Act of Valor

I am sharing this trailer because this film was partially shot on the Cannon 5D mark II which is the camera that I will be working with through this class. It will be exciting to see how everything translates to the big screen from a dslr. I believe this film is a testament to the Digital Revolution and the idea of Creating at the Speed of Thought and the over all accessibility of professional techniques by indie filmmakers.


act of valor from AMFM STUDIOS LLC on Vimeo.

Drive Movie Review

Drive is a slow paced drama about a man, Ryan Gosling, who is a stunt driver for the movies during the day and a get away driver at night. The Film is very much a gangster film, but the car chases were fully invigorating making me recall the original Gone in 60 Seconds. I found my self at the edge of my seat for most of the film, the director Nicolas Winding Refn does an amazing job with pacing for the film. Before watching it I had heard a few things about the film like that it had an off pacing and that shots held for too long on certain characters. I felt in a contrary manner to this idea. I felt that the pacing helped escalate the drama of the situations to such tense points. There are also a few interesting parts that i felt modernized the car chase genre. The scene where Goslings character is about to kill one of the main bosses with his car is visually engaging and the pacing helps to give the film the extra feel of brash violence that the film has. Over all the cinematography was beautiful and the lighting design brought the acting to another level. The dirty feel and the pacing really made this film for me. This will definitively be one of the films I will be watching for consideration of my project.

Everything is a Remix

This series is really great, It discusses appropriation and the process of  making media in a canted way. Reinforcing the idea that all of the media we produce today is just a reproduction. I would a the Kill Bill video as well, but the series as a whole is great.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

This film is arguably the first horror film to include a twist ending. I find the aesthetic value of the German Expressionists is very nice. I love the painted shadows and nonsensical objects found through out the film. The story was interesting, I enjoy this sort of surreal story told through the eye of the past. If that makes any sense. I enjoy older films like this, and Nosferatu, because they are so visually effect challenged. It is interesting to watch how these "original" masters tackle the issue of depicting night or the issue of depicting emotion to the audience. Like most pre-talky films the players in this film had excellently exaggerated facial features. Dr Caligari always looks like he is about to pop with emotion. The Somnambulist Caesar has wonderfully large eyes that are highlighted with eye makeup making his scene of awakening even more dramatic. I think this film is a great study for horror. It has given me a lot to consider when going in to making my own horror piece.

Script Writing

I love writing scripts. Although this time around I was not sure about what I produced. The reason being that I don't know if I included enough shot detail. I feel like the script is an essential part to figuring out the feel of your movie. I feel like the amount of shots was sufficient for a draft I but i hope to develop more shots after todays critique.

The Deer Hunter

This film followed a group of friends enlisting, going, and returning from Vietnam. This is definitively a character drama about these best friends who go through agonizing changes. Christopher Walkings character was brilliant. I feel like I could relate to him more than Robert De Niro's character. De Niro's character was a definite leader, the introduction scene to him in Nam was brilliant. The scene is that of what appears to be a platoon having just been attacked. De Niro's character is scorched and beaten when a Viet Con comes through killing mothers and babies, this sight forces De Niro to scream and grow extremely angry. Walking's character is more weak I would say, mainly because of the way he had to be coached by De Niro through their game of Russian Roulette. The deep physiological change that Walking goes through eventually drives him to the ultimate madness. Turning a cold shoulder to his old friends and embracing the game of roulette and the underground world that encompasses it.

Reference Music Video

This is another great music video that has an eerie feel to it. I love the editing done to the music. It gives it an interesting feel. I definitely will be referencing this for future projects.