Movie Analysis

EasyA

A quick summary: When Olive Penderghast lies to her friend about her promiscuity, before she can blink, her whole school is under the impression that she is a tramp who will do anything they ask of her. As Olive’s life spirals out of her control, she looks to various leaders to help her pull all back together.

My initial reaction of this movie was that it was hilarious. Good humor helps Olive survive her misery as the new school tramp. As she retorts at the accusations of others, the audience cant help but laugh at her various situations. The comedy provides relief in the sticky situations.

Questions: Why doesn’t Leanne listen to Olive when she tries to explain the truth?

Why is Olive such a generous person? She takes the weight from a lot of people and puts it on her own shoulders.

Why are her parents sooo cool?

Rhetorical Analysis: Why is Olive such a generous person?

She was raised by her parents to be accepting and adventurous, making her well adjusted to take care of others.

Olive is a well adjusted teenager because her parents raised her to be accepting of all people and to handle sticky situations well. This helps Olive stay positive and be generous when others need her help.

Some evidence to support this is that when her friend Brandon is beat up repeatedly for his preference of homosexuality, Olive graciously agrees to help him “stick it to the man” and regain some status within their high school. 

Movies

Today in class we watched an old Horror movie called Halloween. It was made in the late 1970s and is about a crazy person who kills a bunch of innocent people on Halloween night. I am not a scary movie fan so I wasn't interested in watching this movie. I would much rather sit through a Disney Princess movie. Its not that I love little kid stuff, but I much more enjoy a happy ending. To name a few of my favorites, Swan Princess, Beauty and the Beast, and Little Mermaid. Some of my more grown up favorites include She's the Man, John Tucker Must Die, and The Twilight Movies. All very girly, I know. But I like what I like. Im also a fan of Office Space, Jumper, and The Lord of The Rings Trilogy, so don't think that I'm just a girly girl.
If I had to rate Halloween, I would give it a three out of five. The story was frightening but the quality of the film was old and took away from the tension. However, I do look forward to talking about the film on Thursday.

Comic Analysis

1. Initial Impression: This comic is in Manga form. Manga is the Japanese version of American comics. The art is very different but it has specific qualities that are important to the way it works. These comics are read from the back to the front or the book.

            I like this comic because it centers on a young girl and her teen romances. But the twist is that each character has a strong connection to their zodiac sign and is affected by each other.

2. Rhetorical Analysis: The purpose of this comic is to show that people are more than just faces. We have deeper connections to our zodiacs than we may think and these connections change the course of our lives. We may butt heads with others who share the same sign. But we may also fall in love with someone who has a sign that complements our own. This comic brings out feelings of romance, hope, and conflict. All these feelings compiled create a great story. The intended audience for Fruit’s Basket is definitely teenage girls. The story revolves around love and friendship, two themes in every girl’s life. The tone is love sick and sweet.

3. Analysis question: Why is the girl so smitten with the boy in this comic?

I think she likes him because they have a deeper zodiac connection with each other, even if they are unaware of it.

The two main characters in Fruit’s Basket have a deep connection with each other because of their zodiac signs. The two of them never fight and they have an understanding between them that brings peace into the hectic house they live in. 

Analyzing Comics

V for Vendetta and Constellations

1.     What do you notice about the speech bubbles/text boxes?

The bubbles in “V” are all jagged in the beginning because it is the voice of a radio. In some ways, it becomes the narrator to the beginning of the comic. We are giving a glimpse of what this world is like.

The bubbles in “Constellations” are round and a warm green color. They have a completely different connotation than the bubbles in “V”. These bubbles seem happier and less mature than the “V” bubbles.

2.     What do you notice about the pictures?

The pictures in “V” are very realistic cartoons. The people have details of actual humans, as opposed to round, childlike cartoon characters. Also, the colors are very vibrant.

The picture in “Constellations” looks amateur compared to those in the other comic. There are many details but the art is more round and unrealistic. Faces are shaped in more abstract ways.

3.     What do you notice about the color or texture of the images?

            The images look to be drawn with a pencil, lots of little lines and shading. But they are very saturated with colors.

      In “Constellations” the images are very detailed with color, lines and shading. Everything has a pattern.

4.     What do you notice about the characters?

            There seams to be two main characters in “V”, a blond women who looks like she is going to go out somewhere at night, and a man who wears a mask. Both characters are introduced in the very beginning of the comic, leading us to believe that they have something to do with each other.

            There are two girls, probably pre teen aged

5.     What do you notice about the setting?

            The radio announcer in the beginning of “V” tells us that the story takes place in London. However, it doesn’t appear to be the same London as real life. This place has food regulations and is constantly being watched by cameras that are placed on lampposts. This London doesn’t look like a very happy place.

            The setting is in one of the girls backyards, lots of trees and the camper make it a comfortable place.

6.     What do you notice about the way the text and pictures work together?

            The radio voice seams to loom over top of the picture, like a blanket of depression. For each frame of story, there seams to also be at least one moment of dialogue.

            The dialogue is conversational and easy to follow. The text sets up the scene for the comic. The text font is youthful and girly, showing us who is talking and what they are like. 

The Crucible

My sister is in the play at my old high school. This year, they are producing the Crucible, a story of  women, played by my sister, that starts the series of witch trials and hangings. The Crucible is a classic, well known, and spectacular piece of American literature. Though it isn't a happy story, this play takes hours or work and dedication to make it great. Tonight I will be witnessing the dress rehearsal because I am unable to attend the main event. I'm excited to watch my younger sister perform in the thing she was born to do.
Miranda, my sister, has always been an actress, although when she was younger, it was more like a drama queen. The extremes of her behavior kept my parents constantly guessing.  She was usually a happy kid, but often times, her excitement bordered on the crazy side. And when she was mad, there was no telling what she would do. But we all loved her, regardless of her actions.
But now she has found the theater. there, she can shine like the stars while she performs with ease. I love her dearly and I'm very excited to watch her grow into a famous actress.

Poetry

On Thursday, we are supposed to bring in a poem and piece of art to class that we want to write about. However, I wont be in class that day so I have decided to do it now instead.

dear love,

BY BARBARA JANE REYES

you dream in the language of dodging bullets and artillery fire.

new, sexy diagnoses have been added to the lexicon on your behalf

(“charlie don’t surf,” has also been added to the lexicon on your behalf).

in this home that is not our home, we have mutually exiled each

other. i walk down your street in the rain, and i do not call you. i

walk in the opposite direction of where i know to find you. that we

do not speak is louder than bombs.

 

there are times that missing you is a matter of procedure. now is

not one of those times. there are times when missing you hurts. so

it comes to this, vying for geography. there is a prayer stuck in my

throat. douse me in gasoline, my love, and strike a match. let’s see

this prayer ignite to high heaven.

 

This picture was taken by my cousin, Jen Hawk. She is a young, talented photographer. I really like this picture because it shows trauma without the gore. It does a really nice job at foreshadowing a future full of hate, sadness, and pain. But at the edge of the hallway, there is a light. This light represents hope for these three refugees. 

The poem is about broken love. The two subjects are separated, perhaps not by choice, and to me, it sounds like one is calling out to the other. 

I put these two pieces together because I feel like the poem could be the man, calling out to his lover, the girl in the picture. They are apart because of societies mistakes, but he wants to remind her that his love still remains intact. 

 

Skiing

I'm on the Western Alpine Ski and Snowboard team here at western. Every weekend, our team travels to a different mountain and skis the whole weekend. Our weekends consist of listening to music all hours of the day and night, conversing with the other teams, and making great friends. Of course, those that are old enough also engage in an activity we call Partying, but that's a whole other story.
This weekend, I spent the majority of my time walking. First I walked to the car before we even left. Then, when we got to the mountain, we had to park the car far away and walk back to the house. Then in the morning, we walked back to the car to get our snow gear. Next I walked my out of shape butt up the mountain to the chair lift. I snowboarded and did my race for a while, but later found myself walking to the lodge for lunch. Then I found some of my friends and sauntered my way back to the car. We went out again later and the whole day repeated itself again. Sunday rolled around and after a grand total of ten hours of sleep all weekend, walking was really getting on my nerves. I was so tired that every time we stopped on the hill, I laid on the snow. Finally when we got to the car, I slept most of the three hours home. Sounds like a great weekend right? haha It actually was. I met some really cool people and got to hang out with my buddies on the team. We are going out again this coming weekend and I am counting down the days. Even if it means more walking.