Bloggin From a Wider Lens

Final Project

Fri, 07 May 2010 10:39:56 -0400

Final Project

Video

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 21:06:59 -0400

Video

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 21:05:42 -0400

A 'Nightmare' to watch

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:37:42 -0500

The Termite TV show, Dreams and Nightmares, caught my attention. My mind takes me places I can’t imagine trying to create. When it comes to dreams in my sleep, they take a huge role in my drive to being a filmmaker. The idea for this show was perfect and they had a good idea of how to use it, but could’ve done it a lot more organized and creatively. It was good to see them add the “American Dream” in the piece, but the title kind of contradicts it because Dreams and Nightmares automatically make you think of sleeping. If they were to be more elaborate on them and organize it a little more it would’ve been fine. As far as watching an actual student piece, I feel a little more relieved as to what we have to do. Watching this gave me ideas of ways to construct different types of video and depending on who I work with can be very successful. The documentary feel seems to be the way to go along with a few short clips. In this piece it was upsetting to see the order it was put in and the over use of interviewing people especially for a theme of this type. I can see that they did go places and attempt to capture the true idea of a dream but it was still very minimum. Another thing that bothered me was all of it seemed to be about nightmares. When you hear ‘dream” and “something you dream about” you want it to be something you want or that will pleasure you. The whole piece was very negative to me. If they separated the Good things from the Bad, then the piece would’ve turned out better. A theme like this can be a complete hit or miss and if I can have control over it, I would do everything different.

http://blip.tv/file/1953148/

Video

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:04:42 -0500

Photo

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:19:52 -0500

Inspired...

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:18:29 -0500

After many years of watching films of all types and genres, I would have to say that El laberinto del fauno, or Pan’s Labyrinth, is one of my favorite of all-time. This is a movie directed by Guillermo del Toro that tells the story of a girl in fascist Spain that is fascinated with fairy-tales and is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, who is an out of control captain of the Spanish army. During her time there she meets a faun who tells her she’s a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the true princess and will never see her real home/kingdom again. This story itself is enough to bring anybody to watch this film. It brings the child out in all of us and turns it into an R- Rated masterpiece. A story makes a great film but anyone can tell a tale. The film itself was beautiful. From the beginning the director immerses you in this world out in the woods in the middle of war. It is always cloudy and the home they stay in reminds you nothing of guns and pain. The set and costume designers really knew what Guillermo wanted as they mastered the visuals for us to watch. As emotional as the real world seemed, nothing to this day compares to when the girl would enter the fantasy world. There is a scene where she is in a dining room that can possibly have every color on the spectrum in it. It shows a long table with every lush piece of food you can think of, glowing into the viewer’s stomach. And then the camera pans up to the pale monster sitting at the head; changing the way we feel about the food. This film has set standards for me as a story teller and filmmaker. I love to imagine my own worlds and be drawn into a fantasy that no one else can enter without your permission. Guillermo del Toro allows us into his mind and makes it cinematically perfect. The time and energy used to perfect the story and create the extremely realistic costumes gives me the drive to never give up on my vision. Every shot, every angle, and every lens was used strategically to create magic. Every color and every piece of makeup went into the set design to create something no one else could imagine. To take a human being out of reality for 2 hours is my only goal as a film director and this movie has given me the push I’ve always yearned for.

Bloggin From a Wider Lens

Final Project

Video

Video

A 'Nightmare' to watch

Video

Photo

Inspired...

Photo

One of my favorite films of all time