Directed by Tim Burton Produced by Richard D. Zanuck Walter F. Parkes Laurie MacDonald John Logan Written by Christopher Bond (story) Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) Hugh Wheeler (play) John Logan (script) Starring Johnny Depp Helena Bonham Carter Alan Rickman Timothy Spall Jamie Campbell Bower Ed Sanders Jayne Wisener Laura Michelle Kelly and Sacha Baron Cohen Music by Stephen Sondheim Jonathan Tunick (underscore) Cinematography Dariusz Wolski Editing by Chris Lebenzon Distributed by DreamWorks Pictures(USA) Warner Bros. (Non-USA) Release date(s) December 21, 2007 (US) January 25, 2008 (UK) Running time 117 min. Country United States/ United Kingdom Language English Budget $50 million
My favourite clip shown above. The fast following camera that traces Sweeney and focuses on him at all times is a clever effect. The camera movement is also linked with the tempo of the music to give the dramatic effect. Sweeneys clothing is brighter, more vivid, so showing that this i a dull community. This can especially be seen when the camera pans out at the end of this scene.
Depp is a legend :)
Another awesome scene, in which we can see the contrast between the rival barbers clothing and hair sheet, compared to Sweeney's. The focus on the rival barber is a clever technique at drawing the attention of the audience and introducing the first of Sweeney's victims in the film.
Notes teken during film.
beautiful start with effects to create running blood don ornaments in Sweeney's barber shop - use of saturated colours with the vivid reds show harshness of blood, as well as the darkness of the killer
very dark when sweeney is around. dark on the boat and in the outskirts of london
clevber use of camera in the shots of london in first person fast tour like fashion
very colourful flashbacks warm tones
additional light when he holds his knives for the first time
light world shown around his daughter, to show she is still bright and gleaming
musical parts, panning camera togive impression of a musical.
Disasterous ending shown very darkly, very vivid reds in the blood
I'm going to be honest. I'm writing this blog hammered off my face so it may well be abit sketchy like:).
So second life. I began second life a few weeks back, and it became apparent to me that it was a really great piece of online entertainment, in which people could create parraells to their normal selves or change their lives completely to become something wayout from what their ordinary life consited of.
For example, I met some guy that owned £330 of land on second life. Something whcih shocked me as he was only 22 years of age. Money to burn :).
But yeh to be honest i'm not sure where to go from here. I'm some random looking guy, with long hair, a guitar and some rather dashing clothes, of which i've dragged the jeans down and made the shirt a tad tighter. But what do I do now, get a job? I guess so :) lets give it a whirl drunken scotty:)
Directed by Mike Nichols Produced by Tom Hanks Written by George Crile (novel) Aaron Sorkin (screenplay) Starring Tom Hanks Julia Roberts Philip Seymour Hoffman Amy Adams Ned Beatty Music by James Newton Howard Cinematography Stephen Goldblatt Editing by John Bloom Distributed by Universal Pictures Playtone Release date(s) December 21, 2007 Running time 100 min. Country United States Language English Dari Urdu Budget $75 million
Tonight I went to watch the newly released Charlie Wilson's war, based on a true story of a congressman whom supplies money to the Afghans to fight the Solviet Union in the time of the Cold war.
The film was interesting, as it combined real footage, with the actual film, to give the audience more of a feel for the truth behind the narrative.
Mike Nichols is the director, someone who before this movie, I had not been aware of his work. I remember faintly a film called Closer, released in 2004, which I will be watching sometime later this week to see if I can see a style portrayed in his work. From the film I watched tonight, he is a talented director, who adds something to what could be a grey area in film. For example if there was little humour in this film it would come across too dry for viewing in my opinion.
Narrative: The narrative was well structured throughout the film, however contained alot of political confusion which made it difficult for easy viewing. For example the main narrative in the story seems to be the raising of funds to help the Afghans at war, with help from a rich female anti-communist played by Julia Roberts. The main actor is Tom Hanks, who as always, makes the film brilliant to watch. Without the humour the film would be dull and rather worthless as a piece.
Visual Style: Throughout the film, full vivid colour is used to show this highly succesful man in the light that others percieve him as in the film. Thi works very well in introducing us as an audience to the main character. The style used towards the end of the film is different, and it becomes very clear that this man is actually lonely or perhaps full of pride. At the end the start is played again, and we see why he is standing in front of so many people, being awardfed a prize for his achievement. However, when we see him in tears, we see a darker style being used. The film is mainly scened in the offices of the congressman, as well as hotels, and middle eastern countries. There is a good part of the film where he is standing on a large hill, unsure whether to aid the people of Afghnistan, with the refugee camps filled with thousands of people in the distance. The use of focus on him and those in the background, as well as the use of space shows that seeing the people has a huge effect on his decision.
I feel it important to mention the character played by Phillip seymour Hoffman, as the character is used well to break out the seriousness of the film, to create a sense of humour within it. A clever technique. However, I dont know how the start is relevant where he shouts at his superiour, a rather bizaare introduction to a character I'm sure would be agreed.
Been playing around with this software a fair bit this week, just to familiarise myself with its interface, and build an understanding of what its designed to produce. I found these videos below, that people had made using 3d studio max.I also found a couple of other pieces of software when looking at 3d studio max, including a modelling program called poser. This software, would be highly useful for when I start creating my identity piece, as it would allow me to create a 3d character, which could be interacted with by the user, without takin too much time manually moulding it. Below, is a head, I created using 3DS Max and Mudbox.
The head was designed to have a similar shape to those of the Lloyds TSB advert. After finding some 3d painting software, I will hopefully be able to colour and add features to the 3d object already created. This is good practice for future ideas and research into 3d max and other software.
I have also been on SecondLife, which I will talk about in my next blog as I'm off to the cinema tonight to watch yet another film, which I will also be blogging about :)
Directed by Jonathan Demme Produced by Kenneth Utt Edward Saxon Ron Bozman Written by Ted Tally Starring Jodie Foster Anthony Hopkins Scott Glenn Ted Levine Music by Howard Shore Cinematography Tak Fujimoto Distributed by Orion Pictures Release date United Kingdom: May 31, 1991 Running time 118 min. Country United States Language English Budget $19,000,000 Preceded by Manhunter (1986) Followed by Hannibal (2001)
I've made a resolution...to widen my knowledge in the area of Audio visual multimedia, so when it comes to the choice week, I have a full understanding in the area.
I have set my self the task of a director, per week, up until the choice week.
My first is, Jonathon Demme , director of the silence of the lambs. The other films chosen by this director are...
The Agronomist, Married to the Mob and Philadelphia
My first impressions of the silence of the lmabs, was that its a deep, psychological thrilling story, packed with moments of suspense. The acting on Anthony Hopkins part, in my opinion was superb. The difficulty in playing an intelliegent, mid-aged male turned psychopath, must have been a difficult task, however although he is'nt actually the main "villain" in this film, it leads us into the later films. He is in fact only in the film for around 15mins!
I have never read the novel by Thomas Harris, and in ways I'm glad, as the content of the film, in my eyes, reveals enough about the basic plot, to give me insight into how the next films will be shown. It will be interesting to see the difference in each of the films, with different screenwriters, actors and directors.
When considering the film in a more media form, as Bruce Block would perhaps do, we see some good quality filming techniques. Filming from first person, for example when the serial killer Buffalo Bill has the night vision goggles on, helps to create suspense within the audience, as well as a feeling of anxiety.
I feel that some parts of the film, were weak. For example, I really did not enjoy having to listen to the full annoying american accent of Clarice Starling, played by Jodie Foster. Her acting at some parts was also a little farfetched, mainly in the parts of true suspense, i.e. when she was in the house with Buffalo Bill.
Narrative: Because the narrative ws taken from an extremelly popular book, it was clearly going to be a popular film. The narrative flows well, and although very deep, allows the viewer, to become aquainted with characters and their stories. There are actually two main stories linked into one in this film. First, the escape of hannibal lecture and his aid to the finding of Buffalo Bill. Second, the story of Buffalo Bill as a transexual serial killer, and the tracing down of him.
Visual Style: The visual style of the Silence of the Lambs, is dark and deep. Although a psychopath, the sections with Hanibal Lecture, are considerably light and lively. For example when he kills the two guards in his cage, only after Hannibal has left is darkness portrayed. Another section where lighting is used to effect the mood is when Agent Starling is despereate to get to the killer, and Hannibals body is in the light, but his face is not visible.
Our first view of Hannibal, is shown that he is a rather normal man in appearence. His visual shows an ageing man, intelligent, but deeply disturbed.
Camera: The camera effects used, come across as being very 80's to me. The filming at the beginnning of the movie for example, is very simple and not too enthralling, something which helps me to get into a film straight away. However, the use of first person camera, specifically in the first meeting of Hannibal, as we see him in the eyes if Agent Starling, is an effective one.
The chaos-like camera in the night vision scenes are also well produced and add to the tension and suspense of the film.
Favourite scene:
The screaming of the lambs scene, shows the developed relationship between Hannibal and Clarice. The lighting used on his face when he is in the cage, and the darkness of his face, shows he has got deep into Clarice, and his evil side is beginning to show. All the filming is done from either within or out of the cage, the bars are always visible. The camera comes closer into Hannibals face, as he begins to get into Clarice's thoughts and her mind. The same happens as Clarice's thoughts and story develops. When she is telling the story, Hannibals comments on the story and questions are said without moving the camera to his face. When he has finally got to her, the music kicks in to create suspense and also show Hannibal's clever psychological knowledge. The final zoom, into his finger stroking hers, shows that Hannibal has a sensitive side towards Clarice's character.
Two films I will clearly need to watch to now are Manhunter and Hannibal, as well as the new Hannibal Rising film.
A good website for linking films to filming techniques : http://users.design.ucla.edu/~cariesta/MayaCourseNotes/html/body_ucla160_fx.html
This is the first draft of my interactive narrative. The theme is "interogation" hence the violence involved in getting the truth from the sufferer. I will be adding text and sound shortly, to make the narrative more clear. Currently it needs making smaller so it embeds better but I will do that later too.
