https://drive.google.com/file/d/16FC6tNEWIfms_6x0Tjqqtd8XaVeOuajm/view

Ella Travis, Arie Melvin Larissa Pahomov Reel Reading May 20, 2022

The Crow Transcript

Ella: In this shot, dolly tracking is being used as Eric crawls to his dead fiance’s tombstone, Low key lighting is used to darken his surroundings. The camera is at eye level with Eric to make the viewers sympathize emotionally with him as he shivers in this cold and vulnerable state. Having defeayed all his enemies and completed all his unfinished business his tortured soul can finally rest, which he is doing in this dark, gothic cemetery. His costume is ripped, makeup smeared, and for the first time in the film he looks absolutely exhausted. As said in the Attack from Planet B review “the movie specializes in gothic style, architecture, fashion and the unbelievable score by Graeme Revell. Proyas(the director) is let off from swaying from the source material because he keeps one key element evident, its pain.” followed by “Cinematically, The Crow is beautiful”.

Arie: As the scene continues, we get a long shot of Shelly as she walks closer to the camera with a backlight behind her. This gives off the feeling that she is angelic and that she is here to take Eric back to the afterlife with him. We then get a close-up shot of Shelly then puts her hand on Eric, who is relieved to see his lover standing next to him. The scene gives off a feeling of “warmth” and reassurance, Eric has finally brought revenge on the people who wronged him and his fiancée. Now he’s finally able to embrace her, and just be with her. As they come in for the kiss, you can see less and less of Eric’s breath, signifying to us, that he is finally moving on to the afterlife with her, as the backlight is now behind him as well to prove it to us this fact as well. Finally, we get a medium shot of Eric and Shelly’s gravestones with Eric’s crow perching on his gravestone with the ring on his mouth. This can be depicted as a parting gift, a final thing to give to Sarah as a way to say goodbye to her, given that he couldn’t get the chance to do it before. At the end of that scene, we get one final shot of the city with Sarah bringing one final message to the viewer. It beautifully ties the movie to a close, establishing that true love last forever even after death, and what Eric did proved that, as he tried to get vengeance for the one he loves in order to gain peace and be with them. In fact, Eric isn’t the only one who lost someone. The writer, James O’Barr who worked on both the film and the original series, lost his fiancée to a drunk driver and he began working on The Crow comic book series to help with the grief of losing her. With this in mind, the scene also gives off a sense of being very personal and reflects on the writer with everything he went through in the past. In one interview, we see that the director of the movie, Alex Proyas, also has a personal connection to the movie as well. His mother died when he was at a young age, and he felt very touched by the idea of a character trying their best to reunite with their loved one by crossing the bridge into the afterlife and Eric did that with a vengeance. As said in the Dead End Follies review, “… The Crow is not entirely about murder and revenge. It’s a lot about murder and revenge, but it’s also about reestablishing a moral order by combatting greed.”

Colin and Jade

Ms. Pahomov

Reel Reading

25 May 2022

Welcome to a cinematic and theatrical review of La La Land by Jade and Colin

Early on in the scene, we can see that Mia, played by Emma Stone, is illuminated while her surroundings are shrouded in darkness. This shows that she may be in the dark about some of her ns decisions.

As the dinner scene continues, Mia is slowly losing touch with not only the conversation but her general surroundings, she is longing for something more, the director shows us this by cutting to Seb.

Sebastian is also waiting for something more, these characters long for each other in their heads. Now the moviemakers are making their dream a reality.

Said best by Brian Tallerico “Characters in musicals not only understood love differently than those in traditional films but they turned that understanding into art—dancing, singing and transcending mere dialogue to become something greater, something purer, something closer to true romance.”

Mia commits to her feelings and abandons her fake life, she hears the music of a happier time and and immediately is drawn to it.

The set transitions into very unrealistic theatrical shots, especially the LA scenery.

On the website Variety, reviewer Owen Gleiberman had an astounding summary of the film, “These two meet, scuffle, and fall in love, and they do it through a series of song-and-dance numbers, composed by Justin Hurwitz (the lyrics are by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul), that are tenderly shocking in their catchy anachronistic beauty.”

The shot ends as the former lovers meet eyes for the last time in a place that has defined their lives and careers.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QxBrJo6ruPspnNvRFeIA-KQFWzcm6YWJ/view?usp=sharing

Rebecca Cassel-Siskind and Daijah Fleming

Ms. Pahomov

Reel Reading

24 May 2022

The Sixth Sense Scene Analysis Transcript

This is the ending scene in The Sixth Sense by M. Night Shyamalan. This is where the main character Malcolm, played by Bruce Willis, realizes that he is dead.

To start off, his wedding ring rolls onto the floor. A close-up of the ring is shown as it spirals. He raises his ringless hand as the camera focuses on the foreground, in the background, you can see his wife’s ring on her finger.

Tears fill his eyes and he has his first flashback. Shyamalan’s directorial choice of flashbacks reveals to the viewer all the clues that he was dead the entire time. This is where his true realization begins.

This is a close-up of Cole in the hospital revealing to Malcolm that he has the ability to see dead people.

Cole’s voice from his reveal in the hospital continues as a voiceover. Malcolm alarmingly steps back as eerie music plays setting the scene for his dramatic realization.

When this scene actually occurs in the film, not just this flashback, director M. Night Shyamalan sets the scene to make it seem like nothing is abnormal, but in actuality, Malcolm is dead and therefore Cole’s mother cannot see him. But Shyamalan purposefully sets it up like this so that the audience does not know.

Dolly tracking is used in this scene to portray his immense confusion and panic. He looks over to see a dinner set for one at the dining room table with a red napkin. Red is a recurring color in the film that symbolizes a closeness between this world and the next.

According to a review from the Looper, “In the scene where Malcolm and Lynn are seated across from each other, Lynn has no clue he’s there. That’s why Cole won’t talk to Malcolm until his mom leaves the room. Malcolm, on the other hand, doesn’t notice that Lynn is ignoring him. Ghosts are in such denial that they ignore anything that proves they’re really dead.”

The whole time he thinks that his relationship with his wife is not good and that they are distant, but in reality, he is dead. That is shown in this flashback where he tries to grab the check but she does just before him.

There is then a closeup of his hand on the red doorknob to the basement in an attempt to open the door, but he unfortunately cannot.

Malcolm then collapses his body up against the wall in complete disbelief and realization that he is actually dead. Intense, loud, almost haunting non-diegetic sound is playing to emphasize these feelings. This also creates suspense for the viewer. It then cuts to a closeup of Malcolm’s wife asleep and you can see her breath emphasizing the idea that it gets colder when dead people are around, that has been a theme throughout the film.

The haunting music fades to a gunshot and then a scream from his wife from the flashback. As he is backed up against the wall, it then smoothly zooms out to the first scene in the film when he is shot by the boy, he is on the bed, and his wife rushes over to him.

As the flashback from Malcolm getting shot cuts in and out, he then holds his side where he remembers being shot. Using a closeup, we see the blood dripping down from his stomach.

He turns around to his back drenched in blood. Shyamalan is using the technique shot-reverse-shot between scenes to show Malcolm’s realization and remembrance of his death. We decided to do this scene because after watching The Sixth Sense we agreed that the plot twist was just brilliant. According to a review from The Cinemaholic, “The Ending, in particular, leaves you questioning your ability to pay attention to details while watching something. An unexpected twist which knocks you flat upon first viewing.”

Saini, Ashish. “The Sixth Sense Ending, Explained.” The Cinemaholic, edited by Gautam Anand, Gani, 2022. https://thecinemaholic.com/sixth-sense-ending-explained/

Moore, Nolan. “We Finally Understand The Ending Of The Sixth Sense.” Looper, 2019. https://www.looper.com/154520/we-finally-understand-the-ending-of-the-sixth-sense/