Blogging Assignment #8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9G-OSgXRD8

Theme of The Astronaut Farmer


I believe there is a very simple theme to the movie, The Astronaut Farmer. I believe the theme is the cliche that "you can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it." I believe there is a second, differently worded theme being said here "do not let anybody put you down and tell you that you cannot accomplish something." I believe this scene exemplifies this theme very well because it is the moment that the protagonist finally accomplishes his nearly impossible goal.


Essay.

I would like to start off this essay by saying the Astronaut Farmer is all about Tension and Release. The whole purpose of the movie is for this average farmer to accomplish his dream of going into outer-space. This is the release of the movie and everything finally begins to unfold. In society, it is very often considered that up is positive and down is negative. Keeping that in mind, the scene definitely uses that fact to its advantage. All throughout the 2 minute clip that I selected, characters are looking up. This happens even before Billy Bob Thornton's character blasts off. Virtual lines are built all looking up to this area in the sky that hasn't occurred yet. I believe this was done to strengthen the theme of accomplishing the dream and that everybody wants the protagonist to succeed. Next up is shape. In the beginning of the video, before the rocket takes off. Very straight and triangular shapes appear on the screen. Representing the challenges that the protagonist must go through in order to achieve his goals. After his lift off, all shapes turn into round faces and the cylindrical rocket in the sky. There is definitely a motif in this scene over rigid versus the round.Movement throughout the clip is all upwards and continues the idea of progress. Space. It is the goal of this man, but it is also well used by the director of photography in his movie. Once again, the biggest contrasts are at the beginning of this clip compared to the end of it. At the beginning all space is cramped, close ups are heavily utilized. After the astronaut successfully takes off, suddenly space is opened up. Space goes from a very flat and cramped feel to an open, almost empty feel. This opening up symbolizes the realization of a dream. And everybody around can only watch and appreciate the hardwork that has gone into it. The theme is thoroughly and actively explored in this two minute scene.