this film as it possesses a certain sense of nostalgia.

Having grown up watching and enjoying The Wizard of Oz i went into the screening with relatively high expectations. I was hoping to feel the same enthusiasm and delight when watching the film. However I was slightly disappointed, it is hard to pinpoint the reasons why. I still enjoyed most, if not all of the songs in the film, i felt they were of a very high quality especially considering some of the rubbish musicals that are at the cinema now (Fame). I think the only reason why i was slightly let down was because of the conditions i was watching the film under, I wasn't at home with my family, it wasn't Christmas, and people weren't singing along.

I did however find it interesting to watch this film as an adult rather than as a child. I discovered that I picked up on small details that had totally bi-passed me when i was younger. For example I failed to recognise that the farmers Dorothy talks to in the opening section of the film are actually played by the same people as the Tin man, scarecrow and lion. These observations make the story go slightly deeper and make more sense. However as a child i barely even remembered the black and white sections of the film. Like many people, what stood out to me most as a child was the scenes involving vivid colours and the well known songs. After speaking to my mum, who watched the Wizard of Oz at the cinema in the 1960's, she said that this film was the first movie she had ever seen in colour and found it amazing. She also told me that after watching the film and going to sleep at night, she woke up the next day and told her mother that she had a dream in colour. I feel that this shows the impact that The Wizard of Oz has made on people my mums generation, to see colour at the cinema was something revolutionary. I think that the film was very clever to place such an emphasis on colour throughout the film, the images of the yellow brick road, the emerald city and Dorothy's ruby slippers all stick out very clearly in most peoples minds when thinking about the film.

After re watching the film I can see why people of any age group can enjoy the film. To still be shown on television and used as intertextual links within other modern programs made today, the film clearly must have done something correctly. I think the success can be summarized into three factors the first being the wonderful songs, some of which have been re recorded by modern artists, others that have been nominated for, and won academy awards. The second being the revolutionary way of using colour and the strong and easily identifiable images the film creates. I think the final reason for the long time success of this film is the ideology the movie creates. It's positive message that "There's no place like home." Has and in my opinion will continue to resinate with people all over the world for many years to come.

Changes

This past fortnight represented a time for a lot of new things going on in my life. The first being my introduction to life at RSAMD. It has felt like such an intense period of time, but has also passed so quickly. Looking back I am very glad that we have taken part in the three day induction session before the course officially began. I think that doing this gave us a real head start as it provided us with the opportunity to meet and get to know the rest of the people on our course well before the rest of the first years in the academy. The induction session also gave us with the chance to meet some of our tutors, learn more about the course and generally get an idea about what the next three years here at RSAMD are going to be like. If we hadn't taken part in this induction session, I feel that most of the people from DFTV would be even more anxious to begin with the course than we already are.

The second change in my life at the moment is the recent purchase of an unlimited card at Cineworld. Along with most other members of our course we have purchased this card which entitles you to visit the cinema to watch a film as many times as you want within a month. And i have to say it is amazing, i would recommend it to anyone who hasn't got one already. I have to say i have fully taken advantage of this card so far this month. One of the first films I have seen since coming to Glasgow was '500 Days of Summer". I felt that one factor that made the film different from most other romantic comedies was it's non-linear plot structure. I feel that because the film played around with the typical episodic layout in order to make themselves stand out from the rest of the films released within the rom-com genre at this moment in time. Another factor that interested me about the film was its storyline. By simply looking at the tag-lines for the film the audience is able to tell that this is not a typical feel about a man and woman falling in love, overcoming an obstacle and living happily ever after. This originality is shown within the tag-line "This is not a love story. This is a story about love." I feel that this film will appeal to a slightly more intellectual audience who are not so concerned with a film that follows stereotypical conventions, the target audience for this film may not mind that the main characters don't live happily ever after, or that not all loose ends are tied up. I think that the relationships between characters within this film are closer to real life and the audience will appreciate this. One more factor that i like about this film is how males and females are represented. So often in romantic comedies women are represented as overly emotional and unable to function successfully without a mans love and affection. I enjoyed this film as the main character Summer does not need a boyfriend to validate her life. She mentions this several times throughout the film, for example when she says, "I don't want a boyfriend." and "I'm just not looking for anything serious." This message is also reinforced in a tag-line which says "Boy meets girl. Boy fall's in love. Girl doesn't." I think that 500 Days of Summer successfully does it's job of representing a modern woman who is not overtly emotional in a sophisticated and subtle manner as opposed to taking the easy way out and portraying her as a character that is bitchy and cold.

Another film which i enjoyed watching recently was District 9. I felt that the sci-fi film was quite sophisticated for its genre and dealt with some strong and sensitive issues, that i feel are not typically dealt with to such an extent in many other films of its kind. The effects of racism in particular is an issue which plays a predominant role in the ideology of the film. I found it interesting to see that the film was set in South Africa, a place where racism has been a very significant issue. However the racism was not taking place between black people and white people, but rather humans and the aliens nicknamed 'the prawns'. I felt the film spoke alot about society at this moment in time and how the face of the world has changed so much even within the past 50 years. The film featured signs saying "No Prawns allowed" which seemed very similar to the signs that restricted black people from riding busses or going into restaurants in the past. It was interesting to see however that a black police officer was one of the people treating the prawns in a negative way. All in all I felt that this film was quite enjoyable and contained a deeper more profound ideology than some other science fiction films.

Lets get creative

I have really enjoyed my time at RSAMD so far. We started off this week by taking part in 'Creative Beginnings' which was the first module on our course. Before taking part in this activity I was slightly apprehensive as after already taking part in the three day induction, followed by welcome week, I was filled with a desire to just get on with what I came here to do and start the course. However once we began the three day workshop I found it to be a very interesting and sometimes moving experience.

During the first session we were provided with the statement "Who's culture is it anyway?" and were asked to explore what we thought the answer to the question might be. In order to be able to understand the question fully and be able to explore our thoughts successfully, it was important that we first came up with a definition of the word culture. Within my group we had several different opinions about what culture meant to each of us. This made us realise that culture may mean something very different to each individual and therefore it is difficult to provide a generalized of such a personal and meaningful word. However we found that for us to provide the most successful definition of the word culture, we should each input one of our thoughts about the subject and combine them together to create a definition. After doing so we came up with the following definition:

Culture: Groups ad their activities in all forms, from every day living, to popular pursuits and higher art forms. Shared interests within a population, including those as small as individual lifestyle choices. These shared interests are an ever evolving set of actions and reactions rooted in the past and present in todays society, and possess the ability to influence the future lifestyles and belief's of people belonging to that particular culture.

After sharing our definition with the rest of the group it was interesting to have everyone feed back their thoughts and hear that some peoples views on culture are very different than my own. This sparked a debate within the group where we talked about how important culture is within the work we do here at RSAMD. Some people shared the view that for them the culture created at RSAMD and their own culture played no significance in their art form and the work they were planning on producing as creative practitioners. This was surprising to me because even though my family does not uphold a particularly strong sense of tradition, this is not all culture means to me. For me represents who someone is as a person, it represents someone's past and how a person was brought up, and i don't see how such crucial factors in a persons life can not have some influence or impact on a persons work, especially if they are involved in a career within the film or TV industry.

Throughout the rest of the workshops we also explored the roles that stereotypes play when people think about different cultures. In this particular situation we were shown a box of objects all based around scottish stereotypes. There was a wide variety of objects such as a can of irn bru, a postcard of a castle, another of a thistle, a C.D containing scottish music, a packet of shortbread and a bottle of whiskey. Our group was given the bottle of whiskey to use as a prop and had to create a short piece of theatre based on the idea of scottish people drinking heavily. This workshop helped teach the group how common stereotypes are not always accurate and are in fact unrealistic generalizations that do not actually apply to the majority of a social group. I found this interesting and appropriate to my course as it made me aware that when creating a piece of television or film stereotypes are so often created when trying to represent a social group, advertising is especially guilty of this. Therefore we must be aware of the fact that these stereotypes should not always be used as they can be seen as offensive. A much more interesting piece of work can be created if characters are shown to be realistic unique and not simply a generic and overused stereotype which neither reflects society or has any firm basis on reality.

Overall I feel that the most enjoyable moments over the past three days came when we developed ideas based around our photographs we had to take before coming to RSAMD. These included each individual holding a sign saying "This is where I am coming from". During the first day we were asked to display our photographs on the wall, this gave the group the opportunity to look at other peoples photo's and find out more about where they were coming from. We were then asked to write on a piece of paper our thoughts about being here at at RSAMD and one hope for the future. We then one by one chose to sit on a chair in the middle of the room and reveal what we had written to the rest of the group. This tuned out to be a very emotional moment as I felt that it provided a window into how the people you have been working with are really feeling. It also was interesting to see that many of the people within my group had very similar hopes for the future and are feeling the same emotions as I am feeling about being at RSAMD right now. This helped me to understand that although everyone that was in my group for creative beginnings comes from different disciplines within the academy we are all united by our common goals and in the long run are here for the same reason. The final installation that the entire class of first year students took part in also reinforced this idea for me. When each member of the year group had finished writing down one of their hopes for the future, an anxiety, a question and one thing they were bringing to the course, each individuals personal thoughts combined together with the rest of the groups, which i felt united everyone together in a very emotional and thought provoking way.