Podcast Review on Slumdog Millionaire

In this term, the last unit, "Post-Production," got me and my peers down to the bone of film creating. For this unit, we saw how much work the editors of the film had to do. We also discovered how important editing is to the flow and plot of the story. For this action project, we had to pick from a short list of movies and chose one to review. I chose Slumdog Millionaire to review. For this review we had to use audio as our source. I'm sorry for the lack of presentation but this was the only way I could find to complete what I tried to do. Thanks and enjoy my audio below, featuring a audio clip from Slumdog Millionaire!!

My audio is presented below:


Transcript Below:
Hello! Thank you for tuning in to my review on Slumdog Millionaire!!

This dramatic thriller released in 2008, was directed by Danny Boyle and co-directed by Loveleen Tandan. It features a handful of amazing actors; Dev Patel as Jamal, Freida Pinto as Latika and many, many more.

I will critique the film for elements of post-production including editing, special effects, sound effects, and soundtracks.

The protagonist of the story, Jamal Malik participates in a Indian version of, “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire” in hopes of the love of his life seeing him on the television. “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire” is a show where people answer worldwide questions and earn loads of cash. Jamal excels on the show and stuns people watching all across India. After being accused of cheating, he is then arrested and interrogated by cops. He claims that all of these questions pertain to certain events that happened in his life. He tells the back story of each and every question throughout the movie.

I will critique the movie through the feminist approach.

The feminist approach pinpoints the effect that women have on the film.

So feminism is a very strong and controversial approach to me. I believe they had a lot of feminist acts in the film. Latika was a VERY strong and influential character throughout the movie. From her being a child to being a slave to being free. Even for other women in India, not just Latika, prostitution and rape is a huge problem. Recently, I read an article on a woman who was forced to kill her child. This is just a taste of the harsh conditions that women have to live under in India. I think overall Latika shapes the structure and story of the movie. Without Latika, what does Jamal have to live for? Why would he be on the show?

The editing of the film was really traditional, but they still managed to make it interesting. I’d have to say the thing that stood out the most to me, was the persistent use of Dialogue Referent. This was when the questions where asked and Jamal recalled events back in time that were related to the question. There was also the before action shot of Salim in the tub of money, before Javed busts through the door. This scene had excellent placement as it occurred in the midst of the climax of the story where Jamal is answering the last question.

The film score of the movie was pretty amazing. I definitely had a hard time missing the music in the film. It was always defining the mood and adding affection & emotion to the setting and it’s characters. The music also emphasized the setting really well. I definitely liked that the music was native to the setting. I specifically like the end of the movie when the music is playing through the credits. It feels very exhilarating and rushed, like something happened or something’s going to happen. The music was most of the time, going fast with drums like a traditional Indian music.

I really liked scenes that involved guns!! So they definitely couldn’t happen without the sound effect of the gun going off. My FAVORITE scene was when Salim pointed that gun at Jamal and told him he had 5 seconds to walk and Latika lowered the gun but I still like when Salim shot Javed at the end. The guns in the movie, when they went off especially made this movie more realistic and suspenseful.

Although, I didn’t see much of any Computer Generated Imagery (CGI). The only semi-CGI content I could spot would probably be the set of the “Do You Want To Be A Millionaire” show. Some things were displayed on the screen in the show that can’t exactly be filmed so they may have used a computer to create it.

In all honesty, I would have to give this film no higher than a 8/10. Although it wasn’t perfect and some things weren’t as realistic as I wanted them to be, it was an overall good movie and I would definitely recommend it!

I would like to thank you guys for listening and have a blessed day!

References:
“Challenges of Women in India”, CNN. Sumnima Udas. Web. Jan 12, 2015.

Service Begins At Home: Service Project

For the last project in my Five Faces class we all had to complete our own service project following certain requirements. It was kind of hard to make the service convenient for me, let alone following requirements along the way, but I pulled through and delivered a nice video. This service project was a lot different than most. Lots of people wouldn't even consider this a service, but this was service in my eyes. If you're using your own blood, sweat, tears, and money then it's definitely service!! I cooked for my great grandmother and it made me feel AMAZING. I cooked things that she would usually cook to make her feel at home! She invited people over and so did I and it was all a success. It was truly a magnificent experience. As you will find in my video, she even shed a tear. That's the very first time I've ever seen her cry, it was really something special. Tears of joy are the strongest liquid to me.

Using my Seer face, I visualized my success before my service occurred:

"Before" DNR Jan 9

"During" DNR Jan 9

"Post" DNR Jan 9

Using my Observer face, I detailed my project to perfection! I made a table to help me organize what I needed and what I had to do to make this service successful. I needed to buy the food, I needed 10 guests, and I needed seasonings and silverware. The cooking took roughly 2 hours. The meat and potatoes took up most the time. We also had salad, bread sticks, broccoli, and macaroni. 

Thanks to the Alchemist face, I used my love for Pineapple Pop and Orange Juice to mix them together and serve at dinner. I also used my great grandmother always making us nice meals as inspiration for my service.

Using my Fool face, I flipped the script and cooked for my great grandmother as she is always cooking for me!

By taking advantage of the Sage face, I made everything traditional and simple. I had everything laid out and detailed. I also utilized simplicity and created a crafty title that summed up my project: "Service Begins At Home: Service Project".