The Dilema: Part II

So I have another film related dilemma. My first one came about as a result of  the last Harry Potter movie because I wanted a great final film experience (http://snapcracklepopculture.blogspot.com/2011/04/dilemma-and-decision.html). This time is similar, but it has to do with another movie: The Dark Knight Rises. Christopher Nolan is one of my favorite directors, his vision is amazing and far reaching and I believe he is one of the most innovative directors around. That is why I want to know nothing about his latest Batman film. It is also the last film of the series, and while I am no where near as in love with Batman as I am with Harry Potter, this series has been fantastic. I want to go into this film the same way I did with Inception, knowing nothing and being totally surprised. That is the one big difference between TDKR and Harry Potter: I read all the Harry Potter books so the only surprises were the director's choices. With this film, I know nothing, especially since I am not a big DC Comics fan.

So tomorrow, when I go see Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol in IMAX (which I am actually seeing to see the film, surprise, surprise) I am going to (try to)  leave the theater during the six minute TDKR prologue. It will be impossibly difficult especially since I'm going with my dad and he will be busting to talk about it with me. I've already threatened him if he even thinks about spoiling it. Walking back into the theater and hearing the buzz and trying to not over hear conversations is also going to be ridulously hard. Part of me wonders if it is even worth it. There are people on twitter who have joined with me in solidarity so that helps a bit, but there are more people who want to know than don't.
My biggest thing is, why don't people want to be surprised? What is so fun about knowing everything about a film before it comes out? Granted, Nolan is great at hiding things from his fans, but this is the first six minutes of the film. At the same time, I am one of those people who cannot help but read everything. So I see both sides and I am incredibly torn. I want to see this film so badly and July seems so far away that this first teaser will help me last until then.
You can only see a movie for the first time once. You will never have that first viewing experience again. I know that. So I am going to try my hardest to leave the theater. Suddenly that no longer seems easy. I am not making any promises this time like I did with Harry Potter. I have always known that I have a spoiler problem and I have been trying to change that but with the internet and twitter it is a constant struggle.
I would love to know some other opinions about spoilers. What are you guys doing about TDKR prologue? What are your feelings on spoilers in general? How do you avoid them?

Adventures in Filmmaking: Final Thoughts

My Intro to Film & Video Production class is officially over and I have mixed feelings about the entire experience. I really liked taking the class, but the actuality of it was problematic at times. Yes, I learned things; before this class I didn't even know what a super 8 camera looked like or how to turn on a mac, but I learned.

I really liked the hands on aspect of the class, the ability to hold the cameras in my hand and find my own vision. Finding my voice through the medium of film is a way I have never thought of expressing myself before. I liked the opportunity to take a break from classes that involved reading and studying and to be able to just "do." I also really enjoyed the editing process, especially the old fashioned cut and paste kind. 

 I just wish my professor taught me more. The class was a lot of "here's a camera, make a movie" type learning which is good for the creative process, but I still feel like I have so many questions especially when it comes to Final Cut Pro and using the mini DV camcorder. There are so many functions I still don't know how to use when it comes to Final Cut, I'm thinking of getting a book and reading up over break so I can learn some more because I still really would like to learn and get better.

As a whole I think the class should have been focused a bit more on the technical aspects of cinema. My professor really wanted us to admire the art of experimental filmmaking, which was nice, but at times I wanted to know more of how rather than the why. 

One thing I did enjoy about the class was watching the work of the other students in my class and giving each other feedback. I liked hearing what others had to say about my films and seeing what they came up with. Everyone had such unique visions and styles, even this early in our development, and it was interesting to see how it changed from project to project. 

Next semester my adventures in filmmaking will continue with Video Making II. I'm slightly sad that this class will be entirely digital considering how much I enjoyed using a super 8 camera, but it is more practical. I hope that I will get to use Final Cut Pro more extensively and comfortably. I am also going to have a new professor so it will be interesting to see how that affects my learning experience once again. I am still going to try and take Filmmaking II somewhere down the line so I can learn how to shoot 16 mm film. 

I am still learning and finding myself and my place in cinema throughout this process so for now my journey is:

I Think You Should Know Thursday

So this Thursday is a happy one for two reasons: one is because it snowed here last night so it kind of looks like a winter wonderland and two because I am officially done with finals and my first semester as a junior! Wow, how time flies.
So this Thursday I would like to share with you the talents of British darling Ellie Goulding. She is one of those artists that you've probably heard in the background of a commercial but never on the radio. Her style is a mix of indie pop and electric and is great for dancing or just plain listening. Her lyrics and persona are ethereal, with her long so-blonde-its-almost-white hair and unique sense of style she seems like some kind of fairy. She is truly an artist that only Britain could produce.
"Starry Eyed" is one of Goulding's most popular songs and was one of the singles from her 2010 album Lights.

"Next thing, we're touching

You look at me it's like you hit me with lightning"

The acoustic version of "Wish I Stayed" proves that Goulding is not all about the synthesizer, this girl actually has a voice that's light and airy and sounds great with just a guitar.

"

"'Cause you can fall if you want to, it's just a matter of how far,

You've treasured your home town, but you've forgotten where you are

And it will stay with you until you're mind's been found

And it has been found wondering around"

...................................................

"I don't own my own clothes 

But I own my own mind

And it's not what you've lost

But what you will find"

Movie Talk on Sunday-Gangster Films

I seem to constantly forget that it's Sunday over here on the east coast, so sadly, once again I have missed #MTOS. I would like to say that once winter break comes around I will definitely participate, but I usually work Sunday afternoons. I really, really do hate missing movie talk though. Also, twitter won't let me go back and see other people's answers so it gets quiet maddening.
The topic this weekend was gangster films, which I love (really what genre don't I like?). The only thing I have a problem with is keeping characters straight; for some reason I always have a difficult time keeping the sides apart in a gangster film, especially since they are usually male centered and based on large groups of similar people.
The questions are listed here: http://www.maxandtomsquared.co.uk/mtos/. For all of these I'm not sure what counts and what doesn't but here goes nothing:
1. I loved The Departed for the cast, especially Leo's incredible performance and the way it kept me guessing until the very end. I like Reservoir Dogs for much of the same reasons except replacing Tim Roth with Leo. The Town proved to me that Ben Affleck is much better behind the camera than he will ever be in front of it. And. no I have not seen Goodfellas but it one of my winter break goals. I also have not seen any of the Godfathers in their entirety

Really, this guy can direct

2. I didn't like Public Enemies, I couldn't tell anyone in the cast apart from each other beside Bale and Johnny. It was also really boring.
3. Having seen most of the good parts of The Godfather, I can say Francis Ford Coppola. Also, Martin Scorsese did a great job with The Departed. And I'm actually going to say Ben Affleck because his skill as a director really impresses me.
4. Bad guys you can root for. I think that is something interesting about gangster films, you always root for the bad guys over the police. Also, a good plot helps make it more than just a shoot-em-up flick. Humor doesn't hurt either.

Can't not include this film 

5. I love all gangster films set in big cities like Boston and New York. I haven't seen any foreign ones so that could be something interesting to look at next.
6. To myself and everyone else I would say see The Godfather. Since it's my dad's favorite film I've seen almost all of it, but I've never sat down and watched it from beginning to end. It should be everyone's first introduction to the genre.
7. I feel like there is something at the root of gangster films that makes them relatable-that sense of family and loyalty and friendship that is always so important. Also, they are so different from what we experience in our everyday lives, there is a sense of adventure that comes with watching gangster films. I like the suspense and ability to get my heart racing as well.

A totally legitimate gang

8. Can I say the Order of the Phoenix? That was a gang right? I would be afraid to part of any other gang because the leaders are always so cutthroat.
9. The Fenway scene in The Town- such a great heist. Also, the opening scene of The Dark Knight because their are mobsters in that movie so it totally counts.
10. While I loved Jack Nicholson in The Departed, I have to say Michael Corleone. Pacino is ruthless yet charismatic which makes him a great character.
I like how I answered with The Godfather for a lot of these even without seeing the whole film. Gives you a sense of how good it is.

Great Gatsby!

This. 

I just saw some images from the new The Great Gatsby film directed by Baz Luhrmann (2012) and I needed more than the 140 characters given to me by twitter to express my emotions. I have been following this film since I first heard about it since involves some of my all time favorite people. I cannot think of anyone better to direct than Baz who is all about the spectacle and (disregarding Australia) has made some great films such as Romeo + Juliet and one of my all time favorites, Moulin Rouge. I think  he can throw a party in the way that would make Gatsby proud and he is really going all out in creating the feeling of the 1920's. ($150 million production? Purchasing 1920's cars? Building a recreation of Long Island in the 1920's? All yes.)

And can I just say that I would like to kiss the feet of whomever cast this film. Leo DiCaprio as Gatsby is not inspired, it's perfection. Leo *is* Gatsby; charming and dapper with an undertone of vulnerability and a core of romanticism. 

Having not seen Carey Mulligan in anything (shame on me), I cannot say one way or another how I feel about her as Daisy. I dare say she looks the part though.   

Yes, I just went there

The only one I'm slightly worried about is  Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway. I see Nick as aloof and detached but very much apart of the East Egg scene. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I see his character as a kind of Dan Humphrey ala Gossip Girl; a person critical of the world around him but also deeply invested in the people and the world itself. I hope that Tobey can pull all this off while still showing his friendship with Leo because their chemistry will be central to the film. I had hoped the role would go to Joseph Gordon-Levitt not only because I love him, but because of the excellent chemistry he and Leo had in Inception.

I have an entire year to speculate, get excited, and obsessively re-read the novel but let me just say, I'm excited to see what this film will look like. I take book to movie translations very seriously and especially with a book I love so much it will be interesting to see how I feel once it hits the big screen.

To look at more of the pictures from the film check out the link here: http://pagetopremiere.com/2011/12/leonardo-dicaprio-carey-mulligan-and-tobey-maguire-on-the-great-gatsby-set-122/

Adventures in Filmmaking: Final Project

This week I have spent a lot of time in the basement of my University's lecture hall in the mac lab editing my final cinema project. The only problem? There are 10 computers and 20 students in my class. There is also more than one cinema class and I'm pretty sure a photo class that uses the lab which means that at any given time there can be up to four people potentially using the computer where I save my footage. Several times I went down to the lab to find someone else using my computer. It was a frustrating experience.
Editing my film in general was a frustrating experience. I wasn't crazy about the footage I shot; I rushed while filming and my composition was all off. I ended up cutting out a lot of what I shot. I think the thing was, I didn't have enough fun with this project. I wanted to make a documentary-esq film about the floods that devestated the area, but I think I took it a little too seriously.
I ended up taking images of running water at different speeds and then adding sound over it of newscasts, weather reports, and people talking about how the flood effected them. I also relied a lot on what was being said over a black screen which my class responded to during our work in progress meetings.
The process of actually using final cut pro was a process. There are so many buttons, functions, and features that it was overwhelming knowing what I actually wanted my film to look like and then how to make it happen. It was also slightly confusing in the beginning since as always it was a trial by fire type situation rather than my professor teaching us exactly what to do.

Final Cut Pro-In case you've never seen it. I hadn't until a week ago.

Also not being proficient in using a mac, it took me awhile to figure out that the command key comes in handy for pretty much everything and the control key is actually used to copy and paste. Finding the zoom out key also saved my life because trying to cut small scenes was impossible when the editing timeline was very small. (The timeline is the thing on the bottom of the image above where the smaller images are shown.)
The part I had the most fun with was playing with the sound; this film I used a lot more audio than visual and I really tried to play around, slowing it down and speeding it up to match the images.
I'm going to try and figure out how I can somehow save my film and potentially upload it on youtube because I would love to get some opinions on it. I am extremely over critical of my own work and as of right  now, having looked at the footage so much during editing I really cannot say that I like what I have done. I'm also putting a lot of pressure on myself because I've gotten such good feedback from my professor so far that I really wanted my last project to show my growth. I'm just hoping he likes it and that I am just being too harsh on myself as always.

I Think You Should Know Thursday

It's finally December which means snow, sweaters, hot chocolate, and tunes that warm your soul. The perfect December 1st band I have to share with you today are the Fleet Foxes, a folk rock band from Seattle (remember when all awesome music came from there?) The band is known for their incredible harmonies as well as their lyrical stylings. They have a sound that is perfect for a day like today with just a hint of winter chill in the air. Their music is also great to listen to while reading a good book curled up in front of the fire place.
The Fleet Foxes are relatively unknown, but they have started to gain more prominence after their 2011 album Helplessness Blues.
My favorite song by the Fleet Foxes is "White Winter Hymnal" not only because it reminds me of winter, but also because of its cyclical nature and imagery evoked by the lyrics.

"I was following the pack

All swallowed in their coats

With scarves of red tied 'round their throats

To keep their little heads

From fallin' in the snow

And I turned 'round and there you go

And, Michael, you would fall

And turn the white snow red as strawberries

In the summertime... "

I also like "Your Protector" for its different sound and rhythm. 

"She left a week to roam

Your protector's coming home

Keep your secrets with you, girl

Safe from the outside world"