Get your tongue outta my mouth, cos I'm kissing you goodbye

Over two weeks since I've been to the cinema and almost two weeks since my previous blog post. Yup, time is becoming tight. Partly a problem I created for myself since I decided to create and entry for Empire's "Done In 60 Seconds" competition where any film from the past 20 years could be remade into 60 seconds. I chose In Bruges, partially because Ross looks like Colin Farrell and partly because it is a damn hilarious film.

The experience itself was great, though the final output wasn't quite perfect. It is probably the first short that I have done myself that has had almost meticulous planning, even though on the day we did change a couple of locations.

So a summary of what I learned:

1. You can't ever over plan, you just need to be open to the fact that you will never be able to get things exact.
2. Be alert at all times, take in surroundings quickly and use everything to your advantage (in the film, a Mortuary passes off as a police station simply because a police car HAPPENED to be parked next to it).
3. A shooting schedule is very handy, since no matter how much you love the project, most of those you are working with won't be happy to wait and get 10 takes of 1 shot. The schedule keeps everyone on track and gives you an idea of when you have spent far too long on 1 shot or scene and you need to move on.
4. Having small breaks between set-ups is fine but it's much better to take lunch that bit later. EVERYONE flags after lunch.
5. Communication is important, make sure EVERYONE knows what's going on in each shot and why. If there's time of course.
6. Don't be scared to listen to what the rest of the crew have to say, sometimes you can be so blind to your way of doing it that you may need an outside view just to make things easier.

In all it was a good, fun shoot and I doubt we'll have many fun shoots in the future. Thanks to Galina, Michael, Ross, Luke and who's the other one? Oh yeah, where there's a camera, there's a Steven Ferguson. Also thanks to both Murdo and Gavin for their little helps in editing. The short list will be up tomorrow, wish us luck!

Time at the academy recently has been fairly good, finally getting word that we will be filming our own projects as part of the course this time. It's nerve-racking though, since my script is one of 7 possibilites for production, some healthy competition is nice. Whichever scripts end up going ahead, I look forward to being part of a proper, monitored production.

The Crit & Con 2 has started off well, with musicals gaining a little more respect in my eyes, even if I'm not yet ready to truly embrace everything with a song and dance. The TV module has also been interesting with adverts becoming a great point of discussion on moodle which I'm glad to see all of the class participated in, even if it was only myself and Andy that posted about hating adverts. Richard's classes have been filled with wonderment and putting some of the techniques into practice in my re-draft is both intriguing and terrifying. Will I be able to pull it all off?

Tech classes have slowed but that's only due to our first proper assessment which I have to admit, I'm a little worried by but I don't imagine that Ray or anyone else is out to fail anyone and that if anyone does slip up, there will be great support from the department.

Most of us also went along for Ros Maddison's communication class, which only lasted a half hour, but was good enough and I was kept intrigued throughout, even though it was all common sense really. Oddly it took me longer to transport in and out than it did to sit in the class. Worthwhile turning up though, even if only to see some of the class, Benoit in particular, make fools of themselves trying to communicate without speaking or using their arms.

Roll on King Kong tomorrow! I last saw it before Peter Jackson's version but since that stunk to high heaven, I'm looking forward to revisiting the original and IMO, the best.

FILM

The Man With The Golden Gun - The only film I've watched outside of the academy and boy am I glad I took a few weeks off between watching Live and Let Die and this. The formula is there, except this time there are some great moments, Christopher Lee and his relationship with Nick-Nack stands out as a key compenent for me with Nick-Nack hunting down adversaries for Scaramanga. Though when the film opens, he hasn't yet been able to get hold of his ultimate adversary, 007. The parallels between Scaramanga and Bond are exciting to watch, with Scaramanga being the man that Bond would be if he carried out assassinations instead of standing for Queen and country.

Sadly the film is let down by a poor score, one of the weakest Bond themes, this time sung by Lulu as well as the loss of the guitar over the gun barrel sequence. This instantly loses points in my opinion, especially since it was replaced with such a poor copycat. The film also has that often spoofed element, the baddie talking Bond through his entire plan which I guess is the Bond equivalent of the Saw flashback. The other drawback is use again of Sheriff Pepper, the comic relief for Live and Let Die as well as this movie. Put simply, I'm glad he doesn't return.

Still, some interesting elements, the shipwreck in the Hong Kong harbour stands out with it's somewhat trippy production design and the supporting cast pull of their roles well, as does Roger Moore who continues to bring his own style to the part, even if I don't think it quite fits with the classic Bond image I have in my head.

The Man With The Golden Gun - 6/10

TV

Lost, This Place Is Death and 316: Don't read if you want any hints or spoils dropped but so far, this season has been great. Watching it in groups has also been good and watching an episode twice each week has been very benificial.

We have finally saw the beginning of Rousseau's story, found how the island is almost impossible to get to from the outside world and in the next episode The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham we are due to find out the steps Locke took to get everyone back onto the island. One low point I did find in This Place Is Death however was the fact that Ben showed Jin was alive through giving Sun his wedding ring, considering how intense the scenes were, why didn't he just give her the ring from the off? Saving himself lots of hassle.

The show is still at the top of my list for TV programmes and by the looks of it, that's not going to shift anytime soon.


Heroes, A Clear And Present Danger and Trust And Blood: (SPOILERS AS USUAL) Heroes has returned and this time it has (literally) hit the ground running. The first double episode has set-up what could be the best storyline in Heroes with both The Hunter and Nathan becoming the prominent antagonists. At last the writers have decided to work on something that all of the fans want to see more than anything, which is more of the heroes all working together. Let's hope it stays as good as these episodes were, the show needs to get back to being great.


Generation Kill: Being forced to watch TV is never a good thing, but I fairly enjoyed these first two episodes. The show is very HBO which is obvious through the language and content but the show is so well written that within half an hour I felt like I had a good feel for the characters. The only negative for me was that the show is just too similar to Jarhead, a lot of waiting around and very little war. This is only my opinion after watching two episodes however, though the characters are interesting enough to make me want to tune in again.

I won't blog about Wild At Heart, I don't really think it's worth it, really not my thing.
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Actual Country & Western songs

Drop Kick Me Jesus (Through The Goalposts Of Life)
Get Your Biscuits In The Oven, And Your Buns In The Bed
How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away
I Bought The Shoes That Just Walked Out On Me

"Ring, ring! Who's there? Destiny? I've been expecting your call."

After sheer anger at technology this evening, somehow I've managed to claw back my sanity, or at least what I call my sanity. I had written about 70% of a script for Richard over the past two nights but tonight, after a long crappy day at work, I log on to finish it off and guess what, yep, it magically disappeared. After near 20 minutes of displaying my anger, I decided to bite the bullet and carry on, no-one was going to help me. Now, it's done. I doubt it's as good as the other version, but it is at least done to a satisfactory level. Anyway, regular blog.

On Tuesday we returned to Richard's class and while the visual storytelling idea wasn't entirely new to me (see Storms Over Sky) I was very interested in the subtlety of films like The Truman Show which can show characters thoughts and feeling by motives and motions not shown on the actors face. While I doubt whether entirely visual storytelling would work for a feature, I see it as a top priority in our short films. Especially since at this level, I doubt any of us are actually great at writing dialogue. I know I'm not.

The Production Meeting was dull again on Wednesday, I think the entire process is far too forced to be of any value. Good to meet the TPA folk yes, but there's no point in forcing an idea simply to fit the purpose of working together, especially since our group have mostly DFTV folk and only prop makers from TPA. It would be like me giving you tools and then going and finding a job to use them in. No doubt I'm wrong and many fruitful projects will prosper from it but right now I'm not loving it.

Wednesday afternoon had us assessed through class discussion. I must admit, I'm not the best at these since I'm not always the most vocal and especially about my opinions since I rarely look at each side of an argument and as a consequence, I'm shot down immediately. Still, my teeny contribution was much better than doing an essay with regurgitated wikipedia 'facts'.

On Thursday was our group tutorial with Andy, where we all agreed we found the task quite insightful though may have been better over a shorter period. The rest of the day was spent tidying the statement up while being distracted by a particularly talkative DFTV3. One day they'll invent a mute button for people too!

Friday was great, more on Singin' In The Rain below. Gavin and Charlotte's music video was on the agenda for the rest of the afternoon. It was quite fun, even if I did feel let down by my own dance performance. I'm actually dying to see the final product, most of it seems to be my thing, I was reminded of many years ago when I watched Phil and Ross fight each other Mortal Kombat style on the monitor. Hope you keep the quality up guys! Also on Friday was the mass book out of kit. My own shoot isn't the most artistic or showreel-able of them all but it'll work as a fun, educating exercise for my crew, Michael and Galina. Though maybe not fun considering the time pressure...

So films. Besides my obvious Lost and Entourage loving, there's nothing for me to write about in terms of TV so I won't bother this time round.

FILM

Sunrise - Innovative and very interesting and possibly the best silent film we've watched, though I'd be more inclined to watch The Kid again. The story is fairly simple but the still striking visuals will stay with me, at least for a short while. The most memorable section however is the alcoholic pig which actually had me in stitches, even long after the screening. A good slice of film history.

Sunrise - 8/10

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - A film which I've followed for the past few years and I was definetly astounded by the quality of the film's special effects. Many have commented about how unreal or unbelievable the film is and for that I have a short answer, it's a fairytale, or at least fairytale-like. Does anyone question Slumdog Millionaire which had as many unbelievable points as TCCOBB?

Yep, I loved it. I know it's not exactly the popular opinion but I thought it was very well directed, well paced (no heavy eyelids and only one clock-watching escapade, which I've concluded that I do anyway) and for the most part, entirely engaging. For me, the film falls down in it's final section when (SPOILERS) instead of Brad Pitt, we see the young/old Benjamin as a young boy. Now, why spend all that money, time and effects on an old Brad Pitt and not do the same with the younger version? While I can't say I entirely connected to the character, I did at least sympathise with all of his lives losses, since, from a young age I was always encouraged to accept death as part of life (if that makes sense). Some parents like to hide their kids away from death until a certain age but the opposite was true for me. Also (and without getting too depressing) I've lost many people close to me from a young age and upon reflection, the first 16 or so years of my own life didn't feel a million miles away from an old folks home. A film I'll buy on DVD, simply because I love Fincher and I am interested on how the film was pieced together. Also, a second viewing will no doubt be as good as the first. Worth going to see.

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - 9/10

Bolt - A killing of time resulted in me catching my mandatory second cinema screening of the week, IN 3D. The film itself is pretty decent, though for me, it is far too close to Toy Story, in terms of story, to be particularly great. Both Bolt and Rhino are memorable characters with Rhino stealing just about every scene he participates in. I had trouble with the actual 3D of the film at parts which just seemed to not work at all but generally, the experience was great, no longer is 3D simply jaggy/pokey things. In essence a good experience and worthwhile seeing in 3D, just don't go in expecting a masterpiece.

Bolt - 6/10

Singin' In The Rain - I had utter distain going into this, I guess my bout of Mamma Mia! and HSM3:SY didn't work that well after all but I'm quite happy to say that I loved this. The story is interesting, the romance is worth sticking around for and the musicals numbers are (gasp!) exciting, entertaining and entralling. It makes both Mamma Mia! and HSM look like dance numbers from The Tweenies. The songs never became predictable (I remember that Mamma Mia effect of that if there was 5 minutes of dialogue, a musical number would soon follow) and in fact, most turned out to be more dance routines than actual songs and with the talent on offer, it was hard not to love it. As much as I'd love to hate it, Andy was right, it would take an extremely cold, heartless, miserable person to not enjoy this. Among the top films we've watched on the course so far.

Singin' In The Rain - 8/10

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More Soon!

This weeks piece of media garbage, a "trailer", for Jason Voorhees biopic, The Slasher!

The Slasher Trailer

"I dress sexily - but not in an obvious way. Sexy in a virginal way."
Victoria Beckham

"You don't know fear, kid. You've never worked with Sam Raimi."

Some more good academy times...3 nights out in the space of a week! All well and good but more importantly, it seems that after a full day of Gav's class, the course has come back to it's good rounded self. Last week was interesting, more industry professionals, Kim and Barbara (they almost sound like a double act) came in to speak to us ahead of our classes with them. My thoughts on TV have changed since beginning the course and no doubt their classes will help develop this, though I'm far more interested in being involved in long-form drama's like Lost, Heroes and Life On Mars than serial-dramas but hey, we all have to start somewhere and we're all allowed to have dreams. No longer does TV sound like a weak option.

Last Tuesday I got feedback from my script from Richard and while I was a mite apprehensive about hearing feedback, the positive feedback made me feel good about my output. It's far from perfect but the idea itself fits the criteria for a good 3 minute film. My new idea is to make the entire thing silent.

Andy's classes this week were again great, Sunrise, Is TV the new Cinema? and the trilogy closer of the History of Cinema (with enough of a cliffhanger to make me want to see what happened to that Victorian paedophile, let's hope he doesn't bring back an old love interest and go hunting for Crystal Skull's). For me, TV is becoming the new cinema, personally, I'm much more engaged with long character arcs and stories told in small nuggets than stories rushed to fit 2 hours. My example for this has to be Lost, the series could never be a film, even if you took out the muddy-ness of Season 2. If it wasn't for Cast Away however, there would be no Lost, since the series began life as people trapped on an island, long before Damon Lindelof threw in the idea of it being a Sci-fi show.

On Thursday evening, I attended the My Name Is Bruce screening which was followed by a Q&A by the man himself. Which, in short, was everything I wanted it to be and more. The man oozes confidence and seems to revel in satisfying fanboys, even if some of the same old questions were asked. How many times do fan's need to be told there will be no Evil Dead 4? It was nice however for him to tell us his opinions on both remakes and the Christian Bale tape. Hopefully I'll have it uploaded for all to view soon!

FILM

Hunger - Depressing and dull. Two words you could use to describe this film and it is but the film is so well shot and hard hitting that it left me thinking about the story and characters long after I left the film. So hard in fact, that I didn't even want to put my iPod in my ears. Landmark performance by Fassbender who, with Liam Cunningham, steals the entire film especially in one specific scene, shot in one take and running well over ten minutes. An example of great acting.

Hunger - 8/10

My Name Is Bruce - Bruce Campbell plays himself in this film which comes off as a thank you to any of his die hard fans. The film is close to a low budget version of Tropic Thunder, which some will argue works in it's favour, but some dodgy special effects and a script that relies only on Bruce Campbell's DVD catalogue to get laughs, stops the film being any form of memorable. To the general public the humour will be entirely lost but Campbell-ites will revel in the cameo's and references. I'm not the biggest Bruce Campbell fan but there were certainly enough parts that made me chuckle, though these also came with cringe's with dialogue that often sounds life floorboards. Should you see it? If you love Campbell, yes, if not, avoid.

My Name Is Bruce - 6/10

Lucky Number Slevin - I'd heard a lot of mixed opinions on this and like a few, I didn't particularly enjoy this. The actor's were fine and some sections were shot pretty well, but for what I thought started as a fairly smart action/thriller, it turned into a crappy twist movie that wanted to tell me how smart it was for the final 20 minutes of the running time. To be honest, I couldn't care less about any of the characters. There was nothing engaging about their motives and actions while my memory isn't the greatest, besides the twist, I seem to have forgetten everything about it. Maybe that's my mind's way of telling me to forget all about it.

Lucky Number Slevin - 3/10

Blogs to come: The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button and Sunrise.
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More Soon!

EDIT: Last week was the Christian Bale 'Bale Out' tape. This week, we have the youtube remix:

Bale Out

"We both use Colgate toothpaste."
George W. Bush, when asked what he had in common with Tony Blair.

You’re the most valuable and wonderful thing in the world. You’re a man.”

Hopefully, I'll have a working home computer soon so I can return to normal blogging but for now, what I call short blogging, pieced together between busted PC's and time in the I.T. Suite. Oh and Christian Bale is an arsehole:

http://uk.stars.ign.com/articles/950/950360p1.html

Warning, very bad language and a good example of stroppy actors!

FILM

City Lights - Good, but not as good as other Chaplin film's we've watched in class. As we're going to discuss this week, sound is not that important, at least in this film. The acting is so superb and every shot is there and held long enough to give you the full picture about what is going on. The same couldn't be said for modern 'cinema' such as Not Another Superhero Scary Teen Epic Spartan Disaster Movie where the humour lies solely on rip-off soundbites and flatulence that the mere thought of it being silent would be unacceptable to their audience. There are however, films were sound is key, such as horrors. While some may be scared by Nosferatu, I can't say that I would be scared by modern horrors such as Rec if it were silent. In my opinion, good films should be making the best use of all our senses, and often using them against each other to give a scene a certain affect. I think we are a long while off before we'll be able to taste films. Sound can be both important and unimportant. In certain films there doesn't need to be dialogue, but in order for the audience to be drawn in, I feel it is better for there to be sound, even if it's just effects.
Anyway, City Lights made for interesting viewing and as usual, quality Chaplin but not quite as good as both The Gold Rush and The Kid.

City Lights - 6/10

Revoloutionary Road - A pretty decent film, let down by the public's own pretenses on it. The film is dark, and fairly depressing and anyone expecting a Leo/Kate romance similar to that of Titanic are going to be solely disappointed. Roger Ebert recently said in his review that Rev Road could almost be considered what would have happened if Leo and Kate got off the boat, an odd idea but something I felt may have been played up to in the casting. I preferred this to The Reader, since the entire story made sense and didn't fall apart like The Reader did in the latter stages. The leading roles are well performed by the pair and while many have commented on Kate's performance, for me, Leo performs much better and I thought he was also the driving force and soul of the film. Those who have seen it may understand my reasoning. The audience we saw it with were obviously expecting something else, since during the depression and tension, they were laughing at many parts of it, none of which I'd consider remotely funny.

This is where you may find spoilers. The film for me deals with dreams, there is a clear setup of the American dream which most Americans no doubt aim for, even if it is subconciously. Each character has their own dreams however and again, director Sam Mendes seems to revel in showing the destruction of dreams and goals and it certainly makes for interesting viewing. One odd thing I did find was that the film was funded by BBC Films. How does that work? Do British viewers essentially pay twice for the film?

Worth going to see, but don't go expecting a romantic movie. Actually, it may be one of the worst date movie's ever. See with friends not partners.

Revolutionary Road - 8/10

Twilight - Not my thing, so I find it hard to write anything about it without me slagging the film off at a 1000 word length. I understand why some, mostly ladies, will like it. The leads are, I guess, attractive (but horribly pale), I only know this since there was an onslaught of sit down swooning, especially to my right. Without boring anyone with my obvious distaste for the film I'll keep my complaints short. I found the love story to be so depressing that you could believe that the characters were planning suicide. Then again, could there be a comment that the film is trying to make along the lines of love itself being depressing? There's also some pretty bad effects and a cringeworthy, yet hilarious, vampire baseball sequence (yes, once you've watched it, you can't unwatch it) but by this point in the story, vampire lore is so far out the window that I only saw the cast as depressed teens. There were a few laughs in places, though I can't quite remember whether they were intentional or unintentional.

The film has some amazing backdrops but sadly, they are shot through a dull filter which looks like the entire film was done without a white balance. Though vampire movies really SHOULD be dark. I would have preferred it if it had all been set at night. So in my opinion, not a patch on the best modern vampire movie of them all: The Lost Boys. I bet the ladies were swooning for Kiefer as much as they are for Robert back in the day. So, not what I'd call a love story but it's target audience no doubt love it. Though after the vampire baseball sequence, I've lost any respect I had for Muse.

Twilight - 2/10

More Soon!