Step-Outline: ?

1. Shot of boy answering/asking question in class. A shot of the girl is also introduced doing the same thing. Moving shot of boy with doctor, introducing his problem.	It shows the setting of the film and introduces the conflict for the boy. Shows the obstacle also sets the mood for the story. The setting shows a school environment. Backstory of boy’s problem.
2. The bell rings and students exit the rooms. The boy locks eyes with a different girl.	Shows boy’s love interest, emotional conflict. Boy’s goal to try and get the girl and fit in.
3. An emotionally broken boy, eats ice cream at the park and throws it in anger. Boy storms home questioning his existence.	Emotional conflict of boy, and recurring theme of the park and ice cream. Shows boy’s character. Emotionally unstable. Shows time within the film by following boy day to day.
4.The next day/week?, the boy tries his luck again with a different girl. Gets shut down again and starts to blame best friend.	Shows the dwindling relationship of the two friends. Boy’s mental obstacle, can’t accept disability.
5.Boy completely skips the park and doesn't even try to go there. Skips to home, boy already had done damage.	Boy is devolving as a character.
6.Boy doesn't appear to be in any classes, but he’s only late. Friend was worried.	Creates unknown quality of the boy. Creates suspense and a twist.
7. Friend tries to resolve boy’s problem by talking with other girl. Friend tells girl of the boy’s great personality and girl finally see the boy’s true light.	Shows friend trying to resolve the conflict of the boy. Show’s friend’s character.
8.Boy sees friend talking with boy’s love interest. Boy enraged, approaches friend and immediately harasses friend.	Shows boy’s character and his terrible temper.
9. Fight breaks out between boy and best friend, ends with resolution of their friendship.	End of the relationship between two friends. Shows boy’s anger makes him make bad decisions
10.Boy finds note on the bench, eats ice cream and stays.	Boy resolves inner conflict and finds calmness. Discovery of note changes boy’s outlook.

Characterization: Rocket of City Of God (Cidade de Deus)

The City of God IMDB can be found here.

Rocket is a boy caught in the middle of a bad life and gang wars trying to make it into the journalism business. This itself should give some interest to the character, but that is not its entirety.

(Figure 1)

 His conflicts appear in this scene as he is trapped in the middle of the final shootout between Lil' Zé and the police trying to shut down and finally take down Lil' Zé drug cartel within these outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. He must survive the slums to succeed in his dreams of being a photojournalist.  (Figure 1 & 2)

(Figure 2)

His thoughts in the next picture is when he realizes that his love, Angelica, was starting to fall for Benny, Lil' Zé partner in crime. The silhouette shows the sadness in his thoughts. The scenic background gives him room to think. The background also contrasts his feelings in this moment. Although his life was going great, Angelica being taken means that he's a virgin, single and broke. (Figure 3)

(Figure 3)

Rocket's actions revolve around the gangs and cameras. In Figure 4, he has just been handed and brand new and more advanced camera. Since he was poor, he started with the cheapest and lowest quality camera he could start with. You can see the happiness in his face upon receiving this new and much better camera.

(Figure 4)

This scene is the moment when Lil' Zé is betrayed by his own child workers. Although Rocket gives a horrified reaction, he quickly takes pictures. He was raised in a tough neighborhood where this happened many times. The brutality caused him to be held aback but the death of Lil' Zé destroyed the obstacle of his life and helped him fulfill his dream.

 (Figure 5)

Rocket was just the man with camera. Lil' Zé begins to take a liking him because Rocket got Lil' Zé and his gang to appear in a newspaper, thinking that he was finally getting the recognition that he deserved. People liked him for his camera, but they didn't know him.

(Figure 6)

Surreal Imagery of Martin Marcisovsky

An article from Chase Jarvis led me to see the surreal imagery of Martin Marcisovsky, whose work can be seen here.

 As I looked into more of Marcisovsky's photos, I grew more interested in them because of their surrealistic features. In his pictures of people, he seems to put the focus point in the middle while the background seems to fill the rule of thirds focus. This can be reminiscent of Kubrick's one point focus in most of his films.

Another type of photos he has in his collection, are surreal landscapes. These photos are incredible as they seem to be unreal. The focus and perspective pulls you in the picture. It almost makes you feel that you are actually in the place of the camera. The photos pull you in with its different styles and compositions and excites your love for photography/film.

Marcisovsky is a great photographer and his art is very enjoyable for many different people.

"When You Find Me" - 10 Themes

Character

 The character here that the picture/screenshot portrays is the little sister, Lisle. It provides us with her characteristics. One of them them being stubbornness. Her stubbornness to find her mom is shown through the questions she keeps asking Aurora, her older sister.  I feel that this allows the audience to have a connection with Lisle and allow the audience to make assumptions on what will happen on the future. A round character allows the films to be much more engaging which I liked very much about it.

Setting

The use of the plays off with Lisle's imagination of trying to get to heaven to try to find her mom. This setting plays a key part as it seems to always appear in her dreams and it allows her to see to her mother. It plays as the "gateway" to heaven and provides the setting of where the story gets its charm. The setting again plays with the imagination of a little girl, making it easy to relate to. I like the usage of this setting and I feel it is very important to the mood and feeling of the film.

Backstory

This picture presents the backstory between the two sisters and their "feud". The picture shows the mother or Aurora and Lisle that had just died. This provides the motivation for Lisle to find where her mother went after the last meeting at the hospital. The backstory allows us to have a peek into the girls' lives and lets us know why they are the way they are. 

Goal

 These two pictures show Lisle's goal to find her mother in heaven. The different style of film highlights this scene because it is completely different from any other part of the film. I feel that it puts the audience into the mind of Lisle , the reason why it looks animated and was put through a creative mind. The vast background contrast the seemingly small foreground, showing how the search might be hard but it is possible. The smile in Lisle provides us with a positive outlook on the scene.

Time

 The time picture uses the environment to shape the time of the scene. Although the film is set in the present, the clothing follows the original picture which gave it a sense of a different time. The outside light also gives the sense of time to make people think that it is either about to be morning and it just turned to nighttime. The lamp provides with a little bit of light to highlight the focus of the scene. The time of the scene gives it a different type of mood and atmosphere if it was done in any other time of day.

Relationship

This scene show the relationship between the two sisters after Lisle reveals what their mother had said. The shallow focus on the two characters highlights the two sisters and prevents distractions from the backgrounds. The scene also closely follows the photo by showing them crying with each other. The close up further intensifies the feelings in the scene and makes the relationship between the two sisters even stronger.

Obstacle

 The obstacle portrayed here is the gate to the cemetery. It was an obstacle that Lisle could not clear herself.She needed the help of Aurora to clear the obstacle. The gate portrays a dreary setting because of the lighting and the fact that it led to a cemetery. Lisle gets over the obstacle with the help of Aurora. After the obstacle is crossed, Lisle's mission goes to full plan. The obstacle's crossing allowed her to see her mom, even though it wasn't real.

Mood

The mood of these shots show their  sadness and dreariness. The overlook of the lively city contrasts the emotionless face that is in the foreground. The cigarette added acts as a stress reliever, strengthening the feeling of sadness within the character.

The Unknown

The unknown produces a weird experience. The tree shows us an imaginary place of the unknown. The tree is unnatural to the things that we normally see causing us to question the location of this place. The place gives us a sense of questioning because of it is unknown.. The tree presents heaven  and the paradise it provides in the white wasteland.

Discovery

I picked this picture because her emotion expresses discovery. She has finally discovered the way to her mother in heaven. The discovery after the obstacle gives it a bigger meaning. After the controls had lit up, she had found a way to her mother. She will finally get to asee her mother, whereever she went.

10 Themes of Storytelling

Mood 

Mood is the emotion conveyed by the

 photo that provides insight within the photo. This photo by Jenny K. shows a dark stairway that is highlighted with an accent light in the background to look more ominous. This gives it a creepy feel using black and white. The narrow angle zooms into the perspective of a  weaker being. The slight up angle also expresses the feeling of helplessness, making the supposed stairway appear  larger than it would normally look in a normal angle. The photo's blurriness gives it a sense of confusion, appearing to look like it is being shot through a man's dizzy eyes. The gate is actually put in the intersections of the rule of thirds to further increase the focus to the stairway itself. Mood sets off a flurry of emotions and is great to provoke expressions.

Character

Character focuses on a certain object or thing. This picture by Frank A. accentuates the character of nature and the size of man compared to the rest of the world. The use of a wide angle lens shows all of the aspects of the vast land that is being presented. The Birds-eye view makes the man appear smaller to compare his size to vastness of the background.

Setting

Setting shows the time and place of a picture. This picture by Tammy P. offers a lot of graphic vectors with the many alternating lines and the shadows of the wooden planks itself. The picture uses a narrow shot and  the picture seems as it is getting smaller through the angle and the way that the picture was taken. The use of black and white accentuates more of the pattern of the bridge and its characteristics instead of the many distractions that color could provide because of the picture's surroundings.

Obstacles

Obstacles are something that gets in the way of a main character. In this photo by Amer A., it shows a man's arm reaching. The obstacle is clearly as he is hooked up to an IV. The first person view gives us the perspective of the man reaching out his arm. We feel the helplessness because of his condition. The angle up makes the ceiling higher than it really is. It also makes the goal harder to reach, further exaggerating the obstacle itself. 

Backstory 

The Backstory provides history to a narrative. This picture by null depicts a man in the backseat of police squad car looking like he is about to be searched. The man in the back seat shows a face of desperation . The index vector points to the eyes of the man looking at the police officer. Again, the use of black and white calls for less attention to miscellaneous objects and more focus to the subject of the photo. The photo intrigues people's curiosity and makes them want to learn more about the actual backstory of this picture. The photo offers so much as a photo and calls for more than just what it is right now.

Relationship

Relationship is the closeness of two things or people, in this case, shadows. This photo by Brad W. shows the relationship of lights and shadows expressing that for every light there is a shadow cast. The contrasting elements of the subjects offer a unique between the two subjects. The light that enters from the window highlights the middle of the room where the two characters seem to merge. The middle also shows the two characters fading to each other, showing their relationship. The room itself shows the relationship of lights and shadows with the choice of lighting. The relationship is highlighted by the being placed in the intersections of the rule of thirds. 

Goal

Goals are what the character is pursuing in the photo. In this photo by Zack W. the man is trying to reach his goal of climbing the mountain. The man is not in the middle of the picture and is askew to match him up with the rule of thirds. The cast shadows show that the man still has a long way to go and the difficulty of his journey may increase. The goal is always hard to reach but it is never impossible.

The Unknown

The unknown is a mystery with a twist. This picture by Natasha M. shows a tunnel of mystery. The shadow cast inside the tunnel gives it an eerie look and causing it to have a mystery quality. The train tracks to nowhere also provide a backing feeling of mystery. The bright white snow contrasts the darkness that tunnel provides. The darkness appears to consume the light as the white from the snow fades away. The unknown gives a mystery and raises concerns for the subject of the photo.

Time

Time represents the time of day within the history of the photo. Represented in this photo by Colin D. the time decay is clearly shown in this photo. The chipping paint, the broken wood and the weathered look gives the place its time. The blurring of the background allows for more focus on the foreground.  The appearance shows the time of the bench and its characteristics.