WEEK 4 BLOG: SCARFACE

Title: SCARFACE

Writer: Oliver Stone

Producer: Martin Bregman

Director: Brian De Palma

Year: 1983

Actors : Al Pacino (Tony Montana)

Steven Bauer (Manny Ray)

Michelle Pfeiffer (Elvira)

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Gina)

Robert Loggia (Frank Lopez)

Distribution Company: Universal Pictures

Production Company: Universal Pictures

In my week four blog, I will talk about three actors, Al Pacino (Tony Montana), Steven Bauer (Manny Ray), and Michelle Pfeiffer (Elvira) for my “Mise en Scene and Actors” blog. I will describe what kind of type of actors I think they are and why. In my text Film: From watching to seeing (2014) by Goodykoontz and Jacobs, there are different types of actors and they are impersonator, interpreter, personality actor, star, wild card, and a character actor (Goodykoontz and Jacobs, 2014).

My first actor Al Pacino (Tony Montana) I think would be considered as a Star actor. Al Pacino (Tony Montana) would be a star actor because Al Pacino won one Oscar nomination, four Golden Globe nominations, two of The British Academy of Film and Television Arts nominations, two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, a lifetime achievement award given by the American Film Institute and the greatest film star for the British television viewers. Al Pacino was in the movies such as The Godfather, Serpico, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, Bobby Deerfield, And Justice for All, Author! Author!, Scarface, Sea of Love, Dick Tracy, The Godfather Part III, Glengarry Glen Ross, Scent of a Woman, Carlito’s Way, Donnie Brasco, The Devil’s Advocate, The Insider and Ocean’s Thirteen. One of his popular script lines I usually hear from my friends whenever the movie “Scarface” is mentioned is “You wanna play ruff? Ok, say hello to my little friend” (Movieclips & YouTube, 2011). Al Pacino can always play the character of a bad boy. Al Pacino has that skill of an actor and that reputation of a bad boy character. I cannot see Al Pacino having a good boy saint character outlook on any other films.

I do not think no one can play the character of Tony Montana on “Scarface” better than Al Pacino. Al Pacino is like a legend to me. The way I see Al Pacino’s character playing the bad boy will always be a classic to me, to my friends and family. I really love Al Pacino’s character whenever he plays the bad boy. That accent of his and his bad boy character hypes the girls and they go crazy because some girls like bad boys. That’s why I consider Al Pacino a star.

My second actor Steven Bauer (Manny Ray) I think would be considered as a Personality actor. Steven Bauer (Manny Ray) would be a personality actor because I think he has a good character. Steven Bauer (Manny Ray) makes it very believable. Steven Bauer also appeared in the television “Breaking Bad and Ray Donovan.” Steven Bauer (Manny Ray) I will always remember him as Al Pacino (Tony Montana)’s wingman. Steven Bauer (Manny Ray) plays his role so smooth that everything around him seems like there is no problem. In other words, Steven Bauer (Manny Ray)’s personality feels like he can get all the girls in the world. I cannot see Steven Bauer be in any other category other than personality category.

My third actor Michelle Pfeiffer (Elvira) I think would be considered as a Character actor. Michelle Pfeiffer (Elvira) would be a character actor because she can play different characters. Michelle Pfeiffer (Elvira) is so beautiful and sexy. Michelle Pfeiffer can play the role of a teacher (“Dangerous Minds”), a lawyer (“I Am Sam”) and a gangster girlfriend (“Scarface”). What also come across Michelle Pfeiffer is her beauty. I think the film captures her beauty. Michelle Pfeiffer’s beauty is so captivating. Michelle Pfeiffer’s character on “Scarface” looked so realistic that I cannot see Michelle Pfeiffer be in any other category other than the character category.

WEEK 3 BLOG “ENTER THE DRAGON”

Title:  Enter The Dragon

Writer:  Michael Allin

Director:  Robert Clouse

Year:  1973

Actors: Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly

Bruce Lee Enter The Dragon

Bruce Lee’s character when he takes out two guards in a key sequence

Bruce Lee with his nunchaku sticks

Classic Bruce Lee Fight – Enter The Dragon

Bruce Lee – nunchaku (Enter the Dragon)

The three basic categories of sound:

Dialogue- Since the whole scene was an underground scene, the clip I am using when Bruce Lee went underground.  It was the most historical scene in martial art scene. Whenever Bruce Lee hits and kicks, his vocal sounds like a cat screaming in anger.

Sound effects- The movie gets two thumbs up on sound effects. Whenever you hear the punching and kicking sound effects sounds like a whip like you are whipping something. When he uses his weapons like the sticks, the sounds effects on the stick sounded like ten whips hitting something at the same time. When Bruce lee uses the nunchaku sticks (two sticks with a chain in the middle) the sound effects sounds like a car driving over five hundred miles an hour. You can actually feel the visual.

Music- The music was very eerie, suspenseful, and full of energy. The man behind the music is, Lalo Schifrin; the genius behind the music from the television hit show “Mission Impossible” (Lalo Schifrin Website, 2004).

The scene and the title of the movie is “Enter the Dragon.” In the movie, Bruce lee is the dragon. Whenever Bruce lee fights, his movement and actions are like a dragon. When the dragon blows out fire, Bruce Lee is in the air throwing various kicks and punches with the same force like a dragon. Every scene were someone is getting hit or kick, the sound effect made it feel like you, yourself was getting hit or kick.

It made you feel like you are actually in the movie. What stood out the most for me when it comes to sound was the sound of Bruce Lee’s voice when he is in a fighting scene. Most people when they fight, they don’t make any vocal voices, but when Bruce Lee fights, he makes a sound equivalent to a cat screaming with a lot of anger and with a high pitched voice. The sound really grabs your attention. Whenever you see someone trying to imitate Bruce lee, the first thing you will notice is the vocal sound they make when Bruce lee is fighting.

Just watching Bruce Lee fight, if the sound is turned off, it would still be amazing. What makes it even more amazing, realistic, and intense is hearing the sounds that Bruce Lee makes with his mouth, when he is punching and kicking. Like I said, every scene were someone is getting hit or kick, the sound effect made it feel like you, yourself was getting hit or kick.

References

Brown, T. (2009, November 27). A Bruce A Day: ENTER THE DRAGON. Retrieved from http://twitchfilm.com/2009/11/a-bruce-a-day-enter-the-dragon.html

Callahan, T. [trishacallahan]. (2015, April 24). Enter The Dragon 1973: Action Movies Full English – Best Movie Full Hd 1080p. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl57JUJ5Ix8

Harris. M.E. Dave Friedman: Filming the Dragon. Retrieved from http://www.bandwmag.com/articles/dave-friedman-filming-the-dragon

Lalo Schifrin Website. (2004). The official website of Lalo Schifrin. Retrieved from http://www.schifrin.com/main.htm

Orange County Screenwriters Association. (2009). Enter the Dragon, 40th Anniversary. Retrieved from http://www.ocscreenwriters.com/enter-dragon-40th-anniversary

The Action Elite. (2015). Nunchucks in the Movies. Retrieved from http://theactionelite.com/2014/06/nunchucks-in-the-movies/

SifuPhil. (2013, June 16). Weapon of Self-Destruction. Retrieved from http://www.martialartsvideos.com/nunchaku-weapon-self-destruction/

YouTube. (2013, March 23). Bruce Lee – nunchaku (Enter the Dragon). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezDJzmAbb1Y

YouTube. (2010, July 12). Classic Bruce Lee Fight – Enter The Dragon (High Quality). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKIFlaV03s0

WEEK 2– BLOG “ENTER THE DRAGON” LIGHTING

Title:  ENTER THE DRAGON

Writer:  Michael Allin

Director:  Robert Clouse

Year:  1973

Actors:  Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly

I have chosen “Enter the Dragon.” Bruce Lee is like my martial art hero and favorite actor. I am a proud Filipino American because Bruce Lee had introduced to the mainstream the Filipino martial arts called Escrima. Escrima is the art of stick fighting. In this case, the lighting in the movie “Enter the Dragon” is very important in every scene of this movie. It just made this filmed looked so realistic.

According to Goodykoontz and Jacobs (2014), states that:

A low-key lighting design looks dark overall by comparison. It is marked by extreme use of deep shadows, with very high contrast between the brightest parts of the scene and the darkest parts, which are obscured in shadows. Often there may be only a single source of light, coming from the back or the side of the main characters (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014).

The type of lighting that was used in this part of the movie Enter the Dragon was a low-key lighting. The low-key lighting made you feel that Bruce Lee and his rivals was at an underground place where there is barely any sunlight. The light bulbs on the ceiling provided a little light to even show the shadows of the characters. The benefits of style that of lighting used was it showed the audience an intense feeling of Bruce Lee fighting all these men by himself at the underground place knowing if Bruce Lee will make it out alive or not. The low key lighting made it feel so intense that we do not know what is Bruce Lee’s next move is going to be.

The advantage of the dim lighting they used highlighted the silhouette and shadow effect on the fighting scenes gave it more of a realistic/visual feel. The lighting technique suited to the genre of the film is that it gave it more of a dark suspenseful and an eerie feel to it. If it wasn’t filmed in a low key lighting effect and if every scene was bright, the entire fighting scene would not feel real; it would be easy to see what will happen next. According to Goodykoontz and Jacobs (2014), if it was filmed a high-key lighting, it would also make the fighting scene look like its “comedy and very happy” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014).

References

Daan, E. (2012). Bruce Lee and Filipino Martial Arts. Retrieved from http://www.bakitwhy.com/articles/bruce-lee-and-filipino-martial-arts

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.) [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

YouTube. 2011. Master Fighter – Enter the Dragon (2/3) Movie CLIP (1973) HD. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxrmK9esHpc

Week 1 Blog: Enter The Dragon

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Title: Enter The Dragon

Writer: Michael Allin

Director: Robert Clouse

Year: 1973

Actors: Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly

Story: The storyline for Enter the Dragon is about a shaolin temple monk, who goes astray, from the shaolin temple and starts his own organization on his own island named after him, Han’s island. On that island, Mr. Han manufactures his own supply of opm and heroin. He also runs a cartel of female escorts. The United States government wants to shut Mr. Han’s business down. So they send one of their own agent played by Bruce Lee, who is also a member of the shaolin temple. Bruce Lee’s job is to go on Han’s island to gather evidence and vital information to shut down Han’s operation. Every year on Han’s island, he hold a martial arts tournament. Being that Bruce Lee is a martial artist, he is sent to that island, as an undercover spy, portraying a marital art artist who will be fighting in Han’s tournament.

Plot: Three martial artists, Bruce Lee, John Saxon, and Jim Kelly accepts an invitation to fight on Han’s island at Han’s yearly martial art tournament. The incentive is to win big money by beating their opponents in the martial art tournament. Bruce Lee’s incentive is to go on Han’s island, as an undercover spy, for the United States government to gather evidence that Mr. Han is producing opm, heroin, and a female escort business. Each martial artist in this film displays their unique fighting skills. The movie ends with climatic fighting scene between Bruce Lee and Mr. Han. The film also shows unity between an African American, a Caucasian and Asian. Enter the Dragon is considered probably the best martial art motion picture in history, which also made the late Bruce Lee a legend.

Enter The Dragon was filmed non-linearly. As each main character from Enter The Dragon was featured, they highlighted each actor’s past prior to going to Mr. Han’s island and entering Han’s martial art tournament.

Non-linearly:

Bruce Lee’s portrayal as Mr. Lee in Enter The Dragon, showed the United States main stream audience that Bruce Lee is not just a martial art artist but a great actor. In the film, which came out in 1973, Bruce Lee on camera introduced his mixed martial art skills, which did not become popular till thirty years later with the birth of the UFC.   This classic film also introduced to the mainstream escrima which is a Filipino stick fighting art, which includes the nunchakus sticks. Bruce Lee paved the way back in 1973, as an Asian male leading character, and a movie star of his own film, which is a first.

I don’t think that Bruce Lee would be a legend now if the film went a different path. For example, if they deleted the opening scene, I personally don’t think the UFC would even be around in 2015. That classic scene showed a non-classic view of martial arts that incorporated boxing, Gung-Fu, Judo, and wrestling. No martial art films since Enter The Dragon has even come close to the amount of money it made and its popularity. In addition, there hasn’t been a leading Asian actor, who has the star quality look and leading man appeal since Bruce Lee.

Resources:

Callahan, T. [trishacallahan]. (2015, April 24). Enter The Dragon 1973: Action Movies Full English – Best Movie Full Hd 1080p. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl57JUJ5Ix8

Warner Bros. Enter The Dragon (1973) Lobby card with Bruce Lee & Robert Wall. Retrieved from http://www.moviestillsdb.com/movies/enter-the-dragon-i70034

Warner Bros. Enter The Dragon (1973) Publicity still of Bruce Lee. Retrieved from http://www.moviestillsdb.com/movies/enter-the-dragon-i70034/poZVsp

Warner Bros. Enter The Dragon (1973) Publicity still of Bruce Lee. Retrieved from http://www.moviestillsdb.com/movies/enter-the-dragon-i70034/aa91385e