My Biographical Sketch
Link: https://youtu.be/uMTH_krFO4w
When Chaplin turned Brown: A History of Comedy
Comedy is one of the oldest and hardest genres to pull off in film; but there have been many actors over the years who left their mark on the history of the genre.
Here's an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTcRRaXV-fg
The first big comedian film star is none other than everyone's favourite little tramp himself: Charlie Chaplin. Back in the silent film era; comedians such as Buster Keaton and Chaplin himself had to mainly rely on their props, sets and facial expressions in order to create hilarious situations, which led to the creation of the well known sub genre of comedy known as slapstick; which is still done to this day. For example, in Chaplin's film "Shoulder Arms" from 1918; the Tramp (Chaplin's character, you'll also notice that he's the shortest out of all of the soldiers in the "Awkward Squad".) relied mostly on war related props in order to create the situations of the film, especially when he disguises himself as a tree to hide from German Soldiers and makes the all time WORST choice when he decides to throw his gas mask over to the enemy trench to protect himself. The funniest part is at the beginning when he writes his name on the title screen and points to a picture of himself as if to say, "Yes, that's me; I am the main character in this." Chaplin played the fool and had a good time doing it.
After Chaplin came the first slapstick duo; two guys known as Laurel and Hardy, who began in the silent era but then moved into the talkies when sound in films became more commonplace; these two relied on one liners and jokes to create comedy in their short films, which hindered anything that they need to do; including their famous short where they try to move a piano up a set of stairs, not going to tell you how that ends. One of their best known routines was the "Tell me that again" routine where Laurel would tell Hardy a genuinely smart idea he came up with and Hardy would reply "Tell me that again." like a bumbling idiot; Laurel would attempt to repeat the idea, but would instead babble utter nonsense the second time around; another trademark of these shorts is where Hardy does his "camera look" where he breaks the fourth wall by staring right at you.
Next up are The Three Stooges, who are one of my favourite comedy acts in history because most of their comedy is easy to understand, but their job applications are all over the place! One minute they're plumbers, the next they're pilots and so on and so on. Most of my favourite comedy moments come from the Stooges; one such moment is from their 1943 short "Dizzy Pilots" when Moe asks Curly to tighten a vice when he says "now"; so when Moe says "Let me see, now if..." he doesn't get a chance to finish his sentence because Curly tightened the vice on Moe's fingers; so while Moe tries to cope with the pain in his predicament, Curly replies "I did what you said and you said now!", implying that Moe did say "now" and that he was given the order to tighten the vice. Their slapstick was childish, but it was harmless fun for everyone. But poor Curly and Larry... Moe was always picking on them! Also, Curly thinks a navigator is someone who crawls in a swamp until it becomes a suitcase; no, that's an alligator or crocodile!
Another classic comedy duo was Abbott and Costello; their comedy was done in the same vein as Laurel and Hardy had done their comedy sketches; anyone who's seen these guys knows about their hilarious and classic "Who's on First?" routine, where the two argue over the names of Baseball players, who have such as "Who" and "What". Another funny routine from them is a sketch where Lou is trying to impress a girl he likes by playing piano, when it's really Bud playing a recording of classical music when Lou says "Alright"; so when someone says "Alright" in the room, Bud thinks it's Lou telling him to play the recording; which leads to some hilarity.
Another comedy classic is the 1980's series "Blackadder" Starting Rowan Atkinson, who also co-wrote the first series; for Blackadder was not one or two or three; but FOUR different series all based on the one family! Each series follows the misadventures of Blackadder, whether it's trying to get power in Medieval England or not getting killed in World War 1; Blackadder is always trying to find a way to smuggle himself into glory. Joining him is his servant Baldrick, the offspring of an "unfortunate meeting between a pig farmer and a bearded lady" and while the Blackadder family got smarter, the Baldrick family unfortunately got dumber and their hygiene got worse as well. My one of my favourite lines from Blackadder is when Blackadder describes Charlie Chaplin in a nutshell; which is that "He got paid millions of dollars for wearing a pair of stupid trousers."; which makes sense since this series is set around the same time that Charlie Chaplin was in his prime. Another funny moment in the series is when Baldrick tries to get Blackadder to eat "Rat-O-Van"; which is a rat that's been run over by a van; probably self explanatory in itself.
Rowan Atkinson would then go on to create his most famous TV role as "Mr Bean"; a bumbling idiot that was created in the same style of Chaplin's Tramp character, the comedy style of this series was also very much like the comedy in Chaplin's work as well; with Rowan Atkinson's character having no lines but relying on props in order to create comedic situations. There are many funny and memorable moments in this show; one of which is when he gets to meet the queen and instead of bowing, accidentally head butts her instead! Another classic moment is when Mr Bean and his girlfriend go to see a horror film; of course, Mr Bean thinks that he can handle the film no problem like everyone else, but in reality is really too scared to watch one second of it, so he covers his head with a popcorn bucket in order to have an excuse not to watch it at all! To be fair; I'd be tempted to do this when watching any horror film. Mr Bean is a classic series that is an excellent homage to work of Charlie Chaplin and the comedy films from the silent era.
Finally, we come to Mrs Brown's Boys; which is one of my favourite comedy shows; despite it's foul language and content. The show is filmed in front of a live audience like a stage play in order to get the full effect, so the laugh track used in the show actually come from real people. This choice by the producers of Mrs Brown's Boys is better idea rather than overusing the generic one that's already recorded; the show revolves around the family of Agnes Brown and their hilarious misadventures, who live in Dublin and yes, the show is of Irish origin. What makes this show funny is that some of the characters have the brain of a Stegosaurus, which means it's very small; the only problem is that it's full with adult content such as swearing, which takes up half of the dialogue in each episode! The funny thing about this show is that sometimes Mrs Brown will have to run out around one part of the set in order to get to another area; which I find hilarious as most shows filmed on a set don't do that. One of my favourite moments of the show is when they are having a séance in the house and the medium says that he sense a presences that refuses to pass on the spirit world; Mrs Brown then adds to that by saying "That's you, granddad.", which offends poor old granddad, she could have done that in private you know!
Here's an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTcRRaXV-fg
The first big comedian film star is none other than everyone's favourite little tramp himself: Charlie Chaplin. Back in the silent film era; comedians such as Buster Keaton and Chaplin himself had to mainly rely on their props, sets and facial expressions in order to create hilarious situations, which led to the creation of the well known sub genre of comedy known as slapstick; which is still done to this day. For example, in Chaplin's film "Shoulder Arms" from 1918; the Tramp (Chaplin's character, you'll also notice that he's the shortest out of all of the soldiers in the "Awkward Squad".) relied mostly on war related props in order to create the situations of the film, especially when he disguises himself as a tree to hide from German Soldiers and makes the all time WORST choice when he decides to throw his gas mask over to the enemy trench to protect himself. The funniest part is at the beginning when he writes his name on the title screen and points to a picture of himself as if to say, "Yes, that's me; I am the main character in this." Chaplin played the fool and had a good time doing it.
After Chaplin came the first slapstick duo; two guys known as Laurel and Hardy, who began in the silent era but then moved into the talkies when sound in films became more commonplace; these two relied on one liners and jokes to create comedy in their short films, which hindered anything that they need to do; including their famous short where they try to move a piano up a set of stairs, not going to tell you how that ends. One of their best known routines was the "Tell me that again" routine where Laurel would tell Hardy a genuinely smart idea he came up with and Hardy would reply "Tell me that again." like a bumbling idiot; Laurel would attempt to repeat the idea, but would instead babble utter nonsense the second time around; another trademark of these shorts is where Hardy does his "camera look" where he breaks the fourth wall by staring right at you.
Next up are The Three Stooges, who are one of my favourite comedy acts in history because most of their comedy is easy to understand, but their job applications are all over the place! One minute they're plumbers, the next they're pilots and so on and so on. Most of my favourite comedy moments come from the Stooges; one such moment is from their 1943 short "Dizzy Pilots" when Moe asks Curly to tighten a vice when he says "now"; so when Moe says "Let me see, now if..." he doesn't get a chance to finish his sentence because Curly tightened the vice on Moe's fingers; so while Moe tries to cope with the pain in his predicament, Curly replies "I did what you said and you said now!", implying that Moe did say "now" and that he was given the order to tighten the vice. Their slapstick was childish, but it was harmless fun for everyone. But poor Curly and Larry... Moe was always picking on them! Also, Curly thinks a navigator is someone who crawls in a swamp until it becomes a suitcase; no, that's an alligator or crocodile!
Another classic comedy duo was Abbott and Costello; their comedy was done in the same vein as Laurel and Hardy had done their comedy sketches; anyone who's seen these guys knows about their hilarious and classic "Who's on First?" routine, where the two argue over the names of Baseball players, who have such as "Who" and "What". Another funny routine from them is a sketch where Lou is trying to impress a girl he likes by playing piano, when it's really Bud playing a recording of classical music when Lou says "Alright"; so when someone says "Alright" in the room, Bud thinks it's Lou telling him to play the recording; which leads to some hilarity.
Another comedy classic is the 1980's series "Blackadder" Starting Rowan Atkinson, who also co-wrote the first series; for Blackadder was not one or two or three; but FOUR different series all based on the one family! Each series follows the misadventures of Blackadder, whether it's trying to get power in Medieval England or not getting killed in World War 1; Blackadder is always trying to find a way to smuggle himself into glory. Joining him is his servant Baldrick, the offspring of an "unfortunate meeting between a pig farmer and a bearded lady" and while the Blackadder family got smarter, the Baldrick family unfortunately got dumber and their hygiene got worse as well. My one of my favourite lines from Blackadder is when Blackadder describes Charlie Chaplin in a nutshell; which is that "He got paid millions of dollars for wearing a pair of stupid trousers."; which makes sense since this series is set around the same time that Charlie Chaplin was in his prime. Another funny moment in the series is when Baldrick tries to get Blackadder to eat "Rat-O-Van"; which is a rat that's been run over by a van; probably self explanatory in itself.
Rowan Atkinson would then go on to create his most famous TV role as "Mr Bean"; a bumbling idiot that was created in the same style of Chaplin's Tramp character, the comedy style of this series was also very much like the comedy in Chaplin's work as well; with Rowan Atkinson's character having no lines but relying on props in order to create comedic situations. There are many funny and memorable moments in this show; one of which is when he gets to meet the queen and instead of bowing, accidentally head butts her instead! Another classic moment is when Mr Bean and his girlfriend go to see a horror film; of course, Mr Bean thinks that he can handle the film no problem like everyone else, but in reality is really too scared to watch one second of it, so he covers his head with a popcorn bucket in order to have an excuse not to watch it at all! To be fair; I'd be tempted to do this when watching any horror film. Mr Bean is a classic series that is an excellent homage to work of Charlie Chaplin and the comedy films from the silent era.
Finally, we come to Mrs Brown's Boys; which is one of my favourite comedy shows; despite it's foul language and content. The show is filmed in front of a live audience like a stage play in order to get the full effect, so the laugh track used in the show actually come from real people. This choice by the producers of Mrs Brown's Boys is better idea rather than overusing the generic one that's already recorded; the show revolves around the family of Agnes Brown and their hilarious misadventures, who live in Dublin and yes, the show is of Irish origin. What makes this show funny is that some of the characters have the brain of a Stegosaurus, which means it's very small; the only problem is that it's full with adult content such as swearing, which takes up half of the dialogue in each episode! The funny thing about this show is that sometimes Mrs Brown will have to run out around one part of the set in order to get to another area; which I find hilarious as most shows filmed on a set don't do that. One of my favourite moments of the show is when they are having a séance in the house and the medium says that he sense a presences that refuses to pass on the spirit world; Mrs Brown then adds to that by saying "That's you, granddad.", which offends poor old granddad, she could have done that in private you know!
Godzilla (1954) Review
The original Godzilla film is one of the greatest, if not the best, Japanese Monster Movie; but unlike later installments in the franchise such as Ghidrah the Three Headed Monster or Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla; the original Godzilla is a very dark and grim movie that's also an allegory to the Atomic Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. Wow, for a movie THAT famous and iconic; director Ishiro Honda knew what imagery he was going for since the beginning; give him a round of applause folks.
The story is that Japan is thrown into a state panic after several ships explode and are sunk at sea; at first, the authorities (And the government) think either underwater mines or underwater volcanic activity caused them to sink. So the authorities head to Odo Island, close to where several of the ships were sunk. One night, something comes onshore and destroys several houses and kills several people (And by something, I mean something HUGE!). A later expedition to the island led by paleontologist Professor Kyôhei Yamane, his daughter Emiko, and young navy frogman Hideto Ogata (who also happens to be Emiko's lover, even though she is betrothed to Dr Daisuke Serizawa; so the movie has an interesting love triangle in it as well.) soon discover something more devastating than anyone could have imagined in the form of a 164-foot-tall prehistoric monster who the natives call "Gojira". Now, the monster begins a rampage that threatens to destroy not only Japan but the rest of the world as well. Can the monster be destroyed before it is too late, and what role will the mysterious Serizawa play in the battle?
A powerful undercurrent in the original Godzilla movie is derived from the many visual references to the atomic bomb, Godzilla is not only radioactive, but after he smashes through Tokyo, the ruins are quite reminiscent of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The characters visit a ward hosting victims who have been contaminated by Godzilla or his atomic breath during the monster's rampage. Then; of course is Daisuke Seriwaza's reluctance to use his awful weapon, which is known as "The Oxygen Destroyer". This is clearly intended to reference thermonuclear horror, but he ends up using it anyway, ending the film with a rather sympathetic and heroic sacrifice. Another interesting thing about the events of the original Godzilla is that it's actually mentioned in many of the later films in the franchise. For example; in the 1995 Godzilla movie "Godzilla vs Destroyah", it's said that the monster "Destroyah" was created from Dr Seriwaza's Oxygen Destroyer in the original film and in 2000's "Godzilla vs Megaguirus", it offers a slightly alternate version of the film where Godzilla simply goes away and then reappears at other times through history; which could explain all his rampages/hissy fits throughout the films.
Overall, I thought this was a great film; although the film's dark and depressing at times, it's easy to see what made this film so legendary and well known; it's a great start to one of my favourite film franchises starring one of my favourite movie monsters of all time. Too bad that some of the later ones are total garbage, but we'll get to those VERY soon...
The story is that Japan is thrown into a state panic after several ships explode and are sunk at sea; at first, the authorities (And the government) think either underwater mines or underwater volcanic activity caused them to sink. So the authorities head to Odo Island, close to where several of the ships were sunk. One night, something comes onshore and destroys several houses and kills several people (And by something, I mean something HUGE!). A later expedition to the island led by paleontologist Professor Kyôhei Yamane, his daughter Emiko, and young navy frogman Hideto Ogata (who also happens to be Emiko's lover, even though she is betrothed to Dr Daisuke Serizawa; so the movie has an interesting love triangle in it as well.) soon discover something more devastating than anyone could have imagined in the form of a 164-foot-tall prehistoric monster who the natives call "Gojira". Now, the monster begins a rampage that threatens to destroy not only Japan but the rest of the world as well. Can the monster be destroyed before it is too late, and what role will the mysterious Serizawa play in the battle?
A powerful undercurrent in the original Godzilla movie is derived from the many visual references to the atomic bomb, Godzilla is not only radioactive, but after he smashes through Tokyo, the ruins are quite reminiscent of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The characters visit a ward hosting victims who have been contaminated by Godzilla or his atomic breath during the monster's rampage. Then; of course is Daisuke Seriwaza's reluctance to use his awful weapon, which is known as "The Oxygen Destroyer". This is clearly intended to reference thermonuclear horror, but he ends up using it anyway, ending the film with a rather sympathetic and heroic sacrifice. Another interesting thing about the events of the original Godzilla is that it's actually mentioned in many of the later films in the franchise. For example; in the 1995 Godzilla movie "Godzilla vs Destroyah", it's said that the monster "Destroyah" was created from Dr Seriwaza's Oxygen Destroyer in the original film and in 2000's "Godzilla vs Megaguirus", it offers a slightly alternate version of the film where Godzilla simply goes away and then reappears at other times through history; which could explain all his rampages/hissy fits throughout the films.
Overall, I thought this was a great film; although the film's dark and depressing at times, it's easy to see what made this film so legendary and well known; it's a great start to one of my favourite film franchises starring one of my favourite movie monsters of all time. Too bad that some of the later ones are total garbage, but we'll get to those VERY soon...
Assignment Techniques PowerPoint
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