American Beauty / A Beautiful Mind

American Beauty:

1. In the movie American Beauty the set of the film plays a huge role in the overall effect of the film. Most of the major events take place in the house. The whole movie I feel is centered around the house which is very symbolic because I feel that one of the struggles in this film was Lester, Carolyn and there daughter Jane trying to find some type of family bond and connection. Which is suppose to be found in the home life but in this case things seem to fall apart at the house.

2. I think that the film is shot at this particular location because it shows how the Burnhams family does not have a very stable home life. Things were falling apart throughout the movie and majority of the time it took place at the home. Lester and Carolyn were having problems with there relationship at home and in general which put stress on Jane. Then Lester and Jane's friend Angela had a few encounters at the house together. Also there was the neighbor boy Ricky who watched through his window into the Burnhams house and Ricky and Lester had there little drug deals and stuff going on in the garage of the house. So as you can see majority of the set of the movie is take place at the house.

3. The costumes throughout the movie have a lot to do with where the characters are in the immediate stage of life. For Jane at the beginning of the movie the mom said something along the lines of "can you try and match and make yourself look good." Jane was struggling with school, being popular, not having a boyfriend and dealing with her home life that she was caught in between a whole bunch of choices and decisions that reflect on her clothing. She never match which resembled the struggles that she was facing with her life not being able to find herself and a purpose for life. Carolyn on the other hand was always matching and looking her best. Which goes hand in hand of how up tight she was all the time and how stressed out she was about life and her relationship with her husband. She portrayed that everything was perfect in her life to the outside world but in reality nothing was perfect at all. Lester's costumes changed throughout the film. First he wore business suite and was looking all sharp. This was the stage of his life were he was also stressed about his life and having to deal with an unhappy relationship with not only his wife but also his daughter. Then as the movie progresses you see him change his attitude of being up tight and grumpy all the time to more laid back and more relaxed about life. He changes from business suit to muscles shirts and t-shirts when he goes on his big kick about working out. This to me shows that Lester is trying to find some time of thing in his life that makes him happy and working out is one of them for him.

4. The lighting throughout the movie, I got the feeling of being dark especially whenever they were at the house. The major parts of the film were taken at night when things were dark. Whenever something bad was going to happen it seemed to me like things would get a little gray and darker, not as much color was present.

5. I think the director chose this type of lighting because it sets up the feeling of somebody being trapped and can't escape because the darkness is caving in around them and enclosing them. Also it helped to set the mood for Lester and Carolyn's relationship because a marriage is suppose to be happy and something that you want to do and in this particular case it was far from them it was eating away at them just like darkness eats away at the light. I feel like the lighting is fitting for the movie because I feel it is show how the dad is trying to escape the darkness and the dark feelings of his unhappy life. Lester is trying to reach the light and he is trying to take the proper steps to better himself and his life. For example he gets a new job with less responsibilities and he is working out more trying to make himself feel better about his life.

6. The color that is most prominent throughout this film is red. According to the article Why 'American Beauty' Works, the movies focus on the use of symbols in trying to get across a general message and the article provides a lot of information on the what the color red means to each character. For example, to Lester red is the drive for lust and his sexually desires. When he dreams about Angela she is in a bath of red roses and when he has the close encounter with her on the couch there is a vase of red roses behind them. For Carolyn red is the meaning of life force and when she cuts the red roses at the beginning of the movie it shows how she is unhappy with life and wants a change. Some other ideas that I had is a red rose has a meaning for love and passion for one another. How ironic is this because Lester and Carolyn do not show each other love anymore they do not mean it they are struggling with life and there relationship so it seems kind of funny to me how red roses show up everywhere. Maybe it is trying to show that both of them are looking for this romantic love but they both can not find it because they are so unhappy with there life's at the present time.

A Beautiful Mind:

1. In this movie I find the overall set, or location to not have a large effect to the overall make of the film. True, the beginning did need to be in a prestigious university setting to one show that John Nash was a very brilliant mind and two it also portrayed how much of a competitive drive he has with his fellow class mates. I believe that it was the time period that had the biggest influence to the movie, how John came to Princeton in 1947 and came to his governing dynamics theory, but; he portrayed a view that some people did have in the 1950’s some thirty years after the “Red Scare” and most recently of world war 2, where Russians spies were every where, how they were transporting bombs through the united states. This was of course fiction, but in Johns mind these things were a reality.

2. The set that sticks out most prevalently to me would have to be John while he was in the University setting at Princeton in 1947. I think very strongly that the reason the film was shot here was to again show you how brilliant and how complex his mind really was, his ability to see the solutions, but most of all to show his passion for winning and his competitive drive to get to the top or in this case his placement into Wheeler Lab. In this setting you also get to meet the first of a couple people in his mind, his prodigal room mate Charles, someone he see’s because of his medical condition schizophrenia.

3. In this case the art director is trying to convey to us more a time period then a message, he/she is showing us how students, adults, and family members looked like in their different settings whether it be a lab or on a rocking chair on the front porch of a house. I think that this is all about the time period.

4. Yes the lighting was very appropriate mostly because it illuminated the right moments and captured the thematic moods. I believe that this movie was in the middle when it came to being harsh and direct or soft and diffused because it portrayed both when things were busy or bustling or dangerous the lighting became harsh and direct but, then again when the movie takes a turn to the more relaxed or sensual side then it does become a lot softer and diffused.

5. I think the director is trying to show the audience that John is having trouble dealing with his schizophrenia through the shadows and the gloomy lighting. Also the lighting throughout the film portrays that we need to be careful of what we do and to watch out for each other in times of darkness.

6. “God must be a painter, or he would'nt have given us so many colors” said by Johns Wife on their first date together. I believe that there was not one color that stood out from the rest that just blew me away but, if I had to chose at least one color that stood out to me it would be green. Green because I believe that in this movie it signifies his life, and that in the start of the movie it signified his beginning and as the move progressed I find that it also signified his health by becoming more and more of a dull color. I also think that green represents his need to change and realize that some of the things he see’s are not real and he can deal with them to again, change and grow to become better.