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mitchellehk-blog · 5 years ago

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Beall Center: Aesthetic Center

Visual Literacy-Aesthetic Scanning Exercise

1. What do the records contain, and what is the significance of the colors? Choose three to listen to and describe what you hear.

The records contain audio recordings that encompass the theme of police brutality. Each of the records represent an African-American individual who perished under the hands of police brutality. They contain actual evidence of the sounds that took place during police brutality events for different individuals. The colors in the monument are a mixture of black and white, although white is the dominating color. The only truly black things in the room are the records with the audio recordings. The floor, wall, and stands are all white. The significance of the colors is to portray the dominance of the color white, which coincides with white dominance cultural constructions. The records that are black represent the African-American community that are the subject of hits from the dominating white police. The three records I listened to are Sandra Bland’s, Alton Sterling’s, and Patrick Harmon’s. Each of the records have a mixture of voices, with some that are the individual’s voice and others the voices of either bystanders or the police. Although some parts of the audio recordings are muffled, it shows the reality of the situation in which events turn horribly wrong. There are voices that plead, scream, yell, and argue. Emotions are poured out through the records, and the audience can hear the fear, shock, anger, and terror of the voices that are played.

2. What is the significance of the tables, why are they different lengths?

There are three tables in the room. One table is 21-feet long, another table is 15- feet long, and the last table is 5-feet long. The 21-feet long table is there to represent “The 21 Foot Rule,” which is a rule that justifies a police officer to be able to shoot an individual from this length away. The 15-feet long table represents the event of when Laquan McDonald, an African-American teen, was shot from 15 feet away instead of 21 feet away. The 5-feet long table represents the shooting of Margaret Mitchell, who was only 5 feet away from the police officer who shot her.

3. What is in the file folders? Choose 3 to open up and describe what you see inside.

The file folders each contain legal documents that shared copies of court documents and observations from the trials. The file folders that I opened are from the individuals that I listened from the audio records. Each of the file folders contained documents pertaining to their designated individual. The information included testaments, dates of events, evidence pages, witnesses, court transcripts, and other legal documents that described the events in depth.

What do you “see” (close “scientific” observation)?

What is the story or visual narrative presented? Is it abstract or representational (figures and recognizable objects)? Explain:

The visual narrative that is represented is one that shares the theme of police brutality and the disturbing effects it leaves due to the division of white dominant racism and African-American individuals. The narrative is more representational, especially due to the heavy symbolism portrayed throughout the exhibit. Some symbolism included are the color contrast of black and white, the different lengths of the three tables, and the record disks that represent the lives/voices of the victims.

What is the medium (paint, metal, stone, photography, video, etc.)? How has the artist/sculptor used the “tools” of the artist? Describe the “elements”: color, value, line, texture, shape, form, space. Describe how these elements are organized in the composition: unity, contrast, repetition, balance, etc.

The medium incorporates a mixture of sculpture, and audio-usage. When you first enter the exhibit, there is a large piece of two human bodies that are posted onto the wall. On the bodies of these people, there are bullet holes to represent the places where the victims were shot at. The sculptures aspect includes the tables and the record standings in the room. These sculptures are representative and symbolic. The audio-usage, an interactive sound installation, is contained in the record disks, where the stories of the individuals and the police brutality that they faced could be heard. The artist used the “tools” by providing not only a visual display, but audio displays to show further emotion and realism of events. The spacing, size and placements of all aspects of the art were carefully utilized to convey the messages.

The “elements” include:

- Colors: White and black

- Value: The brightness of the color white and the darkness of the color black. They contrasted drastically against each other.

- Lines: The lines can be found on the floor, from the straight lines connecting the room sections to each other, and the lines that went around on the top of the record disks.

- Texture: Textures were mostly smooth, such as the tables and the record disk tops.

- Shape: The shape of the art came differently, such as in the record disks and tables.

- Form: Two forms taking place include the audio form and the visual form.

- Space: The different parts of the room were spaced mainly into three sections. One section held the drawing of the bullet holes, the other section had the interactive sound systems, and the third section had the file folders and tables. The record stands were all evenly spaced from one another.

The elements organized in the composition include:

- Unity: Unity existed in the drawing with the bullet holes and the collection of record stands clustered evenly together.

- Contrast: The contrast was strong, especially between the colors of black and white.

- Repetition: The record stands were repeated aligned in rows.

- Balance: There was not much balance, due to the white color overwhelming the black color.

- Emphasis: There was an emphasis of the white color inside the room, and different emphasis of the lengths of the tables.

- Pattern: There weren’t much strong patterns.

- Movement/Rhythm: The movement/rhythm can be found at the record disks, which moved in order to deliver the sounds from the audio files.

- Proportion/Scale: The tables were scaled at different lengths, and proportioned to display the symbolism.

What does it mean (interpretation)?

All art is communication, a “conversation” between the artist and the viewer. What is the title of the work? Does this help explain the “artist intent”?

The title of the work is, “American Monument.” The helps the explain the artist intent by raising the underlying issues within America, such as heavy police brutality and the lack of change for the better in the relationship between African- Americans and white police. The title is a little vague, however, and can be reworded to be stronger in delivering the message.

What is the date of the work and what does this tell you about the historical and/or cultural context of the work? The date of the work is 2019, and the exhibit is open October 05, 2019 to April 04, 2020. The date tells the audience that the issues addressed in the art are issues that have been repeated and active within current and past history. History and culture have not changed entirely as anew, and there are things that need to be changed, made aware, and prompted to upgrade for the better.

What does the work mean to you? What is your emotional and intellectual response to the work (there are no wrong answers)? If you had choices why did you select this work?

The work opened my eyes of the emotional aspect of the issues. I was moved by the reality of the situations and the injustice that the individuals faced in their helplessness. The symbolisms throughout the exhibit struck my interest, and I was more inclined to listen to the stories that the records held. My intellectual response to the work is that police brutality is a horrible culture that is still alive today. Selecting this work as a class made me realize how limited and ignorant I am to events that happen all over the world. Living in oblivion and refusing to acknowledge that our world is broken and hurting is selfish and careless of me.

Is it any good (judging)? How do you know? Explain:

The monument was very effective in delivering the aim of its message. Its interacting sound aspect and the representative sculptures were captivating and active in informing the audience of the serious matter at hand. I thought that the monument fulfilled its purpose of exhibiting the pain of police brutality, and the fact that we can’t treat these things without reality.

What else do you want to know about this work of art, what do you wonder?

One thing I wonder about the art was how the artist was prompted to think of all the symbolism and representative ideas. I also wonder how long it took for the artist to gather copies of the documents and audio files and compile them together.

#Educ104E #BeallCenter #AestheticCenter

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cameron-ashurst22 · 6 years ago

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Year 2 Weekly Summaries - Week 4

Day 1- Film language Lecture 14th October 2019

Horizontal lines are the calmest type of composition.

Vertical lines give height and dimension being more active.

Diagonal lines are the most active and show perspective.

Wide shots establish the setting.Helps understand depth and three dimensional space.

Two shot - When two people are in the shot. Used in dialogue

Eye line helps to show the focus of the scene.

Draws people attention:

-movement

-Brightness

-eyes

-Vanishing point

-contrasting in any visual component

Camera Movement

-Pan

-Tilt

Camera moves with motivation of the story. The camera can have its own voice by being un motivated.For example:

Slow push in creeps towards the subject makes people to look harder. This starts from a still frame but slowly moves towards the subject.

The creep out -Makes the figure look smaller almost abandoning the subject. Gives depth to the scene and can show lack of compassion, intimacy etc.

Camera turns away - the Camera move leaves no hope for escape. Shows the trauma is too much to view.

The distracted , the wandering Camera- explores other parts of the world. Doesn’t focus on the story but moves to other subjects. Isn’t the subjective camera and becomes its own character, telling its own story.

The Yelling Camera- Shows what too look at and when to look at it. Immediately grabs the attention of the viewer.

Tracking shot is on tracks. Shows the movement of travelling with the character through their story.

Dolly Shot - similar to a tracking shot

Crane shot is a shot taken by a camera on a moving crane or jib. Most cranes accommodate both the camera and an operator, but some can be moved by remote control.

Crossing the line , the 180 degree rule : The 180-degree rule is a cinematography guideline that states that two characters in a scene should maintain the same left/right relationship to one another. When the camera passes over the invisible axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line and the shot becomes what is called a reverse angle.

Sources: https://indiefilmhustle.com › 180-degree-rule

The 180 Degree Rule in Film (and How to Break The Line) #180degreerule

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW0bKUfvH2c

Breaking Down the 180-Degree Rule

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HinUychY3sE

Transitions

Cut-Most used cut is too cut on action

Mix- Dissolve, fade to black

Wipe- involves movement

Jump cut

A morph

Source:

Cuts & Transitions 101

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAH0MoAv2CI

Essay -

Find two pieces of film that demonstrate an aspect of film language and compare the two. For example a film that uses colour and a film that doesn’t use colour. A film that uses a lot of camera movement and a film that uses limited camera movement. Focus on a specific aspect of the film as well , fight sequences. Choose a sequence that isn’t very long.Talk about the mechanics and don’t sound like a film reviewer.

Fight scenes in the Dark knight vs Fight scene in creed.

Camera Movement examples:

Source:

1917 - In Theaters December (Behind The Scenes Featurette) [HD]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hSjs2hBa94https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hSjs2hBa94

15 Essential Camera Shots, Angles and Movements in Filmmaking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y0ouVBcogU

5 Brilliant Moments of Camera Movement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2c3JZ6X3f8

6 of the Best Shots of All Time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLHNBssyuE4

Meaning Behind Camera Movement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDC8DiGfxrs

How to Shoot Better Tracking Shots [Examples of #Trackingshots]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkVYpzyJvG8&pbjreload=10

How Kubrick, Spielberg, and Inarritu Stage their Scenes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-4rk3T8PbQ

3 Strategies Behind the Best Long Takes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9AEYFYPYTM

How to Use The Dutch Angle Shot [Cinematic Techniques in Film] #dutchangle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9FUEScjB1U

How to Achieve a Cinematic Film Look [Sidney Lumet Making Movies]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdWdlM9x9l4

Day 2 - Sound principles and terminology lecture - Phil Archer

Elements of a soundtrack:

The sound of characters and there actions is called foley sound

Diegetic sound- is the sound that the characters can hear.

Dialogue

Atmospheric and environmental sound

Special effects

Example of a trailer with not all layers of sound design exported:

The Mummy Trailer without music or sound effects

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRqxyqjpOHs

Sound:

Suggests a mood, evoke a feeling

Set a pace

Indicate a geographical locale

Indicate a historical period

Clarify the plot

Define a character

Connect ideas, characters, places , images or moments

Heighten realism or diminish it

Heighten ambiguity or diminish it

Draw attention to detail, or away from it

Indicate changes in time

Smooth otherwise about changes between shots and scenes

Emphasises a transition for dramatic effect

Describe an acoustic space

Startle or soothe

Exaggerate or mediate it

Pixar - The God

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93xY06Sh7FE

Reverb- How sound waves are effected

Frequency- Pitch measured in Hertz

Synchresis- sound and image together

Day 3 - sound induction

Today I was introduced to implementing and cutting sound in adobe. For this induction we had to cut clips of sound and rearrange them on a timeline as well as add effects to them . I found this to be a very easy process and can see how this will be implemented in the future for the project. I also liked how we can change the pitch and increase the volume of the audio with the program. This allows human conversation to be understood and clear with other factors playing underneath.

Day 3- Media lab Session

In todays session I continued to iron out the rest of the animation. I began to focus on the movement of the ball and introduced the use of a blend shape. Blend shapes allow me to transform the shape of an object, for instance I changed the shape of the grape so that it appeared to be squashed on impact with the toaster. To do this I had to duplicate the shape the change the properties of the duplicated shape to resemble a splat. I then used the blend shapes tab to create the transition, finally I removed the visibility of the ball on the specific frames were I wanted the impact to occur.

I also began to model the rest of the kitchen, for this I created a fridge that would be placed behind the toaster. I added the same material as the spoon to have a metallic texture. I then also extended the countertop downward so it adds better depth to the scene.

The next part of the process in todays session was to figure out the issues I was having with lighting. I found that my scene overall wasn’t very well lit so to counter this I added three more lights. These lights resembled the style frames I am currently creating to give the night time aesthetic. The light colours are a soft muted red and a brighter yellow. The yellow helps enhance the light that is not casted by the shadow of the utensils and the red is supposed to help add depth to the shadows themselves. However, then I went to render the frame the lights do not seem to appear. So I will have to ask for help from Adam or John to understand the full process of lighting the scene.

Day 4- Life drawing

In todays life drawing session we focused on using the medium of paint to help establish light and tone within a piece. The first exercise was to create two paintings using an olive green background as the mid tone , a flesh tone and a dark. I Initially misjudged the proportion of the figure for the first attempt due to me believing that we were not doing the painting on the same side of the canvas. I was disappointed with my outcome as a result of this as I had to cram the second painting into the corner. Although I achieved a likeness I believe that on a bigger scale I would have been able to show more of the tones within the piece. The second exercise was to create a painting focused on a specific area of the model. For this I chose to paint the face of the model. Initially I found that starting out the painting was the most difficult. This was due to me having to use paint as a guide layer instead of a pencil. I was disappointed with some of the scale and proportion used within the face especially as the nose is too large in comparison to the rest of the features in the face. I also struggled with the detail around the eye as it seemed to become lost as I added more layers of paint. I want to improve my use of paint but feel like it is a medium that I will continue to avoid as I prefer to use pencil or even work digitally.

Day 4- Group tutorial with John

In todays group tutorial I was able to gain feedback on my current work in progress. The feedback was that the acting overall in the piece was good and clearly showed the direction I wanted to take the piece in. However, I need to improve both the camera movements and the curve of the ball. John suggested that I add more of a curl to the ball as it would offset the straight line created from the run up of the character. This intern would make the piece more visually appealing by having the ball come on and off screen. The camera critique was that there needs to be more holds introduced to fully show the movement, although it flows introducing cuts would greatly increase the effectiveness of the camera as a whole. Personally , feel like the run up of the character to the ball needs work as it I one paced and to do this I will start off slowly and then increase the speed of the character as he kicks the ball. I am looking forward to fine tuning my animation over the course of the next few weeks.

#year2 #ba2a #weeklysummaries #weeklysummary

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focalwriterworks · 6 years ago

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THE FAREWELL

My affection for this film, which I saw at the 2019 Atlanta Film Festival, and for what I feel is one of the most beautiful films I’ve seen in years, stems from the fact the audience, and the main character’s family in The Farewell, are in on the news that grandma, or NaiNai in Chinese, has been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. And instead of telling her the sad news the family decide collectively to not tell her. And gather around her, instead, for what could be last visitations, under the guise of cousin HaoHao’s wedding.

The Story: Billi, played by rap artist Awkwafina, hears the bad news from her parents. They are going to China to visit with the family’s matriarch, NaiNai, played with the sweetest humility, and with strong will, by Shuzhen Zhou. Billi is determined to go even though her parents think it’s better if she stays. Billi is saddened by the news, just as all of the family members are, and when they all arrive in China it’s under the pretense of cousin HaoHao’s (Han Chen) marriage to a Japanese girl (Aoi Mizuhara) who doesn’t speak Chinese. To make things a bit more heart-rending, yet also moving in a humorous way, is that NaiNai is determined to coordinate the wedding invitations and banquet for her grandson HaoHao, as she is always beaming with pride, and love, that her grandson is getting married.

The Goods: It’s this pathos and emotional stirring every time NaiNai is on screen demanding the best for HaoHao—the son of NaiNai’s second son—like insisting it is to be lobster on the menu, not crab, at the reception site for the banquet following HaoHao’s wedding ceremony, that makes the film so touching. To see NaiNai so excited, and happy, and thrilled that her family has gathered for the event, that her other son Haiyan (Tzi Ma, who has been in a ton of films and TV since the ‘80’s) has come, with Billi, from America, while knowing she’s dying, and that NaiNai is clueless (or maybe she’s not, it’s understood she is unaware) is such a powerful experience for the viewer that this “user event” in itself, in the theater, makes the film one of the best of the year, regardless of how it all culminates or how it resolves itself.

NaiNai’s joy and grandmotherly instincts with children and grandchildren is so universal. Like well composed songs that find fans everywhere in the world, she oozes a sense of goodness and care, historical perspective and set of rules that all grandmothers seem to have—she will discipline her family members like a mother/grandmother would—with a personal regiment of health tips and what might sound like “old wives’ tales” remedies that come across astoundingly accurate, realistic and true. She even gets Billi up in the mornings to practice her own self-created ‘NaiNai health regime’ that involves stepping around and yelling. Billi handles NaiNai’s routine with a dose of embarrassment, hesitant, but pushed by NaiNai she eventually embraces it if at times losing her composure, in the middle of street outside NaiNai’s high-rise building community, to laugh a bit.

Awkwafina, real name Nora Lum, who told me on the Atlanta Film Festival’s red carpet that though she is of Korean and Chinese decent, grew up in New York, in Queens, speaking only English. She had to brush up on Chinese which family members spoke but she did not. She said she was supported by the crew and cast who all helped her with her lines while filming on location in China. You would never know it. Awkwafina, in a more subdued role compared to her loudish, eccentric character Peik Lin Goh in Crazy Rich Asians (2018), or her cool, collected jewel thief Constance in Ocean’s 8 (2018), or preppy sorority girl Christine in Neighbors 2 (2016), seems like a natural here. Partly too to what Lulu Wang is doing with direction. The film is written and directed by Wang who adapted her own very true story from a short radio episode of This American Life called What You Don’t Know (Episode 585, https://shortcut.thisamericanlife.org/#/clipping/585/110?_k=dc1yj4).

There’s so much of what one senses is realism, like Wang’s radio piece, that the film is like a documentary, at least more so than Lulu Wang’s previous feature film Posthumous (2014). The two feature films are worlds apart and show with striking comparison the tremendous growth and innate talent Ms. Wang has for telling stories with such visual impact while sort of letting characters just be. None of the acting feels forced or rehearsed. And Awkwafina, whose character wants to say something about the deceit, confront the truth, discuss it with her grandmother, but chooses to play along, is a huge part of that. As is Ms. Lang’s real great aunt, Lu Hong, who plays Little NaiNai, the sister of Billi’s grandmother. Wang said that after some takes on set she would ask her great aunt if the scene felt authentic, in which Ms. Hong, knowing the facts of the real NaiNai’s condition, would provide her approval or criticisms thereof.

Ms. Wang’s instinct for camera placement and letting scenes play out while we observe is a comforting feeling. It presents itself as an easy film to involve yourself with. Certainly made in such a way that we too have a place at the table with the family, or in the rooms where scenes take place. Most of the shots are wide, and are master shots. The coverage for editing is simple—it’s not an action film—so capturing the truth in scenes, on location, is easier than forcing it in the editing room. We get to be voyeurs and not feel bad for staring or eavesdropping, but that we also, because we have grandmothers too, feel a part of this family. And since we know that she, the character in the film, and our own grandmothers, are only here for a limited time we should just enjoy our time with them while we can.

The Flaws: Curiously, there is a little bird that appears in Billi’s apartment, after she hears the news of her grandmother, when she returns to her apartment in New York after coming home from being out. Billi asks, “where did you come from, how did you get in here,” then she opens a window and lets the bird out. I get a strong sense the bird is exemplary or symbolic of NaiNai, or of Billi, or simply of life in general, action oriented flapping winged bird landing and wondering what its own situation is, compared to Billi’s, to ours. It’s nice. It’s sort of poetic. But it happens again when Billi gets to China, and it’s the same bird. Identical. As if maybe the bird followed Billi. And Billi doesn’t comment on it. The coincidence doesn’t become an issue with her but I think it is with the audience, because it’s not addressed. I’m distracted by it mostly because there is no explanation or character exposition enlightening us to something potentially special, and maybe supernatural, that has occurred here. And without a sense of a motif being established—like the magpies in the third season of the British TV show The Detectorists (what a random comparison), or any film or creative work where birds are a metaphor for the characters, or experience, in the story—we are sort of left wondering why the bird makes another appearance. Sure we can contemplate it all we want but it doesn’t do anything to help Billi or NaiNai’s situation. Or ours for that matter. Taking that second to process it distracts from this realism Ms. Wang has lovingly presented.

And there are traits of a music video, as a sort of denouement to the film, after HaoHao’s wedding and after the family members sort of part ways back to their corners of the Earth, leaving NaiNai with her sister, and live-in male friend, Mr. Li (who is comic relief in the film). Briefly, the family come back again in what seems like a “flashback” moment; as a collective they all walk down the street with strong steps, sort of like The Monkees, or The Beatles, something from a Richard Lester film, playfully, with vaudevillian moves and serious looks on their faces as they stare out of the screen at the audience, reminiscent of choreographed music videos from the likes of Britany Spears, or Michael Jackson, and virtually every music video in their wake, as if to say, here are the players in this play, these were the performers in this play—in this conspiracy—of family members living with the fact they lied and hid the truth from the family’s matriarch.

It’s a wonderful piece to the film but doesn’t exactly fit. And if there were other moments in the film similar to this then sure it would be more fitting. Or maybe even if it were over credits at the end of the film. Could be there are behind-the-scenes details that maybe production wise something didn’t go as planned, like if Awkwafina who is known for her rap music, if maybe she had a song for the film which Ms. Wang chose to not include. But the sequence itself, the music video moment, it’s a flaw in the sense it removes us from the realism of the film. It’s formalism and it’s noticeable at that. Coming at the end of the film however is the sequence’s saving grace.

Additionally, I did feel a sense NaiNai at times, in Billi’s conscious, is like Father Karras’ mother in The Exorcist (1973). There is a scene where Billi envisions her NaiNai in the subway, in New York, after Billi first hears the news of her grandmother’s diagnosis. I saw the similarity, and later in a Q & A after the film’s screening, Ms. Wang confirmed that she did incorporate traits from the horror genre. Smart, because those closed camera compositions and some of the centered character placements in rooms, combined with subconscious audible room tones, add a complexity to the emotional impact of some of the more serious or dramatic scenes where death is a true, hidden, ghostly antagonist. That NaiNai appears in Billi’s subway is almost too on the nose to William Friedkin’s mother Karras in The Exorcist. If you’ve seen that movie previously you’ll know it, and you’ll feel it, not as homage, not as a rip-off either, but as an accidental, subconscious placement by Ms. Wang that might slightly undermine her own original characters and story.

The Call: Spend the ten. The Farewell is a beautiful film regardless of very minor flaws. The sheer enjoyment of connecting with a family that is certainly yours as well as mine as well as Billi’s is a powerful achievement for Lulu Wang. The concept—a family who chooses not to tell their grandmother she’s going to die of cancer—is strong, script and production wise, even if some of what appears to be scripted may have been authentic cinema verite of Ms. Wang’s real family collaborating with actors. And as a wedding proceeds, what is usually a quirky, fun, family event in films—from the wedding film genre—it does so under false pretenses that are every bit bitter, corrupt and, conversely, the sweetest moments you’ll ever see. A perfect set-up for a lovely character to charm us out of our daily grind and give us back a sense of heart and soul if only for a few hours. And if NaiNai’s in on the news, knowing she might die, well that just shows how much courage she really has. Just like a grandmother, putting her family first before herself.

The Farewell is not yet rated. Running time is 98 minutes. A24 is distributing. In theaters July 12, 2019. Nationwide August 2nd, 2019.

#awkwafina #lulu wang #the farewell #atlanta film festival #atlff #nai nai #gold open #tzi ma #best of 2019 #movies #film #art

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atlff19 · 6 years ago

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THE FAREWELL

The Farewell is not yet rated. Running time is 98 minutes. A24 is distributing. In theaters July 12, 2019.

#awkwafina #Lulu Wang #The Farewell #atlff #atlanta film festival #nainai #tzi ma

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focalwriterwriting · 6 years ago

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THE FAREWELL

The Farewell is not yet rated. Running time is 98 minutes. A24 is distributing. In theaters July 12, 2019.

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sj6 · 8 years ago

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Mastery Journal

Logline: Brandon, a boy in high school is an outsider in his school. One day he gets the attention of Emily, a girl who is an outsider as well, however, Brandon is a shy guy and struggles with his intention to ask Emily to prom.

Genre: Drama

Theme: Romantic

The incident in The Most Beautiful Thing, happens when Emily makes eye contact with Brando after he tries to speak to her, the first plot-twist follow almost immediately when Emily reveals she is deaf, although this is not a limitation for their relationship. A mid plot occurs after Brandon she the school’s womanizer flirting with Emily, he avoids her all day after this. Emily however, texts Brando letting him know she misses him. Brandon gains the courage to ask Emily to prom, when he is about to ask her, he sees how the womanizer tries to kiss Emily. This is a second plot-twist, since Brandon turns his back on then and doesn’t see that Emily rejects the womanizer. After trying to avoid Emily, Brandon runs into her in the hallway, as he turns his back on her, Emily who has been reluctant to speak in front of Brandon, gets his attention by yelling as she explains what happened. During the resolution, Brandon finally ask Emily to prom, this is follow by the denouement, in which Emily runs into Brandon’s arms and they hug.

The Most Beautiful Thing opens with a full shot of Brandon, the protagonist sitting on a bench, while looking at the space empty to his side. This is follow by shots that shows Brandon’s daily routine, like commuting, but also, they reinforce the fact that he is a lonely guy as he is distant from the groups of people in the school, to the extent that most of the people there ignores him. He usually keeps a straight face during his routine but, this change once Brandon meets Emily, after meeting, the sequence of his routine is used to show that Brandon’s life has become happier. This sequence with the mood variations are used a couple times more to show Brandon’s feeling during the film. Brandon’s desire for love becomes evident after he looks at a prom poster that is in his locker, this is the second clue the audience has, the first one being the opening shot where he is looking at the empty space on the bench probably whishing some else was there with him. After Emily and Brandon make contact for the first time, they start bonding, this can be observed through a sequence where they are spending time together while doing various activities, this sequence is unified by an uplifting instrumental music during its length. The music changes to a dramatic piano driven instrumental, when Brandon ask Emily if she has try to speak indicating this is a serious issue for her, as she write her respond in a notebook they use to communicate, the camera focuses on the phrases they are writing to emphasize them, this resource is used throughout the film. The focus is usually use to stand out elements that are important during a scene, for example, the prom poster or Emily’s text coming on Brandon’s phone. On the other hand, during the shot where Brandon sees the womanizer trying to kiss Emily, the focus keeps on Brandon’s expression as he turns his back to the scene happening in the bench, although is out of focus, the composition allows for the viewer to see Emily rejecting the womanizer. Brandon is a passive aggressive character but, the audience first sees his frustration as he can’t get a paper towel out of a dispenser, this causes him to release it by hitting the things around him. The camera is hand held during the complete length of the film, to give the viewer a sense of intimacy and realism as they watch the story, it also moves according to the character’s pacing or mood in a scene, for example as Brandon tries to avoid Emily during the last scene, the camera mimics the fast-paced walk of Brandon, however, when Emily speaks the camera stops with Brandon at his surprised, and the hand-held movement is subtler during the rest of the scene. The exterior lighting is natural and the interiors are lighted with no particular shadows or strong intention to provide additional information to a scene. The music is used to help set the mood for happy or dramatic moments, as explained before. Brandon since to have no make-up and Emily uses a very light base of make-up, both characters seem natural and “normal”, rather to fit their outsiders positions they occupy in the high school. This film is mainly driven by the emotion within the romantic theme of film.

The Most Beautiful Thing was Written, directed and edited by Cameron Covell. Starring: Nick Lopez and Analisa Gutierrez.

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