The Final Chapter

Well, this is my last blog for this class. It’s kind of sad; I’ve entered into a habit of updating everyone on my film class life for this whole semester. It’s weird. Seems crazy how fast time can fly and how many new things you can learn.

We’re still not done with our film yet! It is just now entering the editing process due to some technical difficulties. Although one would think this is a happy thing, it’s actually bad since finals week is NEXT WEEK. This means that all of us are super bogged down with final papers and studying. I hope we can get it all together in the end. I’m sure it’ll all come together last minute like all good things do. I just hate having to wait until then…:(

Since there are no new updates on our film or the class, I’d like to end my last blog discussing my favorite movie of all time. Most people cock their heads sideways when I tell them because they can’t see it as a worthy “favorite-movie-of-all-time” film. But to me, it’s just the perfect blend of drama, action, love, and comedy. That’s right folks, it’s the first Spiderman! Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can. Spins a web, any size, catches thieves just like flies. Look out! Here comes the Spiderman!!!!

I absolutely love this movie will all of my heart. It’s cast beautifully and every scene has a purpose. You love spidey like a brother and a lover all at once. He’s cute, nerdy, and strong too! Sounds like the PERFECT MAN! Well, at least for me. What else could a lady ask for? He saves lives, swings around the city with ease, AND has a periodic table hung up in his room?!?!?!?! Of course, only a biochemistry major finds this attractive, but smarts are always important! And then there is the red head Mary Jane who you love and hate all at once. She’s the beauty that won’t give the hero the time of day until she finds out he’s awesome and famous. You hate her, but then they get together and she makes him so happy that you love her. Of course that dynamic can never go away. There are cute old family members and enemies, beware! This movie has everything in it. I just love it to death. I could go on and on, but I will refrain. Instead, I’d like to end my last blog post with a quote from one of my favorite Spiderman scenes:

Spider-Man: Go web! Fly! Up, up, and away web! Shazaam! Go! Go! Go web go! Tally ho.

The Last Stretch...

Film class is winding down to an end and we’ve almost completed our own film. In class last week we waited to get our film digitized to begin editing all the shots together. Due to some unforeseen happenings, our film did not get digitized in class that evening. Of course, we were sad, even devastated! How ever will we finish our film?1?!?!?! But then, VOILA! Our brilliant director Clint had an idea! Of course, with some collaborating betwixt ourselves, we got our film digitized the next day! Now we are ready to hit the ground running with the editing and addition of sound.

Clint and I met on Friday to discuss the sounds we thought we would need for our film. Other than some normal, everyday sounds that one would hear while walking to class and dropping in the student center, we decided we need 3 key songs for the film: an opening song, a song for the climax, and a closing song. We’ve decided to go with classical music for our film. Not only because you can easily find it for free, but also because our main character is a music major and would honestly love that type of music. Did we do this on purpose? Maybe. But I can’t be certain (but if so it was very smart of us!). Being the sound editor, I’m in the process of finding the right song for each scene currently. I have a few songs in mind but I’m just not that knowledgeable in the area of classical music. Hopefully a little Pandora action and YouTube searching will lead me in the right direction.

Besides the digitizing and sound searching, there really aren’t any other updates from our film. Filming itself went very well and we got all the shots we wanted. I think our actors were cast well and did a great job playing their roles. I’m totally excited to see our final product because I feel like we’ve worked really hard on it. We didn’t just do it to get it done, but we did it to create a great short film. All I can hope is that it turns out the way we thought it would. It really is a lot harder to actually go out and make your own film than you’d think. There are so many other elements that you don’t even consider when you’re actually watching a movie. But I’ll have to let you know how it turns out when the times comes!

The Journey Continues…

This past week was our second and final week of filming! Everything worked out well and we got all the shots we needed. I’m sure there will be some pick-up shots that we’ll discover we need later, but for now we seem to have everything we need. I was able to actually go out and shoot with my team the past two filming times. It was extremely interesting to see how everything works and how time consuming setting up a scene can be. You have to make sure you have the right camera angle, only the things you want in the shot are in the shot, and that the boom is positioned precisely where it can pick up the best sound. It got pretty complicated at times, but our team managed to pull it off.

I must say the most interesting scene we filmed was the death scene. This scene had already been partially filmed the week before, but we needed more shots with the right lighting. Last Thursday, we went out to the same street across from the police department to film our scene. We did inform the police before filming this time, but the general public wasn’t exactly aware. I can’t even describe the faces of people driving by who actually thought something had happened. The words “oh my god” and “holy crap” were uttered so many times by people driving by until we yelled, “it’s for a film, no worries!” It was actually pretty funny to see the reactions of people who didn’t know what was going on. I guess our acting skills were pretty superb! :)

Our scene with the mime was interesting too. Luckily, one of my good friends volunteered to paint her face white and be a mime for our film at the last second. Although she never went to mime school, I will say she played the stuck-in-a-box act pretty well. She was so much fun to work with that I realized why people enjoy filmmaking. I can’t even imagine how many times actors, directors, producers, cameramen, and other important people are just having fun while waiting to film. It can be time consuming, but if the people are easy to work with, it makes the process a lot more fun.

I’m excited that we have all our film ready to go! I can’t wait to see what it looks like once we get through editing all the shots together and add some cool music. I’m sure it’ll be a fine masterpiece!

And Here We Go

So our group finally got the camera and equipment last Thursday to begin filming for our movie! We have been preparing for that moment since the day our assignment was assigned. Unfortunately, I was unable to stay for filming on Thursday night due to training for a campus organization, but I did receive an update from my group on what went down.

Apparently I missed an eventful evening. Three scenes were shot that night, including what I believe to be our hardest scene. I’m so proud of my group for accomplishing that feat! We also had a run in with the cops, which I’m sure was very interesting! During one of our scenes where our main actor is supposed to be sprawled on the ground, some cops ran over thinking that something real had happened! An ambulance was almost called and everything. From a sound editing standpoint, it would have been really cool to have the sound of an ambulance in the background, but not so much from a real life standpoint. Either way, I heard some great footage was captured and I can’t wait to get to see it. We still have some scenes to film throughout this next week.

It seems that our biggest problem so far is scheduling. It’s hard to get everyone together at once to get things done (me being a good chunk of this problem, sorry group!). We all have different schedules with work, class, and social involvements, but I know we’ll work it all out in the end. Luckily, the next few times for possible filming seem to fit well in mine and most other members’ schedules. I’m excited to be there during the process finally! We are well equipped with the skills and knowledge to get this done properly and I’m excited to see our final product. I know we’ll produce something spectacular!

Once all the filming is taken care of, it’ll be my turn to step in and work on the sound. I’m a little, well actually a lot nervous about this endeavor. I’ve never done any true sound editing and I don’t want to be the reason our film isn’t at its best. I have some ideas on what type of music to put in as background music and as sound effects during special scenes. I’m just not sure how to exactly go about finding and/or recording these special sounds. I’m going to do a bit of research and hope that it answers all my sound editing questions. I’m ready to get started!

“...and God help you if you use voice-over in your work, my friends. God help you."

In this week’s class, we watched the film “Adaptation” directed by Spike Jonze in 2002. This movie is about a screenplay writer, Charlie Kaufman, who is at a standstill in writing a script based off of the book “The Orchid Thief,” written by Susan Orlean. Charlie lives with his twin brother Donald who also wants to write scripts. Charlie struggles to make his screenplay original and different while Donald creates a screenplay full of clichés and overused ideas. Charlie also has social issues and doesn’t exactly know how to talk to others in any way, shape, or form. Donald is everything that Charlie is not; the good and the bad. At the same time, Susan Orlean has an entirely different plot about writing the book and her experiences. Their stories come together in the end for a wild twist.

The entire film is about the process a writer goes through when writing a screenplay. The whole first half or maybe even three quarters of the film drags by slowly while Charlie struggles to create his screenplay. Then, in the last quarter, a bunch of random events happen in sequence. A ton of clichés seen in other films occur in this last part of the film, which is what makes it end so well. The main character changes his ways and everyone is happy, blah blah blah. The end is ironic because the entire time Charlie wants to avoid clichés at all costs. It was like the viewer was watching Charlie create the movie as the movie progressed. We never knew what was going to happen because he was still writing it. A very different style than I’m used to.

My favorite aspect of this movie is the relationship between Charlie and Donald. Charlie is mean to Donald throughout the film, but Donald continues to love and care for Charlie the entire time. Charlie wants something new and different while Charlie just wants to create something that will make money. They constantly bicker about what is right and wrong in writing, which is one of the funniest parts of the film. Some of my favorite quotes that reveal this bickering are:

Charlie: The script I'm starting, it's about flowers. Nobody's ever done a movie about flowers before. So, so there are no guidelines...
Donald: What about "Flowers for Algernon"?
Charlie: Well, that's not about flowers. And it's not a movie.
Donald: Ok, I'm sorry, I never saw it.

Donald: Hey, Charles. I pitched my script to mom.
Charlie: Don't say pitch.

Charlie: The only idea more overused than serial killers is multiple personality. On top of that, you explore the notion that cop and criminal are really two aspects of the same person. See every cop movie ever made for other examples of this.
Donald: Mom called it "psychologically taut".


Their relationship creates such an interesting dynamic in the film that really makes me lean towards the “liking the movie” side. In the end (of course), Charlie ends up learning from Donald and changing his ways because of it. What a lovely idea.

The last thing I want to comment on is the fact that voiceover was used a ton in this film. Every other scene had Charlie or Susan doing voiceover. It was really weird at first, but then I started to get used to it. It seemed to be the easiest way to reveal all of the thoughts of both characters. Of course, this also made it extremely funny when Charlie attended Robert McKee’s screenplay writing workshop where he said to never use voiceover.

The comedy was definitely present in this film, which is the main reason I enjoyed it. If you haven’t checked this film out, I suggest you do so! It’ll be interesting to see how you feel about it when it’s over!

Amateur?

At the beginning of class last week, we watched a short film created by a senior film student. This movie was about 15 minutes long and had maybe 5 or 6 main characters. The film centered around one male character that was about to leave for college in the late summer. He was a very indecisive character and all of his friends teased him about his upcoming decision. Through talking to the creator and writer of the film afterwards, we learned that it was an autobiographical film. The plot was centered on him in that time of his life. It took a lot of guts for him to create a film basically about himself. The production of his film took a little over a year. It’s crazy to think that he spent that much time on just a 15 or so minute movie. I think his overall idea came across just as he had planned it. He seemed very proud of his work and his creation.

Although I thought the film was a great piece of work, there were still things I found wrong with it. The lighting was bad in many different instances. You could hardly see the characters’ faces or body language. The writing seemed superb but the execution in the acting seemed very amateur. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the ending that didn’t really leave the viewer with a feeling of closure. We still didn’t really know what the main character decided. I know that type of ending is great in some films, like ones that have a sequel, but I just wasn’t feeling it for this movie. Then again, I’m used to watching movies made with hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions, and he spent maybe one hundred dollars if even that? He did a fabulous job with his budget and his experience. My judgment comes from comparing amazing studio-made films to his, so don’t listen to me! I still think he did an awesome job, even though some improvements could be made.

The next part of the class was spent watching a few short films and guides on how to make props. We then broke up into our short film groups and continued to work and plan for our own films. Since I’m the sound editor in the film, I haven’t done a whole lot of work so far in our pre-production. I know what kind of sound I want to use in specific places in the film but I haven’t been able to match anything up to actual film yet. This is a tad bit frustrating, but it’s not anyone’s fault but the fact that we are group 6 and haven’t had our turn with the camera yet. We’ve had so much time to plan ahead that I think once we start filming it’ll all turn out great. I’m nervous about what amateur mistakes we’ll make, but I know we can recover from anything. I’ll be sure to keep you updated!

I like words and letters, but I'm not crazy about complete sentences.

Tonight’s movie, The Player directed by Robert Altman, definitely sent the viewer on a crazy and twisted journey. Right from the beginning, you’re not really sure what type of movie you’re watching or what it really is going to be about. You know you’re located at a large studio in Hollywood with big name people all around. There’s a conversation about something film in every room and at every corner throughout the entire lot. There are relationships and trickery to get the best plot and actors. A random threatening postcard shows up to a Vice President of a film company. Then, out of nowhere, the main character Griffin Mill, played by Tim Robbins, murders an innocent writer in the back lot of a theater. Talk about crazy?!?! What’s more, he then begins to fall in love with the girlfriend of the writer he just murdered. WHAT?!? Obviously, this film keeps the viewer guessing throughout the entire movie.

At first, this film just seemed odd and out of place. I felt uncomfortable, like I was seeing and hearing something that I wasn’t supposed to. But after the initial craziness in the film, I started to feel at ease with the movie. I began to get to know the characters and feel acquainted with the set. Then random scenes would push me back out of my comfort zone in the film. Every time I felt settled, the movie didn’t want to let me remain there for long. This film definitely pushes the viewer out of her comfort zone to keep her involved in the story, which is all part of its genre of film noir.

Throughout the entire film, I constantly changed my mind about each character and idea presented. I think that’s the main reason why I enjoyed the movie. It kept me interested in what was going on but also allowed me to come up with my own endings. Although there was obviously an ending to the film, many different things could have happened. Altman set the film up so that the viewer could have an active role in predicting what would or could happen in the end.

This film portrayed Hollywood and filmmaking as a nasty, nasty business. It’s all about money, who you know, and what resources you can scrounge up. It even made me feel like it’s not really about talent. If you want to make it in the film business, you have to be quick on your feet and have connections. This film also showed that Hollywood is full of lies and deceit. It’s all one big cover up of the truth. And most importantly (at least to me), it revealed that anything can happen in odd situations. I enjoyed this film and I think it’s worth everyone's while to watch it at least once.

Lights! Camera! Action!

It’s officially time to start organizing and filming our short movies. I must admit, initially, I was really worried about this project. I thought there was no way that five regular students could accomplish something of value. But after all of our training in filmmaking, I am truly confident in our abilities. I think we have a great team dynamic that will really help us create something magnificent.

Our script is all done and we have actors picked out for the main roles. The plot of the film is somewhat of a spinoff of an idea we originally thought of for comedy. Once we were assigned the genre drama, we were able to fit that concept we thought was really neat into what we needed. I don’t want to spoil the plot, so I’ll just leave it at that. But, I will say that our short film will blow you away!

My official role in making this film is sound editor. I am in charge of adding in all the extra sounds that you would normally hear when actually doing what the actors will be doing on screen. I also add in special effect sounds and background music that can’t be recorded while on set. I’m really anxious to start putting some sounds with film and seeing how it works out. I’ve never done anything like this so I know it will for sure be a new experience. I’m also a little nervous because I want our film to be the best that it can be, which means the sound has to be just right. I’m confident that I can figure out how to most effectively use sounds in our film that highlight what we want the viewers to notice.

In class last week, our groups got the opportunity to discuss the plan of attack for our film production. It was great to have that time to communicate with each other since we are all very busy during other times in the week. As long as we have a structured plan that maps out when we film, how long it will take, and what we need for each scene, I think we can get everything done in a timely manner.

The last comment I want to make is about the clip Eric showed in class before we broke into our groups. It was a video called “Minesweeper-The Movie” that can be found on YouTube. I personally thought this faux movie preview was hilarious! It was just about the game minesweeper that is on all regular computers and why we play the game. It was definitely a funny parody about the game and I suggest you all go and watch it for a quick laugh!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHY8NKj3RKs

"No one wants to know about conspiracy any more!"

Yesterday in film class we watched Brian de Palma’s 1981 film Blow Out. In this thrill ride, the main character, Jack Terry (played by John Travolta), is a sound editor for some low budget films. While capturing “real” sound outside one night, he records the sounds of a car crash. After the car crashes into the river, he saves the girl in the car, Sally (played by Nancy Allen), and finds out later that the driver of the car was a famous politician. The sound he recorded that night ends up being more valuable than he could have ever imagined. What Jack accidentally caught turned out to be the proof that this politician’s car “accident” was actually a murder. This crazy twist turns out to lead Jack and Sally down a ride full of danger.

This film was much different than the movies we’ve watched so far in class. We began with movies made during a time where modesty was in style. Then suddenly, we are thrust into the 1980’s where things have certainly taken a turn in the other direction. From the initial scenes of nudity to the world full of lies the characters live in, things have definitely changed.

One main difference I noticed about this film as compared to Singin’ in the Rain was the flatness of the colors on screen. Everything seemed dull and dingy rather than bright and happy. Blow Out just screamed “dirty” to me throughout the entire film. It seemed like a low budget movie with a low amount of quality. If it weren’t for the fact that I’ve learned about film techniques in class, I would have thrown this movie aside into the “do not like” pile. But, when you actually analyze the film, you can see the greatness and beauty in it all. The director, Brian de Palma, meant to do every single thing seen the on the screen. Nothing was unintentional or by accident. If it looks dirty, it is meant to be dirty. If the transition or backdrop looks fake, it is supposed to look fake. I think it was incredibly brave of de Palma to do this film in the way he did. He didn’t let anyone change his vision, and for that, I applaud him.

One of my favorite scenes in the entire movie is when Jack Terry goes to his sound editing room and discovers that all of his sound has been erased. The camera continuously spins in a circle while Jack paces about, knocking things over and messing with all sorts of tapes. This shot really put things into perspective and made watching this scene particularly enchanting. You couldn’t look away because you didn’t want to miss what was going on in the shot. That shot must have been terribly hard to pull off, but pull it off de Palma did!

The last thing I want to comment on is what this film says about America. I had never really put this idea into thought, but after our class discussion about the film, it all made sense. Blow Out portrays America as one big lie. One conspiracy after the next and the next and the next. A lie to cover up this and another lie to cover up that first lie. It’s all one big puzzle that no one really wants to solve. And unfortunately, this concept has some truth to it. Politics is a horrible game that we like to think of as noble, when really it’s just one big scam after the next. Doesn’t that just make you feel happy? The film Blow Out really pushed me to think outside of the box and I encourage all to watch it. I promise it won’t disappoint!

Time to Make a Movie!

It’s time to start the show! We’re finally getting started on creating our own group short films for class. These films encompass an array of genres and must be anywhere from two to five minutes long. My group was given the genre of drama, so we should be able to do some very exciting things with that! In our film we must also include the following elements:

1. Must have a Mime/clown
2. Must have the line “Why is this happening to me today of all days?” and "It would be better for us not to talk about that."
3. Must have a guitar, a cheese grater, and skull

Obviously, this film making project will be very fun and interesting. Luckily, we’ve learned a lot about cinematography, editing, and screenwriting, and are well prepared.

Our group has come up with a few ideas for our film, but nothing concrete just yet. We’ve thought about a stalker girl who “just happens” to run into this boy over and over on campus. The idea of a mix of different scenes that don’t make sense and then all come together at the end seemed like a very interesting idea to our group as well. One last idea we’re toying with is that of a blind date. Maybe the man and woman were meant to be or maybe they hate each other and it’s one big dramatic show down. Maybe some elements of miscommunication? All of these ideas have just been thrown around between us but I can tell that we’re going to come up with a great final product.

With the calibration of our talents together, we can really accomplish a lot of good things in this film. Personally, I have a few ideas in mind that I want to see in our film. I want a wide variety of camera angles throughout the movie. I believe that this will keep the viewers interested in the film the entire time while also giving them different perspectives of what’s going on. These different angles will definitely be accomplishable with the camera equipment and resources we are given. Also, I would like to have dramatic lighting to enhance the mood of our genre. Since our genre is in fact drama, I think some dramatic lighting on the characters will portray that mood. We can do this by using extra lights that we each own and placing them in opportune spots. Lastly, interesting dialogue is something I personally want to see in our film. I would love to throw a few one-liners and witty comments in every once and a while. Dialogue like that really pulls me into the story and incites an entirely different emotion from me. I want the viewers of our film to feel as though a wide spectrum of their feelings were aroused while watching the movie.

Basically, my overall ambition is to create something that others enjoy and that I am proud of. I want people to like the movie and appreciate it for all of the hard work that was put into it. It will take hours of sweat and blood (not literally), but I know we can do it together. I hope that my classmates truly take delight in viewing our short film during our finals week film festival.

"Lina. She can't act, she can't sing, she can't dance. A triple threat."

Singin’ in the Rain. This film hooked me from the opening scene! Of course we all know this movie is considered one of the ultimate classics. If you haven’t seen it, you better go out and get a copy to watch! The film is not only funny and full of songs, but the story is captivating and incites real interest. I can’t believe it took me this long to finally see this film. Words cannot express how glad I am that we watched Singin’ in the Rain in class last night. After experiencing one horrible day, this film cheered me up instantly. It is not only a new movie in my top ten all time favorite movies, but it is now my all time favorite musical.

Gene Kelly is mesmerizing in this film. He dances, sings, acts, and looks brilliant while doing it all! I’ll admit, I’ve always thought musicals with random dance numbers were cheesy, but I thoroughly enjoyed the numbers throughout this movie. Each and every part was fun, appropriate, and truly entertaining. Not only were all of the dance and singing numbers awesome, but they appeared flawlessly done. I could not even tell that they pieced a few sections together. This film had the best flow I think I’ve ever seen in a movie. It was like one continuous shot with different settings the entire time. I was thoroughly impressed.

On to my favorite character: Cosmo Brown. Cosmo is the guy you want to be your best friend. He’s absolutely hilarious with all of his one-liners and comedic segments. Without this sidekick character, the film would lose a lot of its allure. Although I love Cosmo, I can’t help but feel sorry for him. He’s the most underappreciated character in the film. Cosmo possesses just as many, if not more, talents than most of the other characters. He can act, dance, sing, write music, be a comedian, come up with better ideas for films, and much much more! I just don’t understand why he wasn’t given more credit throughout the film. Maybe it’s just the school girl crush I have on him that makes me feel this way, but I just want to yell, “SOMEONE TELL HIM HOW AWESOME HE IS!!!!!!!!!!!!” I guess there always has to be that character in Hollywood that doesn’t get what he deserves. That’s the business, right?

The last thing I want to comment on about this film is the little tidbit of information our professor shared with us after the movie: the fact that another voice was used instead of Debbie Reynolds’ for the character Lina is just extremely paradoxical. The character Kathy Selden does the voice for Lina’s character, but in reality a completely different voice does the voice for Kathy in one of the songs. Crazy! It’s a winding road of lies and deceit. Oh Hollywood, you evil mistress you!

Film Techniques For Me

Tonight presented our class with many new useful and interesting techniques for filming our team movies. Although some of the techniques seem out of reach for inexperienced and poor college students, some techniques seem very doable. One filming method that I know I want to use in my team’s project is a close-up. There are so many different types of close-ups and each serve a specific purpose. One type in particular that I like is the extreme close-up. This type could be very functional in a scene where the character is worried or has some sort of distinct look on her face. We can also do an over the shoulder close-up when two characters are in conversation with one another.

There are also many lighting techniques that I believe our team can definitely handle. If our movie turns out to be one oriented around horror, we can light the characters from below. This type of lighting casts many shadows on the villain’s face and makes him appear more ominous. Lighting from both sides and above also seems very plausible. This type of lighting creates a studio-filming feel for the set. Backlighting and lighting on the main characters face is also something we can make happen for our short film. All of the different lighting techniques seem achievable as long as it doesn’t involve some sort of crane to raise the light extremely high!

Another technique that I thought was fascinating was changing the images presented after showing the look on a person’s face. If you show a man that looks sad and then a coffin, the viewer believes he is sad because he has lost a loved one. If you show a picture of a small child and then a man that looks sad, the viewer believes he may not like children or had a bad experience with a child at one time. This technique saves time because you don’t have to re-film characters but can just film objects instead. Our team project will most likely use this technique as well.

All of the techniques mentioned above are within our reach because they don’t take a whole lot of experience or filming equipment to make happen. Even new filmmakers such as ourselves can use basic editing software to create interesting effects. We can also orient the camera to produce different depths in our footage. As long as we utilize the light sources available to us, we can definitely create some interesting lighting on the characters and in our scenes. We will utilize all of these techniques and more because we want to make our short film as awesome as possible. This is our first time and we intend to give our all!

One other source of inspiration for film techniques would definitely be the classic movie, Citizen Kane. I watched this movie with my roommate after we started this class. It was such an amazing movie filled with all sorts of different camera angles, lighting, and special effects. This movie is still looked at today for inspiration by true moviemakers. Citizen Kane is the ultimate movie for finding techniques for producing a new film. Orson Welles is someone that I look up to for sure when it comes to making movies.

“All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.”

Sunset Blvd., directed by Billy Wilder in 1950, is one of history’s most spectacular Film noir classics. This film is packed full of cynicism, sexuality, and mystery: the essence of the French genre. From the opening scene of a dead man floating in a pool, the audience knows they are in for a treat. The main character, Joe Gillis, is doomed to death from the start by his actions and the actions of those around him. Working as a struggling film writer in Hollywood doesn’t exactly make life easy. By happenstance, he stumbles across a rich former silent-film actress who needs a new companion. His decision to stay with the actress past her prime, Norma Desmond, turns out to be the worst decision he could possibly make. This is definitely a film to watch.

I truly enjoyed this classic Old Hollywood film. I never thought I would take pleasure in watching an older movie in black and white, but Sunset Blvd. took me by surprise. Not only was the plot interesting, but it was full of suspense and drama. While Norma Desmond is stuck in her dead acting career, Joe Gillis is just entering his career slump. The characters are extreme opposites but make a great dynamic pair. The difference in their career successes was something that struck me as interesting. Joe feels sorry for Norma because she is too old and still stuck in the lifestyle she wants to have. He treats her as if she’s a sad sight that will never make it in Hollywood again. However, Joe also is starting his spiral downwards. He feels sorry for Norma but at the same time his career is in the dumps. He can’t find work and none of his scripts are good enough anymore. They really are on the same playing field; Norma is just 20 years ahead (and CRAZY!).

This movie portrays the real character of Hollywood. Filmmaking is a cutthroat business and people are willing to deceive others to benefit themselves. There are only a few people you can really trust, and sometimes even these people let you down. One day you’re in, and the next day you’re out. Norma has been out for quite some time, but still lives in her bizarre dream-like life. She believes she is a true star and people around her don’t tell her any different. Although her character is dramatic and pompous, her psychological makeup is by far the most interesting part of the movie. Thus, I will end in one of my favorite Norma Desmond quotes:

“There once was a time in this business when I had the eyes of the whole world! But that wasn't good enough for them, oh no! They had to have the ears of the whole world too. So they opened their big mouths and out came talk. Talk! TALK!”

Rosebud

I thought I learned a lot from the first day of film class, but this last class was packed full of audio and visual filmmaking lessons. There are so many different things that must be thought out before you can just pick up a camera and start filming. There are settings, camera angles, actors/actresses, audio, transitions, and more that must be carefully orchestrated to make a film a success. Honestly, the past class was very overwhelming for me. The thought of having to put so much energy into something that lasts such a small amount of time is crazy. If I wanted, I could go out and film a few scenes with an interesting plot all on one tape. Then I could play it for an audience and feel successful. But without all of the cinematographic elements included, my movie would be a complete failure. The way a movie is filmed and edited really makes the movie. Close-ups and wide shots portray a different and more interesting story throughout a movie. The colorings of different scenes enhance important images and make others turn into background noise. A transition from one scene to the next can be really rough if not planned out carefully. Even though I am still a bit overwhelmed, I am definitely looking forward to learning more about how to turn raw footage into a high-quality film.

I am also looking forward to our next assignment: putting together a short 2 minute film with random clips centered around certain mood words. This task is also pretty nerve-racking for me, but I am ready to face the challenge. This will be the first time that I have created my own “film.” In high school, I participated in history day competitions and actually made two documentaries about historical events. The process for making those documentaries was a bit scary, but I overcame it with time. With this background from history day, I feel a little more confident about the 2 minute film assignment, or at least working with the computer to create it. Putting together raw footage and attempting to create a certain mood will be pretty tough. I will definitely be getting started soon!

My favorite part of this particular class, however, was the clip from Citizen Kane. I have heard a multitude of wonderful things about this movie, but have never been truly inspired to actually sit down and watch it. The clips shown in class made me want to go out and immediately find this movie. I assure you all I will be sitting down in the very near future, enjoying this classic film with popcorn and friends. And I will discover the true meaning of Rosebud.

Image Revolution

I’ve always enjoyed a good movie here and there. Comedies tend to be a favorite of mine, along with action movies and chick flicks every once and a while. Watching movies takes up time when there isn’t anything else to do or when you just want to relax with friends. It’s a chance to escape from reality and live another person’s life.

The first day of film class was definitely an eye opener. I’ve always viewed film as a common form of entertainment; something that people put their time into for fun. But there are so many people who have put thousands of hours and all their energy into enhancing the capabilities of film throughout the past 100 plus years. Seeing some of the first films in class last week revealed an entirely new side of film to me. It started as something so revolutionary and ingenious and has turned into a form of entertainment that many of us take for granted.

Movies used to be shot from the angle of an audience in a theatre so that the viewers would feel like they were truly watching a show in a theatre. The idea of a close-up was unheard-of during the early stages of film. The audience had never been that close to the action of a production before nor had the audience traveled away from the setting of a stage.

Some films were even just recordings of scenes from everyday life. When I first watched one of the Lumiere Brothers’ films, I honestly was bored. How could people seriously be entertained by something witnessed everyday in normal actions of life? Why were people exiting a train or the traffic on a busy street so cool to watch? But then I put the entire concept in perspective. The thought of filming people without them knowing was unthought-of. It was ground-breaking. Just the act of watching a film was new to people.

I still can’t even soak in how incredibly innovative and different film was when it first developed. It is something that I have become so accustomed to; something that I don’t even think of as ingenious like I do the Amazon Kindle or touch screen computers. Film is an extraordinary progression of technology; an image revolution. I believe this class is going to be quite a fun ride and I can’t wait to see how my understanding of film enhances throughout the semester.