Propaganda in Soviet Union

Their films functioned in a way to influence and regulate the public opinion. The Soviet Union altered their cinema and used it as a way to spray propaganda. The Cold War films tried addressing different facades of the battle, and they tried to influence the domestic and foreign opinion. However, the USA had an immense benefit over the Soviet Union. After all, America was very prepared to use their filmmaking attainments as a device to influence the public opinion in a way the Soviet Union simply could not.

The Soviet Union’s film industry performed as a device for propaganda. It was embracive for the major cultural values of the Stalinist era; for example, hierarchy, monumentalize, and cults of heroes that triumphed over the limits of practical human reason and built socialism. Hagiographic biographies were about the heroes of Soviet, and its royal history overwhelmed the filmmaking’s yield. This movement happened especially after World War II. 

My experience so far

So after being done with chapter 10, I decided to write about my experience so far. While I am not going into filmmaking, it is something that I have considered to do possibly down the line. This class has helped me learn a lot about films.

Even though I've kind of quit reviewing movies, as college is enough stress for me to handle, when I decide to redo it, I believe this class will help me improve on doing it. I mean, it has showed and taught me different ways to look at a film. For example, how to really see if the movie is well directed or not, just by the use of camera. It's amazing to me how much camera work can make a film better, using the right shots, etc.

So, yeah, I have liked this class a lot. If I had to do it all over again, though, I think I would take it in class. I believe I could have learned more, and the discussions in class would have helped me learn more.

Propaganda in Films

I've realized that there was a lot of propaganda in all sorts of films around the word. I find this interesting because I have always been interested in how the media sways and influences the masses. It seems like a lot of the propaganda occurred close or during wars. Of course, films want people to be pro-war and make it look like they'e the good people and the people they're at war with are bad people.

It's also funny how these movies make people can shift people's feelings. I've seen people get so mad and angry while watching films that involve war in America. People will say stuff like these people are horrible and I hope we kill them all. It's funny that a fake movie can make people so emotional and passionate towards something.

Jaws Review

This week has been a fun week talking about films. Don't get me wrong: I did like watching the other films and seeing the developments film made in such a short amount of time. That said, some of my favorite movies have come from around this era. They are movies that still hold up today, and aside from production values and effects, are more superior than most - if not all - of the movies that come out today.

Jaws is another one of my favorites. It's such a simple plot, yet it horrified and scared plenty of people, even to this day. It's without a doubt an outstanding movie - with great effects (for the time), great acting, with great build and suspense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW23RsUTb2Y

I love this scene in particular. Mike, who doesn't believe anyone about what they've been telling him, finally realizes that there is, indeed, a big problem in the water. The zoomed close up is a major story-arc of his scared and sweating face. After that, everything from there goes downhill.

Just a great scene and an awesome movie.

Alfred Hitchcock

Many see horror movies as lowbrow, low-intelligent films. And while most horror movies are terrible, there are some that are really well done and are a work-of-art. It is a genre that can be dire when done wrong yet magnificent when done right.

The problems with most horror movies is they rely heavily on those cheap tactics like pop-outs to get a quick scare out of people.That is not what makes a horror movie great. While people are jumping out of their seat scare, they aren't emotionally invested into the movie. What mainly makes a horror movie great is dread. The best horror movies make its watchers anticipate something bad to happen.

Alfred Hitchcock was amazing at doing this. His movies made people scare and feel like there's no way out, yet make the movie so suspenseful and so engaging that they don't even consider shutting it off. Many are lucky to make one good horror film. Hitchock made a handful of them. He was the master of horror movies and really paved the way for the more famous ones to come along.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Growing up, I was a huge Disney fan. I watched all the movies. Every...single...one. My grandmother worked at CVS and she would get all the VHS movies for me at a discounted price. Although Snow White is not my favorite - that would go to the Lion King - it is without question one of my favorites.

I actually watched this movie a little while ago with my little cousin, and I was amazed how well made it was. The picture quality was amazing, considering how old the movie was. It's an awesome movie with a lot of underlying messages...especially one that tells kids not to trust strangers, which, of course, is a great message for all kids.

While Walt Disney wasn't the first person to create cartoon movies, he was the first person to really make them wrong. He was the brains behind some really great movies, arguably more than any other producer in the history of movie making.

Citizen Kane Review

Citizen Kane is one of my favorite movies of all time. It is one of those highly-acclaimed movies that I never wanted to watch but was glad I did. Of course, it's not really appealing to people my age. 22 year old generally dislike any movie in black and white. Hell, we don't even like videos anymore not in HD. But when you put all that aside, usually, older movies are much better written.

Citizen Kane is a deep film about a group of reporters that try to figure out the Charles Foster Kane last said word: Rosebud. It stars with a reel that details Kane's life and flashbacks of his life. Eventually, there is a see a highlight reel of a rich, complex man's rise to glory and downfall. 

While I cannot call it my favorite movie, I can call it one of the most influential. It integrated the film language until 1941 as well as broke innovative places in focus, sound and storytelling.