A Knight in Golden Armor

Get it? Chris KNIGHT? GOLDEN ratio? I digress.

I'm a big fan of this article, mainly because our man Chris Knight found an unpretentious, non-patronizing way to tell us not-so-savvy-with-a-camera people how to make small adjustments to better our poorly composed scenes. He understands what a film/television student really needs: big pictures with not a lot of words underneath.

This is a circle.

I've had a slew of high school teachers attempt to explain the golden ratio, and all I really got out of it was that I would never pursue a career in math and George Clooney was scientifically gorgeous (duh).

Symmetry is sexy.

But along came Mr. Knight with his diagrams and BAM! I am now a member of the club known as "Basic Understanding of Rectangles". Shot a little too crowded? Take ten paces to your left and try again. Subject look a little boring in the center of the frame? Shimmy over to your right and the interesting shot is yours.

The most adorable Rule of Thirds.

I was most affected by one of the smaller points of the article. Knight explained the basic technique of using a frame within the frame (a tunnel, a tree, a window, etc...). But, you can also use darkness as a frame. If you want to highlight a subject in the distance, keep your foreground dark. I always found lighting tricky, but this quick little tip really helped keep the basics of lighting in perspective.

Obviously these concepts are only the basics of composition, but it's a great start to the more complex aspects of setting up a shot. So put down your "Composition for Dummies" book, check out Chris Knight's "The Ultimate Guide to Composition", and explore the depths (of field... ha...) of framework. 

Gravity

It's been seven years since Alfonso Cuaron graced us with a film. His previous effort Children of Men was critically praised, so expectation for his follow up Gravity were high. Let me say they delivered. The film had some of the most beautiful cinematography ever. In the average film there are over 5000 cuts, action films have upwards of 80,000 however in Gravity there are only 156, in the entire film. The film utilizes many long cuts as we follow the characters action in the vacuum of space. The film's opening shot is 17 minutes long, but when I watched the film, I only realized how long the shot was when the camera finally cut. The plot of the film is very simple, Academy Award Winning Actress Sandra Bullock (try saying without laughing or smiling) plays Ryan Stone an astronaut on her first mission. When out on a spacewalk with George Clooney (actor's name not the part me played) their spaceship is struck by destroyed by debris. Bullock and Clooney must then attempt to make their way to a nearby space station before the debris comes back. For a film taking place in something as vast as space I felt very claustrophobic watching it. Going into the film I was worried that it would be just 90 minutes of Academy Award Winning Actress Sandra Bullock hyperventilating in space. While there was a lot of that there was much much more, a story of grief and accepting that grief and moving on. If you see one 3D film this year make it Gravity. While making the film they didn't have any technology to properly show how light is in space, so Cuaron had his crew create it. Gravity is truly, and I'm sorry for the pun I'm about to use, breathtaking.

"Gravity" is out of this world

"Gravity" has no limits

Gravity is a 3-D space drama film starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as surviving astronauts from a damaged space shuttle. Bio-medical engineer Dr. Ryan Stone, played by Bullock, is a Mission Specialist on her first space shuttle mission, accompanied by veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski played by George Clooney, who is commanding his final expedition. 

Gravity had its world premiere at the 70th Venice International Film Festival on August 28, where it received universal acclaim from critics and audiences, praising the acting, direction, screenplay, cinematography, visual effects, production design, the use of 3D, and Steven Price's musical score.

It is very interesting how they filmed this movie because it is so focused/centered around special effects. When I saw commercials for this film it did not intrigue my interest, however, it has been receiving great reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 98% and viewers loved the 3-D aspect. 

The film was directed by five time Oscar nominee Alfonso Cuaron and cinematography was done by Emmanuel Lubezki. The two worked well together and produced a film that is extremely hard to make. 

The film uses long, uninterrupted shots that create suspense and drama. The acting in this film is also incredibly hard, as they acted in front of a green screen and had to create the atmosphere mentally. This is a well done film and pushes the limits of the film world. 

The Ides of March

Last weekend I saw a The Ides of March with a couple of my friends. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend anyone should see it. It's the story of a young politician making his big debut on the campaign but quickly learns that no one plays nice in politics. Everyone is out to get everyone else and remove them from the pedestal of power Any tiny mistake that one of them makes, costs their jobs because blackmail is their biggest enemy.

One of the biggest points that my friend talked about was how the title worked perfectly. "The Ides of March" refers to the common story of Julius Ceasar being stabbed in the back. This event occurred on March 15th, an "ide" referring to the number 15. Put all of those phrases to the plot line of the movie, it's a story of stabbing everyone in the back to gain power.

I should warn you going in that the first half hour is very boring because the conflict is not presented early enough but after that, I was on the edge of my seat till the end.