Stand By Me Review

This project is for my film class name Ollywood. The purpose of this project was to choose a movie and make a podcast review on what you thought and about the editing and soundtrack etc. I picked the film Stand by Me because i remember seeing it a long time ago and really wanted to watch it again and do my project on it. I learned a lot about the movie and cast that i would not have found out if i didn't do this project. I am proud of my podcast even though I stuttered quite a bit. Please listen to my podcast down below and read my script if you would like to. Thank you.

Hello, I'm BKJ and I will be analyzing the movie Stand By Me by Rob Reiner (1986). This movie is a thrilling adventure/ drama movie that stars 4 kids Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern in their journey to find a dead body.

This story follows a young kid and his friends on a journey to find a dead body. The protagonist is presented with a journey and is tested and is pushed to the limit and in this case it was the journey to find the dead body. the movie has an antagonist which is the town bullies and they also set out for the body at a later point in the movie to get fame and they both arrive at the body and have a confrontation that basically change the protagonist and made him a different person in the moment. at the end of the movie every single one of those kids were changed forever and set out to do better things that they hadn't originally thought they were capable of.

The editing in this movie was very smooth and the cuts were put in perfect spots. one particular scene that had good editing was when all the kids were about to set off on their journey. I liked the editing in this scene because it cut from each kid and showed them all leaving their house and I felt that the “matched action” editing technique felt natural and worked very well to set the scene. also I feel that the editor knew exactly where to put the music to evoke a certain mood.

Another thing that was done well was the soundtrack. The music was very well chosen because they used songs from the time period the movie was placed in and they also knew exactly where to place the music to set the mood of the scene. For example, when the boys would be skipping along there would be happy music on such as “Lollipop, Rockin’ Robin, Hush-a-Bye” and many more.

As for the sound effects, I feel that they were actually pretty good for its time, Not as advanced as now but it was still smooth and believable. for example, the boys were about to set off on their journey, when Gordie and Chris meet up and find out the Chris brings a gun and they end up firing it in the alley behind a store. The gunshots in that scene sounded pretty real and lets the audience know that this movie is going to include. Another example is when they were in the woods and the wolves started howling, instantly making the kids scared and makes the audience anticipate a scary scene. I feel that the soundtrack that they used for that was pretty memorable because I have seen that in plenty of movies and tv shows. they also knew where to put the sound effects to make the scene 10x better than it already was. Another thing that contributed to the greatness of this movie was that special effects. I feel like the train in the bridge scene was a nice touch and it was believable. Some of the background looked kind of edited but I’m not sure. but all together the movie was well put together with its post-production elements. Likely, the special effects team achieved this realism by top notch technology and a green screen for the background

When I think about what the film means, it seems to really be about opposites - the boys facing challenges on their road to becoming adults. The entire film is actually a flashback that Gordie is having about his childhood adventure. Gordie was actually writing a paper about this event in his life because it was one of the best adventures and its the reason he is who he is today. His best friend Chris motivated him to be a writer throughout the whole movie and he finally made it. One example of this difference between childhood and manhood is the younger kids and the older kids. I feel like the younger kids are smarter and know what they want and the older kids just want to be cool and popular. The older kids are basically an example of what the younger kid WOULD have been if they did not go on that life changing adventure. I also feel that Gordie and Chris are very mature and actually want to get something out of their journey and actually be something in life. I feel that Teddy and Vern are very doubtful and don't really have plans for later on in life and I also feel that they don't really need to get anything out of the journey, they are just along for the ride. They aren't as in need of growth as the other boys. Lastly, there are important differences between the boys as they grow up. Gordie didn't want to be a writer or go to college. Chris didn't think he could do anything productive with his life. Vern didn't have any aspirations. Teddy wanted to be in the military like his dad was. In the end, Gordie did become a writer and actually had a successful life. Chris Actually got a good job as a lawyer and had a good life until he was killed trying to break up a fight. Vern ended up having kids and a middle class job. Last but not least Teddy ended up getting rejected from the army and after that he ended up working odd jobs around the city.  

Thank you for listening!

Streetart Advocate

My name is BKJ and I'm taking the class Five Faces of Genius. For our third action project we had to do a service project that served or affected at least 10 people. In planning my service project, I used the Five Faces of Genius. I used my seer skills by visualizing what my installation is going to look like and what my sticker are going to look like. Also I had to visualize how I was going to incorporate human rights and use it in my art so i can get my message out. I used my observer skills by planning for the project and paying attention to the details of how my project is going to work and how I can do it effectively. I used my alchemist skills by combining my love of art and specifically street art with a world problem. I used my fool traits by turning the normal way of doing street art on its head and using it to put out a message that matters instead of a name. I used my sage traits by simplifying my designs so I can get the message out but still look good. Below is a video I created that documents what I did for my service project.

This project was something that I actually care about because I have always felt a sense of unfairness between humans. I feel that we are all human beings and should all be treated equally even if we are different skin tones or different genders. Some people say that god created racism and inequality but that is not true, we were all created the same and we as humans chose to make racism and inequality by thinking one person is better than another. When I first started the project I thought, "What can an average street artist do to contribute to fighting for human rights?" Then I got the idea to just use my talent to put out a message not just a name or image. I decided to make stickers and an installation so I can put them up in the streets for the public to see. With other events like speeches or closed events only a select amount of people go and you have to be interested to even want to go, but with my idea anyone can see it while walking down the street. You don’t have to buy a ticket or travel to see my installation and stickers all you have to do is see one on the street and thats all you have to do to make your own meaning out of the project. What I like about art is that it’s up for interpretation. Art has no set meaning unless you state it but most people create their own meaning when they see it.