Critical Thinking - BCOP100

Today's lecture was based on 'critical thinking'. We started by looking at 5 different ways of note taking which would aid us to help to think critically and logically when analysing a piece of work. These were:

- Outline method

- Cornell method

- Mind map method

- Flow method

- Write on slides method 

[1]

After, we began to define the meaning of 'critical thinking', which led us into understanding that it is the process of asking questions, looking into the meaning and significance of arguments, evaluating and assessing, weighing up evidence, making judgements, reflecting, discovering, and overall becoming a better and cleaner thinker.

Critical thinking is the "objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgement" [2]

Our next task was to take notes while watching the short film, 'Wes Anderson Hotel Chevalier' (2007). The notes that I took in response are below:

 [3]

After watching the film, as a class we were encouraged to share what we had written down and what we thought was happening. Certain things became obvious to us, like the use of colour and hidden details e.g the arrangement of objects on a table, however other elements such as the positioning of camera, were not so distinct. Anderson carefully positioned each scene so that there was a 'central line', in which everything else was positioned around. Furthermore, the use of just two colours was particularly interesting too, as only yellow and blue were depicted throughout the whole film.

Upon closer research these purposeful decisions taken by Wes Anderson (the director), allowed us to read between the lines and to learn new things about the characters. The main character (Jason) starts off in a yellow saturated room, which appears to be very exquisite and perhaps made to accommodate two people, rather than just the one. This allows us to assume that he is lonely, which is later backed up with the information that he has ran away from something and has lived in the hotel room 'for about a month'. After a mysterious phone call, a woman enters the room, and it becomes obvious that the two have some sort of history together. It is hard to judge whether their past was positive or negative, but the effort that Jason puts into organising the room and preparing himself, somewhat suggests that he has the means to 'impress' her in some way. Although the two do exchange some dialogue, as the clip is so short, all of the questions seem to remain unanswered. It seems that the small movie serves a more artistic purpose, rather than one that tells a deep and gripping story. Anderson definitely focuses on the composition of the scenes, the colours and the idea that 'actions speak louder than words'. The only thing that seems slightly suggestive is the theme of romance and past relationships, which is expressed through the body language of the two characters and the connotations of it being set in Paris: the city of love. 

[1] YouTube (2014). [online]. How to Take Notes in Class: The 5 Best Methods - College Info Geek. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AffuwyJZTQQ [Accessed on 22nd November 2016]
[2] Oxford Dictionaries (2016). [online]. Definition of critical thinking in English. Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/critical_thinking [Accessed on 22nd November 2016]
[3] YouTube (2013). [online]. Hotel Chevalier - Wes Anderson (2007). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QzOuoaE7u4&oref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D0QzOuoaE7u4&has_verified=1 [Accessed on 22nd November 2016]