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Cinema Critique

Shawn of the Dead "Don't Stop Me Now" scene - Everyone who has seen the movie remembers this scene no matter what. And even if you haven't seen the movie you probably know this scene. This scene is the most memorable from the movie and in any other movie. It has this special comedic edge and atmosphere because of the movie and what it is about. A zombie apocalypse in the United Kingdom and after a serious scene all of a sudden 'Queen' starts to play and it is one of their many hit songs "Don't Stop Me Now." In the beginning the song starts in the background of the scene. This allows for more dialogue or other things to happen in the scene while you hear the song in the background and its not too loud in this scene which is perfect. Then the song starts to pick up in volume and they start hitting the bartender. Every time they hit him it goes perfectly along with the beat of the song and so does everything else in the scene such as: when David is "hitting" the fuse box to turn the music off. Everything just turns from serious to funny. Or semi serious to funny because the movie is a comedy. By the end of the scene everything just turns into a little concert in a way. The lights flickering, all the people (zombies) and the loud Queen in the background. This might be the most perfect scene in any movie ever.

Wind River

This heart shattering and nerve aching scene catches a hold of the watchers attention with its well spoken dialogue, amazing acting and emotional distress. The camera pans close up on a wall with a painting to a table from up to down and then scans the table which has photos of the victim. Bailey, an FBI agent and a local police officer are questioning the victims father. Throughout the conversation the acting feels very real and there is a lot of emotion coming from the characters. At the end of the conversation the FBI agent gets a little aggressive with the father and ends up being directed to talk to his wife in the bedroom. When she is walking towards the bedroom the camera pans out and by the slow rise of her reaching the bedroom door along with what the father said before she had left to the bedroom that behind that door is something bad, which there is. You are caught almost by surprise by the wife sitting on her bed with cuts on her wrists and then cutting her hand. Bailey is shocked and is hit hard emotionally with the sight of the victims mother. With this part of the scene there is also a slight piano and other soft instruments playing in the background helping the scene be even more emotional. This scene plays with your emotions a bit having you think multiple different things simultaneously. These emotions going from how the mother is reacting and taking the death of her beloved daughter; to what may have happened to her daughter to so many different outcomes. She comes back to the room where she had previously been and apologizes to the father, and following that there is a knock on the door from the main character. The father walks out of the door and slowly gives him a hug and starts sobbing heavily. The whole scene has you drawn in and by the end you too are in shock and a bit emotional. A lot of the lighting throughout the entire scene is natural with a few lights behind the camera and possibly on the side lighting up a specific part of the background. 

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