Who needs a Director?

There have been some truly wonderful pieces of cinema which have been created on the spot in that moment in time. This I think is almost completely down to the actor having totally amerced themselves into the role. The only part the Director has to play is not to yell cut.

This is one example of an improvised moment on the big screen. It is from a wonderful film called Midnight Cowboy. This film had fantastic music, a great story but most importantly great acting. If you think of this film this is one of the moments you will properly remember and you would never have thought that it was improvised.



Another one of my favourite scenes from a film is a scene from On The Waterfront. Marlin Brando is walking through the park with Eva Marie Saint and she drops her glove by mistake. So naturally he picks it up but he decides to play with it and put it on his hand. This scene would have been completely different if he had just left it. By putting it on and playing with it in a way changes the point of the scene. It enhances the connection between the two actors and shows that he likes her. You would think that this would have been the direction the director had given.



The last scene I want to talk about is from Dr Zhivago. Hans Matheson has just come back from the war and Keira Knightley is bathing him. In the script she was just meant to bath him but she decides on the spot to climb into the bath. This is just another great example of how actors have the drive to do what is right for their character and the film. I could not find this clip on youtube but I have found a clip of Hans Matheson talking about the scene.



It is important to have great acting in a film and it is what separates the good films from the fantastic films. However you do need the good actor but you need a good character for that actor to play. If you think to Righteous Kill with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino it is pretty awful. You can not say that they are bad actors but you can say that their performances where not good. The reason there performances are not good is down to them not being able to challenges themselves within a role.

So to make your film fantastic you do need your great actors but they are just tools you need to let them work by giving them a part they can lose themselves in and then you will end up with wonderfully improvised scenes and powerful performances.

M*A*S*H

This film was just a bit odd. One of its major problems was that it did not have a point or plot. During this film I looked at my watch a lot which is a very bad sign. After about 45 minuets I just accepted the fact that this film was not going to have a central plot or point. It was really annoying to start to invest in a story line to have then just dropped and pick up some other line. I think this is why it worked very well as a TV show because you could just deal with one story and that was it. The film just felt like 4 episodes joined together but not very well.

Another thing that annoyed me was how dark all of the scenes were. Any of the scenes inside a tent were so dark you could only see one persons face and that was it. I do not like the fact that the film maker is telling me that I must watch this part of the frame. I want to let my eyes wonder and explore the depth.

Also I did not get the sense humour in this film. I will admit that I did laugh at a couple of bits but overall this is meant to be a dark comedy but it just was not. Again this proves that there is not point to this film it does not even make me laugh, it didn't really teach me anything about the war and just left me a bit annoyed.

I would not say that this was a not very good film to represent the 70s, it was the first film of the 70s but I would not think it in my mind one of the great 70s movies. It is so different to some of the other classics.

I do wonder why this film is on such a high pedestal. People do rate this film as being one of the great movies of all time. Could it be that I am just too young? I don't know but I can aspirate other films like Shampoo and the parallax view. The only thing that I can aspirate from this film though is the gore. I know that this was one of the first times you saw gore like this on the big screen.

So overall I would not recommend this film unless you want to see it just so you can tick it of your list of films to see.

Simpsons

I have watched the Simpsons since I can remember. I would say that this is one of the only TV shows that I have grown up with. I did watch shows like saved by the bell and other shows on Nickelodeon and Disney but this show has stayed with me right through all of them and I still enjoy watching old and new ones. I think that now when I watch old ones I get something different out of them than when I did when I was younger. There are loads of jokes that went right over my head when I was younger.

Another reason that I liked this show so much was because my Dad and brother both really liked it. It was something that we could all watch together and still do when we can. When I was younger I thought that this must be a cool show if my Dad enjoys it and now I know that he liked it for different reasons.

However I watched one of the latest episodes the other day and was unfortunately disappointed. It was just a bit flat, had nothing that special about it and I didn't laugh out once. I thought that maybe I had finally out grown this show and after so many years maybe they had just ran out of jokes but still being a big fan I did watch the next new episode. I am so glad that I am able to say that I loved it. It was still as good and funny as it had ever been and if not better. I love the Simpsons even more now because I get all of the 'Grown up' jokes and it relates current events in the news now.

The Street

I loved this TV show as soon as I watched it in class as did everyone. I have started to watch other episodes on TV. My sky planner is now filled with episodes waiting to be watched. I have never watched a TV show like this. I think the thing that makes this so different to any other show is that the story is so good. All of them are so clever and really make you think and put you right into the story.

My favourite episode so far has not been the one we saw in class but the one with the school teacher. The male teacher and family man goes for a jog in the park before his dinner. He goes into the bushes to relieve himself. A five year old girl is playing frisbee with her dad. She follows her frisbee into the bushes and sees the teacher. She screams and her dad runs over. The man assumes that he must be a flasher and the teachers life starts to fall apart around him. Nobody believes that he was just going to the toilet.

This episode was so horrible because we as an audience know that he is innocent and feel so sorry for him as his life crumbles. I don't want to give too much away and I think that you should definitely see this one. I really hope that there is another one as good as this one and hopefully better. Don't get me wrong other episodes are still very good. I can't wait to work my way through the rest.

Trainspotting

I totally loved this film witch I did not want to. Everyone always goes on about this film and how amazing it is. I thought that they were just people who thought that they knew about films and were just saying it to follow the crowd. However I was very impressed with this film. It did have some flaws such as the pase was a bit off during the middle but I was able to forget about them and totally immerse myself in this film. It had beautiful scenes and very clever camera work. The acting in it was superb. I love Robert Carlyle in anything I have seen him in and Ewan McGregor was also fantastic. McGregor was able to make us care about him and feel for him. It is easy to feel sorry for a junky to but really feel emotionally attached to one is very strange. There is a part in the film when Robert Carlyles character comes down to London to live with McGregors character Renton. This is just horrible and I felt my heart drop when it happened. You see Renton had got clean and moved down to London, got a job and was slowly making his way back into society but Begbie comes down and starts to reck this. I loved the way I could feel so many different emotions in this film. At the start I was disgusted and felt to be honest quite ill at some bits. Then suddenly I was thrown to feel something else like humour, hatred, sadness, horror, pity or happiness.

There is one moment when Renton has just emptied his bowls in a disgusting toilet and then has to fish through it to find some pills. This was just horrible but then he climbs into the toilet and disappears into it. This threw me completely. You go from saying that is so disgusting and wanting to be sick to saying wow that’s amazing I wonder how they did that. This really made me think about how films are meant to be like rollercoasters. The viewer wants to be taken on a ride and you should have different emotions thrown at them.

Watch this with the sound turned off. It is gross by the way.



Another thing that I thoroughly enjoyed about this film was the way that they spoke. I was not in any was junkie langue it was beautiful at some bits. I now understand why everyone has that chose life poster.

This was made on a low budget with people who had not really made a name for themselves yet. After watching it I thought that I could make a film like that would have the success that this did. We have talked about how the 'Keys to the Kingdom' were given to the likes of Scorsese and then just handed right back. Well I think that this film here proves that we can still make films now that have low budgets and make millions. This was made about fourteen years ago which is not that long ago but I now think it is about time that this was done again.

Shampoo

This film will be interesting to discuss as it has many points and underlying themes that we have talked about in class. One obvious discussion point was the way that women were represented. It was very interesting that there were four women in the film, all very strong. I can't think of a film that has come out recently that has any strong women in it. You could say that today Angelina Jolie is a strong women in wanted but she is just a male sexual fantasy. Perhaps in 1975 men thought powerful, strong women to be sexy.

This film came out in 1975, just after the watergate scandal, however it was set in 1968, as Nixon is getting into power. They could have played on this a lot more and been more ironic at times. This was obviously a big aspect of the film but I would not say it was the main point. It is clear that the fact everyone was sleeping with each other was more important in two ways. One was to drive the story and the other was to try and remember the 60s again. The casual sex made me think. I think of sex being a very new and young thing like in skins. We as a society now don't really think twice about sex so it was weird and interesting to see how casual it was back then. I suppose that does say a lot for the time. It was totally down to my naivety that I was not shocked but surprised how casual and how much sex there was in a film back then.

Lost Ending (Spoiler)

On reflection I would say that I suppose I am sort of happy with this ending. That is not what I thought at the time. Having watched Lost since 2005 and followed every little detail I was wanted every little end to be tied up and for all of the cast to come to some sort of end that was out of the box but still satisfying. This  I think would have been impossible. I wish it wasn't but there could never have been an ending that would leave the viewer total fulfilled.

I remember at the start of Lost people said I bet they are all dead and us true Lost fans said of course they are not there is something much more clever going on. Well I hang my head in shame, yes they were all dead and they all walked into the white light at the end.

However at the time I did put my head in my hands and think that I wanted more but looking back on it I have been able to think of all them good times this show has brought me. There was the time when Charlie died which was so huge at the time. Everyone was talking about it, even those who were not fans sort of knew what had happened. I certainly was talking about it to everyone and felt a little teary when he went.

Then there is the fact that this TV show has been able to grip me for so long and keep me entertained. I was not just watching it just so I could find out what happened in the end I was generally intrigued by everything. I felt for the characters. I suppose it is hard not to when you have followed them for so long.

So I would like to say thank you to lost for keeping me glued to the TV for what feels like a life time. I was glad that I could go out on a bang and did not just filter out. I wold also suggested that this would be a very good box set to buy as you will find yourself saying just one more about one hundred times.

Work Work Work

Other people always say that our course is just watching films and talking about them. They say this because they have loads of very stressing exams. However recently we have been working quite a lot more than we usually do and I have enjoyed it. I have had to over the last few days write outlines, a script, make a poster, blog, watch Stadgecaoch, blog again and moodle. I liked having a bit of stress pushing me along. I think the worst part was just before I started a bit of work. I would do almost anything else but when I final made my self sit down and do it I found myself getting really into it. I was remembering how I used to find my scripting class one of the best things about the week. Also there is no felling better than when you get all of your work load off from your shoulders. 

I think I have done a good job with my scripting work but I am sure that I will not be saying that in a few days after Richard has asked me what was I thinking. I also wonder how long it will be until he says his famous words "Is it?" No I know it is not now so just tell me why! We love it really. Although I can't take full credit for my poster. I did draw it but I was in stick men form with done with a biro so thankfully Jessica drew mine for me and colored it in. I did find the pencils and she worked from my original sketch. 

When I was working away at my outlines I got stuck but I was then able to sort of lift myself out of it and look at it from I different angle. I just couldn't think of where to go and it was taking me ages. I then thought it is my world so I am going to do what I want. I was able to create a whole other world and this wonderful. I know I properly sound a bit  artistry and but it was not so much the creating I loved it was more the fact that I could create. I think that in other course you have to learn your world that you want to work in but in our course you in a way create the world you are working in. I hope this makes sense and does not make me sound to up in the clouds. Basically our course is making stuff up. I am really lucky that I have found a job that I really want to persue and think that I will enjoy it. 

How TV has had an effect on my political views.

Well I would say that may choice of who I will be voting for in the election is almost 100% through the television. I don't really follow politics that much but it is hard to miss as it is all over the news. I watch the news every day or so, so I have a rough idea of what is going on. Also everyone was talking about the live debates so I didn't want to miss out on that and I thought it might help me make my mind up.

I would say that it has influenced me and swayed my opinion or sort of put me off people more than put me on them. I don't to make this about my political views but I think that david Cameron has not come across very well on TV. He always seams to me being ripped apart by people, weather that is a journalist or a member of the public.

Then it also makes me think how bias the TV is. I am a little c of how much I should believe when watching the news and I do try not to let it influence me to much. I liked the TV debate because it was just what it was. After the debate I felt that the TV channels were favoring people even if they did not mean to. Even by saying that the polls say that somebody has won the debate it makes you think that you should follow the crowd.

Puppy nightmare.

This blog can be found at http://morethanreflection.blogspot.com/


:)

Stagecoach

Well first of all I am going to say I was surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. I think this has become so clichéd in our class. Everyone seams to say this. I said it about silent movies and now I am saying it about westerns. It took me ages to finally get round to watching this. I had the dvd but I still could not motivate myself to watch it. Espealiy since Serpico and Casino have been staring at me since christmas. So I thought I would watch the trailer on youtube to get some motivation and ended up clicking on Stagecoach part one. So I started to watch it in the back ground with facebook open and Road Wars on the TV. Within about 5 minuets I was hooked and my dvd player was warming up. I am still not sure how it happened. It was not that exiting a beginning. I think it might be because I knew it was building up to some thing. The scene was set very quickly and you knew who everyone was in the first five minutes.  I now cared about these people and wanted to know what was going to happen to them.


I did enjoy what happened to them. I thought that the film had a good pace about it. It flowed well from scene to scene and always kept your focus. It was tense and they did this well. It was not just what I thought it would be which was cowboys shooting Indians. They didn't show us the Indians until almost the end. I was tense because of the unknown. I had no idea how the indians would attack or how evil they were. I liked this. It was nice to see a film not show you the danger just hear about it from others. The first sign we see is only smoke and it gets your heart pumping a little bit. 

Overall I would say once again that I surprised myself by enjoying it as much as I did. It was sort of what i expected in the way it looked but not at all in the way the story was told. Having said this to my dad he will now be thrusting dvds and names of better westerns in my face. He allready has mentioned a few I should watch. So those of you who have been putting this off I say go for it. You might find that a whole new library of films will be opened up to you.

An in depth study of buttons.

This blog can be found at http://morethanreflection.blogspot.com/

A Movie Quiz.

I was at a pub quiz last year. For one of the rounds we were given a piece of paper with alternative movie title on it. For example celeirty hostilitys = Star Wars. 

So I thought I would would post them up here and see if anybody could work them all out. We did get a few but some of them were quite hard. So here they are.

The Resonance Of Melody =

Unmitigated Reminiscence =

The Environment  =

Straightforward Stipulation = 

Souvenir =

The Sovereign of Jesting =

Succinct incisions = 

Accident =

Daylight Maintenance =

Fasten =

If you think you know any of them then comment below. :-)

I miss Civello, Bickle, Vronsky, LaMotta, Cady and Noodles.

Where is Travis Bickle? What  I mean is when did the leading actor in Hollywood become the leading actor in Hollywood because of his looks. When Robert De Diro was at the top of his game he was there because he blow away the audience in every film he made. For instance if you look at Mean Streets.


As soon as he walks into a scene you know it is going to change. Your enjoyment of it doubles. Now that is partly because of the way Harvey Keitel and De Niro bounce off of each other but it is mostly to do with De Niro. He was able to bring something so special to the screen. He was able to steal every scene but still be able to be true to his character who is a bit of a bumbling idot. 

One of my favorite things about Taxi Driver is the way it tells the story thorough De Niro's warped eyes. Most actors want to stay likable by the audience so hold back a bit. They do not want to cross the line and become something that the audience can not sympathies with and follow. De Niro pushed the boat out in this film. He was able to go all the way and completely cross the line but keep the audience engaged with him. This worked because he did not care that he was crossing the line. He played true to his character and just wanted to be this best he could be. When you are watching this you end up thinking things you would not usually think. You find yourself hating certain types of people just because Travis Bickle despises them. This is another good thing about the film. At the end of it your are shocked at yourself for thinking those things.


So where did this all go. Why did De Niro fall off his pedestal and not care about the films he makes. In the 70s everyone wanted to work with him. He worked with the leading people in the film industry. The people who were at the forefront of the making films but then he started to make sometimes three films a year. There are rumors that he wanted an influx of cash to pay for a number of things and this is a shame. It is a shame because we will never get another great De Niro film. At least nothing compared to what he his capable of. I don't know if this is because he can't or won't. Maybe he has not had the right film to push him to his limits because the only people who can afford him are the big multi million dollar films. You could say that he would not try and go back to what he is great at because there could be too much of a fall if he gets it wrong but he all ready has fallen so low. All he can do is climb right back to the top and nock Mr RP back down. So lets hope someone does right a truly great script with a wonderful character and maybe De Niro will decide to do it. So here is hoping.


However at first I did think it was a shame that we I never see him again as on from as he used to be but if I do want to see that all I have to do is stick one of his dvds on. Whilst writing this blog and thinking about all the wonderful moments that he has brought to our screens I really want to watch films such as Mean Streets, The Dear Hunter, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver or Once Upon A Time In America again. Or maybe there is an old De Niro film out there that I have still not seen.


I want to leave you with a scene from one of his films. I took me ages to finally pick a clip to put in here. I didn't think it would be so hard to pick a moment but I decided to go with a scene from Cape Fear. In this he is playing a slightly different role than he usually does and it just backs up what I am trying to say bout him being a wonderfully talented actor

A step on from Kuleshov.

I was having a thin about the kuloshov experement. As we know it is the same image of a man cut two diffrent images. 

So this proved that the audience could understand that by putting two images together they where linked. This all seemed so obvious when we were told this. I was thinking of how silly of the people back then to not get this right away and have to take a few years to adjust to the idea of film editing. So then I stared to think about music and how music is used in sort of the same way. If you see a man walking with 'scary' music playing you know that something bad is going to happen. In the same way if 'happy' music is playing you know that everything is fine. You are able to get a feel for the tone of the scene and it can change you whole perspective of a scene. You could have the same image with different music over it and get something completely different. 

It feels quite weird almost taking a step back and looking at how films trick us in to believing the world they have tried to create for us. I suppose I was always aware that by cutting music to an image it was influencing me just like an image cut to another image influences me I just have never really thought about it. 

What is the point in complaining of being offended?

A while back we where talking in class about being offended by TV. A few people said what did offend them but I said that I have never seen anything on TV that has offended me. I saw this comedian that summed up what I was trying to say that day. What does it it mean to be offended. Nothing happens. When people say that they where outraged by a TV program it annoys me. So what if you were, why do do you feel the need to complain. Just don't watch the show that you don't like. There are loads of people who do like the show that you are complaining about so let them watch their show and you can watch the show that are aimed for you. There is something for everyone on TV so people should watch what they like and if you start to watch a show and you are offended just turn over the channel. For example the whole Saxgate saga really annoyed me. There was just no need whatsoever for anyone to complain. What it the point of it. All you are doing is ruining something that loads of people do enjoy. When I say you I don't mean anyone in the class I mean the general public. So anyway rant over and  here is this comedian who I completly agree with and says what I am trying to say.

Who gives a crap about continuity?

I would just like to talk a bit about what we were talking about today in regard to continuity. In some case's it is so obvious and it does take you right out of the movie. You suddenly become aware that you are watching a film and it then takes a while to get back into. I know that you did agree with Andy, it was you after all who raised that point today. I did agree with you but after going home and trying to find the scene in the godfather with the mistake I came across a video which showed about twenty different continuity errors and they are all quite big. So it got me thinking that maybe a mistake can bring you out of the film but if the film is good enough and truly does have you griped then a mistake will not bring you out of the film. I loved the godfather and was engrossed from start to finish without being aware that I was watching a film.

So I would still say that a mistake can bring you out of a film but if it can that must mean that the film does not have you as griped as it should be. So even though the godfather has so many of them it does not matter. If anything it shows how good a film it is if these glaring errors do not distract you.

CAMERA EVALUATION

I turned up early for my assessment which left me plenty of time to get ready and compose myself. This turned out to be very good idea as Ray mentioned it in my tutorial. He said that you are not only judged on what you can do technically but you as a person. So I was off to a good start. I put the tripod up with no difficultly and balanced the camera. I did not encounter any problems here and I remembered to bring a two pence coin with me to tighten the screws on the shoe.


I then referred to my notes when setting up the view finder. I was quite confident that I knew what I was doing but I thought I may as well check it as it was an assessment. Ray said that the contrast was just a little bit too high. He showed me what it should look like so hopefully next time I will get it spot on. I did the same with the monitor when celebrating it. I looked at my notes to be on the safe side and I was able to calibrate it fine.

Time code was simple as was recording the bars. I did not get it exactly on 30sec I was a few frames out but one day it will be spot on. Then it was time to set the back focus. I did not get it quite right in our last assessment and the same thing happened again. I was just a bit out. After speaking to Ray in my tutorial and think I know what I was doing wrong. I was turning the peaking up to the top and setting it. When it looked good I just left it. What I then should have done was turn the peaking off and check it again. What also could have happened is that when I was tightening the screw I could have knocked it.

I am quite confident in lighting so I picked my lights and set them up with not that much difficulty apart from the power pack on the Dedo kit. I picked the broken one and put that one on. I then changed it for a working one and I had not turned it on. This cost me a bit of time and Ray had to come over and switch it on. At least it was a basic error and I did have my lights in the right place.

Overall I thought it when well. I finished with a few minutes to spare which in a way was good but it could have been a lot quicker. In the real world I would have had a lot less time to set it all up and de rig. Ray said that there was no pace about me. I need to look like I am rushing and working hard. If someone is paying me to do a job then I need to look as if I am worth the money. So things to improve on are back focus and being generally faster at everything.

Lovely Bones.

First of all I would like to say that if I ever hear the words my name is Salmon like the fish I will have to hit something. I have been hearing that in the Lovely bones trailers since last year and now I see the film and I hear it again for what feels like 100 times. Just had to get that out, the first thing wrong with this film.

The second thing wrong must be the structure. We know she dies because it is one the first things it tells us in the film so show us it already. Again what feels about 30 minutes in, she finally dies. This might seem a horrible thing to say. "Hurry up and show us the dead girl." But what you have to understand is that for about half a year I have been told this film is about a girl who dies and is stuck in the in between world. So why show us meaningless crap that has nothing to do with the story for the start of the film. This was not even in the book. I do not care about her little brother I want to taken along the story not dragged through the mud for half an hour. Then she does die and it is quite horrible. The tension builds and you have been waiting for it for ages so that bit of the film is good. However you would think that she would die, is stuck in the in between world then try and help her family from the beyond as her killer is still living next door. But no she fannies around in an annoying pointless cgi world for an hour. I hated this about Dr Parnassus and my feelings are the same with this. I want to be moved not watch massive bottles crash into each other on a beach, what is the point in that. Or see her running in front of a green screen with nauseating images projected behind her. Just get on with it!

Putting the general lack of story behind you, you do have one thing that is good. Susan Sarandon but they gave most of her lines to the monotone voice over which is the "Salmon Girl". What is the point of this? Film is a visual medium so show us don't over describe it in a V.O. If you have to say it then let Sarandon say it. She is so much better at delivering lines than the wee girl. When she was allowed to speak she was hilarious and brought some light to the screen unlike Mark Walberg who showed about as much emotion as a tea pot.

Oh and then there was the killer. If anyone was going to cast this film then they would surly pick an evil, hair tingling man. Someone that could scare you with a single glance and that you would be afraid of if you were to even look at them. Again this film lets us down. They cast a totally stereotypical pedo. Nerd, glasses, skinny and disgusting. This is ok and you can total believe that he could be one but I would have rather seen a killer that looks like he would actually have the bottle to kill somebody. This nerd looks like he could just be pushed over and that would be the end of him. He did not have an evil presence about him like Robert De Niro had in Cape Fear.

So this film drags on for an hour after she dies then they final start to click about the killer next door. You then get to see one of the only good scenes in the whole film. The little girl’s sister breaks in to the house next door to try and find evidence to prove that he killed his sister. This part did keep me on the edge of my seat as she rummaged around his house. If you think about it this has been done a thousand times and better. It is just because it is placed in such a god awful film that it seems good. Once you leave and think about it you realise that it was actually it was a mediocre scene. However it was a ray of sunshine in this.

Overall I was very disappointed. I don't know why this film has made me write such a lengthy blog slagging it off. It could be because I have not blogged in so long so feel I should make up for it or it could be that this is film is just that bad. I would strongly recommend you do not see this film unless you want to watch Peter Jackson try and impersonate Tim Burton.

Reflective statement.

At the start of the module I did not fully understand what TV was. I thought that it was merely a box that showed us TV shows. If you had asked me to have a conversation about TV then I could only have talked about a few shows that I watched. After only a few weeks I realised that I there was so much more to TV than what I had thought. Not only did I start to learn about the programs and where they came from more importantly I learned what TV meant to people and how it influenced them. I was able to understand that TV played a massive part in shaping this country to the way it is now.


TV played in a massive part in people's lives. So much more that it does now. It was new and able to teach people in a way they had never been able to before. I also learned how it impacted the cinema. Before TV came along the only place you could see moving pictures was the cinema. Now that had all changed. TV did not just shape the people but also the way in which cinema was made. It was because of TV that the cinemas started to have to sell a cinema experience rather than just a film.


During this class I have also been able to watch some fantastic TV shows. We watched all sorts of TV and it was very interesting to look at what generations before me used to watch.


Overall I have surprised myself in this module. I would never have thought I could learn so much about something. I know now that I still have more to learn. What I am going to take away from this module is that in future I will look at something that I think I understand and challenge myself to think I might not know as much as I could, i.e. dig a little deeper and you will be surprised and what you can find.