Written By: Joseph Naguski

Unnerving music accompanies the haunting black fluid that oozes onto the screen twists and turns into terrifying images that are sure to be nightmare fuel. This is just the beginning of the stunning visuals which plague the disturbing yet gorgeous title sequence for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. In my last analysis for Enter the Void there was a heavy focus on the typography of the sequence. This week we will take a look into how amazing visuals can create a compelling narrative through title sequences.    

The title sequence begins with an evocative rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” by Karen O with Trent Reznor and Atticus Rose. As the score plays black oozing fluid begins to run down the screen, images flash before the viewer until the title The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo reveals itself. The title is flooded by the black fluid until the audience is quickly taken to a horrifying image of someone being tied up and gagged. This lasts only for a second before it cuts to the ooze drooping down a keyboard. Different images start to appear, a lighter and HDMI cables are abstractly displayed as they come together to show someone being burned alive. Viewers then encounter a flaming bird, flowers, someone drowning, a back with a dragon tattoo, climaxing with a dragon emerging from the liquid. The images then shift to wasps and faces being punched. The scene of the sequence switches again and eerie spectacles of flowers are intertwined with images of a girl, peaking with hands pulling back the girl’s face which morphs into a flower in bloom. At the conclusion of the sequence all the different images start to become more chaotically intertwined as the music fills listeners with tremendous anxiety before entering the mouth of someone screaming as they arise from the fluid. 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’s title sequence gives audiences a sense of the motifs and the brutality that embodies this film and its nonexistent sequels which were intended to follow. Based on the novel by Steig Larsson, this psychological crime thriller from David Fincher follows journalist Mikael Blomkvist and unhinged computer hacker Lisbeth Salander. Mikael had just suffered legal and professional ruin after a being sued for libel by a billionaire conman named Hans-Erik Wennerström. He is given a chance to redeem himself by another wealthy businessman Henrik Vanger. Vanger offers a great amount of money and information that could destroy Wennerström. The job Vanger presents to Mikael is to try and solve the 40-year mystery of the disappearance and assumed murder of his grandniece Harriet. The only solid clue is that it must have been a member of his family who lives on their private island. As Mikael begins to research this we are shown the life of Lisbeth, who is deemed mentally unstable by the government and must be placed with a guardian. After her original guardian suffers from a stroke, she is placed with an atrocious man who forces her into sexual acts for money and ultimately rapes her. She captured the rape on a hidden camera and through her own twisted acts was able to escape his control over her. As Mikael continues to investigate he finds that needs an assistant and after learning of Lisbeth’s skills he convinces her to join him. The two discover that the situation at hand is much bigger than they first thought. They uncover a series of murders leading to the realization that a serial killer is in their midst and is still at large.

The terrifying cyberpunk imagery in this title sequence was designed as a representation of the main heroine Lisbeth Salander. The director David Fincher “wanted it to be like a fever dream, with a lot of abstract imagery.” (Tim Miller, artofthetitle) Some of these images we can trace back to information from the film. The black liquid that connects the whole sequence together symbolizes the motif of liquid aesthetic present throughout the film. (The drowning, the river separating the island from the rest of the world.) The keyboard represents Lisbeth’s exceptional hacking abilities. This aspect of technological privacy in the film is interesting as Fincher also directed The Social Network which released just a year prior. The image of the person being burned alive is call to her trying to burn her father alive which was mentioned briefly in the film. Flowers were an illustrative nod to the flowers Henrik Vanger was given every year on his birthday by Harriet and then her supposed killer. As I stated earlier, this film was based off a novel and intended to be a trilogy. Some of the images were supposed to represent events weren’t going to take place until second and third movies (like the wasps), so we are unable to analyze them.

A slight note on the typography of the sequence: the type is very simple yet demands the viewer’s attention as parts of the letters stretch out on the screen or begin to warp together before quick cuts are thrown to another image. The typographic design of the title itself was created by Neil Kellerhouse, as well as the design for the film’s posters.

The implementation of “Immigrant Song” as the score for the sequence was a major decision to Fincher and Blur Studio. “Huge, to have that in place right at the beginning, because the music really drives the editorial process in such a huge way. If you don't have that giant piece of the puzzle in place, everything can shift around a lot more.” (Tim Miller, gizmodo) The use of a Led Zepplin cover was chosen to be implemented by Fincher after listening to a big collection of Led Zepplin music. "It’s a little bit crazy, but it might be just the right kind of crazy." (Fincher, artofthetitle) The use of a strikingly eerie rock cover meshes well with the heavy metal theme of the sequence that displays Lisbeth's personality. The song's themes also are faithful to the setting and plot of the film, which is set in Scandinavia. It additionally is most likely a callback to the James Bond series which this sequence shares many similarities with, not to mention Daniel Craig's roles in the franchise. Fincher also stated that there was an intentionality to switching genders in the song because of the gender roles in the film. “Mikael is the damsel in distress in this.” (Fincher, gizmodo)

The title sequence is created by Blur Studio, a distinguished company which focuses on visual effects, animation, and design. Recent ventures of theirs include the opening sequence for Deadpool, the daunting opening credits for the Netflix series Mindhunter, and most recently Tim Miller has collaborated with Fincher for the animated Netflix series Love, Death, and Robots. For The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Blur Studio used RealFlow with the help of other CGI companies to create the CGI fluid. The viscosity and density of the fluid was created through a lot of simulations to get the perfect look. The studio also used 3ds Max, Softimage, and RayFire for effects and edited the sequence in Sony Vegas along with Digital Fusion and After Effects. (artofthetitle) For the people in the sequence they used digital scans of the actors portraying Mikael and Lisbeth (Daniel Crag and Rooney Mara) as well as other scans of people used to portray Harriet, a young Lisbeth, and her parents.

The visual effects in this title sequence help bring alive a narrative more sinister than even the film's content itself. The amazing black design which encompasses the piece coupled with “Immigrant Song” blaring into the audience’s ears really drives Lisbeth’s character through this technological night terror.

Work Cited
http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo/
https://io9.gizmodo.com/an-exclusive-look-at-the-making-of-dragon-tattoos-stunn-5873372
https://io9.gizmodo.com/david-fincher-explains-why-his-dragon-tattoo-heroine-is-5870887
https://www.wired.com/2012/01/dragon-tattoo-opening-titles/

By Bill Friedell

From a directorial and visual level, Captain Marvel is one of the weaker films of the MCU. A lot of the scenes in space seem underlit and makes the image harder to see, but not in a stylized way. This is especially disappointing considering the other MCU films that take place primarily in space happen to be some of the best looking, such as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 (James Gunn, 2017) and Thor Ragnarok (Taika Waititi, 2017), using vibrant colors and Jack Kirby inspired design. While the style of humor isn’t typical, appearing more genuine and from the characters as opposed to the Guardians, Avengers, or Iron Man’s self-deprecating humor, Captain Marvel contains probably among the least laughs of any MCU film. However, the film doesn’t seem to be reaching as much for jokes so that it doesn’t become the whole appeal of the film, letting the characters and plot take center stage.
 
Overall, Captain Marvel meets the standards of most MCU films before it, introducing and reexamining characters and ideas with a few twists to it. While it may not have the most distinctive style and visuals, Captain Marvel introduces another character to enjoy for years to come. And based on the film’s worldwide gross of $812,251,537, audiences are making it clear that they desire to see wider representation on the big screen. Audiences want more perspectives to view the world and the success of this film  alongside smash hits like Black Panther (Ryan Coogler, 2018) Wonder Woman, Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017), and Crazy Rich Asians (Jon M. Chu, 2018), audiences are getting good stories and characters that better reflect the world around us and the challenges they face.


“Captain Marvel (2019).” Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=marvel2018a.htm

Written by: Joseph Naguski

The ending to the final installment of the animated film trilogy How to Train Your Dragon will leave audiences on the edge of their seats until the credits roll.

The Hidden World takes place a year after the events of the second film, with the island of Berk becoming comparable to a utopia to its human and dragon citizens. As the people of Berk continue to rescue and bring back more dragons, Hiccup faces his first real challenge being chief. The overpopulation of the island is becoming more evident and he must find a way solve it. He finds his resolution through multiple flashbacks of the late Chief Stoick informing a young Hiccup of a legendary dragon safe haven which he dubs “The Hidden World”. To the rejection of his mother and many others, Hiccup becomes determined to find this mythical world. He is hindered by Grimmel the Grisly, an infamous dragon slayer who is determined to capture toothless and uses a female “Light Fury” as bait to lure Toothless into his hands. The two dragons fall in love and Hiccup must find a way to save them and the rest of his friends while finding a new home for the dragons.

While the overall plot of this film does not quite stand up to its predecessors, the series' finale is still noteworthy. A major theme in this film is learning to “fly on your own”. What arose from this was a change in The Hidden World’s plot formula from the previous movies. While the first two films focused heavily on trying to outmatch unbelievably colossal dragons as enemies, there is a much more human battle between good and evil. Hiccup and the rest of the humans learn to become less reliant on their dragon companions while Toothless has his own little adventure with the female Light Fury. They do come together to try and defeat the antagonist but the way this happens is very much unique to this film. The antagonist himself is pretty mundane, but that is lost through the exhilarating moments of the characters’ journey.

Much like this film DreamWorks itself has grappled with the concept of flying on its own. DreamWorks continues to be a 3D-animation beast that can rival Pixar, but still struggles to be the superior animation studio. The How to Train Your Dragon series is certainty a standout trilogy that has elevated the success of DreamWorks. The film maintains themes of thrilling fantasy atmospheres that takes them past even the level of their previous pictures.  The Hidden World continues to bring stunning visuals to the franchise through the new technology that has been developed since the original’s release in 2010. In an interview with cartoonbrew.com, the series director Dean DeBlois noted some of these technological advances. He mentioned some simple things like displacement of clouds and characters walking through grass. Adding greater amounts of characters in the frame and increasingly complex camera movements have also developed over the duration of the series. These things may seem trivial to some but in the grand scheme they make for much more aesthetically pleasing and interactive film. As DeBlois says “Now that we have the technology, I wanted to make sure that we used it. Our environments are very alive.”

Overall, this movie is a fantastic ending filled with the adventure, friendship, romance, and ageless humor which makes the series so special. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone who is a fan of animated films and/or has watched the previous two films in the franchise.

Work Cited
https://www.cartoonbrew.com/interviews/how-to-train-your-dragon-series-director-dean-deblois-on-being-blown-away-by-the-advancement-of-animation-tech-169217.html

Searching is a 2018 mystery/thriller film about a father who goes through his missing teenage daughter’s laptop in search of her whereabouts. The unique aspect of this film is that the entire experience is presented from the perspective of a computer screen, whether it is that of the father’s computer, his daughter’s laptop, their smartphones, a television, or even security cameras. It takes a strictly digital approach to convey the story. If it had to be related to any existing genre, it could be considered a form of found footage. This analysis is going to contain spoilers, so if you have not seen the film, watch it before continuing.

​David Kim is a single father to Margot, his teenage daughter. Together, nothing really seems to be out of the ordinary, until she goes missing one night. She leaves behind one very important piece of evidence: her laptop. David hires a private investigator to look into the case but grows suspicious when she is not found after forty-eight hours. This is when something sinister becomes revealed. Due to a lack of progress, he investigates himself.

​Upon initially hearing the concept, it may seem as though an audience would lose interest fairly quickly while viewing a man interact with several computer windows for around two hours, but it surprisingly keeps you on the edge of your seat. Similar to the panic that the main character is going through while rummaging through a technological nightmare, we as the viewer get to witness this from the same point of view, which is something that audiences rarely get to experience.

​From a script writing perspective, this must have been a very complex undertaking to write considering the unusual medium of the film. While it can be restricting, it also opens doors for news ways to tell the story. The screenplay allows for some touching emotion and quite elaborate character development between the father and his daughter without the use of that much dialogue. Instead of silence, we get a more deliberate visual cue: text in the context of the devices that we all use on a daily basis. This is mostly surrounding the relationship they had with David’s deceased spouse. This in a sense connects the two of them, because you can notice an apparent absence in their lives.

​Without hearing any dialogue, much of the communication is done through text messaging and emails. While being quite literal in its presentation, it sheds light on the lack of emotion that exists between two people communicating digitally. We cannot necessarily interpret the distinction between happiness and sadness, or identify sarcasm as easily. Of course, emojis can be used to supplement basic text, but the principle generally applies. Knowing this about digital communication, and how difficult it must be to incorporate the essential emotion necessary to drive the characters, what are the advantages to using this approach to tell this story? Well, seeing the actual conversation take place from one side allows for the viewer to recognize the specific nuances of how the messages are typed, and what is deleted. We get a glimpse into the mind of the father while he is writing and get to see what is going through his mind as he revises his messages before sending them. This would not be possible in a traditional medium. 

​Besides focusing on the relationship between a father and daughter, this film also ends up revealing deceit and selfishness from certain characters whom we thought had good intentions. The story tends to be a bit of a roller coaster, containing many unexpected plot twists, further adding suspense and incentive to keep watching. To add structure and simultaneously incorporate the computer's user interface, the film uses the start up, login, logout, and shut down actions as a method to help keep the audience on track, and add structure to the beginning, middle, and end.

​Additional conflict is introduced when David becomes a suspect in his own daughter’s disappearance. As the audience, we find ourselves on David’s side, constantly searching for answers to this devastating problem. We witness extreme denial happening with David’s character, as he repeatedly claims that Margot is not dead. One can only imagine the mental trauma that comes from going through a situation like this. 

​Upon reaching the resolution of the story, when Margot is found barely alive in the bottom of a cliff, the satisfaction comes from realizing that if it were not for David’s perseverance and unconditional love for his daughter, he would not have found her in time to be alive. The film also ends on a very positive and heartwarming note, relating to the tension shown at the beginning between David and Margot, and how her mother would have been proud of her. It is also interesting to see that even though we suspected Margot’s supposed misbehavior resulted in her disappearance, we see that it was because she had good intentions for another person, and that the situation unfolded due to an irrelevant and unrelated pursuit. Creatively speaking, changing the desktop wallpaper to a photo of them in the hospital after she was rescued, and then shutting down the computer really ties everything together nicely. 

​It is interesting to consider the versatility of this format, and whether or not it will be obsolete in the future. Because technology is changing so rapidly, it seems impossible to predict the future of this method of filmmaking. However, it is a breath of fresh air to bring a different approach to the thriller genre and inspire other directors to possibly rethink their own ideas. It is by no means an easy task to tell a story this way, which is probably why we have not seen as many.
​
In general, the risk taken by the filmmakers to think outside of the box and utilize this method of storytelling really paid off for this film. It adds an additional dimension not only to the intensity of the genre, but also has the potential to be applicable to many other script formats. 

Written by: Dylan Delaney

By Lindsey Horner

Picture this: Tom Cruise and Nazis.
If that combo has got your history nerd side excited (because admit it, we all have one), then director Bryan Singer's Valkyrie ​(2008) is just the movie for you.

Inspired by true events, Valkyrie follows the story of Wehrmacht Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) as he joins, and then leads, a conspiracy to rid Germany of Nazi ruler Adolf Hitler through a well-organized and calculated assassination plot. The film depicts real-life events that transpired before, during, and after July 20, 1944, the day the conspirators led their coup on main leaders of the Reich. Their conspiracy involved using the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to shift powers and take control of the country.

After being badly injured during a Royal Air Force Raid in Tunisia and losing his right hand, two fingers on his left hand, and his left eye, the colonel is sent home to Nazi Germany. Now sporting an eye patch, survivor's guilt, and questioning the trajectory of the war, the German officer comes to the heavy realization that in order for Germany to truly survive, major changes must take place within the Motherland's inner structure, starting with the ruling authority.

Along for the ride are other German officers such as Henning von Tresckow (Kenneth Branagh), General Friedrich Olbricht (Bill Nighy), General Ludwig Beck (Terence Stamp), Dr. Carl Goerdeler (Kevin McNally), and Erwin von Witzleben (David Schofield) who agree that in order to save their country, they must destroy it from the inside first. 

One of the reasons why I was so pleased with this movie was Singer's extreme attention to historical detail. Actors were hired who closely resembled their roles, and Cruise especially poured over Stauffenberg's story, wanting to honor the man's true patriotism and sacrifice through this adaptation. Much of the filming took place in Germany on the same pieces of land where the events actually occurred decades earlier. All those involved with the making of the movie wanted it to be as historically accurate as possible, and the end result is gorgeous and thought-provoking; a movie that is stunningly real.

While Valkyrie isn't a well-known movie, it's still an important film to watch. It depicts a painful past while offering a glimmer of hope. Despite the movie ending with a firing squad, Stauffenberg's last words - "Long live sacred Germany!" - give the audience a sense of optimism even after his figure falls. Even in the midst of genocide and corruption, there will always be individuals who rise up to take action against oppression, no matter the personal cost. Claus von Stauffenberg was one of them, and his legacy now serves as an example for future generations.

By Liz Steeves

Good news, it’s not another Hallmark movie! And better news, Instant Family (2018) manages to be comical without making fun of the foster care system! 

​These were my two fears going into the film, but in the end,  I was very pleased with the way director Sean Anders presented such an important topic. Anders is able to give the audience a taste of the heartache of fostering and adopting kids in a such a reflective and comical way. While still managing to fight for the importance of family, without going too far into chick flick territory. In fact, there was at least one satisfying punch in the film (by the jacked Mark Wahlberg), officially clearing it from such a label.

The film follows the decision of a husband and wife, Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and Ellie (Rose Byrne), to adopt not just one teenager but her two younger siblings as well. This kind of story is so important to share on the silver screen, because so many people are unaware of the heartbreaking numbers and statistics that children in foster care face. With this, I was extremely pleased to see that the film contained real data, regarding the number of children in foster care as well as the devastating situation that follows aging out of the system. While I would have liked to see more statistics worked into the dialogue, I think Anders did a good job pulling at the audience’s heartstrings without making them so overwhelmed that they left with a bad taste in their mouth. 

​This story was actually inspired by Sean Anders and his wife Beth’s decision to adopt three siblings out of foster care years before. Anders was therefore able to tell his story in such a way that sheds a true and positive light on the decision to adopt, particularly older kids. Furthermore, Maraide Green, a former foster child, was hired on to the film as a consultant, she was essential in how a lot of the sensitive information was communicated, particularly the attitude toward the children’s birth mother. Anders’ others films however, are not known to be this… respectful. Films like Daddy’s Home, We’re the Millers, and Horrible Bosses 2, are known for being screwball comedies, but Anders and his crew’s representation of his story and the stories of others definitely hit a home run. 

Casting Mark Wahlberg as the Pete, the dad in training, was an amazing and vital choice that added a lot to the film. Everyone views Mark as a man’s man, but they also recognize that he isn’t afraid to care about the important things in life, like family. As Mark runs a restaurant chain Wahlburgers with his family. Furthermore, he is a devout Christian and father of four, and is always willing to stand up for his values and morals.

One of the many important messages in the film, is portrayed in that the audience is able to see the struggle of the couple, without them throwing in the towel, no matter how appealing that may sound to them. This is very relevant especially concerning foster children, because a lot of children are toasted from house to house and learn not to trust people. As a result, they will always test the supposed ‘love’ of the people taking care of them, but it is when you pass the test that their love and family will knock your socks off.

Pete and Elle in the film worried that they had to be a special kind of people to do something as extraordinary as adopting kids, but they soon discover that all you need is love. The film doesn’t aim to send you out of the theater and right to the adoption agency, but it aims to get rid of a lot of the negative connotations that have grown around the idea of adoption, particularly of a teenager. Instant Family is an honest, and heartfelt story that is sure to bring you and your family closer this holiday season.

By Joseph Naguski

Let the amazing type and colorful lights take over as you enter the void.  As we began to explore in the WATCHMEN post, title sequences can be much more than just the names of cast and crew. The art of designing title sequences has long been in development since the beginning of films. From works like North by Northwest designed by Saul Bass and Se7en designed by Kyle Cooper titles have evolved dramatically. A very prominent part of these works and other notable sequences is the way they use typography combined with images to communicate the themes of the films in which they reside. The type of typography that is used in a film’s title sequence can evoke certain emotions from the audience as it prepares them for what is in store.

The 2009 movie Enter the Void by Gaspar Noé starts off with a psychedelic barrage of typography in its opening title sequence. When the credits first hit you, they are not too outlandish. The words go by, flickering rapidly. Only one typeface is used with an orange and white color palette, until a sudden pause occurs. Then an abrupt onslaught of different designs starts to flash before the screen to the tone of a booming electronic beat. As the sequence goes on, the credits rapidly pick up speed with neon colors flashing before the viewer. This gives them a visual sensation of essentially what it feels like to be tripping on drugs. This might look familiar if you are a fan of Kayne West or his song “All of the Lights”. The music video for the song is heavily inspired by Enter the Void.

The way this title sequence is portrayed certainly begins to prepare the audience for the psychedelic mess they are about to jump into. As the title sequence suggests, this movie revolves around drugs and the experience of using them. The plot centers on the life of an American drug dealer named Oscar living in Tokyo. The film explores the outer body experience he undergoes after his death. The composition Noé uses is cinematically captivating in the way it uses high crane shots to show this experience from a first-person narrative. Scenes filled with flashing lights and other trippy cinematic images are also scattered throughout the film. The content of the film is somewhat grotesque and heavily explores violence and sexual themes. It shows the troubling events of Oscar’s childhood, which led to him into the world of drugs. It also shows the relationships of those he was close to when he was alive. There is a special focus on his sister who became an exotic dancer, to his displeasure. The psychosis derived from these events could not have been displayed better than in the stunning visuals of the title sequence.

There are many layers to the design of this title sequence which make it so fascinating. Enter the Void is very unique  because it focuses on using almost entirely type within its design to convey its theme. There are many films that mesh well with images and typography together but seldom do we see the sole use of typographic work alone. This work does not stick to one simple design either; there is a multitude of different styles that cohesively come together to express what tone Noé is trying to achieve. Interestingly, the logo was created using electrophotography by the German filmmaker Thorsten Fleisch.  The use of different languages also uniquely adds to the motif of this piece. The combination of English, French, and Japanese collide in the same way as the different cultures do throughout the movie. The film itself is created by a French director and is designed by Tom Kan, who is Franco-Japanese. An interesting point about how the layout was made is that Noé “wanted a fast-paced compilation of typefaces, all very different, inspired by films, flyers, and neon signs to announce the tone of the film… wanted each title to reflect the person it concerned” (Kan). From this, I assume Noé truly appreciated his film crew and this is a nice way to honor them. Another interesting and integral part about the credits is that instead of just a select few of the credits placed in the beginning, Noé chose to have all of them at the start of the movie. The innovation that this sequence contains would not be possible without the choice to do this. More type allows for more possibilities to enhance the creation of the title sequence.

The original designs aren’t the only thing that make this so special. By themselves they have a presence but without sound to assist them they become less effective. Sound design is just as important as visuals in film, and title sequences are no exception. The electronic pop song “Freak” by LFO enhances the emotions being conveyed by the designs. As soon as it blasts, it assaults the audience with its energetic sound as the in-your-face type enters in and out of the title screen. The music definitely helps to portray the feeling of psychosis and causes a sense of anxiety in the audience. Moving the designs to the rhythm is no easy task and Kan does it beautifully.

Typography is something that not too many people outside of design think about. It is something that is seen all over in real life and it undeniably has a place in film. Type combined with cinematic images can create masterpieces of title work that can stand on their own, separate from the film they reside. In the case of Enter the Void, barely any images are even used. The variety of different designs and how they all cohesively come together is a sight to behold. This united with the fast flashing screen and stellar soundtrack creates something very remarkable and unique. I will come back to this title sequence many more times even though I will most likely never want to watch the actual movie again.

Works Cited
Noé, Gaspar, director. Enter the Void. Fidélité Films, 2009.
Kan, Tom, designer. Enter the Void. Fidélité Films, 2009.
 http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/enter-the-void/

By Megan Hess

A Simple Favor (Feig, 2018) is anything but. Based on the Darcey Bell novel, it’s Nancy Drew (Fleming, 2007) mixed with Gone Girl (Fincher, 2014) and a splash of Game of Thrones (Benioff and Weiss, 2011). It’s best described using a Kanye West album title: a “beautiful, dark, twisted fantasy.” Director Paul Feig, who’s best known for Bridesmaids (2011) and the ill-fated, all-female Ghostbusters reboot, has found a profitable niche in comedy. However, other than I Am David (also based on a novel) in 2003, A Simple Favor is the most serious movie on his resume – and, coincidentally, one of the best.
Several years ago, Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) experienced a startling and gruesome personal tragedy. Thanks to her type-A personality, she’s been able to rebuild her life and even has a successful “mommy vlog.” Then she meets Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) a fellow parent from her son’s class. Despite being different in every way other than having children, the two become best friends. One day, Stephanie gets a phone call from Emily asking for “a simple favor…” which whips her formerly uncomplicated life into a frenzy of mystery, lust, trauma and murder. 

The base storyline of A Simple Favor is meaty and twisty enough on its own that it would make a decent movie with almost any cast, but Kendrick and Lively make it impossible to see anyone else in their roles. Cutesy-awkward Stephanie isn’t anything new for Anna Kendrick – imagine her Into the Woods (Marshall, 2014) character as a mommy vlogger. Besides the Pitch Perfect trilogy and Scott Pilgrim vs the World (Wright), she’s made a career of earnest, enthusiastic women cleverer than they appear. 

The one moment in Pitch Perfect that feels like something Stephanie – or almost any of Kendrick’s other characters – would do. 

​Blake Lively’s character is the total opposite: chic, cool, a little crazy. Lively’s made a career out of playing leggy blondes  - in Gossip Girl (Savage and Schwartz, 2007) the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Kwapis, 2005) movies and more – but, unlike in Green Lantern (Campbell, 2011) or Café Society (Allen, 2016) she’s more than just pretty window dressing here, and thinking of her as such seriously underestimates her talent. (Saying any more than that would be venturing into spoiler territory.) She and Anna Kendrick have an authentic, compelling, sometimes homoerotic chemistry. Other than the two leads, the only actor whose performance really stands out is Andrew Rannells, who takes a break from Broadway for a catty dad cameo. (Emily’s husband, Shawn, is attractive but forgettable…although he does get to have a steamy sex scene with Kendrick.) 

The one major critique of A Simple Favor (other than that it’s heavy on the profanity, which is a personal preference) is that it does its job too well. On its way to wrapping up, it gets so twisty that it’s a little hard to follow. However, an attentive viewer might bypass this problem – the film’s way of keeping the audience on its toes. If you want to skip the gore and guts this Halloween season and are looking for a psychological thriller, Feig’s contemporary neo-noir effort might be just what you need. 

By Bill Friedell

Have you ever heard the phrase, “it isn’t about the destination, but the journey”? You probably have, and it can certainly be applied to storytelling. It is a journey with a beginning with a destination: the end. This idea is paramount when it comes to understanding the twelve issue comic book Watchmen, written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons. When Watchmen debuted in 1986, the comic book medium had been around for fifty years, giving it time to develop its own storytelling techniques and tropes. What Watchmen did was showcase the uniqueness of what comic books can do. It is a comic book about comic books, or a metanarrative. This integral aspect of the story made the idea of adapting this story into other mediums. Specifically, movies. So how would a filmmaker go adapting Watchmen?
​
In 2009, Watchmen, directed by Zack Snyder, comes closest to capturing the spirit of the original comic with its opening credit sequence. Using film language to mimic the storytelling style of comics through the combination of montage and slow motion, it condenses of themes of the film in an artistically beautiful way and pays tribute to it’s comic book origins.

In montage, images are assembled together so that they might explain an idea. In the case of Watchmen, the montage effect is used to give the backstory of the world by showing the rise of superheroes in the 1940s to the cataclysmic results in the 1980s. Juxtaposed with Bob Dylan’s “Times They are A’ Changin”, the opening credits portrays the passage of time and the decay of American morale.

​To make this montage, Snyder uses a technique seen throughout Watchmen, but is most skillfully used in the opening credits: slow motion. While in the bulk of the film itself, Snyder attempts to use slow motion as a way of bringing the comic panels. With time slowed down, the framing can become still enough to linger on an image (effectively remaking the panels themselves) but remains in motion and therefore cinematic. The best example of this is recreating the panel of the Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) being thrown out of his condo through the window.

What makes this technique work well in the opening credits is the framing device of photography. If you notice, many of the shots in the montage are events being photographed by photographers: the heroes of the past and present together, the pictures taken of the forty’s heroes’ demises, among others. The merging of slow motion and on-screen focus of photography recall the still images of comics and the way they capture heroism and its downfall.
In doing this, Watchmen’s most famous exploration of the medium is condensed: the idea of superheroes removed from fantasy. What if the superhero did emerge on the verge of World War II, but not just in[HL1]  comics, but reality? What kind of effect would they have on America and world history? In the sequence of events, we see the glamor of superheroes punching bank robbers and taking pictures of their meetings and celebrations, but as the montage goes on, we see the superhero Dollar Bill (Dan Payne) shot dead as the result of his cape getting stuck in the bank door, punching the myth of the superhero in the gut. Silhouette (Apollonia Vanova), is kissing a woman on the day Japan surrendered as a sailor would heroically kiss, later paying off with the image of Silhouette murdered in her bed with her lover. Mothman (Niall Matter) is dragged off to be put in an asylum. Silk Spectre’s (Carla Gugino) marriage is shown to be unhappy and argumentative. The Comedian is revealed as the assassin of JFK. As America progresses, more darkness is uncovered, as shown through the intertwining of history and superheroes.By adding the JFK assassination, references to Russia and the Cold War, and the moon landing, Watchmen juxtaposes the fantastical with reality, showing you a backstory of a world hinted at in the book with supplementary material found at the end of each issue of the original comics. Using psychiatric reports, excerpts from autobiographies and newspapers, Watchmen uses this as a way of filling out the world’s history while also juxtaposing the comic book medium with other paper-based mediums. The photography motif is its play on other visual forms as well as the use of Bob Dylan’s song, where the combination of visual and sound creates film, thereby recreating that same juxtaposition the original comic did.
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While the opening credits create the past of the world it presents, it also establishes the next generation. Dr. Manhattan Billy Crudup), being the only hero in this world with actual superpowers, is connected to America’s positive aspects: the lunar landing and shaking hands with JFK. He is associated with power and accomplishment. But a hero like Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), alluded to with his card resembling his mask, is associated with brutality. The modern Night Owl is shown as an art piece by Andy Warhol's Campbell Soup Cans, tying into the pop culture of the world and the commodification of the super hero. Even regal presence of Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), juxtaposed with the crowded slum visually establishes Ozymandias as his namesake: a conqueror modeled after conquerors of old, looking at his “subjects” which he wants to bring to the world.​

Works Cited
MOORE, ALAN. WATCHMEN. DC COMICS, 1986-1987.
Snyder, Zack, director. Watchmen. Warner Brothers, 2009.
Black, Shane, director. Iron Man 3. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2013