Larry V Solha Film History The Graduate

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening. EGOT(Emmy,Grammys,Oscars and Tonys) winning Mike Nichols directed the movie and won the Lifetime achievement award from AFI. Starring in the film is Dustin Hoffman and Katherine Ross. The film used Interesting and obvious camera shots and cutting. They used compression to make a scene zoom in or out, the transition were very well done for example where they zoomed in to Bens face on the bed and used the black part of the headboard to match with the zooming out of the black pillow where Ben is laying his head on the next scene. Audio that ends one scene but starts another, whether music or someones voice. The camera shots also gave us a sense of who ben was and how he was feeling. At the beginning of the film the shots were tight and crowded just like and towards the end the shots became more open and spacious, just like Ben himself.

2) Find a related article and summarize the content. http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/watching_the_graduate_makes_brad_wonder/ by: Brad Brevet Not All articles on the web are ones who praise the movie. This Article from Brad Brevet expresses what he thinks is wrong with the film. The Graduate is a complete mess and it is a bad movie because of it. The article describes what he thinks is wrong with the film and some bashing on the characters, the plot, and Director Mike Nichols. Brevets final words are How a movie like this is considered AFI's #7 American movie of all-time just proves to me their list is one of the most thoughtless lists ever devised. Bret is truly someone closed minded whom can not appreciate the film for the reasons it is #7 Afis list.

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class. However, there are about 10 seconds of this 105 minute film that are worth watching. Brevet says in the article. He goes on to explain how he can't understand how the

movie managed to win every one, including seven Oscar nominations and a win for director Mike Nichols. He seems to have a problem with the main character calling him a socially retarded psychotic that needs to be committed. To get to the point of his article Brevet leads to say that the final scene where they're on a bus after the wedding, after the got what they wanted, and defying their parents they have a look that says, what did we just do. His remark towards commentary track with Mike Nichols and Soderbergh who said the scene wouldnt work without that look, is I disagree, the entire movie wouldn't have worked without that look, and considering that to be true the entire movie is a waste if I have to wait until the final moment to get any kind of intelligence out of anyone in this picture.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film. Regardless of Brads opinion of the film, I believe The Graduate does belong up there on the list of AFIs top 100. The movie uses innovating and artistic filming that in which alone deserves recognition. Shots, for example, when Ben walks into his house after getting out of the pool and when he walks through the door he ends up in the next scene where he is in the hotel room or my favorite, when he jumps into the pool switching to him jumping onto Mrs. Robinson in bed. So good that you have to slow down the footage to find the cut. Of course the movie couldn't be what it is without the soundtrack by Simon and Garfunkels. It the cherry on the top you can say.

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 1) (x) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class. 2) (x) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.

3) (x) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 4) (x) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper. 5) (x) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read. 6) (x) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 7) (x) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 8) (x) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper. Name: Larry V Solha Date: 4/22/2014