The topic of this week’s blog is introductions since this is my first one. My name is Justin Hamilton but you probably knew that from just looking at my blog name. I was born on February 8th, 2000 so that means that now I am 15 years old, almost 16 in about 3 weeks. My interests include video games, history, and movies. I am involved in the Drama program at Saint X, not as an actor but as a behind the scenes guy who builds the set and does all of the set changes and such. I am also involved in WSTX on occasion and the History Club. I aspire to be a pilot when I get out of college.
Now that all of the information that you could read from a Wikipedia entry about me is out of the way, I would like to tell why I chose to take this class. One of the major reasons is because this and acting were the only two classes I could find that didn’t have any written tests or quizzes which was a plus. However that is not the whole story as to why I took this class. The big reason why is because I love movies. I love to watch them and I love to critique them. However I don’t like to write them because I don’t have that much creativity and spare time. Something about movies I love is the escapism that they provide. Take Lord of the Rings for example. Even though that is also a very successful book series, it also makes a great trilogy of movies. Through the scenery and costumes I am able to escape from our world and be transported to Middle-Earth and follow Frodo and Sam on their epic-journey to destroy the One-Ring.
Another reason I like movies is similar to the first reason. It allows me to see a story from the protagonist’s eyes. A movie that comes to mind is Forrest Gump. In it the audience is able to see how Forrest’s dumb luck and overall good nature get him into many situations that we as normal can only dream of. We are able to see the journey that he goes through from early childhood all the way to when his son goes to school in the same place he did.
The last reason that I like movies is a bit exclusive to one genre, history and historical fiction. I like being able to see a story I have only read about in history come to lie. For instance a recent movie that I saw this weekend was The Last Emperor about the life and times of Puyi, the last Qing Emperor and the last Son of Heaven. Even though it is three hours, it really doesn’t feel like it. The story keeps you engaged and the protagonist, even though he is royalty is easily relatable in his quest for freedom during his time in the Forbidden City and his want for a better life for his country during turbulent times. My only complaint and it really isn’t a complaint is that it’s not in the native Chinese with subtitles. Even though it is a bit excessive, I really do like it when movies go for the extra layer of authenticity with language.
In conclusion, I really feel like movies in general are a good way of story-telling and are able to convey emotions unlike other media like books or just a television show. I also feel like this class will allow me to appreciate movies more fully and be able to critique them better.The topic of this week’s blog is introductions since this is my first one. My name is Justin Hamilton but you probably knew that from just looking at my blog name. I was born on February 8th, 2000 so that means that now I am 15 years old, almost 16 in about 3 weeks. My interests include video games, history, and movies. I am involved in the Drama program at Saint X, not as an actor but as a behind the scenes guy who builds the set and does all of the set changes and such. I am also involved in WSTX on occasion and the History Club. I aspire to be a pilot when I get out of college.
justinhamilton2000 