Tree of Life

I'm writing this post now because I want to get my initial, fresh thoughts written out. Tree of Life was definitely a beautiful film. The shots, the visuals, the small glimpses into the life of this boy; it was all beautiful. At the same time it left me feeling conflicted. Like I missed something. I'll probably have to watch it again to get it (I did almost fall asleep several times during the last half hour, to my embarrassment). However, I don't  really have a strong desire to ever see it again. At least not as a whole movie. There are parts that I would like to see again and just watch, like the dinosaur sequence and certain scenes from the boy's childhood, but the movie as a whole was almost too much to take in in one sitting. There was so much happening without explanation, little to no dialouge, and my brain was not really at the capacity to fill in the empty spaces the film gave us to the narrative. But, seeing as the film was not shot as a narrative, maybe there are no empty spaces to be filled. Maybe I am just assuming there should be.

Tree of Life

I didn't attend Signs and Wonders on Sunday night, however I did want to post about this film. I watched this film this summer and let me tell you, boy did the film confused my brain, but also made me question and want to know more about it. Afterwards I listened to someone talk very deeply about it and what she thought the meaning of it meant, which was beautiful. This film is truly uniquely done along with the cinematography, which is to die for. Even though there are certain points where you find your mind lost and confused, this film is wonderful. I thought that the actors were wonderful as well, and like Leeper had mentioned, this film is very deep and difficult to follow sometimes, but it is definitely worth watching if you've not yet seen it. I wish I could have gone to go see it again tonight for the second time because I feel like as film major, watching films a second time makes you watch different things and notice other things within it. This film is very heartwarming and shows Godly things throughout.

Moonrise Kingdom

I enjoyed the movie more than a little bit ,enough to put it on my list of movies I need to add to my collection. Partially I think it was because I went into the movie with low expectations but honestly I thought the movie was very charming. It was charming because the children were acting like adults and that made me laugh quite a bit at the seriousness of the scenes and yet the lack of understanding. I also like how the director embraced this fact by not caring if he went a bit overboard with the effects and I think he knew it would come off a bit cheesy. Overall I really enjoyed it and the thing that I was taken back by after watching it was that it was quite similar to the movies I watched as a kid, with kids being smarter than the adults and outsmarting them in all different ways. My rating of the movie would have to be at 3 and a half stars because I liked it a lot but its not something I'd want to watch frequently because its more of a diamond in the rough, while the rough it the genre that this film would be in.

Moonrise Kingdom

I was unable to attend Signs and  Wonders for the viewing of Moonrise Kingdom but I will say to those that have not yet seen it: SEE IT! It truly is an amazing film, so entertaining, humerus, and clever.
I was sick and couldn't make Signs and Wonders to see it, which made me pretty sad because I could definitely watch this movie more than once. I saw Moonrise Kingdom in theaters and I was very satisfied with it and left the theaters with it being one of my favorites. If you're looking for a film that is funny, entertaining, and something non-boring, then you should definitely see Moonrise Kingdom!

Cameraman Dreams

I've had some experience being camera operator for a few films, and I find it to be just about the most satisfying job for me. My friends asked me today what I wanted to do in film. They immediately just assumed that I would want to be a director. Everyone wants to be a director, it seems like that is just the position of choice. I guess I can see why, all the glory and fame, everyone knows your name. I personally am learning more toward cameraman though, you may wonder why, and I'll explain. There is nothing more fulfilling for me than watching a film and knowing that I was controlling the camera for the beautiful shots on the screen. There's less pressure on the cameraman compared to the director. The director has to have everything planned on and tell everyone where to be. Cameraman has less pressure. As long as I make the image look pretty and in focus, the DP and director will take care of the rest. You all probably now think that I'm lazy, but I really just strive to be a camera man. 

Arab and Jew west bank story

The short film we watched in class with the Jews and the Arabs was absolutely hilarious  Whoever directed this was clearly not afraid to step on any toes when it came to stereotypes and racism, that takes some guts! My favorite part was when the girl at the hummis hut shot the machine gun in the air before taking the man's order. Because this film was a comedy it was able to get away with a lot without coming off as offensive. This makes me think if you have a message to send but you are afraid the public wont like it then you can just cloak it in a comedy and everyone will love it and still get to see your message.
back to the stereotypes. i'm not really sure if it is morally wrong to laugh at this kind of stuff, i hope its not cause i can't help but crack up at it. This type of film making i would not like to venture into but i'm glad some people do.                                                                       

the hobbit in production

This is a video that shows the process of creating the new Hobbit movie coming out in December and i think its definitely worth watching. Its not every year that a movie of this magnitude comes out so this is a rare chance to see into how they create such an amazing scale movie. They make it seem like they are having fun while making this movie which is a huge relief to me at least cause ever since i started coming to school for film I've started to love the film making process less and less. Whether they are actually having fun or just putting on an act for this movie i don't really care; it gives me hope that this career can  potentially be fun.