Magnolia

What a dark but interesting film. This movie was an excellent film that went back and forth between the lives of different people. It is a very dramatic piece with lots of big name actors in it. Julianne Moore, Tom Cruise, William H. Macy, John C. Riley, Phillip Baker Hall, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and the list goes on. Grab some popcorn and maybe a six pack because you are going to be on the couch for a while.

The story jumps through the troubles of different peoples lives. People that have had it all as a child wiz kid star to nothing as a grown man. Daily interaction between a cop and citizens during his shift. A rich and conceited self help guru. This list goes on, but one thing that I believe that they all had in common is that somehow in the end they are all linked.

All of the actors did an amazing job. Tom Cruise was hated (but isn't he always) and that added to the emotions that the film brought from the audience. I really think that Phillip Seymour Hoffman did an awesome job. Overall everyone portrayed their characters very well.

The film was overly dramatic and I think that the dark lighting played a huge part in that. There were a lot of close up shots to show the expression on a characters face. This film is all about deceit and pain and using these filming techniques played an important role in portraying that.

I liked this movie a lot, but man it is a bummer. It really doesn't make you feel good about humankind. Dark movies like this tend to make me feel dirty, kind of like when you leave a movie theater your skin feels like you swam in butter. I do recommend that everyone see this movie though, and I thought it was an incredible movie. It is incredible in a suppository kind of way. It is medicine that heals you but you have to insert it in non pleasant ways.

Macscottish

Designing the set for the next show at Armstrong that we are not supposed to mention, has been quite a journey so far. It all started as rough drawings on some scratch paper, and now is becoming a built reality. I have been trying to think about every possible thing that could make this set incredible, trying to meet the needs of everyone, actors, lighting,......It is definitely a task that has proved to be more difficult than I had imagined. I remember asking a couple of semesters ago if I could design a main stage set, and with no delay I received a yes. I could not believe it. I imagined walls turning and every aspect of the set having the ability to transform into something else. That was shot down due to budget and the fact that doc said no walls. So, I had to come up with something else, and I am glad I did because I think that the design is better now than the first ideas I had. Now, this line drawing is becoming real and it is a little overwhelming to see something that I thought up being built. I guess that this is something that I will have to get used to. I plan on looking back on this project one day and laughing. We all have to start somewhere. I am really excited though and I can't believe that so many people are there to back me up. I am looking forward to the day the show opens and sitting in the audience as people get a seat and comment on how good the set looks, they always do. This time it will be different though, this time my name will be in the book. I feels very good to have come so far as a student and now be the one that is teaching the newbies. I was there once. I remember my first day of stagecraft class three years ago. I was so nervous and excited at the same time. I have been around construction of some kind all of my life, and finally a subject that I can excel in. I am a completely different person now, and if it wasn't for the help and guidance that I have received from some great people at Armstrong, faculty and students alike, I would not be turning on stage lights to unveil my creation.  It is a good feeling to have an enormous amount of pride in something that you do. I don't know if I have ever felt this good about something. It makes me feel like I have chosen the right field to start a career in. Watching actors breath life into a space that without them is just a bunch of wood screwed together, that is why I do this. Thanks to everyone who has suffered through using drills and saws just to help make an imaginary environment a reality. Theater takes a team, and that is something magical.

Nursery Rhyme video

I have found over the past week that it is very difficult to come to a consensus script with different view points. Everyone has incredible ideas about a story and sometimes it is hard to fit all of the ideas into one story. This is a really good project for the shear purpose of getting used to working with other people. For me, it has been a struggle to express my ideas or to actually share them. I tend to keep them inside thinking that nobody cares. That is in fact false, and I have learned that it is very important for everyone to share their ideas in a group creation like this. There were some really good ideas that came from just talking with other people. Things that I don't think one person can come up with by themselves. I believe that we have come up with a great story and I can't wait to see it complete.

Coco Before Chanel

Ok, a foreign movie. I was a little apprehensive to watch this. A movie about a designer and it is in French, but it was well worth it. This was one tough cookie and I'm sure it took that to make something for a woman in a man's world.

Directed by Anne Fontaine and starring AudreyTautou. This film follows the life of Coco Chanel from poor singing in bars to creating her own clothing in Paris. She struggles with social boundaries and weasels her way in the bed of a rich man, Benoit Poelvoorde, and eventually in his huge house. In a period coming out of the Victorian era, she pushed the fashion boundaries and changed the way women dressed. As she remains entertainment and tailor to continue residency in a huge mansion, she falls in love with Arthur 'Boy' Capel (Alessandro Nivola). Realizing that she will never be the wife of these wealthy gentlemen she decides to head to Paris and pursue creating her own endeavors in the fashion industry. She becomes famous for creating hats for wealthy women and eventually her clothing that changes the way women dress.









I really enjoyed watching this film. I did not think that I would though. I like foreign films a lot but you kind of have to be in the right mood to watch one. Which is horrible, the whole rest of the world watches our movies and reads subtitles all of the time, but we bitch about having to do it at all. We as Americans are so pompous. Anyway, I got off track. I thought that the camera angles were brilliant in this film and helped to show the social status difference between Coco and the rest of the wealthy that she was around. The camera seemed to be looking down on her and then showed lots of background to make her seem small. Her differences in the end make her bigger than anyone else though and the camera angles show her power. It is cool that the camera can establish so much.


I would recommend this movie to anyone, but this is a movie that I don't think everyone is going to like. It is kind of a girly movie but it shows a really cool transitional period where everything changed out of the Victorian era. I think that it is awesome to see someone that challenges the "norm" in daily life and completely changes the view of everyone else. There is a quote I love but not sure who said it, "If you don't like what people are saying about you, change the conversation", I think that this is exactly what she did for fashion. After all, what people say about you is none of your business. She held her head high and did not let anything let her spirits down. It is almost like she knew what she was supposed to do in life.

Nursery rhymes

I have a blast reading old nursery rhymes this week. I had no idea that there was such history and meaning behind all nursery rhymes. I guess they had to have been written for a reason, I just never knew what that reason was. Some of them have sort of dark meaning while others refer to an historical personality and others are meant to teach something. The only problem I had was picking one that was my favorite. I do kind of gravitate towards the dark side of things, so I chose Wee Willie Winkie. I really like the images that came into mind when I first read it, and was attracted to the dreamlike imagery that poured from my imagination. I think that it would make an incredible short, and really hope that I can bring life to the images from my imagination. This is a really cool project, and it is awesome to learn about historical things that have meaning but we take them for granted because of the changing of the times.

Reflection on Time of Day

It is amazing to see what can happen to a place during different light. The mood, emotion, feeling, and even the place itself can be transformed into something completely different just by changing the light. I can see why location scouting is very important in the production process and how the smallest thing can change everything.

One thing that I struggled with was finding the best angle for the photos. I found myself deciding which part of the photo was most important. The architecture, the landscape, the shadows, and also the colors from every aspect of the composition. There were street lights that were visible during the early morning and evening shots that I was forced to think about their importance, and also what emotion all of these brought to the picture and location.

I really enjoyed every aspect of this project, especially arriving on location at different times of day. It was fun to see a place transform into something other than what it is, and I really can see what camera angles would work best and at what time of day they would work best.

Death at a Funeral

'Death at a Funeral', is a story of a funeral gone wrong. Director Frank Oz, takes us on a journey through a black comedy about a eccentric and wealthy British funeral turned upside down when a stranger appears and admits to be a gay lover of the deceased. Actors, Matthew Macfadyen, Keeley Hawes, Andy Nyman, Ewen Bremner, Daisy Donovan, and others; exceptionally take on the roles of the mournful but eccentric characters. I laughed out loud as the funeral began to go astray and characters personalities were unraveled, and I would recommend this dark comedy to anyone.

The movie opens with the body of a wealthy British patriarch being delivered to the home of his family for the funeral, and the fun begins when the wrong body is delivered. Two brothers argue over the expenses of the funeral for their father while the family and friends begin to show up for the service. One family member mistakenly takes acid instead of Valium and starts the events that make everything go wrong. Suddenly a stranger shows up and says that he is a secretive gay lover of the father and that he demands to be payed for his silence. After a struggle to keep the stranger from talking, he hits his head and the brothers now think that he is dead. Now, they decide to hide the strangers body in the casket with their father, and proceed with the ceremony when the casket begins to knock. I won't ruin the end for anyone that wants to see this film, but it ends with a happy and problem free resolution.

I found that every actor portrayed the characters very effectively and brought life to this dark comedy. I have not seen any other films with these actors, but I look forward to seeing their other works now. You could feel the stress that was in the scene's and the emotion of the day.

The music was light hearten and cheery, which made this funeral feel sunny. I liked that the emphasis was on the comedy of the piece and not so much the dark side. There were quite a good amount of full shots that showed the beautiful green landscape in the background and filled the shot up with multiple characters.

Everyone needs a laugh every once in a while, and I highly recommend this this film for those dreary days. Chris Rock made a remake of this movie in 2010, but I think that I prefer this version more. There is always a surprise around the corner and you never know what is around the corner during this film. This film was a delight to watch and a movie that I was a little apprehensive to watch, but it was hilarious and I was glad that I took the time afterwards.