Intro writing by Erik… late… Office PWNZORZ October 22, 2007

Instead of using a movie for this portion i decided to use my favorite show on TV at the moment, “The Office.” For those that don’t know (you should) it is a comedy about a paper distribution company office branch. Anywho, it’s every show has a little 3-5 minute introduction before the opening theme begins. Each one of these introduces a mini plot for the episode. For example, on last Thursday the season premiere began with a brief recap of season 3 with Micheal Scott (the boss) telling the viewers that he’s hoping to make this a good year. He then drives to work, keeping the monologue going with small jokes and such, and upon entering company property, HITS one of his employees with his car! Lawl… yeah it’s going to be a good year. It set up the rest of the episode and started some questions that I’ll be looking forward in the future episodes. The filmmaker shouldn’t change a single thing… the office is untouchably perfect.

-Erik, the reason I hadn’t credited you for this before is that is was not published.  I found it, and now it is. -Ariana

“O” October 1, 2007

“o” is actually the modern day “play” of the actual play, othello. which if you ever seen can actually be quite dull. “o” is about this under privelaged black kid who is very excellent at playing basketball and the kid ends up at this super rich school for well, white kids. it starts it out looking at doves and a kids voice saying how ya gotta be a hawk instead. this kid that wants to be the hawk is saying he’s jealous because he is not on top. jealousy. another is the feeling of betrayal. the black kid, “o” win mvp for the basketball team and the coach said he’s like the son he’s never had. ouch, b/c the coaches son is the kid who wants to fly like a hawk. this movie has a great setup, you lets you know something bad is gonna happen. and it does. the boy that wants to be the hawk, on top of it all, throws out a way to spite o, by gettin him to think his girl is cheatin on him. letting his thoughts be betrayed by someone else. its 2am, i cant explain this very well. but you should go get the movie.

posting 5 September 30, 2007

The Pistol: The Birth of a Legend September 30, 2007

This is one of my favorite movies about Pete Maravich, a college basketball that owns the NCAA scoring record and an amazing NBA player as well. This movie is about his freshman year in high school and his playing on the team and dealing with common adolescent problems in the 1950’s. The movie starts with him playing in a thunderstorm at night and his dad drives up and Pete looks like he is going to be in trouble, but his dad starts playing with him. It really shows how much his dad, who was a college basketball coach and ex-marine, and him value the sport of basketball. It goes on with his narration of how much the game meant to him and how hard he worked at perfecting his basketball skills. It captured my interest with things like his narration, and being in the 1950’s, it was a cool take on life back then. It sets the stage for the rest of the movie by showing him make the team, but having conflicts with the players, coach, and family. This allows the movie to show how he overcomes these and how he came out a better person on the end of it.

Gone September 30, 2007

Gone in 60 Seconds is by far one of my favorite movies and ironically enough I love the intro to the movie. The introduction starts off with introducing the actors and showing pictures of the characters and cars (the main point of this movie is stealing cars). The song playing is a very famous song that captures the viewer’s attention and it shows a lot of random pictures and objects that keep the viewers interested. The introduction sets the stage for the rest of the movie cause the music is very dramatic and then once the music stops it shows a very dramatic scene where these kids are trying to steal a car and get chased by the cops. I do not think the director missed any points on the introduction. It is by far one of my favorite movies and when I hear people talking about the movie I always remember the very beginning because it is one of my fav parts and got me so hooked to the movie.

A Jurassic Introduction By Ross September 30, 2007

One of my favorite movies when I was a kid, and one that I watched often, was Jurassic Park. I think it has an excellent introduction as far as introducing important concepts of the movie. It shows an insignificant man getting sucked into a cage and violently eaten by a dinosaur. The main concept being that dinosaurs are mean and they will eat you. It does not show the actual dinosaur though which makes a viewer curious as to what ate the man and forces them to view more. This sets the stage well for the rest of the movie well because when ever you see a dinosaur you think back to the very first scene.

Reign Over Me (2007)–By Julia G.K September 28, 2007

The begining of  this movie shows a clip of Charlie (Adam Sandler) riding on a motor powered scooter, while listening to music.  The next clip shows Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle), Charlie’s old roommate, as a dentist.  This tells the viewer that the film will probably have to do with some type of friendship, or interaction, between the two.  This turns out to be true later in the film.  The important concept is that these two individuals turn out to be old roommates and they work together to solve a problem that Charlie faces.  It captures the viewer interest with music and by showing the two separate lives.  The viewer wishes to know what will be happen to them.  I do not think that the film fails in any of the important factors in capturing the viewer’s attention.

Dazed and Confused, by christian September 28, 2007

Dazed and Confused starts with a car driving in slow motion to the tune of Areosmith’s Sweet Emotion. in the car the passenger is rolling a joint and then it goes thru shots of most of the major characters. also, you can see that it is a high school and it tells you that it is the last day of school in 1976. it does a good job of introducing the main purpose of the movie and importent concepts by showing that it is a high school and that the movie is going to be about the day in the life of a bunch of drinking and smoking teens. it does a good job of capturing the audience because it shows kids doing drugs and hanging out. you are curious about what is going  to happen. also, it does a great job at setting the stage for the rest of the movie. everything you need to know is in the introduction. you see all the major characters, you know they do drugs, you know its a high school and you know that it is the last day of school.

English/Varsity Blues September 28, 2007

A film that I know pretty well off the top of my head and one of my personal favorites is the movie Varsity Blues.  The introduction to this film starts out showing different shots of a small town.  These are of the town itself, a billboard of a football player in his front yard, which tells the person watching that this is going to be about a small town that puts a lot of emphasis and pride into their hometown high school football team. It captures the viewers interest and attention by turning from serene pictures of this town to a truck speeding around to all these players houses.  It uses comedy and loud music to capture the attention of the viewers.  It sets the stage for the rest of the movie by showing one teammate picking up the rest of the teammates in his truck and when the quarterback comes walking out the music changes to something to the effect of hail to the chief to symbolize how important the quarterback is and is going to be to the movie.  I dont think that it fails in any point and it is a very informing introduction.  Right away we tell it is going to be funny and about a small town football team that loses its oh so important quarterback.  Although they really cannot compare this introduction to that of a paper since the main things that catch a viewers attention are changes in music and mood due to actually being able to see what happens.

good luck chuck September 28, 2007

Good Luck Chuck starts off with a group of 10 year old kids sitting in the basement playing spin the bottle. Chucks friend was obviously obsessed with the girls and being chosen to go into the closet. He constantly brags about what hes done with girls and what his dad has told him. When it is Chucks turn to go into the closet the bottle stops on a goth girl who is in love with him. They go into the closet where she proceeds to attack him and do what she believe people who are in love do. When Chuck kicks her off she is mad and puts a curse on him so that no girl will ever fall in love with him. This introduction definitely caught my attention because it was funny. Also, it set the mood for the whole movie and gave the needed background information. 

“Blow” Kyles thoughts September 28, 2007

The movie Blow is a documentary on the Bolivian cocaine trade. It starts with showing the transportation of hundreds of pounds of Blow. The use of illegal drugs is of course a good way to catch the viewers attention. The show depicts the growth of a drug lord named George Young, while he makes a spiralling ascent to the top of the drug ring on the western half of the U.S. the use of angles and incredible acting makes the movie a wonderful show. the intro. works well for the film. if you like drugs you will watch the contraband with intrigue, if you are against the drug trade you will still watch, to possible learn more or to watch with disdain. you might watch it to see Penelope Cruz!

Hot Fuzz, by:chris m. September 28, 2007

The film “Hot Fuzz” begins with a very elaborate introduction of the main character which sets the stage for the viewers attachment to this character. The film is pretty clear on introducing its pupose after it has moved on from its main character rant to the actual plot. This film shows right off that it is about one excelling police officer’s journey in being surrounded by other people who are not as good as him at what he does. I think the film captures interest by moving fast right from the begining. It uses a subtle comedy base and by attaching your to the character early on it sets the stage for the rest of the movie.  

posting 5- jon robitaille September 28, 2007

layer cake is has a very vivid introduction. it starts out by following the main character through a grocery store in the vision as he dreams it. he is a cocaine dealer and believes that one day coke will be as common as bread. this sets the scene for a very interesting movie. the rest of the movie essentially works off this idea. it deals with the business and personal side of dealing drugs and how although it was his dream to be a successful dealer with lots of money and a good life, the drug business ends up screwing him in the end. this is briefly referred to in the intro but he speaks like it could never happen to him and how only fools allow this to happen.

Calmi Cuori Appassionati by Mariko September 27, 2007

This movie started with a scene of a couple. They were promising to meet at  the cathedral in Florence after 10 years. But the soundtrack was so depressed, as if this promise would not be accomplished and they would break up in 10 years. So at this point, the filmmaker introduced its purpose very well. This movie captured viewer’s interest by mixing depressed and fun music and emphasizing the defference of Florence and Tokyo.  People in Florence, they try to maintain their old  town . On the other hand, People in Tokyo, they always seek future, like new building, trend. I think the motive of  this movie is past, present and future.After they broke up, both of them couldn’t forget each other, and they were obsessed by the past and anxious for the future, because they didn’t want to see the fact; they broke up completely. However , the big problem of this movie is that the filmmaker cut a lot of transition . So it is difficult to interpret the movie without reading book of this movie. That’s why people who watched only the movie feel bored.

Death Sentence September 26, 2007

I just recently saw the movie death sentence and its first twenty minutes was an introduction that follows this textual explanation of an introduction. The first part of the movie shows the two sides. One is a family that has two kids and one kid is an excellent hockey player. Then you see the other characters that are gangsters that kill people and live a crazy lif of crime. These two sides dont mix until the hockey player son is murdered by the game in an intiation killing. The dad spots one of the man and decides to take revenge into his own responsibility. The movies main idea is that this family man turns into a killer to get revenge. The introduction builds us up very well before we even know what the movie is about. Introductions are important they lay out the ground work for the rest of the production whether its an essay, article or movie. I can remember countless times asking my friends in a movie “wait whos that guy and why is he there” i have this confusion that is caused by a poor introduction.

3:10 to Yuma what a show September 25, 2007

In the intro to this movie it sets up the theme that a rancher is in dire need of money becuase in the first scene he gets his barn burned down and a little later it tells this happens because he is behind on some payments.  In this beginning scene it also shows that he has lost his foot in the past and this sets up a large part of the movie because he feels he has to prove himself becuase he is no longer a whole man.  This opening scene captures the viewers interest because it starts right with action and right off poses the question what is going on.  It pretty well sets the stage for the rest of the movie because the rest of the movie is about this rancher proving to his son that he is still worth something and also him transporting a fugative to get money for his ranch.  In regards to movies this one has a pretty good introduction, there is a initial question of what is going  on but all questions are answered in full as the movie goes on.  It was very well done in my opinion and has a very good introduction.

Requiem for an English post, By Coleridge September 25, 2007

I have seen Requiem for a dream recently. I found it to be quite informing on the results of habitual drug abuse and drug addictions.
The movie starts off, in the main characters mothers house. He is stealing her Television. He has no car, so the main character his friend wheel it across the city, when he meets the pawn man, he says, “Hello again Jack. You had to bring the stand this time too?” The next day, or later that day, Jacks Mother comes and picks up the TV. The pawn broker suggests she press charges, but she insists that jack is a good boy, and doesn’t need that. Later the movie goes into what I call the beginning of the end. Where all the characters start on their paths that lead to a hellish or nightmarish reality.
The Movie focuses on almost all of the major addiction and drugs, and ties it to a specific character. Take the mother for example, she receives a call telling her she won a chance to be on TV, she gets excited, and tries to loose weight. Diet and exercise don’t really work, so the Mother goes to a bad doctor who basically gives her speed. Later she doesn’t eat or sleep for that matter. Finally she goes to the TV station and asks them why she can’t be on TV, the lady explains it takes time, it could be a month or a couple of years. Because she is hopped up on speed she looks very horrible and the lady calls the cops. The cops in turn take the lady to a mental institution. She doesn’t eat or comply with the staff, so they give her electro-therapy. And that’s how speed ruins her life. Now there are other characters that go through different paths as well, but I won’t ruin the movie.
Basically, if you have ever thought if doing hardcore drugs, watch this movie, you’ll never want to do them.

Posting 5 – Writing September 24, 2007

For this posting, you should have read the section on introductions, transitions, and conclusions.  This page (from the Purdue site) has some more helpful advice and more links. 

Describe the beginning of a movie you’ve seen recently (or perhaps one that is a favorite and you know well offhand).  Now analyze it as an introduction: 

• How does it introduce the purpose of the film and any important concepts? 
• How does it capture the viewer’s interest? 
• How does it set the stage for the rest of the movie? 
• If it seems to fail in any of these points, discuss how and why you think it failed and what you would do if you were the filmmaker to improve this film’s introduction.

Now see if you can apply any of these strategies to your essay’s introduction.  A second post on this process is not required but would be appreciated, interesting, and possibly useful to your peers.