Cinema Questions and Answers
Cinema
In the movie The Great Debaters, what does the following quote mean? Why does Tolson make his students repeatedly say...
The scene with the quote between Tolson and his debaters is the scene after Dr. Farmer has the unfortunate and unnerving incident with the man and the man's pig. Since Dr. Farmer's car killed the...
Cinema
What does No-Face symbolize in Spirited Away?
No-Face symbolizes how children form an identity based on the people around them. Identity is one of the key themes of Spirited Away, most potently expressed in Chihiro losing her name to Yubaba,...
Cinema
What are the four basic approaches to documentary cinema? How are these approaches blended and reinterpreted by...
The four basic approaches to documentary cinema are 1. factual films; 2. instructional films; 3. persuasive films; and 4. propaganda films. Each has its own unique purpose, style and tone. 1....
Cinema
What is a Classic Film? In your opinion, what is the definition of a classic film? What are some elements that make a...
What determines a classic film is the same thing that determines a classic piece of literature: the test of time. Period. No film or literature of substandard quality would ever survive that...
Cinema
Movies are often considered to be a form of art. What makes movies art?
Movies often include drama, which is certainly art. Also cinematography is artistic in its use of light, color, scenery, etc.
Cinema
How is the movie The Pursuit of Happyness related to economics?
The movie is related to economics because it shows the stark differences between the protagonist, Chris Gardner, and the financial positions of his workplace competitors and also because it shows...
Cinema
What are the three basic categories of sound in film, and how does sound affect mood in film?
The three categories of sound in film are dialogue and narration, music, and sound effects. Dialogue and Narration in film: This includes the emotionality of the spoken sounds, the subtext of the...
Cinema
What is the major theme in the movie Avatar? Was this screenplay written by James Cameron? What problems are tackled...
In the movie Avatar, written and directed by James Cameron, colonization and resistance to colonialism are the major themes. The story of the movie has major overlaps with the story of colonization...
Cinema
What are your impressions of Nash in the opening third of the film while he is attending graduate school at Princeton?
In the opening third of the film, John Nash arrives to Princeton University, where he meets, befriends, and competes with his fellow talented math and science graduate student colleagues. He looks...
Cinema
What is the theme of the movie Saving Private Ryan (1998)?
One could make the argument that the main theme of Steven Spielberg’s World War II film Saving Private Ryan is the ambivalence of morality. Much is made during the course of the film’s opening...
Cinema
What is a theme of the movie Dead Poets Society?
Dead Poets Society explores many themes, including rebellion, coming of age, and individuality. However, the most significant theme of Dead Poets Society is captured in the phrase "carpe diem,"...
Cinema
How is The Truman Show a dystopian film?
A dystopian work imagines a nightmarish future in which the worst aspects of contemporary life are magnified. In The Truman Show, the aspects of contemporary life which are especially magnified are...
Cinema
What are the themes in Run Lola Run?
On the face of it, it seems that Lola and Manni inhabit a world in which there is no order and stability, no right and wrong, no real moral purpose. The disjointed narrative and innovative style of...
Cinema
Compare and contrast the characters of Herman Boone and Bill Yoast in the film Remember the Titans.
Coach Yoast and Coach Boone have more in common than their shared love of whistles and sweatpants. They're both high school football coaches who care about the young men on their team and slowly...
Cinema
In the movie Get Out, what are three examples of microaggressions against Black people?
A microaggression can be defined as an everyday slight, insult, or indignity leveled at people of color by white people. Such microaggressions don't have to be intentional; more often than not,...
Cinema
In Remember the Titans, what are some examples in which prejudice led to discrimination?
The 2000 movie Remember the Titans is based on the true story of coach Herman Boone, played by Denzel Washington in the film, who tries to integrate the football team at T.C. Williams High School...
Cinema
In the movie Simon Birch, why do Joe and Simon want to be together and why were they such good friends?
This question isn't answered explicitly in the film, but certainly several plausible inferences can be drawn based on circumstances. First, both of the boys are slight social outcasts among their...
Cinema
What are the archetypes used in the movie The Matrix?
Thomas Anderson/Neo represents each of us as a potential archetypal hero seeking to discover truth and purpose on the archetypal hero's journey of self-discovery. Morpheus is the archetype of the...
Cinema
What are some themes that are present in the film Oh Brother Where Art Thou?
One major theme in this film is the idea that family is the most important thing. The screenplay is loosely based on Homer's Odyssey, and this is one of the major themes of that text as well. In...
Cinema
In the movie Simon Birch, is Simon considered a virtuous person? Give 3 examples from the movie.
There are many examples to suggest Simon Birch is a virtuous character. First, and probably most obviously, is Simon Birch's utter and complete sense of faith in God and God's plan for his life....
Cinema
What are some of the film techniques used in Dead Poets Society?
Film techniques are the language of cinema itself. The placement of the camera, the lighting of a scene, the way actors and objects are arranged within a frame—all of these things help tell a story...
Cinema
In the movie Simon Birch, when/how does Simon experience "Kingdom of God" in his life?
The answer to this question is very subjective, and highly dependent on your definition of "Kingdom of God," especially as it pertains to Earth. Some might cite the verses in Matthew or Luke,...
Cinema
Why could the title of the 1989 film Glory be considered ironic?
In the film Glory, the title is a perfect example of irony, a term which means the opposite of what you expect. When someone sees or hears the word glory, the expectation is that someone or...
Cinema
What is the meaning of the The Godfather film?
The Godfather film is ultimately an examination of the roles that family, power, and tradition play in our lives. The Corleone family at the heart of this 1972 crime drama is led by Vito, "the Don...
Cinema
Explain some of the differences between the classical American Hollywood style of movie making and the European...
French New Wave filmmakers, such as Francois Truffaut, were influenced by American filmmakers. Truffaut had particular admiration for Alfred Hitchcock, but he and others, including Jean-Luc Godard...
Cinema
Colonel Shaw acts very cowardly at the beginning of Glory, but at the end he acts courageously. How does this...
I'm not sure that I would call any of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw's actions cowardly in the film Glory. Before taking over the all-black 54th Massachusetts, he suffers a wound in battle (altough it...
Cinema
What scenes in the drama best illustrate Nash's underdeveloped social skills?
I think that the start of the film is where scenes that best illustrate Nash's underdeveloped social skills are most evident. The opening sequence at the luncheon in which Nash is moving the glass...
Cinema
How are "los maquis" represented in Pan's Labyrinth?
Pan's Labyrinth is set after the end of the Spanish Civil War, with Franco having set up a dictatorship controlling Spain. In it, fairy tale aesthetics are interwoven with cruel reality, through...
Cinema
What movies have the theme of materialism present in them? Describe how materialism is presented in them.
There is a somewhat inverted view of materialism in The Blindside, where we see a poor kid taken in by a well-to-do family that draws no distinctions via class or race in their treatment of him....
Cinema
How does Lama Norbu describe re-incarnation to Dean in Bernardo Bertolucci's movie Little Buddha?
This is easily my favorite scene in the movie with how iconic it is. Lama Norbu explains reincarnation to Jesse's skeptical father, Dean, by telling him that "in Tibet we think of the mind and the...
Cinema
In "the shower scene" in the movie Psycho, what style of editing, shots, and visual transitions are used?
The murder scene of Marion Crane (played by Janet Leigh) in the shower in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho is a sequence of storytelling that changed modern cinema. It took an entire week to film, 78...
Cinema
What symbols are important to understand Thelma and Louise?
The car is a major symbol of Thelma and Louise’s personal agency. It’s a symbol of freedom, but it is also a symbol of their joint decision to act upon the world, rather than be acted upon. So in...
Cinema
What are the main themes in Casablanca
You could examine several themes in the film. One overwhelming theme is the conflict between desire and duty. Rick Blaine must decide between his own self interests and the interests of the...
Cinema
In Remember The Titans, what evidence is there of mutual interdependence in the recognition of superordinate goals?
Remember the Titans is an excellent example of a group that is able to set and achieve superordinate goals through their interdependence. Because the film is set during the integration of schools,...
Cinema
The movie She's the Man focuses on three themes: gender equality, identity, and relationships. In an essay, what...
The information included in an essay will be determined by your argument, or what you are trying to say in your essay. The introduction should include a thesis statement, and the body paragraphs...
Cinema
What are traits that describe Shrek, Fiona, Gingy, Lord Farquaad and the donkey in the movie and the musical Shrek?
Here are some starter points: Shrek is self-loathing at times and feels that he does not really fit in. He also has a tough exterior, but he is a big teddy bear inside. Fiona feels trapped by her...
Cinema
How is freedom explored in The Truman Show? What techniques are used to portray this?
The Truman Show uses the technique of dramatic irony to explore freedom. Dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows something a character or characters in a movie or play don't know. We as the...
Cinema
In the movie Remember The Titans, what examples are there that influence attitude formation?
In the movie, Remember the Titans, several examples influence attitude formation. When Louie shows up and just wants to play football, he says he is friends with everyone white or black and then...
Cinema
How have movies had an influence on the american culture? how have movies influenced the american culture
This is a great question, because it shows the reality that movies have a huge impact on culture. I would say that same for TV programs, books, and any other forms of popular media. As for movies,...
Cinema
Define classic Hollywood style in cinema. Explain the features the film would typically include.
The classic Hollywood style in cinema refers to a characteristic type of American filmmaking that came to prominence in the post-World War I period (1920s). These types of films remained the...
Cinema
What makes a movie entertaining?
The ability of a film to entertain its audience is the product of a number of factors. Film, like paintings and novels, is a form of art. How one responds to that art is entirely dependent upon...
Cinema
Music and Film essay question: What are the differences between an original score, an adapted score, and an arranged...
In music terminology, an original score is music that is written for a specific film. An adapted score, on the other hand, is based on music that already exists. It is used to accompany a film, but...
Cinema
In the movie Tucker A Man and His Dream, how did government involvement help and hurt Tucker? It was really difficult...
I am not really certain about the helping role of government in the film. Coppola's film really presents the idea that government is in collusion with big business to squeeze out the competition....
Cinema
What are the religious implications in The Karate Kid (2010)?
There is a heavy spiritual aspect to the 2010 version of The Karate Kid. Many of these aspects borrow heavily from Buddhist, Zen, Taoist, and Confucian ideas. We see these in many of the lessons...
Cinema
How is conflict explored in the film Gattaca, written and directed by Andrew Niccol?
In Gattaca, conflict is explored in several ways. The most obvious conflict is between those individuals who are genetically engineered to be perfect and those individuals who are born naturally....
Cinema
What is the meaning of this quote from On the Waterfront: "A pigeon for a pigeon"? What is the meaning of this...
When Terry's young friend hears the rumors about Terry acting in betrayal of the local bosses, the young friend massacres Terry's pigeons and shouts through his tears, "A pigeon for a pigeon!"...
Cinema
What was the movie "Stand And Deliver" about?
In the movie “Stand and Deliver,” the story of Jaime Escalante who taught at the inner city school of Garfield High in East Los Angeles was brought to the big screen. Mr. Escalante was a teacher...
Cinema
Character analysis on Sean Maguire, Gerald Lambeau, Skylar, Morgan O'Mally, Will Hunting and Chuckie Sullivan from...
Each of these characters is set up in accordance to the characters' background, setting and other characters. Sean Maguire teaches psychology at a small college. He grew up in South Boston like...
Cinema
At the entrance to CIA are the following words: "And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." How...
The biblical inscription in the lobby of the Central Intelligence Agency (John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free") makes an appearance in Robert De Niro's 2006...
Cinema
Explain the most powerful scene from Cry Freedom.
It can effectively be argued that the most powerful scene from the 1987 film Cry Freedom is that representing the student march in the Soweto uprising of June 16, 1976. The scene opens with a close...
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