Importance of music in film

After reading a few blogs and after what we were speaking of in class today I thought I'd share my opinion on the importance of music in film. The music of a film can sometimes make or break the scene of it. For example, the scene in Robert Zemeckis' Cast Away, where Tom Hanks' character wakes up to find his best friend the volleyball "Wilson" missing and floating away in the ocean, is very heavily weighted on it's music bed. The reason for this being is because if you were to watch the scene with out the actual music  bed, it would actually be slightly comical. The scene itself begins with out a music bed but ends with one and rightfully so since the scene was NOT meant to be comical at all.
Here is the scene:

As the scene ends Tom Hanks' character begins to cry historically, if the music bed were not there to direct the emotion of the scene, the concept of a grown man crying that hard over a lost toy, is quite silly. Knowing the circumstances  it's not meant to be funny. Thus, the epic, emotional music piece. Family Guy actually mocked the scene and made it funny by making the famous reference of "Wilson!" and then adding a bit of comic reality coming from a cartoon volleyball. Notice there is no music bed.
Here's that video:

Oh, easy stupid comedy... On the oposite spectrum; a serious situation that shouldn't be funny is Something like the "WOW freak out kid". If this person were really this way or not is entirely debatable. I understand the boy was on Tosh.0 and made sure to stress that he was just acting. On the realistic side of things Human's can act animalistic and freak out the way he did, if I had a mental break down and freaked out about anything (especially being at his age) and it were filmed and posted on the internet by my Justine-Beiber-look-alike little brother I'd probably tell the world it was fake too so that Some day I could look forward to a normal social life in the near future. Aside from that rant, The concept of Asperger's syndrome, is a very serious issue that obviously can hurt himself and others. The reality is sad but the video is terribly funny.
here is that video:

The point is that music can change the entire mood of a film just like the setting of a terrible concept can make it funny.

real life in animation

That was a look in to the choreography of Samurai Jack. I’m a fan of cartoons and I really like action cartoons. Samurai jack is a great cartoon show for many reasons but what sticks out for me are the fights. What I love about Samurai Jack is how thought out the fight scenes are and how it’s not like the artists just throw in a bunch of cool looking moves, ever thing that is done by a charter is a real Kung Fu move and isn’t just a montage of punches.

For a while I didn’t know how much animation depended on real life for references to how people move and dress. I was watching the special features on the season one dvd of Archer and found out that they even dressed people in the clothing the characters would wear and made them move around just to get a feel for how the fabric and clothing would look from different angles.

This video really shows what goes into make a good cartoon. Good fight scenes use the real world to stay grounded. Unlike some Japanese shows that have characters punching each other really fast for 2 minutes choreography in fights really involves the audience and make a better viewing experience

Uncle Frank from Jimmy Kimmel

I don't know how many of you watch Jimmy Kimmel LIve, but one of the great segments of the show has always been his crazy Uncle Frank. Well Frank passed away last week and the show put together this wonderful tribute to Jimmy's uncle. Just really well put together and made me tear up a little.

The future of digital media...maybe

So after all the time and money spent by production companies creating security measures and user UN-friendly blu ray movies, a possible shift in mainstream media may finally go in the right direction. 

Techies like me, who rip dvd's to our computers for instant streaming purposes, have been breaking the law for years now only because the major companies in industry refuse to adapt to technology.  The Digital Millenium Copyright Act was possibly the most short sighted idea in media today.  If I remember correctly I think it only took 2 weeks for someone in Taiwan to crack blu ray technology and sell the software by mail, so maybe film companies should just offer what digital media users do ALREADY and save themselves the money of hiring lawyers to prosecute everyone.

So anyway, the newest idea by mainstream companies is to offer digital media that can be converted to multiple devices under the same account...was it REALLY so hard??

It's called Ultra Violet and it promises to allow users the ability to buy movies, tv shows etc. and be able to watch them on more than just a dvd player. I'd be shocked if it offers what techies have already been doing, but it's got the backing of the biggest players in the industry such as Sony, Lionsgate, Paramount and Fox.

It's set to launch THIS fall, so we'll see if it actuallty delivers what the b.s. digital copy dvd's failed to provide.

Here's the website link for further investigation   UltraViolet

New Fall Shows

The new fall season for TV is quickly approaching and I’m counting down the days. I recently read this article: http://www.timescolonist.com/entertainment/Fall+television+preview+season+full+laughs+screams+fairy+tales/5384733/story.html

Which gave brief summaries on some of the new shows coming out this season. While there’s nothing that absolutely stands out to me I know that I’m looking forward to New Girl starring Zooey Deschanel, who has never disappointed me and I especially became a huge fan after (500) Days of Summer.

Another new show I’m looking forward to is Up All Night. Being a huge Will Arnett fan I was more than disappointed in his sitcom last year Running Wilde. I think that pairing him up with Christina Applegate is going to be much better.

I also can’t wait for my NBC Thursday nights to come back. Especially Community and Parks and Recreation which keep getting better and better with each episode.

John Goodman will definitely be an interesting addition to the show. Fortunately I only have a little more than a week to find out.

Bridesmaids

When I first saw that there was a new bridesmaid-theme movie coming out I decided I would not be caught in that theater. I was actually thinking it was going to be like that movie with Raven Simone...

But then my friends convinced me to go see it.

It is basically the female version of the Hangover...but honestly I laughed more than I did at the guys and their Las Vegas antics. From the trailer you can see how it is a romantic comedy, but it proves itself to be one step above the rest with the wedding dress and airplane scene.

What makes this movie so great for me was that it was full of fantastic female comedians. They own their roles and hit the nail right on the head every time. Maybe this is a little bit of the feminist inside of me peeking out, but I LOVE seeing women pull off a comedy like this.

It also gave me some hope for SNL. Even though the show is pretty far from it's glory days in the 1970's, they still have some amazing talent working for them. Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolf absolutely kill in in this movie, and in almost all other roles I have seen them in. It was so refreshing to see a romantic comedy take such a perfectly hilarious twist.

If you still have not seen it, I highly recommend it.

:)

Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro has to be one of my favorite directors/producers of all time and he has a new movie out in theaters (Don't be Afraid of the Dark) so I thought it would be kind of cool to watch an Interview of the man behind some of the greatest horror films in the industry. The man is absolutely GENIUS. Here’s his IMDB page so you can check out some of his movies : http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0868219/

My personal favorites are The Orphanage and Pans Labyrinth. He does some really cool stuff with his special effects and even in a day and age where everything can be done digitally a lot of his effects are crafted by hand. (which I think is totally awesome)

Heres also the trailer to his new movie, ENJOY!:

Going on the set of "The Soup"

Over the summer I was interning at a video production company called VideoLink Inc. in Boston. What that company did was all types of things involving satellite cameras. One of the weeks I was there I learned that we were going to go on a shoot for the Soup, a comedy show starring Joel McHale, who also stars on Community. Here's a Condensed Soup clip. I couldn't find the one from the week I was on, so here's a different one.

When we got there (at 8 in the morning I might add, made all the more intense by the fact that I drove from New Hampshire to get there), I was put to work right away with the other intern, learning how to set up the super cool cameras, get things for the producers, and a lot of standing around. The first day we were there was purely to set up the set, and the second day was for the actual shooting of the show. Both days were absolutely exhausting, but I had so much fun.

One of the coolest parts (other than seeing Joel) was being able to help set up the satellite truck. This guy Brad from my company showed me all the buttons to press, which I won't talk much about here because it was really complicated and I can't remember much! Basically you had to put in the coordinates for the satellite, and that pointed the dish on the top of the truck to the particular point in space. There were tons and tons of settings to put into the machines, which by the way cost $10,000 apiece! (I got to hold one of the machines, and it totally freaked me out.) Anyway, there was indeed a lot of standing around, waiting for someone to tell me to do something. One time the producer of the show asked me to find her a piece of cardboard for a bingo sheet, that was fun too!

So on the second day we arrived around 9. There was even more sitting around, until 10:30 when Joel arrived. When he entered at first I was super nervous, but then he almost tripped over a chair and I realized, hey, he's a normal person! (Only freakishly tall...dear god, he's a giant.) During the actual shooting of the show I was able to wear a headset that was connected to the Control Room in Los Angeles. And after the show was done, I got a take a picture with him, which was definitely the highlight of my entire summer!

Pixar has long been a source of animated entertainment, which has most likely shaped all of us in some way or another. Dreamworks and Pixar both are renowned for some of the best animation of humans, and other characters ranging from robots, insects, every type of animal imaginable, even mythological creatures.

When I was still in high school, debating whether or not to choose a major in animation or live action, I looked a lot at the similarities and differences between live action film and animation. While animation is now entirely digital and created from computers, whereas live action is shot using real people on a set/location, there are some similarities.

Live action is frequently used in animated films, where someone hooked up to a motion tracking system performs the actions of the character, and the motions are recorded and used to create the motions of the character. On the other hand, animation is frequently used in live action movies to create the backdrops and special effects that would otherwise be impossible to achieve.

Through both styles, the same basic concepts are held constant, where every shot is thoroughly thought through, every line and every motion is carefully planned by teams and teams of crew members.

But besides making some deep concepts more "kid friendly," what is the purpose of choosing animation over live action? Because as far as I've noticed, almost all animated films (except stop-motion shorts) are comedies. Any thoughts?

Faking Reality

     This past weekend I saw the new film Apollo 18.  It was a good movie, a great idea, good acting   (crapy ending), but the most interesting thing was that throughout the entire movie, both before and after, it pretended that it was an actual collection of leaked footage from the government.  This seems to be a phenomena that has taken hold since the Blair Witch Project. Thriller movies pretending to be based on true events.

   
 This is different than a Mocumentary.  A mocumentary is a fiction film that presents itself as a documentary, they are usually a satire or a parody, and almost always comedic.  The new trend of thriller films that present themselves as fact are serious or scary. Films like Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield are filmed in such a way as to appear to be raw footage.  Apollo 18 uses this technique as well, as if the footage we are seeing was originally filmed by those in the movie.  Some films take this a little to far.  The Fourth Kind is a film about an alien abduction and the film makers made it seem as if it were real.  they even went through the trouble of have two lead actresses, one as the "Real" women in "Historical" footage, and another to be the actress playing the "real" woman in the dramatizations.  They faked news releases and created a website of facts so that if you looked into the film it would seem true.  They even went as far as to not credit the actress who played the "Real" women in the historical footage, to make her seem like a real person.
 
 This new take on thrillers is an interesting trend.  I believe that this way of marketing and presenting a story makes more people want to see it. Inside every viewer is a little part of them that wants movies to be true.  So if the film presents itself as true, it makes it more interesting and gives it an edge.  I feel that in the near future we will see many more films that are completely fictitious but present themselves as factual, simply because it sells.

Sound

Below is a video that explores how the movie Inception went about creating its sound.

After the binaural sound post I found myself searching for more on just creating sound for video and stumbled upon the above video. Inception is one of my favorite recent movies and a large part of that the sound is responsible for. I think its amazing the level of detail the sound team went into when creating the movie. In the video they mention how they tried to gather as much real world sound as possible and I think this is important and really makes a difference in your final work. Although databases pre-recorded sounds are extremely helpful, especially to those without the resources, I think that getting real world sound when possible should be a priority. The most important thing I think one should come away from this video with is that sound in general is extremely important and paying close attention to it can be rewarding.

THUNDERCATS ARE GO!

The romance comedy Juno hit the theaters in 2007 and was a great film. This film was different because the writer Diablo Cody, who changed careers and became a writer after working as a stripper; came up with this new idea that put a spotlight on teen pregnancy. The film was written in the style I was able to relate to because I could connect with the slang she used to carry out her characters opinions.



The cast that was chosen for this film, Juno (played by Ellen Page) and Paulie Bleaker (played by Michael Cera), as well as Vanessa (played by Jennifer Garner) and Mark (played by Jason Bateman) brought the screenplay to life as they all gave realistic portrayals of their on screen characters. I do not think I could see any other actor play these parts like they did.

Some References: "Thunderbirds" (1965), Suspiria (1977),"PicturePages" (1984), The Goonies (1985), So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993), "My So-Called Life" (1994), The Blair Witch Project (1999), The Bone Collector (1999), Coyote Ugly (2000), Faust (2000), Battle Royale (2000), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)


This movie also has a very nice soundtrack that Kimya Dawson wrote and performed. The music that was chosen was instrumental in moving the story along. I know that this is a movie I could definitely see over and over again because of the actors, the music, and the memorable quotes throughout the entire film.

Quotes:

Juno MacGuff: You should've gone to China, you know, 'cause I hear they give away babies like free iPods. You know, they pretty much just put them in those t-shirt guns and shoot them out at sporting events.

Juno MacGuff: I think I'm in love with you.
Paulie Bleeker: You mean as friends?
Juno MacGuff: No... I mean for real. 'Cause you're, like, the coolest person I've ever met, and you don't even have to try, you know...
Paulie Bleeker: I try really hard, actually.

Bren: When you move out I'm getting two Weimaraners!
Juno MacGuff: WHOA DREAM BIG!
Bren: Oh, go fly a kite!

Just thought everyone could use a good laugh!

Everyone in the entire world should see this video montage!

Smile!

Devotion

I want to share with everyone this video I came across in my Introduction to Field Production class. It's from a series of short films that Sony produced called "Dreams", and the writing really impressed me. I feel that a good script is not always lengthy dialogue with lots of complicated characters. Sometimes the story line does not need to rely on the dialogue. When a script accomplishes this it really draws the audience into the film. This gets you thinking and makes you an active audience member.

The first time watching this I knew something was off with the main character, played by Tony Hale, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I realize some people will catch the twist before I did, but it caught me off guard. I love it when a script can do that to me, just like in The Sixth Sense.

I really enjoyed all the Sony Dreams short films. I thought they all had a very high production value. The next video, Intolerable, does the opposite of the last video and does not really leave you with a clear idea about what is going on. Sometimes it's also best to leave the viewer guessing instead of the script providing the twist or ending.

40 Year Old Pixar Animation

40 Year Old 3D Computer Graphics (Pixar, 1972) from Robby Ingebretsen on Vimeo.

I found this video in an article on Huffington Post. I found it really interesting to watch some of the early versions of 3D animation, especially because I love Pixar movies and shorts. I know this makes me sound geeky, but I always really liked watching how the character's hair was animated. I first noticed it in the scene in Monster's Inc. where Mike and Sully are banished into the Himalayas with the Abominable Snow Man. Mike is throwing snow cones at Sully and they way that they hit his fur while it blows around in the fierce storm wind. Unfortunately, I can't find the video from the scene, but I did find this trailer...

...for a new Pixar movie coming out in summer of 2012 called "Brave," where the lead characher has large, frizzy red hair. While I have never gotten very into animation outside of loving the movies and shorts, I think that it would be really interesting to learn about. Watching the 40 year old animation project made me wonder what the process looks like today, and how much similar the processes are. I would love to work at Pixar one day...not particularly in the animation department but perhaps in the creative aspects of story development or production.

It is always fun to see how far technology has progressed over the years, but this 40 year old animation was not what I expected at all. I had always imagined that 3D animation was a younger technology. Watching this video helped me realize how far the technology has come, and I am so excited to see what comes next....

http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/32873/whose-brain-will-the-new-pixar-movie-be-set-in

Jackie

Theodore Case Film Festival

Hello Everyone! This is my first blog in the whole world! It's not that exciting, but there is a first for everything I suppose. So my topic for this blog shall be (drum roll please),  Theodore Case Film Festival in Auburn, Ny at Auburn Public Theater. The Auburn Public Theater is owned by one of my former mentors/ professors at Cayuga Community College where I just transferred from! THIS IS THEIR WEBSITE!  The Video above is a virtual tour of the theater where the films submitted to the Theodore Case Film Festival are viewed for the festival. Over the past summer I entered one of my recent short films called Pleasuring Grief. It was selected for the festival and was played on the big screen. I knew many of the other local film makers who had entered their animations, documentaries and films. One of them was my mentor Mike "DooWittle" Widger who I have been working with in his new film studio and suite in East Syracuse Ny. I thought I'd share with everyone some of their entries and mine as well! I also hope to see some of you entering into this film festival next year it happens around June every year. This festival is also where I met a recent alumni of Ithaca entering a couple of his short films, J. R. Newell. There were a lot of Ithaca student entries other than him and myself. I hope you enjoy the videos!

The Boys of Oswego, Documentary, Oswego State hockey team!

Masters of their time, Documentary, A band in the recording studio comes up with a brilliant sound.

Office MVP, short film, shows the human hard ships of a working class average office man.

Ashtrays are Everywhere, Short film, a man in his domain!

American Beauty French New Wave, short film/reenactment of American Beauty, one of J.R. Newell's short films

How to be Alone, Short film, J.R.'s second film entry

Pleasuring Grief, short film, MY SHORT FILM

written and directed by Lucy Lynne' Hall!

My first post

One thing that I have really tried to do since transferring to the Park School and deciding to study television and radio is dissect scenes and figure out how the filmmakers decided to piece together scenes and what each shot contributes to the overall theme of the movie. One of my favorite films is Goodfellas by Martin Scorsese. A film about the mob world in New York in the 1970's and 80's. It's a brilliant film that unfortunately lost out on winning best picture to Dances With Wolves which came out the same year. Unlike the classic Godfather series, Goodfellas depicts a much more personable side to the mob, and Scorsese, who grew up with many of the wise guys in brooklyn, does a brilliant job conveying the emotions and roller coaster ride that is mob life.

If you haven't seen the movie definitely check it out.

Trip to Late Night

Over the summer I was able to make my third trip to see Late Night at 30 Rock. My dream being to work for this program, or something similar, I was more than excited to further examine how everything in the studio works and operates. The guests that day had been Seth Green and Chris Evans. My favorite part of watching this whole process was seeing them film the promos (which I looked for a video of but unfortunately I could not find). The original plan for the promo was just for Jimmy to stand there with Seth and Chris and simply give a run down of the nights show. It was clear that Seth Green was bored by this idea and every few seconds shouted out something new for them to do while filming, and after him shouting out “how about this!” or “yeah lets do this!” every now and then the original plan of them just standing there turned into Jimmy throwing ping pong balls at the camera while Seth and Chris poured and helped themselves to beers.

It was also fun to watch how quickly and efficiently they moved between commercial breaks to clean up an incredibly messy game. And to look back at the storage space while they opened the big doors to move things in and out and spotting out things like the beer pong table Jimmy has used against people like Betty White and Helen Mirren, for them to actually bring it out and use it later in the show.

Plus Seth Green gave everyone a blue ray for Robot Chicken. I mean, I’m not a fan or anything but free stuff is exciting regardless.

Here’s a video from that night. Its like a month old, but still:

Weightless by Erika Janunger

On a boring college night, the average student would be idly clicking through various friend’s facebook pages, but as I have vowed to never use the social networking website again, I decide to spend the night with a bowl of ramen and Youtube. I began my video venture by looking at some great samba videos to see if they could help refine my own latin dance techniques; after some grueling moments trying to mimic my own movements to those of the big hipped Brazilian girls, I decided to take a rest and look at some other videos (you might be wondering how this all relates to film… I’m getting there) and then I stumbled upon this gem: "A short dance/architectural movie about defying gravity". Immediately I was drawn in by the eerie playing of the toy piano and the melodic coo of an unknown songstress, who I come to find out is also the scenographer and director of this very short film, Erika Janunger. To say that I understand from a technical viewpoint everything that’s going on would be an absolute lie, but I think that’s what drew me too to this film even more. Sitting down and actively watching this video as a student of film and not knowing how the talent was laying on the walls or how the books thrown off the shelves were pulled onto the wall like if the two had some magnetic pull towards each other intrigued me.

Moreover, everything about this visually stimulated me: the lighting is simple, yet beautiful, and added to the mysterious mood of the film. For example, the first two opening shots of the light bulbs: GORGEOUS! The casting was great as well: both of the dancers were very aware of their bodies’, and every movement they made was calculated, precise, yet organic. The locations were minimalistic and, added to the overall vibe of the film.

I enjoyed this piece so much that I went a step further and researched Erika Janunger a little bit more unfortunately there wasn’t a lot of background info on her but I did find an online portfolio or sorts. My favorite thing up there had to be her idea for a, stage for street musicians, you can check that out under the “architecture “ tab on her website and a whole bunch of other cool things here: http://www.erikajanunger.se/design/

How can you hate the ad world with productions like this?

This commercial makes me happy and makes me want a coke so I decided to analyze it. The advertisement is geared toward, but not limited to, the common person who takes satisfaction in cutting loose and having good clean fun. It features bartenders, dancers, musicians – even the businessman has a down-to-earth feel about him, with his average light brown suit and rolled-up sleeves, who seems to be breaking out of the corporate world and celebrating life. Everyone is happily dancing and expressing themselves to the upbeat music in affordable yet fashionable attire. It speaks: I’m ordinary. You’re ordinary. Let’s have fun. This emotion of just having fun and being happy is most successfully achieved through a few key strategies. Blissful tones, a powerful female voice, and an overall catchy tune combine to inspire a jump in any viewer’s step. Some of the actors appear to be doing what they love most, like playing the piano or practicing dancing routines, while others seem to be looking at what would usually be characterized as a fettered existence through a free and joyous glass, like dancing to the service of a customer or throwing work papers into the air. As far as the messages of advertisements go, it has one of the most positive. Opposed to a lot of advertisements they say: this is what's wrong with you; let's fix it. This one says: enjoy life; be happy; and do it with a coke in your hand.

DSLR Cameras and Filmmaking

            Over the last few years DSLR filmmaking has arguably changed the indie film industry just as much as anything else in the recent past. DSLRs allow people the ability to make professional quality films for astronomically less than ever before.

            In 2008 Canon released the Canon 5d Mark II, the first DSLR camera to shoot full 1920x1080p HD video. This camera’s full frame senor allowed filmmakers to achieve images in low light settings never before conceivable for a  $2,500 price tag (Camera body only).

            Since then, with the addition of many more video capable DSLRs, these cameras have taken filmmaking by storm. A couple notable pieces shot on DSLR cameras include the title sequence to the 2009 season of SNL, and the seventh season of House.

            Despite the advantage of being able to create outstanding visuals for relatively cheap, creating a workflow around DSLR cameras can prove challenging. These cameras are far from being able to capture quality sound on camera so off camera audio arrangements must be made. While being able to use the many lenses that are compatible with these cameras may be a good thing, procuring these lenses can prove expensive.

            DSLR cameras enable a vastly larger number of filmmakers the resource to create their content within their own limited budgets. Because of this I argue that it is undeniable that DSLR cameras are a “game changer”, so to speak.  The question is, by allowing the possibility of professional quality production to the masses, will DSLR filmmaking be remembered for helping discover what would have been otherwise unnoticed great filmmakers or will it be remembered for watering down indie filmmaking and making it hard to distinguish good and legitimate work from the others?

                                                          (Season 7 promo for House)

Being a PA

       From what I have been told by numerous people the best way and one of the only ways to become part of a production in the real film-making world is to be a PA, or Production Assistant.  So I thought that I would gather some facts on how to be the best PA ever, so that when the time comes, we are the ones that get promoted.  A lot of this information comes out of the Production Assistant Pocket Handbook by Caleb Clark.

     Caleb Clark says the quickest way to easily get the basics out is with the acronym "S.T.A.R"  which stands for; Swift, Tactful, Aware, and resourceful.  

          Swift-  A PA must always move with purpose, there is no time to just walk to get what you need,  a PA must move quickly and effectively.  

          Tactful- A good PA should always be considerate and know when to speak, and when to keep their mouth shut.  You should never say or do anything that could be seen as offensive and you should know when you're needed and when you're in the way.

          Aware-  Pay close attention and know what is happening and who is where,  you need to be able to function and be informed even when things get crazy.

          Resourceful-   you must be able to adapt.  It will be your job to find things and function, possibly far from home while on location.  you need to know where things are and how to get just about anything, fast.

     Those four things came up quite a bit while I was looking at what makes a good PA, really it seems that you just need to think before you do anything and always pretend that you know what your doing, then ask someone else if you need help.  

     Another big thing to make sure you do is to never sit down.  You should always be ready to go and prepared to help anyone who may need it.  It will be your job to do everything.  you should dress like your ready to work and you can't be afraid to get dirty.  

    Everything else is just pretty straight forward, do what your told and do it quickly but make sure it's done well.

               Most PA's don't stay in that position, the bad ones get fired, and the good ones get promoted.  So if you are the best PA you can be then chances are good that for the next production, or maybe even in the middle of the one your a PA for you will get bumped up because you have paid your dues and proven that you are worth keeping around.

 Being a PA is a great way to see what all the departments of a real production company do since you work with a lot of people.  This position is a good way to figure out what it is you like to do on set and the peruse that more directly.  So sometimes when you may not even get paid, take the job, it's a way in, and can get you to where you want to be.

Life is Worth It

Is it a love story or not? I'm talking about (500) Days of Summer one of my favorite movies from this past year. In the beginning someone might think that this movie is a really cute love story, however as the movie progresses you soon realize it is not just a hokey, fantasy love story, but an honest look at real life. It specifically shows that things don't always work out the way you want. Directed by Marc Webb, a great music video and short film director, he takes a chance by following a new track and creates an incredible feature film.

The film's references are: À bon chat, bon rat (1909), He Who Gets Slapped (1924), Modern Times (1936), The Seventh Seal (1957), Peeping Tom (1960), "I Spy" (1965), Persona (1966), Z(1969), Patton (1970), Heavy Metal (1981), Porky's (1982), "Knight Rider" (1982), Porky's II: The Next Day (1983), Porky's 3: Revenge (1985), "Small Wonder" (1985), Sid and Nancy (1986) (Tom and Summer talk about the tragic end of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen's relationship.), Dirty Dancing (1987), "Mr. Bean" (1990), Henry & June (1990), "Friends" (1994), "Nowhere Man" (1995), "King of the Hill" (1997), As Good as It Gets (1997), "Sex and the City" (1998), "Big Ideas" (1999), But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), Longitude (2000) (TV), High Fidelity (2000), Requiem for a Dream (2000), "24" (2001), Amélie (2001), "The Bernie Mac Show" (2001), "American Idol" (2002), "Monk" (2002), "Penn & Teller: Bullshit!" (2003), Bruce Almighty (2003), "The O.C." (2003), "Arrested Development" (2003), "Lost" (2004), "Rome" (2005), "Jericho" (2005), Rent (2005), "30 Rock" (2006), "Planet Earth" (2006), Clerks II (2006), "Dirt" (2007), King of California (2007), Superbad (2007), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)



"Sid and Nancy" (1986)

Throughout the entire movie the mood and the light really helps move the plot along. How the scene is lit really changes the mood and you can tell when things are going right and when they are going wrong. I really like that Marc Webb doesn’t place his sequences in a specific order of what a viewer might expect from this type of film He films his scenes so that there is a sense of good things happening throughout the story as well as the bad. It is easy to follow what is happening on the screen, but it is definitely a change to most movies that are love stories.

The Amazing Youtube

Youtube, as many of us know, is a marvelous creation. We spoke about this in class the other day, but it got me thinking about how truly revolutionary it is for the world of video. Before the advantageous invention of this site, in order to share videos with one another you had to distribute them somehow, either through a big corporation (if you had enough money), or by making your friends sit down and watch it with you. Since Youtube, any moron with a point and shoot camera and iMovie can make a video. I'm not saying that Youtube is bringing about the death of good videos, because I think that is probably the opposite of the truth. Youtube, although it can be used for evil, is mostly a tool of good, spreading videos to the masses in hopes of bringing a smile to their bleak lives. Youtube is a powerful weapon. For though there are videos such as Marcel the Shell, which is the most amazing video to ever be created. Ever.

There are also videos of The Annoying Orange, which I think is dumb and stupid. (And yes, annoying, but not in an endearing way. It's just annoying.)

My point is that Youtube is easily abused by those who don't appreciate the great gift of instant sharing. Or maybe they appreciate it too much, and that's the problem. Maybe if they had to work to get people to watch it they wouldn't make such depraved videos.

Binaural Sound. The New 3d?

Has the buzzword "3D" lost it's buzz yet? It's true, after an explosive renaissance in Hollywood after James Cameron's "Avatar," 3D films just aren't bringing in the incredible margins that they have, even a year ago. As the technology gains more market share, it also loses it's novelty, which is arguably a large part of it's appeal. But three-dimensional visuals aren't the only gimmick in town. Not by a long shot. This is Hollywood afterall.

Before the days of installing new 3D-capable projectors, theaters were in a similar arms race of how many watts their theater's sound system sported. From the beginning of the Talkies, sound technology has steadily been improving from stereo to surround sound. But little known to the general population is another advancement in sound design: binaural sound.

Binaural technology records sound the exact same way we perceive them. Two microphones are placed about 7 inches apart, and a head shaped object is placed between to account for the small alterations our own heads creates. This is different from stereo sound, where the left and right microphones could be placed wherever the sound engineer wants. With Binaural recording, there is a defined perspective. The listener is then placed in the middle of that perspective when they listen through headphones (necessary to avoid "cross talking" between the two sides, or hearing a bit of the left sound in the right ear). This has the unique ability to make sound appear three dimensional. Don't believe me? Try it yourself!

Tip: You must use headphones for this to work

It would be too easy to tell if a sound is coming from the left or right. Somehow, however, you can also hear the sound move frontwards or backwards, and up or down. You can hear the woman whispering behind you, then hear her move to your front. How can only two speakers give so much dimension?

The secret is in the timing of the recordings. The minuscule difference of when sound arrives at your left ear and right ear is not lost on the subconscious mind. Also, the shape of our ears distort and direct sound differently if it is entering the ear from in front or in back. By mimicking the human aural design as faithfully as possible, the effect can become even more effective.

Just like 3D films today, binaural sound recording was developed far before the latest blockbuster films. The first experiments with it actually date back to 1881! Since then, the technology has struggled to find a proper use, despite a fad of musicians recording their albums with it (One example being Pearl Jam's unironically titled "Binaural" album). Despite it's seemingly magical effect, the technology never really "caught on."

This could be due to the fact that the format's practical applications are unfortunately limited. Though some select circumstances in movies could benefit from this total sound immersion, it is a foreign form compared to how we process movies now. It would be akin to showing feature films in 60fps. It may be a more lifelike experience, but it is not part of the audience's internal film expectations. Not to mention, you'd be required to wear headphones on top of those ugly glasses at the movie house. One application that would benefit greatly from this technique, however, is point-of-view video games. Since the audience is already submitting to a point-of-view perspective, it plays right into the audience's coded viewing experience, and add the realism that game developers strive so hard to achieve.

Though it is yet to be seen whether binaural sound will ever find widespread adoption, it still can inspire sound designers to create an ever more immersive soundscape, and make a pretty awesome YouTube video, too.

-Dylan Van Arsdale

Sources

www.filmschoolrejects.com/opinions/why-cant-3d-sound-be-the-future-of-movies.php

http://sciencefictionworld.com/films/science-fiction-films/574-the-death-of-3d.html

http://benbeck.co.uk/firsts/talkies2.htm

Careers in Filmmaking

So after our discussion in class about how the film industry really is, I decided to start looking into miscellaneous facts about what it's like on the set. I feel like many of these are pretty accurate, but I'd like some second opinions if anyone else can find differing figures


From http://www.ehow.com/facts_4926753_facts-careers-movie-making.html

• [skipping past the introduction of what the industry is]

  Warning

  On set jobs have long hours during production days. Many of these days can run 16+ hours a day, 5 to 6 days a week if local and 6 to 7 days a week if on location.

Potential

• The movie making business is all about moving up the ladder and who you know. The potential to move up in responsibility and try new things is always there if you're willing to work hard and maximize contacts. No matter what your job in the movies, be open to possibilities and opportunities that may come your way.

Fun Fact

• Commercial directors on average make $35,000 to $70,000 a year. Film directors on average make $52,000 to $136,000 a year.

  ________________________________________________________________________

  From http://www.mediacollege.com/employment/television/find-job.html

  What Do Employers Look For?

  Dave Owen

  Television Director

  Experience

  There's no getting away from it - someone with experience is more desirable. However it's not always critical and you shouldn't be put off if you don't yet have it. Lack of experience will make things slower for you at the start but it needn't stop you.

  It is also possible to be "over-experienced". If I interview someone with extensive experience for an entry-level job, I might be concerned that this is a fill-in job for them and they won't stay long. Sometimes it suits me to hire someone with a lot to learn because I expect them to stay with us for at least the duration of their "apprenticeship".

  If you have no experience, the good news is that there are jobs available. You could look for entry-level positions such as camera and sound assistants, cable-runners, etc. Once you have a foot in the door you have made the hardest step.

  Motivation and Commitment

  The quality of our television production depends heavily on how motivated our operators are. As a director I rely on things like camera operators finding good shots. One highly motivated person can contribute more to the programme than several ordinary ones.

  Reliability is essential. If you're the sort of person who always makes sure you use your full entitlement of sick days, you are unlikely to be popular in television. If you're tardy with time-keeping, forget this career. In live TV, one person being one minute late is all it takes to ruin everyone's day.

  Natural Talent

  [...]You need to be honest with yourself and seek genuine evaluation. This is a competitive field and if you don't have at least some natural aptitude you will always be at a disadvantage.

  People Skills

  You will be required to work with people from many walks of life, often in high-stress situations. You need to be able to get on with people - those you work with and those you deal with as part of the job. For example, a typical camera operator or presenter may have to do things such as:

  • Make people comfortable appearing on camera for the first time
  • Elicit information from reluctant sources
  • Focus on the job whilst being harassed by members of the public
  • Deal with people who are grieving, under stress, in trouble, etc.

  
  

  So feel that the advice and facts are pretty accurate, what do you all think?