My first blog post!

                           Introduction

     Hi! My name is Sara Griffenkranz. Film and media have, and currently do, play a massive role in life. Movies have expanded my views and interests significantly, a major example I can think of is Jurassic Park. Like many other young kids, I watched this film and immediately formed an obsession with dinosaurs – anyone that knows me can contest that this fascination is still alive and kicking.

Similarly, like many other kids I grew up on Disney movies. These movies specifically helped me build my confidence at a young age. My favorite princesses were Arial (from The Little Mermaid), Merida (of Brave), and later Anna (from Frozen). If you’ve seen these movies one similarity should stand out to you quickly, all of these characters have red hair. I loved these princesses because they looked like me, As a kid I didn’t know anyone else who had red hair – even my own family – so seeing characters that I saw a bit of myself in was a massive comfort growing up and I believe played a huge role in who I am as a person now.  

Currently, I mostly have an interest in horror/thriller and psychological films, though I love when movies are able to combine different genres like comedy or drama into their more tense overall themes. Among my favorite films are Parasite, Creep, Wall to Wall, Whiplash, and Jurassic Park. That list changes every day though depending on my mood so don’t take it to heart. I believe I am drawn more to these types of films because I believe they can make the most effective social or political commentary without needing to be too much on the nose. For example, Parasite can convey messages about the effects of greed and wealth disparity while not shoving it down the viewer's throat. Of course, the message is not always subtle in these types of movies, like in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise or The Substance but they still remain entertaining and effective methods of commentary in my opinion.

 Directors that have stuck out to me throughout my experience in watching films are Steven Spielberg, Jordan Peele, and Wes Anderson. Spielberg obviously sticks out to me as he has helped make some of the most memorable films and characters in cinema history, for example Jurassic Park, Jaws, E.T., etc. Even though I think a lot of the reverence he gets as a director is tied mainly to nostalgia, I still believe all his films are iconic and helped pave the way for other people in the industry. Jordan Peele is an incredible horror director, known for films like Get Out, Nope, and Us. I think his incredible attention to detail and the well-crafted themes of his movies help to make him an incredibly memorable director. Finally, Wes Anderson, to be truthful, I'm actually not the biggest Wes Anderson fan. I think Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs are pretty good movies (mainly because of the stop motion – I love stop motion) but I honestly couldn’t stand Moonrise Kingdom, I don’t understand how people like that movie I thought it was super boring and pointless, not to mention just straight up weird in some parts. However, I tend to say I like Wes Anderson because of his incredibly unique style. All his films have super noticeable color pallets and near perfect symmetry in all shots. I appreciate his dedication to his style, so I respect him heavily as a director even though I don't love all of his work.  

I hope to get a lot of personal enjoyment and fulfillment out of building this portfolio. I’m a very creative and artistic person so I hope to be able to create something that I will be proud of!