Raquel Ortega went first with a comparison/contrast between 300 and LOTR. She was a good presenter, spoke well and presented her movie well, too. I especially liked how she pointed out the parallel between the two movies on how the protagonists face insurmountable odds but don't cower in the face of fear. One of the best things Raquel did during her presentation was describe her images and why she put them on the slides that she did. Overall she had a very good presentation, and a very good movie too. :)
After Raquel, I presented my own movie, Matrix Revolutions. Following me was Vincent Ribordy, presenting Brave Heart. First off I believe Vincent had a VERY good grasp on the connection between Brave Heart and LOTR, and he fully understood his movie as if he watched it 20 times. It was really nice hearing descriptions of certain things from the movie that I never even understood myself. He pointed out how William Wallace and Frodo were very similar in the same aspects of sacrificing themselves for the greater good (even though Frodo doesn't die). He also presented the subject of supernatural forces really well, describing the visions of William's love and what they meant. He also showed a video of the torture scene and explained how that didn't instill fear in the resistance, it just made them stronger. Overall he had a very good presentation with good images and great explanations.
Following Vincent was Dalton Ricketts presenting Saving Private Ryan. Dalton showed his love and enthusiasm for Saving Private Ryan and explained much of the movie for those who hadn't seen it or couldn't remember. He explained the plot and quest line very well and also described Captain Miller to give us a better understanding of how he was such a hero. I believe that Dalton could have used a few more images and more slides on the other topics such as parallels, conflicts, or symbolism, but his overall understanding of the movie was excellent. It was a good presentation.
Wrapping up the presentations was Jordon Kampfer and her movie Pirates of the Caribbean. She had a good presentation of this movie, and a good description of Will Turner, the main hero. She fully understood the plot of the movie and explained the sub heroes really well. I like how she pointed out that Orlando Bloom played in both movies and also that the themes matched up very well. Jordon also had many images and really good ones at that, making her slides interesting to look at. In my opinion she could have used more slides and explained more parallels between the movies, but overall it was a good presentation.I believe that my classmates had a good time studying epic films and they enjoyed watching and talking about their movies. I think they have also learned to look deeper into films as they watch them, and not just watch them as movies. This has taught me an easier way to compare movies and look for parallels between those movies. I enjoyed these presentations and I'm looking forward to what else is in store for the year.
