Adventures in Australia

Worst of 2005

So everyone is making their lists of their favorite and most dispised movies of 2005. So, I thought that I'd jot down my most dispised films of 2005, these are the ones that I still cannot believe that I actually paid money to see.

Son of the Mask
I saw this film as a video rental when I was baby-sitting one of my younger cousins. What a piece of crap. This is a film I hope to flush out of my thoughts right now.

Miss Congeniality 2
I thought the first film was cute, not great, but cute. So, I decided that I'd check this one out. I'd rather have emergency dental work.

Monster-In-Law
Jane Fonda and Slapstick comedy? That's a no. This film had potential, but went downhill after plot point one.

Dirty Love
I give Jenny McCarthy props for putting her self so out like this and even more props for attempting to write a screen play. I emphasize the word attempt as any script that has dialogue of "Price check on maxi-pads for the woman bleeding all over the supermarket floor" just belongs in the trash.

The Dukes of Hazzard
Three words: Jessica Simpson, Actress.

Fantastic Four
Jessica Alba, the only highlight of the film, should not be invisible. Rather, this plot should have been, and was invisible.

Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
I did not see this film, I didn't have to see it to know that it was going to be bad.

I'm sure some people will disagree, you might love the film, but that because you must have slept during the film.

19 Days till Australia.

Fun Day

Yesterday was my first day on the new job with the company. I just went from a Student DP to a Professional DP with Corporate experience! I'm really excited. The best part is that I am now corporate. When someone calls the store and says they are from corporate and are coming to your store, the entire store goes into panic mode and starts cleaning and being on the absolute best behavior and performance. I know because I used to have to do it. Now, it's is happening to us. When we were talking to employees yesterday, they were scared out of their minds about us coming. Its really odd to now be on the opposite side, where they go on their absolute best because we are there.

Overall, yesterday was a really fun day, but really exhausting - and today is going to be an even longer day! Should be fun.

Film of the Week: July 11th, 2005

I'm trying to keep my film of the week's short and sweet, so this week's film of the week is Philadelphia. I haven't seen this film in quite some time, and as I was going through my DVDs trying to find something to watch, my finger came upon Philadelphia and I decided to throw it in. I quickly remembered why it was in my collection. This is the film that first earned Tom Hanks his Oscar. The acting is superb, the narrative is well constructed, and the overall look I really like. When I watch the film, I am reminded of the AIDS epidemic, and how very little we knew about it at the time this film was released, and how scared people were to even touch someone with AIDS. A truly wonderful film.

Film of the Week: July 4th, 2005

As today is July 4th, the USA's national independence day, I've selected a film that deals with America, its pride, and the anger during the Vietnam war. This film is Born on the Fourth of July. Directed by Oliver Stone, this film is an amazing work of art. Oliver Stone got some grief over a few scenes, but overall, the film works as a whole. I believe that this film here, is the best acting I have ever seen out of Tom Cruise. This is the film that shows us that Tom Cruise can actually act, because he is playing someone who is real, someone with real emotions and a story.

If you haven't seen the film yet, I'd highly recommend it.

Course Idea

My career goal is to teach at the collegiate level. It has been something I've wanted to do for a very long time. I just watched the film Kinsey, an absolute amazing film, and it brought up the idea for a course that I've been thinking for a while that I would like to teach. The course would be: Film Analysis: Sexuality and Eroticism in the Moving Image.

I don't want to study the belief or value structure of sexuality, as that would cross the cultural and societal line. Instead, I want to study the film itself. What exactly makes a film sensual, sexual, erotic? Is it smut or art? Who decides what is art? Is it low art or high art? Is there such a thing as low art and high art?

The course would not be a study in pornography, which is what I feel would be the biggest obstacle, so it would need to be specifically structured in a way for the academic world. But, my biggest question is this: Do you think I could honestly get students to come in with an open mind and view the context of the material and not the pre-decided conceptions of the material? Would you take the course?

Film of the Week: June 27th, 2005

This week's film is Casablanca. This is a real masterpiece here. As a film student, I have seen this film at least 10 times, not including the countless times I have seen it before. A lot of film students will list Casablanca in their "top 10" films, but may have never even seen it. I, on the other hand, love this film.

There is really nothing else for me to say about this film. It's good. Considered one of the best. If you haven't seen this film, get off the couch and go to the video rental store and pick up a copy. Such a great film.

Film of the Week: June 20th, 2005

This week's film is a favorite of mine. Sometimes you just have to watch a film that may not be critically acclaimed, or even that good. You just got to watch it because it brings back memories. For me, this film is Captain Ron.

I'm not really sure why I like this film so much. I think it is mostly cause I remember seeing it as a child. I enjoy the film, it is that simple. I can remember watching this film from some odd reason at least 5 times a summer with my sister when we were stuck inside on a rainy day. I don't even want to go into the details about the movie. It's just good. I own it on DVD (then again I own about 700 films on DVD so thats not saying much). If you haven't seen it, rent it. Grab a beer or a glass of wine and just relax and watch the movie, its actually pretty entertaining.

Done

I'm wrapped on the music video. I meant to do a posting last night, but literally, I fell on my bed and slept until now. I got home at around 11:30PM yesterday.

The Music Video Shoot went good. We we're really lucky - nothing went wrong. Everything went exactly how it was supposed to go. I did some crazy stuff - like hanging out a car window with a camera shooting the artist performing, on the busiest road in Chicago. Or, the death shot as I like to call it. Me on my knees with the camera while two motorcycles drive past me, one on each side, at 80 miles per hour.

However, it was all fun, and the artist was really happy. We got so many business cards it was insane. Overall a good, but long day.

The Music Video

It is currently 6:15 AM here in Chicago. I have now been on location for over 2 hours. Thats right folks: a 4AM call time! I've typed this post in advance and am having TypePad auto post it for me, which is a cool feature.

I'm probably either really tired or running on a lot of coffee. Today's shoot is scheduled to go to 10PM, but will probably end up going later.

Today is going to be hectic. The artist is really excited and got a whole lot of extras. 50 to 100 of them! Thats for the afternoon shot, the car shot with a party going on in the background.

AC Gear

I'm a cinematographer. What does that mean? It means that I work with the light and cameras to control and achieve the overall image. Currently I work as a 1st Assistant Camera (1st AC) or large shoots and I'm the Director of Photography (DP) or smaller shoots or student films. The DP is the boss of the cinematographers - the man in charge of the overall look of the film. Every single frame you see in a film (24 frames per second in the US, 25 fps in Europe and Australia) is done by the DP.

So today I got a whole bunch of new AC gear. The AC has to basically bring their gear with them. It's like in construction how they bring their own tools. These are my tools of the trade. Its the AC Pouch, belt, Gaffers Tape, Arri Emulsion Remover, and whole lot of cool things I need on me when on a set. How much for all this? $180 US including overnight shipping, which really ain't that bad, film equipment, even the bag, is expensive.

I'm shooting a music video this Saturday, so I get to break it all in. It feels like Christmas. Man, I'm a geek.