1. Plot:
"Apocalypse Now" is based on Joseph Conrad's novel "Heart of Darkness", which depicts the story of what happened between the British colonists in Africa and the natives in the late 19th century. While Apocalypse Now draws on the background of colonial wars and describes the United States in the 1970s and Britain made the same mistakes as the United Kingdom - fighting for nothingness, the film can also be regarded as a road film that takes place in Vietnam. Apocalypse Now tells the story of a Captain Willard returning to the United States from Vietnam with post-traumatic stress, ordered to assassinate a defected Special Forces Colonel Kurtz, who assembled a four-man fleet along the Mekong River to Cambodia , On this journey, he witnessed the aerial massacre of a Vietnamese village by the US military, the crazy pursuit of Playboy bunny girls by the hormonal soldiers, the dialogue between old and new colonists after encountering French plantations, and Kurtz after finally arriving in Cambodia. The original kingdom established, Willard eventually executed Kurtz and chose to leave Cambodia. This group of people encountered different problems during their five disembarkation and disembarkation, and gradually stepped out of the framework of traditional war films, and began to discuss the animal nature in human hearts: sex, violence, killing and control. After some elite soldiers from the most developed countries entered the primitive jungle, the harsh natural environment and seemingly non-existent enemies made this place a hell on earth. The revelation of modern times is panic and nothingness, and the most modern theories and technologies are also The attributes of human beings cannot be changed. Greed, laziness, rush for success and enjoyment of killing are the eternal ugliness of human beings.
2. Audiovisual:
The photography of Apocalypse Now reflects Coppola's personal style to a certain extent. 1. Use a dark tone style for lighting. In most clips, the contrast of the picture will show a huge contrast, and only 3/4 or half of the character's face is illuminated. This strong contrast makes the inner world of the characters more mysterious and unpredictable, and also makes this large contrast of light and shadow a unique style of Coppola. 2. The hazy visual effect of the smog on the river is shocking. On the one hand, this smog expresses the wet texture of rain and fog in Southeast Asia. The great psychedelic and emptiness that comes after marijuana. But in the process of watching the film, there is still an impetuous mentality, not thinking about the meaning of each frame, and not paying due attention to the text in the film. In the future viewing process, the picture should be divided into composition, lighting, camera movement, and color for analysis.
Composition: The scenery is relatively dominated by panoramic and long-term views, clearly showing the battlefield environment.
Lighting: mainly hard light, the contrast between the light and shadow on the character's face is obvious, and the light is used to create a lot of natural environment effects. Such as the flash effect of Willard sticking out of the water and dancing with the name of the village.
Camera Movement: The proportions of camera movement are quite high, and the entire film is enveloped in an anxious dynamic.
Color: The saturation of the color is low, and a lot of effort has been paid to adjust the contrasting colors of red and green. The green looks very flattering, and the red doesn't make me dizzy either.
3. Summary:
In the process of this film appreciation, I gradually got to know more and more famous people and works. In fact, just like my study in the film school, the more ignorant I feel, the more things I can learn. At the same time, there is no need to be impatient when watching a movie, and you can make some ritual preparations before watching. Go to the bathroom to wash your face, drink a cup of tea to calm yourself down, and turn off notifications on your phone to calm yourself down.
At the same time, you need to stay focused while watching a movie. Analyze the design intention of every scene, every shot, and every line, and read it carefully like reading a book. Don’t swallow the dates just because you want to be fast, and in the end there is nothing left in your mind. Watching movies in a hurry just to accumulate film readings is a taboo for film school students - I would rather watch only one movie a week, than it is. It is better to watch a movie roughly a day at the same time.
In short, learning is a lifelong process, and you can't let your film enthusiasm be completely killed.
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