The picture above is the center frame on page 133 of the book Persepolis. What first captured my attention was the teacher's head protruding in from the left side of the frame. I noticed how enraged she looked before following her eye to Marjane's jacket and button. By this point, I had put together that Marjane's attire was very unconventional and that her teacher must have rejected it because it goes against the morals that she had been teaching the girl. My eyes were then attracted to Marjane's over exaggerated facial expressions before reading the text box below. Marjane looks terrified like a deer in headlights as her teacher ridicules her outfit. Marjane must have known this was coming. It could not have been a surprise that her choice of expressing herself would set her teacher off, so my question is why she would choose to wear a clearly modern and western symbol in front of her strict and ancient teacher?

     I believe that the reason Marjane purposely wore this in front of her teacher is almost unexplainable. Marjane is a teenager this far into the novel, and teenagers do some of the craziest and dubious things. Why would someone smoke a cigarette? They are only proven to be bad for your health in multiple ways, as well as addictive, so why would someone purposefully put such bad substances into their body? It is because as a teenager, Marjane is trying to figure out who she is. She is trying to be unique but doesn't necessarily know how, so she is attempting new ways of living life to see if she likes it. Whether Marjane wears something that is clearly against her country's beliefs and practices, or listens to rock music in her room loud enough to shake the building, she is just trying to find out who she is through trial and error. She commits herself to these crazy things that only a teenager would do, like force herself to smoke a cigarette even though she absolutely hates the taste of it.

     As a teenager, Marjane is trying to be herself which means breaking off from society at times. She wears a Michael Jackson button on a jean jacket in front of her very strict teacher. By attempting to be herself, she gets punished. By trying to break off from society, she gets pulled in deeper. Being a teenager in a society like the one surrounding Marjane is very restricting, you can not find yourself when dodging and ducking under boundries.

        The Two Images below are from the film Double Indemnity (top) and LA Confidential (bottom). Both of these films are in the category of film noir, a style of film developed in the 1940s about crime dramas. Film noir is known for having unique effects imbedded into the film. Some of these characteristics are seen in these images below from the films.

        For example, the lighting in both images peeks through gaps in a wall, creating an eerie effect for the audience. The light also reveals the silhouette of a character. Without context, it is impossible to tell who the figure is, this artistic aspect always makes it very suspenseful for the audience. In most movie scenes, the director will be sure to light up the stage with enough light so the audience can see the characters faces clearly. The director intentionally omitted lights and placed them in awkward positions to fill the stage with dubious shadows. This also adds to the suspense factor.

        The camera is stationed right behind the initial character that began the scene, and shows how each character is facing. Because of this view, the audience feels as if they are in the scene with the characters. The character making their first appearance is just slightly off center, whereas the initial character is far to the right of the screen.

Image from Double Indemnity

Image from LA Confidential

     The photo below is from Minority Report which has a lot of artsy aesthetics with its film choices. These camera characteristics put together a story in our brains which most people don't know about. The blocking of characters, and the angle of the lens can reveal a lot about the setting, type of character and even the relationship between characters. For example, by the way John Anderton is staring at Dr. Hineman, it is clear that he is very interested in what she is saying by the look on his face. It's also clear from the picture that Dr. Hineman has more power than John in one way or another because as he listens attentively, she keeps tending to her plants as if Anderton was not even there. The way both of the characters' heads lean out from the rest of their body towards one another depicts that the information that they are sharing between one another is very astonishing and important. This is the part in the film when John Anderton discovers that some of the people that he has put in prison have been innocent due to the minority report when the Precogs don't all see the same series of events. This is a very important scene in the film and it is key to portray a picture for the audience to be drawn to. The lighting in the scene creates milky white almost like a fog which is present in the water that the Precogs rest in as well. This stands as a connection between Dr. Hineman and the Precogs, therefore without any dialogue, our brains connect Dr. Hineman to the Precogs.

Movies that I have seen during the summer:

1. The Intouchables
2. Minority Report
3. White Men Cant't Jump
4. Finding Nemo
5. Perks of Being a Wallflower
6. High School Musical 2
7. Argo
8. Up
9. The Little Mermaid