Double Indemnity & L.A. Confidential Pairing

In this shot from Double Indemnity, the viewer is looking at a close up of Phyllis Dietrichson. The shot is from Walter Neff's point of view, and is the first time he ever sees Phyllis. The shot is evident that Walter is fascinated by Phyllis and that he would fall for her. She is elevated above him atop the staircase, which symbolizes that she is going to play Walter for her best interest- like a puppet master. Phyllis' wardrobe also has sexual implications that Walter is distracted by, and ultimately makes Walter strive for affection from Phyllis.

This still from L.A. Confidential is of Bud White and Lynn as part of an audience. Shot from the perspective of a third person, it conveys the message that Bud has fallen for lynn, and that he cares only about her, not the show they are watching. His actions at this point in the movie are in an effort to win Lynn's love. Similar to the way Walter Neff saw Phyliss above him on the staircase in the Dietrichson home, and could think nothing of nothing but her beauty, Lynn is just as distracting to Bud white.

Minority Report Frame

The shot I analyzed was the 23rd of the 26 shots. This shot was a close-up of Agatha. All that is visible is Agatha's neck and entire face. It could perhaps be considered a point of view shot from Anderton, who was standing next to his ex-wife right in front of Agatha in the scene. While the foreground is clearly occupied by Agatha's face, the background shows the top left corner of a window. Light is beaming in intensely through this window and aids to present Agatha as a prophet of sorts-she speaks the truth. While sitting in the Anderton house, Agatha predicted what Anderton's son would be like in the future, and so it seems the light shining down on her assists Speilberg to portray her significantly at this point in time where she tells the future. (At least, what would have been the future). The shot is composed in such a manner that it somewhat seems like a low-angle shot looking up at Agatha. This would also coincide with putting the truth bearer Agatha on a pedestal of sorts as she predicts what Anderton's son's life would have been like.

Contact

While there are many movies that have enjoyed watching, few stand apart from the rest. One particular film that I saw this past summer was Contact. Jodie Fosters stars as an Astronomer who has a keen aspiration for exploring extra-terrestial life. She is researching and observing at a satelite observatory in the middle of the Arizona desert when she encounters a strange phenomena. Similiar to the "Wow Signal" in 1976, she observed a unique message being relayed from outerspace. The message was sent from somewhere near the Vega star, and was the initial contact with this extra-terrestial race. The entirety of the film is discovering why the alien race made contact with humans, and eventually leads to the first human contact with an alien race. While the film doesn't have the greatest cinematics or acting, Its concepts and the story behind the movie are very unique.

A few weeks ago I was scavenging the T.V. guide for something to watch. I ended up watching the Godfather part II, and was reminded of the greatness of the series. When I had first decided to watch part I, it was my Dad that encouraged me to pick it out from Blockbuster. I finished part I, and wasn't content until I had watched the next two parts. It's disappointing that this year our class won't be studying these films.

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