Movie Scene Critique #2: Wonder Women - "No Man's Land"
This movie scene is from the (2017) Wonder Women directed by Patty Jenkins. Leading up to the "No man's land" scene we find out the Diana see war is an odd way, almost like it is a mythic battle where this is a good side and a bad side. But she soon realizes that war is not that simple with good and bad. They were planning to go around no man's land, but a woman draws Diana in, and Diana became mad that she can not help these people. Steve and other try to explain that she can't help everyone and that there is no way she can cross no man's land. "it means no man can cross it" Steve Trevor "This is not something you can cross. This is not possible."
0:30 to 0:57
The music becomes slowing in this scene giving the reader a good view that something important is about to happen. At this point, everything she is doing is super dramatic, and you can see a few faces of soldiers in the background with this jaws drop in awe. As she begins to go up the ladder the make every movement slower to give the viewer so more suspension. She is now wearing the "wonder women," so it makes it SUPER dramatic.
1:26 to 2:26
We see Steve and his friend peering over the wall watching Diana, for some reason they look dirty than before. Diana continues being a badass and if just deflecting bullets left and right. She begins running, and Steve jumps over the wall to join her. The German side is now wholly focused on Diana and see if taking a lot of fire. It seems as if she is not going to make it as there is so making sparks of light flying by, the view now fears that the determination of the Germans to take her down.
Setting
The setting of this scene is in a war zone, there are two troughs and in between is called "no man's land." The trough is dirty, and you can tell that they have been there for a long time. There is a lot of commotion crazy and there is a lot of stuff going on. In "no man's land" it looks like something from a horror movie or hell. It makes you feel like what is called "no man's land" is like the end of the earth.
Camera angles and shots
The camera shots were well planned because there are a variety of different angles. So there are close-ups, wide-angle shot, zoom shots, slow-mo shot, etc.
0:00 to 0:30
In this first scene, we see Steve telling Diana that she can not cross "no mans land. In the background, we can hear, wind, bomb landing and bullet whistle by. We also can also see the commotion of the soldier moving back and forth. The director has chosen to move the camera, so it is facing Diana even when Steve is still talking. I wouldn't have done that, but I think in this case it works because it shows the emotion on Diana's face and how she disagrees. At. About 0:10 very dermatic violin music comes in, and as the scene progresses it becomes louder and louder. Their clothes are a bit dirty, and they have jackets on displaying that they have been on the move for a while and that it is could. At about 0:15 the background noise beginning to fade and everything become quiet.
0:58 to 1:25
We then see her climb the ladder, but the shots are not of her whole body we see different parts in different shots. For example, we see a shot of her leg, her hand, and her face. We then see Steve look up in pure terror as he sees her going up the ladder and yells her name. At 1:10 we see a dramatic shot of her standing up and walking towards the camera confidently. It makes it look like she is indestructible. This is the apex of this movie scene. Then the camera is following a bullet from behind heading towards Diana, and she puts up her, and the shell evaporates on her arm.
2:26 to 3:21 (end)
Finally, Steve and her friends roll in, and they give each other a look of agreement and Steve begins firing on the opponents, and we see the other side being picked off by Steve bullets. As her friends throw a grenade into the toff, she takes the opportunity to make a run for it, to get in the bunker. And all of the men who were hiding on their side now see that they should help.
Music and Sound effect
They did an excellent job adding music because they put just enough to highlight specific moments but little enough to take away from the film. The music fades and out and get louder and softer depending on the moment.
Character's motivation, costume, and lines
Steve and his buddies are dressing in regular ma clothes that are very dirty. Steve went to the store and brought Diana regular looking clothes, but underneath is you Wonder women outfit which is everything about normal. Diana's motivation is to stop this war and defeat the evil, but she soon realizes that it isn't that easy.
Interview: Dorset Quarry
I decided to interview Dick McDoungh, the owner of the Dorset Quarry. I have lived in Dorset, Vermont for my whole life and have driven past the Quarry ever day for school since kindergarten. I have seen it grow over the years and watched more and more people come each summer. I thought it would be an excellent time to interview Dick before he went down to FL for the winter and ask him about his experience owning the Quarry. I even learned some new things like for example I always thought the water in the quarry was still and didn't move, so I thought it was gross. However, I learned that there is a spring at the bottom and a stream, so the water is always circulating making it a tiny less gross. Since I have known Dick for a while, I knew it was going to be a pretty easy interview because he is a good talker and a very articulate speaker. So all I had to do was give him a few good questions and he would run with them. Overall I think the interview went well. Coming out of it will 32 minutes of footage was a little overwhelming. However, it was a good feeling when I got it done. Cutting down 32 minutes of good video was hard, but I did it and just started chopping. One thing I was not happy about was the lighting in the interview but the painting in the background I think made up for it, I still feel like I need to work on my lighting skills. I am proud of how I put the b roll into the video. However, going to the Quarry to take B roll was an adventure. I went by my self and figured out fast that I should have had another person with me, but I made it out alive, so we are all good. For some reason I never really like my b roll it always seems shaky and just not as high quality as I wish it could be. So that is another thing I need to keep working on. I am looking forward to doing more interview as I find the fun to see them come together it in the end!
