Hugo- Cinematographic Brilliance with a Historical Touch
Hugo, Martin Scorsese’s first movie for children is a celebration of cinema and is a deviation from his other films like Mean Streets, Raging Gull and Shutter Island. The movie recreates the magic of age old silent movies of the famous French filmmaker George Melies The movie is a journey though the life of Melies’ and a recollection of the history of world cinema. The role of Melies’ is played by none other than the legendary Ben Kinsley, well known for his portrayal of Gandhi.
Scorsese’s adapted the movie from Brian Selznick’s book The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The title character, Hugo Cabret is played Asa Butterfield is a genius with machines. Hugo in many ways reminds the audience
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The automaton was originally designed by Melies and Hugo’s father had got it from the museum. Hugo sets out to repair the automaton and in the process meets Melies himself and his god-daughter Isabelle. Isabelle, portrayed by Chloe Grace Mortez, is a bookish girl who in more ways than one reminds us of Hermione Granger. Together Hugo and Isabelle try to decipher the mystery of the automaton and from there the real story begins.
The automaton is a wonder in itself, an almost robot like being, who drives the story to it completion. In the later part of the movie Hugo says “Everything has a purpose, even machines…they do what they are meant to do….maybe it’s the same with people, if you lose your purpose, it’s like you are broken.” This, I believe is the moral Scorsese’ wanted to convey through the movie. This is actually meant to make the audience sit up and think about their own purpose in the
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The dream Hugo has of a train racing into the platform is quite relatable to the film Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat by Lumiere Brothers. Back then, the audience had jumped out of their seats, scared they were going to hit. Almost a hundred years later, in Hugo’s dream scene, Scorsese’s, with the help of the special effects succeeds in creating the same sense of panic in the much more modern audience. Scorsese also brings back to life one of Melies’ most famous work A Trip to the Moon, as an integral part of the 3D spectacle.
Hugo, in a way is Scorsese’s attempt to educate the audience about the history behind the art and brings back the forgotten pioneers of this art back to the forefront. He does this by enveloping history in an attractive package of visual effects, a theme of mystery and a very strong cast of actors. It is a movie within a movie and brings back to screen the forgotten works of the nineteenth century to the general
Les 400 Coups by François Truffaut displays personal cinema by sharing his own thoughts through the eyes of Antoine. As stated in the lecture video, cinema was a way for Truffaut to escape from his unhappy home life. His unfortunate home life is shown through the perspective of Antoine to display how Truffaut may have felt when he was a child. François Truffaut makes the audience feel sympathy and a sense of understanding for Antoine's predicament through the use of realistic and noteworthy sets.
The film's attention to detail, both in terms of historical accuracy and the portrayal of the emotional landscape of its characters, adds depth and authenticity to the
The concentration is on comparing and finding the changes that history made to this movie genre, especially considering the gender roles. Results will clearly explain the psyche of society in two different periods, which confirms that people reflect the movies as movies have an impact on people. The Introduction It is often said that the element of surprise makes the movie more interesting and leads the plot. There are many masters of storytelling
Throughout the essay, many references and comparisons are made to other films. Also incorporated in the essay is the use of advance terminology; Giving indication that the author is very knowledge about film. Haslem mentions in her essay “Neon Gothic: Lost in Translation”, “In many ways Coppola’s film exhibits marks of classic European art cinema. Specifically, in her interest in stillness rather than action, Coppola recreates a similar impressionistic resonance that was initially established by filmmakers like Carl Dreyer in The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) and elaborated by Michelangelo Antonioni in films like L’Eclisse (1962) and L’Avventura (1960)”
“The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can convey emotions and moods that no other art form can hope to tackle.” The written word and the moving image have always had their entwining roots deeply entrenched in similar narrative codes, both functioning at the level of implication, connotation and referentiality. But ever since the advent of cinema, they have been pitted against each other over formal and cultural peculiarities – hence engaging in a relationship deemed “overtly compatible, secretly hostile” (Bluestone 2).
Films are immortal the people who make them however are not. As time passes fads, trends and even people fall out of fashion. The films Sunset Boulevard and Hugo both use visual symbolism to demonstrate the characters having become trapped in the past. In Sunset Boulevard this can be observed through the images of the bars on the doors and windows, the microphone at the film set and the spiraled staircase in Norma’s home while Hugo uses the train station, the motif of clockwork and the automaton to illustrate its point.
The automaton was all that Hugo had to remind himself of his father that had passed away. So as he spent time alone and even away from his uncle that did not seem to care for him, this machine was all Hugo could
The intriguing world of Casablanca, displays a wondrous mise-en-scene in fashion that accentuates emotions and feeling through aspects of cinematography. From the movement of the camera, to the intricacy of the shot distances chosen to be included within the frame, the film reveals important elements of the diegesis without uttering a sound. The cinematography of Casablanca gives the audience an insight into the intimacy of Rick and Ilsa's relationship, and seeks to situate the viewer’s attention to the space and time of the film. Throughout the film, Rick’s romantic relationship, or rather previous relationship, with Ilsa appears to be a focal point of the film.
This essay will discuss how the film uses these two techniques, in reference to the film, and to what ideological and political ends are the techniques used in the films with specific references from the film to support the argument. A Man with a Movie Camera is based around one man who travels around the city to capture various moments and everyday
Cinematography is critical to the success of any movie. Cinematography uses composition, lighting, depth of field, and camera angles to determine what the audience sees. Casablanca’s cinematography directs the audience’s attention, shapes the audiences feelings, and reveals the theme of the movie. Cinematography directs the audience’s attention and acts as the viewer’s eyes. The cinematography highlights Casablanca as a dangerous place filled with deception.
Those that believe Casablanca is not film noir usually perceive Film Noir as a genre. Noir is not a genre; Noir transcends genres and behaves more accurately as a style of cinema. As styles go, there can be variations of them as we see now with Post-Noir and Neo Noir, noir elements in a different time period of film technology which makes these films slightly different than the style of classic film noir. Themes of cynicism, impending doom, loss, jeopardy of life accompanied by visuals dominated by shadows, strong lines, and overall darkness to the image make up film noir’s style. Noir is not absolute, the beauty of this style is its vulnerability to variation, which is why Michael Curtiz’s Classic Casablanca is film noir.
In total, the film contains four noticeable narratives. The first narrative shows Hugo working with his father prior to his passing. Through this narrative, viewers are able to see how Hugo’s father died in a fire. The second narrative tells the tale of Georges Méliès’s buying and selling of property. The third narrative is of the librarian visiting Georges Méliès as a young child at his studio, and the fourth narrative shows Hugo and his father enjoying time at the theater together.
In “Aesthetic of Astonishment” essay, Gunning argues how people first saw cinema, and how they are amazed with the moving picture for the first time, and were not only amazed by the technological aspect, but also the experience of how the introduction of movies have changed the way people perceive the reality in a completely different way. Gunning states that “The astonishment derives from a magical metamorphosis rather than a seamless reproduction of reality”(118). He uses the myth of how the sacred audience run out the theater in terror when they first saw the Lumiere Brother Arrival of the train. However, Gunning does not really care how hysterical their reaction is, even saying that he have doubts on what actually happened that day, as for him it the significance lied on the incidence--that is, the triggering of the audience’s reaction and its subsequence results, and not the actual reactions and their extent. It is this incident, due to the confusion of the audience’s cognition caused by new technology, that serves as a significant milestone in film history which triggered in the industry and the fascination with film, which to this day allows cinema to manipulate and
Over the past century, film has served as a powerful means of communication to a global audience and has become a vital part of the contemporary culture in a world that is increasingly saturated by visual content. Due to the immediacy and the all-encompassing nature of film, the process of watching a film, is widely perceived to be a passive activity by the general masses. However, quoting Smith in his article about the study of film, “nothing could be further from the truth.” The study and understanding of film as an art form enhances the way we watch and appreciate films. It requires the audience's active participation and interaction with the film in order to fully comprehend the directors' intention behind every creative decision.
Baz Luhrmann’s films are known their ability to make a watcher feel as if they are part of the show. Between his use of camera angles, shots and the use of a narrator, it’s no wonder he is able to keep viewers on the edge of their seat. But how does Baz Luhrmann pull off this spectacular feat of his? This is probably explained best by referring to Baz Luhrmann’s films and how he himself has evolved as a director.