WHO AM I?

So I noticed a theme during the first class of James screening the first short films created by some big Hollywood directors of today, and wondered if there was anything specific in his reasoning behind why he showed us these films in particular. They all definitely were easier to draw people’s attention, because if you know anything about introducing new people into something else, you should always draw upon previous knowledge or things the new person is familiar with already to help ease them into being exposed to something new or unfamiliar. So from a teaching perspective it would definitely help students grasp new ideas with familiar names attached to them. But I think it also gave us an insight of how these people started off their careers and shows us that those big Hollywood men started from the bottom too. I gives hope to the beginner film-maker that not everything has to be A grade for them to be successful. It showed me at least that as these men were exploring their own style they were allowed to make mistakes and have humble beginnings as well.

I want to focus specifically on Martin Scorsese’s short film that was shown in class, “What’s a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This.” It was his beginning, and it definitely has the beginnings of his own flair and style of film-making. It’s a blend of comedy, mafia, and noir. The use of narration has been a staple in his future work, and his use of images is quirky and definitely something I would love to replicate in my own work. There was an interesting quote that I found about how Scorsese himself see’s his “first” film. He claims that it wasn’t focused on narrative or characters, and “more to do with the way the film looked and was cut than anything else.”

I think it was an exercise in editing for him as much as it was a debut for his style. It’s not the greatest of films, but he didn’t intend for it to be something to be taken seriously. Even his characters aren’t taken seriously, especially his friend in the short.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWs1SM0xYiI

 

http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-to-use-analogies-to-introduce-new-ideas/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27s_a_Nice_Girl_Like_You_Doing_in_a_Place_Like_This%3F

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhatsAnXLikeYouDoingInAYLikeThis

http://www.slashfilm.com/bid-directors-small-films-martin-scorseses-whats-a-nice-girl-like-you-doing-in-a-place-like-this/