FREE ESSAY ON CRITIQUE OF GOOD WILL HUNTING

CRITIQUE OF GOOD WILL HUNTING

A studious young man, an open book these two images swirl around the screen in a
kaleidoscope effect, this was the introductory scene of Good Will Hunting. This scene is
followed by Ben Afflick, knocking on Will's door, when Will comes out a credit rolls by
that says, screenplay written by Ben Afflick and Matt Damon, just as the two walk side by
side. This shows how perfectly the makers of this movie have everything timed, down to
the credits.
Also, the timing shows when the professor's assistant and Will are alone and the
assistant tells Will how lucky he is to have someone believe in him as the professor
does. Just as he finishes saying this the professor walks in and suddenly the assistant
has something better to do than just sit there so he gets up and leaves.
The cinematography in this movie is good, as right of way the viewer of this movie knows
Will lives in one of the poorer sections of Boston, as his front yard is cluttered with
junk and the look of the neighborhood surrounding his house is anything but colorful. The
neighborhood looks gray and drab. Also, one of the many settings is a local bar which has
the look of a neighborhood bar with Christmas type lights strung and normal looking
people filling the place. Another setting is a Harvard classroom and a community college
classroom. In the Harvard classroom the students appear to be attentive, clean cut, well
dressed, and enthusiastic, while the students in the community classroom are barely
awake, dressed grubby, and aren't grasping what the professor is saying.
The camera angles in this movie are as effective as the set appearance. When Will is
trying to solve a formula he writes his work on his mirror with a dry erase marker. The
camera blurs out will and focuses on the formula and also does the opposite. While
writing the formula out, the shots fade to the same shot but at a different angle
creating a feeling that some time is passing by. Also, to support this feeling each time
the formula is showed there is more added to it than one can write in the brief moment
that it took to come back to it with the camera. Additionally, the benefit of having the
scene of him writing on the mirror lets the viewer see him concentrating on the formula
and lets the viewer see the formula being written out which shows the viewer how
intelligent Will must be, since the formula probably made little sense to him or her.
Another effect was a fight scene captured in slow motion. After the fight scene the cops
showed up and many flashes of the scene from different camera angles appeared creating a
feeling of confusion and made it seem speeded up without it being filmed in fast motion.
During this movie many close ups were filmed where the eyes were the only bit of color on
the screen. When Will starts talking to prove a point, which is several times through out
the movie, the camera zooms in on him concentrating on his eyes. However, while Will and
his friends were in the car the camera looks at each one individually from a distance
while mellow music is playing while it is getting deeper into the evening. This creates a
feeling of a long day coming to an end with Will and his friends being exhausted.
Robin Williams tells Will a story about a World Series game and as he tells it Will gets
very into it and adds his recollection of the game. They start talking fast the more in
depth they get into the game. As they recall the game, parts of the game flash on the
screen as they seem to be commentating it at this point.
One scene is of Will looking at a painting in Robin Williams's office. It's of a rowboat
in the sea during a storm. The painting is mostly gray due to it being primarily of the
storm but even that has several streaks of color in it. In the center of the painting is
a small boat being rowed by a man with his back turned, the man sticks out of the
painting being the most colorful. As Will was trying to analyze the painting verse Robin
Williams the camera angle is from the painting's point of view with Will right there but
to the left and Williams behind him to the right. More attention is paid to Williams as
the camera focuses on him and as Will talks he is cut out of the picture. Williams gets
flustered and snaps at Will. Will struck a nerve and his face illuminates from a light
source that is coming from the direction of the painting.
Good Will Hunting also had good sound effects. One effect is when Will and his friends
walk through their neighborhood in the background there are sirens. Another was while the
professor and Williams are in a stuffy upper-class restaurant. The background noise in
this scene is a piano being played. Additionally, during one of Will's counseling
sessions with Williams, Will is reluctant to speak so they sit in silence while shots of
the clock appear with shots of Will twiddling his thumbs and Robin sitting there staring
at the clock as the only audible noise is the ticking of the clock.
Furthermore, Will and Skyla get into an argument as Will is yelling he pounds his fist on
the wall. This emphasizes what he says.
Good Will Hunting is a good movie that was well directed. It is more of a dramatic film
than any other kind, although humor and action can be found in it. The camera angles,
cinematography, and music and sound effects make this movie worth seeing as it adds to
the quality of it.