Child's Play

As children we are encouraged to explore our imaginations through activities such as dress-up and make-believe play. When I think back to my childhood I am still amazed at the complexity of the pretend worlds that I made up with my friends. It really is amazing just how far a child's imagination can go if it is set free.

However, as we grow older we are discouraged from the world of fantasy and told to focus on the reality of our futures. Eventually our childhood memories fade, and we grow up and grow serious. Every single one of us starts out as storytellers, but few of us actually hold on to that child-like fascination with the world around us.

I am one of those children that never grew up at heart. For a long time I was not sure what exactly I wanted to do with my life, but I was certain that I would be a storyteller of some sort. I thought that theatre would be my career at one point, but I was never fully satisfied with what the stage had to offer. Filmmaking, however, combines the art of theatre with photography and satisfies a growing fascination I hold with technology.

My main goal in filmmaking is to be a master storyteller of sorts; I want to direct. Yet I want to have a broader understanding of the process of filmmaking that reaches far beyond just directing. I believe in order to truly master something one has to understand the individual parts that make up the whole. For this reason, I do not want to just be a director, but also an editor, DP, special effects artist, writer, and any other job that might fall in the vast world of filmmaking. This course is part of the learning process for me. I want to take as much as I can out of learning the basics and moving on to more complex ideas. These are the building blocks I can use to carry with me throughout the rest of my career to build upon.

My Childhood as Art

This is kind of an afterthought to my previous post about visual references.

My favorite part about working in community theatre was having to do huge musicals that required an enormous amount of props, set pieces, and costumes, but we had a budget that hardly covered half of list. Of course it would be awesome to work somewhere with an unlimited budget where you are afforded the opportunity to have the best of the best equipment, but working on small budgets forces out a new level of creativity in people. A lot of the time directors or designers would come to me with these crazy ideas. It never was a question of "Can you do this for me?"; instead, it was more of "I don't care how you do it, but this is what I want and when I want it." I was extremely intimidated by this at first, but eventually I trained myself to see things in a different light.

Figuring this all out was trial and error. I had people I could go to for help if I absolutely needed it, but everyone was busy trying to get their 'to-dos' finished. I started out on the show literally reading the props list and then looking for those items, and at the end of the show, my mindset had completely changed: I would read the list and then brainstorm on ways to create that prop out of less expensive and easier to find materials. In theatre, it is easier to get away with less-than-perfect matches than in film where everything can be seen in detail, but the idea carries over. In film, a lot can be created in creative editing & composition of shots.

Thinking creatively is not something you can really be taught. It is more of an experience. In classes on design, students are always shown the proper equipment and ways of doing things. This is incredibly important to know, but from my experience it's also important to know how to do the same things without the same resources. This 'creative thinking' isn't really even an artistic ability or a talent. Instead, it is an awareness of everything around you and an effort to look at something not for what it is, but for what it could be. For individuals like me, this becomes much more than just a necessity of a small budget or limited resources; it becomes a challenge, a puzzle, or even an art form.

I have been fascinated with light for awhile now. Working in theatre, I had a love/hate relationship with it. I often found myself in very high places dealing with very hot instruments, or tangled up in a disaster of cables someone didn't take the time to run properly. (During one show I was focusing a light in one of the booms on the sides of the theatre. It was the light on the very bottom, and I had to wiggle my way out to the light around the others. In the process of doing this and trying to avoid the other hot lights, I managed to wrap my legs and feet up in the cable around me. I had to have someone come and pull me out.) Beyond theatre, there is so much to do with light. I am a huge technology nerd, and light is one of those things that only gets more interesting as people figure out new ways to manipulate it. Sometimes though, people find new ways to manipulate old technology, and the results can be great. Maybe it's pointless, or excessive, but art doesn't always have to have a point beyond being really, really awesome.

I'm including this in my visual references for several reasons: it utilizes one of my favorite childhood toys, it's incredibly nerdy, it's incredibly whimsical, but also very thought-out, and it has unicorns and pink lions. Awesome.

If you haven't figured out what this is yet, click on the picture. I stumbled on it browsing through Gizmodo .

Visual References

I came into film with a strong theatrical background. On stage, the idea is to make everything readable for the audience members all the way in the back of the house. This means that everything has to be big: the acting, costumes, props, even the lighting. I think that this, apart from any sort of individual reference, influences my style. I never personally designed lighting for a show, but I have been the poor individual assigned with circuiting, hanging, and focusing the lights. I have also sat through hours of light cues and adjustments. This has built a strong appreciation in me for how a subtle change in lighting can shift the entire mood of a scene or moment. While sometimes lighting is meant to be strong and dramatic, it is never meant to be noticed on a conscious level.

The Lion King

I love animation. Disney is great when it comes to personifying color. Here, when Mufasa is talking to Simba about his future, the tone is warm and serene. The scene is lit by the sunrise and everything has a soft glow.

However, scenes with Scar make use of cooler colors like this eerie green that suggest his evil nature. This entire scene also has these awesome shadows of scar and the hyenas throughout it.

The Illusionist

I love the dreamlike quality of this movie. This is achieved by how the edges of the frame darken, and the center is highlighted. The color is washed out just enough to make it feel antique, like you are looking into the past.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

I love musicals, but they are really hard to translate into film. However, I think this musical was captured beautifully on screen. The cheerfulness of this scene, especially the halo of light cast on the actors in comparison to..

...this is great. Once again, the dreary world of the present in this film is depicted in the cool tones of blue. Also, this film makes use of dramatic shadows. I love the window here as it functions much like a spotlight would on stage.

Rashomon

Japanese film holds a special place in my heart, and this is such an amazing film. Considering how little there was to work with in terms of lighting and equipment, it was an awesome achievement to capture some of the shots.

Moulin Rouge

This is another musical movie that I love. The style looks very staged, but it works with the film. The lighting in the movie blend the best of both worlds. In the shot below, the lighting is very natural. It is pouring in from the window and there is that sort of 'halo' look that I like. It is very soft and simple.

In this scene the lighting is much more selective and shadowy. The blue tint gives it that 'theatre' feel. The entire relationship between Satine and the Duke is an act on Satine's part and the lighting highlights that nicely.

And of course the dance numbers in this movie are amazing. This was very well done with the lighting coming from the back and almost silhouetting the dancers. It has a very sharp, dramatic look that goes well with the tango. The shadows that are cast from the dancers also give a very ominous look that suits the scene well.

I Am Legend

I was very intrigued by this movie. I still am not sure if I like all of it or not, however this scene is really well done. This is where he is locking his house down to avoid the 'monsters' from finding him. This is the transition between the safety of daytime to the unknown of nighttime. This particular shot where he is closing this window shows very clearly the line between light and dark. However, what is most interesting to me is the shadow of the main character being cast and how much it looks like one of the zombie creatures.

This is a pretty shot and a forewarning to what happens later in the movie. The sun reflecting in the lower left of the window and the orange tint on the window frame give a sort of fire's glow feel.

Another thing that was conveyed well in this movie was how desolate New York City had become. Since there is no electricity left, Will Smith's character runs everything off of generators, and he does that as little as possible. Through most of the movie during the day the house is lit only through windows which makes everything feel really still and quiet. I love this shot because of how golden Smith and the dog are, but everything around them is a lot whiter.

Hero

This is another example of how color can be used in the extremes. Every separate version of the story being told has a different color scheme to it, and it makes this movie a visual feast. Even without knowing what was going on this first shot is so white and evenly lit that it gives off the feeling of purity.

However the camera angle and the red of her kimono as well as the light coming in through the wall gives a much different feeling of passion or anger.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Here, the main character is having his memories erased of Kate Winslet's character. Most of these scenes start out very soft, like you might dream of something where the color isn't completely vivid.

And then they turn into this where it looks more like a photograph that has started fading. Only the brights and darks really stand out, and a lot of the little details from before are lost.

Citizen Kane

The way the light is coming through the big archway and how small and swallowed up the person looks in the light with his shadow is really striking. The statues in the corner are also a nice touch with the hard shadows.

Amadeus

This still looks like a painting you might see from this century. This movie did a wonderful job of keeping the lighting as natural as possible: coming from candles, open windows, etc. Since these were the only devices available in the time period for lighting, it effectively keeps the viewer immersed in Mozart's world.

That Assignment Thing

My Picture Stuff...

New Years Eve 2009

Memphis, TN

Aristocrunk with Lord T & Eloise!

Only human being to ever be born with skin made of gold. The one and only Maurice Eloise.

These guys are smart, funny, generally insane, and awesome to see live. They are on iTunes & other download sites, but I suggest going to one of their shows first. It's the only way to really understand what exactly 'aristocrunk' is.

The rest of the night on Beale Street with two of my favorite people!

My video stuff...

I don't really play favorites, but the first 10 movies that popped into my head are here. (Big Love isn't a movie, but in my opinion the show is so well produced it might as well be one ongoing movie.)

1. Moulin Rouge

2. The Prestige

3. Amadeus

4. The Lion King

5. The Lord of the Rings

6. The Illusionist

7. Big Love

8. Hero

9. Memento

10. Ten Nights of Dream

My Link Stuff

http://gizmodo.com/

http://lifehacker.com/

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

Geek stuff & Wal-Mart. Yes.