Literature & Media

I read the script for Eyes Wide Shut , which is directed by Stanley Kubrick, and screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Frederic Raphael. I've only heard of this film before, and since I am really interested in Kubrick films, I chose this script. I would say this story discusses about family loyalty and love in a very interesting way. I chose to do the adaptation from a Director of Photography's point of view. In the script, the time mainly takes place at night, so the color tone might be colder overall. When in the beginning Bill and Alice are still a "happy family", the lighting should be warmer, and as their relationship gets worse, the lighting might be cooler and cooler. When Bill goes to the secret meeting, the meeting should have a different color contrast to the outside world, since it feels so unreal and dreamy. The meeting might be having really intense and violating colors, the audience doesn't know if this is reality or not, and although it feels like a...

Ready Player One  is a novel that talks about our world in the future where virtual reality takes most of the place. It was a nice book to read, although it is kind of lengthy, it always kept me wondering what will be going on in the next few pages. It has a relatable character -- Wade, who is a senior in high school and is very good with video games, especially anything about Halliday-- and a simple goal for the character-- to win the Easter Egg that James Halliday had left for OASIS players. During Wade's hunt for the Easter Egg, in one part of the book we see him rarely or never goes out of his apartment, just to focus on the virtual reality world and achieve his dream there. This could be an issue that will possibly relate to our situation too, where you always hear people say that "technology is taking so much of our time" and "escaping the reality". As our technology advances, we became more and more attached to electronic devices, wireless internet, soc...

The book Marriage of a Thousand Lies  discusses about family traditions versus a relationship that will not be accepted in this kind of family. I find the book relatable-- although I am not in the same position as the main character-- but this is a thing that is still very common nowadays. Also it is wonderful to have the author come and talk about the book, which is not an experience we could always get. The movie we see in class has a similar tone to the book, where things doesn't always end up happily. Although it lefts a feeling of commiserate in the audiences mind, but I personally think it reflects the reality. Not everything would go the way you wanted it to be, and not all stories need to have a happy end. It is the not so happy end would make the viewers think and realize that this is still a thing that haven't been solved in the society, and there are people that is having trouble with the problems they are dealing with. Both in the book and the movie, the girls i...

Although it is not lengthy, this book somehow feels pretty lengthy to me. The topic the characters are discussing and how the story progresses are a bit difficult to read, and I could only got through two thirds of the book before I got distracted by other things. But I would say this is an interesting book after all, to see the world from a total different point of view. When watching to movie in class, the first thing I noticed is that in the movie, they didn't really show us whether the main character dies at the end or not, while in the book the main character does die. I actually liked the movie's ending, because it left the viewer's a feeling of mystery (a cliffhanger that will never be solved), and it suits the mood of the movie pretty well. I also like the part in the movie when the main character is sitting in the car, it is calm and peaceful compare to the chaos outside, and how the focal length makes the limousine feels really big and empty. The movie is pretty...

Before I read the book The Secret History of Wonder Woman , to me, Wonder Woman is just another super hero from the comics. She has interesting costumes and amazing powers. That's all I knew about her. But after reading it, I didn't know that there is so much story behind the creation of a super hero. I am slightly surprised of the relationship between Marston, Elizabeth, and Olive. Not only of how they accepted to be in a relationship like this, but also because of the time period they are in. I think it is pretty open minded for them to accept a relationship like this. I am also amused by how some of the Wonder Woman props are created, like the lie detector and her ropes are from Marston's life when they actually used them as something else. Also, I find it interesting that the book started way before the creation of Wonder Woman, it discussed the actions of feminists and how was Marston's family like at the time, to what kind of person Marston is and how much his r...

The story line of True Grit  isn't that complicated-- A girl wants to seek revenge for her father who was killed by his client-- but the emotions and relationships beneath this story is truly touching. The story's main character Mattie is a stubborn, witty, and brave little girl who will not give up until she reaches her goal. On the other hand, Cogburn, an old drunk law-man seems to have less "True Grit" in him. Society: The society is cruel, no one wants to help the little girl because it's non of their business. LaBoeuf, in my opinion, kind of represents the society. The reason he wanted to capture Chaney at first was because of the money. But at the end (in the Coen brothers film version), he is willing to help Mattie with no cost. I also find it pretty interesting how the book and the two movies has different endings for LaBoeuf. In the 1969 film, LaBoeuf was killed during the fight with Chaney. But in the Coen brothers film, they did not address the wherea...

A Prologue of Myself Since I was little, I was always interested in reading all different kinds of novels, comics, and children's books. Before high school, I was living in Taiwan and studied more of the Chinese literature than the English ones. The few western books I read was Sherlock Holmes, some Greek mythologies, and Grimm's fairy tales. Until I came to the US in high school, when it was the first time I read Hamlet  and other western literature. To me, it is quite interesting to study stories under different cultures, to find what is in common or the differences in them. It is also fascinating to me that in both cultures, some of the books follows almost the same structure. Since I was raised in a more Asian culture, I find it not so hard to understand the story and its meanings behind it. I look forward to learn more about literature in this class.