What We Do in The Shadows (2014) is a documentary-style comedy horror film written, directed, and starring Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi. It’s about four vampires aged 183-8000, Viago, Vladislav, Deacon, and Petyr living together in a flat in New Zealand in the modern world.

Deacon has a human “servant,” Jackie, who does anything he says as long as he keeps his promise of giving her eternal life. Deacon requests for Jackie to bring victims over for a “dinner party.” Jackie finds two willing victims, Josephine and Nick, to join. As the dinner starts to become suspicious and strange, Nick tries to escape. Josephine gets bit and killed when he leaves. As soon as Nick makes it outside, he gets caught and bit by Petyr, turning him into a vampire. Nick then joins the vampires as a fifth roommate and must learn to adjust his new life as a vampire.

Nick brings along his human friend, Stu, who ends up bonding with the group and showing them modern technology. One day, Petyr gets killed from a vampire hunter breaking in after overhearing Nick revealing himself as a vampire on a night out. Deacon fights with Nick out of anger for causing the death of his friend, when suddenly police arrive after a report from neighbors. Viago hypnotizes them into seeing nothing out of the ordinary, so the cops go on their way.

Months later, The receive an invitation for a masquerade ball (undead parade) for other undead creatures like zombies, banshees, etc. Vladislav doesn’t want to attend because his arch nemesis, The Beast, is the guest of honor. Viago, Deacon, and Nick end up going, bringing Stu as a plus one. Jackie shows up too when she finally gets turned into a vampire by Nick after Deacon wouldn’t do it.

“The Beast” shows up, and her identity is revealed as Vladislav’s ex-girlfriend, Pauline. When Pauline discovers that Stu and the documentary film crew are humans, Vladislav arrives to stop the human from being killed. Vladislav gets in a fight with Pauline’s new boyfriend and almost gets defeated when Stu kills him with a wooden stake from behind. They all escape the ball but run into a group of werewolves transforming during a full moon. Stu and the camera crew get attacked. The vampires mourn Stu’s assumed death.

A month passes, and Nick returns to his roommates with Stu as a werewolf, along with the other werewolves. The two groups set aside their differences and end up getting along, drinking together. Viago finds his lost girlfriend of the past who is now 90 years old and turns her into a vampire. The two will now be able to live and be together forever, despite their age gap.

The film features a lot of shaky movement from being filmed handheld, emphasizing that it’s a “documentary,” and not a professional scripted serious film. The film went along at a moderate to quick pace. It was edited by cutting and skipping ahead months a time. There was a lot of darkness in every scene because the vampires can’t be in sunlight. I think the obviousness of the fake documentary and the small details that tied together the characteristics of old vampires truly made the film an enjoyable comedy. It was definitely a funny movie.

Moonlight (2016) is a drama film written and directed by Barry Jenkins. The film’s plot goes through three different stages (i. Little, ii. Chiron, and iii. Black) of the life of Chiron, the main character. The film explores the obstacles of a young, black, gay male growing up in Miami and trying to find his identity and sexuality with his crack-addicted mother through the unexpected guidance of a drug dealer, Juan, and his girlfriend, Teresa.

The first part of the film, Little, shows Chiron as a young boy running away from bullies where he finds a crackhouse in a drug neighborhood to get away. A drug dealer, Juan, finds him hiding and takes him out to eat. He tries talking to Chiron, but he won’t budge. Juan brings Chiron to his home where his girlfriend, Teresa, finally gets Chiron to reveal his name. The next day, Juan brings Chiron home to his mother, Paula. She snatches Chiron away from Juan. Transitioning to the next day, a group of boys are shown playing in a field. Chiron and his friend, Kevin, leave the group. Kevin tells Chiron to show the other kids he’s tough so that he won’t get picked on anymore. Chiron continues to receive guidance from Juan. Juan takes Chiron to the beach and teaches him to swim. There, Juan shares his own childhood experiences and advises Chiron to carve his own path in life. One night, Juan finds Paula smoking crack. Juan criticizes her for smoking and neglecting Chiron, but she comes back at Juan for selling her the drugs. They argue, and Paula mentions the reason Chiron gets made fun of it that he’s gay. She returns home to Chiron that night and calls him a faggot. The next day, Chiron goes to Juan and Teresa’s house where he tells them how he hates Paula and then questions what the word “faggot” means. Juan explains that the word is used to make fun of people and assures Chiron that even if he is gay, he should never allow people to pick on him. Chiron asked Juan about selling drugs to Paula then leaves, Juan left ashamed.

The second part of the film, Chiron, skips to Chiron’s teenage years and shows his struggle dealing with the death of Juan, his mother addicted to drugs, finding his sexuality, and a high school bully, Terrel. Chiron must face his mother begging for money. One day, he smokes a blunt with Kevin on the beach. After sharing their life goals and laughing together, they end up kissing and performing sexual acts. The next day, Terrel manipulates Kevin into punching and knocking down Chiron where he then gets beaten further by Terrel and his friends. A social worker encourages Chiron to press charges, but Chiron refuses, stating it won’t solve anything. The next day, Chiron comes to class and smashes his chair over Terrel. He tries to beat him more, but is stopped by other students and the teacher. Chiron is escorted away by police in handcuffs.

The third and final part, Black, skips ahead to show Chiron as an adult. He is now living in Atlanta, making a living from selling drugs. He receives calls from Paula, begging him to visit her in rehab. One day, he gets a call from his old friend Kevin after not seeing each other in ten years. Kevin apologizes for what happened in school and tells him invites him to visit in back home in Miami where is now a cook. Chiron heads to Florida and stops to visit Paula on the way. Paula apologizes for her drug addiction throughout Chiron’s childhood and tells Chiron she loves him. Chiron makes it to Kevin’s diner in Miami where the two catch up. Kevin reveals he now has a son. Chiron explains his current situation selling drugs. After Chiron questions Kevin for calling, Kevin plays a song on the jukebox that reminds him of Chiron. Later that night, Kevin brings Chiron back to his apartment where he admits that his life didn’t turn out the way he thought it would, but he is still happy with his job and family. Chiron admits that he hasn’t had shared an intimate experience with anyone since the encounter between the two of them in high school. Kevin comforts Chiron. The movie ends with a flashback of young Chiron standing on the beach in the moonlight.

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Moonlight has beautiful cinematography. The film features a variety of different shots, some in slow motion, paired with slow, dramatic music to emphasize the serious scenes through the movie. The film was moderately paced. It went through a large number of years in a pretty short time, but the events didn’t seem to go by too quickly.

One of the most memorable scenes for me was when Chiron had to face his high mother begging for money. The scene was very intense. It begins with Paula approaching Chiron outside, asking him where he has been, even though she told him to leave the night before. The scene jump cuts back and forth from point-of-view shots showing how Chiron sees Paula and how Paula sees Chiron. The camera is shaky and jump cuts from slow motion to regular pace, emphasizing the intense nature of the scene and allowing viewers to get a sense of the high that Paula is experiencing. The quick jump cuts add to the drama of the scene. The actor playing Paula’s character does a great job making the scene. She first lovingly approaches Chiron, calling him baby, and asking him to help her out. Once they move inside, she suddenly gets angry, starts screaming at Chiron, and rips at his pockets for money. The quick change in attitude helps to reveal that she is high. The lighting of the scene changes to match the effects. Outdoors, the lighting was sunny and bright to match Paula initial sweetness. In their house, when her mood switches, the lighting also changes and becomes dark and more dramatic. This scene really displays the difficulty that Chiron had to face dealing with a mother that is addicted to drugs.

(Images are personal screenshots from the film)

The Godfather featured many techniques that helped to achieve the movie’s artistic goals. I found the most obvious effects used in the film was dark lighting and dramatic sounds. Most of the film’s scenes were shot using only a small amount of light. The darkness and shadows helped to emphasize the tense feelings associated with the crime culture, violence, and the mafia. The Godfather also used intense music and sound along with the visual scenes to create tension and drama. The use of lighting, different shots, and sound did a great job setting the tone for each scene in this movie. The Godfather allowed me to feel the intensity of the dramatic scenes. I was even a little frightened by the realistic portrayal of the crime culture. The film made me grateful to have no relations to the mafia, any mobs, gangsters, or crime. The violence and culture of the mafia is definitely a scary thing.

La Jetée used fairly similar techniques to the Godfather to achieve its artistic goals. However, the movie was portrayed all in black and white and almost entirely in still images. La Jetée, like The Godfather, also used dark lighting in its images to add to the drama of the film. I think the lack of color actually helped to set the tone of the post-apocalyptic environment. The film also features dramatic, slow, orchestral music along with the sound of narration to create intensity and drama. Because the movie is in a different language, it is in black and white, and it’s almost all still images, it’s very different than anything I’ve seen before. La Jetée made me feel scared and eerie with its tone. I thought it was a very interesting viewing experience.

La Jetée used fairly similar techniques to the Godfather to achieve its artistic goals. However, the movie was portrayed all in black and white still images. La Jetée, like The Godfather, also used dark lighting in its images to add to the drama of the film. I think the lack of color actually helped to set the tone of the post-apocalyptic environment. Although the movie is entirely made of still images, there is some movement of zooming in and out. The film also features dramatic, slow, orchestral music along with the sound of narration to create intensity and drama. Because the movie is in a different language, it is in black and white, and it’s all still images, it’s very different than anything I’ve seen before. La Jetée made me feel scared and eerie with its tone. I thought it was a very interesting viewing .

After thinking of a unifying photo collection theme that could be realistically shot by me through my phone, I finally landed on the idea of capturing the central happiness of different dogs that are pets in loving homes. My goal was to illustrate the impact that a genuinely caring family can have on pets. I am an animal lover; animals are so important to me. I wish I could take in every stray dog and cat. I often see too many cases online of people that don’t care about their pets, abandon them, or just don’t give them the love they need. To me, I don’t view animals as very different from humans. I believe that they deserve care and love just as humans do. I think of my own pets as family. A lot of people even view their pets as their children. I don’t think enough people realize the impact they have on their pets. People have many aspects of their lives, such as school, work, family, etc., but as for pets, we’re all that they have. To us humans, our pets only take up a fraction of our lifetime, but to them, we’re their entire lives (especially since they have much shorter lifespans). For me, my dogs bring light into my life. I believe that caring for and loving pets is an important aspect of life that brings so much joy. For that reason, I decided to capture the joy of five different dogs for my photo collection.

Golden Girl

The first dog I decided to photograph is my yellow Labrador Retriever named Chloe. She is 12 years old. This photo shows her mouth open with a bright smile. Chloe receives many belly rubs and kisses from everyone around. She’s always happy to see people, especially her family, and appreciates getting loved on. I’ve had her since she was a puppy, so she’s never known a life without love. I believe treating her so well has created such a great life for her. Her happiness can be seen radiating in this photo.

Baby Bear

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The second dog in this photo collection is also mine. He is a 10 year old chocolate Labrador Retriever named Diesel. I decided to title this photo “Baby Bear” because I think he looks just like a little brown bear. Diesel is also the baby of the family that gets spoiled by my mother. She’s the one who feeds him, takes him for walks, and sleeps with him. He recognizes that she puts the most effort in his care and as a result, he refuses to leave her side. That just represents the impact of having a strong bond with a pet. Although he is a dog, he knows who takes care of him the most. He jumps with joy because of the amount of love and attention he gets from my family, even though he may be spoiled.

Blue-eyed blue

The third dog that I captured is actually one of two sisters that belong to my friend. The first of the puppies is in this photo. She is the smaller sister named Blue, after her bright eyes. Blue is a five-month-old Weimaraner. She’s the most lovable little puppy I’ve ever met. Blue is so excited to interact with people and other dogs. She is always jumping up, trying to take the spotlight from her sister. All she wants is love and care, begging to be pet and kissed. This photo shows her looking up at me behind the camera, patiently waiting to be pet and loved when she’s done posing.

laughing Luna

The fourth dog is the second five-month-old Weimaraner puppy. She is nearly the identical twin of her sister, Blue. However, she’s a bit larger in size and has a small white patch on her chest shaped like a crescent moon. Because of her unique spot, she was named Luna. This photo shows her smiling. She even looks like she is laughing. Both she and her sister receive the most attention and care from their families, especially because they’re still babies. Their happiness from love they get really shows.

Prancing Pup

The final photo is of my best friend’s four-month-old miniature French bulldog. His name is Alfie. He is the only pet in his family, so he gets even more spoiled with belly rubs and kisses. Because he’s so small his owners take him almost everywhere with them, truly including him as a family member. This photo shows how excited Alfie was to run towards the camera, and more importantly, run to me for some affection.

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It’s so important for our animals to be loved. We as humans have a huge impact on the lives of our pets. I believe my photo collection displays how genuine love, affection, and care can create pure happiness and joy for them. We are everything to them. I decided to photograph each of the dogs against grass to help unify and tie the photos together. I believe I achieved my goal in capturing the happiness within each dog.