Ryan Jaekle - Exploring Different Film Techniques

 Bunny:

In the first film we watched, we are following an old bunny who is baking a cake and gets an unwanted visitor. The visitor turned out to be a moth that was attracted to her kitchen light. The film displays a scene of death in a very mysterious yet almost peaceful way. The light that the moth is attracted too the light that depicts the light leading into heaven. After chasing the moth around and finally catching it, the bunny throws the moth into the cake batter and throws it into the oven to bake. The oven is important as its the great creator, it turns liquid into a solid food. The bunny falls asleep and wakes up to the oven going crazy and showing a blue light inside. The oven is the portal from life to death for the bunny, her time was coming and the moth was the death angel coming. There is a slow grainy nature of the short film to show the age of the bunny and that death is near.

Harold and Maude:

This short film used contrasts of close and far imagery in the same speaking line to show the parallels between life and death. Maude begins the film by talking about the unique-ness that each individual flower possesses. When the speaking begins, the camera is super zoomed out and all you can really see is a greenish-grey blob of mass. But as she continues speaking, the camera then immediately pans to them talking in a garden where you are able to see each flower. Maude is talking about life and the beauty of living when we are zoomed into the flowers, but when she shifts to talking about death, the camera starts to zoom out of a massive cemetery. The contrasting imagery while the speaking lines continue give amazing detail between life and death.

Northfork:

This film used a very grainy and dark color pallet to symbolize death. The father and son take teams to a house that was split into two to attempt to rescue the owner before its too late. Both the rescue teams were able to make it to the top of the building but when they arrived, there was a massive snow pile in the way blocking the passage. The son urges his father to move past the snow and keep going, even though it was very dangerous and strenuous.  The father jumps in the end and sees angels as he is moving symbolizing that his time almost came but there was other beings assisting.

Paris, Texas:

In Paris, Texas, the film uses multiple wide, long shots of roads and highways that seen to go on for forever. What these shots are trying to depict is the longing for communication with others and a sense of meaning and where do you belong. You are constantly being surrounded by people and cars when walking on these roads and highways yet no one will stop to check on them or ask how they are doing. So many people get affected by loneliness and this film depicts how hopeless it can feel at times. The man makes it to Houston, where his ex wife is now living, and attempts to reach out for the first time since their nasty divorce.  There is a broken communication between them and the loneliness remains a constant even after the solace of seeing his ex wife.

The Wall:

This film follows Pink, and his troubled childhood that lead up to his stardom in the band Pink Floyd.  This film uses a variety of real life shots and animations that give the watcher a great experience into what is truly going on. The death of Pink's father is what slowly consumes him and leads him down a horrible path that ended with Pink becoming a Neo-Nazi. There would be real life shots of childhood memories that contributed to his downfall followed by wild animations that would dive into his emotions and how he wants revenge on the world after all his hardships.