The Godfather: A man's word is often more valuable than money.

For me, the most important theme in The Godfather comes from the issue of loyalty: a man's word is often more valuable than money. 

The importance of this theme becomes obvious in the very first scene, where Bonasera asks Don Corleone to help him get revenge for his daughter's rape. The favor, however, is worth much more than money; it costs Bonasera his loyalty. This means that now, if Vito asks something of Bonasera, he will have to comply. 

The opening scene isn’t the only case when loyalty acts like currency in Coppola's film. When Salvatore Tessio betrays the Corleone family, his move being “simply business”, he asks Tom Hagen to get him off the hook. However, since loyalty can’t be bought, Hagen refuses and orders to assassinate Tessio. 

Literary Elements in the Godfather

“The Godfather” is truly an incredible movie. 

The constant switches between low and high key lighting create a tense atmosphere. Although the film opens with a man talking to Vito, it is made clear that Don Corleone is the main character of the film through the use of lighting, over the shoulder shots, as well as zoom outs. Moreover, everyone is facing Don Corleone, presenting him as the center of attention.

The contrast between light and dark as well as public and private appears throughout the film. Outside, Don Corleone's family celebrates Connie's wedding, while behind closed doors, her father deals with "business".
In this scene, Vito is not just a gangster, but is also a proud father, who is dancing with his daughter on her wedding day. This scene therefore reveals his other side. At this point in the movie, it seems like "the public" and "the private" aspects of the family are capable of co-existing. However, as we find out later in the film, the two sides end up clashing. 

The Godfather's message goes beyond the idea of gangsters, power, and violence. Essentially, it is the Corleones' struggle with choosing family over business that's at the center of the movie. The final scene makes it clear that unfortunately for the family, business will always triumph. We know this for a fact when Kay asks Michael if he killed his own brother-in-law. "No," he lies. As Kay leaves the room, the camera's focus does not leave Michael, even though Kay is in the immediate foreground. In a second, the door closes Kay out, symbolizing the final victory of business over family. 

Arturo Correa-inspired piece

Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk to Arturo Correa about my piece since I was in Manila for Forensics and Debate competition. However, I did ask Jessica Allen what she thought Arturo would tell me about my work. Jessica said that my piece looks like pop art and she also said that it looked similar to one of Arturo's pieces.


I'm very happy with how this piece turned out because collage is not my strength. I've only done it once before and hated the result. However, this time, I finally decided to tackle my fear of failure and try collage again. Through trial and error, I discovered a technique that I've never tried before. I used clear plastic sheets to make sure that the collage paper was properly layered. This technique allowed my piece to look less messy than my first collage, which I'm extremely happy about because messiness was my main concern in the beginning of this journey.

On top of this, I simply enjoyed creating this piece which was quite a surprise for me as someone who is more of a drawing rather than 2D person. This artwork makes me want to create more collages and just experiment with other styles of art in general.

Hitchcock, "The Master of Suspence"

In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, point of view editing allows us to view the world through Jeff Jefferies's eyes. A lot of the shots are cause-effect, showing the photographer's reaction to what he sees outside the window. This technique makes the movie more interesting as we switch from something expected and ordinary (Jefferies in the wheelchair) and something more intriguing (his neighbors' lives). The use of jump cuts and parallel editing also add to this effect. For example, Hitchcock likes to jump back and forth between the close-up of Jeff's face and his neighbor's undressing just to show us his reaction.

Whiplash drums up the ultimate movie experience

As I fell into the movie theatre seat, lazily chewing on my popcorn, I wasn’t expecting much of what I was about to see. “A movie about a drummer, how random is that?”, I was thinking to myself. My boyfriend, a passionate drummer, a movie nerd, and an avid fan of J.K. Simmons, pulled me into this.

When the film started, I wasn’t yet willing to enjoy it, affected by prejudice against a seemingly boring story. However, as the movie progressed, I was unable to stay indifferent to great acting and cinematography so I quickly shed the prejudice that I originally had. Moreover, I started to fall in love with the convincing story of a young drummer, Andrew, who gets tormented and humiliated by his teacher, Terence Fletcher. For the first time in my movie-going experience, J.K. Simmons’s Oscar-winning performance made me feel like I was the terrorized student behind the drum set. Neither did I think that a career in music could involve blood, sweat, and tears to the extent that it did in Whiplash. 

I flashed back to my own experience with high expectations being set in school but I couldn’t recall anything even vaguely similar to the utterly intense scenes from Whiplash.  

The last ten minutes of the film had me reeling on the edge of the seat. Centered on an electrifying musical performance given by Andrew, the finale was presented as a costly triumph that was ultimately worth the pain. The scene consisted of incredibly raw close-ups that gave me shivers. With blood gushing from his wound, Andrew played the drums like his life depended on it. The ten-minute finale was so intense that I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I had to close my eyes and block my ears because I was absolutely certain that Andrew would end up going crazy or even dying. In fact, both Miles Tellers’s and J.K. Simmons’s incredible acting skills made me sympathize with Andrew to the point that I felt what he was feeling. This was the first time that a movie literally made me feel one with the character. 

As the lights turned back on and people started leaving the auditorium, I remained still, as if struck by lightning. 

It took me a few days to fully take in the movie. Upon reflecting on it, I remembered J.K. Simmons’s most famous line, “There are no two words in the English language more harmful than "good job". This line, perhaps, mirrors the essence of movie critiquing; indeed, there is nothing worse than a “good movie”. Thanks to Whiplash, I realized what sets brilliant films apart from good ones. The same exact story could be made into an incredibly bland, mediocre movie, but instead, it turned out to be the best film I’ve ever seen. Why? For me, it was the combination of incredible cinematography and top-notch acting that made Whiplash the epitome of hand-to-throat storytelling. 

Here I am, hungry for more films that will drum up my interest in modern cinematography. Except that next time, I will put away the prejudice and dive into what might become the next ultimate movie experience. 

Breakfast Club

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPOI79_9LAY

The Effect of Freeze Frame in Breakfast Club

Freeze frames are metaphors for dealing with time because they leave us with an impression that no further change will be made to whatever it is that's "frozen". This is especially effective when such a frame is used at the very end of a movie, like it is in "Breakfast Club". By halting the shot at the spoof of Bender's fist pump, John Hughes creates a metaphor of timelessness: The image suggests teenage rebellion, so obvious throughout the movie. In the stillness of this shot, Bender tells Mr. Vernon that it's pointless to try and change the five "detentioned" high schoolers. The frozen image assures the audience that they will never change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv1I4q6lOpo