Actors in the Film

I chose to discuss Angelina Jolie, Imelda Staunton, and Juno Temple since I have seen them in several films before. It is hard to know exactly the type of actors they really are. Regardless, I feel more inclined to state that these three actresses are character actors. I cannot say this for every movie, but for Maleficent you can see that they became the characters.

I have not been a fan of Angelina Jolie. I felt that she always seemed to be the same type of person in every film. I really didn't see much difference from one film to the other. However, Angelina played a different role in this movie. She was outstanding and I realized that she was great. She did an awesome job with the movie. In the clip below, it is one of the movies that she plays a kick-butt girl. This is where she seems to be the same throughout her movies.

Imelda Staunton is a favorite of mine from Harry Potter. Again, she played her character well. She was different than her character in Harry Potter. She was a little snippity as Professor Umbridge was. She was, however, not a bad person wanting power. She changed with the character. In the clip below, Imelda plays a sadistic, power hungry professor. She is crazy.

Juno Temple has always been sprite like to me. One movie I have seen her in was The Three Musketeers. She had such a small role on The Other Boleyn Girl. I feel every character has been different. As with the other actresses, it seems that she can change how she acts with the role that she is given. In the clip below, Juno is playing Queen Anne. When you see Maleficent you can see that she is different in both of the films.

With Angelina Jolie, it seems that she played some of the same roles. She seemed to be the same in all of them. It seems that she usually plays tough, kick-butt girls. This is the first role I have ever seen her in that is different. I think, as many actors do, get type-casted into certain roles. I do not see this as a bad thing in most cases. I am pretty easy going about some things. I sometimes like it.



Reference:

Movie Clip (2007). I must not tell a lies clip [video file]. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Retrieved from
http://movieclips.com/5BrZw-harry-potter-and-the-order-of-the-phoenix-movie-i-must-not-tell-lies/

Movie Clip (2010) I'm Elise [Video Clip]. The Tourist. Retrived from
http://movieclips.com/KmC3-the-tourist-movie-im-elise/

Movie Clip (2011) It was an off kind of day [video file]. The Three Musketters. Retrieved from
http://movieclips.com/yobjs-the-three-musketeers-movie-it-was-an-off-day/

Sounds in Maleficent

This post is going over the sounds of the movie, Maleficent. The clip that I will be discussing is called "Fairy Godmother" which is a publicity clip from IMDB's Maleficent page. It starts out where Aurora is in the moors for the first time. As discussed, the visual beauty in this is wonderful. It stands out in the darkness. The sounds, however, play a huge part to the beauty and the magic seen in the movie (IMDB,2014)

The magic creatures squeal and squeak. You hear little wings flapping and magical sounds as the magical creatures fly all around Aurora. It seems as the same sound you would hear from Tinkerbell. These noises are truly magical. They are not from our world, or the natural world. It is brought about from special effects. This helped to know that this was a fantasy movie. The magical noises are a very good indication of the mysterious magic in the film (IMDB,2014).

The story is told by dialogue. The characters react by dialogue. The magical creatures (besides the three fairies and Maleficent) do not have dialogue. Their communication is strickly through special effects. I am sure in some scenes, automated dialogue replacement was used since a few of the scenes were filmed outdoors. Even when Maleficent was in the palace putting a curse on baby Aurora, the large area where they filmed may have not been the best for the acoustics. This would also lead for the need to use automated dialogue replacement (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011).

As I have mentioned before, sound effects were used for magical scenes. For instance, when Maleficent turned her crow into the dragon, his fire-breathing was the use of sound effects and Foley artists. I also believe that the use of the voices for the three fairies (in their smaller form) was done with voice over (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011).

The music was all intrumental. It was hauntingly beautiful, as was the "I Know You" sung by Lana Del Rey. It was amazing. It added to the moods of the scenes. In the most happy moments of the film, the music was joyous and upbeat. In the moments where there was sadness and anger, it was more dismal. It truly darkened the mood of the scene (Disney, 2014).

If the movie was filmed with more realistic sounds in the moor, I know that it would not have had the same affect on us. We would not have felt the magic that we are to feel. If the music didn't have an eerie sound, we would not have that sad or angry feeling. You cannot have the feeling of happiness if the music is depressing. If you pull up Disney's Maleficent website, you hear one of the songs from the soundtrack. It is an intense song (Disney, 2014).

The music and sounds add to this film tremendously. If any of these sound elements are removed from the movie, it would not have the same dramatic affect on us as what Disney wants us to have. That is why they are the wonderful, talented, and intelligent minds that create these movies. Disney does not hold out on the special effects. They know when to put the right amount in to please the majority of the world with their beauty.

References:

Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs, C.P. (2011). Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

IMDB. (2014). Fairy Godmother - Maleficent Clip [Video File]. retrieved from www.imdb.com/title/tt15873101?ref_=nv_sr_1

Disney's Website : movies.disney.com/maleficent

Week Two - Lighting in Maleficent

I am at this present time trying to obtain permission to post clips and pictures on my blog. Disney protects their copyrights, which I do not blame them for doing. In order to be legal, I have sent a request. Until I get approval, I will have you visit the Offical Disney Maleficent website in order to see what I am referring to. I will not hyperlink the links since I am not sure that is entirely legal either. The Official Website for Disney's Maleficent is movies.disney.com/maleficent. You then select videos. At the bottom of the video screen are several different selections. They are named for easy access.


Week Two: Lighting

The use of lighting in the movie is outstanding. It is used in many ways to play at our emotions. We feel the anger or happiness of the characters based on the lighting choices in the movie. The vibrant colors in some scenes add to the beauty of the film. It is one of the many elements used to make this movie successful.

It is hard to know which scenes would have been three-point lighting based on the special affects and blue screen shots done in the film. I do, however, know that there are several scenes that are in low-key and high-key lighting. The uses of the low-key and high-key bring us to the distinctions of the moments that are joyous and moments of hatred. It is used as a seperation.

With low-key lighting, examples are actually in the video named "Maleficent Trailer 3." At spot 54 seconds, Maleficent is seen hiding in the forest. She was watching from a place she felt was safe from Aurora seeing her. It is very dark (assuming it is night). Maleficent's face is vastly shadowed except the light is illuminating her eyes. It is to give us a fearful feeling of being watched by some evil being. It is mysterious. It is frightening. That is how Maleficent sees herself. She doesn't want Aurora to see her (Maleficent Trailer 3, n.d.).

High-key lighting is seen throughout the movie. If you review videos "Light vs. Dark: Maleficent Featurette" and "Maleficent Teaser Trailer" you can see many scenes of high-key lighting. These are because of the happiness in the world at the time. It is to show the innocense and the beauty in the world when evil wasn't present in that area or time period (Light vs. Dark, n.d & Maleficent Teaser Trailer, n.d.).

With the clip "Awkward Situation", I feel that some of these scenes might possibly be filmed with traditional three-key lighting. Referring to the moments when the camera is focused on Maleficent (with the crowd behind her), she seems to stand out. It is almost as if she is highlighted in the scene. The background looks a little hazy while she is crisp. She is the most important in the scene. This is where she is attending, uninvited, to Aurora's christening (Awkward Situation, n.d.).

The lighting in the film helped with the theme because there are times of love and happiness. There are times of evil. The theme had to do with vengeance and anger. The low-key lighting targeted that theme. There was also love and beauty where the hight-key lighting brought those emotions out. Fantasy movies tend to have dark moments in them (usually because fantasy is good versus bad) but they also have a certain beauty and mystique where the light is important to bring that out.

If the evil, unhappy, jealous, and spiteful Maleficent had been in white, she would not have been as evil looking. If the lighting was bright and cheery, it would not give the feeling of darkness that the movie needed. With the parts that deal with the love and happiness, had they been filmed in low-key it may have given us the feeling that they were not really feeling that way. Dark seems to be depressing when it comes to emotions.

References:

Disney Maleficent Official Website (n.d.) Awkward Situation Maleficent Clip. [Video Clip]. Retrieved from
movies.disney.com/maleficent.

Disney Maleficent Official Website (n.d.) Light vs. Dark: Maleficent Featurette. [Video Clip]. Retrieved from
movies.disney.com/maleficent

Disney Maleficent Official Website (n.d.) Maleficent Teaser Trailer. [Video Clip]. Retrieved from
movies.disney.com/maleficent

Disney Maleficent Official Website (n.d.) Maleficent Trailer 3. [Video Clip]. Retrieved from movies.disney.com/
movies.disney.com/maleficent

Week One : REBOOT

I am redoing my first week's assignment since I went to see Disney's Maleficent in theaters last week. The movie was really inspiring and magnificent in my opinion. I feel that it gave me a lot for my assignments. Disney has once again taken my heart. I will always be a Disney fan!

Week One -

Disney's Maleficent was directed by Robert Stromberg. The writer for the film was Linda Woolverton. It stars some really big names in Hollywood which I recognized from other movies that I have seen. The stars are Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Coley, Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Sam Riley, Brenton Thwaites, Kenneth Cranham and many other actors.

Maleficent is a retelling of an old tale. We should all remember Disney's animated feature, Sleeping Beauty. In Sleeping Beauty, Aurora was cursed by Maleficent by falling into a deep sleep only to be awoken by a kiss from true love. Prince Philip and the three fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather defeated Maleficent after she transformed into a dragon. Aurora was then awoken by the kiss from Prince Philip.

In the retelling, it shows Maleficent prior to her becoming evil. Maleficent was the protector of the Moors. She was a fairy with wings. She fell in love with a boy name Stefan. Stefan relayed his desire of one day living in the castle. He, at this point, lived in a barn. Time goes by and Stefan is older and is a servent (not sure exactly what his position is in the castle) to the dying king. The king had a daughter and challenged anyone who would destroy the "evil" in the Moors that they would be able to marry her. Stefan desired this position. He sent out to betray Maleficent. He gave her a sleeping potion and cut her wings off her back. He was to kill her but could not follow through with the task.

Stefan married the princess after he returned to the dying king saying he killed Maleficent. Maleficent becomes angered and wanted revenge. Upon Aurora's christening, Maelficent bestows the curse of the death like sleep. It is an amazing story with more to it than what I have discussed.

The story is told in chronological order. The story was told by Aurora and was about Maleficent's life. In this movie, Maleficent is the protagonist, where King Stefan is the antagonist. It is important that the story is told in this form. If it was presented in non-linear, it may have prooved too confusing. Character development was magnified by the chronological order. In not being confused, we can have a deeper understanding of Maleficent. It is to the point that we fall in love with the character. I do not think that this film could have been done any differently. The one thing I love about Disney is the intelligence that they bring to all their movies. If the movie was made non-linear, it would not have had the affect on us that they wanted.