Star Trek

As far as experience with film goes, I would consider myself, at best, average. I enjoy a good movie but have never experienced or knew how to appreciate the work behind the scenes in a film as we will do in this course. I am looking forward to the upcoming semester and hope to see some good movies and hopefully learn to analyze them well enough so I can fully appreciate all aspects of any given movie.

There were three main reasons why I decided to take this course. First, I was hoping to learn more about the filming world because a career in that field has always appealed to me. Secondly, I have almost a “self-obligation” to try new things, and I have never taken a course even remotely close to this one. Lastly, as my fellow class-mates will soon see, Dr. Carreiro has a unique way of teaching and promoting class participation that to say the least, is very effective. As I said, aside from watching an occasional movie, I have minimal experience with films, but more importantly I enter the course with an open mind and plan to make the absolute best of it.

As I mentioned in class, my favorite movie is Running Scared with Paul Walker. Despite what the title may lead you to believe, this is not a horror film. Like most other Quentin Tarantino films it is a violent, bloody, action movie. If I had to make a decision on what my favorite genre of film is, I would have to say it is action movies.

Our First meeting we watched the film Star Trek. This first film really put my open-mindedness to the test. My least favorite genre of film, hands down, is sci-fi. So when we first were told we were watching Star Trek, I considered dropping the course, because I hated Star Trek and Star Wars and all those other intergalactic movies that much. To my own surprise, I loved the movie. Not only was it packed with action that literally kept me on the edge of my seat, but it had a good story line as well. It would be hard not to appreciate the special effects and fight scenes, as they were all done so well.

One thing that stands out to me is the irony in the two main characters lives. James T. Kirk was always expected to be an asset on the Star Fleet, because of his father’s prior success. With Spock it was the exact opposite, because he was half human, he was always expected to fail, and actually prevailed far more than he was expected to. Spock and James T. Kirk argued and fought throughout the whole film, and to me it was almost a foreshadow of what was to come because the two eventually relied on each other for their crews survival.

The second, and last thing I decided to discuss, as Dr. C mentioned in class, J.J. Abrams the director threw in a random element, destiny. James Kirk was thrown off the Star Fleet and landed on the same planet where Spock, or the future Spock, was also exiled to by Nero. After this was pointed out I came to the conclusion that this whole film was based on destiny, the destiny of Spock, of Kirk, and of the Star Fleet. Whether my assumption is wrong or right, it truly makes me appreciate the movie more when I look at it in this light. So since that is what makes this movie most entertaining for me, I chose to watch it a second time keeping destiny in mind, and it just kept jumping out at me.