VLOG of Rushmore:

Sources:
Barsam, Richard, and Dave Monahan. Looking at Movie. Ed. Peter Simon. 4th ed. New York: W.W Norton, 2013. Print.
Rushmore. Dir. Wes Anderson. Perf. Bill Murray, Olivia Williams, Jason Swartzman. Touchstone, 1998. DVD.

The Guardians of the Galaxy

This 2014 science fiction film is filled with comedy, a little romance, and action. It revolves around a ravenger called Peter Quill (played by Chris Pratt) and a group of criminals he eventually becomes friends with. Peter Quill is a very round character in the film; he is not a bad guy, yet he definitely is not a Christ-like figure. He changes throughout the film from being self-absorbed and all about the money to be willing to risking his life to protect the galaxy. Most of the guardians of the galaxy are somewhat rounded characters, but Peter is the main focus of the film. This is seen through the first scenes of the movie. The first few scenes are giving a backstory to Peter so the viewer can understand several key pieces of the film. This movie is also constantly using music (Peter’s “Awesome Mix Vol. 1”) to tie into the story line of Peter Quill.

Young Peter listening to "I'm Not in Love"

In the beginning of the film, you hear the song “I’m Not in Love” by 10cc. The camera zooms in close to see Peter sitting in a hospital hall way. The lighting is dark to give us a somber feel to the room. The music is the only thing we hear and we see Peter listening to music with his Walkman. This tells us that we are hearing the music through Peter’s head. The song is happening in Peter’s world so, it is diegetic even though it seems like it could be nondiegetic. Then the song suddenly stops once Peter’s grandfather come over and takes off his headphone to talk to him.

When Peter does finally go into the room to see his dying mother, she gives him a present which he doesn’t finally open until the end of the film. The film is constantly reminding us about Peter’s mother and his backstory, through the playlist playing in the movie and by seeing the present in his ship. Most of the film we are following Peter around. The narrator is the camera and it is omniscient. The camera jumps from Peter to another character like Rocket or Gamora through the film. When the group is separated we see this happen a lot. Peter is very attached to his music throughout the whole film and this is constantly shown in the film.

Peter getting his Walkman and playlist back.

We see how attached Peter is to his music and Walkman when the group is escaping from prison. Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel), and Gamora (Zoe Saldana) are gathering their belongings when Peter notices he is missing something. We get a close up of his items and immediately know what he is missing. Peter tells Gamora to get his ship and wait for him. He is willing to risk his freedom and stay in prison just to get his Walkman and playlist back. When Peter finally returns to the ship we hear one of his songs over everything else, letting us know that he successfully got it. This instant is nondiegetic because even though it is Peter’s playlist, it is not playing in Peter’s world. Peter’s soundtrack is constantly jumping from diegetic to nondiegetic. In several scenes (like the beginning scene) it is obvious that Peter is hearing the song from his world, but other times (this this scene) it’s there to set the mood for the audience.

Gamora listening to "Fooled Around and Fell In Love"
and about to kiss Peter

Through the entire film the playlist is used to express emotion and how the characters are feeling in a specific moment. Just before Gamora and Peter are going to meet with the Collector they have a moment. Peter and Gamora while they talk about Peter’s home planet (Earth) and the playlist he is constantly listening to. Peter explains what it means to him and exactly what it is. Peter puts the headphones on her and all we hear is the song “Fooled Around and Fell In Love” by Elvin Bishop. Since Gamora is hearing the song and Peter is also half singing the song it is diegetic. The camera is on both of them with a darker lighting and the song about love gives a romantic feeling to the scene. The camera zooms in to Peter grabbing Gamora’s hand. Peter and Gamora are just about to kiss when, Gamora puts a knife to his throat and the music fades away. The music is a key part to know how the characters are feeling specifically Peter.

Peter saving Gamora with a zoomed out shot. The viewer
is able to see the ships and space in the background.

The film is also constantly using a lot of landscapes and zoomed out scenes. This helps the viewer get a better image of the setting, which is space and foreign planets. During the scene when Peter and Gamora are being picked up by a ship in space the landscape of space is easily seen in the background. The camera is zoomed farther away to see their bodies floating, until the camera cuts into their freezing faces. The camera then cuts out again, which gives the audience a view of the ships. The constant zoomed out shots during the film give the audience an idea of what the universe looks like. This also gives the audience the sense of feeling they are not on their planet, but somewhere else, somewhere mysterious.

Gamora, Groot, Rocket, Peter, and Drax
walking during the streched out scene.

In the film the story is constantly told in real time. The only scene that has a stretch relationship is when Peter is walking through the ship before the climax of the movie. Peter is slowing walking though the hall way when Gamora, Drax, Groot, and Rocket slowly join him. A scene that would have been normally only a second or two is dragged out longer to add a tough aspect. This is also influenced by the song “Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways. This is a very upbeat and hard core rock song which give the characters a tough feel while they are walking. The combination of song and camera speed really effects how the viewer perceives the scene.

Through the whole film the audience is listening to music from Peter’s playlist to show how the characters are feeling and to portray a specific mood. The music can be used to have a romantic mood or to give a sense of how tough the characters are. Without this crucial element we would be missing a lot of the film and what it is trying to portray. It is a key form of the diegetic and nondiegetic elements. The setting of the film and costumes are also very crucial to give it the space feel of the mise-en-scène.

Sources References:

Guardians of the Galxy. Dir. James Gunn. Prod. Kevin Feige. Screenplay by Nicole Perlman. Perf. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, and Dave Bautista. Marvel, 2014. Film.
Barsam, Richard, and Dave Monahan. Looking at Movie. Ed. Peter Simon. 4th ed. New York: W.W Norton, 2013. Print.

Images: (in order of viewed)

1. http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140730180153/disney/images/4/4c/YoungPeterQuilllistingtohiswalkmen.png 
2. http://static.gamesradar.com/images/totalfilm/c/chris-pratt-dons-his-star-lord-mask-for-new-guardians-of-the-galaxy-images-162445-a-1399529945-470-75.jpg
3. http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/Guardians-of-the-Galaxy-Star-Lord-Gamora-kiss.jpg
4. http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20141107231839/marvelmovies/images/f/f7/Star-Lord_and_Gamora_Space2-GOTG.jpg
5. http://www.chicagonow.com/hammervision/files/2014/09/video-undefined-1EE054E000000578-690_636x358.jpg

Starting out as a blogger

What is an online presence? 

So far what I know about having an online presence revolves around social media. I am constantly posting or talking about something on social media. I usually am posting about the newest art piece I am working on or re-posting an article that I found interesting. I am new to the whole blogging idea and don't usually read that many blogs. If you want to check out some of my art you can find me on instagram: @art_by_jeni or if you want you can check out a video that I recently found really interesting What a homeless man did with $100 . Feel free to check out these awesome links and get ready for some awesome movie reviews.

References:
Haas, J. (n.d). Art_by_jeni on instagram. Retrieved January 8, 1015, from http://instagram.com/art_by_jeni
He Gave a Homeless Man $100 and Then Followed Him. What He Discovered Is About to Challenge Your Heart in a Thousand Ways. (2014, December 23). Retrieved January 8, 2015, from http://www.faithit.com/he-gave-a-homeless-man-100-and-then-followed-him-what-he-discovered-is-about-to-challenge-your-heart-in-a-thousand-ways/