Sherlock Holmes...

Tonight I watched Sherlock Holmes...hmmm...I wasn't very impressed with the strange rhythm, boring characters and complete lack of plot.
Rather than bore you with what was wrong with it (if you've seen it then I'm sure you'll already know) I thought I'd share with you the one part I did quite enjoy.
I really liked the end title sequence. Danny Yount, who was a self taught designer was the creative director behind this sequence. He also made Guy Ritchie's Rock N' Rolla title sequence. Here's the finished work and a few examples of the concept art:I thought that very much unlike the rest of the film, the titles did have certain characteristics of the classic Sherlock Holmes to me -Observational (not Ritchie's spidey-sense style!) intellectual, eccentric, old worldly, uses parchment and ink, violin, books, magnifying glass. I thought the visual style of the title sequence held on to some of these qualities that I used to always associate with Holmes. Not to mention I thought it looked stunning, shame you had to sit through the whole movie to see it.The amazing Danny Yount is an emmy winning designer/director. He is now creative director for 'Prologue Films.' He made the title sequence for one of my favourite TV shows ever, Six feet under.I will always remember the first time I saw this sequence, I had never seen anything like it before. it seemed so different from other shows of the time and perfectly encapsulated the tone of the series. The sequence is very clean cut and precise just like in particular David's character of the Undertaker and the job they have to do. I liked the morbid yet very clean colours used, I thought it was a perfect way of settling you into an episode.
If you are interested in title sequences I would really recommend www.artofthetitle.com. It is a great resource for many well made sequences. It very often has interviews with the creators aswell...

The future of Advertising...

"Look, Ma! No cavities!" "See the USA in your Chevrolet" "Know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing...

I have been thinking a lot about short films during my course at the Academy. Before I came I had a very different idea structurally to that which we've been learning with Richard.  I think I have always worked best when I don't feel pushed down a certain path. I have enjoyed learned the 'proper' use of structure in Screenwriting if not to use it then to go against it, which can only be done with a greater understanding of structure which I'd someday like very much to have.I am very interested in Iconic or Cinematic Commercials as well as the what makes good advertising. I was just thinking about how Commercials are often short films however they obviously do not follow the three act story structure because they do not have to be stories. The point of a commercial varies as much as the topic. It can simply be to amaze, to humour, to spawn a gag which can be repeated and become a household catch-phrase. Commercials should convey a message but it has become increasingly popular to simply try and be memorable. These ones often have no connection with the product at all.
You need people to talk about it and you need to make sure it's seen. That is the most important factor. It's the same with films, if your films not advertised, noone will know about it and noone will see it, so there was no point in making that film. Never underestimate advertising, we are subconsciously bombarded with adverts and information everyday, I think it's quite scary really.
I would really recommend reading Creative Review. We get it delivered at home and it's always full of very interesting articles on all aspects of visual communication.

 www.creativereview.co.uk.

Creative Review often post debates and they have a three part talk with many leading Ad companies about the future of Advertising, as well as Digital and financial aspects.

"The Marlboro man" used from 1954-1999. Originally thought up to be a rugged masculine cowboy to try and sell filtered cigarettes that had become a 'femine' product, real men wouldn't be seen dead with them! So this figure was constructed to show how manly the cigarettes were. It was just him, nature and his favourite cigarette.

This is a clip from the Creative Review website which shows the talk about agencies and their clients and also where advertising may be in the future. 

The man who does most of the talking is Steve Henry, he seems very arrogant but he's an interesting man as he really knows what he's talking about in the advertising world.

Do people really only appreciate adverts who work in the industry? Do they just get in the way of content we actually want to watch?

Steve Henry's advertising blog has always amused me,  I would recommend it even just for a funny read. He speaks of this new 'Cadbury Gorilla' advertising. He says of Cadbury's newest ads, "Never mind any product benefits, or indeed any link to the product at all, let's just entertain the viewers and slap a logo on the end." I find this style of advertising interesting because it really isn't too 'clever' however it is memorable and even the fact that Steve Henry can use "Cadbury Gorilla" as a adjective now and we all know what he's talking about must say something about the campaigns success.

The newest Cadbury Campaign that appears to be the Marmite of advertising!

He calls this type of advertising "a creative cul-de-sac" we love them when we first see then but they quickly loose their gimmick and become overdone or just plain annoying. I think when you reach "a creative cul-de-sac" it's time to get new talent in, spend a good budget and start making good quality advertising again.
Henry has two first rules for advertising:

1) The importance of execution. The strategy must be executed with real care and expertise. 

2) The importance of treating your audience with respect.
I completely agree with him on both these counts and also believe they apply just as much to film.When anybody mentions Nike in my head I immediately think- "Just do it". And that level of mild brainwashing is the key to excellent advertising and exactly what the client wants.
Jay Chiat and Guy Day got together to create The Chait/Day Advertising Company. Three of their adverts were chosen among the top 20 ad campaigns.

1) The Apple Computer 1984 campaign

2) The Energizer Bunny campaign

"A word to the wise -ENERGIZE"

3) The Nynex Yellow Pages campaign

Calvin Klein boosted sales for his jeans with young model Brooke Shields and the lines, “nothing comes between me and my Calvins” and “I’ve got seven Calvins in my closet, and if they could talk, I’d be ruined.”Sex sells, so by making Calvin Klein jeans 'sexy' was an good choice, it appeals to the target demographic of young adults and is clearly reflected in the rise of sales. 

Advertising is obviously commercial and therefore I think one of it's great aids is in showing us a history or snapshot of popular culture. I can get a better sense of the buzz and attitudes in the 70's by watching a 70's advert because advertising should always represent the people or mood of it's time in order to connect with that audience and spread a message. If it doesn't do this unintentionally then I fell it has really failed the public. We can see this in Andy Warhol's controversial pop art like the Campbell's soup image. He was trying to show an idea of the times and how commercial we had become.
I love good advertising and I can't imagine a world without it. Even before buses and TV's we had newspaper advertising or even earlier people would write adverts on walls, which I noticed during my time in Nepal they still use this method.

And then there's the popularity of that Meercat...who could have predicted that!

"The skin you love to touch" "Share the fantasy" "Winston tastes good--like a cigarette should..."

Rumble Fish

I recently watched Rumble Fish, a 1983 film directed, produced and co-written by Francis Ford Coppola.

The film is about the strange relationship between 'the Motorcycle Boy', a once loved gang leader, and his younger brother, Rusty James, who can't live up to his brother's reputation.
I found this film very enjoyable but probably more interesting in terms of style and how it was created. The film has a very avant gard style. Is has very contrasting black and whites which again reminded me of the German Expressionists. We have spoken in class about this new breed of filmmakers like Coppola who were new in that they has actually gone to film school and studied the theory of the great filmmakers before them. I hadn't really thought about this too much before that class and now I see it like a slap in the face. This film is so influenced by many film movements and styles. Coppola filmed many scenes with a hand-held camera in order to make the audience feel uneasy. He also used the German Expressionist technique of shadows painted on the walls of the sets to make them look ominous, strange angles, exaggerated compositions, and lots of smoke and fog like in The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari. The style of filming and compositions also reminded me of French New Wave that we've been looking at in Cinema Movements class. Perhaps also the subject matter also seemed slightly French New Wave about Rusty James' everyday live.We have been looking at realism in class for the past few classes, we've watched This is England & Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. I have really enjoyed these two films in particular because of the cast of real people. Rumble Fish obviously has a more Hollywood feel to the cast. They are not your everyday people, Matt Dillon has a beautiful face and doesn't look like your guy next door however something about his performance made him very real to me.
He seemed to really capture teenage rebellion and angst, and for this I thought he was perfect for Rusty James (which I'd like to add is a one of my favorite Character names, It sums him up so well) My younger brother is just starting his 'moody teenage phase', fun times, we've all nicknamed him Rusty James!
There is this beautiful scene where Rusty James and his brother are looking into a fish tank at the Siamese fighting fish in color. This scene stuck out to me for it's beauty, the bright colours were mesmorising when you'd been robbed of colour for the whole film. I thought it worked very well as this is a pivotal scene in the film, this was a case of the effects working perfectly with story for the best result.I watched the special features to see how this was done and each frame was hand painted to give the luminous colour Coppola wanted. I also learned that as a Director Coppola thought it was important to show the cast and crew old movies to show them the old film stock style he wanted and in particular how Matt Dillon should study the silent film actors to see how to convey meaning with body language. I thought seen as we're looking deeper into performance and directing this was quite an interesting thing to do. I think it shows again how much Coppola is influenced by the great Filmmaker but also how much he seemed to was to replicate them all in his film, which I have mixed feelings about. I think it's great to admire the work of the great past filmmakers but I think you should always try something new and have your own directorial stamp to add. I did think that stylistically the film was very beautiful, noticeably stylistic of course. Sometimes you were taken out of the story a bit unlike the realism films we've been watching. I guess it's all about your desired affect and trying to find the correct balance.Mickey Rourke played Rusty James' brother 'The Motorcycle Boy'. I wouldn't have recognised him.

I couldn't take him seriously at all, he sounded just like that old pervert guy Mr. Herbert in Family Guy! So I couldn't keep a straight face when he was on screen. 

This Is England...

Our Friday screening was great this week with Shane Meadows' film This Is England...

The film is about a group of young skinheads in England in 1983. The film submerges you in skinhead subculture during the rise of white nationalists.
I thought this film was fantastic, I really enjoyed it. There was a wonderful opening montage of the 1980's which set you right in place for the film. It was good to have a quirky re-cap of life at this time, this allowed you to quickly feel in the era and understand the world of the characters. I found the beginning really funny mostly due to the young boy Shaun played by Thomas Turgoose. He was such a find. He carried the whole film effortlessly with his mischievous charm and that infectious laugh. I loved how he didn't look polished. His eyes are slightly offset and he has an amazing vernacular that is effortlessly humourous. His timing was also excellent. I thought he was an amazing choice for the part of Shaun. We have been speaking in Zam's class about how during the 'realism' film the actors were real people and had a real face, a tortured existence. they were not the squeaky clean Hollywood actors they were just like us. i really saw this in This Is England. It made what we've been learning seem more clear and relevant.I thought the film was a perfect mix of humour, nostalgia and drama. There were small scenes that were lovely like when the gang let Shaun come 'hunting' with them all dressed in crazy outfits. I thought this was a really touching scene where you felt good that they could release some of the built up tension of the time. Then later when combo comes into play the whole tone gets a lot darker and more sinister. However because of the social relevance of the rise of nationalism it seemed justified to show and very enlightening of the time period that I didn't know too much about.
I think this film can teach us a lot about casting, and how important casting is to a movie. They actors, or in this case people have to carry the story and have enough charisma to do it successfully. I loved all the cast, they seemed like people you know or could easily know and this meant you were more involved in the story which could easily alienate the audience because we're not part of that gang. However when you watch it you do feel part of the gang and you feel like your being swept along for the ride too.The only thing that let me down was the ending. Yes Les 400 Coups was influential to filmmakers but I don't think there is any merit to be had in copying the ending. For me this cheapened it and could have been done far better. I would have liked to see Shaun return to Woody...I liked Woody, he was a really nice guy.

I thought this film was absolutely wonderful *****

Be Italian...

Me and Galina have been waiting to see this for months! The time finally arrived for us to watch Nine on the big screen...

Nine is director Rob marshall's remake of Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical film 8½. This film was just spectacular from it's costumes and lighting to it stellar cast of Golden Glode nominees.The film is about a film director Guido Contini, a man who is nearing 50 and getting quite exhausted by his career and what is expected of him. His midlife crisis seems to render him unable to even write the script for the film he is already in pre-production for.
The dance numbers were absolutely amazing! there was so much movement and colour splashed across the screen that it was hard to tell were the cuts happened. This gave great a dynamic and energy to the film. This energy was crucual as the songs were dipictions of how a character was truely feeling inside their head. These needed to be emotional and capture the right tone for the audience to be moved.I really admored Daniel Day lewis' performance. I think he's a truly gifted actor in that he can be very subtle and yet as an audience member I just knew how he was feeling. he would just pause slightly or move a fraction on a word when giving his line. He did a really good job at making Guido likable. This man has a wife, a mistress, someone he lusts after, and a sort of fantasy woman all at the one time. His wife played my Marion Cotillard is lovely and yet Guido still comes across as a charismatic character who doesn't not love his wife, simply loves many women. Which for most of the film seems perfectly reasonable, which I found interesting. It was only when we started seeing more of Luisa that I started to sympathise with her. Nearer the end I was much less keen on Guido and very on her side as she was being humiliated by his lack of responsibility. I found the scene where she watches his screen tests are realises what she thought only they shared is really just Guido's way of getting what he wants from people very upsetting. I thought Marion Cotillard played this part extremely well.
I liked the 'Italian-ness' of the film, everything had that very Dolce Vita glamour and yet it was more modernised and shiny too. Every shot was breathtaking. The car Guido drives was so chic! The cinematography was so stunning especially in the black and white sequence where the young boys run down the sand dunes. It looked almost poetic or like a painting. I was really amazed.
This film would be a dream to work on. Each woman of Guido's has a very different character and background and coming up with their costumes or dance numbers must have been awesome. Penelope Cruz played the foxy mistress of course and her costume was designed by Collen Atwood who designs many of Tim Burton costumes.Kate Hudson's character was from American Vogue and so had a very contrasting style to the Italian costumes. Her dance sequence was shot in a mixture of colour and black & White making her seem very high fashion which was just perfect. It looked like a Vogue shoot.

You must go and see Nine it really was a feast for the eyes, it was so colourfull and energetic with amazing performances and dance numbers! If you like fun you'll definitely like this movie...

The end of term...

We cracked off the Christmas holiday with a festive DFTV treat, 'A Mystery Christmas Film.' We all crowded into the Fyfe with mince pies to find out our mystery film was none other than GREMLINS! I was so happy, I love this movie so much. Apparently it was Ray's choice...I was mildly impressed to say the least.
This film has an awesome theme tune that makes me go around singing it in peoples faces for days after. I love these 80's films. They have a certain retro coolness that means they completely get away with the extremely tacky and laughable stories, I guess it all comes down to the culture and change at this time. However I find it interesting that so many 80's movies have become cult classics like Gremlins, The Goonies, The Karate Kid, and E.T. to name a few. They all seem successful in the fact that they appeal to both adults and children, remain light while homing in on an important moral. They all seem perfect for merchandise too! Forbidden Planet is still crammed with merchandise for all these movies. They all carry cheesy but none the less memorable slogans. Chunk's 'Truffle Shuffle', 'There's no place like home.' When you hear these lines you know exactly what movie they come from. The merchandisers also have the advantage I feel, that these movies only get 'cooler' with time. They become more cult and more retro proving them ever popular. I had a really nice end of term. We managed to burn the cast DVD's of Little Clown and get them sent off before Christmas which was a giant weight off my mind. It was also our class Christmas meal which was going to be interesting as we didn't really have enough oven trays! Paul drove us to Asda and we got loads of Christmas food to show Petra a traditional Christmas meal. After Gremlins the guys went to see Avatar while me and Galina went back to prepare the meal -this all sounds very sexist but we did want to cook! It was also our last night with Petra, so we had all got her some really Scottish souvenirs and a card with our classic class photo inside. We'll all miss Petra a lot, she contributed a huge amount to the class and it will be strange to return without her. I have loved the experience of having someone with a different approach to the work we study come in from outside the Academy. It's so easy to get caught on a single minded track and never try new things here and I think the one thing we'll all take from Petra's visit is that when you challenge methods and structure that's when you really come up with the new and exciting ideas.