Final

Life is all about the journey; the people, the lessons learned, the experiences, and the interpersonal growth that comes from it all.



1. Craigslist Joe
            Throughout the many wondrous experiences and awe-inspiring adventures in life are challenging obstacles which lead one off life’s set path. Craigslist Joe is a film that examines the kindness of others as Joe lives off the generosity of strangers for one month. His adventures begin in his hometown of Los Angeles where is has nothing but the clothes on his back, laptop, and phone. He begins his journey feeling as though there is no hope, sleeping on a park bench without having eaten in many hours (Craigslist Joe). However, through this adventure he finds the goodness in others and himself.  Although he feels completely lost, especially in the beginning of his exciting journey, through this experience he finds himself and who he wants to be. Often times unknown adventures, such as the one Joe embarks upon, are terrifying yet thrilling. As he travels across the United States, he faces many challenges, such as not having a place to sleep and nothing to eat, and he continually pushes on, despite many times wanting to give up (Craigslist Joe). In the central image, the hand is reaching for the unknown, not knowing what it will reach. This symbolizes  Joe taking his adventure day by day, concerned yet excited to see what is in store for him next. He is impacted by each of his encounters, the people he meets, and their stories. As an example, Joe meets a Pakistani family, all of who welcome him into their home without any hesitation whatsoever (Craigslist Joe).  Through this family Joe sees hope for humanity. He is able to find himself in a moment of difficulty, at a time when he thought about giving up. He is able to realize that he has grown immensely from his journey; through the people he meets, the experiences, and the lessons learned.  After coming back from his incredible journey, he is welcomed home with a surprise from his family and while explaining his story, he is overcome with emotion (Craigslist Joe). As Joe reflects on his journey, he realizes the immense impact that it had on him and how much was able to grow from it. Through it all; struggles, triumphs, laughter, tears, joy, and sadness, Joe was able to grown through each experience into a stronger, more self-aware, self-confident individual.

2. Seven Pounds

               Life is unpredictable, unknown, and fragile. In just an instant, a world can be shattered into a million pieces, just like that of Ben Thomas. Ben is a man who makes the biggest mistake of his life, texting while driving, and in the midst of his terrible mistake kills seven people (Seven Pounds). It was a brief moment in which it seems nothing could go wrong, yet all that could go wrong did. In the blink of an eye Ben’s world turns upside down, changing his future forever. Ben is constantly wishing to turn back time to undo what has been done and return to his prior life, yet the struggle becomes a part of Ben's story.  To make up for the precious lives lost, Ben Thomas is on a mission to save seven lives by taking his own (Seven Pounds). The central image portrays what Ben wishes he could take back. It shows a hand reaching out into a blurry swirl of dots, seemingly similar to that of the glass flying of the broken windshield of the car during the horrific accident. He is reaching for what is, and what once was. Despite the tragedy, Ben realizes the importance of moving forward with his life and learning from the past. He decides to save seven lives by donating his organs after taking his own life. As Ben is committing suicide, the scenes flash back and forth between what is and what once was, showing his journey (Seven Pounds). Although Ben causes pain to multiple people, he chooses to move on with life in a way unlike many would, and that enables him to save the same number of lives he lost. Ben has a journey unlike any other, full of darkness, yet through the darkness, Ben is able to find glimpses of light and hope to continue on with his journey. It is short and fragile, yet life is made up of small moments, each fragile, and each counting more than the next.

3. Ceremony

                Life is full of obstacles, some easy, some difficult, some overwhelming, but all part of the story of life. Struggles exist in each and every life story, especially for a veteran soldier by the name of Tayo. After the war, Tayo suffers from post traumatic stress, which often occurs after an extreme emotional trauma (Ceremony). Tayo has a difficult time accepting and moving on from his past. Through storytelling, Tayo is able to accept his past, learn from it, and movie past his struggles. Tayo is a half-breed and is left with is Aunt from a very young age. Throughout the book, Tayo is often made fun of because of his background (Ceremony). The central image represents Tayo reaching for the light. Tayo is constantly surrounded by darkness, trying to escape from his past.  He reaches for the light, and slowly but surely finds peace with his past and hope for the future. It is easy to give up and quit, yet it takes a strong person to continue through constant struggles. As a child, Tayo was neglected and constantly told he is not good enough (Ceremony). Tayo uses his post traumatic stress, surviving a difficult childhood, and constantly being made fun of, as tools to learn and grow as a person. As difficult as it may be, one must find a way around the obstacles of life, whether it be over, under, around, or even through. These obstacles and struggles are part of the story that gives one strength and makes one who they are and it is through these struggles that lead to interpersonal growth.

4. PressPausePlay

                As technology continues to develop and grow so does the opportunities for people across the world.  PressPausePlay is a film that explores the advances of modern day technology and the effects of technology around the world. Olafur Arnalds is a classical musician who uses his power of music to seek out someone across the world to assist him in creating a music video (PressPausePlay). After a huge response, Olafur Arnaldas was able to find a man from Argentina who created the perfect music video. Without the use of technology, the connection between these individuals would have been highly improbable, if not impossible. Along with the concept of advances in technology, Olafur Arnaldas also impacts the lives of others through his music. As he directs the orchestra in the intimidating, large, and famous music halls, he hopes that even if it does not sound good to the audience, he is doing sometime good (PressPausePlay). Life is not only about the journey of one’s self, but also about the journey of others. The central image shows how, although from completely different cultures, the world has found a way to communicate with technology. The light represents the hope for a continued advancement, while the hands show the connection between two different people, far away, yet so close. It is crazy to think how much technology has vastly improved in the recent years. It has become not only a want, but a necessity. Olafur Arnaldas says that the journey is the most important part, not the destination (PressPausePlay). The journey of the creation of new technology has come an incredibly long way, and continues to grow. As Olafur Arnaldas journeys through his life, he has made it a goal to impact the lives of others through his music, adding to the journeys of others he meets. Although many times a struggle, life is a winding road full of ups and downs, yet the bumps in the road are as big as one makes them.

5. Media

                Media has become one of the most essential pieces of society today in which a vast majority of people rely on. Although it may seem as though a film is simply made for entertainment, there is so much more. Mise-en-scene is described as the visual aspects that help in telling the story (http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/htmfiles/mise-en-scene.htm). As people journey through life, mise-en-scene gives the audience a view into the character’s world and journey. Along with the mise-en-scene of an image, the lighting also helps establish the story of a character.  Lighting has a profound effect on the way an image is viewed and helps create an image where the subject either stands out or blends in (http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/htmfiles/mise-en-scene.htm). In this image, the lighting is used to make the subject stand out. The lighting of the sky makes the audience feel as though the subject is reflecting on a journey. Another aspect of media is visual literacy and the pose of the character within an image. For example, in this image, the subject is standing in the Christ pose (Media). This often symbolizes sacrifice; sacrifice of a journey and sacrifice of one’s self. Through media, the audience is able to infer many different aspects from something as simple as the lighting used, where the subject is and their pose, and the location of the image. The central image is able to portray how close one can come to experiencing the character’s journey through media. Through the many different aspects of media, the audience is able to step into the world of a character and experience the character’s journey. 

Duality of Water

           Water comes in all forms; its purest, its hardest, its saltiest, and its clearest.  Rain. ice and tears; all forms of water, different in their own way.  Each creates a duality between life and death, two opposites that collide.  It is through water that life is given through baptism, yet through water life can be taken in an instant.  Water flows with time, it moves forward, occasionally running over and around rocks, but never ceasing and never traveling backwards.  Analogous to life, it is constantly moving in the direction it was intended, often full of obstacles, but impossible to rivert against its inevitable fate.  As much as Ben Thomas wants to rewind his life, he has no choice but to continue living with the mistake of his past.  Seven Pounds is a film about a man, Ben Thomas, who realizes just how quickly life can turn into death.  In a horrific car accident, Ben Thomas accidentally kills a total of seven people.  He becomes a man living in the dark shadows of his mistake and decides to, in return, save seven lives by taking his own.  Water is constantly used to represent the duality between life and death, purity, the constant struggle in life, and overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles. 

            Water symbolizes purity and rebirth, and gives a parallel meaning to life.  The film Seven Pounds begins with a scene of Ben Thomas, the main character, swimming in the ocean.  Ben is a character who once had his life together, but in just seven seconds his world is shattered.  He transitions states, like water, from a fluid world full of life to frozen in the shadow of his accident, unable to find his way back to the light.  He swims swiftly through the beautiful, blue ocean, with light above him (Seven Pounds).  The shot begins as Ben swims above the camera, a light shining at the top of the ocean.  As he begins to swim upwards towards the light, the camera quickly changes to a God’s eye view of Ben and the large, deserted ocean.  Ben so badly wants to see the light in his life once again, but he cannot find a way to forgive himself for the tragedy and sadness he caused to so many, and himself.  In a life once expansive and full of light, he is isolated and alone.  At the beginning of the film Ben says, “God created the world in seven days, and in seven seconds I shattered mine” (Seven Pounds).  From a young age, Ben became intrigued by a box jellyfish, a deadly but amazing animal, which later would become his source of death.  As he is standing, hands on the glass of the tank, next to his brother and father, he stares at the jellyfish, fascinated by its every move (Seven Pounds).  The deep blue water illuminates the bright pink jellyfish as he inches closer to the glass, and closer to his death.  The water and jellyfish represent innocence in Ben, a lack of knowledge of the power of the jellyfish and death.  A duality is created between life and death.  How could something that moves with absolute grace in pure blue water be so deadly?  As Ben moves along through each stop of his eventful journey, the jellyfish is constantly with him.  It is one of the few constants in his life, his nearness to death.  Even in the most obscure of places, Ben’s jellyfish serves as a constant reminder of death.  For a period of time, Ben lives in a hotel room, and yet his jellyfish is once again in his presence, lurking, as he ponders the rest of his short life (Seven Pounds).  Each shot containing Ben and his jellyfish foreshadows his impending death. The lighting and costumes set a dark, somber mood, showcasing a lack of life within Ben.  Water represents not only death, but life, and the inevitable transition between the two states.  Ben is on a mission to save seven lives to make up for the ones he took.  One life to which he brings hope to is that of Connie and her two children.  Connie was tragically abused by her boyfriend and scared for her life.  Ben came to her rescue by generously giving them his beach house.  Connie stands in front of the ocean as the sun sets, amidst the beautiful, colorful flowers in a life she never imagined (Seven Pounds).  The ocean gave her a sense of peace, purity, and calm in a life that once had an unknown, dark future.  The ocean is the dichotomous visual analogy  for both the beauty and light, darkness and depth of life and death. 

            Ice creates a cold chilling feeling, yet from ice can stem enormous amounts of passion.  He killed seven, yet is on a mission to save seven lives.  Ben Thomas is approaching the end of his journey and his life.  Although he is leaving behind so much, including Emily, the woman he has recently fallen in love with, he knows that he is doing the right thing.  In this scene, Ben is pouring bags of ice into the hotel bathtub (Seven Pounds).  As he is pouring out the ice, he attempts to release his burdens.  The pouring of the ice symbolizes the outpouring out of his soul.  Along with this, Ben uses ice to preserve his organs.  His plan is timed out down to the second. He seeks to save as many lives as possible, though he intends to take his own.  Ben lies in the bathtub of ice, slowly submerging himself.  Soon after he pours the jellyfish into the tub, which tightly wraps around his arm, killing him.  This scene alternates between Ben and Emily, each in their own bathtub, one dying and one full of life (Seven Pounds).  The smooth ice in Ben’s bathtub looks like tiny crushed up pieces of glass, like the glass flying from the windshield during the accident that shattered Ben’s life.  The scene represents opposites, Ben dying in the ice cold bathtub, Emily lying in a tub symbolizing a halo.  Soon after, Emily is given a heart…from Ben.  Although ice can often be associated with cold bitterness, it can mean so much more.  As Ben journeys to save seven lives, he donates his kidney to an inspiring hockey coach.  The hockey coach is a source of hope to many underprivileged kids who could only dream of playing hockey, but did not have the money to play as they wished.  He is also a figure that the young boys look up to.  This scene shows Ben looking onto one of the hockey practices, watching the boys look up to the coach not only as a coach, but also as a role model (Seven Pounds).  Ice represents the coach’s passion, his passion for skating, passion for kindness, passion for doing something nice and an opportunity to change the world.  Through the hockey coach the kids are given heaven in midst of the horrible hell in which they’re living.  Ice, once again, creates a duality between life and death, passion and bitterness. 

            Water exists everywhere, the ocean, as glaciers, but many times forgotten is water in its purest form, rain and tears.  Ben quickly comes to the realization that Emily will not live much longer with with her rare heart condition and blood type.  There is an extremely slim chance a donor will ever be found with her same blood type.   Ben realizes she is his last source of life and happiness, and that losing her would be devastating.  At this moment Ben realizes that it is time for him to go.  He urgently sprints down the streets in the pouring rain towards the hospital (Seven Pounds).  Rain symbolizes washing away the dark and making way for the new.  By taking his life, Ben takes away the dark he is living in and paves the way for Emily to live the life she has always dreamed.  Emily invites Ben over for a beautiful, candle-lit dinner on her back patio, and from the start Ben and Emily understand one another.  After an amazing night, the rain begins to pour down onto the light green table cloth, dishes, and faint light of the burning candle (Seven Pounds).  Even though the rain is pouring down, the candle stays lit.  The rain represents sadness, yet the light represents hope.  The candle is continually burning, representing a hope for the future.  There is a duality amongst the rain and the flame, a duality between hope and sadness.  After the passing of Ben, the impact he makes shows up through many people.  Ben, once was full of darkness, became Emily’s true source of life as she lives on thanks to Ben’s heart.  Emily begins to search for a man named Ezra, who once was blind until Ben saved his life.  After a choir concert in which Ezra is the director, Emily finds Ezra and is speechless as she begins to cry (Seven Pounds).  Emily sees the impact that a man she loved so dearly had on many people.  She lives through the pain of losing Ben, but is comforted by the knowledge of the life his altruism bestowed upon others.  Her tears show a duality between her sadness and happiness, between the lives of those Ben saved and the sadness of his death.  The same inanimate agent, rain, renders both life and death. 

            Water takes on many forms, each with its own meaning, yet each with a central purpose of purity and cleansing.  Each state breeds both life and death. The ocean is colossal and makes one feel small, yet when within brings one a sense of peace.  Ice is bitter and cold, yet can stem an immense amount of passion from the soul.  Rain and tears brings sadness, yet purifies the mind and soul, creating life anew.  Through Ben and Emily in the film Seven Pounds, the duality of life and death is expressed with the ocean, ice, rain, and tears.  Emily brings light into the life of a man that sees only darkness.  However, among the heart condition Emily is living with, Ben brings her life by giving her his heart.  Not only is a duality created between life and death, but the duality created between light and dark is shared between two people whose lives are inevitably intertwined, like the various states of water.  Water creates in one a clean heart, a rebirth, and an opportunity to live in the midst of mistakes.  Life can not exist without water, it is the essential element to both our anatomy, and our humanity.

Analyzing Television

This image exemplifies the concept of decor.  Innocence is shown through the color pink within this scene.  Also, the bathtub with bubbles and toys shows the innocence of Michelle.  In this scene, Michelle is hiding her dead fish in the bathtub.  Mischief is shown as Michelle stands in front of the bathtub looking up at Uncle Joey.  Also, from this image you can tell that the dominance is coming from Uncle Joey who is standing looking down at Michelle with his hands on his hips knowing that Michelle has done something wrong.  

The term high-key lighting is shown in this image.  High-key lighting is often used in comedies such as this show, New Girl.  In this image, there are no shadows on Jess, the main focus of this image.  Jess' personality throughout the show is very happy and bubbly.  The lighting in this image is exemplifying her personality.  Also, along with the lighting, the colors used in this image are mostly yellow.  Yellow is often associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy.  Jess' personality is portrayed through the lighting and color of this image.

The concept shown in this scene is frontality.  In this scene, DJ is directly addressing the camera as she is auditioning for a cereal commercial.  She is looking straight at the camera and in a sense looking and talking to the viewer.  The frontality is also showing how the focus is on DJ.








Within this scene it is evident the concept of shallow space is being shown.  Shallow space in when there is very little depth to an image.  The shallow space in this image shows the curiosity Michelle has for the fish.

This idea being expressed in this scene is costume.  Costume is often used to signify character.  In this scene Jess is wearing a turkey costume.  Many times throughout New Girl Jess is dressed in outrageous, silly costumes.  These costumes portray Jess' personality.  Jess' personality is spontaneous and silly and she is not afraid of what others think, just like the costumes she wears in many of the scenes.

The concept being shown in this scene is shallow focus.  Shallow focus occurs when just one part of the scene is in focus.  In this scene, the only thing in focus is Cece.  By using this technique, the viewer's eye is automatically drawn to the element of the scene that is in focus.  This image shows Cece's emotion.  Also, frontality is present in this image.  It almost seems as if Cece is looking at the viewer.

The main concept portrayed in this scene is canted framing.  Canted framing occurs when a frame is not level and often shows chaos.  In this scene/image, Jess is surrounded by many things that seemed to be knocked over.  In this scene Jess, Nick, Schmidt, and Winston crash Cece's wedding. Chaos and instability is created by using canted framing in this scene.

The concept exemplified in this shot is long shot.  In a long shot, the characters appear to be the height of the screen.  They are often used to show a character and his/her surroundings.  In this image, the long shot is used to show all three characters and the roller skates they are wearing.  It would be difficult to get this image by using a different shot.  The long shot also allows the viewer to see the faces of the characters as well as the surroundings.  In this scene, Winston, Nick, and Schmidt are roller skating inside of their apartment.

In this image, the concept of medium long shot is being used.  A medium long shot shows most of the character, but not all of them.  This is the perfect shot for this scene because it is not too close, so the surroundings and costume can be seen, but not too far so that their facial expressions can be seen.  Through this image, it is also evident the personalities of Jess and Nick because of their costumes.

  The concept exemplified in this image is close-up.  This close-up is being used to show the curiosity that Michelle has for the caterpillar.  Without this close-up shot, the viewer would not be able to see all aspects of the image, such as the caterpillar or the curiosity of Michelle's face.    

Analyzing Music Videos

Hey Brother by Avicii

Diegesis:  This video depicts two boys growing up during wartime in America.  The young boy imagines his father (who passed away in the war) as the older brother he never had. 

Flashback:  Throughout the video there are flashbacks to the Vietnam War.  

Genre:  This video is narrative genre because it is telling the story of a young boy growing up without his father and imagining what it would be like to have his father there. 

Focus:  At the beginning of the video (from 0:07 to 0:11)  there is a shot of a picture on the boy's bike.  Everything in the shot is in focus except the picture, showing the unknown.  The boy wishes he had known his father, but all he can do is imagine what it would be like.  

Mise-En-Scene:  In this image, and throughout the video, the main colors are red, white, and blue.  This represents patriotism and is especially important for the young boy because he lost his father who was fighting for his country.

Highway 20 Ride by Zac Brown Band

Auteur: This song was co-written with Wyatt Durrette who had been through a similar situation himself.  As a child, Durrette's parents were divorced.  Zac Brown had been through a divorce himself.  They were able to use both of their experiences to create this passionate song and music video.  

Editing:  The video goes back and forth between clips of Zac Brown driving down the highway and videos of his son growing up.  This shows both of their journeys and going through milestone events without his dad there.  It shows how disappointed Zac Brown is to be missing all of these parts of his son's life. 

Story/ Plot:  After going through a divorce, Zac Brown would drive every other weekend to go visit his son.  This song about the difficult and painful time that he went through when he rarely saw his son and the worry of missing out of many of his son's milestone events.

Scene/ Sequence:  From 0:48 to 2:46 it is flashing back to all of the memories of his son growing up that he missed out on, from his first day of school to his high school prom. 

Shot:  From 0:27 to 0:29 the shot is showing Zac Brown as he is driving down the highway to visit his son.  His face is dark and the lighting is all in the background.  This shows the darkness and pain he is going through in this situation.