Today we were set the task of making a one minute film as research for the FMP, Dylan and I made a review of "The Inbetweeners Movie" and filmed it in a toilet as it was a bad review and we thought that having it in a toilet would exaggerate the poor nature of the film.
I learnt that it can be difficult to cut down to a certain time, so it is necessary to be ruthless with the footage as it was essential to meet the one minute time restraint.
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Friday, 22 July 2011
Harry Potter - A Eulogy
It starts out so promisingly. A sinister introduction to the final film of the franchise, showing the students marching through the grounds of the once great Hogwarts. Once a safe home from home for many, the Hogwarts in this instalment is a quick reminder of how far in his quest against Voldemort Harry has come. With the castle surrounded by Dementors, there seems to be little hope that the Dark Lord could be defeated.
And that's where the enjoyment finished for me. I wish I could watch the film without constantly thinking "this is wrong" or "this wasn't in the book", but I couldn't, and that may be what ruined it for me.
I won't list the faults; instead I will focus upon the positive aspects of David Yates' final foray into Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, Gringotts et al.
The performance of Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall, plays the leader of the Hogwarts staff rebellion against Voldemort with gleeful abandon, declaring "I've always wanted to use that spell" after bringing the statues surrounding Hogwarts to life.
Helena Bonham Carter, as usual, plays an incredibly evil Bellatrix Lestrange, and also quite a convincing Hermione under the influence of Polyjuice Potion.
Emma Watson also shows her skills as a fine young actress, and as usual her prowess as an actress far surpasses fellow Horcrux hunters Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint. That being said, although not the best actors in the world, Radcliffe and Grint have come on leaps and bounds since their woefully wooden performances from the initial outing to Hogwarts in the “Philosophers Stone”.
The film does benefit from being back inside the familiar grounds of Hogwarts, with a sense of purpose and meaning. The film feels like it knows where it is going, as opposed to the almost meandering first instalment, which suffered through seeming to lack urgency.
I will mention some of the changes the film made from the book, as I feel it necessary to bring these to light, particularly the omissions the film makers made.
Harry announcing himself to everybody, including Snape, in the Great Hall did not occur in the book, and I’m not entirely sure as to why they have changed how he exposed his return to Hogwarts to McGonagall. The only reason I can think is that the film makers did not want to show Harry using an unforgivable curse such as the cruciatus curse, although they did show him using the imperius curse in Gringotts, and therefore I decided that this cannot be the reason.
Also, if they were trying to tug on audience heartstrings towards the end of the film by including Harry apologising to Lupin for his death following the recent arrival of his son, surely the sensible thing to do would be to have included the part of the book where Lupin arrives at Shell Cottage at the beginning and announces the birth of a baby son, and asks Harry to be Godfather.
The ending of the film let me down as well, due to the change in how Harry reveals that he is not dead. Why it was necessary for Harry to jump from Hagrid’s arms and then run through the castle instead of protecting his friends and loved ones from the Death Eaters, I will never know. All it makes me think is that the film makers wanted Harry to seem like he was scared and running away from Voldemort, as opposed to the courageous Harry in the book.
I will accept that there are parts of the book that would not have translated into film as well, for example the fight scene between Mrs Weasley and Bellatrix Lestrange. As the majority of the action in the book is thought, and therefore not a time consuming part of the film.
I was disappointed in the film as I have read the book, and although all the films have strayed from J K Rowling’s original narrative, this is the film that I was most disappointed in. It is a case of if you haven’t read the book then you can’t miss what you never knew, but if you were an avid reader of the books then you may find yourself in the same boat as me.
And that's where the enjoyment finished for me. I wish I could watch the film without constantly thinking "this is wrong" or "this wasn't in the book", but I couldn't, and that may be what ruined it for me.
I won't list the faults; instead I will focus upon the positive aspects of David Yates' final foray into Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, Gringotts et al.
The performance of Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall, plays the leader of the Hogwarts staff rebellion against Voldemort with gleeful abandon, declaring "I've always wanted to use that spell" after bringing the statues surrounding Hogwarts to life.
Helena Bonham Carter, as usual, plays an incredibly evil Bellatrix Lestrange, and also quite a convincing Hermione under the influence of Polyjuice Potion.
Emma Watson also shows her skills as a fine young actress, and as usual her prowess as an actress far surpasses fellow Horcrux hunters Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint. That being said, although not the best actors in the world, Radcliffe and Grint have come on leaps and bounds since their woefully wooden performances from the initial outing to Hogwarts in the “Philosophers Stone”.
The film does benefit from being back inside the familiar grounds of Hogwarts, with a sense of purpose and meaning. The film feels like it knows where it is going, as opposed to the almost meandering first instalment, which suffered through seeming to lack urgency.
I will mention some of the changes the film made from the book, as I feel it necessary to bring these to light, particularly the omissions the film makers made.
Harry announcing himself to everybody, including Snape, in the Great Hall did not occur in the book, and I’m not entirely sure as to why they have changed how he exposed his return to Hogwarts to McGonagall. The only reason I can think is that the film makers did not want to show Harry using an unforgivable curse such as the cruciatus curse, although they did show him using the imperius curse in Gringotts, and therefore I decided that this cannot be the reason.
Also, if they were trying to tug on audience heartstrings towards the end of the film by including Harry apologising to Lupin for his death following the recent arrival of his son, surely the sensible thing to do would be to have included the part of the book where Lupin arrives at Shell Cottage at the beginning and announces the birth of a baby son, and asks Harry to be Godfather.
The ending of the film let me down as well, due to the change in how Harry reveals that he is not dead. Why it was necessary for Harry to jump from Hagrid’s arms and then run through the castle instead of protecting his friends and loved ones from the Death Eaters, I will never know. All it makes me think is that the film makers wanted Harry to seem like he was scared and running away from Voldemort, as opposed to the courageous Harry in the book.
I will accept that there are parts of the book that would not have translated into film as well, for example the fight scene between Mrs Weasley and Bellatrix Lestrange. As the majority of the action in the book is thought, and therefore not a time consuming part of the film.
I was disappointed in the film as I have read the book, and although all the films have strayed from J K Rowling’s original narrative, this is the film that I was most disappointed in. It is a case of if you haven’t read the book then you can’t miss what you never knew, but if you were an avid reader of the books then you may find yourself in the same boat as me.
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Sunday, 3 July 2011
Transformers 3
Among the many films i have watched so far this summer was Transformers 3. Having enjoyed the first film, and thought the second was a bit shoddy to say the least, i had mixed anticipations for this installment, but thought that the replacement of Megan Fox coulsn't be too bad a thing as it opened up the oppurtunity for somebody else to try and fill in her for somewhat wooden performances.
Sadly this was not the case. Despite being easy on the eye, Rosie Huntington-Whitely is every bit the bad actress that Megan Fox is.
The film itself was almost definitely better than the second, as there was more character development and just a better storyline in general. I appreciate that "Revenge of the Fallen" may have suffered due to the writers strike, but the fact remains that the film was relatively poor.
All in all it does exactly what is says on the tin, its a summer blockbuster with big ass robots that turn into cars, planes, tanks, and snakes.
If there is a fourth Transformers in the pipeline, i think we should buy the copyright for "Trans4mers" as a quick money making scheme!
Sadly this was not the case. Despite being easy on the eye, Rosie Huntington-Whitely is every bit the bad actress that Megan Fox is.
The film itself was almost definitely better than the second, as there was more character development and just a better storyline in general. I appreciate that "Revenge of the Fallen" may have suffered due to the writers strike, but the fact remains that the film was relatively poor.
All in all it does exactly what is says on the tin, its a summer blockbuster with big ass robots that turn into cars, planes, tanks, and snakes.
If there is a fourth Transformers in the pipeline, i think we should buy the copyright for "Trans4mers" as a quick money making scheme!
Monday, 23 May 2011
Done and Dusting
So we did it. We made a telly programme all of our own! Dylan and Will are in the process of editing it, and i'm sure i speak for everyone else when i say i cant wait to see the end result!
Also having discovered that Al Murray was hosting a kind of pub quiz/game show on Dave that was starting this week, we were concerned it may look as though we had copied him slightly, but after it aired last night, i think its safe to say that we made a better show than his "Compete for the meat"... Somebody better give Dave a call and show them!
A big thankyou to CATF and everybody at the studios for making it possible!
Also having discovered that Al Murray was hosting a kind of pub quiz/game show on Dave that was starting this week, we were concerned it may look as though we had copied him slightly, but after it aired last night, i think its safe to say that we made a better show than his "Compete for the meat"... Somebody better give Dave a call and show them!
A big thankyou to CATF and everybody at the studios for making it possible!
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Editing VT
I'm editing the VT for the fox, and have discovered that it wont be as good as the one for the dog and gun because we haven't got as good shots for this one as we did for the dog and gun. Because the pub was full of people when we went there to film, we were less able to manoeuvre around for the best shots, which has impeded the quality of the VT.
Hopefully i'll make the best of it though.
Hopefully i'll make the best of it though.
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