Film Critique (the Blind Side)
Week Five Individual Film Critique
Neil A. Burgheimer
HUM/150
Week Five Individual Film Critique
This week for the final film critique I chose to review The Blind Side (2009). In this film Sandra Bullock plays Leigh Anne Tuohy, a successful interior designer. Her husband Sean Tuohy played by Tim McGraw is the owner of over 85 fast food franchises including Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, and Long John Silver’s. In the film Leigh Anne takes a boy named Michael “Big Mike” Oher into her home and provides him with the opportunity of a lifetime. Actor Quinton Aaron takes on the role of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of Leigh Anne Tuohy and her family.
The mise-en-scéne of The Blind Side (2009) at first is very urban and features a lot of low level lighting with smoke, and a very bleak surrounding environment. Shortly after the opening scene a seemingly out of place car is pictured driving through the high-class neighborhoods of Memphis, Tennessee en route to Wingate Christian School, the fictional representation of Briarcrest Christian School. Once the vehicle arrives at the school Michael’s friends father, whose couch he had been sleeping on, asks Burt Cotton, the coach of the Wingate Christian school, to help enroll his son and Mike. While at the school the mise-en-scéne changes to a very clean and well-refined environment with mostly natural lighting, and a very welcoming atmosphere.
I feel the editing in the film was superbly done through the use of the many different camera angles, lighting, music, and sound effects. The way that each shot was incorporated into the sequences that comprised the motion picture was very well put together and provide the film viewer a very unique look into the life of Michael Oher. Some editing techniques that are very widely used throughout the film are the use of continuity editing, Cross Cutting, Cutaway, and a
Neil A. Burgheimer
HUM/150
Week Five Individual Film Critique
This week for the final film critique I chose to review The Blind Side (2009). In this film Sandra Bullock plays Leigh Anne Tuohy, a successful interior designer. Her husband Sean Tuohy played by Tim McGraw is the owner of over 85 fast food franchises including Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, and Long John Silver’s. In the film Leigh Anne takes a boy named Michael “Big Mike” Oher into her home and provides him with the opportunity of a lifetime. Actor Quinton Aaron takes on the role of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of Leigh Anne Tuohy and her family.
The mise-en-scéne of The Blind Side (2009) at first is very urban and features a lot of low level lighting with smoke, and a very bleak surrounding environment. Shortly after the opening scene a seemingly out of place car is pictured driving through the high-class neighborhoods of Memphis, Tennessee en route to Wingate Christian School, the fictional representation of Briarcrest Christian School. Once the vehicle arrives at the school Michael’s friends father, whose couch he had been sleeping on, asks Burt Cotton, the coach of the Wingate Christian school, to help enroll his son and Mike. While at the school the mise-en-scéne changes to a very clean and well-refined environment with mostly natural lighting, and a very welcoming atmosphere.
I feel the editing in the film was superbly done through the use of the many different camera angles, lighting, music, and sound effects. The way that each shot was incorporated into the sequences that comprised the motion picture was very well put together and provide the film viewer a very unique look into the life of Michael Oher. Some editing techniques that are very widely used throughout the film are the use of continuity editing, Cross Cutting, Cutaway, and a
References: Johnson, B. (Producer), Lewis, M. (Writer), & Hancock, J. L. (Director). (2009). The Blind Side [Motion Picture]. Warner Bros. Phillips, W.H. (2009). Film: An Introduction (5th ed.). New York: NY, Bedford/St. Martin’s. IMDb (2011). The Blind Side. The Blind Side (2009) – IMDb. Retrieved November 7, 2011, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0878804/ Carter, M. (2007). Lights, Camera, Music!. Fanfare: The Magazine For Serious Record Collectors, 30(6), 32-34.