Hurt Locker Analysis

1. The Hurt Locker is a film based on the actual war we are living today. Through out this film the audience experiences the danger the soldiers live every minute of the day and how they deal with it. We understand that every time the soldiers go out on a mission they have 50% chance of living and 50% chance of dying, they communicate their feelings and the risks they run while completing the mission. However, the most sad thing about this situation is that when a soldier dies is just ine more of the many soldiers that have died for the same reason, it's nothing more than that.

2. The film was shot in Jordan within miles of the Iraqi border; this gave the film a Middle East heat. The Director's work was very clear in letting her actors know what they needed to do and as a result the film came up great. The places she chose were the appropriate for each scene and the way the story was developed was the most adequate. The film is very recent, it was released on June 29, 2009, but the premier was at the Venice Film Festival in Italy during 2008. The Hurt Locker is not the first film about this topic, other films such as Stop-Loss (2008), In the Valley of Elah (2007), and Lions for Lambs (2007) have experienced this subject. However, the Hurt Locker has been more successful in theaters than the mentioned films before. Some of the thematic threads are "Dying for your country, but at the end you're just one more of many that are like you", "every second counts; live it or regret it later", "danger is what makes us differentiate between peaceful and suspenful moments".

3. The acting was critical and the actors acomplished the goal, which was to transmit what's a soldier's life like. The moments of suspence, the audience felt it and they shared that feeling with the character. The costume was okay, the actors were in their army uniforms and when it wasn't like that they were wearing casual and modern cloths. The Visual style was the appropiate for all kind of scence, from the most sensible and calm scene to the most dynamic and explosive scene; the visuality was okay. Obviously the Iconography were the images where "James" was dressing up to go and disconnect a bomb because it symbolized life or death. One of the first scenes was when another soldier like James died diconnecting  a bomb and now the audience was sensible about that part. Overall the production design was very good and they did their a great job so everything else was great too.

4. The cinematography was excellent, all the shots were focus on something and each one was important for the development of the film. There were all types of shots; one that i saw often was action/reaction shot, very important. Also the lighting of the scenes was good, there was always enough light. The style of this film is realistic, it has continuity shots and no jump cuts. The angles were well chosen, when they changed angles the story took a new perspective not only in the visualization, but in the story. Also the camera distance was used here, because is a war the audience needed to see the scene from distance to locate the character and not get lost. However, close ups were used here in the opened vs. closed forms.

Baraka Film Response

Well,  this film Baraka which means breath has such title because they entire movie is about nature and the world we live in, the air we breath. I think the purpose was to let the audience know what the movie is about and how we are affecting it. Also this film is critiquing the world we live in today, it's very different from what it should be, we as human beings have changed the world in a negative way. There no alternative vision represented. The message it's clear; think about what you do every day and how it's affecting or helping the world? The film shows mostly the negative effect of our actions and how innocent people suffer the consequences.

The fact that there was no audio made it quite different. We understood what the purpose and message was, but if it would have audio I think the film would have being better. Also there was no text therefore; the audience didn't know what countries were shown. We kind of get the idea, but we are not quite sure and that creates confusion. In my opinion I think text was need it in order to be clear. Most of the images are about nature, for example natural regions and beautiful areas. Other images such as the monk on the street and a cigarette factory along with city street suggest a change for good. Possibly  throughout religion or spiritually the society could achieve this change and improve the quality the world we live in.

Also this film highlights the difference between social classes, but it focuses in the low social class. They are the consequence of our acts and the places they live in are poor areas with unhealthy conditions; not only because of the don't have money, but because of the contamination in the natural environment. To obtain this feeling along with other emotions the music was essential, especially when the music was sad/solemn it created bigger and stronger emotions. I think that the reason we watched this movie was to understand that images are more powerful than words, and also to make conscience of our actions. Personally I feel that the films was more solemn and I doesn't make me want to travel, but to just be aware of what we do today is reflect it in the future and in any place of the world.

The acting was really good, I think that the audience forgot it was a movie and they felt like they were living it. Also the location were well chosen and contribuated to the good result of the film. The story about nature was well represented by the images and the theme along with the plot helped each other to not create confusion. The lighting and the cinematography was excellent. All the shots had the necessary light and show during what time of the day the events were happening. Additionally, the cinematography was great too and the close ups made the difference, they created all the emotions. The editing techniques were basic techmiques, but essencial for all the good work. And the sound had good quality as well, the audience had no trouble with the audio.

Documentary Film Analysis

The documentary film I watched was about skateboarding http://www.fuel.tv/firsthand and it explored the world of skaters; challenges, projects, and their life style. The narrative of the story is the protagonist and while he talks the audience actually sees what he's talking about, it is shown. Sometimes the images talk for themselves and express feelings that the audience is able to feel easily, there's no need for words. Everything is based on a true story and the theme would be do what you love with passion and never give up because all that effort is worth it; you make the difference. The way the story develops is classical, stars with a beginning, middle and an end, the climax is when he gets injure, but he recovers (a happy ending).



The camera work is very precise and clean, the style is realism and when cuts are made it's because they're needed.  Throughout the editing the story is fluent and contributes to the development of the story. Long shots are almost not use and close ups are frequently use because they are needed. Overall the camera work was very good and it made it look real, there are no errors and every shots has good quality. The lighting is perfect which makes the shot clear and smooth. The combination of these elements gave a good result that reflects on the video.

The editing is well done and it helps the audience to understand the story better. There are no transitions or effects, except for the presentation which is animation. This is because the story is non-fiction and it needs to be believable and make the audience forget they're watching a video. The audio is very clear and almost always the sounds are obtain from the actual footage, there's no need for fake sounds. Again all these is to make it real. The time is perfect in order to develop a documentary film, it tells the story as brief as possible and with the images shown it makes the story go faster. When the narrator is telling the story  they included his pauses and they cut off what wasn't needed. They had background music playing with no lyrics, but according to the mood of the protagonist. This documentary film came up very well and the camera work along with the editing made the result a good and precise piece.