A Few Good Men: Mise en Scene & Actors

Tom Cruise (Lt. Daniel Kaffee)

Method acting which the textbook described as “an approach to acting that originated with Konstantin Stanislavsky.  Teaches actors to draw upon their own experiences to portray what a character experiences, even to the point of going out and experiencing something just for the role or remaining “in characters” on and off the set.  Tom Cruise has a history of play movies that he has to act in a way that brings the character alive.  He did a great job showing how Lt. Daniel Kaffee was a person who really didn’t care about his clients until he started to investigate the case of the two marines that where murder.  As seen by the two clips below.  Tom Cruise is great at method acting and most of his films reflect this style.  Such as Mission: Impossible (1996), The Outsiders (1983), and Last Samurai (2003), and many others.  He is able to make the audience believe he is that character in many films.

In this clip it shows Tom Cruise (Lt. Daniel Kaffee) not caring about his clients

In this clip it shows Tom Cruise (Lt. Daniel Kaffee) at the end of movie with a different view on people and cases

Jack Nicholson (Col. Nathan Jessep)

Method acting which the textbook described as “an approach to acting that originated with Konstantin Stanislavsky.  Teaches actors to draw upon their own experiences to portray what a character experiences, even to the point of going out and experiencing something just for the role or remaining “in characters” on and off the set.   Jack Nicholson has a history of playing the bad good in films.  This film he does a great job of make the audience dislike him.  In the scene where he having a meeting with the other marines you can see how he is not a nice person.  Also, at the end when Lt Daniel Kaffee makes him lose his cool in court also show his temper.  Jack Nicholson is a great actor who has used the method acting in many films such as The Shining (1980), The Witches of Eastwick(1987), Batman(1989), and  many more.  In each of these films he always bring the character that he is playing to life.

This is the clip to let the audience see Jack Nicholson (Col. Nathan Jessep) temper problem

This is the clip where Jack Nicholson (Col. Nathan Jessep) gets arrested for ordering the “Code Red”

Demi Moore (Lt. Cmdr. Joanne Galloway)

Method acting which the textbook described as “an approach to acting that originated with Konstantin Stanislavsky.  Teaches actors to draw upon their own experiences to portray what a character experiences, even to the point of going out and experiencing something just for the role or remaining “in characters” on and off the set.  Demi Moore in this film and more always set the tone for being the moral person in her roles.  She wanted justice and wanted to make sure that all of the rules are being followed.  In the scene when Lt. Cmdr. Joanne Galloway goes to the naval base to question Col. Nathan R. Jessup was to show her authority and that they meant business.  She is also the character that show the compassionate for the two marines as seen when she talks to the other military lawyer in the clips below.  Demi Moore has used method acting in many other films such as Ghost (1990), The Juror (1996), and G.I. Jane (1997), and many more.  Each one of these film show her using method acting.

In this clip Demi Moore (Lt. Cmdr. Joanne Galloway) challenges the Col. Nathan Jessep and search for the truth

In this clip you can see the compassion for the clients

Reference

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. This text is a Constellation™ course digital materials (CDM) title.

Tom Cruise. (2015, June 09). In Wikipedia,The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:25, June 18, 2015, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Cruise#Selected_filmography

Jack Nicholson. (2015, June 09). In Wikipedia,The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:25, June 18, 2015, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Nicholson_filmography

Demi Moore. (2015, June 09). In Wikipedia,The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:25, June 18, 2015, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demi_Moore#Filmography

Week 3 Blog 3 Few Good Men

Describe each of the three basic categories of sound (dialogue, sound effects, and music).

As describe in textbook Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. This text is a Constellation™ course digital materials (CDM) title. and dictionary.com

• Dialogue- two or more characters speaking in a scene.
• Sound effects- any sound that is not music or speech used to create an effect in a scene
• Music – an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.

Explain how the different categories of sound are being used in your chosen film. 

In this scene Col Jessep is reading the letter of the marine who was killed by the other two marines. The dialogue is between Col Jessep and the other marines in his office.  As they figure out how to stop the marine from giving out important information.  The music set the mood of the scene that it is an intense situation.  The music plays as the letter is being read and the movie shows the marine going through training and being treated as an outcast.  The sound effects in the scene is from the military men and women going through training and in the cafeteria eating. Normal sounds as walking, running or when the marine drop into the water when he was doing the training course.  The impact of the music, dialogue, sound effect is need to make the situation appear realistic to the audience.

Assess how the scene or sequence would play differently if you changed or removed a key category of sound.

Throughout the film the music help describe the emotion of the character and sets the tone of the movie.  The music identifies with the genre which is thriller, drama because it keeps the audience drawn into the intense issues.  Without the music it will make the audience less sensitive to the issue that is going on.  The other sounds would be diegetic because they are sounds that would be normal in the setting or situation.  Such as in the scene below.

Blog 2 A Few Good Men

Type of lighting used in the film

In the film A Few Good Men I believe the film is using the traditional three-point lighting.  For example in the clip above you will see the traditional three-point lighting displayed.   The scene takes place at Lt. Daniel Kaffee house.  In the scene you will notice that it is raining outside and the mood between the three lawyers are intensive.  As Lt. Daniel Kaffee is sitting on the couch you will see the shadowing as he is talking and moving the bottle in his hand.  As the other lawyer Lt. Cmdr. Joanne Galloway walks towards Lt. Daniel Kaffee you can also see her shadow.   In the scene you can see that there is a key light which provides the most light and the fill light to help with the shadowing.  The third lighting is the background, which is the rim light, which is coming from all the lamps around the living room and the kitchen light.   The benefit of this style of lighting is what makes the scene intense and sets the mood that Lt. Daniel Kaffee is having a meltdown.  The technique contribute to the theme of the scene because it makes the audience believe that Lt. Daniel Kaffee is not happy and makes the house appear real.  Since this is a dramatic scene in a house the three-point lighting capture the full mood, intensity, and reality of being in a house and having a deep conversation.

Compare how the scene would play if different choices had been made

If this scene used different lighting technique I believe that the scene would lose the reality or authenticity.  It also could distract the audience and make them lose focus of the point the scene was trying to make.