PRACTICE 2

OUTLINE
I. The government should take new measures to reduce air pollution in urban areas, because cars emit gasses which contribute to global warming, air pollution from cars can make it harder for us to live and public transport are too expensive.

II. Cars emit gasses
    A. Cars are the largest contributor to air pollution
        - To restrict the older cars

III. Cars make it harder for us to live
     A. We will have many difficulties
        - Pollution from cars can affect our neurological, immune and reproductive system

IV. Public transport is too expensive
    A. To suggest alternatives
       - Why using a bicycle is better?

V. As this problem is more and more worrying nowadays, because those dangerous emissions increase the Spanish  government must take measures

RESPECT THE NATURE

As it seems that  I´m not only writing about cinema, there goes another eco-post:

There are too many people who lack environmental awareness, however keen they are on admiring breathtaking views. If we do not respect the nature, we will have less and less hair-raising scenery to enjoy.

In order to overcome this problem, governments could increase the control measures in unspoiled or threatened places to make sure that people leave these places the same or better than they found it.  Perhaps it is necessary to create campaigns in order to deter people from dumping rubbish, building anything anywhere, etc. The drawbacks of this is that governments do not mind respecting this kind of places; and it is the government itself who grants licenses to build in natural protected areas.

Another solution is that the thriving tourism companies –presumably concerned about being environmentally conscious- begin to sell real package deals advertising a sustainable tourism. However, tourism industry gives preference to its economic interests rather than ecological interests and finally it does not really care much. For instance, if tourists avoided overcrowded environments ant set off in small groups, it would be easier to preserve particularly endangered spots.

Another remedy is education: Children must be taught from school to be aware of how important is not to damage the environment, because we must keep on preserving it not only for us, but for the future generations too. We must know how to judge our actions and try to be responsible in order to feel good about ourselves.

As it seems that there are little alternatives to solve this problem, the final answer could be to use the common sense (if there is left any at all) together with education.  Thus, we would not feel guilty about visiting untouched regions if we respected them to guarantee in the long term that they can be enjoyed without getting damaged.

How green are you?

       In theory, the whole society –even young people- is concerned with the contamination problems; at least they know these problems exist, although it is true that everybody does not know what some of them -like greenhouse effect- involve exactly.  For instance, the greenhouse effect is based on how air pollution from different items makes the ozone layer´s hole bigger and bigger. If we ignore what the causes of air pollution are (vehicle exhaust fumes, the burning of fossil fuels, sprays, chemical waste, poisonous smoke from power stations...), we will not know what to do to prevent them.  

People around me try to be environmental friendly to avoid polluting our surroundings. At home we recycle the household waste; we switch off the lights and turn off the taps when we do not need them. In addition, we do not abuse air conditioning or heater and do not use the car to go shopping or go somewhere in the town, since Murcia is not a big city. However, some friends of mine seem to be a little selfish. They do not go to the bottle bank, or drive everywhere only for their own convenience. By the same token, they do not take seriously  this matter. As a result, we are harming the environment; that is why we should tackle this issue as soon as possible.

HITCHCOCK

  (I)  Everybody knows Hitchcock and recognize him as a good director nowadays. However, until the nouvelle vague directors vindicated him, he was considered just “an artisan”, not a proper author. Although most of his movies were blockbusters, he never got an Oscar. When I found out about this, I could not believe it. Hitchcock was one of the less recognized filmmakers in his time, although now he is considered as a classic due to his great technique, his mastering of suspense and his well-known use of "macguffin".

(II. Great technique)

In spite of the fact that Hitchcock made two films without almost editing (Rope and Under Capricorn), he believed in the power of montage as a visual medium to create an emotion in the mind of the audience. However, although “films must be cut”, montage is also quite useful to tell a story. The point is in the way images are put together. In fact, Hitchcock said in an interview with Emerson Batdorf: “Let me give you an example…We take a close up of a man and cut to what he sees. And what do we show? A woman nursering a baby. You cut back your face reaction and he smiles. Now what is he? He´s a benevolent nice gentleman. [BUT]. Take away the middle piece of film (the mother and the baby) and substitute a girl in bikini. Now he´s a dirty old man. That´s what I mean by the purity of montage control of film” (1970).

(III. The master of suspense)

Hitchcock’s command of suspense is another characteristic of his films. Suspense consists in giving the public as much information as possible.  Suspense must not be confused with surprise. “Let´s suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us”, said Hitchcock. Imagine then there is a sudden explosion. If the public did not have known about the bomb, it would have been an ordinary scene, but if the public is aware the bomb is going to explode, the trivial conversation over the table becomes irritating and the audience feels the necessity of crying to the characters:  “there is a bomb about to explode!”. For instance, The man Who knew too much shows a suspense climax during a concert at Albert Hall, where the female protagonist suddenly realises what is about to occurs, although the spectator already knows.

(IV.Macguffin)

Hitchcock was not the only one to use Macguffin, but it will always be related to him. According to the Oxford dictionary “ macguffin” is  “an object or device in a film or a book which serves merely as a trigger for the plot”.  It is used to make the plot progress, but the object, person or device used as macguffin is not important itself.  The word comes from music-hall (according to F. Truffaut´s Le cinéma selon Hitchcock) : “There are two men in a train and one of them says to the other: `What´s that  packet above your head?’. And the other replays: ‘Ah, that´s a macguffin’. The first one insists: ‘What´s a macguffin?’ And his travel mate replays: ‘A Macguffin is a device for hunting lions in the Adirondacks`. ‘But in the Adirondacks there are no lions, springs the first man’.  ‘Then that isn´t a macguffin`, answer the other’ ” . In North by Northwest the macguffin is a government secret, or in Psicosis it is the 40, 000 $ that Marion Crane steals at the beginning of the film.

(V. )  Thanks to Nouvelle Vague, in spite of not being deservedly recognized for a long time, Alfred Hitchcock was in the end acknowledged. I do not think that Hitchcock not having won an Oscar was due to a lack of talent. In fact, his great mastery is highly appreciated now, and he is among the big ones. Have you ever wondered why some of the greatest (performers, directors, writers…) of all time have never been recognized?

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my great-aunt

My great-aunt Antonina was born in a respectable family and she is the youngest of three children. She grew up in  Valdepeñas, a town in Ciudad Real. Her childhood was hard because of the postwar years. In fact, her father was in jail for a long time due to his political ideology. When he was released in the end, he died soon afterwards of a brain stroke. She and her brothers and mother had to work a lot to move forward. She tells that when somebody wanted to buy something on the black market, as she was the youngest of the three siblings, the older ones make her sell the items –for instance some bread-, since she didn´t realised that was something illegal.  In spite of all that, she is a self-confident person and she studied on his own every night after a workday.

As I see it, she possesses lots of good qualities like always putting others first (she has not a trace of a selfish streak), a good sense of humour, razor-sharp mind (she is highly intelligent), but the most interesting thing about her is that she is a striking storyteller, she has a vivid imagination.  This must run in the family, since my grandpa (her older brother) was a poet and a writer; it seems a quite common streak in my family (my uncle Antonio is a good writer too –he likes writing theatre plays, and he has even won literary awards like his father –my grandpa-; even my mother has always had good qualities and a great imagination to tell us –my sister and me- stories and tales.  As for my great-aunt Antonina, I look on her as a behaviour model and  I´d like to take after  her...  I wish I could follow her footsteps and I love her a lot!

NORTH BY NORTHWEST....

North by Northwest is a late 1950^s film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. This film will be always remembered by its perfect plot and powerful images due to a masterly use of technique.

At the beginning of the film shows one of the most well-made confusion in the history of cinema. While Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) –an advertising executive- is having lunch in a prestigious restaurant, he has the bad luck to lift his arm to call for a messenger, just as the same time as a telephone call is announced for a certain George Kaplan. From that moment on, Thornill is mistaken for Kaplan –a supposed USA spy- by the bad guys.

Among the techniques used by Hitchcock, the establishing shot is a characteristic recourse in this film. For instance, shots that provides sceneries like United Nation building, the famous cornfield scene or Mount Rushmore scene. This type of shot helps the spectator to know quickly where the action takes place, since the main character changes locations frequently.  However,  it is also used the shot reverse shot, because that one is useful to show a scene where two characters are in a conversation; that is, it is a closer way to watch a conversation and maintain the pace of the scene. For instance, the train scene with Eva Marie Saint and Cary Grant at the restaurant wagon (in this same train happens the famous censored scene whose Spanish version has different voices because it was added later -see below-).

Tell me, why are you so good to me?

Kendall: Shall I climb up and tell you why? I've been thinking...it's not safe for you to roam Chicago

looking for this George Kaplan you've been telling me about. You'll be picked up by the police the moment you show your face. It's such a nice face, too.

Don't you think it'd be a better idea if you stayed in my hotel room while I located him for you and brought him to you?

Thornhill: I can't let you get involved. It's too dangerous.

Kendall: I'm a big girl.

Thornhill: Yeah, and in all the right places, too.

Kendall: You know, this is ridiculous.  You know that, don't you?

Thornhill: Yes.

Kendall: I mean, we've hardly met.

Thornhill: That's right.

Kendall: How do I know you aren't a murderer?

Thornhill: You don't.

Kendall: Maybe you're planning to murder me, right here, tonight.

Thornhill: Shall l?

Kendall: Please do.

Thornhill: Beats flying, doesn't it?

Kendall: We should stop.

Thornhill: Immediately.

Kendall: I ought to know more about you.

Thornhill: What more could you know?

Kendall: You're an advertising man, that's all I know.

Thornhill: That's right. What else do you know?

Kendall: You've got taste in clothes, taste in food....

Thornhill: And taste in women. I like your flavor.

Kendall: You're very clever with words.

Kendall: You can probably make them do anything for you. Sell people things they don't need, make women who don't know you

fall in love with you.

Thornhill: I'm beginning to think I'm underpaid.

HITCHCOCK OUTLINE

I . Hitchcock was one of the less recognized filmmakers in his time, although now he is considered as a classic  due to his great technique, his mastering of suspense and his well-known use of  "macguffin".

II. Great technique
     A.montage
        1.narration

III.  The master of suspense
     A. Pioneer of suspense
         1. Remarked suspense Hitchcock´s films

IV Macguffin
     A. Term´s origins
         1. Examples: Psicosis and North by Northwest

V.In spite of not being deservedly recognized for a long time, Alfred Hitchcock, because of his great mastery is now considered among the big ones.