Trine Lindberg: “God of Love” by Luke Matheny is a very fascinating short film. We meet our main character, Raymond Goodfellow, praying to God, asking Him to make Kelly fall in love with him. Unfortunately for Raymond, Kelly is in love with his best friend, Fozzie. Raymond says that asking for Kelly to fall in love with him is the only thing he’s been praying for, which I think makes him look selfish. He’s only concerned about his own happiness and does everything in his power to make his wish come true. When he gets ‘magical’ love darts, that will make people fall in love for six hours, he starts using them on Kelly. Obviously, there are a lot emotions captured in this film, and the use of close ups are crucial. These shots show the character’s affectionate feelings towards each other. At 06:57 for instance, Kelly were just ‘stabbed’ with the dart for the first time, and the close up of her face truly show how different she is looking at Raymond. Raymond is a dynamic character, meaning that he’s character change together with the story. After Raymond understands that Fozzie likes Kelly too, he’s changing completely; he stops thinking about himself, and begins using the love darts to create loving couples everywhere. However, he still has a cocky attitude, calling himself the God of Love.
The “God of Love” by Luke Matheny is a short film with many different interesting aspects throughout. The first thing I noticed was that it was black and white. This is interesting because it calms down the story. It also starts off with the main character on a moped with a voice over. The voice over in the beginning makes the audience curious as to what he is talking about and what will happen. At the end the voice over makes you realize that he is the “God of Love” and its kind of like a clarifying moment. I think that the music also makes some of the scenes in the film more dramatic. I also noticed that there are many different close ups. They start when the main character is shooting the darts. He is very good at it and makes a bull-eye every time. I think that they emphasize close ups on that to show that he is obviously very good. They also show close ups when each character is stabbed by a dart. They show their faces to show how they fall in love and the emotion is captured each different time. I think that this short film was cute and that it was cool that he turned out to be Cupid. It was an interesting way of showing how the God of Love came to be.
Kayla Cassese: The short film “God of Love” by Luke Matheny is a story of loving and learning. The film comes full circle in that it ends in the same way that it begins. Once a general understanding of the story is revealed to the audience, it is obvious that Raymond is praying purely because he wants something he cannot have. Throughout the film, Raymond’s prayers were answered but not in the way he had intended. He discovers that while it worked on almost everyone else, it did not work when he tried to make Kelly fall in love with him. The part of the film I found the most interesting was the fact that it was in black and white. I am a very strong believer in Christ and I believe that it is God’s grace that gives our lives “color”. This somewhat illustrates the idea that Raymond is praying to a God that he doesn’t even know and although he is praying for the wrong reasons, the right thing ends up happening. Eventually, after multiple failed attempts to fall in love with someone else or to get Kelly to fall in love with him, Raymond gives up. However, it is not out of defeat, it is out of love. The bible says that love conquers all and I think that that holds true in this film. Raymond sacrifices his personal happiness to see his best friend happy which in turn, makes him even happier than he would have been with Kelly. I think that the idea of this film was conveyed really well through the lighting and the composition of the scenes.
Caroline Ficken: The God of Love is a comedic performance full of great cinematography and charisma. Luke Matheny and Bobby Webster illustrated the storyline so strongly with the lack of color. The lighting was able to colorize the actors and shots without the use of multicolor. The use of close up shots characterized the performers really well especially of Ray and his struggle for adoration. As well as the extreme wide shots emphasizing isolation and loneliness. My favorite shot is when Ray receives the final package and stands at the top of the stairs outside his apartment. Everything is dark but he stands tall and regal above the camera. I enjoyed how some shots were used repeatedly to further the illustration of the story such as the exchanges between Kelly and Fozzie as they play their instruments. Bobby Webster created such a strong visualization of the piece and Luke Matheny created a story that was transformed into something simple and beautifully pleasing.
Jordan Tanner: In Luke Matheny's "God of Love," a love-struck, hopeless romantic Ray -- played by the writer/director himself -- literally has his prayers come true when he is sent a rather mysterious box containing darts that, when thrown into someone, fills them with an intoxicating sense of love. It isn't the most original concept ever -- after all, it is only one step away from Cupid and his bow and arrow (a reference the film makes a direct call to near the end) -- but it is executed with perfection. Matheny is able to fill every shot of every scene with something interesting, keeping the viewer glued in throughout the course of the film. These aspects are compounded by Luke's artistic choice to shoot the entire film in black and white. The black and white adds many layers of composition to the film, tempering the film's ridiculous premise while keeping it from becoming too cartoon-ish. This quirky little film was an absolute treat from beginning to end and does very well establishing writer/director Luke Matheny's unique style and sensibilities.
Julie Bowman: Luke Matheny's "God of Love" is a comical short film about typical problems solved in a creative, mysterious way. Many people have had a crush on someone that did not like them back, but not many people have had the opportunity to change that with magic darts. The decision to have the film composed in black and white may have been so the audience did not focus on the colors and rather on the characters; or maybe Matheny decided to go for a 50's love story vibe. Either way, it made the audience look elsewhere for the tone; it made viewers pay more attention to facial expressions to set the mood. The camera angles became very personal during conversations such as extreme close ups and point of view shots when reading and video chatting. Viewers rarely felt distant from the story line. Overall, "God of Love" is an unpredictable short film with a peculiar protagonist and an imaginative story.
Keran Jiang: God of Love” by Luke Matheny is a very interesting film。 At first I thought this film is very old, but then I found I was wrong, this is a relatively new film, but with the black and white color, the hero has a magical darts, can make people fall in love. This setting is very interesting, the film tells the story of a lot of roles are darts shot and fell in love details. Close-up of the characters, and then reached the sweet, darts shot period of time after the moment of emotional changes, are described very well.The tone is lively throughout the film there are profound meaning, not with magic darts can do everything, people are not being controlled. Many of the protagonists Closeup also illustrates this point.
Trine Lindberg: “God of Love” by Luke Matheny is a very fascinating short film. We meet our main character, Raymond Goodfellow, praying to God, asking Him to make Kelly fall in love with him. Unfortunately for Raymond, Kelly is in love with his best friend, Fozzie. Raymond says that asking for Kelly to fall in love with him is the only thing he’s been praying for, which I think makes him look selfish. He’s only concerned about his own happiness and does everything in his power to make his wish come true. When he gets ‘magical’ love darts, that will make people fall in love for six hours, he starts using them on Kelly. Obviously, there are a lot emotions captured in this film, and the use of close ups are crucial. These shots show the character’s affectionate feelings towards each other. At 06:57 for instance, Kelly were just ‘stabbed’ with the dart for the first time, and the close up of her face truly show how different she is looking at Raymond. Raymond is a dynamic character, meaning that he’s character change together with the story. After Raymond understands that Fozzie likes Kelly too, he’s changing completely; he stops thinking about himself, and begins using the love darts to create loving couples everywhere. However, he still has a cocky attitude, calling himself the God of Love.
ReplyDeleteThe “God of Love” by Luke Matheny is a short film with many different interesting aspects throughout. The first thing I noticed was that it was black and white. This is interesting because it calms down the story. It also starts off with the main character on a moped with a voice over. The voice over in the beginning makes the audience curious as to what he is talking about and what will happen. At the end the voice over makes you realize that he is the “God of Love” and its kind of like a clarifying moment. I think that the music also makes some of the scenes in the film more dramatic. I also noticed that there are many different close ups. They start when the main character is shooting the darts. He is very good at it and makes a bull-eye every time. I think that they emphasize close ups on that to show that he is obviously very good. They also show close ups when each character is stabbed by a dart. They show their faces to show how they fall in love and the emotion is captured each different time. I think that this short film was cute and that it was cool that he turned out to be Cupid. It was an interesting way of showing how the God of Love came to be.
ReplyDeleteKayla Cassese: The short film “God of Love” by Luke Matheny is a story of loving and learning. The film comes full circle in that it ends in the same way that it begins. Once a general understanding of the story is revealed to the audience, it is obvious that Raymond is praying purely because he wants something he cannot have. Throughout the film, Raymond’s prayers were answered but not in the way he had intended. He discovers that while it worked on almost everyone else, it did not work when he tried to make Kelly fall in love with him. The part of the film I found the most interesting was the fact that it was in black and white. I am a very strong believer in Christ and I believe that it is God’s grace that gives our lives “color”. This somewhat illustrates the idea that Raymond is praying to a God that he doesn’t even know and although he is praying for the wrong reasons, the right thing ends up happening. Eventually, after multiple failed attempts to fall in love with someone else or to get Kelly to fall in love with him, Raymond gives up. However, it is not out of defeat, it is out of love. The bible says that love conquers all and I think that that holds true in this film. Raymond sacrifices his personal happiness to see his best friend happy which in turn, makes him even happier than he would have been with Kelly. I think that the idea of this film was conveyed really well through the lighting and the composition of the scenes.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCaroline Ficken: The God of Love is a comedic performance full of great cinematography and charisma. Luke Matheny and Bobby Webster illustrated the storyline so strongly with the lack of color. The lighting was able to colorize the actors and shots without the use of multicolor. The use of close up shots characterized the performers really well especially of Ray and his struggle for adoration. As well as the extreme wide shots emphasizing isolation and loneliness. My favorite shot is when Ray receives the final package and stands at the top of the stairs outside his apartment. Everything is dark but he stands tall and regal above the camera. I enjoyed how some shots were used repeatedly to further the illustration of the story such as the exchanges between Kelly and Fozzie as they play their instruments. Bobby Webster created such a strong visualization of the piece and Luke Matheny created a story that was transformed into something simple and beautifully pleasing.
ReplyDeleteJordan Tanner: In Luke Matheny's "God of Love," a love-struck, hopeless romantic Ray -- played by the writer/director himself -- literally has his prayers come true when he is sent a rather mysterious box containing darts that, when thrown into someone, fills them with an intoxicating sense of love. It isn't the most original concept ever -- after all, it is only one step away from Cupid and his bow and arrow (a reference the film makes a direct call to near the end) -- but it is executed with perfection. Matheny is able to fill every shot of every scene with something interesting, keeping the viewer glued in throughout the course of the film. These aspects are compounded by Luke's artistic choice to shoot the entire film in black and white. The black and white adds many layers of composition to the film, tempering the film's ridiculous premise while keeping it from becoming too cartoon-ish. This quirky little film was an absolute treat from beginning to end and does very well establishing writer/director Luke Matheny's unique style and sensibilities.
ReplyDeleteJulie Bowman: Luke Matheny's "God of Love" is a comical short film about typical problems solved in a creative, mysterious way. Many people have had a crush on someone that did not like them back, but not many people have had the opportunity to change that with magic darts. The decision to have the film composed in black and white may have been so the audience did not focus on the colors and rather on the characters; or maybe Matheny decided to go for a 50's love story vibe. Either way, it made the audience look elsewhere for the tone; it made viewers pay more attention to facial expressions to set the mood. The camera angles became very personal during conversations such as extreme close ups and point of view shots when reading and video chatting. Viewers rarely felt distant from the story line. Overall, "God of Love" is an unpredictable short film with a peculiar protagonist and an imaginative story.
ReplyDeleteKeran Jiang: God of Love” by Luke Matheny is a very interesting film。 At first I thought this film is very old, but then I found I was wrong, this is a relatively new film, but with the black and white color, the hero has a magical darts, can make people fall in love. This setting is very interesting, the film tells the story of a lot of roles are darts shot and fell in love details. Close-up of the characters, and then reached the sweet, darts shot period of time after the moment of emotional changes, are described very well.The tone is lively throughout the film there are profound meaning, not with magic darts can do everything, people are not being controlled. Many of the protagonists Closeup also illustrates this point.
ReplyDelete