In the spirit of all Trailers

In the spirit of all this trailer creating process! (and because I'm happy this project is over) I decided to dedicate my last post to some of my favorite trailers!

My first favorite trailer is for David Fincher's Social Network:

I have to be honest, when I first heard that a movie about Facebook was coming out, I wasn't that excited. What made me go see this movie was the trailer. First of all, it uses a cover of Creep by Radiohead, as their score. Not Radiohead's best song, but it fits the concept and creates the perfect mood to catch the audience's attention (given that most of us have heard this song before). I also loved that they used a choral version of the song instead of the original one. Second, this trailer does a pretty good job introducing the conflict of the movie without giving away the whole plot. Finally, the shots and lighting are both interesting and as dramatic as they need to be.

Yes, I know this trailer is in french..... But I still love it. I first saw this because I had to watch a list of trailers in french for one of my classes. Believe me, I don't understand most of the stuff these people are saying, but it is awesome that a trailer you can't understand the words of can be so captivating. The music for this trailer is excellent. The switch in tempo and melody really gives you a taste of the different moods of this movie. It also does a great job connecting you with the characters. Every time I watch this trailer I feel compelled to watch the movie again! I also decided to upload this version, because I think the american version of the trailer is not as exciting as this one.

I remember when I first saw this, I thought "This movie is going to be epic!" I have no idea how many times I've watched this trailer, but I still get excited every time I watch this. The editing for this is excellent. I love how at the beginning they fade in and out different shots. This technique gave a certain rhythm that totally changes as you move on, especially at the end where all the cuts are fast. The editing, along with the music and voice overs work really well together. The only word to describe this trailer is epic!

Finally, the Inception movie trailer. I like this because it's pretty similar to the Batman trailer in technique (of course both movies are from the one and only Christopher Nolan). This trailer not only gives you whole picture of the movie, but also focuses in the main conflicts of the characters (especially Leonardo Dicaprio's character). I think the Batman trailer also does this. The Inception trailer also does a great job introducing the audience to the world of the movie, in order to hook them and make them go see it.

These are only a few of my favorite trailers! I also want to take this opportunity to express that it was a great semester. And that I enjoyed working with such a talented class! Hopefully I'll see you guys next semester, and if I don't I wish you the best luck!!!!

Men In Black III

I have always been a little weary of franchises that try and make a come back after many years due to a large line of failed attempts for sequels, but despite myself I was excited when I saw that Men In Black was making third movie. Many franchise after being dormant for years try and make a come back, I assume most of their motives are purely to make the next big block buster and many have failed for that reason. When you aim to make a movie purely so it will be a block buster summer hit it can often fall short of all the hype you inevitably create around it. Such examples are the fourth Indiana Jones movie and the new Star Wars movies to name two. A movie has to be made out of love and creativity in order for the fans to get behind and support it. I was not very surprised when I read that they were making a new MIB movie because it is in vogue to remake old movies or bring back a dead franchise, but when I saw the trailer I was happily surprised that they seemed to have a new take on the story. As most fans of most franchises will say, I liked the first movie the best, however the second one did an alright job pick up from a story that had seemingly ended. Though I am skeptical, I will definitely stand in line next year and see what a 10 year gap can do for this story.

Trailer Update, All In

Tonight we finished up all of our shots for our poker trailer in Studio A. Overall, I'm really excited to see the final product on the big screen. We have a lot of cool closeup shots and montage scene that are going to make for a thrilling trailer. Our actors were great and we were really fortunate to get in the locations we wanted to shot in. The fresh your mind on the story line, two brothers (Josh and Dan) attend Ithaca College on academic scholarship. Dan loses his money grant due to poor grades, and the two resort to an underground poker tournament run by college graduates. Josh, the better played of the two, decides that he is better off on his own, and takes a loan from a loan shark. It just so happens the two meet up at the final table, one needing to win to stay in school and the other to pay back the loan shark riding on his back. Which brother will end up on top in this thrilling poker adventure.

Below are some pictures I found online that are similar to a couple of shots we used in our trailer:

In post, we are planning to do a lot of motion effects, including slow motion scenes and a scene similar to this clip from the famous gambling movie 21.

We also decided to go with an announcer based trailer, instead of a dialogue driven trailer. With a lot of camera movements and zooms, we thought it would be better for the actors to talk over the the shots they are in, almost like speaking about what they are thinking in certain situations.

It's the Muppet Movie!

It's time to play the music. It's time to light the lights. It's time to meet the Muppets in the Muppet movie tonight!

I just got back from watching The Muppets, the first Muppet theatrical released film in twelve years. In the film Walter, a Muppet himself is the world’s largest Muppet fan. Along with his human brother Gary played by Jason Segel and Gary’s girlfriend Mary played by Amy Adams they must raise 10 million to save the Muppet Theater from Tex Richman. But before they can do that they need to reunite all of the Muppets who have since parted ways and are all over the world. Overall I really enjoyed the film that has the heart warm message that everything is better when you are with the people that you care about.

The first thing I liked about the film was the meta jokes calling attention to the movie the characters were in. For example when reuniting the gang they realize that this could take awhile and that we should probably cut to a montage. Instantly a montage begins until we see all the Muppets assembled into the car. One of the Muppets, Rowlf, then asks how come his story wasn’t included in the montage because he thought his was very interesting. The film then cuts back to the group waking him up from a hammock and asking if he wanted to join them, which he quickly answers yes. Other meta-references were to the songs that were supervised and written by the hilarious Bret McKenzie from Flight of the Conchrods. Characters would reference how they were tired from doing an earlier song and dance number. Other times like when The Muppets meet with Tex Richman and he raps them a song about how the answer of giving them the theater back is no the Muppets said a simple no would have been good enough.

Long before the movie came out I was excited to see because of the great marketing behind the film. In the months leading up to the movie they created numerous spoof trailers and posters of popular films with the Muppets as the stars. These included a spoof of the romantic comedy genre with a film called Green With Envy, a parody of The Hangover Part II called The Fuzzy Pack, and a parody of the upcoming David Fincher film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo called The Pig with the Froggy Tattoo. Other films parody included Green Lantern (Being Green), Paranormal Activity (Abnormal Activity), Puss in Boots (Fuss in Boots) and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Breaking Prawn). By drumming up anticipation with these funny and successful parodies of popular movies ticket sales should be high for a movie that already has a loyal fan base and already stellar reviews.

Overall the movie was a great and sweet story perfect to watch with your family this holiday weekend. In one related note very much like the plot of the movie of bringing the Muppets back for a new generation, NBC has recently announced this week that it is currently working on a new sitcom with the Jim Henson Company. “The New Nabors” will explore the humorous repercussions of a human family living next door to a puppet family. If it is anything like the movie I am sure the world is in for quite a treat and for the Muppets to bring everyone, as they say, the third greatest gift of all: “laughter.”

The Hunger Games, and Kevin

First off, condolences to Kevin Michael's family. Kevin was a real asset to the Park School, and the fact that he's gone leaves a gaping hole in the Ithaca College community as a whole. He will be missed.

Of course, we've got to move on from tragedy. So let's talk Hunger Games; which, I suppose, isn't really any better. That's not a stab against the movie -- from the trailer, it looks great -- but the story, if you don't know, isn't the happiest-go-luckiest of the bunch.

Quick summary: Post-apocalyptic world. In the nation of Panem -- which was once the US -- a government punishes their people for past protests in a televised annual event called The Hunger Games, where one boy and one girl from each "district" is called to fight to the death. The winner will bring their district prizes and live in luxury. Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen year old girl from the impoverished District 12, is called to play in the games; but she has other ideas for the Games and the government of Panem.

It's not often that I rave about how good a film adaptation of a book looks; but watching the trailer, I was drooling. When I read the books this summer, I had a vivid idea of how the sets would look, how the characters acted, how they fought, the music, etc. Everything in this trailer is exactly how I expected it, except for the actors. They look a little too clean and pretty for poor and oppressed citizens living in the slums and woods. But that's Hollywood; and to be honest, everything else about this movie so far has overshadowed that one little thing.

What's most impressive about this movie is how natural everything looks for a movie that's so unnatural. Maybe it's the rapid fire nature of the trailer, but nothing looked artificial or choppy; the makers of this film really devoted their time and energy into making every detail exactly right, and it shows. Watching the trailer immersed me in this universe. It's something amazing when a trailer can do that.

The movie comes out on my 21st birthday, so I might have to miss opening night for "celebration" and "good decisions." But I predict that The Hunger Games will be the movie event of 2012. What? Twilight? Get that weak mess out of here. Katniss Everdeen will kick Bella's pregnant ass around the block this way and that way. Like, you don't even know.

David Fincher and The Social Network

The Social Network is an award winning film by David Fincher. It tells the story of how the social-networking site of Facebook was founded but it is also so much more than that. It uses this story as a backdrop of friendship and betrayal. Based on the novel The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich, The Social Network is arguably one of the best films from the last few years.

David Fincher known for movies like Se7en and Fight Club is considered a visual artist. His films are very stylized in terms of color and composition. Looking past the technical side he also works well with actors. Not only does he allow and plot time for experimentation for the actors, he is also determined to get their best performances. In the opening scene between Mark and Erica, which was over eight pages of straight dialogue, he took 99 takes. He did this to break the actors and strip the acting away from them. Instead of sounding like rehearsed lines it looks and feels like two college kids simply talking as their characters. There is no acting going on. They know the lines inside and out and now Jesse Eisenberg and Rooney Mara have become Mark Zuckerberg and Erica Albright.

Fincher is also great with special effects. Actor Armie Hammer played both the Winklevoss twins but there are many people out there that think that there are two Armie Hammers in the real world. Josh Pence actually played one of the twins from the neck down and had Armie’s face digitally replaced over his. To further match each other’s movements and rapport they spent 10 months in twin boot camp together. This makes scenes like the rowing scene at the Henley Sequence possible.

My friends and I were so excited for this movie to come out that we even decided to recreate the amazing trailer shot for shot all in one 24 hour span during finals week of last year. Without telling our friend who looks like Jesse Eisenberg (so he would not know what he was doing) we ran around campus recreating the scenes from the movie. We later spent weeks editing it all together to make it match with the original trailer. If played side by side with the original they would match perfectly (which I have actually created a file doing so). Even though it is filled with inside jokes between friends it was posted online and have since received a large number of views (currently we just hit 800). A few weeks ago I was even asked to talk about the trailer on Ithaca College’s television show The Screening Room: Director’s Corner. If you are interested you can check out the interview here. I am the third and last person interviewed in episode five from the Fall 2011 season.

The Social Network is a brilliant film by David Fincher that I cannot speak more highly of. The acting, directing, writing, and soundtrack are just amazing. This film actually made me want to go back and re-watch other Fincher films and currently has me very excited for the upcoming Fincher release of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. If anything like Fincher’s previous work I am sure it will be spectacular.

Like Crazy

While bored this weekend I decided to watch a bunch of trailers on Mac's awesome application Front Row. One of the trailers that caught my eye the most was an indie film called Like Crazy. It's a story about a British college student who falls in love with an American boy and then ensuing long distance relationship with she gets booted out of the country for over staying her visa. The film walked away with Best Picture at the Sundance Film Festival and it looks like it might be lined up to be the next indie sensation. Currently the film is only in a limited release in theaters, but with a great young cast and a highly relatable plot, I look forward to when the film is released into the general public.