Keep in mind, as we discussed in class, that this film was made during the Cold War and lots of fear about atomic war and the Russians destroying the U.S. behind the scenes is going on here.
As you write about this film, please answer TWO of the following questions:
- What is the theme of this film? Back up your theme by referring to specific moments of the movie.
- Does this film ask questions about the course of society. If so, what questions are they? Back up your opinion by referring to specific moments of the movie.
- Could we create the special effects in this film at East Hollywood High School? Which ones could we not create? Why? How could we change elements of the plot to make it filmable without seriously altering the spirit or purpose of the story?
- Some have described this film as a blend between Sci-fi and Film Noir. Do you agree or disagree with that? Why?
- How did watching this film prepare you to write your own Sci-fi script in this class?
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
ReplyDeleteI love this movie. I think i’ve came to a better understanding of Sci-fi because of ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’. I don’t know if paranoia is a theme but if it is I would say this film would go under that category. Since the film was during the Cold War so there was a lot of ‘paranoia’ during that time. I would say it showed a lot during the film. Sure, it wasn’t showing the fear of an atomic bomb but it was showing fear of the unknown. Like, what where these creatures replacing loved ones and friends? Why were they here? How could we stop them? There was no way to stop them and I also think that also goes back to the Cold War at the time. They couldn’t stop an Atomic bomb if it hit and they couldn’t find a way to destroy the ‘body snatchers’.
Most of the special effects in ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ was simple. The aliens looked like humans, they didn’t look like weird scary monsters that involved a lot of make-up. So we could recreate the aliens if we wanted too. I’m also pretty sure we could recreate the pods too, maybe if we redesigned them to look simpler we could do it. Sure, we wouldn’t be able to film in a small town since we don’t live in a small town but we can easily transfer the location of where the ‘invasion’ happens. Instead of in a small town it can happen at a school.
I think this is a great blend between Sci-Fi and Film Noir. The voice-over narrative throughout the film gave a Noir feel towards it along with the hard lighting in some places of the movie and in my opinion some of the dialogue in the movie sounded like it came straight from a Noir movie.
Like I said before this film gave me a better understanding of the Sci-Fi genre and caused my brain to go into overdrive thinking of a great screenplay to write. Sure, I still don’t have a plot but I’ve been getting better ideas of what I want to write.
-Koren
I love how detailed your response is, Koren. Speaking of Body Snatchers at a school: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILBZ-JDPNzI
DeleteI think pretty much all of this film can be made at the school. All of the aliens look like people and the pods are just weird bubble things. We can easily do them. Also, the film could be done at the school without hurting the story, it's not very important that the city is there.
ReplyDeleteAs for a SciFi noir, I agree. This movie is a SciFi but it feels so much like a noir!
Carlos, this post is a little shorter than I like to see. Please elaborate more. For example, you could tell us what characteristics of the movie made it feel like a noir.
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