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With movies, you are able to travel back in time and explore unknown eras. If you rather race ahead of your century, they can also hurl you into the future. You can easily become indulged in a mystery, fall in love in a romance, test your fright in a horror, or make the scientific impossible possible in a science fiction. Movies are movies.
They provide entertainment by immersing people into an imaginary world. However, these movies or films need to have certain qualities in order to provide this form of entertainment and to be notable. Hence, these qualities would have to contribute in making a great film. This would point to the question of what is it that really makes a great film. Firstly, one of the qualities that can truly contribute in the making of a great film is a strong cast. It would seem the case that in order for a film to be prominent, a fine story should be the main priority.
However, with strong actors and actresses in a film, they are capable of transforming even a tedious storyline in an attention grabbing story. This can be said by being done with the actors being at tune with the characters they portray. When this is done, characters themselves would seem to stand out in a film. Hence, it can be said that distinctive characters would have the tendency to make a story interesting, and they would usually appeal to an audience by being unique. For instance, in the classical 1947 movie, A Street Car Named Desire, strong emotional scenes were seen in the majority of the movie. However, a cast of fine actors was responsible for bringing the characters to life.
As a result, this movie achieved four Oscars in the actors category alone. In addition, in this movie, actor Marlon Brando so skillfully portrayed his character with his flawless performance, that he left an indelible mark on audiences. Hence, this goes to show that a strong cast is one factor in making a movie grand. Secondly, as with actors bringing characters to life, a movie needs a dominant director to bring it to life. Generally, the role of the director is to set or put in the scenes of the film. In order to make the film distinguished, a powerful director is able to combine skillfully the elements or features that make up a scene.
This includes the action, composition, sets and props, lighting, costumes, and make up. These things can be said as being very important in conveying the subject of the film. An example of an influential director is Bryan Singer, whose famous X- Men movies have captivated audiences in terms of the way he had clicked together the features of the film. Bryan Singer also showed in his movies, his outlook of society and misfits. This brings up another feature a dominant director must have in order to create a great film. The director must make himself the primary author or voice of the movie.
Through the directors film we should be able to see one persons way of viewing the world. Hence, with a dominant director, he would have the potential to change the way we see the world. Thus, this is another quality that goes into creating a great film. Another feature that creates a great film is the existence of a grand, related to the scenes musical score. Music is generally used in films to support the visual images and the action. Namely with it no verbal communication need to be required for certain scenes, since the music itself conveys what is going to happen or what is happening.
Hence, it can be said that music adds to a film dramatic effects and establishes moods. To illustrate this point, movie musical composer Jerry Goldsmith stated, music shows certain scenes and it definitely gives a film the energy it needs. An example of a movie with a musical score that has greatly enhanced the scenes is the 1968 classic The Planet of The Apes. In this movie, the music was so blended in, that terrifying scenes were felt even before they happened. However, it should be noted that in order for a musical score to make a movie great, it should not be obstructive. This is so since if a musical score is too loud or too emotional; it could possibly taint the brilliance of the performances and the film itself.
In addition to a musical score in producing a distinctive film, special effects can greatly mould a movie. With special effects, it generally makes the visual effects appear convincing. This means that things that are not in reality possible would be made possible on screen. For instance, in the classical movies, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, and Jason and The Argonauts, eye-popping special effects by the use of stop motion animation by creator Ray Harryhausen, greatly brought to life the scenes, and made mythical things and monsters seem real. Because of this, these films have stand out in uniqueness. However, in the movies of today, the special effects employed are computer images.
Even though these images would appear real, they need to be accompanied by a certain coolness feature in order to be convincing. An example of this is the Matrix movies, which if it wasnt for its coolness effect, would not have attracted audiences, and hence be classed as great movies. This shows that the special effects of the past and those of the present, has greatly changed the way we define a great film. In conclusion, it is worth stating that there are certain characteristics that stand out in a great film.
For one, there should be a strong cast and a dominant director. With these two aspects, the standard of a film is greatly increased. Also the musical score and special effects added to a film, can raise the plateau in making it notable. It can also be seen that the criteria for making a film great, has changed over the years. What once made a film stand out in the past, doesnt make it at present. However, this generally goes to the special effect features.
Nevertheless, it can be said overall, that all these characteristics resulted in the creation of a great film, in ground breaking style and as a result, this has helped us define cinema or a film as we know it.
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Research essay sample on What Makes A Great Film
