Alien Alert!

Alien on the human.

Ridiculous Reproduction Technique
While reading the article by Mulhall, I was quite intrigued by a quote that was describing how the Alien reproduced. The quote said, "For, in order to reproduce, it must insert a long, flexible member into the host's body through one of that body's orifices, and deposit a version of itself within its host's torso where it develops to the point at which it must force itself out again" (Mulhall 5). I liked this quote because it really showed the weird aspect of the alien. This part also makes you recognize that in order to create one life you have to take away another.

The crew.

Wages worth it?
"The characters are divided into two classes, the specialized officers and the working class support crew, bickering over wages" (Thompson 3). I thought this was an important aspect of the movie. During a few parts they focus on the monetary value of the expedition. You could easily tell that the specialized officers didn't care about the monetary value. They focused on more on the exploration. As for the working class support crew, they found it very important to go on the mission and get back as soon as possible to receive their reward.


Ash making decisions.

Kind or Heartless?
"Ash's decision to open the hatch might be seen as a gesture of mercy-as Dallas points out, Kane could well die as a result of the delay" (Thompson 6) This point of the movie was very interesting to me. Ash knows the rules about the ship but he shows that out the movie and becomes more concerned with his friends health instead. On the other hand, he could have just been thinking about the benefit he could receive as a result of watching the effects of the alien on the human. Was Ash being kind or heartless?

Score and Cinematography
The movie had an interesting score to it. There were many times that there was a lot of excitement in the movie. During these times the music was more high pitched. However, when something bad was happening, the score had a lower pitch or there was no music. It was nice that sometimes there wasn't any music because I felt that it made it more suspenseful because the music didn't pick the mood you were supposed to feel. As for the lighting, I liked the way this was worked into the movie. When they were trying to fight off the Alien, it was really dark. Also, many of the times there was fog added. Then, when they were just eating or working on the ship, there was a lot of lighting. I didn't think that there was very much influential cinematography. The only thing that I could tell was when the camera was angled at Ash the camera looked up at him. This way the audience could see how the other crew saw Ash.

Works Cited

Mulhall, Stephen. “Kane's Son, Cain's Daughter.” On Film. London: Routledge, 2002. 12-32.

Print.

Scott, Ridley, dir. Alien. 1979. Twentieth Century Fox, 2009.

Thompson, Kristin. "Alien." Storytelling in the New Hollywood. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1999.

283-306. Print

Pan's Labyrinth

Pan’s Labyrinth was not a movie that I would pick to see but it was an interesting movie. Since I am not a person that enjoys fantasy movies very much it was difficult for me to get into that part of the movie. However, I respected the details that they put into the fantasy part. For example, even though Ofelia was experiencing a different realm, she still had to listen to the elder and there were consequences for things that she did wrong. I believe this helped her in the real world as well. The part with Ofelia not being allowed to eat the food was teasing her and it isn’t right to tease an innocent child. I didn’t think that was fair. As for the Captain, I liked that he was so assertive because it kept his troops in line. However, it made his maid and doctor betray him because they realized that everything that he was doing was wrong or rude.

I enjoyed the fact that the set was very well put together. A lot of times the set can make or break a movie. In this case it was very helpful. For example, you could tell when Ofelia was in the fantasy world compared to the real-world pretty well. The set score was appealing to me most of the time. For example, when Ofelia was running away from the monster after she ate two grapes, the music was extremely intense and kept building up until she was safe. As for the editing and cutting, I thought the movie was just about right. If it would have been any longer then I would have lost interest. The cinematography was done in a pretty good manor. I thought that seeing exactly was Ofelia saw in different scenes would have been more effective.

“Del Toro tilts down from the tub to show her descending the fantasy staircase to the Faun’s lair, once more in a single shot. This technique of the masked cut is vital to the fluid texture of the film: the camera is always tracking behind tree trunks only to emerge unexpectedly in another place, another time. Sound bridges serve the same purpose” (Smith). I agree that the technique is very effective. It is good to feel like you can actual sense what the director is trying to do. Using this technique should be used more often. “The coming-of-age journey by the child heroine is particularly appealing because of the perceived double vulnerability of both age and gender” (Edwards). I appreciate this example because Ofelia has to go through some very tough times and I believe most people don’t realize that children her age have to actually do those types of things. She did a great job handling her brother and being the sister that her mom would have been very proud of.