First week of classes

This week was my first week of classes for the Spring semester, and so far I think I'll enjoy my classes a lot.

• Dramatic and Visual Writing: The professor seems pretty fun and quirky. We spent the first day of class coming up with story ideas as a class. We started off with characters and we built off and made a stories together as a group.
• Performance Strategies: The professor is really fun, and the class group is nice. It's primarily an acting course, to help directors understand the actors, and know how to deal with actors, by having some experience. We spent the first day of class going through the syllabus, and getting to know each other, learning some basic acting styles and teachers (such as Adler and Meisner), watching some movie clips (mostly of Marlon Brando), and then finishing off with some meditation/relaxing methods that actors recommend.
• Children & The Media: This is my general education course, part of a child psychology minor in our school. I decided to take the class, because I plan on doing some work with children's television and children's film, so I thought it would be interesting to learn about how things affect children from a young age. It's a really interesting class, love the professors so far.
• Pre-Production Colloquium: It's basically a large class that prepares us for our more intermediate courses, and in the pre-production process. It's something I'm very interested in, since I'm planning on doing a Production minor.
• Sight & Sound - Studio: This is the class that will take most of my time. We're split up into two "Studios" and throughout the semester we'll have to rotate through the many fields of a TV studio (mostly for live cutting), such as a director, technical director, floor manager, cameras, etc. I took the same professor I had for Sight & Sound: Film, who is one of my favorite professors, so I think I'll enjoy it. We spent the day going through the basic overview of the class, watched an episode of the british television show "Black Adder," and then went into the studio to learn the basics, and learn how to do the many jobs. So far my favorite jobs have been Technical director and director, so I'm hoping my future projects when I am on these for rotation turn out well.

Other things I need to do this semester

• Set up a good resume
• Build a Portfolio
• Apply for summer internships

Movies I Like: Buried

Buried
Directed by Rodrigo Cortes
Written by Chris Sparling

I just finished watching the movie Buried, starring Ryan Reynolds, and  it was one of the best movies I have ever seen. The only actor is Ryan Reynolds, besides the voice actors, and he was excellent in his role. It's surprising that an hour 95 minute-long movie with only one setting and only one actor could be so entertaining, it kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time. According to IMDb, this is a mystery/drama/thriller, and it is also one of the scariest movies ever, at least in my opinion. The story is about a Paul Conroy, a truck driver in Iraq whose convoy is attacked by an Iraqi group, he is knocked out and buried alive in a coffin, however he is buried high enough to where he has cell phone service. He tries to find help, while at the same time is capturers demand a ransom.

This is a true work-of-art. The script is wonderful, the acting is excellent, and the the cinematography is amazing. As I watched the film, I really did feel claustrophobic like I was stuck in the box myself. I did think certain shots as the camera pulled away from Ryan Reynolds seemed a bit long, but they built the tension. Other than that the pacing was perfect, and like I had mentioned before, kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time.

 I would recommend this to most thriller/suspense movie fans, but many may find the film uneasy to watch, since it is about being buried alive, and a lot of people may not like that it only has one location and actor.

My Rating: 5/5
Watch Now on Netflix

My first short film ever: Message Sent

This is the first short film I ever made. It was a project for my Media Tech I (Now called Film I) class during my junior year of high school, made in 2008. Admittedly, it is absolutely terrible. Looking back at it now, with the new experience and knowledge I've gained, there are so many changes I would make.

• The Script: I'm just going to point out one line "It must be those crazy kids from down the street." What even is this? I would go back and rewrite the entire script. The pacing of the film is too quick, there is no point where I develop the characters, or even give enough back story for the mysterious text message killer, who I named Creeper in the credits. Why? I don't know. 
• The Cinematography: I loved my idea for the opening credits, it looks pretty decent here, but the jump cut while the camera pans right-to-left is awkward, and the blurry phone screen was just terrible, and not my original intention. I wanted the text message to be read. However, I did not realize that my friend's phone number would still show on the screen, and at that time I could not figure out how to fix that on Final Cut Pro. The rest of the shots are decent, I thought I covered enough. I especially liked the shot where "The Creeper" gets the girl in the end.
• The Acting: I had to change my cast last minute. I had originally planned in having other friends help me, but when they came to help me film, they were no help and basically messed around the entire time, and nothing was done. So, me and my best friends took the three roles (and my little sister played "The Creeper" in the part where Sam is running around gasping). Honestly, I can't act, but I thought Mosam and Kyle did fairly decent jobs for not having any prior experience. (Kyle even did his own make up. lol)
• The Planning: I barely planned for this, I had a rough shot list and story board. Most of it was done on the spot.
• The Editing: Actually thought I did a pretty decent job for my first time on Final Cut Pro with the footage I had to work with.

Although, I don't think this film is amazing, I do still love it. It's my first ever film, and I think I did okay. Hope you enjoy it, and have some good unintentional laughs. :D

Music Video: "Say You Like Me" - We The Kings

The We The Kings video for "Say You Like Me" was interesting. I loved the concept of the video. The video follows "The Band" as they rescue "The Girl" from "The Bad Guy" as they go through different video game levels. The video references popular video game styles such as first-person shooters, side-scrolling action, wii sports-style tennis, Guitar Hero, and even Tekken style fighting. The only thing that I did not understand was (SPOILER AHEAD), if "The Girl" beat "The Bad Guy" in the end, why didn't she fight back earlier? Other than that, a nice video with a great concept.

My Rating: 3.5/5

Review: American Horror Story - Season 1

Finally finished watching the first season of FX's newest hit series American Horror Story, and I loved it.


American Horror Story tells the story of the Harmon family as they move into a new home in Los Angeles for a new beginning. Psychologist Ben Harmon (played by Dylan McDermott) and Vivienne Harmon (Played by Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights) move into a luxurious home with their daughter Violet (Played by Taisa Farmiga), after Vivienne caught her husband having an affair with one of his students, Hayden (Played by Kata Mara, Entourage). Ben soon begins sessions with his patient Tate Langdon (Played by Evan Peters, One Tree Hill & Phil of the Future), a dark and slightly psychotic teenager with a mysterious past, who begins to fall for the Harmon's daughter, Violet. The family tries to have a fresh start but find that their new home has other plans.




Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker writes "Unlike most scary TV shows (and movies), which rely upon the rhythm of a few quiet scenes followed by a boo! fright every 20 minutes or so, AHSis pretty much all scare, all the time," which I appreciated. I loved that the show continued to thrill and scare nonstop, although Tucker believed that this caused the storyline to "not come close...to conveying the storytelling methods" of the creators other project Fox's Glee. However, I thought that the show was overall much better than Glee, the story was engaging and had many compelling twists and turns. I stopped watching Glee after not long after the Sectionals, as the story just became a mess. It may have gotten better since then, so I cannot say whether the show is good overall. Yet, I still believe this show is much better than Glee. Honestly, I am surprised that the creators of this television show are the same as Glee's.


However, The Washington Post's Hank Stuever disagrees with my opinion. "The first episode is so crammed with ghouls and gross-outs that some viewers will squeal with delight while others wonder whether they can possibly tune in for this sort of fright every week" he writes, "I’m supposed to come back for more? And more? (Without a prescription for anti-anxiety pills?)." Yes, you should come back for more. Although I do agree, the shows fast-paced scares and many twists can be overwhelming, but I appreciated it. I felt as if it kept me on the edge of my seat more, I did not know what to expect as the season progressed. The series was still able to create complex characters and an engaging story through it's unique scare-after-scare-twist-after-twist style.


I recommend the show to all horror genre fans, and to all in general. The performances were great (Especially from Golden Globe nominated Jessica Lange, from the original King Kong and Tootsie, who plays Contance, the Harmon's nosy neighbor), I thought many of the cinematic elements were aesthetically beautiful (which I will write about in a later post), and overall was a great engaging horror story. I am interested in the direction the show will take in it's second season, as the creators plan to have an entirely different story and setting.

Metascore: 62

Watch Now on Hulu

Read More:
'American Horror Story': Gothic revival in a troubled neighborhood by Hank Stuever - The Washington Post
American Horror Story by Ken Tucker - Entertainment Weekly
IMDb page

Movies I Like: 50/50

Just finished watching 50/50 starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, and Anna Kendrick. I really liked it. It was nice to see a movie about a man with cancer that wasn’t entirely dramatic and depressing. The movie is about Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character’s life after he finds out he has cancer. It’s based on the film’s writer, and Seth Rogan’s freind, Will Resier’s life. Seth Rogan plays a character based on himself. I definitely recommend it to everyone.

Movies I Want to See: The Devil Inside

Directed by: William Brent Bell
Written by: William Brent Bell, Matthew Peterman
Starring: Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quartemen, and Evan Helmuth
Storyline: In Italy, a woman becomes involved in a series of unauthorized exorcisms during her mission to discover what happened to her mother, who allegedly murdered three people during her own exorcism. (Source)


Releases January 6, 2012, Rated R