Saturday, February 20, 2010
Been There Seen That
Why is it that we watch the same movies over and over again? I was flipping through the channels the other day and came across a few movies that I have seen a million times and started to watch 10 Thing I Hate About You, then it was The Departed, and moving on to Animal House. I watched each one for about 10 minutes and couldn't stand to watch them anymore as I knew every plot twist and punchline by heart. Yet I can sit and watch other movies like Pretty Woman, Titanic, and Man on Fire over and over again for hours, even though I can probably quote each line on command. So whats the deal guys? Are there some movies you can watch a million times over and others that just bore you? Let me in on the secret because I have some ideas as to why this happens, but would still like to hear what you think........
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Final Cut
The main editing software for films that is used now a days is formatted for Apple PCs and is called Final Cut. This software has a few different versions to it for those who are into editing movies recreationally and for those who do it professionally.
The recreational version is called Final Cut Express. It was created in 2003 to make it more available to the public since it is much cheaper then the professional version. It runs around $140 and while it uses the same interface as the Pros its is missing some of the advanced options for manipulating the piece of video media you are editing, such as some transitions from scene to scene and the amount of video footage you can upload at one time.
The professional version is called Final Cut Pro. Clever huh? It can run anywhere from $300 to $1,200 depending on the studio pack you get. Each one comes with different software to perfect your video once you have edited it together. The basic and cheapest comes with Motion 4 for motion graphics and animation, Soundtrack Pro 3 for audio post-production, Color 1.5 for color grading and finishing, Compressor 3.5 and DVD Studio Pro 4 so that you can produce a professional quality DVD when you are done. You also have the option of getting just Final Cut Pro in HD format for $700. It all depends on what your goals are and what you are willing to spend.
Final Cut Pro provides non-linear editing of any Quicktime compatible video format. Its interface has four different sections of the screen: the Browser, where all your video media files are listed that you have uploaded from your camera; the Viewer, where individual video media files can be previewed and trimmed to exactly where you want them; the Timeline, where the video media can be cut together into a sequence that will be your final video; and the Canvas, where the edited production in the timeline can be viewed. It supports an unlimited number of video tracks which you can edit together; up to 99 audio tracks which can be overlapped with the video; multi-camera editing for combining video from multiple camera sources; as well as standard ripple, roll, slip, slide, scrub, razor blade and time remapping edit functions so that you can get each frame exactly where you want it. It comes with a range of video transitions and a variety of video and audio filters so that you can creatively move from scene to scene. It also has a manual 3-way color correction filter so that all of your lighting and color of the subject you are working with can be just the way you want it despite outside elements.
All in all, despite its price, Final Cut is a must have software if you are thinking of going into any sort of film making. It is the software used by the pros to make the blockbusters you see today. It's a great advantage that this software is available to the public so openly and it really isn't that hard to learn to navigate. It comes with a tutorial video, while the guy who narrates it is rather boring, that is very helpful. You can can either use your mouse to use all of its features, or the short cut keystrokes which makes it easier and faster to get everything done.
The recreational version is called Final Cut Express. It was created in 2003 to make it more available to the public since it is much cheaper then the professional version. It runs around $140 and while it uses the same interface as the Pros its is missing some of the advanced options for manipulating the piece of video media you are editing, such as some transitions from scene to scene and the amount of video footage you can upload at one time.
The professional version is called Final Cut Pro. Clever huh? It can run anywhere from $300 to $1,200 depending on the studio pack you get. Each one comes with different software to perfect your video once you have edited it together. The basic and cheapest comes with Motion 4 for motion graphics and animation, Soundtrack Pro 3 for audio post-production, Color 1.5 for color grading and finishing, Compressor 3.5 and DVD Studio Pro 4 so that you can produce a professional quality DVD when you are done. You also have the option of getting just Final Cut Pro in HD format for $700. It all depends on what your goals are and what you are willing to spend.
Final Cut Pro provides non-linear editing of any Quicktime compatible video format. Its interface has four different sections of the screen: the Browser, where all your video media files are listed that you have uploaded from your camera; the Viewer, where individual video media files can be previewed and trimmed to exactly where you want them; the Timeline, where the video media can be cut together into a sequence that will be your final video; and the Canvas, where the edited production in the timeline can be viewed. It supports an unlimited number of video tracks which you can edit together; up to 99 audio tracks which can be overlapped with the video; multi-camera editing for combining video from multiple camera sources; as well as standard ripple, roll, slip, slide, scrub, razor blade and time remapping edit functions so that you can get each frame exactly where you want it. It comes with a range of video transitions and a variety of video and audio filters so that you can creatively move from scene to scene. It also has a manual 3-way color correction filter so that all of your lighting and color of the subject you are working with can be just the way you want it despite outside elements.
All in all, despite its price, Final Cut is a must have software if you are thinking of going into any sort of film making. It is the software used by the pros to make the blockbusters you see today. It's a great advantage that this software is available to the public so openly and it really isn't that hard to learn to navigate. It comes with a tutorial video, while the guy who narrates it is rather boring, that is very helpful. You can can either use your mouse to use all of its features, or the short cut keystrokes which makes it easier and faster to get everything done.
Monday, February 15, 2010
The Harry Potter Exhibition
The Harry Potter Exhibit is something that I have wanted to see since it came to Boston and I finally managed to do so. While not a movie, it does have to do with one of the highest grossing movies of all time and the most popular exhibit at the Museum of Science in Boston.
The amount of people that were at the exhibit was absurd! It probably didn't help that I decided to go on school vacation week. You could not move without hitting someone or some young child pushing you along. The amount of the tickets to get in was a little pricey at $65 for two people. However that included an audio device whereyou listen to the makers of the Harry Potter movies discuss the items on display. You also get a ticket to get into the rest of the museum, which you could wait and use sometime within the next six months. The Exhibit itself was definitely worth the money and the time that it took to get through the crowds. Even with the massive amounts of people it only took about an hour to get through.
The beginning of the tour starts you out with a very colorful British actor giving a demonstration with the famous Sorting Hat. In the movie this hat is what places all of the characters into the different houses they will live in and identify with throughout their years at the Hogwarts School of Wizardry. It's a nice way to start off the tour seeing as how that is where the first movie really gets going. After that you are shown into a room where you view some edited together clips of all the movies. This part seemed unnecessary seeing as if you have never seen the movies it doesn't provide you with any real information and if you have seen them, well you've already seen everything they show you. The way it was edited however was very nicely done, and clever as well since right at the end when they show us the famous Hogwarts Express train is when they simultaneously open the doors to a life size model complete with light and sound of the front steam engine.
As you walk through the exhibit you are taken through all the major elements of the films. You start off with the boys dormitories and get to see Ron and Harry's beds, trunks, dressers, and costumes that they wore in the movie. The majority of what you see are costumes from the movies for all of the characters including the dress robes that all the characters wore in the fourth film The Goblet of Fire. These costumes were set up in an area that is meant to be The Great Hall, which also had some of the decorations you see during the scene of the big dance. You are also taken through a set up of The Dark Forest, a Quidditch area, Hagrid's Hut, and a few other areas throughout the exhibition. Among all of the items that you get to see are all the major characters wands, the Marauder's Map, and various books used for the different classes that the students take in the films. Everything is set up in a creative and engaging decor, which really makes you feel like you are part of the movies and on set with the characters.
At the end of the exhibition they drop you out into a gift shop full of Harry Potter sovereigns. They have everything you could imagine from a talking Sorting Hat to magnets and T-shirts. While everything is rather pricey, it is merchandise you can't really get anywhere else so they know everyone will be willing to pay for it.The only draw back, besides all of the people is that you are not aloud to take pictures. However, there is a guide book they sell in the gift shop with pictures of everything in the Exhibition and some commentary from the creator's of the movies included.
If you love the Harry Potter books and movies, you will love this Exhibition. It is a must see for every fan and even entertaining for those who just love movies and what goes into making all the the details you see on screen.
The amount of people that were at the exhibit was absurd! It probably didn't help that I decided to go on school vacation week. You could not move without hitting someone or some young child pushing you along. The amount of the tickets to get in was a little pricey at $65 for two people. However that included an audio device whereyou listen to the makers of the Harry Potter movies discuss the items on display. You also get a ticket to get into the rest of the museum, which you could wait and use sometime within the next six months. The Exhibit itself was definitely worth the money and the time that it took to get through the crowds. Even with the massive amounts of people it only took about an hour to get through.
The beginning of the tour starts you out with a very colorful British actor giving a demonstration with the famous Sorting Hat. In the movie this hat is what places all of the characters into the different houses they will live in and identify with throughout their years at the Hogwarts School of Wizardry. It's a nice way to start off the tour seeing as how that is where the first movie really gets going. After that you are shown into a room where you view some edited together clips of all the movies. This part seemed unnecessary seeing as if you have never seen the movies it doesn't provide you with any real information and if you have seen them, well you've already seen everything they show you. The way it was edited however was very nicely done, and clever as well since right at the end when they show us the famous Hogwarts Express train is when they simultaneously open the doors to a life size model complete with light and sound of the front steam engine.
As you walk through the exhibit you are taken through all the major elements of the films. You start off with the boys dormitories and get to see Ron and Harry's beds, trunks, dressers, and costumes that they wore in the movie. The majority of what you see are costumes from the movies for all of the characters including the dress robes that all the characters wore in the fourth film The Goblet of Fire. These costumes were set up in an area that is meant to be The Great Hall, which also had some of the decorations you see during the scene of the big dance. You are also taken through a set up of The Dark Forest, a Quidditch area, Hagrid's Hut, and a few other areas throughout the exhibition. Among all of the items that you get to see are all the major characters wands, the Marauder's Map, and various books used for the different classes that the students take in the films. Everything is set up in a creative and engaging decor, which really makes you feel like you are part of the movies and on set with the characters.
At the end of the exhibition they drop you out into a gift shop full of Harry Potter sovereigns. They have everything you could imagine from a talking Sorting Hat to magnets and T-shirts. While everything is rather pricey, it is merchandise you can't really get anywhere else so they know everyone will be willing to pay for it.The only draw back, besides all of the people is that you are not aloud to take pictures. However, there is a guide book they sell in the gift shop with pictures of everything in the Exhibition and some commentary from the creator's of the movies included.
If you love the Harry Potter books and movies, you will love this Exhibition. It is a must see for every fan and even entertaining for those who just love movies and what goes into making all the the details you see on screen.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Valentines Day! Not just a consumer holiday, but a kick ass movie!
Valentines Day is definietly a movie that is good to go see with the girls or on a date. It is not your average chick flick filled with a bunch of sappy "I love you's" but filled with a lot of humor performed by some of the best actors in Hollywood.
Julia Roberts, Patrick Dempsey. Anne Hathaway, Jessica Alba, Ashton Kutcher, Geroge Lopez, Kathy Bates, Topher Grace, Jamie Foxx, Eric Dane, Bradley Copper, Jennifer Garner, Jessica Biel, and Queen Latifah all come together and give us a wonderful betrayal of the ups and downs of Valentines Day. It is a day filled with tremendous pressure on men to give their women exactly what they want. This movie is a great represtation of how some men hit it out of the park while other's strike out at the plate. It is full of laughs while showing us what love is like at the teenage years, the rejection of a proposal, and how not everything is about love between a man and a woman but a mother and her son.
I don't want to give too much away however, so get off the computer and get your butt to the movies because it is worth the money! You'll laugh, you'll cry, maybe you'll even get some solid ideas for next years Valentines Day!
Julia Roberts, Patrick Dempsey. Anne Hathaway, Jessica Alba, Ashton Kutcher, Geroge Lopez, Kathy Bates, Topher Grace, Jamie Foxx, Eric Dane, Bradley Copper, Jennifer Garner, Jessica Biel, and Queen Latifah all come together and give us a wonderful betrayal of the ups and downs of Valentines Day. It is a day filled with tremendous pressure on men to give their women exactly what they want. This movie is a great represtation of how some men hit it out of the park while other's strike out at the plate. It is full of laughs while showing us what love is like at the teenage years, the rejection of a proposal, and how not everything is about love between a man and a woman but a mother and her son.
I don't want to give too much away however, so get off the computer and get your butt to the movies because it is worth the money! You'll laugh, you'll cry, maybe you'll even get some solid ideas for next years Valentines Day!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Dear John, You Suck
Like most young women, when the trailers started coming out about the Dear John movie staring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried, based on the book by Nicolas Sparks, I couldn't wait to go see it. The thought of another great movie like The Notebook, also based on one of his books, was invigorating. I begged my boyfriend to take me to see it, and was even willing to use one of my "forces" ( I only get to force him to do 3 really girly things, like see a chick flick, a month). What turned out to be a force however was the movie itself.
The movie is about a young solider John Tyree (Channing Tatum) home on leave to visit his autistic father at the same time as a college student Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried) is home on spring break. They meet in your typical boy saves the day fashion and the chemistry between them couldn't ignite a spark, let alone a whole fire. John is your typical angry bad boy reformed by training making a career out of fighting for his country and while Channing Tatum is perfect for this role given his past experience on screen, he seems to be trying a little too hard. He tries to find the right balance between showing us his bad boy side mixed with a good guy but just can't seem to find the real mix that was needed. His performance is not as far fetched as Amanda's however. Her cute little frame and wavy blond hair fit very well with the sweet and innocent angel personality they were going for, but the way she reads her lines and carries herself gives the character this spark of attitude and bad girl persona that clashes with the way the character was meant to come across. Savannah is the picture perfect saint spending her days building houses for charity and taking care of a young autistic boy (what a coincidence that John's father is also autistic huh?). Of course the two "fall in love" right away before he is whisked away on a mission and she goes back to school. They write letters everyday which are less then heart wrenching and seem to be written more by brother and sister then two young people in love. How they even manage to get these letters too eachother amazes me, since is it specifially stated that he is not aloud to tell her where he is, so how can he get them postmarked and how does she know what address to send it to?
The best storyline of the whole movie is the issue that John has with his father being autistic. Richard Jenkins performance as Mr. Tyree is very touching and really gives you an inside look at the struggles of trying to raise a son while battling your own demons. He cooks lasagna every Sunday without fail and is obsessed with collecting coins, which is what holds the bond between him and his son. The scene that really pulls at your heart strings is a moment between Channing and Richard where John has just been shot and Mr. Tyree has just had a stroke. John write his father a letter and they seem to over come all the issues that they have had between them all these years. This letter is the only letter shared throughout the film that seems to actually have a purpose to the plot, as well as some actual feeling behind it. Savannah spends most of her time talking to Mr. Tyree instead of John, which I guess was the directors way of foreshadowing the horrible plot twist at the end of the movie.
Of course the "love" that these two young people share couldn't last for long with the great distance between them and the horrible two week foundation they had, so Savannah sends the infamous "Dear John" letter mimicking the letters that used to be sent to the soldiers of WWII when their women had decided they could no longer take the distance and found someone else. The someone else that Savannah finds however, is what ruins the whole ending of the movie. The story tries to make up for its far fetched plot twist by bringing the two lovers back together after a tragedy in Johns family, but the damage has already been done, and since the chemistry between Channing and Amanda was never there in the beginning there is nothing that can be done in the end to save this movie.
I have a feeling that a lot of the beauty, talent, and emotion was lost when trying to translate Nicholas Sparks book to the screen this time around. Maybe there was too much plot to fit into a 2 hour time span so they had to cut out a lot of key elements that would have really tied this movie together. Whatever the reason may be, its definitely didn't live up to the expectations that were set by the other films based on his books. On the plus side, being shot in South Carolina, their was a lot of amazing scenery behind the characters throughout the film.
The movie is about a young solider John Tyree (Channing Tatum) home on leave to visit his autistic father at the same time as a college student Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried) is home on spring break. They meet in your typical boy saves the day fashion and the chemistry between them couldn't ignite a spark, let alone a whole fire. John is your typical angry bad boy reformed by training making a career out of fighting for his country and while Channing Tatum is perfect for this role given his past experience on screen, he seems to be trying a little too hard. He tries to find the right balance between showing us his bad boy side mixed with a good guy but just can't seem to find the real mix that was needed. His performance is not as far fetched as Amanda's however. Her cute little frame and wavy blond hair fit very well with the sweet and innocent angel personality they were going for, but the way she reads her lines and carries herself gives the character this spark of attitude and bad girl persona that clashes with the way the character was meant to come across. Savannah is the picture perfect saint spending her days building houses for charity and taking care of a young autistic boy (what a coincidence that John's father is also autistic huh?). Of course the two "fall in love" right away before he is whisked away on a mission and she goes back to school. They write letters everyday which are less then heart wrenching and seem to be written more by brother and sister then two young people in love. How they even manage to get these letters too eachother amazes me, since is it specifially stated that he is not aloud to tell her where he is, so how can he get them postmarked and how does she know what address to send it to?
The best storyline of the whole movie is the issue that John has with his father being autistic. Richard Jenkins performance as Mr. Tyree is very touching and really gives you an inside look at the struggles of trying to raise a son while battling your own demons. He cooks lasagna every Sunday without fail and is obsessed with collecting coins, which is what holds the bond between him and his son. The scene that really pulls at your heart strings is a moment between Channing and Richard where John has just been shot and Mr. Tyree has just had a stroke. John write his father a letter and they seem to over come all the issues that they have had between them all these years. This letter is the only letter shared throughout the film that seems to actually have a purpose to the plot, as well as some actual feeling behind it. Savannah spends most of her time talking to Mr. Tyree instead of John, which I guess was the directors way of foreshadowing the horrible plot twist at the end of the movie.
Of course the "love" that these two young people share couldn't last for long with the great distance between them and the horrible two week foundation they had, so Savannah sends the infamous "Dear John" letter mimicking the letters that used to be sent to the soldiers of WWII when their women had decided they could no longer take the distance and found someone else. The someone else that Savannah finds however, is what ruins the whole ending of the movie. The story tries to make up for its far fetched plot twist by bringing the two lovers back together after a tragedy in Johns family, but the damage has already been done, and since the chemistry between Channing and Amanda was never there in the beginning there is nothing that can be done in the end to save this movie.
I have a feeling that a lot of the beauty, talent, and emotion was lost when trying to translate Nicholas Sparks book to the screen this time around. Maybe there was too much plot to fit into a 2 hour time span so they had to cut out a lot of key elements that would have really tied this movie together. Whatever the reason may be, its definitely didn't live up to the expectations that were set by the other films based on his books. On the plus side, being shot in South Carolina, their was a lot of amazing scenery behind the characters throughout the film.
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