Welcome aboard, everyone!
Here are a few of the goals for this class:
- Students should films they haven't seen before.
- Students should gain a vocabulary with which to discuss film.
- Students should gain a better appreciation of film technique, experimentation, and execution.
- There should be something for everyone.
So here's our first try. It is a short Russian film entitled Ten Minutes. Your task to to view the film and then post your reactions in the comments section below. We'll be using the comments section of this blog regularly this semester, so it's best to get into the habit now.
Your comments, now and forever, should be thoughtful, thorough, and specific. You will never be marked down for not liking a film; however, your comments must always be constructive and analytic in nature. (No haters.)
You may always earn extra credit by posting multiple comments in which you reflect and comment upon your peers' comments. I'll be checking in regularly and participating in the discussions. The directions for posting are listed below.
Enjoy.
It's pretty easy to post a comment, but here are the steps anyway:
- Click on "Comments".
- Enter your comment in the field. Be sure to check for correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc.
- Click on "name/URL".
- Enter your first and last name (so you can get credit for your comment).
- Leave URL empty.
- Click "continue".
- Click "Post Comment".
- The screen might say that your comment could not go through. Just press "Post Comment" again.
- This time you might be asked to verify your comment by typing in a given word. Type in the word and click "Continue".
- The screen should read "Your comment was posted".
- Check the comment section again. Your answer should now be entered. If not, repeat.
The film really makes you think, I had to watch it three times to understand. I think it means anything can happen wthin ten minutes... I liked it alot because it puts that idea to an extreme gets you to think what happens around the world in the time it takes you to eat your lunch, or comb your hair, or watch your favorite show. It makes me feel vain and I know i'm going to begin to think twice before doing some simple things...
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. This is definitley something you have to watch more than once to take in all that happened. Also i do think it definitley does make you think about the little things more and see how lucky we all. Also you made a good point of that at one part of the world someone can be waiting for pctures and the other side a city in a warzone is being bombed.
DeleteThe short film is definitley a thinker and i believe can be interpreted many ways. I think that the director intended this to happen as well. My take from this short film is that the director is showing us that ten minutes for someone can be short and just waiting. On the other hand ten minutes can change your life completley. Something so short can can affect the way of life of just one or hundreds of people. This is why i personally liked this film. It gets you thinking deeper about time itself and what can happen at any time.
ReplyDeleteI felt that this movie provided the heaviness of an entire 2-hour movie in only 10 minutes. It expressed two profoundly different experiences, which occur simultaneously. One 10-minute time span showed the joy of life, and tourism in a beautiful city. The other, however, shows the very real sadness that people endure in war zones like this one.
ReplyDeletei agree with you. While someone might visit a country and be on vacation another person might be in the same country struggling for survival
DeleteI completely agree with you. The video was only 10 minutes long, but the story felt like a full length movie.
DeleteNo one has mentioned the bread yet...
DeleteThis short film was on the best short films I have ever seen. It made me think that we need to appreciate the things that we have because not everyone might be as fortunate as you. In the ten minute’s you are running an errand or doing something there could be someone out there struggling for life. Sometimes you need to stop to realize how good you might have it.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you.
DeleteAfter watching the short film “10 Minutes” I can say it was a real eye opening experience to me. I thought the short film showed an interesting way of how 10 minutes in some parts of the world can be polar opposites in other parts of the world. It really got you thinking,10 simple minutes can mean waiting for film to develop or in other cases taking shelter in a war zone.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The way one place can differ so dramatically from another is insane.
DeleteThis was a great short film. In order to really understand it, I had to replay the video multiple times. This video really gets you thinking about countries or regions around the world that are poverty and war stricken that have to deal with that everyday. It makes you look at what places like that have, then look at what you have and think that as we sit in our warm homes not having to worry about anything while people in regions like that have to worry if they are going to survive another day.
ReplyDeleteI actually had to do the same thing. People really don't know how good they have it until they see videos like this. The contrast of the two scenarios really shows what life is like in different parts in the world and how fortunate we really are.
DeleteI thought this short film was quite different than most shorts films I have seen. I thought it was amazing how such a short film contained such a large and powerful message: in ten minutes, anything could happen. I also liked how the filmmakers made the two locations so different in looks and color to show you just how different things really are elsewhere. For example, the ten minutes I spent watching this film, elsewhere, people are at war. It really gets you thinking...
ReplyDeleteThis film was very surprising and eye-opening. They say that every 1 minute, a child in Africa dies of starvation, and I didn't believe any of it until seeing this. It is really amazing how ten minutes here is just waiting for a picture, whereas ten minutes in another place changes someone's life so negatively. This video really got me thinking about third world countries and how hard just ten minutes of someone's life is and how good I have it. People who have a good life usually take it for granted and don't usually think about anywhere outside of their country. After seeing the bloodied corpses of the little boy's families, I can't stop thinking about how unfortunate most of the world has it.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the fact that the soldiers are behind sandbags when the boy just walks by? Shouldn't he be behind sandbags, too? Why isn't he?
DeleteLike Keelan said, the effect of most movies tends to fade over time. Yes, this movie makes a great point, but I honestly do not think this movie will change the way I see things. But, I do believe other movies may have the ability to change the way people think.
DeleteI find the film very interesting and it brings a lot of perspective in it. It shows how a tourist can enjoy a great time in Italy and at the same time people suffer in another place. It also shows how a moment can change a life entirely. Life is to short, this film proves that ten minutes can be critical and you should enjoy every moment of it.
ReplyDeleteAre you guys serious or are you just giving me lip service? Can movies REALLY change the way people think, or is this just something we're supposed to say in film class? (This question is NOT rhetorical. I would like answers. Has a movie ever changed your life?)
DeleteI think so! But in my experience so far, movies tend to stay in my mind only for awhile after I've watched them, then after awhile the effect begins to fade. Like, after you watch a scary movie you'll be on edge for a day, but not the rest of your life. That being on edge feeling is something the movie can leave you with. And if that movie can give you that feeling for a day I'm sure another can give you a more life-changing feeling for much longer.
DeleteLike Keelan said, the effect of most movies tends to fade over time. Yes, this movie makes a great point, but I honestly do not think this movie will change the way I see things. But, I do believe other movies may have the ability to change the way people think.
Delete(I posted to the wrong comment^ )
I honestly had learned that life can change any moment and we should appreciate every moment of it. This movie just reminded me of that truth and that even though for us a change would just relocating to another state for someone else it can be loosing the person you love or a family member.
Deleteit is very difficult to make a movie that will have a profound enough affect on someone that it will change them permanently.
DeleteWhy?
DeleteWatching this film really makes you think about life as a whole. The film was trying to show you what can happen in 10 minutes but what is not as obvious is that it shows how rough some people have. I was touched in a couple of ways, I was sad when I saw the living conditions and when the little boy, Memo, saw his dead parents. I also liked the comedy that they incorporated in the beginning. The true meaning of the film is that you should cherish every minute of every day because we really do have a great life. Overall I really enjoyed the film
ReplyDeleteI agree. It is very important that you live life to the fullest because anything can happen at any moment.
DeleteI actually thought almost the opposite. I thought it was pretty obvious that some peoples' lives are rougher than ours. In a war zone, the boy was bound to have seen dead bloody bodies before. This might have not been a first for him. But these few minutes of his life are definitely going to change him forever.
DeleteWhen the video began I was not sure what it would be about, but it started off happy and colorful. Then it switches to a family in a dark, gritty, war torn area. This short film really sheds light on how quickly someone's life can change and that in the time it took to watch this movie, someone's world could have been completely turned upside down. In the shooting scene I was not expecting the boys family to be dead when he returned home, I was thinking something was going to happen to him. In all I think this film sent a powerful message in such a short amount of time and was interesting the whole way through.
ReplyDeleteI believe this film was so powerful because every bit of the "ten minutes" was used effectively. Not a single second was wasted. When the Bosnian boy was running/walking to get water, he was playing around: kicking a soccer ball and running through an abandoned house which he could have easily walked around. He could have just walked to his destination, but this playing around before the bomb hit emphasized the fact that what happened in those few minutes of attack was so unexpected.
DeleteThe first time watching this film through, it reminded me of “First world problems.” The tourist in Rome wants to be certain that his photographs will be ready in ten minutes. In Sarajevo, the kid needs to be quick and careful so he does not get shot or bombed. A point this movie is trying to make is that ten minutes may seem like no time at all to us, but it may mean so much more to someone else in different circumstances. Something else: after the first bomb hit, the soldiers were telling the citizens to head to the shelter. One of the citizens said “We have to eat!” This made me think of the word hunger. When someone skips a meal and says “I’m starving,” there are not truly hungry. When someone is risking their life for a loaf of bread, this is hunger. I also wanted to point out that I liked how the Bosnian scene was in one shot.
ReplyDeleteI gotta be honest here, I'm pretty confused as to what in the world is happening. The shooting style and aesthetics of this clip, however, definitely have grabbed my attention. Everything flows in almost a seamless dolly the whole entire way through, and the handheld shots really do show the panicking and frantic moods of some of the people in it. I also like how the clock ends up being tied in at the end and how it picks up pace as it goes on. Overall, pretty neat.
ReplyDeleteAt first I was also very confused. Like what the hell is going on here. Why are soldiers behind sand bags and yet somehow a litte boy is walking like he is walking through the park. Yet when I finally caught the message and sense of what was going on, the movie made a great point and going from a kid loosing his parents to a tourist getting his pictures on time made the film wrap up in a pretty awesome way.
DeleteIt's a goood film but I didn't like it because his parents died. I really did not expect that to happen. At first I didn't understand what the film was about so I had to watch it again. This film shows that things can really change within 10 minutes and aslo that 10 minutes can change someones life forever. It's so sad that in one part of the country it's all happiness and peace while in other parts people have to worry about whether the are going to live to see tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI liked that the parents died, it reinforced the point.
Deletewow...powerful. at first i was confused but as soon as it went to sarjevo i understood where it was going. it was grainy which i think added to the effect.
ReplyDeleteAt first i did not know what this was about and why the film was so focused on ten minutes. After watching it I now understand the importance of the ten minutes and how it can effect someones life so much. Also having the setting somewhat dark and colorless added to the impact and realism of the film.
ReplyDeleteIt really was Ironic. First a Japanese guy comes to Italy as a tourist then gets his pictures printed in 10 minutes. During those ten minutes a boy gets bread and water for his family and along the way he plays a little football (soccer) says hello to solders and then gets attacked by enemy soldiers. The little boy then bravely ventured to his house to discover his parents were dead. It was ironic that one man came to country for a good time while the other struggled to survive in the same country all in 10 minutes.
ReplyDeleteI would have to say that the beggining of this movie stars with this really intimidating backround music! This backround music made me want to see to see the whole move. The things that i've noticed the most was that there were lot's of eyelevel shots and a full shots! It also started out really confusing but as a watched it until the end it made more sense.
ReplyDelete