Class today

There will be class today.

From Metro:
Due to the weather, today (Tuesday December 11, 2007), the college will open at noon.

Play Recommendations

So here is the start of a list of some interesting, mostly contemporary, plays off the top of my head - I may add more as I think of them. And, once again, I would suggest looking for a scene with 2-3 people. The less roles, the less amount of people you will have to cast and direct and it will make your blocking easier.

This is Our Youth and Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan
Rabbit Hole and Kimberly Akimbo by David Lindsay Abaire
The Shape of Things, Fat Pig and The Distance From Here by Neil LaBute
Happy Birthday Wanda June by Kurt Vonnegut
The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh
Proof by David Auburn
Topdog/Underdog by Suzan Lori-Parks
Suburbia by Eric Bogosian
Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare
Angels in America and Homebody/Kabul by Tony Kushner

I have some of these, so maybe I will bring them into class. Feel free to add others to this list...

Get creative

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving break.

I urge you all to start thinking of some ideas for a screenplay. Start jotting down ideas or pieces of ideas for plot, character, scenes, anything that comes to mind. Some ideas will lead to other ideas, and some will connect, and soon enough, you will have a full-fledged great idea for a feature. The writing class is going to have to start up pretty fast, so I wanted to give you all advanced warning. The more you come in prepared and with ideas, the less you'll be scrambling to come up with something fast.

I'm excited to start classes again, and I hope you all are too!

Cuckoo

My all time favorite character drama next to 12 Angry Men is One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with Jack Nicholson, and directed by Milos Forman. This is my favorite picture of Jack in the film.

http://www.villagehatshop.com/media/beanie-jack-nicholson.gif

If I were to choose a favorite production design it would have to be in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The design was done by Alex McDowell, who I just found out is working on one of my highly anticipated films, Watchmen. I love the way that Mr. McDowell brings to life Roald Dahl's classic story, and reinvent's it at the same time. The color's are vibrant and stunning, and the sets are so eye-catching, it's hard to believe it's only a set. I look forward to seeing more of his work in movies because it gives it a very special quality.

Moulin Rouge!

If I had to choose a favorite movie Moulin Rouge! definitely would be at the top of my list. It is the only movie I know that actually has and exclamation mark in the title. Visually, everything about this movie is amazing. Art Director/ Set Decoration was done by Catherine Martin and Angus Strathie. Moulin Rouge! won an Academy Award for these. The Director of Photography was Donald M. McAlpine. I recommend this movie to anyone. It is extremely stylistic. Plus, the music is wonderful.

P.S. My email address is now kelsey.vala@gmail.com.

Chicago-the movie

I picked Chicago because it is my favorit movie of all time. The acting, singing, and the set were simply amazing. The costumes fit the time period and so did the acents. The hair, makeup and costumes matched very well with the film and gave you the feel for that time period.

Production started on December 10th, 2001 in Toronto, and wrapped in early May, 2002. The budget was about $30 million. That was huge! Can you imagin what our class could do with all that money?

The People Behind the Movie:

Director: Rob Marshall
Screenplay By: Bill Condon
Producer: Martin Richards
Executive Producers: Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Sam Crothers, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Meryl Poster, Julie Goldstein and Jennifer Berman
Director of Photography: Dion Beebe
Production Designer: John Myhre
Music By: John Kander
Costume Designer: Colleen Atwood
Film Editor: Martin Walsh
Choreographed By: Rob Marshall
Choreographic Supervisor: John DeLuca
Music Supervisor: Maureen Crowe

Bob Ringwood

I picked Bob Ringwood becuase he's the dude who did the Batman returns costume.

I also figured out that he did costume designs for empire of the sun, alien 3, troy, batman 1989, and other cool movies.

Date of Birth: 1946, London, England, UK more
Trivia:Worked in the theater for fourteen years prior to embarking on a film career. more
Awards: Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 11 nominations.


I loved he designed the costume, more heavier looking, more muscular, and more awesome looking. The suit weighs around thirty-pounds, so the suit was a real time spender but it was worth it.


Career Highs: Empire of the Sun (87), and The Batman series (89-95) -Though the Batman Forever designs were when the series started getting way gaudy, Ringwood is also responsible for the absolutely classic Catwoman costume in Batman Returns (with co-designer Mary Voght) about which he said "When you have to somebody as Michelle...who has endless legs, you wish to show all her wonderful pieces".

Production Designer of LOTR's

I picked LOTR's "The Fellowship of the Ring" because it is one of my favorite films ever. I love being taken away to the land of Middle Earth. None of the visuals, costumes, or sets would be what they are in this film without Grant Major. He was the production designer for this film. Before these films, Tolkien’s Middle-earth has existed only in the imaginations of readers and in the wondrously detailed yet limited illustrations for the novels. But in The Fellowship of The Ring, the hobbit holes of Hobbiton, the sylvan glades of the elf refuge Rivendell, the smoky innards of the Prancing Pony Inn and the networks of underground caverns in the Mines of Moria come physically to life.
Only because of so many people working behind the scenes on this film could all this be mastered. Working along side Grant Major was Richard Taylor and Director Peter Jackson. Detail was everything the trilogy of Lord of the Rings. There was a crew of 120 people working soley on the film's production and design. Without their hard work Tolkien's land would never have come alive in these breathtaking films...

Free Film Music

Moby is offering free music for film students on his site. Here's a link. Might be a good resource for music where you wouldn't have to pay a license fee. There's a variety of material on there.

From Moby, the musician/artist:

hi,
i'll keep this brief.
this portion of moby.com, 'film music', is for independent and non-profit filmmakers, film students, and anyone in need of free music for their independent, non-profit film, video, or short.
to use the site you log in(or on?) and are then given a password.
you can then listen to the available music and download whatever you want to use in your film or video or short.
the music is free as long as it's being used in a non-commercial or non-profit film, video, or short.
if you want to use it in a commercial film or short then you can apply for an easy license, with any money that's generated being given to the humane society.
i hope that you find what you're looking for,
moby

Alex McDowell

Alex McDowell is not quite the household name, but has worked on large motion picture films ranging from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Fight Club. He works Tim Burton quite a bit and has been the production designer on a lot his films. His career started when he created a company in 1978 called "Rocking Russian Design" where he created album covers for popular punk bands. His most recent film was "Bee Movie" which was released this year.

Grayson

This is a fan made trailer about Dick Grayson, the First Boy Wonder. But the film sets in when the Dark Knight is dead and heroes become lost, but not dick grayson.

rain

website

Check out studentfilmmakers.com. It looks like a great resource for you all. There are message boards/forums to ask/answer/look up questions and answers relating to pretty much any aspect of film, including cinematography, Final Cut Pro, Funding, HD, Lighting, etc. There is a Classifieds section for employment (volunteer and paid) and equipment. There are also links to festivals and other resources.

Take away shows.

The video below is part of Vincent Moon's Take-away shows series, filming bands in long takes in natural settings playing their music. Below is a video of Grizzly Bear, a band that I like a lot, singing The Knife accapella in the streets. There is another great one of Arcade Fire playing Neon Bible in an elevator. It's a creative, simple idea -- an interesting blend of documentary, performance and music video. Rather than elevating the musicians and bands into these icons that seem untouchable or creating a mystique around them, these videos make them seem like the real, albeit talented and magnetic, people that they are. It also illustrates that you don't need a lot of money or fancy equipment to create a striking, interesting piece. I like these better than 90% of music videos out there.

#10.4 - Grizzly bear - The Knife
Uploaded by lablogotheque

this video is of The Chariot, a Christian metalcore band from Georgia. If you watch the beginning of the video, you'll understand how it's made.

guess what?

Hey guys i got on! Now i can be just like everybody else! :)

Epicly Later'd Documentary Show

this show is filmed by a skateboard photographer Jason O'dell. he follows around many personas in skateboarding and shows you their day to day lives.

Chocolate Souffle

This is a picture I took of a chocolate souffle that I made. I took this picture for my step-by-step recipe website. The souffle turned out to be very delicious. I hope this makes everyone hungry.

Carissa's Blog Entry

This summer I filmed a huge production in Brooklyn, Michigan. We filmed at my family's cottage for four days straight! The footage is amazing and the shots are nothing I would be able to ever shoot again! The two stars of "Summer's Docks" are shown in this picture jumping off the dock. I am capturing the perfect shot and angle. The script for the movie is over 60 pages long and I have over seven and a half hours of footage on my tapes. I have one last scene to film, but I have to wait for cooler weather. It is about that time, the leaves are beginning to change colors-which is perfect for the last scene. After this last scene I want to begin editing. I don't want to give too much of the story away...ask me around May and I might be done with it! "Summer's Docks" has been an amazing filming experience for me. I have laughed, cried, and jumped for joy when I captured the perfect shot. This movie has been a journey and I can't wait to see how the finished project looks like......

Movies galore

A lot of possibly good, interesting movies out now. Ones off the top of my head: Rendition (directed by Gavin Hood, who directed Foreign Language Oscar winner Tsotsi), Things We Lost in the Fire (the first American film by Susanne Bier, a talented Danish director), Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Into the Wild (directed by Sean Penn), Michael Clayton, Across the Universe, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and Gone Baby Gone (directorial debut of Ben Affleck).

Have any of you seen any of these...or anything else this weekend?

I saw Rendition tonight. I thought it was pretty good. It has a good cast. It is also pretty frightening considering its level of reality to our current world.

Olivo Barbieri

Here are some links to works by and articles about Olivo Barbieri, the photographer/filmmaker that we talked a little bit about in class today -- we watched an excerpt from his site specific series from Las Vegas.

He uses a tilt-shift lens to obtain such selective focus.

One from Metropolis Mag, with photos and info on his site specific series.

Another link. You can also just Google his name and then look under images. I believe he recently finished a site specific project on New York.

Also, here is a link to a photo essay by the photographer Vincent Laforet for the New York Times, that uses a similar technique. The photos are aerial shots of major sporting events taken with a tilt-shift lens.

To make Professor T happy...

I saw this video the other day, about a day after we talked about Norman McLaren (I think?) And how he sometimes purposefully damaged his film. Well, director Samuel Bayer does the same thing in "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day. If you look close enough, you can see the pieces of film where he extinguished his cigarette in and colored on the film with a marker. The song is okay, but the video is made better by Bayer adding the "aged" look.

Goodnight

I am writing to make our Professor Trapnell happy.
Here's a little bit more about who I am: I was born in Papillion, Nebraska, to an ambitious pumpkin farmer and a tea-pot collecting school psychologist. I am trying to build my vocabulary so I can use esoteric words. Restive would probably be the best term to describe me because I always feel I am five to five hundred miles away from where I should be. I love to use: hair care products, my imagination, and zeugma. Cooking and singing are two talents of mine (at least I think). Some of my best days include sleeping just five more minutes, a fishing trip, or a chance to be independent. Two of my favorite hobbies are imagining where I could be in a year and fishing. Now I am tired, so goodnight.

Favorite Movie

Honestly it's hard to say what my favorite movie might be. I love Pulp Fiction that is always at the top of my list, but I just watched a quick clip of Usual Suspects and that movie is awesome. I think what I love most is movies with a mystery or some sort of question throughout, and its all cleared up in that last 10 minutes. Some that come to mind are Usual Suspects, Fight Club, Seven, The Untouchables, Maltese Falcon, etc. I love also musicals, its funny how I can be watching Singin' in the Rain and really enjoying it and the next second I've got Boondock Saints popped in the DVD player. It's really hard to say, what movie I like most, I will say that not only do I like twist endings, I love character development, thats why three of my favorites, would be 12 Angry Men, All the President's Men, and One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. These are great movies because it focuses on the emotion and development of characters. The story and characters essentially drive these films, they don't need flashy settings or action and adventure quality. The intellectual ride we take with the characters is even better than any adventure story, in my opinion. Another who takes us on a very intellectual ride, is Stanley Kubrick, he is easily my favorite director, from his satirical gags in Dr. Strangelove, to his many adaptations, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, etc. A man who can look into space and create stories and follow the war path of Vietnam and create one the most compelling war stories ever written. He has covered very vastly different grounds in his work and does it beautifully every time. He is the best. Alright finally I'm a guy so I love the Shoot 'Em Up type of movies, I'm an intelligent guy but sometimes you gotta lose the brain and just enjoy an action flick. Die Hard is one I finally saw and really enjoyed, I think Alan Rickman was the best in it, I like Bruce Willis, but Rickman stole the show as the villain. Alright I've named alot of movies and in my opinion if you haven't seen them, I deffinately suggest checking them out, don't forget the library can be your friend when you want to see some classics.

Who is Pat White?

Hey everyone,
Well, I'm a little late on the introduction but here it goes. My name is Patrick White stick to Pat though and I am 17 years old and I love all aspects of film. My life pretty much revolves around it, from my ongoing collection of movies, past and present, to the very job I'm in. I go to Gretna High School and have been there for 4 years and love it, but that was one place I couldn't get involved in some sense of cinema. So, I must say that I am very glad that Metro has the chance for teenagers to learn about the always increasing art form of film. I don't want to get into my favorite movie, but I will say my favorite directors are Stanley Kubrick and Quentin Tarantino. Very different filmmakers, but thats the magic of film you can have so many different tastes and genres you enjoy, much like music. My only other comment is I wish schools would look at film more seriously, because it is a new art form and should be treated as such.
Thanks
Pat

Masculin Feminin

Godard's film, Masculin Feminin, is playing at Film Streams this Tuesday through Thursday. The times for Tuesday and Wednesday are 5:30 and 8 pm.

You will get extra credit if you go and extra, extra credit if you go and write two paragraphs on the movie. If I get at least one of you to see a Godard film this semester, then I will have done my job. If I get all of you to watch one (or at least a majority), I will be ecstatic.

Hotel Chevalier

Hotel Chevalier, a 13 minute film by Wes Anderson, is available for free on iTunes. This short starring Jason Schwartzman and Natalie Portman is a prologue to his upcoming feature The Darjeeling Limited.

I love George.

A short film that I enjoy is George Lucas In Love. I don't know if anyone has ever heard of it before, but it is a really cute movie. Everyone should check it out. I didn't know how to get a youtube movie onto here, so just try to look it up sometime. Enjoy!

Insomnia Film Festival

From Apple:

The Insomnia Film Festival is back—and while the world sleeps, you could be making film history.

Calling all high school and college filmmakers.

On Saturday, October 13 at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern time), we’ll post a top-secret list of elements — special props, dialogue, settings — you get the idea. Choose any three to include in your movie. Then all you and your team have to do is write, cast, shoot, edit, score, and upload your 3-minute masterpiece within 24 hours. No problem, right?

Once the films are in, your friends, family, and adoring fans will be able to watch them online and rate their favorites. The 25 entries with the highest rating on November 9 at 12:00 a.m. EST will be screened by industry professionals, including Barry Sonnenfeld, James Mangold, and Nora Ephron.

If your film is the biggest hit with either the public or the pros, each member of your team will receive a MacBook Pro, Final Cut Studio 2, Logic Studio, and Shake so you can get started on that first sequel. How’s that for a Hollywood ending?

For more details, go here.

Carissa's Post

I have enjoyed everything that we have watched in the Moving Image Lab class! Some of the music videos were really cool, and the shorts were amazing too! I really enjoyed Lindsey's documentary though. The footage shot and used in the movie was really effective. I can't believe he found so many of his old students. I thought the most creative editing was when the clips from his teaching experience with the students later was tied in with his search to find them. It's hard to see what some people are going through in their day to day lives, but it's also great to see a lot of them succeed because of the teacher's impact years later. I really enjoyed it and I would love to see the whole feature on it!!!!

More Spike Jonez

around 2000 Girl Skateboards started filming for their third video called "yeah right!"
and premiered in 2003. Spike Jonez "directed" it (i don't really know how because the skaters pick the tricks they're going to do for their parts) one of the skits in the video involved using chroma key and it turned out pretty rad. (this is a different song in the video than the original video included.)

Reminder

Start thinking about your next films! 3-7 minutes. Content, style, genre, your choice. I would like either a script or storyboards for this next one and a shot list, all to be turned in.

The responses to the film screenings for extra credit can also be posted on this blog -- in fact, I would encourage that rather than turning a paper in to me.

Also, some AARP videos have already been posted here, in case you want to check out the competition.

Cinema 16

This looks like a great DVD compilation of short films by various European directors that will be released September 25. Gasman is a great film, like other films directed by Lynne Ramsay (Ratcatcher, Morvern Callar). A friend of mine has seen Wasp and said it was really great. There are a lot of really great directors on here, and a few I haven't heard of that I'm sure are doing interesting work.

Here's the actual description:

Cinema16 is pleased to announce the US release of Cinema16: European Short Films. This two-disc edition features previously unseen short films and early works by some of today's most notable filmmakers, as well as award-winning films from its rising stars. In addition to the films, the set contains over three hours of commentaries and a 16-page color booklet.

Film Listing:

1. The Man Without a Head- Juan Solanas (France)
2. Wasp- Andrea Arnold (United Kingdom)
3. Doodlebug- Christopher Nolan (United Kingdom)
4. World of Glory- Roy Andersson (Sweden)
5. Je T'aime John Wayne- Toby MacDonald (United Kingdom)
6. Gasman- Lynne Ramsay (Scotland)
7. Jabberwocky- Jan Svankmajer (Czech Republic)
8. Fierrot Le Pou- Matthieu Kassovitz (France)
9. Rabbit- Run Wrake (United Kingdom)
10. Copy Shop- Virgil Widrich (Austria)
11. Boy and Bicycle- Ridley Scott (United Kingdom)
12. Nocturne- Lars Von Trier (Denmark)
13. Before Dawn- Balint Kenyers (Hungary)
14. Election Night- Anders Thomas Jensen (Denmark)
15. Six Shooter- Martin McDonagh (Ireland)
16. The Opening Day of Close-Up- Nanni Moretti (Italy)

I know you can buy it at Amazon. You might be able to rent it via Netflix in the future. If any of you have Netflix or Blockbuster mail in services, there are some other great options for DVDs with shorts on them. There are collections of the Oscar nominated shorts, Peripheral Produce has a great compilation of short films, the short films of David Lynch are available...let me know if you want some more recommendations.

Extra credit opportunities

I am offering a few opportunities for extra credit. You can receive up to 10 points of extra credit for writing 3/4 of a page to a page about one of the following film screenings:

1) The War, a documentary by Ken Burns, screened at Metro on September 19th.

2) Any of the films showing as part of the Adaptation series at Film Streams (past, present, or future) - but you must go to the screening itself, not rent the movie at home. I would like to see the ticket as proof. East of Eden is showing this weekend.

3) Ghosts of Cite Soliel or No End in Sight, both documentaries screening at Film Streams. Only two days left for Ghosts of Cite Soliel. No End in Sight starts September 21.

4) The upcoming screening of the documentary Breaking Down Barriers at Joslyn.

Documentary Screening at Joslyn

This was passed along to me, and now I'm passing it along to you all:

You are invited to the Omaha premiere of the documentary film "Breaking Down Barriers" and a panel discussion with select stories from "Renovating the Republic," written and produced by students from the UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Germany and America have shared a unique relationship throughout history, as have Germany and Nebraska. For the past year, a group of UNL journalism students has closely examined this foreign country that, perhaps more than any other, helped shape the Cornhusker State.

Join us for the premiere of "Breaking Down Barriers," a new student-produced documentary film that examines the challenges faced by Hispanic immigrants in Nebraska and Turkish immigrants in Germany.

Following the film, join us for a panel discussion with select stories from "Renovating the Republic," a student-produced news magazine focusing on issues modern Germany is facing in a globalized world.

Friday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m.
Joslyn Art Museum's Abbott Lecture Hall (Omaha, Neb.) Omaha Premiere of "Breaking Down Barriers" and student-panel discussion of "Renovating the Republic."

*Free admission*.

AARP video deadline extended

I just went on the site, and the deadline has been extended to November 30. So that gives us more time and more options. This also changes things up a bit. Rather than one group project, I am leaning towards having you all get in groups of two and creating one project per pair. This has a few benefits:

1) It is probably easier to plan and execute a video with two as opposed to eight people
2) You will learn to collaborate and share duties in pre-production, production and post-production
3) It will probably be easier to teach the intros of editing if you are all in pairs and have your own footage to work with and easier to troubleshoot potential problems
4) We will get to see a few different ideas, and will have more entries

But I am open to opinions and/or comments. So post them here (in the comments section of this post) if you have them.

Favorite Pic

I chose this as my pic because I love music, and this is a really neat photo. It is a profile shot of some piano keys that have been worn out. You can see the texture of the keys and how worn down they are, and the ivory has broken off the top of the keys. There isn't very much contrast between light and dark. It was probably taken using a low f stop considering the top part of the picture is less in focus.

Justin Favorite movie

Although I've seen a bunch of really great movies (and a few very bad ones), I would have to say that Schindler's List is one of my favorite movies. It really struck me as, "This is actually what happened? How could people do things like that to other humans?" Spielberg also does a really good job at portraying the Holocaust, how the Nazis treated the Jews like dirt, and how significant winning WWII was for people everywhere.

This is a picture I took with black and white film. I think there is great balance in this shot with the size and position of my object in focus. Also, there is high contrast with light and dark, and there is contrast in the black and white. There is texture in my photo because it is a close-up of the cupcake. You can see the ridges of the cupcake holder and also the frosting has texture to it. Selective focus is used because your eyes naturally go to the center cupcake in focus. To take this photograph I had to use a low f-stop. Also, I think there is repetition, which makes the picture visually interesting.

More video directors...

Some additions to the other video directors I named yesterday in class. I've provided links if you want to check their stuff out.

Michael Palmieri. He has some great still shots on his website too...in case you're looking for one for your assignment for tomorrow.

Anton Corbijn. He also has photos and other work on his site .

Stephane Sednaoui is another one.

The Directors Bureau has links to 11 directors who work on videos, commercials and shorts. Patrick Daughters and Shynola have done some innovative work. You can watch their reels or any particular video or commercial. Daughters' videos for Feist's "1,2,3,4" and "Mushaboom" are great.

Matt McCormick has directed videos, short docs, and experimental films. He has stills on his site too.

The Lomographic Society is another great place to look online for interesting stills. It centers around their cameras. Anyone who has a Lomo camera can put them up here and create their own lomopage. I had a Lomo and loved it until it broke. I'm looking to get another one. They also manufacture Holgas, which are also great, cheap, interesting cameras. I have two of them and don't use them enough.

Favorite Movie?

I think it is unfair to all the movies that I love if I only pick one. There are simply too many movies that I love. I enjoy anything from Wedding Crashers to Sleeping Beauty, from Lord of the Rings to Moulin Rouge. I love any movie that strikes an emotion in me. However, I will talk about a film that I recently saw at the Maui Film Festival. I saw American the Beautiful, a documentary film concerning America's thirst for beauty. I found it moving because it made me realize how our culture is becoming increasingly obsessed with outer beauty and not beauty of the mind and soul. America the Beautiful followed the life of a model from the ages of 12 to 18. It was mind-boggling how much time and effort was spent on making this film. At the age of about 14 the model was called obese by the industry standards, even though she was a size 4. It was astounding to see people's real reactions towards beauty (or the lack of). This was a great movie, and I recommend that people see it, if at all possible.

Jordan Top Movie

One of my favorite movies of all time would have to be KIDS. The movie
is based in New York City and shows the life of a normal group of
teenagers who end up all having to deal with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It
just opened my eyes to somthing that could happen right in front of
you, and the people your around. Espically when you live in an area
where the STD issue is an epidemic. Ive showed the movie to various
friends and family most commenting on how crude and sick the doalouge
and subject matter is, but whoever said the real world isn't crude and
sick?

Carissa's #1 Movie

I would have to say it's "Lord of the Rings" The Return of the King. I loved all of Tolkien's books before the movies even came out. I didn't think at first I would like the movies, but I became a huge fan! (Yes, I attended all the mid-night shows!) I love any movie that can take you to another place...to another world. All the characters were so developed and personable. By the end of all three movies, I felt as if I knew them. All the movies were filmed in New Zealand. I think that is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Oh!! The music in the movies are also amazing. I think sometimes music can completely create a scene. I also loved the cinematography in the movie. It's not my style, but I still think it's incredible.....

Class project

I think I would like to do a class project for that AARP video contest that I posted about earlier. So I would like you all to start thinking about ideas for a 1-2 minute video that is about what you think life at 50 would be like. We'll talk about this in class too, but start brainstorming! Think about ideas for both content and production. Feel free to post any ideas here, or write them down so that we can talk about it in class.

Also, I hope you all know that you can comment on any other posts by clicking on the comments link. So, I urge you all to comment on the entries of your fellow bloggers and post whenever you'd like. Don't be shy -- participate! If the rewards of open communication, self-expression, building your creative and writing skills, and self satisfaction aren't enough, remember that participation is part of your grade...including this blog! And you can give out the link to the blog to friends and family if you would like...and they can comment too if they wish (comments only, no posting privileges...that's reserved for those in the class only). They simply need to register/sign up on blogger. This can be accomplished at www.blogger.com. Although this is a class blog, I want it to be an open, communal, creative, public space to share ideas, information and work.

Art after Dark

Art After Dark is Joslyn Art Museum's 75th anniversary outdoor cinema program. In collaboration with the Library of Congress (LOC) American Memory project, Art After Dark will celebrate more than a century of American movie making with movies and animated films that have been named by the LOC to the National Film Registry (NFR). The films in the NFR, 450 as of 2006, represent a stunning range of American filmmaking — including Hollywood features, documentaries, avant-garde and amateur productions, films of regional interest, ethnic, animated, and short film subjects — all deserving recognition, preservation, and access by future generations.

Starting at dusk (~8:00 p.m.), the movies will be screened in front of Joslyn Art Museum's east wall, Thursdays, September 6 through 27. Shorts from the LOC and/or NFR and the Roland Collection of Films and Videos on Art (Roland) and/or animated films, both classic and contemporary, from the prestigious National Film Board of Canada (NFBC) will be shown before the movies. Admission is free. (Not all animations, shorts, or features are appropriate for all ages.)

The Art After Dark schedule:

Dance with us Sept. 6 at Jazz on a Summer's Day

Come in costume Sept. 13 for The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Sing along Sept. 20 to The Sound of Music

See a classic Sept. 27 with The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Outstanding use of an egg in a short video goes to...

Kill the gun. That's the name of this ad/public service announcement from the UK. It was produced by the agency AMV BBDO and Therapy Films.

The spot gets its point across quickly, simply, visually and most of all, effectively. And the use of slow motion and visual effects is pretty stunning.

Carissa

I have never used a blog before!!! This is really cool! I don't know what to say about myself...I am eighteen, five-foot six, and I have brown eyes! Lol! I love to film! I have been filming since I was eleven years old. My crew (family & friends) have made over twenty-five movies. My most recent one won a 1st place award in the drama catagory at Hot Shops Film Festival. I love being behind the camera, but I also love directing. Over the summer I filmed the biggest movie in the history of all my movies. It has seven hours of footage that I have to get down to 30 min.- 1 hour. It's crazy, but very exciting! I hope to learn so much from this class! I can't wait to start working on filming assignments. There is so much I want to learn and I can't wait to start soaking it all in.

Groups

Just to be clear and have a record of it, here are the groups:

Group A: Josh, Katherine, Jordan
Group B: Kelsey, Ben, Carissa
Group C: Justin, Matthew, Pat

In-camera edit due next Tuesday, September 11: Pat, Katherine, Josh, Jordan
In-camera edit due the following Tuesday, September 18: Carissa, Kelsey, Justin, Matthew, Ben

Also, if anyone does not know their Metro login and password (it was sent to you in the mail), let me know and I can help you with that.

Well, i though i already posted this but i guess it didn't go through. My name is Jordan Johnson and i work at a skateboard shop for a living, and I film skateboarding in my free time. Here's a memorial video i edited, filmed, ect. for a kid who passed away last summer.

Movies/dissapointment

One of my favorite movies used to be Elizabethtown. Then I found out that Orlando Bloom, the lead actor, is gay. So the whole movie is a lie. For some reason that ruined it for me. I always have Garden State, the best movie ever, to fall back on. It's a personal favorite of mine.

How cool is this?

Hey everyone.
My name is Kelsey Vala, in case you didn't already know. I just got a new German Shorthair Pointer puppy named Piper. She is about three months old. I like to eat food. I also like movies. My favorite kind of movies generally are period piece movies.
If there is anything else you would like to know, just ask/blog me.
I am not sure what I expect to learn from moving image lab. I hope it is a lot of fun!

hello

i'm new here, so i just want to say hello to all and all a good day!!!

video contest

The AARP (formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons), a non-profit group for people who are 50 and older, is having a video contest.

People aged 18 and over have the chance to submit an original one- to two-minute video about where they expect to be when they turn 50. Entries are due by September 30th. An individual or group assignment perhaps? Go here for more details.

A fun little experiment.

It is my intention to use this blog as an open forum for the class. "Open forum" is just the type of vague academic expression that falls on mostly deaf ears, but I don't know of a better way to describe it. "A place to share" is a little too touchy-feely. To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure how we'll use this, but I guess that is the fun part.

To get your creative juices flowing, here are some of the fun ways that this blog can be used:

1) To discuss, clarify, comment on or ask questions about anything we talk about in class.
2) To ask for feedback about an idea, photo or video.
3) To request help from your fellow classmates with your video shoot or project.
4) You're having an issue with or question about the camera or Final Cut Pro? Write about it here. Maybe someone else is having the same problem or can offer a solution.
5) Posting photos or videos.
6) You've come across the artwork/blog/website/video of an interesting filmmaker/graphic designer/artist/editor/cinematographer/writer. Post a link here and share it with the others.
7) You have an interesting take/review/comment/rant about a televison show, film, exhibition, concert. Write it here.

This is really just the tip of the iceberg. The possibilities are endless, really. I will probably have an assignment or two connected to this blog. I may post links to supplemental or optional reading assignments or simply articles that I find interesting and relevant. I don't want this blog to be a burden, but instead a place to kind of keep a conversation going, a place to collaborate, help each other, find out about new things, get to know each other. Filmmaking is a collaborative art, it's good practice to keep your brain active in these sorts of creative endeavors, and remember inspiration can come from anywhere. That's my pep talk to get you all to use this thing. I look forward to seeing you all on here!

Antonioni and Bergman

"The Man Who Set Film Free" is an article from the August 12 edition of the New York Times. It is written by Martin Scorsese about the great European director Michelangelo Antonioni, who recently died in July. Above is the actress (seen in many Antonioni films) Monica Vitti in L'Avventura.


In a companion piece, "The Man Who Asked Hard Questions" is about the acclaimed Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, who died on the same day as Antonioni, written by Woody Allen. Bergman is seen above with Sven Nykvist, the amazing cinematographer and often collaborator.

They are both excellent and interesting articles about two talented filmmakers with impressive bodies of work.