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! :)