The movie Gladiator - Essay Example

Full s the Paper is due] Gladiator Movies are visual entertainment with its foundations ongood storylines, good actors, and good directors. Narrating a movie to someone who hasn’t seen it yet can be quite a challenge as words can sometimes fall short of the ability that visual scenes may be able to provide. Creating an image in someone’s mind with the use of simply just words is a skill that is worth perfecting. Preparing the Project The movie Gladiator is one of those films that can pose such challenge upon the individual. It is basically a film showing historical events and ways of life that holds a more specific story within it – the story of the Roman general, Maximus. His tale is that of a distressed individual; hopeless and heavily emotional. A personal story of a man who lost everything, including his will to live, all because of power. It was even power that he did not wish to covet, but it took hold of his life and everything, as well as everyone in it. Being a film that is emotionally packed, Gladiator had many aspects to be explored and presented. Given that it was in a different era, a different culture, and it still had a different way of life, it should be well explained and defined. Putting together a presentation for this film included careful planning about which aspects to include in the content. Generally, it is one that has a simple setting – basically it was all about gladiators in the arena, and battlefields. However, the emotions in the film were overflowing. Being an emotionally packed movie it possesses anger, revenge, struggle for power, jealousy, hopelessness, courage, confidence, leadership, and hope. So how can one display emotions in the presentation? Planning on what to include in the presentation rested upon the detailed exploration of what the movie is all about. What makes it so disturbing, what makes it so different, what makes it dramatic, etc... Answers to these questions determined what major aspects of the film will help define the emotions, thus promote total understanding of the presentation. So basically, the main aspects of the film, which should be the ones presented are the ones that would make the person understand what the movie entails, so as to appreciate the film’s storyline and historical significance. The aspects to be presented were carefully selected out of all the topics and subtopics that are linked to the movie and its significance. Looking at it at the most basic form, the following aspects were the ones that were decided to be included: the movie’s plot, a basic look at their culture especially during that time or era, and also a glance on what violence meant to their culture and society during that period in history. This also includes the role of Rome in terms of power and world domination which would create a clearer picture as to what it was like then. These aspects created a clear image of the setting; what Rome was like during those times, and how power struggles affected society, their behavior, and their decisions. Basic information or details about the movie were also included, as well as the camera’s angles and shooting styles were described in detail so as to define how the emotions evoked by the movie came to be. In other words, how well-made the movie is depends upon the watchers’ reactions – and it has a lot to do with how the camera shifts from scene to scene, as well as the angles used in each scene. Learning about Rome paved a clearer understanding of the way of life that it was easy to define how power, violence, and blood played a role that could easily be the epitome of Roman culture during that era. Yet, as disturbing as it may be, it was their reality. Although in history the Roman culture was described as refined and had high regards to the arts and sciences, it seems that they had nearly no regard for human life – except for their own. What is portrayed in the movie is not a culture of refinement and scholarly behavior; rather it was of violence and barbaric behaviors. During that time, it seems that men and beast were the same when it came to power, and the struggle for power made them more like beasts fighting over a slab of meat – it was worth killing for. About the Project Choosing the topics to be included was quite a challenge and it has its up and downs. One of the apprehensions that may have come up was whether or not the information regarding about Rome and its culture would prove to be significant in the presentation, or perhaps it may turn out to be a redundancy. Also, other points that may have caused some concern over the contents to be included in the presentation were the details regarding violence and what it meant to the Roman culture during that time. It reflected a barbaric way of life, an inhuman way of doing things; and this may cause some somewhat negative reactions from some people who may feel differently, especially those with roots in Roman culture. Perhaps there may have been quite some dilemma in terms of the order of topics – how it was going to be presented, how it may affect the flow, and so on. However, besides from those mentioned, there were significantly not much concerns and apprehensions during the process of completing the presentation. In writing about the culture of Rome, it was good aspect to include as it presented an idea as to how things were like, and what was considered to be normal and not. However, a weakness in such inclusion of that topic is that there are many aspects and angles that would have been explored about the Roman culture that would significantly paint a clearer, better picture about it. But since it might cause redundancy in the presentation, only the aspects of the culture that relates to the film were included – particularly those about gladiators, gladiator games; the crowd’s involvement in the games, the violence, and Rome’s thirst for power. The quality of the project’s content may be evaluated as somewhat well made. The contents were researched carefully, making sure that what was included were correct and not misleading. Also, it was carefully edited so that only the information that were significant would be the ones to be included, and not stray from the point of focus of the project. Summarizing the plot in a way that it wasn’t boring, nor would it compromise the movie’s storyline is also something that may be considered to be one of the strengths of this project and therefore making it successful. Telling the story with too many words may be boring and can actually be an eyesore, whereas not going into detail, well the significant details, would also compromise the storyline and would certainly be counterproductive for the project’s success. Being able to present the plot in an adequate amount of words, thus still including all the parts that would be able to still tell the story well is an aspect that contributes to a well made project. However, the project can be evaluated as somewhat well made, but not perfectly excellent. General information about the film including the names of the actors and actresses, as well as the director should have been presented in a more organized form. Although the name of the director was separated from that of the cast, it was still unclear. It would have been better to have identified his role as the director. Also, although including information about culture and violence are strengths to the project, how it is presented can be somewhat considered to be a weakness. Presenting it in outline form would have been better, yet it may lack information such as explanations about the topic. And with it presented in paragraph form, it has become quite muddled, and may seem to be unappealing to read. In short, there were too many words clamped up in a single paragraph so that it could include information about the whys and what’s about the topic. Same goes for the part wherein the word “gladiator” is being defined, and some additional information about them. It is informative, yet muddled in presentation and it may not be the best way to present it. Perhaps an outlined version would have been better, each just including a brief explanation beside it to make it informative. However, when looking at it and evaluating its content, it is very informative and should definitely be included. The decisions made about this project are very good. The practical approach as to the process and impact of the project makes it well made. The process carefully selected the content and how it is going to be presented. It is simple, easy to understand, and informative. The project’s content is also practically selected; including only the ones that were relevant to the movie and not straying from it. It avoids the confusion and breaking of one’s trail of thought, while it enhances one’s input regarding the film and ideas surrounding it. Not only does the project include the plot about Gladiator, but it also includes additional information that is related to the film, giving the individual additional input about it – a total picture of the event. The inclusion of the plot and how the camera moves in the film are details that contribute to the impact of the project. Basically, the total impact of the project lies with the added information that gives the individual a basic understanding of the movie and why things are done that way (in that time and culture), but description about how the camera moves through the movie is a reminder that the project is not a history report, but rather talks about a film, and just gives some information and ideas with regard to history. Some aspects of the project may require improvements, such as how details are presented. But aside from such, the content is excellent. It is a complete guide to the film, Gladiator, equipping the person to fully understand and appreciate the movie and everything that comes with it. The required impact is seemingly satisfied, and my understanding and point of view has been broadened by the things learned through this project. Reflecting on the feedback given to myself, it has opened a window of self criticism wherein seeing where the project lacks effectivity or productivity is discovered and accepted by me. The intended outcome is honestly, something considered to have been better than the actual outcome. However, although it didn’t turn out as great as intended, it is more than satisfactory. In totality, the project may be rated as more than satisfactory – carefully planned and well made. Read More