Well the christmas holiday has approached and that signals the end of the first semester in my second year on the film and video production course. This year has been more difficult than last year even though it is very similar to the previous year just more advanced. Do i believe i have done well this year? simple answer NO.
I shall start by talking about the bad things, starting of with my documentary i created which shall be uploaded sometime in the foreseeable future, well the idea was to do a documentary on the subject 'Made in Britain'. My original idea was student drinking but we have all seen that so its nothing interesting. My first shot documentary on this was then unemployment in a youth but that really messed me up as the quality was terrible and it wasn't engaging so tow week till deadline had arrived and i wasn't submitting this pile of well crap. So i had a new ideas which is students together in a close environment and being together 24/7. I got footage shot in two days and edited in one day so how it turned out i was pleased by how long it taken me which wasn't long at all. But the overall quality wasn't the best so i tried to make it humorous which actually worked but all i could see were the flaws of this work. So it was submitted and i hope my production folder will save my grade (one can hope).
Other lesson projects didn't go to well either this year, two presentations one of which was an epic failure and one went well for me anyway as i am nervous in front of people. So hoping for an okay grade on the one that went well but an essay on New Zealand film could help or hinder my final grade. The failure presentation (though i haven't gotten a grade for it) is hopefully gonna be saved by my script which i shall talk about soon. Another piece of work is a journal which i feel i have done well on so i am hoping for a good grade there and on the miniature projects set on that, so pretty much i predict a mix bag this year.
Now good news my script which is what i hope saves me in the scriptwriting class because my idea is very good and have had several people agree with me as well as the lecturer. So this i have very high hopes for and i am hoping it will be selected to be produced next semester where i will hopefully be the director on my own script.
Overall not the best of semester's for me but next year i will hope to turn it all around, this year has shown me what i want to do as the beginning of university i wanted to be a director but in my first year my ideas had been swayed slightly. But this year i have seen what i want to do which is directing and scriptwriting.
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Friday, 18 December 2009
Golden Oldie: Creature from the Black Lagoon
In my blogs i feel there are must see films from the past, now they can be films a year or so, old or classics from back in the day. (yes many of these will be films that are older than me, so not back in my day, so there is no need to point that out) but anyway the first film chosen will be Creature from the Black Lagoon made in 1954 directed by Jack Arnold. This film i have seen just recently and i fell in love with it, the synopsis for this film is:
A scientist discovers the hand of a ancient creature that could hold the key of evolution for a creature to live on both land and in water. He takes this back to several of his colleagues and they all agree and expedition is in hand to find the rest of the body. When they arrive already there has been attacks and this leads them to the black lagoon in the amazon river where the creature lives.
This film was amazingly shot especially thinking about the time this was made with shots of the creature and the lead actress (who the creature falls for) swimming together and shots of the creature where they refrained from showing his features at the beginning and the look of it in black and white makes it beautifully done though the location played a big part of the look of this film. The acting was well acted but the biggest complement must go to the designers of the creature costume because it was amazing in that era and yes saying it was amazing back then is probably ordinary if that of today but it all must be taken into account, though this costume would even be brilliant for todays films though they would probably only use CGI nowadays.
So following on from that i have learned reportedly from IMDB that there is a remake of this classic, epic film and the director rumoured is Breck Eisner who has directed films like Sahara in 2006 and Thought-crimes in 2003 so i am actually scared of what my happen to the remake of this film, because i don't like either of these films and he hasn't really done any others. Will it destroy/ruin the classic film of Creature from the Black Lagoon? who knows but me personally remakes hardly ever beat the original and it can ruin them for me so it may be a film i will avoid because i love this film to much.
A rating for this film that is over fifty years old i will give a 10/10 i need no reason for this because it was a beautifully shot film, a must watch especially for film-makers in my opinion.
A scientist discovers the hand of a ancient creature that could hold the key of evolution for a creature to live on both land and in water. He takes this back to several of his colleagues and they all agree and expedition is in hand to find the rest of the body. When they arrive already there has been attacks and this leads them to the black lagoon in the amazon river where the creature lives.
This film was amazingly shot especially thinking about the time this was made with shots of the creature and the lead actress (who the creature falls for) swimming together and shots of the creature where they refrained from showing his features at the beginning and the look of it in black and white makes it beautifully done though the location played a big part of the look of this film. The acting was well acted but the biggest complement must go to the designers of the creature costume because it was amazing in that era and yes saying it was amazing back then is probably ordinary if that of today but it all must be taken into account, though this costume would even be brilliant for todays films though they would probably only use CGI nowadays.
So following on from that i have learned reportedly from IMDB that there is a remake of this classic, epic film and the director rumoured is Breck Eisner who has directed films like Sahara in 2006 and Thought-crimes in 2003 so i am actually scared of what my happen to the remake of this film, because i don't like either of these films and he hasn't really done any others. Will it destroy/ruin the classic film of Creature from the Black Lagoon? who knows but me personally remakes hardly ever beat the original and it can ruin them for me so it may be a film i will avoid because i love this film to much.
A rating for this film that is over fifty years old i will give a 10/10 i need no reason for this because it was a beautifully shot film, a must watch especially for film-makers in my opinion.
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Film Review: Sugar Drop
Well today i went to see a short film written and produced by one of my lecturer's and i have to say how amazed i was at the quality of this film on practically zero budget. The film is called Sugar Drop and it is about a man called Ben Hopewell (played by Richard buxton) and he suffers from type one diabetes, well he gets stuck in an lift and his blood sugar levels begin to drop and it takes him into a stage where madness makes the boundaries between real life and fantasy spiral out of control. The film takes place in one day and we see the film jump from early events in the day back to him in the lift, then into a fantasy world which works fantastically well.
The directors of this film both i hear to be former students are Sean Ford and Daniel Romero both made this film beautifully shot, some of the cutaway shots were amazing as well as scenes shown in the lift, though i don't want to give it away as it is a must see though. I just can't believe how good this really was especially on a shoestring budget which they used the Derby University campus for most of this film.
I do have to give a big praise though for the writing from my lecturer Tom Craig, the way he has actually shown real effects of diabetes where hollywood tends to fall far away from the actual issues and problems diabetes can cause. Tom Craig a man that has this condition himself has shown basically what an untapped resource of film making can happen from diabetes of stories/films that can be made and he deserves all the acclaim and praise that should be received. Seeing a film like this does highlight the effects of diabetes suffers which i know slightly about myself as my grandfather has it.
This type of film is something i feel i should be able to make by the end of my degree, its something that makes me strive to become a film maker particularly a director/scriptwriter. This 18 minute short film is one i have to say is what has given me a new lease of motivation to create films. All in all a must watch my rating for this film i have to say for a short film on no budget with two young directors a 10/10 as i rate this that highly.
The directors of this film both i hear to be former students are Sean Ford and Daniel Romero both made this film beautifully shot, some of the cutaway shots were amazing as well as scenes shown in the lift, though i don't want to give it away as it is a must see though. I just can't believe how good this really was especially on a shoestring budget which they used the Derby University campus for most of this film.
I do have to give a big praise though for the writing from my lecturer Tom Craig, the way he has actually shown real effects of diabetes where hollywood tends to fall far away from the actual issues and problems diabetes can cause. Tom Craig a man that has this condition himself has shown basically what an untapped resource of film making can happen from diabetes of stories/films that can be made and he deserves all the acclaim and praise that should be received. Seeing a film like this does highlight the effects of diabetes suffers which i know slightly about myself as my grandfather has it.
This type of film is something i feel i should be able to make by the end of my degree, its something that makes me strive to become a film maker particularly a director/scriptwriter. This 18 minute short film is one i have to say is what has given me a new lease of motivation to create films. All in all a must watch my rating for this film i have to say for a short film on no budget with two young directors a 10/10 as i rate this that highly.
Friday, 4 December 2009
Film Review: Paranormal Activity
This week i went to see the film Paranormal activity, with everyone saying how amazing and scary it was, said to be one of the best scary film in years so i was expecting to be up all night scared of every sound that this apartment makes but im afraid to say that didn't happen.
I'm not saying its a bad film, far from that i thought it was a brilliant film but the hype that surrounded it made my expectations high but i was disappointed with the fear factor that it was supposed to have had. Admittedly there was maybe one or two scenes to make you slightly jump but thats about it, but this film does make you say stuff to yourself like don't get in there, did you see that etc.
Now the film itself is very good especially how the film is shot through the camera which is the prop, so basically the entire film is shown through what has been recorded on the camera which is something rarely seen and is a nice break from traditional films i have seen lately as it shows me something i can do myself in a production team. The acting was played very well i thought as it looked as though it was real to them because films like this with big stars can't portray themselves i think but these actors did very well.
Overall i say this is a must watch film, as of this post i shall be giving ratings out of 10 (but for all purposes last months review on 2012 i shall give a 3/10 that to me is being nice, its like that because the special effects were amazing and it had John Cusack in) but this i give a 7/10 mostly because the film itself was great but what bought it down was the hype of it being scary when i didn't even need to change my underwear at all, so i suppose its a good thing i didn't need to change my underwear but i was expecting fear which never came but all in all a must watch film!!
I'm not saying its a bad film, far from that i thought it was a brilliant film but the hype that surrounded it made my expectations high but i was disappointed with the fear factor that it was supposed to have had. Admittedly there was maybe one or two scenes to make you slightly jump but thats about it, but this film does make you say stuff to yourself like don't get in there, did you see that etc.
Now the film itself is very good especially how the film is shot through the camera which is the prop, so basically the entire film is shown through what has been recorded on the camera which is something rarely seen and is a nice break from traditional films i have seen lately as it shows me something i can do myself in a production team. The acting was played very well i thought as it looked as though it was real to them because films like this with big stars can't portray themselves i think but these actors did very well.
Overall i say this is a must watch film, as of this post i shall be giving ratings out of 10 (but for all purposes last months review on 2012 i shall give a 3/10 that to me is being nice, its like that because the special effects were amazing and it had John Cusack in) but this i give a 7/10 mostly because the film itself was great but what bought it down was the hype of it being scary when i didn't even need to change my underwear at all, so i suppose its a good thing i didn't need to change my underwear but i was expecting fear which never came but all in all a must watch film!!
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
TV Talk: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
A television show that must be viewed is Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. I loved this show and am very upset at the fact that it was never commissioned for a second series which is something i shall moan about soon. A brief synopsis on the show:
After the executive producer unleashes his anger live on the show he soon get fired which his replacement already in mind for the new president for entertainment programming Jordan McDeere (played by Amanda Peet), so she brings in two former employee's of the show writer Matthew Albie and director Danny Tripp (played by Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitofrd respectively). They each take there roles Matt as head writer and co-executive producer and Danny Tripp as Director and co-executive producer. On the show is the big three which is the three main stars of the show who are religious follower Harriet Hayes (played by Sarah Paulson), Tom Jeter (played by Nate Corddry) and Simon Stiles (played by D. L. Hughley). All were there around when Matt and Danny last worked there and Harriet is the former girlfriend of Matt. The other two main characters is Jack Rudolf (played by Steven Webber) who is Jordan's boss and Cal Shanley (Timothy Busfield) who is also the director. This show is set basically around the show but focuses on the week before it airs every friday night, with rehersals and Matt trying to write the whole show himself.
This is a brilliant and probably to intellectual comedy for a lot of people to understand thats why it may of been canceled and it is probably ahead of its time but it was an amazing show. I chemistry between the characters is really good especially between Matt and Harriet and Danny and Jordan because it takes me out of the fact its all acted and i can see it for how they word together. You may not of understand me here, hey i don't even understand but there we go. Now why this wasn't bought back for a second series i'll never understand it may of been the factors i said in this paragraph but i am deeply disappointed at the american audience for this, yes it may not of done so well world wide but not many american comedies do nowadays but when you have got an amazing cast it should of succeeded why it didn't confuses even me.
Even though the creator Aaron Sorkin knew there was no new series before the first one even ended surprised me by the ending as though it would link to a second series but the fact it all came to a conclusion shall we say made me feel a bit disappointed, it was good but not in the studio 60 way, though he may of done this because he knew it wasn't going to have a second series. But all in all its a must watch television series much more though for the intellectual audience though very different to Scrubs and How I Met Your Mother which i love them both anyways but watch it if you love TV.
After the executive producer unleashes his anger live on the show he soon get fired which his replacement already in mind for the new president for entertainment programming Jordan McDeere (played by Amanda Peet), so she brings in two former employee's of the show writer Matthew Albie and director Danny Tripp (played by Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitofrd respectively). They each take there roles Matt as head writer and co-executive producer and Danny Tripp as Director and co-executive producer. On the show is the big three which is the three main stars of the show who are religious follower Harriet Hayes (played by Sarah Paulson), Tom Jeter (played by Nate Corddry) and Simon Stiles (played by D. L. Hughley). All were there around when Matt and Danny last worked there and Harriet is the former girlfriend of Matt. The other two main characters is Jack Rudolf (played by Steven Webber) who is Jordan's boss and Cal Shanley (Timothy Busfield) who is also the director. This show is set basically around the show but focuses on the week before it airs every friday night, with rehersals and Matt trying to write the whole show himself.
This is a brilliant and probably to intellectual comedy for a lot of people to understand thats why it may of been canceled and it is probably ahead of its time but it was an amazing show. I chemistry between the characters is really good especially between Matt and Harriet and Danny and Jordan because it takes me out of the fact its all acted and i can see it for how they word together. You may not of understand me here, hey i don't even understand but there we go. Now why this wasn't bought back for a second series i'll never understand it may of been the factors i said in this paragraph but i am deeply disappointed at the american audience for this, yes it may not of done so well world wide but not many american comedies do nowadays but when you have got an amazing cast it should of succeeded why it didn't confuses even me.
Even though the creator Aaron Sorkin knew there was no new series before the first one even ended surprised me by the ending as though it would link to a second series but the fact it all came to a conclusion shall we say made me feel a bit disappointed, it was good but not in the studio 60 way, though he may of done this because he knew it wasn't going to have a second series. But all in all its a must watch television series much more though for the intellectual audience though very different to Scrubs and How I Met Your Mother which i love them both anyways but watch it if you love TV.
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