Moviegoers and film industry professionals praise the Academy Awards as one of the greatest awards to receive. 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 compare the opening of both films. At the beginning of Birdman we are introduced to two of the main characters from the very 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…
Unlike Birdman though the writer/director take the over used idea and flip it on its head, giving a new outlook on the story. In most teacher and student films the teacher may be 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 driven by the story. . Also in both films the lighting is very similar. Warm colors, contrasty scenes, and once on stage, very bright spotlight to drown out the audience is used in both films. If there are similarities between the movies and the story of Whiplash was more original than that of Birdman then why did Birdman win and Whiplash lose? 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 accustomed 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 compare the opening of both films. At the beginning of Birdman we are introduced to two of the main characters from the very 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…
Unlike Birdman though the writer/director take the over used idea and flip it on its head, giving a new outlook on the story. In most teacher and student films the teacher may be 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 driven by the story. . Also in both films the lighting is very similar. Warm colors, contrasty scenes, and once on stage, very bright spotlight to drown out the audience is used in both films. If there are similarities between the movies and the story of Whiplash was more original than that of Birdman then why did Birdman win and Whiplash lose? 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 accustomed 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