at the Opera

I found this film to be witty and creative.  It's a little claymation about people at an opera apparently crying because of the beauty of the music.  What I like so much about it is that the ending is completely unexpected.  I think that's also an important aspect of story-telling.  Don't let the story end just as the audience expects it to.  Be fun and creative and don't just go off of the usual.  Break the moulds and create something truly unique.

Peace out.

THE FALLEN

This film was amazing to me.  First of all, it's a very complex and deep story to try and tell in only one minute.  Secondly, it was touching despite the fact that I had only had about 30 seconds to invest in the characters and get attached to them.  I'm really impressed with how the filmmaker managed to pull me into the story through sounds and nice cinematography and get me to invest in his story.  I think this is great filmmaking.  When you can tell a good story in only a minute with sounds and nice pictures, it's a good thing.  Did I mention that I'm a fan of the cinematography?

Reverie

I just found this site called filminute.com (rather conveniently for these blog posts).  From what I can tell its a bunch films that are only a minute long.  I'll probably be posting a few from this site.  This one is a film called Reverie.  I think it's a nice story being told in only one minute without any dialogue whatsoever.  This girl sees a boy in the parking lot at a supermarket and daydreams about being friends with him.  I think it's a very simple and innocent story that's very well done.

INSiDE

This film was a little freaky and I think maybe a little over the top as well.  It's basically giving a look into the head of a person with multiple personality disorder.  I thought it was a well-told story that was very simply done.  The ending completely caught me off guard as well.  I can only post a link to the trailer so here it is:

http://web.mac.com/tsands/iWeb/SHORTFILM/INSiDE.html/

Modern Family

I really thought this article was sort of interesting.  It talks about how the show Modern Family sort of reflects the changing role of the family in society.  I'm not sure I agree with everything he says but I think it's definitely an interesting read.



http://www.lamag.com/columns/filmandtv/Story.aspx?ID=1515062

Arrested Development

Here is a show that I really wish hadn't been taken off the air: Arrested Development.  It was hilarious and really creative.  I hear that they are planning on making new episodes to lead up to the movie release sometime in the future.  I think this show's humour is really over-the-top and sometimes really inappropriate but I've found myself crying from laughter from watching it.  Also, I tend to quote it a lot and no one ever gets it.  So everyone should start watching the show so we can quote it.  Here's a random clip from the show.

SOLD

I really liked this "animation" (I'm not really sure if it's pure animation because it looks like it could be CG).  I think it's a good message and it was an interesting message to watch.  I think this is how a good PSA should be created.  It was very creative.

The Imperialists Are Still Alive

This film looks really funny and quirky.  It's basically documenting funny situations between different cultures.  I don't know much else about it, but I'll definitely be looking it up and seeing if I can find somewhere to watch it.  


Here's the trailer.

Symmetry

This is a really creative little film.  It's basically the screen cut in half with different but related things happening on each half.  What's really cool is that the audio from each half is in the corresponding ear.  Listening to this on headphones is really cool.  I think it's a really interesting concept.

The Fervent

This is the short film that my group did for Digital Media Tools.  Working on this film was really a lot of work.  Surprisingly, the amount of work that goes into creating just a three minute video is pretty ridiculous.  We shot for two days in the freezing cold at the sunken gardens and then edited it all in about 4 hours.  I really like how it turned out.  I think I like the idea of not having any dialogue but just having the audience watch the story and not be distracted by the dialogue.  Anyway, here it is.

Impressions

This short film may be my favourite one I've watched all night.  It's not the best cinematographically or even production-wise, but the story is really good.  It also makes you think a little.  I don't want to say much else or I'll give something away.  I guess this just goes to show you that you need a good story to back up your fancy pictures.

Third Shift

Ok, so I feel like Dr. Professor Mr. Steve Leeper may not like this one too much but I think that it's pretty creative and subtly pretty funny.  It's basically making fun of vampire movies by making a vampire be really awkward and work in a convenience store.  I really like the cinematography and the special effects are pretty good.  It's not really all that great of a story but it's just kind of fun.

The Incredible Adventure of Jojo

I found this trailer for this film and thought it looked really unique.  I've never seen a movie from this angle before.  It looks funny and yet at the same time it could be sort of touching.  The idea of children fending for themselves in the forest is certainly a film that I'm interested in seeing.

Miroir Noir

I've had this film for a while now.  It's one of those really artsy films that always seem to inspire me whenever I watch it.  Miroir Noir is a pseudo concert-documentary by one of my favourite bands – Arcade Fire.  The music is great in it and also there's just a lot of great art, in my opinion.  I'm posting my favourite song from the DVD.  It's called Rebellion (Lies).  I really love the energy that they bring to the stage (evidenced by the drummer climbing the trussing towards the end).  Enjoy!

After You

I found this short film today and I didn't really know what to make of it.  It's obviously about a man contemplating suicide but meets a woman instead.  I can't tell if she's just a memory or if she's a hallucination or something.  I really like how this topic is addressed in such a short film, though.  I also really like the cinematography.

One Day On Earth

I also found this film.  It's basically a project where everyone films one day on earth and then it is all compiled together.  I think it looks really interesting just to see different people and cultures going about their daily lives.  It's a really cool project.  You can even participate in it on December 11th and upload your own footage.  Here is the trailer for the project.

Sign Language

I found this indie short film on StumbleUpon and I really enjoyed it.  It's a little cutesy but I like what the man says about how there's so much all around us that we never notice.  I think the filmmakers did a nice job of getting the message across by using someone who we think has such a mundane job to teach us about the vibrance of life.

Winnie the Pooh

A few weeks ago, my family and I watched the new Winnie the Pooh movie.  I have to say, even though it was mainly geared for a young audience, I still found it to be pretty entertaining and even laughed out loud at several points.  It wasn't that the story was all that exciting or interesting, but the way it was told was creative and fun.  I think that's something that's really important in making films and writing stories–tell your story in a fun and creative way and even if it's not all that great of a story, it'll still be fun to read or watch.

Pixel

I just saw this video online and I thought it was really creative and fun to watch.  There's not too much to say about it aside from the fact that it's really fun to watch.



PIXELS by PATRICK JEAN. by onemoreprod

Heima

A few minutes ago, I was checking my Facebook news feed.  That's nothing new.  Then I saw a post that one of my friends had commented on about a Sigur Rós documentary.  I looked it up and it was released in 2007.  The documentary is called Heima.  It looks beautiful.  The combination of Icelandic scenery along with Sigur Rós' amazing sound culminate in a beautiful presentation.  I just saw the trailer and I can't wait to see the whole thing – it's on iTunes for $13.  Here's a link to the trailer.


http://www.heima.co.uk/video/