Film Treatment

Jermaine is always seen on the basketball court shooting hoops from dawn to dusk.(1) At school he is always drawing pictures of playing basketball or of him holding the championships.(2) During practices Jermaine runs down the court and players just fall out of his way as he crosses over. (3) However, Jermaine has a weird habit of taking the basketball everywhere he goes. EX. school (4), gym (5), shower (6). Jermaine looks at his basketball, Ex. Jermaine talks to the basketball. Shots of Guys and girls 2 shots and then close up of Jermaine and then the gradual zoom out of him with with his basketball smiling at it. (7) The ball begins to talk to Jermaine over time and tells him not to talk to girls or look at them. Much of his time is spent with the ball now. ex. carrying, talking, eating. (8) In the end the ball takes over so much of his life. The ball basically becomes his girlfriend. pic of stuff on the ball. (9) The boy is about to get a tattoo of the basketball on his back. When he is on the way in the car and he realizes the basketball is taking over his life. (10) Realizes he has to basically break up with his basketball. He goes home and starts pacing back and forth about how he is going to break up. His Friend and him are talking about it. He enters the house (dramatic) and sees the basketball. He sits down with the basketball and says its over. (11) Ending of the ball leaving rolling out the door. (turn up the dance music when the ball leaves). (12)

Amelie Textual analysis

When Amelie goes into the tunnels, music can be heard from a blind man who is holding a record player playing a song about love. The use of sound by the director allows the following action of Amelie running into a man underneath a photo booth, (future lover) be seen. I also think the blind man was used to symbolize the obscure nature of their love by not knowing/ (seeing) the other. I also think it is pretty ironic that the song is about living with love, which is a dilema of Amelie in the end. Also color correction with a tint of green creates an eerie/mysterious feeling making the audience lonely in a way.

Amelie tricks her father into believing the dwarf is traveling around the country as a way to make her father travel as well, instead of waiting behind. I also see this act of kindness as a way of comic relief in the story to relieve the tension of Amelie helping so many individuals. The symbolism of the dwarf can also be seen as part of the freeing of Amelie through helping others.

Magical realism is used in the film, which can be seen in this part where the key magically appears in amelies pocket. The use of such a device made me think about Amelie's (hobby) of helping others and the creation of Magical powers almost as a connotation of helping others as being "holy". Symbolic opening the lives of others to provide aid and assistance and also in the punishing of those who have done wrong. This idea emphasizes Amelie taking on, almost a divine figure punishing those who have sinned and rewardings those who are kind or troubled. For example the shop owner who Amelie switches his toothepaste and his foot cream, as well as changing his clock, for revenge against the abusing of his worker.

Irony can be seen in this image by the skeleton being Amelies future lover. Silence is used by the author to emphasize the characters words..."booooo" to focus this silence between the 2 characters, which reaccuring throughout the movie. For example the end when Amelie is kissing, no music is in the background of the film. Thus I think I can conclude the Author is trying to make the audience step out of the world of Magical realism and show a more realistic event, converging fantasy and reality through the sound alone.