Sunday, June 5, 2011

Experience with Writing and Film

Coming into English 308J all I knew was what I liked and what I did not like. My first experience with film were Disney movies. These movies taught me about love, friendship, good and evil. My favorite genre growing up had to have been horror. My fascination with horror films started at a young age because it was my Dad’s favorite kind of movie. Besides the bonding aspect of watching horror films I really enjoyed how directors can make the simplest things like falling asleep in Nightmare on Elm Street scary.
Other genres I was interested in were psychological thrillers like seven because it keeps you guessing. Besides scary movies and thrillers I also enjoy comedies because they are just fun to watch and put me in a good mood every time I watch them. I will normally watch any type of movie so it is hard to pick a specific type of genre. The media makes me want to watch the next big thing but I still try to cling to great past movies that have shaped the way I view film.
After completing this class my view of movies has changed drastically. I think my favorite assignment of the quarter is the comparison paper I wrote about Black Swan and The Brood. This interested me the most because by taking a view on the directors I got to take a look at what other films they have directed and how their use of body horror and the mind could captivate the audience. My favorite movie had to have been Inception. I ha already watched this film but it was great to see it a second time because I got to concentrate on the detail and was able to see and understand things that I did not the first time around.
Writing about the movies was extremely hard at first. I had to written this way since freshman year of college. Discussing the movies helped out a lot when I was not sure what I was going to write about. As a group we were able to dissect the movie in so many ways that it was very easy to write a three-page paper about a genre or character. Researching movie like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was great because I got to look into the different types of video games and sounds from video games that I love that were in the movie. Also researching Cronenberg and Aronofsky made me want to see all of their films. They are currently my favorite directors just my researching their work.
Before taking this class I thought that I was impossible to find a good scary movie anymore. I know now that I was completely wrong. After going through many different genres involving the effect of the mind with respect to the body and the different directors I find myself appreciating the film for what it gives than if I get a good scare. I have been able to improve my writing in many different ways. My formatting has gone from being terrible to actually being good. I am able to write a good thesis statement and have developed paragraphs that connect with the thesis of the paper.
This class has helped my to appreciate movies by writing out how certain aspects can influence an audience. I am very happy with this class because we were able to see movies that made us question and think about what was happening in them. My writing has improved and I have come out of this with a list of films I am dying to see because I want to see the genre or ideology and not just for fun.

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