A Photo Analysis~ Persepolis

 I found these two photos similar because they both display Marji's family history. In both photos, we see Marji getting a better awareness of her family's importance in society. On the left, we see Marji's uncle Anoosh passing down family stories to Marji, while on the right we see Marji admiring her mother Taji's powerful behavior from a protest in the past.
The shading in these photos resembles the bad in the world for Marji's family, while the white resembles power, or enlightenment. Anoosh and Marji in the first photo are white contrasted on a black background, while Anoosh explains to Marji that their family history shall NOT be forgotten. While he tells her this, Marji has a soft smile on her face which I saw as her enjoying Anoosh's stories. The whole image is black with no other objects, which also attracts our attention to the connection between Marji and her uncle.
The second image has quite a bit more going on. Marji is sitting at a desk surrounded by modern furniture (letter blocks, a poster of a woman, a variety of books), which was something frowned upon during the revolution.  My eyes were first drawn to the image of Taji, considering it's the only face that's displayed in the photo. Taji is white contrasted again on a black background, showing her power and determination, displayed upon a rough time.

Mise-en-Scene~Non-Verbal Communication

I  picked this photo because it was a moment where Lynn wasn't too verbal with her feelings, yet you could see exactly what she was thinking in her face and how she is positioned. At this moment in the scene, Bud confronted her about sleeping with Exley, which scared the living crap out of her. She's holding on to the house out of fear and wanting protection, because it is the only thing she could hold on to at this time. I also noticed that her hair had been put up in the scene, dragging more attention to the tension in her eye brows, as well as the worry in her eyes. The lighting is noticeably darker in this scene, which adds to the emotional state.

This image from Double Indemnity was one of the more memorable moments, considering it was when she was beside her husband getting killed. Like the moment above from L.A. Confidential, this was a moment where Phyllis hadn't said anything, yet you could just about see what she was thinking through the mischievous smirk on her face. Her eyes look glossed over, which could either forming tears of adrenaline, or perhaps even happiness. This scene is especially dark, highlighting mostly just her face, which really brought attention to her given facial expression.

Response to O'Donovan's Questions:

a) In this photograph, John Anderton's face is half shaded. The part of this photo that caught my eye the most was the sweat on his face. The sweat helps the viewer understand the state that John was in during this moment, and that he may have been either in a hurry, or very anxious.

b) John Anderton's face is the only noticeable part in this screenshot, because the image only consists of his head before a black background. Half of John Anderton's face is visible, making it foregrounded, while the shaded half of his face is more backgrounded. The image does this to show a point in the movie in which John was hiding something, so in other words he wasn't revealing his true self within the moment of this screenshot.

c) The image is displaying John Anderton's half-shaded face because throughout the movie, you watch John Anderton try to hide himself from the PreCrime system, as well as when he tries to hide his "substance-abusing" side. The way this shot was taken actually remind me of the Yin vs. Yang concept. Stemming from this concept, it makes sense that the right side of John's face was the side that was shaded, because that is the more sensitive yet negative side, the Yin. The visibility of the left side of his face, the Yang, shows that he chooses to show his more masculine, positive side. However, this may not have been Spielberg's goal when filming the movie, but I just thought it was an interesting coincidence. 

d) Other parts of this image that better my understanding of John's given situation is the location in which his eyes are aiming. He seems to be looking towards a point that appears to be to his upper-left, so clearly he notices something up there that may either enhance or reduce his stress (the stress is shown through the sweat on his face).

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A Couple Movies this Summer...

~Melancholia (made me feel distant from other people for about two days)
~American Gangster (was told it would be a good idea)
~Steve Jobs (huge fan)
~Hunger Games (forced to watch this while I was babysitting, actually turned out to be a wildly good movie)
~Into the Wild (paid very little attention while watching, deeply regreted it)