The Day of the Locust

            I am not entirely sure what happened in this story. It tells the story of a man who moves to Hollywood to make it big. He befriends some interesting characters along the way and the story is really just about their somewhat mundane lives as they are trying to either become movie stars or are just trying to get by.

            The story is told by the main character, Todd Hacket, but then it shifts and is told from another character, Homer Simpson. The thing that unites these two characters and makes their paths cross and become friends is a woman named Faye. She is an inspiring actress who will never make it but Todd is in love with her but will never have her, and she takes advantage of Homer by living in his house rent free. It is a simple book that tells of these characters lives together for a short amount of time. The main focus is on Todd but just because he is the main character it doesn’t really make him the good guy. In fact I can’t put my finger on which the “good guy” or “bad guy” would be in this book. There was no real beginning middle or end, things just sort of happened.

            Todd is a painter; he came to Hollywood to pursue his career as an artist but winds up being a costume designer and set painter for films. He mentions that he is working on a personal piece entitled “The Burning of Los Angeles.” The last chapter of the book tells of the riot that breaks out just before a movie premiere. As Todd is being thrown around in the riot he imagines his painting, the flames glowing red, his friends running in the foreground. I really liked how in the end, since there was no true ending because nothing was resolved, Nathanael West brought back the painting because from the start of the riot it seemed possible that Los Angeles could burn that night. 

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

This film is pretty set in stone as to when and where it took place. There was an exact event, which they went to in a specific city where the events unfolded. I tried thinking of a new time, or place where this film could be shot but it’s hard to change that without changing the screenplay too much. Although I have never seen the film I have seen the poster and several screenshots so I have an idea of the characters, but still don’t know the soundtrack or style of shooting. After reading the screenplay and imagining the characters in my head, the film is seems pretty close to how I imagined them. Two guys in Hawaiian shirts with cigarettes hanging from their lips at all times and looking dirty and tired from the previous nights shenanigans. I imagine there would be a lot of bright colors, not just because it’s Vegas but also because the characters are constantly on drugs so adding a lot of color to every shot would further engage the audience and give them an effect of being on drugs like the characters. The cinematography could be almost loose in a way. Using a lot of handheld shots while the characters are high but combined with a modern style of shooting involving mounting the camera to the car and on rigs that could twist and turn it to give a new look and enhance the drugs in the film.

            I really enjoyed reading the screenplay; I would actually like to read more then watch the movie. It is more interesting ti read the screenplay rather than the book because if you read the book then watch the film you just point out what was different. But the screenplay is the script so you can focus on setting the scenes in your head then seeing how they are different on the big screen. 

The Hunger Games

            This book was definitely meant for a younger audience, even though the book is about killing. For what it was, it could have been written in a very dark manner, but even though it was about death and murder it was still written light enough for young teens to read. It was interesting enough to read the whole book and continue on from chapter to chapter, but I wasn’t glued to it, straining my eyes reading the print begging to find out what was going to happen next. This was the first book of the trilogy so it spent a long time introducing the characters and explaining their back-story. It was really good for character development but because I just read the first book of the series I thought too much time was spent on her at home then in training, it could just be that I am impatient but I wanted to get to the actual Hunger Games portion and read about players strategies and how they went after one another. I think if I read the other two books in the trilogy then I would appreciate this book more, but because it left on a cliffhanger and spent so long to get to the action I can only say I enjoyed reading the book but nothing more. I have recommended it to others but with some hesitation. It seems like it is written for early teens, leaving middle school and going into high school; that seems like the target audience. It was a good read and I am glad I read it because with the movie coming out next year I am going to hear so much about it and now I can finally be in the loop about what is going on with teen books and movies. 

Wizard of Oz

I am actually happy then I finally got to read this book after seeing the film so many times and hearing about it for so many years. In my film class in high school we talked about this film a lot, we even watched it while playing Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, which changed the movie into something even more incredible. I do have to admit that I enjoy the film over the book though. The book created and solved problems too quick. A crisis would arise at the beginning of a page, but by the end of that same page it was solved for the most part. It was a very simple read, not just simple to read but there weren’t any complexities to the story. I may feel this way just because I know the film so well, but I can’t really think of a time when I was scared that any of the characters were in true danger and that any of them would actually die or be out of the story. Everything that happened was solved so fast and the good guys always prevailed so quickly and almost effortlessly that it took any true excitement out of the story for me. Unfortunately while I was reading the book I couldn’t stop comparing it to the movie, pointing out what the movie left out and what they changed. I did like the book better than the movie because more did happen, the only issue I had with is was how quickly every scenario was solved. Overall I’m happy I finally read the book but was a little surprised how much of an easy read it was. 

Genre

Comedy
Western
Action
Fantasy
Sci-Fi
Horror
Gore
Documentary
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Thriller
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Musical
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Independent
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chick-flick
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fiction
non-fiction
children

Hunger Games

Main characters are from district 12

Win in pairs if form the same district

Same outfits going into the arena

dual "suicide"

mockingjay bird; two species mated together

Rue and Prim both kinda sisters to Katniss

pair of star-crossed lovers

Government vs. the people

-Gov. wanted to show control over people and get views

- People hate it but are very entertained by it

Government instilling fear by making Hunger Games more attractive to viewers

Katniss from falling in and out of "love" with Peeta

Cato's body armor protected him from arrows but prevented him from dying from the wolves.

Target audience being the same age as kids who enter the Games.

Gamer

Battle Royale

Gladiator

Lord of the Flies - Kids in survival situation

1984 - Gov. in total control

Anthem -

Mad Max

Brave New World

Survivor

Big Brother - always being watched

300

Expected Katniss to win

break out of the Hunger Games

some sort of rebellion against The Games

Katniss and Peeta to be together because they both loved each other

sponsors to send a lot more items, more people from districts sending help

Katniss to be a hero