Light up the Fire

 

I just finished my abstract short film based on a poem by Rumi, entitle light up the fire. I’m very very pleased with the result and was also shocked with how well all my experimental shots came out. I Did a few overlays with some fire that I had shot, as well as a shot I took out the sun roof of a car and then sped up to 500x speed. For my full body shots and the shots with the candle, I had to build a set in the down stairs living room of my house, I used a back base paint with a shiny black polymer over it. I used two kino flow lights  to light the set. I used a mix between rubbing alcohol and hand sanitizer to light my actors hand on fire(which looked bad ass). other then that my other cuts were pretty straight foreword, except for the perforated slug I used to do my waking up theme. I loved my project over all and I have to give HUGE daps to Ali, and Dave who lit him self on fire for me. Thanks for watching.

Stay dangerous,

Neff

 

 

She wore Blue velvet

Blue velvet is the twisted brainchild of David Lynch (Twin peaks, Dune) and is considered by many to be his masterpiece. The film Stars Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini and Dennis Hopper in arguably his best on screen performance.  Blue velvet is set in a small quiet town where crime and evil are far form peoples minds, However after finding a severed human ear in a field, one young man named Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) digs beneath the surface and what he finds is the perverted world of blue velvet. Jeffery’s search soon leads him into harms way and into the hands of drug-addicted sadomasochist (Dennis Hopper). Jeffery must unravel the mystery he has been thrust into before it consumes him.

If you watch blue velvet and don’t feel uncomfortable then you need to see a professional. David Lynch does a masterful job of making the viewer’s skin crawl. The Dutch angle shots, the masochistic characters, and the out of place retro soundtrack just about every thing in this film is intentionally awkward. Lynch wants the viewer to feel uneasy and accomplishes this goal with flying colors. The film acts like a satire of small town sitcoms, and after watching blue velvet you will never be able to look at shows like the Brady Bunch again. Blue velvet is deeply disturbing, as a film critic I usually don’t steer away form perverse subject matter, but blue velvet flirts with that line. With that said the film is a masterpiece, both of direction and acting. Hoppers performance will haunt and mesmerize any one brave enough to keep their eyes open. I give the move a 4.5/5 but won’t be watching this one with my mother any time soon.

We own the night

We own the night

This week I watched the 2007 James Gray film We Own The Night, staring Joaquin Phoenix, Eva Mendez and Mark Walberg. The name of the film comes from the 1980 NYC police force slogan during the city’s extensive drug war. The Film follows a NYC club manager named Bobby Green (Phoenix). Green is thrust into the seedy underbelly of the city as a result of his job, and begins to thrive within this drug culture. All seems to be going well for Green until it is reviled that this brother and father are both New York City cops. Green is asked by his family to go under cover at his nightclub and help bring a notorious dealer to justice. Green turns them down and soon after his brother is shot by the same dealer. Green feels responsible for his brothers shooting and decides to go undercover and attempt to bring the drug deals to justice. What follows is a dark and fast paced story of New York City Redemption.

The first thing that drew my attention while watching we own the night, was how super stylized it is. There are so many shots throughout the films that will wow you. The sad thing is that these same shots that are so stylized and gorgeous do little to advance the story and almost seem to stand out against the overall tempo of the film. It’s one thing to have beautiful shots, it is quite another to advance the plot or the characters with visual storytelling and we own the night falls just short of this feat. On the other hand what I loved about this movie is that much like in a Scorsese film the city itself becomes a character. Also Gray dose an amazing job of putting you back in the 80’s, from the soundtrack to the costumes and even the hair dos everthing picture perfect.  The acting in this film is tremendous and the characters are rich and entertaining. The story however left little to be desired and I think with a little tweaking this movie could have been a giant. With all thing considered I give this movie a 3 ½ out of 5 and recommend it for a night where a good movie is desired but deep thinking is not on the menu .

Blotter Patch kid

Just finished my first full stop motion short film and the opening project in my production class and while it was fun, I must admit I’m glad to be finished. To say that stop motion is tedious is an understatement.  The biggest challenges I faced came in the form of continuity errors. I found it was hard to keep track of all the objects on my set while moving my camera, my figurine, and my various other props. Also, I found it very hard to plan shots with stop motion, as a shot is not one running piece of film, but rather hundreds of pictures strung together.  On a side note, the Blotter patch kid I used was actually the 3^rd model I constructed, as I did not take into account how ridged he would have to be to hold shape while I took pictures and moved the camera.

With all these flaws sighted I will humbly admit that stop motion is not my bag and that the final product is far from perfect, but it was nice getting my hands on a camera again, and reestablishing myself with final cut. I can’t wait to get back into reel film, and can only hope that our upcoming projects allow a little more creative leeway.

Stay Dangerous,

Neff

Its a red red dawn

“In our time never has a foreign military occupied American soil, until now”

Will Neff’s review of Red Dawn

Red Dawn follows a group of American high school students who are thrust into a fight for survival when Russian and Cuban forces conduct a full scale siege on the state of Colorado. Soon after initial combat spills into the streets the students are forced to flee into the mountains, where they live off the land for the next few months. After the panic of the preliminary attack wears off, it is reviled that Colorado has been lost and the children are behind enemy lines. The kids decide that they are going to fight back and form the rebel group, The Wolverines. The wolverines engage in guerilla warfare and battle back against the evil Cuban and Russian military, while inspiring American patriotism and rousing other citizens to join in the struggle for freedom.

Of all the cold war remnants, I would argue that Red Dawn might be the most entertaining. Something about seeing a group of teens led by Patrick Swayze Kill countless Rooskies, just makes me want to grab an American flag and sprint down main street.  While the plot may seem a little implausible (why would the Solvate union attack Colorado of all states) it’s hard to scrutinize because you’re having too much fun. The film only has 5 minutes of opening before the violence starts anyway so you won’t have too much time to worry about believability. While it does seem a bit cheesy at times, Red Dawn will make you feel proud to be an American. Red dawn is also slightly a cut above you common place action film. The editing is not bad and rarely will you see the poor continuity cuts that plagued action films of the era. Cinematography is almost nonexistent as 99% of the film is people getting shot but it doesn’t detract from the overall theme of the movie. The only place where I can find a major beef with the film is the sound, often times the speech is inaudible and the sound effects sound a little like a kung fu movie. I give this move a 4/5, unless it’s being watched on the 4 of July in which case I give it a 6/5.

America…. F#@& YA!

Disney gets Digital

In preparation for the upcoming release of Tron legacy in December, I decided to finally watch the original 1982 cult classic, Tron. The original Tron is set in the early 80’s and is largely influenced by the introduction of the mainframe computer. Tron follows the story of a computer hacker named Flynn (Jeff Bridges) who is literally sucked into the world of the computers while trying to shut down the evil Master Control Program, who is bent on world domination. Flynn finds himself in a world of florescent lights and deadly video games and must battle in various video game arenas to stay alive. Flynn teams up with a computer program named Tron and sets off to shut down the Master control program and save the world. It’s easy to why this film is considered a “cult classic”, rather than just a classic as it is down right campy. Half of the dialog sounds like it was taken directly from a computer manual and the other half feels deeply cliché. I wont pull any punches Tron is a bad movie. The dialogue is terrible the plot is confusing and the characters (other than Bridges) are flat. With that said, the film is so bad that its actually entertaining. It’s like watching a two-hour running joke about the 80’s. Also the visual presentation of the movie is very unique and ground breaking for the time. Its one of those films that gets an A for effort, but the over all execution is poor. If you feel like reminiscing about the 80’s or having a good unintended laugh then Tron is well worth a watch, but other than that your not missing anything. Tron gets a 2.5 out of 5.

P.S. Im still going to watch The up coming remake Tron Legacy, as Daft Punk is set to make the sound track, and they can literally make anything good.

Film review #1

Hell hath no furry…

By William Neff

Sympathy for Lady vengeance Is the third and final film in director Chan-Wook Park’s, vengeance trilogy, and provides all the bite and blood the series has come to be known for.

The Film opens with Geum-Ja Lee, a young attractive female inmate being released from prison after serving 13 years for murdering a small boy. After her release Lee quickly goes about acting out a mysterious plan that she devised while in prison. While the majority of the film is shrouded in mystery, it is clear form the start that Lee is seeking not only redemption for her own sins, but also vengeance for someone else’s. What follows is a dark and ultra violent revenge thriller that would make even Kill Bill blush.

I give this film a high 4 out of 5 stars, but at the same time warn viewers that this movie is not for everyone. First the film is ultra violent, and not recommended for any one with a week stomach. Second the film is Korean, and with out at least a rudimentary understanding of Korean culture, the plot may not translate well. The third thing that I would caution the potential viewer with is that Park’s style of direction and filmmaking is highly experimental. I cannot stress this point enough, the film is not linear, not every thread will fit neatly, and you will most likely have to view it twice to get every thing out of it. With all that said, I still highly recommend this film to those who are adventurous enough to view it. The entire film is visually stunning, Park’s use of space, color and shadow, remind me of classic filmmakers like Wells and Hitchcock. The real selling point of this film however is not how beautiful it is but rather that Park offers a completely unique story to the audience; I guarantee no one will guess the ending to this film. Just remember hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, so have some sympathy for lady vengeance.

The Doc

Hey so I just finished my interview video, and I must say… not my best work. Cam and I tried really hard but we were only able to get a camera at 5 o’clock on sunday, and you can tell we were in a time crunch. I think the editing made the most of the footage we had, but I feel like if i had more time the shots would have been much better. O well, I’m going to mentally ready my self for the final and use the shot Cummings of this project as a lesson to be applied in the future. With that said, it’s not all that bad. and I guarantee my final is going to be the “BOOMABINGBONG BOOM HAHA RELEASE” <—great quote from the Mighty Boosh

Rock Paper Say Your Prayers

I just FInished My Silent Film, and man, is it a doozy! I think this has been my favorite project so for. First I would Like to thank Dave and mike for helping out so much seriously you guys are the shiznit! I wanted to capture the Silent spaghetti western, and I think i did just that. I love the two characters i created and how I developed them. The twist at the end i must say was quite inspired, and by that I mean Brilliant, I mean seriously! Any who I was very pleased with the result, and I had no major difficulties because I had a very extensive shot planner and vision for this film that I stuck to, the biggest issue that arose, was my hard drive ejecting all the time! It sucked by the way. Some technical stuff; i used a bad film filter on the text boxes, ans I desaturated all the other footage. I also slowed down a lot of footage, and I tried to cut action on the beast of the song for the gun fight.Also I made the one silent film text in photoshop. PS. Golden Deer comes form the fact that My rugby nickname is Goldie, and Cam’s is Bambi, just wanted to clarify.

In its Right Place

Hey everyone, Just finished my music video! The song I used was RadioHead-Everything in it’s right place (remix by Gigamesh and DiscoTech). We tried our best to match the shots to the Lyrics in the song. I put in HOURS of editing in this one, and I think it turned out pretty AWESOME. haha but seriously i like the final product that Cam and i have made here. My personal Favorite shot was the one where I touch the mirror, I Played with the color levels to make it look very red, (two colors in my head) and then i added an earthquake effect when my hand touched the glass. Our biggest challenge was getting some of the shots I envisioned in such a small room, but I think we did a good job.  SO heres teh link hope you enjoy.