Double Indemnity and LA Confidential Stills

In the stills that I chose, both the leading actor and leading actress are in the shot and are holding each other and are mediums shots. In the shot taken from LA Confidential, the setting is in Lynn's bedroom where she is sitting on the bed and Bud is standing above her. Her bedroom is dark like it is late afternoon and the sun is setting. You can see some shadows from the sun coming into the room which makes the room see brighter. In Double Indemnity, the setting is in Walters Apartment. His apartment is very dark and the only source of you see may be from a lamp. 

A difference I see in Double Indemnity and LA Confidential is the positioning of characters. In Double Indemnity, you only see part of Walters face and his back is turned toward the camera while Phyliss is turned towards the camera more. In LA Confidential, you can see Buds face more while Lynn's has her face is turned away from the camera. Another interesting thing seen in the movie is who is superior in this specific shot. In Double Indemnity, Phyliss is at Walters house while in LA Confidential Bud is at Lynn's house. I thought of this as who is superior because of the setting because Phyliss comes to Walter showing that she is coming to him for help while Bud comes to Lynn's.

Its a Bird Section 5

Contrast (writing):

In Section 5, you see Seagle become his own Superman. He realizes that he needs to mend his own relationships and save the day. His dad, however, does not try to mend the relationship between he and his sons. His dad wishes he never had kids because of Huntingtons disease running in his family. Seagle tries to comfort his dad in telling him that he would rather live his life and then be diagnosised with Huntingtons rather than not living at all.

Contrast (Visual):

After Seagle becomes his own Superman and mends his relationships. He becomes a happier person. On page 123, you are shown Lisa and Steven in their home, with walls painted bright Yellow and sun coming through the windows. Unlike the rest of the novel, this page is bright and full of color. Seagle is a happier person because of the mended relationships of his family and his girlfriend. He sees a brighter outcome in his future and is no longer living with a fear of Huntingtons.

Fate VS. Free Will:

At the beginning of the book, you can say that Seagle thinks of himself as fated. He has the constant fear of Huntingtons disease and tells Lisa that he does not want to have kids. He became his dad after overhearing that he wished he never had children. Seagle does want to bring children into the world if it means there is a chance of them being diagnosed. In Section 5, you see Seagle make his own choices  and decided that maybe he will want to have kids. He also decides to take on the Superman job because he realizes that he and Superman are alike. 

It's a Bird Section 4

Parallel (writing): 

I think that Seagle has begun to depict himself as Superman in the ways that people are always talking to him. On pages 62 and 63 Seagle has written/drawn Superman getting a suit tailored. The Tailor is talking to Superman about how perfect his body is. During the whole tailoring, Superman does not say a word and is more so taking in everything that the tailor is saying. Seagle, also Iike Superman, is always being talked to but is never able to say what he is thinking. 

Parallel (visual):

On page 57, Seagle is wearing a red scarf on his way to his meeting. I think this is the start of Seagle becoming his own superman and saving the people around him such as his job, his girlfriend and mom. After you see Seagle wearing this red scarf, his character in the book becomes more interesting in the ways that he lets out some of his feelings and worries.

Words, Words, words:

In Section 4, Seagles character starts to become more vocal about his opinions and feelings towards certain things. For example, he tells his girlfriend, Lisa, that he is not ready for kids. In early sections, I feel that Seagle was not very open or talkative to his girlfriend. For the rest of the book, I think that Seagle with become a more vocal character who will have his voice be heard instead of people always trying to do otherwise. 

Its a Bird Section 3

Parallel (Writing): 

In Section 3 of Its a Bird, Seagle starts to recieve advice and help from friends. It started with his boss giving his advice on how to draw superman comics. Though Seagle does not take the advice, he does start to take superman into consideration. He then becomes inspired by his girlfriend and writes a Superman comic. Though he throws his comic out, he has begun to put effort into the work. Later, he gets help from a friend to find his dad. 

Contrast (Visual): 

On Pages 36 and 37, there is a lot of vibrant colors unlike the rest of the book. These pages in the story are very colorful because this is Seagles idea for the Superman story. His drawings and writings for comics are full of color and vibrance but his drawings and writings about his real life are dark. If flipping through the book, you notice these sudden pops of color which only happen for a page or two.

Images:

In the Section "Red, Yellow and Blue", I like how Seagle kept the pictures basic with a white background si it puts your main focus on superman. He then starts to color in Superman based on the colors Red, Yellow and Blue and what each color represents. In the end, you are left with Superman and what he represents. 

Its a Bird Section 2

Parallel (Writing):
Even though Seagle hates the superman comics, I believe that he and superman are almost equals. Seagle writes about a seventh grade boy named Jason Dobson who does not have any friends. For Halloween, Jason dresses up as superman and gains popularity from some of the girls and guys. But the next day, nobody talks to him; he is back to his old self. I feel that Seagle parallels himself as Jason Dobson; a kid who is on his own in the world but once is in the superman costume, is like a celebrity. If Seagle takes the position as the new superman writer, he will feel like a celebrity.

Parallel (Visual):
All of Seagles drawing are in dark colors. The only color you see is from the superman costume and Seagles moms hair. These two scenes stand out in the book because of the pop of color. Both Supermans cape and Seagles moms hair are red, which give the pop of color. I believe that this is a parallel because of both of them being important things in Seagles life. Seagle has to be there for his mom in the search of finding his dad, while he also has to make an important decision in drawing superman.

Will the Stephan Seagle Please Stand up?
Older Stephan Seagle comes off as having a rude personality while young Stephan Seagle has innocence. Younger Stephan has the innocence that all young children have and it makes me feel as if Seagle has had a traumatizing life event and that is why his adult self comes off as a rude and depressed character.

It's a Bird Section 1

Parallel/Contrast (Writing):

The parallel that I found was about communication, which can be seen on pages 4 and 7. On page 4, Seagles mom is talking about always being the last to know what is happening in the family. On page 7, Seagle talks about how he hates doctors and how they always know thinsgs that no one would tell him. I feel like this is a parallel about a lack of communication in his life. Also, on page 9, Seagles voicemail starts with "Alright, you found me..." showing that he doesnt want to communicate with anybody. 

Parallel/Contrast (Visual):

The contrast between visuals is his flashback to his childhood vs. reality. In his childhood, all drawings are very bright and happy feeling while his reality is shown in dark and depressing drawings. You see the contrast more dramatically between pages 6 and 7 where he does switch from childhood to adulthood. I believe he has drawn this images this way because people depict chidldhood as being a happy time and adulthood being dull. 

Frames:

In section 1 of "It's a Bird", there is a contrats of frames between his childhood and adulthood. In the frames of his childhood, the borders are white and give the sense of innocence. In the frames of his adulthood, every drawing has hard, black edges. This kind of border doesnt have a welcoming feeling,

On pages 10 and 11, Seagle is talking to his boss on the phone. The frames are all the same size and in a grid system. After reading these pages, I then noticed the frames and how it changed my view of these pages. Before, I read the pages just as they are written, a guy talking on the phone with his boss. After noticing the frames and how they are all the same, It seemed as if this is his routine conversation and that he isnt happy with his life as a comic book illustrator. 

Questions: If he hates comic books, how did he start drawing for them?