Ok so here I am trying to pick what director will be best for my feature film. 1.5 million is not a huge budget so I need to find a up and coming director, maybe from tv who is ready to take that next step. Or possibly a feature director or establiched music vid director whoo likes to work with a low budget. So on my Radar is Chris Cunningham (who has failed to even say no, how rude), Harry Enfield (who directed Skins well, and he has said he is intrested but would not be free untill september which is to late), or Shane Meadows (in talks with his agent). Who else should be on our short list no idea, Suggestions anybody?
The US film director and writer, John Hughes, who created some of the most famous comedies of the 1980s and 1990s, has died at the age of 59. The director died after a heart attack in New York.
I have to say that this is a sad time to see another Hollywood filmmaker pass away, I always believed John Hughes, aka Edmond Dantes his writer name in the 90s was one of the best story tellers we have ever seen. His ability to combine comedy and emotion was excellent and he had a wonderful way of portraying young people.
Flubber, 101 Dalmatians, miracle on34th street and home alone are some of my favourite films he wrote under his alias Edmond Dantes. But his writer-director credits have what I believe to be his best films; Uncle Buck, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Weird Science and The Breakfast Club.
Why he stop directing, and wrote and produced behind closed door will never know, but rest in piece, for you will always be remembered.
So, here I am. First blog entry. What do I write about? Well the first thing that comes to mind is how I came to be here writing this entry.
Oh go on, it’s not a long story. In fact I dare say it’s quite interesting.
Flashback four years ago. I’m fourteen and just discovering that being a footballer is a bad idea because I’m basically not good enough. Luckily I had found something I was passionate about, rather than something I could ‘make a living out of, probably.’ After creating a 10-minute documentary on D-Day which won first prize in a national competition, not only had I found something I was good at, but something I truly loved doing.
However since said documentary I had done several more for class projects, and was ready to make the jump from non-fiction to fiction. I didn’t have the option of taking media at my high school, and had never written a script before. It was January, so a good New Years resolution would be to learn these things so I could at least catch up in time for College.
I did not do this. By May I had written a feature film script.
A film about a couples’ relationship traumatised by their own feelings for each other shows the hope to revive their lives they had been longing for for so long, but the interruption of misunderstanding each others feelings prevents their American dream.This is a story about a marriage being pushed to the limits by the hope of rediscovering themselves and trying to rebuild their relationship to the height it is used to be.
The couples’ relationship unfolds and you are able to start to understand the characters feelings and perception of their relationship; to their friends they are a perfect couple who have everything they should ever want and seem to be made for each other, but hidden away in the barriers of their own home lies a disturbed marriage filled with unresolved arguments and the resentment of cheating on one another.Despite this, after seven years they are still trying to make things work which allows you to see the incredible determination to be happy with what they have, and although they seem to hate each other and are very spiteful to one another, every time they get into another argument it makes you wonder why they even try and keep the marriage afloat.
The storyline has obviously been very well thought out as the idea of an uneasy marriage trying to go for the American dream is ‘revolutionary’ at that time and although there are not many major events that occur, it is interesting to see the way the characters interact with each other and the audience through. The momentum of the story speeds up and sows down as one minute they are happy with what they have and the next minute they are arguing each other about not telling each other their true feelings and how their marriage is built on lies and in order for it work, the need to start being honest
Overall it was a good film. It gives insight into a relationship that you wouldn’t normally get to see as it is usually masked with the typical smiles on faces and the fake happiness that their relationship gives out to their friends.It has been filmed very well and managed to capture what each character thinks and feels about each other.It shows a marriage which has the potential to work; whether or not the people involved want to make it work is another matter.
David Carradine died today. This makes me sad, obviously for the unfortunate events that surrounded his death but also for the fact that I recognised him, liked his performances.
But only ever remember him for two roles.
Mark Kermode says that Carradine was ‘more than a B movie actor’ and I’d have to agree but… I only really remember:
Kung Fu
Kil Bill (V.1 & V.2)
His voice was distinctive and his presence on screen certainly held my attention. Why is it that I know so few of his films? I have avidly watched, listened, talked about films since I first manage to crawl and grab a hold of the TV remote (later it was the keyboard but a completely different reason for crawling) yet have little to no memory of films seen on TV, interviews etc etc.
I think the answer lies in the fact that sometimes, talent and standing do not necessarily go hand in hand. Actors, musicians… filmmakers!… sometimes fall through the gaps in public and industry awareness.
I think of the first review of Fred Astaire’s performance… “Can’t sing, can’t dance, can act a little”. Fortunately Astaire leaped this hurdle but I think Carradine slipped through the net, his career revived since Tarantino’s Kill Bill, but even so he was underused and undervalued.
I’m going to make an effort to see some more of Carradine’s work. What do you think? Was Carradine underused? What film roles should Carradine have been seen in?
You’ll never hear me say anything bad about the new Star Trek film – seen it 4 times and if I have any money after a weekend out in Leeds I’m going for number 5. Its not 100% original – but in this case that’s kind of the point, its integral to the story. It seems however that the re-imaging or re-visiting of well-established franchises in the film industry is the in thing at the moment.
In the next few years you will can look forward to a ‘new’ Alien film, this time a prequel (what an original idea), to be directed by Carl Rinsch and slated for a release sometime in 2011. Rumors have been floating all year of plans to revive the Scream franchise. This week it has been reported that both Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette are in talks to join the project, with Craven hinting at taking the helm once more. Out today (UK) is yet another sequel, Terminator: Salvation, which so far has had mixed reviews – can’t wait to see it myself, and it must be better than T3.
So what does all this mean? More words and trailer after the break…
It just depends on the release. Do we need to see deleted footage or alternate takes from EVERY MOVIE in the world? I don’t think so. I don’t even think a commentary track is warranted for every release. I do, from time to time, buy releases that don’t have much in the way of special features, and that’s fine with me, because those releases are usually under ten bucks anyway.
Now, if you try charging me over twelve pounds for a movie with out any bonus features, then I will complain. if It’s a catalogue title, they made their money off of it years ago, and they aren’t giving us ANYTHING extra, so therefore it should not be priced like a new release with all these bonus features on it.
On Monday night I was in London watching the UK premiere of Star Trek at the Empire in Leicester Square. It rocked in every way. This is my first film review so please be kind, also there are very few spoilers. Enjoy!
This is not just a truly great Star Trek film this is a truly great film that stands on its own without the baggage collected over the years by the ‘franchise’. That’s not to say that there isn’t a whole host of wonderful in-jokes and obscure fan only references. The prefect example being when Kirk and Sulu are prepping for a dangerous orbital sky dive to take out a bad guy weapon; they are joined by a crewmember dressed in red. No prizes for guessing how long that guy lasts.
Star Trek has been reinvented with all the imagination and camaraderie of the original and been combined with a truly fresh approach to story telling in the Star Trek universe.
The truth is I’ve been a fan of Star Trek since I was a kid, anyone who knows me well will tell you that, and no doubt some comical example of my adolescent geekyness will spring to their mind. So I was going to get a kick out of a ‘new version’ of the original crew no matter what. But I not only enjoyed the new take on the story, the new cast, the new Enterprise and everything else that goes with a reboot of a classic but I really can’t wait for the new instalment, this is Star Trek now.
It is surprising how many people don’t under stand the subtle yet vital importance of camera angles, shot sizes and staging. One filmmaker said to me “once you got the basics it easy to make a film”. Is it? Let’s think about this, these skills are as vital as punctuation is in prose.
Any one can shoot a scene, lets say a conversation at a dinner table, most would set up a wide followed by the Over the Shoulder Shot followed with the reverse, simple? Just as anybody can write a sentence right? For example:
