October Sky; The Movie Post

A preview of the movie...




"A GREAT MOVIE, THAT WILL LIVE IN YOUR MEMORY FOREVER!"
-Larry King, USA TODAY


"You'll laugh with it, cry with it, and go away absolutely loving it"
-Robert Butler, Knight Rider News Service

Sections/characters minimized in the film
As done in many books into film, there were several sections that were cut off. For example, many of the Auk’s were not shown when they were flown. In the movie, a total of 30 Auk’s were set to fly, and in the movie fewer than 15 were actually presented. Sections were not the only things that were minimized and cut out in the film, characters were as well. For example, Tim’s dad dying and Tim having to move away was not mentioned. And Sherman, one of the rocket boys, was not mentioned either. Though, in the movie it mentioned that O’Dell’s name was ‘Sherman O’Dell’. That was odd because Mr. Hickam did not mention O’Dell’s first name at all in his novel. Jake was also left out in the movie, as well as his relationship with Miss Riley. I believe the director did a good job in cutting out certain characters, because it just made the movie more easy to understand. The book itself was hard to understand if I didn’t quiz myself of who was who, so cutting out characters was a great idea. Thus, as Mr. Hickam mentioned in a speech, the director needed to unless the movie was going to be too long.

Sections/characters emphasized in the film
The protagonist was emphasized the most as done in mostly all the movies. Sonny’s dream was probably emphasized the most in the film. His desire to build rockets really made the movie as great as it was. The director did a good job showing the hardships and the triumphs that Sonny had to go through just to make his Auk’s soar the sky. Sonny’s teacher, Miss Riley, was also emphasized in the film. She was the one to help Sonny see what was ahead of him when his dreams became clouded by troubles within his family.

Narration
There was very little narration in the film. Like in most films, the narration was done in the genesis of the movie. It was told in first person, and the omniscient wasn’t there at all. When the narration was taking place, the narrator never spoke about what others thought. The narrator rather focused on the life of Sonny, and what was going on around Coalwood.

Reoccurring images (motifs)
The reoccurring motif in this movie was Sonny’s desire to build rockets. As I mentioned before, the director did a phenomenal job in emphasizing his dreams. The director also made it quit obvious that Sonny’s motif was to build rockets. It was actually mentioned by Sonny 7 times in the film (approximately).

Use of music/sound effects
The music in the movie was awesome. At first, the director played Jailhouse Rock, by Elvis Presley. The song went so well with the scene, it was like they were made for each other. Thus, no one can go wrong with some tunes from the king himself. Throughout the movie other classical’s were played such as Ain’t That A Shame, by Fats Domino. And when there were scenes of the Rocket Boys building their Auk’s and inching closer to the science fair The Coasters would sing their Yakety Yak. To finish it off, one of the last classical that was played was Speedo, sung by The Cadillacs. These songs all went well with the scene in which they were played in. They were great choices, and the director couldn’t have done a better job.

Description of one shot

First off, I’m sorry for the quality of the picture. It’s an establishing shot, with high key lighting. I believe it’s a POV shot, but then again it can be controversial. For my defense, it only seems natural for it to be a POV shot, and if it is, it might be from Sonny’s perspective.