Cinderella

Cinderella is a classic fairytale romance and one of my favorite stories growing up, so I was very happy for this 2015 version, directed by Kenneth Branagh, to come out. The screenplay was written by Chris Weitz and Lilly James plays the part of Ella (Cinderella). Cate Blanchett plays the role of her evil stepmother. 

Lilly James as Cinderella

2015

(source: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/cinderella-vs-cinderella-2015/images/38371892/title/cinderella-2015-photo)

We all know how the story goes... 

Ella was born to two very loving parents, wonderful people. They've thought her all the great values in life, expecially to be kind and brave. Suddenly, her mother gets sick and dies not long after that. Years after her father remarried and Ella's new stepmother, Lady Tremaine, and two stepsisters, Drizella and Anastasia, moved into their house, along with their cat Lucifer. One day, her father left to go on a business trip, but sadly, never returned. Ella was left to live with her stepmother and sisters who were very mean to her and treated her as a maid. But even then, Ella was nothing but kind to them and she did everything they asked her to do, from cooking to washing their clothes, floors and windows. They even nicknamed her Cinderella because of the ashes that stained her face.
One morning, while Ella was in the woods riding her horse, she met a guy and they fell in love right away. He told her his father calls him Kit, little did she know, he was the prince. Ella decided not to tell him her name. 
The prince was enchanted and could not stop thinking about Ella. His father, the King, wanted him to get married and decided to throw a ball where Kit would find a wife. Kit had only one condition, to invite not only the royality, but every girl in the Kingdom, hoping Ella would show up. When the king's messenger announces the ball, lady Tremaine makes it her mission that one of her daughters will be the the chosen girl. Every girl in the kingdom was excited, including Ella. Still not knowing who the prince actially was, she had no intention to meeting him, she wanted to see Kit. 
When the day arrived, all girls had put on their most beautiful dresses and went to the ball. But just on her way out, Cinderella's stepmother had forbidden her to go, making fun of her dress choice - which was actually her mothers'. She even ripped her dress, along with her daughters, leaving Cinderella heartbroken, and without a dress. But everything changed when her Fairy Godmother appeared. With a little bit of magic, she turned a pumpkin into a coach, lizards into footmen and the goose into her coachman. Her ripped pink dress into a most beatiful blue gown and gave her glass slippers to wear. She even put a spell on her so her evil stepmother and stepsisters wouldn't recognize her. There was only one catch - to leave the ball by midnight, as that is when the magic will stop. Cinderella was over the moon and could not wait to arrive to the palace. As soon as she got to the ball, everyones' jaws dropped - she was the most beautiful girl there. No one knew who she was, apart from the prince, and they danced and talked all night, and fell deeply in love. But when the clock striked 12, she had to leave, leaving the prince without an expanation, and without giving out her name, again. The only thing she had left behing was her glass slipper.
The next day the prince decided to look for the "mystery girl". He went all over the kingdom, making every girl try on the glass slipper. The search took a while but eventually he found her, married her and they lived happily ever after. 


A lot of animals appear throughout the film such as the mice, cat, lizards, etc., but the motif that I noticed was being repeated in more ways than one was the goose. For example, the film starts with Ella feeding the geese. The house is decorated with geese - the chandelier in the front room, and lastly, the Fairy Godmother turns a goose into a coachman. 
The goose represents all the important morals in life; loyality, bravery, confidence and kindness. Also, geese are very protective of their young ones, just like Cinderella's parents protected her. 
No matter how badly her stepmother and stepsisters treated her, Ella was always nothing but kind to them. So I think that the moral of the story is: Good things happen to good people. You should never lower yourself to someone else's level and go against your beliefs. What goes around comes around.


The original Cinderella story is set in the 17th century, but in this film, the makeup designer Naomi Donne, hairstylist Carol Hemming and costume designer Sandy Powell decided to go for "Victorian era meets Hollywood" style. It is mostly a mixture of 1940s makeup and Victorian hairstyles and fashion. 

To create natural glowy skin, Donne used MAC Strobe Cream combined with MAC Pigment in Silver and applyed it all over her arms, chest and neck. The key was to create a natural look, so just like the Victorians, Cinderella did not have heavy makeup. Donne used a rosy stain lip product on her lips, a soft pink blush and translucent powder. No makeup was used on her eyes, and the dirt on her face was created with the coal from the fireplace on the set. 

Lilly James as Cinderella

2015

(source: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/berlin-review-cinderella-directed-by-kenneth-branagh-starring-lily-james-richard-madden-cate-blanchett-20150213)

When it comes to hair, hairstyles created by Carol Hemming were mostly inspired by the 19th centruy, having in mind the original animated version of Cinderella from the 1950s. A lot of tight curls, antique hair pins, crystals. She dyed Lily's hair in a pale, cool shade of blonde. Cinderella's hairstyles were simple, but the one she had at the ball was inspired by Vivien Leigh from Gone with the wind, and she had Swarovski crystals glued on her hair (she used surgical glue).

The big gown that she wore at the ball had over 10,000 crystals sewed on.

http://www.harpersbazaar.com/beauty/makeup/interviews/a10268/naomi-donne-cinderella-makeup/
http://www.allure.com/beauty-trends/2015/cinderella-movie-beauty-looks#slide=9
http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/beauty-hair/celebrity-hair-makeup/tips/a34276/cinderellas-makeup-secrets-revealed/
http://www.churchpop.com/2015/03/17/the-hidden-christian-meaning-of-disneys-new-cinderella-movie/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1661199/
http://www.theperipherymag.com/on-the-arts-five-propositions-on-cinderella/

Dirty Dancing

This film was released in late 1980's (1987), but placed in summer of 1963. It fits into a few genre categories; musical, drama and romance. The director was Emile Ardolino, producer Linda Gottlieb and Eleanor Bergstein wrote the script. 

Fraces Houseman (Jennifer Grey), nicknamed Baby, does on a three-week holiday with her family to upstate New York's Catskill Moutains resort. Baby's father (Jerry Orbach) is a doctor and she is 'dady's little girl'. Her plan, or her fathers to be exact, is to go to university and join the Peace Corps and marry a doctor. But when she gets to the resort she falls for a dance instructor, Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze). Johnny's dance parther and friend is Penny (Cynthia Rhodes). For medical reasons (abortion), Penny was unable to preform with Johnny and Baby fills in for her. She did not know how to move, had no rythm and was quite clumsy, but Johnny manages to teach her the dance rutine. Spending all of that time together, leads to them falling in love.

Throughout the film, Baby changes her look from innocent to a quite revealing sexy, but still subtle look, but her make up and hair don't change as much. At the beginning she wears longer, very 50's dresses and cardigans, shirts, floral patterned tops, denim shorts and white Keds shoes. But the more she hangs out with Johnny, the more skin she shows. The way see it is; the more she falls in love with him the more she gets undressed, up to the night where they start consuming their relationship, and everything comes off. I also noticed that when she rehearsed with Penny, Penny's shoes were gold and Baby's were silver; a teacher and a student. Johnny and Baby were always wearing constrasting colours; he wore black and she wore very soft colours such as baby pink, and also white. I think that represented their two very different personalities (impure and pure/ bad and good).

Baby's style when she first started dancing with Johnny

Jennifer Grey

Dirty Dancing 

1987

(source: http://viewerscommentary.com/2013/05/09/review-dirty-dancing/)

How Baby dressed after a few days into Johnny's lessons

Jennifer Grey

Dirty Dancing 

1987

(source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2438431/Jennifer-Grey-Lisa-Kudrow-share-warm-hug-catch-fundraiser.html)

Make up artists David Forrest and Gilbert LaChapelle did not use much make up and kept it very neutral for Baby's character, she is a teenager after all. But she did wear a blue eyeshadow on the night of her and Johnny's preformance. Baby's biggest atribute was her kind of short curly hair that beautifly framed her face.



Personally, I think that the moral of this film is not to judge anyone based on their looks, in other words; don't judge a book by its cover. You don't know anyone's story until you get to know them. It is so easy for people to form an oppinion on someone before actually getting to know them. People seem to pick up on only the bad things they have heard about someone and sometimes even refuse to interact with that person or even listen to their side of story.






http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092890/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ql_1
http://www.sankles.com/2014/10/style-dissection-dirty-dancing.html
http://www.celebrityredcarpet.co.uk/article/dirty-dancing-a-classic-beauty-look_a776/1

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

The reason why I chose this film is because it is a 1953 classic starring two Hollywood icons; Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russel. Originally, this is a version of the Broadway romantic musical comedy (1949) which is based on Anita Loos' best-selling novel in 1925. Carol Channing played the role of Loralei Lee in the Broadway production (the character played by Marilyn Monroe in the film). The director for the film was Howard Hawks and Charles Lederer wrote the screenplay in production with 20th Century Fox.

M.arilyn Monroe & Jane Russell 

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

1953

 20th Century Fox

 Photographer: Emerson Hall

(source: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1251776512/tt0045810?ref_=ttmd_md_nxt)

It is about two girls from Little Rock, Lorelei Lee - the protagonist (M. Monroe) and Dorothy Shaw (J. Russel) who sing and preform for a living. Loralei is 'the dumb blonde' is obsessed with diamonds and money is her number one priority, whereas Dorothy is 'the clever brunette' and is more down to Earth. They go on a trip to Paris and on their way them meet a lot of wealthy men. Loralei has to resist temptation, but what they did not know was that her fiance hired a private detective to follow the girls. They get in all sorts of trouble, but as all romantic comedys, the film has a happy ending - Dorothy get married for love, Loralei mostly for money.

Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw preforming on stage

 Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russel

Gentlemen prefer blondes

1953

Image courtesy mptvimages.com

(source: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm679712768/tt0045810?ref_=ttmd_md_nxt#)

The makeup, hair and fashion really capture look of the 1950's woman.  The makeup artists were Ben Nye and Snyder. Her make up look consisted of flawless pale skin, arched brows, red (scarlet) lips and winged eyeliner - the look that defines Hollywood glamour to this day. The voluminous hairstyles were created with the pin curling technique. 
The costumes were designed by Travilla and all clothes were designed to accentuate her figure and show off her curves. However, some costumes were considered too racy for the times and did not make past the censors. All clothes were, of course, accessorized with beautiful sparkly jewellery - but I could not find any information whether they were real or not, but I don't think they were.
Also, I noticed a lot of red details, from the lips to the dresses and even nailvarnish. In every sceene you can spot a dash of red on both characters.

Marilyn Monroe as Lorelei Lee

Closeup from the film

Gentlemen prefer blondes

1953

(source: http://ecosalon.com/marilyn-monroe-get-this-look-natural-beauty-products/)

Marilyn Monroe was an advocat for feminism, yet she is best known for her rolles in anti-feminist rolles. This films shows how women were objectified, but also admired, and blondes are considered stupid and brunettes smart. E.g. "I can be smart when it's important" - Lorelei Lee, meaning, she is usually stupid, but can be smart when neccessary. 
Both girls are just ordinary girls from a small town; "We're just tow little girls from Little Rock, we came from the wrong side of the tracks."  - they are lower class but act and pretend like they've always been part of the high aristocratic society. I think that Loreleis passion for diamonds and money comes from suffering a bad childhood. Being brought up in a family with low income made her want all things expensive, diamonds included. The diamonds represent finantial stability for her, and even if one day her looks fade away and she can't work as a show girl, she will still be able to be independent. Her father probably left when she was a child. At work she basically flaunts her body infront of wealthy (mostly older) men, which shows how much she is seeking for attention, wanting their approval and love.

http://ecosalon.com/marilyn-monroe-get-this-look-natural-beauty-products/

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/marilyn-monroe-early-career14.htm

http://igetakickoutofyou.me/2012/02/06/dresses-and-controversy-in-gentlemen-prefer-blondes/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045810/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ql_1

How To Read A Movie?

To get a better understaning of a film, it is easier to break it into three different levels and analyze each of them individually. The three levels, or aspects, are: literary, dramatic and cinematic aspects.

1. Literary aspects 

Literaly aspects are the ones that a movie has in common with literature (a novel, short story etc.). So that means the plot, characters, setting, themes, point of view, as well as the motifs and moral (lesson) of the story. 
That means that just like a novel, a movie has a biginning, middle and end. There is always a protagonist and antagonist in the movie, and a certain point of view from which the story is being told; first or third person. From the setting we find out where is the novel/movie taking place and when (19th century, 1980s, etc.). Lastly, just like most stories, movies have motifs, certain symbols, hidden meaning, and a message that the author/director wants to tell us, or teach, throughout. 

2. Dramatic aspects

Unlike literature, live drama is a form of visual media. For this we need actors, costumes, hair and make up artists/ designers, a set and everything has to be accurate. For example, if the play is placed in 1920s, the hair, make up, accessories and clothing can't be from the 1960s. Each play has a different cast, but we may not like every version, every director has his vision and finds an actor that, in his opinion suits the part best. There is no editing, so maybe one night we can watch a play and love it, and we can watch it again the next night and the preformance may not be the same. 

3. Cinematic aspects

Lastly, what makes a film a film? What makes it different to literature or plays? A film is the same every time we watch it. You can edit every part of the film and add sound and special effects, and all mistakes are fixable, unlike in plays.





https://www.youtube.com/watchv=suUZe3ogaV0&list=PL_tdNe4QkPjEWIyJzGBwtnZcwP9FACT5h&index=12
https://www.youtube.com/watchv=Gofx2gHcekI&index=13&list=PL_tdNe4QkPjEWIyJzGBwtnZcwP9FACT 

Introduction To Film Genre & Motifs

Introduction to film genre

A film genre is a type of film; western, comedy romance, gangster, horror, thriller, drama, musical etc. This first started when studios wanted to put films into categories (1930-1948). Certain films that they had created were more successful than others so then they would put them into groups and create films using the same patterns. In 1970s they realizes that, for example, all horror films have the same characteristics, themes, plots, there would be just a few twists that would make them different from others. Or in romance films we all know that the man and woman always end up together, and the film will have a happy ending. 
The films we see today don't fit into only one genre but are combinations of a few, keeping some original elements.

Things all genres have in common: 

Terms 
- very similar characters; stock characters - the type of character that appear in most films (a bartender in westerns)

Themes
- what they share about the world (a superhero is always the good guy and only he can save the world from the bad guys)

Iconography
- repeated images seen throughout indivitual films amongst one genre 

Mood
- emotional setting (the anticipation and fear in horror films)

Cinematic Style
- the way films are being shot; lighting, set, special effects (sci-fi)

Film Noir
- in traslation "film black"
- a lot of dark scenes, shadows, wierd angles (detective films expecially)

There are a couple of stages of genres throughout the years; primitive, classical, revisionist, parodic and extension. 

Primitive
-first films ever made 
-there weren't other films to take inspiration from
- first patterns were established, characters, themes etc.

Classical
- the patterns continue
- since there was something to look back on, studios create better films

Revisionist
-the iconography is similar, but these films start to question the first films

Parodic
- making fun of a genre

Extension
- uses the same values but the structure and setting change






Motifs in film

A motif is a repeated idea, image or pattern that canbe found not only in films but in literature, too, and they helps us reveal the theme. To identify the motifs and patterns, first we have to watch each scene closely, to see (or hear) if there is anything that is being repeated and then track that, whether that is a certaing colour, sound, phrase or item. When we detect something then we have to try to understand and interpretate the meaning of it.
The question "Why?" always comes up. Why was this motif used in this film and what message is it trying to give us? A motif can have one meaning but not everyone will have the same interpretation of it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RRnHgYpSBk&list=PL_tdNe4QkPjEWIyJzGBwtnZcwP9FACT5h&index=19
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=accS7EHDwIzPc

Clueless

Clueless is a comedy romance film released in 1995. It is set in Beverly Hills, California. It was directed and written by Amy Heckerling and the story is actually based on Jane Austen's novel Emma. Alicia Silverstone plays the role of a spoilt high school student, Cher, and the story is being told from her point of view. 

I decided to watch and use this film for our Summer Project because of one specific character that changes a lot throughout the film. And it really represents the style and fashion of the '90s, as Cher was one of the most influential style icons of that era.

The story is about a group of high school kids, with Cher Horowitz as the lead character, and narator. Her hobbies are shopping, and persuading others to get what what she wants, from her teachers to her father and stepbrother. She even went the extra mile and helped to teachers fall in love, just so she can get better grades. 
Cher and her best friend is Dionne decide to give Tai, a girl that just transfered to their school, a makeover. She helps her find a boyfriend and teaches her how to be popular. It all comes right back at her when she sees that she has actually created a monster. In the end she realizes that with this makeover she had helped herself a lot and learns that there is more to life than material stuff, and falls in love with the man of her dreams. 

Production designers decided to use grey and neutral colours for the film's background, and the costumes were quite colourful. That way the clothes would pop and not clash with the background. 
It's really interesting how Cher actually has a computer-organizes closet and it helps her match her clothes. Plaid blazers and skirts pared with knee-high socks and Mary Jane shoes were her go-to outfit for school. Actually, 53 different kinds of plaid were used in the film, and Cher wore seven. She also wore a bunch of short tight designer dresses (such Alai and Calvin Klein), chunky heels, shirts with collars and headbands. Her character is portrayed as very innocent and pure, she is a daddy's little girl, but her style has a hint of sex appeal. But her style did not portray just the 90's, her fashion sense is still in style, it is timeless. Dionne also wears designer paired with vintage clothes and crazy big hats. 
On the other side, we have Tai Fraiser. Her style also reflects the 90's but captures the other side of it, casual, and not classy at all. When she first got to her new high school, she wore a baggy t-shirt with a plaid shirt, and high wasted "mom" jeans. Her hair was red and she had no makeup on. Cher takes her under her wing and gives her a makeover, dressing her in her clothes and basically throwing her style at her and teaching her how popular girls act, behave and talk. With Dionne's help she transformed her into a total Betty (as Cher would say). The next day Tai came to school in a plaid A-line skirt, tights and a cropped cardigan. 

Brittany Murphy as Tai

Clueless

1995

(source: http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/pictures/movie-makeovers-memorable-drab-to-fab-character-transformations-2013237/31733)

The makeup artists were Alan Friedman, Geri Oppenheim and Cynthia Hernandez. The characters did not wear much makeup as;  A) they were high school students and B) the 90's makeup was quite minimal anyway.  It was more about looking fresh and natural. Neutral and rosy shades on the lips and cheeks, a bit of eyeliner and mascara and pink eye shadow (for special occasions, such as Chers date with Christian).

The hair stylists were Barbara Olvera, Nina Paskowitz and D.J. Plumb. We all know Dionne had box praids and loved her big crazy hats. Tai's hair was red, but when the colour washed out she had a very nice shade of brown, and tight little curls. Cher's look was all about her straight blow dryed and a lot of volume, and she changed her hairstyle in every scene; from many half up half down looks, big oversized bun to just keeping it simple wearing a big headband. 

"Whatever!"

Dionne, Cher and Tai

Clueless, 1995

(source: http://www.pretty52.com/articles/20-thoughts-every-girl-has-when-watching-clueless)

I'd say that the biggest motif in this film was plaid and fashion in general and that influenced many young girls. There are also a few sayings in the film such as 'As if!', 'Whatever', 'Total Betty' etc. that became popular after the film. 

There's a girl that was also very much influenced by the film and based her music video on it. I'm talking about Iggy Azalea, of course, and her song Fancy featuring Charli XCX. Iggy said in one of her interviews for Fuse that she felt that this song is very L.A. and West Coast and that is why she thaught this would be a perfect idea for the music video and wanted to pay a tribute to this film and Cher. Instead of taking inspiration from the film she kind of copied it as she had similar clothes, hairstyle and recreated some scenes to the smallest detail. But it is a brilliant video!

Fancy 

Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX

2014

Music video

(source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-zpOMYRi0w)

http://www.fuse.tv/videos/2014/05/iggy-azalea-fancy-clueless-interview
http://www.refinery29.com/clueless-makeup-artist
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112697/