2733_Jing_MovieAnalysis

Film Analysis

Film: Do The Right Thing
Name: Jing Hou
Student ID: 2733
Date: 2010-04-16

This film Do The Right Thing was released in 1989. Spike Lee wrote this story and directed this film. As a black director, he has his own unique characteristics and performance methods. This film can fully reflect the characteristics and style of Spike Lee’s film. This article will demonstrate Spike Lee’s film features and some filming techniques.

Spike Lee is a famous American film director, producer, writer and actor. His desire is to shoot the real "black film”, so most of his films were involved with the black theme. As a black director, he has intensive experience in black’s habits and social problems,so he always uses his film to really demonstrate black life habits and reflect some serious social problems in American society, for instance race relations, crime, poverty, and so on. So people always call him the best director with the black consciousness.

Do The Right Thing is one of most famous works of Spike Lee. Through this film he demonstrates special local street atmosphere in New York, complains unequal treatment of blacks in America and displays racial conflict. This film also brought him great success. He was nominated for 2 Oscars, other 11 wins and 6 nominated. For instance in 1989, Do the right thing won best director, best music and best picture in Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards. In 1990, Spike Lee was nominated best writing in Oscar. At the same year this film also won best director and best picture in Chicago Film Critics Association Awards and was nominated in Golden Globe.
(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097216/ ;
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097216/awards)

Do The Right Thing describes one-day story which happen in a community in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn where most of people are African American and Puerto Ricans. It is the hottest day of summer. So He uses a lot of warm colors (red, blue, gold, and so on) in background, costumes and decoration .He chooses red as this film’s theme color, which is a color that reflects hot deeply. These bright colors are opposite to the cool theme of this film. At the same time he used music and lines to reflect his special characteristics. As a film of excellent black theme, it was full of Black rap jazz. It also performed a lot of slang and bad language of black daily life.These features were used throughout the whole film.

In the title sequence, accompanied by the theme song “Fight the power”, Rosie Perez dances. Sometimes she wears bright red dress in front of gold background, on other occasions she wears blue dress in front of red background. “Fight the Power” has explosive force in not only tune but lyric as well. Fast-pace music and dance reflect that director is not satisfied with black’s social situation and inspires them to fight.

1. Screenshot shows Rosie Perez is dancing

The first scene in this film begins with an extremely close-up shot, camera focus on an alarm clock and microphone. After a ring of alarm clock, Senor Love Daddy (Samuel L. Jackson) consecutively said several “wake up” .These “wake up” not only ask people in the community to get up but also wish people to wake up in mind. Then with a zoom out we can see that he sits in front of the window and narrative the story. From his angle, he can see a lot of things what happens in this community. He tells people not to do stupid thing, which tell us that some bad things will happen. There is a sharp contrast between black backgrounds color inside and red light on his face.

2. Screenshot shows Senor Love Daddy are narrative the story.

The beginning parts in this film describe people’s daily life in this community and introduce several main characters’ personalities. Spike Lee takes a medium shot from a low angle to shoot that Smiley (Roger Guenveur Smith) wears red shirt and stands in front of red brick church with photographs of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. Bright red make people feel very hot. Smiley is a mentally impaired person and always sells these photographs to other people. He is a small potato in this film. In spite of stammering, he points out this film’s theme against racial discrimination, but nobody really notice him. It also has some ironical effects.

3. Screenshot shows Smiley is talking about the photograph in his hand.

In this film there are three men sitting by the street and having a chat. Their background is a red brick wall, which shows that it is a very hot day. In this scene Spike Lee takes an extremely long shot to highlight red background firstly. Then with a zoom in, camera focus on three men from eye level. They observe the community and complain some social problem. But they do not do anything to change these problems. This is real life of majority black; always have nothing to do, constantly complain unfair society without any action.

4. Screenshots shows three men are talking.

Buggin Out (Giancarlo Esposito) is a young man that seems to look for trouble. He is one of people that take action to against racial discrimination in this film. The below scene is the beginning of the conflict. We also see that the flower is red, this film’s theme color appear again. Director takes a medium shot to shoot this scene. Then camera pan from down to up and focus on wall of fame from Buggin Out’s eye level. He notices that there is no one black on this wall. He wants Sal put some black pictures on his wall of fame, but Sal refuse to do this. In spite of Sal has opened the pizzeria in black community for 25 years, he still has deep-rooted racial idea. He looks down upon black and just put American-Italian on his wall. His wall of fame is one of cause of final conflict.

5. Screenshot shows Buggin Out notice the wall of fame.

Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) always takes his big radio with loud “Fight the power” music. He thinks that he has right to do anything that he want. However he never cares about other people’s feeling. Sal does not allow him to play music in pizzeria, which is another cause of final conflict. In this scene Spike Lee takes a medium shot from low level. Then the camera focus on his gold rings with love and hate. His introduces his rings to Mookie accompanied with background music”Fight the power”. In fact director shows that love and hate exist together and conflict in people's minds, these two emotions are static. However the love can defeat the hate through fight. In the below scene Spike Lee uses highlight on love ring, which reflect that he looks forward to a word full of love.

6. Screenshot shows Radio Raheem is showing his rings to Mookie.

Da Mayor (Ruby Dee) is an older man who always drinks a lot every day. In spite of this he always pursuit good things, Mother Sister (Ruby Dee). He often tells other people to do the right thing. He is in favor of non-violence in this film. When other people have some trouble or conflict he always take action to stop bad thing. But he has not enough power to solve every conflict. In this scene he saves a boy who nearly hit by a car. Main background remain red color, even the car close to them is red too. Spike Lee takes a medium shot to shoot and the camera move tracking with Mayor.

7. Screenshot shows Mayor save the boy.

When Radio Raheem and Buggin Out enter the pizzeria with loud music in the evening, Sal quarrels with them. Sal’s some words causes other black’s dissatisfaction. Then he breaks down Radio Raheem’s radio. This action put the conflict to a high level. Spike Lee takes many medium shots to exhibit characters’ action and face. In these scenes he frequently adjusts the camera angle between low shot and top shot. These shooting techniques excellently showed fierce conflict and tense situation. Behind Radio Raheem and Buggin Out, there are two lights. These two lights are faraway and eye-catching in dark background, which reflect that Spike Lee is eager to solve some racial decimation.

8. Screenshots show they are quarreling

At the end Radio Raheem’s death cause the anger of black in this community. Firstly Mookie breaks down the window of this pizzeria with a rubbish bin. Then other black people break down the whole pizzeria. Smiley even lights the shop. It is a tragic ending that Radio Raheem dies, Buggin Out is arrested, and the pizzeria disappears. But there is some success in the tragic ending, which is that Smiley puts the photograph of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King on the wall of fame. Spike Lee reminds people that they can get some return so long as they take action to fight.

In spite of the name of this film is Do The Right Thing, Spike Lee did never tell what is the right thing and how to do right thing in this film. On the contrary, it ended by two totally different quotations, violence and non-violence. These two views inform audiences that nobody can judge right or wrong. People need to realize by themselves what right thing is.

Harry_2485_Do the right thing

Film:Do the right thing
Director:Spike Lee
SID:2485(Harry)
Date:15/4
F i l m A n a l y s i s

Do the right thing, it produced, written and directed by Spike Lee. It produced in 1989. Inside the movie, the story is basic on the season that is summer and the story is talking about African-American who is living in America. They have some problems with other American people who have the different cultures. And also, it used a lot of technique to make the movie and show the audiences what the movie is talking about. For example, they use the camera to zoom in the car cross the water and also the director use zoom in the door to show the man is wet. The director use the technique because want to show the detail and than the audience can easy to understand it.
The director is Spike Lee. He uses lots of colorful color in the film. For example, when he shows Tina dancing in the background, he uses lots of color because he wants to make the film beautiful and when Tina dancing, for example she is wearing a colorful top to dance and when she dance, the light is lighting to her and using the color to show her power. The entire scene, it uses lots of color, for example it uses yellow or red. In this film, he uses violence in this film because he wants to tell us when people use violence to do something, it will not have a good ending so it shows in the end there are lots of blood in the scene. In the end, it has one people died in the story because he frightened with police.
This movie is famous because it made by famous director and the director use lots of color to make the film because he wants more audience to like it and this movie is made by 1980 and it is not many film made by color in 1980. They use lots of technique into the film and the director use lots of sound/sound track into the scene. It has lots of funny stuff into the movie so this film become very famous.
In this story, first they will introduce the character and than Buggin' Out go to the Italian pizza shop to eat pizza and he ask Sal why he can’t see his brother photos in the shop. They have argument about the photos and than Sal ask Mookie to take away Buggin' Out because Mookie is Buggin' Out friend. In the end, Buggin Out, a big guy and Smiley go to Sal shop and than Buggin' Out ask Sal again the question after that a big guy turns the music loudly and than they frighten together and finally Smiley burn the shop and than police arrive and arrest a big guy and Buggin' Out.
In this movie they choose lots of African people to do actor because the director wants us to know what happen/ problems in that days. It is an English movie and in the movie there are lots of people nothing to do, expect the main character (Mookie, Sal, Vito and Pino and the Korean family.)
This movie is using Sequences, it uses flash forward to describe the story and it is talking from the beginning to the end. From the beginning, it shows the problem Buggin ‘Out because he wants his brother photos show in the pizza shop but Sal, who is the boss and he disagree. He said’ I just show the famous people in this shop’. In the end Buggin’ Out go to the shop again and he bring two other people. The one is Smiley and the other one is a big guy, they go with Buggin’ Out. First Sal say he is busy in the shop, Buggin’ Out just walk around into the shop and than suddenly a big guy turn the music on and Mookie tell him not to turn the music. Than they have argument. After that Sal join the argument and a big guy fright with Sal but Sal win the fright and than in the ending is very sad because Smiley start the fire in the Italian shop and than the other people stay in the outside to throw stones and steal money into the shop. In the beginning the director show us they just have argument but in the end the director using violence in the ending and some people arrest by police and a big guy dead in the end.
Character
Mookie, he is a main character because he is an actor and also he is a director in the film. He works in an Italian restaurant. He works with Sal, Vito and Pino. He seems like to be the only African-American that has a job. He interested in money and he usually said ’I gotten get paid and get a job’.


Da Mayor, he is an old man, he is normal height and he usually sit down in the stair and in this film. He broke up with mother sister but he usually tells people to ’ Do a right thing’. He doesn’t have anything to do. He likes watching people doing anything. The director usually use Medium shot to shot him. This scene is at night and the director uses medium shoot to Da Mayor and his smile. He is a non-violence people because he usually tells people do a right thing and he usually tell Mookie. Da Mayor is closely related to Mookie because Mookie doesn’t do bad thing and when he see some people frightening and he will stop them.

Cinematography:

1.This movie some scene use white and black because it shows us the time is old and they use zoom in to show the character Mookie goes to give the pizza to customer. Sal gives him a pizza than the camera shot medium shot.


2.This scene use zoom in to show Mookie loves his girl-friend Tina


3.This scene use long shot to show Sal and Vito are augment about the shop.


4.This scene is extreme long shot and shows us African-American people hate American people.


5.These scene uses zoom out and show other people don’t like a big guy and they joked him.

Music
In this movie, it is the most important part in the film because we can easy to know what happen in the scene. The music is” Fight the power” and Tina dances in the background and she has lots of power to show her dance.

Conclusion
The music is important in the movie because it can make us easy to remember the movie structure and the most important thing in the movie is the sound and the camera because it show us the actor action and the sound is important because when we watch than we can understand what are they telling for us.

Image References:
1.http://www.thestencil.com/archives/images/do-the-right-thing-water.jpghttp://www.thestencil.com/archives/images/do-the-right-thing-water.jpg
2.http://www.cityofsound.com/photos/uncategorized/radioraheem.jpg
3.http://www.filmreference.com/images/sjff_01_img0141.jpg
4.http://blogs.indiewire.com/images/blogs/reverseshot/archives/images/DoTheRightThingSalPino.jpg
5.https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQet7LiLdpmGWqnlyQWEsfoIaKLwAZpJVBeUzAMP0G7kxKcgkhheOQPuyFjovfubU6mMkEiU6LfniCCIHhY1AS9meqy7vjSis8bTjRwECpsUYz73rKNOe_565mgnwjXR_3XNIK5fozZnrn/s320/do_the_right_thing_1989_imagesphoto.jpg
6.http://www.brandhype.org/albums/Examples/DoTheRightThing_1989_56.thumb.jpg

1831_Rachel_Film Analysis

Film: The virgin suicides

Name: Rachel

Student ID: 1831

Date: 2010-04-14

The movie The Virgin Suicides is adapted from the well-known novel of same title, which is directed by Sofia Coppola in 1999. Sofia Coppola comes from a very filmic family. Her father is Francis Ford Coppola who is well-known world director and her cousin is Nicolas Cage who won the 68^th Oscar Award for the best actor. She graduated from California Institute of the arts. The movie The Virgin Suicides is ,the first long film, directed by her.

She read the novel at her 25 years old. She was attracted by the atmosphere with sentimental. She spent over 4 years to rearrange script and the movie company were very satisfy with it. She exude great confidence. The movie only took 29days to shoot,and won two awards ,one is best new filmmaker another is best director at the same year.

Come back to the movie. Based on the novel by Jeffrey Eugenides.TheAction takes place in the summer of 1974 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan which the censorious, ultra-conservative Catholic parents Mr. and Mrs.lisbon,(James Woods, Kathleen Turner) have been excessively to protect their five daughters; Cecilia------The youngest of the Lisbon girls. Cecilia, age thirteen, is mystical, precocious, shy.Lux-----The second youngest of the Lisbon girls. Beautiful, sexy, slim, mischievous, adventurous, and eventually promiscuous, Lux, age fourteen. Lux's adventures have wildly varying consequences for her sisters' lives. It is out of love for Lux that Trip persuades the Lisbon parents to let the girls attend the dance, affording them several exquisite hours of happiness.Bonnie-----The middle child in the Lisbon family. Bonnie, age fifteen. Mary-------The second oldest of the Lisbon girls. Mary Lisbon, age sixteen.Therese------The oldest of the Lisbon girls. Therese Lisbon, age seventeen.

The youngest daughter,Cecilia is found in the bathtub with her wrists slit and a tarot card of The virgin mary beside to her. The neighborhood is gossiping about the reason about she did it. The family is got into a tailspin. Cecilia is sent to hospital, Dr.Horniker think of what is wrong with her. The doctor said:”What are you doing here ,honey? you’re not even old enough to know how bad life gets…” Then Cecilia looks at him, said” obviously,Doctor,you’ve never been a 13-year-old girl.” iI think doctor still do not understand why she did it.The doctor considers that her suicide attempt was a cry out for help. He suggests the she need more extra social gathering outside of school. The parents pity to have a small party in the basement of the house.

Mr. and Mrs Lisbon invite the neighborhood boys to join it. But Cecilia is still not having fun and wants to be excused. She goes back bedroom at earlier time, few moments later, Cecilia finally kills herself by jump into the front yard of her house.

After it, Mrs.Lisbon lost it completely,she cannot accept the fact. The cause of Cecilia's suicide and its after effects on the family are popular subjects of neighborhood gossip. The mystique of the Lisbon girls also increases for the neighborhood boy

Lux is a special girl,different from her sisters. She was curious about love and sex.She always has boys around her in school.Lux begins a heartbeat with one of them who is very popular in school called Trip Fontaine.Trip visited Lisbon house servel times,he try to require the overprotective Mr.and Mrs.Lisbon to allow him take lux to a dance party. The girls are lucky to get an opportunity to join in a part,maybe this is unique change in their life. They elaborate dress at home and waiting for the boys to pick up them. They were dressed in peaceful white skirt looks very naïve and just like purity.The boys are crazy about them.

Their wanton dancing, loud laughter in the dance party.In addition, it is obvious that the party afford the girls entertainment and pleasure and relax their bodies and ease their minds.At the end of party,Lux and trip won award the queen of the party and the king of the party respectively.

After the party.girls come back to home except lux.Just as we know，how she would easily go home.She had a sexual experience with Trip in a football stadium at that night. But when she wake up,Trip went off and left her.Then she go back home by taxi in the morning. Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon severely blame her.

After Cecilia suicide and Lux was bandoned by Trip.In that scared time,Mr. and Mrs.Lisbon have to force their daughter to leave school stay at home. Mrs. Lisbon even destroy their favourite album. The girls have nothing to do to stay in the room. In spite of this, the girls are still able to attract the attention of the boys. boys fantasize about going out with their travel photos,and record their favourite album to play to them on the telephone. The telephone become the only fun about the girls every day.

At the end of the movie,the girls sent a message to the boys to come to their house, the boys arrive in a short time.When they get the house,the only see Lux is smoking at living room by herself and Mr.and Mrs.Lisbon is sleep. At that time,three of the sisters have killed themselves,Bonnie hangs herself,Therese overdoses on sleeping pills,and lux dies of carbon monoxide poisoning in car and a cigarette with her finger. Mary attempts suicide by putting her head in the oven, but fails. Mary later succeeds by taking sleeping pills.After that day ， Have been concerned about this matter by neighborhood. Newspaper and TV media also reported this matter.

The five daughters left them,Mr.and Mrs.Lisbon move out the house and is sold to another person.

As a female director, and directed the age when the tube is not very old, this debut also show a tender and a run counter to the traditional and innovative. Many composition of the movie full of imagination, the use of light, depth of field is very mature, stable images in harmony. Five sisters have committed suicide in adolescence is a sensational story. Although Coppola personally surgeon deliberately boycotted the sensational script, but filled with light and agile beautiful picture of worldly atmosphere and sexy girls are still in the restraint of the whole narrative with a hopeless romantic. Again and again, the picture flash sweet face, let the film to review the growth seem a little shy.

About movie music, Sofia Coppola seems to really like this French electronic music classes,which called Air.The music is very well,and I think the music is the important element of the movie.A reasonable music is the cornerstone of the succeed for the movie.

About movie picture,The seasons rotate is one of my favourite picture, to shift scenes in a motion-picture film or videotape by having one scene fade out while the next scene appears behind it and grows clearer as the first one dims. The effect of the use of light and shadow to express. What is more ,Sofia Coppola also use a lot of cold and warm color to express the different feeling and emotion about charator.At the end of the movie about the die of 4 sister, she use cold color to outline looks more gloomy and forlorn.

In general speaking, all the memories of adolescence are complex and contradictory. It is like a blooming flower, blue sky in a cloud, warm autumn afternoon sunshine, innocence and good. The result, therefore it is a fragile vulnerable, to bring people often fragmentary memories or scars of life. Minimum of 10 minutes beginning 13-year-old Cecilia has no return on the first choice. Clouded the death of several girls in the the sweet life. Since then the girls would predict the final outcome.

Their mother has religious faith, closed family, people choking the living environment, in addition, no other way out. Interestingly, all this is subjective from the perspective of several boys: girls’s world is mysterious, full of magnificent colors. In their eyes, never really understood that between the small house, sinking, filled with what little heart in the end. Actually very simple, it is a pure in this world, and among people full of imagination and curiosity of the mind, as fragile as glass, such as sponge valuables. So a point in the world and against detention have become among the not shirk their lives. Unique antenna or female director can basically make people visible. Delicate, fluid in the sentimental, this is the female nature to the properties.

For my part.the film is not intended to convey adolescent children, lost, nervous connotation, is a greater degree of criticism of the family, parents, harsh and perverse, the juvenile denied emotion and vitality.In a closely confined family,despite the love of their parents, but full of do not understand, dictatorship, their own incompetence, the fear of their children face social.Compare with it even more frightening than broken families, violence in the family.

After sitting through this film, you may start to sympathize. But in the end, the strengths of the movie are overwhelmed by what is pretentious, unplugged and boring to boot.

2715_Karis_film Analyses

Film Analysis

Film: Do the Right Thing

Name: Karis (Wenting Ye )

Student ID: 2715

Date: 2010-04-11

“Fight the power” is the Right Thing to Do

----------Analysis of “Do the Right Thing”

The movie Do the Right Thing is a 1989 movie directed by Spike Lee, and which is one of the best and most well-known works of Spike Lee.

The film was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry at 1999. In 2007, the American Film Institute listed the film as the ninety-sixth greatest American Movie in Film History. (Reference: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_the_Right_Thing)

This movie is described a life of a black community in New York. This movie is around a black delivery boy Mookie who work at the only pizzeria at this neighbourhood and the Pizzeria owner Sal who is an Italian-American. It happens at a hot summer day. This day like another narrow day as usual but someone take out his emotions probably because the hot weather. It brings out a fight between black man and white man.

There is a rap song playing again and again, and that is “Fight the power”. “Fight the power” is used as a theme song for “Do the right thing” by Spike Lee.

Here are the lyrics of “Fight the power”:

1989 the number another summer (get down)
Sound of the funky drummer
Music hittin' your heart cause I know you got sould
(Brothers and sisters, hey)
Listen if you're missin' y'all
Swingin' while I'm singin'
Givin' whatcha gettin'
Knowin' what I know
While the Black bands sweatin'
And the rhythm rhymes rollin'
Got to give us what we want
Gotta give us what we need
Our freedom of speech is freedom or death
We got to fight the powers that be
Lemme hear you say
Fight the power

Chorus

As the rhythm designed to bounce
What counts is that the rhymes
Designed to fill your mind
Now that you've realized the prides arrived
We got to pump the stuff to make us tough
from the heart
It's a start, a work of art
To revolutionize make a change nothin's strange
People, people we are the same
No we're not the same
Cause we don't know the game
What we need is awareness, we can't get careless
You say what is this?
My beloved lets get down to business
Mental self defensive fitness
(Yo) bum rush the show
You gotta go for what you know
Make everybody see, in order to fight the powers that be
Lemme hear you say...
Fight the Power

Chorus

Elvis was a hero to most
But he never meant shit to me you see
Straight up racist that sucker was
Simple and plain
Mother fuck him and John Wayne
Cause I'm Black and I'm proud
I'm ready and hyped plus I'm amped
Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps
Sample a look back you look and find
Nothing but rednecks for 400 years if you check
Don't worry be happy
Was a number one jam
Damn if I say it you can slap me right here
(Get it) lets get this party started right
Right on, c'mon
What we got to say
Power to the people no delay
To make everybody see
In order to fight the powers that be

(Fight the Power)

(Reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PaoLy7PHwk)

From the lyrics, it is not difficult to see black people fight for freedom and respect to the government. From the tempo of the songs, the singer rap out the anger of black people. This song likes a political statement to sing out the voice of black people. For a long time, black people played slaves on western history. Even now, some parts of white people still hate the black. The black people still are kept under by white. The new immigrant-African-American, still meets these problems. Racial discrimination is still happening in Unite States. What thing can solve this racial discrimination issue? Spike Lee agrees with using violence. When Sal broke Raheem’s radio, this action triggered the conflict. The residents of this community did damage and set the pizzeria on fire. To Lee, “Fight the power” is the right thing to do.

“Fight the power” brings out the conflict of this story. “Fight the power” totally showed sixth times on this movie except on the sequence. It was played by something which connects with Radio Raheem. Every time, when “Fight the power” is playing, the shot is being shown on the screen, which always the angry emotion. What’s more, they are different levels anger along with “Fight the power”.

The beginning of the movie, there is a vigorous and aggressive girl dancing with a rap song “Fight the Power”. The girl always shows the angry face whether she changes different clothes, sometimes she wear a blue leotard outfit as a boxing outfit, sometimes she wear a red dress . There is a typical New York apartment building as background, which tells us the story is happening at New York. The girl dances and moves around to the music, mirroring the energy of the song. The director use medium and long shot to capture the energy of the girl dancing with the powerful music. The dancing shows a sense of strength and independence.(0-1) This scene takes over four minute at the beginning of the movie. This brief sequence, likes a music videos, which style is familiar with MTV. This kinds of shooting was using in some modern Hollywood films at that time. (0-1) The girl is dancing with “fight the power”

A black girl and a powerful rap song are showing at sequence. The lyrics of the song and the raging look of the girl bring an idea about racial discrimination to audience. The attitude of wrath is showing there is going to have a war.

“Fight the power” shows at the first time, Radio Raheem played this song by the big radio walking on the street and then he met some the ground of kids around the neighbourhood. He was proud of showing the big radio and the music to the kids. He seemed like to remain black people who live in this neighbourhood all the time to standing with black. The director was panning the camera from down to up cutting the kids view to Radio Raheem view, and using the low show (1-1) to these characters. The POV (Point of view) of Radio Raheem (1-2) to the kids is parallel. Radio Raheem doesn’t want to scare them and just want to share the music to them.

(1-1) Wide-Angle Lens/Low show to Radio Raheem

(1-2) The POV of Radio Raheem - the kids

At the second time of playing this song, Radio Raheem played the music loudly to compete with the Spanish man who was playing Spanish song. Radio Raheem had a little bit angry with Spanish men because they did not like the song he played. For the Radio Raheem entrance, the director was using low show and panning the camera from down to up (2-1) again. The cut of Spanish man still keep parallelism with shooting Radio Raheem.(2-2) It shows Raheem respect for his opponent. The director also use ELS(Extreme Long Shot) to shooting after Radio Raheem won the competition.(2-3)

(2-1) Wide-Angle Lens/Low show to Radio Raheem

(2-2)The Spanish man is watching Radio Raheem.

(2-3)Raido Raheem was walking away after he won the competition.

Radio Raheem always plays this song loudly walking around at this neighbourhood. One of the reasons is the location of this neighbourhood which belongs to black people. But the fact is not like that. This place not only has black people living but also has other white people or Asian people living and making their own business. For Radio Raheem, this neighbourhood is his home. Radio Raheem competed with Spanish man and Radio Raheem won this competition. In some sense, he protects his territory.

The third time, Radio Raheem played the song loudly at Sal’s pizzeria. He ordered a slice of pizza from Sal but Sal asked him to turn his radio off. Radio Raheem thought he had right to play music wherever he wants but Sal thought this rap song is junk. Black people create the new style of music. That is Rap song. These kinds of music always show the scornful and wrathful emotion. They always bring out a defiant feeling so that Sal doesn’t like these kinds of music. And the most important thing is this place owner is Sal. Sal just allows the Italian music and Italian culture was showing on this place.

The director use wide-angles lens to show Radio Raheem’s threatening demeanour. Radio Raheem show his rage to Sal. This kind of shot technique always is used at shooting music video. (3-1) Spike Lee did not use wide-angles lens only once. When Radio Raheem was telling the “love and hate” story to Mookie, the shot angle changed from middle shot to wide-angles lens and it was long take. (3-3)The director always uses extensive camera movements to change the angle. The POV (Point of View) of the Radio Raheem to Sal is looking down. It not only shows that Radio Raheem has a intimidatory attitude to Sal, but also shows that Sal has a pavid feeling to Radio Raheem. (3-2)

(3-1)Radio Raheem look at Sal when he orders a slice of pizza.

(3-2)Sal asked Radio Raheem to turn his radio off.

(3-3)Radio Raheem told “love and hate” story to Mookie.

Compare with the songs were played when Sal came out, they were quieter. Most of this background music was played by cello. The style of these songs likes European-style.

Sal is an Italian-American. He was proud of raising the black kids by his pizza at this neighbourhood. But on the other side, Sal’ family also were raised by the black people. Sal showed his attitude is kind to the black people but there was still having voice tell himself-he hate black people.

Sal always told his son Pino did not have argument with Mookie and told he be nice to black people. Every day, Sal gave money to Da Mayor to clean the windows of pizzeria. But on the other side, Sal was not allowing play any rap song in his pizzeria.

When Sal’s son Pino asked his father leave this neighbourhood to open a new pizzeria at another new place, Sal said no to him. For the real life, he had no choice to keep open pizzeria at this black people neighbourhood. It is another satire of the life. Spike Lee shoots this lengthy conversation in one long take. (3-3)

(3-3) Pino asked Sal open the pizzeria at another place.

“8:11” in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeSxk4Ky1-Y&feature=related show this long take.

When Buggin came to discuss to destroy Sal’s pizzeria, Radio Raheem agreed with him. At this moment, “Fight the power was played at the fourth time. Radio Raheem and Buggin had the same goal-let the white people know they are in the black neighbourhood, and they should give respect to the black people. At this time, Radio Raheem and Buggin ‘Out fond “power” together by Boycott the pizzeria. Lee use wide-angles lens again to shoot this conversation. (4-1) He cut the shot from medium shop to top shot and zoom in the camera shooting Smiley, Buggin and Radio Raheem.(4-2)

(4-1)Buggin came to have a discussion to Radio Raheem.

(4-2)Smiley, Buggin and Radio Raheem are looking up.

When Radio Raheem and Buggin were talking to Sal at the pizzeria, Radio Raheem played the song loudly. Even Sal asked him to make the volume down because Sal hated these kinds of noise music, Radio Raheem still did not stop. “Fight the power” was played at the fifth time, and it broke out the conflict. For Raheem’s ignore, Sal was furious so he broke Raheem’s radio. Radio Raheem fought to Sal marked his wrath.

With the characters were fighting, the camera angle was changing from long shot to medium shot. The POV of Radio Raheem and Buggin is looking down to Sal, (5-1) contrarily, the POV of Sal is looking up to Raheem and Buggin. It is showing a fear. (5-2)

(5-1)Sal asked to turn off the radio

(5-2)Buggin asked Sal to put some black man picture on pizzeria wall.

The last time “Fight the power” was played when Smiley put the Martin Luther King Jr.and Malcolm X picture on pizzeria wall. The pizzeria was burning but Smiley was smiling. (6-1)(6-2)

(6-1)The picture of Martin Luther King Jr.and Malcolm X

(6-2)Smiley was smiling.

This smile can mean Buggin makes his wish come true, which is putting the black man picture on pizzeria wall. Or it can mean the black man defeat the white man at this time. Buggin just strive for putting the black people photos on white people’s place. He want black people can have the same status with white people. This time, the song is not standing for anger. That is kinds of victory.

Martin Scorese said “sound can tell the whole story”. “Fight the power” as a theme song shows sever time in this movie. Evert time it comes, it shows the characters emotion. It likes a fight song and it likes representing black people’s voice.

Radio Raheem burn the pizzeria to show his defiance. He is using violence to solve the problem. Contrasting with Radio Raheem, Da Mayor always does the right thing. He told Mooike do the right thing after Mookie had a row with Sal. He told a lie to the police to cover the black kids’ behaviour. He saved a little boy who almost knocked down by a car. He sent flower to Mother Sister to change relationship with Mother Sister. And he tried his best to stop the fight between Radio Raheem and Sal. Da Mayor is not agreeing with violence. He doesn’t think violence can solve the problem. For Da Mayor’s background music, it is always the gentle and casual music. By throwing in these two different kinds of music, it stands out the raging emotion of “Fight the power”.

The men in the photo which sell from Smiley are Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. These two men hold different opinions. Martin Luther King , Jr. think violence is immoral, contrarily Malcolm X is agreeing using violence in self-defence. Da Mayor keeps Martin Luther King, Jr. idea to do the right thing and avoiding violence. Obviously, Spike Lee agrees with Malcolm X because he let the fight happen but there is someone dies in the end. So is it violence really can solve anything?

New York is the most populous city in the United States, which consist of different people from different place. United States represent freedom, which advocates accommodating different race. Is it the truth? Spike Lee shotting a normal day at a black neighbourhood as a theme for this movie, which also reflect the underlying problems in the community.

The director use different types of music which were listened by different ethnic groups of characters to show different culture. The songs help characterize the community for audiences. But he use one main song to connect the whole movie to give expression for his idea “Sometimes the violence can solve the problems. You have no choice to rely on violence to meet the fact.”

“Are we going to live together? Together we are going to live?” Mister Senor Love Daddy leaves this question at the end of the movie. That is also Spike Lee leaves this question to the audiences.