Just a quick blog this time to say that this morning I got my final result for my Film and Television studies degree from The University of Wales, Aberystwyth,
BA (Hons/Anrh) II(1) - Upper Second/Ail Ddosbrth Uwch
If you don't understand half of that, that's because half of it is in welsh, but basically it means I'm clever!!!
And that I now owe £12,000.
Any donations will be gratefully accepted.
Wednesday 27 June 2007
Saturday 23 June 2007
Don't quote me on that . . .
As not alot has still not happened, and I haven't had a post with any pictures yet, I thought I would have a quote with pictures post, in the style of my friend Deb, but entirely a lot less cute.
"The television screen is the retina of the mind's eye. Therefore, the television screen is part of the physical structure of the brain.
Therefore, whatever appears on the television screen emerges as raw experience for those who watch it.
Therefore, television is reality, and reality is less than television."
"The television screen is the retina of the mind's eye. Therefore, the television screen is part of the physical structure of the brain.
Therefore, whatever appears on the television screen emerges as raw experience for those who watch it.
Therefore, television is reality, and reality is less than television."
- Brian O'Blivion, Videodrome
Sunday 17 June 2007
What do they do it four?
One of the great things about being a geeky film student (or graduand) is that you can better appreciate more of the great films that are out there. The flip side of this however, is that it is easier for me to find the not so great films laughable, mostly for the wrong reasons.
Perhaps the best example I can give is the film I have just finished watching, Batman & Robin. I remember seeing this film when it first released and thought it was fantastic (the only reason I'm not embarrassed to admit that is because I was only about twelve at the time), but rewatching it ten years later only reminds me how unforgivably lame the movie is.
As the last of four Batman films made in the 1980s/90s, it took the franchise down the same cheesy path dug out by the Superman film franchise before it. With Batman and Batman Returns, Tim Burton created two films that, like Superman and Superman II, were widely accepted by comic book fans and the general audience alike. And then along comes Joel Schumacher. Whilst Batman Forever wasn't quite as bad as Superman III, (Jim Carrey was perfect for the role of The Riddler), it was never going to be as good as the first two. For a start, changing the lead actor is never a good sign, and the toned down darkness, which for people like me was a major selling point of the first two films, didn't give it the atmosphere most befitting an orphan who spends him time taking out his frustration by thwarting the plans of petty thieves and deranged megalomaniacs, whilst being dressed as a nocturnal rodent.
Don't get me wrong, being camp and colourful was fine for Adam West, its just unfortunate that it was this Batman that they tried to recreate, rather than the original comics. Where Superman IV: The Quest For Peace suffered merely from a dodgy story (for which Christopher Reeve apologised) and a seriously limited budget, the fact that I could take Plan 9 From Outer Space more seriously seems to suggest that Batman & Robin was intentionally laughable. Not even Uma Thurman can make the script seem sincere, I have no idea why Arnold Schwarzenegger took the role of Mr Freeze, even less of an idea why he was approached in the first place, and a Bat-Credit Card is even more ridiculous that Bat-Shark repellent. They even make the rookie mistake of not knowing that light goes INTO a telescope. The only thing more cringe worthy is William Shatner's 'Tambourine Man'.
Admittedly being a geek does make me somewhat biased when it comes to comic adaptations, but it's not just DC who should have quit while they were ahead. James Cameron's The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day are considered modern classics, Jonathon Mostow's Terminator 3: Rise of The Machines, not so much. I am still hoping that the talked about fourth installment stays in development hell where it belongs.
But credit has to go to Marvel who seem quite content with missing out the mediocre film, and going from two greats straight to the abysmal. Not having seen X-Men: The Last Stand, I can't really comment on the fact that everyone seems to hate it, but I can confirm that Spider-Man 3 takes everything that makes Peter Parker the established character he is today, and web slings it from the roof of the Daily Bugle. And when coming from a geek point of view, the less said about The Fantastic Four, the better.
There's only one thing left to say really, and that's . . .
Thank you Christopher Nolan.
Perhaps the best example I can give is the film I have just finished watching, Batman & Robin. I remember seeing this film when it first released and thought it was fantastic (the only reason I'm not embarrassed to admit that is because I was only about twelve at the time), but rewatching it ten years later only reminds me how unforgivably lame the movie is.
As the last of four Batman films made in the 1980s/90s, it took the franchise down the same cheesy path dug out by the Superman film franchise before it. With Batman and Batman Returns, Tim Burton created two films that, like Superman and Superman II, were widely accepted by comic book fans and the general audience alike. And then along comes Joel Schumacher. Whilst Batman Forever wasn't quite as bad as Superman III, (Jim Carrey was perfect for the role of The Riddler), it was never going to be as good as the first two. For a start, changing the lead actor is never a good sign, and the toned down darkness, which for people like me was a major selling point of the first two films, didn't give it the atmosphere most befitting an orphan who spends him time taking out his frustration by thwarting the plans of petty thieves and deranged megalomaniacs, whilst being dressed as a nocturnal rodent.
Don't get me wrong, being camp and colourful was fine for Adam West, its just unfortunate that it was this Batman that they tried to recreate, rather than the original comics. Where Superman IV: The Quest For Peace suffered merely from a dodgy story (for which Christopher Reeve apologised) and a seriously limited budget, the fact that I could take Plan 9 From Outer Space more seriously seems to suggest that Batman & Robin was intentionally laughable. Not even Uma Thurman can make the script seem sincere, I have no idea why Arnold Schwarzenegger took the role of Mr Freeze, even less of an idea why he was approached in the first place, and a Bat-Credit Card is even more ridiculous that Bat-Shark repellent. They even make the rookie mistake of not knowing that light goes INTO a telescope. The only thing more cringe worthy is William Shatner's 'Tambourine Man'.
Admittedly being a geek does make me somewhat biased when it comes to comic adaptations, but it's not just DC who should have quit while they were ahead. James Cameron's The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day are considered modern classics, Jonathon Mostow's Terminator 3: Rise of The Machines, not so much. I am still hoping that the talked about fourth installment stays in development hell where it belongs.
But credit has to go to Marvel who seem quite content with missing out the mediocre film, and going from two greats straight to the abysmal. Not having seen X-Men: The Last Stand, I can't really comment on the fact that everyone seems to hate it, but I can confirm that Spider-Man 3 takes everything that makes Peter Parker the established character he is today, and web slings it from the roof of the Daily Bugle. And when coming from a geek point of view, the less said about The Fantastic Four, the better.
There's only one thing left to say really, and that's . . .
Thank you Christopher Nolan.
Friday 15 June 2007
Write from the start . .
I know it hasn't been a full week since my last post, but I've actually started to do stuff this week! I did some work in the garden with my Dad (no, I'm not going to call him HG), had some more unexpected hours at smiths, and played some football with my friends. Each of which managed to make me draw blood at some point!
I also saw Stranger Than Fiction for the first time, which I have to say is a really good film. Not only is it a good story with good actors and all that gubbins, but it also helps to show how stories are constructed. When he starts to hear a narrating voice in his head, the main character Harold (Will Ferrel) visits a literature professor (Dustin Hoffman) who explains to him the structures of a story, plots, the difference between comedy and tragedy etc.
When looking at any story it is easy to just see them as a series of events where things happen which causes something else to happen, when in reality its much more complex and structured. It was only in my second year of uni when I discovered this in a writing module, and now I cannot help but watch films without analysing the different elements that make up the narrative. There is not one rigid structure that every story follows, as there is a vast array of ways in which stories develop, but the majority will nearly always follow the same basic pattern. One of the first things we learnt in this module is that all stories are essentially made from the same basic ideas, but each story will use them in different ways. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre for example, in which a group of teenagers go camping in the woods to discover a house owned by cannibals, is Hansel and Gretel. It is the fact that stories use this same basic structure but are able to adapt it for such a wide variety at the same time, is why I am considering returning to UWA as they have an excellent Masters course on screenwriting. That, and it will give me more time to decide what I eventually want to do.
First of all, rather obviously, something has to happen. If Harold didn't start hearing the narrators voice in his head, he would have carried on with his boring routine, and it would have been a boring film. Likewise if Bilbo Baggins never gave his ring to Frodo, he would have just stayed in the Shire. Basically, if nothing happens the main character would just sit at home all day and do nothing (sounds rather familiar actually. . .) and would make for a boring story.
And it can't just be anything happening either. It has to be something that gives the character a goal of some kind. If Bilbo gave Frodo an ordinary ring, he would have just said 'Thanks uncle, that's a nice ring' and still carried on living in the shire. The fact that the ring needs to be destroyed necessitates that several characters all go on the quest to achieve this goal, whilst also giving the audience the sense of 'will they/won't they, agggh, whats going to happen now??', at which point they went and bought the book before the next film came out.
Like I said each story is different, and this only covers the beginnings of the stories, but I think you get the idea. Basically nearly every story, book, film, TV etc will go along similar lines of:
Something happens, something has to be fixed, things will generally get worse before they get better.
PS: Yes, knowing this can spoil the fun of just watching a film, but I refuse to be held responsible if anyone hits you for constantly saying 'Oh, now I get it' every time you see a film from now on.
I also saw Stranger Than Fiction for the first time, which I have to say is a really good film. Not only is it a good story with good actors and all that gubbins, but it also helps to show how stories are constructed. When he starts to hear a narrating voice in his head, the main character Harold (Will Ferrel) visits a literature professor (Dustin Hoffman) who explains to him the structures of a story, plots, the difference between comedy and tragedy etc.
When looking at any story it is easy to just see them as a series of events where things happen which causes something else to happen, when in reality its much more complex and structured. It was only in my second year of uni when I discovered this in a writing module, and now I cannot help but watch films without analysing the different elements that make up the narrative. There is not one rigid structure that every story follows, as there is a vast array of ways in which stories develop, but the majority will nearly always follow the same basic pattern. One of the first things we learnt in this module is that all stories are essentially made from the same basic ideas, but each story will use them in different ways. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre for example, in which a group of teenagers go camping in the woods to discover a house owned by cannibals, is Hansel and Gretel. It is the fact that stories use this same basic structure but are able to adapt it for such a wide variety at the same time, is why I am considering returning to UWA as they have an excellent Masters course on screenwriting. That, and it will give me more time to decide what I eventually want to do.
First of all, rather obviously, something has to happen. If Harold didn't start hearing the narrators voice in his head, he would have carried on with his boring routine, and it would have been a boring film. Likewise if Bilbo Baggins never gave his ring to Frodo, he would have just stayed in the Shire. Basically, if nothing happens the main character would just sit at home all day and do nothing (sounds rather familiar actually. . .) and would make for a boring story.
And it can't just be anything happening either. It has to be something that gives the character a goal of some kind. If Bilbo gave Frodo an ordinary ring, he would have just said 'Thanks uncle, that's a nice ring' and still carried on living in the shire. The fact that the ring needs to be destroyed necessitates that several characters all go on the quest to achieve this goal, whilst also giving the audience the sense of 'will they/won't they, agggh, whats going to happen now??', at which point they went and bought the book before the next film came out.
Like I said each story is different, and this only covers the beginnings of the stories, but I think you get the idea. Basically nearly every story, book, film, TV etc will go along similar lines of:
Something happens, something has to be fixed, things will generally get worse before they get better.
PS: Yes, knowing this can spoil the fun of just watching a film, but I refuse to be held responsible if anyone hits you for constantly saying 'Oh, now I get it' every time you see a film from now on.
Tuesday 12 June 2007
My New Blog 2: The Sequel!!!
It's been over a week since I started this new blog, and I haven't put up any more posts since. The main reason being I haven't actually done that much worth posting about. I've had a few hours at Smiths, and started unpacking all my uni stuff, but I'm guessing that not many people would consider that very interesting.
I watched A Scanner Darkly which I kind of understood but didn't really like, Pi which I didn't understand but found really fascinating, and When Harry Met Sally which I didn't understand why I particularly wanted to watch it, but enjoyed it anyway. It's pretty much the only non-British Rom Com I can actually sit through, but that's mainly just because Billy Crystal is a genius in that film. He improvised the whole thing about the pecan pie (and the woman who says the line "I'll have what she's having", is actually the director's mum as well).
I have also been trying to film some of the birds we get in our garden, but its not going that well. They very rarely seem to stay in a place that the camera has an un-obscured view of, and even if they do, they fly away before I can press the record button.
Hopefully this time next week I might have actualy done something blogworthy, and if I'm lucky I should have enough bird footage to edit something together. But we'll see how it goes.
And reading the last page of a book first doesn't sound like a bad idea . . .
I watched A Scanner Darkly which I kind of understood but didn't really like, Pi which I didn't understand but found really fascinating, and When Harry Met Sally which I didn't understand why I particularly wanted to watch it, but enjoyed it anyway. It's pretty much the only non-British Rom Com I can actually sit through, but that's mainly just because Billy Crystal is a genius in that film. He improvised the whole thing about the pecan pie (and the woman who says the line "I'll have what she's having", is actually the director's mum as well).
I have also been trying to film some of the birds we get in our garden, but its not going that well. They very rarely seem to stay in a place that the camera has an un-obscured view of, and even if they do, they fly away before I can press the record button.
Hopefully this time next week I might have actualy done something blogworthy, and if I'm lucky I should have enough bird footage to edit something together. But we'll see how it goes.
And reading the last page of a book first doesn't sound like a bad idea . . .
Monday 4 June 2007
My new blog!!
As a university Graduand, I have come to that point in my life where I don't really know what to do. I have just come back from studying a bachelors degree in Film and Television Studies at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth which I enjoyed immensely, but I am not entirely sure what to do next. I am aiming to have a job in the TV or film industry, but have no idea doing what. Ultimately I would like to work on my own projects, but that is a long way down the road. My current plans are learning to drive and working back at my local WH Smith, but I still need to find something to fill that gap.
And so what else is there to do, other than start a blog????
My mum and two of my friends in Canada all have blogs that they have been working on for some time, and so I thought what the hell, why don't I get one as well. Unlike Deb, Kate and Mum (Christine to everyone else, but as she has to put me up for the next who knows how long, 'Mum' is the least I can do) my interests don't tend to include gardening, cookery, Paris or anything that can generally be described as 'cute', so I think it fair to say that my blog might be rather different to theirs. As you may have guessed, my main interest is film and television, and generally anything on a screen.
There may be many people that would assume that means I am nothing more than a lazy slob, and for some part you are indeed right. But to me films are much more than mindless entertainment. When most people think of films, they probably think of the latest Hollywood blockbusters starring big name celebrities and featuring nothing but explosion after explosion, which is fine up to a point. But they can also be much more than that. I sit and down to watch a film just like others curl up to read a book. I like watching them for the stories that I can get caught up in, stories that make me think, laugh and if I was able to, cry. If a picture paints a thousand words, then film paints twenty-four thousand every second. Not all films live up to this potantial, but when they do the results can be fantastic.
The last few times I have been to the cinema I have been rather dissapointed. Spider-Man 3 had been hyped up so much prior to its release, but in the end was a really dissapointing film. Something like Inside I'm Dancing on the other hand is a film I had never heard of before seeing it on a shop shelf, but decided to watch anyway, and is one of those rare films that is perfect in almost every way.
I'm guessing this blog will be a mixture of films I have seen, and my progress on my way to making my own, so you're welcome to come back and see how I get on and/or have a go at me for my outrageous opinions that I am bound to share from time to time.
Be seeing you!
And so what else is there to do, other than start a blog????
My mum and two of my friends in Canada all have blogs that they have been working on for some time, and so I thought what the hell, why don't I get one as well. Unlike Deb, Kate and Mum (Christine to everyone else, but as she has to put me up for the next who knows how long, 'Mum' is the least I can do) my interests don't tend to include gardening, cookery, Paris or anything that can generally be described as 'cute', so I think it fair to say that my blog might be rather different to theirs. As you may have guessed, my main interest is film and television, and generally anything on a screen.
There may be many people that would assume that means I am nothing more than a lazy slob, and for some part you are indeed right. But to me films are much more than mindless entertainment. When most people think of films, they probably think of the latest Hollywood blockbusters starring big name celebrities and featuring nothing but explosion after explosion, which is fine up to a point. But they can also be much more than that. I sit and down to watch a film just like others curl up to read a book. I like watching them for the stories that I can get caught up in, stories that make me think, laugh and if I was able to, cry. If a picture paints a thousand words, then film paints twenty-four thousand every second. Not all films live up to this potantial, but when they do the results can be fantastic.
The last few times I have been to the cinema I have been rather dissapointed. Spider-Man 3 had been hyped up so much prior to its release, but in the end was a really dissapointing film. Something like Inside I'm Dancing on the other hand is a film I had never heard of before seeing it on a shop shelf, but decided to watch anyway, and is one of those rare films that is perfect in almost every way.
I'm guessing this blog will be a mixture of films I have seen, and my progress on my way to making my own, so you're welcome to come back and see how I get on and/or have a go at me for my outrageous opinions that I am bound to share from time to time.
Be seeing you!
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