BiographyFull Name: Helen Catherine Hardwicke
DOB: October 21, 1995
Birth Place: Cameron, Texas, USA
Education: Graduated from McAllen High School in McAllen, Texas (Class of 1973)
Studied film at UCLA in the 1980's
Parents: Jamee Elberta and John Benjiman
Filmography
-Thirteen (2003)
This film is a powerful and dark story about a two teenage girls who come under the influence of drugs, sex and peer pressure and it shows the consequences of the choices she made in a raw way. It is influential because it shows real problems that people of our age face and in a real way and really makes you think about their issues. It shows the effect on their relationships with their families and friends and how much it can hurt people so this movie can influence people to drive people away from making destructive decisions.
- Lords of Dogtown (2005)
This movie is one of my favorite movies of all time simply because it is not made like most hollywood movies. Hardwicke really makes you feel like your living in Venice Beach in the 1970's while watching this film. This movie follows the story of the famous Z-Boys, reckless skaters and surfers who don't care about school and getting grades. It shows their sudden rise to fame and what consequences this this has on their family and social life. This is influential because it brings up the issues that fame brings into your life and how it can affect everyone around you
- Twilight (2008)
One of the most famous and influential (on pre teen girls) movie of the 21st century. Everyone has either read (the books), seen (the movie) or heard of The Twilight Saga. The cool thing that Catherine did with this movie is that she didn't use green screens or anything like that to create special effects. Almost everything was filmed directly and if anyone needed to do anything extreme she would use harnesses to get the effects of people flying or jumping high and of course edited on a computer slightly to make it more realistic. This shows that you don't have to use many difficult techniques to create a fantastic film with a lot of stunts.
Trademarks and motifs
Catherine Hardwicke often uses particular color and camera shots in her movies that make them unique. For example in Thirteen and Lords of Dogtown the colors are at a low saturation and
her the use of cameras feel atypical to a normal hollywood movie like it looks like the camera isn't standing on a stand but being held creating a raw and real atmosphere.
Frequently used actors, genres and narratives
In almost every one of the movies Catherine has made, she has cast the actress, Nikki Reed. She was a main character in the movie thirteen and she was the person Catherine got the idea from to make the movie and she actually co-wrote it with her. In Lords of Dogtown she plays the girlfriend of several of the boys and one of their sisters and in Twilight she plays one of the vampires.
Catherines most (or only) used genre is drama. This suits her style well because she is good at making it raw and dramatic with out creating it over the top and typical.
I have chosen to study this director because I really love the way she creates and directs her films and how she makes them feel different from typical hollywood movies. The way she uses colors and camera angles draws you in and catches your eye while the story lines are interesting and believable.
I will be study these three movies by Catherine Hardwicke
-Thirteen
-Lords of Dogtown
-Twilight
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