"You dirty birdie..."

            I’ll be the first to admit that my response to this prompt may seem unexciting but I’m not ashamed to latch on to the excuse that I do everything I can to steer clear of horror films, thus resulting in my lack of monster knowledge. When I first started to think about who is the best monster of all time, I immediately thought of an unfortunate memory I have of joining my parents in the T.V room right as Annie Wilkes was demonstrating to Paul Sheldon what “hobbling” is. The graphic image of Annie smashing in Paul’s ankles made my stomach sink and I left the room because of it. Years later while channel surfing I was greeted with Annie’s seemingly kind face, and decided to watch Misery start to finish. Misery, a story written by Stephen King, follows Paul Sheldon, an author who gets into a car accident during a blizzard. He is miraculously saved by his, "number one fan" Annie Wilkes. The blizzard causes Paul to be stuck under the care of Annie. As she nurses him back to health her story unravels, and Paul finds that she is obsessed with not only him, but his character Misery Chastain. The idea may seem hokie, but Kathy Bates turned Annie Wilkes into the scariest monster I have ever seen. Her kind face, neighborly accent and ironically placed cross around her neck is the meanest trick she possesses. You first notice that there is something off about Annie when she becomes enraged with the profanity Paul uses in his new book. The switch that goes off in Annie, and the terrifying spark in her eyes showed her instability. In my opinion that instability, and mental behavior is what makes a monster scary. What topped it off for me was Annie’s bone chilling stares towards Paul as she told him she loves him. The lengths she goes to keep Paul trapped in her house and her ability to over power him because he is injured was truly frightening to me. Her odd behavior, creepy haircut, and obsessive nature made her the scariest monster I have ever seen in a film.

It's in The Eyes

When we started this movie in class I was aware of film Noir, and that Double Indemnity was one of first movies to portray it. Even though I knew these things going into the movie, I was still surprised by what I saw. Seeing as how this is such an old movie, I was expecting the noir aspect to be different from what it is like now. I figured that a movie like L.A Confidential, which in a sense is film noir, would be completely different because of modern advancements in film. However, after watching the film I realized I was wrong. Double Indemnity had the same essential factors that play into film noir than any other modern film would have. 

The one essential factor that stuck out to me was the dramatic close-ups. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter how old Double indemnity is, or how modern L.A Confidential is, they both have this aspect in the film. I thought it was interesting that even though Double Indemnity was modest and overly dramatic to the point where you want to mock the movie, it still draws you into the plot with close up shots. There were a lot of these shots, where the characters didn’t have to say anything, the camera just zoomed in on their face, and by looking at their eyes and hearing the music in the background you would immediately understand what the character was feeling or even thinking. I believe this idea is essential to film noir, and after watching Double Indemnity I now know that even at the earliest stages of film noir, this idea was meticulously incorporated into the films.

The image below is an example of a face close up on Neff. I unfortunately can’t determine when this still is from plot wise, but I can still assume what he was thinking. From his eyes it seems as though he is a little caught off guard, or unsure of the situation, whatever it might be. He looks nervous, and on edge by the way his lips are pursed. He also looks fearful. This was one of many examples of where I found this idea throughout the movie. There were plenty of close ups on Mrs. Dietrichson’s face which added to the drama and intensity of the film as well.  

Harvey as an Old Man

Ann Voris
Literature and Film
Lawler - 2

The Quitter
Journal Entry #2

            Seeing as this is a graphic novel, the images play a major role in how the story is told. The images can provide the reader with detailed portrayals, and allow someone to analyze a character or situation more closely. There was one specific image in this second section of the book that I read that stood out to me quite a bit. The image is on the second to last page. It consists of Harvey as a grown man in present time, or at least present to when he was writing this graphic novel about himself. This first caught my eye because it was evidently very different than any other image I had seen prior in the novel. At the top of the page you see Harvey as a high school student being scolded by his mother, and then all of a sudden an image of old man jumps out at you. By taking a closer look I realized the symbolism laying with in this image. In the foreground of this image you see Harvey’s face with an explanation expression, and what appears to be a book, and pencil. Harvey wrote in this image in present tense an explanation for why he thinks the way he does, and did back in high school. The book in the image that he is writing could possibly symbolize this actual graphic novel, and he may be in the process of writing it in this image, sort of like a flashback. The book seems to be what is emphasized most in the foreground. I would argue that there isn’t much emphasized in the background, the stack of paper is evidently shaded, but it doesn’t seem to signify much. Another reason why I get the flashback feel with this image, or maybe a flash foward because Harvey is and older man, is because the frame itself isn’t actually framed with any lines like all the other images. The image instead just sort of appears on the page, which in my opinion, makes its stand out even more than if it was framed with dark lines.

            Another aspect of this image I found to be interesting was the lighting. Harvey’s face is shaded lightly, which I believe was done intentionally to show that Harvey is enlightening the reader in a way. He is sharing personal information, so he is in the light. The book in the image is also shaded lightly because it is important, compared to the coffee mug, and telephone, both of which don’t indicate any legitimate meaning. The last feature of the image that captures it in its entirety is the angle and distance of the shot. The angle is a medium close up shot, which, similar to a movie, is appropriate for when what the character is saying, and what is surrounding the character is important. Both of these elements were clearly trying to be captured in this image.

Makeshift windowpane frame

*When lines are added to the still you can see how it was intentionally framed. The windowpane intersection lines up with the framing lines. They seem to be like makeshift framing lines that help guide the viewer to what's important. The light shining through the window also falls on an intersection. Finally, the subjects faces are also in the top third row.

A. The subjects in this particular frame are the twin brothers. This scene takes place at the very end of the movie where they are free and living a normal life. In my opinion they are portrayed in this frame as feeling very relaxed and content. The way they are being filmed and where the lighting hits them in this frame seems to draw the viewer's eye to the books. It seems as though the fact that the subjects are reading is what the viewer is really supposed to notice. The books in the frame are very prominent.

B. The twins and the books in their hands are being foregrounded in this photo. Since the twins are reading, and seem to be very consumed by their books, it makes sense why they would be foregrounded. They are also the main subjects of this scene. The items on the table, the window, and what is outside the window is being backgrounded. I don't think what is being backgrounded is any less important than what is foregrounded. When the viewer looks outside the window they see a sunny and beautiful day, along with green lush trees. Even though this is in the background it still sets the tone for the frame. The twins are free and happy in this frame, so it is only appropriate that the weather outside is nice.

C. The lighting is a big aspect of this scene. The light is coming through the window and lands right on a framing intersection. This happens to be right next to the face of the twin on the right hand side. The lighting brightens the twins faces, and almost makes them glisten. You can also see actual beams of light on the book the twin on the right is holding. The lighting allows the viewer to determine that they are inside because it is coming through a window, and it allows them to determine what the tone of the scene is. There aren't a lot of shadows in this frame. There are shadows in the folds of the twins clothing, and at the very bottom of the shot. However, the wall behind the twins isn't in the shadows. It's not as bright as the other subjects, but it isn't completely engulfed in a shadow. The lighting breaks up the image by shining brighter on specific things like the books, and the faces of the twins. The twin on the right appears to be sitting closer to the camera, which I think the lighting helps to show.

D. This type of shot looks like it is a medium close up which means the human is framed from the chest up. This type of shot is close enough where you can point out specific features on the humans face, but you can also potentially see what is around the human, or what they are doing. In this case the viewer can see the twins faces pretty clearly, and they can see that they are reading. This contributes to the meaning of this scene because the fact that you can see the twins reading shows their freedom, and that they are both doing something they enjoy. The viewer can also see the what's outside the window behind the twins. The sunny day helps depict what the twins are feeling during this scene: happiness.

E. In my opinion some of the props on the table like the flowers, and the window really help contribute to this shot. Both of these represent some of the things that were taken away from the twins when they were being used at the Pre-Crime headquarters. They signify much more for the twins then they would for any other character. They help show how life has changed and become better for the twins now that they are free.