TWILIGHT!!!!

Best book ever! The movie's amazing! I don't care what people say about the effects or the acting or anything... it was amazing. But I completely understand why people would think it's an awful movie. The effects were sometimes not the best and the acting got a bit cheesy at points, but not enough to ruin the movie. Plus, just the story is enough to make it fantastic no matter how bad any aspect of the film is. I admit that might be a bit of an overexaggeration, but it gets my point across. However, this could just be the femenine part of me who longs for a man like Edward. Sorry, that was awkward. But really, it's a known fact! Edward has been ripping at the heart threads of girls across America for a while now, and now that he can be seen in human (I mean, vampire) form it's no wonder girls are going crazy. If you have any objection to or would like to argue a point in comparison to mine, feel free. Just click the comment button!

Pixar

Pixar is amazing. Period. I can’t think of a single movie of theirs that I don’t like. And I have never encountered anyone who can say something bad about any of Pixar’s movies. Toy Story, The Incredibles, A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., what quality. How does Pixar do it?
Pixar has an amazing team of artists who know their stuff and know how to use their stuff. John Lasseter, Brad Bird, and Andrew Stanton make up the so-called “Brain Trust” and along with them are directors Lee Unkrich, Brenda Chapman, Pete Docter, Gary Rydstrom, Michael Arndt and others who mold and create these amazing stories. Not only does Pixar have professionals on the team; everyone who works in the facility is encouraged to contribute. Each employee member is urged to take a filmmaking class and make a short film. This idea came to Ed Catmull, the president of Pixar, as a part of his strong belief in “lifelong learning.”
Audiences can see this belief in “lifelong learning” showing through in every Pixar movie ever made. Each film is tweaked to perfection, artistically and content-wise. Every movie is rated either PG or, as most are, G. There is little violence and trashy language; every film ends with a great satisfying fuzzy feeling. I don’t know about you, but I usually leave the movie theater feeling inspired. Whether it’s the good feeling knowing that there are still people in the world who believe in wholesome morals, or the quality of the visuals in the movie, or the great story line…
This inspiration makes me want to perhaps work for Pixar someday. If not, that’s ok. Pixar rocks.

Source: TIME Magazine: June 18, 2007

Westerns and... American culture...

I have never been a very big, die-hard fan of Westerns as some people have. I just don't understand their mentality about the movies. Each Western follows practically the same pattern, involves a bunch of guys wearing silly pants shooting each other without mercy, and has some form of sex- and alcohol-drive aspect to the plot. These aren't the most upstanding morals, I think many people can agree. So then why are they such a big part of American culture? Sure, pretty much all Westerns have been made by Americans, but why would Americans want to label themselves with that kind of name?

This is something I ask because I don't understand it. Apparently movies about guys acting like unforgiving, disrespectful dim-wits (to put it in a less politically-correct way) are enjoyable to watch? Help me understand.

First film blog!

Citizen Kane is a very impressive movie. The plot is a little lacking, personally, but the thought put into every aspect of the film is just amazing. For example, when we see Kane as a young boy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX-EJ8BCCTU&feature=related

This part of the film employs tracking, a relatively new tactic for filming at the moment. Also, placement and actions of young Kane while arguments are going on inside is key in Kane's character. We see that he is oblivious of his mother's plan to send him away from her guard. It turns out she doesn't love him as much as he hopes. Towards the end of the clip we see Kane's evil glare. This is a major turning point in the film, even early on. Kane's childlike happiness change into adultlike greed and a hunger for power. The scene closes on Kane's beloved sled being covered with inches of snow. His childhood is definitely being left behind.

I hope someday to be a film director; hopefully as influential and revolutionary as John Ford, the director of Citizen Kane.

Film

I didn't realize that I have to post! That other post isn't my real one.

I love film. How articulate. I really hope to be involved in the field someday. It'd be sweet to work for Pixar or a different film company someday. Sadly, I haven't had much time to look into other film places or just enjoy a lot of films. I have a lot of great ideas though. This is a terrible paragraph.
Film is perhaps the most complex art form, in my opinion. Actually, my dad said that. He only wanted to challenge my decision of going into film someday. He probably thinks it will be a ton of work, and it will be, but it's what I need to do so the work load doesn't bother me.

Art of Film

This used to be my bio blog, and kind of my photo blog. Now it's my art of film blog.

Brush Developing, Acrylic Painting, Reticulation, Bracketing, and themes!

Brush Developing: expose an image normally and paint developer on so part of the image is developed and some isn't. Highlight key parts of the image.

My opinion: This was so cool! I really like my images. I think the image that's not of the sunglasses would have been more effective if we could really tell what the focal point of it is, but it's nothing really significant... just a stack of duct tape with a dry corsage on it.

sample images

Brush develop. final

Acrylic Painting: paint over parts of a print with acrylic paint so to cover a part of the image completely...

My opinion: This is really cool. I like my image. The colored part is my curtains, by the way.

final

Reticulation: develop film with hot developer and wash with super cold water. This temperature shock will distort the film and make images look awesomely grainy.

My opinion: pretty sweet. This image looks especially cool because the ceiling is already grainy-looking. I just wish i could have taken more images that would work well for this technique.

final

Bracketing: instead of taking a picture in front of a bright window area with a normal light meter setting, open the aperture a few more sizes so more light is let in, which makes the outside scenery show up better.

My opinion: this image is cool. I wish we could see the shape of the ball more. Oh well, it's cool that we can see what's outside my front window!

final

Theme Images