West side story (1961)

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I have never been into musicals much, so I found this film a bit difficult to keep watching without getting bored. However, there were some scenes and parts that captured my attention. I thought the abstract graphic of the city right at the beginning was cool. The areal shots were interesting, makes you feel calm while watching the busy city from because you’re above and out of the city. When the boys started clicking, I thought was intimidating, that’s probably why they did it, so show them being intimidating. I found the way they fought was a bit like a kids cartoon because its also dance they were running around and dancing and dodging theatrically. I liked how the sets and buildings were aged and damaged, so they didn’t look brand new, gives the city the feeling its been there for a long time and has been lived in and ruined by many gangs and kids messing around on the streets. I enjoyed some of the dynamic camera shots like when the camera was looking up at one of the boys from down some stairs, and the camera being low in the dance party.  Where the dance part was going off I noticed the walls were fairly plain, just textured red walls with some details like the odd window and architectural features and hanging lights. I feel that was done so it didn’t detract from the dancing; a messy background might have caused less focus on the dancing. And the walls may have been textured so it adds some visual noise, so it didn’t look completely flat. I enjoyed the green lit windows and pavement because it looked visually striking. I also noticed that the dress shop resembled the architecture of a church. I feel this may have been done on purpose as they pretend to marry in there. It has two aisles, a nave, and columns running down.

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Sweet Charity 

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I enjoyed some of the colour palette used, such as within the first time we see inside the dance hall and the women are singing. There’s red lighting with, with pinks and browns and other complementary colours giving a pleasing picture, coupled with great composition. Some of the costumes I liked too, such as when we go to the event with the Italian actor. I also enjoyed the set design there, its minimal and when the dancing happened it was nice to see the more minimal white background and then they had moments of playing with light to add more visual interest. I loved the set design for the Italian actor’s house because it really showed what kind of person he was, rich, educated, and artsy. Even the sets for outside the dance hall were good.

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That's Entertainment!

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This one was a tough one to sit through, but I did find a lot of the sets within the clips to be interesting. Most of the singing in the rain seats were cool, I liked how in one it was raining as the set could just take the water without being destroyed. I appreciate the skill that went into the hand painted backdrops. Some of the more theatrical and unique sets were interesting. I also enjoyed the city lights set from the Broadway musical. The film does help to give me more knowledge of designers, artist and directors from this period and genre of film, so if I need to, I can easily look back at what has inspired me to get more research on that artist or designer.

 

 

Cabaret 

I wasn’t sure of this film in the beginning, I became more invested about a third of the way in. I enjoyed the set design for the nightclub, it wasn’t too busy, had a nice, darkened atmosphere and camera work and composition of the women on stage during the second song were great. The simple and muted background helped the main character stand out. I found the scene where one of the entertainers were using the men’s toilets a bit amusing. I LOVE how this film only has to tell us or only just visually implies When they had sex, I’m tired of watching sex scenes in movies, I feel its unnecessary 99% of the time. I was also pleasantly surprised at how open this film was about Jewish people and gay sex, it was never made to be a big deal, I guess you could say it felt natural, unlike some films today where they feel they must put in diverse people in for the sake of diversity rather than for the story.

 

 

American Graffiti

I felt like I was right there in early 60s America. The set designs looked spot on. All the 50s style cars and clothing really helped with the immersion. The city at night was pretty, it gave a typical youthful vibe though out the film complimenting the story. I particularly like Mel’s drive in, the first shot we see it at night was pretty. I was a bit shocked when the guy went to get some liquor for the young 17-year-old who then proceeded to run out the store and gets shot at, I wasn’t expecting that. It felt like a teen drama kind of like the film Grease. I also liked the junk yard set with the cars stacked on top of each other, very atmospheric.

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Rock Horror Picture Show

I was amused with the American gothic reference and retro sci-fi. I loved the interior design of the castle for the first 2-3 rooms we go in, all muted and gothic, like a vampire’s home or haunted mansion. I also loved the décor in the scene when we see the created muscular guy sleeping in his black crib with the candelabras. some of the costumes were good like the hunch backed servant. That is all I can say I liked about this film; it didn’t appeal to me as a whole.

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Saturday night fever 

I thought the DIY store if it wasn’t a store that they hired was a good convincing set. I liked the props that were used in the main characters bedroom as it gave you an idea who what kind of person he was the rocky posters and poster of the woman. I was interested to know if they had purposefully fogged up the camera lens to add bloom to the lighting to make the neon and streetlights stand out more. I thought the nightclub set was amazing, there was a lot of visual interest, great lighting and atmosphere. The light up floor looked good too. If they wanted the group of boys that the film follows to be unlikable, they did a great job. Some the actions of what they did made feel uncomfortable like the intoxicated sex in the back seat of the car near the end of the film.

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