Tsotsi: Sound and Music

 

I thought the opening scene’s sound and music worked perfectly together. The scene shows Tsotsi and his friends at Tsotsi’s house when one of the friends ask Tsotsi what they’d be doing that night. An upbeat and almost powerful song begins playing when the camera focuses on a close-up of Tsotsi’s face. The scene then cuts to them leaving the house and walking along the street towards the city.

I thought the scene’s action and song combination worked well together because the song seemed to give us an insight into how others viewed Tsotsi. As the song plays, Tsotsi’s movements are very controlled and purposeful, like he knows how to handle himself and what he needs to do in order to survive in that environment. He also seems to be very focused during this scene and the music seems to emphasize that since the music was also very controlled and had a very direct beat to it. Tsotsi’s friends also walk slightly behind Tsotsi which shows that they view him as the leader of their group.

As the scene progresses, the sound of train tracks and a train whistle are heard in the background. These sounds being used in addition to the song seem to direct where the scene is going. It’s almost like a preview of what’s to come is being shown because their robbery at the train station is what started Tsotsi off on his journey to find value in his life.

Interesting Special Effect

I chose a special effect from The Mummy (1999) which shows Imhotep (played by Arnold Vosloo) chewing on a scarab that comes out of the side of his neck. This is one of my favorite films, and I thought it was interesting to see the process of this special effect being made. The clip above shows the CGI (computer generated image) process in which they made this effect. It describes how they first began with a computer model of Vosloo's face, to create the decayed area, before adding a scarab to run from a hole in his neck to the side of his face. Below I've included the clip from the movie that shows the completed process.

Interesting Transition

 

I chose an interesting transition from the TV show, Steampunk’d (2015). The show divides its participants into two teams with the task of creating a room with an original steampunk design. At the end of each episode, before eliminations take place, the final room is shown in comparison to what the room first looked like. To do this, the show uses a dissolve transition (an overlapping transition). The previous shot of the original room dissolves into the shot of what the room looks like completed and a few seconds of each of these shots is seen as they are overlapping. The use of the dissolve transition in the show is used to show how much time has passed between what the room had looked like before it was completed.

The Whale Rider: Historical Framework

While viewing The Whale Rider, I made sure to consider the historical context of the film. The Whale Rider focused on the traditions and life of the Maori people in New Zealand, including the gender roles within their community. Prior to watching the film we were informed of some of the traits of their gender roles, which included that men would perform the more laborious tasks (such as carving) because they viewed as stronger, which also coincided with the tradition of them fulfilling the leadership roles (such as the role of chief). Women generally performed household work and were valued for their childbearing abilities. These roles were verbally demonstrated when Pai's grandmother commented during a family dinner that, although Koro was in charge of everything outside, she was in charge of the kitchen.

I thought it was interesting to view these traditional roles in the film, and also view how they were altered throughout the film by Pai. Pai was portrayed as a strong young woman who constantly pushed the limitations of women’s roles in the film. When she wanted to listen to the Maori lessons from Koro she decided to sit in the front row, and even when Koro told her to move she didn’t move to the back row; she left entirely. I really enjoyed watching Pai’s character become stronger and more confident throughout the film, since she stretched how women’s roles were being portrayed as she pursued the role of chief.

Interesting Camera Movement

The interesting camera movement I chose appears in the film Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) in the scene in which Tom Cruise is going to scale the outside of a building. 

 

 

As Tom Cruise approaches the edge of the window the camera zooms in and pans up to show the distant skyline in comparison to his silhouette, showing multiple buildings that are shorter in comparison to the one he’s in, in order to demonstrate to the viewers the height of the building he’s currently in and to emphasize the extremity of what he’s about to do. The camera then pans up and shifts to focus on the ground below him in a high angle shot, giving another view of how high up he really is. As he prepares to climb it, camera tracking is used to follow him in a high angle shot as he shifts his body to place his gloved hand on the glass. Through the use of camera panning and tracking, the viewers are able to fully understand what is at stake in the scenes and experience just how fearful the task is.

I wasn't able to get TubeChop to work, but I've attached a short clip that shows the scene I've described within the first 30 seconds.