Psychotic Girl

For my cinematography class, I was assigned a natural/daylight project so I decided to film some evening imagery with my friend Katy and set it to "Psychotic Girl" by the Black Keys (not really supposed to use songs with lyrics or make it music video-like, so next time it'll be much simpler).
For those who like murder...

Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography

Click below to watch the opening to another documentary about filmmaking, particularly cinematography. I recommend finding and watching the whole thing if you get the chance, it's very inspiring.

Halloween Movie Countdown: "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari"

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is said to be the first Horror film ever made, dating back to 1920. Besides this interesting fact, it's full of beautiful and spooky German expressionistic elements in its design and cinematography.

It's also been said that this film introduced the idea of a 'twist' ending... pretty revolutionary for early cinema.

When it comes to German expressionism, it's all about shadows, shapes... and the dark side. Pretty much any film that uses the techniques of German expressionism is a film involving suspense and horror.

The style of this film is purely dark with a fantasy-like look that creates an atmosphere all its own. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has got the ultimate look and story that truly makes it the first of its kind.

Here's the full movie from YouTube:

Random Trivia: In 2005, the film was remade with new actors (of course) but not a new set... they decided to superimpose the actors onto the original backgrounds and sets from the original film. All the filming was therefore done on a green screen. Take a look at how they made the 2005 version in these two clips from the DVD... Part One & Part Two.

And PS, guess who plays Cesare, the somnambulist who can predict the future... Doug Jones, the same talented actor who Billy Butcherson in Hocus Pocus!

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

I have been wanting to do a blog post about this film for a quite some time, but wanted to make sure I said all the right things. At the same time, I feel I could go on and on forever about how much I enjoy this film, so I have chosen to briefly explain a few things I admire about this film and sum up the post with some film stills and clips.

When I first saw The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, I had watched it after doing a report on Jesse James for school and was curious to see how this film portrayed his last days. After seeing it, it became an all-time favorite. Every time I watch this film, I find new unique aspects to it and discover how brilliant the entire production truly is every time.

Like I said, I could go on forever about this movie, but one of the things I admire that I must mention is how the film is technically a western as it involves Jesse and members of the James gang, but instead of focusing on adventurous escapades, it focuses on the painful ways of life that came from living as an outlaw, so in actuality the film is really a drama.

Partial to that, most people found the film to be extremely long and slow, and at two hours and forty minutes, it is. However, what I really like about the length and even the slow pace is that with each scene, more and more tension builds up with each character and as well as within their relationships with one another, particularly the relationship between Jesse and the Ford Brothers. The performances by Brad Pitt (Jesse James), Sam Rockwell (Charlie Ford), and Casey Affleck (Bob Ford) fully allow the audience to feel the anxiety that would normally consume anyone in Jesse James' presence. It's no wonder after watching the film, the audience feels a bit drained and exhausted.

Besides the great writing, acting, and amazing direction, the film has stunning cinematography and art direction, one of the reasons why I decided to mention it on the blog. To me, this film is so good and is full of so many strong acting moments, interesting plots, amazing music, and extremely beautiful cinematography. Definitely worth seeing, if you haven't already.

More Images...

Here is one of my favorite scenes:

Here is the trailer:

Dust Bunny

Just a few of the many beautiful photos in Dust Bunny's Photostream.

The Birds

While looking up other storyboard sketches, I came across a site that had Alfred Hitchcock's storyboard for one of my favorite scenes from The Birds. Here are a few of the images from the storyboard with images from the final cut of the film. View the scene here.

Sherlock Holmes

As I walked out of the movie theatre after seeing Sherlock Holmes, I immediately had the desire to see the film again. The film was great on so many levels: I found the writing to be witty, the acting very good, and the overall direction was very well done. I loved the story and how it was full of little plot twists along the way and how they combined the ideas of magic and the laws of science which played into my favorite part; the art direction.

They fully succeeded in capturing London during the industrial revolution which really helped create a great look for Holmes' clever gadgets and messy study. Combining this time period and the story's elements of 'magic' really gave every scene a bit of an edge. What also gave the film an 'edge' was the editing & cinematography; I really liked the way flashbacks were edited and loved some of the clever camera shots. Even if this film isn't your thing, the music by Hans Zimmer is a must-have.

Image Source