Moviegoers and film industry professionals as one of the greatest awards to receive praise the Academy Awards. Every year the Academy has to make a hard decision and choose the best of the best of that year. One of the most sought after awards is Best Picture. In 2014 the movie Birdman won, but should it have? One of the films that was also in the Best Picture category was Whiplash. This paper will compare and contrast the two films and look at why Birdman won and Whiplash did not.
First lets look at the opening of both films. At the beginning of Birdman we are introduced to two of the main characters right at the beginning. We see Michael Keaton floating in the air as he meditates. As the camera moves in closer we hear a voice over of Birdman …show more content…
In Birdman Michael Keaton’s character is trying to re-ignite his greatness. Many for his performance in movies as Birdman once loved him, but since he has gotten older and they stopped making the Birdman films he feels as if his career is fading and that his stardom is fading. So he is doing a stage play on Broadway to try and get his name back in the lights. Through this struggle of depression he embodies his ultra ego, which is Birdman. He eventually has a mental break down and has an out of body experience, which shows him the answer to all his problems.
The thing about the story of Birdman is it has been used before. The story was not really new and exciting. There is an actor who can’t get over his past and is struggling back to stardom. Also the characters we are introduced to through out the film are over used. Edward Norton plays the new hotshot actor who is difficult to work with. Emma Stone plays the drugged out disrespectful daughter. These characters have been used time and time again and in Birdman they did nothing new to make those characters unique or …show more content…
Unlike Birdman though the writer/director take the over used idea and flip it on its head, giving a new out look on the story. In most teacher and student films the teacher maybe hard on the student but in the end the teacher cares for the student. In Whiplash there is the opposite we have a teacher that is abusive and does not care about the student at all, all he cares about is his music and his image.
There are a few things that are very similar to each other in both films. The music in both films is that of jazz, mainly jazz drums. This was used in Birdman to help give beat and pace, but the use of it in Whiplash was because it was what the story was driven by, jazz music. Also in both films the lighting is very similar. Warm colors, contrasty scenes, and once on stage a very bright spot light to drown out the audience. If there are similarities and the story of Whiplash was more original then that of Birdman why did Birdman win and Whiplash did not? It would have to come down to the cinematography. Whiplash used the basic camera movements, the basic edits and cuts that the audience has grown accustom to through the years. What Birdman did was revolutionize that idea. Birdman was shot as if it was all one take. No clear edit points, no stopping, just a continuous movement of camera following the
First lets look at the opening of both films. At the beginning of Birdman we are introduced to two of the main characters right at the beginning. We see Michael Keaton floating in the air as he meditates. As the camera moves in closer we hear a voice over of Birdman …show more content…
In Birdman Michael Keaton’s character is trying to re-ignite his greatness. Many for his performance in movies as Birdman once loved him, but since he has gotten older and they stopped making the Birdman films he feels as if his career is fading and that his stardom is fading. So he is doing a stage play on Broadway to try and get his name back in the lights. Through this struggle of depression he embodies his ultra ego, which is Birdman. He eventually has a mental break down and has an out of body experience, which shows him the answer to all his problems.
The thing about the story of Birdman is it has been used before. The story was not really new and exciting. There is an actor who can’t get over his past and is struggling back to stardom. Also the characters we are introduced to through out the film are over used. Edward Norton plays the new hotshot actor who is difficult to work with. Emma Stone plays the drugged out disrespectful daughter. These characters have been used time and time again and in Birdman they did nothing new to make those characters unique or …show more content…
Unlike Birdman though the writer/director take the over used idea and flip it on its head, giving a new out look on the story. In most teacher and student films the teacher maybe hard on the student but in the end the teacher cares for the student. In Whiplash there is the opposite we have a teacher that is abusive and does not care about the student at all, all he cares about is his music and his image.
There are a few things that are very similar to each other in both films. The music in both films is that of jazz, mainly jazz drums. This was used in Birdman to help give beat and pace, but the use of it in Whiplash was because it was what the story was driven by, jazz music. Also in both films the lighting is very similar. Warm colors, contrasty scenes, and once on stage a very bright spot light to drown out the audience. If there are similarities and the story of Whiplash was more original then that of Birdman why did Birdman win and Whiplash did not? It would have to come down to the cinematography. Whiplash used the basic camera movements, the basic edits and cuts that the audience has grown accustom to through the years. What Birdman did was revolutionize that idea. Birdman was shot as if it was all one take. No clear edit points, no stopping, just a continuous movement of camera following the