Silver Linings Playbook Acting

Three notable actors in Silver Linings Playbook are Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, and Bradley Cooper.  Each actor uses their acting style to establish their character in the film. Jennifer Lawrence is a wildcard actor while Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper are interpreter actors.

Jennifer Lawrence is a wildcard actor due to her ability to play a variety of characters in several different genres of films.  In Silver Linings Playbook, Jennifer plays a widow who has acted out her grief in a sexual manner.  Her character can also be brash and forward.  Jennifer’s role in The Hunger Games is much different, as she plays a tomboy who is strong-willed and courageous in her fight to stay alive.

Robert Di Nero is classified as an interpreter actor because of his ability to add his own flare to the characters he plays.  In her article, “You Talkin’ to Me?”: De Niro’s Interrogative Fidelity and Subversion of Masculine Norms (2008), Gretchen Schwartz explains that De Niro plays characters who display physical abilities which he may have to exercise.  His role in Goodfellas can be said to be similar to his role in Silver Linings Playbook due to both of their characters participating in illegal activities.  In Goodfella’s, De Niro was involved with the mob, and in Silver Linings Playbook, he runs a gambling business from his home.

In Silver Linings Playbook, Bradley Cooper portrays a heartbroken mentally ill man whose primary goal is to obtain the love of his cheating wife again.  He expressed his feelings often in the movie.  Cooper’s character in American Hustle utilizes some of the same interpretations.  Bradley plays an FBI agent, and in the scene where his is speaking with Louis C.K’s character, Bradley employs the same tone of voice and mannerisms which can be seen in Silver Linings Playbook.  He also resorts to violence in American Hustle as well as in Silver Linings Playbook when he beats up his wife’s lover.

References

JoBlo Movie Trailers (2014, January 2). American Hustle Official Clip – Telephone Fight (HD)

Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5EpyfZOho8

Schwartz, G. (2008). “You talking to me?: De Niro’s Interrogative Fidelity and Subversion of

Masculine Norms. Journal of Popular Culture, 41(3), 443-466. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2008.00530.x

Tran, T.K. (2013, April 3). Silver Linings Playbook – Robert De Niro Lost His Bet Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwwAhX3fwlQ

Sounds of Silver Linings Playbook

There are three standard types of sound in films.  They are dialogue, sound effects, and music.  Dialogue is when characters are speaking to each other.  Sound effects are noises that add character to a film such as the sound of explosions or people walking by in the background of a scene.  Most of the time the sound heard in films is added during the editing process (Goodykootz & Jacobs, 2014).  Music in a film can either play in the background while people are talking or play over people talking and the viewer simply sees what is occurring instead of hearing it.  It also adds character to a film and can draw the audience further into it.

 

 

Silver Linings Playbook uses several instances of the basic sounds to establish the theme.  For example, music is playing during the film (clip above) when Pat, played by Bradley Cooper, is examining his face after his fight with his dad, fixing the window he broke by throwing a book out it before the fight, and when he goes for a jog.  The music continues playing as the film tells a story without words until Pat encounters Tiffany, played by Jennifer Lawrence.  Tiffany yells at Pat and the music suddenly stops.  While the music was playing, the viewer can feel the remorse Pat feels for getting into a fight with his parents and breaking the window.  The music is a sad, almost moaning sound which also adds to the desired effect of the mood created in the specific scene.  The film also makes use of everyday sounds such as the sound of Pat’s trash bag rustling when he running, dogs barking, footsteps, and several instances of a doorbell.  These sounds create a genuine feel to the movie due to being sounds that people hear mostly every day.  While they are not sounds that might impress a viewer, they add depth to the story being told; however, they do not help the viewer establish the theme of the film.

As mentioned, the sounds in Silver Linings Playbook are realistic and give the film an honest quality.  The sound of footsteps can be faintly heard when Pat is running.  The viewer hears the glass break when they see the book thrown out the window.  When Pat is frantically searching through boxes for his wedding video, the sounds add to the feeling of urgency Pat is displaying.  All of these effects enhance the reality the film conveys.

Silver Linings Playbook utilizes music frequently.  Some scenes contain music while the characters are talking while others use music instead of dialogue during a scene.  Without the use of music during the absence of dialogue, the viewer would not be pulled further into the movie.  The music is being used to further interest the viewer and draw on emotions.  In the clip included, without the music, the viewer might not be able to sympathize as much with Pat.

 

References

Axe, Ali (2013, November 24). “Silver Linings Playbook” (2012) – Bradley Cooper & Jennifer Lawrence – Two Crazies . Retrieved October 2, 2014 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh2Ton31MEg

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Lighting in Silver Linings Playbook

It is interesting to see the lighting that is used in a film when you are informed about its use and meaning.  In Silver Linings Playbook, the lighting used appears to be three-point lighting.  A romantic comedy, usually, does not contain three-point lighting; however, Silver Linings Playbook contains many scenes that rely on natural light and include no shadows.  In most of the scenes light is coming from the back of the scene that is known as the backlight (Goodykootz & Jacobs, 2014).

Silver Linings Playbook benefits from the use of three-point lighting because it changes the intensity of the three lights depending on the scene.  In one scene where the main male character, Pat, is upset after reading A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway.  He is talking aggressively to his parents while they are lying in bed, and the brightest light is coming from the bedside lamps.  The use of the lamps as the brightest light creates a realistic view.

While typically romantic comedies, usually, use high-key lighting, Silver Linings Playbook seems make proper use of three-point lighting.  The film is not a typical romantic comedy due to it focusing on Pat.  It also adds in a darker element of mental illness due to Pat’s bipolar disorder, delusions, and violent outbursts.  The use of three-point lighting allowed the mood whether sad, depressing or feel-good to also be displayed with the use of the lighting.

If the film made use of a different primary lighting technique, I do not think it would have been able to express the intricacy of the movie.  The film contained some dark elements which would not have benefited from the use of high-key lighting.  Also, the use of low-key lighting would have created too dark of a mood for the audience.  Although the film did have darker moments, the movie focused on Pat overcoming his mental illness and falling back in love again.

References

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Morganster, Jessi. (2012, November 12).  Silver linings playbook – hemingway. Retrieved September 25, 2014 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_1yZURAIjI

Week 1 Blog Post

Film: School of Rock

Writer: Mike White

Director: Richard Linklater

Major actors: Jack Black, Mike White, Joan Cusack, and Sarah Silverman

Year: 2003

The movie, School of Rock, focuses on the central character Dewey Finn.  Dewey is a very enthusiastic guitar player who is in band and lives with his friend and his friend’s girlfriend.  He is viewed as a freeloader by his friend’s girlfriend, and she wants his friend to kick him out of the apartment.  Dewey must come up with the money to pay towards rent and puts his hopes on his band winning a battle of the bands competition.  When Dewey arrives at band practice, he finds that he has been replaced.

Dewey is now band less and spends time lounging around in his bathrobe at home.  While doing so, he answers a phone call that sets up the rest of the film.  The phone call is for his friend who is a substitute teacher.  The school principle calling is in need of a substitute immediately.  Dewey pretends to be his friend on the phone and accepts the job to be able to pay rent.

When Dewey first arrives at the school to teach, he tells the kids to go outside and have fun.  He is disinterest in the students continues when he first beings “teaching” until he learns that the children can play musical instruments.  Dewey then decides that the class is going to become a band.  He sneaks in his instruments, and the students faithfully follow his lead.  As it turns out, Dewey has a gift for teaching the students.

Dewey and the students enter the battle of the bands contest that he was hoping to join with his old band, but before they can go, the school has a parent night where he has to entertain the parents of his students.  Before he leaves his apartment for the parent night, he friend opens a check from the school Dewey is substituting at.  Dewey comes clean and admits that he has been posing as his friend. His friend is upset, and his girlfriend calls the cops.  The police arrive at the school while Dewey is talking to the parents and students, but Dewey runs out of the school. Consequently, Dewey is no longer a substitute.  The students stay committed to him and show up at his apartment the day of the battle of the bands competition.

The students did not tell their parents where they were going, and they were frantic.  They went to the principle and ended up finding out the students were at the battle of the bands contest.  Initially, the parents are angry but after hearing Dewey and the students play, they become fans.  In the end, Dewey and his friend (the substitute teacher) create an after school program called School of Rock that was also the name of the students’ band.

School of Rock is presented chronological due to each event in the film following after the other without skipping back and forth between time periods.  The chronological order allows the viewer to follow the film as it unfolds instead of referring back to something they previously saw.  The audience focuses on one story instead of multiple and sees the characters as they change throughout the movie.

If the movie had been presented non-linearly, I think the audience would be lost, since the film does not add much back story about the characters.

References

Kim, Gregory. (2013, August 27). School of Rock – Jack Black teaches Lawrence to play Touch Me by the Doors [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu-SUoN1HD4

MOVIECLIPS. (2011, October 7). The School of Rock (9/10) Movie CLIP – Learning in Song (2003) HD [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KJD4aP90YQ