It was pleasing that Mark finished semester with such a fun class last week, but what was even more pleasing was the superficiality. After a semester discussing and analysing the meaning of film, thoroughly exploring motivations, conflict, symbolism, etc. It was great to just talk about pure aesthetics, film as a visual medium, film, just for fun.

The Matrix was a brilliant example shown, with some of the explosions and fight scenes in that moving serving no purpose but to look cool, and boy do they look cool. Which makes you think about two different ways to get a reaction from an audience. In search of that wow moment, there are two very different ways it can occur. First through plot, a story is unfolded over a film, leading the audience to a conclusion that is expected to astonish. Plot twists are a common method that is used to create that wow moment, with Chinatown and The Crying Game, two examples that spring to mind.

Alternatively, as in The Matrix, the ‘bullet-time’ moment on the rooftop creates just as much amazement in the audience, from just a few seconds of special effects, but it’s so well done, and so innovative that it evokes a string response.

I tried to think of an example from a comedy that was pure entertainment. The one I came up with was the Gutterball sequence from The Big Lebowski. The Coen brothers are masters at creating these modern screwball comedies which leave so much room for zaniness. So when Jeff Bridges was knocked unconscious, the Coens, decided to throw in a quirky dream sequence which serves no other real purpose than to make the audience laugh. Just for fun.