...Sleight of Hand, Sleight of Mind Orson Welles' F for Fake and the Art of the Cinematic Con Orson Welles' 1974 "film essay" F for Fake opens with a scene of Welles, in the role of a magician, performing a sleight of hand trick with a young child, "transforming" the key the young boy has presented him into a coin and then showing how the young boy had the key all the time in his pocket. The magic was the perfect illustration of Welles' purpose in the film. F for Fake was a film about fraud and deceit, about how the makers of art (and, in particular, film) use "trickery" to fool their intended audience into believing something that is not true. The film focuses on three known "charlatans" (Elmyr de Hory, Clifford Irving, and Welles himself) who used their talents to produce such magnificent forgeries that they were able to fool everyone (even so-called "experts") into believing in the truth of their claims. Despite the status of this film as one of Welles' "minor" films from late in his life (it was one of the last films he completed prior to his death in 1985), it has had a tremendous impact on filmmaking, both in a technical sense (the film's complex editing of various film stocks and styles) and in a textual sense. Welles' identification of the ways in which an audience can be manipulated into believing anything as long as it has the "air" of authenticity has had a tremendous impact on current filmmaking, especially in the realm of horror filmmaking with the current crop...
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...hysteria throughout the towns people. Instaces like "The Crucible" have happened through the 20th and 21th century, but one in paticular would be "War of Worlds". "War of Worlds" by Orson Welles was a radio story about aliens invading earth that caused a panic to those who listened due to people believeing the story as if an actual outbreak. In "The Crucible" the epidemic was a result miscommunication and bad decision making. The belief of witchcraft had made the town peoples accuse all who looked sucipious and the result being not hurt feelings but, rather death sentences. Similar to "The Crucible" the "War of Worlds" was mistakenly processed as an actual emergency of a national level rather than for entertainment. This caused an outbreak of misinformed individuals and this resulted in unpleasant events....
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...Orson Welles: The Man, the Myth… the Communist? “One of the most promising artists of our day,” “ One of the most accomplished dramatic artists of the twentieth century, “ and “A major creative force and ultimate auteur,” were all praises and titles from major media moguls, publications, and critics given to Orson Welles. Not too shabby for someone who hasn’t even turned thirty yet, eh? Right out of the gate Welles proved to be an innovative and artistic force that could hold its own, and even surpass, the heavy hitters of his day. His career seemed to be on a steady incline for almost a decade; however, did his talent and work hit a plateau? Welles was always seen as an active political figure that was not afraid to voice or project his own viewpoints in the public, but did this have a negative or lasting affect on his later career? Critics argue the best work Welles produced was before he hit thirty years old, so was this a direct result from the negative attention he attracted from media magnates, specifically William Randolph Hearst, Hollywood elite, and most importantly the United States government? Also, Welles left the country at a time when the dreaded “blacklist” was starting to funnel through Hollywood (“Orson” 17). Whether this was coincidence or intentional is debatable, but either way the ramifications may have helped account for the different direction he took with his post-Hollywood career. Did Orson’s fame draw too much attention and lead to his downfall? ...
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...Intro to Film 10/25/11 Film Noir Film Noir is a term first used by some French critics to describe a group of American films made during and after World War II. The term Film Noir means black or dark cinema. Film noir is the classic period saying to have occurred between 1941 and 1958, beginning with John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon and ending with Orson Welle’s Touch of Evil. Film Noir is identified by its constant opposition of light and shadow, oblique camera angles, and the ways characters are placed in unconventional or awkward positions with particular shots. (Conrad, 2006, pp1-8) Themes that characterize Film Noir include inversions of traditional values, the feeling of alienation, paranoia, presence of crime and violence, and the feelings of despair, fear, mistrust and loss of innocence. (Conrad, 2006, pp1-8) Many argue on whether or not film noir is a genre. Foster Hirsch says that a film genre is “determined by conventions or narrative structure, characterization, theme, and visual design.” According to this definition, Hirsch felt film noir was in fact a genre because of the consistent tone and the story telling and visual conventions running through the films of the classic noir period. Andrew Spicer denied film noir can be defined as a genre since the expression of film noir is “a discursive critical construction that has evolved over time.” (Conrad, 2006, pp10) Nonetheless, as a crucial film movement, film noir consisted of films tending to have...
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...The Psychology of Panic Research paper on Academic Writing Skills First semester – A.Y. 2012-2013 Kevin and Friends Antonio, KevinArlante, Gil AngeloJorge, CamilleLeonardo, LaarniePascual, Shenine LevinaSalcines, Denz JovelleSantos, Arrianne | The War of the Worlds is a science fiction novel written by Herbert George Wells in 1895-97 and was published in 1898. It is about the adventure of an unnamed protagonist as he ventures in London while the Martian are invading the Earth. The setting of the Novel is in the time of the Victorian England and is one of the earliest stories that involved an extraterrestrial race. It has two parts: The Coming of Martians, and The Earth under the Martians. The Mercury group, which was led by Orson Welles, adapted in their show “Mercury Theatre on the Air” the science fiction novel The War of the Worlds by H.G Wells for the airing of their Halloween show in the night of October 30, 1938. Orson Wells and his writer Howard Koch revised the novel to have the elements of a radio play and made it to sound like real news broadcast. The group aired the show in time with their rival radio broadcast “Chase and Sanbourn Hour” in an attempt to increase their listenership status. Before they even started the radio play, an announcer informed the listeners that they will feature the imaginative novel. However, regardless of the radio show’s disclosure, the play stimulated various responses. During and even after the airing of the program, millions...
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...Robert Horn Professor Ball Children’s Literature 10 December 2013 The Mysterious Disappearance of Locke and Demosthenes Ender’s Game is a well known science-fiction genre book that is most popular with the young-adult reader demographic. The novel was published in 1985 and written by the American author Orson Scott Card (Card). The official website of Orson Scott Card states that Ender’s Game was the winner of both the Nebula and Hugo awards for best novel in 1985 and 1986, respectively (OSC). In November of 2013 the movie adaption was released to the public with a runtime of one hour and fifty-four minutes and was met with mixed reviews garnishing only a “74% fresh” on the movie critics site rottentomatoes.com (Rotten). Like many books that are adapted into movies, fans and critics usually side with the book being a better portrayal of the story than the movie version. Dennis Schwartz, a movie critic from Ozus' World Movie Reviews, expresses his views on the comparison between the movie and book by writing, “Might have worked as a clever thought-provoking read, on film it's a drag” (Schwartz). This common occurrence of the book being better than the movie can be easily explained by remembering that a movie should usually stay around the two hour time mark and that money is a big factor in adapting a book. The major differences between the book and the movie are that Ender’s timeline is completely changed, Ender is portrayed to be a more likable character, and that the cutaways...
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...Film noir, which literally translates as ‘black film,’ was a term which was used by a French film critic Nino Frank in 1946 to describe what the film audiences of France where seeing in their theatres When World War II had ended and the Nazi regime had collapsed in 1945. The French audience where greeted with a back log of American films. These crime and detective films where noticed to be darker, more downbeat and moodier than the pervious post war films that these audiences watched. Film noir developed during and shortly after World War II. It took advantage of the post war feeling of anxiety, fear, suspicion and pessimism that the American nation where facing a point that is stated in Maria Pramaggiore and Tom Wallis’ book, ‘Film - A Critical Introduction,’ “…a specific historical circumstance: the suppressed cynicism that followed America’s...
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...Imagine a world where the only salvation for the human race is a six year old boy. Ender’s Game is a book, written by Orson Scott Card, about that six year old boy named Andrew (Ender) Wiggin. When he was six years old, he left his family to join the International Fleet’s Battle School so he can learn to command or even fight against the buggers, an alien race that invaded earth 50 years prior. He defeats them by putting everything on the line and destroying their planet. The book portrayed the story much better than the movie had and was a more enjoyable experience because it had many suspenseful moments that were taken out of the movie. Ender’s Game had many key elements that would not have made the story as great if they were not included....
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...How could an individual possibly find a comparison between an adolescent responsible for the mass genocide of an entire enemy race, to a messiah whom came to save the world through peace? It is not difficult, as one might assume upon being asked this question. Knowledge of the intentions, circumstances, and the background of a certain figure would help determine the differences and similarities between two people who would appear to be complete opposites. Ender Wiggins from the book Ender’s Game written by Orson Scott Card, displays a parallel to following Christ-like way through his journey, which can be confirmed through The Monomyth, Joseph Campbell’s 17 stages of “The Hero’s Journey”. Not only is Ender proved to be a Christ-like figure through a heroic journey in the novel; however, Ender’s demonstrates sacrifice; by...
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...there is a difference in the way that people chose to use the different aspects. Film has been widely used as a documentation of events; wars, economic crisis, natural disasters, etc. Film has also been used over dramatize cinematic movies, such as Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. This was done by Douglas Gordon in his 1993, 24 Hour Psycho where he drew out the original scenes to span only two frames per second, thus causing the movie to span an entire 24 hours. The Battleship Potemkin was a montage, a sequencing of disparate images used to create a multi faceted image, which was created to shock the audience by sequencing many different shots per frame. There were many new technologies developed in film to help intrigue the audience, the flashback (which is used in many movies with regularity), cross-cutting, where the director moves back and forth between two events in the film, and continues to do so in shorter and shorter sequences until the back and forth becomes furiously paced. Film may be considered by many to be more artistic than popular cinema. Popular cinema is used for entertainment purposes. Popular cinema movies will have a story to unfold before them so that they may be caught up in what is happening to the characters. One of the all time best cinema productions as seen by many people is Citizen Kane by Orson Wells. Another well known cinema production is Gone with the Wind, this movie in itself used a lot of new ideas in film, the director, William Cameron Menzies...
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...What would it feel like to save the world at only eleven years old? Orson Scott Card’s novel Ender’s Game tells the story of an imperiled mankind after two wars with the buggers, an alien species. In preparation for an anticipated third invasion, Earth’s children, including Andrew “Ender” Wiggin, are trained to become future commanders for the third invasion. At the school, Ender's tactical smarts are revealed, which eventually lead him to become commander of the International Fleet. He ends the war by annihilating the entire bugger species. Throughout the novel, it becomes clear that Ender is a very complex character; he is a genius, but extremely lonely. Ender is a very intelligent child. He is six years old at the beginning of the novel, yet he can talk, write, and think like an accomplished Quantum Physicist. Although he is still a child, it is clear from the novel that good things do come in small packages; his small size is merely a container for brilliance. Ender is a tremendous leader. He is aware of exactly how to instill confidence, competence, and unity in people he works with. Before being promoted commander of the Dragon Army, Ender is a soldier in the Salamander Army, commanded by Bonzo Madrid, a rude and terrible leader with Spanish pride. Bonzo’s methods of leadership include instilling fear into his soldiers. Being under Bonzo’s command shows Ender what true leadership is, and helps him in the long run when he becomes commander of the Dragon Army...
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...the public and no media is allowed in. During these meetings they decided who is president, what countries will receive financial assistance from the World monetary system, and they also decide on new strategies like how to control population growth. The Bilderberg group is an evil and corrupt organization that must be stopped. They have all the control over how the entire world operates with the exception of Iran, North Korea, and Cuba. The Bilderberg Group is governed by a Steering Committee which designates a Chairperson; members are elected for a term of four years and can be re-elected. There are no other members of the Bilderberg conference. The Chair's main responsibilities are to chair the Steering Committee and to prepare with the Steering Committee the conference program, the selection of participants. He also makes suggestions to the Steering Committee regarding its composition. The executive secretary reports to the Chairperson (Peters, 2008). (Confrences 2012-1954, 2012) The Bilderberg Group is evil organization because they believe they can control people, they promote abortion, they worship a God named Moloch and they have orchestrated huge human tragedy like wars and famine. This will be unfolded has I provide the proof of this though sources. Bilderberg Group began in 1954, “the most powerful men in the world met for the first time” in Oosterbeek, Netherlands, “debated...
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...who expresses his identity over a body of films. Steven Spielberg, for instance, lends his touch to films he's associated with, whether it's as director OR producer, as with The Goonies Importance of auteur theory in film analysis and interpretation. Auteur theory is the process in which to critique films. “The theory gives enormous, almost total responsibility for a film’s success or failure (artistically, not at the box office) to the director” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011). According to film critic Andrew Sarris there are three rules to determine if a Director is an Auteurist. (1) Technical competence which refers to how well a movie is made; (2) Distinguishable Personality which refers to movies must have identifiable style and viewpoint; (3) Interior Meaning which refers to that the body of work should express coherent world stance. The features of being an auteur include; 1 having a recognizable style, 2 repeatedly returning to the same subject mater, 3 habitually address a particular psychological or moral theme, 4 employ a reoccurring visual and aesthetic style, 5 constantly work with the same actors or cinametogarphers or editors…ect , or demonstrate any combination of the above. Steven Spielberg is an auteur and today I am going to prove it. I will show you through his use of themes, subject matter, visual style, Collaborations, and Institutions....
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...Fear: Do We Control It, Or Does It Control Us? TLJ Honors Psych Fear: Do We Control It, Or Does It Control Us? Abstract Fear is the mind's way of responding to both physical and emotional danger. It has vast effects on an individual's psychological state, and is directly controlled by the amygdala. Fear is a necessary defense, because without it we would not protect ourselves from legitimate threats. Traumas and bad experiences can trigger emotional fears. Though it seems nowadays, we play into these fears -- fears that are not at all life threatening-- all too often allowing them to become irrational fears. Since the beginning of time there has always been an instilment of fear in our minds, whether the fear was that of eating the 'Forbidden Fruit' , to local legends like Slenderman, and even the bizarre idea of a robotic coup de' etat. The only difference between these fears, is how strongly we let them affect us psychologically. Do we allow our fears to be spoon-fed to us by society and the media? Are we completely irrational when it comes to some of these fears? What is the correlation between our fears of the past and those of the present? Finally, what will the future of mankind hold? All of these factors play a major part in understanding the affects fear can have on society as a whole. Keywords: Fear, Irrational, Media, Past, Present, Future Fear: Do We Control It, Or Does It Control Us? Since the dawn of time...
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...men and dangerous “femme fatale” siren like women. It is a style and an American culture. With the stock market crash on October 29, 1929 came the great depression. From this time leading up to WWII the current benign dramas unquestionably left more to be desired. Their lackluster presentations were turning off audiences who where seeing so much more turmoil and danger in the world around them, leaving them to find the films boring and detached from any sense of connectivity. With this came the onset of Film Noir. In “Hollywood Genres and Post-War America: Masculinity, Family and Nation in Popular Movies and Film Noir” Mike Chopra-Gant writes, “Noir is seen as more than a trend in film production; it is regarded as emblematic not only of the cinematic culture, but also as the tone of American culture generally in the period of post-war readjustment.” Although the term noir was not originally established until after WWII, it was during that time it made its biggest splash. Many would consider it to have started its splash with the 1940 film “Stranger on the Third Floor” and ending with the 1958 Orson Welle’s “A Touch of Evil”. Whether these are the exact titles it started...
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