My blog

Whiplash is a truly unique film despite following a typical story structure. It features a protagonist that is extremely relatable in that he is incredibly flawed and often experiences intense emotions due to his lack of success but is always working to better himself as an individual. However, many of his problems are not entirely his fault. Terence Fletcher, Andrew’s instructor, could be partially blamed for many of the rash decisions that Andrew makes. It is true that he definitely becomes more skilled as a musician, but he is obviously not happy during the process of achieving this goal. The film does an excellent job at showing the amount of dedication and focus one must have in order to develop their craft. Andrew really believes that he is meant to be one of the great drummers, and he does not stop until he is forcefully removed from his school. Even then, he manages to make a comeback at the very end with a drum solo that shows what he is capable of. This moment of the film is extremely well done. There is little to no dialogue at the end of the film. The final scene in the film is Andrew finishing his drum solo. Fletcher finally gives a nod of approval and starts encouraging him. This part illustrates how hard work and perseverance can really pay off. Overall, what this film excels at is character development. Specifically, the main characters, Andrew and Fletcher, are given more attention than anyone else in the film. Andrew is actually featured in every scene of the film. The heavy focus on these characters helps the film to be more impactful. It makes it far simpler and more straightforward. It makes the audience far more invested in the characters by allowing them to fully understand their motivations and desires. I also like how the ending is open to interpretation. It is not revealed whether or not Andrew’s ex-girlfriend shows up to his performance or what happens between Andrew and Fletcher after the drum solo. It is also not revealed whether or not Andrew continues to pursue drumming or he would only return to it that one time. 

            In addition to the plot and characters, the technical aspects of Whiplash are also quite fascinating. The film is dominated by close-up shots and medium shots. The close-up shots reveal the emotions of the characters and often adds tension to the film. The medium shots help to emphasize the surroundings. However, one cinematography choice is the opening scene. The scene opens with an extreme long shot and shows Andrew isolated in a room surrounded by a dark hallway. It makes Whiplash feel more eerie and threatening which sets the serious tone that is present throughout the rest of the film. The camera moves slowly to show the perspective of Fletcher and then we see several close-up shots and jump cuts that allow Fletcher’s presence to be so much more frightening. The lighting is black in the opening scene, but throughout the film, there is more of an orange or green tint. The scenes with Andrew and Fletcher have an orange tint which could signify intense energy or adrenaline. Meanwhile, any scene that only shows Andrew is green, which could be a sign of self-reflection. 

            As for genre, Whiplash is primarily a coming-of-age drama. It illustrates real-life issues and also illustrates how he overcomes the obstacles he faces during the period of his life between youth and adulthood. However, that does not mean that there are no other elements present here. Despite having such a serious tone, Whiplash has scenes that could be considered comedic. Specifically, the comedy in the film is delivered by Fletcher (J.K Simmons). He is presented as an awful, unkind character who abuses his power.  However, the scenes where he bullies his students are comical in my opinion only because of how ridiculous and unusual his lines are. Because this is a fictional piece of work, the audience is able to laugh at his witty insults rather than recoiling at them. One scene that is simultaneously hilarious and dark is the “Rushing or dragging” scene. 

            By analyzing this film in depth, I learned to appreciate the film far more. I often forget plot points or major events in films because I usually just watch movies for the entertainment value. Whiplash is an incredibly entertaining film, but it is even more interesting when attempting to understand the choices that the director made in order to allow the film to work. The cinematography was a detail that I had not paid attention to previously when I watched the film twice before doing an in-depth analysis. Overall, Whiplash is a great film as it tells a truly inspiring underdog story.

 Whiplash is the story of an aspiring drummer who gets pushed toward the brink of insanity by an abusive, perfectionistic instructor. The film shows how physical and mental pain can motivate one towards a goal. Andrew, the main protagonist, is an individual who is dedicated to self-improvement and advancement. He strives to be the best at what he does. He is seen alone in his room and in empty studios practicing until he bleeds. He makes a lot of sacrifices in order to prove that he is an excellent drummer. Unfortunately for him, Fletcher, his instructor, treats him as if he has absolutely no idea what he is doing. Fletcher uses fear and torment to teach his students. His rationale behind this is that the students will push themselves hard enough to become truly great musicians. He wants to produce the next Charlie Parker or Buddy Rich. However, what he does is not only unconventional but also extremely unethical. He slaps them, screams at them, swears at them, and bullies his students to the point where they completely lose any motivation to pursue music.

          Andrew does not get discouraged by Fletcher’s constant abuse. In fact, one could argue that it did allow him to become far better than he would have been on his own. However, the theme that is extremely evident throughout this film is that everything comes at a cost. Andrew may have successfully improved as a drummer, but he lost a lot along the way. His mental health deteriorates due to the amount of pressure that Fletcher put on him to be perfect. He leaves his girlfriend because she would be an additional responsibility that would distract from his drumming. When he shows up late to a competition, he gets into a heated argument with Fletcher and Tanner, the original core member who was set to play if Andrew did not show up. To make matters even worse, he did not even bring his drum sticks because he left them at a car rental office. Because he was rushing to retrieve his drum sticks, Andrew was not really focused on anything like personal safety. It is extremely unrealistic for him to be able to drive all the way to the rental office, find his drum sticks, and drive back to the competition in under five minutes. However, he attempts it anyway. In doing so, he completely ignores personal safety. He is yelling at Tanner on the phone while driving to tell Fletcher that he is coming. He does not really pay attention to the road at all. As a result, he gets hit by a massive truck and experiences whiplash. Even as he is injured, he is still determined to perform at the competition. This does not work out for him. He does it make it back to the competition on time somehow, but he is bleeding and can barely even pick up his sticks. He tries to play and fails miserably as expected. Fletcher tells that he is done, but in a very calm manner as opposed to his usual shouting and screaming. For the first time, Fletcher is truly disappointed and upset with Andrew and is not just putting on an act. For once, his anger is justified because Andrew was completely reckless and out of control. After this incident, he abandons drumming to get his life back on track.

               The film illustrates the harsh reality of the creative process by showing a protagonist who fights back against the abuse of power by his mentor. It shows how serious and committed one must be when producing a work of art no matter what conditions they may face. Andrew is often seen alone and constantly working on himself to perfect his craft. The isolation and heavy focus on self-improvement throughout the film is considered to be a liberal notion. It could also be argued that the film is free-market propaganda due to the character of Fletcher. Fletcher is an incredibly strict and controlling teacher that tries to force his students to be absolutely perfect. He has no tolerance for lateness and constantly stops his students’ playing when they sound even slightly off to him. He creates an environment of fear by physically and mentally abusing his students. Because Fletcher is so extreme in his methods, the film is essentially trying to send the message of giving the person in charge less control and allowing the people under him to express themselves more freely. Therefore, if this film were placed on an ideological continuum, it would be in the liberal position.         

Whiplash is a film in which the soundtrack is composed entirely of original instrumental tracks. The music is an incredibly important plot device that tells the story of Andrew Neiman, the main protagonist, struggling to make his way to the top at his competitive music school as a drummer. Unfortunately, he does not succeed initially and ends up getting thrown out of the Shaffer Conservatory for attacking his teacher after an abysmal performance of the song “Caravan” during a jazz competition. However, he does get one last chance to redeem himself when Terence Fletcher, his music instructor, invites him back into his new band. Andrew tries to make the most of this opportunity, but sadly, Fletcher has other plans. He throws him a curveball when he decides to include a song that Andrew has never learned in the performance at the JVC jazz festival. He intentionally manipulated Andrew in order to exact revenge on him for testifying against him and causing him to lose his job at Shaffer. The title of the song is “Upswingin”. It is an original instrumental track from the film score created by Tim Simonec. Fletcher succeeds at his goal of embarrassing Andrew as he completely butchers the song in front of the entire audience and the rest of the band. While Andrew struggles to maintain any sort of rhythm, the rest of the band awkwardly stares at him. This song serves as a symbol of Fletcher and Andrew’s relationship. When the two previously reunited at the coffee shop, Fletcher tried to make it sound like he had no idea who the anonymous person who testified against him was. He also tried to make it sound like they were on good terms and that there were no hard feelings. His invitation was an elaborate ruse to throw him off his feet.  Even after Andrew had temporarily abandoned drumming and Fletcher had no longer been teaching at Shaffer, the dynamic between the two had hardly changed. Andrew had always been determined to impress him while Fletcher was always incredibly strict and hostile toward him. It seemed like he never wanted Andrew to be satisfied or to achieve success, but deep down, he most likely always knew that Andrew had great potential. Early on in the film, he hurled chairs at Andrew, screamed at him, slapped him, and made him cry. Andrew did not have to put up with any of this. He could have quit at any point, but he was determined to be a great drummer. Fletcher knew this and that is why he pushed him so unbelievably hard to the point where any other person would have given up. When Fletcher made the band perform “Upswingin” it seemed like he did it more out of malice rather than wanting him to push him beyond his limits. However, he still knew that Andrew had a natural talent, so when Andrew beat him at his own game by returning to the stage and playing “Caravan”, he could not even be fully upset. He is of course incredibly shocked at first that Neiman would cut off his introduction and cue in the band himself, but he is later impressed by Neiman’s remarkable resilience. The song “Upswingin” symbolizes the initial shame that Neiman feels while the final performance of the song “Caravan” shortly after represents his ability to recover.

The cinematographer of Whiplash (2014) is Sharone Meir. Some other notable works from Sharone Meir include academy award winning films Mean Creek (2004) and Coach Carter (2005).  He has also shot several TV pilots such as “Suburgatory” and “Raising Hope”. The film is considered to be formalistic as it is not grounded in reality. It is also focused on the technical aspects such as the lighting, the scoring, and the shot composition. 

The types of shots that dominate Whiplash are close-up shots. One example that shows this is the opening scene. The scene starts out by showing Andrew Neiman, the protagonist, from very far away. So, in the very beginning, this might be considered an extreme long shot. However, as Andrew continues to play, the camera gradually moves closer toward his face. The reason is because it is meant to show the perspective of Terence Fletcher, the music instructor at the Shaffer conservatory of Music, as he observes Andrew’s drumming. He hears a sound from a distance and walks toward Andrew to identify the source of the sound. When Andrew observes Fletcher, he initially stops and apologizes, but when Fletcher asks him why he stopped playing, he starts playing again. Because Fletcher never specifically asked Andrew to start playing, he is confused as to why Neiman plays instead of answering his question. Before Neiman even has the time to respond, Fletcher immediately asks him to perform two rhythm patterns: rudiments and double-time swing. Andrew is prepared to do this as he is a skilled drummer, but he still feels pressured by Fletcher as he exclaims, “Faster!”. As Andrew tries to increase the tempo, the camera is incredibly close to his face. This adds tension to the scene. The close-up shot is meant to convey the strong emotions that Andrew feels during his unexpected interaction with Fletcher. The audience can easily see that Andrew is concentrating heavily because he is extremely anxious. As he continues to drum as quickly as he can, he hears the door slam and Fletcher is suddenly gone. After Fletcher disappears, the scene switches to a medium shot because the tension has disappeared as well. 

            The film opens with a black screen and a drum beat that gradually increases in speed. We then see Andrew and the drum set surrounded by a long dark hallway. The low-key lighting allows the subject, Andrew, to be isolated so that he is the main focus in the scene. It also sets the tone for the film as a dark drama.  When Fletcher enters the scene, the low camera angle switches to him and the high camera angle is given to Andrew. These techniques help to convey to the audience that Fletcher is the one in power whereas Andrew lacks power, which is why he listens to Fletcher instead of it being the other way around. Fletcher is also wearing dark clothing, which makes him look more intimidating than Andrew in his white t-shirt. The dominant color in this scene is black as it occupies most of the screen. Both characters are much lighter than the dark background, so they easily stand out. Fletcher and Andrew are both seen from the knees up. This makes it appear as if the characters are not exactly close together but not incredibly far apart either. Given that they are communicating with one another, this makes sense. The background is not highly detailed in this scene, but the foreground is. Andrew and his drum set dominate the scene as they are placed in the center. In the background, there are a few lights and doors that are visible in the long hallway, but they do not distract the viewer from Andrew. The two characters are not seen in the same shot during this scene. There are jump cuts that give individual attention to each person. This helps to display the uneasiness that Andrew feels when he encounters Fletcher. 

Whiplash is a coming-of-age drama that focuses on the psychological growth of Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller) as a young, ambitious jazz drummer. Drama is often classified as a genre that relies on the emotional and relational development of realistic characters, settings, and storylines. The point of drama is to be relatable and Whiplash accomplishes that with its main protagonist, Andrew. He is someone who is constantly being abused by someone in power. He strives for greatness. He struggles due to being under an immense amount of pressure and makes several poor decisions along the way. Just when he thinks his problems could not possibly get worse, they somehow do. At a certain point, he finally lets his emotions get the best of them and he is punished for it. He eventually feels like he has no choice but to give up in order to save himself from any further humiliation. Fortunately, he gets a second chance and proves that with the right amount of determination, he is able to overcome the challenges he faces. 

Another example of a drama film that contains similar plot elements is La La Land. La La Land was directed in 2016 by Damien Chazelle, the same person who directed Whiplash. Mia Dolan (Emma Stone), the main protagonist, is similar to Neiman in that both are ambitious individuals who experience failure early on. Mia fails her acting auditions while Andrew fails to impress Fletcher (J.K Simmons), his music instructor, with his drumming. Both characters allow their desire for success to affect their relationships. Neiman breaks up with Nicole, his girlfriend, because he believes that she would distract him from his musical ambitions. Mia and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) begin to grow apart after Mia creates an independent play and Sebastian’s band starts to grow in popularity. Five years after Mia and Sebastian break up, the two meet again at a jazz bar. This is similar to how Neiman and Fletcher reunite at a jazz club after they both leave the Shaffer Music Conservatory. In both films, the main characters seem to have moved on from each other. Neiman is no longer concerned about Fletcher and Mia is a famous actress who is married to another man. Mia and Sebastian do not end up going back to their relationship in the film. Instead, Sebastian plays their love theme on the piano and a dream sequence of a what-if scenario unfolds. Both characters are happy for each other even though they are no longer together. The resolution of Whiplash is very different in that Andrew does not really achieve success until the very end where he delivers an impressive drum solo that blows Fletcher away and proves that he does have what it takes to become a world-class drummer. Essentially, both films illustrate that one must sacrifice a lot in order to accomplish their goals and that things will not always go as planned. 

In addition to both films being dramas, they also both use jazz music to advance the plot. However, despite both films having musical elements, they use music in very different ways. La La Land is a traditional musical in that the story is told through song and dance. There is dialogue mixed with musical numbers that serve as breaks in the storyline. Whiplash is much more difficult to categorize as a musical since the focus is mostly on the characters rather than the music itself. La La Land is also primarily a romantic film whereas Whiplash does not revolve around romance nearly as much. 

Whiplash would be considered a drama as it illustrates intense, real life issues such as working under pressure, failure to achieve one’s dreams, and perfectionism with realistic characters and dialogue. It is a coming of age film because it demonstrates how Andrew, the protagonist, experiences growth by overcoming many of these issues between youth and adulthood. It could also technically be argued that it is somewhat biographical since it is based on real events that happened in Damien Chazelle’s life as a drummer.

Whiplash is an American drama film that was directed by Damien Chazelle and released on October 10, 2014 in the United States and Canada.  It initially premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 16, 2014 as the festival’s opening film and won the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize for drama. The Whiplash soundtrack contains 24 tracks and consists of original songs written for the film, original score written for the film, and classic jazz standards by Stan Getz, Duke Ellington and other musicians. The Original Score & Big Band Songs were created by Justin Hurwitz. The original jazz songs were created by Grammy-nominated composer, Tim Simonec. The actual drummer in the film is Bernie Dresel.

At the Shaffer Music Conservatory in New York City, Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller), a young aspiring jazz drummer, runs into Terence Fletcher(JK Simmons), a music instructor known for his extremely unconventional teaching methods. Fletcher invites him as an alternate for core drummer Carl Tanner(Nate Lang) in his jazz ensemble. Throughout his time at Shaffer, Andrew endures verbal and physical harassment from Fletcher, an abusive perfectionist, and eventually pushes himself too hard. When the band rehearses the piece “Whiplash” by Hank Levy, Andrew struggles to maintain the tempo. In response, Fletcher throws a chair at him and slaps him.  When Andrew misplaces Tanner’s sheet music, Tanner begins to resent him because he is now unable to perform the piece. Fortunately for Fletcher, Andrew knows “Whiplash” by memory, so he ends up performing in the jazz competition. 

Fletcher then promotes Andrew to core drummer after his successful performance. However, he also recruits Ryan Connolly (Austin Stowell), a drummer from a lower-level ensemble. Andrew is now furious because he believes that he worked hard to earn the position and is able to lose it so easily to someone who is far less skilled in his eyes. As a result, Andrew becomes obsessed with impressing Fletcher. This leads him down an incredibly dark path. He breaks up with his girlfriend, Nicole (Melissa Benoist), because in his mind, she only serves as a distraction. He continues to practice drums until his hands bleed. This works out for him initially because he is able to get his spot back as the core drummer during an intense five-hour session with Tanner and Connolly in which Fletcher aggressively screams at them. 

On his way to the next competition, Andrew arrives late after he rents a car due to his bus breaking down. Upon arriving, he realizes that he left his drumsticks in the rental office. When he rushes to retrieve the sticks, his car gets hit by a truck. He runs back to the stage while he is injured and as a result, he ends up performing the song “Caravan” very poorly. He then gets expelled from Shaffer for attacking Fletcher after ruining the ensemble’s performance. 

Following his expulsion, he meets with a lawyer representing the parents of Sean Casey, a former student of Fletcher who hanged himself due to anxiety and depression. It is believed that his suicide was caused by Fletcher’s abuse despite Fletcher claiming that he died in a car accident. Sean’s parents want Fletcher to be banned from teaching, and Andrew agrees to testify as a witness. Fletcher is then fired. At this point, Andrew has abandoned drumming and now works at a restaurant. However, he later reunites with Fletcher at a Jazz Club and is then invited to perform with his band at the JVC jazz festival. In this final performance, Terence attempts to get revenge by leading the band with a song Andrew does not know since he is aware that he testified against him. Fortunately, he is able to save himself from the humiliation by cutting off Fletcher’s introduction by cueing in the band himself to play the song “Caravan”. Fletcher is initially shocked and frustrated. Eventually though, he is impressed by Andrew’s determination as he continues playing into an extended solo.  

The artwork I chose from the exhibit is Butcher by Sue Coe from the I Beseech You Tour. English artist Sue Coe grew up next to a slaughterhouse and once worked for The New York Times as an illustrator in the 1970s. She wanted to express her opinions on the injustices she felt were destroying the world in her artwork. One particular injustice that she wanted to shed light on was the animal abuse that took place in factory farming. Her drawing Butcher directly illustrates her concern with animal and labor rights in the meat industry. The work depicts a gruesome image of livestock herded and whipped by the slaughterhouse’s workers in the bottom of the framed space. It is clear that animals are being mistreated from the look of pain in their eyes. They also look abnormally thin to the point where their ribs are noticeable. The lamppost in the background draws attention to the title “Butcher” due to its bright yellow color. Red in this case is used as a symbol of violence. The foreground and background seem to be mostly black and white, but the use of red in the title makes it stand out as dominant color. I believe that this symbolizes the overall dark and serious nature of animal abuse. What actually happens to the animals in factory farms was likely not common knowledge at the time. The idea of torturing animals is extremely and the author is making an effort to raise awareness for the awful practices occurring in factory farms. There are also workers torturing animals in the background of the image, but the absence of light and relatively small size of the characters cause the background to be less prominent than the foreground.  I chose this piece because I personally thought it stood out to me more than some of the other pieces. The red letters contrasting the black and white background make it look like the poster for a horror movie rather than just a typical drawing or painting. Filmmakers and visual artists both utilize angles and colors to create a specific tone for their work. Films are different in that they have scenes with specific types of shots such as close-up shots to emphasize specific parts of the scene such as the characters. Visual artists mostly use contrasting colors to put emphasis on specific parts of their work. In this drawing, the highly-detailed texture allows Coe to effectively capture the look of fear in the animals as they are mercilessly slaughtered. The blood on the animals also helps to paint a better image of the brutality that the slaughterhouse workers force onto the animals. In her drawing Butcher, Sue Coe successfully accomplishes her goal of painting a horrific image of animal abuse in order to make her audience aware of the inhumane practices on factory farms.

                The coming-of-age film Dazed and Confused features a wide variety of characters from Lee High School in Austin, Texas during the year of 1976. Within the high school, there are multiple different cliques represented such as the jocks and the stoners. However, one character that stands out very clearly among the rest is Fred O’Bannion. O’Bannion is the main antagonist who had to repeat his senior year after failing to graduate.  He is the aggressive, school bully who mercilessly taunts and harrasses incoming freshmen by “initiating” them with the ritual of paddling. Specifically, he seems to enjoy going after Mitch and Carl. One of the most memorable scenes in the entire film is when O’Bannion follows the two home, grabs them before they enter the house, and tells them, “For being such brave little boys, I’m only going to give you five licks”. However, right before O’Bannion prepares to hit them with his paddle, Carl’s mom pulls out her shotgun and demands for him to get off their property. Another scene that is a defining moment for the character of O’Bannion is when he and his group of bullies are waiting outside during Mitch’s baseball game so that they can assault him with their paddle after it is over. There are many close-up shots of Mitch’s facial expressions as he experiences the pain of being tortured with a paddle while O’Bannion and his friends are smiling. During the scene, the song playing in the background is Mr. Nice Guy by Alice Cooper. This song perfectly encapsulates the character of O’Bannion. It is about someone who originally is a kind person, but eventually becomes tired of being treated poorly by others and turns into a mean-spirited jerk. It is often assumed that many bullies act out of insecurity. It seems like in this case, it could be true. O’Bannion is obviously not the most intelligent since he had to repeat his senior year, so it is possible that by bullying the freshman, he is taking his insecurities out on them. So, O’Bannion may have been a “nice guy” at some point, but it seems like at some point he decided to stop feeling any shame and started hurting innocent people who did nothing to him. Eventually, two of the freshmen manage to get revenge on O’Bannion by pouring a bucket of paint on him. At the end, there does not seem to be anyone on his side. He just looks completely frustrated and alone as he screams obscenities at the freshmen who humiliated him. Even his friends end up abandoning him. At this point, he definitely feels no need to be “Mr. Nice Guy” because no one wants him.

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!