Identity: Persepolis

The frame above is one of the most pivotal frames in Persepolis. The frame immediately follows Marjane's discussion with her parents about how female virgin prisoners are treated. This shows that Satrapi wanted to get across to the readers the impact that conversation had on her; since, up to this point, Marjane had just been speaking her mouth whenever she wanted, not necessarily considering the consequences of her actions. The frame captures Marjane's understanding of consequences by doing two things. First of all, by having Marjane in the foreground, the readers focus is brought there first. They notice her wide open eyes, which is contrasted with the fact that she is in her bed, where she is supposed to be sleeping. This shows the readers that something is keeping Marajane awake, which is answered by the text bubble above her head. The text explains that her friend Niloufar was a martyr, but had changed nothing in her society when she died. This thought is what is keeping Marjane up at night, since her obsession with martyrs is apparent throughout the book, and her passion for rebellion and change is thrown around quite frequently. These ideals are part of Marjane's core, but with the death of Niloufar, this frame tells us that Marjane may be reconsidering her ideals and asking herself, "can I even make a difference?"

To contrast my last picked frame, I decided to choose a frame which showed a "smaller" change in Marjane. In this frame, I really got the feeling that Marjane was developing humor towards the rebellion and the situation she found herself in. The first thing my eye is drawn to in this frame is Marjane, who is at an obvious height difference from all the other men in the picture. The determined-looking Marjane is confidently walking down Gandhi Avenue, and then my eye is drawn to the text box. "The food shortage had been resolved by the growth of the black market." This dry, one-liner sounds like a joke, since honestly, how could the black market resolve a food shortage? I believe Satrapi is trying to show her expansion of knowledge at this age, by making a joke like that. Than I read, "Finding tapes was a little complicated... on Ghandi Avenue you could find them sometimes." This also has to be a joke, since in the image almost all of the men are clearly selling tapes, meaning it isn't that hard to find them. I believe Satrapi is trying to get across that she was so knowledgeable at the time about everything that was going on, that she could even make jokes about it. Besides trying to show Marjane's cleverness and witty-ness, I think the frame wanted to show her Independence, since it can't be a coincidence that Marjane was the only one drawn in white, and that she is the shortest by far. Her confidence is supposed to show her independence, since Marjane, the obvious outsider, can still buy a black market tape from a bunch of thugs, and live to tell the tale.

LA Confidential and Double Indemnity

This is a very striking still image from LA Confidential. There is a lot going on in this frame, so there is a lot to talk about. LA Confidential is a very well shot movie, so when this frame came up I was very surprised. What would appear to be our main focus is thrown right in the middle of the shot, in the lazy frame. This very uncreative shot bothered me, until I figured out what the frame really wanted the viewer to notice. The gunned down man isn't the most important aspect to the frame, it is the empty cash register. The director used the lazy frame to trick the viewer into thinking the gunned down man was important, but upon another inspection you realize that the empty cash register is. This comes into play later in the movie, when the viewers realize that it is all a setup, and that the perpetrators planned for the Nite Owl Cafe to look like a burglary.

More simplistic than the still frame I choose for LA Confidential, this shot from Double Indemnity is still very telling. One of the pivotal scenes leading up to the murder, Neff and Phyllis meet in a grocery store to go over details of the plan. In this still frame, the viewers eye is drawn towards Phyllis's face, which has a look of disgust and stress. The way the light hits her face (while a shadow hits her body) emphasizes this. The director wanted the viewer to focus on Phyllis and her emotional reaction to what Nef was saying. Subtle shots like this is what makes Double Indemnity great; in a black a white movie the director still can use light and shadows to draw the viewers eye and emphasize whatever he wants. Genius.

Minority Report Frame

            Minority Report is shot beautifully, with many interesting frames and shots. This frame peeked my interest, so I thought I would break it down. The focal point of the whole frame is John Anderton, submerged underwater in the right half of the frame. More specifically, my eyes are drawn to Johns face and hands. Another part of the frame that draws my eyes is the robot spider on the left hand side of the frame.
            Unique to this frame, and all the shots that made up this scene, was the fact that it was shot from an overhead view. This birds-eye view makes it so their is no real foreground or background, all the frame is "equal."
            The lighting has a major influence on how people look at this frame. First of all, the blue tinted water draws a persons eye right to the top half of John's body. There is nothing else in this frame with a similar color, so the eye draws it out as unusual and pulls toward it. The other part of the frame where light is a factor, is by the spider. The light emitted from the spider also attracts the eye, because the spider is surrounded by darkness everywhere else.
            The dirty floor, the ice filled bathtub, and the darkness of the whole frame help the viewer understand the tension and fear John must be under-going in the scene.

Summer Movies 2013

1. The Purge
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Insidious Two
4. Devil
5. Saw 1-7
6. Hangover Part Three
7. Django Unchained
8. Paranormal Activity 4
9. Batman Begins
10. Happy Gilmore