festival international shorts: discomfort zone

The last thing i went to see was a group of international shorts, i found this extremely interesting and encouraging as we have just finished our first short. They were all based around the same idea(discomfort zone) but were completely different styles and all passed very differently. Some i liked more than others.

Birthday by Sandor Csukas :

Even though for the most part of the film was simple hands,hair and mouth close ups was not boring at all. in tone it was characterised by a blue and dark shadowy gloom, which was contradicted by the eerily cheerful party music and grins of the children at the party.

I liked the idea of having a definite obvious tone, almost like choosing sepia in photoshop, this had a blue tone over it and it stuck with it through out, it added to the darkness of the ending when we realise that the party was taking place on a huge landfill site, were in eastern european contries its common for children to play. An extremely simple concept with no inciting incident or real plot just a statement and a pretty shocking final shot.

this was one of my favourite out of the group .

incident by a bank by Ruben Ostlund:

the clever lip dub type on shot of this film was impressive alone never mind the fact that the films characters ware hilarious even from a distance. its a film i would never be inspired to make but i am glad to have seen it as it was simple and made me laugh , intelligently thought out it was almost like a high quality youtube video with sleek dialog.

out in that deep blue sea by Kazik Radwanski:

There was a general feeling of dislike towards this one however, i feel it is one the the strongest of all the films. it follows a man who is clearly trying to get some control back over his life , physically and mentally, finding the balance between work and social life. The character is an overweight 50 something and is trying to loose weight by working out, a man who is a hard worker at a job that seems unsatisfying to him. when his wife pushes him to sell a house to there friends its like a bus mans holiday and this is his breaking point. the end shot of this film is the man in a chair trying to put a piece of thread through a needle its static and stays on him for sometime until he achieves this. The immense hope this gives the audience that even if its only a tiny piece at a time , he's not going to give up and he will even if its mundane things go towards something he is more proud to call his life. I really enjoyed this short as it had more of a story than the others and its mundane but relevant and relatable story. really interesting and down to earth .

Tele-global dreaming by Eric Flanagan.

Hmmmm this was pretty weird subject wise, when a down and out actor is mistaken for a big shot actor in a foreign country .... yea i wasn't really taken by he plot , the cinematography however made up for it as it was very intrically lit and very beautiful to watch.

peace

Edinburgh film festival

FILM THREE: superhero me

this was the only documentary i managed to catch and i really loved it on a different level than pelican blood but all the same it was very entertaining.

this was a lovely warm hand made documentary about a man who decides and manages to become a superhero.

allot like kick ass in premiss but not in style this was most defiantly filmed on whatever he filmmaker could find : wobbly mobile phones, handhelds, possibly some larger more professional equipment, non of this mattered as the film was seamless in its drive and the camera was a quirky reminder that it was someones own personal project, the lead clearly did care about the subject and that was endearing enough but to see others that he interviewed was very humbling along with being very funny. a weird type of charity worker , who happened to ware superhero costumes, these people actually exist.!

The thing i loved most about this doc was the clear goal, to become a superhero. In having this the audience was never board and it taught me that this is an important thing to consider from the start of creating an idea for a documentary. It subtly showed the audience some of the underlying problems in society in britain and america which i felt never brought the town down but left a lingering image in your mind when you left the cinema.

Funny and cleverly intelligent i'm glad this independent film maker got a platform to show his passion .

7/10

peace

edinburgh film festival

FILM TWO : a spanking in paradise.

Well this was an encouraging experience: away from the some what portentousness of the social mixers a premier with a nervous young director shakily throwing out thank you's in a hardy scottish accent. Cheers from cast and crew at certain moments in the film , all over very well done, very scottish and very encouraging.

the subject matter -somewhat dubious, focuses its attention around a sauna- yes a "sauna" the sexy over steamy kind! A brave yet simple script about a man who is about tho move to america visiting his crazy scottish relatives for a shot time before he goes.

as you can expect he gets roped in to all sorts of hi jinx but his character manages is life the spirits a little higher than usual , even when he is covered in curry! darkly funny and very intriguing this is a young director who through his vision and comedic writing style i'm sure will go far .

For the film alone i would give it 6/10

for the premier and love tears and sweat that was obviously poured over the film ( and its general scottishness ) 8/10

peaec

two seconds

when i began on this journey i made a list of things i wanted to get out of it and achieve.

1. to gain a confident voice of authority and allow myself to say with out guilt if i don't think something is working.
2. to make a film i know i gave 100% to and something i can be proud of .
3. gain experience of directing, to hopefully have one that will confirm this as what i want to do .
4. to relax and enjoy making a film.
5. to get my vision of the page.

I thought i would keep it simple but also challenging. Looking back on the list i am proud to think that i can check most things on it and i think from a reflective point of view writing a short goals list before the start of a film is a good thing to do as it gets you ready and also in a positive, 'this is what i am going to achieve' mind set.

writing directors notes:

The first thing i did as a director was go over my script several times just reading it at first them i took four different colours of highlighter and began to annotate, cross out add in and detail every nook and cranny of my script. this was a procedure that took about 3 days. it was fun to be so detailed and i think from this process i began to see my script more as a film that would be viewed rather than a script that would be read.

After the script was sorted we had to consider very seriously our actress because my script was going to hang completely on her performance. My dad called me one day and asked if i had considered kate dickie, i laughed and said you get me her number and ill call her. so the next day i sat nervously my phone calling kate dickie. This i have to comment on because calling someone you admire to talk about your own film is quite a weird experience, i never knew that when i brought red road in at the start of the year as one of my favourite films i would be calling its star at the end of the year to be in mine. After a few rings i got a very friendly , " hi there dickie residence" , it was kate dickies husband after saying my name it was clear that my dad had already been talking to people about me because it appeared he had been waiting for the call, after a while of chatting away i realised that kate was far to busy to get involved but it was a super first experience of putting myself out there and for the next time i can be allot more confident and prepared for calling people up, contacts or old friends who ever it may be.

auditions,

These were my first opportunity to direct actors, as i have had experience a few times before directing stage performance and being directed in on stage i had worked out a voice for myself and a way of speaking to the actors. i felt that my confidence levels were good for a first timer however if i were to do the auditions again i would have challenged the actors allot more, making them do more difficult scenes.

having a tech rechy and writing a ruff story board was what we did next , all in one day as well!

We decided for convenience and also because it fitted the script quite well to film the scenes in the flat in my flat. It was a bit small we thought when we had the rechy but good for sound and there was plugs a plenty to put lighting outside so because these things were ok we decided it worked and that the camera would have to fit! Looking back on this i think we were a little to eager to start filming and should have maybe thought out the camera situation a bit more, there were problems on the day with how to angle it because it didn't fit in the kitchen etc, taking this into consideration i still think my flat was the best place we could have found that was on location .

filming on set- day one. I cant thank Alistair from fourth year enough for coming along to be my directing mentor. The smallest things he pointed out to me were so helpful and as a beginner .It was really comforting to know there was someone there who actually knew what he was doing :)

We went for a quick 30 min chat to talk about how i had prepared and for him to give me some tips. I had written out some notes on each scene for the actress to read over the previous night and gave them to her in advance for the following day. when Alistair said it was about telling the actor how to feel in a scene rather than try and tell them how to act it really made sense and i was glad my notes were on the emotion rather that were to put there hands etc because these things i felt came out naturally on set rather than to be forced and look contrived by myself .

The lighting was really difficult the first day and as we learnt its rather tricky on the set to have a balance creatively between getting the performance and also making it look good on camera. i don't know if there is an answer to this one but for me personally i think as a team we coped better on the first day than the second simply because we were all fresh and exited about it and therefor working fast and to our best ability. even the slip up with sound didn't hold us back and we managed to re-shoot three scenes. leaving us all extremely tired but pleased with ourselves by the end of the day.

working as a team ( minus one person who just left and stood outside) we all pulled together and got the set taken down along with kit and lights put away which we did in record time! a very good start to filming i felt and i was very proud of everyone that day.

filming on location was a whole different kettle of fish :) This day was always going to be more difficult , we had a baby and several extras which gave us precise time constricts, i had also written overnight a new scene to be filmed at some point so we were faced with a massive and at some times un-comprehendable hill to climb up. With no Alistair on set today either it was all of us on our own . Each shot seemed to take forever to light however i'm so so glad that we took our time over this because the lighting was key to the mood of the flat scenes and it really does make the difference. really well done to Amelie for that!

Even thought this day was becoming more and more stressful as we got more and more behind i felt that we were all in our own stride a bit more, i had found a voice i was happy with and i new my script really well for these scenes so i was confident in what i was saying to the actress and because of this found her performance was really spot on.( even with a we baby )

After lunch we managed to claw our way back to the time schedule working extra fast and more comfortably together. When the extras had arrived we were just about ready for them . I felt myself dip a we bit in confidence for a second or two but i took a deep breath and then got on with it, i did find it hard to focus on the creative side of things when i had people trying to keep the scenes moving and carry on to the next thing but thats what you have to do and i think we found the balance without rushing anything to much. There was one extra in particular who was a bit hard to deal with which i was shocked by because i thought extras wouldn't be divas! however i was firmer and more deliberate in my directions i gave to him and i think because of that i left my directors journey on a good note because i had found a voice that was my own but was confident enough to be one that could mould itself to direct timid and overly confident people.

What a way to go out on i'm so pleased and thankful my script got picked and have learnt so much about myself but also about directing through this process.

peace

edinburgh film festival

FILM ONE: pelican blood

This was the first film i went to see and the best out of the lot!

my first impression of the film was wow! Beautifully shot. beautifully lit. beautifully written . Poignant , thought provoking and heavily moving.

What was the film about? well i was bound to like this as it was more of a emotional exploration than a story heavy film. it was a character study on someone coping with depression and also trying to deal with loving someone who has depression as well. it still wrapped beautifully around a believable plot.

Shot on film which gave that brilliant unattainable depth allowing for smooth but at the same time textured feel. the darker moments is when film shines, were you have to push it slightly. in the bedroom with the candles and the fairy lights the screen glistened with flickers and shadows it was gorgeous.

The editing was very european, holding onto shots , having 'pause' moments which focus on objects and close up on hands. It was un-obvious and without special effect, it organically moved the film forward.

My favorite scene composition wise was one at the end were the character is contemplating drinking a lethal drink that his overlly emotive girl friend has made up for him. The lighting apears ambient- which i beilieve is geneouse D.O.P.ing! its a beautiful and inspiring scene which represents the movie as a whole really well, time tacken over every detail: superb acting combing with a near perfect script, beautiful cinematography and a thought provoking , worthy subject.

i left the screening speechless, moved and inspired.

9.5/10

peace

friday 28th screening day.

Well today we watched 3 things! what a treat.

We had a short documentary on the rise and fall of left wing drama on british telly called left of frame- in conjunction with that we had the ' boys from the black stuff' which i enjoyed very much. And we topped that all of with M.A.S.H

So to start with the 6 parter the boys from the black stuff was an instant hit for me as i love things to do with the 'trade industry' (i'm a nosy we girl friend and i like to see what they get up to) this is a very provocative / political piece of work , it comments on both the people at the time and the social climate. social realism but not to the extent of cathy come home, this is a drama and works well in that format but it is

also very relevant and important to its time.

interestingly enough there are some people who believe its still relevant today and have even started a Facebook group up about it : link- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boys-from-the-Blackstuff .

Andy brought up a hard question to answer, who is making drama like this today ? Who is actually saying something and making a political statement ? For me it seems like there are lots of things because i only watch what chose to online. There have been several documentaries about women in society which even thought its glossed over nowadays there are still so many problems. however , if you look at when they are broadcast and to the audience size it is pretty dismal in comparison. Is it the place for short films now to make an impact, are people not interested in documentary / drama which makes a political statement? I felt that when the question was asked the topic for my short was important( prison wife's: the forgotten) and that even though its an extremely common thing in britain there is not allot of coverage dramatically or documentary. hence : forgotten wife's. I think that this is not something to keep in class notes but a question to always ask when we are coming up with ideas for television - like i said about cathy come home, this is really up to us to change.

So to the afternoon were we watched M.A.S.H , this is the original Vietnam war film.

Even though you never really see fighting ( almost like jar head) you still get the feeling of exactly what it would have been like to have been there. the confusion and the laughs mingled with the terror.

For watching the film there were defiantly more laughs than terror. in-fact even the grotesque at times operation scenes were made to be a comical.

In all honesty when i wasn't laughing i was board by this film , there was a noticeable lack of plot which would work in a TV program but not on such a large scale. The fact that it was so funny really saved this film for me and with a pretty cool sound track it became overall not a bad one to watch .

peace

easy rider

Billy: What the hell is wrong with freedom? That's what it's all about.

George Hanson: They'll talk to ya and talk to ya and talk to ya about individual freedom. But they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em.

I was so exited to watch easy rider after the emphasis put on it in the documentary , "a decade under the influence" it seemed to encapsulate what this new wave of film was trying to say , they wanted freedom , and were always looking forward, out of the old ways and into this new society which was sexually and spiritually liberated and full of new experiences waiting for everybody. This was a time for the young to take charge as the old hollywood was dying out. ( quite literally ) known widely as a landmark in film history this is a great example of what and how film making became in the 70. ( even though this was a sneaky 60's film) As Andy commented this film hasn't aged as well as the others. I found this to be true there were parts that didn't sit right for my movie watching eyes, it was very stylised and the edit was interesting but ultimately a little bit irritating as it jumped back and forth back and forth, something which it was praised for at the time. The road movie style was very beautifully captured however and the wide sweeping shots really carried the film along like a beautiful music video, everyone knowing 'born to be wild' as the first instrumental beat raised up.

The film was brave in many ways and i can imagine how it must have been refreshing and shocking at the time for me the thing that stays refreshing in the film is the little diamond lines of dialog which sum up the whole feeling at the time and also the bravery of keeping it so simple, driven by its beautiful cinematography and ideas rather than action.

"An indie film that became the spokesperson for a decade when Hollywood was preoccupied

with other concerns"

The public embraced this film, they liked it because it was something real. People wanted something they recognised, they wanted something that was apart of them .

Overall i think that this film is a grower and has power in its social context at the time, for me now its just a cool road movie but for many it was a beacon that there was change coming. Watching it with those eyes makes it pretty special .

xx peace. xx

the killer inside me

"bleak, blacker than noir."

Just thought i would bring this to everyones attention as i have just seen the trailer for the first time : Relating to the films we are watching at the moment it has a very 1960/70 feel about it and i'm very exited to see it . you should check out the trailer on youtube .

peace

Filming Sams film and grad shoot

It would have to be on the hottest day of the year so far that we decide to film in doors. not only indoors but in the Ath were there are no windows and no natural light.

However, each bit of experience i feel leads me further and further into a comfort zone with the camera and my friend the boom pole. i'm not sure what it is but my hight and willingness seems to give me the job of boom op-ping quite frequently. I enjoy doing this job because it important and you feel as if you are helping allot, when i'm 'running' on set i feel a little like a headless chicken but when i'm asked to do sound i feel like i have a specific role in the crew. It will be nice when i get my chance to do camera which is the specific role i would like to pursue.

It was nice to be filming with such a talented dancer but i felt there was more awe than laughs when he started dancing, we will have to see how this comes out in the final edit.

So there has been quite a nasty undercurrent in the class i feel over the grad film/2nd year films. The people who were asked to do it - fine , but there was little information about why and who were picked and left us all feeling a little left out and isolated. so , after finding out the facts from adam on the subject and making myself feel better i jumped on the chance of having a day filming 'paper skin' even if it was to boom op!

My initial worries were , was i going to be able to hold the boom up for long periods of time , and mostly, i worried that i would just get it wrong and cause delays for filming.

well , i got up bright and early and was first there on the steps of the academy on saturday morning. I knew i could get time keeping right and i did. With that under my belt i felt a little more confident that i could be reliable on set to , we traveled with the actors to the set which was nice, as it gave us a chance to get to know each other .

I was well prepared for the day with coffee on tap and chocolate to keep me going : a note for my bag essentials next time would be a sandwich as sweet things get boring quite quickly.

Lani introduced himself straight away and was so cheery and helpful that it put me in the right attitude mode and got me exited to start filming. At first i was a little shaky but i quickly learnt how to find the edge and stay above it! This was my first time seeing the red camera as well and i was very impressed, it was just like setting up a large format film camera but without bellows i'm confident that ill be able to apply the skills i already have and learn the camera very fast in second year.

overall i felt very drained after each experience but was very glad and willing to give up my weekends for it. The more the better.

peace

a bit of reflection

ah summer is defanetly on its way , this week has seen dftv flurish into little brightly colouerd summer creatures, who new we could embrace this month so well.

oliver stone :

As a class we all enjoyed the charm oliver stone adorned on us, who knew ada looked like lady gaga? well now its been pointed out we obviously can all recognise it .

If i'm honest i have only ever seen one of his films and that is - natural born killers- and i fell asleep watching it even though it has such a fast pace at the end. Yes , i did enjoy it and loved how it harked back to bonnie and clyde and how it interviewed different film formats etc. I must say watching the clips of the films with the beautiful string ensemble was really tear jerking. It did make me want to watch platoon - a film i have never considered before.

the highlight of the day however was the amazing free food and the champaigne bar toped of like a cherry on the cake with a rosy cheeked and overly friendly photograph with our old friend Olive stone.

A really excellent experience and Andy was right,

" theres nothing like having an oscar winner around the place to raise the tone. " A Dougan

production classes with abigail:

Well this class should of been a bit of a nightmare for me as it was all about paper and lists and organising times etc. not.my.speciality. but i decided to go for it and try my best, we were split into groups to work ogether and we stayed in the same groups till the end. i think that the members of my group all felt similarly that producing wasnt really there fortay however, we ralied and even thouhgh we had to stay behind for what seemed like hours after the rest had left i think that we got the knack of it. This class for me was about gritting my teeth and just taking things a bit at a time, we got there in the end and funnily enough it was my group members and i who were left finishing the test last on the monday.

it was the first bit of revision i had done in ages and i felt that the test went well.

fingers crossed

the disappearance of alice creed.

well this one is flying some what under the ray dar at the moment but if you have the time you should defiantly check it out. If the fact that the cast consists of only 3 people isn't enough to entice you to watch it then maybe knowing that its been directed by a man who cleverly and stylishly 'cut his cloth' so to speak but in doing so has produced a very addictive and captivating feature!

"craftily engineered piece of work" - Nicolas Barber , the independent

The film opens on a shocking quick shot sequence which lasts for quite a length- there is little dialog as well, there was not a sound in the cinema and if there was ever a moment to realise this is what the cinema experience is about then. I would say that it was this- nobody could tell you were the fire exits were at this point in time. I think the critics are write in saying the films lacks pace after this point and if i'm brutal i would say that some of the beats are a little obvious as time wasters however, i think the overall idea is genius,

Im exited to see what this brit talent will do next be it writer or director.

link to the article i took quote from :

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/the-disappearance-of-alice-creed-j-blakeson-100-mins-18brrevanche-gtz-spielmann-121-mins-15brthe-milk-of-sorrow-claudia-llosa-95-mins-12a-1960090.html

Autistic superstar and Bonnie and Clyde

SO firstly to quite a delicate subject - which in my opinion wasn't delicately handled. Autistic superstars :

A program following Reggie Yates as he travels round Britain (England) to find talented young musicians, who also have autism – to see in a very un scientific way if giving them the opportunity to take part in his bit event – “autistic superstars” will help them communicate better and allow them to have a chance to show of. ( Because clearly if you are a talented singer but autistic you can't go on XFACTOR! what?! )

Well the first thing that really gets you when you watch this slightly bizarre program is that Reggie Yates is very naive, he clearly didn't take the time before hand to learn and educate himself on what being autistic means and to learn about there sensibilities. He is the presenter but also it is implied that the concert was his idea, it appears that he thought his tv talent would carrie the program but unfortunately i think it would have done better with a more understanding presenter . I'll watch the final episode hoping for an upturn but i think that in essence this program lacks tact and it entertainment over sensibility towards the subject of Autism.

Bonnie and Clyde :

well the whole class really enjoyed this as it had us all laughing and gasping along with it. The film follows Bonnie and Clyde through there short lived fiery relationship. They rob banks to get along and eventually reality catches up with them but what a ride. You really get thrown in to being on there side throughout this one, its clear from the start that its going to be a bumpy ride.

This film was (along with the graduate and in the heat of the night ) right at the start of the new hollywood ear which was heavily influenced by the french new wave of the 50s but still holding some influences from the gangster type films of the earlier classic hollywood period.

The film has a harder more realistic stye of acting and has a higher amount of on screen violence which was also a thing that seemed cutting edge at the time.

I really loved this film and found Faye Dunaways character to be very daring on screen, she oozes sex appeal and is utterly stylish which is perfectly followed and kept up through the film.

Her on screen partner in crime Clyde played by heart throb Warren Beatty also oozes sex appeal and hedonistic charm. For some reason i felt jealous of Bonnie when he comforts her by covering her face with his hand ... maybe it was just the sheer manly size of his hands i don't no ...... any way the film was a joy to watch and Im really loving this trend of films that we are getting to watch in class as Iv said before i think this is my favorite period in films so far .

Exited about Oliver Stone:

natural born killers director oliver stone is coming in on wednesday and Im extremely exited:)

i think that his film was very much influenced by the epic Bonnie and Clyde it will be so amazing to meet him and here what such a legend has to say.

PEACE

reflection on candid cabaret

So on Sunday night i went along to the oran more to film Candid Cabaret. The class seemed generally exited about the opertunity of filming the Musical theatre students and they didnt let us down. Each act was very differant and equally as talanted. Next year ill go along just to watch as i enjoyed the atmosphere and the performances very much. The building and interior of the oran more as well was so pretty and quirky so it was nice to be in such a good looking venue.

The first thing we did was get a de-breifing from Ray on how the hole thing was going to run.
I was exited but nervouse about what camera i was going to be put on. In the end i found myself on the side vue camera which was a position i had wanted so it was all good.

We had several mishaps with BNC cables breaking and cables not being long enough but in the end we settled down and just worked with what we had and what was working, it felt good to have some obsticles and be able to get over them as a team. Flick helped me set up the camera and we did it swiftly finding even without notes we could calobrate vuefinders and set colour temp etc. this i was proud of because i fret over notes and it seemed in this case that they were not needed.

So whaen the performances started there were a few problems : mainly i kept forgetting that i couldnt dance along with the pan handle because the whole camera would also be dancing along! lets hope they dont need my shots for the times i was doing that. Next i felt that my camera positing wasn't quite right as my frame was framed by two large pillers which created havoc when performers went into the crowd and moved around to much.
The biggest mistake i made was to lock of to tightly, at one point the performer ( singing passionetly dipping lower and lower the higher they sang) disapered out the bottom of frame and i couldnt unlock my camera! A very amature mistake.

Overall even though my camera skills sound diabolical i felt i caught the atmosphere and emotions in the performers faces. It was a great experiance as it always is doing live events and we left buzzing. This is always important to remember for me , this is what makes me tick and exites me .

peace

Cathy Come Home

Firstly can i say that the we boy in the film was the cutest child i have ever scene.

ok on to buisness, i knew before it started from what Andy had said that this was going to be shocking, i find it hard to write blogs on shocking things as when your watching it the horror almost washes over you and its hard afterwards to pick single moments out. All you remember is that you found it shocking and that it has made you feel slightly less content than when you walked into the room.

So , i took notes whilste watching it and this is what i got :

• black and white very naturalistic feel.


• the voices are almost drowned out by the ambient noice the general city noice - this really adds to the feeling that they are living on the verge of living on the street.


• very fragmented , which was quite uneasy and hard to watch .


• story works with voice over and dialog - very naturalistic and compelling.

quotes i felt were important from the film:

" love is more important to a child than nice suroundings"

" it was as if they thought it was a crime to have children. "

" why doesnt he do something about it instead of doing something he doesnt beileve in? " - Cathy on the officer who seperated her from her husband.

My notes are so sparse because the film was so captavating , it's so amazing to think that it was broadcast at such a prime time slot and that they could make tv that actually made such a differance.

after Cathy come home was made the governement actually changed legislation. Heres a link if anyones intrested which rounds up in a good general summary Cathy Come Home.

www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/438481/index.html

there was so much socially aware tv in the 70/80's i hope that with my intrest i can bring back important documentaries to the TV. ( not to say there isnt any just that there on at the wrong time and place) Watching this made me want to creat a documentary about how the concervative party will decrease the amount of care given to the society, as my cousin who has quite severe disabilities will feel in the next few years. the programme caused me to be sads and angry and really appreiciate my suroundings . This is real important tv and we need to bring it back .

I gues the future really is in our hands .....

peace

remember me

Why? Were you different? What was unique about you?

A few things I will remember you for:The most unexpected ending I have ever scene.

Letting me fall in love with a talented actor and not a “hot” vampire.

Having the courage to tackle a subject most would think too simple, too boring. In doing so creating a human- relatable and genuine scene which held the audience completely.

This film, I would say was let down dramatically in its structure. i think it was trying to be like 'the air i breath' with interweaving stories and focusing on the one at a time and slowly weaving them together , at times were the story was most interesting the audience were held/captivated and silent but with this came parts were I was tapping my fingers waiting for it to move on , to get going. People got phones out, started to whisper, then silence. For me the most poignant moments were rpatz and his sister, the scene, were she is standing with her hair all chopped of was truly, “re-memorable” and relatable. Like I said it would be seemingly boring- a story line about hair.

This film probably wont be remembered in years as a big hit or one of the greats but i wouldn't pass up the chance of watching it again in the future, it was interesting and purposely delivered.

peace x

a night mare on elm street.

Well this film was quite impressive as it actually managed to scare me!

Iv sat through texas chain saw, halloween you no all the usual hollywood trashy slasher movies and not been scared , quite board in fact. but this one , it caught the right nerve for me and had me hiding my eyes and quivering in my seat. I had previously seen the night mare on elm street box set at a film night and found them to be cheesy very 80's but yes scary to.

I find the idea that no matter how clever or cunning the characters are they have no power over what happens in there dreams. It was heightened by the idea that they were all much more daydreamy in this one and throughout the film you were constantly wondering which was reality and which was a dream.

When we got out of the cinema there was a quiet cheer about us as for the most part the film was allot better than we thought. The acting was fare and there was some very very clever editing which i can't comprehend on how they managed it.

Sam loved the lighting and Chris thought the sound mix was well done , we laughed about this seeming quite studious of ourselves but it shone in the film and it really was well put together.

not a shock then to find it was produced by Michael Bay .

As the story got deeper and the characters found out more and more the horror was left behind slightly by the actual horror of being molested as a child , there were some plot holes which didn't really get answered but hey! it is a slasher movie at heart.

i really enjoyed this film because it did what it said it would on the box and it ( in my opinion) didn't tarnish the iconic "Fredy Crooger" image. In fact in style and in production value it probably did out shine it .

peace xx

reflective on this week

Well it has not been an easy ride this week. However, I don’t think that that is necessarily a bad thing. We were given several deadlines for the end of this week, a treatment and poster for Richard , a treatment for Adam , a summative statement for moodle and 2 blogs one on stagecoach and one on politics. There were meetings for lip dub design team and deli as well .

So yea, pretty busy this week. How do I feel I coped? I think that considering I got everything done and that I didn’t do any all nighters shows I cope half decently. It was a shame I felt that by the time we had Richards class I was almost to tiered to concentrate.

There was allot of confusion as to what happens in second year with Richard and for myself included I wasn’t sure what Richard was really getting at, it seemed to me that half the class will get tutoring and improve and the rest will just be left to their own devises. Feeling tired and realizing as a class I felt that the discussion wasn’t really going anywhere so we moved back onto premises.

I don’t know if it was because I was overly nervouse or because I was being to self critical but it felt in class that Richard struggled with my idea, when I asked for help I was given it in what I found to be very complicated idea’s I wrote furiously trying to stay positive but I felt so embarrassed and very aware of the time Richard was spending on me, feeling almost like the class were getting fed up of heering my idea. This was my reaction in the room but now I think that everyone was just really tierd like myself.

So it was a very thank god its friday feeling in the class, everyone read out their blow up doll ideas and even though its a strange one i can really imagine it working and i think its always good if you can picture something in your head and i really could with this so i'm exited which ever one is picked .

looking forward to next week , its the filming of candid cabaret on sunday and the re-drafting of allot of ideas, this is an exiting time in the academy as everything is being pushed forward to the next level.

i just hope we can all keep up , and i hope personally that i can do my best on a re-draft for richard.

peace xzzzz

stage coach

So, its hard for me to watch a western without thinking of my little sisster, at any given opertunity she would sit down and watch anything atall that involved cowboys and indians, the west and that kinda anoying singalong type soundtack. one of the most depressing favorites of hers was the one that is like the others but everything seems to just go terribly wrong for the whole town in the end. So for me when i heard western i felt i had a pretty good idea what to expect, not that i was dreading the idea of watching it just that i felt i knew what type of thing was going to happen ......

so yes there was the classic chase scene the campfire scene and a showdown at the end but boy was this stylishly done. With lines like,

" an angel in the jungle" and a cracker at the end

"Saved from the blessings of civilisation."

This film is gripping from start to finish.

this is the first western i have seen in black and white so that made a big difference straight away, from the start just visually i was open to the idea that this wasn't going to be just like the others.

There was the perfect road movie cast, the serious brooding John Wayne and the socially ostrocized Dallas who is emplyed to be something of a prostitue, the rich pregnant lady who was nice enough but a bit of a bitch, Hetfeild the swarve good looker and several comic relief’s.

The women are strong characters from the start, even when they are told the cartridge will be in danger and that if they stay on so will they, they refuse to get of and don’t seem that bothered by the idea. There is allot of role reversal with Dallas and Wayne, at one point she goes to serve him dinner and he takes the bowl out of her hand and serves it for her.

The screenplay weaved happily through the upbeat stingy western music. When it comes to longer dialogs with Ringo kid its very stylish and to the point, there doesn’t seem to b a wasted word and Wayne’s execution is word perfect. They never held onto the serious words for that long you always new there would be some comic relief round the corner, which was a really nice touch in the screenplay as it acted as a yoyo effect.

The cinematography was very beautiful to from the wide sweeping shot to the tight close shots inside the stagecoach. These shots were particularly brave as they lingered with no dialog on expression- acting so strong no words were needed, well-polished and lovely lit working to their best advantages with the black and white film. The corridor scene was also a really well lit and framed shot, Dallas was kept in a pool of light and you could just see Wayne highlighted in the corner of the shot.

the classic shoot out scene at the end of the film cleverly cut away from the action instead of shoving it , playing out slowly showing reactions of dallas and the saloon really worked and made a statement that this wasn't just your average cowboy movie .

the moments in the salloon are so tense its horrible , you just want something to happen , the silence is defining as its in such stark contrast to the jogging western music you get so used to throughout the film.

amazing :)

peace x

the blog on politics

Blog on politics:

So how is politics represented on t.v :

Well sadly I do not posses a TV but when I was at home I caught the first of the party debates. Being at home really influenced my watching of the debate as my parents were there shouting at the tv and even worse my little sister was there who completely outshines me in political knowledge. It was nice that this could be a family watch, I felt privileged at how much importance my parents have always put on politics and in the debate I think that the leaders should have dealt with family issues more, clearly in the audience there was a lack of young people, even when there was a question from a young school boy he was surrounded by older people. This looked visually bad and only reflected on how most young people see politics as today, a distant thing that doesn’t relate to them.

I have witnessed one of the conservatives tv campaign’s-adverts whilst watching Britain’s got talent on itv player. I thought it was so disturbing that they were aiming it at the audience that will suffer most – the working class, the ones that the conservatives party will forget about are the ones that are thinking – hey I could do with £150 pounds. This made me so frustrated, as I knew how influential these “testimonial” type adverts are to the working class.

Back on the case of the Conservatives- have you seen the sun today!

Not having a tv means I have to do the old fashion thing of reading the newspaper and I was saddened and shocked to see the page three headliner

“Save these girls from the dole tomorrow.”

What! These girls can only nude model? Is that what your saying. Ok so that is not at all what they are saying, they want to say look guys if you want naked girls vote conservatives. How pathetic, to go so low as to do that I felt was shocking and demoralizing to the party but clearly the sun knows what it is doing. It did influence/ sway the vote with its famous headliner,

“ Would the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights.”

This link shows the poster and how the girl’s underwear was photoshoped blue.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2010/may/05/the-sun-page-three-pants

Overall its clear that the political advertising is just like the ones we are currently discussing on Moodle, manipulative to its audience and extremely tacktical and sneaky.

As for the vote, is there a politician I can trust with my future? That is my answer to the question could it have been done differently , yes yes yes! they could all start by simply stating there manifestos and explaining how they are different and telling us all the good points about there parties , instead of backstabbing sleazy adverts and newspaper gimmicks.

Peace xx

in the heat of the night

yet another amazing film and from the same year that the graduate came out , what a fantastic year in cinema. Firstly the opening song by Ray Charles really drew you right in and it seemed so modern with the blurry lights and being so simple with emphasis on the song and its lyrics.

I knew of this film only from my mother telling me how gorgeous sdney portie was in it , just like many films i know by this description - long hot summer being one she comments on allot!

I loved the plot twist at the end of the film , it wasn't what i expected and it got grittier and grittier with the introduction of the abortion idea. The themes in the film were extremely topical at that period in time, the racism was shocking and really unbelievable but it was like that then and i'm glad it didn't shy away from any of it. It stands now as a historic piece, this i felt is exactly how it was for people back then.

The end scene was perfect with the swapping of roles almost as the sergeant takes the suitcase for him, this was a really nice touch and i'm so so glad Virgil didn't apologise for himself .

really nice film. peace xx

double indemnity

woooooooow :)

This film is such a big must see, i was literally texting my friends telling them they need to check it out. From a girl who brought in BRICK" to my interview as my favorite film i must say this outdid it in its cinematography and punchy film noir feel .

From the continuity of the perfect cigar lighting to the bravery of having extremely dark scenes with only moon beams of light the film did not let up till the hold your breath ending .

It felt like a perfect piece of art work , every-shot hand picked and brilliantly lit, composed and paced. I was impressed with the smooth edits and even a fade crossover which i didn't no existed in those days .

lovely friday morning

term three first week

so we had two classes with barbera : one on monday afternoon and one on tuesday , i really like barbera's classes : her teaching style is simple and gently challenging. The pace of the class suited me well as she went slowely through everything giving me time to write detailed notes and ask questions: there is allot of discussion in her class and its mostly interactive with her asking questions and us learning and grwoing in creativity by anwering them . This learning style is a good one i think as everyone is learning the same thing but the more you get involved in the class the more you get out of it , i feel at ease enough in Barbera's class to speak up and i think that on reflection it would be a good mentra to take with me to all of my classes ( edditing especially as i tend to sit and get confused instead of asking questions and dealing with my own learning )

We had to come up with childrens programme ideas and we looked into that area: so everyone had the basic knowledge you gain by watching the programmes when you are younger but there were still some things that barbera caught us up on as even in the last few years programming has changed allot : for instance now there are less and less kids tv programmes on BBC it has all been transfered to CBBC , intrestingly CBBC is the most watched but in a statistic given in class it was found there favorite channel was DISNEY .

The idea i came up with was quite simple and one that has been done in different forms before : i was partnered with Chriss and we thought we would use my idea - i think i could have done more research into what kids are watching now and what the programming timetables look like as when we pitched it would have given us more confidence in our conviction.

we had david on tuesday morning :

The class seemed split by david but on my part i found his lesson exactly what i needed to get back on track with the tech fundimentals . He went over everything in detail and i felt at ease enough to go up look at the camera and ask questions as did other in the class. we seemeed in charge of the lesson as we asked questions he got a better idea of what we knew and fitted what he was teaching us around that. i volenteered to set up the moniter and thought that i did and ok job on that with the pressure of the class watching. i knew that we were being watched as there were possitions up for camera op and assist for a intervue shoot next week so i was paying extra attention and wanted to try my best to look like i knew what i was doing :)

over the holidays i wrote out all my tech notes into a simplified little note book wich now only contains tech notes , this was a good idea as in class i knew exactly were to look and with the simpler note layout i had the pointer i needed and nothing more.

realizing i wasn't so clued up on sound i put my name down for that for creative conversations and was picked .

wednesday we had roz and andy: representation

This class was a little nerv racking : as we all like to make jokes in the class and i felt that anyjoke may have been scene as being inapropriate.

As i am kean on doing factual programmes this is a subject area i was intrested to learn about .
Roz gave us a list of names people get called and asked us to decide if any were appropriet to ever use : everything was quite easy to discuss and i felt that as a whole the class did grasp the idea of equality and divercity apart from when it comes to religion/ even roz seemed to think the term bible basher was a funny one , in my opinion this is just as bad as anything else on the list, being 8 years old and having it as a nickname is not fun. It was really intresting to here people's vues on the subjects and shocking to see how society in britain was years ago , not to mention the ideals they held then are somewhat still thoguht to be right in some are's of the country.

friday screening :

the best years of our lives

Ok so even thought several of us were being sick ( lets not go there ) non of us however lacking in sleep could take our eyes from teh screen : this i would honestly say has been the most captivating of all the films we have seen. But thats not that suprizing seen as its right up my street any way :)

there was a constant mis-en-scene of almost melancholy joy if that makes sense !

What was very prominent was the female characters. each one was stronger than you would aspect from a film of that period.

What i have gathered from this week tho is the idea that to be a strong woman you need to have expectations and dreams that do not involve love . i just think that we cant completely engorge the animal want and need for companionship and to reproduce.

class with adam on web based content , this class was quite a confusing one to have on a friday afternoon! we were trying to get our heads around the idea of augmented reality , a bizare but quite intresting concept it seems to go beyound 360 degree idea .

This is something that you can take away and think about easily as it is something that in society if you look between the lines they are focusing on more and more. If you look at a 360 degree shopping experiance they are targetting you with adverts on your phone/web/when your walking down the street everywere and i think that tv programmers want tv to be as easily accesible and as desirable to have all the time .

peace x

kick ass

just went to see kick ass, and it to my surprise was a light fluffy , overly gory in parts, breath of fresh air. I found it hilarious ! It was so well edited as well and after the efforts of cutting home , i truly can appreciate the perfection that was the timing of the dark moments in the film , they used modern day effects with amazing pizzaz, there was an almost 'prestige' like piro sequence were - even though one of the main characters gets burned alive - you'r left thinking " wow that looked good " what a great way to start my holiday :)

mad men

So last night I watched the addictive, mad men for the first time. WOW. First thing I noticed simply because it was mentioned in class (I think) is the amazing attention to detail, the costumes the hair, it all felt really naturally authentic and of the time, knowing that the costume designer is the same man that did a single man really didn’t shock me as the costumes were equal in stylishness and authenticity.

After that you begin to take in the world that is beautifully created in front of you the male dominated work place were women, to get were they wanted to go which seemed to be the head sectary ??! Had to sleep with there bosses and felt the need to be on contraceptive pills from the word go. I found this quite hard to understand as nowadays even though things aren’t 100% equal we are getting there, but this society seemed almost medieval like in some ways , back to the thinking that women’s brains are only the size of a squirrels. Women should look good and be quiet idea.

The whole thing is perfection, every detail is meticulous to the time, the props/ costumes / cars everything. It adds to the whole world that i would say is re-created not just created. Mad Men seems to me like a monument to a time that really did happen and when they use adverts like the 'beatle' on which was actually used it seems very real.

I can't not comment on the cinematography and direction as the whole thing glistens with a charming mesonsen, which effortlessly glides ( continuity perfect) from episode to episode, the acting stays superb and doesn't let up or fail to hold your attention. And every shot is perfectly composed- even the cigaret smoke seems to glide in away into the perfect corner.

Role on season two and the last episode .....

peace x

king kong

out of the many kong films i have scene i had not yet scene the original

the original and the best, i couldn't believe how spectacular the film was.

AS you would expect i compared it mostly to the newest remake by peter jackson and

i just kept thinking that he hadn't managed to add anything that made his better.

the story felt so real and the acting, was really of the time but went well with the whole

drama that was created and tension, Fay Wray's face- overly emotive at some points was just

lovely to watch and it needed to be i think to go with the film and its crazy story. All the cast were brilliant , i think if i need some king kong in the future this will be the one i go for .

peace x

What films am i exited to see ?

I have been endulging in the apple trailors and have made a shortlist of the future films i am exited to see.

clash of the titans april 2: this is one of those films i remember watching as a smal child and being scared but board at the same time, when an hours worth of film could be watched in two parts type of time, the clash of the titans seemed epic.... and when it was first released it was epic.

A nightmare on elm street ...... oh my the sort of weirdly hot guy from Jenafers body ( yes that film i was sort of obsessed with ) is back in this remake, not sure yet if he is playing the character that johnny dep played but if he is i have a sneeky suspishion that he could take over as the new hottie in holywood . It has been a while since the first lot of elm street films my only worrie wiht these ones is that in this age of 1,2,3,4,5,6 films that it will go down the ruit the last film went and franchise way way to much, stick with one good one guys !!!

FInally i cant wait to see the exploding girl on March the 12th . It is on limited distrabution so i hope the gft if not cineworld will put it on .

:)

What was the best year of film ?

So in class we were asked to say what we thought the best year of film was ?
It was put forward that 1939 was the best year and Andy seconded that with 1973 being one of the best having classics such as the exorsist released in that year. HOwever, i would have to say that the year i feel for me would have to be 1995.

As a five year old i ended watching " a little princess" in tears on my mothers lap. After that there was no stopping me . I wanted to go to the cinema all the time, adiction at such a young age non the less fuled by the weird sensation i felt when i went to the cinema. Taken in , and transported. I can remember having nightmares and amazing dreams of the little princess for months afterwards, i don't think i will forget that cinema trip. It will be intresting to see what i choose to take my children to see first , will there be any childrens films like that when they come to that age or will it all be the newest pixar, 3d movie? Who knows , all i no is when asked the question that is the answer i would give first.

On concideration 1994 probubly had some better releases : forest gump , Shawshank redemption, the lion king , Pulp fiction and many more. HOwever , these were clearly not on my top to watch list as a 4 year old, for me these films were 2004 - 2006 films because thats when i watched them and fell in love with them. I don't know if that is cheating but they don't belong to harriet as a 4 year old they belong in my teenage movie watching years.
Thats how i took the question to mean so thats how i answered it. :)

PEace

A single man

As those of you who know me well will know allready i am a keen follower of the fashion magazine VOUGUE - on my 18th birthday to my joy i was given subscription untill my 21st birthday an extension of the subscription my parents started years ago and a copy of the magazine from my birthdate - november 1990. The cover star for that month being Uma Therman in her modleing to acting transition period, looking shockingly similar in complection and duey eyed apperance to that of what she is now.

Any way ...... to my delight one of my favorite fashion leaders Tom Ford decided to make the transition from fashion to film aswell with his Directorial debut being " a single man. "

The trailor gave great promise, being as swarve and sofistacated as the fashion Tom Ford creats.

His adverts being racy at times , ( perfume inbetween a famales legs leving not much to the imajination for example) Also hinted at the sexyness that the film would have. I went into the cinema exited to see something classic but shocking , beautiful but hard to watch and altimatly something very fashionable but timeless. ok, so not a big ask but as a fashion follower i have seen the man do no wrong in that aspect.

One magazine exclaims as its headline " tom ford . can he do no wrong. " ( grazia, feb 2010)

Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian encapsulates perfectly how i felt about the opening sequence,

" Tom Ford's A Single Man begins with urgent Hitchcockian strings and an underwater dream sequence showing a naked, toned body drifting and floating – appropriate for a movie about love and loss which all but drowns in its own gorgeousness. " ( feb 11th 2010 )

YES , on baited breath i watched to opening sequence, trying to take it all in my mind screaming 'thank god its good ' all the while. It was so refreshing to watch, something that was not afraid to leave you speachless and be beautiful and disturbing all along, Even though someone comented later that the camera work was " camera wank" i would not have filmed it any different.

this film is high up on my DVD must haves for the future and i cant wait to watch it again

peace

update.

SO after dusting the cobwebs from my empty looking 2010 i thought it was about time i stopped procrastinating and wrote some thoughts down.

there have been so many good films i have seen over the past few weeks and so much lost personal reflection . however i thought to brake the writers block and help me on my way i would write this small blog to remind myself that hitting the post button isn't actually that scary. heres hoping i can actually write something this weekend !!

PEACE

first week back: class reflective.

As its fresh in my mind i think i will work back wards this week ,

so just watched the russian 1920's film Battleship Potemkin :

the relevance for watching this was for film history and editing, as this was one of the first films were a flair and attention were paid to the cut of the film , using very quick shots several being less than one second this being something unheard of at the time. I did enjoy the fact that this was a revolutionary idea at the time and as a piece of film history it was very important in seeing the development of the art, knowing how important the film was helped me enjoy it because you were always thinking wow look at that edit.

THURSDAY was our day of and i used that time to look over notes and write my two christmas blogs , i also went to see the film nine .

Nine is a film based on the broadway production, i had high hopes for this as i really enjoy chicago etc, it was very sexy and quite dark but overall was let down by bad songs. It was beautiful to watch tho with an old fashioned feeling, i'm not sure if it was filmed on film or digital but there were some black and white moments which had a really cool effect. I thought d.d Lewis's performance was amazing, he's quite sexy isn't he :)

WEDNESDAY was quite an interesting class on authorship , what was it and who has it ?

This class was mainly about television authorship as it is generally easier to decipher the authorship of a film , be it collaborative or a " harriet Steele production- film " etc.

This class was difficult for me to concentrate as there was incessant typing very near me so next time i need to sit away from the typer. Unfortunately i think i was one of the few who was concentrating more on concentrating instead of what andy was saying. we were in a new room that day as well which was a little weird.

I did take some notes but they lack information that probably would make them have some sense and order. I made a note at the bottom saying . You should understand this concept so bare it in mind ...... help full .

the second half of this lesson was so good!! we watched a tv show called the street which i really enjoyed, this has set the bar for me as it was so entertaining and thought provoking it was a piece of art and the Acting was band on the money.

TUESDAY - was on lighting, i really really enjoyed this class, I'm always itching to see what ray has in store for us as his classes last year were some of my favorites. The class was in this room at the top of the academy so getting kit up there was a bit of a faff but we need to get used to that as I'm sure on set we will be required to be moving kit around and some times distances.

Firstly we talked about how important health and safety is when using cables and that you must always tack down your cables , this was a given in my head but i felt i had a small advantage as i have used lighting in photography. it came quite a big shock to me however, when he began to show us the kit we would be using the lights were huge!! i think mainly because your using a constant light and not a short flash, even thought the lights were around the same watt's / ranging from 150 to the powerful lights that were 2k .

We went over the different types of lights we need on a set and went over how they effect the subject - which light to use when etc , there was a sort of family of lights ending with the smallest being shown to us, it was so cute a mummy light a daddy light and a we baby light i wanted to steel it :)

these had some cool names and the types of lights were easy to pick up , open faced : Blonde's and Redheads and the cute Dedo which uses a lens. Murray emailed me some simple but use full notes on these as well which have really enhanced my notes. Im not quite sure about what ray said on the plug system each having different strengths of electricity but i do understand the ideas on tungsten and really enjoyed the physical aspects of his class so overall really enjoyed this one and exited about learning more and in more detail .

MONDAY - first day back ooober tired faces but nice to see everyone again. \

This class was a short one , without a brake so it went really fast.

My notes are quite spars on this class as i found it easier to listen and take things in that way, this was good for concentration during the class however i found that after wards some of the information had gone missing. i took down a quote i really like about the film maker Melies

he specialized in the first type of special effects Chaplin said of him ,

" the alchemist of light "

i really liked that quote , it reminded me of my first day in photography class when my teacher told me to become a good photographer i needed to learn how to manipulate light.

Its amazing how quickly cinema spread across the world, ideas and facts like this kept the class interesting and not to heavy. we learnt about the first feature film , adventure's of the kelly grand which was made in 1903 .

however it was editing that created the possibility of plot and a greater way to tell stories.

This was again shown to us on friday with the Battleship Potemkin.

Overall this week has been a short one, but a good one for easing us back into academy life and away from holiday laziness, the general feeling is excitement to be back and ready to get going .

christmas holiday blog : focus on 4 months 3 weeks and 2 days.

i think unsurprisingly i have begun a love affair with all things eastern european, it began when i revisited "last resort" by Pawel Pawlikkowski and last night ( one night in the holidays- i wrote this on paper first. ) i watched - completely captivated from start to finish - the most wonderful piece of cinema called 4m3w2d. The film focuses on two girls and how they cope with their extremely unpleasant experience of an illegal abortion. Set in the twilight years of commy-era Romania the film in appearance remains a beauty to watch even thought the setting seems to scream decay and poverty, " directed with quite astonishing flair. " these kind words are know overstatement as this poignant 'masterpiece' really did leave me speechless and exited. thinking about the idea of authorship this film is really hard to tell, the direction is really amazing and there is a definite flare and style to it but the cinematography is stunning as well and above all this there is a beautiful script so the authorship is a real collaboration here .

Yes there is a difference between cinema and movies , Avatar this certainly was not but o'my god this blew my socks of just as much and got a whole different set of emotions tingling, this film had me and my two best friends literally shouting at the screen! that's a student studying medicine at Edinburgh and one studying english at Oxford plus a film student, all emotionally involved in the same film - this does not happen allot with us!

The acting in this could not have been more spot on - you feel the tension between the girls throughout the entire film and they hardly say a sentence to each other , any has since told us this is sometimes called finding the lens and these actresses certainly have mastered that technique.

i really enjoyed the maisoncen created in the film , the composition of every shot because every shot was stunning. My favorite being one were the main protagonist is in this gaudy bathroom , the shot is of the back of her head framed by these horrible blue tiles for about 4-5 seconds. Beautifully and very brilliantly thought out hots. Which however, slow these 'pause' moments may have been made the film work - in the silence it is for the audience to take in no words but thoughts and feelings the characters are going through.

To some extent an antithesis if you like would be my friend Eleanor who did enjoy the film yes but in the last 'pause' moment of the film spoke up and said , " why the boring silence " Well at that point in time i was to involved in the film to reply but later in discussion i had to say , because there were no words needed. it could have finished with some sort of closing sentence or remark but this film did not need it in fact i saw the final 'pause' as its own quiet applause and pat on the back because clearly it knew that it still had every audience member watching intently. i could not choose any words to finish it more poignantly. this harks back to the question asked of us by the infamous 'liz Lockhead' when she remarked that it was the audiences culture and you decide what the ; art, poetry, film , means for you . For Eleanor the silence didn't resonate she wanted something more - a definite ending - but ho can you have an ending when the film in essence was an experience, a beautifully observed character study.

christmas holiday blog

ah i don't want to sound like the christmas grinch or something but i hardly looked at the tv all christmas , how could i when the world out side had been replaced with my perfect wish for christmas - the country was vast and white and screaming " Harry come run on me "

So i found myself two nights into being home on the highest hill near by with 12 willing participants. Midnight sledging has two main drawbacks, one its much colder than in the day and two , you can't see sheep or rocks for that matter. We created a ramp out of snow and yes it was far superior in my opinion to anything that could have been on tv that night. Amazingly only one girl ended up in hospital......

Ok so enough of that i did enjoy a few good movies and a few very bad ones as well.

\

The good were : 4 months 3 weeks and 2 days which has a separate blog to follow.

Rage - a film by a director who should probably have been doing CPP instead but non the less very interesting and very different.

the not so good ( bad )

these were all watched in the same night , a night me and sheridan have most Christmases:

teeth

donkey punch

some generic dance thing i cant remember the name of

taken

Zach and Miri make a porno

awake

So for the most part i spent my holiday , on holiday relaxing listening to music and not really watching TV or Films.