Preview

john q

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
797 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
john q
John Q is an emotionally-packed movie that surrounds the unfortunate medical circumstances of John, played by Denzel Washington, and his son. The purpose of the film was to raise the many issues surrounding poor health care in the United States, and even less empathy from hospital administration and insurance companies. After John’s son collapses at a baseball game, the doctors diagnose him as having a heart that is too large for his body and declare that he must receive an immediate transplant to survive. Quickly, the hospital administration informs John that his insurance plan does not cover such an operation and an immediate payment of $100,000 must be made just to get his son’s name on the donor list. There are multiple issues surrounding the problems of John and his family, and through the use of cinematic techniques the director, Nick Cassavetes, brings these issues to life and sparks a national discussion on health care.

The movie contains multiple scenes of close-up camera shots, highly emotional scenes and the use of poignant music to emphasize the heightened emotions of the situation. In many scenes where John is speaking with his sick son, the camera is zoomed in to show the particular facial expressions of the characters. As the actors and actresses begin to shed emotional tears of fear and joy, the audience is able to experience the heightened emotional pull on the importance of the scene. The quality actors are able to act in a way that makes the audience believe in the magnitude of the situation. Washington convinces viewers as he immerses himself in the role and communicates an exceptional believability through communicating with the doctors, administrators and even his own wife. Finally, the director utilizes the power of music to express the heightened emotions surrounding the situation. For instance, in the first scene classical music is playing in the car of a woman as she performs dangerous turns in her car while driving.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In this paragraph talk about how the tone used within the movie helped show how worried Laird was to finally meet Stephanie’s parents and how the director replaces the audience's perspective of stress with comedy.…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When the narrator introduced the brothels in Cambodia and how the police and the advocates saved the victims, the music was heavy and sorrowful, leading to the pounding of the heart of the audience and it increases the tension because the music brings out the uncertainty of hope of the girls. Moreover, close-ups in the movie are used to focus on some evidence found by the police like log book, and blood. These shots weight the air and make the audience short of breath. Hence, it raises the awareness of women abused and oppression of…

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When the Levees Broke

    • 611 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Divided into four parts, the film goes on for four hours. During this, numerous people with different roles are interviewed regarding their experiences. Spike Lee has introduced the film but using archive footage and photos of New Orleans. It shows the damage, debris and severe flood scenes that were left behind after the breech of the levees. Also, Spike Lee has used music effectively to show and add emotion to the narration and commentary. He has varied the kind of music that is being played throughout the film. He would use a slow, calm piano piece for a distressing scene. Whereas for a scene where help and aid is being sent, there would be a more up beat and military piece of music. There were a lot of sounds. Sounds varying from helicopters and cars to narration and commentary. Usually when a witness was being interviewed, background sounds were muffled out. This allowed what the witness was saying to have more meaning and get the message across more effectively. The interviewees all discussed their emotional state during the though times. Some cried and other spoke in an angry tone.…

    • 611 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    2. Steven Spielberg is known for telling unashamedly emotional stories. What techniques does he use in this film to engage the audience’s feelings? What helps to separate something that is ‘sentimental’ from something that is genuinely moving?…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Walk The Line Analysis

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In addition to Jack’s death and dramatizing it, there is the moment right before he dies when the camera zooms into the faces of Jack and John. This close-up shot highlights anguish on Jack’s features and the guilt-ridden and sorrow marred on John’s. It accurately conveys to the audience the tension in the moment and what the characters felt. An accurate depiction of feelings is not only displayed by close-up shots, but by a cut scene that emphasizes the juxtaposition of a dark room and a near dejected, dark atmosphere to a lively room with bright colours and upbeat sounds. Before John reveals that he made the record, the gloomy feeling in the living room he stumbles into in his drunken state makes you believe he didn’t make the record, however he ecstatically tells his wife that he did and it immediately cuts to the next seen where he goes on to perform. It shows that in that moment of darkness, his life takes a turn for the best and becomes brighter and livelier. Different film techniques help to put Johnny Cash under different lights and to increase the authenticity of Joaquins acting and the overall representation to the…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Adam

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Early Life John Adams was born on October 30, 1735 in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts. His father, John Adams Sr., was a farmer, a Congregationalist deacon and a town councilman, and was a direct descendant of Henry Adams, a Puritan who emigrated from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1638. His mother, Susanna Boylston Adams, was a descendant of the Boylston of Brookline, a prominent family in colonial Massachusetts.…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John the Savage

    • 5483 Words
    • 22 Pages

    Nobody understands why Mustapha Mund would let such a creature into our society. This “boy” was born out of a mother in the reservation. This has bad news written all over it! Just because his father was the D.H.C. it does not mean that he should get special treatment. This outsider to society should be placed back into the reservation immediately and his mother should be killed! His mother, who grew up in the New World should have known better than to have a child. Having John living in this society which just causes people to ask questions they should not be asking. Also, more people will now want to visit the reservation which is an extremely awful idea because of the painfully memorable images that people will see there. Our society as of now is perfect and it does not need an outsider with unorthodox views to come destroy it. John Savage, Linda Savage, and Bernard Marx should be permanently exiled back to the reservation. Peoples who compromise thesocial stability of the New World need to be terminated as soon as possible. Everybody should go meet him and then realize that he just does not have a place in our society. Nobody understands why Mustapha Mund would let such a creature into our society. This “boy” was born out of a mother in the reservation. This has bad news written all over it! Just because his father was the D.H.C. it does not mean that he should get special treatment. This outsider to society should be placed back into the reservation immediately and his mother should be killed! His mother, who grew up in the New World should have known better than to have a child. Having John living in this society which just causes people to ask questions they should not be asking. Also, more people will now want to visit the reservation which is an extremely awful idea because of the painfully memorable images that people will see there. Our society as of now is perfect and it does not need an outsider with unorthodox views to come destroy it. John Savage,…

    • 5483 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Music and sound effects were used and the music needed to be very effective since gasp the audience‘s attention. Slow melancholy music helps to develop a sullen atmosphere like when Candy is shown all alone as the others go off to work, after his dog has been shot. This sad music stimulates sympathy. Just as the music they used to create suspense and apprehension like in the scene where Curly and the other men were searching for Lennie. Music can help to create a concise message and or thought pattern even when there is no dialogue. Music also sets the tone on a scene as…

    • 1617 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    One of the disrespectful scenes that I saw was when John Q’s wife yelled at him through the phone and told him to do something, while she couldn't do anything about the situation but pushed him to do something extreme like holding hostages at the Hope Hospital. This also demonstrated the deep pain that both parents were going through at the time. The reason being, the wife pressured her husband who she loved dearly to do something very dangerous. It also shows how that John Q was having deep pain because he did something most people wouldn't dare to do.…

    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    viewers as the music is in contrast with Elena and David's joy. (b) in Talk to…

    • 2062 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Canada's Legal System

    • 1571 Words
    • 7 Pages

    John Q does not have the right health insurance to cover Michaels surgery, the hospital decides to send Michael home if the Archibald family does not come up with a deposit. Even thought Hope Memorial Hospital makes a revenue of $75,000,000 a year for doing 300 surgeries, that each cost $250,000, they decided to release Michael when they come up short with the deposit. John Q is faced with a moral dilemma to put his son to rest or fight to save his life. According to Jessica Firger, " many Americans are insured, but many still avoid seeing doctor's because of high out of pocket expenses." The family decides to sell everything they own to pay for the surgery, and even after doing so it still was not enough to pay for the surgery. The hospital decided to send a young boy home who was in need of a heart transplant because the family could not afford to pay a cash deposit. It is a moral principle to help those in need, especially since Michael is a young boy who needs the transplant to save his life. The hospital was not acting on this principle. Everyone is entitled to live and by the hospital considering to send Michael home knowing he did not have long to live they deprived him of human life. The hospital took away Michael's right to live by refusing to put him on the donor list because receiving the money was much more…

    • 1571 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    John Q

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The movie, John Q, tells the story of a man who is put to the test to save his ten-year old son. John Q Archibald is the father of Michael, a young, athletic, seemingly healthy boy. During Michael’s baseball game one afternoon however, he suddenly collapses due to heart failure. After being rushed the Emergency Room the Archibald’s are informed of the worst.…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    John

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Based on the study of my theme I believe that my thesis will be in the novel Life of Pi, Yann Martel uses the protagonist Pi to demonstrate how faith, ritual and one’s will to live save one from the barbaric and carnivorous reality. The key arguments that I will use to prove this thesis is firstly how Pi uses faith to help him survive in on the boat, for example Pi unconsciously makes a ritual for himself daily to follow in order keep himself busy and so that he forgets the notion of time, with this Pi is able to survive because he makes an effort to forget the amount of time that passes. Another argument I can argue is the different symbols of religion are found in the novel, as the colour orange and how it is the symbol for Hinduism. The colour orange was used a lot it the novel, it showed the survival and hope that God will save Pi, for example when he was thrown in the lifeboat by a sailor he was given a lifejacket that was described to be orange and also an orange whistle. These items helped Pi to survive at sea as he used the other life jackets he found in the lifeboat to create himself a floating island to keep away from Richard Parker. Furthermore the colour orange also symbolizes Richard Parker as he was orange, without Richard Parker Pi wouldn’t have survive out in the sea, Richard Parker was like a friend to Pi without him he would have gone insane Richard Parker helped him lose track of time to help him forget about the loss of his family, also without Richard Parker being there he would have been eaten by the Frenchman that tried to get on board. Another indication that the colour orange was used as a religious symbol is when he made the comparisons between that of Orange Juice, the orangutan, and the Virgin Mary, and would also often bring up Jesus on the cross. An important argument that I can use to prove my thesis is the island that Pi and Richard Parker came across, this island they encountered was a great comparison to the story of Adam and Eve…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    blade runner

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Firstly, I am going to discuss the costumes and make-up. I observed that most people are wearing futuristic clothes which is very bright and colourful. This makes us the viewers believe the film was made in the future. Moreover about the lighting and colour it was a very dark scene, this also made it clear and obvious that it was night time. However while Harrison Fords is chasing his victim through the crowds and busy roads, we hear different people talking, cars making noises, we also hear the walk, don’t walk crossing machine which is kind of insisting to be heard at that time. Even our characters running. These are all diegetic sounds. This shows us as viewers how busy this road is and how uneasy it was for Harrison to catch her. Furthermore we could hear ambient sounds while she was running for her life, the panting was heard really well. When the woman was shot, we could hear the beating of her heart which tells us (the viewers) that she’s dying, and that she probably needs someone to save her or revive her from what’s happening. This occurs as a part of diegetic sound because it is actually real BUT it is also a part of a Foley sound (fake) because the heart beat was made intensified, which is more audible for us to hear. The performance and movement of the actor as a Mise-en-scene actually makes us feel sorry for her. He also with his facial expressions it gives us the impression that he didn’t want to kill her or he also felt some kind of pity for her. Although, the scene where the…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The piano music that played throughout this movie seemed to exploit the concept of suffering in this movie. It was a difficult movie to get involved in at first. The movie appeared to be very uplifting until you started to realize that the people were struggling with themselves, hence the music played. The conflicts that the actors portrayed lent a very distressing tone to this movie.…

    • 682 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays