Spike Lee, born Shelton Jackson Lee on March 20th 1957 in Atlanta,Georgia is an American film director,writer,producer and actor. His first short film which he made in 1980 when he was a student called The Answer proved to be quite controversial. His next film was another short at 45 minutes called Joe Bed-Study Barbershop:we cut heads released in 1983 this won Lee a student academy award.
After this he made a feature film called she's gotta have it made on a budget of $175,00 making $7 million at the box office. This film also allowed Lee to make his own production company called 40 acres and a mule.
Another one of his feature films was called Do the right thing which was based on Lee's own neighbourhood in Brooklyn and racial violence that would break our there which gave a Lee an oscar nomination for best screen play and a nomination for best supporting actor to Danny Aiello.
Lee has also produced documentaries . In 1997 he made a documentary called 4 little girls which was about four african american girls who were killed in a bombing in a baptist church in 1963 and this gave Lee another Academy award nomination for best feature documentary.
In 2015 Lee was also given an honorary academy award for being 'a champion of independent film and an inspiration to young filmmakers'.
She's gotta have it was released 1986. This is spikes first feature film and tells the story of a woman called Nola and her having different relationships with three different men.
It was films in 12 days in Fort Greene,Brooklyn on a budget of only $175,00 and the budget was so small they were not able to shoot retakes.
When watching this i found it very interesting that most of the movie is shot in black and white. Also while watching it you could see how much of a low budget the film was as all the actors were a bit wooden but you could tell that there was passion behind them and it also adds a charm to it all.
the only scene that is in colour on the film is in a dance sequence for Nola's birthday. This scene is very vibrant and colourful and seems to be a pastiche of classic musicals and similar to the wizard of oz which is referenced only a few minutes before.
Lee also likes to break the fourth wall in the film and the characters look directly at the audicne telling them how they feel. This seems to be evident in do the right thing and makes the audience relate to the character more but also brings the audience out of watching the film as they are being talked to directly.This is an interesting quirk and makes the movie more memorable.
overall this is a very enjoyable film and you can tell it is very low budget which adds a quirk to it and you can tell lots of passion and thought has been put into it.
Lee wanted to show how bright and energetic it was by showing local children,residents as well as the graffiti sometimes in stills in the films and it also helped bring more attention to the artists and musicians of Brooklyn. On its opening weekend it made $28,473 and made a total profit of $7,137,503. This also boosted Lee's fame and recognition.
When watching this i found it very interesting that most of the movie is shot in black and white. Also while watching it you could see how much of a low budget the film was as all the actors were a bit wooden but you could tell that there was passion behind them and it also adds a charm to it all.
the only scene that is in colour on the film is in a dance sequence for Nola's birthday. This scene is very vibrant and colourful and seems to be a pastiche of classic musicals and similar to the wizard of oz which is referenced only a few minutes before.
Lee also likes to break the fourth wall in the film and the characters look directly at the audicne telling them how they feel. This seems to be evident in do the right thing and makes the audience relate to the character more but also brings the audience out of watching the film as they are being talked to directly.This is an interesting quirk and makes the movie more memorable.
overall this is a very enjoyable film and you can tell it is very low budget which adds a quirk to it and you can tell lots of passion and thought has been put into it.
Lee wanted to show how bright and energetic it was by showing local children,residents as well as the graffiti sometimes in stills in the films and it also helped bring more attention to the artists and musicians of Brooklyn. On its opening weekend it made $28,473 and made a total profit of $7,137,503. This also boosted Lee's fame and recognition.
A very different film Lee has directed is one called Rodney King. This is a one man show staring Roger Guenveur Smith which is a Netflix special. This show was created to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1992 Los Angeles riots and about a man who was a taxi driver called Rodney King who was beaten by police during it and this event was filmed,Smith plays a King.
This film is not a typical film but more like watching a play in a theatre and is spoken word which makes Smiths delivery sound almost lyrical and makes the audience listen a lot more to what he is saying as it is very poetic as well as him sometimes beat boxing at some points and making the sounds of things like punches so the audience can imagine what is happening very vividly. It was shot in a theatre so the whole things takes place on the stage and there are no props or sets and the camera angles are all mainly close ups to Smith so the audience can see his emotions. It is also shot in very low key lighting making him look almost like a silhouette and gives the connotations of this event happening at night and also blue and red lights are used to convey the police lights.
This film is very interesting and smiths performance is very engrossing making the audience feel sympathy to him and being able to convey the raw emotion of everything.If his performance was not very good than the film would not very very good as everything rests on him
Both these films by Lee have African American characters as there leads but their stories are quite relatable to a wider audicne . Even though the events portrayed will probably never happen to the audience they are able to feel sympathy and empathy to these character and are fully invested in them. You can tell the story is the key part to Lee's films and he wants it to be very engaging and Lee directs this veru well.
This film is not a typical film but more like watching a play in a theatre and is spoken word which makes Smiths delivery sound almost lyrical and makes the audience listen a lot more to what he is saying as it is very poetic as well as him sometimes beat boxing at some points and making the sounds of things like punches so the audience can imagine what is happening very vividly. It was shot in a theatre so the whole things takes place on the stage and there are no props or sets and the camera angles are all mainly close ups to Smith so the audience can see his emotions. It is also shot in very low key lighting making him look almost like a silhouette and gives the connotations of this event happening at night and also blue and red lights are used to convey the police lights.
This film is very interesting and smiths performance is very engrossing making the audience feel sympathy to him and being able to convey the raw emotion of everything.If his performance was not very good than the film would not very very good as everything rests on him
Both these films by Lee have African American characters as there leads but their stories are quite relatable to a wider audicne . Even though the events portrayed will probably never happen to the audience they are able to feel sympathy and empathy to these character and are fully invested in them. You can tell the story is the key part to Lee's films and he wants it to be very engaging and Lee directs this veru well.
Robbie this was sounding so good but we lose it in the second paragraph could you please repost?
ReplyDelete