Films based on Infatuation

• The Perfect Guy

I think that The Perfect Guy was a fantastic movie as I enjoyed the concept. The woman breaks up with her finance and meets a new man who thrills her emotionally,unfortunately, he has a jealous streak in him which makes him obsessive and murderous.

The concept was great because it went from a lovely story to scary, I enjoyed the linear narrative because of the qualities present such as the stalking and the spying, also, the acting was phenomenal it felt as if I was present in the film, the acting made the whole experience so realistic. Every time I watch another movie I get more and more of an insight on what my final major project is going to look like and an idea of how the audience is supposed to feel which is scared and excited at the same time, that’s how I felt. Furthermore, this is what makes this type of theme so interesting and engaging. Whether it’s the director’s approach; the camera techniques such as the close-ups, tracking, some shots, it made me feel like I was hiding and watching the characters; the actors, or the writer who came up with the dialogue as well as some of the other aspects of this movie. I thought that this movie has given me a little more of understanding of how the infatuation might occur, the symptoms and one way of how the movie should end.

• Prom Night

I really enjoyed watching Prom night because the infatuated individual was crazy and he is a teacher, it’s even more twisted because teachers aren’t allowed to fancy or fantasise about their student, it evokes disgust and you would want to vouch for the infatuated individual to probably die. I have learnt that no one ever supports stalkers, I think that I take a different approach to my final major project where they support them. I liked that he actually got to her and how he killed the people closest to her e.g a friend and her boyfriend. She is just trying to have a wonderful prom night with her friends but it goes wrong. It sounds twisted but, I think that it is good to watch so, I find my own twisted way when deciding what I’m going to do for my project.

• Fear

This was another good movie that is based on infatuation. The acting was amazing especially the actor’s Mark Wahlberg performance. In my opinion, I think that acting as if you are a psychopath seems pretty hard but I feel that he did a really good, for example when Mark Wahlberg abuses Alyssa Milano the feeling of sympathy and fear for the character was intensified. It was sort of cringe worthy for me which was good because it wasn’t too much that would turn off the movie but enough to engage.  I learnt that if I really want to engage the audience, my actors have to be phenomenal. The audience has really believed in what they are portraying. Also, I liked the way the whole story was laid out and the situations that lead to the outcome of Mark Walberg’s death. I don’t think that I could use some of the scenarios shown in this because it is quite graphical, however, the obsession  and insanity of Mark Wahlberg could be beneficial as well as the linear narrative structure.

• The Roommate

I liked watching the film a lot because I was engaged throughout the whole film. This was due to the amount of suspense and intensity. I think that watching The Roommate was really useful because it has given me a better outlook on what I like. Also, it has made me think more about camera techniques,building up that suspense and how to evoke that intense feeling at I experienced. It is quite similar to a movie called Single White Female.

• Obsessed

I thought this was quite a superb film. I think that Alison Larter did well playing the psychopathic role in this movie. It engaged me along with Idris Alba, I think that the way they did this movie was amazing. I loved the different scenarios that she had committed such as overdosing on pills, trying to seduce him in the car and I especially loved how the writer let the audience think she quit harassing him but then, she comes back. I love the way she dies however, I don’t think I could use it for my short film because of safety and budgeting. Overall, it was a great movie and I am another step closer into figuring out my ideas for the final major project.

• Crush

I really enjoyed watching this movie this is because the concept was good. The writer and director really engaged me and I especially liked the twist towards the end of the film. You think it’s one thing when actually it’s another when revealing the obsessive individual; it’s unpredictable. I think that after watching this film I thought more about whether or not to reveal the person at the beginning of the film or leave the person anonymous until the end. Also, I have learnt a bit more about how to confuse the audience and creating little diversions.

Conclusion

I think that after watching these movies I feel that there is a pattern; a specific way that films based on infatuation are laid out. For example, the majority of the films I have seen the stalker normally dies at the end. So, it makes me think about how my character is going to come disappear whether that is death or imprisonment. The concept is similar but just laid out in different scenarios (two people meet, then there’s that love for them which turns bad) watching these movies will help me avoid repeated scenarios. All of these films are based on love and how strong it is for that person, I think these movies have broadened my way of thinking, it has made think about aspects that I didn’t think about before which is useful to my final major project.

Student Films based around Infatuation

Good Examples

Human Sexuality (Short Film)

This film is amazing. The quality of the video is great and the audio is very clear. The quality and the audio are important and I think that this video shows how it makes the film better to watch. The storytelling is very interesting, I liked how he was pursuing the girl because he fancied her and then at the end she starts to fancy him. Furthermore, I like the shots that were used and I think that the flow of video went really well. In addition to that, I think that the colour grading was good because it feels normal. Watching this video has helped me because it presents to me a glimpse of how colour grading should be and how effective it is a scene as well other positives aspects that I have mentioned.

Inflated Infatuation

I really enjoyed this animation, this is because the concept was good. I think that the relationship and the simple story about how he met the balloon was engaging. Also, I think that it was hilarious and I watched it at least 3 times, I think that this is an example of portraying infatuation with an object, on the hand, it could be love instead even though the title suggests otherwise. My opinion is 50/50, I think that people can relate to the outline of the film. Boy meets sub, they spend time together, go on dates, get married and grows old together until the balloon dies and grieves. I have gained more information on how to keep an audience member engaged and entertained. Even though I am not doing animation, I think the concept is similar.

This is a great film, I enjoyed it a lot. One of the things that I liked was the concept and how he has an imaginary relationship with a girl, who is in the same building. This is sort of similar to what I am going to be doing for my short film. After watching this film, I like how this is a link to the one-sided love and I liked how they portrayed the awkwardness of the proposal really well. Another positive thing is the fact that his friend knows he is delusional but he doesn’t say anything. It evokes doubt in the audience and that foreshadows further events a little bit. You ponder on how it is going to end, nicely and badly.

Bad Examples

Infatuation – A Silent Film

I didn’t like this student film because I thought that there were unnecessary shots  and I felt that it dragged on a bit too much. The only thing that really kept me engaged was the different pieces of music added. Furthermore, from my knowledge of silent film, the visuals are supposed to make you understand what is going on, however, this didn’t. I didn’t get the storyline, I had to try hard to piece it together. On the other hand, I liked a few parts that were good because there was good suspense but, I feel that there were more that I disliked than I liked. This student film has benefited me a lot because I know more that when I do my short film, my shots and content has to be as good as the concept. The concept of this movie was great but the execution wasn’t.

100% Infatuation

There were some good aspects and based aspects of this short film. One good thing about this film was the dubbed voices, it made them sound very clear, however, the bad thing this film is that there was no ambient sound and the sound only feel right to my ears when there was music played in the background. Another bad aspect of the film is that I thought that some of the scenes went on for too long which, disengaged me. It was very confusing and not because it is in a different language. I have seen foreign films that I understand even when the language is different. I think that the introduction is quite cool because they used special effects and I think that a lot of the shots are good. Overall, I thought that this wasn’t a good student film of the many reasons explained however, I think that I can benefit from some of the shots that were used in this film.

I think that this video has good and bad qualities. For example, I like the voice of narration in this video but, I don’t like how the movie tells you the complete stories. I feel that it gets rid of some of the suspense that a trailer supposed to have. The music was weird and I didn’t really like it that much but I like that they added it and it wasn’t silent. If I decide to do a trailer for my final major project I have learnt from watching this trailer, what not to include.

Good and Bad

Infatuation

I thought that the end of the film was very disturbing because she cuts her wrist, which makes me feel uncomfortable. I don’t think mine will make people cringe as much as I did but, I want to have that intense feeling about my film. I disliked the name on the side it should have been removed but, it played throughout the whole movie which is distracting. I like how it has a message and that is you should be more cautious and I think that mine should have a message too. I think that the lighting is great and the shots are good because I like the visuals. I think the music was right for the film.

Overall Conclusion

All of these movies have assisted in different ways as some involve camerawork and editing that I like, others involved twisted that I enjoyed and made me realise more that concept is important; keeping the audience on their toes and making them think. I am going to try to use this information to my advantage because I think that I have learnt a lot about what I want a don’t want when filming as well as the concept.