Green screen sweeping the nation

With the technology that we have in todays society there is a lot of cool things people can do to make their vision come to life. I never really noticed how many shows were shot in a green screen. Not only you can create a virtual set but It also can be an easier way to get the shot you desire. Green screen is also a budget saver because if you are shooting something that is "on the moon" you don't actually have to go there or try to mimic it by creating it. All you have to do is have an image or a video to put it behind the subject, and they are there! Badabing badaboom.

Technology is truly amazing and the capabilities that we have achieved in the film industry has created a whole different playing field with films then the past. We went from silent films to what we have now. 

Films and Tv shows need to be visually pleasing and sometimes getting permission to shoot in a specific area is impossible so the next best thing or even the better thing is doing it in green screen. After watching this video (http://www.rightthisminute.com/video/bet-you-never-knew-these-scenes-were-filmed-green-screen) It amazed me how many shows and films used a green screen for things you wouldn't even think of having, Just a single scene was shot in green screen from Ugly Betty and it just made me realize that everything is shot in green screen. It is just crazy how you would think that it is just on the street of NYC but in reality, they are not outside, not in NYC and in a green screen studio.

Family Troubles

A common technique used to create conflict, especially in children’s film, is killing off the protagonist’s parents.  This happens in many superhero films and Disney movies, including The Lion King, Frozen, Batman, and Superman.  

    This technique is used for many reasons.  For one, it isolates the protagonist.  They must now navigate in an unfamiliar world and no longer have a support system.  The protagonist must not only overcome the grief of losing a parent, but also solve their own problems as opposed to getting the answers from someone who knows more than they do.
  
 Though killing off a protagonist’s parent does create conflict within a film, I would like to pose a question.  As opposed to killing off a parent, is it more effective to include a flawed parent whose actions are toxic to their child?
  

 Including an estranged parent is a more effective way to create both internal and external conflict in any plot.  Often times an estranged family member will have chosen something over or instead of the protagonist.  Though the family member is still present, the protagonist is in a constant state of doubt as to whether or not the family member actually cares about them.  This creates a much deeper internal conflict for the protagonist.  When a parent dies, often times a protagonist knows that they were loved before the parent’s death.  It is obvious that the parents did not choose death over their child.  However, when parents choose as drugs, money, or their own selfish wants over their child, the conflict becomes more intense.  Keeping an estranged parent also helps to create character vs. character conflict.  The protagonist must not only struggle through internal conflict, but also stand up to their parent or family member and confront them.
  
 In Million Dollar Baby, Maggie’s parents don’t care about her health or her dreams, but only the money she will make from boxing.  This takes a toll on her and causes her distress throughout the film.  Not only does she not have the support system that she needs to be successful, but she is also taken advantage of by her family, making it clear that they only associate with her for the money. 
 

  In What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Gilbert’s mom, Bonnie,  spends her time wasting away in front of the television and letting herself be overcome by her misery.  Gilbert is forced to be the man of the household and take care of his siblings.  This puts him under a great deal of stress and pressure and it frustrates him to see his mother not doing anything to help her family or herself.

    Although many children’s films use the technique of killing off the parent in order create conflict for the protagonist, it is much more effective to write a movie with an estranged parent, creating greater internal and interpersonal drama within the film.

Super Hero Movies

During my usual week check on Rotten Tomatoes, I noticed that the new Captain America movie scraped in 95 million dollars at the box office. It really made me think, why the hell are these super hero movies grossing so much money? What makes them so appealing these days. Well for one thing Super Hero movies are a form of escapism. We love rooting for the underdog, and in every super hero movie the underdog quality is always there. One interesting fact I noticed that the last time super heroes were so big was during their debut in the 1930's. The 1930's was the time of the Great Depression, comics like Superman, Batman, Captain America, and Wonder Women were all made to help people escape via reading during tough times. I find it so fascinating that these films have becomes so popular during tough economic times. "In the 1930s, the American Dream had become a nightmare, and I think comic books and superheroes in particular provided an escapist form of entertainment that allowed the American public to go into a fantasy world where all the ills of the world were righted by these larger-than-life heroes," says Erin Clancy, a curator at the Skirball. Despite weather you like these films are not, they definitely give us a lot of hope during tough times. 

Batman vs. Superman: not just a 2015 event

There's been a lot of buzz going around recently about the new 'Batman vs. Superman' movie coming out in 2015. Much of it has been directed at Ben Affleck, who was just confirmed as the new Batman. These two characters are getting a lot of attention right now with the Dark Knight series well on their way and the Superman series just starting up again. Their history goes far beyond the last 5 years though, and I'd thought it'd be fun to take a quick peak at what these characters have gone through in the past.

Firstly, let's go back to the dinosaur ages of 1966. Phrases like "gee wiz" were actually said, as you'll notice only 4 minutes into this episode from the Batman TV series:

The series was never viewed as especially good though, and they clearly had a struggling budget. 

Okay, maybe they were struggling with a little more then their budget. But before this show even existed, there was the "Adventures of Superman" TV show that started back when the pyramids were being built. AKA 1952. 

Moving way ahead in time though, this cartoon was released just last year and features an epic battle between Batman and Superman. I feel like this may give us a good idea of what to expect from the new movie coming in 2015, except instead of a cartoon it's real people and a sh*t load of special effects. 

A breathtaking reboot of the Superman trilogy

The original Superman film--besides "Superman and the Mole Men" (1951)--debuted in 1978. The film told the story of an alien orphan sent down from the planet Krypton who becomes the world's first superhero. As is the case with most trilogies, the first of the series was most certainly the best. After a couple failures at making a better Superman movie, the hero was dropped from theaters. That is until recently.

In June of this year, Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel" crashed into theaters. The film received very mixed reviews from viewers. For the most part, I feel that Man of Steel matched, if not slightly surpassed, the original Superman film's plot. What the reboot did that the original--or any Superman film for that part--did not do, was show viewers what exactly happened on Krypton before Clark Kent landed on Earth. Sure, we were told countless times what happened, but despite the fact that older versions of the film could not pleasingly pull off such a scene due to the lack of cinematic technology, Man of Steel was truly the only Superman movie that even tried.

Another thing the film did that others did not, was that it laced humor in with all its endless drama and action. Here's just one of many examples...

What really made this film an absolutely stunning reboot to the Superman trilogy was the film's breathtaking cinematography. Whether you liked the film or not, there's no possible way that you could say the cinematography was just so-so. Even some of the computer-generated scenes of the film--particularly the drawn-out fight scenes--are possibly some of the most extraordinary demonstrations of cinematic artwork that have ever appeared on the big screen.

While not all viewers may agree that Man of Steel was a phenomenal film, it's simply unfair to say that it was not a super reboot to the Superman trilogy.

Marvel vs DC Comics

     One of the most popular super hero movies as of the last 5 years has been Iron Man.  Since Disney Corp. bought Marvel in 2009, the superhero movies have been coming out of the box office like crazy. DC Comics has been trying to compete with The Dark Knight Series and now Superman: Man of Steel.  But the truth of the matter is that Marvel is several movies ahead of DC and has been generating a lot of revenue.  Because of this DC Comics plans on using Christopher Nolan as their weapon in the competition for superhero movies.

     This clash of studios is great for the industry and for the comics themselves.  A lot of merchandise and advertisements has been and will continue to pour into the market.  The two big blockbuster movies from each of these studios for the summer is Iron Man 3 and Superman: Man of Steel.  I have high expectations for both movies and I look forward to seeing them.  If all goes according to plan Christopher Nolan will continue to produce/ direct the DC films including the Justice League.  It is exciting to see what these companies have in store for an audience who is in superhero mode.

The Brilliance of Nolan

Last night seemed to be a quiet evening, so what better way to spend it than enjoying a film with my closest friends.  We settled on The Dark Knight Rises, the epic third part of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.  The movie, which came out this past summer, smashed its way into the box office and immediately became a huge success in the eyes of movie goers, and super hero fans.  Christopher Nolan's brilliance was really proven with the release of the 2nd movie from the trilogy The Dark Knight.  

Personally I see such creative, and impressive filmmaking and I can't help but wonder why this movie was snubbed at the Academy Awards as well as the Golden Globes.  The race for the Oscars this year is obviously a very close one however I can't see how such visual storytelling did not emerge it's self into the race.  The Dark Knight was nominated for 8 Academy Awards, winning two: sound editing, and best supporting actor.  In such an impressive movie trilogy, I don't understand how this one falls so short for the critics.  Nolan has produced a series of incredible movies, only receiving 3 nominations total even if he receives praise everywhere else you look.  His 3 nominations were for original screenplay for Memento and Inception, also scoring a best picture nom for Inception.  

I find Nola's work to be incredibly deep, and ascetically imaginative with his directing.  I can never quite understand why the Academy always seems to not recognize Nolan's directing after his phenomenal work in all of his movies.  I think he reinvented the comic book character, and brought an entirely new spin on such a classic story, really bringing it into the modern day world and not a fantasy land of Gotham City.  I can't wait to see what he does with the new Superman flick Man of Steel.  I hope that Man of Steel, much like The Dark Knight Trilogy, and even this years hit Bond flick Skyfall, brings a new generation of movie goers into the stories that are simply outdated, and reinvents them in the way that keep the characters and plots updated with the times, and relevant in today's society.  

Huge Jackman!

Best known for his role as Wolverine or Logan in the X-Men series Hugh Jackman has come a long way from Australia to being nominated for an Academy Award with one of theaters most proud plays, Les Miserables.  I like Jackman as an actor and I believe he fits the role of Wolverine perfectly which is why you don't see his face in many other places.  When Hugh tried to play the role of Van Helsing the critics did not like him; not having seen the film since it came out in 2004, I have no opinion on his role.

Unfortunately for Jackman many directors and producers have not seen him in playing a lead role in a blockbuster other then Wolverine.  But he was given a chance as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables and has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role.  If he gets it, not only will it promote the movie even more but it will give Jackman another chance at other lead roles besides Wolverine.  Jackman has been considered for many other roles for other comics but continues to be turned away for other stars or up and coming actors.  The role of Wolverine is one that is going down in the record books for one of films favorite characters and for Jackman for playing the role consistently over 5 films, beating Christopher Reeve as Superman for 4 films.

Warrior

I just saw an article over on IGN.com about a new movie coming out called Warrior. It's an MMA movie about two brothers and their different approaches in their career. My guess is it will turn out a lot like the Fighter, so anyone who is a fan of that movie will probably like this one (although it won't be as good). The link is in the title.

In other news the villian for Zach Snyder's upcoming Superman movie (Man of Steel) has been announced!! The link is right -----> HERE nerds click to find out who it is!

Shows I've Been Watching While Coughing My Guts Out

Well, hi there. I wasn't in class on Tuesday (or in any classes on Monday, either) because I have the flu. The past few days have consisted of going through an entire box of Kleenex, learning to love Ibuprofen, and waking up my roommate with my extremely loud coughs in the middle of the night. To keep my mind off of the fact that I can't breathe through my nose or talk above a whisper anymore, I've been catching up on some shows that I've been slacking on. I'm now all caught up with Bones (if anyone watches Bones and has thoughts on Hannah & Booth, comment with them on this post, I wanna know) and with the BBC show Merlin. I'd be really surprised if anyone else (other than Alyssa Walker) knows about this show, since it doesn't have a large cult following like Dr. Who or anything like that. Merlin is basically a completely non-canon retelling of how Arthur came to be King Arthur and Merlin came to be, well, Merlin. Merlin works as a servant for Prince Arthur (they're both about 20, I think- see, I told you it wasn't canon) and they go on many adventures, etc. Prince Arthur, however, doesn't know that Merlin has magic, since Arthur's father King Uther has banned magic from Camelot. What I think is interesting is that the creators of Merlin took a lot of inspiration from Smallville. As a result, Merlin does a lot of the same things Clark Kent does in the first few seasons of Smallville- saving his friends when they're not looking, learning more about his powers, and befriending other magic people only to have them die or leave, leaving Merlin alone again with his secret. Just thought it was interesting. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find another box of Kleenex.