Adventures in Australia

Film of the Week

This week's film of the week is The Graduate. The Graduate is known mostly for "Mrs. Robinson", a term that has become a staple of our pop culture society. When you say "Mrs. Robinson" someone knows exactly what you are talking about - a good looking older woman. The Graduate is a narrative and aesthetic achievement for film-making. The use of long focal lengths, the actors, and just the taboo material make this film very entertaining.

Popularized by the controversial material of a married woman seduicing a young college graduate, and the song "Mrs. Robinson" by Simon and Garfunkel, The Graduate takes us into a world of reactions. The dialog is interesting, but the reactions, movements, and gestures between Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft are what really matters. The film itself is wonderful,an absolute favorite of mine, and is known within the film educated for its cinematography, and of course, the famous ending with Hoffman beating on the glass screaming. If you haven't seen it yet, go out and rent it now on DVD, and while you have the DVD, watch the Interviews, its really quite good.

Note: I actually type these film of the weeks in advance, I have about 15 prewritten, and I decided to post this one early due to the death of Anne Bancroft. My deepest thoughts go out to the family. A true artist is gone, we will miss you.

Film of the Week

I'm posting this a little early as I'm going to be really busy this weekend with my graduation ceremony, work, and relatives that are coming into town.

This weeks film is In the Mood for Love. The DVD is available only on the Criterion Collection, so you know the quality is going to be good. In the Mood for Love is set in Hong Kong, cerca 1962. Directed by Kar Wai Wong, the film takes us through a visually stunning and emotional story between two starngers who both suspect their spouses of extra-marital activities.

At times I am taken back by the pure visual element of the film, but at the same time I think about the stuggle that went into the 14 month shoot. They went into the filmmaking process with only 25 pages of the script complete, and pretty much made the story up around them, which frustrated both talent and crew. It has been noted that by the time filming was complete, they had enough coverage to cut the film 5 ways, each one being completely different.

Some people say In The Mood for Love is a little long and at times boring. I say, focus on the image, the art design, and the story being told in the glances between Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung. The connection between these two actors is more than enough to justify the rental. The film did very well at the 2000 Cannes Festival as well as countless others. As a cinematographer, this film really stands out for me, and I can assert that I have seen this film at least 4 times throughout my courses at film school, and that I will be showing this film to my students.

Film of the Week

Once a week I am going to write a simple recommendation for a film. These films will range between classics to new releases, and span from all over the world. If you like films, or consider yourself knowledgeable in film, and if you have not seen these films, then go fast and see them, cause trust me, you'll get a lot out of it.

This week's film is 12 Angry Men. 12 Angry Men is an absolute treasure dealing with conflict between 12 strangers on a hot summer day, stuck insie a small, cramped room. The narrative takes us inside the jury room of a murder case, where the men, filled with their stereotypes and own opinions, take us into a highly dramatic and tense conversation of the jury. The first vote is 11-1 for guilty, one holdout (Fonda).

Roger Ebert wrote about 12 Angry Men: This is a film where tension comes from personality conflict, dialogue and body language, not action; where the defendant has been glimpsed only in a single brief shot; where logic, emotion and prejudice struggle to control the field. It is a masterpiece of stylized realism--the style coming in the way the photography and editing comment on the bare bones of the content. Released in 1957, when Technicolor and lush production values were common, "12 Angry Men" was lean and mean. It got ecstatic reviews and a spread in Life magazine, but was a disappointment at the box office. Over the years it has found a constituency, however, and in a 2002 Internet Movie Database poll it was listed 23rd among the best films of all time

I really do not want to go too much into the film, as I do not want to take away from your experience in viewing it if you have never seen it before, but 12 Angry Men is a must see, trust me. 12 Angry Men forces you to not only think about the subject material, but take a good look at yourself and examine who you are. My Personal Rating: 5 out of 5

Movies I Like ...

When I tell people I'm a film student or work in the film industry, I get the dreaded question: What's your favorite movie? Its not that it is a bad question, it is just that I get it from every single person. However, the question I love is: What did you think of this movie? Takes off a little pressure.

However, I've been forced to sit and really think about my favorite movies. My answer: I can't make a list. Could I make a list for the year? Yeah, probably. Instead, I thought I'd just list some films that I really enjoy.

• Anything by Akira Kurosawa. But my favorite is Rashamon
• In the Mood for Love - the colors are amazing. The saturation really pops out at you.
• Citizen Kane - do I need to say why?
• Se7en - plot is good, but its really for the work of Darius Khondji - amazing cinematographer
• Sunset Boulevard - If you haven't seen it, go see it now.

There is so many more I could list, but I thought that I'd just list 5 for now. If you haven't seen them, I highly suggest you check them out.

Movies You Know You Shouldn't Like...

I'm a film student. I have an educated view when it comes to viewing film - which sometimes can ruin a movie for me. They say: "If you really like watching movies, don't go to film school, cause it will never come back." It's so true its scary.

I have not really been able to just sit back and relax, throw on a film, and just get lost in the story for quite a while now. I find myself driffiting, that shot looks like it was shot on Super16, I like that lighting setup, look at the contrast ratio. My friends will not go see movies with me. Its not that I ruin the movie, they just don't like talking to me right after the movie, cause I normally dive into some asethetic analysis, just because that has been what I've been doing non-stop for the past few years.

Saying that, all film students have films that we simply love. We don't care if the film is horrible, or if it doesn't seem like the right clip to bring in for a class. It's fun, and we like watching it and talking about it. For example:

• Road House. Classic 1980s film that makes me almost want to drop my studies and go be a bar bouncer. Maybe not.


• 10 Things I Hate About You. I admit it, I've seen the film like 10 times.


• Camp Nowhere - I wanted to be at that camp when I was a kid

Theres so many more too.. Sometimes, its just fun to watch movies that when speaking from an educated view aren't accepted.

Film Set ... from Hell!

So, the reason why there was no post yesterday, was that I was on a film set. I was the First Assistant Camera. However, the shot was so complicated I became the only crew on camera while everyone else set up the rig and the set.

The only plus is that I got to work with a $150,000(US) HD camera package.

The hell part ... I started at 2PM, got home at 6AM today. We got 1 shot! Only 1. All those hours, and we only got 1 shot. It was a shot where the tile fell out under neath the actors feat. They started setting up the tile at 7PM, as we didn't arrive to location until 6PM. We didn't do the shot till 1:40AM! Now, it was the most complicated shot they have, their money shot, and we were able to get it twice. But still, their was no orginization what-so-ever. They should have spent a day before setting up the rig and the tiles before camera arrived, that way we could have done the shot, and moved on. I'm tired.

Music Video Update

So last night I met with the director of the video for coffee. We basically sat down, locked down three locations, and started the shot list process. I am a little more confident now. I can really see some shots in my head. A lot of the shots we really can't lay down simply because we're not sure on locations and the time we'll be shooting there. What we did decide is that we must have two cameras. Having two cameras will allow us to nail two shots out at a time, allowing us to get the needed shots for the video.

I also got a copy of the artist's album. I was very surprised. I was not expecting the song to be as good as it is. We're looking at the first week of June or the end of June for the shooting date. It really depends on when equipment is available.

To Teen or not to Teen

So last year I was in a Screenwriting class here at Columbia. The final project of the class is a 12 page narrative short. Now, being the smart ass that I am, I started talking about how I was going to write the Teen Comedy that we haven't seen in a while. Shortly after, I realized that I had screwed myself with my pants on.

So, I started working on the project. I really didn't think it would be hard writing comedy. And in all honesty, it really wasn't that hard. Then I'd read it, figure out that it sucks or I'd seen it before in Bring It On, or any other teen film of the late 90s, and be back to being screwed.

Somehow, and I don't know how, but I got it done. The script is original. Its actually funny. When we did the read through in class everyone was laughing. My teacher was in tears from laughter. I was proud. It got me the A in the class. Now, he told me that it needs a lot of work - theres still some jokes that don't work, and the pacing in one scene is way to fast, but overall that it had really good structure.

So now I am thinking about expanding the film to feature length or a 20-30 minute short film. However, that has left me with this question ... should I go teen? It's a reallly big business, something like 3 billion just in the US alone. Then again ... so's porn.

Music Video

So I have been hired to be the cinematographer on a Rap Music Video. I work with the guy who is directing it, and when he asked me if I wanted to DP the shoot, I of course said yes. Now, I'm come to realize that things aren't perfect.

First, we have no budget. None. Zero. I'm borrowing the camera from friends and now I have to find a light kit. Not good.

Second, he wants to shoot it all in one day - with like 10 locations. Are we getting permits? Nope, don't have the cash. So, lets hope that we don't get kicked off. The one day thing really bugs me as that I am a professional. I want my work to be professional. If I have to think about composition, lighting, and when to run, my work is not going to look professional.

I do in fact really want to shoot this music video as I do not have that many under my belt, and I was hoping to put a little bit of this on my reel. Now, I'm hoping where I can get one shot out of this for my reel.