“I think (the club) definitely helped me notice the smaller aspects of a film, cinematography, or certain choices in that area that I might have not noticed earlier,” Ingrid Kotter, Berkeley High School senior, said as she referred to what the Film Analysis club has taught her. The Film Analysis club watches films and then collaborates with each other to analyze the cinematic tools used in the film. Some of those tools include the staging, the color composition, the cinematography and the themes present in the film.
Describing the films of Gregg Araki, an American filmmaker that they discovered because of the club during their freshman year, Keely Shaller, BHS senior and Vice President of the Film Analysis club, said, “I think he's really good at balancing really broad comedy with really deep emotional stories which is really hard to do.” Araki is best known for his work on the film “Mysterious Skin” (2004) which he wrote and directed. Shaller has worked hard for the last few years, stepping into a leadership role for the club in just her sophomore year, to make the club a fun and engaging experience for everyone.
Anika Brenner, a junior and member of the film analysis club, has only been in the club for about a semester however has enjoyed the discussions on every movie so far. “It is a fun way to connect with people who like films,” Brenner said. Brenner, being a filmmaker herself, said it is a good resource to have a place where other students who make films and or enjoy watching films can converse about the specific details that not everyone sees when watching a movie.
“A lunch meeting looks like everyone is paying attention to a presentation presented by one of our lovely members. Maybe playing charades or just discussing what we like about our favorite movies,” Ruby Childs, a senior and member of the club, said about how the meeting runs every week. During the meetings members are able to make presentations and share them with the group about films they have enjoyed watching and the details that stood out to them. Another big part of the club meetings is playing games, according to Shaller, they often play Kahoot, Pictionary, and trivia games, that all relate to movies in some way.
At meetings, the club socializes with each other on what they have been watching and what they think is interesting about the film. A film that has stayed with senior Rose Herbert is Midnight Cowboy (1969), directed by John Schlesinger. For its time Midnight Cowboy was a controversial movie, as it portrayed many themes of homosexuality which in the time it was released was not a topic that was discussed often. Herbert described how being in the queer community gave them a different perspective on the film than others. “Talking with some of the queer members of the club, they saw it differently than someone who isn't queer or someone who isn't a dude. And even though it's an old movie, it was interesting to see how the same themes are still really relevant,” Herbert said.
Kotter shared a similar perspective as Herbert about the film Midnight Cowboy which is the cinematography of the movie, a feature of the film that stood out to Kotter is that it was primarily character driven where the viewers can really see the difference between the characters at the start as well as the end. The other aspect Kotter mentioned was, “I really liked (Midnight Cowboy) because it had a really good soundtrack,” Kotter said. Some of the songs in the film include Everybody’s Talkin’ by Harry Nilsson and Joe Buck Rides Again by John Barry.