A teenage girl named Angelina is sleeping in her bed and the sun's rays shine on her. She wakes up and gets out of bed slowly. It's yet another day that she has to get through.She quickly changes into her school clothes and gets ready for school in the bathroom. She goes downstairs to get some breakfast and tell her foster parents about her soccer game after school. As she grabs a piece of toast and begins to speak to her foster parents, she is interrupted by her three foster sisters, who seek their foster parents' attention as well. The three sisters' voices overlap one another as they try to ask the foster parents about their plans afterschool. One of the sisters wants a ride to the mall and the other two want money to go the the movie theater after school. Annoyance...that is what her foster sisters are. Angelina is apalled by them and begins to yell at her sisters to stop talking and let her continue her conversation with their parents. The chatter stop and Angelina proceeds to tell her parents that she is playing in a soccer game after school and that she would love it if they come. Her parents look at each other and then to her sisters. Then they look at Angelina with a sad look and anwers a flat out no. Angelina's heart drops. It's not the first time her parents have missed a game, it happens everytime. But of course they have the time to take their perfect angels to the mall and the movies. She always comes last in this family. Hmmph.. family... Angelina looks at her family in dissapointment and fury and runs out the front door. She has had it with the world. Angelina continues running for five blocks and slows to a halt. She thinks to herself that she is worthless and unlovable. She has been unloved and neglected by everyone, even her birth parents and foster family. She wipes away her tears in her eyes and continues to walk to school. Not looking at the road, she bumps into her classmate, Nate. Dear Lord, the way his eyes glittered in the sunlight just melted her. He makes a look of concern and asked Angelina if she was ok. She smiled and says that she is fine, as long as he can walk to school with her. But to her dissapointment, he has already promised to drive his girlfriend to school. Angelina glances by his car and his girlfriend in the car glares at her with intensity. Nate's words pelted her heart and after a stunned silence she finds the strength to smile and walk past him. Yet another failure.
The last school bell rings and Angelina walks onto the field for her soccer game. As she tightens her shoelaces, Angelina looks up at the crowd, hoping that her parents changed their minds. She scans the crowd and finds not her parents, but Nate. He waves and gives her two thumbs up. She quickly turn around, wondering if he is refering to his girlfriend who is also on the team. Luckily there is no one behind her and she looks up at Nate and smiles. The whistle blows and the girls start playing the game. To an extented period of time the game goes in Angelina's favor, her team is definitely going to win she believes. Soon enough though, an aggressive girl on the other team approaches the goal where Angelina is standing and kicks the ball towards the goal. The ball hits Angelina's head with full force and she falls backwards onto the grass.
Angelina loses conciousness and enters a dream state, She imagines herself in a ball gown, dancing with Nate on prom night. The music is soft and romantic and Angelina feels the happiest she has ever been. Nate pulls her in closer and gives her a kiss on the cheek. She blushes and smiles at Nate. Their eyes lock and Angelina gets lost in Nates eyes and perfect smile. A teacher goes up on stage and speaks into a microphone that he is about to announce the prom king and queen. He opens the envelope of results and the students only hear drum roll, which transitions into Angelina's heart beating faster and faster. The sound of her heart beat stops and she hears the teacher announce her name. She is completely astonished. She won. Nate's name is announced next and he quickly grabs Angelina's hand and pulls her on stage. Tears fall out of her eyes. She receives a bouqet of roses and presses them to her nose. A tiara is placed on her head to complete her image. She looks to her left, Nate is wearing his crown and smiling at the crowd. Angelina is speechless and blows kisses to her classmates. Nate calls her name multiple times to get her attention. The dream slowly fades and Nate's voice is heard clearly, calling Angelina's name. Angelina, still lying on the grass, opens her eyes. Nate helps her up and walks her to the bench. She asks him what happened and he explained how his girlfriend, or should he say ex girlfriend kicked the ball at her in fury and broke up with him for spending more time talking to Angelina than actually spending time with her. He lets out a sigh but reassures her that there was never anything special between him and his ex girlfriend and that she is a much better person to be around with.
The week following the soccer incident, Angelina opens her PE locker and finds a wrapped box inside. Her eyes light up and she unwraps it with anticipation. Inside the box is a single rose and a note asking her to prom. As Angelina reads the last line of the note, she realizes it was written by Nate. She drops the note and stares at the rose for a moment. She finally picks it up and smells it sweet fragrance. Now she has something worth living for...
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Amelie Textual Analysis
Using the textual analysis questions from class, write a blog post that identifies 4 stylistic devices the Director of Amelie uses in the production of his film. For each device, you must include:
1. A "screen shot" as evidence for each of the stylistic devices.
2. A written description of the device and how it functions in the film.
3. An interpretation of what you feel is the director's intent and effect of the device on the film as a whole.
a) In this shot, young Amelie is taking photographs of clouds in the sky, but a closer look reveals that a cloud is actually in the shape of a bunny. Obviously, animal shaped clouds do not really exist in reality, but in Amelie's imagination in does. This stylistic device is called magical realism in which the director twists reality into the way he imagines it to create unimaginable things that awe the audiences.
b) The director chooses to use magical realism in the film because he wants to let us into the mind of Amelie. He wants to show his audiences that Amelie is no ordinary child. Because she was deprived from a normal childhood and never had the opportunity to interact with people her own age, she often relied on her imagination for amusement. Through magical realism, the director is able to effectively show the uniqueness and creative mindset of Amelie.
2. Sound/music:
a) In this scene, Amelie finally finds the courage to approach the man of her dreams. Her walk to Nino is complimented by a mixture of soft, yet edgy accordion and piano music. Unfortunately, when a tram carrying boxes and supplies hinders Amelie from continuing walking, she is overwhelmed with doubt and fear. As she turns around, there is a long accordion note, following with a loud, echoing bang.
b) The director's intent with the music in this scene is to create a suspenseful feeling as Amelie approaches Nino. As the music plays, the audiences get more excited and anxious as we believe that destined lovers will finally unite. Unfortunately, Amelie's fear of rejection and taking chances gets the best of her and she decides to turn around. After the tram speeds off, clearing Amelie's path, she turns back around, but only to find Nino gone. Thus, the loud, echoing bang in the end illustrates the devastation that Amelie feels because she has lost yet another chance to tell Nino her true feelings about him.
3. Subtext:
a) In this painting that the glass man painted, he explains to Amelie how he always had trouble painting the girl drinking from a glass cup. Amelie and the glass man discuss whether it is because of the girl's strange nature that makes her so difficult to paint perfectly. To the glass man, she is an outsider who does not belong in her society. The girl feels a void in her life and doesn't feel the same happiness as everyone else in the painting. She doesn't interact with the other characters in the painting, but just keeps to herself. But, to the glass man's dismay, the girl in the painting actually represents Amelie herself. The artwork hides a whole other meaning and content underneath than just a mixture of oils and colors. The painting reveals Amelie's true character and life story.
b) The director's intent with using subtext is that he wants to have Amelie do some self evaluation. By looking at a fictional character that represents her, Amelie will soon realize that before she attempts to help others with their lives, she needs to stop and sort out her own messy life. The director wants Amelie to always remember the little girl in the painting in order to have her transform from a reserved and lonely child into a confident and successful young woman. The subtext is a narrative structure to reveal Amelie's personal challenges.
4. Color correction:
a) Throughout the film, yellow was the dominant. It wasn't too overdone, but was still noticeable during high key lighting scenes. I first noticed the use of yellow color correction when the film began and even as the main character, Amelie appears, the yellow color is still apparent. The color is bright, soft, and yellow and gives the film a nice touch to it.
b) The director intended to use color correction to give the film a "storybook" or" fairytale" feeling. Since the film is a romantic comedy, it is appropriate to use the color yellow to create a positive feeling throughout. The color yellow symbolizes the happiness and change. Although the beginning of the film is quite depressing, there is also humor that relieves some of the gloomy feeling. The film highlights Amelie trying to do good for her community while trying to find happiness and love for herself. It is not the typical blockbuster love story. Because the story takes place in France, there is a romantic feeling that is generated as Amelie strives to find true love. The color correction effectively lightens the tone of the film and thus it fits into the romantic comedy genre.
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