In our last film class we watched The Player starring Tim Robbins. I really liked this film. It was really cool to me how the celeberties in the film played themselves. It made the story much more real and believable. The movie definately qualified as a film noir genre due to it's wide spread twistedness. I somehow found myself hating every character for one reason or another. First, I hated the writer for sending threatening postcards to the movie executive, then I hated the movie executive for being an ass hole to everyone, then I hated the movie executive's girlfriend for being sickly turned on by evil. However, through all of this hate, I loved the movie.
As far as the cinematography goes, there were tons of techniques that caught my attention. My favorite trait of this movie was the use of sound. There were many scenes in which the sound between many subjects were cluttered with each other. Also, many times the sound shifted from one conversation to another without changing the shot of the camera, like in the Burt Reynolds scene. The sound in the movie did an overall amazing job of making me incredibly uncomfortable, especially in the sex scene. There was an odd and very busy drum beat increasing in volume and clutter which mirrored the twistedness of the derranged lust taking place on the camera. This was one of the many parts of the film that made me giggle a bit, but only in an attempt to relieve myself of the awkward bubble it created around me. Awesome.
The shot at the beginning of the movie was just cool. Nonstop observation of the scene by the camera, even into windows and through bushes really highlighted the hustle and bustle of a studio lot. It made it seem like so much was going on, yet everyone was so caught up in their individual ventures. A few other shots that caught my attention were the murder scene in which the lighting was coated with a reddish tint to capture the evil of the movie executive, and the last shot in which he comes home and the garden is filled with beautiful flowers to juxtapose the disgustingness of the entire situation. These shots act as examples of what my group needs to be going for in our horror film.
Overall I thought the movie was simply entertaining. I have liked the movies we have watched in class more and more as they get more modern. Blow Out and The Player had interesting plots that kept me interested, unlike the oldies that seemed more like a play with a predictable plot. It seems as though twists have become more abundant and necessary to movies as time has gone on. Audiences want more and the more they get, the more unique films must get. In the future, films will have to push new limits and mutate structure to keep the flavor fresh. As I watch the new movie in theatres it feels like some kind of repeating deja vu because I have seen it all before. I think The Player was an innovation of its time, which explains its success. It really toyed with the audience in so many ways. It made fun of them by identiying the cheesiness which audiences so frequently desire, and confused them by meshing fiction with real icons and celeberties. I enjoyed it very much and hope that the movies keep getting better.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
In Progress...
In our last film class we spent most of the time in our individual groups working on our film assignment. Our genre is horror, which I think is the hardest genre to make a good film of, or at least a unique film. It doesn't help that none of us really know what we're doing. Though I have learned sooo much more than I knew so far this semester about film production, application is a completely different story. To be honest I am quite intimidated by the entire process, mainly because I don't want it to end up crappy. Sadly, however, with horror as our genre, we are running against the wind.
I know, I sound pessamistic right? Well this is just the little worry monster inside of me, but not to worry, I'm used to him by now. He's been there for every test, quiz and project I've ever even slightly cared about. The only difference here is he's sulking in this situation because it's all so new to me. This is his one chance to succeed by watching me fail. However, just like all, well most of those tests and quizzes, I will find a way to overcome the overwhelming.
Though horror is intimidating, it offers my position of camera man a wide variety of unique shots to capture an emotion. I am very excited about trying to make the audienc uncomfortable with different tilts, focuses, close ups and lighting. Sound is going to come into play majorly in our film too. Everyone has been in a theatre watching a horror flick when the character on the screen is quietly and stealthly creeping around the corner when BOOM! (something happens) It's gonna be fun to synchronize the two realms of sound and cinematography.
There are so many things to think about when it comes to making this film. Costumes, setting, lighting, sound, editing and dialogue are just a few. Getting it all together is gonna be a journey, but like at the end of every journey, there is a rewarding relief awating. Even if our film is cheezy, bring or funny I will be proud of it cause I'll know I tried my hardest. (and it was my first try) In all seriousness, it's gonna just be a blast, something I'll look back on and really appreciate. I can just see it now, Erin running down the hallway screaming and when she's done me saying, lets get it one more time. Then five screaming runs later we're all laughing on the ground, but we finally got the right shot. Just the whole experience is gonna be unique and honestly probably once in a lifetime. There's not much time to hold a camera in the world of medicine, so I'm gonna give it all I got now...for the hell of it.
I know, I sound pessamistic right? Well this is just the little worry monster inside of me, but not to worry, I'm used to him by now. He's been there for every test, quiz and project I've ever even slightly cared about. The only difference here is he's sulking in this situation because it's all so new to me. This is his one chance to succeed by watching me fail. However, just like all, well most of those tests and quizzes, I will find a way to overcome the overwhelming.
Though horror is intimidating, it offers my position of camera man a wide variety of unique shots to capture an emotion. I am very excited about trying to make the audienc uncomfortable with different tilts, focuses, close ups and lighting. Sound is going to come into play majorly in our film too. Everyone has been in a theatre watching a horror flick when the character on the screen is quietly and stealthly creeping around the corner when BOOM! (something happens) It's gonna be fun to synchronize the two realms of sound and cinematography.
There are so many things to think about when it comes to making this film. Costumes, setting, lighting, sound, editing and dialogue are just a few. Getting it all together is gonna be a journey, but like at the end of every journey, there is a rewarding relief awating. Even if our film is cheezy, bring or funny I will be proud of it cause I'll know I tried my hardest. (and it was my first try) In all seriousness, it's gonna just be a blast, something I'll look back on and really appreciate. I can just see it now, Erin running down the hallway screaming and when she's done me saying, lets get it one more time. Then five screaming runs later we're all laughing on the ground, but we finally got the right shot. Just the whole experience is gonna be unique and honestly probably once in a lifetime. There's not much time to hold a camera in the world of medicine, so I'm gonna give it all I got now...for the hell of it.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Blow Out
In our last class we watched Blow Out starring John Travolta. This was an early eighties film with super unique cinematography and a cool plot. It was almost a genre of its own because it had comedy, thrill and action. At the same time the ending was derranged enough to qualify as horror. I enjoyed the first half of the movie, but when the plot steered into John Lithgow's character I lost interest and found it quite cheesy. The cheesiness was capped off by an entirely too long slow motion run by Travolta to the not so much rescue of the girl. Overall, however, it was a cool movie that I learned a few things from.
The main observation that stood out to me was the distinctive difference between the movies that we've watched from the fifties and Blow Out, which was made in 1982. First, I noticed that the style of acting changed drastically in three decades. A more realistic, everyday style acting was apparent in Blow Out than in the overly-dramatic Sunset Boulevard or Singing in the Rain. In the older movies it was obvious to the audience that the actors were acting, but in more modern movies it seems that the skill in acting is in seeming believable. Second, and most obvious was the amount of sex used in the more modern age of film. In the fifties, the nudity from Blow Out would have offended audiences. Even if nudity was used in older movies, it would've had to have been used much more tastefully. It seemed like it was thrown into Blow Out for the shock or pure entertainment of it. The gist of it is that movies from the fifties seemed more like a play while more modern movies seem like an inside perspective on real life.
The main fascet from Blow Out that caught my eye was its cinematography. It was really unique and gave me a lot of ideas as the camera man for our group project. The movie began with a point of view shot and gave the audience a creepy feel. My favorite part of this shot was when the camera moved to the side a bit and showed the weird murderer guy in the mirror. I like how the movie shifted from this cheap horror film camera angle to a formal modern movie shot of Travolta in the studio. Second, I noticed that there were many extreme close ups with a depth of field in the background. A few examples include a close up of an owl's face with Travolta about 15 yards behind it and a frog with Travolta about 30 yards away. I find these focus shots really captivating because they capture two different stories at once. A camera man can completely hide the truth of something in the shot and then reveal it by changing focus and make the audience feel dumbfounded that it was there the whole time. Finally, the end of the movie was pretty cool because of the fireworks shot when he is holding the woman. It was cool because it was one of many juxtapositions in this film showing a celebration clashing with tragedy. I got a few good ideas from this film to use as a camera man so hopefully I can use them with just as high of quality.
I learn something new from every film we watch. I think that is really cool too because I have never seen watching movies as a learning experience until now. It's always been just for entertainment, but now I am more entertained by being impressed with cinematic techniques used in movies. It's like when you're watching a show and they allude to something that you've heard of. You feel a little more intriuged with the allusion because you actually understand it. This is how I feel about movies now and hopefully I can filter this interest into use with our film project.
The main observation that stood out to me was the distinctive difference between the movies that we've watched from the fifties and Blow Out, which was made in 1982. First, I noticed that the style of acting changed drastically in three decades. A more realistic, everyday style acting was apparent in Blow Out than in the overly-dramatic Sunset Boulevard or Singing in the Rain. In the older movies it was obvious to the audience that the actors were acting, but in more modern movies it seems that the skill in acting is in seeming believable. Second, and most obvious was the amount of sex used in the more modern age of film. In the fifties, the nudity from Blow Out would have offended audiences. Even if nudity was used in older movies, it would've had to have been used much more tastefully. It seemed like it was thrown into Blow Out for the shock or pure entertainment of it. The gist of it is that movies from the fifties seemed more like a play while more modern movies seem like an inside perspective on real life.
The main fascet from Blow Out that caught my eye was its cinematography. It was really unique and gave me a lot of ideas as the camera man for our group project. The movie began with a point of view shot and gave the audience a creepy feel. My favorite part of this shot was when the camera moved to the side a bit and showed the weird murderer guy in the mirror. I like how the movie shifted from this cheap horror film camera angle to a formal modern movie shot of Travolta in the studio. Second, I noticed that there were many extreme close ups with a depth of field in the background. A few examples include a close up of an owl's face with Travolta about 15 yards behind it and a frog with Travolta about 30 yards away. I find these focus shots really captivating because they capture two different stories at once. A camera man can completely hide the truth of something in the shot and then reveal it by changing focus and make the audience feel dumbfounded that it was there the whole time. Finally, the end of the movie was pretty cool because of the fireworks shot when he is holding the woman. It was cool because it was one of many juxtapositions in this film showing a celebration clashing with tragedy. I got a few good ideas from this film to use as a camera man so hopefully I can use them with just as high of quality.
I learn something new from every film we watch. I think that is really cool too because I have never seen watching movies as a learning experience until now. It's always been just for entertainment, but now I am more entertained by being impressed with cinematic techniques used in movies. It's like when you're watching a show and they allude to something that you've heard of. You feel a little more intriuged with the allusion because you actually understand it. This is how I feel about movies now and hopefully I can filter this interest into use with our film project.
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