Weekly Sketch #5

I have seen Degas ballerinas in museums all around the world, but today, I was moved to tears when I saw 'Bailarina basculando' (Bailarina verde).  I'm not sure why it struck me today, but it's beautiful.  The Thyssen is a beautiful museum in general--the coral walls are unique to most art museums and the color highlighted so many shades I loved in the paintings.  I don't flatter myself by thinking I am great at drawing people, but I wanted to do a sketch about this painting because I think it's important to remember moments that move you.

Visual Cue- 500 Days of Summer

Just by looking at this screenshot you can tell this guy looks pretty miserable without knowing much behind the storyline.  By observing this scene, you can see that he is in an elevator with an i-hate-the-world expression on his face, along with an un-kept appearance, and a slouched body posture.  This leads to the conclusion that he must be unhappy and or depressed.  In previous scenes, it shows a much more put together persona of him, being dressed nicely with his hair combed and an optimistic/positive look on his face.  It shows him being productive at work, but later (in relation to this scene shown) it shows him with no inspiration or output at work.  All of these sharp contrasting visual cues are due to either the presence or lack of being in love.  It is not hard to notice when Tom is in love during a scene or when he has had his heart ripped out by whom he thinks is his “soulmate” because of the visual cues given.

Visual Cue

This is a screenshot from the movie “You Can’t Take It With You.” I chose this scene because when I was little I would watch this and would instantly want to just jump right into it. The visual cue here is all the chaos and excitement going on. You can see the one sister is in her ballet costume, the mother is painting, the uncle is in his costume posing, the grandfather is watching in amusement, their house keepers boyfriend is setting the table, and the dance teacher/friend is clapping along with the music. From their stances and expression in their faces you can see the joy they have, and just how much fun they are having.  

Visual Cue

Inception is my all time favorite movie, and it incorporates a lot of originally Spanish ideas interestingly; the dream with in a dream, or is reality just a dream, is not original which you probably already knew. Anyway, to identify the most striking visual cue, I muted the sound and started the movie. Here, Cob looks up from his grits or oatmeal after Sito drops reminders of their "memories" as young men. Cob is now realizing/ remembering what he came to do, and he looks up. The lighting of the room, the shadow and highlight of his face, his dialated pupils, facial expresion, are all brought out by this camera angle, up close and right in front of Cob, practically on the table. The whole cut is better than this one image, and it makes the viewer intrigued. Something important and deep and amazing is happening here, I mean look at this guy's face. What a great intro.

Weekly Sketch #5

In the evenings, the Plaza de Cervantes is usually teaming with people -- children playing tag, old men smoking and arguing, mothers pushing strollers, and couples holding hands.  Almost every Sunday evening, this magician comes to the Plaza to put on a show for the people of Alcala.  He is incredibly charismatic and always has the audience laughing at and participating in his performance.  I love seeing people from all walks of life come together as a community to enjoy a show.

Visual Cue--The Grand Budapest Hotel

In the Grand Budapest Hotel, the scenes with the main characters Zero and Gustav, Gustav was always filmed larger and more central than Zero to show his dominance but then after Zero saves him they are filmed on the same plane as equals. This is just one of the many ways the director Wes Anderson used the way of filming and his composition to share a message. His message here was that before Zero was nothing but a lobby boy, but after he showed his strength he was more than that to Gustav.

Visual Cue- The Life Aquatic

This is a screen shot from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. To me this visual que marks loneliness and indeference. In this shot Bill Murray (Steve Zissou) is smoking a cigarette alone sitting next to an award given to him for his latest film. He is sitting on the red carpet and there is a crowd of presumably fans standing behind a gate watching him. Throughtout the movie smoking is established as something he does when he is looking for relief from stress. The fact that he is at an awards show where he obviously did well and is still smoking conveys a very sad feeling like perhaps there arent any experiences that would fix his depressed state of mind. The whole scene seems very out of place, on the red carpet that we know we would never see a famous award-winning actor or director sitting on the ground smoking a ciggarette ignoring everything around him. It would not be socially acceptable. Having Bill Murray do just that makes him look indiferent to fame obviously showing something troubling on his mind grasping a much firmer hold on his attention than the circumstances around him.

Sketch week 4

VISUAL CUE-- The Lucky One

This is just one example out of the many visual cues in the movie The Lucky One. Obviously the man on our left is glaring at the other man with disapproval, but in order to understand what this cue is truly conveying, one needs to know what is happening within the film. What you would not know without watching it and its cues up to this point is that this is the disgusting ex husband of the protagonist, a beautiful woman and great mom named Beth. Being the son of a political figure and the community sheriff, Keith is able to remain in control by threatening that he could easily gain full custody of their son. This is until a U.S. Marine, Logan, literally walks into the picture; his strength and protective instincts threatens Keith which turns the tables but perhaps makes Keith's desire for control more intense. Keith's character is developed to fill the audience with fear and anxiety from the second he enters the screen. The photo below is paused on a scene where the son, Ben, is having a birthday party. Keith sees that Logan is there and his instant look of hatred and internal feelings of jealousy contribute to the drama by creating the repetitive feeling associated with him of unease and an anticipation for something to go unbelievably wrong. Continue watching. After the next scene plays out, we aren't surprised to find that just moments after this visual cue, Keith follows Beth into the kitchen and threatens her relationship with both Logan and Ben. We are able to find relief in the fact that his aggression didn't come out physically, but emotional abuse can be just as traumatizing if not worse. Although this visual cue is important in portraying the harsh emotions present and what is to come, visual cues later in this film will also add to the turn of events created.

sketch 2/27

Visual Cue - The Crucifixion of Christ

(My visual cue is from a church video that I saw in Sunday school. Sadly, I couldn't find the video on the church's website, so these photos will have to suffice. Sorry!!) The visual cue that came to my mind was from a church film about the atonement and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. In the scene, the Savior has just been judged by Pilate and is being taken to a courtyard to be scourged. The camera shows the soldier tying Christ up in preparation to scourge him, then cuts to an image of a horse that we assume is standing nearby.  You hear the lash of the whip and see the horse jump, its muscles tensing and rippling, but you don't actually see the Savior being struck.  The camera returns to the image of the soldier swinging the whip, and then cuts back to the horse just in time to see the horse jump in fright again.  Although we don't actually see the Savior being whipped, we associate the image of the soldier and the flinching of the horse with the pain that the Savior is feeling as He is scourged. We associate the horse with Christ and how His body and muscles are likely bunching in agony just as the horse's muscles twitch in fear.  

The alternating shots of the soldier, the whip, and the horse all create a visual cue that helps us understand what is going on without actually seeing the scourging itself.  By showing the horse rather than the Savior, the scene seems to suggest that the agony or violence of the ordeal is too great to be shown; however, these images are still able to convey the intense, physical nature of the scene with great power.  Personally, I can't watch scenes that are too gory/violent so I thought that a scene like this would be easier to watch than seeing the actual scourging itself.  However, this visual cue (combined with the sound) was so effective and powerful that I still found myself cringing and wincing as I watched.  It forced my mind to make the connection between the images I was seeing and the actual event that I knew was going on - the scourging of Christ.  This mental participation made me interact with the film rather than passively watch.  This mental interaction also made me more invested in the scene and even more sympathetic to the suffering of the Savior. 

You've Got Mail--Visual Cue

Visual cue from You’ve Got Mail.  

There is a scene in the movie where Kathleen Kelly is decorating her store's tree.  She waves to a customer who says hello and calls her by name.  Right after that interaction, she sees people walking by with Fox Books bags.  Immediately her expression falls, and you can see an emotional change come over her.  She is no longer feeling the Christmas spirit, and she is reminded that her store is struggling.  There is little dialogue in this scene, but through Meg Ryan's facial expressions, you can understand the melancholy she is feeling that night.  

sketch week 4

Sketch--Week 4

I had the opportunity to go and do baptisms in the Madrid temple. It was an interesting experience having all of it done in Spanish but I loved it and hope to go again soon.

SKETCH-- Week 4

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sketch 3