COMPARISON SCREENING REPORT
He Got Game
Do the Right Thing
Lorvingsky Dorielan
1.
Relate
what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.
The setting and expression of films was discussed before the screening of
He Got Game last class. The video presented in class showed how a state of mind
and mood, can be conveyed with the setting. The expression of the setting alone
can deliver this message. An example of this was with the film Edward
Scissorhands. The mirroring houses of the suburban neighborhood gave off the
feeling of conformity. On the other hand, the color, shape, size, and distance of
Edward’s castle; displayed his sense of individuality. This presented the mood
that the neighborhood was seemingly one, and Edward was the one to himself.
2.
Find
a related article (on the film, director, studio, actor/actress, artistic
content, etc.) and summarize the content. You may use the library or the
internet
The section of the related article I decided to use, is about the color
schemes in the movie Do the Right Thing. The article discusses a variety of
topics from: the actors, the characters, where it was shot, and the controversy
with it. But what I’m focusing on is the visually portrayal of heat within the
movie. Initially the movie was called Heatwave, and Spike Lee asked his
cinematographer- Ernest R. Dickerson – to display the above (Rose, 2016, para.
1). Lee wanted the audience to feel the hottest day of the summer. The first
thing Ernest R. Dickerson stated he did was research the psychology of color
displaying heat (Rose, 2016, para. 1). With that he worked on a controlled palate
that stayed in the warm range (Rose, 2016, para. 1). These colors consist of:
red, yellow, and earth tones, and embers (Rose, 2016, para. 1). Dickerson tried
to stay away from blues and greens which generally have a cooling effect (Rose,
2016, para. 1).
Cite the article or copy the url
to your journal entry. Summarize in your own words the related article but do
not plagiarize any content.
Rose, S. (2016). How we made Do
the Right Thing. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jul/22/how-we-made-do-the-right-thing-spike-lee
3.
Apply
the article to the film screened in class. How did the article support or
change the way you thought about the film, director, content, etc.?
Do the Right Thing and He Got Game are two films I was fascinated by with
my first watch. I’ve seen both movies multiple times and enjoyed them ever
since. He Got Game in particularly has been my favorite movie for the last
couple of years. I have seen it about five or six times at different periods of
my life. With each time I tried to get or find something new out of it. Being
so, with the screening of the two films the cinematography is something fresh
that I got out of both. Do the Right Thing I realized on my own and accidental
research initially. And the new revelation of He Got Game is something that you
revealed in class.
An aspect of films that I never gave enough attention to was the cinematography
of it. Usually I would try to get the meaning, feeling, or thoughts behind a
movie. Never fully realizing the cinematography of a film contributes to this significantly.
The art of it is something I now realize through the last class discussion,
these two films, the feeling I get from them, and my own research.
The last time I watched He Got Game the idea that I got from it was temptation.
In a way that many characters in the film are tempted in various ways. Each of
them can make the mistake of giving in to it, but also have the choice to rise
above it. In class it was said that Spike Lee’s lighting and colors used in the
film, has semblance to Van Gogh’s The Night Café painting. Both the film and
the painting used red and green, and dark shading to represent a seedy
environment. With figures in that which display that atmosphere.
In He Got Game I feel the darker scenes with predominantly red and green,
correlates with my idea of temptation. In almost all the scenes with that
mischief, temptation, and overall negativity was near. However, the brighter
blue and white scenes convey empathy, revelations, and all around positivity.
For example, in the part where Jake sees Dakota for the first time negativity
was apparent. It was shot with green and red colors in almost every aspect, and
was shot in very dark setting. In that scene Jake is as close to woman as he
ever was in years. That woman was a prostitute named Dakota which symbolized
the temptation. The mischief was between the interaction of her pimp Sweetness
and herself as he began to beat on her. And the negativity was apparent with
the tension between them all. On the other hand, when Jake converses to Jesus
for the first time at the park, it was shot in bright lighting and blue and
white was everywhere. In it Jake asks Jesus about his decisions, and Jesus
immediately says you too in disappointment. Jesus assumes he is concerned only
for selfish reasons, but is proved wrong. Jake says that he only asked for Jesus
to understand to not put himself in a compromising position. The response was
brief and the silence was brief. However, in my perspective, it is the first
scene that demonstrates and foreshadows the empathy and understanding between
them to come. The colors and lighting in both scenes only enhance the feeling
that I initial received. Before I didn’t realize it, but know I do. Also as a
comparative of scenes of the same characters, Lala and Jesus’s interactions
show this. When we first are introduced to them as a couple it is in blue and
white. Their times together are mashed up in a montage while he is running to meet
her at a bus stop. The last time they are together the ugly truths come out
between them. The scene was shot in a dark environment and had red and green
all over.
In Do the Right Thing the color scheme and light used displays the heat
and tension. The street that was used for filming was painted and redone with
colors I mentioned in the last question. In the beginning of the movie without
the dialogue, the colors give off a hot vibe. This was continuing throughout
the movie. I noticed the darker it got the more the tension rose in that film.
Slowly but surely, the interactions between them correlated with the amount of
light in the sky. To the point at its darkest moment figuratively and
literally, a place was destroyed and a person died.
In comparison Spike Lee and his team used the lighting and colors in both
movies, to display a mood and bring out an emotional response. In Do the Right
Thing the colors and lighting used, made me feel and uneasy build up that
reached a fever pitch. In He Got Game the colors and lighting used, made me feel
the negativity and positivity in both diverse environments. All in all, the
aspects used for both settings only enhanced what I already felt.
4.
Write
a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a
result of the screening, class discussions, text material and the article. I am
less interested in whether you liked or disliked a film, (although that can be
part of this) than I am in your understanding of its place in film history or
the contributions of the director.
At this point in time and for the last few years, He Got Game has been my
favorite film. A large factor of this is the point I feel that it represents,
and a candid representation of all characters. Whether they were good, or bad
it captivated the environment that was trying to be conveyed. And with my new
found understanding and realization of the art behind it, my perception of it
has had layers added to it. The art within the setting, the ideas, the
characters, and the plot reveal the contributions of director Spike Lee to
film.
good. 9/10
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