Eman's Blog

May Post 3 – Rock On! (Bollywood)

beenthereseenthat — Mon, 11 May 2009 12:23:36 +0000

Being so far away from home I jump at almost every oppurtunity to watch a Bollywood Flick.For me This week’s Bollyood dose was “Rock On!” and it happened to be a good investment of my time as i really enhoyed the film.The film revolves around Music and the relationships made and broken by Music.

The best part of the movie was undoubtedly the Soundtrack which even though was very small (only 9 Songs) ; always emphasized the mood and highlighted every bit of the movie;AND the fact that it IS the music that connects all the characters together and allow the viewers to understand the bond which the characters share.

Cinematography was another attention catcher for me ; as some very fresh ideas were seen especially in the Music Videos and {editing} I loved the freeze frames they had used fro every flashback ,partially because I was doing the same for our class production “Echo”.

Generally it was very well done and its a movie worth watching especially if you want to explore Bollywood!

May Post 1 – The Pre-Production Process

beenthereseenthat — Fri, 08 May 2009 01:57:49 +0000

Everytime I get down to watching a film and criticizing it I forget about all the effort that actually goes in making one.Watching a Film and criticizing it happens to be the easiest bit in the process of film-making.Making a movie goes beyond a simple idea and capturing that simple idea.The simple idea is merely a foundation.The simple idea is meant to be elaborated and written in the form of a script.It is then broken down into shots and those shots are recorded on a shot list.The shot list is forwarded onto someone who will form images to represent the shots;this process is called storyboarding.Then we move on to the nitty gritties ; where we understand and explore how we will edit the film andwhat sound and light we will use.With Organization being the most important part of the pre-production process,we are then to fill out a shooting a shooting scheduele which helps in keeping track of what actors are going to be needed and which location would be used onwhat days.Together all this gives us only 5 forms but it requirs more than 1 week of work to put it together;and this is only for a smal scale 3 min narrative! SO when you watch a film and no matter how long or short it is before you rip it up with your criticism ,just think about all the work gone in just creating thestory!

April Post 2 – ISM Film Festival (Narratives)

beenthereseenthat — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:39:26 +0000

The documentaries were followed by the narratives; which mostly consisted of IB films.They were all done very well,except a number of them had small glitches regarding sound or light.The ones I liked best from the explore,IB1,IB2 classes respectively were:-

Explore-Midday schoolboy.Very well done.It was a perfect reverse engineering project as this one matched with the original clip perfectly.Also complicated by good light quality and sound.

IB1-Holding Hands-A very good quality production,was partially over-elongated but featured some excellent Cinemetography and sound.

IB2-The last person on earth-A good subject and very precise;no unneccesary shots/scenes and really good acting.

Generally the film festival was a big success and is anticipated to be an even bigger success next year with the new film lab and equipment being bought in.

April Post 1 – ISM Film Festival (Documentaries)

beenthereseenthat — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:23:56 +0000

Film departments well awaited Fim Festival was held on 16th of April in the FAT.The films shown were seperated as either documentaries or Narratives.The festival started off with documentaries;each of them very well made despite the technical difficulties faced by film students throughout the year.The best one being “Dreaming” made by Morgo Williams;words cannot describe how good this doccumentary was.Not only it was put together really well,but it also had a very relevant subject which made us think and reflect upon.Another really good one was Enzo Razon’s “Integer”;due to technical difficulties it was cut short by 2 minutes but having watched it before I can compare it with other’s made and this one excelled and what amazed me even more that this was made by a freshman who clearly has a passion for film.

Baz Luhrman – March Entry 4

beenthereseenthat — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 09:22:29 +0000

Mark Anthony “Baz” Luhrmann was born on 17th september 1962 in Sydney,New south Wales,Australia.He is an Oscar – and Golden Globe nominated Australian film director , screenwriter, and producer.He is extremely famous for using bright vivid colour and faced paced editing.His first three films are formally marketed as “The Red Curtain Trilogy“;namely :-

Strictly Ballroom (1992)
Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Australia (2008)

Martin Scorcese – Entry 2

beenthereseenthat — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:44:34 +0000

Martin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese born on 17th November 1942 is an award winning film maker.He is also known for his screen writing and productions.He is the founder of the World Cinema Foundation and has received awards from golden globe,BAFTA,director’s guild of America.

He made his first feature legnth film in 1967 called “I call first”.His film “Taxi Driver” is also known to revolutionize the film industry.

His major films include:

New York, New York and The Last Waltz

The Last Temptation of Christ

Goodfellas

Gangs of New York

The Departed

Martin Scorcese has also acted in the following films:

	Mean Streets
	Taxi Driver
	The Last Waltz
	The King of Comedy
	Round Midnight
	Dreams
	Quiz Show
	The Muse
	Bringing Out the Dead
	Shark Tale
	Entourage

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Cannes Film Festival

beenthereseenthat — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 08:12:42 +0000

The Cannes Film Festival was found in 1946, is one of the world’s oldest, most influential and prestigious Film Festivals alongside Venice and Berlin. The private festival is held annually (usually in the month of May) in the resort town of Cannes, in the south of France. It is an independent film festival and has become a very important showcase for European films.It highlights films based on their artistic quality.It has became an international marketplace where producers and distributors could exchange ideas, view films, and sign contracts.

Art of Collaboration

beenthereseenthat — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:33:44 +0000

Its nearly two months if filming and we encountered several problems but we also solved these problems by merely working together as a team.Even though we were a pretty small team and this may have increased the amount of work for all of us but it kept our ideas within us and did not create any sort of miscommunication,in fact it kept us very tight knit about our work.In any case when working with teams communication is key but it is also extremely important to put in your best effort and not rely on your team members.

Review – NY Times : Movies

beenthereseenthat — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:17:31 +0000

The reason I decided to review New York Times was because of the numerous options available on the site.What’s really good about the NY Times movie Section is not only does it provide us with trailers and reviews of the latest movies but it also gives us an opportunity to start our own blog regarding any cinematic experience,opinion,e.t.c and along with that gives other readers a chance to comment on those blogs.In light of the upcoming Oscars and past Golden Globes ,the site also has a section on the Winners and Nominees of these award ceremonies.Another notable feature of this site is our access to order DVD’s online and then Critics Ratings of these film.

Its worth checking out this site!

Oscar Nominations 2009!

beenthereseenthat — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:03:04 +0000

Who has been Nominated and Who should Win?

Best Actor in a Leading Role :

Richard Jenkins – The Visitor

Sean Penn – Milk

Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon

Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons

Mickey Rourke – The wrestler

I think Mickey Rourke will take away the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in the Wrestler.His performance is known to be dominant and very well set with his character.Also he is known to go through a lot emotionally while making the movie so he deserves the Oscar

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married

Angelina Golie – Changeling

Melissa Leo – Frozen River

Meryl Streep – Doubt

Kate Winslet – The Reader

I think Anne Hathaway will take away this one.Over the past few years Hathaway has been doing similar roles,playing similar characters but in Rachel getting Married she pulls of something very different form her usual characters and she turns out to be good at it.She displays a very good example of a true actor who has explored different characters and sets in perfectly in a role other than her norm.

Best Actor in a supporting Role

Josh Brolin – Milk

Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder

Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt

Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight

Micheal Shannon – The Revolutionary Road

Heath Ledger will definitely win this one, being deceased is probably one reason he will i.e people will suddenly value him so much more now that he’s not alive,but his performance in The Dark Knight was pretty good too, “iconic” in a critics words.

Best Film

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Slumdog Millionaire

Frost/Nixon

Milk

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire is probably gonna steal an Oscar,just like four Golden Globes.Slumdog Millionaire is another attempt at showing a part and lifestyle of a part of the world that hasn’t been explored much.This attempt actually worked and portrays a heart-warming story of a poor Indian boy who wins the country’s version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire set in the slums of Mumbai.This film will be talked about for a long time,even more after it wins an Oscar.

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