A4 Responses- I am Sam Viewing

Listen to the music played during the film. How is it used in the movie to develop the mood for the viewing?
Music can be used in many different ways in films. Like to express emotions, set moods, and many others, it is no exception in I am Sam. Music is used very dynamically in I am Sam; we can see this several times in the movie. We can see this at the beginning of the film when he is running to the hospital, and there is an upbeat music playing, it shows the mood. It is used to show emotions in court cases. It can show when Sam is happy, or when he is worried. Music plays a significant role in this movie in other ways too, and Sam is infatuated with the band The Beetles, he talks about them numerous times and even named his daughter Lucy after the song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

Dynamic Characters are the ones who grow/learn and understand new things because of their experiences through the story. Is there evidence of any characters growing in the movie?
Dynamic characters are characters who grow and learn based on their experience throughout a story. In I am Sam there are many compelling characters. Lucy is an example of a dynamic nature, Sam’s daughter quickly approaches her father’s intelligence at a small age, she can see her father is not the same as other kid’s dads. She is embarrassed by him and even tells her friend that she was adopted because of her embarrassment of her father. But in the experience of losing her father in court trials, she learns not to take her father’s and her relationship for granted. Through this experience and others, Lucy changes a lot throughout the story as many other characters like Rita Sam’s lawyer, and Sam himself. Dynamic characters can add depth and realism to a story, they grown and learn to make them more involved and possible relatable.

This movie is told in Three Acts. Watch to see if you can distinguish when one act ends, and another begins.
Acts aren’t used in movies, but you would mostly see them in drama and that type of entertainment. It can be used to divide up parts of the story. In I am Sam it is a little bit different, the movie divides into three separate acts. The begging of the first act is when Sam first has Lucy. The second act begins when Lucy is taken away from Sam. The third and final acts occur when Sam realises he needs help and shares Lucy with the aid of Randy.

The movie centres around questions of Sam’s abilities and mental capacities, but there are times when Sam proves to be more insightful than other mature characters.
People with mental handicaps would lag behind in all areas because of their low mental capacities. Sam has the mental capacity of a eight-year-old, so many would think Sam would be dull in most mental areas. That is not always the case, even with Sam’s little intelligence at times he harnesses more insight than other mature characters, even those in demanding jobs with high intelligence. At one point early on it, the movie I am Sam Lucy’s class is doing presentations to the class and parents. Lucy does her presentation very well and knows the content. Following her, another classmate begins he does n’t know anything of the content, and his dad starts to yell at him and tell him what he is supposed to say. Here we see Sam lets his daughter learn the material, whereas the classmate’s father forces his son to know that particular content and it ends up going very poorly. That is a way Sam is more insightful than some other adult characters in the movie I am Sam.

Rita’s life parallels Sam’s – this means his lawyer’s life has many similarities to his own.
Rarely in stories do writers or creators use the technique of having two storylines running parallel ways, but in I am Sam. Sam is physically losing his child to the government. Rita is also losing her child but in a different way. Rita doesn’t have enough time in her busy life to care for her son, so he rebels against her and starts to drift further and further away. She begins to think she is losing him and that he hates her. So both Sam and Rita are losing their children, only in different ways. That’s how Rita’s and Sam’s lives parallel in I am Sam.

Camera angles can influence the way a viewer interprets a scene. Watch for any particular aspects of the camera that are used to sway your perspective.
Camera angles and dynamic use of cameras are often used by filmmakers to set the mood of the scene, express characters emotions, add depth to the scene. In I am Sam the camera is close to people when it’s a dangerous moment for Sam. This way you can see every movement of the speaker’s lips and gets your heart pounding. The camera is far out when Sam has excitement. Then you can see everyone in the shoot and interpret the mood. Those are ways cameras are used to influence the scene in I am Sam.

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