Alien

In 1979, Ridley Scott directed a movie that would forever change the visuals effects of movies from that point on. The film Aliens, incorporate musical effects, camera angles and props and make-up that caused a realistic and horrifying plot-line to its audience. This horror film did not use the typical vampire or zombie to terrorize its victim but an unknown, out of this world, being that may possibly exist. “Beyond the threat of violence that this dragon, as big as a man, represents (and to which terror rather than horror is the primary response), there stands first the alien’s motive for inflicting that violence upon the human being that encounter it” (Mullhal 18). Having a villain that was unlike any human life seemed much scarier than the Dracula and Frankenstein that were once human. “What, then, of Ridley Scott’s alien; what precisely is it about the precariousness of our own human identity that we see in the monstrosity of this monster?” (Mullhal 18).

The music to this film caused a chilling and suspenseful anticipation for the next scene to occur. Throughout the movie, a terrifying scene was always introduced by a slow steady beat and dramatically increase to a loud crashing noise as the alien eliminated its victim. This abrupt noise caused its audience to fear this movie even more.

The first scene of the movie was the camera circling around the halls of the small empty space craft. This illustrated the trapped feelings for the victims of the movie. There is nowhere for these people to go which was shown by the camera angles. “Beyond this, the camera’s unhurried scrinity if the Nostromos’s empty spaces points up the imperturbable self-sufficiency of the ship, its ability to guide itself safely across interstellar distances in the complete absence of conscious human control” (Mullhal 15). Also, the camera angles were used to dramatize a scene. For instances, when Parker and Ripley open the locker to trap the escaped alien, the camera slowly zooms into the locker frame by frame. “The slow, calm, controlled movements of the camera have established the basic rhythm of the direction – unhurried but supremely confident that what we eventually be shown will be worthy of our investment of interest” (Mullhall 15). Along with the music, this makes the anticipation very high and very frightening.

With movies such as graphically inclined Avatar gracing our movie theaters in 2010; the alien out of the chest scene is way over looked. But in 1979, Alien won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. While the effects may seem humorous today, during the time, it was mouth-gasping terrifying. The use of futuristic beds, robots losing heads, and a 6 foot alien slaughtering up victims was a very impressive act to pull off and Ridley Scott succeeded easily.

Overall, I was extremely entertained by this 30 years plus film. The music and camera angles still caused me to be scared which I am embarrassed to admit. While some scenes seemed a little ridiculous, the overall genius-ness of the graphics cannot be ignored. This movie is the foundations of films such as Alien vs Predator and Species and many more as the years still progress and aliens still terrifies its audience.

Work 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.

Dr. Strangelove

During the opening credits of the 1964 film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, I begin to notice things I was not expecting. The first thing I notice was the jazz music blaring in the background as the credits scrolled across the page. Being a war movie, you assume that it should be more dramatic, but not this one. Even the font was somewhat child-like which established the tone of the movie. While Dr. Strangelove had many funny and witty scenes throughout the movie, it had many special characteristics that made it completely original.
Since the movie was in black and white with little contrast, the originality came from the camera angle. The movie change from bird’s eye view to close up in the matter of one scene. During conversations, the camera moved quickly from character to character. The camera was always zooming in and out and constantly chasing around important aspects of the movie. While the actual filming of the movie was unique, I believe the message behind the movie made it more enjoyable.

Throughout the 90 minute film, Miss Scott, the sexy secretary, was the only woman making a cameo in Dr. Strangelove. Being a 1964 film about war, I expected women to not contribute a predominate role to the film, but the fact that the only woman involved was used as a sex symbol is expressing an important message about the film. “The screenplay and the film certainly have much more depth and substance that the sources which inspired them, but we can still learn much from those screenplay roots which have their genesis in sources both mundane and esoteric” (Stillman 487). In 1964, Playboy was not as accepted as it may be now. It carried a derogative connotation to the women that did strip their clothes off and posed for the exclusive magazine. Grant Stillman exposed that Miss Scott was not only just seen sunbathing under the lamp. “ Keen eye observers have already pointed out that Miss Scott, the well-spoken Pentagon secretary under the sunlamp displaying ample navel, also pops up as the centerfold in the Playboy magazine being admire by Major Kong in the cockpit” (Stillman 491). While a deeper meaning can describe the symbolism of the 15 minute sex symbol actress, the fact that women were only eye candy could not be any more obvious in Dr. Strangelove.
Overall, I believed Dr. Strangelove was a very respectable movie. It may not be my favorite, but it definitely contained many elements that made it a memorable movie.

Works Cited

Kubrick, Stanley, dir. Dr Strangelove or: How I learned To Stop Worrying and Love the
Bomb. 1964. Columbia Pictures, 2009.

Stillman, Grant, “Two of the MaDdest Scientists.” Film History. 20 (2008): 487-500
Web. 24 Aug. 2009.