Actor Characterization

Genres classify films into certain categories but what about actors? An actor may take part in various types of movies in the course of their career and in doing so will often earn a classification of his or her. There are different classifications that fit with certain actors like; impersonator actors, character actors, wild card actors and personality actors. In the Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, Liv Tyler, elf Arwen, Elija Wood, Frodo Baggins and Viggo Mortensen, Aragon are a few of which that are well worth mentioning.
Liv Tyler, actress and former child model plays the role of Arwen, the daughter of Elrod leader of the woodland elves. Liv is the daughter of Aerosmith’s lead singer, Steven Tyler and model Bebe Buell (Wikipedia.) She has had an impeccable career holding roles in several movies such as; The Leftovers a television drama series, 1998 Armageddon a science fiction disaster film, and The Incredible Hulk a superhero film featuring Marvel Comics, to name only a few. A character actor is one that is able to fit invisible into a wide variety of disparate characters, adapting to the needs of the script and director they work with. A personality actor on the other hand is one in which the actor at some level is playing their self (Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs, C. 2014.) Tyler, I feel, fits both of these characterizations. In her role in Armageddon she plays the daughter and girlfriend of two men chosen to go into space to save the world. In this film her character was rooted in her own personality. The scene where she says goodbye to her boyfriend, Ben Aflac, she shows all the emotion and fears that one would attribute to most women in a position of saying goodbye. However, in Lord of the Rings, Tyler plays into the character aspect. She is an elvish princess in love with the heir to the throne, Aragon and chooses a mortal life in hopes of saving her beloved. She proves herself to be a versatile actress in her varying roles.
Elija Wood, American actor and film producer has also been in an array of movies. From the coming of age movie, All I Want, to horror movie in 1993 The Good Son, he has proven himself to be more of a character actor. Beginning in 1993 in Back to the Future II he has played a divers number of roles but until this trilogy he was mostly invisible to the public.
Sometimes an actor’s skill and techniques allow him or her to play in a variety of characters so well that it is difficult to typecast them. When an actor achieves this they are labeled as a wild card (Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs C. 2014.) Viggo Mortensen, American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter definitely fits the wild card characterization. He has starred in roles in movies of almost every genre, from crime dramas, westerns, apocalyptic dramas, fantasy horror, horror and fantasy. Playing in the critically acclaimed 1998 movie Psycho to trilogy of the Lord of the Rings it is difficult to classify him any other way.
Liv Tyler and Elija Wood may always be classified in this manner either because they are comfortable in playing these types of roles or because they could find it difficult to prove their abilities to fit other characterizations. Mortensen on the other hand will always be considered a wild card. His ability to play such a wide range of characters so well it is inevitable that he will continue down this road.

Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs, C. (2014) Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego,CA, Bridgepoint Education Inc.

Sounds in the Fellowship of the Ring

There are three basic categories of sound used in film today; dialogue, sound effects and music. The first of the three, dialogue, is considered the most important element in film since its creation. Basically dialogue is conversation, the characters talking to one another in a film. The reason for such an element is to further development of the plot, to enhance characterizations, and to quickly establish important information that the audience needs to know to understand the action in the film. The second of the three is sound effects. These are recordings of natural sounds in a usable way. Explosions, sounds of animals, weather sounds, wind, rushing water are all examples of sounds that may be present in a film that are highly likely to be sound effects in use. These add to the meaning and the understanding the audience has in any given scene. Last but by far not least, is music. Music is a critical part of the movie going experience. Not all music in film is considered part of its soundtrack. Score, or rather background music, is meant to enhance the action of the film and aid in drawing in the attention of the audience. All of these sounds can be used differently. Diegetic sounds that are represented as coming from within the world of the film and non-diegetic sounds that are represented as coming from outside the world of the film, or rather sounds that characters are not aware of, can be used interchangeably. It is the story that tells in which way the sound is presented. If the wind is blowing and the characters know this then that is from within the world of the film; however, if there is no wind yet the audience hears it it is then non-diegetic.(Goodykoontz, B & Jacobs, C. 2014.)
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the ring is a movie full of robust sounds both diegetic and non-diegetic in nature. Throughout the entire film, score (background music) is used. This music further draws in the attention of the audience. The orchestral music coincides with the action of the scenes and adds to the overall drama of the entire movie. In the war scenes this music is deep tempo, in sad scenes it is slow and moving, in the scenes where the fellowship is traveling the music is fast passed and instills urgency in the viewers. The score in this film is an example of non-diegetic sounds. While the movie itself was appealing and interesting, had the score been removed the scenes would not of flowed as smoothly and the connection with the action and the characters would not have been as strong.
In many of the battle scenes the sounds of the hooves of the horses on the ground, the noises the horses made as they ran fast toward the battles and the noises of the fires of Mordor are great examples of sound effects. These diegetic sounds help to set the mood of the scenes and the entire film. They represent the urgency, and the dread the characters experience and this also helps the audience connect with the story and the characters.
The dialogue in the fellowship of the ring is somewhat that of old English. Each group of characters has their own language and dialect or rather accent. This helps to differentiate them and shows that they come from different backgrounds and cultures. The dialogue and the way in which the actors portrayed it coupled with the score and the sound effects really made this film stand out. It’s my opinion, had the directors, editors, cinematographer, or producers decided to leave any of these elements out it would have had a devastating effect on the overall outcome of the movie.

Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs, C. (2014.) Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, CA. Bridgepoint Education Inc.

Fellowship of the Ring: Lighting, music and more

The Lord of the Rings: The fellowship of the Ring is the first in a trilogy. There are a large number of cast members and 40 scenes in this one movie. For this blog post I will concentrate on Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamee, the troll and the remainder of the group known as the fellowship as I discuss the lighting in various scenes and the incorporation of different colors and tempos of music that impacted the overall outcome of each scene.

To critic all 40 scenes in one post would be an astonishing feet; therefore, I will focus on only three scenes. The fist scene after the opening prologue in the movie is where we are first introduced to Frodo Baggins and the Wizard Gandolf the Gray. This scene opens with Frodo sitting under a tree reading a book. In the distance the field is brightly lit with the sun. This is the high key light which provides a natural look amongst the trees casting shadows properly and giving Frodo the appearance of sitting in the shade. Shortly into the scene music begins to play and a man is heard singing in the background. The music is upbeat peaceful tone which gets slightly louder as the man approaches on horse and buggy. As he rounds a bend in the road we see a beautiful light shining through the trees as if to light the path for the traveler. It is a very peaceful and serene scene. As the man approaches the tiny hobbit, Frodo scolds him telling him he is late in which Gandolf replies, a wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he intends to. This leads to two to stare questioningly at each other momentarily until they burst into laughter and Frodo jumps into Gandolf arms letting us see just how small the hobbit man really is. The two then travels into the town, the way is lit with normal light of the day showing the immaculate green, yellow and white colors of the countryside, and the beautiful rich blue colors of the sky. As the two enter into the town the bright colors seem to intensify.

The lighting in this scene produces a calming tranquil feel for the viewers. Coupled with the colors it leads us to believe that this is a peaceful town with peaceful townsfolk. Green often symbolizes health and harmony (Incredible @rt Department) as does the rural setting of the small hobbit town. The brightly colored costumes worn by the hobbits signify that these are creatures of vibrancy and that they are full of life. These aspect presented by the cinematographer, director, and actors contributed to theme being presented in way that we as the audience could understand. The theme being one of peace and togetherness as they arrived in the town for the townsman member Bilbo Baggins’ birthday party.

The theme of peace and togetherness goes on for only a short time in this movie where it adjust to the struggles the fellowship of the ring must endure on their quest to the infamous Mount Doom to destroy the ring of power. About half way through this epic fantasy we encounter the troll scene. In this scene the fellowship is in the dwarf caves where they encounter first orc’s and then the massive troll. This scene is almost all shot, or so it appears, in black and white with a hint of gray hues. The lighting is very low key and as they fight the orc’s and then the troll the music is very ominous and dreadful. Close to the end of this scene Frodo is stabbed by the dagger of the troll and the music switches to a very somber tone and the light gets even darker, the remainder of the group works together to concur and kill the troll. Once it is dead the focus returns to Frodo, they flip him over and to all of their surprise as well as the audiences, Frodo lives. The Scene brightens and the music lightens to a normal tone, if only momentarily till the scene switches to the next in the series.

The shift of music in this scene coupled with the lack of color and the low key lighting provides the audience with the dreadfulness the makers intended us to have. The almost lack of hope for the wirier travelers and then the utter happiness for the survival of our protagonist.

The final scene I will discuss is the last scene in this movie. In this scene the fellowship goes their separate ways. This scene provides us with a bit of situational irony. As the audience we expect the fellowship to reach the fire pits of mount Doom and destroy the ring. They however do not, instead they have reached the western shores the lighting in this scene is somewhat dull. The color begins mostly white as Frodo deals with his internal struggle to push forward alone. The music begins in a normal tone then all we can here is the hollow sound of the wind as we see Sam racing through the trees to reach Fordo and we begin to hear him call out for him. Frodo at this point jumps into the boat and the color in the scene become brighter as Sam races into the waters, unable to swim, refusing to let Frodo continue on without him. As Sam sinks in the waters we see him going down and Frodo’s had pulling him to safety at which time they embrace and the music shifts from a somber tone back to a normal tone and the colors brighten to show the beautiful greens of the trees and the blues and whites in the water. Later we see Sam and Frodo standing on the edge of the cliff with Mount Doom in sight as Frodo expresses concern and compassion for his friends that have gone on a different way. The music is somber and the lighting here is dim yet again. As the two small hobbits begin the next part of their journey we see them walk into the distance surrounded by brown cracked and dry earth, mountains and a river in the distance. The music switches here to a more upbeat tone as the two become smaller and smaller and the movie ends.

The lighting, music, and colors as well as the camera angel produce a scene that portrays the ideal of hope, friendship and leaves the audience full of compassion for the two small hobbits. It is my opinion that the writer, cinematographer, director and actors made the best choices in these factors. If any of the techniques had been different I don’t feel we as the audience would have come away with such a profound feeling toward the characters nor their situations. The universal themes, which are experience that we can all relate to, really pull you into this movie(Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs, C. 2014.)

Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs, C. (2014) Film: From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, CA. Bridgepoint Education Inc.
Incredible @rt Department. http://www.incredibleart.org/lessons/middle/color2.htm
http://movieclips.com/4dD9Y-the-lord-of-the-rings-the-fellowship-of-the-ring-movie-cave-troll/

Alien

Alien, written by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett, was directed by Ridley Scott and released May 25, 1979. Alien stars; Tom Skerrit, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Statton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yapphet Kotto, and Sigourney Weaver. This Science fiction horror film is about an extraterrestrial being that stalks the crew of a spaceship and kills the crew members off one by on. The only survivor, Ripely (Sigourney Weaver.)

The nostromo, a commercial vessel receives a SOS call from an unexplored planet. When they arrive on the planet there are odd things resembling pods. One of these pods hatches and the creature that comes out attaches itself to the face of Kane (John Hurt). Once detaching the creature the crew re boards the ship, with Ripley protesting about letting Kane back aboard, and heads home. Little did they know they have a stowaway. Kane a little while later is the first victim of the infamous Alien when it erupts from his abdomen killing him. The alien then picks crew members off one by one as they fight and struggle to find and kill the creature.

The character development in this movie helps the audience relate and understand them. You are able to form a kinship with these people and feel their fear and anguish as they hunt the alien and are killed. There is an element of surprise as the creature attacks each of its victims throughout the movie that startles the viewer and has you sitting at the edge of your seat. At the end of the movie, when Ripley finally defeats the murderous alien there is a feeling of elation for all those watching. If this movie had followed a different presentation or story line it would not of captivated audiences the way that it did. The storytelling used in this award winning film captivated and invoked the imagination of millions.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/alien/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078748/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(film)