Classifying Actors in The Wizard of Oz

In The Wizard of Oz (1939), there are few actors that stand out to me each time that I watch the movie. They are Judy Garland   (Dorothy), Margaret Hamilton (Wicked Witch of the West), and Ray Bolger (Scarecrow). According to Goodykoontz and Jacobs (2014) actors are classified in one of five categories impersonator, interpreter, personality, wild card,  and character. I would classify the three identified actors the following way:

Judy Garland would classified as a star as she is very well know in the film world and beyond. In The Wizard of Oz (1939), Judy played a young women when at the time in reality Judy was 16 when filming began. In the film Judy was able to bring vulnerability to the character because she was so young herself. In the scene with Glenda, Garland says that she would like to go home and the way that she looked up at the Good Witch made  you feel for her character. This movie set the tone for Judy Garlands film career.

Margaret Hamilton as a character actress. Hamilton was an actress that would play roles like a nurse, wicked witch, and a Grandmother. In The Wizard of Oz (1939), Hamilton created a role that she made her own and one that she would be known for the rest of her life. In the tower scene when Hamilton is talking with the flying monkey and looking into the crystal ball, she mover her hands in a mysterious ways while staring deep into the crystal ball. I feel that she really made the scene her own.

Ray Bolger would also be apart of the classification of character actor. In The Wizard of Oz (1939), Bolger brought a scarecrow to life. Because scarecrow are not a real living thing, Bolger had to figure our what a scarecrow would do when walking and building a relationship with a young girl. Bolger has a lot of broadway experience as an actor staring in The Wizard of Oz (1939) that helped when creating this character.

      

Judy Garland was an actress that was cast in many movies where her acting talent and singing were often used. Garland would often be in musicals like Meet Me in St.Louis (1944) and Easter Parade (1948). I believe that Garland had alot more to offer yet the studios type cast her into roles as a personality type of actress.  It was evident that she was talented when she began her variety show and was able to do comedy and entertain her audience with her well-known talent of signing and dancing.

References:

Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs, C. P. (2014) Film: From watching to seeing (2nded.). SanDiego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc

IHeartWizardofOZ. (2010). Skip to my Lou – Judy Garland ( Meet me in St.Louis). [Video file]. Retrieved fromhttps://youtu.be/jSY7jX28P48

LeRoy, M. (Producer), & Fleming, V.(Director). (1939). The Wizard of Oz [Film]. Culver City, CA:MGM.

Linn, Z. (2011). Wizard of Oz – The Wicked Witch of the West sets fire to Scarecrow [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/F0Vj3zLaO4w

Freed, A. (Producer), & Minnelli, V. (Director). (1944). Meet Me in St. Louis [Film]. Culver City, CA: MGM.

Freed, A. (Producer), & Walters, C. (Director). (1948). Easter Parade [Film]. Culver City, CA: MGM.

Mockingjay – part 1

The movie that I am reviewing this week is Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014). The scene is starring Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen and Elden Henson as Pollux sitting together as Katniss is singing the Hanging Tree song that is forbidden in Panem. The scene starts off with a different type of dialogue as Pollux motions non verbally to Katniss to sing. Dialogue is a way in which actors create their character and add in real talk to scenes. In this instance, Pollux wasn’t able to speak and used non-verbal cues to get his point across making this part of his characters dialogue. This scene also depicts the Mockingjays mimicking Katniss as she sings introducing sound effects of the Mockingjay birds singing along in the background. As more and more followers of Katniss’s gather, they all begin to layer in on the song as music begins to play transitioning to different takes (Kilik & Lawrence, 2014).

The different categories of sound are being used in the Mockingjay (2014) by layering sounds on top of sound. Film makers being careful, “balancing the story with music and sound effects; because of this, each category is typically recorded separately and mixed together during the final editing process (Goodykoontz, & Jacobs, 2014 para. 1). The impact of the sound in establishing the theme is crucial as it sets the stage and creates drama. The use of sound produces a somber mood in this scene establishing the pain the characters are feeling during the uprising.

During the hanging tree scene, you are able to identify specific sounds in the surrounding woods. For example, you can hear the water trickling, aircraft taking off, and then the layer of additional dialogue on top of it all introduced by other characters of Panem. I would infer that the genre based on the specific sounds would be science fiction, “not always set in space, and frequently incorporating horror elements (Goodykoontz, & Jacobs, 2014 para. 24).

I would characterize the effects in the Mockingjay as two different things. It is realistic that you would hear birds in the woods but yet it is unrealistic to hear birds that would mock what you would be singing. The song continues the realistic feel of the movie as many more gather to sing it and the music takes over to create a dramatic transition heightening the drama of the fight scene.

As the movie plays out the Mockingjay was a key sound throughout the scene and would be categorized as multitrack mixing, “the sound editor first builds layers of different sounds to get the desired effect, combining many different audio tracks each containing individual sound effects, dialogue recordings, or pieces of music ((Goodykoontz, & Jacobs, 2014 para. 24). If this category was removed if would change the scene drastically leaving only a flat sound verses a multi layer.

 

References:

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.) [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

Kilik, J.(Producer)  and  Lawrence, F.(Director). (2014). The Hunger Games: The Mockingjay – Part 1 [Film]. Santa Monica, CA: Lionsgate Studios.

Lionsgate Movies (2014). The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – part 1 “The Hanging Tree scene [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/r-Oi43EsQNU

Lighting – Wizard of Oz

There are many things that go into creating a scene of a movie like props, costumes, make-up, background, and lighting.  These items are all apart of what we call mise en scène. Taking a moment to break down the mise en scène, our focus will be only be on lighting in film. Goodykoontz and Jacobs (2014), state that most scenes of most movies fall somewhere in between these extremes of high-key and low-key lighting. In the film The Wizard of Oz (1939), the lighting used throughout the film was high-key-lighting.

High-key-lighting is,”very bright light over everything, with few shadows and relatively low contrast between the lightest and darkest parts of the scene” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014). The benefits of using this type of light is the ability to illuminate scenes for dramatic purposes. It also helps to call attention to what the director is wanting you to really look at. This lighting technique contributes to the theme by making the scenes bright and creating a contrast of colors as depicted in the scene above. This type of lighting suites the genre by helping to create that fantasy land of Oz. The film uses both black and white as well as color to show contrast from one place in time to another.

While low-key-light is used in the film during the black and white scenes, using it for the entire movie would change the overall feel of each scene. Making it more dark with the use of low-key- lighting, the audiences emotions of what happens to the main characters may be lost. I believe that if low-key-lighting were used on this film it would not be a classic film like it is today.  

               

References:

Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs, C. P. (2014) Film: From watching to seeing (2nded.). SanDiego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc

LeRoy, M. (Producer), & Fleming, V.(Director). (1939). The Wizard of Oz [Film]. Culver City, CA:MGM.

Richards, E. (2001, Feb 25). The Cinematography of the Wizard of Oz (1939). [Photo file]. Retrieved from http://evanerichards.com/2011/1243

WBMovies. (2010). Follow The Yellow Brick Road – The Wizard of OZ. [Video file]. Retrieved from youtu.be/THbY7EL8k5w.  

Week One Blog: Shag

 

Title: Shag

Writers: Lanier Laney and  Terry Sweeney

Director: Zelda Barron

Year: 1989

Actors:Phoebe Cates (Carson), Bridget Fonda (Melaina), Annabeth Gish (Pudge), and Page Hannah (Luanne)

rogerebert.com

Story:

Shag is a 1998 film set in 1963 old South Carolina following a group of girls just graduating from high school. One of the 4 girls (Carson) is getting married in the next few weeks. Not ready to split up the group, Melaina, Pudge and Luanne take her (Carson) to Myrtle Beach for a fun-filled weekend.  An unsuspecting twist turns their planned out futures out the window and down a path they have chosen for themselves.

Plot:

Shag starts out with Luanne packing her bag at her Senator Daddy’s big home then jumping into her Mothers convertible all while her mother is giving her instructions on how to act like a lady when she is touring Fort Sumter. Luanne drives and picks up her friend Pudge, who is running out of her house as her mother is yelling eating instructions for while she is gone. Driving away Pudge tosses all her diet food from the car on their way to pick up Melaina. Rickey Valentine music is playing in the background as Melania applies frosted pink lipstick tucks in her bikini straps into her shirt and begins to climb out of window of her Ministers fathers home. He had been banging on her room door proclaiming that he knows that she is not going to Fort Sumter. He continues to yell running towards the car as the girls drive away. Their last stop is to pick up Carson, who is getting fitted for her wedding dress. Carson is hot and uncomfortable in her fitting as she convinces her fiancé that this trip is just a fun trip to Fort Sumter and that he should not be worried. Carson quickly finds out as the road trip progresses that she is not going to Fort Sumter but to Myrtle Beach for one last fun weekend before she gets married and Luanne goes off to college.

Each girl had their own reason to get away from the life the know wanting more for themselves all but Carson. The ladies meet two boys on the strip that make a quick and lasting impression on them. They decide to stop at the dance pavilion to allow Pudge to dance and we quickly see that she is often over looked by boys how are asking her friends to dance. Luanne finds herself in a fight with two girls for making eyes at their man, Melaina has her sights set on a bikini contest boosting a meeting with a super star singer, while Carson is worried and ready to go home.

The two young men (Buzz & Chip) meet up with girls once again and take a liking to both Carson and Pudge. Buzz throughout the movie tries to convince Carson that there is more to life then getting married. Helping her to see that this is her way out of a life that she never really planned as it was planned for her. Pudge is taken with the attention that Chip is giving her but finds out that he soon will be joining the military. Chip and Pudge enter a shag contest to show that they have a true bond that will keep them together even with him leaving for the military. Luanne strict and stiff upbringing lands her really just wanting to get married and settled down. She finds that she has more in common with Carson’s fiancé then Carson does. These two hit it off unsuspectingly and try to keep their feelings tucked away for Carson’s sake not knowing that she has growing feelings for Buzz. Melaina’s desire to make it big clouds her fun as she pursues to be Miss Sun Queen. She makes it possible to meet and get to know Rickey Valentine all the while he just wants to be seen as normal. She quickly drops him and has her eyes set on his manager to take her places. Their weekend trip all comes to a head when Luanne’s parents are in town to judge the Shag contest that Pudge and Chip have entered. Luanne quickly comes up with a reason why they are all there and it was to see them as a surprise.

The story ends with each girl getting what they want and the exciting futures that they have chosen. Sing their school song on the  steps of Luanne’s parents home as they each close one chapter of their lives and open a new one.

Is your film presented chronologically or non-linearly?

Shag is presented chronologically as the film followed the girls every moment throughout the weekend. This helped build upon each characters story line showing the choices that each girl is making and how it affected what their new future.

How did this aesthetic choice contribute to the general effect on the audience?

The aesthetic choice contributed to the general effect on the audience by allowing the audience to self identify with one of the characters as the story unfolded.

How are elements like character development or foreshadowing impacted by the choice of storytelling methods?

I believe that is a big impact on storytelling. An example of this is when Pudge tosses out her diet food from the car. It foreshadowed that she was heavy and that she would be the friend being passed over. This came to light the first time the girls when to dance at the pavilion. Boys saw over Pudge and only saw her attractive friends. Because the film was made chronologically, it allowed the audience to then see the growth of Pudge from a shy girl to a confident women who was okay in her skin. If this film were non-linearly it would not allow you to buy into to the love stories or see the disappointments when things don’t work out. It would not give a clear picture of their weekend if the film bounced from future to past to present.

If the film had followed a different presentation style, how would the general effect on the audience have been different?

If the film had followed a different presentation style, it would affect the audience by not giving them an underdog to root for and the love stories would not develop in the same way that the audience could identify with.

Resources:

Ebert, Rodger. (1989). Shag movie review [image file]. Retrieved from http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/shag-1989

Hollywood TeenMovies Trailers. (1989). Shag official movie trailer. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/5k-ychC0mXk.

 

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