After the Fact

Before you say anything about the content of this video, you should probably watch it first. Watch it with the sound off if you hate techno that much...or turn it the f*** up if you want to jam out by yourself. This is the official Ultra 2013 after movie which only exists to remind you to buy tickets for next year or remind you of how much fun you had that you possibly don't remember. I've never been to Ultra but from what I can tell by this video they have a large camera crew going around talking to concert goers and capturing the big DJs performing on stage. Whether you enjoy techno music or not making a 17 minute music video out of raw footage from a music festival is no easy task. The shots are absolutely beautiful and it seems like the cameramen were looking in the right place at just the right time to catch the drop in the song or this super hot girl dancing in a crowd. But lets say Ultra is too much to handle for you right now. Posted below are two videos, one from Electric Forrest and one from Bisco. Both are official videos I assume produced by the company running the concerts.

As you can probably tell by now, all three use similar techniques and camera movements if you watch them closely. Slow motion is also a very popular technique usually used in both these videos. The effect is a closer look at the grand picture of the whole event, which is tough to capture at a large festival event like Ultra. What both of these videos do well is capture the excitement and energy of the event while syncing the frames you see on screen with the music you hear in the after movie. Obviously a techno music festival will play the same music in the after movie video because it matches up to what's going on onscreen. Another element that shouldn't be ignored is the overall narrative of the video. It is a three day event and it takes you from the beginning when "you" arrive at the gates of the festival grounds to the end when girls are crying their faces off over Swedish House Mafia's last performance ever. I feel like this is important not only for the casual viewer to see what it's like but also for the hardcore Ultra fans to say "Wow, that's exactly how it went down." In the end, these videos and the many more that exist of this nature, are a nostalgia-based recap of what ticket holders' experiences SHOULD have been in addition to their own supplementary memories. After-movies...replacing memories with better ones one year at a time. 

Rotten Tomatoes

The other day my friends and I were sitting around wondering what movie to see. I was amazed the first question that was asked when I proposed a movie was "what did it get on rotten tomatoes?." Its amazing how much this movie review website impacts our decision on going to see a film. Rotten Tomatoes was created in 1998 by a man named Senh Duong. Its name comes from the cliche of audiences throwing rotten tomatoes or vegetables disapproving a poor performance on stage. Senh Duong created the site because he was inspired by Jackie Chan films and wanted to make a website for reviews for his films. The website became a complete success and in 2010 the website was sold to Flixster. Whats so great about the site is that it won't give me the typical film critique, it will cut the crap and tell me if a movie is either good or bad. But because we have become dependent upon this websites review it will hurt the film industry in general. For me, a film has to be a certain percentage for me to actually go and spend money to see it. For me, and other fans of this website it gives films a certain standard to be able to take my money.

Fantastic Mr Fox

Fantastic Mr Fox is by far one of my favorite animated films of all time. Not only is the stop motion incredible, the story is entertaining and witty. There are so many quick and sassy lines that could go unnoticed if one wasn't paying attention but they're all ones you don't want to miss. I love how instead of cursing they replace each "bad word" with the word "cuss" I think it adds a bit of a "choose your own adventure" type of a feel. You can replace the word cuss with whatever you want to in your mind. Here! Give it a shot! It's pretty fun!

I appreciate that the detail they put into each line of dialogue as well as every movement we see on screne. This film blows me away each time I watch it. It will always have a special place in my heart.

Is pirating movies always wrong?

One of the greatest challenges production companies have to face is pirated films. In the U.S. it is illegal to download or copy a film without proper authorization, but what if that was the only way you could view the movie? Hear me out for a minute. Hypothetically speaking, lets just say the film "Wolf of Wall Street" by Martin Scorsese comes out in China. You being from the United States have not had the chance to see the film yet but you really want to, all the sudden you hear it's band to be viewed by the country for "extreme scenes of nudity, sex, debauchery, hedonism and cursing". Of course this being a free country that would never happen, but Kenya is another story.

As you may have guessed, Kenya banned the oscar nominated film, "wolf of Wall Street", for the reasons listed earlier. In response, many people in Kenya decided to respond by pirating the film. "Wolf of Wall Street" was being sold for $0.57 on the dollar to Kenyan illegally  but is that wrong? Many would argue yes, no matter the rules of the country, you cannot steal a film whether that is your only option or not, and some could argue that if they ever want to see the film this is what they must do. Honestly, what would you do if your only option to see the movie was to purchase it illegally for $0.57? Ultimately breaking the law of any country is not a good idea in terms of ethics and moral code, but what to you do when they just don't seem fair? 

Those who get fought purchasing the film can face a fine up to $1,160 or several years in jail. Although people feel Kenya is unfair for their policies you could also say they could be right. One of the arguments to why Kenya bans the film is for the protection of their Women and Children. It's easy to say it's wrong of the country to restrict the people of such art but one could understand the reasoning why. At the end of the day it all comes down to why you believe and your ethical code. Is Kenya at fault for disallowing the film or is their reasoning unjust? 

A Strong Female Lead: Weeds

Although it is definitely becoming more common for television shows to have a strong female lead, I think that Weeds is one of the best examples of this. If you are not very familiar with the show, Nancy Botwin is a newly widowed mom of two boys from the upper-class suburban community of Agrestic. To deal with the financial issues that have been left to her, and to maintain her wealthy lifestyle, Nancy decides to become a drug dealer. This show follows her, her family, and the crew of miscreants that surround her, as she struggles to sustain her image, yet change it all at the same time. Nancy quickly finds herself in to deep, and when I began watching this show, I was ready to give up hope for her in the first couple of episodes. But the situations that she gets herself into are what make this show so interesting. She always seems to pull things together, even in the worst-case scenarios. What is so great (at least in the first three seasons) is that even her predicaments are always surprising and complex. The writing in the show is quite original and all the while it keeps Nancy’s integrity.

The one complaint that I do have about this show is the quality of the later seasons. Eventually it becomes difficult to sympathize with Nancy, and it is hard to believe that she is making choices for the sake of her family and not herself. Besides the later seasons decreasing in quality, I think that the first three seasons of Weeds are some of TVs finest. The show is entertaining, funny, takes plenty of risks, and has an incredibly strong Weeds a chance.

female lead. To anyone who is interested, I would definitely give

The Pixar Theory: Everything Makes Sense Now

Over winter break I came across a new and interesting theory that I feel is relevant to everyone and anyone who has ever seen any Pixar movie. It's called "Pixar Theory." The theory was first brought up on Cracked.com in a video called "Why Pixar Movies Are All Secretly About the Apocalypse." They touched upon only a couple of movies that Pixar created. Blogger Jon Negroni, from jonnegroni.com, created more of an elaborate theory and was able incorporated all of the movies. I have read over his theory multiple times and it really makes sense. It is truly amazing that Pixar and other people have created this theory. My question is, did Pixar relies that they were actually creating this theory and that all of there movies are related? Obivously the know now, but did they really put the pieces together? I am guessing they knew they were doing it at little bit because they have put characters from one movie into another movie. Pixar calls these Easter Eggs. These eggs allow Pixar to begin the connection and then the story lines does the rest. Here are just a few examples of easter eggs in some of pixar's movies.

 In the movie Monsters, Inc. Boo hands Sully the Pixar ball, a Jessie Doll from Toy Story 2, and Nemo from Finding Nemo.

In the movie Toy Story there is a postcard from Carl and Ellie, characters from the movie Up. In the movie up there is a image that says islands which also appears in Toy Story. 

In the movie Up, Lotso bear appears in a little girls room, along with the Pixar ball.

Theses are just a few examples of the connections that Pixar has created. I really recommend reading the theory because you will never see these Pixar movies the same.

Here is the url to Negroni's Pixar theory. 

http://jonnegroni.com/2013/07/11/the-pixar-theory/

Requiem For a Dream

One director that uses sound as a key tool to telling his story is director Darren Aronofsky. He is known for using a dark tone to fill the nature of his stories. He has directed award winning films such as The Wrestler, and Black Swan, but my favorite of his is Requiem For a Dream. It redefined what a "drug movie" could be, illustrating a brutal addiction especially through the works of his chilling soundtrack and other sounds. I remember the first time I watched this horrifying film was in the 8th grade. My uncle told me it was a great film and had an incredible soundtrack so I was interested. And although I was terrified for 101 minutes, I couldn't stop thinking about how incredible the film was. Sound design is perhaps the most overlooked art in cinema, and for good reason: truly perfect sound serves only to enhance immersion in the film. Its not supposed to draw attention. But once you start paying attention, Requim's scenes are filled with subtle, striking enhancements. From the hallucinated growl of a characters fridge to the grating teeth-grinding of an addict on uppers. For a low budget film, Darren Aronofsky turned this film into something unforgettable.

The Chin will Be Back (unfortunately)

Everyone knows that Jay Leno has passed the "Tonight Show" torch and in fact there was a post by Aryeh  earlier in the week explaining the transition to Jimmy Fallon hosting the "Tonight Show." This is undoubtably a good thing for Fallon and something that Leno has known for about five years when they announced he would be replaced. What most people don't get is that Jay Leno is not the type of person to disappear from pop culture. He was already kicked off his own show and came back to host it for 4 more years after the last host bombed (Conan). As much as I despise Leno and his corny middle-America aimed comedy, I cannot deny his tenacity. He will never stop working or talking for that matter. He is a better comedian than he is a talk show host and I think most of his genius comes from more organic situations than a late night talk show set. Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is a show that Jerry Seinfeld hosts and its pretty self-explanatory. Leno is very funny in this situation because it is an environment he looks comfortable in. Leno is also a self-professed car enthusiast and, like Seinfeld, has a vast collection of rare cars. If he was smart, which I think he is, Leno would host a car show on a cable channel (a la "Top Gear" for all the BBC fans out there). He is also apparently being courted by Fox affiliates in an attempt to get him to host an 11pm talk show on their network. This would directly compete with the "Tonight Show" for about a half hour which could cause some programming problems for NBC and its new host Jimmy Fallon. Nevertheless, Leno shouldn't be crying about him leaving the "Tonight Show" because he will be back on the airwaves quicker than David Letterman can say "he stole my job in the 90's."

Why Country Music Was Awful in 2013

A lot of people look down on country music. It doesn't fit their taste. They don't care for the Southern twang or the whining and that's fine. It happens however, to be my favorite genre of music. When I first came across the video "Why Country Music was Awful in 2013" I was curious about it. I watched it and while the video does a decent job at showing the similarities between different male sung country songs from 2013, it does not do a good job at explaining why these things make country music "awful"

Country singers have always sung about alcohol, trucks, and pretty girls, and I'm sure that isn't going to change anytime soon. But why is that a bad thing? How is that any different than when rap and hip hop artists sing about girls in the club getting drunk on shots of vodka shaking their "asses"? Why is saying "You got your hands up You’re rocking in my truck You got the radio on You’re singing every song I’m set on cruise control I’m slowly losing hold Of everything I got You’re looking so damn hot" any different than "The way she move her body she might see the Maserati?"

Another thing I don't particularly agree with in this video is the fact that they only mention songs by male country artists. There are so many popular country songs sung by female artists from 2013 that this video doesn't even mention. You can't say that all of the music in a genre from a given year was crap when you're only looking at a portion of the genre.

Late Night with Seth Meyers

As my all time favorite late night show host moves on to the bigger leagues, it is time for Seth Meyers to move up in his career. Seth is taking over the Late Night show on February 24th. I have always been a huge fan of Seth on SNL. My favorite part of the show would be the Weekend Update with Seth and Amy Poehler (when she was still on the show.) It will not be the same without him, however I could not be more thrilled for the launch in his career. Seth has a way of connecting with his audience and is an incredible writer. He is funny, but not too cocky. He has wrote some amazing sketches on SNL.  One of my all time favorites that he co-wrote was the opening with Tina Fey playing the role of Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler playing the role of Hilary Clinton. This was one of the best sketches on SNL of the presidential election back in 2008.

To start off the show, Amy Poehler will be Meyers' first guest. I think this is the best decision for the show. It will create tons of hype because it will be a reunion and a new beginning at the same time. The Late Night show is going to be different for sure, but it is time for a change. Seth deserves to move up in his career and to be the spotlight. As devastasting as it is that after 22 years, Jay Leno is retiring, it is time for a new face to shine in Late Night. I believe that Jimmy Fallon is the perfect choice to fill Leno's shoes and will continue the shows longtime success. With Seth Meyers going into the Late Night Show, I have complete faith that he will make us all proud. I can't wait to see what these two shows, Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon have in store.

Bob's Burgers or The Simpsons?

Which do you prefer: classic Simpsons, or modern-day Bob's Burgers? In 2011, Fox premiered its newest animated family sitcom " Bob's Burgers". This show is based around a dysfunctional family of 5 that own, run, and live above a burger joint. Bob, the father of the family, is constantly going through the struggles of trying to provide for his family, remain on good terms with his nagging yet loving wife Linda, and somehow be a role model for his three children Tina, Louise, and Gene all while dealing with the daily conflicts of life.

Bob's Burgers has a tough reputation to beat when being compared to The Simpsons. Airing in 1989, The Simpsons has been the classic " All-American, dysfunctional family". As time went on, the writers of The Simpsons had to up their ratings. Complaints about the show losing its relatable plot lines and character development, have been brought up by fans for years. The show now has taboo and out of the ordinary episodes, but still manages to maintain some of its original spark.

Bob's Burgers has lost quite a number of viewers from the airing of season 1 to season 2, however season 3 has been bringing back many of the shows original viewers, and welcoming newcomers. 

Bobs Burgers is one of my personal favorites because it is so relatable. The plot lines are not all over the place and abnormal, they are everyday situations and sometimes with some extra spark.



http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2014/01/bobs-burgers-tops-the-simpsons

Band Of Brothers

This post I would like to talk about one of my favorite shows, Band Of Brothers. I recently re watched the whole series and the show is breathtaking every time I watch it. It follows the story and lives of Easy Company from the 101st airborne division during WWII. The characters literally go through hell and back during the war and I think the show depicts the concept of wartime very well. Its crazy how the show can have characters the audience can relate to the most and have them disappear at any given moment and I felt it showed the vulnerability of man very well. Some characters go through unforgettable experiences and if they manage to come out alive they are just filled with undesirable memories in their minds. Another reason why I love this show is the cinematography. The locations and various shots of battle just made the show so much more profound.

Sweet, Honey Nut Revenge

Last May, Cheerios came out with a surprisingly controversial commercial featuring an interracial family. Surprising in the sense that it was considered controversial at all. It stars Gracie, a cute little girl who just happens to have parents of different races. The ad, like many other Cheerios ads, focuses on heart health, but low and behold the internet did not see it that way. The commercial was put on youtube, where it was harshly criticized by a wave of users in the comments section. Countless racial slurs and explicit disapproval forced Cheerios to disable the comment option on the video.

Here is the commercial:

But this is where it starts to get good. In response to the backlash from the more ignorant folk of the nation, Cheerios decided to buy a time slot in this year's Superbowl, something they've never done before. Not only were they featured in the Superbowl, but their commercial brought back the same family from the first commercial. And instead of addressing the issue of race like some might've expected, they did something much, much better.

The Superbowl Commercial titled "Gracie":

Cheerios cleverly used this commercial to once again normalize the concept of family by sticking to a basic and sincere plot. By highlighting a completely ordinary situation that any family might have to go through, Cheerios reiterated how silly the controversy was in the first place. Camille Gibson, Cheerios' vice president of marketing, stated about the positive response of the second ad "At Cheerios, we know there are many kinds of families, and we celebrate them all." Simply put, Cheerios strikes with a "no big deal" attitude, which might be the best offense against those who wish to stir up unwanted and unwarranted issues.

Although I have no doubts that Cheerios saw this as a fantastic way to promote advertising and gain publicity, they still serve as a role model for other ad agencies. The world of commercials progresses much slower than that of television or film, and continuously shies away from diversity. Hopefully, this ad will start the ball rolling, or at least make everyone more aware of the racial problems that still very much exist in the media.

ABC's "Scandal"

After reading a previous blog post about ABC's political thriller "Scandal," I decided to check out the series for myself -- now I can't seem to get enough! I absolutely fell in love with this drama.

The show stars Kerry Washington as the famous Olivia Pope, who leaves her position in the White House after a secret affair with the President.  She starts her own crisis management firm, where Olivia and her associates work hard to protect the reputation of various public/influential figures.  Olivia's love and passion for the President seems very real, and it's clear he's her kryptonite. Olivia Pope is most famous for her sharp instincts; she's almost always able to find the truth by following her gut reaction.

Each of her employees come from somewhat broken backgrounds: Abby Whelan (Darby Stanchfield), an investigator for Olivia Pope, was hired after Olivia worked her case for domestic violence.  Abby's husband brutally beat her, and Olivia was able to get her the best divorce attorney in town.  Another character, Huck, was found homeless on the streets by Olivia.

What I love most about the show is Olivia's independence.  While she still does fall weak to her remaining strong feelings for the President, she does her best to overcome them (so far!).  She's a bit harsh at times, yet all of her employees are willing to bend over backwards for her.  This speaks volumes about Olivia, proving her a trustworthy, but strong character. However, at the same time, she's not completely solid.  Her feelings for the President do sometimes cloud her judgment as she tries to do the best thing for both her and the President.

That being said, while I am fascinated with the storyline, the acting isn't necessarily the high point of the show.  Kerry Washington almost seems like she's trying too hard to seem confident and intimidating.  In addition, some of the stories/cases seem stretched ... but that's why it's a fictional show, I suppose.  The decent acting doesn't kill the show by any means, and the many twists and turns keep me tuned in.

Jay Leno Bids Farewell To The Tonight Show

After a 22 year run Jay Leno is no longer running the The Tonight Show. He will be replaced by the infamous Jimmy Fallon to continue the show's longtime success. Prior to Jay Leno, it was run by the one and only Johnny Carson. Mr. Carson held one of the greatest talk shows of all time, his personality and suave was arguebly unparalleled by many till Jay Leno came along. I am a huge fan of talk shows, especially Jay Leno's. He is known for being a fair guy when it comes to interviews, he just tries to have a nice conversation that gives us insight into the interviewee. In comparison to other talk shows, he is considered an easy going guy who isn't out to get you.
A lot of the time you will see people such as David Letterman who will say and do whatever not considering the feelings of who he's talking to just for entertainment value. Don't get me wrong, I love the Letterman show sometimes, but other times it seems as if he is a bit to insulting to the people he's talking to. Jay goes into his interviews with very little bias and tries to make is a fair conversation. Depending on who you are what you prefer, you may like David more based on his craziness or willingness to call you out on your BS.
All of these shows have there ups and downs, pros and cons, it just depends on what you like more. Jimmy Fallon will has some big shoes to fill but I feel he is up for the challenge. Hopefully I can make my way to his set to see him speak in person or at least watch it on NBC.

Unexpected Humor: Trailer Park Boys

So a couple weeks ago I was looking for something to watch on Netflix. I was pretty tired so I didn’t think too much about what it was. I figured I would be asleep fairly quickly so it wouldn’t really matter if it was that great. I don’t even remember how I decided, it might have just been a random click, but I settled on the show Trailer Park Boys, a show I have never even heard of before. I settled in with a decent amount of certainly that it was going to be lame, but before I knew it, I was on the third episode and I was anything but asleep.

            It is a mocumentary style show that follows two newly released cons Julian and Ricky, including their friends and foes, as they try to survive in the Sunnyvale Trailer Park community. What’s great about the show is that it leaves a lot of room for adlibbing. It is minimally scripted which makes it easy to see how connected each actor is to his or her character. The mocumentary style also calls for a more intimate atmosphere and makes the viewer feel even that more involved in the show.

            When I first started watching it, I had a hard time finding any sort of sympathy for Julian and Ricky. From the minute they were released from jail they returned to their old tricks and schemes, not even imagining that they would ever get caught again. But as I watched more and more episodes, I found myself understanding their characters and seeing how kind hearted they actually were. Even though they continuously made poor choices, the final scene of the show was always something sweet that would make me go right back to liking them again.

            Their friend Bubbles, a Sunnyvale icon, also made me become gradually sympathetic to every other scummy character. Bubbles is the moral silver lining of the show, and seems to constantly bring Julian and Ricky back down to earth. Without him, I don’t think the two would have any kindheartedness left in them.

            I highly recommend this show even though I do realize that it is an acquired taste. It is a different type of humor that might not be for everyone. But it is a lighthearted comedy that has many touching moments and I think everyone should give it a try.

GoPro

      Nick Woodman created the GoPro company after a 2002 surfing trip in Australia. While surfing Woodman wanted to get high quality shots of him on the waves. This however was not possible because the equipment that was necessary to get these shots was out of his price range. At first to raise money Woodman sold bead and shell belts from his van. Then in 2004 the first camera was sold. The first GoPro was a 35mm film camera. Since then the camera has made many changes. When it went from film to digital the cameras were only able to record 3 megapixel 10 second clips now the "HERO3" can shoot 1080p at 60fps with lens that can shoot 170 degrees making it possible to shoot almost 3D video.
   
     Originally created for surfing the GoPro camera is used for skiing/snowboarding, car racing, mountain biking, or just recording your trip to Disney World. As seen on there website's about page Here and in the video below you can mount a GoPro to anything your brain can imagine.

     

     Even people that don't do extreme sports are able to get use out of the GoPro do to its varies mounting accessories, the fact that it is water proof, its extreme durability make it possible to get dynamic shots of just about anything. Click Here to view a website that has posted five videos that use a GoPro in some pretty interesting ways.

Composition

Like I said in my last post, I have always been somewhat fascinated by sound design, but the actual composing process and the music design in movies blows me away. My parents could recall me as a child humming the theme song for Indian Jones which was composed by the brilliant John Williams. But as I got older and my musicianship got better, I became more and more intrigued by the composition of music in film and television. 

I recently started a show called Revenge on ABC. The show is about a little girl whose father was framed for a murder he didn't do. When the girl (Emily) grows up, Emily pursues to free her father and serve justice for his fraud. But I wasnt captured by the story, or the acting, I was captivated by the music. The show is composed by Fil Eisler. Fil is a Czech born, raised composer and multi instrumentalist. He has done movies such as My Best Friends Girl, and Redline, but he is most known for the music in the television show Revenge. In his early career Fil was actually hired by Robie Williams who was an ex boy band singer who decided to start a new band with real instruments. Fil was hired as his guitarist. In an interview I watched with Fil, he said that it was the energy that the musicians brought into the studio set the bar for how good music in a television show could be.

Ive noticed while watching the show, the melodic tone really sets the emotion of the entire scene, and this show always has a particular creepy, and haunting soundtrack. For example when one character is walking with a coat and gloves on and he turns off his phone, the music that plays is really creepy with a low cello playing. But when I watched it with no sound the scene just looked like a normal guy walking and checking his phone. It showed how vital the music composition is in a show, because it can make or break it. 

Visual Effects Breakdowns

The amazing part about TV shows and movies today is how visual and practical effects can expand the scope of a story. The abundance of this accessible technology allows TV shows to use what was, for a brief period of time, a costly technique that was usually reserved for movies. Like most things in cinema and film, the less obvious the CGI, the more power it gives to the scene. Good green screen use can make or break a scene and in a show like "Game of Thrones" the CG makes scenes more than the actors do. The show employs a company called Spin VFX for their visual effects needs. Spin VFX have created visual effects for a number of TV shows and films that include After Earth, Max Payne, and Titanic. The men behind the magic are VFX Supervisor Doug Campbell and Supervising Producer Luke Groves. Campbell has been nominated for 5 primetime Emmys and Groves has 3 nominations. The following video is a deconstruction of the visual effects that appear in the show during its third season.

Crazy right? They do such a good job that you don't even know where the effect ends and begins until they remove the key. In certain scenes it's easier to tell than others but for the most part it's pretty damn good. One thing I noticed that was interesting is that in scenes where the final shot needs to take place at night (such as the man walking up the stair case with the green screen behind him or in some of the wide shots of the castle and surrounding camps) the scene is well lit and then darkened by the VFX team in post. I can only assume this ensures that no matter how much the brightness is affected in post, the lighting off the actor's face and surroundings are well lit for the viewer. For further viewing and reading the link to Spin VFX website is right  HERE. What I find fascinating is the ability to peel back a layer of a tv show and have an entirely new appreciation for the work that goes into what we watch. For instance, the scene in the video where they are climbing the 700 foot ice wall was composed of 80 shots...whoever figured these techniques out is a gosh darn genius. 

The One-Take Music Video

The idea of a one-take music video fascinates me. The amount of time, planning, and skill that must go into the production and direction of such a video is astounding. In some videos, the camera may not move at all. If that is the case, the set and choreography are very important. If you are producing a one-take music video, there should be a reason for this creative choice. The movement on camera should be planned and it should be interesting. OK Go produced a one-take music video for their hit song, "Here It Goes Again," in 2006, and it gained over 50 million views in four years. The promotion of the video on YouTube was both somewhat revolutionary at the time and beneficial for the popularity of the band, the song, and the video in particular.

In other cases, the camera moves throughout the entire video. In these videos, the set design and the placement of every object and person in the space is critical. If the camera is moving, there needs to be a specific path for it, and everything needs to be exactly where it belongs and timed to perfection so that things happen when they are in the shot. OK Go produced another one-take music video for their song, "This Too Shall Pass." In this video, they used a Rube Goldberg Machine, and the video followed the machine throughout the warehouse they filmed in. The video also employed the use of bright colors on a background of white and off white. The colors were found throughout the machine and they added to the interest level of the video. While the previous video is interesting to watch because of the detailed choreography, this video is more appealing to me because of the level of skill and planning that had to go into it.

Music videos are one of my favorite types of video to watch and to produce, so the concept of the one-take music video is incredible. I hope other bands follow in OK Go's footsteps, and I hope I can be a part of that in my career.

Disney Takes on Star Wars

After having a Star Wars marathon today, I began become excited for the next trilogy that will be brought to us by Disney. But then is thought, "Should I really be excited?"

The original trilogy is highly respected and beloved by sci-fi fans the world around. And the second, while still an important part of the Star Wars saga, is mostly ridiculed and condemned by fans and critics. So will the next chapter of Star Wars continue down the same slippery slope to film infamy? Will it shortly end up in the $5 dollar movie bin at Wal-Mart with all of the rest of the ambitious but failed movies? That's what I'm dying to find out.

The first trilogy was wildly successful because of its special effects and narrative that was literally out of this world. (Spoiler)

At a time when we were just exploring space travel and recently landed on the moon, people's imaginations were running wild and these movies captivated audiences. The lasers and lightsabers were every boys dream and a Jedi was what they aspired to be.

As the original Star Wars generation reached adulthood and began having children a new trilogy was released. This, a prequel, followed young Vader (Anakin Skywalker) and his journey to the dark side. These movies were released after the internet boom when technology was advancing exponentially. These movies were seemingly targeting a younger, new crowd instead of the older longtime fans. There is a general consensus that these movies were now where near as good as the originals. Many people, myself included don't even bother watching them when doing a marathon. Whether its the actors, the sfx's, the story or the overall feel of the movies, "true fans" grimace at the mention of them.

Then that leaves Disney, the new trilogy and Episode 7. J.J. Abrams who is an award winning producer, writer and director believes he is the man for the job. He has has a lot of success with the new Star Trek movies and wants to continue that with Star Wars. In my humble opinion I'm not sure thats what he'll find. The problem: Disney. Disney has a way of taking something great and making it something else. Maybe not necessarily bad, but just not what it was. Disney's demographic is more of an adolescent one and their movies are too 'shiny' and too fairytale looking for this type of film. I think to find success, a company with experience in more gritty and adult looking movies would need to take the reigns. If the movies and stories become too childish then I believe they will ultimately fail. With that said, if J.J. Abrams and keep creative control and pay close attention to the writing and casting, the saga may still have a breath of life.

So Done With Mockbusters!

Have you ever been to a retail store that sells DVDs and have seen knock off movies; DVDs that have a similar clipart covers and even have similar names. Well those DVDs are called mockbusters. They are films created with the intentions of piggy backing on the publicity of a major film with a similar title or theme and is often made with a low budget. Most of the videos are released directly to DVD as the mainstream film is just released in theaters. There are have a couple different intentions behind making the mockbusters. One intention is to deceive the consumers to mistakenly purchase the derivative title. The mockbuster is normally placed right next to the original in the stores. Another is to add legitimate add-on buying opportunity. Here are just a few of many examples of movies and their mockbusters.

 The original movie is Star Wars (left). The mockbuster is Star Crash (right).

The original movie is the DaVinci Code (left), while the mockbuster is the DaVinci Treasure (right). 

The original movie is Transformers (left) and the mockbuster is Transmorphers (right).

I personally find it really annoying that people actually make these. I understand that you want to make money, but doing that by tricking people and ripping off another movie, someone else's idea, now that is just low. Also the fact that the animation or the recreation of the movie is crappy, not only is that lower but it is just insulting. I find it absurd that services like Netflix and Amazon are helping the people who make these mockbusters, by allowing viewer to stream them. They are just being cheap. But one studio has finally made a stand, Universal has filed a lawsuit against Global Asylum, a major mockbuster maker, claiming that they are infringing on their property and piggybacking on their multi-million dollar marketing campaign for Universal's movie Battleship. I am glad that somebody is finally standing up for something that they spent millions of dollars on and hopefully more studios will do the same for their own movies that have been ripped off.