El Newburger and Nadiya-Bhaktika Weld

El: This movie got all around great reviews. People, such as Roger Ebert and writers from the Hollywood reporter say that this is Christopher Nolan’s best work. The movie concept is quite confusing and has a lot of twists and turns but Christopher Nolan and Wally Pfister, the cinematographer, did an amazing job with blending dream and reality seamlessly. The scene being analyzed is pivotal to the rest of the movie, we learn more about the dream world and about the personalities and curiosities within Cobb and Ariadne.

Nadiya: The main theme in the film is dreaming and not just dreaming but what it means to dream and what can happen within them. There’s a lot to unpack in the scenes because there’s so much going on at once it’s mind boggling in a sense. Throughout the movie the question of “What’s a dream, and what’s reality?” lingers in the mind of the viewer and it’s never answered even at the end of the film the question is left unanswered. Which leaves it up to the viewer to determine if the ending was a dream or not. In this scene laws of physics are tested as Ariadne takes control in Cobb’s dream as you watch the scene unfold. It takes a minute to adjust to what’s happening. The theatrics of the setting are so profound it’s almost like the buildings and the streets are their own characters, shifting in every direction. In the dream sequence when Ariadne learns how to build dreams she says “I guess I thought that the dream space would be all about the visuals but it’s more about the feel of it.” This quote truly explains the nature of the film. Even though the visuals are a key part of the dreams, the look of them would be nothing without the feeling that comes with the creation of them.

El: The camera movements are a big part of this scene. The handheld recording style makes the audience feel as though they are there with Cobb and Ariadne, an outsider learning about being an architect for dreams right alongside the characters. There aren’t many POV shots in this scene and it’s mostly laid out in a two shot sequence. This can be seen as a way to show the audience that neither character has the upper-hand in this scene, they are both in new territory even though Cobb has been in dreams many times before, each one is a new challenge. Not only does the handheld shot make the audience feel like a part of the scene but it gives the scene an uncertain undertone to it. The shaky movements let us know that something is unstable about this environment; even though the characters themselves seem quite comfortable in this dream space. The shaky camera movements could also be seen as a hint of foreshadowing, that something is going to go awry soon, we then see that it does toward the end of this scene. Ariadne toyed with the dream space and started creating areas from her own memory triggering a domino effect and the dream world became dangerous very quickly. There is a constant unsettling nature in this scene and when Ariadne takes it too far the cuts become quicker and of course the shaky camera movement is still there. At this point in the scene the audience is probably very confused as to what’s happening, again we are right alongside Cobb and Ariadne. This movie is all about dream vs. reality and due to the amazing cinematography it can get confusing what is dream and what is reality. To quote from Roger Ebert’s review, “The movie is all about process, about fighting our way through enveloping sheets of reality and dream, reality within dreams, dreams without reality. It’s a breathtaking juggling act…”

For my capstone project I decided to make a documentary/interview series about how mental health and tattoos are connected; as well as why people get tattoos. I interviewed several people, unfortunately less that I anticipated, but ultimately I learned a lot through this process. Throughout this process I learned a lot more about how to communicate and collaborate with people during the making of a film. The final product is a collection of 8 interviews talking about their experience with tattoos and the meaning behind them, finally talking about the connection with mental health and tattoos. I spent half of my time planning interviews, scheduling, and recording the interviews and the other half was spent editing. For the final product I had to come to terms with the fact that this is not going to be perfect. Although that’s what’s great about capstones, you can keep working on it; capstones are more about the process than the final product, as long as you have something to show for it.

Below is the link to the final documentary and my bibliography.

El Newburger

April 21, 2022

I personally did not enjoy this film. I thought it was somewhat stupid. There is an interesting plot and it is compelling in the way that you don’t know who is going to live and who is going to die; although that seems to be the only exciting part for me. The way this movie was filmed and directed irritated me, one of the biggest factors being the long chase scenes, although the cinematography is quite pretty. The length of the film composed of photos to show Butch, Sundance and Etta traveling to Bolivia was confusing. I think it’s a bit odd to have these long chase scenes which not much occurring and then tightly comprise a long period of time in photos. As the viewer I would’ve wanted to see more about their travels. We are introduced to the idea of Butch and Sundance going to Bolivia early in the film so, for lack of better words it seems idiotic to not include any information about that.

Yes this is a Western film, and it’s meant to be a tribute of western films so it must be that western films are not for me. As exciting as they come off to be, I got rather bored during this film. The first review I read was written by Roger Ebert. In his review about the film he says, “…This good movie is buried beneath millions of dollars that were spent on “production values” that wreck the show.” I one hundred percent agree with this, the producers spent $6 million on this film and getting Paul Newman which is shown, cinematically this film is beautiful but the money they spent on these factors could’ve been used much more effectively. Granted this movie made $102.3 million.

“Director George Roy Hill apparently spent a lot of money to take his company on location for these scenes, and I guess when he got back to Hollywood he couldn’t bear to edit them out of the final version. So the Super-posse chases our heroes unceasingly, until we’ve long since forgotten how well the movie started and are desperately wondering if they’ll ever get finished riding up and down those endless hills. And once bogged down, the movie never recovers.” This quote from Roger Ebert’s review perfectly sums up how I feel about this movie. Most of the budget was spent on Paul Newman and going on location and not enough time spent on editing and such.

One of the confusing parts of the film, that Ebert points out as well, is that this movie is set in 1910 and they have a much more modern dialect. Throughout the movie I kept thinking about when this movie is supposed to take place and I often forget that it was set in 1910. You’d think that since the producers and directors spent so much money on this film they would’ve moved some of it around for this movie to actually make sense. Why go through all the trouble of going on location and hiring a very expensive actor then not telling your actors so add a little tang to their accent? It can be so satisfying when actors learn the accent or dialect of a certain time or place to add to their character; for me personally it pulls me into their world even more. This movie didn’t have that, so it wasn’t as compelling.

On the other side of this I found the comedic parts of the movie quite enjoyable. When Butch and Sundance are learning Spanish and have difficulty conducting the bank tellers and townspeople during their robbery; that was amusing. The second article I read about Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid was much more in favor of this being a generally good movie. This review by Whitney Williams published by Variety in 1969 saw the film in a kiddie light. “A lighthearted treatment of a purportedly-true story of the two badmen who made Wyoming outlaw history.” Viewing this film in a more childish lens, with the share of violence is much more appealing to me. I could see myself possibly enjoying the movie as a younger individual, the comedic parts are a fun aspect to the movie and the constant need to run, loot and rob aid to make this a childish silly movie.

My final opinion of this movie is this, I wouldn’t watch it again unless I was really bored and couldn’t find anything else to watch. I don’t like it but it’s not terrible. There are pros and cons to this movie; as there are to any movie. Pros being the cinematography, the color grading, the little incorporations of comedy and the generally silly lighthearted aspect of this movie. The cons being, the extremely long chase scenes, the modern dialect used by characters who live in 1910, the use of this film’s budget and the fact that this is a western film. Overall I rate this movie two out of five stars.

Sources: Ebert, Roger. “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Movie Review (1969): Roger Ebert.” Movie Review (1969) | Roger Ebert, John Foreman, 13 Oct. 1969, https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/butch-cassidy-and-the-sundance-kid-1969 Williams, Whitney. “Film Review: ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ with Paul Newman, Robert Redford.” Variety, Variety, 10 Sept. 1969, https://variety.com/1969/film/reviews/butch-cassidy-and-the-sundance-kid-1200422010/

Ladyfingers by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass:

This song is an instrumental and has a calm happy feel to it, it doesn’t make you think of murder, investigation, and unbearable heat; and that’s why I think it’s a perfect intro to this story. If everything is presented as a happy and same atmosphere at the beginning it could mislead the audience to a happy story, or lead them to a dreadful one depending on how trusting the audience is. Either way, it leads to suspense, which in this whole film. We don’t know what’s going to happen. We are led to believe that Jeff is just delusional and bored in his hot New York apartment. This song is a good cover-up for what’s going to happen for those who are gullible, and for those who aren’t. Knowing and simultaneously not knowing is what creates suspense.

I Will Possess Your Heart by Death Cab For Cutie:

This song, just by title, is more about the obsession and lust that is mistaken for love which doesn’t directly connect to Jeff’s situation, although we could argue that Jeff is infatuated with his neighbor; out of sheer fear and worry for Ms. Thorwald. This song opens with a very long instrumental that builds up slowly to the chorus. The intro aids to an investigation ambiance, there is something seriously wrong here; tone to it. Jeff is slowly becoming more and more obsessed with his neighbor to try and find the truth, this song follows the same story, slowly building up to the truth. The lyrics don’t fully match the movie so I would edit the scene when Jeff first picks up his binoculars and accelerates to his camera only with the long intro and cut out right before the lyrics start because I hope Jeff isn’t in love with Mr. Thorwald.

Suspenseful Crime Scene Music:

I would include this song in Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock because it has a very suspicious vibe to it; which is the first attribute I looked for when searching for music to score this movie with. The name of the song is suspenseful crime scene background music; so it seems very appropriate to attach this to the scene when Lisa and Stella are going to investigate the crime scene. To see if they can dig up anything incriminating, to finally prove their case against Lars Thorwald. The song slowly picks up and increases in suspense and dramatics, there are more instruments or effects which can make the audience more on edge for what follows. When Lisa makes the rash and impulsive decision to sneak into Mr. Thorwald’s house, I would cut to the end of the song where the music picks up more. This would increase the fear in the audience, thus making even more suspense which is Alfred Hitchcock’s defining trope throughout his films, that we have watched.

Halloween Theme Music:

This is a classic, and has quite the reputation but it fits too well for this movie to not include. When Jeff is attacked there needs to be some suspense and worry if Jeff is going to make it out alive or not. The fact that this song is from a classic murder movie would make the audience anticipate Jeff’s demise and an ultimate ending that comes from being too curious. If we pretend that this isn’t a well-known song it still fits very well in the film, the song creates suspense and fear just by being a generally creepy song. I do believe viewing it as a well-known song makes it somewhat more suspenseful because we know the story attached to this song so the audience will have a lingering fear that something terrible will happen to Jeff.

Everybody Loves Somebody by Dean Martin:

The ending of Rear Window is very joyful and it ties everything up in a happy bow. We see Jeff’s neighbors with their loved ones, the murder house is being repainted and the newlyweds are starting their journey to the stereotypical nagging wife life. This song is what it’s titled, everybody loves somebody. It’s a happy song so I think choosing this as a closing song is a good way to end the film. This especially connects to Jeff and Lisa’s ending, Lisa is staying with Jeff as he recovers from Mr. Thorwald’s attempt on Jeff’s life, which landed him with a second broken leg. Despite their constant differences throughout the film Jeff and Lisa end up together, their love for each other finally starting to grow. It’s a cheesy ending, therefore why not add a cheesy song.

Mya Fleming, El Newburger, Maya Robinson

El Newburger and Maya Robinson