Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Gone with the Wind

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

The Film's poster with the Gable and Leigh 
The Film “Gone with the Wind” is a Hollywood classic. It is a classic because it stands the test of time. This film has everything from war and action, to love and romance. It is what can be described as an epic film, because of everything that it has. The film came out in 1939 and almost swept the Oscars that year, and one can see why. The film also stands the tests of time because, even though it tells the story of a young spoiled southern woman who must persevere through her life during and after the Civil War, it shows the human condition and how one will always do what is needed to survive. “Gone with the Wind” is a sweeping epic film and will always be appreciated because of its greatness.

2)  Find a related article and summarize the content.  

Some of the great costuming in the film
This article talks about the reasons why “Gone with the Wind” is still awesome. The first reasons the article talks about how beautiful the costuming was. The costumes were made specially to be shot in Technicolor. Then there was the sheer amount of the costumes that had to be made for the extras let alone the cast.  Another reason the article talks about is the casting of the film. It took forever to find the right Scarlett O’Hara, filming had even started before they found Vivien Leigh. The people were not happy at first with the casting of Leigh, but after they saw her performance they were more than pleased. The public had demanded that Clark Gable be cast as Rhett Butler, so he was given the role. The last reason that the article talks about is its lasting impact on popular culture. The film stands the test of time from the sweeping score, to the iconic lines. “Gone with the Wind” stands the test of time and will always hold a place in film history just because of how awesome and wonderful the film is.

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class

Leigh's beautiful expressive face
The film is a sweeping epic. One of the points in the article is about Vivien Leigh’s performance and how iconic it is, because it is iconic. Leigh won the Oscar for her role as Scarlett O’Hara. The role of Scarlett is a hard one to play because the character is hard to like and root for. Leigh did a great job of making the audiences want to root for Scarlett some of the time and then at other times almost hate Scarlett and root against her. It was a hard role to play and Leigh did a fantastic job and made the role stand the test of time.  The article states that Leigh’s expressive face is what makes us fall for the character, and that is very true. The audience can see at every turn what Scarlett is feeling and what she is planning on doing next to save herself or Tara. Another point form the article is how great Victor Fleming’s direction was. The film had gone through several directors before Fleming was asked to do the job. One can see that Fleming sense of direction for the film was right. He led them to eight Oscars and down the road into film history. Fleming did a great job with directing this film and one can see just by watching this film as a casual movie goer, they do not have to be looking into the depths of film analysis to see that Fleming knew what he was doing.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film

The love story of Scarlett and Rhett
The film “Gone with the Wind” is a classic, no one can argue that. It holds a place in American and world film History based on just ticket sales and box office gross alone. The film is also special to American history because it tells the story of the American Civil War through the eyes of a civilian. Too many times wars are told through the eyes of soldier, which is important, but to see war through the eyes of a woman forced to survive on the home front and even escape marching armies is incredible story telling. The film shows how the South was ready and willing to go to war, but when the war comes down to a war of attrition they don’t have the manpower, machinery or supplies to keep things going. The story is of Scarlett O’Hara and the South, and how they both changed because of this war. Their stories are synonymous because both fight to survive and keep their old ways, but eventually have to change and come to a new way of thinking. I feel that this film does a great job of telling Scarlett’s story and how she over comes every obstacle thrown at her, but in the end does not get what she wants but resolves to find a way to and do anything to get it. This film is a classic and will always be because it tells the story of the human condition and how people will do anything to survive, and I fell that is a universal theme for most movies, and people are still trying to replicate that in film today.

 

















CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 


1) ( x ) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class. 


2) ( x ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.
3) ( x ) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 


4) ( x ) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper. 


5) ( x ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read. 


6) ( x ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 


7) ( x ) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 


8) ( x ) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.



No comments:

Post a Comment