Juan Quin Quin can only be described as the rural pre-Revolutionary Cuban renaissance man. Although by no means wealthy or powerful, his natural gifts (and a long series of Don Quijote-esque comical episodes) take him and his companion Jachero through a whirlwind of spontaneous hustles: from an acolyte, to a bullfighter, to a circus performer, to a coffee planter, to a full-on guerrilla freedom fighter. Through his various entanglements and misadventures, Juan remains resolute yet vivacious, loving a bit of fun but firm in his values. On the way, he survives numerous near misses with death, finds love, and ultimately rebels against a system that attempts to prevent his success. The story is told in a non-linear fashion, with the plot jumping between Juan’s time as an outlaw and his odd-jobs before his rebellion. A rowdy fusion of old Western, cartoonish action thriller, and slapstick comedy, Las aventuras de Juan Quin Quin is a quintessentially Cuban film that indulges an audience's love of adventure and justice.
Describes the setting of a scene in a play or a film. It refers to everything placed on the stage or in front of the camera—including people. In other words, mise en scène is a catch-all for everything that contributes to the visual presentation and overall “look” of a production. When translated from French, it means “placing on stage.”
Other important props are the cocks in the cockfight, the humorously placed oranges in the broken bottles in Jachero’s circus act, the coffin in Juan’s circus act, the aquarium in the landlord’s home, Juan and Jachero’s axes, and all of the guns.
The Jesus costume appears when Juan is acting as Jesus in a play. Primarily, the costume compounds the humorous absurdity of the situation: a man sneaking around in an outfit that clearly references Christian iconography, seeking out his love interest Teresa. However, it also seems to subtly underline his status as a ‘man of the people’, whose populist morals captivate the villagers and later bring him a following as he fights the landowners and policemen. He seems to represent the common man’s values, especially in relation to the elite, which had a strong appeal to Cuban post-Revolutionary audiences.
One small but interesting moment of hair and makeup is the appearance of the American authority after Juan’s arrest. With a white-dyed tuft of hair, gaudy button-down shirt, and touchy-feely mannerisms, there seems to be an insinuation that the character is gay. With homosexuality still being somewhat of a taboo at the time, this nuance is likely a comedic jab at the elite class and the Americans.
This is the art of photography and visual storytelling in a motion picture or television show. Cinematography comprises all on-screen visual elements, including lighting, framing, composition, camera motion, camera angles, film selection, lens choices, depth of field, zoom, focus, color, exposure, and filtration. Cinematography sets and supports the overall look and mood of a film’s visual narrative. Each visual element that appears on screen, a.k.a. the mise-en-scène of a film, can serve and enhance the story—so it is the cinematographer’s responsibility to ensure that every element is cohesive and support the story. Filmmakers often choose to spend the majority of their budget on high-quality cinematography to guarantee that the film will look incredible on the big screen.
Editing is the process of putting a film together–the selection and arrangement of shots and scenes. Editing can condense space and time, emphasize separate elements and bring them together, and organize material in such a way that patterns of meaning become apparent. In addition, editing can determine how a film is perceived: for instance, quick, rapid cuts can create a feeling of tension, while a long take can create a more dramatic effect. The first photoplays generally had no cutting, owing to the fact that they were single-reel films; once filming began, you could not stop until the film ran out. (https://filmglossary.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/term/editing/)
Sound is an integral part in a film. It refers to everything that the audience hears including sound effects, words and music. Sound is used in films for various purposes, including: providing the information to the viewer about the location of the scene, heightening the mood, telling the audience about the characters and advancing the plot. Every person who watches a film realizes that the choice of voices, soundtrack and music present in a film affect the way that the viewer perceives a particular film. As a result, the sound is an important and integral element of the film, one that determines the way that the viewer experiences and understands a film as a visual experience.
Narrative analysis is an examination of the story elements, including narrative structure, character, and plot. A narrative can be considered to be the chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occurring in time and space. In order to analyze the narrative of a film, we need to first make the distinction between the plot of the film and the story of the film. This is sometimes referred to as the discourse and story of a film. Narrative may also be called the story thought story mainly refers to the events that describe the narrative.
Film genres are various forms or identifiable types, categories, classifications or groups of films. (Genre comes from the French word meaning "kind," "category," or "type"). These provide a convenient way for scriptwriters and film-makers to produce, cast and structure their narratives within a manageable, well-defined framework. Genres also offer the studios an easily 'marketable' product, and give audiences satisfying, expected and predictable choices. Genres refers to recurring, repeating and similar, familiar or instantly-recognizable patterns, styles, themes, syntax, templates, paradigms, motifs, rules or generic conventions.