Rush: It's Not All About the Cars

Rush, directed by Ron Howard, is every boy's dream. It's got action, it's got sex, and its got cars. It's got a LOT of cars. If you're anything like me, the concept of a "biographical sports drama film" based on race car drivers wouldn't exactly send you racing (hah) to the theaters. And yet, when I saw my friend down on his knees crying and begging me to see it with him, I obliged.

I wanted to hate it. I really did. And yet, although the main plot revolved around a race track, the characters, as well as the biographical aspect of the film, drew me in.

Here's the trailer:

Rush documents the racing rivalry between English playboy James Hunt, (played by Chris Hemsworth) and the cool, calculating German,  Niki Lauda (played by Daniel Bruhl.) I think the main reason I find the movie so interesting is that the two main characters are complete opposites.

                                                               

This is Niki Lauda:                                    

                                       
                                                                                (Niki Lauda)                    (Daniel Bruhl)                                  

• Precise

• Technical

• Level-headed

• Recluse

• Racing = A Science

                                            And this is James Hunt:

                                                                               (Chris Hemsworth)                 (James Hunt)

• Charming

• Daring

• Womanizer

• Hot-headed

• Racing = A Sport

As one can imagine, the dynamic created between these two characters is fantastic. An intense rivalry sprinkled with hints of mutual respect, a little bit of fear, and even a shared eye twinkle here and there. The fact that the characters in Rush are based on real people only add to the of the magnificence whole thing.

Still, the character interaction in Rush wasn't the only reason my eyes stayed glued to the screen. Apparently, race car driving is really, really dangerous. Shot after shot of cars spinning out of control  had me biting my nails anxiously, praying that neither of the main characters would be hurt. I won't give anything anyway because I seriously recommend watching the movie for yourself. Or, if the movie isn't going to do it for you, you can read the real story about the rivalry here.

Part of me was really happy that I didn't know anything about the Lauda/Hunt rivalry before seeing Rush. It definitely kept me on my toes the whole time, because unlike most of the audience, I had no idea what was to come. The other thing I found interesting was that throughout the entire movie I wasn't quite sure who I was supposed to root for. Both Lauda and Hunt were covered so equally that although I stood behind Lauda most of the time, my friend turned out to be rooting for Hunt. In the end, the protagonists were each their own antagonists.

In conclusion I strongly recommend the film. I liked it, and I'm a girl.

WELCOME!

Welcome everyone!. The following project structure is intended to provide you with a methodology to be both specific and help you track the progress and meet your milestones. Since individual projects vary widely some points might not apply. However, you can use it as a roadmap to define/clarify your goals and go back to it frequently and methodically.

It has four distinct phases:

DISCOVERY

This phase helps you understand the big picture and the opportunity to achieve the main goals of your project; to take an idea from conception to completion in the most effective manner.

Brainstorming, sketch scenarios, analysis and feasibility assessments.

Define the requirements, scope, timeline, budget (your time and resources) and benchmarks for the project.

Synthesis:

• Produce a final script with the discovery result.
• Develop a production plan and a storyboard.
• Present a timeline and a budget estimate.

Don't be afraid to make mistakes! invent associations, structures, forms, silences, sounds.

DESIGN

During this phase, create the look and feel of the story. Develop the story requirements, the creative components, the technical design and the infrastructure that supports the project.

Creative Design:

• Storyline and character creation
• Script
• Storyboard
• Art Direction
• Audio Design
• Production Design

Technical Design:

• Equipment requirements
• Set/backgrounds/location/plates
• Lighting diagrams
• Special efx design
• Models, costumes and makeup

PRE-PRODUCTION

Develop and integrate all the creative, technical and information components.

• Research, research, research!
• Location Scouting
• Set design
• Casting
• Graphics, 3D video/audio production needs
• Technical integration

PRODUCTION

• Lighting
• Rehearsals
• Systems testing
• Problem resolution 
• Cinematography
• Sound

POST-PRODUCTION

• Media Management
• Editing
• Sound Mixing
• Color Correction
• VFX
• Title Design

DEPLOYMENT

Live environment:

• Projection
• Audience Test performance and feedback

• Implement promotion/communication strategies

Showtime!

That's all folks!

1-Quality: the true nature of things, the peculiar and essential character

All Illustrations custom made by Rich Powell

A Series of Unfortunate Events

So I'm gonna tell a story about 5 park kids trying to shoot a movie and all of the unfortunate events they run into when trying to complete their movie. Last week, we were suppose to finish our movie shoot on Sunday, leaving that night and and the rest of the week to edit our final product. Sunday morning came rolling around but we couldn't get in touch with our man actor. Steve kinslow (myself) went to his apartment to find that he was not their and without his phone. His roommates had no clue where he was. We also found out that another actor of ours forgot a sweatshirt at home over fall break that he was wearing in our shoot, which would have killed our continuity. With all of that said and done, we cancelled the shoot and decided to shoot for the week and the weekend to comeThe next problem we came in counter with was scheduling conflicts. It was literally impossible to get all the actors together for more than an hour on any weekday from the hours of 12 to 4 (where we would have proper sunlight). This then meant that we had to shoot on the weekend once again.

At about 9pm on Thursday night, I got a phone call from our main actor Nate that the uniform we were using for our shoot wouldn't be available for the weekend because his roommate was going away on an ROTC trip from Thursday to Sunday night. Not a problem, we will just get another uniform from someone else. But then he mentioned that every school in our region will be attending this trip, so a similar uniform won't be available for the next couple of miles. JUST GREAT.
So Alex and I decided to try and find a surplus store where we could buy a similar uniform to use. We found one place within 50 miles, Joe's Surplus in Cortland. Not to bad. I call on Friday to make sure they have what we need in our size, just to get a voicemail in return telling me their store is closed for the weekend due to a gun show their employees will be attending. WTF. Like really.
So this Sunday (today), we had to shoot without a uniform, only showing the waist up on our main character. Not exactly what we wanted, but int he real world, you have to deal with what is given to you. I don't believe there is anything else we could have done. It is most likely our final product will not be done Tuesday. I hope all of the other groups had a smoother time than us.

God Bless

A friend in need

Steve kinslow

Nine comes after 8 1/2

After reading chapter 9, Federico Fellini's 8 1/2, a light went off in my head like I have read or seen something like this before. I couldn't figure it out for a while, so i called my dad back at home and read some of the plot points and characters to him that the chapter described. He told me it sounded a lot like the movie Nine. So i did some research to find out that I did in fact
see the movie, and that 8 1/2 did intact have an influence on the 2009 hit movie.

Reading further into the chapter, the author kept using the term "double mirror construction," and what that refereed to was how the movie was portrayed. Unlike Hollywood films where each scene leads into the next and you can make connections, this new style of cinema took the audience into the mind of how a human really thinks, and put that on the screen. From dreams and emotions, to thoughts and ideas, you never knew what was coming and what was what. In one scene, Guido Anselmi, the director in the movie (not of the movie) would be doing something and the screen would radically change to what he was thinking of in his head. Whether it was a problem with his life, or something he didn't like in the film. Nin

e did similar cinema style, creating images of the on the screen to what the character was thinking.

As crazy as it seems, I can also relate 8 1/2 to a recent film called Inception. Both movies have similar themes finding true personal happiness in a difficult, fragmented life. In one, Guido Anselmi is trying to create the perfect film through all of his mishaps and life problems, and in the other Dominic Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is trying to go through mazes and his life problems to get back to his kids. All of these movies are considered to be "second time movies" because you have to watch them twice to really understand what is going on.

If anyone has any comments or something to add, please do

steve kinslow

Circular Replication

So for our first project, I decided to go against the rules a little for video production. The first commandment in shooting a movie to always follow the 180 rule, and for those of you who don't know the rule it states:

the 180° rule is a guideline that says two characters or objects in a certain scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line.

Know you ask how should i break this law. Well, for a thirty second time period I decided to leave the camera in one location and slowly pan in a circle for 30 seconds. To make this look good, I have to make sure something is going in each quarter of the circle. I wanted a challenge for this project and I definitely think this task will give it to me. If you have any question, comments, or suggestions please comment.

thanks

Steve Kinslow

Big Bang, Big Characters

For the longest time I protested watching the show The Big Bang Theory. In 2010 when Jim Parsons won best lead actor at the Emmy Awards for his portrayal the annal scientist, Sheldon Cooper, I was confused at how such a show could win. Finally this summer my friends convinced me to watch the show and I found to my surprise the show was not only hysterical, but it's characters were relatable on some level (despite large involvement in science and science fiction). I thought since I do not like science and I'm very into science fiction I would not get most of the jokes, but I found out that the writes realize that it is uncommon for most people to understand most of the dork/nerdy jokes, in fact they depend on it and the lack of understand leads to most of the hilarity.

The humor is not the whole thing that keeps the audience coming back, like it most other comedies, the jokes aren't always the key part of the show and eventually you start to shape a outline of an on going plot with developing characters. For me well developed characters that an audience can relate to is a major key to success. Though for the most part the characters on Big Bang are caricatures, they are relatable on some level and you come to love their quirks. A lot of people relate to Penny the new girl who moves across the hall from Leonard and Sheldon. Penny is not very smart so when she befriends Leonard and Sheldon as well as their two friends Raj and Howard, she tends to get lost among the guys geek/nerd talk. Leonard is another character a lot of people relate to because even though he is very nerdy, he tries the hardest to blend in with the rest of society and wants to be excepted by others. As they grow closer Penny and Leonard teach each other about their culture and they both start to understand their world. In a way the audience is taken on the journey of socialization through these characters.

Now that I am done watching the show I am very much looking forward to what the writers have in store for the upcoming season of The Big Bang Theory. The characters have greatly developed over the the last four seasons and has turned the series from comedy show with funny characters to a show with interesting characters with a growing plot that happens to be funny. It is the diversity of the characters and intrigue of what funny situation they will get into next that keeps the audience coming back.

How To Do It

Welcome everyone!. The following project structure is intended to provide you with a methodology to be both specific and help you track the progress and meet your milestones. Since individual projects vary widely some points might not apply. However, you can use it as a roadmap to define/clarify your deliverables and go back to it frequently and methodically.

It has four distinct phases:

DISCOVERY

This phase helps you understand the big picture and the opportunity to achieve the main goals of your project; to take an idea from conception to completion in the most effective manner.

Brainstorming, sketch models, scenarios, analysis and feasibility assessments.

Define the requirements, scope, timeline, budget (your time and resources) and benchmarks for the project.

Requirements of Analysis:

• Prioritize and validate requirements based on quality(1) and strategic factors
• Determine success criteria and metrics
• Define a preliminary list of production requirements.

Synthesis:

• Produce a final script with the discovery result.
• Develop a high-level implementation plan. (storyboard)
• Present a timeline and a budget estimate.

DESIGN

During this phase, create the look and feel of the solution (style). Develop the story requirements, the creative components, the technical design and infrastructure that supports the project.

Creative Design:

• Storyline and character creation
• Script
• Storyboard
• Art Direction
• Audio Design
• Production Design

Technical Design:

• Equipment requirements
• Set/backgrounds/location/plates
• Lighting diagrams
• Special efx design
• Models, costumes and makeup

PRE-PRODUCTION

Develop and integrate all the creative, technical and information components.

Creative Production:

• Location Scouting
• Casting
• Rehearsals
• Graphics, 3D video/audio production needs
• Technical integration

Technical Production:

• Set design
• Lighting
• Cinematography
• Sound
• System testing
• Problem resolution
  

DEPLOYMENT

Demonstrate the solution after all final specifications and testing results.

Live environment:

• Projection
• Audience Test performance and feedback
• Implement promotion/communication strategies

Showtime!

That's all folks!

1-Quality: the true nature of things, the peculiar and essential character

All Illustrations custom made by Rich Powell