Independent Research Script Reflection

PORTFOLIO LINK

• Clear references to film history, theory or genre topic.
   Looking back at the assignment now I see that I did take account of the history and genre of both films. Luckily for me, I wanted to focus on the genre of "Crime-films" and other conventions that were involved in the genre. Brother was an amazing film not only because of the story but for the reason that I could pull out so many similarities with City of God. In a certain focus for the independent research film I wanted to shed light on the topic of "why we believe cry doesn't pay". In order to highlight these topics I specifically focused on the film history in particular cultural conventions. For exampled I had never considered the cultural limitations of Russian cinematography during the Cold War in comparison to the financial issues in Brazil's favelas.
  
  
• Clear engagement with the target audience, scope and depth of argument
   In order to be creative with my Independent Research we all were placed in the parameters that we were actually writing a two-column script for a documentary. Of course I'm very happy to express myself and I decided to engage the audience with an elaborate opening in the introduction to my topic. I started off with a real-life situation and paused the time to analyze their situation and reference back to the other 2 films. My argument in the beginning were how directors Balelenov and Meirelles were able to express socio-cultural problems through the the mediums of cinematography, editing, and characterization. I felt that I did a pretty decent job exploring all three of the categories but looking back on it now I see that i wasn't answering an argument more so addressing an already known fact. Had i changed the question maybe I would've created better analysis of both films. The audience however would never be bored because I harness both visuals and audio to keep the audience involved. I would use clips from the movie, as well as demonstrate side-by-side their similarities in order to convey a deeper meaning.
  
  
• Clear  use of sources and structure of the script.
  The structure of the script was broken down into the sequence of side by side comparisons followed by analysis of the symbolism behind the clips used. For example I analyzed the power of crime and the expression of hope that comes from it by comparing both the character of Lil Ze' and Danilla. I would use extracts from the film that would essentially show a transformation in their character. The structure would not only focus on characterization of evidence for my claim though. In my research I brought in quotes form articles i had read from Mr. Bigue. For example to explain how the editing style was affected by genre I brought in "Cinema Novo" as well as the effects of the Cold War in Russia. The articles I read from Mr. Bigue's homework were really helpful in fortifying my argument and supplemental as for the socio-cultural aspect of both films.
  
  
• Video and audio elements are detailed clearly and coherently described and linked.

  Looking back on the visual column of the script I found myself using it as an aid for my comparisons between both of the films. I used a lot of the important clips to address these comparisons: Just like when Lil Ze' got shot compared to the scene where Danilla gets shot in the movie. I feel like I should have incorporated the use of sound in the analysis of the post-editing. For example I wanted to discuss the symbolism of the music in both the films but it was difficult finding sound analysis for two foreign films. It would probably have been more helpful to find better scenes to relate to but I think they succeeded in getting my point across. Sometimes I just threw in freeze frames of characters but I thought it would've been nice to have a collective shot that brought it all back together.
  

  
  
• All films referred to clearly relate to the topic and insightful comparisons are made with precision.
  
  
  YES! Luckily for me, both of the films were in the same genre and conveyed similar themes: corruption in higher politics, freedom expressed through violence, and much more. I actually enjoyed watching both films not because of how impacting their films were but to uncover the director's intent in the production of the film. For example i learned that Meirelles worked with a low budget and an inexperienced cast but it brought the reliability of life in the favelas and made it a successful Realism-based film. The other film director wanted to express how corrupt life was in post-cold-war Russia and showed it through the increase in violence. Had the films not been the same genre it would've been more difficult and I'll take that into consideration when I do this again next year.