What made Pixar successful

From it’s beggining, effort by effort, Pixar has structured as a creative company with unusual methods to make his colaborators work and to handle the process of making the product.  Reconsider the conventional ways and take risks to improve them does not mean failure assured, it means Pixar had an objective and did what was necessary to get to the place it is positioned now.

One strong and esential force of Pixar is team work. Unlike other motion picture studios, Ed Catmull says, good people more important than good ideas; Pixar have a team within the company which will work together from one movie to another. Efficient communication is the key, every person has a voice within the company, every project going on gets constant feedback from all the colaborators. At Pixar they build an environment in which people can work together, make constructive criticism to another by respecting the other’s ideas. 

The head team or managers from Pixar colaborate by the principles of an opening culture. All opinions and suggestions are considered, Pixar uses an hierarchy unstructured so everyone can communicate and get feedback from anyone. Mistakes are allowed, better to make mistakes in the process and that colaborators help notice them and change them in order to improve it, than notice them when the movie is released. One fear is to leave the conventional, but by taking risks Pixar has innovated and improved results.

The vision of Pixar kept present in every effort they made to get to their goal. Pixar had a clear objective from the beggining of what they wanted to do and the actions that had to be taken one by one. The directors foster in all the team that they are working for the same dream of making animated computarized films. Every person at the team of Pixar were persistent when tough times came, even if they worked 24/7, but they did not give up anytime.

The combination of art and technology by Pixar, resulted in many breakthroughs with a strong quality that required team work, courage and many effort so that they can be terminated and enjoyed by many audiences around the world. Undoubtedly the culture of Pixar is esential for their success and for what they have done to their industry.

Run Lola Run.

Although Run Lola Run may not have the most interesting theme, it is a very dynamic film due to some elements within the movie. The story itself has three plot lines, or ways to develop. There are elements either joining and separating these plot lines in Run Lola Run, may be the characters, changes in setting or the different posibilities for the main situation to happen.

One of the elements uniting the plot lines are the characters. There are characters defining the destiny of the story like the vague or his father, and others who have no relevance like the guy in the bike or the woman with the baby. While Lola is running, some people get in her way from one way or another; in all the stories we see the same characters passing by. But also there is another element separating the stories, as they cross their way with Lola we can watch in a few seconds how the life of this character will be in the future and in the three stories every character has different premonitions.

The setting from the movie at times stays permanent and at other times new elements are included in the different plot lines according to the new story. In the three plot lines the scene starts when Lola is at her house and becomes aware of the situation. One change is that in every story the time is different for a few seconds, so the elements moving that are included in every setting have to be adapted. As each story continues, the setting stays practicly the same unless in the last story when the conflict is solved finaly when he encounters the vague and she wins a lot of money in the casino. 

The fact that Lola has to get money urgently to help his boyfriend is the main situation from where the story will be told. In the three plot lines is the same trouble, that if Lola does not get the money in 20 minutes, to get it, her boyfriend will assault a place; this is the main objective of Lola. At the end of the first and second story when Lola or Mani die, appears a scene with both of them apparently on a bed underneath a red Light and then the story starts over again from the beggining. The element separating the end of the three plot lines is that in the first one Lola is killed, in the second one Mani is killed and in the third one both get what they wanted even if other characters envolved were injured or dead.

Within the movie are elements either uniting or separating the three plot lines by which the story is told, the main trouble and some characters keep constant during the film although some characters may have few changes within each story; also the setting and the time of the events to happen have to be considered.  

Romeo. Romeo & Juliet.

Despite the fact I didn’t like most of the movie for a few reasons, I can distinguish one main and principal character of this tragedy, Romeo is the one I’m going to analize in both the book and the movie of 1996. Romeo’s character maintained his main characteristics in both mediums. Romeo is one of the main characters of this movie, a montesque, one of the opposite forces leading this history. He is my favorite character because he’s unstable and  impulsive with his feelings demonstrated on his acts and attitudes, his dignity and value to refuse violence when not necesary.

Both Romeo and Juliet lead the principal plot of the story from the book and from the movie. Romeo is still the reflexive and desperate man wanting to be loved by other woman. The moment when he and Juliet meet and the following incidents that continue the story keep the touch of romanticism all the time from the character of Romeo. His love seems to be unstopable and boundless when it comes to Juliet.

One of the similarities I liked but also disliked was that the character mantained most of the original dialogue in the movie from the book. One advantage is that the dialogue in the movie maintains the original feeling and intention. Audience can almost get back to the moment where their eyes read the book. It has to be considered also that the movie was made in the 90’s and the language of society had changed, and the original dialogue may not be understood by all people.

Unlike other characters that suffered one or two or more changes on their original profile, Romeo kept his attitudes and his personality. Although recognize him is not a difficult work to do, because of the new location of the movie, his clothing changes a little the original percepcion of Romeo. Despite that fact, his courage and braveness to promote peace and dignity when Juliet’s cousin was trying to kill him stands out. Romeo in both mediums is impulsive in his actions but he does them with complete honesty.

Romeo does not have many differences or changes from the adaptation of the book in the movie. He keeps his main characteristics that distinguish him and changes a little by fisical appearence. At the end the dialogues guide the feeling wanting to be told from the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet.

Freytag's pyramid of Paris, Texas by Wim Wenders

Exposition

The main characters are presented, Travis, his son, his brother and brother's wife. The story begins with the mystery of why Travis walked down the desert apparently with no destination, and the fact that he disappeared for four years and left his son to the care of his brother and wife.

Inciting incident

Happens when Travis reencounters with his son after four years and he wants to be his father again. Travis's brother took him to his house at Los Angeles, where he lived with his wife and where they were raising his son.

Rising Action

Travis and his son start to get along together little by little while his brother's wife starts to worry about giving up the kid. Memories of the one Travis loved, mother of his son who apparently left at the same time he did and never came back, keep returning, either from a family video or conversations at dinner table.
Travis founds out his wife deposit money every fifth of the month to a bank account opened for his son. He decides he wants to look for his wife Jane, picks up his son at school and begins the trip together far to Houston, Texas to find her.

Climax

Happens when Travis and his son find Jane in her car at the bank. They chase her to the place where Travis founds out what she did for a living.

 

Falling Action

Travis founds out the way to talk to her in a cabine where he could see her but she couldn't see him. He starts to talk but lose control and he got out of there. He wanders with his son from place to place wondering of the situation and what he should do.

 Turning Point

Happens when he accepts his fault and realizes of his mistakes in the past with his wife, which propitiate the family desintegration.  He decides he has to join together again Jane and his son. Travis leaves a recording to his son and goes to see Jane for the last time.

Resolution

When Travis starts to talk to Jane again, is the time where we get to know their background story; why both of them left their son and why their relationship didn't worked well. But he didn't went to reconcile with her, he realized their relationship was self-destructive; he just went to accept the mistakes he made in the past in front of her and to reunite her with their son. The story ends with a lonely man who's afraid of what will happen but satisfied for having united the two people he loved the most, and a mother and her son reencountering after a long time, what we can see in a beautiful image.

 

 

Who is James Dean?

James Dean was a 50's american actor who died on a car accident with only 24 years old on 1955. He was born in Indiana, his mother died when he was a child and his father took him to a farm where his uncles lived and they raised him.

He practiced theatre and he studied at the University of California located in Los Angeles. During 1950 he started working as an actor on films and tv. He didn't stand out on television, but he succeeded with two movies.

He obtained his first oscar nomination with East of Eden and later another oscar nomination for best actor on Giant.

Inglourious Basterds is a great movie!

Inglorious Basterds is a exquisite and intriguing movie located at the occupied France during the Third Reich. It may be cataloged not serious or respectful enough ,but it has to be considered the style and manner by Quentin Tarantino to interpret real facts and transform them to tell stories. A marvelous and original version of one time that changes the end of one of the most tense and remembered tragedies of history.

Victory for Germany but tragedy and pain to France. Inglourious Basterds shows a different end of this happening, based on revenge by two jewish forces. A woman whose family was killed, Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent); and the head of a group of eight american-jewish soldiers, First Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt). The fictional unconceivable end is what makes the movie an unusual experience.

The determination and power of the characters to fight for their ends are exceptional. Their motifs are based of revenge, handled out with an audacity on deception, but always keeping on mind their dignity and courage. Constructing with secret meetings and elaborated arrangements in order to end Hitler’s domain, genious women and fearless men perform with elegance their conspiracy.

When it refers to a serious and polemic time as it does in the movie, there will be negative judges and commentaries. It is hard work handling a situation where many people were killed. Times where people were used to murders day by day; times where horror and fear surrounded all places. The movie succeeded on the challenge of portraying all kind of violence with black humour so that everyone can be delighted by the combination of unique dialogues and images.

A well written and directed movie carrying infinite expectations for and alternative end of a decisive historical time carried on by people who deserve their revenge. With black humour and sarcasm the movie stands out with strenght. It may not be the best movie of all times, but Inglourious Basterds won’t disappoint anyone, not for one minute of the two hours and a half.

Story of me

On a weekend me and my family went to a cousin’s wedding. I really don’t like that family events where you have to go almost chained to your parents and this situation happens because when you are a child you can’t decide what to do, I mean it’s not like you are a busy kid at 11. I had to wear the dress I hated the most and combed my hair just to look nice to all the family. Me, my brother and my mom got to the ballroom of the wedding where there were many lights crossing from left to right, from up to down and spinning all over the chairs, tables, people, walls, drinks, food, that entire room. I hate so hard to dance, moving my entire body according to a certain rhythm and melody of a song, I simply can’t feel the music, nobody taught me how to dance and I’m a introverted person with difficulties to relate to others. Sitting on a chair with no food in front of me while everybody was already dancing, I thought, I’m bored enough to dance, so what the hell; I stood up, walked down to the dance floor determinedly and started moving like people around me, I guess that were their dancing moves. I didn’t noticed when I started dancing on automatic, maybe I drank what I was not supposed to, or ate something that had disturbed my notion of the moment; one song kept playing after another and I kept dancing, I closed my eyes and moved my body freely underneath all those lights; I didn’t felt present at that place, I couldn’t notice that people were staring at me. I couldn’t stop dancing, I had overcome my fear and my insecurities.  From time to time my mom or other family member came to say to me “Hey you’ve danced a lot, come and have something to eat or drink, I could get you a glass of water.”, to what I answered “No thanks, I’m fine.”… or that was what I thought. My white dress glowed down the purple light and suddenly drops were staining my dress, but I kept dancing, I thought maybe they were effect of the lights. I felt dizzy and looked at my dress again, when the lights stopped I could see blood on me. I touched my face with my hand and then I noticed that my nose was bleeding. My mother came running to me and took me to the lady’s room to clean me up, she gave me a glass of water and took me outside to get fresh air. The supposed explanation of my bleeding nose was that I danced many time and that my body raised it’s highest temperature  to cause that reaction.  It scared me a few time later, I thought that If I did something I liked or enjoyed in excess, it would probably cause some bad reaction and that I had to establish boundaries. After that experience I really couldn’t be able to get on that state of almost omnipotence and unconsciousness.  Maybe If I got a few drinks and drugs I could feel something similar or totally different, or maybe It was just a childish experience of freedom, spontaneity and security.  I would never know when to take advantage of certain moments and live them at limit, I guess I’ll just do it all the time.