Film Analysis Essay on Please Give

Please give is a movie directed and written by Nicole Holofcener which was released in 2010. It stars Catherine Keener, Amanda Peet, and Oliver Platt among others. The film revolves around Kate and Alex who are a couple and their daughter Abby and their life in Newyork. Kate feels guilty about her comfortable life and tries to reduce the guilt by doing charity work. She also tries to give out money or food to homeless people a plan that sometimes backfires when she mistakes people going about their business as homeless. The movie tries to depict peoples ignorance and how others can benefit from such people. However, the film is also filled with humor from the charity work that Kate involves herself with to the elderly lady next door.

The director of the movie, please give has employed some techniques while shooting the film. There has been the use of a bird's eye view to get an overhead view of the movie while Kate and her husband visit the grandmother next door.The shot gave us a clear picture of the actors although only their faces were visible (Anon, 2017). There has also been the use of a close-up shot which gives us a detailed view of the actor. The close-up shot has been used in several occasions such as during the birthday party of Kates neighbor. This kind of shot gives us a clear picture of the actors and the cake although nothing else in the room is visible.

There has also been a perfect use of continuity where the director has combined different shots to make a continuous movie. Although different shots were taken in different trials, it is hard to see whether there is a break. The technique is critical when it comes to making movies as they make a film more realistic and enjoyable to watch. Mise-en-scene has also been cleverly used by the director to express different attitudes towards a certain subject. The way the director arranged different stages and setting made the movie appear real. The lighting, costumes, and actors were all placed in the right places to make the movie authentic.

Other techniques have been used such as a medium shot to portray different actors. There were times that the directors shot his actors from the knee up. This technique gives the viewer some moderate detail of the actors or the surrounding (Minoli, 2011). The style has been well used in the film during different parts of the movie. The director has also used low angle shot in her film on different occasions. This kind of shot gives us a view from below.

In several occasions, the director used over the shoulder shot to give us a clear view of the actor's dialogue. Over the shoulder, shots have been effectively used in this film to make it professional and fun to watch. The lighting in this movie has been well adjusted depending on the location of the movie. The indoor lighting was well lit to avoid eye strain while making the characters visible (Abbot, W. and Rider, 2006). The outdoor locations have also been well selected and lit to ensure there is no light reflection. There has also been an efficient use of costume to reflect different characters. The actors in the film have been dressed in such a manner that it reflects their characters.

References

Abbot, W. and Rider, R. (2006). Handbook of broadcasting. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Anon, (2017). [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ29SZBSIlY [Accessed 14 Oct. 2017].

Minoli, D. (2011). Video dialtone technology. Singapore: McGraw-Hill.