The 400 Blows (1959) and Hoodwinked (2005)

The 400 Blows and Hoodwinked

 

            Francois Truffaunt directed, The 400 Blows (1959), which is known as a drama and biography film. The film's color is in black and white. Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards, and Tony Leech directed, Hoodwinked (2005), which is known as a comedy and animation film. The film is in color. The themes of these two films are to never judge a book by its cover. As soon as Antoine, in The 400 Blows (1959), and Red, in Hoodwinked (2005), meet characters in the film, they begin to realize they can’t trust anybody. Another theme is you don't know what life will throw at you. Antoine and Red did't know they would be in for a long journey. 

The first similarity of Antoine and Red are they both get blamed for doing something they didn’t do. Antoine’s parents and teacher think he’s a troublemaker. His teacher caught him when he was handed a picture of a woman another student gave him. The Chief of police accused Red for committing a crime that she didn’t commit.

The second similarity of Antoine and Red are they both are judged before anyone gets to truly know them, even family members. Antoine’s parents judge him based on what they hear from others, such as their son is a lost cause. The Chief of police and the wolf judged Red because they thought she was the goody bandit. The wolf was trying to find evidence at granny’s house to see if there was anything out of sorts to blame Red for the crime.

The third similarity of Antoine and Red are they both feel stuck. Antoine is running away from the house detention to a beach. This part is showing him stuck between the past and the future. Red wants to venture out of the forest and wants to solve the goody-bandit on her own. They both don’t want to be held back in life by others.

The fourth similarity of Antoine and Red are that someone is influencing them both. Antoine’s friend from school influenced him to become a troublemaker. A time he was caught was when he lied to his teacher saying he was sick and that his mother passed away all because his new friend told him to Antoine quit school because he was caught plagiarizing another student’s work. Antoine and his friend ended up stealing a typewriter, but they were caught returning it. Antoine was sent to a juvenile home because his stepfather told the police he stole. Red is influenced by Bunny who keeps leading her to certain clues to the goody bandit. In the end, Bunny isn’t so sweet like he seems to be. Her granny also influences her. Granny takes care of Red , but granny ends up lying to Red which tears their relationship a little bit. The last person to influence her is the Wolf. The Wolf tries to become friendly with Red in the forest and also pretends to be her granny.

These two pictures show Antoine and Red are trapped. Antoine is in jail with other criminals while Red is tied up with explosives. Antoine has his mouth covered up from his sweater while Red has a bandana around her mouth. They both don't know what to do in their situations. I think this is where they both think this is the end for them.

Francois Truffaunt made The 400 blows (1959) into the myth of Hoodwinked (2005) because he wanted people to see an actual person going through struggles in their life. We all have had that one person in our life that has peer pressured us into doing something we shouldn't be doing. They influenced us into making bad choices which later on, no one trusted us as a person. The person turns into a kid who rebels and becomes a troublemaker. Francois Truffaunt made the film to show his experience through his life just as Red broke out of her shell at one point and went on her own. Both Antoine and Red don't have parents in their lives. Antoine's parents are rarely at home and resent him and Red's granny is off doing other things then staying in to take care of her. Both ends to the film have a clean slate. Antoine is running into fresh water while Red is reunited with her granny.

The 400 Blows and Hoodwinked

The 400 Blows and Hoodwinked are similar in certain ways. Antoine has only been around his house or he's at school. Red has only been inside the forest her whole life. They both want to be able to explore and see what else is going on around them by venturing out. Along the way, they both get into a little bit of mischief with some communication problems with people close to them.They both begin to feel alone, but end up running into people who don't necessarily bring out the best side of them.

Cultural Perspective: Water

In the film, Water, it was difficult for the women to feel like everyone else while they were cooped up in one place. Since they were all widows, they weren't allowed to remarry or be with anyone else. You could tell some of the women wanted to remarry. They wanted to move on from feeling like they meant nothing. Especially the women who became a widow at a very young age. Men knew they couldn't marry the women who were a widow because it was a sin. If someone remarried, they would be cursed by doing so. The women would clean themselves with water to take away evil. They also used water as holy water to heal the sick. The water took away pain from people whether it was mentally or physically.

Music: The Great Gatsby

Time: :20-:48

The music is upbeat and fast. Daisy is dancing with Tom, who's her cousin, and is having the time of her life. They're both smiling and laughing, as Gatsby is watching them while sitting in a chair. The music dramatically changes from happy to a more depressing sound. The music transitions to slower music where Gatsby is remembering the days he had with Daisy kissing/dancing with her and also the war he was in. The war separated Gatsby and Daisy because he was gone so long, she didn't wait for him. Gatsby zones out while picturing these memories again.

Sound and Music: Tsotsi

The scene I thought the sound and music worked out perfect was the end scene where Tsotsi is holding the baby. The father of the baby is waiting for Tsotsi to give the baby back. You hear and see Tsotsi crying because he knows he did wrong. The music begins as the father of the baby is staring at Tsotsi then Tsotsi starts handing him the baby and then the music rises after that.

6:20-6:50

Special Effect: Alice in Wonderland

These two pictures are showing Alice, Tweedle Dee, and Tweedle Dum. The green screen provides the special effect of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum being a lot bigger than Alice in the bottom picture. The bottom picture also shows what Wonderland looks like compared to the top picture only showing the green screen. The top picture shows that Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum were on stilts in order to get their height to be taller than Alice. 

Historical Framework

A historical framework from, Whale Rider, is the youth and old age. The youth had to listen to the adults. Pai on the other hand, didn't want to engage herself with what the adults said. She wanted to do the stuff she couldn't do. One was she tried sitting in the front row, but boys sit in the front and girls sit in the back. She got kicked out by her grandfather. The second was she retrieved the whale tooth without anyones permission. The last one was she tried the stick fighting. What was holding her back was that she was a girl. She tried so hard to do what the boys would do, but her grandfather wasn't going to let her. Her grandfather wanted to teach Pai what she could learn for girls. The youth were expected to repeat and observe what their elders do. Pai would watch her grandfather and wish she could do exactly what he would. Her grandfather couldn't get out of the past by letting the new generation, such as Pai, to go out and venture in whatever area she felt like learning.

Transition: The Great Gatsby

Time: 2:00-2:30

In this scene, Daisy and Gatsby are seeing each other for the first time in 5 years. Nick Carraway invites Daisy over for tea, so Gatsby can see her again. I chose, The Great Gatsby, for transitions because the film uses straight cut editing from one shot to another. Straight cut is where there's a shot and it's suddenly cut off with another shot appearing right away.

Feature Blogger: Whale Rider

Since Hemi wasn't allowed to go on the boat, do you think he would've been the one to find the whale tooth and give it back to Koro? Would Koro appreciate Hemi more than he does now?

The Road Home: Focusing on Symbolism

A symbol I found throughout the film was the bowl. Zaho Di had the same two bowls throughout the movie, which they meant a lot to her. She was using the bowls to see if Luo Changyu would take the food and bowls with him. The bowl symbolized a circle that never ended just how Di and Luo's relationship was. They saw each other, Luo left, he came back, left again, came back, ended up leaving for two years, and eventually they stayed together for many years after that. Another is the broken pieces of the bowl meant no matter what has all happened, they ended up together because the pieces came back together.

Once Upon a Time in the West: Camera Movement

Time: 03:40-04:27

  This film clip is towards the end of the film where Frank has the harmonica. The director shows a medium shot of Frank so the audience can see that Frank is looking at the harmonica in his hand. Then Frank looks straightforward at the harmonica guy with a smirk on his face, which the director wanted to add this element so the audience can see Frank’s facial expression of holding the harmonica. The sound of the harmonica is playing, which the director added it during this scene because it means something bad is about to happen soon. A shot/reverse shot shows the harmonica guy staring at Frank straight into his eyes. The director wanted the audience to see the harmonica guy’s reaction because we can tell he’s not thrilled that Frank is holding onto his harmonica. The camera does a close-up shot of Frank and zooms in to an extreme close-up of his eyes. The director wanted the audience to see how serious the harmonica guy was by not flitching his eyes at all. The sound of the harmonica was building up, as the camera was getting closer to the harmonica guy’s eyes. The director had the harmonica sound build up louder because he wanted the audience to know something was about to happen between these two characters. The last part of the clip is a shot/reverse shot that shows a medium shot of Frank still holding onto the harmonica with on hand. The last two seconds of the clip, Frank smiles at the harmonica guy. The director wanted Frank to smile to show that he won and had more power over the harmonica guy. 

Visual Style of The 400 Blows

My visual style I was observing during, The 400 Blows, was one camera shot that I found interesting. The camera shot I was intrigued in was the medium shot of when Antoine Doinel was sitting down in from of different mirrors. I thought in that moment it showed that he didn't know which direction he wanted to go in his life. He could stay at home, run away, go to school, or go into the Army. He's lost with not a direct path to follow. He's figuring out if he should follow his friend's, parents, or teacher's path to clarification of where he should be in life.

Camera Shot of The Wizard of Oz

This picture is from, The Wizard of Oz, and it shows an objective shot where the camera sees the object, which the audience sees too. Another shot is the high-key lighting where there's brightness when the Wicked Witch strikes when trying to touch the shoes. This picture is interesting to me because the Wicked Witch of the West is trying to take the ruby red slippers away from Dorothy. The power of the shoes strikes the Wicked Witch and she gets upset that Dorothy has defeated her in that moment. She wants to have the authority/power to take over Dorothy and the rest of Munchkin Land.

All about me!

Hello Everyone! I'm Molly Slattery and my major is Psychology with a minor in Adult Education. I graduate this December, which I'm super excited about! I work at the daycare on campus and I'm also the dance coach for Alverno College. It's my first year as coach, so I'll see what this year brings.

My twin sister is in the back with the brown hair and my cousin is the one next to her. My two best friends are next to me! :)