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September 22, 2010, 1:21 pm
Being the impatient-minded movie freak that I am, I don’t generally find pleasure in reading books. That said, there have been a handful (literally) that I’ve found myself liking so much that I read them over and over; one of those groups is the Hannibal Lecter series by Thomas Harris (what can I say, I love the character of a charming, high-class artist who’s detestation for rudeness compels him to eat those rude people). Unfortunately, the series of movies made from the books don’t hold up in as good a quality as the books (with some exception), but they’re still fun to watch.
October 20, 2010, 2:19 pm
One, two, Freddy's coming for you... Three, four, better lock your door... Five, six, grab your crucifix... Seven, eight, better stay up late... Nine, ten, never sleep again...
September 8, 2010, 4:26 pm
One of my colleagues is off helping to turn Harry Potter 7 (Part 1) into 3D, and needless to say it made me want to have a Harry Potter marathon. So, thanks to this blog I’m able to find a better excuse to indulge my movie watching cravings... At the same time, we can look at the popular movies to see if we can learn reasons why they are so popular, and why the craft of editing helps to make viewers escape from reality and believe in magic (among other things). For the Harry Potter series in particular, I find that a certain kind of pacing is a strong theme that is used successfully.
August 25, 2010, 2:43 pm
24 August 2010 <br><br>
There are many aliens out there that hunt humans, but the only one that seems to have shown any true mercy or feelings is the Predator. That said, they do make humans prey for sport, so I don’t really know how much credit I can actually give them...
August 11, 2010, 1:32 pm
There’s a statistic out there that states that it takes the average person 10,000 hours to truly master something. My husband and I did the math, and it averages out to a little over 5 solid years if you treated your training like a 40 hour/5 day a week job with no vacations or long weekends. The beauty of film is that we don’t only condense those years into a matter of minutes with a montage, but we also suspend our belief as far as how long it actually takes to get really good at something. There’s an interesting (and bittersweet) article about the social implications of the cinematic training montage here: http://www.cracked.com/article_18544_how-the-karate-kid-ruined-modern-world.html (note, the author can be crude, so if you’re not into that kind of humour then don’t read it). But until we remember that it’s a lot harder to master something than it looks, let’s enjoy the artistic aspects of the training montage.
July 28, 2010, 11:05 am
28 July 2010<br><br>
As an editor, one of the best things ever is to find a director that you work really well with. There are a few editors that have this kind of long term partnership, like Schoonmaker and Scorsese, or Sanders and Cronenberg for example. There’s one duo, however, who have established a very specific style together over the years, and that’s Menke and Tarantino. Some themes that run throughout their work together (from an editing perspective) are long takes, wide shots, the emulation of various 1970’s era movie styles, and of course fun with the concept of time through the use of chapters.
July 14, 2010, 1:54 pm
As storytellers we have to be aware of the different types of story structure, and each part of every type of story. One part that all types have in common is called the "Belly of the Whale," or the part in which the main character(s) hit the lowest low in the situation at hand. This part marks the turning point in the main character’s development, and therefore it’s important that the way that it is told is exceptionally strong. One company that seems to consistently nail it by making the Belly of the Whale unique, touching, and still able to have a little bit of humour in it, is Pixar (my dream employer).
June 30, 2010, 8:33 pm
30 June 2010 <br>
I’ve always loved comic books, and X Men was a definite favourite. When the movies came out, I was also excited. Being the fan that I am, I hoped that they would stick to the original stories (they strayed a bit) but still they were fun and I enjoyed them. In any case, I felt like watching X Men this weekend and because Wolverine is my favourite character, you’re going to be subjected to my whims once again.
June 16, 2010, 7:21 am
Captain Kirk is an important figure in pop culture and TV history. For Trekkies, he’s the beginning of a lifestyle. For TV he was the male counterpart in the first ever, interracial kiss broadcasted. For editors, Shatner’s campy (yet sincere and believable) acting as well as his seemingly deliberate movements make Kirk easy to cut. I know he’s on my top 10 list of people I hope to meet someday! (Mr. Shatner that is, not Kirk...)
May 19, 2010, 12:25 pm
After the last blog entry with the book list, I found myself inspired to revisit Tarkovsky’s body of work. If you’ve read it, you’ll know that he was a stickler for long takes and very little cutting; each cut has a specific purpose and is used more for bringing the viewer into the next part of the story and the rhythm of the story rather than the cut itself or for montage. So, we’ve seen long takes with the emphasis on performance (i.e. Keitel), and now let me wrap up with long takes with the emphasis on story rhythm.
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