Last night, I dug through my archived video projects to find my senior thesis, Slip. I had been prompted by my brother's blog post that quoted from the film I made while a student at the University of New England. I was shocked to find that I only have one copy of the film; I must have chucked a whole mess of copies during moving, because I used to have way too many discs of this crazy little film.
I popped in the DVD with a bit of trepidation, since I know that the years can be unkind to artistic endeavors (especially initial, novice ones). But I wanted to take a moment to see where I was six years ago, creatively, and take stock of what steps (hopefully) forward I have made. Here's a breakdown of good stuff/bad stuff:
GOOD: opening credits, which used a projector shooting onto a tub of water. I remember rigging this up knowing that if anything went wrong, a $2000 projector and camera could get destroyed. Looks great, though!
BAD: v e r y s l o w b e g i n n i n g
I would have done well to have others in the editing suite with me, forcing me to cut out many of the bits I wrote. The first third of the film just drags, with a dull attention to detail: showing every piece of the morning as the protagonist, Charles, gets ready for work. I wrote in some comedy, but it just falls flat because it is so slow. Lesson learned: a good artist knows that some ideas have to be scrapped.
GOOD: casting! A smart director who has limited time doesn't cast actors who need to prep, he casts people who actually are his characters.
BAD: audio. While this was due to a lack of equipment and crew, it makes me cringe to have audio levels bump up, then down, be covered with wind noise, or include camera clicks. I now have some better equipment, but haven't done a talkie in a while...
GOOD: script. I'm still proud of the script I wrote. I think it did a good job of exploring the concepts of id, ego and superego with an eye towards zaniness and action. With some appropriate editing, I think it could make a very nice little TV show.
CUTE: my casting of future wife Bethany as "Thief/Butt Slapper" Guess who's butt she slapped? Also, I knew she was the one for me when she let me destroy her car for the film.
The film was inspired by a course I took that dealt with Freudian psychoanalysis, among other things. I made the film under a huge time crunch (my advisor doubted I would produce a final film) and starring friends that I coerced/begged into sacrificing for me. I pulled favors from the media department, facilities management and the Biddeford community at large. Thinking back, I am kinda shocked that I pulled it off...amazing the things we do when we are younger.
I'm going to try and post it online soon...look for it.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
My Yearly Post Habit...
...must be stopped! Therefore, I am going to attempt a more regular blogging schedule. We'll see how it goes and whether a newborn baby interferes (all signs point to, "yes").
As usual, the desire for blogging was inspired by movie-watching. This time around, it was the live-action and CGI hybrid Alvin and the Chipmunks.
You read that right: Alvin and the Chipmunks.
I feel like the masochists at the AV Club who watch something they know will be terrible but do it anyway. Though you are now disregarding me as a fool and navigating away from this page, please let me explain.
See, I have a wife and she is a very kind, gentle, loving soul. When someone offers her a movie to borrow, she accepts. Even if that movie was found to be pointless by some people and
sparked an online feud. She brings it home and causes me to physically cringe as she pushes the dreaded DVD close to me, threatening to touch my skin with it. I must not be tainted by this affront to cinephiles everywhere! A no-talent, phoned-in, greedy, cash-sniffing turd of a movie. A film trying to wring more $$$ from a 50-year old silly, sped-up recording gimmick.
This, I was sure, would be a case where I could judge a book by its cover or, rather, a movie by its poster. Even Jason Lee, whose slacker sarcasm is always appreciated, could not make this worthwhile. In fact, his presence almost guaranteed that this would be a painful viewing: every moment tinged by, "C'mon, I loved you in Chasing Amy and that Sasquatch movie!"
So, after a discussion with my wife, we agreed to only view a few key scenes, so as to give her enough fodder to stumble through any discussion of the movie. A perfect picture of domestic duplicity, we sat down to take a Cliff Notes' tour of Alvin and the Chipmunks. We ended up watching it straight through, even pausing it when one of us had to get a snack!
And, amazingly, I kind of enjoyed the movie. Sure, it was cheesy: few people question talking and singing chipmunks, the slightly forced "we are a family" theme, the silly pratfalls early on. Many moments were uncomfortable: every song and dance sequence had the three 'Munks grooving with midriff-baring backup singers. A lot of the performances were lazily done, Mr. Lee's particularly. But on the whole, the movie tries to just be simple fun for kids. It has an honest message that is important for kids (and parents): rules help us be better people, and family helps us follow the rules. Put another way, family is important because they (should?) look out for you and try to give you a safe place to grow up in.
I have to get used to movies like this. My son is growing steadily in Bethany's tummy and is due in just six weeks. Soon, he'll be old enough to be requesting movies and I'm sure his picks will drive me nuts. But as long as they have a good message, I can't complain.
Beyond the message, the filmmakers were smart enough to give Lee and David Cross (who, spoiler alert!, plays the villain) moments to show their distinctive comedic styles. These moments are few and far between, but I appreciated them. Deadpan humor always gets me.
Also, the cheesiness gets so excessive at points that I couldn't help but laugh. The obligatory montages (rise to stardom, music writing, cleaning house) are just spot on in their complete refusal to have any sort of originality. And that takes guts. Also, David Cross's final scene is brilliant in it absolute lameness.
All in all, I think my slight enjoyment of Alvin and the Chipmunks came from my expectations. I was sure I would be witnessing a creative trainwreck with a massive body count; instead, I got to see a slight fender bender that cause minor whiplash.
As usual, the desire for blogging was inspired by movie-watching. This time around, it was the live-action and CGI hybrid Alvin and the Chipmunks.
You read that right: Alvin and the Chipmunks.
I feel like the masochists at the AV Club who watch something they know will be terrible but do it anyway. Though you are now disregarding me as a fool and navigating away from this page, please let me explain.
See, I have a wife and she is a very kind, gentle, loving soul. When someone offers her a movie to borrow, she accepts. Even if that movie was found to be pointless by some people and
sparked an online feud. She brings it home and causes me to physically cringe as she pushes the dreaded DVD close to me, threatening to touch my skin with it. I must not be tainted by this affront to cinephiles everywhere! A no-talent, phoned-in, greedy, cash-sniffing turd of a movie. A film trying to wring more $$$ from a 50-year old silly, sped-up recording gimmick.
This, I was sure, would be a case where I could judge a book by its cover or, rather, a movie by its poster. Even Jason Lee, whose slacker sarcasm is always appreciated, could not make this worthwhile. In fact, his presence almost guaranteed that this would be a painful viewing: every moment tinged by, "C'mon, I loved you in Chasing Amy and that Sasquatch movie!"
So, after a
And, amazingly, I kind of enjoyed the movie. Sure, it was cheesy: few people question talking and singing chipmunks, the slightly forced "we are a family" theme, the silly pratfalls early on. Many moments were uncomfortable: every song and dance sequence had the three 'Munks grooving with midriff-baring backup singers. A lot of the performances were lazily done, Mr. Lee's particularly. But on the whole, the movie tries to just be simple fun for kids. It has an honest message that is important for kids (and parents): rules help us be better people, and family helps us follow the rules. Put another way, family is important because they (should?) look out for you and try to give you a safe place to grow up in.
I have to get used to movies like this. My son is growing steadily in Bethany's tummy and is due in just six weeks. Soon, he'll be old enough to be requesting movies and I'm sure his picks will drive me nuts. But as long as they have a good message, I can't complain.
Beyond the message, the filmmakers were smart enough to give Lee and David Cross (who, spoiler alert!, plays the villain) moments to show their distinctive comedic styles. These moments are few and far between, but I appreciated them. Deadpan humor always gets me.
Also, the cheesiness gets so excessive at points that I couldn't help but laugh. The obligatory montages (rise to stardom, music writing, cleaning house) are just spot on in their complete refusal to have any sort of originality. And that takes guts. Also, David Cross's final scene is brilliant in it absolute lameness.
All in all, I think my slight enjoyment of Alvin and the Chipmunks came from my expectations. I was sure I would be witnessing a creative trainwreck with a massive body count; instead, I got to see a slight fender bender that cause minor whiplash.
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