"Saved by Cinematography"

My topic for discussion this week is going to be how great cinematography can save a poorly written movie from being a total box office failure. It is my belief that if you have a movie with a sub par plot or that is just poorly written, above average cinematography can create an allusion that the movie is going to be great. Lets face it, when people see a 1 to 2 minute trailer cleverly put together of the kind of movie they would like to see with beautiful shots and their favorite movie stars in it that can be all they need to head off to the theater.

There is no better example of this kind of film than the latest X Files film.(by the way I promise not to write about them every week) But I feel that this movie is a great example of how cinematography was this films saviour. I tried to put a few pictures up that showed what great shots this film had to offer but until you see the trailer and a few clips from the film I don't think you will get grasp of how beautiful of a film this was.

The way cinematography helped this film so much was by creating the allusion to the general public that it was a huge Hollywood blockbuster movie. If you see the trailer you will know what I mean. The plot of the movie, however, was very bad. The creators of the show wanted to bring in new viewers that had not necessarily seen the show before so they created a stand alone story that had nothing to do with the shows myth arc. Although this was a major disappointment to many die-hard fans such as myself, I thought it was OK since many of the original episodes were stand alone episodes as well. Alot of these episodes were hit or miss though and this movie was definitely a miss. The amazing shots however of snow covered mountains and shots of Mulder and Scully made this movie worth coming to for any first time viewer. In this case the cinematography definitely saved the day! I would like to mention though that cinematography was not the only thing that saved this movie for the die-hard fans. For us there was some good writing. The story of Mulder and Scully's relationship was very revealing and a few throwbacks to the show like the pencils in the ceiling and Mulder's poster made for a great thrill!

First Journal Entry

This picture of Mulder and Scully from the X -Files can show someone who has never seen the show what the show is all about. The premise of the show is that Scully is a non believer in the paranormal and tries to prove that all of their cases have some sort of scientific explanation. Mulder is quite the opposite and believes that the cases that they work on have a paranormal explanation behind them. The priceless yet frequently shown look on her face shows her disbelief in the idea that Mulder is trying to force into her head. The look on Mulder's face is one of confidence and certainty that he has found the answer to their mystery. I think that the microscope is placed perfectly as well. It is right in front of Scully, showing that she is the one who takes the scientific approach while Mulder sits back and dreams up far out ideas.

I thought that the movie poster for goldeneye would be a good choice to write about because it doesn't just sum up the movie Goldeneye but it can sum up just about every James Bond movie there is. Up front you see James Bond holding his ppk pistol that he has used in the majority of the films. To his left you see the evil Bond girl that every Bond film has. To his right is the main Bond girl that every Bond film has. These two characters are essential for any Bond film. In the lower part of the poster you can see another one of the most important part of any Bond film which is his car. All around the lower image of Bond running you see the intence action sequences and explosions that are in all the Bond films.

I chose this picture of Tom Cruise in War of the Worlds because I think that filmakers are conveying a message through it. In this picture they are seeing visitors from another planet for the first time. They know that these visitors are hostile yet they are in such amazement that they just stand still and wach.