This story for me is about the universal fear of the unknown. When I was young, I would be easily scared by noises that came from an unknown source, especially at night. However, I would prematurely fear them. Maybe my father was coming home late at night from work, and it was not a burglar breaking into my apartment. For others, it could Santa Clause leaving gifts, and not a serial killer looking for victims. I want this story to give a feeling that we have to fear the unknown in our own homes sometimes and it can be really scary. Our imaginations get the best of us and our fear grows until we find the source of the sound. You can never know if we should fear the sound's source until we find out for ourselves.
I thought for a while about this assignment and I wanted to bring in something very complex and yet simple. One of my inspirations was a recent funeral I attended. The preacher quoted a scripture that caught my attention and made me cry like a baby. The scripture was John 11:35; Jesus Wept. To understand that a symbol of such great influence among people for hundreds of years and to see him humbled for the grieving sisters of Lazarus, to understand that he knew and felt the pain that they were feeling is very deep and I decided to take it and make it something more modernly understood.
My six word story is:
"The King wept with his people."
This reminded me of the scene in The King's Speech. In the scene I speak of, the queen comforts the king as he weeps. It's a scene where the audience begins to feel a mutual feeling of the weight of the world and a man in complete frustration and nerves. Almost a feeling of release. I wish I could find the particular scene on YouTube, however even if I did it probably wouldn't do it justice. It's a great film and it's a must see, for sure. I have personally made a list of my favorite films from the past three years (that I've seen). The King's Speech came in at number twelve out of my (currently) 119 films.
I found a little clip of the film in this montage of the story line on YouTube.
What I wanted to tell was my version of what a worst case scenario
for baseball would be. All my life I have been a die hard Yankee fan even
though I live in New England. Growing up baseball was always a special game to
me. It’s what my friends and I would talk about, we were all on the same team
that my friend’s dad and my own dad would coach; It connected us as a
community. To me growing up in the heart of the steroid era has taken its toll
on the game. With players coming out almost by the day the sport has taken a
huge hit for me. I always have said that if it ever came out the Derek Jeter
did PEDs then I would drop the sport all together. Jeter has been my baseball
idol growing up, he has always represented the right way to play the game. This
“story” that I wrote proves that in six simple words baseball a game that I
have loved for so long can come crashing down.
I wanted to come up with a short story that had a punchy ending. I really enjoyed this assignment and the creativity it allowed. This style of writing really shows the bare essentials needed for any story; a beginning, a middle, and an end. I made sure I opened the story with a very visual setting, something simple and familiar. For the middle I added the action of story without giving too much away. I then concluded with two words that not only ended the story, but hopefully took the reader by surprise.
I'm a sucker for a good documentary. One night over the summer I was perusing the documentaries available on Netflix Instant when I came across one particularly intriguing PBS doc called "The Woodmans." Though this is obviously non-fiction, I still thought it was quite interesting and wanted to share.
Directed by C. Scott Willis, "The Woodmans" tells the inspiring but tragic story of Francesca Woodman, the daughter of well-known artists George and Betty Woodman. Francesca developed her own artistic talent at an early age through photography and experimental video. She is known for her style of blurry, black and white photographs, often nude self-portraits. Her photographs have a beautiful but gritty and haunting quality to them and look like what one would see in a contemporary high fashion magazine spread. One of her childhood friends even described her style as "something you would see in an Urban Outfitters catalog today." However, despite her talent, photography did not have the same popularity in the '70s as it does today. Throughout her short career, Francesca's struggled with depression and the fact that she did not receive the artistic recognition she thought she deserved. At age 22, Francesca killed herself. More than 30 years later, the art community is still fascinated by her work and story.
The most interesting part of this documentary for me was not just Francesca's own story, but that of her father, mother, and brother, all insanely dedicated artists who admit they feel somewhat overshadowed by Francesca's legacy as they have always struggled for their own personal artistic recognition. The AV Club hits the nail on the head in their review of the film, highlighting the strange family dynamic of The Woodmans when they say that during the film Francesca's father George "frankly asserts that one of the reasons he loved his daughter was that she was the kind of passionate person who would try something as drastic as suicide." This sentiment alone speaks to how much the entire family values and dedicates themselves to art. This film was definitely worth the watch- it not only opened my eyes to Francesca Woodman's art, but also made me question what it means to be a true artist. How far should one go for the sake of art? Is there room for family/significant others in the context of the art world? To what extent, if any, do you have to be "tortured" to be a great artist?
It may be a homework assignment, or it may just be the most tantalizing six word story you've ever heard. Regardless, "The Sloth Made Some Smart Investments" conjures a heart-wrenching tale of an unlikely hero. Who is this Sloth? How is he capable of making investments? And what financial secrets does he know that I could use to increase my own personal wealth?
I honestly don't know, but I'm sure these questions and more are sure to follow as Mr. Sloth takes on the stock market, checking his E-Trade while eating lunch, and being smart with his daily spending as he saves for the future.
I thought long and hard for the assignment and I came up with this:
"Keep running, the knife knows all."
After I came up with this, the creativity kept following. I thought of a short movie idea where the point of view of the movie is from a knife. So it would begin either in a knife block or hanging from a knife rack. A woman enters the kitchen and starts preparing a meal, so the audience would move with the knife (i.e. chopping vegetables). Eventually a scuffle happens and the woman stabs someone with the knife, so you would see the point of view of the knife going into the body (and the audience would be able to see organs). The woman freaks out and formulates an exit strategy and eventually the knife is buried along with the body.
It's a very loose concept and a very abstract idea. In other words it's a beginning.
Hey guys,
Over the summer, I watched a lot of interesting movies, ranging from fantastic to terrible. Admittedly, I enjoy watching low budget films to critique the style of the director, or lack of, and to laugh at some bad acting. My mother brought home a movie that she found at a local Redbox; it was called "Detention." My mother assumed it was a horror film, and I had assumed it would be terrible.
Fortunately for us, it wasn't unbearable. "Detention" is a comedic horror film that tells the story of high school co-eds who are being stalked by their favorite horror film character, Cinderhella. They are forced to battle a time warp of the 90's, a crazed killer, and build a time machine out of the school's mascot, all while serving Saturday detention. Josh Hutcherson stars as Clapton Davis, the under-appreciated heartthrob who battles with his high school principal, played by Dane Cook. "Detention," directed by commercial director Joseph Kahn, surprised me with a decent production level and creative story.
Between the fast paced music in the opening credits and the development of quirky and angst-filled characters, this movie immediately interested me. I expected to find a horrible mess of bad acting and terrible production quality. Instead, I was surprised to find witty dialogue and a variety of complex characters. Like any co-ed movie, you have a jock, a rich girl, a confused and sexually frustrated teen, and, of course, the girl who is in love with her best friend.
Recently I have been hearing alot about a movie called "The Master," a movie about a drifter, played by Jouquin Phoenix, who, after World War II, become involved with a charismatic man who leads a religious group known as "The Cause." Paul Thomas Anderson, director of "There Will Be Blood" wrote and directed this film. I am huge fan of both "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia," so I am very excited for this new film, especially because it features Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams, two of my favorite actors currently working in film.
The movie will definitely be talked about as Hoffman's character, Lancaster Dodd, is said to be inspired by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the controversial religion, Scientology. The movie should be interesting and will definitely be an important topic in entertainment news this coming fall as many people in the entertainment industry are members of Scientology. I also find cults very fascinating because I think the idea of someone gaining followers using only charisma is so interesting, even when this person has really out-there ideas.
I think this is a well done trailer because it gives information about the movie's beginning, middle, and end, but yet there is a lot of room for guessing what will actually happen in the movie. It includes shots and audio clips that tell you about different parts of the story, while also showing off the great cinematography and music that Anderson's movies are known for.
The trailer starts with a montage of Phoenix's character, Freddie, trying to assimilate back into society, and then going right into Freddie meeting Dodd. The trailer's music turns into a rhythmic beat as Freddie seems to get more involved with the Dodd's people. Dodd is confronted about his ideas and the word "cult" is mentioned. Soon, some of the characters become more agressive and the rhythm stops, and the music goes into a nice song from the period as different voice overs can be heard, giving an idea about the conflict in "The Master".
Hopefully this movie will be really good, and looking at Anderson's track record, it should be.
Haven't used Blogger in months so I'm testing it out to see if it works!! By the way for those of you who don't know, I'm Lucy Hall! Good Luck this semester y'all!!
-Lucy Lynne' Hall
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
