American Sniper

I recently went to the movies to see American Sniper, and I have to say I was not disappointed.

American Sniper is a film directed by Clint Eastwood, staring Bradley Cooper. It is based around the life of Chris Kyle, the Sniper with the most confirmed kills in America.

While this film is a very enjoyable high action movie, there are both strong points and weak points in this piece. 

The Weak: 

I personally thought that the plot line wasn't very strong. The film was divided into the "3 Tours" and it seemed to be fragmented with out very much emphasis on the current setting of each tour. 

Another weak point was the stylistic color selection. The film had a very sepia tone style that I did not find appealing. 

The Strong: 

This was a very powerful movie. With out giving away any spoilers, I can say that this was the first film I have ever been too that left the audience speechless. Everyone left the theatre in silence. I have heard from multiple people that this was the same experience for them. 

Another strong point was the cinematography. There where multiple shots through out this film that I was impressed with. Very nicely executed. 

Over All Rating:  7.9/10 

Great film to see in theaters, but lacking in some ascetics and felt rushed. 

Striving to be the best

When I was young my parents introduced me to the world of Disney. I remember the first video I ever watched was Mickey's Steam Boat. In the video Mickey is whistling the most catchy tune that I can still hum to this day. When I got a little older I became fascinated on how the music, and the sound was created. My uncle (who worked as a Production Designer for Disney) saw me watching loops of old Disney clips and later sent me a book titled "Demystifying Disney. This book basically revealed everything behind the scenes in Disney animation. The chapter that fascinated me the most was about this guy Doc Kane who works with Mixing all the sounds for animation. His name is Doc Kane but most just call him Doc. With over 300 projects under his belt and a slew of awards and nominations, including four Academy Award nominations, Doc has one of the longest and most impressive resumes in the sound business. Re-recording for over 35 years, Doc has worked with hundreds of talented actors including Tom Cruise, Ellen DeGeneres, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt and Robin Williams to name a few. He is also the trusted ADR mixer for dozens of legendary filmmakers such as: Tim Burton, James Cameron, Clint Eastwood and Taylor Hackford. Never one to toot his own horn, Doc is known as one of the best in the industry, his name alone drumming up praise and admiration from his colleagues and clients alike. Doc talked about automated dialogue replacement or ADR which basically means you take what is being said by these actors and transform it into what the character says in the film. Doc talked about when he was younger he used to take a boom mic and a Nagra recording device and record different ambiance's. And this fascinated me that you could literally record anything and through sound make people believe that your actually there. I guess this made me realize how lucky I am to be in a place where I can play around with all different types of audio equipment. And for that I am extremely grateful for what I have, and what I want to be

Oscar Buzz

It's still a few months away, but I'm looking forward to watch this years Academy Awards as I do every year. I love watching the Oscars because it's an opportunity to see films at their best. Audiences get to see the best in the industry from Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Score, Best Original Screenplay, etc. I also love seeing the celebrities and how they come to support fellow actors/actresses and to watch the show. It's always a spectacular show to watch. 

This year, comedian actor Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy, American Dad, The Cleveland Show, and the motion picture Ted) will be hosting the 85th annual Academy Awards and I predict it will be a great show as usual.

The first Academy Awards were given in 1929 at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood, California. The awards have changed for the decades and the awards currently are given to over a dozen categories and include various types of films. Annually, the Academy awards is televised in more than 100 countries, and is the oldest award ceremony in media.

Douglas Fairbanks

Wings

Again the first Academy Award ceremony took place on Thursday May 16, 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The First host was actor Douglas Fairbanks. Fairbanks was known in Hollywood for his roles in The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mask of Zorro.  

The First Motion Picture to win the award for best picture was the film Wings. Wings was a silent film about World War 1 fighter pilots.The first Academy Award ceremony I remember seeing as a kid was in 2004 when Million Dollar Baby took home the Best Picture award. I loved the experience of it especially watching Chris Rock host the show. Some awards that were given that night were Jamie Foxx for Best Actor for his role in Ray, Hilary Swank for Best Actress in Million Dollar Baby, Morgan Freeman for Best Supporting Actor in the film Million Dollar Baby, Cate Blanchett in The Aviator, Clint Eastwood for Best Director of Million Dollar Baby, The Incredibles received Best Animated Film, and Robert Richardson for Best Cinematography in the film The Aviator.

A lot of great awards have been given over the years and I look forward to seeing which movies take home the awards this upcoming year in February. Some films predicted to be in the Best Picture Category include: Lincoln, Life of Pi, Les Miserables, Argo, The Master, Anna Karenina, and Flight.                                                                                                                                                                      

Creating suspension

Recently in class we watched a segment from The Fast and the Furious and watched how the scene was able to generate suspension.  In the scene Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) races Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) to some train tracks a ways down the road.  The suspense is generated by the train that is coming.  One aspect of the scene we noticed that helped to grow suspension was the feeling that time slowed down.  Not only was it slowed by slow-motion, but many shots were compiled showing close ups, the train, the cars, the train again, and then back to the cars.  The scene itself takes much longer then it should for two fast moving cars to race a quarter of a mile.  The close ups themselves even aid to the suspension.  Shots of the actors such as this one (Not the exact shot but similar)

Help capture the emotion and the intensity.  

The sound and music also helps to play on the audiences emotions and add anxiety to the scene.  There are different styles to using this sound and music.  In fast and furious you hear the roar of the engines and the train thundering down the tracks.  All of this adds to the action and the intensity.  Another movie I watched however uses sound a little differently.  In The Good the Bad and the Ugly, a classic wester, the movie has one scene in particular that uses very little sound, and only has a slow song in the background which could honestly be considered just whistling.  This movie uses the same technique of closeups to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

In this scene you have Clint Eastwood, and three other travelers in a standoff.  The scene is only comprised of shots of their face, eyes, and the occasional gun.  The feeling of slowed time is also applied hear.  No action takes place, just the actors standing waiting for the first to make a move, and there is what feels like 10 minutes of just Eastwood squinting confidently in the face of death.  

In both movies, when the train passes and the shootout is over, there is an immediate feeling of relief as you sit back down in your seat.  It is at that point you can finally notice and appreciate how well done the scene was in building up your suspense.

Robert Cannon

Films about films

Since many of you are now actively watching movies, I suggest that if you have not seen it try to see Rango. It is simply an amazing piece of work. Directed by Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) the film pays direct homage to a number of films both in terms of storytelling structure, some memorable characters themselves and even music and lighting.

Needless to say, if you are to fully enjoy this film's homage structure you should try, if you have not done so, to see some of the principal films referenced in Rango.

Films referenced are of course the extraordinary "Chinatown" (by Roman Polanski) which shares the core story of the film, "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly", "For a Few Dollars More" (Sergio Leone), John Ford westerns, "There Will be Blood" (Paul Thomas Anderson) in terms of lighting, and great characters based on such icons as John Huston (in Chinatown), Lee Van Cleef's in For a Few Dollars More, which in Rango is the very bad Rattlesnake Jake. and, yes, Clint Eastwood as "the Spirit of the Desert", poncho and all. Clint Eastwood rose to fame thanks to the Sergio Leone's "spaghetti westerns" known as the Dollars Trilogy.

A couple of more references I saw were to "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" by Terry Gilliam, (And oh, a wink to Star Wars, of course) I am sure there are other direct references I missed, see if you can find them!

In short it is a film fest, definitely watch it! Needless to say the character modeling, animation, environments, shaders and particularly the acting, etc are simply outstanding. Talking about acting, some of the characters are actually played by their actors, (like Johnny Depp) who are not only doing voice over. But the subtlety of their emotions down to the smallest twitches is a pleasure to watch.

Photographs copyright © 2011 by Paramount Pictures

Lee Van Cleef in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", one of the great  so-called "spaghetti westerns"