"Water for Elephants"is about a man, Jacob, who's family died in a horrific car crash. Jacob is left with no money and no place to go. Since this takes place during the Great Depression, Jacob needs to find work fast, before he dies or starves. After receiving the news of his parents death, Jacob tries to escape by walking along the train tracks. He sees a train heading his way and makes the bold decision to hop on. It turns out that the train is a circus train and Jacob is able to find work on the train as the elephant trainer. While working with Rosie the elephant, Jacob slowly falls in love with the beautiful star entertainer, Marlena, who happens to be married to the cruel manager of the circus, August. While Jacob falls for Marlena, Marlena starts to fall for Jacob, as well. August takes notice of this when they are at an illegal club that gets shut down by the police. The three have to split up to get away as quickly as possible. Jacob and Marlena go together, while August goes alone. They reunite later that night and while showing August the tricks he has taught Rosie, August gives him a clear warning:
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Character Development: Water for Elephants
In my opinion, book or movie is good if there is a good plot, and great characters to experience that plot. For me to really connect with a character, or even understand their motive fully, I need to see their full personality in many types of situations. When thinking about a character developing in a mere single scene, August, from "Water for Elephants", was one of the first and best to come to mind.
"Water for Elephants"is about a man, Jacob, who's family died in a horrific car crash. Jacob is left with no money and no place to go. Since this takes place during the Great Depression, Jacob needs to find work fast, before he dies or starves. After receiving the news of his parents death, Jacob tries to escape by walking along the train tracks. He sees a train heading his way and makes the bold decision to hop on. It turns out that the train is a circus train and Jacob is able to find work on the train as the elephant trainer. While working with Rosie the elephant, Jacob slowly falls in love with the beautiful star entertainer, Marlena, who happens to be married to the cruel manager of the circus, August. While Jacob falls for Marlena, Marlena starts to fall for Jacob, as well. August takes notice of this when they are at an illegal club that gets shut down by the police. The three have to split up to get away as quickly as possible. Jacob and Marlena go together, while August goes alone. They reunite later that night and while showing August the tricks he has taught Rosie, August gives him a clear warning:
In this scene, I love how much August develops. He starts off as a kind and happy man, learning the new tricks of the beautiful elephant, Rosie. As the scene continues, and he starts to talk about Marlena, August becomes very defensive. He indirectly tells Jacob that he knows there is chemistry between Marlena and Jacob. He also states that it needs to stop, or else there will be consequences. This scene is a strong example of showing relationship conflict between August and Jacob because up to this point in the movie, Jacob and August had been friends but now, this shows that their relationship is slowly changing. Along with August's personality, you learn a lot about Jacob, too. The viewer of this scene can learn that Jacob is obedient and quiet but also show uncomfortable body language when placed in this situation. Although August is the "bad guy" of "Water for Elephants", his character development during the film is fantastic and he shows his true colors more and more with each scene.
"Water for Elephants"is about a man, Jacob, who's family died in a horrific car crash. Jacob is left with no money and no place to go. Since this takes place during the Great Depression, Jacob needs to find work fast, before he dies or starves. After receiving the news of his parents death, Jacob tries to escape by walking along the train tracks. He sees a train heading his way and makes the bold decision to hop on. It turns out that the train is a circus train and Jacob is able to find work on the train as the elephant trainer. While working with Rosie the elephant, Jacob slowly falls in love with the beautiful star entertainer, Marlena, who happens to be married to the cruel manager of the circus, August. While Jacob falls for Marlena, Marlena starts to fall for Jacob, as well. August takes notice of this when they are at an illegal club that gets shut down by the police. The three have to split up to get away as quickly as possible. Jacob and Marlena go together, while August goes alone. They reunite later that night and while showing August the tricks he has taught Rosie, August gives him a clear warning:
Friday, April 4, 2014
"True love can thaw a frozen heart..." (Specificity Scene)
When you think of Disney movies, you probably think of some little-girl's favorite movie with some cheesy ending where the prince always manages to save the princess. This Disney tradition has gone on for as long as I can remember. Breaking the typical Disney precedent, however, was achieved this year by the popular film, "Frozen". This amazing movie is about the adventure of Anna, a princess, who tries to get her ice-queen, Elsa, to unfreeze the frozen eternity she accidentally put over their country. While in the process of talking with Elsa, Anna is accidentally hit in the heart with an ice spell and the only way to cure her from freezing to death is to experience an act of true love. Anna rushes back to the palace to find this act with her "true love", Hans. After that plan doesn't work out and consulting with the comical yet wise Olaf, Anna escapes the palace and goes to search for her real true love, Christof. That's where my scene starts off:
I love this scene because instead of the typical prince-saves-princess ending, Anna saves her sister-another act of true love. In the modern day, most of us are brain-washed into thinking that the only type of true love is between two lovers, while in reality, it can be between friends, siblings, etc. Along with this, I love how Anna has the chance to save herself but decides to save her sister instead. This action clumped together Anna's character and qualities represented throughout the movie. Olaf, the snowman, adds nice commentary to get the point across and also sum up the movie. This scene, for me, makes "Frozen" one of my favorite movies of all time and helped me remember who are the really important people in my life.
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