If you're like me, there's a list of holiday movies that are essential to watch this time of year! Rudolph the Red Nosed Raindeer, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Scrooged are a few. But unfortunetely the holiday movies are the same plots and themes rehashed over and over again. SO if you want to watch some fun movies that you haven't seen (or seen in a while) I remembered a few that have underlying holiday themes for some odd reason or another!
I linked the movies to IMDB in case people haven't seen some of them and want more info. Enjoy!
APPLE is at again. This years christmas commercial is so clever, I just had to share it with you guys. Although the new iphone 4s isnt as awesome as many people thought it was gonna be this commercial makes me rethink purchasing the phone this holiday season. How about you? I really love how they made siri usable for even Santa and its really funny without losing sight of the product (which alot of comedic commercials have a tendency to do). A+ once again for apples ad campaign i have no idea how they keep doing it. GENIUS.
On another note I really had an amazing time with you all this semester. I just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Love Ivannah
To Kill A Mockingbird was based on Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning book.It was one of my favorite books of all time.The movie basically tells the story of Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), a widowed lawyer from Alabama, who defends a young black man who is on trial for the rape of a white woman.It is told through the eyes of Scout (Mary Badham) his six-year-old daughter.
At first the story seems to tell the story of her childhood, how she and her brother Jem (Philip Alford) and Dil (John Megna) spend their free time together. Then she proceeds to talk about all of the different people that make up the small town in Alabama where the story takes place and of course about the trail of Tom Robinson (Brock Peters).The movie shows Atticus follows his principles when he is chosen to defend a black man in light of the fact that most of the people believe he is guilty just because of the color of his skin.
I liked that the film was done in black and white and that the music chosen for the background really highlights what is going on in the movie.The film also follows the book very closely which I thought was important for the story telling process.It is a movie that I would highly recommend.It is a true classic.
So this past weekend was a terrible bore for me aside from filming on sunday. Friday and Saturday I watched a whole bunch of movies. I figured I'd blog on each one. Here I go;
Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas: This was one of my favorite movies growing up, created by Jim Hansen and his muppets. I hadn't watched it in year and noticed that it was on Netflix so needless to say I watched it with out hesitation. I even found myself almost unfamiliar with the story line. I also giggled several times at the silly lines said by characters in the film I think my favorite characters were: Chuck Stoat and Wendell Porcupine!
Untold Stories of Columbine: This was just a TV coverage of Darrell Scott (Rachel Scott's Father). Rachel Scot was the first to die on Columbine. Darrell told of his daughter's story of her life and her death and covered some of the events prior durring and after columbine, how his family dealt with the loss and how they believe God was preparing them for this unfortunate event in their lives. He also Covered how his son was also there on the say his sister died as he witnessed Isaiah Shoels, and Cassie Bernall's deaths. The two kids on either side of him were both shot but he was spared by pretending to have been shot. On his way out of the building he passed his sister's body and never knew it was her. The stories he shared were heart warming and very touching. I cried a couple of times. Especially at the part where he mentioned them being on Oprah.
Columbine: Understanding Why: This was a date line show about the events of columbine as detectives began searching out answers to all the questions. I didn't necessarily agree with their up-bringing of the media because It almost had nothing to do with the media they consumed (it wasn't their influence as much as it was just their way of expressing violence to hold them over until their planned date and times.) I think what got them was the bullying more than anything, the stupid thing is that they killed all the kids that were being bullied not the bullies themselves. (Not that anyone SHOULD have been killed) Their "cause" was a failure because they killed kids who were just like themselves but perhaps this wasn't by accident. Who knows I'd rather not be inside their heads. However I'm all for preventing this kind of thing from ever happening again.
Nosferatu: This was a 1920's horror flick about the vampire Nosferatu and his victims. I thought it was very interesting not only to see a silent film from the 20's but also to see the evolution of vampires in film. The acting was also adorable!
Zero Day: This was also a film about Columbine. So I went on a Columbine kick after this movie. I would certainly recommend this film if you enjoy feeling your heart pound out of your chest. I don't believe they used any real footage at all from Columbine but they certainly made you feel like you were there to see the entire event. It also touched on subjects that were of fact in the true story. Such as the fact that they had made underground videos, they never planned on killing themselves, their first plan failed, and in the underground footage of this event they told their parents "this wasn't your fault we love you". By the end of the film I was at the edge of my seat and my heart was pounding so hard I could feel it. In my book, If a film can do that to you it's a success. This film is now number 68/ 89.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Unearthly: This was a hoot! I love MST3!
this is just a sample of MST3000!
Scream: Silly and a terrible Horror film but it was kind of a classic for our generation so I watched it for a little laugh. I don't think this one's in my fav's list.
has anyone seen this yet, i just saw it and i really liked it. This guy gen 1 mashed up 230 movies into a 5 minute youtube video, he does a great job with the music and he take some of the best shots in some movies that you might have over looked and just blends them together so well. It may reach its high point early and change tone a little but it comes back in the end. anyway i thought this was really cool and it reminds me of the old toonami promos that did this kind of mashing
SNL has had a lot of popular recurring characters over the years- The Church Lady, John Belushi as the Samurai, the Coneheads etc. The most recent character that seems to have gained a lot of popularity is Bill Hader as Stefon on Weekend Update. Stefon gives advice for the hottest clubs in the city to go to. However, Hader usually can't get through this character without laughing at his own ridiculousness which is when the audience gets most excited. And with each appearance the applause gets louder every time Seth introduces him. In this interview even he talks about how he can't make it through an appearance without cracking up:
Just so everyone can share in my agony.... my hard drive just crashed... WOOOOOO. Yup you guessed it... our project's on it!!! The good people of master control are keeping it overnight to salvage my files... pray for us people, pray!
On to other things... my step-brother Tony and his band InAshton released a music video a few weeks ago that I thought I'd share with you all (he's the lead guitar)...
I love the song and thought the video came out great! The actress kinda looks like Zoe Saldana... but she's not haha my step-bro promises! I really liked the special effects like the fire and broken glass... it definitely took the video to the next level. I wonder what we could do with it if given the raw footage.... hmmm maybe I'll ask him for it one day!
so in class Arturo told me about video co pilot and i guess everyone else knows about it but its pretty cool
and not as time consuming as i would have thought. most of the effect work has been done for you and it just opens a bunch of possibilities for you to mess with. here are some samples
those were all people that used video copilot to make there productions the tutorials are all on his website so check it out
A tv show on Spike that I recently got hooked on is called Blue Mountain State. The show is about a fictitous college and their once amazing football team that is now in rough shape. The show is actually only about 10% football and 90% what happens off the field. This makes it a racy, completely unrealistic show about college experiences...similar to the American Pie films.Most of the time the cast is partying and doing various team-building exercises that go completely wrong. The core characters have GREAT personalities and it was an amazing casting job on their part. One of the main actors (Thad) was an American Idol finalist a few years ago as well. So if you like outrageous and vulgar shows this may be a new one for you, however I don't suggest sitting around and watching it with your entire family over the holidays!
I stumbled across this the other day somewhere on vimeo. This little sound company appears to be based out of Ithaca. I think its a pretty neat way to use to the internet to market themselves, kind of like what Arturo was talking about. Some of these live mixes have hundreds of thousands of views. Does anybody know these guys personally?
Personally, I have always had an incredible love for stop motion animation. I have all of the Wallace and Gromit shorts on my phone, and have usernames under at least 4 different stop-motion online forums. There is something so magical about how organic the medium is. That is why, about 4 years ago, I set out to make my own stop motion animation film.
The film was called "The Day Job," and it covered a protagonist's first and only day at his new job in a waffle factory. I had storyboarded it, created the puppets, and even constructed the entire waffle factory set. However, other priorities soon overtook my time, and hand animating several hundred frames took a back seat to homework.
Here are some of the pieces of test footage I could recover:
This was a test of gaining an acceptable depth of field, which I had an incredibly hard time doing, without basic knowledge of how depth of field is established.
This is a test of animating the Waffle Omni-Whomper 2000. Basically, it was a waffle iron that I adorned with K'nex, cardboard, paint, and a broken smoke detector. I still have it in my room back home, along with my clay puppets.
One day, I would love to finish this project, as I am pretty sure I still have the original pieces. The passion is still there, and I would love to apply what I now know to film making to completing this project.
Hands down, the best show on television at lest in my view, is AMC's Mad Men. it really isn't even close. Before we get to Mad Men, it's pretty incredible what AMC has managed to do over the last five years in terms of picking up and airing critically acclaimed shows. Whether it's the walking dead, breaking bad, or mad men, the quality of AMC's shows are on par with those of HBO, Showtime, and the major networks like ABC, CBS, and NBC. Moving onto Mad Men though, what an amazing show. For those of you who haven't had the good fortune of seeing it yet, the show, which will be entering its fifth season in March, follows the lives of advertising executives in New York City in the 1960's.The show is witty, dark, mysterious, and the most well put together show on television. I began watching the show with father and he said it was like a time machine back to the 1960's. The show has won outstanding drama series at the Emmy awards the last four years, no small feat by any measure. The show is available from start to finish on netflix, but I must warn you, once you start, it is nearly impossible to stop. Enjoy, an get hooked, just like I did. Here is the promo for season season one.
There are a lot of concerns about media literacy and critical thinking in kids these days, because they spend so much time immersed in the media and are exposed to a lot of violence and messages about race and world issues. This is something I am really interested in, and I love listening to these people argue about communism, the evil of Liberals and their evil motives, and...the Muppets. The creators of the latest movie have defended themselves, saying in this article, "Cable news is 24 hours long so you have to fill it up with something. No, the Muppets are not communist. And the character of Tex Richman is not an allegory for capitalism in any way. The character is called Tex Richman."
The world amazes me, every single day. Remind me to never work at FOX news.
So this weekend I saw The Sitter- which was okay. It reminded me a lot a Superbad and just replaced Michael Cera's part with three kids. But anyways I was pretty interested in the trailers before the movie.
One was 21 Jump Street featuring a skinny, blonde Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. I'm super excited about this pairing cause it's so bizarre. And I'm thinking this is going to be better than The Sitter because Jonah is going to have someone funnier to play off of (because the kids in The Sitter were so-so) and Channing Tatum, while not as raunchy or as funny as Jonah at all has the potential to be really good at this. What's also exciting about this movie is that Nick Offerman from Parks and Recreation plays the boss of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum and I have no doubt that he will do as good a job in this movie as he does in Parks and Rec every week. And I know really little about the original show 21 Jump Street with Johnny Depp but apparently this new movie strays far from the original show. And I also found out that the directors of this: Chris Miller and Phil Lord were producers on Awesometown (for any hardcore Lonely Island fans like myself) and thought that was pretty exciting.
I know several people who have tried to start video blogs (Ok...those people have been me), but there's always the problem of how to seem natural on camera. When watching vlogs of people like Philip DeFranco and the Vlog Brothers, you can see that they treat the camera just as a person that they're talking to, not like a camera. Here's a video of John Green being comfortable in front of a camera.
So for those of us that might get a little camera shy, here's an article that gives tips on becoming more comfortable. It's simple things like practicing what you're going to say (but not too much), being able to ramble, and just remembering to breathe. So maybe all of you (and me) will be able to act natural now!
With all of the formal rules about lighting, and the... (let's be nice) limited lighting choices in the studios, I forgot how much fun lighting can be! This past Thursday and Friday I was the assistant lighting designer for the Ithacappella show, which meant driving to Rochester to pick up equipment, setting all of the lights and working on effects, and helping my good friend Andrew (who was the LD) come up with concepts for the different songs they performed. We used lights I'd never worked with before (5R Pro Intelligent Movers, Atomic 3000 Strobes, Chauvet COLORado LED pars) and we created and tested new effects. (While this didn't work entirely well in the concert, we created lasers using the same projector that was used for the video screens. The mirrors on top of the screens reflected the projection back across the haze and over the audience.) I also got to try my hand at a new lighting console, the Road Hog Full Boar. It's entirely touch screen, and much easier to use than the 140+ dimmers we usually use in the Emerson Suites.
My main job as lighting assistant was to be in charge of the video effects. We created the video projections in Final Cut by creating a matte that would only show the images where the screens were placed on stage. Same for matting a box for the laser mirrors.
But all in all the concert was a huge success (I was not expecting a full house of 600+ people...) And 21+ hours of work (on <6 hours of sleep) later, I finally got to go back to bed.
Trusses, strobes, and video screens
Road Hog and Final Cut with the matte
Haze allowed us to see the light beam being cast from any source, especially the projector
I WATCHED HUGO! It made it to not only my top ten as I expected in my favorites list, but it is now my 4th favorite movie of all time. I've only seen a few predictions so far and so far not all of them have had Hugo winning any oscars but the ones I have seen with Hugo winning an Oscar are pretty darn sure of it. rating it at a 5-star rating. All of my film fans love it to death. Just as I expected I absolutely LOVED this movie any one reading this blog and is even the slightest bit interested in the film world needs to see this film. Honestly I was teary-eyed the ENTIRE time I watched this film. That is soooo hard to do for me. The one down-fall that I could see was a little bit of disbelief in some of the acting (possibly some over acting). But despite that everything went with out a hitch. I saw it in 3D but I'm sure seeing it in any theater would be equally amazing! Please Please Please go see it!
This movie had a lot of problems getting enough money to film, and for good reason. If I told you that I wanted to make a feature film about an institutionalized man, only during his time while in the institution, you would think I was the crazy one. How could this be a good film, there is no action, there are no love interests or bad guys. The story does not sound like the kind of movie that would be remotely interesting. Yet the movie is fantastic. It is amazing to watch this man simply get into the lives of institutionalized people who are in a routine and shake their lives up. It has great character development and the viewer actually knows each of the characters by the end of the movie. It all happens in about three locations and most of it is them just sitting in a circle, yet it is engaging, it makes you want to know what is going to happen, and how these very different and very extreme personalities can fit together. It is fun to see how this story was written and how it was converted from the book, there is a lot to be said for a writer that can externalize so many emotions and ideas that are primarily internal (Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman, screenplay writers). Its a great movie, bottom line, watch it.
So this semester I finally got into a TV show that many of my friends have been pestering me to watch for years - Doctor Who. I was hesitant at first to be honest. A show about aliens just didn't seem like it would appeal to me, but I've quickly fallen in love with it.
For those who don't know, Doctor Who is about a 900 year old Time Lord (that's a kind of alien) who travels around time and space with a human companion in a blue police box. If you're someone who hasn't really seen it, this may seem like a super odd concept...which it is. It has been on television ever since 1963, which is pretty cool. My Dad actually saw the very first episode as it was being broadcasted live (he's British, so it makes sense). In the old Doctor Who the special effects were pretty adorable...meaning terrible, but hey, it was the 1960s! Here's the first part of the very first episode.
Thankfully in the new series (which returned in 2005 after a 9 year hiatus) the special effects are better. They're not always superb, but they try.
Sometimes this show is pure brilliance! Great stories, scary monsters, witty dialogue, and superb acting, but when it's bad it's pretty terrible. But Whovians (which is what super fans of the show are called) love to pick apart the episodes and find plot holes and just discuss the show for hours. I do that.
The tenth doctor, David Tennant, is arguably the best doctor thus far. Here's a clip of one of my favorite moments with him.
All in all, this is strangely one of my favorite shows. It took me a few episodes to get into it, but now I can't imagine my life without the doctor and his blue box. It sounds strange that a show that can be as hokey as this one has had such a big impact on my life, but it has. I strongly encourage everyone to watch at least a little!
I still don't know where I fall on the issue of 3D films, even after writing quite a few posts about them. However, the more knowledgeable I get about the topic, the more clear the future seems regarding them. One very important step in the future of 3D films is getting it to the masses. I wrote last week on the rigs the pros are using, but they can become incredibly expensive and unwieldy. So, after some digging, I found an article that goes through the steps of how anyone can make their own 3D film. Check it out here!
Really, the process is incredibly simple. Just set up two cameras 2 1/2 inches across from each other. Shoot your material, and edit the film with one video feed. Once your done, match up the other side's footage, superimpose it, and color one red, the other blue. This will work fine for anaglyph glasses, which is the old-school flavor of 3D films. If you are interested in polarized 3D, then you are looking at much more expensive equipment, but the process is the same.
The hard part is in mastering the technicalities and subtleties of the format, and using it as part of the story telling rather than the ticket margins. It is increasingly obvious that this is where the industry will be focusing on for quite some time, so it is well worth it to get immersed now. Movie making has always favored the innovators, and there is still a great deal of innovating to do in this medium.
These videos are great - I love the stop motion and the cinematography for each shot. Even though most of them are still shots, they are all obviously carefully composed. The writing really makes the videos top notch - you don't even seem to question why he is a shell, has shoes on, one eye, or why he is being interviewed because you're too busy enjoying the silly things he says.
Charlie Chaplin is undoubtably the most loved silent film star and figure, but eventually even he began to write, direct and star in movies with speech. His first movie in which he spoke was The Great Dictator, a parody of Nazi Germany and Hitler. This was certainly not the first "talkie" movie made, but it was his first and when he finally did speak, boy did he have a lot to say...
This was a comedic movie, but Chaplin dropped it for this speech. He denounces hate, greed, and intolerance and instead demands love, kindness, and freedom for all. It is a powerful message that is still important today. The simplicity of the shots is also important to notice. For the most part, the shot stays on a medium shot of Chaplin talking to his audience. It does not change much, strengthening the power of his message and making it seem even more absolute. Sometimes when watching movies important moments get over-edited, when in the end simplicity would better serve to convey the message or sense of an important scene.
Who has ever mentioned a movie and had a bystander reply: "The book was better." ? Annoying right? On Thanksgiving my brothers and I were discussing books that were turned into movies and the pros and cons of the outcome. One book I read and watched the movie of was "1984." This was my example of a movie that followed the book almost line for line, and the outcome was...TERRIBLE! (The book was GREAT) One of my brothers read the "Watchmen" graphic novel series and said a similar thing; the movie was so similar to the graphic novel frame-for-frame that you didn't even need to see it if you've read the book.
This is the distinct difference between books and movies... size. Books can be as long as they need to be in order to tell a story, but movies have to be condensed into 2hours or less. This shows the format difference between the two mediums, and is why movie scripts have to be adjusted for the "big screen." What works for one type of media doesn't directly transfer to another. Drama and action have to be much more controlled and formulated to grab an audience's attention in film. I feel this is an important point to tell book snobs. On that note, I'd really like to see a remake of "1984" with an actual movie script and today's technology!
Jonah Hill usually doesn't disappoint me and I'm hoping he doesn't in his new movie "The Sitter", coming out Dec 9th. In this movie Jonah plays a babysitter while remaining the lazy, crude, hilarious guy he plays in most of his movies. I'm looking forward to this a lot and I think the kids in this movie will bring as much humor to it as Jonah. It was directed by David Gordon Green who also directed Pineapple Express.
Also an interview with Jonah:
He talks about what makes this movie different from other baby sitter movies and such
I found a bunch of old footage its all real footage from the some have commentary that was added a little later but this stuff is a bunch of old timey footage and each has different youtube channel
heres some sports
here is some fashion
and here is some war stuff
with titles like italians gooses step for hitler i get a kick out of these old videos and if you ever need old looking footage these channels are a great place to get em
I was on Vimeo the other day when I stumbled across this article. The article is basically a super basic intro to gels and diffusion. What I found interesting however was this picture from the article.
The neat colorized effect was created by holding a glass of whiskey up the flash. This got me thinking about all the creative, homemade stuff, guys were bringing on set when I was working this summer. The lighting guys were always experimenting with weird stuff to bounce the light off of. I guess the point is sometimes we get caught up in the latest greatest equipment, which is a good thing, but I think we can all think a little more creatively on all fronts. Even if your not lighting. Audio people for example might think of a new way to hide the mic in the car or producers might use a different layout when making the call sheets, etc. Its a struggle sometimes to not become complacent with your work but ultimately that creativity is going to pay off.
So im on a SWEDISH FISH frenzy this weekend, thanks to Scott Hamula and the final project he's assigned for Advertising Class. My group and I are developing an entire new ad campaign for the tangy gummy fish, which is a lot of fun actually(except for the extraneous amount of writing needed for the 30 page ad plan book). Through our research we ran across ONE(thats right Swedish fish only has one full ad campaign out there) ad campaign that the company has created ( which was banned in France which is totally weird bc Europe barely ever bans anything[well compared to america at least]). I really like this campaign its so simple and really focuses on the product. But, our campaign is better;) Creating my own ad campaign really makes me want to produce more commercials while at school. I really just love the 30 sec time restraint and the challenge it creates i to produce something, creative, memorable and that sells in so short of a time.
This weekend was our big shoot, and so far we got the green screen of the zombies, and the shots at the apartment complex, the parking lot, and the business campus. Not sure exactly how much is left, but we may have to shoot during class tomorrow. We're also considering how we can get a logo for WonderTaco on the side of a car that is used in one of our scenes. But other than that we're nearly done with the filming and we're getting ready to work on the post-production.
The movie Horrible Bosses is about three friends Nick Hendricks (Jason Bateman) Kurt Buckman (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale Arbus (Charlie Day) who try to work hard, be respected and move ahead in each of their jobs, but they each have a big problem in attaining this goal: they have a terrible boss and a job that is difficult to leave without starting somewhere else at the bottom of the ladder. At the financial firm where he works, Nick's mean spirited boss, Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey), has always given Nick the impression that he is next in line for a senior vice-president position. This however is the farthest thing from Dave's mind. Kurt, who works for chemical company, used to have a great boss, Jack Pellitt (Donald Sutherland) until he died, which meant that the company was passed on to his drug addicted son, Bobby Pellitt (Colin Farrell). He has no work ethic, hates Kurt and does not really care about the family business. As a dental hygienist Dale is constantly sexually harassed by his boss, Dr. Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston). What makes things even worse is the fact that Julia keeps threatening to tell Dale's fiancée that they did sleep together if he does not sleep with her. Because of an innocent accident when he was younger, he had been put on the sexual predator list, so he knows that it would be impossible to get another job. The three men joke about killing their bosses in order to make their lives easier and that is when the craziness really begins. Dale is the first to say that he really wants to do it, and after some coaxing the others agree. Since they are just ordinary men they do not have any idea about how to hire a hit-man. Between a hit-man they meet in the bad side of town, played by Jamie Foxx, and what they have learned on television crime shows they set out to follow through with their murder plot without getting caught. However the way they try to carry out their plan puts the police right on their trail.
The direction, by Seth Gordon and the writing by Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein, plus the comedic talents of the cast, created comedy at its best. I laughed throughout the entire movie. I could tell that some of the script had to have been ad-libbed, which made the scenes especially funny. Even though the critics did not like this film, I guess because it was not sophisticated and I am sure they thought that the plot was predictable, I found it to be a fun film to watch. I would highly recommend it as a rental, or on demand, to be watched with friends for an entertaining evening in.
Over thanksgiving break I had the opportunity to watch to watch an indi-film starring Jesse Eisenberg. It was very witty and clever and made it to my favorites list at number 35. The story is about a man who is dying of an incurable name-less disease and and his doctor tells him the very specific time for him to die. The story is set on his last day on earth. He sets out to find the answer to why his father left him and his mother when he was very young and he later finds his father and he tells him all the resolving facts to the story and brings him to his death. The story certainly keeps you intrigued and interested while taking you on a journey to see the last day of his life and the sadness of his only friend as he carries him to his grave most literally. The story weighs heavily on its characters and their development.
