Music makes the musical... Or any film really...

One of the many things that gets reiterated time and time again at film school is this: "Please don't forget that audio is just as important as camera". This is something that I firmly believe can't be stated enough. Yes, we ARE going to hold for room tone. Yes, we ARE going to spend that much money on the proper composer.  It really does matter.  On our last project, "Before Your Eyes", we took these notions and really ran with them. Our score was as critical to the film as the camerawork (okay Skyler... fine... maybe not quite as critical...). The composer we worked with was out of the UK, his work can be found here and while I do get tired of the film, I never tired of listening to the music. That film had almost no dialogue and was largely motivated by the music, which was incorporated into a beautiful soundscape/design. One of the major criticisms that project received was actually a lack of dialogue. People felt really uncomfortable by the lack of it. To be honest, I'm still not certain if we overdid the lack of dialogue, some loved it, some hated it, but that's filmmaking. That project really hit home for me how music can speak just as effectively as dialogue.

Between a summer in NYC and my return to IC, I spent a quick weekend in my hometown in Western MA. While there, I was able to visit Tanglewood. You don't need to know much about this place, other than that it is a beautiful outdoor concert venue which also houses the Boston Symphony Orchestra during the summer months. I'm not usually one for what this venue puts forward, but the night I went was a night that is very near and dear to my heart: John Williams' Film Night at Tanglewood. To give you a sense of that. It is hours of John Williams conducting the BSO in not only his own music, but the music of other famous film composers. At some points they show films on the screen with the score omitted, so that portion can be played live.  This year the highlight in that sense was the opening scene from Star Trek Into Darkness:

If you haven't seen the entire film, I highly recommend it (J.J. Abrams is a genius). Regardless, this scene is incredible as a standalone scene, so give the 9 minutes a watch.  If you play as close attention to the score as I did on film night at Tanglewood, you'll see just how critical it is to the scene. The main theme that pops up near the end is this one here. It is unique and beautiful. That theme is as much the calling card to this rebooted franchise as Chris Pine or the tricked out Enterprise. If you have seen these movies and you hear this track, your mind goes there. Michael Giacchino did a brilliant job of repurposing the original Star Trek theme to something that is modern and gorgeous in its sound (and a sight better than this old clunker)

So where the hell am I going with this? Well now we are making a musical! Just as much as the last one, music is still key! This time it might be even more key! Not only is the music enforcing the plot, it is plot! Major things will be happening during musical numbers. This is one of the hugest differences between the films of freshmen and the films that come out of thesis, music.  If you haven't already done so, shop around for your composer, that person will help define your film. 

Evolution of Science Fiction Films

Since I was a kid (probably too young to have seen it) Alien was one of my favorite movie. This movie spawned my love for the science fiction genera. Since my viewing of that classic terrifying Sifi film I was introduced to Terminator, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, and the Matrix, to name a few, and I loved them all. Although in the past few years I’ve noticed a change in the stories and morals in Sifi films, so I did some research.  What I found was that the historical situations of the time affected the type of story told.

The first real trend I noticed in science fiction films started in the 50’s and 60’s. For the most part the Sifi movie coming out in this time period involved outer space or aliens, The Day the Earth Stood Still in 1951, Invasion of the Body Snatcher in 1956, and 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968 and even in television shows like Star Trek. These movies dealt with outer space because they all came out during or around the Space Race. The space race was between Russia and America to be the first nation to send man into the cosmoses.

The next trend I noticed started in the 80’s and continued through out the 90’s. During this time, technologies in computers and genetic alteration were advancing greatly and faster then ever before, and the Sifi genera took advantage of this. The movies shifted from space to the idea of “beware the machines” with movies like Blade Runner in 1982, The Terminator in 1984, Robocop in 1987, and the Matrix in 1999. The idea that playing god will backfire also emerged during this time with movies like Jurassic Park in 1993.

Toady however, the ideas of science being dangerous are on the decline, making it harder for the movie industry to make Sifi films like they used too. This can bee seen in the recent and generally underwhelming remakes of classic Science fiction movies.  Where will the genre go from here is hard to tell, we just have to wait and see. 

Ready for Summer!

After filming The Goods again, screwing it up by accident and only having one film to screen- I'm ready to relax and watch someone else's projects this summer.

Iron Man 3 just came out and I was lucky enough to see it the night before. It was amazing and a great ending to the trilogy. During the previews, there were a bunch of trailers for films coming out this summer and fall. And I've got to say, I'm super pumped for almost all of them!

Wolverine will be coming back to the silver screen to continue his origin story. Being a Marvel nerd, this makes me super excited for him being in Japan. It's a key point in his story and it also helps that I love Hugh Jackman...

The Great Gatsby is only a week away from premier! Like a lot of people, The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books. The cast is phenomenal and the director is fantastic. He's directed so many beautiful films such as Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet. Baz Luhrmann was a great choice to director this movie.

Star Trek is also creeping up this month and I can't wait to go to the midnight premier! Yes, I do have an Enterprise shirt that I'm planning on wearing to the screening and yes I'm a bit more excited to see this one than the previous film because Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are beautiful men.

Good luck to everyone at the screenings and have a great summer!

Summer Movies

Summer, a time for swimming, frolicking in the sun, and escaping the heat is a nice cool movie theater. Which I plan to do at least two times this year, by seeing "Now You See Me"(directed by Louis Leterrier) and "Star Trek: Into Darkness"(directed by J.J. Abrams).

"Now You See Me" which comes out May 31st, seems to be a sort of magician mixed with Robin Hood thriller. I love most thrillers, and who doesn't love Robin Hood? So I look forward to this one and hope the director isn't fond of shaky cam (which I hate).

"Star Trek: Into Darkness" (which comes out May 15th) is a must see for all Star Trek fans, therefor I will go see it ASAP.

     The Sci-Fi television and movie series Star Trek is releasing a new movie in May.  This series first began in 1966 and has since grown into a world of its own.  With 6 different television series' and 12 different movies the Star Trek franchise may soon be hitting the end of its run.  The latest movie is the sequel to a new series of movies that has predated everything we have seen before.  The characters take up the rolls of the original cast of Captain Kirk traveling the galaxy with his crew and starship, but the crew is much younger.  The series shows a lot of the back story of the characters in what was developed 40 years ago in the original series.  The latest series is action packed and emphasizing the special effects that was not there 40 years ago.

     Since its beginning Star Trek has had loyal fans who enjoy the development of new ideas and new series'.  The creativity of the episodes where we meet new species with different abilities and freak looking faces inspired the development of many other Sci-Fi series'.  The franchise has participated in the creative ability to develop other life forms with social issues and emotions similar to our own.  The character development of the relationships between the different species is one of the fine points in the Star Trek series, main point being Kirks relationship with Spock.

I hope that the producers at CBS and director, JJ Abrams, continue to keep the story line as one of the main parts in the Star Trek series.  Many loyal fans are excited about the new movie and latest series but fear for what might happen to the timeline and history that the Star trek series has developed.

Into Darkness Teaser Trailer

At 3:01am yesterday morning, 12/6, the new Star Trek teaser trailer was released.

Here was me and my roommate's first reaction:

We were ecstatic. One of the reasons being that we got to hear the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch AND see him in a number of shots, which we were both not expecting. Now don't get me wrong, Hannah and I were both very happy to see this trailer for a plethora of reasons since we are both semi-Trekkies (I've even met Leonard Nimoy!!), but for this post's sake I'm mainly going to focus on our friend, Benedict Cumberbatch.  Benedict, if you don't remember from a previous post, plays the title character in the British television show Sherlock. This is how he mainly gained his popularity. He actually plays opposite Martin Freeman who is playing Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit, while Benedict is voicing the dragon, Smaug, and the Necromancer. Aside from his appearance in The Hobbit, this will be Benedict's first major role in a Hollywood production. 

Being many months before the expected release date on May 17th 2013 and with much speculation surrounding his character, we thought that they would decide not to show Benedict at all this time around. However, in this teaser we see him a number of times seeking 'vengeance.' Knowing that he is the villain of the film, but not knowing what character he is portraying has caused some uproar amongst the fandom. It was rumored for the longest time that he would be portraying Khan, the notorious dictator, however, it has not been confirmed and Benedict has actually denied the association. Some characters that he might possibly be portraying are Khan, Gary Mitchell, Charlie X, or some new character that we have not seen before. I actually hope it is the latter because I would like some new characters.

Regardless of who he plays, I can not wait to see Benedict in his first major Hollywood role.

I have seen him go from the top 5000 on IMDB to 32. I am very proud of him.

Watch him in Sherlock if you haven't!