Second Blog Post: Battleship Potemkin

1. I thought that Battleship Potemkin most interesting aspect were the emotions shown throughout the film. Although today we watch this movie and think of the facial expressions as “cheesy”, I think it adds an interesting element to the film. They try different editing techniques to show this emotion and feeling. It adds to the movie as a whole and gives it life with a realistic feel.

Here is a link to a close up on one of the actors faces: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4FP3hkeCOqn47NcVx0G9mCvsAhlwkzpjJjKIGyBGpVQTu9kIVt_d62OrN_D_cwfOHU7YG1v2EW3x6mU4SuNlXpJAebHpo2Lii0r4H2_OjI4zcjKw1N7tNTRwXBI8xK_hZA7lgCkZ-XIs/s400/battleship-potemkin.jpg&imgrefurl=http://metroclassics.blogspot.com/2010/09/links-battleship-potemkin.html&h=291&w=400&sz=24&tbnid=t_p36KiB7HyF7M:&tbnh=90&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbattleship%2Bpotemkin&zoom=1&q=battleship+potemkin&usg=__Am2RhwiWZ0T6YgCKzNrXROUw8Sk=&sa=X&ei=4Ds-TfGQNIrSsAOpoPmiAg&ved=0CEwQ9QEwBQ

2. I thought that it was very challenging to stay with the plot line of the movie. It seemed a little confusing at times with no dialogue. This might be just my intolerance of old movies, but the reading in between each scene seemed very strenuous.

3. The fight scene was not disturbing for viewers today, but I think that back when this movie was made the audience probably had a strong reaction. The fight scene showed a lot of gruesome and frightened people, along with the murder of civilians. This has all of the basic elements to set up a disturbing scene.

The scene I would like to analyze is the massacre of the civilians on the Odessa steps. The Tsar’s Cossacks march down the steps in white clothing towards the civilians. They then open fire and different people are shown dieing. One of the people drop a baby carriage that dramatically rolls down the steps. There are a few wide shots of the steps that show people laying dead, or fighting.

I feel that camera angles and close ups added a lot of emotion to this film. Showing regular people being killed allows the audience to emphasize with the common man. It is interesting the characters the director shown that are seen being killed. Most are women and children, which sends the message of a brutal massacre because women and children are supposed to be let go. The two men that were shown being killed also had underlying implications. One had glasses which may symbolize the killing of education and the other was an ex-Tsarist officer. This implies that anyone who defies the Tsar will be killed.

                     This scene and the movie in general seem to show a lot of revolutionary war propaganda. The audience obviously is made to sympathize with the common man, the civilians. While the officers are shown as corrupt and mean. In conclusion this film in general pins their own country as an enemy. It encourages revolution and could influence any non-political person to join the directors thought of politics. All of these aspects the director put in the scene create a gruesome scene that sends a message

Battleship Potemkin

Jordan's response
After viewing the film Battleship Potemkin, I have to say I have mixed feelings about it. The pacing of the film seemed to be a little much because it was only a little over an hour and yet there was a feeling where I thought the movie was over three or four times before it actually was. That being said, the movie was made in a very interesting manner. It is deliberately different in style and shot set up. A lot of the shots seemed to be set up in a way much different than the handful of movies of that era that I've seen. Many of them were almost awkward in their framing of the characters, there was often very little distance between the camera and actors and also it was often at weird angles that aren't normal. Also, the editing gives a kind of amateur feel; however, it seems almost like the filmmakers deliberately made some of the transitions harsh and awkward. To me the theme seemed to be very deliberate and in your face, the whole idea of overthrowing an oppressive authority and working towards the "greater good" of mankind. And of course there is the whole red flag image in the film. It looks as if someone went in and colored each individual frame of the flag red, but for the time this must have been very "innovative" and new, as well as possibly promoting some communist ideas of the country. Overall, I had a somewhat decent experience with this movie and it is definitely worth looking at in film studies.

Second Post

The difference between watching and analyzing film has a lot to do with attention.

A normal movie watcher would just absorb the movie for the plot line. They would follow the

story to the finish, but not pat attention to the details. Colors, motifs, setting and expressions

all have underlying meanings in films. It is these subtle nuances that make all the difference in these 

films.  These elements of movies help make movies different and unique. When watching a movie one 

must look for these details, rather than follow the story line.

First Blog

The purpose of this blog is to be able and reflect on what we have discussed or

watched in class. This allows us to think critically and also reflect on how others have

perceived materials. This is only an opinion of the writers and their colleagues. My

name is Matt Mohr I am a senior at the University of Redlands. The class that these

blogs correspond to is an English 111 film class. I hope to accomplish a lot in these blogs.

First, I hope to give an interesting and new perspective on material that has already been

reviewed. If it is not a new perspective, then I at least hope to analyze correctly. I also

want to have a mastery of film language and techniques. In order to correctly analyze a

film I feel that one must be able to watch a movie correctly and that is what I would like

to be taught properly.


The purpose of this blog, other than the requirements for my film class, is to help force myself to explain to 

others my viewpoints on film and help make it easier for me to explain things i derive from the films that I 

watch. My name is Jordan Condrey and I'm a freshman at UoR, I'm undecided on a major because I have a 

hard time making decisions, as well as being uncertain of what I want to do in life. This blog is for my English 

111 film class and its to accustom myself to blogging my analysis and feelings about movies. I hope that my 

blog will better improve my understanding of films and giving me a much richer and deeper understanding of 

films and their subtleties.

The purpose of my blog is to post my thoughts and others’ along with opinions and facts pertaining to the

analyzation of film. My name is Gregory Bozoian. I am originally from Minnesota. I am a freshman with an

emphasis in business and music. The class title is English 111, a film class.  I think the blogs are a great way

to access each other’s information and work at anytime. I hope that my blog will effectively and efficiently

reflect my knowledge and ability to analyze films in an educated manor.