Music and John Hughes

Film and popular music are tied together inextricably, from the films of the 1940s that featured the singing stars of the day through Reservoir Dogs and up to Guardians of the Galaxy. Several of the most iconic uses of popular music in film come courtesy of John Hughes, a filmmaker who I admire.

The example that I'm sure many will remember is the parade scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, which features both Wayne Newton's recording of "Danke Schoen" and the Beatles' covering the Isley Brothers' "Twist and Shout". The scene stands out as a great example of using popular music to develop a character: Ferris' larger-than-life performance situates him as the guy that everyone wants to be. We understand the kind of bombastic person that he is.

Another example comes from Pretty in Pink, where Jon Cryer's character enters a record shop and dances to Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness", in order to impress Molly Ringwald's character.

The most iconic use of music in Hughes' filmography comes at the end of The Breakfast Club, which features Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)". It's possible that no song and film are as tied together as these two. 

5 Phases of Making a Fiction Field Production I Film

Well my friends, it's that time of the year. Picture Lock season. Each and everyone of us has worked hard, suffered greatly, and felt like we've gotten nothing accomplished. But as we near the end of our filmmaking journey, I want to reflect on the steps we've taken (or at least I've taken) to get to this point.

5 Phases of Making a Fiction Field Production I Film

1. Pick Your Group
Though this seems like an easy task, the cooperation of your team members can either make or break your film and/or mental state. A group that works well together and has members with different strengths makes the difficult process of making a film a little bit easier. They become your family. Either you love them or you hate them, but you're attached to them no matter what. Thankfully, I got lucky and have a really strong group with some great people, and they have become not only my coworkers, but my friends.

2. Pre-Production
You're all so excited. "We're going to make a movie!" You assign jobs, then start planning how the rest of the semester is going to go. You have to write the script, find sponsors, start a fundraising campaign, get actors, get additional crew members, get locations, storyboard, start production design, the list goes on... forever. But you're bright-eyed and bushy tailed, ready to take on this film and make your family proud. So how do you get started? You don't... for weeks. Because you think you have time. You have all semester! Why bother?

Don't worry, it'll all get done. Right?

3. Beginning Production
Nope. You were wrong. You were so, so wrong. By now you've wasted at least three weeks, spring break has come and gone and you haven't even casted. The script may or may not be done (sorry guys, my bad), and you have to start filming in a week. As of right now, your blood pressure is shot through the roof. You have to distribute flyers and still make a blog post. Coffee is your new best friend. But you get together with your group and you muddle through it, dealing with one crisis after another to start on time. You are now familiar with panic attacks, but feel like you have gained superhuman powers at the same time. This is what adulthood feels like, and although you're unsure of the future, you go into the next phase head on.

4. Production
You're in the heart of your production phase. Check your pulse. Yes, you're still alive, but barely. You haven't slept in what feels like years. Your friends and family are worried because they haven't heard from you and don't know where you are. You forget that you have other classes, and your grades suffer from it. Coffee is not your friend, but has become a part of your bloodstream.

Schedules are no longer set in stone. Film shoots are temperamental, either convincing you that you will be the next Steven Spielberg or making you rethink your entire career and future. Arturo laughs as your health deteriorates, slowly but surely. Someone, if not every single person in your group has had some sort of a mental breakdown. But post production is so close, so you torture yourself a little bit longer, hoping and praying that something, ANYTHING good will come of this hell known as filmmaking.

5. Post-Production
You think you'd be relieved, but the work has really just begun. This is the part where you save your film from every little and big mistake that you've made during pre-production and production. And it all falls on the one or two people you call your editors. Thankfully, this is not me, but I have a feeling my work is not done. As we approach this stage of our voyage, I can only hope that it's smooth sailing. But like all of my hopes and dreams this semester, I'm fully aware that this will not be the case. Until then, I'll live my life day by day and hopefully come out of this with at least one lesson: Making films is hard. If anyone ever says anything different, this semester has shown me that it is completely appropriate to react with physical violence.

So to everyone in my class, and all future Fiction Field members, I wish you luck as we come to the close of the longest (yet shortest) semester of my life, and I look forward to all of our hard work to translate into something we're not embarrassed to show even our parents.

(Bonus) Wrap Party

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

One of the few individuals I plan on dressing up as this weekend is the one and only Ferris Bueller (which is no accident, as this is one of my favorite films).  "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" follows the title character around the streets of Chicago, for one day, as he skips school to enjoy life with his friend Cameron (Alan Ruck) and girlfriend Sloan (Mia Sara).  This piece is a "coming of age film", that shows us the one thing that we all need, is to break free from our routine to enjoy life.  In a way we see a lot of wisdom in Ferris that many people don't achieve much later in life.  If there is one mantra that describes his actions and this wisdom it is the following:

Ferris (Matthew Broderick) is a high school senior who decides to feign illness to escape from one day of high school.  He manages to completely snow his parents, by using some interesting methods:

The only people standing in his way are Edward Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), Dean of Students, who knows that Ferris has already been absent nine times this semester and his sister, Jeanie (Jennifer Grey).  Rooney wants more than anything to catch Ferris in the act of skipping school, with the possibility of preventing his graduation.  This want sends Rooney chasing Ferris throughout all of Chicago!  Jeanie has serious issue with the fact that Ferris is the family favorite, who manages to coast his way through life.  Once Ferris snows his parents, he proceeds to get his best friend and girl friend out of school as well.  Once he succeeds, they spend the day in downtown Chicago, getting into the most intense shenanigans.  One of the most famous scenes is below:

Not only do we get to see Ferris in a parade, but we also see Sloan and Cameron discussing why they should go to college.  What do they want to do with their lives?  Cameron also struggles through the fact that Ferris has life figured out so much more than he does, a re-occuring theme in the film.  This type of scene is pretty typical of John Hughes' writing style in Ferris Bueller (Hughes also directed and produced this film).  For every funny moment in this film, there is also a really poignant moment about what it means to grow up and discover oneself.  Ferris Bueller's Day Off is in my top ten movies for sure, as all aspects of this film manage to come together into a hilarious, and endearing comedy.