First apologies for my partial absence on 11/29.
I apparently said in class that you owe me a third paper: YOU DON’T. Instead, on 12/1, we’ll discuss the final exam (that you’ll take 2 weeks later).
Otherwise follow the syllabus and thanks.
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introductiontocinema 
M/K TILs:
Chapter 18 – In this chapter, I learned about the transition the film industry made into a new period of time in which the overall objective changed. Filmmakers began to give more importance to the profit of a movie rather than the actual movie itself. During these years there were also numerous studios being sold and bought by bigger corporations who owned every aspect of the industry. One fact that really caught my attention was that even if the studios survived the selling and buying process, studios no longer had permanent staffs like they did in the old days. Everything was constantly changing.
Chapter 19 – In this chapter, I learned about digital cinema and how it brought many new advances to the film industry. It was such a great innovation being able to create and produce an entire movie on a computer. An interesting fact that I learned from the reading was that the first feature film made entirely on a computer was Toy Story (1995). However, although this is true, it was actually its sequel Toy Story 2 (1999) that marks the beginning of the digital cinema because it was the first film to completely include all the essential components: generated, edited, mastered, and exhibited in digital form.
Reflections on A Better Tomorrow:
The film A Better Tomorrow is definitely a journey of its own. Filled with action, drama, and suspense, A Better Tomorrow is an instant classic and pioneer to gangster movies that followed years after. Director John Woo does a great job in creating this action-filled movie that not only has a great storyline, but also great actors to accompany it. There are a few aspects that really stood out from the film. To begin with, the movie contains action scenes that consist of choreographed fighting and special effects that make it an energetic and dynamic film. These scenes really contribute to making this movie engaging and exciting. Another aspect that was also very interesting was the content and form of the film. The movie revolved around several themes, such as brotherhood, loyalty, respect, and family. This movie is very successful because it incorporates this sense of brotherhood among the protagonists. This unbreakable bond that holds together the loyalty and honor between the main characters allows the audience to relate to their emotions and, in a way, allows the audience to enter the world of such family. An aspect that also stood out was the editing of the film. The filmmakers strategically add enough effect to certain scenes and add sound and music to integrate all the moving components on the screen. Overall, A Better Tomorrow is a great film and I would definitely recommend it to those who enjoy watching gangster related, action films.
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A Better Tomorrow was an excellent film which I found very entertaining and dramatic. It fell into the gangster film genre and had themes such as brotherhood, family , and respect. The movie used a lot of sound and music to intensify scenes which I really liked. The editing during the fight scenes like using slow motion also helped to intensify the scenes. I also enjoyed how the foil between the brothers also intensified and dramatized the movie even further. It was a great film to me.
M/k TILS
TIL Ch.18
I learned that pixels are lined up in rows that run horizontally across the frame. These rows are called scan lines.
TIL Ch. 19
I learned that most films are converted to an electronic format and for digital processing.
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M/K TILs
Chapters:
18. In “Conglomerates and Video: 1975-, “ learned that the Hollywood Renaissance ended shorty after the film industry became more in making deals than in making movies. With higher costs came higher risks which made movies to become more formulaic and exciting. New ideas were rare and when they succeeded, they were repeated in sequels. Beginning in the 1960s, many studios were taken over by bigger corporations whose executives saw filmmaking as business. Studios were valuable producers of salable entertainment ,and when the dust had settled, most of them had been absorbed by media conglomerates, which are huge corporations made up of many diverse companies.
19. In “Digital Cinema: 1999-,” I learned that effects work consisting partly or entirely of computer-generated imagery (CGI) and digitally modified frames has made most special effects technology obsolete. Digital effects (DFX) dominates post production. Digital mixing and the digital soundtrack have become standard. The first feature film generated entirely on a computer was Pixar’s Toy Story by John Lasseter in 1955. The movie’s sequel Toy Story 2 by John Lasseter with Lee Unkrich and Ash Brannon in 1999 marks the beginning of digital cinema because it was entirely generated, edited, mastered, and exhibited in digital form.
Reflections on A Better Tomorrow:
I liked the film, A Better Tomorrow, because it was entertaining and and it also had a interesting narrative with a theme of brotherhood. The film’s director was John Woo and it was made in 1986. John Woo uses stylized violence where the fight scenes were in slow motion and included excessive amount of blood. I liked the slow motion of the fight scene to make it dramatic but I would have less blood coming out in certain scenes like when Shing and his gang were beating up Mark. Even though this is a gangster film, I believe that the stylized violence made the narrative better. I can see how the characters express emotions in the final battle scene when Ho looked at Kit. Ho was ready to turn himself in. I liked how Mark opened Kit’s eyes and realize what Ho it trying to do, which is to become another person but it wasn’t easy to get out of the gangster life. I enjoyed the film’s theme of brotherhood because in the film there were two brothers, Ho and Kit, and two friends, Ho and Mark. It was interesting how the brothers Kit and Ho had opposite lives. Kit becoming a cop while Ho being a gangster. I recommend to anyone to watch this film because the film was entertaining and interesting,
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Sorry if this comes across as nitpicking, but when you mentioned Pixar’s Toy Story, you accidentally typed 1955 instead of 1995. Once again sorry for nitpicking.
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M/K TILs
Ch. 18 Jaws helped create the blockbuster mentality by Hollywood when it made money quicker than Gone With the Wind, leading Hollywood to focus more pleasing teenagers and young audiences. The success of films like Star Wars and Rocy confirmed this. This meant a bigger focus on technology and special affects.
Ch. 19 35mm film costs about a 100 times more than digital videotape which helped provide moreincentive to switch over completely to digital film. Digital copies of film are also look the same as the orginal copy which makes the editing process easier.
Reflections on A Better Tomorrow
A large aspect of the film was its heavy stylizied violence. This brings up the question if the violence was justified by the narrative. For one yes, the story was a crime dram so violence was to be expected but the plot was nothing special. it explored the theme of brotherhood, loyalty, and respect, but was mostly a straight forward action film. The violence made the film more dramatic and gave it its own athestic. something that more realstic violence would not have given the film. There was not very much tension as it felt very predictable as most ’80s action films were. So the stylized vioelnce was neccasary to this film and adds to the overall quality of the film.
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Reflections on A Better Tomorrow:
I’ve seen multiple films from director John Woo, but never heard of this one. The entire time I was watching it I was really hoping for some doves. Thankfully there were a couple here and there so it was nice to know he got that trademark right from the beginning and not later in his career. As for the plot and characters it felt like an action packed melodrama which I found very enjoyable. The pacing was good and the way he filmed action in a way I’ve never seen before. He made gunfights not seem like unpredictable firefights, but instead like fencing in battle. That luck is not required to win a gunfight, just skill. Everything in the film felt ten times more real than modern day films due to the little use of special effects and instead doing stunts and breaking stuff all over.
TIL:
Chapter 18: After a movie in 1996 edited on a computer won an Oscar for best editing, computer edited films drastically increased.
Chapter 19: A single frame from Finding Nemo took a 2,000 processor network 10 hours to generate on Pixar’s RenderMan software.
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Reflections on A Better Tomorrow: Gotta love a movie about two brothers walking opposite paths. Who can beat a melodrama about one brother sucked into the world of crime trying hard to get his life together and the other working hard to be in the police force and such. I have to say one of the strongest things about this movie, to me, was the story. I excepted it to be your average crime/melodrama/family conflict story but I was wrong and well, I was quite impressed.
Chapter 18:In the year 1996, Apollo 13, a film that used a computer to edit, more and more films used computers to edit and paved the way for modern films we know today.
Chapter 19: Movies like Pixar’s Toy Story were know for being made entirely on computer. this film also made the name Pixar a house hold name eve before Disney bought it out. They one upped themselves with the sequel Toy Story 2. Nowadays most, if not all, animated films use CGI, or Computer Generated Imagery.
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M/K TILs
Chapter 18
1975 brought about the era where sequels and remakes went into production at a neck-breaking speed (that continues to present) because film ideas are approved on by how marketable they are, and so the security of past success are what is banked on.
Chapter 19
Star Wars was the first feature film to use motion-control cameras because of the precision of camera work they needed to compose their scenes since they would shoot many aspects meant to be in the same scene separately and then combine them together.
Reflection on A Better Tomorrow
I’m not one for action movies, so I’d never come across any of Director Woo’s work before. It went how I would expect an action movie of the ’80s to play out, though its themes of brotherhood really drove the film. The most notable aspect about the movie was its heavily stylized violence created through lots of slow motion and the exaggeration of the amount of blood a human bleeds out of their body. I did really appreciate all of the chemistry between the main characters. I was really captivated by the relationship between Mark and Ho, and I admired the tension between the two brothers because something about Kit’s refusal of Ho seemed like how a person would react in actuality to a former criminal brother. The woman character was weakly developed and was kind of annoying and stereotypical, but it was already explained to the class that there is no use looking for strong or rounded characters in these types of action movies.
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M/K TILs
Ch. 18 – In 1975 sequels and remakes were as common as the common cold and during this time the idea of having a target audience was born. The idea to lure an audience of teens and young adults with a movie poster of legs.
Ch. 19 – Toy Story was the first film generated completely on computer, however it was Toy Story 2 was the first film to be entirely generated, edited, mastered, and exhibited in digital form.
Airplane! – I love the movie Airplane! I know after doing some research that this movie is a shot for shot spoof of another movie called Zero Hour. I’ve never seen Zero Hour but I can only imagine that is almost as good as Airplane. I feel like most of our modern day spoofs were based off of the idea of this movie.
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M/K TILS:
Chap 18: In the 80s due to the Dolby Stereo theaters could show movies in four stereo sound, which then made the process of sound editing and mixing a lot more sophisticated.
Chap 19: The First Computer Film Artist was John Whitney and he used mechanical drawing machines that made abstract drawings on cels that could then be put under an animation camera.
A better Tomorrow: the theme of brotherhood was a strong link between all of the characters in A better tomorrow. I believe that this showed the connection that Ho had to all aspects of his life. It was a link that no matter how long he had been gone in prison it still brought him right back into the “thick of things” as soon as he was out of prison. It also showed the destructive nature of that ideal, that brotherhood can be good if used correctly but can also be a burden if abused.
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TIL Ch 18: Hollywood was moving towards making as much money as possible. Jaws becoming the profitable blockbuster that it was showed filmmakers that they need to start gearing towards other audiences…i.e. the younger audiences. Following Jaws, Star Wars is a good example of the new type of films.
TIL Ch 19: Toy Story in 1999 was the first computer animated film, although Toy Story 2 was considered the true first computer animated film because it was generated, mastered, and edited on digital screen. The Toy Story movie made Pixar a famous name before it was bought by Disney.
A Better Tomorrow: John Woo definitely used a formalistic style of direction in this film. He used a succession of slow motion action scenes and quick edits. He also chose to use over exaggerated amounts of blood during this action scenes. As a viewer it is easy to see that the film had a low budget, the production looks cheaply made. This did not take away from the action scenes…it is something that viewer’s have become accustomed to with some action films. I think it was easy to see how this director influenced many other of today’s famous director’s, Tarantino to be specific. Along with the action, their was also a good plot line to follow. The story focused around two brothers on different paths in life. Their struggles are one that are easy to relate to as an audience member, and help make the action movie more than just that.
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In chapter 18 I learned how Conglomerates bought out independent studios and motion pictures become the dominant players in movie making cinema. Companies began to see filmaking as a profit making business venture rather than a form of entertainment. Ticket prices began to increase as the cost of producing movies and production budgets soared. Diversity and multiculturalism began being introduced into movies.
In chapter 19 I learned how Digital cinema evolved over the years from High definition digital video to digital effects. Digital effects dominate post production and the analog track is only used in case if a film track breaks down. The film is instantly available for playback thanks to digital technology. Independent film makers can now make movies easier than ever in the digital and streaming age. Principal performers and major scenes are shot simultaneously these days and much design and background research is done on the internet. There is also a lot of film preservation to restore the original look and length of old movies. Only time will tell if Hollywood can continue to innovate in the modern era and that virtual reality will be the new frontier probably ten years from now when people go see a movie.
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In chapter 18 I learned how there were many sequels that were presented in this era. Several movies that were released were based off of guesswork rather than experience and market research. The pricing of creating films also increased significantly during this time period and the revenue skyrocketed as well. Also, the Dolby sound system was introduced during this era and really helped movies with the optimum sound. The new Dolby sound really enhanced the movies theatrical aspects and helped to sophisticate the audio of movies. The new sound techniques had four-channel stereo rather than one.
In chapter 19 we were introduced to digital films. Digital films were movies that were created without using film! (Is it still considered a film) Toy Story was the first film that was ever completely generated on a computer. I found this interesting because I was never aware of this and thought Toy Story was a really cool movie. Over this era several films were generated and they fine tuned the making of digital films. Several aspects of digital film continued to grow throughout this era. In digital films the stage of production is called “development,” and often times when a producer gets an idea he would sketch something out on a computer and run with that idea. I learned that making digital films is actually cheaper and easier to edit.
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M/K TILS: Chapter 18: The time of the small budget movie was over. As filmmaking technologies
advanced, new film studios hard a harder time entering the game, needing a larger budget just to break even. Most existing studios were now media giants, with each movie picture costing upwards of $70 million dollars to produce. Because of how much money was being bet on each release, studios took less risks with their stories, prompting the surge in sequels and unoriginality that continues to this day. The blockbuster mentality pushed the big budget pictures higher and higher, requiring more money for more profit.
Adversely, in the now empty area of budget filmmaking, a new niche movie style emerged, most prominently with horror movies. Bureaucracy had no sway in independent filmmakers’ works, and it was discovered that cheap movies could make just as much profit as the big budgets.
Chapter 19: Film restoration and preservation efforts began in 1987 with Paramount leading the charge. In the following years, Warner Bros. and Columbia followed, and by 1990 the FIlm Foundation was established to preserve and restore films to their former glory.
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chp 18 tils: its crazy how now movie budget are extremely high and somewhat easy to come across for major directors. back in the late 20th century movies had to scramble a lot money and make sure the movie was good enough to bring in some profit. i also learned that many of the independent companies that existed then were bought out and were merged with larger studios.
CHp 19 tils: reading this chapter were slowly getting closer and closer to the modern age with full digital movies
Reflections on a better tomorrow: this movie was really something. not good nor bad but rather something. what i mean when i say this is that this movie was crazy.the amount of gore that went in to it. the amount of violence that was presented was equivalent to a modern action movie, but with more gore. it kind of surprised me with all the gore. blood literally squirting out of the bullet wounds,and the the shots of mark getting beat are insane. overall on my movie scaling, it gets a solid 6. if it wasn’t for the ridiculous amount of gore, the would be higher. although i do enjoy a good action film. it keeps me from being bored
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M/K TILS:
Chapter 18- In this chapter I learned the film industry had a shift in what was important in a film. The people creating films were moving towards a money mindset rather than an artistic mindset. In the 1960’s many of the film studios were being bought out by bigger corporations in which they saw the business side to filming and how to make more money. Special effects became a major thing in film at this time as well.
Chapter 19- I learned in this chapter that Pixar would start to create films but instead of an actual camera filming these movies would be made digitally on the computer in which processing software would take hours upon hours to process little scenes being created. Pixar’s Toy Story would be the first film to completely made digitally.
Reflections on A Better Tomorrow- John Woo used his eye for film to create a great film. Woo used stylized violence to tell this story of brothers and gangster lifestyles. The theme of brotherhood is expressed in this film heavily in which the two main characters were brothers and at the end how Kit helped Ho out with killing Shing. Something I noticed throughout the film was that John Woo seemed to like the idea of blood a lot along with being shown in slow motion in multiple fight scenes. This was a film made in 1986 that was slowly gained popularity until it was a hit on a global scale. The somewhat choreographed fight scenes create a dynamic feeling to movie almost to exaggerate the fight scenes.
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TIL: M/K Ch. 18- We are in a period of film history, where there have never been so many sequels and remakes all in hopes of finding a new idea in something old.
M/K Ch. 19- With the digital era in film and anything can be made the narrative of film and the animation of the film are becoming closer together than they once were.
Reflections on A Better Tomorrow-
Aside from all the fighting and action scenes, John Woo brought the theme of brotherhood home. This is noted when Ho and Mark may not be brother, but the bond between them would tell you different. After Ho was released from prison he decided to make amends with his brother.It ends with Ho still trying to reconcile his past with his brother. It’s finally at the end that we can see just how deep the bonds of brotherhood between them is- that is when Kit hands Ho his gun to kill other person. It stood out to me that in the end, Ho decided to show his loyalty to his brother by handcuffing himself to him, allowing him to take credit for capturing Ho. Even though I’m not a big fan of these kinds of action movies, I would watch this again just for the overall theme of brotherhood.
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CH 18: The cost of making movies and tickets as well as everything in between began to rise significantly as filming became a huge market for profit with big blockbuster films and sequels became extremely popular to target certain audiences.
CH 19: Pixar made huge leaps by making Toy Story the first computer animated film but Toy Story 2 is considered the real first one because it had literally everything including editing, generated, mastered and more.
Reflections on A Better Tomorrow: This movie was very exaggerated and violent but considering it is a Hong kong heroic bloodshed it definitely makes sense. The movie did have a good plot and had many themes such as brotherhood and Loyalty. Although I prefer a more American style film it was still entertaining to watch a different style film from another country and I would recommend it.
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A Better Tomorrow
The story line of this movie was just perfect! I enjoyed this movie a lot and was on my toes ready to see what would happen next. One of the central themes of this movie was bother hood. We saw his in the brothers Ho and Kit. Both of them had major conflicts at the beginning of the movie and at the end no matter what there issues were at the end there are still brothers and still loved each other. I wish I would have seen Kit finally respect his wife and thank her for always being right! Hah just personal opinion. She just always did what was best for him and always pushed her away like if she didn’t know anything. Wish she would have had a better role. But I get that she was portrayed as more of a minor character. She was a little clumsy. Over all loved the movie! I really enjoy how you show is movie from different places and we can see there different ways of shooting an action film. This action film was good in the way that the “good guys” like Ho Kit and Mark got hurt in some way. Many times we see how the good people never end up with a shot or blood. The bad thing this film did was clean up Kit but maybe they did this to show how all along he was the good person. The way we was dressed also allowed us viewers to see him as more pure in his actions.
TILs
Ch18 at the begging movies making and movie tickets were so low and this could have been due to before we had a mass production of them. Later on things began rising and the cost to watch and make a movie went up. The quality got better more advanced technology like the Dolby sound and how it made the movies better.
Ch19 in this chapter I learned more about digital and animation films and how Tou Story 2 was the film that made Pixar known. And his movie did very well in the box offices (: and I can see why I love this movie!
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Reflections on A Better Tomorrow:
This movie by director John Woo was an overall great film. Some of the fights might have been quite too dramatic, but it’s all just part of the director’s style The theme of the movie is all about brotherhood and Ho and Kit being on different sides of the law. One of the most emotional pats of the movie had to be when Ho was released from prison. After he had lied to his brother of who he really was and his father was murdered, he wanted to tell Kit he was sorry. Then when Kit sees Ho for the first time in three years he keeps hitting him over and over as the rain falls. The amount of emotion in this scene was really well done. Since the movie is about brotherhood, I have to mention Mark who is not related by blood to Ho, but will do anything for him. In the scene where Mark takes revenge on the people who betrayed his best friend. John Woo has the first part done in slow motion to show the importance and seriousness of whats about to happen. Mark kills everyone by himself all to show that would do anything for Ho.
Ch.18
In this chapter I learned as the movie industry grew the rise the cost in everything related to them did as well. Ticket and concession cost went up to pay for more expensive movies being made.
Ch.19
In this chapter I learned the in 1987 film were being restoration had started. Starting with Paramount pictures then followed by several others which lead to the Film Foundation being created in order to protect classic films.
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Chapter 18 – Chapter eighteen discusses the unsteady times in the 1980’s for studios who were being sold, bought, exchanged to other companies. The conglomerates had sucked in these studios and had given themselves a new name, “communications”. Which lead to Universal and Columbia to be purchased by Warner bros and Japanese companies.
Chapter 19 – Chapter nineteen discusses John Whitney the first computer film artist and how he started using mechanical drawing machines that would turn into abstract patterns on cels which would then be photographed by a animation camera. The chapter also discuss how later in the animation world came along a company that made strong perfected CGI in 1993, which made films like Benjamin Button creating a interactive character using CGI.
Reflections on Airplane!: (I posted this on the extra credit blog post as well but in the syllabus it says to write in this blog post the reflection on the movie Airplane!, so I left it in here and the other extra credit post too.)
This will have been my second time watching the movie, the first time I was much, much younger and barely understood why my family members thought it was funny. Now being older and having seen more films, shows I understand its appeal more, it was not so much the juvenile sexism that had my attention but the satire of other popular shows, movies and current events in the time the movie was being created. For instance when Ted has his flashback of first meeting Elaine, it starts off in a dark dirty bar until he sets his eyes on Elaine then suddenly transforms into the set of Saturday Night Fever (1977) where Ted turns into a less appealing John Travolta making fun of his hip disco moves. Of course John Travolta being a hot commodity at the time was made into satire twice on the film, the second time being when Elaine has her flashback at the beach. Ted and Elaine strolling on the beach with light happy music playing, running into and out of the waves of the ocean, the opening scene of Grease (1978). Maybe it was because John Travolta did back to back films involving his character pelvic thrusting and pointing as his dance moves and lusting after a wanted women, either way the film was great in all its satire glory.
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Chapter 18: I learned that for Hollywood executives, the new world began in 1975, when jaws made money faster than any movie since Gone with the Wind, catalyzing teenagers and young adults as the audience to please.
Chapter 19: I learned that films costs a lot to ship in those big boxes and cans, but a hard drive or a set of discs containing a digital print of a movie is extremely portable, and streaming a movie to a theatre via satellite or a broadband connection is weightless and practically free.
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Great article but it didn’t have evng-thieryI didn’t find the kitchen sink!
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