The Pains of Production

Over the past several weeks I have been filming and editing a series of comedy videos with some friends of mine. We went into it certain that the ideas we had on paper would flawlessly transition into a finished product. They did not. First off, we learned that getting five college students to commit to and complete a multi day shoot is not so easy. There was even trouble in contacting all of the necessary parties to get the video done, as it turns out some people are very lazy and unreliable. Locating and getting the necessary permission to film at certain locations was also a hurdle we didn't think we'd have to leap over. Once we got everyone together and found where we were going to shoot, it was smooth sailing. Wrong. Once we got to the location we were plagued by questions like, "Did anyone pack the XLR cable?" "Are you sure this is a good place to shoot?" and "Do you guys still think this is funny?" We were also forced to improvise some shots when we discovered that some of the shots we planned out just didn't work for the flow of the sketch. We had to do things like work with practical lights and utilize a rolling table as a dolly, which was my favorite part. Despite the difficulties that we faced, I truly feel that we all learned a great deal about what has to go into a project to make it successful. To make anything of quality you must plan out each aspect of the process so you leave nothing up to chance. There is no room for "we'll figure it out when we get there", if you are serious about completing a project, you have to be in control. Moore's Law applies quite heavy handedly in any type of video production. Memory cards break, batteries die, mics stop working and people are unreliable. Now that we have experienced several "worst case scenarios" we know what to expect, and we know that when you exert as much control over the process as possible, things have a better chance of turning out in your favor.

Colors and other Elements in Requiem for a Dream

For the 89398th time, I watched Requiem for a Dream last night with a few of my friends. I’ve always admired this movie for it’s cinematography, whether it was the split screens, the extreme closeups, or for strapping the camera to the actor. However, while watching the film this time around I noticed something that really stood out to me; color. In a lot of my classes recently we’ve been learning about how important color is in any sort of media: photography, television etc. In this film 

In the beginning of the film, there is a strong use of cool colors, showing the calmness of all the protagonists who are not yet in any real trouble. However you start to begin to see the color red a lot more frequently when things begin to go down hill. For example, one of the films protagonist Sarah Goldfarb, has a recurring dream of herself on a television show in the same red dress. She becomes obsessive with this red dress, as she does with being on television. This obsessed begins her downfall and soon more reds show up. Next, she decides to dye her hair a similar shade of red.  These reds really stood out to me more than any other color. The reds played the role as a foreshadow for her losing her mind and symbolized danger in her life and mind. A scene that really portrays this is when she’s spinning around in her red dress and applying red lipstick on herself. This creepy slow motion scene is full of reds, and gives an eerie feeling. The bright red was the only color that would stand out in the scene, making you focus your attention on her and only her. 

Although the other character’s did not have colors that stood out, there was a strong use of cool colors when Harry Goldfarb another protagonist was fantasizing or drugged up. When he lays with his girlfriend doped out, the lighting has a blue tint to it and when he fantasizes about her, the blue sky stands out more then any other color. This represents the tranquility and calmness in his mind. 

This movie has a lot of amazing elements other then colors, the soundtrack adds to the plots mood and the camera shots as mentioned before differ from each other and really stand out. Although this movie has a sad ending and isn’t for the weak stomach, I recommend this film to anyone who loved Black Swan or The Fountain. 

The Sopranos and High Quality Television

Recently I began watching "The Sopranos". It's known as one of the shows that began the trend of more film and movie like TV shows being made. So far I'm about three episodes in, but I can already tell why this series was lauded as much as it was. The writing and acting are fantastic. The plot is at times complex, but that is mostly due to the fact that there are so many characters that it's hard to keep up with. I'm sure this issue will resolve itself in time. Most TV shows take a little time to teach you the characters.

I can see looking back now, that this show must have been a huge risk for HBO. A show that is as relevant and real as this being produced at the highest quality ever seen for TV must've made the investors on this show at least a little anxious. As seen by the huge success of the show, it was not. Now, the trend continues in the direction. HBO is not the only network making high quality television. AMC and Showtime have followed suit, even the major networks are starting to go along with this. Hopefully, this trend continues, and we'll see less reality shows and more beautifully crafted shows like "The Sopranos".

My Favorite Movie

Over my break thus far, I have sat down and watched my favorite movie Inception directed by one of the most notable directors in the industry: Christopher Nolan. I mean not only was this movie well written, but the special effects and visual effects were tremendously well done. The first time I went to watch this movie I wasn't to intrigued to see it after watching the trailers. However, when I saw the movie, I left the theater totally mind blown. LITERALLY. I was so confused about what happened, but the story kept me on my seat and each minute that passed through the last scenes was a total nail biter more me. I watched the movie again and again and began to understand more of it and the hidden messages through out. I thought the characters were well picked for these roles. Leonardo DiCaprio played Cobb, the dream extractor and played an excellent leader of the group. Learning about his life through the plot made it even better and the story entertaining. Ellen Page showed true maturation through this film. After seeing her in Juno, I didn't expect her to do as well as she did, but she pulled off the part well. What can I say about Tom Hardy? An amazing actor with a lot of talent. I found his acting to be tremendously well-done and thought he did well playing the "bad-ass" of the group. Finally what movie isn't complete today without Joseph Gordon-Levitt? I remember watching him as a kid in one of my favorite child-hood movies "Angels in the Outfield." He has also grown up to become a really mature actor with the potential to do many different parts. I've enjoyed his roles and look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.

After a few awards at the Oscars in 2011 including best achievement in Cinematography, sound editing, sound mixing, and visual effects. I have to agree on all these awards because this movie produced excellent sound that followed the movie well. One of my favorite effects from the movie was the rotating corridor scene when Joseph Gordon-Levitt was fighting off an assassin. The scene consisted of a 120 foot long by 30 foot wide revolving corridor. The corridor was constructed of wood and was backed by steel tubing. I-beam rings with roller wheels were placed every 16 feet along the length of the corridor. The wheels were connected to two 55-hp electric motors, which were synchronized by a computer. The corridor would rotate every 10 seconds clockwise and counter-clockwise. The cameras were placed on tracks that were placed in the corridor to shoot the fighting scene. 

  

Productions

Productions aren’t always fun, nor are they easy. This is fully hitting me during this one. Aside from going to bed at 1:30AM, waking up at 3:30, and going into the city at 5AM there have been some challenges along the way. The biggest one was getting into character. Forcing myself to get depressed is harder than I think, it’s pretty easy to do naturally, but when it’s needed, it doesn’t come. For two days I listened to the most hope sapping song I knew and tried to be in the dark as much as possible, and eat little, but I was so over joyed and excited about this project. So I probably wont be acting much anymore. Not that I can’t, but chances are I’d be acting my own projects and regardless I’d be overcritical of my work.

Day 2. Today finished the toughest part of the piece, I’m emotionally drained and can’t wait to get back to school and sleep late on Monday, if I sleep through class I’m sorry. While it was initially tough getting into character, it was rather easy getting into another one. I wasn’t too great at getting into depressed, but I was able to pull off annoyed/having a lot on the mind I’m sure. At least I know that is what I was feeling. This has been the roughest production on my body, mind and spirit yet and I would not be able to do this multiple times. Anyways I haven’t looked at the footage yet since we are still shooting, but I’m fairly confident that this will turn out to be a great piece. “Happy Birthday”

These Amazing Shadows

These Amazing Shadows is an inspiring PBS documentary about the select distinguished films that have made it to the Library of Congress's National Film Registry. It uses interviews from film critics, scholars actors, directors, producers and anyone else related to film to discuss important ideas about the role of film in American culture.

The National Film Registry is a collection of 550 American films deemed, by the Library of Congress, to be “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.” Films like E.T., Cabaret, Casablanca, Cool Hand Luke, Fantasia, MASH or Vertigo have found a spot on this list of extraordinary films. These films, along with hundreds of other documentaries, blockbusters, or amateur home movies, have either documented, changed, defined, or challenged America in some way or another.

These Amazing Shadows talks to those close to those who decide each year which film will be included in the 25 picked. They provide insight into the thought-making process and the actual significance in their mind, made the films in particularly relevant to American society.

Film is discussed as a window into past generations. It highlights the alarming amount of lost/damaged film negatives destroyed since the silent era of films. Well over half of all movies produced before color, were lost over the years due to widespread industry neglect and shortsightedness, according to the documentary.

This is one of those movies that can really motivate young filmmakers, like ourselves. Whenever someone says that making movies is silly, I wish I could sit them down and tell them to watch a documentary like this, so they can see just how culturally and historically important the films we make today will be viewed as in the future.

Go to PBS's website to watch clips from the film.

When Reality Becomes Surreal

I'm very picky when it comes to watching television. A show has to be well written, funny, with actors who play the part. That being said, I have a secret shame:

I love Real Housewives of New Jersey. I think it's one of the greatest shows on television, possibly all time. It's horribly photographed trash TV at it's finest. The show takes five women who lead lives of luxury in the dirty Jers and follow the petty crap they argue about on a daily basis. I can't even begin to describe the suffering and emotional trauma these upper middle class citizens endure every episodes. Stolen recipes, book deals, recording careers. It's hard not to empathize with them.

I began watching Housewives when the show began following the lives of women from Orange County back in March 2006. Since then, there's been five spinoffs, three international versions, and a new executive producer, Andy Cohen.

When the show first premiered, the premise was simple: follow the everyday lives of five women who live lives of luxury. In the first season of the show, there wasn't a single fight, screaming match, or petty argument. Everyone got along and stood by each other. They actually had real people problems, such as bankruptcy, divorce, and relationships.

Six years later, the show has become a poster-child for a new genre recently coined "Docusoap." The only one I continue to watch, just because it's so ridiculous, are the women from New Jersey. The producers continue to do everything they can to pump drama into the show. Since the first season, the entire cast has just been in a cross-media war, each battle consisting of something stupid being blown completely out of proportion. It's like high school with money.

Just recently, I watched the reunion. These supposedly upstanding members of society, each worth millions of dollars, personally dug in and attacked each other for the entirety of three hours. It was something to behold. They argued about who's mom created a recipe, someone faking an Autistic child, people wearing the same dress to an event, liposuction, nose jobs, lip synching, the list goes on and on. This wouldn't seem so bad, but each reunion shoot takes fourteen hours to complete. What was previously a reflection on the season by the cast has become a therapy session.

It's no secret that these women don't like each other. They apparently hadn't spoken to each other for a year before the reunion show. At the same time, how can people who have everything let something so stupid tear apart previously strong bonds?

People don't watch reality TV to see how other people live normal lives. They don't want to see people sleeping, using the bathroom, cleaning, or eating. People want to see fighting, arguing, hair pulling, drama. The producers have to do something to stir drama. While that may be the case for most shows, there's something pure about Housewives.

These women are truly pure evil. They will do anything to make each other's lives horrible. They constantly attempt to start something through twitter, magazines, celeb websites, blogs. The fights make for great reality TV. One problem: real people don't go that far out of their way to mess up someone's life. Even if they wanted to, most are too busy. The housewives primary paycheck comes from the producers at Bravo to make good TV by any means possible. Everyone involved in the show is choosing money over friendship, family, and public impression.

If the average person was asked to do this and no TV show was involved, they would likely decline. But the women of Real Housewives are incredibly heartless bitches. Therefore, I propose that the "reality tv" moniker be replaced by the much more appropriate "surreal TV."

Something new

I want to talk about all of the new shows that I haven't had the time to watch while at school. I went home last week and as soon as I got home I sat down on my couch and started watching TV with my family. Here are some new shows (some are just new to me I guess) and my thoughts on them.

1. Revolution (NBC):

Revolution is five episodes into it's first season. I've only seen one episode (episode 4: The Plague Dogs) and I'm very intrigued. I'll have to find time to watch the other episodes online but it airs on NBC on Monday nights at 8 pm. The premise of the show is that all the electricity goes out in the world and what the world would be like 15 years after that. Its a really interesting concept. Think about it, almost everything we do revolves around electricity. We would be able to make films and television without it- we'd be out of luck. From that one episode I've gathered a "Lost" feel from the show already- and I loved Lost so I'm excited to see where this one goes. 

In later posts I'll talk about Go On and The Mindy Project.

Labyrinth

Being at home for fall break has put me in a nostalgic mood so I thought I'd write about Labyrinth. It was a favorite of mine when I was little and apparently it was the first non-animated film that I had watched as a child.

Labyrinth is a coming of age story about a girl, Sarah, played by Jennifer Connelly, who wishes for her baby brother, Toby, to disappear. Jareth, the Goblin King, played by none other than my favorite artist: David Bowie, grants Sarah's wish by kidnapping the baby and taking him to the Goblin City. Once Toby is actually gone, Sarah realizes her mistake and wishes to have her brother back. However, in order to bring her brother home, she has to make her way through the Labyrinth and surpass all of the plots and schemes devised by the persuasive Goblin King who tries to distract her from her objective. Jareth does this by offering her a crystal ball which would show her her dreams, sending Hoggle to misguide her through the Labyrinth, making her solve logic puzzles, changing the Labyrinth's orientation, and trying to seduce her during a masquerade ball.
While on her quest, Sarah realizes very quickly that things are not always what they seem and advances through the Labyrinth until she storms the Goblin City with the help of her friends Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus. At the end of the movie, Sarah must face Jareth herself and decide whether to return home with her baby brother or stay with the Goblin King who offers to give her everything she's ever dreamt of.
One of my favorite scenes of the movie is the scene leading up to the finale where Sarah is trying to retrieve her brother from a room that was closely based off a lithograph by M.C. Escher called 'Relativity,' shown below.

In this scene the set design, special effects, and camera angles completely disorient the viewer, which helps to show Jareth's wavering hold on Sarah and her persistent determination and frustration with wanting to retrieve her brother and finally return home.

Although Labyrinth only made about thirteen million in the box office from the U.S. theatrical release, it has become a cult classic that has been adored for decades. With Jim Henson as the director and the person who was responsible for the incredible puppeteering, George Lucas as the producer, Terry Jones, from Monty Python, as the head writer, and David Bowie as a lead actor, it is unfortunate that it did not have more success in the box office.
Labyrinth is a cute movie and I would recommend it if you like The Dark Crystal or Princess Bride.

Universal's Classic Monster Movies

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the atmosphere, the scares, but most importantly I love the movies. I love scary movies; the only sad part is, there really aren't that many that I actually enjoy around this time anymore. All the movies that come out nowadays are really just the same movie over and over again, that all have the same cheap scares again and again. I can't remember the last time I saw a horror movie that I actually thoroughly enjoyed. However, if there are a bunch that I will always love, it's Universal's classic monster movies.

I'm talking about Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932), The Wolf Man (1941) and many others. Now these movies are by no means scary, at least in this day and age. I would imagine that back when they were released they were absolutely terrifying, but even so that doesn't take away the magic and charm of these movies. Since there are quite a few of these films I'm only gonna talk about a couple of them, but this shouldn't stop you from watching all of them, especially because a majority of them are on Netflix.

I'm of course going to start out with Dracula, the one that started it all. Now although there were Universal monster movies before this such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925), I would consider Dracula to be the most influential and the first of the monster movies to still have such a big impact in today's society.

Bela Lugosi stars as Count Dracula, giving an iconic performance that actors today still try to replicate. He was the one that gave us the hypnotizing Dracula stare, the hungarian accent, the subtleties of his movements and so forth. He was the first to make Dracula not only terrifying but also mysterious and enchanting. The technical aspects of the movie are also great even by todays standards. The atmosphere and lighting are still fantastic and it really helps pull you into the movie. Dracula is a movie that is still imitated to this day and it holds up extremely well still. Any movie fan should check it out.

The next movie I'm going to talk about is none other than Frankenstein. Having very little to do with Mary Shelly's novel, this is a movie that focuses more on the creature in a sympathetic sense. It's a movie that's about crossing the line between life and death but also one that asks what happens when that line does get crossed. The Monster (who is played by Boris Karloff in what is arguably his most iconic performance) is a creature just trying to belong but not knowing how. He can't speak or communicate in any normal way so to everyone around him he seems like a dangerous beast. The whole movie leads up to what might be one of the most iconic climax's of all time and it's one that shouldn't be missed. I should also point out that the make-up in this movie is top notch and that alone is worth seeing.

The final movie I'm going to talk about is The Wolf Man starring Lon Chaney Jr. His father Lon Chaney Sr was known as "The Man With 1,000 Faces", starring in such movies as the above mentioned Phantom of the Opera and Hunchback of Notre Dame, so his son had some shoes to fill. Luckily for him though, he filled them pretty well, giving us another famous monster; the werewolf. Although not as iconic as Dracula or the Monster he's still worth mentioning. Bela Lugosi gave us all of Dracula's mannerisms that are still used today and Boris Karloff gave us the famous "monster walk" but Lon Chaney Jr gave us a normal guy trapped in a very unfortunate situation. While the other two monsters started off that way, Chaney starts off as a normal guy who one night gets bitten by a werewolf, from that point forward, his life is never the same. It's the story of a man trying to cope with this terrible thing that has happened to him and he does a great job doing it. Also the technical features should be noted about this movie. The atmosphere and lighting effects are absolutely fantastic. The woods are all foggy and mysterious, the night time scenes are perfectly shadowed so it gives us an uncomfortable feeling at all times and of course the make-up is fantastic. All of this together makes this movie an absolute treat to watch.

I would highly recommend watching these movies along with all the others in the collection. Such as The Mummy, Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), The Invisible Man (1935) and Phantom of the Opera (1943). I would also highly recommend Abbot & Costello Meet Frankenstein because it is a wonderful homage to all of these movies and it's a very funny movie as well.

Treatment for Johnson's Jewelry

This is a treatment I wrote for a web series.  I wanted to post it on here to get some feedback on it.  Thanks!

Johnson’s Jewelry

Tyler Chadwick

TREATMENT OCTOBER 16^TH, 2012

OVERVIEW:

“Johnson’s Jewelry” is a lighthearted family sitcom web series that follows the Johnson Family as they try to run a family jewelry store with little knowledge of the jewelry business besides the mothers experience in making craft jewelry.  The family experiences many humorous trials and tribulations while trying to start up and operate a successful business while dealing with stiff competition from the other jewelry store in town.  Throughout their journey, they learn about each other through missteps they make in their business and hijinks they pull on their local competitor.  While there are serious undertones in this series that deal with the bad economy, being without a job, trying to find a career, and support your family, Johnson’s Jewelry follows a dysfunctional, yet loving family’s journey to create their own family business and legacy.

CHARACTER SET-UP:

The story follows 45 year old, John Johnson and his family: his wife Jill (42), his older son John Jr. (20), and his younger daughter Jessica (16).  John is a failed Computer salesman of 20 years and was recently fired from his job.  He is a smart man but lacks social awareness and common sense.  His wife Jill, a pushover stay at home mom who loves jewelry and crafts, convinces John to use their retirement and savings fund to open a jewelry store.  John decides that it’s a good idea and he can apply his computer sales experience to computer.  His son Jr., as they call him, is a college dropout and plays in a crappy garage band.  His daughter Jessica is the smart and successful one in the family, sometimes to smart for her own good.  She is a start athlete in volleyball and a scholar with high ambitious but is arrogant sometimes and is a narcissist.  The family fights a lot, always more playful than serious, but are considered the protagonists in the story.  Some episodes will find certain family members as the antagonists but that wont last more than an episode at a time because there is never any real tension.

The true antagonist of the story is Bobby O’Brian of the Jewelry Palace.  Bobby has a pompous, egotistical, and narcissistic way about him and refers to himself as the Jewelry King.  He is well known for his annoying commercials that air on Television and Radio.  Up until the Johnson’s start their jewelry business, Bobby had the only jewelry shop in town and now the Johnson’s are in direct competition with his “empire”.  He makes many trips to the Johnson’s shop to provoke the Johnsons, trying to ruin their business and always trying to shut the Johnson’s business down.  As a family, the Johnson’s decide to constantly prank the “Jewelry King” as they become rival businesses, always creating trouble with each other to see who has the better jewelry store.  Jr. usually leads these pranking attempts while Jessica has to be corralled over time to join in with the family’s activities. 

This will all take place in Lancaster, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia, PA, and Harrisburg, PA.  Lancaster is a fairly metropolitan, yet suburban town that is famous for it’s Amish people, which will add to some of the humor in the web series.  We meet this family just as John is getting fired from his Computer Salesman job.

STORY:

The story starts on a medium shot of John Johnson and you hear the words in the background, “You will never work in the computer business again.  You have disgraced this company for the last time. You are fired!”  This is the audience’s first look at John, painting him as a failed computer salesman and by his overexpressed emotions from the few shots in the beginning, he is already being painted as a goofy guy who hasn’t succeeded at much in his life; always getting new, well paying jobs, and then somehow screwing them up. 

The next scene is John arriving at his typical average American home to his wife and two children, who are going about their everyday business.   While Jill cooks, Jessica and Jr. are in the midst of a heated argument and from it, you get the sense that this is a daily thing.  John then breaks the news to his family about losing, yet another job.  Both of his children just kind of sigh and walk away because they have seen their father fail many times before.  Jill tries to console John by telling him that he can find another job like he has before but John seems fairly distraught.

This fades out and then fades back in to an overhead shot of John and Jill in bed with the lights off showing that they both are close to finding sleep.  But then, Jill turns to John saying that she has an idea.  John, half asleep, agrees to hear her idea out but it is apparent that he is much more concerned with falling asleep.  Jill begins to talk about all of the crafts that she does and all of this new jewelry that she’s been making, mainly out of necessity because they don’t have the money to buy the extremely expensive Jewelry Palace downtown.  She tells John how all of her friends love her jewelry and wish that there was a place in town that sold more inexpensive, nice jewelry.  She then pitches the idea to John and in his stupor, he agrees that it would be a good idea. 

When he awakes to an empty bed the following morning, he stumbles into the kitchen to see books, papers, charts, posters, everywhere throughout the kitchen and living room with Jill sitting at the center of it all writing furiously on a piece of note paper.  When she looks up to see John’s astonished face, she tells him that she’s been working all night and morning on a business plan and idea and she’s already found a place that they could buy to put the business in, and all they would need to do is get a loan from the bank.  John, tries to calmly talk with his wife about how he was asleep last night and thinks he should try and find another job.  Jill clearly becomes distraught, and with a few tears, John gives in and says that he will read through her material and look at the building with her. 

They cut to a scene of them looking at an extremely crappy old gas station store that has hundreds of rodents living in it, chipping paint, caved in ceiling tiles, dirt everywhere, and many other things that are aesthetically pleasing about it.  Throughout the walkthrough with the realtor, Jill tries to put an overwhelmingly positive spin on everything, even though it is clearly a mess.  After all is said and done, they go ask the bank for alone to start the business which ensues into another funny scene of them begging the bank and entering into a back and forth negotiation with multiple people at the bank before they prevail. 

The first episode ends with them getting the keys to the place and bringing their kids with them to unlock it.  The kids have not visited the place yet so when the parents open up the doors and let them inside, the kids freak out.  The last shot will be a tight medium shot on both of the kids’ faces, clearly astonished that their parents would do something so stupid. 

In the following episodes, the family cleans up the jewelry store, starts compiling an inventory of jewelry, and meets the Jewelry King of the Jewelry Palace who is very upset that they have ruined his empire over the Lancaster Jewelry market.   In the episodes to follow, he will begin to do things to try and ruin the Johnson’s plans: everything from delaying shipments, planting mice in their store, and paying people to try and sell the Johnson’s fake gold and jewelry.  The Johnson’s will fire back, with pranks led by Jr. that are meant to get even with Bobby O’Brian, the Jewelry King.  

Copyright Tyler Chadwick October 16th, 2012

Rotoscoping: Frame by Frame is Heartless

For some reason I’ve been listening to a lot of rap music lately; Childish Gambino, Aesop Rock, etc. However, while watching the music video for Kanye West’s song “Heartless,” I was fascinated by the video’s unique style of animation. I quickly Googled the song and learned that the images were produced via rotoscoping.

Rotoscoping is a painstaking style of animation that involves tracing frame by frame over captured footage. Max Fleischer originated the technique, which he first performed by tracing a projected frame over a transparent canvas, and then tracing it. While rotoscoping obviously takes an incredible amount of time, detail and attention, the results can be very rewarding as the animations produced have an incredibly surreal lifelike quality to them.

After doing some more research, I learned that rotoscoping is also used to produce special effects like the glow of a lightsaber. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can practice rotoscoping a lightsaber in After Effects; just remember to animate each frame!

This video shows two hours of rotoscoping work... in nine seconds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiknjHjk0Os

Technology and Our Reliance On It

Tonight, my macbook died; something with the logic board or CPU completely stopped working out of no where.  They tell me there going to try and have it fixed by the end of next weekend, but I am a bit skeptical.  I like to think of myself as a person who can live without technology.  Sure, you can usually find me with the latest gizmos and gadgets but I feel that I could survive without them if I had to.  Well now I have to.  Sure, I have an iPhone and I'll be borrowing my parents iPad.  I also will be taking one of my dads crappy IBM computers so I can write papers if I have to. But, I am out of commission with my creativity.  All of my video editing, audio recordings and so much more lie in that computer.  So much of my creativity and soul lie in its wires and connections and I thought for the first time how much I truly do rely on my computer for so much of what I do and theres no really going back at this point.  This isn't my main blog post, I'll be posting a treatment I wrote for a web series type show that I wanted to get feedback on but I thought that it was interesting how much my mindset changed when I lost the ability to use my computer.  It will be interesting going through an entire week of school without it.

Bringing life to the past again

In the spirit of October and Halloween and zombies, I thought I'd make a post about movies that are being re-animated (no pun intended) and why.  Finding Nemo hits theaters again, but this time in 3D; The Lion King and Titanic, both huge successes originally at the box office, came back for round two with an added dimension.  The list continues on, and the future has even more in store (Little Shop of Horrors, The Birds, Dirty Dancing...see the rest here), both in our regular 2D movie experience and in pay-an-extra-four-bucks-for-glasses 3D.  Why not just make something new, though?

The fact of the matter is, even these "classics" are just imitations of other stories that came before, and I'm not entirely sure that such a thing as an "original idea" even exists these days.  It's sad to think of the world of creativity in that way, but really, what are we left with?  Directors, producers, and screenwriters therefore must come up with ways to manipulate the same old song and dance into something that another generation can enjoy, with updated pop culture references, soundtracks, and images.  Plus, with the relatively new frontier of 3D available for exploration, ticket prices rise (in a fair ratio to the increase in cost of making a 3D film, on average about 18% according to the MPAA) to add to the climbing cost of living in today's world.  There has to be something flashy and new to add to the old storyline to attract an audience back to the theater, whether it's in the technology or the talent (you know that you see some movies just for the actors, admit it); otherwise, viewers just won't be pulled back in to see a plot they've watched unfold seven times before in various formats.

I'm not saying that this isn't a decent way to make up for a lack of new ideas; after all, it is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  Still, I wouldn't mind seeing filmmakers give a little more effort in the way of creating something at least slightly new, rather than spending more money to jazz up the same shots from the "original."  If you want an upcoming generation to think outside of the box and to try new things, you've got to inspire them through what they see on the big screen, because who doesn't want to be just like a movie star?

Star Wars

I am a huge star wars fan.  I love 4, 5, and 6 and own them on DVD and while I don't hate 1, 2, and 3 like many star wars fans, I find them entertaining, but I cannot accept them as real star wars movies.  I was introduced to star wars at a young age and never looked back.  I think what makes star wars so amazing is because it changed the sci-fi genre and what was possible from movies.  Star wars was first released in 1977, the same year as encounters of the third kind, and it looks amazing.  For 1977 the effects look amazing and the universe is very creative.

Watching star wars for the first time is like nothing else, you are transported into another world field with new and amazing technology and the most wonderfully strange creatures.  The characters are great  and each movie is a thrill.  Watching Luke Skywalker transform from a farmer's son to a Jedi is fantastic.  While 1, 2, and 3 are as good they are very fun to watch and the fight scene between Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the most epic fight scenes ever.  If you haven't seen star wars that is sad and you should watch it right now.

Epic fight scene:

Nashville

I recently have begun watching the show Nashville. As a huge fan of country music, I was very excited to see how this show would interpet the country music scene. Immediately I was drawn in to the rivalry between country queen Rayna James who is struggling to remain relevant and new “it” girl Juliette Barnes. The show features a bunch of original songs that could hold their own in the real country scene and realistic but engaging drama. I especially like to draw my own comparisons to who the characters are supposed to “be”. My guess is that Rayna James is supposed to be a Martina McBride type (once a superstar, but now releases smaller records and writes her own songs) and Juliette is supposed to be Miranda Lambert (a newcomer known for her rage-filled revenge style songs). Everyone should definitely check it out—even if you don’t like country music!

The Second City

Last night, I attended a comedy show by this troupe called The Second City at James Madison University. I really didn't know much about them before going to the show, but it turned out to be a lot of fun and they were hilarious. Apparently quite a few comedians and actors today have gone through the ranks of this troupe such as Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Chris Farley, Stephen Colbert, and Mike Myers. It has been a starting point for many actors and comedians in the show business and its alumni have gone on to many different things such as SNL, Wayne's World, The Daily Show, 30 Rock, and Conan.  Second City is an improvisational comedy group from Chicago. Since starting in the late fifties, they have been touring all over the country performing at a wide variety of locations, including colleges and universities. 

Their skits ranged from awkward dinner dates to political debates and many forms of standup comedy. They also did a lot of audience participation which I thought was funny because they had to come up with stories and jokes on the spot and think fast about it. Even after just hearing something, they were always able to come up with elaborate stories and jokes to make everything in the audience laugh. In fact, I think some people never stopped laughing through the 90 minutes of the show. 

If anyone has the opportunity to see them perform live anywhere I would highly recommend it. Tickets were only $5 so it was a steal to see that much talent perform for so cheap.

It's That Time of Year Again...

Halloween is one of my favorite times of year. The Halloween cult classic movies that surround this time are the movies I look forward to all year. One of the first Halloween movies I remember falling in love with was Hocus Pocus.

This movie has everything, a girl named Dani, who I just wanted to be, a creepy fairytale come true, and and adorable cat, Thackery Binx...you can't get much better than that. Bette Midler plays the crazy, evil, Winnie Sanderson, with Sarah Jessica Parker playing the almost loveable Sarah Sanderson. The sisters are insane, as is the story line in general, but you can't help but love the movie. It doesn't hurt that every viewing is a teaspoon full of nostalgia.

As I got a bit older I discovered the terrifically crappy Halloweentown movies that would air on the Disney Channel every year.

The original movie spawned equally crappy sequels, but every one has some quality of catchyness you can't ignore. Even still, I get some strange pleasure out of watching the reruns when it airs. The theme song is catchy as hell as well, and will no doubt be stuck in your head for a few weeks afterwards, easily carrying you into christmastime jingles.

The final Halloween movie that's made its way into my yearly Halloween line-up is Rocky Horror Picture Show.

For the few of you who don't know, the movie was made in '75 and has become one of the largest cult movies to date, with one of the biggest followings. The movie itself is nearly impossible to describe, and the live-action showings that surround it are even harder to describe, but I can definitely say I anxiously await the showings every year.

Obviously this isn't a complete list of all the great Halloween movies that have ever been made, nor is it even close, but these three are a few that I grew up with and remind me of cozy nights and warm apple cider...and those are the best nights.