Stand By Me

For unit 3 of my Ollywood class, we learned about post production, and mainly everything they add to the movie after everything has been filmed, CGI, film score, sound effects, and different approaches to movie reviewing. For the action project we had to create a podcast on a movie of our choice and I chose to do Stand By Me, because of how good and impacting it is on the audience. The purpose of his was to learn another approach we could use in reviewing a movie that we watched, and I thought it was super useful to me.

Script:

Hey everyone! Thank you for listening to my movie review channel, today I will be doing a movie made based by Stephen King’s book The Body, Stand by Me, a drama made in 1986!

I will be reviewing this movie through the generic approach, which mainly focuses on comparing it to other movies that are in the same genre and maybe movie concept.

I compared Stand By Me  to  The Breakfast Club, because they are both dramas that talk about how a group of  kids go on a small adventure and come out a different person. But both of these films  also took very different approaches to tell that story. The Breakfast Club focuses on a group of kids, who are not friends serving Saturday detention together and happening to find themselves in an adventure while Stand By Me follows a group of close-knit friend who seek out an adventure to pass their time.

These two 80s drama are similar in that they both talk about kids trying to deal with there parents and, trying to find where they belong. Through their adventures, the kids from The Breakfast Club and Stand By Me, learn more and more about themselves and each other.

Stand By Me is narrated by older Gordie Lachance who is writing a book about this summer adventure in Oregon. The movie starts with Gordie walking through his town and meeting up with his friends Chris and Teddy. Chris is the leader of the group and is known for being part of the bad family in the town. Teddy was similar where he was known for his father who almost burned Teddy’s ear off and was known for being crazy.When he enters they are playing cards and smoking and joking around. Then their friend Vern came in saying he had big news he overheard these guys talking about a dead body. The group end up going on an adventure where they share happy and sad moments. Each member of the group end up learning about themselves through their friends. In this adventure they had a lot obstacles but they were able to overcome them and come out as different people.

This movie in general was very well done. The film -editing was very well done. The whole movie used dialogue referent to cut back and forth between the present as Gordie was writing the book to the past, showing what he was writing about. The scene in which film cuts were used most effectively was when Gordie was in the little market buying snacks and they used a thought referent film cut, to flashback to a memory Gordie was having. The scene shows Gordie standing at the cash register and the cashier was talking about his brother, Dennis who passed away. The scene cuts to Gordie having a flashback of their family having dinner and his father only talking to Denny and ignoring him. I liked how this cut was used as a symbol of what Gordie’s life was like before and after that happened.

The film score was amazing in this movie, and I loved it because it might not be memorable but it fits so well with the adventure.  The composer of the film took simple songs and made it a fun kind of road trip song. My favorite scene was in the beginning of the film where the guys were hanging out in their tree house playing cards, smoking, and joking around, and Rockin’ Robin played to set a very nice and calm mood.I loved that scene!

The sound effects were also very well done and were used perfectly to make me feel like I was right there with them. The best use of sound effects was when they were crossing the bridge and the only sound you could hear was the rumbling of the train. As the train got louder, it really built up the suspense of the question, Are they going to make it?. That sound made me scream, “Run!” throughout that entire scene.

There was no CGI in this movie, I felt like if they used it the movie wouldn’t be real or as good as it was. They very well with out and it made the set they used was very well done, just like in The Breakfast Club, because they didn’t use CGI and that made it so much more real for the audience.

This movie gets 5 out 5 stars, because it used such a great soundtrack and how they used that music to seem adventurous when the song isn’t. Also the set design and everything was so beautiful and it could not have been redone.

Watch Stand by Me now and let it take you on the journey it did for me and just wait to be amazed!

Thank You for turning on my channel!

Welcome to The Nic's Critiquing Show!

For our second unit in my class Ollywood, we learned mainly about different ways a film will use cinematography and all the different ways they use a camera. We also learned about how effective lighting can be, and all the different light they will use in certain scenes and how they will be set up. For the action project we had a partner that we both would pick a movie to watch and then make a film critique video about that movie. The movie I chose to do with my partner was Fruitvale Station , which was a wonderful movie. The purpose of this action project was to see what Siskel and Ebert, had to do when ever they created a film critique. I hope you enjoy!


NC & NVA Movie Critique from GCE Lab School on Vimeo.

References: 
Fruitvale Station. Perf. Michael B. Jordan. The Weinstein Company, 2013. Film.

Back To The Classics

For my new class Ollywood, we have so far learned about movies and why they are so special in a lot of different ways. The main topics we hit on were production design and costume design and how people really don’t think about how hard it can be to have the costumes made and to produce the movie. For our action project, I critiqued Back to the Future because I heard it was super good and I have never seen it before. Because I have not seen the movie before, I was able to watch and critique it with an open mind. The purpose of this was to see if a movie has a deeper meaning and what is the definition of one.

"Back to the Future" Graffiti Life. 2013. Wiki Commons

Back to the Future is a science-fiction, fantasy movie about a teenage boy who accidentally goes back in time and may have messed up his present. This film’s screenplay was written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, who also directed the film. It was produced by Bob Gale and Neil Canton. Bob Gale was inspired to write this movie when he found his dad’s old yearbook from when he was in high school, and wondered if he would have been friends with his dad if they grew up in the same time period. I believe that this movie also shows how technology has developed so much over the years which makes the future better, allowing us to use decayed food to power cars. Also the 1980s was a time where technology was growing and slowly getting better and more advanced.

Back to the Future takes place in 1985 and 1955 in Hill Valley, California, a fictional town that is very happy where bad things rarely happen. Hill Valley features a small park in the center surrounded by little shops and a nice diner where everyone goes to eat.This set was actual created in the parking lot of Universal Studios. They couldn't find anywhere that would be perfect for featuring a realistic a 1980s and a 1950s town, so the set-designers created their own.

This famous movie follows our protagonist, Marty McFly played by Michael J. Fox a teenager with a wild spark. His clothing are very modern for the time. He is seen mostly in a jean jacket and pants with his iconic orange vest over it and a white T-shirt under his jacket. The quote that best describes Marty is, “Wait Doc are you telling me it is 8:25?! Damn I’m late for school!” This quote shows that Marty is a slacker that is motivated by how own wild spark. He works with Dr. Brown aka Doc played by (Christopher Lloyd.) He is the one loony of the town whose work as an inventor and scientist is not really respected. He looks like a stereotypical crazy, mad scientist, with his hair up like he just got shocked and wears a lab coat.

The movie starts with Marty planning to go on a camping trip with his girlfriend and when he goes home to get his car, he sees that his father George played by Crispin Glover being yelled at by Biff played by Thomas F. Wilson. George is a science-fiction fan who can’t stand up for himself who is bullied by his longtime nemesis, Biff who is always trying to prove himself. As a highschool kid in 1950, Biff is dressed in casual clothing and as an adult in 1980, he is dressed  in a blazer and suit pants. But he looks really goofy in both time periods. The costume designer effectively showed Biff’s insecurities and his reasons to bully George through his costume. The quote that best describes Biff is, “Do realize what would happen if I hand in my reports in your handwriting, I would get fired. You wouldn’t want that to happen would you? Would You?!” This shows that Biff is a huge bully and will take advantage of people and try to always get his way.

Marty leaves the house to meet Doc at the mall where he sees that the Doc has turned a Delorean into a time machine. After a tragic incident in the Delorean, Marty gets himself stuck in 1955, where he meets his young mother Lorraine played by Lea Thompson and his young father. In 1985, Marty’s mom Lorraine is an alcoholic who does not approve of Marty’s wild spark or girls who chase boys. But, the young Lorraine we meet in 1955, has a wild spark of her own and spends her time chasing boys.  

After the time travel, Marty is afraid that his presence in the past will ruin his future; he does everything he can get his parents together in 1955 to ensure his own existence in 1985. Marty tries to get George to man-up and ask Lorraine to the dance where he knew his parents fell in love.The biggest problem now is that Lorraine has the hots for Marty! Marty and George devise a plan to get Lorraine to fall in love with George, all the while trying to keep Biff away from Lorraine.

My favorite scene involves one of Marty’s scheme to keep Biff away from Lorraine. Marty dresses up in a Hazmat suit and tells George that he is Darth Vader and that he comes from the planet, Vulcan. Next, we see George rush to Marty and tell him he needs to ask out Lorraine so his brain does not melt. Then, Marty starts to tell George how can get a girl to fall in love him, and we see George taking notes. They walk into a diner where Lorraine is talking to her friends and George tries to talk to her, but fails by stuttering and stammering. Then, Biff walks in and starts walking towards George, but Marty trips Biff to get him to stay away. Marty punches Biff and Marty escapes. This scene really shows how in 1950 it was a lot harder to ask a girl out and you had more obstacles created from other men.  It also shows how a bully will almost do anything to get his way.

After Marty is successful in getting his parents to the dance, he meets Doc so that he can return to 1985. The crisis occurs when Doc and Marty seem unable to get the Delorean to 88 mph which is the speed that is needed to time-travel.

Fortunately, Marty and Doc get back to 1985 and as the resolution, Marty awakes in his house in 1985 and everything is better than when he left. His parents are happy and back together, his brother is successful, his sister is dating, his mother skinny and rid of her drinking problem, and his father is a strong, independent man. Marty saw that he had his dream car and he was still going camping with the girl he was in love with. When they are about to kiss, we see the Doc in Delorean pop out and start talking about how they need to go to the future and fix the kids that his girlfriend and him are going to have; leading them on to their new adventure.

Overall, this movie was a great, the production design was impressive considering that it was made in a parking lot! The costumes and the acting really created realistic stories that would took place in the 1950s and 1980s. This is a must-see movie that will change how you view time travel. It makes you think about how what you do in the past it can really change the present. Michael J. Fox made Marty McFly a real character that we all know and love that made our childhoods.

References:

“Back to the Future” Futureperdia. n.d.

MOVIECLIPS Extras. “Back to the Future - Behind The Scenes - Set Design” 2012