The Hobbit

Watching the Lord of the Rings series when I was much younger was one of the best experiences of my life! My mom read all the books including the Hobbit and she's very excited about watching the Hobbit in Theaters. My boyfriend and I decided we'll go and watch it in theaters on the night of the premiere! This is something either of us have ever done! Surprising I know! Watching the blog videos (vlogs as I like to call them) about their making of the film Pre, production and post, it filled my heart with inspiration! Needless to say, if I had a tail it'd be going in circles!

We watched the post production blog and I have also seen the production blog itself. They have literally hundreds of people working on this film! It took them 266 shooting days to film the hobbit! How I dream of being employed for that long on one film! It would be amazing to work on such an incredible project! When I see the production blogs done by the crew, especially the art department crew my heart just melts with the idea that I want so badly to do that someday! And there's no reason I shouldn't be able to do so.

Raise your hand if you'd donate your hair to film!! Ooo Ooo me me me me me!!

OH yeah!!

I can only hope I've kicked this flu by then!! So in order to work on kicking that I'm going to go make myself a cup of tea and relax a little. Enjoy! Go see the movie!!

-Lucy Lynne' Hall

Efficient Film Making

Probably about 90% of making a film work out in your favor is by planning ahead of time.
Never forget to plan for everything to go wrong most of the time it will.
Some things are unavoidable and unthinkable but unfortunately they do happen. It's always good to be willing to try and work with people rather than against them.
I think what helps me do well in any department is to have a little confidence in myself and my ability to figure things out, not being afraid to jump right in to something, over planning, giving myself enough time to do something that needs doing, and doing that part of film making as much as you can. I try to volunteer in the things I'm good at first and if someone asks for help on something that I know I have time for and can handle I try really hard to just do it. Helping hands that don't know all the ropes are better than no hands at all. When I was directing I always tried to just get people who are available first. In order to get anyone to do anything for you you have to plan out when you're doing things. Before that even It's a great idea to find locations first. Like an artist you have to think of the background before you can even begin thinking about the foreground. Think about what makes the scene possible first and then think about what makes it pretty. First, get your location and when it will be available and plan your schedule accordingly. Then think about the idea, what do we want the idea to look like shot-for shot. Again you want to over plan for this. Plan out every shot in detail! By the end of this pre-production process keep the ideas in mind but don't marry them. You can then decide what kind of equipment you'll need to make it look like it does in your head. Then you can think about the people available to you that can run all of that equipment, gather them and schedule them promptly. Then schedule back up people for them just in case your first person falls through. Remind those people that they are on-call. Then you should think about the talent. These people at some point will have a level of irreplaceable status. In order to progress and not work backwards you want to stress to these people how valuable they are to this production. Then you can start thinking about the Art-department aspect of it because then your art person(s) will have sizes of the actors to work with. It's ideal to assign a car+assistant/driver to the art department. Think of all the ways you can help them out by donating the clothes, props, make up, and set dressing you can offer to them. Don't be afraid of any stains (unless they're bleach stains) they can all be removed. Then think about all of the luxury items you will want of set; food, coffee, water, snacks, extra scripts, a screw driver, TAPE (ALL THE TAPE), etc.
Then shoot it and expect all of these things to not work out.
Then eventually you can sit down with someone fresh and have them edit all the crazy work you just did. Sometimes it helps to have someone who hasn't so intently worked on this project as much as you have editing the final film. You obviously shouldn't just leave it all up to them, you should watch and compromise and listen to their ideas too. Make some sacrifices  your audience will thank you because sometimes as much as you think it's the greatest idea in the world, others might see it differently and that's ok. 

Do we have time for this in a matter of 3 weeks. Absolutely not! There are sacrifices you will have to make. I'm not just talking about the pre-production and production stuff that you just planned out for either! Expect to lose money, expect to not eat, expect to have anxiety attacks, expect to have insomnia etc. Personal tolls. But also understand that this is all only temporary. A good film that you can submit to film festivals, that you can show to potential employers and be able to explain how you got to make this film, it makes it all worth the temporary hell you'll have to go through. Your film can last a long long time. Think about the films that literally almost everyone in the world has seen. Those films probably had all of the stress that you have! But they not only made a lot of money off of it, but they got to say hey, I made this and it's really going places! There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Trust me if you plan like this, and even if everything that you couldn't have even fathomed went wrong, you'll probably most deff. have something worth bragging about. It will make you a better film maker. Your best work will only be your best film because you failed and learned in all the other films before it. Your first film may or may not be your worst. If you put in 100% of your effort, then that is literally all you can do, be proud of that and forgive yourself for being human. Just remember that you can always hug someone when you need to. Unless you're surrounded by cacti. In that case run!



Haven't watched very many films lately, I've watched some documentaries but nothing crazy good.

Grumpy cat

TIOLI

Hello everyone!
I wanted to share some great information with all the Ithacan's who are searching for props and other free items for films!

Take It Or Leave It, in Clarke Hall in the basement, they have a ton of free stuff! Also if you're looking to get rid of some stuff before moving out of Ithaca soon, drop off your unwanted things instead of throwing them away! It's supported by the Eco Reps on campus! It's a great program and I think we should all support them!

Here's a link to their information


I didn't find a whole lot of props needed for my final projet but, I did find a whole lot of really good set dressing there!
I hope the spread of this information proves useful for TIOLI as well as my fellow art department people in Ithaca!

Game 2:

1: "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too."
2: "I'm King of the world!"
3: "Rosebud"
4: "I've always depended on the kindness of strangers."
5: "Go do that Voodoo that you do so well!"
6: "No dice, soldier."
7: "You idiots! These are not them! You've captured their stuntdoubles!"
8:  "GOONIES NEVER SAY DIE!"
9: "Shut the F*ck up, Donny!"
10: "Squirrel!"


Don't cheat!! ;-)


Also here's a trailer for the last movie I watched.

Breathless 1983 by Jim McBride

Meh, it was alright. I'm not exactly sure how this wound up in my instant queue. I watched it anyways and it was alright. If you're borred enough you could watch it and it wouldn't be a complete waste of time.

Want to play a little game?

Hey everyone,
 I've only watched a couple of good movies so far this thanksgiving break. One of them is called "Ondine"! It was produced in 2009 and directed by Neil Jordan, known for directing Interview with a vampire (favorite #113/124 films).  The story is about an irish fisherman who finds a woman in his net and he believes her to be a selke (a water nymph). The story was very engaging and I couldn't stop watching it, it was in a way kind of intimate in the way you get to know the characters and feel for the relationship between them. It didn't place on my fav's list so far but who knows, perhaps years from now I'll come across it again and watch it and decide I really loved it. At this point I did really enjoy it and would recommend it to many.

Anyways, to get to a more interesting point, perhaps. I would like to play a little game! I'm going to post 10 movie quotes and you comment on the blog to reveal what movies they're from!

Here they are:

1: "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore"

2: "May the force be with you"

3: "E.T Phone home"

4: "A census take once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti."

5: "Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

6: "I see dead people"

7: "Stella! Hey Stella!"

8: "Here's Johnny!"

9: "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown"

10: Striker: "Surely you can't be serious."
       Rumack: "I am serious... and don't call me shirley."


Well those should be easy enough! Guess away friends!
Tata for now!

-Lucy Lynne' Hall

Films and their influence on society

Recently, I watched a film called Pretty Ugly People directed and written by Tate Taylor. Taylor has also directed The Help (film #97/ 123 films on my favorites list)

and Winters Bone.

Pretty Ugly People I thought was a pretty strange title. I'm not sure I would have chosen it for the title. Mostly because it just doesn't quite roll off the tongue. It's not terrible but it's not great.
  Getting more to my point of reviewing this film, I am not quite sure how it might make certain people in our society feel about losing weight. The character loses weight by a gastric bipass surgery. My knowledge of this surgery is that it is not a surgery for someone who just casually wants to lose weight. You have to be morbidly obese to have this surgery. The character's name is Lucy (weird right?!). In any case she loses the weight and has another surgery to remove access skin. She has the remains of her surgery cremated and she spreads the ashes throughout the film. The plot of the film is that she convinces her old college friends to come on a hike with her up a mountain she's always wanted to climb. Convinced that their friend is in trouble the come to visit her unknowingly having been signed up for this camping trip. The trip reveals everyone's real characters and she realizes that the people she idolized all through college turned out to be very shallow people. In the end they move on to the next chapters in their lives after realizing their serious flaws and changing them to better be happy with who they are.
  The criticism I have of this film is that I wonder if people will think that if they lose weight that all their friends will be unhappy with them. Truth be told, if your friends get mad at the fact that you've done something good for yourself, then they're not your real friends. I haven't had any thoughts of losing weight since I dont really need to. However, if I were more vulnerable and over weight I might think about that possibility.  My Mother lost almost 100 pounds and never lost one friend. Maybe this is because she had good friends to begin with. Maybe that doesn't really happen in real life. I guess I'm just questioning how this would effect someone's motivation to do something good for themselves like loosing weight.

  As film makers we should try to think a little bit about our viewers and how they might feel after watching our films. I'm not sure if Taylor really thought about that or not. It was a decent movie, wasn't one of my favorites but it was alright. I'm excited to see more of Taylor's work though. I enjoyes Winter's Bone and obviously The Help is one of my favorites.

Ta Ta for now!!

-Lucy Lynne' Hall

Return to Paradise

I added a new film to my favorites list yesterday that I thought I'd share with you all!

It's a little bit relevant to our next project because it is loosely based on a true story. It is extremely saddening to me if at least most of the events in the story had actually occurred in real life. It has been speculated that it was based on a story about two australian's who were hanged for drug trafficking heroine. In the movie there are three characters who while on vacation are caught with a good amount of hash. Two of the character's in question had already gone back home but one stayed behind to work on an animal saving opportunity dealing with gorillas. They catch him and through him in prison and he is sentenced to hang, never having mentioned his two other friends until it becomes clear that there is nothing else he can do to save himself from sure death. He releases their names to his lawyers. One of them goes back to the USA to find his two friends who might be able to help him get away.

The film is extremely emotional and very human. Each character is believable and is relatable. It's important to understand that things like this can happen and when traveling the world one must realize you can't just do what you do at home normally. Whether or not this happens to be true.

The film stars Vince Vaughn and Jauquin Phoenix. Both of their performances are spectacular. I would certainly see this film again. I also encourage others to watch it.

It reminded me very much of Midnight Express where an american man is caught with drugs trying to smuggle them across the sea to the US. He then is sent to a turkish prison where he is poorly treated and sometimes tortured. The chances of him getting out are very slim and are often shut down even though his family tries very hard to help him through the american embassy. The punishment is debatably unfair. I think that movie may also be based on a true story.

So a word to the wise; if you're going to a foreign country, you probably should at least know their policies and laws and also you probably should refrain from the use or carrying of illegal substances.

I added Return to Paradise to my favorites list at #92 out of now 123 films!

You can find it on Netflix!

The Pianist

Hello world!!

The last film I added to my favorites list came in at number 55 out of a total of 121 films!! Warning This film is a tear-jerker!! The film I speak of is The Pianist!

I had kept seeing it suggested to me on my Netflix account but never really thought too hard about biting the bate. My most recent method in watching films everyday has been to look up the directors of each of my favorite films on IMDB and look for other films they've directed on Netflix. Obviously, I couldn't find all of them. My other method is to look for films on Netflix that are suggested to me by friends and staff members at Ithaca. Sometimes I'll even eves dorp on other people talking about a film and try to find that one too. Needless to say, the "director method" as I like to call it, took me a very long time considering I have 121 films on my list currently!!

The Pianist was directed by Roman Polanski, who also directed Chinatown (#41/121). The writing was very well done and art direction was incredible, directing was wonderful and Adrian Brody did one heck of an act!

It's historical, real, artistic, beautiful... it's wonderful!

I suggest if you don't mind balling your eyes out a little it's a great story and certainly something everyone should experience because it's good to understand what happened from a certain perspective. It's really great! Sorry this post was a little later than usual but I've been a busy little film making student these days! Hope all is well with everyone out there!

Ta Ta for this week!

-Lucy Lynne' Hall

Film Festivals

I'd like to take this post to promote some film festivals!

Here's one I've been looking in to! I'm not 100% sure on what I want to do just yet but I'll figure it out. If anyone would like to help me out on it let me know! I'd be happy to bring some other people in on this!

This is another interesting website I found over the summer when I was looking for more film festivals to submit White Lights to.

Withoutabox is cool in that it gives you all kinds of film festivals all over the world! I did try to submit my film to one festival but the process was a little confusing and I didn't get my film in on time. Anyway, if you can figure it out, it's worth a try!

It's good to go to film festivals whenever possible even if you're not entering a film. It's fun to not only watch the films and where they place, but also to try and compare them to films you have made and see if the film would belong there! You'd be surprised, some films that are entered aren't as advanced as one might think they would have to be. Your film could really fit in well!

Some people can't really handle film festivals in that they can't sit through so many movies at once. However, some people can handle it. I'm certainly someone who can handle it and I love going to them  just to see the films! I'd also recommend the Theodore Case Film Festival in Auburn NY if anyone happens to be a local or even remotely in the area. I live in Mexico, NY so it's a good hour and 15 min. drive for me to get to it's location at Auburn Public Theater! Which is one of my favorite places! However, unfortunately they didn't do the Ted Case Film Fest last year so there was no way of knowing if they will bring it back again this year or not. It was a great festival (non-competitive) to view the different films being made by various people in the NY area! I met some really great people there as well. Since it's non-competitive I can tell you I know a lot of people that work there as well as the owners! They're a great bunch of folks! So if you're ever in the Auburn area check it out they've got lots of artistic events not just in film but also in music, poetry, and other ars!

Here's  their website! Check it out!!

Speaking of timed film festivals:

This is one of the guys I met at Ted Case FF in Auburn. He actually comes from the same roots as I do in that he went to my old school (Cayuga Community College) and then came to Ithaca he then transfered to Oswego. I don't plan on doing that however! His name Is Jeffrey Newell and he's extremely talented. This was one film festival that he did for a 36 hour film festival. He said he'd never do it again, however I think he did do a 24 hour film festival just recently.

I love seeing ALL of the videos he does, he's truly an amazing person. I would love to work with him someday. I'm sure I will have the opportunity at some point in time.

I would like to try to make a 24 hour film someday just to see if I could and what would come from it.
It'd be good for my brain!
TaTa for now!

-Lucy Lynne' Hall

Burn one bridge you burn them all

So I'm going to try and stay positive in this post since now we know, big brother is watching! By the way Hello, Big Brother! Weather's lovely here in Ithaca! Anyways, moving on.

I'd like to point out the qualities in people that I like to work with. Perhaps one day that can be useful to not only me, when it comes to hiring people but also in terms of who I am.

Adults: I love working with adults because they have things to do. They're always busy and hard to get as actors. They've always got something to do at 4pm and they can't do anything for you past then! I like this because it keeps me on track, I might have dedicated my whole week/weekend/day etc. to my shoot but they have lives too. This gets things done quickly for me and keeps me on track enough for me to also be an adult and get my own things done!

Good Friends: I love people who as soon as you call for help, they jump at the chance even if they live 2 hours away. I like working with friends as long as they're not distracting. I think it helps in their commitment if they know me more personally. I'm not just a director or a producer to them, I am Lucy, their friend.

Honest people: I like working with people who say they're going to show up at a certain time, and surprise! They do! They stay through the whole shoot, if they find themselves borred, they don't leave the shoot and go eat tocos with their friends they seek out someone on the shoot who looks like they're struggling and stressed and they ask them "Is there anything I can do."

Not emotionally attached: Never count on two people's relationship to last through your shoot. Even if they've been together for 12 years and your shoot is only three days out of their lives. I love the people who DONT bring in their emotional ties to the crew/set. When you can turn the sad face off and do what is asked of you, I'm in debt to you.

Talented people: This of course goes with out saying. I enjoy working with people who know what they're doing. However, it's not my first priority. I'm more intrigued by people who are honest and committed.

Reliable ones: I love the reliable ones. The one's who send you a Facebook message years after you worked with them saying, "Hey I found something you might be interested in doing, here's the information let me know if you need help with money!" and "Hey, I know you're cleaning houses on the side for money, someone came in to work the other day saying something about needing his rental home cleaned, I gave him your number, I hope that's ok!"

The brave ones: I like the people who show up to set to help and hang out with you after the shoot. You loose an actor last minute or you didn't have time to plan for back up, you ask your friend, "Would you be willing to step in as our bad guy?" and they say "Well, I'm not a very good actor but sure I'll try." It works especially well when they wind up being a genius bad guy!

Guerrilla filmmakers: I love guerrilla film makers in the sense that they're so eager to work! They love to just make films so instead of going through what we (really should) do, Pre-production, they just get up out of bed and they make a film! Even if it means they had to steal a few things from their job to make it.

Loyal people: I love the ones who drank all night long, got in a huge fight with their ex/boyfriend, got home at 4am, tried to sleep for a few hours, called you at 7am and asked you where the location is and an hour later they show up to the shoot dressed in their finest, not emotionally derailed, there on time and ready to work.

Non-credited, don't care: I try to make sure everyone that works with me is credited. However, I love the ones who you ask to be your DP and if we can use their brand new camera on set and even though they're the producer of another set that's shooting that day, they say "heck yes"! Sorry I couldn't give them class credit for the project, but they got money out of it for winning the film festival.

Cry on demand: I've worked with a couple of people who know how to cry on demand. It's truly incredible especially when everyone around them is laughing and goofing off like fools. As you're reading this tell me if you can cry on demand! It's hard right?! I give them props...sometimes literally! *Pun intended*

Make up!: I love make up artist. It may take a long time to get them to get things done but when you can give them the time, their work is phenomenal! The same can be said if they're a set decorator or many other film spots!

Sorry I can't be there: I like it when people I have assigned as extras actually call me in a timely mannor and tell me they can't be there instead of just not showing up. Then when I ask them again the next time if they would be available for another shoot, they say " I owe you one, I'll be there!"

Home owners: I love working with home owners who let you borrow their whole house, let you move all their stuff into one tiny room and sleep on the couch with their dog while you finish up production. In fact they help you move all their stuff into that tiny room. Then they go out side and smoke with your producer! People like that should win nobel prizes!


Got to work at 10 am, no problem: I like when a main actress/or finds out the shoot was not on the day they thought it was and even though they have to work 10 minutes after the shoot, they don't bail on you they get there on time and I wrap them early!

The ones who want to work with you!: I like the folks who will come up to you one day and say "Lets work together on the final project!" It may not be realistic but hey that's awesome they WANT to work with YOU! I'm flattered.

Sympathetic people: When you're a surprise stand in on set and you're going to be covered in fake puke, the make up artist makes sure you're comfortable and that your shirt doesn't get wet. It's always good to keep your people happy!

The Chillest: The assistant directors that you come up to the day before the shoot and say "Ok, so here's the news: Our set designer quit, our location house burnt down, our props master threw out all the props, we have no audio." and they say calmly "Alright! Cool! We'll figure it out. No worries, man!" Such a joy!

People with Kids: Oh boy so your writer changed his mind at the last minute, He wants the kid playing on the floor watching tv while his mom's cheating on her husband on the couch! Great where are we going to find a kid!!!!???? You're lighting intern says "I could bring my 2 year old daughter she'd love it, oh and I'll bring the toys too!"

Sound people: They're one of a kind. I can't hear what they hear and it was so hard to find a good one! Especially one who isn't taken already! Good sound is hard to find!

The rays of sunshine: So everyone's ticked cause it's 30 degrees and we ran out of hand warmers 3 hours ago. Your actress says, "Hey everyone, there's a bright side!" and all of us laugh! I'm glad those people exist.

Inventive: I love the people who can make things happen when there's no budget. The set decorator who figures out how to make police riot shields out of tote box tops, gaffers tape, mailbox letters, a saw, sand paper, and a door handle on the back!

The big ones: The producers with big intense scary looking faces with folded arms and a can-do atitude. Low and behold he's holding a rubber duckling!

The DP: Sure (s)he's always cranky and maybe his/her but crack hangs out but (s)he's the best one for the job, no one can beat him/her and (s)he's there!! Just don't stand in his light or way!

To be honest I could go on and on. I sometimes wonder what if I was in charge of hiring people? Would I be good enough? I probably wouldn't hire them based on their looks or any other physical boundary but by their experience and their personality. I'd probably hire my friends and people who I'm told by reasonable sources that they're the best! I'd give anyone a chance! But only if they know they're quite replaceable!

This is why we don't burn bridges, because when you burn one bridge you burn a lot of them. For every student, intern, kraft services person, lower ranked person on your set, that you don't keep happy, you're got an army of people behind them who wont come asking you for a job. On the oposite side of the spectrum, for every employer in the industry (even if they're just a friend or group member in film school) you've got a sea of people in front and behind them who will take their word for it, you are or you're not cut out for the job. I'll take a good lesson in the people I've worked with, and try to reflect those qualities in me as they were in them. The same can be said for the one's I fired or never worked with again. I can learn from their mistakes, not just my own.

I happen to know the consequences of my actions, and I hope that they will only make things better in my future! I'm thankful that no matter the circumstances,  I will always own up to my mistakes and never blame someone else for my problems or force people to help me. I am human and even if I lose my job because I've made a mistake, I will always find another one. This I've learned from working with so many people, especially my old school where we had a lot of people who had lost their jobs, they didn't just give up. Besides, who wants to work with a company that threatens your job for silly human errors that really wont effect the system that much. Always know your priorities. What's more important to you, your job or your career, your play time or your future, your family or your employer, your heart or your paycheck, your career or your life? Think about it!

Have a nice day, enjoy the weather while it lasts!


-Lucy Lynne' Hall

Product Placement

There's a lot to say about product placement. There are a lot of reasons to try and avoid it as much as possible, aside from the fact that that company can sue you for not asking for their permission to use their product name. One would think that they would consider the fact that it's free "advertising" for them. However, I think company's get paranoid about their product being associated with a bad persona or bad "representation".

Just that fact alone takes me out of a film when I watch it. Which is the oposite of what you want. A film is meant to capture it's audience and give them an escape of some sort and to evoke an emotion at the same time. Things like product placement interrupt that process. As soon as your viewer thinks "Oh, yeah I'm watching a film!" then your message has nearly failed. Often, when I see product placement in a film I automatically think "wow, I wonder if they got permission to use that, and if they did how much they had to pay those companies to use their product name in their film. Granted, it is VERY difficult to remove me from the "film" mentality in that I'm always analyzing the behind the scenes magic of the film it self. I'm always trying to de-code films. This makes it somewhat difficult to enjoy certain things in films. For instance, I watched the film "Ted" in theaters. I absolutely HATED it. I refuse to do a review of it in my vlog but since this blog is not as broad and more detailed I will do a mini-review of why I don't like it.

I know that probably most people don't agree with me in hating this film. However, this changes nothing for me. The reason I don't like this film is because, I'm more of a "Film" than a "TV" person. I literally can't remove myself far enough from this film to enjoy it at all. I was also never a fan of family guy. (Yes I have three heads, feel free to keep staring). Anyways, If you love family guy then you'd love this film. I've always found most of the humor of family guy to be rude, crude and similar to laughing at the handi-capped kid at school. It's usually a very "bully-infused" type of humor. The idea of a talking bear to me is a gimmick and I knew the idea of it would not work for as long as it was attempting to. There was also a story behind it which I feel was completely disconnected to the humor. The story of a man who can't seem to grow up and give up his teddy bear is realistically a sad story and pretty lame at that. Then to attempt to make that funny with a gimmick is to me a recipe for disaster. Granted there were some things in the film that were funny, and I laughed at some things. But over all I was not thrilled by it. It was like sitting and listening to someone spew jokes about things that aren't meant to be funny at all for more than an hour. It was like that one friend we all have that doesn't think there's a moral boundary to what's funny, the guy who starts telling Michael Jackson jokes at his funeral, makes jokes about the holocaust while in a synagogue, or jokes about the bat mat shooting while waiting in line to see it in theaters just days after it happened. These are the kind of people I don't like to encourage. Sure some of these types of jokes seem harmless and sometimes even I can't help but laugh at them. However, these types of joke in my eyes shouldn't be given my money. They shouldn't be something we encourage. That's just my opinion and I'm sure there are people out there who would riot against my argument, and if we were in the appropriate time and place I could be beheaded! Not really, but at least I'm sure that there are a lot of people who disagree with me and I respect them for it. In any case, I think it's a good idea to keep it in mind that there is a demographic out there that won't pay to see a film filled with that type of humor. I wouldn't have gone and seen it myself if my boyfriend hadn't dragged me there by saying "we always watch what you want to watch". I'm glad I gave it a chance just so I could prove how much I wouldn't and don't like it. However, if you love family guy and that kind of humor and talking gimmicks, then you'll probably like the film. It's certainly no the film for me however. If you find you like a lot of the same films I do and also don't have much of a taste for family guy humor, you'll probably agree with me. By the way they even had the audacity to mention "family guy" in the film's dialogue. Which also brings me out of the film and makes me think "oh, yeah I'm watching a film...and they just referenced their own material." I can only hope I would never do that to my audience. I felt violated almost. The other thing is that it was very much a kid-type gimmick in that it was a talking teddy bear. I would never take my kids (let alone anyone) to see that film.

So much for a mini-review. I actually could go through in much more detail of why I don't like it. In any case I am a very difficult person to please when it comes to certain things in film. Since I know the ins and outs I don't tend to like things that seem childish or cheap, at least not enough to give it a majority of my money or time. So perhaps I'm a pretty bias person to judge a film in that I am not the typical audience or demographic. However, I am a consumer in film and it's important to appeal to the widest demographic as you can. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. It's important to know that demographic if you want to make money. If you don't really care about making money in the media (anything that requires a demographic to make money) don't worry about your appeal. By all means don't be afraid to do something new and different, but if you are, don't be opposed to criticism. It can only make you better and more appealing.

Back to the subject, product placement is something that pulls me out of a film. It's ok if it's relevant to the story or the character (and as long as you have the money to support that product placement). But when it's a prop of your character's that has something on it that represents a product, it automatically represents a piece of the character. If your character wears a brand name sweater, then maybe that means they belong to a certain "type" or "group". Maybe they're preppy, maybe they're gothic, maybe they're something that represents that company. But when it's completely irrelevant to the story, it becomes distracting to your character establishment. It may even begin to create a future stigma of other characters that may not even be true. Maybe people who buy "said product" are more likely to "do what the character is doing". Honestly that's a stretch. However, you might want to try to keep products out of it. If your character is using a named product, they are automatically branded to that name. Also, some of my favorite films do use product placement. It sometimes doesn't seem to bother me, but when it's very prominent or clear in the film, it begins to bug me a little. It's one of the smallest things to think about on set but if it's the difference between being sued and possibly making your film demographic more narrow or even distracting your audience, it's important to remember it.

Also, these are fun. Beware of a gratuitous amount of swearing!!! This maybe contradicting what I said
earlier about bully humor, but If an insult is what your character needs to say or hear, these are very creative! I can appreciate them, especially when they're done tastefully, creatively, and given appropriately to characters who really deserve it.

Things I've learned from criticism

Being that I am a film critic myself, I like to get tough criticism on my own films. I am my own worst critic for sure. I can tell you that none of my films EVER will make it on my Favorites List. Incase I haven't mentioned it yet, I have a giant list of my favorite films. None of my films will ever make it on there because I will always know the flaws of them. If one of my films could make it on my own list, I would die very happy. This to me will keep me making films for the rest of my life. I will always think of where I can improve. One might think this would be a depressing thought. However, it actually keeps me going, that there is always room for improvement. I currently have 121 films on my Favorites List (and growing).

My criticism of a movie to consider it a favorite is that it has to evoke an emotion from it's audience (especially if they are resisting this emotion and it happens anyways), it needs to have no questions asked (no cliffhangers (unless they work)and no misunderstandings), It has to be a movie that I would want to see again and if I see it again I either get a new feeling overtime or the same enjoyment with out degradation. For some of my favorite movies I laugh every time I watch it no matter what, I cry at least the first time I watch it (it's very hard to make it on my favorites list as a drama), It's extremely different/creative and there's no other that compares to it and for some of them I just enjoyed as a child and they stick with me forever.

When watching my films I try to pay attention to extreme detail. Then when I move on to a new film (after the criticism of my previous) I really concentrait on improving the things that failed last time. It's almost like studying for a test, you write down all the material you need to know and you go through each thing and cross off the things you already know by heart, and then you study the things you're not confident on.

Perhaps to answer what this most recent project; the one shot film with rotation of jobs, it's about fully expanding yourself in order to say you have done each of those jobs. It's about strengthening your weaknesses. No one is going to be "perfect" in everyone's eyes but I would like to come as close as I can to making my self the best film maker I can be. This unfortunately initials being uncomfortable. I'd like to thank all of those that have worked with me in my learning experiences especially in this project where you had to sacrifice having the best people do the job I was assigned to do, you may not have gotten the best aspect of that part of your film but I'm glad you allowed me to have that experience in learning. To me it is the best way of learning is just simply by doing. We as children learned how to read more by reading with someone. We learned to play video games on our own. We learned how to use a computer by seeking out and playing around. I think that is what we are best at and we learned these things by simply doing them. I can think of a few things I learned how to do on my own just by playing around, one is how to play the guitar, another is how to use a cell phone, how to use my ipod (not all of it's features, but most). If I can learn how to basically do something then I can survive in this business.

Some of the weaknesses in my own films/films I've worked on (not even my own mistakes but others as well) are very big key things I needed to learn in order to be a film maker. One of the first things I learned in criticism of film is that you need to pay attention to continuity. It's very important to keeping your audience interested in the story.
Another thing I learned was that in certain cameras, horizontal close lines or white/light colors can mess up the vision of the camera by blowing out the color by the light or by creating a crazy moving pattern on someone's shirt or a couch.
I've also learned how to tone down an actor or actress.
How to give the shot the time it needs.
I learned early in my career that the use of a tripod can make a world of difference when you want to real critics to take you seriously. I had a DP once who flat out refused to use a tripod for the longest time. I eventually replaced him because he was lazy. After that I made sure my DP's were comfortable using a tripod before I assigned them to the job.
I learned in my scripting class last year how to write effectively with no dialogue let alone too much. It's one of the hardest things to master because you really dont know if your audience will get what you're trying to say. You're literally trying to play charades with a mass amount of people who will never see you personally.
Through this project so far I've learned how important it is to keep as many options as possible and try them all if you can, keeping it within reason and being time aware.
Also It's good to get things done in a timely manor as long as it doesn't hurt creativity. The best way I found out how to do this is by rehearsing a bunch times and planning your butt off for the shoot.
Being over prepared is a great thing. Keeping your crew fed and alive is a wonderful thing.
Another thing I try to always do for a shoot is research realistic situations. For last years project White Lights I researched a lot about people's out of body experiences and the similar things between each story including the biggest thing I noticed was that they all described a white light. Hense, the name of my film being White Lights.

Criticism is very important in growing if you want to be the best film maker you have to make more films than anyone else and you have to absorb the toughest critics so that you can learn and grow from your past. That's what we're all paying the big bucks for here at Ithaca.

So now, Keep calm and watch some movie mistakes where people still made billions!

Directing

I've been attempting to direct actors for about three years. I am NO expert, it's a world of science that can be quite a mystery. It's very difficult to work with amateurs, kids, animals, and many other life things!!
This really reminds me of a facebook note from back in the day when notes on facebook were cool! I actually found it on my facebook and I love it it's so funny.

Win Wender's Golden Rules

1. You have a choice of being “in the business” or of making movies. If you’d rather do business, don’t hesitate. You’ll get richer, but you won’t have as much fun!

2. If you have nothing to say, don’t feel obliged to pretend you do.

3. If you do have something to say, you’d better stick to it. (But then don’t give too many interviews.)

4. Respect your actors. Their job is 10 times more dangerous than yours.

5. Don’t look at the monitor. Watch the faces in front of your camera! Stand right next to it! You’ll see infinitely more. You can still check your monitor after the take.

6. Your continuity girl is always right about screen directions, jumping the axis and that sort of stuff. Don’t fight her. Bring her flowers.

7. Always remember: Continuity is overrated!

8. Coverage is overrated, too!

9. If you want to shoot day for night, make sure the sun is shining.

10. Before you say “cut,” wait five more seconds.

11. Rain only shows on the screen when you backlight it.

12. Don’t shoot a western if you hate horses. (But it’s okay to not be fond of cows.)

13. Think twice before you write a scene with babies or infants.

14. Never expect dogs, cats, birds or any other animals to do what you’d like them to do. Keep your shots loose.

15. Mistakes never get fixed in post!

16. Final cut is overrated. Only fools keep insisting on always having the final word. The wise swallow their pride in order to get to the best possible cut.

17. Other people have great ideas, too.  (I LEARNED THIS LAST YEAR WITH WHITE LIGHTS!!)

18. The more money you have the more you can do with it, sure. But the less you can say with it.

19. Never fall in love with your temp music.

20. Never fall in love with your leading lady!

21. If you love soccer, don’t shoot your film during the World Championship. (Same goes for baseball and the World Series, etc.)

22. Don’t quote other movies unless you have to. (But why would you have to?)

23. Let other people cut your trailer!

24. It’s always good to make up for a lack of (financial) means with an increase in imagination.

25. Having a tight schedule can be difficult. But having too much time is worse.

26. Alright, so you’re shooting with a storyboard. Make sure you’re willing to override it at any given moment.

27. Less make-up is better.

28. Fewer words are always better!

29. Too much sugary stuff on the craft table (or is it Kraft?) can have a disastrous effect on your crew’s morale.

30. Film can reveal the invisible, but you must be willing to let it show.

31. The more you know about moviemaking, the tougher it gets to leave that knowledge behind. As soon as you do things “because you know how to do them,” you’re fucked.

32. Don’t tell a story that you think somebody else could tell better.

33. A “beautiful image” can very well be the worst thing that can happen to a scene.

34. If you have one actor who gets better with every take, and another who loses it after a while, make sure they can meet in the middle. Or consider recasting. (And you know whose close-ups you have to shoot first!)

35. If you shoot in a dark alley at night, don’t let your DP impose a bright blue contre-jour spotlight on you, even in the far distance. It always looks corny.

36. Some actors should never see rushes. Others should be forced to watch them.

37. Be ready to get rid of your favorite shot during editing.

38. Why would you sit in your trailer while your crew is working?

39. Don’t let them lay tracks before you’ve actually looked through your viewfinder.

40. You need a good title from the beginning. Don’t shoot the film with a working title you hate!

41. In general, it’s better not to employ couples. (But of course, there are exceptions!)

42. Don’t adapt novels.

43. If your dolly grip is grumpy or your electricians hate the shot it will all show on the film. (Also, if you’re constipated…)

44. Keep your rough cut speech, your cast and crew screening speech and your Oscar speech short.

45. Some actors actually improve their dialogue in ADR.

46. Some actors should never be forced to loop a single line. (Even Orson Welles wasn’t good at that.)

47. There are 10,000 other rules like these 50.

48. If there are golden rules, there might be platinum ones, too.

49. There are no rules.

50. None of the above is necessarily correct.

#4: we went over this in class today!!

#6: I have a friend I interned with two years ago that was the script supervisor for a film I interned on! It was awesome having her around because she's gone on to do AMAZING productions: to name a few- Paranha 3DD, LOL (starring MIley Cyrus), Scream 4 (2011), and A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas. Never really in big time A list movies but she does VERY well for herself and I had the privilege of working very closely with her. I also love seeing her facebook posts on what she's doing with her career. She's always got a ton going on and I think that could be the secret to her success. I've always wanted to try having a script supervisor for a film of my own! 
#17: I learned this in White Lights last year, I couldn't possibly take as much credit for what that film was with out Jackie Campbell, Josh Best, Dave Howelle, Maxwell Melhman, Courtney Herman, Harlan Green-Taub or R. Aaron Walters, or Benni Lee Janssen. It takes a crew to make a film happen you litterally can NOT do it yourself. Unless of course you're Jeffrey R. Newell.

#24: ALWAYS HAD to deal with this issue. I think it's made me a better film maker and a person. 

#28: I learned this in script writing last semester! It's ver difficult to deviate from thinking your actors need to explain everything they're doing. They don't need to! Trust me it makes it a lot better when they don't explain anything: as we've seen in The Artist (oscar winning best feature film 2011).  (see above video)

#41: When I directed a short adaptation called "The Flea" in 2010, it was a HUGE mistake casting a couple that was together to play my main couple. It was also a mistake trying to edit my film on a crappy old computer using a bootleg copy of a really lame editing software, but that's another story for another day! In the middle of my shoot the couple had broken up (WHICH would have been AWESOME for believable acting since it was a break up story), but He decided to screw my film because he was too broken hearted to leave his room to do a one hour shoot (tops) and have it be the end of it! My film sucked but it was the best I could have done given the circumstances! I can't say I regretted this film because I learned more doing this film alone than any other film I've ever done (directing). (see above film...and please!!! don't judge)
#42: This leads me to my next point. NEVER EVER EVER adapt a novel unless you have a bjillion dollars and you don't care what people think of your films anymore because you have so much money that you don't need fans anymore. It's so hard and I don't think the general public will ever understand how hard it is to adapt a screen play from a novel. Therefore, they automatically won't appreciate anything you put out there. If a film maker adapted a novel word for word it would literally be a three day film. It takes a magical person to please anyone when adapting a novel to screen. I took a class on it the year I made The Flea! I honestly believe that the only way to appreciate a film based on a novel is by being extremely open minded, not expecting anything upon entering, and understanding the film as a "take" on how they saw the novel visually and how they made it work. I personally don't like to read a book before I watch the adapted film, because, this way I don't form my own visuals before I see others take on it. I like to see the film first and then read the book because then I can see more clearly how the film maker had seen it that way. I also enjoy the experience of reading it and seeing the story in more depth, rather than seeing a summarized version of the story after you already know what happened and why it happened. To me it's just not worth risking my career over someone being too close minded about my take on a novel. So I personally try and avoid it at all costs. However, some may strongly disagree with me on so many levels. They can go make their films and I wont judge them for that adaptation, in fact if anyone does it, I have a whole new respect for them. However, I feel most people dont see it the same way I do.
#49+50: None of these rules need apply to anything. Do you're own thing. This is more of a good advice list from a professional. By all means go out and make mistakes, it's great to learn from them! I wouldn't have agreed with any of this if I hadn't made mistakes thus far in my own career.

I 'm learning about my self, I have learned that I don't personally take enough risks, I don't like to leave my comfort zone. No one has ever made anything of themselves by just waiting for miracles. Some how, I need to do what I don't want to do so that I can do what I love.

Anyways, I found this mostly relevant and fun too!

Film Safety/ Learning from the worst

In light of recent discussion in class about the way old movies were shot with no doubles. How actors like Charley Chaplin and Buster Keaton would do their own stunts. Pointing this out, there are still some actors who dare do their own stunts. In the eye of a director this can be seen as a pending law suit or not having to pay an extra person on set.

Garrett Brown is the inventor o the steadicam, the olympic under water camera, and the football field/concert cam. He once gave a large lecture in Syracuse NY. I went with a small group from my old college, Cayuga Community College. We sat through his presentation at the end of a TV expo in the Crowne Plaza next to highway 81. He began a discussion about cinematography, and about how it can be dangerous.  This was the point behind his exploration of where we can put a camera and how we can get it there. He was also the cinematographer of The Shinning in 1980. He spoke briefly about his experiences on that film and several others. A very much more specific one for this topic was the film "Indiana Jones" in 1984. Here they had been setting up a shot where Harrison Ford runs across a rickety looking bridge. The above video is probably the scene he was referring to. Durring this scene, they wanted Harrison to runs across the bridge. Durring one of the rehearsals, of this shot either Harrison or one of the stunt doubles almost fell through the bridge on a rotten board. He of course was completely outraged at this happening and demanded that it be re-built, fixed etc. or he would quit. Garrett also went on to describe a scene he was asked to shoot at the top of (what I remember being) the San Francisco bridge. He was harnessed and all but probably afraid of heights. He was too afraid to get the shot that the director wanted and I think he never did the shot since it wasn't (in his mind) safe. As a human being you should know when and where to make that decision. Whether to move forward or step back. He stressed than no shot, and no film would ever be worth your life.

Another instance where danger was a very prominent issue in film was the making of "Noah's Ark" in 1928. Durring the climactic flood scene of the story of Noah's Ark, several extras were asked to swim around in a pool while they dumped water into it. I remember vaguely an interview with Delores Costello (on of the main actresses for the film). She stated that people would get up out of the water because they were drowning and the director told them to keep swimming, that the show must go on. Three people died durring that scene and countless others injured from props and set dressing falling on them and being pushed around by the water being dumped on them. She recalled an extra hanging on to the door of her wardrobe room. She could see that he was badly hurt and that he needed medical attention. She asked if he was alright, he said it was alright, but he thinks someone may have died.  The clip above is that very scene. It's awful to watch knowing that the director Michael Curtiz made the choice to keep those people in the water. This film and many other films that had unfortunate accidents encouraged the laws to be changed and other safety rules put into effect.

I watched a documentary on Netflix once about the making of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre film in 1974. The events of the film were much more horrifying than the story of the film itself. The film is available on Netflix still I believe. I would recommend watching it and absorbing it as a 'How not to make a film' film.  It's incredible that no one died durring the making of it. As an independent film they never had faith in it but eventually it made it very big and it became one of the biggest horror fliks ever.
If you have time I would consider watching it. I have actually found it on youtube. Although, I'm not sure it is the entire documentary.

As a director I always keep this in mind. I try to put myself in my actors shoes and wonder. How would I feel if a director asked me to do that. What am I putting my actors through, is there any other option we could do in order to get the same effect without putting anyone in danger.

Shots!

Alright! Let's do some Shots! NO, not those kinds of shots, Films shots! (It's not the weekend yet kids!)

Today, in class we spoke about the importance of shots and frame. Ever since we discussed this in fiction field 1, a year ago (time flies), I've payed closer attention to the films I watch and I note the placement of the characters. Sometimes, it helps me understand a little better of what's going on in the film. Have you ever watched a film where you were completely lost? Most people at that point shut it off and never return. I try harder to understand, I like to give em' a chance! They could explain everything later! Anyways, I found sometimes I'll try to interoperate the choice of the camera position, movement or even the placement of props, or the placement of the character's themselves.
In the shot above, The camera frame shows you exactly what the character is looking at, it also shows through camera angle how much bigger this creature is in comparison to the character, possibly imposing a threat. The fact that it's raining makes it harder for the character to run and hide, it gives us a symbolic sense of nature's wrath, unfortunate events etc.

This shot is much less distressing! I would interpret this shot to mean that these character's are getting closer either as friends or as lovers. Judging by the closeness of their bodies and given other cliche shots like this, I would bet that their next action is that they look at each other intimately.

For this shot I suppose you could say the same. Again it's very close and intimate. There's a feeling of safety even in a dangerous position. The expressions of the characters are a combination of amazement and admiration.


Another concept we were touching upon when talking about the way people used to watch film and the way we progressed from where we came from, is the concept that Hitchcock called the Kuleshov effect!

There is also an importance to not letting anything foreign be in the photograph. Set decorating is VERY important. Last year on the Market our art department team made a character who was a religious freak and very uptight person with very intense secrets. We transformed a girl's room from a girly bed room in to a dark, organized, bedroom with a ton of religious symbols everywhere. It looked like an ENTIRELY different place when we got through with it and if you pick the right people to do it, it really doesn't take too long. Here's an example of a set that was designed in the french film OSS 117: Lost in Rio:

The film takes place in the 60's and as you can see, nothing here is out of place or misrepresenting even though the movie was made in 2009! Not one thing in this frame is out of context nor is it distracting. You want things (props, set dec., etc.) to be appropriate but not distracting. I think this room sets up a mood of the scene as well as being absorbing/ believable. 

I have more to talk about but I'll save it for next week! Hope you all enjoy the rest of the week! 

Ta Ta for now!

-Lucy Lynne' Hall

6 word story and other such wonderful topics

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.

For now Ta Ta!

-Lucy Lynne' Hall