harold and maude
1 Please write a description of the mise-en-scene and musical sore from the opening scene. Note: you will want to write notes on this as you watch for the first time. Why do you think the director, Hal Ashby, made these choices? Defend your answer.
The mise-en-scene of the opening scene is a boy dressed in brown tones with neutral and similar tones around the boy. The song is actually the opposite though because it is saying words like keep your head up high and the song has a “bouncy” beat to it and the song is not slow but actually has a medium pace to it. The reason I feel that the director put this combination together is because he wanted to do something different, something that really is not displayed on the silver screen during that era, and that is suicide. I also feel that the reason Hal Ashby did this combination was to remind people who might commit suicide is that to keep your head up high and that it will get better no matter what you think. Another possibility is that Hal Ashby wanted to take advantage of the new Hollywood and do something daring.
2 The musical score by Cat Stevens (who makes a cameo appearance in the film) is crucial to this film’s success. Please give two reasons why this is true – using the match of scene and score to defend your answer.
I believe that the reason of why Cat Stevens music made this film so successful is because if you actually wanted to hear these songs that were probably not released on cassettes yet, so fans of Cat Stevens had to purchase tickets to see this movie just to hear parts of his songs. Another reason that I think why the musical score helped this film with its success is because during this tome Vietnam was happening and my guess is that the music helped people be happier and it also helped everyone cheer up about the war.
3 Please do a little research on the term “absurdist theater” or “dark comedy.” How does this differ from a traditional comedy such as Some Like It Hot? (Please list web sites
The mise-en-scene of the opening scene is a boy dressed in brown tones with neutral and similar tones around the boy. The song is actually the opposite though because it is saying words like keep your head up high and the song has a “bouncy” beat to it and the song is not slow but actually has a medium pace to it. The reason I feel that the director put this combination together is because he wanted to do something different, something that really is not displayed on the silver screen during that era, and that is suicide. I also feel that the reason Hal Ashby did this combination was to remind people who might commit suicide is that to keep your head up high and that it will get better no matter what you think. Another possibility is that Hal Ashby wanted to take advantage of the new Hollywood and do something daring.
2 The musical score by Cat Stevens (who makes a cameo appearance in the film) is crucial to this film’s success. Please give two reasons why this is true – using the match of scene and score to defend your answer.
I believe that the reason of why Cat Stevens music made this film so successful is because if you actually wanted to hear these songs that were probably not released on cassettes yet, so fans of Cat Stevens had to purchase tickets to see this movie just to hear parts of his songs. Another reason that I think why the musical score helped this film with its success is because during this tome Vietnam was happening and my guess is that the music helped people be happier and it also helped everyone cheer up about the war.
3 Please do a little research on the term “absurdist theater” or “dark comedy.” How does this differ from a traditional comedy such as Some Like It Hot? (Please list web sites