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Film Review #9

This week I watched a short film called "The Most Beautiful Thing." The film is about a socially rejected high school boy with no friends and his discovery of a girl he develops feelings for that he wants to ask to prom. The beginning of the film shows the boy going through his day alone and sad. The next day while waiting at the train stop, the boy sees a girl that he finds attractive and says hello. The girl doesn't respond to his greeting, so he says hello again. The girl then realizes he is talking to her and scrambles to find a piece of paper in her bag, before writing on it that she is deaf. The next few scenes in the film show those two becoming very good friends. You are also able to see the boy developing feelings for her. After the montage of happiness, the boy is prepared to ask his new friend to prom, but sees what he believes is another guy kissing her, and backs out. This happens twice before the boy begins to avoid the girl. At the end of the film, the two run into each other in the hallway and it is revealed that the girl didn't actually kiss anyone else. The boy then asks her to prom is in sign language... I thought this short film was very true to its title. The story was very beautiful. It appeared to be filmed on a handheld camera the entire time, which gave the film an intimate quality. I really liked this film and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a sweet short film that might make them tear up.


Watch it Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP8psM4LWXk

Shutter Speed and Aperture

5 Shot Story: An Eggstremely Horrifying Breakfast

The End

Film Review #8

This week I watched a comedic music video by The Lonely Island entitled, "Threw It On The Ground." The song is a narrative about a man that goes through his day throwing things on the ground out suspicion that everyone he encounters is trying to invite to be a part of "the system." The song wasn't intended to be very serious, which allowed for a very fun music video to accompany it. With the song being written in the form of a narration, the video was made as a visual to what was being said, meaning everything that happens in the song is depicted in  the video, verbatim  That might normally cause a video to be pretty boring, however in "Threw It On The Ground" every time the protagonist threw something on the ground, there was a close up of it hitting the ground in slow motion. That made the music video a bit more dramatic and a lot more interesting to watch rather than if it was all shot in real time. When something was thrown on the ground in the chorus, the pace and rhythm changed in a way that flowed with the slow motion footage better than the original music would have. This drew more attention to the objects being thrown while simultaneously highlighting the drama and comedy in the music video. I'm a fan of The Lonely Island and I like this music video just as much as I like their others. It is very funny and it doesn't make too much sense. I wouldn't recommend this music video to anyone with a short tolerance for silliness, but everyone else should totally watch it. 

Film Review #7

Today I re watched an animated short film called "Twisted".This film is about a guy that tries to straighten out his dog's curly tail several different ways. Although he tries many tactics, his dog's tail curls right back up. At the end of the film the guy gets a second dog in the mail with an even curlier tail. The animation used in the film is very stylized and clay like, but it works with the simplicity of the short film. The camera movements are very fluid and the music matches the film's content and pace very well. It is a very cute and silly short film and I would totally recommend it to anyone. 

The Auguste and Louis Lumière Brothers

Auguste and Louis Lumière were two French brothers that were very influential in the development in film and photography. Their father owned a buisines that sold and munufactored photography equipment, so they were raised in a technological environment which aided their interest in such subjects. The Lumière brothers created many short films in their time and are even credited with the first public film screening in 1895.

In order to screen their films, the Lumière brothers invented a machine called the Cinematograph. This device was developed based off of the principles of the kinetoscope, however the Lumière brothers strived to create a device without the flaws of the kinetoscope and with better resolution images. The Cinematograph became very popular across the world, because it was very light (it weighed only 16 LBS) and doubled as a motion camera and film projector. It was a very efficient invention.

Film Review #6

Today I watched the music video to the hit YouTube song, The Fox (What Does the Fox Say) for the millionth time this week. The song is very upbeat, fun and catchy, so it needed a music video to match its energy. The music video definitely fulfills its duties. The video begins at a house party where all of the guests are dressed in various animal costumes. The guests are dancing to the music, drinking their drinks, and socializing. When the chorus begins one of the group's singers changes into a fox costume as he acts out the sounds he thinks a fox makes. The environment also changes from the house party to the middle of the forest where dancers are partially dressed as foxes as well. During the second verse, the group's second singer appears at the house party, drinking his champagne. During the repeat of the chorus the second singer appears in the forest in a fox costume with his partner. The rest of the video alternates between clips of the two singers in the forest, dressed as foxes with background dancers, POV shots of the forest (fox's POV), the guests dressed as animals at the house party, a grandfather "reading" a bedtime story to his grandson in the forest, and closeups of a CG fox. The music video is very entertaining and I would totally recommend watching it. 


Watch it Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofNR_WkoCE

Film Review #5

Last week I watched an animated short film called Alarm. This film depicts the morning of a tired man as he struggles to get out of bed and awaken himself. The animation used in the film is very fluid. The CG background art used in the film is very realistic with its use of perspective, proportion, shadow and highlight. In contrast, the character in the film has a bit more of a stylistically cartoony flare, however he blends with his environment very well. The animators did a very nice job at creating realistic weight and tension in this film. The idea of the story and the way it is carried out is very simple, but very funny. The character in the film fully opens his eyes only once, when he is frightened awake by the sound of the television, exaggerating the extent to which he is tired. Following this, most of the film's comedy stems from the fact the character does not want to wake up, but alarms on multiple devices (and other noises) continue to disturb his sleep. He even goes so far as to shoot his alarm clock which only adds to the humor of the film. Overall I think it was very well executed in terms of both story and animation and I would definitely recommend it to friends.

Watch it Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc-vINJmhNk