Ryan Young is amazing, except on Tuesdays: March 2015

My favourite part of Metropolis was just after the machine exploded and all the people went flying everywhere. As a movie buff it was interesting to see how they handled falls like that without CGI and used wires yet it still looked quite realistic.

My favourite part of Battleship Potemkin is the first clip where all the people are fighting up one the steps.

My favourite part of Dead Men ... is where Steve Martin walks out of the car and into the train station with the cool 1950s swagger that should never have become extinct.

For my movie I would like to show the place blowing up. Then a shot of it normal. The man in the train station looking at the papers and then a shot of the needle rising, back to the blown up boiler and normal shot of it. The man with the news paper looks at Steve Martin and Steve looks back at him. and the needle is still rising.The baby is going down the steps and then cut to Steve Martin in the train looking content. The place then to normal then to the needle being lowered. Change to knob turning and to the woman being shown normal and bloodied screaming and then to a clip of an empty abandoned swing set.

To make this into an artistic film I shall play with the aspect of time and repetition through shots. The boiler scene won't be in order. It will be blown up then fine repeatedly throughout the film. I will also try and use a fitting music that will set a mood in this film to make it very ominous. I will also use fast cuts to make it seem similar to a flashback or a glimpse into the future.

How is Hero an Art Film?

1) Hero is an art movie because it is not shot in sequence and has a lot of scenes that have been "re-used" or re-shot in a different way to emphasize or "correct" different parts in Nameless' tale. Nameless often tell the king about his feelings and how they connect to his swordplay and doesn't precisely narrate everything that happens, more so just a narration of heart. At the end it is quite confusing personally speaking, the king killed Nameless and then in the last bit of text it showed that he became the first king of China. This leads me to ponder what the king was thinking and even though he felt that Nameless had a connection in understanding, why he would still kill him and how exactly he united the five provinces, whether it be by words or violence.

2) There were a lot of action sequences that were easy to follow and entertaining to watch in tradition wuxia format. This gave it the feel of an action movie. The director also clearly stated through Nameless' dialogue what was going to happen in the scene before it unfolded. For example when Nameless had hesitated in killing the king, it was made easier to understand when the king outed him on that action and asked why. There was then a flashback to what Broken Sword told Nameless but Nameless also said to the king (as well as the audience) that Broken Sword had told him something major in the plot line. It also breaks the traditional no plot resolution. Even though I still wonder what the king does to claim power as well as why Nameless was killed, I was not left wondering what happened to Nameless at the end of the film. I knew that this "Hero" was killed.

3) I really enjoyed this movie. It reminded me of one of my favorite films Reservoir Dogs. It starts with an outcome of after a bank robbery and someone is a snitch. There are a series of flashbacks throughout the planning of the heist to figure out who the cop was. It was eventually revealed and then the police storm the building they were in. It has a lot of similarities with the "present" only happening in one locations whereas the flashbacks take place in many locations. I also really enjoyed the movie due to the fact I like these types of movies that deal with ancient cultures especially Chinese. This was my first time watching a WuXia film and I liked it as well. The action sequences were interesting and well done and I especially find interesting the whole deal in fighting with honour and being the best in fighting by being most honourable.

4) The Library had often changed colours throughout the film. At first it was red and this was when Nameless was lying to the king that he killed Snow and Broken Sword out of loyalty to the king. The red may have been to show that Nameless was out for blood and had a lot of anger in his heart thusly motivating him to kill them. The next time it changed was when the three were conspiring to assassinate the king and this time it was blue. The blue may have been to show that these three have changed from being mortal enemies and shown an alliance of sorts. The last time that it changed was when Sword had told Nameless not to kill the king and it was white. This may have been to show that Sword was sort of an angel, to save the lives of others and to advise what is the best thing for "our land".