Sunday, November 25, 2012

4) The writer in his or her time

The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead is a comics created by the writer Robert Kirkman and by the artist Charlie Adlard. It tells the travels of a human group trying to survive in a world invaded by zombies.



Robert Kirkman was born on 15 November 1978 in Kentucky. His first comics is Battle Pope a superhero parody where the superhero is the pope with his assistant Jesus. He is famous for the comics The Walking Dead written in 2003 with his great Tony Moore but the former was replaced by Charlie Adlard. In January 2010, this comics was adapted in TV Series for AMC whose the success was immediate. The film director was Frank Darabont which is famous for The Shawshank Redemption or The Green Mile.
 
When the sheriff Rick Grimes woke up of a long coma. He didn't idea what happened during his coma. In the hospital, there are nobody just an inscription on the door :
“Don't open dead inside”
And after he will try to find his family.

 


 This is the trailer of the TV series :


I love this this comics for many reasons. It's a comics with zombies and it's rare to read a story with zombies which is good quality. The drawings are very realistics such as the bicycle girl. The suspense is always present and the revivals are very impressive on account of the death of many main characters.



Friday, November 23, 2012

 The Eiffel Tower 


The Eiffel Tower is an iron tower whose the size is 324 meters(1,063 ft). It located in Paris which was the tallest monument in the world during 41 years and it was until the construction of the Chrysler Building in 1930. This tower was built by Gustave Eiffel for The Universal Exposition of Paris of 1889 to celebrate the centennial of French Revolution. The tower is the most visited paid monument in the world. This monument is not only a symbol of Paris, it's also a symbol of the greatness of France and his cultural radiance in the world. Since 1889, around 270 000 000 people have visited this monument. An anecdote, a piece of the stairway was sold at auction for 80,550 Euros in 2008.
 
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was born on 15 December 1832 in Dijon and he died on 27 December 1923. He comes from a rich family. His father, Alexandre Eiffel was an officer in the Napoleon's army and his mother, Catherine Moneuse was a businesswoman. He is famous in the world for the most famous and splendid constructions in the world :
The Statue of Liberty
The Eiffel Tower
 
During the Second World War the Tower was used in order to communicate between Germans soldiers. The Eiffel tower escaped at the destruction promised by Hitler in 1944 which wanted the destruction of all the Paris's monuments but thanks the disobedience of the general Dietrich Von Choltitz, any monument was destroyed. 


Every Year, the tower illuminates for the Bastille day or even during christmas.


I decide to choose this monument for many reasons. First it's a wonderful monument and a symbol of France. Secondly, it's a monument whose the influence in the world is impressive like the many copies such as in Las Vegas or in Japan.
Finally , I had the choice to take a French monument or English monument, and I prefer France, my country.





Saturday, November 10, 2012

6) The World of Imagination

Psycho

 
Psycho is a thriller directed by ''The Master of Suspense'' Alfred Hitchcock. The budget is around 806 000$.

I. Biography

 
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock nicknamed ''The Master of Suspense'', was born on 13 August 1899 in London. His father named William Hitchcock (1862-1914) which was wholesaler and his mother named Emma Jane Hitchcock (1863-1942). 

His childhood was very lonely and sheltered, a situation complicated by his obesity. When he was five years old, he was sent by his father to the police station with a note. When the policeman read the note, Hitchcock was enclosed in a cell for few minutes. The policeman said before his liberation :
'' That's what happens to bad boys ''

His first film was Number Thirteen which was realized in 1922 but the movie was canceled. In 1929 he had already directed ten films. The second version of The Man Who Knew Too Much was his first sucess. The 39 Steps (1935) is considered the best of his early period.

He then left England during the war and went to Hollywood; Rebecca (1940) was his first American Film. Strangers on a Train (1951) marked the beginning of the golden age of Hitchcock's American Career. Later he realized many films such as North by Northwest (1959) Psycho (1960) The Birds (1963). This movies are very importants for the cinema because they inspired many film director like John Carpenter or the famous Steven Spielberg. Frenzy (1972) was the last movie of Hitchcock. He died on 29 April 1980 in Los Angeles. 

II. Psycho 

 
This is the synopsis of Psycho.Anthony Perkins is the troubled Norman Bates, whose old dark house and adjoining motel are not the place to spend a quiet evening. No one knows that better than Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), the ill-fated traveler whose journey ends in the famous shower scene. First a private detective, then Marion's sister (Vera Miles) and his lover Sam Loomis research Marion Crane.

Thera are many themes in Psycho. First, the theme of the death is present along the film with characters such as Norman Bates whose the passion is the stuffing of animals but he doesn't like kill them, very strange. Secondly, the suspens is the main character from beginning to end like the music . Which increases the suspens and the terror until the final revival. Finally, the theme of supenatural because at a moment of this film a character appears whereas he was died since 10 years but the story is most complicated.
Alfred Hitchcock is also famous for his appearances in all movies, the cameo appearences. In Psycho , he appears with a cowboy hat at the seventh minute behind the window when Marion Crane returns to her offfice.

 


For the realisation of Psycho, Hitchcock would the perfection. The house of Norman Bates is inspired by the painting of Edward Hopper,House by the Railroad .The character Marion Crane is inspired by women, Hitchcock met many women to know the clothes, the baggages or the room in order to create a character which ressembles at American Women. During the shooting, Hitchcock wore a dark suit and all the team of the film wore also a dark suit. It was an atmosphere '' old fashioned''.
An anecdote the shower scene cost 62 000$. A character in this film is inspired by the serial killer Ed Gein.

 






 I decided to take this film for many reasons. Psycho is certainely the most important film of Alfred Hitchcock. The shower scene, the music or the setting are very important for the cinema and are also famous. I love Alfred Hitchcock's film and Psycho is one of his best movies. The movie The Birds is also very good or even Rear Window. He had the gift to create suspense.