1. Write a brief plot overview
 The film, Crash, directed by Paul Haggis follows the intertwining lives of people of different race, wealth, power and views on life. It plays on the idea of action and consequence, where the actions are usually prejudiced fueled (making assumptions based off a pre-conceived idea).  Shows the reality of how one prejudiced idea can trigger a string of anger/prejudiced fueled actions resulting in a big crash called humanity. 

2. Discuss a character that was of interest to you and explain why
One character that fascinated me was Anthony. A black male who clearly has very strong views on racism and the oppression black people face in everyday life yet fulfills the stereotypes he claims to hate so much. It was hard to sympathise with him and hard not to at the same time because he made completely valid statements about the prejudice black people have to encounter on a daily basis including his own experience where the black waitress didn't give them any coffee because she saw they are black and "...black people don't tip." and all he does is concrete that sterotype when he leaves without paying, justifying his poor action by the treatment he recieved. Again, he claims that the white womans "... reaction is blind fear." to them (as black peopl)  is unfair, racist and stereotypical and yet he continues to fulfill the stereotype- that he is so offended to be assosciated with by inducing fear on them by pointing a gun at her and stealing her car.  However though its clear he is passionate about the oppression and lack of opporuntity and is not afraid to spread awareness to people such as his friend who turn a blind eye to the casual racism he consistently have to deal with.

the young cop
3. What do you believe the directors intention was ... explore this and the moments that allowed you to experience this
I think the directors intent was to explore the reality of the prejudice that we all hold about eachother especially race, gender, etc. How easily and quickly we let stereotypes and racism shield our view of moral matters, it shows us how we can view ourself so differently to one another simply because of a different appearance. I think he uses this reality of prejudice and the way it triggers following events to show that not one person is really at fault, more like everyone has flaws. For instance the young officer Hanson, has no interest in being partners with a blatantly racist cop, Ryan and condemns Ryan's way of treating black people (as he should) and we automatically decide that Hanson is not racist. But then once put in a time pressuring position where he has to decide between his politically correct view of black people vs his deep down racist belief that they are dangerous, gang related, etc. he chooses the engrained belief that has been passed on for years, making us realise that even though on the outside he seems moral , under the skin when he has to decide if a black person reaching into his pocket is getting a gun, a knife or a little figurine, he believes the worst because of the racial prejudice society engrains into their mind subconsciously. It is subconscious because almost all the characters do not view themself as a racist or act racistly out of thin air but from things they have experienced e.g  Officer Ryan is extremely racist towards the medical proffesional, the black couple he pulls over and in general and automatically we think he's just a racist piecc of sh*t , eventually though it becomes clear that he acts out of grief from his father who is sick and 'lost everything' and Ryan clearly uses the sterotypes of black peopel to make it easy to blame something or someones for what he has gone through.
4. How did Haggis use stereotypes to manipulate viewers
The problem is that all the stereotypes of race that society constructs are brought to life in this movie. Two black men, dressed in cornrows and jackets, automatically we/them stereotype them- drug dealer, gang member, dangerous- in the beginning though, we don't think they live up to this stereptype as they talk about the gross prejudice they face yet ironically they are exactly that, criminals who steal and are what could be called 'lowlives'. This bringing to life of a stereotype happens again with the persian shop owner. When trying to buy a gun for protection he faces racial slurs involving terrorism (the planes crashing into buildings- 9/11 reference maybe) and the obnoxious assosiation that he must be arab because of his foreign language. Yet sadly when accounting a shop break in and insurance problem he reacts out of anger and acts extremley violently- confirming the stereotype with reality. I almost think that because of his lack of english and their lack of gun knowledge the gun shop owner purposely gave them blanks- out of fear of the stereotype their race has (terrorism and violence) and then when he actually does crack and almost kills a little girl, the unfair stereotype is confirmed. I think Haggis' use of confirming stereotypes manipulates us into almost accepting the pre conceived idea we have of other races even though we know how politcally incorrect it is to judge someone based off stereotypes, so in the process of doing this we need to realise how easy it is to judge a whole group, let alone race based off the action of one individual.
5.Discuss and research the setting of L.A . Why do you think it was set here and how did it influence the plot/interactions
The setting of L.A. of this story is purposeful.  L.A is a large city in America where people go to reinvent themself in the hopes of an equal chance of opportunity. In L.A. and the movie, crash, we see a vast vairety of cultures and races all working between eachother but not really intwertwining. It's obvious there is a lot of race tension between every race because they each perceive eachother differently and all hold prejudiced ideas about eachother- mostly negative. The prejudice they all hold about eachother influences  they way they work and move throughout the city and as a result causes discomfort between them. It becomes obvious that this racial tension is a result of current affairs including post 9/11 islamophobia , potentially immigrant issues, years and years of black oppresion, etc. So I think the choice of L.A. as the setting  incoorporates all these aspects into one place where they 'crash' into eachother.
LA has a population of 3.99 million as of 2018. 
ironic its place for reinvention however their judges straihgt away because of their race
portrays reality of la rather than the galmoured version that we see too much- stuck between meddling glass- quote.

riots
police brutality- trigger quote
melting pot of racism
 generalisation comes from stereotypes that come from reality

post 9/11 , cultures, wealth vs poverty, idea of la, 
6. Were there any cinematopgraphy techniques that stood out to you? Choose ONE and discuss it's effect (presenting directors intention, causing a viewers realisation...)